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:
Very Rev Robert Dunne, died 13 Jan 1917

Born at Lismore, Co.Waterford in Ireland in 1830, he studied at Irish College in Rome and was ordained in 1854. Fr Dunne had quite a stormy past in Australia. According to Anne McLay's book on Quinn, Dunne had been the first priest to take up residence on an Australian goldfield at Ballarat. He had been part of a trio of clergy that had caused Bishop Goold of Melbourne continued trouble, mostly in connection with the collection and disposal of funds at his own discretion. Dunne went back to Ireland where he became President of St Laurence's School for local youth and missionaries to Australia, in Dublin. At Dr O'Quinn's invitation he chose Queensland for his missionary field, arriving in Brisbane in 1863 with the offer of being the agent for Quinn's Queensland Immigration Society. In July 1866 he accompanied Bishop Quinn to Dalby for the opening of the new church there. Robert Dunne was Parish Priest of Toowoomba from 1868-1881. During his time there, he was greatly responsible for settling areas of Toowoomba by advertising vast tracts of land that the Government was offering for sale. This brought many people in to settle. When he left Toowoomba to become the second Bishop of Brisbane, the Catholic population was estimated at 2,000. He became the first Archbishop of Brisbane in 1882 and served in that role until his death in 1917. Archbishop Dunne was known as a statesman and a scholar, a saintly cleric and prelate, a beloved priest and an inspired preacher. He is buried in St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane.
(Ref. Archives)

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.

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Denis M. Long, Pioneer and Early Priests, Archdiocese of Brisbane, Deceased or retired by 1929, 2021, pp 150-152:
Most Rev Robert Dunne

This is a short story on the life of Archbishop Robert Dunne. I recommend to all readers Rev Dr Neil Byrne's biography - Robert Dunne Archbishop of Brisbane.

Robert Dunne was born in his father's family home at Ardfinnan in County Tipperary on 5 September 1830. His father David was a shoe-maker. His mother Ellen was a Power from Waterford. The father conducted his shoe business in Lismore. As a family home in Lismore had not yet been built Ellen and the children were living with David's parents when Robert was born.

From the age of eight to fifteen, Robert Dunne attended private classical schools in Lismore. His commercial and literary education continued at home. At fourteen years of age he made a retreat at Mt Melleray in preparation for his first communion. There he decided that, like his brother, he also was being called religiously, whether as a monk, missionary, or diocesan priest he was not sure. His later ministry would embody elements of all three vocations.(1)

In October 1845 at the age of fifteen Robert arrived as a student at the Irish college in Rome. Rome was his home for nine years. He was ordained a priest on 4 October 1854.

His first appointment was as a teacher at Dr James Quinn's St Laurence O'Toole's school in Dublin. After nine years at that college Robert responded to an invitation from James Quinn to join him in the Brisbane mission. He sailed aboard the Great Victoria from Liverpool on 10 September 1863. The vessel reached Port Philip Bay on 26 November. Dr Robert Dunne arrived in Brisbane aboard the steamship Telegraph on Friday 10 December. On the feast of St Stephen, just two weeks after his arrival, Robert Dunne attended the laying of the foundation stone of a new cathedral.

Dunne was appointed administrator of the cathedral and secretary to Bishop Quinn. One of his duties was to audit parish finances and see that Quinn's strict rules were carried out.

He was grief stricken when twelve months after his arrival he received news of the death of his mother and two years later that of his sister Ellen, in religion Sister Mary Ignatius.

Fr Dunne spent five years in Brisbane. He faced many difficult and embarrassing situations brought on, in part, by the authoritarianism of the bishop Quinn.

In 1868 he was appointed priest-in-charge of the Toowoomba mission. The bishop hoped that his vicar-general could heal problems in the Darling Downs. Five priests from that region, who had rebelled against their bishop, had left the diocese. At first his monastic style of life kept him from the people and civil society. Then he began a visitation of his people. This opened his eyes and made him a pastoral priest who was loved by his people.

In 1868 Dunne had arrived in Toowoomba a disillusioned man longing to return home to Ireland. By 1880 he had become an Australian.(2)

The volatile relationship with his bishop continued. While respecting Quinn, and having a fondness for him, Dunne disagreed with him on many issues. They grew apart. In 1875 Dunne was demoted from the role of vicar-general. In May 1880 he requested permission to holiday in Ireland. Bishop O'Quinn took this as a resignation. No matter how much Dunne tried to clarify that he was not resigning the bishop did not listen. Dr Dunne left Toowoomba for Sydney by train on 28 February 1881 and then sailed from Sydney for Ireland in March.

Dr Dunne gave a wonderful speech at his farewell from Toowoomba two nights before his departure. It was quoted in full in The Toowoomba press.(3) Dr Neil Byrne gives an excellent summation of this speech.

