Previous Parish Priests

Fr Bonaventure Geoghegan ofm 1841–2

Fr Bonaventure Geoghegan, first Parish Priest of St Benedict’s

Fr Farrelly 1846

Fr Mellitus A. Corish osb 1850–64

Fr Mellitus Corish in his Benedictine cowl

Fr Timothy McCarthy 1864–68

Fr Patrick Carroll 1869–70

Fr John Dwyer osb 1872

Fr James Byrne osb 1873

Dean Patrick Slattery 1875–78

Dean Edward O’Brien 1878–87

Monsignor C. L. Coonan (Administrator) 1888–89

+ Bishop Joseph Higgins 1890–1899

Bishop Joseph Higgins

Fr John Robinson (Administrator) 1889–91

Fr Francis Timoney cp (Administrator) 1892–96

Fr John Carroll (Administrator) 1897–1903

+ Archbishop Michael Kelly 1902–11

Archbishop Michael Kelly

Fr James Furlong (Administrator) 1903–09

Fr John Byrne (Administrator) 1910–12

Fr Thomas Barry (Administrator) 1913–19

Fr John Halpin (Administrator) 1920–26

+ Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Sheehan 1923–35

Archbishop Michael Sheehan

Fr John Muirhead (Administrator) 1927–32

Cyril B. Callaghan (Administrator) 1932–35

Monsignor John Norris 1935–50

Monsignor Norris Catholic Church Chronicle, vol. 14, no. 31, November 1935, cover.

Fr Patrick Landers (Administrator) 1950–51

Fr John Roche 1952–67

Fr William Malone (Administrator) 1956

+ Bishop William Murray 1967–72

Fr Terence Purcell 1973–2005

Fr Terence Purcell (1922–2006) celebrates his last Mass at St Benedict’s