Matthew Quinn (29 May 1821 in Eadestown,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

– 16 January 1885 in Bathurst,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

), an Australian

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

, was the first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Bathurst, New South Wales. Dr Quinn was appointed to the role by Archbishop Polding in 1865 and served until his death in 1885.

Early years and background

The youngest son of Matthew Quinn, a farmer, and his wife, Mary, Quinn was educated in Dublin before entering the Propaganda College in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1837, studying for the priesthood before transferring to the

Pontifical Irish College The Pontifical Irish College is a Catholic Church, Catholic seminary in Rome for the training and education of priests. The college is located at #1, Via dei Santi Quattro, and serves as a residence for clerical students from all over the world ...

in 1839 where he graduated with a doctorate in sacred theology in 1845. Ordained a priest in 1847 in the Church of St John Lateran in Rome, Quinn worked as a missionary in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

with Bishop Daniel Murphy for eight years; returning to Ireland and became vice-president of St. Lawrence O'Toole's Seminary, Dublin; where his brother James was President. Quinn succeeded as President in 1859 on James' appointment as Bishop of Queensland. For the next six years, Quinn supported James through the organisation of shiploads of Irish migrants to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Roman Catholic Bishop of Bathurst

Consecrated by Archbishop Cullen together with his cousin, James Murray, the 2nd Bishop of Maitland, Quinn arrived in Australia aboard ''Empress'' on 21 October 1866 with Murray, nine priests (including Joseph Byrne) and sixteen nuns. Quinn, together with his brother in Brisbane and his cousin in Maitland, were a powerful Irish troika against the

monasticism Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Chr ...

of Archbishop Polding; crafting the rise of the Irish Catholic church in Australia. Although Quinn opposed the appointment of

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

, another English

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

, as co-adjutor archbishop of Sydney in 1872, it was his position of influence and the success of his schools that won him the support of Vaughan, other bishops, and the laity. Quinn was widely renowned for the establishment of a system of Catholic schools principally run by religious orders, including St Stanislaus' College and the congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph, both in the Diocese of Bathurst, and St. Charles Seminary and introduced the Vincentian Fathers into Australia. Quinn was often at the forefront of battles with the colonial government following the ''Public Instruction Act'' of 1880 which withdrew all government aid from denominational schools. Sectarian tensions intensified after the promulgation of the ''Public Schools Act'' of 1866, coinciding with the waning influence of English Benedictine Catholicism and the increasing influence of Quinn and other Irish prelates. In 1879, Quinn instructed one of his flock, Richard Kenna, to withdraw his son from

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

. When Kenna refused, Quinn decided that he could neither take the sacraments nor be buried in consecrated ground. Prominent Irish Catholics in the town supported Quinn, including the Principal of St. Stanislaus' College, Dr Joseph Byrne, and store owner John Meagher. This has been described as 'the most notorious sectarian episode in the history of Bathurst'. After the 1875 establishment of the Institute of St Joseph by Mary MacKillop, following the 1877 death of Sr. Teresa MacDonald, the Provincial of Bathurst, Quinn would not allow another Provincial to be appointed that did not report to him. He instructed the Sisters to leave Bathurst as he refused to accept MacKillop's central government of the Institute, where she held the role of Superior General.K. Burford, Kath, 'Tried and true': a foundress responds to episcopal fears: Mary Mackillop and the Bishops James and Matthew Quinn, ''Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society'', 11 (1989), 4-17. After a trip to Europe during 1883 and 1884, Quinn returned to Bathurst, where he died at St. Stanislaus' College and was buried in Sts. Michael and John's Cathedral, in Bathurst.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Matthew 1821 births 1885 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst Christian clergy from County Kildare Irish expatriate Roman Catholic bishops 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Australia