Michael O'Farrell (7 April 1865 in Milhow,
Mullingar
Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, with a population of 20,928 in the 2016 census.
The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 proclaimed Westmeath ...
,
County Westmeath, Ireland – 4 April 1928 in
Orange, New South Wales), an Australian
suffragan bishop, was the fourth
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, New South Wales. O'Farrell was consecrated by the
Apostolic Delegate
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...
,
Archbishop Cattaneo in 1920 and served until his death in 1928. O'Farrell was the first
Vincentian bishop in Australia.
Early years and background
Educated at
St. Finian's College
St Finian's College is a secondary school, the diocesan school of the Diocese of Meath. It is located in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland, and is under the patronage of The Most Reverend Thomas Deenihan, Bishop of Meath. Rev. Fr. Paul Co ...
,
Navan
Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the tenth largest settlement in Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50&nb ...
, O'Farrell came from a devout religious family that included two sisters who became
Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...
, and three of his brothers became priests, two of whom migrated to Australia and worked as priests in the
Archdiocese of Sydney. O'Farrell studied for the priesthood at
St Patrick's Seminary,
Maynooth
Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...
, and he was ordained priest on 23 March 1887. He joined the Vincentians following Ordination. While at Maynooth, he studied with
Daniel Mannix
Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia.
Early years and Mayno ...
, who later became Archbishop of Melbourne. O'Farrell initially served as a missionary in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, England, before returning to Ireland where he became the Professor of Ecclesiastical History and of Higher Mathematics and Physics at
All Hallows College
All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing down, due to decreasing student numbers. The sale ...
in Dublin; subsequently taking up a post as Professor of Moral Theology at the
Irish College in Paris
The Irish College in Paris (french: Collège des Irlandais, links=no, la, Collegium Clericorum Hibernoram) was for three centuries a major Roman Catholic educational establishment for Irish students. It was founded in the late 16th century, and c ...
. O'Farrell returned to Ireland in 1903 and for the next ten years conducted missions and retreats based from the Vincentian Parish at Phibsboro, in Dublin.
Arriving in Sydney in 1913, O'Farrell took up residence at St Vincent's, Ashfield with the intention of conducting mission work. However, he was asked to act as the Spiritual Director of the two diocesan seminaries, firstly at St Columba's College, Springwood, and later at
St Patrick's College, Manly
St Patrick's Seminary, Manly is a heritage-listed former residence of the Archbishop of Sydney and Roman Catholic Church seminary at 151 Darley Road, Manly, Northern Beaches Council, New South Wales, Australia. The property was also known as ...
. By 1915, O'Farrell had become the Vice Rector at
St John's College within The University of Sydney.
Roman Catholic Bishop of Bathurst
At 55-years of age, O'Farrell was elected Bishop of Bathurst on 16 June 1920, some ten months after the death of his predecessor. His election was considered a surprise by some as O'Farrell had never served as a parish priest in Australia, nor held the office of Superior in his own community, or, it would seem, any administrative position other than that of Vice Rector at St John's. O'Farrell was
consecrated as bishop in St Michael and St John's Cathedral, Bathurst by the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Cattaneo on 30 November 1920.
After an expansionist period under
Bishop Dunne, O'Farrell is accredited with placing the diocese on a firm financial and administrative footing. Immediately after his consecration, an audit of
St Stanislaus' College
, motto_translation = But we (Trust) in the name of the Lord
, established =
, type = Independent secondary day and boarding school
, denomination = Roman Catholic
, religious_affiliation = ...
, Bathurst was conducted. The auditor's report was critical of the lack of proper book-keeping. Under the guidance of Fr John Hall, within three years a subsequent auditor's report had seen a significant improvement. O'Farrell acquired ''Hathrop'', a palatial residence in Bathurst and established St Vincent's Hospital in 1922 as "an institution catering especially for the sick poor."
In 1926, he brought the
Daughters of Charity from England to Bathurst and entrusted them with the former
Patrician Brothers
The Patrician Brothers officially named Brothers of Saint Patrick ( la, Congregatio Fratrum a Sancto Patricio), abbreviated F.S.P. is a Catholic lay religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded for the religious and literary educa ...
novitiate in Orange and established a Boys’ Orphanage, the first work of the Daughters in Australia. He also presided over extensions to St Joseph's Orphanage in Bathurst, a new church at Kandos, improvements to other churches, and new convents in Borenore, Forest Reefs, Millthorpe and Portland. O'Farrell is also credited with the growth of the
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.
Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...
in the diocese, with congregations at Bathurst, Portland, Orange, Wellington, Cowra, Mudgee, Canowindra, Gulgong, Coonamble and Dubbo. O'Farrell also supported the university education, board and lodging of several of the
Sisters of St Joseph
The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for ...
to gain degrees in education and arts at The University of Sydney. Under his bishopship, he was able to recruit postulants for the two communities of religious sisters whose work was predominantly in education: the Sisters of St Joseph and the Sisters of Mercy.
However, O'Farrell was not without his critics, most notably the Patrician Brothers who felt that he was more favourably inclined towards the Vincentians at St Stanislaus’ College. When the Patrician Brothers opened a boarding section attached to the parish school in Dubbo in 1921, O'Farrell claimed that the Brothers failed to teach the prescribed syllabus, which was the same syllabus as that laid down for the state
schools. When a summer school of teachers was organised by O'Farrell with attendees from the
Department in Public Instruction, the Brothers made a cursory appearance. Following the commissioning of a report that showed less than satisfactory education and teaching performance, O'Farrell charged the Brothers with incompetence and demanded in November 1924 that they leave the diocese. Despite an appeal to Rome, the Brothers lost and their schools were taken over by the
De La Salle Brothers and their novitiate in Orange became Croagh Patrick Orphanage.
As bishop, O'Farrell led a relatively private life, with the exception of a public battle with the
Anglican Bishop of Bathurst
The Bishop of Bathurst is the diocesan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst in the Anglican Church of Australia.
List of bishops
References
Lists of Anglican bishops and archbishops
Anglican bishops of Bathurst
Ang ...
,
Dr George Long. The battle became known as the ''
Ne Temere
''Ne Temere'' was a decree issued in 1907 by the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Council regulating the canon law of the Church regarding marriage for practising Catholics. It is named for its opening words, which literally mean "lest rashly" i ...
'' debate, taking its name from the 1908 decree that imposed the obligation that a Catholic marry before a priest, even when not marrying another Catholic. Failure to do so rendered that marriage invalid in the eyes of the Catholic Church. The consequence was that the Catholic Church regarded any children born of the marriage to be illegitimate.
Aware that his health was failing, O'Farrell travelled to Rome for the Holy Year celebrations in 1925, taking his administrator,
Father John Norton with him. While there, O'Farrell arranged to have Norton consecrated a Bishop with right of succession. O'Farrell returned to Australia in ill-health and died in Orange Presbytery on 4 April 1928. He was buried from St Michael and St John's Cathedral in the Catholic section of the Bathurst cemetery.
O'Farrell left an estate of
£2,896 to his successors for charitable purposes in New South Wales.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:OFarrell, Michael
1865 births
1928 deaths
Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst
Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth
Christian clergy from County Westmeath
Irish expatriate Catholic bishops
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia
Irish Vincentians
People educated at St Finian's College
People from Mullingar