John Gallagher (bishop)


John Gallagher
3rd Bishop of Goulburn
ChurchCatholic Church
ProvinceSydney
SeeGoulburn
Appointed25 March 1895 (Coadjutor)
Installed13 June 1900
Term ended26 November 1923
PredecessorWilliam Lanigan
SuccessorJohn Barry
Previous postCoadjutor Bishop of Goulburn (1895-1900)
Orders
Ordination1 November 1869, Maynooth
by William Lanigan
Consecration7 July 1895, Goulburn
by Patrick Francis Moran
Personal details
BornJohn Gallagher
(1846-07-04)July 4, 1846
Castlederg, Ireland
DiedNovember 27, 1923(1923-11-27) (aged 77)
BuriedCathedral of Sts Peter and Paul, Goulburn
NationalityIrish Australian
DenominationRoman Catholic
Styles of
John Gallagher
Reference styleThe Right Reverend
Spoken styleMy Lord
Religious styleBishop

Bishop John Gallagher (1846–1923) was an Irish born priest who served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Goulburn, Australia.[1] Born in Castlederg, Ireland, in 1846, he was ordained in 1869 for the diocese of Goulburn by the Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Moran.[2] He served as a priest in Goulburn, Dr Gallagher a noted classicist,[3] taught at St Patrick's College, Goulburn, where he served as president of the college from 1875 until 1888.[4] Dr Gallagher was appointed Titular Bishop of Adrassus, co-adjutor Bishop of Goulburn and in 1900 Bishop of Goulburn. In 1916 he laid the foundation stone of Sacred Heart Church, Cootamundra.[5]

Depiction in Literature

"John O'Brien"'s 1921 comic poem, 'Tangmalangaloo', in which a bishop visiting a remote bush school asks a boy what Christmas is and receives the reply "It's the day before the races out at Tangmalangaloo" is a true story of a visit by Gallagher to Tangmangaroo.[6]

Death

Bishop Gallagher died in Goulburn on 26 November 1923, after a long illness. A requiem mass was celebrated on 29 November and, similarly to his predecessor Bishop Lanigan, Bishop Gallagher was interred beneath the sanctuary of the Goulburn Cathedral.

References

  1. ^ Former Bishops Diocese Goulburn
  2. ^ Bishop Gallagher Catholic Hierarchy.
  3. ^ Walsh, G. P. (1983). "Patrick Joseph Hartigan (1878–1952)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  4. ^ "BISHOP GALLAGHER AT TEMORA". Freeman's Journal. Vol. XLVIII, no. 3059. New South Wales, Australia. 21 August 1897. p. 18. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  5. ^ They built the Cathedral
  6. ^ Mecham, J.A. (1981). "The biography of 'John O'Brien': Father Patrick Hartigan". Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 7 (1): 24–27.