Bishop John BarryPrint Page

The St Patrick`s Mortuary Chapel commemorates Bishop John Barry, Bishop of Goulburn who died in 1938.

John Barry (1875-1938), was born on 18 June 1875 near Freemount, County Cork, Ireland and he left for Australia in 1899, arriving in Melbourne on 8 November. After serving as curate at Dandenong and St Kilda East, he was parish priest at Mansfield in from 1907 to 1912.

In 1912 he took over the new parish of Balaclava and in March 1917 was appointed by Archbishop Carr,  administrator of St Patrick's Cathedral and chancellor of the archdiocese of Melbourne. On Carr's death two months later, he was confirmed in his offices by Archbishop Mannix, and was prominent in administering the building funds of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and of Corpus Christi College, Werribee. In 1920, during Mannix's absence overseas, Barry was in charge of the archdiocese. He won repute as a hard-working and efficient organizer, a man of active holiness and a genial and considerate host.

On 5 March 1924 Barry was appointed bishop of Goulburn and was consecrated there on 29 June by the apostolic delegate, Dr B. Cattaneo. In his diocese, which included Canberra, he became known as a 'building bishop' despite the onset of the Depression. He renovated Saints Peter and Paul's Cathedral, Goulburn, made large extensions to the Hospital of St John of God, extended the orphanages and founded a technical school and a diocesan library. He also began to develop Catholic institutions in Canberra with moves in 1927 towards the erection of a church, school and convent and plans for a cathedral worthy of the nation's capital. A strong advocate of systematic visitations, he travelled incessantly within his diocese. He became known throughout Australia for his vigorous sponsorship of the Holy Name Society, which he saw as the main area of activity for Catholic Action.

He became ill in February 1938 while attending the Regional Missionary and Eucharistic Congress at Newcastle, and died of coronary occlusion in Lewisham Hospital, Sydney, on 22 March. After a well-attended funeral at which Mannix read the oration, he was buried in the Catholic cemetery at Kenmore, Goulburn.

St. Patrick's Mortuary Chapel, erected to the memory of the late Bishop Barry, in the Kenmore Cemetery, will be formally opened on Sunday, 21st inst., by the Vicar Capitular of the diocese (Right Rev. Monsignor Vaughan, P.P., Crookwell). Subsequent to the opening ceremony, the Stations of the Cross, which have been presented by the diocesan conferences of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, will be canonically erected by Rev. Father D. J. Griffin (Diocesan Director of the Holy Name Society). On Monday, 22nd inst., at 9 o'clock, a Solemn Requiem Mass will be offered in the chapel for the repose of the soul of the late Bishop. Very Rev. Father A. Deegan (Adm.) will be the celebrant.
Catholic Press (Sydney), 11 August 1938.

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