Thomas Vincent Dunlea (19 April 1894 – 22 August 1970) was an Irish-Australian Catholic priest known for his involvement in charitable works.

Early life

Dunlea was born in Ballina, Ireland, to Michael and Bridget Dunlea. He attended primary school in Killaloe and High School at Mount St Joseph’s Monastery in Roscrea. In 1914 he entered the College of Mount Melleray, a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

seminary. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on 20 June 1920.

Missionary in Australia

In 1920 he set off on the arriving in Sydney, Australia in December. Some of his appointments were: *1921 Mary Magdalene parish, Rose Bay *1922

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire ( ...

, Surrey Hills *1932

Newtown Newtown may refer to: Places Australia *Newtown, New South Wales *Newtown, Queensland (Ipswich) *Newtown, Queensland (Toowoomba) *Newtown, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong *Newtown, Victoria (Golden Plains Shire), a locality near Ballarat Canada * ...

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

, Golden Grove,

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges ...

*1934 Sutherland *1951 Chaplain, Matthew Talbot Hostel for destitute men *1952-68 Hurstville

Founding of Boys' Town

In 1939 he started

Boys' Town (Engadine) --> , motto_translation= , city= Engadine, Sydney , state= New South Wales , country= Australia , coordinates= , schooltype= Non-denominational special school, selective, single-sex secondary school , religious_affiliation = Roman C ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

based on

Father Flanagan Edward Joseph Flanagan (13 July 1886 – 15 May 1948) was an Irish-born priest of the Catholic Church in the United States, who served for decades in Nebraska. After serving as a parish priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Omaha, Catholic ...

Boys Town, Nebraska Boys Town is a village in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 410 at the 2020 census. Boys Town is an enclave and a suburb of Omaha. The village of Boys Town was established in 1917 as the headquarters of Father Flanaga ...

, USA.

Involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

In the late 1940s he was working among alcoholics with Dr Sylvester Minogue and Archibald McKinnon of the Darlinghurst reception house. For a time the pioneer Alcoholics Anonymous group met in the Boys' Town city office and at other locations found by Dunlea. A bush camp for alcoholics and a residential 'Christmas House' (opened on Christmas Day 1945) both collapsed, which seemed to prove that a controlled environment was not the answer to alcoholism. Boys' Town fund-raising functions had sharpened Dunlea's own drinking problems and he came to recognize that he himself was an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

. In 1950 he took a year's leave of absence to wander around Australia. On his return, Dunlea became chaplain to the Matthew Talbot Hostel for destitute men. There his listening kindness was given full stretch. In 1952 he went to

as parish priest, devoting his time to A.A., to a new organization for people with psychiatric problems, Recovery Group, as well as to a menagerie of odd animals. 'When Tom Dunlea doesn't take an interest in stray dogs any longer', he said, 'you'll know that he's had it'. He died on 22 August 1970 in Lewisham Hospital and was buried in Woronora cemetery. The congregation which attended his reburial at Boys' Town on 7 September included a pet sheep and a stray dog.

Recognitions

In 1965 he was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE). He also received the Jewish Cross of Honour and the Papal Cross of Honour

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice ''Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice'' ("For Church and Pope" in Latin) is a decoration of the Holy See. It is currently conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy. History The medal was established by Leo XIII ...

. When Fr. Chris Riley started a detox centre, he named it the Dunlea Adolescent Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Program. In 2010 the name of Boys' Town (Engadine) was changed to the Dunlea Centre.The Catholic Weekly, Sydney. November 21, 2010

References

*McSweeney, J. A welcome on the mat. OMP Publishers 2004. *Austen, M.; Richardson, M., Father Dunlea and Those with a Drinking Problem, Engadine, New South Wales, 1987. *Coleman, D., Priest of the Highway, Sydney, 1973. *Halliday, D., Father Dunlea's Approach to Dealing with Young People in Difficulties, Engadine, New South Wales, 1987. *McKinnon, A., They Chose Freedom, Bonnell's Bay, New South Wales, c.1985. *Edmund Campion, 'Dunlea, Thomas Vincent (1894–1970)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, Melbourne University Press, 1996, pp 56–57.

External links

Boys Town (Engadine)

More on Dunlea and AA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlea, Thomas 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Roman Catholic priests 1894 births 1970 deaths Burials at Woronora Memorial Park Irish emigrants (before 1923) People educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea