John Heavey, Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown and Bishop of Cairns

John Alphonsus Heavey (1868-1948) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. He was the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown and the

Roman Catholic Bishop of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is a diocese of the Catholic Church located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and w ...

Early life

Heavey was born on 13 November 1868 in

Roundwood Roundwood, historically known as Tóchar ( ga, an Tóchar , meaning 'the causeway'), is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It was listed as having a population of 948 in the 2016 census. Geography Roundwood is located where the R755 road ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, Ireland or in

Ballyhaunis Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina. It is thought that the town grew up around St Mary's Augus ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

Religious life

Heavey was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

as a member of the

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

on 23 May 1891. He served as professor and prior of the order in

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

, Ireland, before being appointed in 1914 as Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown in

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

, Australia. At the time the

Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is a diocese of the Catholic Church located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and w ...

was established in 1877,

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

was expected to become the major town in North Queensland, but his predecessor Bishop James Murray had relocated the headquarters of the vicariate to

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

circa 1904, as it had become the major town in the area. Heavey's journey to Australia involved a number of misadventures. His first voyage on hit a buoy which caused damage to the ship's hull and it began to take on water and had to return for repairs. When the ship departed again, it collided with a Belgian ship, but was found not to have sustained significant damage, so the journey continued, but news of German warship SMS ''Emden'' being in the vicinity (

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

having commenced) required the ship to travel with "lights out" until arriving at Fremantle in January 1915. In 1941, the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown was elevated to become the Diocese of Cairns with Heavey as its first Bishop.

Death

On 12 June 1948, Heavey died in Cairns. His funeral was held at St Monica's Cathedral in Cairns with the

panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of grc, ...

preached by

Archbishop of Brisbane In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-ser ...

. He was buried in the

Martyn Street Cemetery Martyn may refer to: *Martyn (surname), one of the Tribes of Galway and others *Martyn (given name) See also *Martin (disambiguation) *Marten (disambiguation) A marten is a mammal in the family ''Mustelidae''. Marten, Mårten, or Martén may also ...

in Cairns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heavey, John 1948 deaths Augustinian bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Cairns People from County Wicklow 1868 births