Haydock parish priest celebrates 100th birthday

Reflecting on his 100th birthday, Father Tom Kennedy said he found falling out with people was wrong, adding: "I always found that you leave your cards straight on the table."

The oldest priest in the Archdiocese of Liverpool has celebrated his 100th birthday in Ireland with his family.

Father Tom Kennedy, parish priest at the English Martyrs, Haydock, has served in the priesthood for 73 years and said he had no plans to retire.

He became curate in Haydock in 1958 and returned as parish priest in 1973.

"The reason I haven't retired is I liked the people I worked with and they liked me - at least they said they did anyway," he said.

Reflecting on the many changes he had seen during his ministry, Fr Kennedy said: "We found it very hard at the beginning because we had trained for Latin, but then the changeover to English was a Godsend really because people could understand what you were doing."