Echuca, Tatura, Geelong, Bendigo, etc, Vic

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Sad End for Fr Daniel O'Connell, Sandhurst Diocesan Historical Commission, c. 2014-2016, now available at https://web.archive.org/web/20160304144004/http://www.sandhurst.catholic.org.au/index.php/a-short-history12/from-the-archives/item/811-sad-end-for-fr-daniel-oconnell:

Fr Daniel Francis O’Connell was one of six priests in the Diocese of Sandhurst when Bishop Crane arrived in the newly created diocese in May 1875.

Dan O’Connell was born in County Kerry, Ireland in July 1847 at a time when the great famine was causing devastation throughout the country. After studies at All Hallow’s College, he was ordained to the priesthood in June 1870 and left almost immediately to join the Diocese of Melbourne which at that time covered all of Victoria.

By February 1871, he had arrived in Sandhurst (Bendigo) to assist Dr Backhaus in the large mission area for which he was responsible.

Several other priests had occupied this role previously, and all had left after various periods because they were unable to work with Dr Backhaus, who basically did not want an assistant!

It was not long before disagreements again arose but Bishop Goold insisted that Fr O’Connell remain. About mid-1874, the new Diocese of Sandhurst was formed with the Irish priest Fr Martin Crane OSA named Bishop and Dr Backhaus as Vicar-General. Soon after appointment as Vicar-General, Dr Backhaus transferred Fr O’Connell to Echuca.

For the next three years, Fr O’Connell ministered in the area which included Rochester, Kyabram and Pyramid Hill.

It was an onerous mission as much travelling was involved. After this, he was back at Sandhurst. There were several priests there, including Dr Backhaus, who was to retire to live in Melbourne in late 1881.

In early September 1882, Dr Backhaus returned to Sandhurst and died a few days later.

Fr O’Connell was required to make arrangements for the funeral as the Bishop had gone overseas – he was to be absent for four years – and the Vicar-General Dr Reville was away in Sydney, although he arrived back a few hours before the funeral on September 11.

Three years later, Fr O’Connell was moved to Nagambie to assist Fr Kearns.

He was afforded a farewell from Sandhurst by prominent citizens and presented with a gift of 235 sovereigns, a large sum of money at the time. Fr Kearns later reported that his assistant’s time there was most unhappy.

In 1889, he was moved to Tatura to be resident priest responsible for a large area. He was there until August 1895,at which time he left the diocese, and next appears in Perth in June 1896. A few months later he was on the Kalgoorlie goldfield. He ministered in a number of small towns, with such strange names as Black Flag, Dead Finish and Broad Arrow. The following year, he was at Bussleton but left West Australia shortly afterwards and went to New Zealand. Ships’ passenger lists record his leaving New Zealand in March 1899.

For many years prior to this, Fr O’Connell had been addicted to alcohol. In that era, the standard response by the church to those with personal problems was to transfer them elsewhere and so it was this that led to Fr O’Connell’s departure from the diocese of Sandhurst. Further practice as a priest depended on acceptance by another bishop. It appears that 1899 was the last year that Fr O’Connell practiced as a priest.

For the rest of his life, he lived privately in a number of places – Bendigo for a few years around 1910, then in Inglewood and Ballarat in 1919. By early 1923 his health had deteriorated and in April, he was admitted to the Bendigo Benevolent Asylum on the recommendation of Fr Thomas Rooney, the parish priest of St Kilian’s at that time.

It was there that he died on September 10, 1923. It was a sad end to a life that he first embarked on over 50 years previously.

The church culture of the time regarded it as a disgrace and a scandal for a priest to leave his sacred role and everything was done to prevent public knowledge of it.

This is illustrated by the fact that his record at the Benevolent Asylum lists his occupation as labourer and as far as can be ascertained, there was no public acknowledgement of his death.

As no photograph of Fr O’Connell has been located, our picture shows the headstone on his grave in the Bendigo cemetery, with his names in reverse order and an error in the date of death.

by Mal Nolan
Sandhurst Diocesan Historical Commission