In a farewell address to his people, Dunne reflected on his Darling Downs experience and articulated the pastoral strategies essential for successful Christian ministry, in an Australian context. Firstly, it was necessary to develop a more intimate relationship between priest and people than existed in Ireland. They must regard each other as members of same family. This would make it easier on the people to accept the priest's many shortcomings and to share with him the heavy burden of evangelisation in extensive rural parishes. The first fruit of such cooperation would be the rich participation in the church's sacramental life which Dunne had observed in Toowoomba. Secondly, the priest should consider it his duty to see that his people secure fixed dwellings, just as the superiority of Greek culture rested ultimately on the concept of the hearthstone, so too the home was the foundation of all religion and for Christians by far the greatest channel of God's grace. The church had a duty to educate and civilise the rising generations but would achieve its purpose better through the promotion of Christian homes than the building of schools, convents and churches. Christian homesteads now abounded on the Darling Downs. In them parents accepted the responsibility of teaching their children the faith and, by so doing, constantly deepened their own understanding of it. Finally, the priest must do all he could to promote good feelings towards all creeds and classes. Sectarian bitterness arose from the misapprehensions of those outside a denomination. The only remedy was the witness of a good life. Sometimes tension was caused by lavish public displays of Irish catholicity. Such insensitivity to the feelings of other colonists should be checked. Most frequently sectarian fires were fanned in Queensland by those whose interests were best served by destroying the solidarity of the small farmers. In nearly every social and political question catholic and protestant selectors were in the same boat. If they pulled together, they would advance. If they allowed themselves to be divided, and sought to destroy one another's influence, their common interest would suffer. More than any other single, factor, toleration was the key to social progress.(4)

This gives us an insight into the mentality of Dunne's ministry as a parish priest and a bishop.

When Dunne arrived in Ireland he was considering seeking admittance to Mt Melleray as a monk. Dr Byrne shows us the mind of Dunne in his summation of Dunne's correspondence with friends and family between 1877 and 1881.

The monk's detachment from material things was a practical act of faith in a future life. The witness of contemplation was greatly needed in the 19th century when temptations against faith were so strong. The parish clergy were impotent to combat them for they were victims of materialism. They preached, prayed and sang hymns but their lifestyle spoke of a great love of the world. The contemplative monk, whose hard physical labour attracted no recompense save what is to be given beyond the grave were the strongest living proof of Christian faith.(5)

On 18 August 1881 James O'Quinn died in Brisbane. In spite of the difficulties in his relationship with bishop Quinn, Dunne was grief stricken at the death of one with whom he had worked so closely for over 20 years. On 19 December 1881 it was announced that Dunne had been nominated as the new bishop of Brisbane. At that time Dunne was at sea aboard the Surat having sailed from Venice to return to Australia. He only heard the news on 26 December when the Surat berthed in Adelaide. On arriving in Sydney on 31 December(6) Dunne spent two months discerning whether he should accept the appointment. His first thoughts were of refusal.

He returned to Brisbane on 20 March 1882. Dr Byrne quotes his words at his reception.

To the mass of the people ... I consider my mission to be - To help the grown Irish Catholic to a home and settled life, to a spirit of thorough sociality with his fellow colonist; to educate the children, from the highest to the very lowest stratum that Christ died for; to make the flock to which Christ's Vicar has sent me such that I may one day be able to present them to Him who purchased them so dearly.(7)

He was consecrated bishop of Brisbane on 18 June 1882. In 1887 Brisbane was raised to the status of a metropolitan see when Rockhampton was designated as Brisbane's only suffragan see.

Dr Neil Byrne in his biography of Dunne covers highs and lows of the twenty years during which Dunne worked tirelessly as bishop and then archbishop of Brisbane. It would rash of me to try to write about those years that Dr Byrne covers so finely in chapters 7 and 8 of his work.

From the early 1890s Archbishop Dunne struggled with his health. James Duhig who served as bishop of Rockhampton from 1906 often visited Brisbane to fill in for the aging and frail Dunne. In 1912 Duhig was appointed coadjutor archbishop with the right of succession. The young coadjutor presided at many liturgical functions in the diocese: the blessing and opening of churches, schools, presbyteries, convents and the administration of the sacrament of confirmation.

For the first three years Dunne gave no authority in major decisions or access to the archdiocesan cheque book until 1915 when the ageing archbishop passed over most responsibilities to his young coadjutor.

After fifty-three years in the diocese and 34 years of devoted ministry as bishop and archbishop and in his eighty-seventh year Robert Dunne died at his home, the new Dara, at ten minutes before noon on 13 January 1917. May he rest in peace.

Footnotes
1. Neil J Byrne, Robert Dunne Archbishop of Brisbane, 1991, pp. 8-10.
2. Ibid, p.104.
3. Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs General Advertiser, 27 Jan 1881, p. 2.
4. Neil J Byrne, op. cit. pp. 107-108.
5. Neil J Byrne, op cit. p 113.
6. Sydney Morning Herald, 2 Jan 1882, p.3.
7. Neil J Byrne, op. cit. p. 131.

Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Long.