A PRIEST who spent 13 years in Barnsley - which he describes as a ‘golden age’ - has since gone on to serve two tours in Iraq and settle back in his native Scotland, but while facing illness with a rare condition he has been reflecting on his much-loved time in town.

Many will have crossed paths with Father Bill Bergin, who worked throughout the 1990s as parish priest for Holy Rood Church in town.

The Catholic preacher was educated at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome, being ordained in 1987 and moving to the recently-founded Diocese of Hallam.

“When I reflect on those years I see it as a golden age,” he told the Chronicle.

“Every mass we’d get 800 to 1,000 people.

“People there displayed fundamental goodness and kindness - just after I got there the final pits closed down so as you can imagine that was having a massive effect on people.

“When that industry went people’s culture and their raison d’etre went with it

“But that goodness was so absolute throughout all of these people.”

After leaving Barnsley, Bill joined the military to serve as a padre, heading to Iraq where he witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Majar al-Kabir - a situation he calls a ‘tragedy’.

He added: “My first task was to visit a young woman member of the RMP 156 and inform her that the members involved were dead, including her boyfriend, a Sunderland lad.

“She was broken, poor lass.

“We retrieved the bodies of the dead and brought them back.

“As the padre I carried out those religious responsibilities which are noble and worthwhile.

“I always invited soldiers to join me and to carry out the anointings of the dead, which Catholic padres do as part of the ritual.

“I found soldiers always joined with great reverence.

“Here at Al Amarah - and on other occasions in Iraq - their families do not know they are dead.

“We do.

“We are their families and must react with reverence and respect. The response was excellent, excellent.”

While he acknowledges the controversies around conflict in the Middle East at that time, he says that during his service he was simply trying to do all he could for the people in the area.

“I got to meet some of the best men and women I’ve ever met in my life,” he added.

“At that time I felt like I was doing a really good job - I wanted to support the young men and women serving, but also the Iraqis who came in with injuries or as prisoners of war.

“I always wanted to feel that after we had left that they would think that the British army and people had been good to them.”

In the past few years Bill has been living in Scotland, and serves as a parish priest for churches in Plains, Caldercruix and Greengairs, a former mining village where his father was born.

However, things haven’t been easy, as during a trip to the Somme in 2022 - where he was joined by people he’d met in Sheffield and Barnsley - he fell ill, having to spend months in hospital after being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.

The rare auto immune condition causes a problem with the signals that are sent between the nerves and the muscles, causing difficulties breathing, swallowing and making facial expressions.

“If I’m being honest, I thought I was dying.

“I’m supported here by wonderful people, fantastic people.

“But then there’s many wonderful friends in Barnsley who’ve given me support too.

“They’ve helped me without even knowing, by keeping me in their prayers and sending their best wishes.

“They’ve cared and sent their support for me, and for that I’m eternally grateful.”