John Gallagher (bishop)

Bishop John Gallagher (1846–1923) was an Irish born priest who served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Goulburn, Australia.^[1] Born in Castlederg, Ireland, in 1846, he was ordained in 1869 for the diocese of Goulburn by the Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Moran.^[2] He served as a priest in Goulburn, Dr Gallagher a noted classicist, taught at St Patrick's College, Goulburn, where he served as president of the college from 1875 until 1888.^[3] Dr Gallagher was appointed Titular Bishop of Adrassus, co-adjutor Bishop of Goulburn and in 1900 Bishop of Goulburn. In 1916 he laid the foundation stone of Sacred Heart Church, Cootamundra.^[4]

"John O'Brien"'s 1921 comic poem, 'Tangmalangaloo', in which a bishop visiting a remote bush school asks a boy what Christmas is and receives the reply "It's the day before the races out at Tangmalangaloo" is a true story of a visit by Gallagher to Tangmangaroo.^[5]

Rt. Rev. Dr. John Gallagher died aged 77 in 1923.