Death of Father Bartholomew Gorman. Former Parish Priest of Herston, Catholic Leader, Brisbane, 12 January 1939, p 24:

The death occurred at the Mater Misericordiae Private Hospital on Thursday morning last of the Rev. Father Bartholomew Gorman, who was for ten years stationed at Herston, and also served for a time at Red Hill. The Father Gorman, who was 65 years of age, was born on March 3, 1873, in Co. Cavan, Eire. He received his education at St. Patrick's Seminary, Cavan, and at St. Patrick's Ecclesiastical College, Maynooth, where he was ordained on December 21, 1901. He came to Brisbane in 1918, arriving here on June 28 of that year. After being stationed at St. Stephen's Cathedral for six months, he followed his priestly vocation at Helidon, Boonah, Toowoomba, Herston (for ten years), Toogoolawah, and Red Hill. It was while he was stationed at Red Hill that he was compelled by illness to retire from active work.

Requiem Mass at St. Stephen's
Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of Father Gorman was offered in St. Stephen's Cathedral on Friday morning last. [...]

Panegyric by the Archbishop
His Grace the Archbishop preached the panegyric. "The words that I have to say this morning will be very few but they will be no mere formality," he said. "Every year the angel of death comes not only to our lay people but to our priests. Sometimes, as last year, it is the youngest that are taken away, and this year death came among us with the taking away of one more advanced in years. Father Bartholomew Gorman, who had worked here for many years, fell into great ill-health 12 months ago or over, and these months have been with him a preparation for death. When Dr. English and I visited him on the day before he died he expressed not only his willingness but his readiness and his desire even to go to God and to go quickly. His sufferings were severe but they were a blessing from the Divine Master because we may feel assured that in going to Him with the resignation that he did Father Gorman had his purgatory over in this life.

"He was an Irish exile who had made his studies in the old land from which came so many of the sturdy pioneers that built up the Faith in this country. Immigrants go to new lands to make a living. A priest leaves his country—as not only Irishmen but Australians have left their country—to seek souls, and it was in that work for souls that the late Father Gorman showed exemplary zeal. He had worked in another part of Australia before coming to us. Coming here he threw himself wholeheartedly into the work of the Archdiocese; in Toowoomba, here in this Cathedral, in Herston where he worked for many years, in the country parish of Toogoolawah, and lately with the kindly Father Frank Masterson in Red Hill.

Priest's Life—One of Sacrifice
"The life of a priest is one of sacrifice. His is a lonely life and, if you like, as far as secular friends are concerned, his may be a lonely death. But it is a beautiful life and it is a beautiful death, and that is the life that gave Father Gorman courage and strength and hope when he felt the end near. He worked for God and for souls. He had compassion for the poor sick in the General Hospital, he was always kind to the little children, and he had every reason to feel, like St. Paul, that he had laid up a rich reward, a crown of glory in Heaven.

We cannot contemplate his death without thinking of his friends and relatives who are 13,000 miles away. They will be glad to know that so many of their brother's fellow priests and so many of his former friends and parishioners came this morning to pay their last tribute and respect to his memory. They will be consoled to know how absolutely resigned he was to the will of God. They will be consoled to know his remains will rest in our Catholic cemetery side by side with so many of his co-labourers, and so many who have died since he came, and so many who laboured before him. They will be consoled to know that cemetery is under the shadow of one of our institutions, and there the little children go to offer up their prayers for the dead.

Father Gorman's Life
We are thankful for the life of Father Gorman. We are grateful to God for the gifts and blessings that He bestowed upon him, particularly his very simple faith. Father Gorman loved his God. He loved the liturgy of the Church. Many and many time he chanted for the dead as his brother priests chanted for him this morning. He loved his native land, which is a beautiful trait in any man or woman, no matter from which country they come. His most delightful recreation was to sing the songs of the home land from which he had sprung. Now he has gone to join in Heaven the priestly sons of St. Patrick, and to join his fellow labourers here in the vineyard of the Lord in Australia who have already gone to rest. He has gone to pray for us. We are grateful to God for him and his simple faith, and united this morning we pray, 'Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God. rest in peace. Amen.'"

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Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, p 15:
Bartholomew Gorman

Wedged in with his shoulders behind Pat Murphy and Harry Fitzgerald is Bartholomew Gorman.

Very little can be found on this man who worked in the Diocese for about 20 years. He studied theology at Maynooth Seminary but was ordained at Blackrock College, also in Dublin, in 1901. He was a member of the Congregation of the Mission, ie. a Vincentian Father who probably hoped to work in the Belgian Congo. He worked, however, 'in another part of Australia' before coming to Brisbane in 1918.

After several short appointments, he took up the chaplaincy of the General Hospital and Parish Priest of Herston for 10 years before ill health compelled his retirement. Remembered as a caring chaplain who loved to sing the songs of his native Ireland, this sunny side of his personality was clouded by the suffering which was described as 'doing his purgatory here '.

Bart Gorman died in the Mater Hospital on 5th January 1939 and was buried at Nudgee Cemetery.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Martin.)

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Prayer Calendar: Deceased Priests who have ministered the Catholic Faith throughout Toowoomba and districts, 1864–2025, Compiled by Annie Carrett, Diocesan Archivist, 2001, Updated by Gabrielle Saide, Diocesan Archivist, 2023:
Rev Bartholomew Gorman, died 5 Jan 1939

Bartholomew Gorman was born on 3rd March 1873 in Co.Cavan, Ireland. Seminary studies were undertaken at St Patrick's, Cavan and Maynooth. On their completion he was ordained to the Vincentian Fathers on 21st December 1901. He came to Brisbane on 28th June 1918 (he had come to Australia some time earlier) and subsequently served in the following places: St Stephen's Cathedral (6 months); Helidon (1910); Boonah; Toowoomba (1926-1933); Toogoolawah and Red Hill (1936-1937). While at Red Hill, illness compelled him to retire from active ministry, he died in the Mater Hospital and was buried in Nudgee Cemetery.
(Ref. Brisbane Archives)

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.