Rev Timothy O'Connor
Title:
Rev
First Name:
Timothy
Middle Names:
Preferred Name:
Surname:
O'Connor
Order:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Country of Birth:
Ireland
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Country of Ordination:
Ireland
Ordination Diocese:
Seminary:
All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Richmond NSW
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Nudgee, Brisbane QLD
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | Toowoomba | Curate | Feb | 1925 | Toowoomba Prayer Calendar; Toowoomba Chronicle, 6 February 1925; Priests of 1928 | ||||
| Brisbane | Cathedral | Director, Holy Name Cathedral Appeal | 1930 | 1941 | Toowoomba Prayer Calendar; Priests of 1928 | ||||
| Brisbane | Beaudesert | Parish Priest | 1941 | Toowoomba Prayer Calendar; Priests of 1928 | |||||
| Brisbane | Nanango | Parish Priest | 1944 | 1946 | Toowoomba Prayer Calendar; Priests of 1928 | ||||
| Brisbane | Brisbane | Chaplain, Mater Hospital | 1946 | 1958 | Toowoomba Prayer Calendar; Priests of 1928 | ||||
| Brisbane | Ipswich Road | Feb | 1925 | Toowoomba Chronicle, 6 February 1925, |
Biographical Notes
Personal, Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette, 6 February 1925, p 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article253909097:
It was with deep regret that the clergy and parishioners of St. Patrick's Church, Toowoomba, learned of the transfer of Rev. T. O'Connor, till lately senior curate there, to the Metropolitan parish of Ipswich Road. His zeal in visiting the parishioners, especially the sick, and his eloquence in the pulpit endeared him to all. It is not generally known that the departing clergyman is a noted contributor to literary journals and that more than one volume of his poems has found favour with the public. We wish him God-speed to his new home.
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Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, pp 106-107:
Timothy O'Connor
A key man in Archbishop Duhig's plans for 1928 was Fr Timothy O'Connor, for he was appointed Director of the Holy Name Cathedral Appeal.
Tim had been born in Ireland, ordained in 1907 and served as a World War I Chaplain when he arrived in the Brisbane Archdiocese in 1921. For a time he served in Toowoomba before he was called to headquarters to become known around the Cathedral and St Patrick's. The reason was his appointment as organizer of fund-collecting for the Holy Name Cathedral.
Tom Boland describes his success: 'Fr O'Connor was a man of imagination and he fancied himself as a man of letters. His theology was a little shaky. He set himself to compose an appeal that would wring the last shilling out of every pew in the State. Duhig was taken aback at the results, corrected several drafts, but finally let go such a call to simony ...'
Fr Tim also had some verse published in The Catholic Leader from time to time. After work on the Crypt ground to a halt, he went as Parish Priest to Beaudesert, and then Nanango in 1946. Drink appears to have caused a problem but did not impair his capacity for doing much good, particularly as Mater Chaplain from 1946 to 1958.
He was, by this time, 74 and suffered a health collapse. Thereafter he was cared for at the St John of God Hospital at Richmond in Northern New South Wales. He died there on 17th January 1962. Burial at Nudgee followed Mass at St Stephen's.
(Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Martin.)
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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:
Rev T O'Connor, Unknown date of death
Served in Roma in the 1920s
Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.
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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:
Rev Timothy O'Connor, died 17 Jan 1962
Timothy O'Connor was born on 14 July 1884, in Ireland. Seminary studies were undertaken at All Hallows, Dublin, and on their completion he was ordained priest in Ireland on 24 June 1907. During World War I, he was an army chaplain. He arrived in Brisbane in May 1921; and, as a priest of the Archdiocese, served in the following places: assistant priest, Toowoomba, Fortitude Valley (there 1926), St Stephen's Cathedral [as Director of the Holy Name Cathedral appeal] (there 1930-1941); parish priest, Beaudesert (1941-????), Nanango (1944-1946); chaplain, Mater Hospital, Brisbane (1946-1958). Sadly, Timothy O'Connor was one of those priests who suffer both from alcoholism and from the vicissitudes of drink. This occasioned his removal, first to the Cathedral staff, and then to the Mater Hospital. In time, he also became incapable of carrying out these duties. Yet, his life was not without influence: when, in 1991, on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee of Ordination to the Priesthood, Mgr. Grantly Lake [q.v.] spoke of the priests who had influenced him in the choice of his vocation, he made special mention of the inspiration he received from Timothy O'Connor. He died, a burnt out case, at St John of God Hospital, Richmond, NSW, on Wednesday, 17 January 1962. He was buried in Nudgee Cemetery, Brisbane, at the conclusion of Requiem Mass in St Stephen's Cathedral. Archbishop Duhig presided and preached; and the celebrant of the Mass was Mgr. D. Dee. May his soul rest in peace.
(Ref. Dr Christopher Hanlon, Brisbane)
Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.