Irish death record, https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1923/05056/4385097.pdf: "Superintendent Registrar's District Limerick, Registrar's District No. 1. 1923. Deaths Registered in the District of No. 1 in the Union of Limerick in the County of Limerick. No. 169. On 10 January 1923 at St John's Hospital, death of James Coffey of Bird Hill, male, bachelor, age 59 years, R.C. Clergyman; cause of death: oedema of lung, heart failure, 2 months, certified; informant: Catherine M. Dermody, occupier, St John's Hospital; 23 January 1923; J.K. Mulcahy, Registrar."

---

Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2: Biographies of Priests on the Australian Scene up to 1900, 1980, p 56:

Coffey, James, Rt. Rev., Irish, Visitor
A Man for All Seasons

The links between missionaries on the mainland and New Zealand have been closely forged. The list of N.Z. servants is far from complete but at least an attempt has been made to record the names of those who worked in both climes, as well as of those whose names are found on Shipping records in Sydney and Melbourne. So it's over to Fr. Peter Mee, Chancellor in Dunedin, to describe and pay tribute to 'A Man of All Seasons':

Father James Coffey, born at Ballyglass, was but one of the many Irish priests who generously responded to the call of missionary bishops to serve the Church in other parts of the world. When bishop Patrick Moran of the diocese of Dunedin, New Zealand, visited St. John's College, Waterford, in 1889, the seminarians were told of the urgent need for priests in his diocese. James Coffey from County Tipperary offered his services and sailed for New Zealand the following year. He was to have a long and distinguished association with the diocese of Dunedin. During the 32 years he was in the diocese of Dunedin Father Coffey was involved in nearly every field of the Church's Apostolate including the full administration of the diocese for two years from the death of Bishop Michael Verdon in 1918 until the appointment of Bishop James Whyte in 1920.

In 1898 with his appointment as administrator of the rapidly developing parish of South Dunedin he had ample opportunities to show his organising ability in building up the Church of God. Father Jim was a big all rounder - physically big in every sense of the word (some say he was twenty two stone and when he drove his Ford car it was weighted down on the driver's side) - and big in his approach to the problems which confronted the Church. Father Coffey had hardly arrived in his new parish when the organising of the parishioners began, literally by the dozens, into every kind of committee to arrange meetings, concerts, bazaars, carnivals and every form of entertainment. One parishioner was heard to say "it was as if a whirlwind had come into the parish." When Father Coffey decided to stage a "nautical Festival" - really a Carnival on a big scale - more than half of the parishioners were involved in one committee or another before the Festival was under way. He also believed and enforced with some persuasion that every parishioner should have a job in his fund raising schemes. Even Mr Frank W. Petre, the well known architect, had no chance of escape. Frank Petre was given the job of drawing a very detailed plan for the siting of the many stalls to be erected for the 'Nautical Festival'.

But there was another side to the character of this genial and kind Irish priest. The Dominican Sisters spoke of him as 'their wise, patient and pious confessor'; the parishioners spoke feelingly of his sermons even if at times he was somewhat emotional and louder than was needed. The poor, those in trouble and those needing some material assistance never went away empty handed. Seeing the need to provide a Home also for orphaned boys in the City, Father Coffey took upon himself the onerous task of visiting nearly every Catholic home throughout the diocese to raise the necessary funds. His zeal and trust in God enabled him to collect sufficient funds for a Boys' Home in Dunedin conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. He successfully campaigned for a new school for the Christian Brothers built in 1915, and also for a new residence for the Brothers. It is said that one wet day Father Coffey went to visit one of the Brothers who was sick. The Brother was in bed holding up an umbrella to protect him from the rain coming in through the holes in the roof. Such conditions were sufficient to challenge the organising abilities of Father Coffey. Many are the churches, schools and charitable institutions in Dunedin to remind us of the faith, courage, generosity and zeal of 'the big man of God'.

In 1922 after 32 years of service in the diocese Father Coffey decided to take a holiday in Ireland and see once again his ageing mother. Passing through Rome he was made a Domestic Prelate with the title of Monsignor. Strange to say the people of Dunedin who rejoiced at the honour so deservedly conferred on him were never to see him again as Monsignor Coffey. A few months later he suffered a stroke and died in St. John's Hospital, Limerick, January 10th, 1923.

Although Father Jim would not return again to the diocese of his choosing, his name and his spirit lived on in the lives of his two sisters, Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Mary Austin, who were members of the Dominican Order in the diocese of Dunedin.
(Not listed previously in Footprints).