Death of Father Farrelly, Kilmore

New Zealand Tablet, 8 November 1906, Page 7

Death of Father Farrelly, Kilmore

We have to record the death- (says the Melbourne Tribune )of one whose name was a household word -throughout the western district over forty years., ago Very Rev. Father "Michael Farrelly, V.F., Kilmore, Victoria, father Farrelly was* born in. County -Galway in the year 1821, and came out to " Australia abouflßs2 He was one of the first s.tudents at St. Patrick's College, Melbourne, and' afterwards one of the earliest " to .■enter the - newly-formed Melbourne University, where he had a short- but most .successful career 7 , taking honors m mathematics and classics/ In J857 Michael Farrelly .was. ordained priest by the late Most Rev. "Dr. Gobld (first Bishop of Melbourne), being' the first priest or- , dained in Victoria, and was appointed - to -take- -charge -of the extensive district .extending- from Tooborac to Hamilton. Here he worked for -nearly fifteen" years his parish extending about two hundred miles, -from one >end to the other.- :>ln- 1871; '-Father Farrelly -was , v ap--Dointed parish priest of Kilmore. This .was then one of the most important parishes in Victoria, and extended from a few miles.i north-east - of ' Melbourne to near Benalla, and Included a great portion- oftiie Goul-" . burn Valley, and much of the -Mansfield districts. As a priest Father Farrelly was remarkable- for the - unostentatious manner in which he worked. Anything in the way of praise or publicity he simply abhorred Certain work- was' to be done. It was Ms duty to do it; he did it and that was aUabout it. Socially, Father Farrelly was no ordinary man; _ v.herever he went be succeeded in breaking down bigotry and ill-feeling among those who differed from him in religion. As a patriotic Irishman -he said little', but " .-did much ; and from the fust visit of the Redmond brothers to the recent visit of Messrs. Devlin and.Donovan, no movement in Australia in" aid of the Irish-" national cause had a more warm-hearted and * practical friend, than Father Farrelly. As a man lives so shall he die, and so Father Farrelly,- having finished his work, -passed quietly, away at the ripe age of 85 years. He "had -been - visited- and condoled in his laste moments by - his beloved "Archbishop ; and a few— very few— personal .^friends were .made acquainted with the fact that >S' his : end was so near. . '. ! : " .- f His Grace the .Archbishop of Melbourne, who presi,ded"^ at the Requiem -Mass, leferred- in feeling terms to Vthe great ' pioneer woift done by the late ...Father Farrelly in -^various parts of the archdiocese,, the various churches and schools founded fc»y him standing as -monuments of his zeal and devotion. , - , . ' ' The funeral was the largest ever seen in Kilmore. His Grace the A tchbishop officiated at the cemetery, assisted by a .number of clergy. The ministers of vthe : yarious Protestant churches in the town and district .were present, and in (he funeral procession the members :,of the H.A.C.B. Society, .the Marist Brothers and .their . puni Is, "the girls of the Convent of Mercy," sKire " councillors and citizens took part. "> '"".,""