Rev Thomas O'Brien
Title:
Rev
First Name:
Thomas
Middle Names:
Alphonsus William
Preferred Name:
Surname:
O'Brien
Order:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Newtown Hall, Clarina, Co Limerick
Country of Birth:
Ireland
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Country of Ordination:
Ordination Diocese:
Seminary:
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Sydney NSW
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Rookwood NSW
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns | Cooktown | Campbell | |||||||
| Armidale | Armidale | 1907 | Campbell | ||||||
| Armidale | Tamworth | Assistant Priest | 1907 | Campbell | |||||
| Armidale | Werris Creek | Parish Priest | Jul | 1918 | Apr | 1926 | Campbell; Gravestone | ||
| Sydney | Oak Hill | Chaplain, De La Salle College | Campbell |
Biographical Notes
T.W. Campbell, The Priests of the Diocese of Armidale: A Necrology, Braddon ACT, 2005:
O'Brien, Thomas Alphonsus
Born at Newtown Hall, Clarina, Co Limerick, Ireland in 1870 he entered the Order of Saint Augustine, undertaking his novitiate at Orlagh, Ireland. Date of ordination is unknown. He was assigned to the Augustinian diocese of North Queensland, working at Cooktown, where he served for ten years, until released from the Order, when he was attached to the Armidale diocese, his first placement being to Armidale. In 1907 he transferred to Tamworth as assistant priest, and was then appointed as the first parish priest of Werris Creek when the parish was established in July 1918. He lived in the sacristy of his church for the first five years, taking meals in the hotel, until a presbytery was built in 1923. He resigned from the parish in April 1926 because of ill health, and was succeeded by John McDermott. He then moved to Sydney where he lived until his death at Parramatta, then Croydon, then finally for some months as chaplain at De La Salle College, Oak Hill. He was described as a fluent and powerful preacher, and a man of very quiet disposition. He died on 9 May 1937 at Lewisham Hospital. His funeral service was conducted at St Thomas' Church, Lewisham, and he was buried at Rookwood cemetery. A sister in the Grafton Sisters of Mercy, Sr M Elizabeth, was his only relative in Australia.
(Sources: FJ 13 May 1937 p 26, Foley, MDHC A-Z O25).
(Reproduced by permission of Tom Campbell.)