Larkin, Aidan Joseph, b.1946-2019, former Jesuit novice, Priest of the St Columban Missionaries
- IE IJA ADMN/20/132
- Person
- 31 March 1946-31 March 2019
Born: 31 March 1946, Lissan, Cookstown, County Tyrone
Entered: 24 November 1968, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 05 June 1985, Dublin
Died: 31 March 2019, St Columban Missionaries, Dalgan Park, Navan, County Meath
Left Society of Jesus: 13 November 1970
Father was Patrick J and Mother was Catherine (O’Brien). Family lived from 1961at Garraid, Moneymore Road, Magherafelt, County Derry
3 Brothers, 1 Sister (2 brothers priests)
Played football for Derry Minors
Educated at St Patrick’s, Armagh and then obtained an MA in Classics at UCD, 1968. Was in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth as a seminarian for a year (1963-1964) before he entered the Society.
Baptised at St Michael’s Church Tullynure Road, Lissan, Cookstown, County Tyrone, 01/04/1946
Confirmed at St Michael’s Church Tullynure Road, Lissan, Cookstown, County Tyrone, by Dardinal D’Alton of Armagh, 09/05/1955
After leaving he went home to Magherafelt and taught for a while, also founding a local branch of the SDLP, being elected to represent Mid-Ulster in the Stormont Assembly in 1973, nbecoming the SDLP spokesman on legal affairs. He also studied Law at Queen’s University, Belfast and was called to the Bar.
1981 He went to Holy Cross College, Clonliffe for Dublin and was ordained in 1985 and worked at Corpus Christi, Drumcondra. He then went to Chile as an associate of the Columban Fathers, and on his return was appointed Chaplain at Trinity College Dublin.
In 2002, he joined the Columban Fathers, returned to Chile at Alto Hospicio, Iquique, Chile, where he organised a secondary school - the first in the area.
In 2006 he was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and returned to Ireland at Dalgan Park.
Fr Aidan Larkin played a leading role in development of SDLP
An Appreciation: Fr Larkin spent many years working in deprived areas in Chile
Fr Aidan Larkin, who played a leading role in the development of the SDLP and represented Mid Ulster in Stormont, led a varied and very fulfilling life.
He was born in Lissan, near Cookstown, Co Tyrone, where both parents were principals of primary schools. He thrived at St Patrick’s College Armagh, and later joined his brothers Sean and Patrick in Maynooth. He transferred to UCD where he graduated with a first class honours Masters in ancient classics. He then entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Emo.
He left the Novitiate after a year, returning to Magherafelt, Co Derry, where he took up teaching and joined the newly formed SDLP. He founded a branch of the party in Magherafelt and in 1972 he won a seat on Magherafelt Council. For him the SDLP incorporated the best features of non-violent republicanism and of nationalist constitutionalism. In 1973 alongside Ivan Cooper, a close friend, he was elected to represent Mid- Ulster in the Stormont Assembly which implemented the Sunningdale Agreement.
He saw the need to legislate for civil rights and equality and this led him to study law at Queen’s University and to practise at the Bar. As SDLP spokesman on legal affairs, he made several submissions on law, justice and rights issues and took one of the first successful anti- discrimination cases.
Bleak period
Sunningdale was destroyed by the Ulster Workers Council and the Provisional IRA. As he had warned, politics entered a bleak period of drift and stalemate, he was appalled by the violence.
Subsequently he was appointed to the legal service of the European Council in 1976, but gradually the idea of priesthood returned.
In 1981 he joined Clonliffe College, the diocesan seminary of the Archdiocese of Dublin and was ordained in 1985. He spent five happy years in Corpus Christi parish Drumcondra. He then worked in Chile as a diocesan associate with the Columban Fathers. He spent six years ministering in a deprived area of Santiago and built a church there, mainly with funds provided by his father.
