Fr. Billy O’Riordan is a native of County Cork, Ireland. He attended elementary school in Canovee, and secondary school at De La Salle in Macroom and St. Finbarr’s College, Farranferris in Cork City.  He studied for the priesthood at Carlow College and then at the College of St. Kieran in Kilkenny City.  Fr. Billy, the oldest of six children, was ordained to the priesthood in his native parish of Kilmurry, County Cork on June 15, 1985 by Most Rev. Philip M. Hannan, eleventh archbishop of New Orleans [1965-1989].

Occasionally Fr. Billy jokingly comments,
“My being in New Orleans is a kind of Jonah and the whale story, except that I was coughed out of the belly of an aircraft at New Orleans International.”
 
He has served as Parochial Vicar at St. Cletus Parish, Gretna [1985-1990] and at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Metairie [1990-1994].  Archbishop Francis B. Schulte appointed him Pastor of St. Martha Parish, Harvey in June 1994.  After building a community in the true sense of what it means to be church, St. Martha Parish completed a “house for the people” and dedicated a church in June 2003. 

In October 2003, Archbishop Alfred Hughes appointed Fr. Billy as the Dean of the West Bank Deanery.  That position was short-lived having received a telephone call from Archbishop Hughes in December 2003 appointing him as Pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in LaPlace.  He arrived to take up pastorate of St. Joan of Arc, LaPlace on February 1, 2004.

Following a sabbatical at the North American College in Rome, Fr. Billy served as Temporary Administrator of St. Joachim Parish in Marrero. In August 2008, Archbishop Hughes appointed him as Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Belle Chasse where he also served as the Dean of the Algiers-Plaquemines Deanery.

Prior to his becoming pastor of St. Ann Parish, Fr. Billy has served on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, served as chaplain at Cabrini High School in New Orleans, and represented the West Bank Deanery on the Priests’ Council.  He served as an appointed member of the Priestly Life & Ministry Committee for about 25 years, and currently serves on the Parish Share Review Committee, and as emcee for liturgy in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He has served as Pastor of St. Ann Church & Shrine since July 2014 and was more recently appointed Director of Seminarians for New Orleans at Notre Dame Seminary in July 2016 by Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

Fr. Billy’s favorite line is: “Life is like a cup of tea.  It depends how you make it.”  On a business card he had an interesting quote: "Aspire to Inspire before you Expire."