Patrick Collier (13 January 1880 – 10 January 1964) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, later appointed as

Bishop of Ossory The Bishop of Ossory () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been ...

Early life and education

Patrick Collier was born at Camross, Mountrath, County Laois on 13 January 1880.Bishop Collier profile
Catholic-Hierarchy.org; accessed 16 January 2015. Dr Collier first attended

St. Kieran's College St Kieran's College (Coláiste Chiaráin) is a Roman Catholic secondary school, located on College Road, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland. History St Kieran's College was founded in Kilkenny, in the diocese of Ossory in 1782, after the passi ...

. Kilkenny, and then proceeded to

St Patrick's College Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland ...

where he was ordained on 24 June 1907 to serve as a priest in the Diocese of Ossory. In the following August he went to the

Diocese of Shrewsbury The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England. The diocese includes rural a ...

and worked in the parish of St Alban’s Wallasey, Cheshire.

Priestly Ministry

He was recalled to his native diocese in 1911 and appointed to the staff of St Kieran's where he served for a decade. In 1921 Collier was sent to serve at St. Tighearhach's Church, Cullahill, County Laois. He was here for two years until he was appointed back to the staff of St Kieran's College.

Episcopal Ministry

It was announced on 18 May 1923 that Collier was to be made coadjutor

and he received episcopal ordination several months later on 5 August 1928 in St Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny. The ageing Bishop

Abraham Brownrigg Abraham Brownrigg (born Ballypierce 3 December 1836 – died Kilkenny 1 October 1928) was an Irish Roman Catholic prelate, who served as the Bishop of Ossory from 1884 until his death. Brownrigg was educated by the Christian Brothers at O'Con ...

died several months later at the age of 92 and Collier automatically succeeded him. Dr Collier was remembered in one tribute to him as being "responsible for many works which remained in a lasting testimony to his zeal and energy. These included improvements to St Mary’s Cathedral and a large extension to St Kieran’s College, the building of new churches and new schools throughout the Diocese and improvements to many churches." The same tribute recalled "Collier knew his people and their wants and he took a very special interest in the poor. He gave unstinting support to well-known organisations such as the St Vincent de paul Society and any organisation that aimed at improving conditions for the poor, always found him a ready and generous benefactor." He served until his own death on 10 January 1964, three days before his 84th birthday. A wing in the Ossory diocesan seminary,

was named after Dr Collier; it opened in 1956.

References

1880 births 1964 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Ossory People from County Laois 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub