Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Connell, Dominic

Teacher and pastor; born Romsey, Victoria, 10 December 1866; died Melbourne, 22 August 1933, aged 66.

Dominic Connell, brother of Frank, educated at St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, entered the Society at Xavier College under Aloysius Sturzo, 18 March 1887. Before philosophy at Louvain, 1896-99, he taught at St Aloysius' College, Bourke St, Sydney, 1889-91, and at Xavier College, 1891-96. At the former he taught mathematics, physics and chemistry, and at the latter he was a prefect as well as a teacher.

Theology immediately followed philosophy at Milltown, 1899-03, and tertianship was done at Tronchiennes, 1903-04. Upon returning to Australia in 1904, he went to Xavier College until 1913, when he was transferred to Riverview until 1915. He spent a successful year, 1916, at St Aloysius' College, but when he was transferred to the parish of Norwood mid-year to replace Henry Cock, a major drama was enacted when the rector of St Aloysius' College, Patrick McCurtin, resigned in protest, claiming that Connell was his only good Jesuit teacher.

Connell was superior and parish priest of Norwood from 1916-22, a consultor of the mission and in charge of Catholic Federation. Then he went to the parish of North Sydney, 1922-29, and spent his final years, 1929-33, in the parish of Hawthorn when his health was poor. He was a man of untiring zeal. The robust health that he showed at North Sydney disappeared in later times.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)