Patrick Vincent Dwyer (1858-1931) was the first Australian born Roman Catholic Bishop.

Life

Patrick Vincent Dwyer was born on 21 August 1858 at

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

, New South Wales, to William Dwyer, schoolteacher, and his wife, Anastasia, née Dermody, both his parents being from Kilkenny, Ireland."Patrick Vincent Dwyer & Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer"
''

Dictionary of Australian Biography The ''Dictionary of Australian Biography'', published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with Australian history. With approximately a thousand entries, the book took more than t ...

''. He was educated at

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 = ...

in Bathurst, and on encouragement from Bishop James Murray he went to study for the priesthood in

Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located in Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Cardinal Paul Cullen. History The College was founded in 1859 by the then Archbish ...

Dublin in Ireland and the Pontifical Urban University of Propaganda Fide in Rome, being ordained on 4 March 1882 after which he returned to Australia. Father Dwyer served as secretary to Bishop

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

, Bishop of Maitland; and from 1882 to 1889 as diocesan inspector of schools. In 1897, he was appointed coadjutor to Bishop

his mentor (the first Australian-born Catholic bishop) and then Bishop in 1909 of

Maitland, New South Wales Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England Hi ...

, upon Murray's death. Bishop Dwyer wrote the "Diocese of Maitland" article for the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

''. His brother

Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer Joseph Wilfrid Dwyer DD (1869-1939) was an Australian Catholic priest and Bishop of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. He was born on 12 October 1869, in East Maitland, New South Wales, to William Dwyer, school inspector, and his wife Anastasia Dermo ...

DD (1869-1939) also studied in Dublin and Rome and became a priest and served as a Bishop of Wagga. His nephew Francis Aloysius Dwyer (1902-1953) was a Supreme Court judge of New South Wales. Bishop Patrick Dwyer died of coronary vascular disease in West Maitland on 28 March 1931 and was buried in the Sacred Heart Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Patrick Vincent Alumni of Clonliffe College 1858 births 1931 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia Roman Catholic bishops of Maitland-Newcastle People from Albury, New South Wales Australian people of Irish descent