Fr James Briody was born in Motherwell, in the county of Lanarkshire, on 7 May 1964. He entered the Salesian novitiate in Dublin on 7 September 1983 and made his perpetual profession in September 1991 in Glasgow, Scotland. He was ordained a deacon in Battersea, London, on July 17, 1994, while the priestly ordination took place a year later, on 22 July 1995, in Motherwell, his hometown.
Over the years, he has held various positions, including Councilor first in the Salesian House of Farnborough (2002-2005) and then in the Salesian House in Bootle (2005-2015). He was also School Principal, in Bootle, from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2015.
On 14 August 2016 the Rector Major, with the consent of his Council, appointed him Provincial of Great Britain, a position to which he has just been re-appointed for the next six years.
