Fr. Patrick Dunne (1818–1900) was an Irish

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 ...

priest who ministered in Australia. He was born in Philipstown, now

Daingean Daingean (; or ), formerly Philipstown, named after King Philip II of Spain, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town of Daingea ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

. He trained for the priesthood in

St. Patrick's, Carlow College St Patrick's, Carlow College, is a liberal arts college located in Carlow, Ireland. The college is the second oldest third level institution in Ireland and was founded in 1782 by James Keefe, then Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, an ...

, was ordained in 1846 and served for four years in the Diocese of Kildare. In 1850, he went to Australia, serving in the goldfields and many new church and educational developments. He returned to Ireland in 1859 after a dispute with the hierarchy in Melbourne. In 1859, he founded the short-lived St. Brigid's Seminary in

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, midlands reg ...

which closed in 1866,A Walk Through Tullamore
Offaly History website. Dunne intended this to be a minor seminary preparing priests to minister in Australia. He was vicar general of Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia, and was the founding president of

St Patrick's College, Goulburn (If you do something, do it well) , status = Closed , established = , closed = 2000 (merged into Trinity Catholic College, Goulburn) , city = Goulburn , state = New South Wales , country = Australia , campus = , coor ...

, in 1874. Dunne's nephew, John Dunne DD, was the inaugural

Roman Catholic Bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th ce ...

References

1818 births 1900 deaths People from Daingean Alumni of Carlow College 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests Christian clergy from County Offaly {{RC-clergy-stub