Patrick Joseph Clune CSsR (6 January 1864 in Ruan,

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

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– 24 May 1935 in

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), an Australian

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

, was the fourth

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Bishop of

and first

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Perth. Clune served continuously in these roles from 1910 to 1935.

Early life and priestly ministry

Clune was educated in Ruan and at St Flannan's College in

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

. In 1879 he entered the Catholic Missionary

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to study for the priesthood, sponsored for the Diocese of Goldburn, Australia. He was ordained in 1886, aged 22. His first appointment was to St Patrick's College, Goulburn in

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 ...

. He professed vows as a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) on 13 September 1894, and spent four years in missions in England and Ireland until 1898, before spending a short time as superior of the Redemptorist monastery in Wellington, New Zealand. In 1899 he was assigned to Western Australia.Fr Chris Dowd presents biography of Perth's first Archbishop
By Marco Ceccarelli, Perth Catholic.

Bishop/Archbishop of Perth

In 1911 he was nominated Bishop of Perth and received episcopal ordination from

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Patrick Moran on 17 March 1911. Two years later in 1913, the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese and thus Clune became Archbishop. Bishop Clune supported Australias involvement with the British Empire during the Great War, and along with the other Australian Bishops, with the exception of Archbishop Daniel Mannix, supported the introduction of conscription. He played a significant role in the split of Christian Brothers College, Perth to form Aquinas College in the 1930s. Between 1921 and 1931, Dr. Clune opened 56 new churches, schools and convents throughout his diocese, in 1930 St. Mary's Cathedral, Perth was redeveloped.

Mediator between Lloyd George and Irish Nationalists 1920

Prior to December 1920, Archbishop Clune acted as an intermediary between

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

and the Irish leaders during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

. Clune with his strong support for the Great War and conscription in Australia, would have been seen as pro-British, had met with and gained the trust of Lloyd George, returned to Dublin incognito as "Doctor Walsh", he met with

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith (; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Trea ...

(acting president of the republic and Sinn Féin while De Valera was in America) in Mountjoy Jail and then Michael Collins who was voted by the Dail to act as president while Griffith was in prison. Clune's meeting with the Irish republican leadership was arranged by Bishop Fogarty of Killaloe, Bishop in Clune's native County Clare, who had served as vice-president on Maynooth to the then president and future Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix who was known for his nationalist strong sympathies. Mannix was an opponent of Clune among the Australian bishops during the Great War conscription debate.Activities of Archbishop Clune as mediator between Lloyd George
Witness Rev McMahon, Secretary to Rev. Dr. Clune, Irish Military Archives (1913–1921).

Death and reburial

He died on 24 May 1935 and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. His remains were exhumed in June 2013, and reinterred in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral Perth in September 2013. He was succeeded by another Irish born prelate, Archbishop Redmond Prendiville.

Early life and priestly ministry

Bishop/Archbishop of Perth

Mediator between Lloyd George and Irish Nationalists 1920

Death and reburial

See also

References

Further reading