Joseph Patrick Slattery, CM (21 May 1866 – 31 March 1931) was an Irish-born physicist, radiologist, Catholic priest, pioneer in the field of radiography in Australia and credited with the first use of fluoroscopy in Australia. Born in 1866 in

Waterford, Ireland Waterford ( ) is a city in County Waterford in the south-east of Ireland. It is located within the province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford Harbour. It is the oldestwireless radio and was the first to install a wireless set west of the Blue Mountains. He was an early pioneer of radio in Australia and found delight in building radio sets. Slattery built an X-ray practice at

Bathurst Bathurst may refer to: People * Bathurst (surname) * Bathurst Bellers Mann (1858–1948), Irish-born rugby union player in Wales * Bathurst Peachy (1893–1953), American college head baseball coach Places and jurisdictions Australia * Bat ...

and local doctors benefited greatly from this convenience. He performed mission work for the Vincentian fathers and toured Australia and New Zealand to serve the faithful. Slattery was superior of the Vincentian

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

at Eastwood. He was appointed vice-rector of St. John's College at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. At Springwood and Manly, he was spiritual director of the seminaries for 6 years. Slattery performed parish work for the last three years of his life. In 1931, he died and was buried in

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating cemetery from the ...

at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Editor. (2 April 1931). 0bituary of Father Joseph Slattery, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', pg. 21.

Life and times

Joseph Patrick Slattery was born in 1866 at

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, Ireland, the son of John and Hanna ( Walsh) Slattery. He attended

Waterpark College Waterpark College is a secondary school in the city of Waterford, Ireland. The school was established in 1892 on the banks of the River Suir as Waterford's first Classical school, and provides a secondary education to boys and girls from Waterfo ...

, a Christian Brothers' College (Waterford) and then St. Vincent's College, Castleknock (Dublin) from 1877 to 1886. At St Vincent's, he fell under the tutelage of Father Richard Bodkin, CM. Father Bodkin had an excellent science laboratory that included a Callan battery from noted Irish priest, scientist and inventor Father

Nicholas Callan Nicholas Joseph Callan (22 December 1799 – 10 January 1864) was an Irish physicist and Catholic priest known for his work on the induction coil. Early life and education He was born and raised in Dundalk, County Louth, where he attended scho ...

. In 1886, Slattery achieved honours in experimental physics from his university examinations. On 7 September 1886, he entered St. Joseph's, the Vincentian

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

in Dublin, Ireland.Wilkinson, John P. (1987). Father Joseph Patrick Slattery, CM (1866–1931). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography. Australian National University.Bourke, D.F. (1982). ''The History of the Vincentian Fathers in Australasia. Congregation of the Mission''.

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...

. Slattery was offered a position as professor at St. Stanislaus' College in

, Australia. He left Dublin and arrived in Sydney on 29 November 1888. On 1 January 1889, he took over as headmaster and joined the Vincentian staff to assist with the operation of the College. He taught courses in the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

, in particular

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. He continued

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor