Right Reverend Monsignor Peter MeagherPrint Page

The marblesculpture commemorates Reverend Peter Meagher who was parish priest of Singleton for 31 years. 

The Right Rev. Monsignor Peter Meagher, D.D., Vicar-General of the Diocese of Maitland, and parish priest of Singleton, passed away at St. Patrick's Presbytery, Singleton, on Friday morning. He was spending a holiday with relatives in the Tamworth district about three weeks ago, and while out shooting one day slipped and fell, spraining his arm. He also suffered as he had a weak heart.

The deceased prelate was born at Springmount, Ossory, Ireland, in February, 1854, and received his ecclesiastical training at at St. Keiran's College, Kilkenny, and at Holy Cross College, Dublin, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1877. In March of the following year he arrived in Maitland, and was an assistant at St. John's Cathedral until September, 1882, when he was promoted to the office of Administrator of St. Mary's parish, Newcastle. For 11 years he controlled the work of his Church in that city, devoting himself largely to the work of education and charity. On leaving in October, 1893, to take up the duties of parish priest at Singleton, he received tangible evidence of the high esteem in which he was held in Newcastle. In 1909 he was appointed Vicar-General of the Diocese of Maitland, and was associated in that office with the late Right Rev. Monsignor Hand, V.G., till the death of the last-named in 1910. Other diocesan appointments held by the deceased prelate were those of Diocesan Consultor, Censor of Books, and member of the Diocesan Council of Vigilance. In 1914, on the return of Bishop Dwyer from Rome, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Holy See.

During his long association of 46 years with the Diocese of Maitland, he rendered unselfish service in the cause of religion and that tended to advance the interests of the people. He was a scholarly man, well versed in theology and Church history, and a keen student even in his old age. He cherished and maintained his early personal associations, and was loved by the younger priests as a father. In the parish of Singleton, where he spent 31 years, he was loved by his own people, and held in esteem generally as a very fine citizen, ever anxious to lend a helping hand to any deserving cause. The remains of the late Monsignor Meagher were interred on Sunday afternoon in a vault under St. Patrick's Church, Singleton. There was a large attendance, numbering over 2000 people, in the church and also in the church grounds for the funeral. 
Catholic Press (Sydney),  31 July 1924.

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