The Vicariate of Agra encompassed a huge area including the North-Western Provinces, the Punjab, and the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and the Italian Capuchins there ministered to British troops.
Overworked, he was sent to Firozpur, and quickly became a favorite of the military personnel there; they had just sacked Multan Fort, and offered Rooney some of the silver and gold they had stolen, but he declined.
[4] Kanpur was the site of a large British garrison, and it became the target of a rebellion let by Nana Sahib, culminating in the 22-day Siege of Cawnpore.
Hand asked him to teach in All Hallows College, and in preparation for that position he studied for two years in Paris at the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice.
At All Hallows he was appointed Professor of Theology and Sacred Scripture, and after ten years there, in 1863, became parish priest of Drumconrath.