Rev James Cleary SJ
Title:
Rev
First Name:
James
Middle Names:
Preferred Name:
Surname:
Cleary
Order:
SJ
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Co Waterford
Country of Birth:
Ireland
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Country of Ordination:
Ordination Diocese:
Seminary:
St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Sevenhill SA
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Jesuit Crypt, Sevenhill SA
Country of Burial:
Australia
Find A Grave URL:
Appointments Table
Diocese | Place | Role | Start Day | Start Month | Start Year | End Day | End Month | End Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | Sydney | St Aloysius | 1890 | Linane Vol 2 | |||||
| Melbourne | Hawthorn | 1891 | Linane Vol 2 | ||||||
| Sydney | North Sydney | 1891 | 1893 | Linane Vol 2 | |||||
| Melbourne | Melbourne | St Patrick's College | 1897 | 1899 | Linane Vol 2 | ||||
| Sydney | Sydney | St Aloysius College | 1901 | 1902 | Linane Vol 2 | ||||
| Sydney | Riverview | St Ignatius College | 1905 | 1906 | Linane Vol 2 | ||||
| Adelaide | Sevenhill | 1907 | Linane Vol 2 | ||||||
| Adelaide | Norwood | 1915 | Linane Vol 2 |
Biographical Notes
Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2: Biographies of Priests on the Australian Scene up to 1900, 1980, p 48:
Cleary, James, SJ, Irish, Golden Jubilarian
Jesuit Octogenarian
Nothing positive is known of the man's character, but we can presume worthiness when a Golden Jubilee of service and the four score have been attained. James was born in Tipperary on 10 May 1841. Education for the Jesuit life was acquired at Clongoweswood, Milltown (Jesuit Houses in Dublin), and Louvain. Directory tracings after arrival are: St. Aloysius, Bourke St., Sydney (1890), Hawthorn (1891), St. Mary's North Sydney 1891-3, St. Patrick's College, Melbourne (1897) (1899); St. Ignatius' College, Riverview (1905)(1906), St. Aloysius, Bourke St., Sydney (1901)(1902), Sevenhill (1907). No directory entries in 1909, 1912, may indicate absence overseas, but more likely a compilation error. Next tracing is Norwood (1915), and at about this period he sustained a bout of ill-health. Retirement years were spent in the quiet atmosphere of Sevenhill. Diabetes and heart trouble accounted for his death there on 23 August 1921. I may have erred in stating that James was born in Tipperary. Another entry on the file indicates County Waterford.
(Footprints, Vol. 2, No. 5)
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Fr David Strong SJ, The Australian dictionary of Jesuit biography 1848-2015, Second Edition, 2017:
Cleary, James
Teacher and pastor; born Waterford, Ireland, 10 May 1841; died Sevenhill, South Australia, 22 August 1921, aged 80.
James Cleary entered the Society as a diocesan priest, 7 September 1866, having studied at Maynooth. His noviciate was completed at Milltown Park, 1866-68, rhetoric studies at St Acheul, France, 1869, and theology at Louvain, 1869-70. He taught at Clongowes Wood College, 1870-71. He was in parish ministry in Glasgow, Scotland, 1871-76, before tertianship in Castres, 1876-77. From 1878-82 he was a rural missioner giving retreats, and then taught at the Crescent, Limerick, 1882-85.
His first appointment in Australia was to Xavier College, 1885-86, followed by a few years, 1886-90 and 1900-1902 at St Aloysius' College, Bourke St. However, most of his priestly life in Australia was in parish ministry at Hawthorn, 1890-91, North Sydney, 1891-94, and Richmond, 1894-95. He taught again at St Patrick's College, 1895-1900, and at Riverview, 1904-6, but spent 1903-4 and 1907-13 at St Ignatius' parish, Norwood. His final work and residence was at Sevenhill, 1913-21.
He seemed to have been an unsettled person, moving from one residence to another with much regularity. In later life he was much troubled with scruples.
(Reproduced by permission of Fr David Strong SJ.)