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Born William Joseph Gabriel Doyle in 1873, the future priest had a comfortable, middle-class childhood in the affluent Dublin suburb of Dalkey. <\/p>\n
He was sent to a Catholic boarding school in England, but returned to Ireland as a teenager, where by the age of 18 he had begun studying to be a Jesuit priest.<\/p>\n
He was in his early 40s when he was sent to the Front as a WW1 chaplain.<\/p>\n
Even though it was a non-combatant role, Kenny points out that the commander of the 16th (Irish) Division, Maj-Gen Sir William Bernard Hickie, described Fr Doyle as “the bravest man that he ever met”.<\/p>\n
He added that Fr Doyle was a prolific letter writer whose personal correspondence has become an important eyewitness source for historians.<\/p>\n
“If you look at any book about the Irish in the First World War, almost invariable Fr Willie Doyle is in that book.<\/p>\n
“Because of the sheer volume of letters that he sent home, we know a lot about what the Irish soldiers experienced.”<\/p>\n
Kenny added Fr Doyle was held in great esteem by his own men, but was also noted for his kindness towards injured German prisoners-of-war.<\/p>\n
He described the priest as “a servant of peace and reconciliation and a model of true ecumenism”<\/p>\n
“In many ways, his life and witness are more relevant to us now than they were 100 years ago.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n