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

Teacher; born Blackall, Queensland, 13 April 1913; died Sydney, 10 July 1989, aged 76.

Joe Connolly was educated at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, and entered the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 24 February 1933. He did all his Jesuit studies in Australia, and was ordained in Sydney, 5 January 1946. He spent 37 years at either of the Sydney schools, St Ignatius' College, Riverview, 1948-53, and at St Aloysius' College, 1954-56, and 1963-89.

He was first division prefect at Riverview, and enjoyed coaching rugby and cricket. His students respected him. He became a qualified rugby referee and kept on refereeing well into middle age. He always stated that his cricket team was destroyed by whoever had them the following year, even if they performed better. Despite that, he was always interested in following the students' fortunes. He worked hard as teacher, sports master and prefect.

In both Colleges the students affectionately knew him as 'Butch'. He taught religion, mathematics and Latin in the middle school, and drilled them in the basics of these disciplines. Tables and vocabulary were regularly tested; a mistaken answer required a strap on the hand, no questions asked. He had some difficulty teaching 'the new mathematics', and kept to his well-tried paths, much to the frustration of the college administrators. He remained a traditional teacher.

Even in his understanding of religion, he did not appreciate the changes of Vatican II. He communicated well with students probably because of his honesty and common sense. As division prefect at Riverview he was appreciated for the way he communicated a sense of freedom that few were ever tempted to abuse.

He also spent 1957-61 working in the parish of Toowong, Queensland, and one year, 1962, at St Leo's University College, Queensland, which was not a happy experience.

Connolly was a classic schoolsman. He enjoyed the company of his students, especially from the younger years, some of whom he would engage in conversation after school for hours. He was a very priestly companion. Many of his former students enjoyed his company and sought his advice.

He held opinions fiercely, defended the stray sheep, and put down those he considered arrogant. He was a kind man, faithful to his Jesuit life, but somewhat eccentric in his bachelor ways. He found it very difficult to either dine or recreate with the community at large, yet was a good companion, one-to-one. One could enjoy his lively banter and loud laugh. He was faithful to early morning Mass in local convents for years, even if that meant that the recipients were exposed to his own kind of rubrics. He kept many prayers of the Tridentine Mass. He and the sacristan at St Aloysius' College, Madge Hogan, had a great affection for each other, and she would tell him to behave himself at the altar and not to preach too long.

For the last five years of his life, Connolly resided at Mount St Margaret's hospital. During these years he lost connection with reality through Alzheimer's disease and needed constant care. He did not recognise his visitors, and his conversations made little sense. He finally died from cancer. It was a sad end to a man who had been a much-appreciated character in better days.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)