He returned to Ireland and was appointed chaplain to Trinity College Dublin. In 2002 he joined the Columbans, returned to Chile and spent four years ministering in Alto Hospicio , a shanty town in Northern Chile. There he organised the provision of the first secondary school in the area.
Parkinson’s
In 2006 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and returned to Ireland, to reside in the Columban Centre in Dalgan. He wrote Saint Columbanus Pilgrim for Christ and prepared the book St Patrick and the Fathers of the Church.
His final months were difficult but he bore them stoically.
His life was ultimately defined by his drive to know, love and serve God and his unwavering loyalty to the church and its teaching. He had many abilities. He was an accomplished scholar and linguist. He was a capable, thoughtful and inspiring politician. He could have built a career as a barrister or a European official. He was well read in theology and doctrine. One could imagine him as a key official of the Curia. Yet while he had his health he pursued a path that saw him instead putting his gifts at the service of the poor in a desert in Chile.
He died on March 31st and is survived by his brothers Father Sean and Father Patrick Larkin, his brother Colm and his sister Roisin.
https://columbans.ie/fr-aidan-larkin/
Fr Aidan Larkin
Apr 5, 2019
Fr Aidan was born on 31 March 1946 in the Parish of Lissan, Cookstown, Co Tyrone. He was educated at Lissan PS and St Patrick’s College, Armagh.
After Armagh he spent a year in Maynooth before leaving to complete his BA in UCD. Still feeling called to priesthood, he spent two years in the Jesuit Novitiate.
Again changing his mind, he joined the newly founded SDLP, winning a seat on Magherafelt Council in 1972 and the Northern Ireland Assembly a year later.
Inspired by Martin Luther King and the American Civil Rights Movement he studied law at Queen’s University Belfast, qualified as a barrister, and worked for nearly five years in the Secretariate of the EEC Council of Ministers, Brussels.
There he came in contact with the Charismatic Renewal Movement and the desire to be ordained priest returned.
In 1981, he entered Holy Cross College Clonliffe, where he was ordained for the Archdiocese of Dublin on 5 June 1985. He served as curate in the Parish of Drumcondra, Dublin from 1985 to 1990.
He volunteered as an associate priest with the Columbans in Chile from 1991 to 1997. On his return to Dublin he was appointed University Chaplain at Trinity College, Dublin and served there until 2002.
At this stage, Aidan applied for temporary aggregation in the Society of St Columban. He was appointed to Chile and served in the city of Iquique where he was responsible for building two churches.
He became a permanent member of the Society on 1 October 2005.
In 2008, Aidan was diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease and in 2010, at the request of the Superior General, he returned to Ireland and began research on recent writings on St Columban.
The results of this research were published in book form in 2012 under the title ‘St Columbanus, Pilgrim for Christ’. Since then, in spite of deteriorating health, Aidan has planned and researched another book on St Patrick and his writings.
Aidan was a serious, earnest, dedicated priest and scholar and as a missionary he placed his unique experience of politics and law at the service of the powerless.
He coped bravely with his deteriorating health and continued his research in spite of it. He died on 31 March 2019, his birthday.
May he rest in peace.
https://rip.ie/death-notice/fr-aidan-larkin-meath-navan-368600
The death has occurred of
Fr. Aidan Larkin
St. Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan, Meath / Magherafelt, Derry
The death has occurred of Fr. Aidan Larkin (Columban Fathers) St. Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan and late of Magherafelt, Co. Derry and Chile Missions. 31st March 2019; peacefully in the loving care of the staff at St. Columban's Retirement Home, Dalgan Park, Navan. Fr. Aidan, predeceased by his parents Patrick and Catherine; very deeply regretted by his sister Roisin; brother's Fr. Sean, Fr. Patrick and Colm; brother-in-law John; sister-in-law Orlagh; nieces, nephews, extended family, Columban Family and friends.
Date Published:
Monday 1st April 2019
Date of Death:
Sunday 31st March 2019