[2] He holds a Master of Arts (MA) in psychoanalytic studies from the University of Sheffield, having matriculated in 2000 and graduated in 2002 with a thesis titled On freudian understanding of Sexuality; he holds a Master of Science (MSc) in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from University College Dublin, which he attended from 2002 to 2004 and for which his thesis was titled On Homosexuality and the relation to the father.
His Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focuses on symptomatology in the works of Freud and Lacan in a 2006 thesis titled The Freudian Understanding of the Symptom.
[3] Beginning in 1978 at the age of 26, Kennedy was deacon at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Churchtown, Dublin, a position he held until his resignation the following year.
This publication focused heavily on the psychoanalytic nature of Joyce's writings, particularly the Freudian castration complex and Lacanian symbolic order.
[10] As regards to the Freudian understanding of the symptom, it is Kennedy's strong-held belief, posited in his doctoral thesis, that this theory is derived from the unconscious.
He has described it as "a text whose expression is the Symptom but behind which, if unravelled, like a knot of coagulated affect, arising from trauma, and, confected from the social cultural deposits, is an agreement between the Ego and the Id in a context, brought about through Repression.
"[19] He said there was great sadness in the area, explaining "there are about 1,000 Filipinos living between here and Bray, who are a very tight-knit community and will no doubt show their support in the coming days and weeks.
Largely at fault, he believes, is the inconstitency in church teaching that has resulted in "the general feeling among Christian, Muslim, and Jewish homosexuals that they are not welcome.
[24] For Volkstrauertag 2022, he led his congregation in "an Ecumenical prayer for peace with interfaith elements," joining Lutheran, Catholic and Jewish communities.