Anthony John Ireland (born 28 April 1957) is an Australian

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishop. He has served as an Auxiliary Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne is a Latin Church, Latin Rite Metropolitan Diocese, metropolitan archdiocese in Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Erected initially in 1847 as the Diocese of ...

since 2021. His episcopal consecration took place on 13 July 2021. He previously served as parish priest of St Gregory the Great Parish, in Doncaster, Victoria. On 20 June 2025, Ireland was appointed by Pope Leo XIV as the new Archbishop of Hobart, Tasmania, after the retirement of Archbishop Julian Porteus.

Early life

Ireland was born in East Melbourne, just a short walk from

St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of Saint Patrick (colloquially St Patrick's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Peter Comensol ...

. He was the eldest of three children and grew up in Caulfield, in Melbourne's inner south, in a home that fostered Catholic life and culture. The family attended Mass weekly, prayed the rosary daily and they were all involved in local sodalities. He received his primary education at St. Aloysius, Caulfield and secondary education at De La Salle College, Malvern, run by the

De La Salle Brothers The De La Salle Brothers, officially named the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (; ; ) abbreviated FSC, is a Catholic lay religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in France by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle ( ...

. After graduating, he began work for

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank Limited (abbreviated NAB, branded and stylised as nab) is one of the four largest Banking in Australia, financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "Big Four (banking), The Big Four") in terms of mar ...

and later worked for the

City of Hawthorn The City of Hawthorn was a local government area about east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the southeast bank of the Yarra River. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1994. History Hawthorn w ...

. He applied for seminary at Corpus Christi College in Clayton in his early 20s and entered in 1981.

Priesthood

Ireland was ordained to the priesthood on 19 September 1987, by Archbishop of Melbourne Thomas Frank Little at St. Patrick's, Cathedral, Melbourne. Following his ordination, he did a short summer appointment at Nazareth Parish Grovedale and Torquay before his first permanent appointment as assistant priest at St. Patrick's Mentone. He then served as assistant priest at Sacred Heart, Sandringham. In August 1995, he moved to St Jude's Parish, Langwarrin, firstly as administrator, and then as parish priest for a total of seven years. Later he would concurrently be parish priest at St Francis Xavier in Frankston. He also served as Dean of the Peninsula Deanery. In 1990, he was asked to study in Rome where he studied both Moral and Spiritual Theology and was awarded higher degrees in both. Later, Archbishop Denis Hart invited him to undertake doctoral studies which were completed at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome where the doctorate was awarded Summa cum Laude. From 2009 to 2021, he served as parish priest of St Gregory the Great Parish, in Doncaster.

Episcopate

Ireland was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

on 14 May 2021 and was given the titular see of Carinola in Italy. He was consecrated by Archbishop

Peter Comensoli Peter Andrew Comensoli (born 25 March 1964) is an Australian Catholic prelate who was named the ninth Archbishop of Melbourne on 29 June 2018. He had been serving as the third Bishop of Broken Bay in New South Wales since December 2014. F ...

on 31 July 2021 in St. Patrick's, Cathedral, Melbourne. On 20 June 2025, Ireland was appointed by Pope Leo XIV as the new Archbishop of Hobart, Tasmania, after the retirement of Archbishop Julian Porteus.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, Anthony Living people 1957 births Australian Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Melbourne 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Bishops appointed by Pope Leo XIV