Monsignor Stephen O'Brien
Title:
Monsignor
First Name:
Stephen
Middle Names:
Preferred Name:
Surname:
O'Brien
Order:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary
Country of Birth:
Ireland
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Waterford
Country of Ordination:
Ireland
Ordination Diocese:
Armidale
Seminary:
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
North Sydney NSW
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Manilla 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armidale | Armidale | Assistant Priest | 1920 | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell | |||||
| Armidale | Tamworth | Assistant Priest | 1923 | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell | |||||
| Armidale | Mungindi | Locum Tenens | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell | ||||||
| Armidale | Cathedral | Assistant Priest | 1928 | 1929 | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell | ||||
| Armidale | Cathedral | Administrator | 1929 | 1935 | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell | ||||
| Armidale | Moree | Parish Priest | 1935 | 1944 | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell | ||||
| Armidale | Manilla | Parish Priest | 1944 | Jan | 1967 | Catholic Leader, 2 February 1967; Campbell |
Biographical Notes
Monsignor S. O'Brien Dies in Hospital, Catholic Leader, Brisbane, 2 February 1967, p 30:
Sydney.—Monsignor Stephen O'Brien, parish priest of Manilla, in the Armidale diocese, New South Wales, for the past 23 years, died at the Mater Private Hospital, North Sydney, on January 19.
More than 500 including 47 priests were at the Requiem Mass held in his own parish Church of St. Michael's.
Many non-Catholics attended including the Ministers of the Anglican and Methodist Churches.
Born at Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, in 1896, he studied at Clonmel under the Christian Brothers and later went to St. John's College, Waterford, where he was ordained a priest in 1918 at the very early age of 21 years and six months.
Arrived in 1920
He arrived in the Diocese of Armidale in 1920 and his first appointment was at Armidale as assistant priest.
In 1923 he was appointed assistant priest at Tamworth and from there he went to Mungindi as Locum Tenens.
In 1928 he returned to Armidale as assistant at the Cathedral and on the appointment of the late Bishop Coleman as Coadjutor Bishop, Monsignor O'Brien, became the Administrator of the Cathedral in 1929.
In 1935 he was appointed parish priest of Moree where he remained until 1944 and during his pastorship of that parish he was responsible for the erection of a new presbytery.
In 1944 he was transferred to Manilla.
In 1954 Monsignor O'Brien was made a Diocesan Consultor and was created a Domestic Prelate in 1955.
He was also a member of the Diocesan Church Trust, a Synodal Judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal and a Parish Priest Consultor.
Monsignor O'Brien was buried in the grounds of his parish church thus complying with one of his last requests. R.I.P.
---
T.W. Campbell, The Priests of the Diocese of Armidale: A Necrology, Braddon ACT, 2005:
O'Brien, Stephen
Born 4 October 1895 at Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary, Ireland. He was educated by the Christian Brothers Clonmel, and studied at St John's Seminary Waterford. He was ordained on 17 June 1917 with Francis Hogan. The Manilla newspaper quotes James Healy at the funeral Mass saying he was ordained in 1918, and his headstone incorrectly says he was ordained on 18 May 1918. He did not arrive in the diocese until March 1920 because of problems gaining shipping berths. He arrived in Sydney on 8 March 1920 on Osterley. He was assistant priest at Armidale, then Tamworth, then returned to the cathedral parish as Administrator. In 1935 he was appointed parish priest Moree, and in 1944 transferred to Manilla, where he remained until his death. In 1955 he was appointed a Domestic Prelate (Monsignor). He died on 18 January 1967 and was buried in the church grounds at Manilla. The date of his death is shown in various places as 11 January, 18 January (headstone) and 19 January. The correct date is 18 January 1967.
(Sources: FJ 23 Aug 1917 p19, 11 Mar 1920 p 22, 8 Apr 1920 p 17, Manilla Historical Society records, NSW Probate records).
(Reproduced by permission of Tom Campbell.)