Bartholomew J. Troy (1930 – 28 January 2007), known as Father Bertie Troy and later as Canon Bertie Troy, was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and an All-Ireland Hurling Final winning manager with

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. Troy was born in

Newtownshandrum Newtownshandrum () is a small village in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland located west of Charleville, County Cork, Charleville on the R515 road (Ireland), R515 road. The name translates from Irish to mean 'new town of the old ridge'. ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

in 1930, the son of Ellen (née Flannery) and Richard Troy, He was educated and the local national school and later at St Colman’s College in

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,700 people. It is located in the barony (Ir ...

. While he studied here Troy became involved in

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

, particularly the college

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

team. He was a member of the college team that won their first

Dr Harty Cup The Dr. Harty Cup is an annual inter-schools hurling competition organised by the Munster GAA, Munster PPS GAA division of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It has been contested every year, except on three occasions, since 1918. As the pin ...

title in 1948. Troy later studied for the priesthood in

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

and was ordained for the Diocese of Cloyne in 1955 by

Archbishop McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive gover ...

in Dublin. Following his ordination he served in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for a year before returning to Ireland to serve as a priest in the parishes of

Carrigtwohill Carrigtwohill, officially Carrigtohill (), is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of 5,568 (2022). It is 12 kilometres east of Cork city centre. It is connected to Cork Suburban Rail and is bypassed by the N25 road. Carrigtwoh ...

Ballycotton Ballycotton () is a coastal village in County Cork, Ireland, situated about east of Cork city. It is a fishing village that sits on a rocky ledge overlooking Ballycotton Bay and has a sandy beach that stretches for about east to Knockadoon Hea ...

and

Kanturk Kanturk () is a town in the north west of County Cork, Ireland. It is situated at the confluence of the Allua (Allow) and Dallow (Dalua) rivers, which stream further on as tributaries to the River Blackwater. It is about from Cork and Limeric ...

. He also worked as a teacher at St Colman’s College for twenty-five years. Troy later served as parish priest in

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satelli ...

between 1991 and his retirement in 2005.

Managerial career

Troy was also hugely involved as a selector and a coach with a range of

hurling teams at all levels. In the mid-1960s he became involved with the Cork minor hurling side. He coached the team to win six Munster titles in-a-row between 1966 and 1971. These provincial wins were converted into four

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

titles in the same period. During the same period Troy was hugely involved with Cork’s under-21 hurlers. He guided them to a record four Munster and four

titles in-a-row between 1968 and 1971. Many of the players that he coached at these levels went on to form the backbone of the Cork senior team in the mid-1970s.

Cork

In 1975 Troy was joint-coach of the senior hurling team with Justin McCarthy, before being appointed coach/manager in his own right the following year. In this capacity he steered the team to a record five

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

titles in-a-row. These were converted into a remarkable three

titles in-a-row in 1976, 1977 and 1978, thus making Troy one of the most successful managers of the modern era.The Late Canon Troy
HoganStand, 30 January 2007. In retirement from coaching he maintained a keen interest in Cork’s hurling fortunes. Canon Bertie Troy died on 28 January 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troy, Bertie 1930 births 2007 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Hurling managers People educated at St Colman's College, Fermoy Sportspeople from County Cork Christian clergy from County Cork