At the bidding of Abbot Edmond Matthews Br Aidan did his ecclesiastical studies for four years at Sant Anselmo in Rome. Looking back he would admit that he found life at Sant Anselmo uninspiring. The architectural wonders of Rome and the wine ('SSS') made a certain difference!
The moulding of Dom Aidan's character is reflected in the titles of the books remaining on his shelves, works of the period by: Marmion, Manning, Genicot, Merton, author of Louise de Marillac, Allers (Psychology of Character), Challoner's Meditations, Leclercq on the Interior Life, Maritain, Anthony Bloom, Knox Commentary on the NT., vols i, ii, iii, &c.
Joseph Cunningham was born in Liverpool in 1904, and was educated at St. Edward's there. In 1922 he offered himself as Postulant to Ampleforth Abbey, and was clothed by Abbot Smith the same year. There is a snapshot of a smiling Br Aidan taken with about 17 other junior monks at the top of Helvellyn during one of those 'thrusting' holidays spent in the Lake District. Aidan was a good community man gifted with a dry humour. (In later years Fr Aidan could be gloomy too. At breakfast on June 22 he would announce in his sepulchral tone: The days are now getting shorter again.. .) It is a pity that we did not have him very long with us for the normal monk's life at the Abbey or in the School.
In 1925 he was sent to do those studies in Rome. This went on till 1929 when he was ready for Ordination by Bishop Shine. No sooner priested he was sent to the parish in Workington where for 11 years he established real contacts with our Cumbrian parishioners, working under such worthies as Fr Clement Standish and Abbot Alexius Chamberlain.
In 1940 Abbot Byrne moved him to St. Mary's, Cardiff. Here Fr Ambrose Byrne - the Abbot's elder brother - and Fr Aidan had their war-time worries. The blitz came to devastate the sacristy, happily without loss of life. Becoming parish priest in 1944 Fr Aidan showed his sense of values in caring for the liturgy, for those social and dramatic activities for which he is remembered.
Moved to Warrington in 1948 as P.P. of St. Albans, Fr Aidan's genius for fund-raising made possible the remedying of the structure of that venerable place of worship.
He had the reputation of being dour and conservative. One can see why but the ascription was superficial. He did tend to go on record constantly about calamities and problems but he also faced and surmounted them and in a crisis was actually less gloomy. He was often uncheerful in manner but again could be an excellent host and certainly put on many an abundant Christmas dinner for the brethren in Warrington, not stinting the wine or the liqueurs.
Pastorally he was not an innovator but he always attempted to respond to the needs of his parish. He was prepared to try out new things, the Y.C.W. for example, even when he had no great aptitude for doing them. The Youth Centre on the other hand flourished under his encouragement and he was the first among the Warrington Benedictines to convert a Parish Hall into a Licensed Club when the Abbot lifted the ban on the latter. The new parish territory of Dallam was provided by him with the substantial Church & Hall of St Anselm well before the estate had been fully built. He also had extensive repairs done on the old church of St Alban and he built a new Primary School. He left behind no parish debts but rather the memory of a good and devoted parish priest, as was well indicated by the large number who came to the Abbey for his funeral. For him parish work was part of his monastic commitment and you could say that he ran his parish from his breviary.
For a number of years Fr Aidan had been serving as a member of Fr Abbot's Council, commuting to Ampleforth for those monthly sessions. On those visits to the Abbey he would find an elder brother of his Bob Cunningham holding a responsible position in the Accountancy Dept. of the Procurator's Office. We should not omit to add how widely spread were his brothers, nephews, nieces... We have still his Rosminian nephew Fr Christopher Cunningham in charge of the unique pre-Reformation parish St. Etheldreda's, Ely Place, London. When it came to Fr Aidan's internment with his brethren up in the Monks' Wood at Ampleforth, there was not only a great gathering of the clan, but there were not a few who rallied round from Lancashire, Cumbria and Gwent where he had exercised his remarkable priesthood among the people.
In 1972 the Abbot President of the EBC thought fit to recognise Dom Aidan's contribution by conferring on him the dignity of Cathedral Prior of Chester. For five years already he had been moved to the country district of Abergavenny in Gwent where the parish was developing and in need of help. Then his health grew weak and Prior Aidan was assisted by a monk of Belmont whom he had known as a fellow-student in Rome, Fr Denis Mercer.
In 1978 he was retired to St. Mary's Cardiff, where he had been in charge forty years earlier. In 1981 his condition required a serious internal operation with consequences that he bore with singular christian perserverance. Fortunately we saw him recover and he was able to move around to see old friends, reminiscing over happy events of long ago. All the time, deep in his soul, seeking God!
In April 1986 he was pleased to return to the Abbey. On 27 May 1987, after months of weakness, he died in peace and was gathered to his brethren who had preceded him in the tree-lined cemetry of the Monks' Wood.
May this Prior of Chester rest in peace.
DOM JOSEPH AIDAN CUNNINGHAM 27 May 1987
1904 born Liverpool
1916-22 Ed St. Edward's Liverpool
1922 Postulant Ampleforth
1922 Sep Habit Abbot Smith
1923 29 Sep Simple Vows " "
1926 1 Oct Solemn Vows Abbot Matthews
1927 10 Aug Subdeacon Bishop Shine
1929 16 Mar Deacon " "
1929 1 Jul Priest " "
1925 Oct Rome
1929 Jun Return from Rome
1929 Sep Workington - Assistant
1940 Sep Cardiff - Assistant
1941 Sep Cardiff - PP
1948 Sep St. Alban's Warrington - PP
1967 Sep Abergavenny - PP
1972 3 Apr Cathedral Prior of Chester
1978 1 Sep Retired to St. Mary's Cardiff
(Abergavenny transferred to Belmont)
Serious operation Cardiff 1981 Recovered well
1986 Apr Returned to Abbey
1987 27 May died at Ampleforth Abbey
Buried at Ampleforth in the cemetery on the hill