“A milestone – not a tombstone”

“I see this as a milestone and not a tombstone” said Fr. Liam Hickey, when he spoke to more than 250 people from Hartstown who came together recently in the Castleknock Hotel & Country Club to mark his recent retirement.

Sean Sheehan, principal of St. Ciaran’s school spoke glowingly of Fr. Liam and his great work in founding and nurturing the parish from its infancy in the early eighties to its present day maturity.

Fr. Liam was born in Ferbane, Co. Offaly and according to Sean “his mother, who was a teacher, cycled every day to the school where she taught. She carried Liam with her on her bike together with another child she collected along the way.

“He was greatly influenced by his mother who died when he was still young and she gave him a great appreciation and empathy with mothers,” he said.

The local postman used to take the young boy to play football and he became a skilful GAA player lining out at inter-county level for no less than three counties – Longford, Westmeath and Offaly. According to Sean, “he could really put it about which was most unusual for an Offaly man!”.

After his ordination, the young priest’s first posting was to London, near Euston where he would meet emigrants coming off the train.

“What he learned there and the sense of belonging he developed was carried with him throughout his life before he ended up in Hartstown in 1978”, said Sean. “It was there that he met with Matt Moran. If they hadn’t met, there is no doubt that the development of the parish would have been 10 years behind what it was. They were two men of massive intelligence and great vision who between them kick-started Hartstown and went on to make it one of the most progressive communities in Ireland at that time.

“Fr. Liam made an impact on everyone in Hartstown. He was loved by the community; he was admired by his peers. He had the respect of everyone,” he concluded to much applause.

Thanking the organisers of the event, Fr. Liam paid “particular thanks to the people of the parish for giving me the distinction of being the longest serving priest in a new parish in Dublin 15 and probably in the Dublin diocese. People often ask why I never changed and the answer is very simple: I was never asked and I never asked.”

He recalled how when he was first asked to take up the position, it was only intended as a short term appointment. “When Archbishop Ryan appointed me to Hartstown he said he couldn’t get priests for newly developing parishes so would I give it a go for two or three years. He told me the job would involve negotiating land for schools, a church and a community centre. He also told me if I didn’t move fast I would have women tearing my eyes out because they would want school places for their children.”

Having bought a house in the new parish for himself, Fr. Liam discovered that one of his neighbours was an amazing man called Matt Moran. “He was a man totally committed to the community”, he said. “Together we established the new school and Aengus Lane came on board and built it up into a wonderful place of learning for our children and then it was brought to the highest standards by Sean Sheehan. We also built our community centre which was initiated by Matt and built using prison labour from Mountjoy. Matt was also responsible for sowing the seed for our community school as well.”

Despite all the concerns being expressed for the future of the church in modern society, he says “I don’t have any worries on that score. In the last 30 years I have seen the growth of community responsibility and social conscience in both men and women. The church many change but in doing so it will strengthen as well.”

Now as he starts the latest phase of an eventful life, Fr. Liam says “ I would like to think of my retirement as being more of a milestone than a tombstone. I don’t know what lies ahead but as the late Dag Hammarskjöld once said ‘I give thanks for all that has been and I say yes for all that will be’.”

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