Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

PATRICK DONOVAN (REV. FR. DONOVAN M.S.C.)
Patrick, the youngest Donovan, was born at Laang in 1886. He was only 10 when his Mother died in 1897, three months after the Family moved to Pirron Yallock. His sister May (Mrs. O’Keeffe), took over the role of Mother to the young Patrick, so that he then spent most of his time at The Ridge at Garvoc, and went to the Catholic School there. From there he went to St. Patrick’s College in Ballarat as a boarder, and on 20 May 1904, two days after the marriage of his sister Margaret, he left to join the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart at Douglas Park, N.S.W. He was then just under 18 years old, and after eight years of study he was ordained a priest in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney, in 1912.

In 1915, having enlisted as an Army Chaplain, he sailed on the Euripides and served in Palestine until the end of the war in 1918. He was anxious to go to France but did not go there, though he did go on furlough to Ireland where he met some of the relatives. Unfortunately we have no record of this, though it can be presumed he went both to Balinderry and to Clonakilty.

After the war he resumed his priestly duties at Kensington Monastery and in the Randwick parish. He wrote occasional articles for The Annals, a monthly periodical of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Relatives from Victoria, (mainly honeymooners) looked him up, and were always struck by his hospitality, his love of Sydney which he showed them with obvious great pride, and the depth of his family ties. On occasion he paid visits to Victoria, and for a time was stationed at Ascot Vale Parish on relief work. Among the Sydney relatives he was specially devoted to Brother Newman, a Chistian Brother, to the Groghan Family, descendants of Mary Donovan (O’Leary), who adopted him as one of their own so that he was always happy to celebrate family occasions with them.
His health began to fail and he was appointed as Chaplain to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Randwick, where his attention was turned to the aged, who greatly loved him. It was a source of great joy to his sister May, that when she lay dying, he was able to come from Sydney and to bring her Holy Communion each morning after celebrating Mass in the Noorat church.
After leaving the Chaplaincy at the Little Sisters of the Poor he returned to the Monastery at Kensington and settled into the routine of Community life. He tended the garden with great interest, and he brought many trees and shrubs there from the Heytesbury and from the Laang Forest. He also attended the University of Sydney, taking up a study of the Chinese language in his later years – and it is said he was something of a thorn in the side of his Lecturers because of his detailed knowledge of the language. Astronomy was another subject he pursued at some depth. He spent many long hours in the Chapel, and his articles in the Annals were all on the Spiritual Life. He was also a keen billiards player, a very pleasant companion, but a most upright man who was already to withstand anything which he thought unkind, unfair or just not right.

Father Pat died in Lewisham Hospital on 11 April 1957, aged 70. When asked on his deathbed if he had any message for his two sisters still living, he replied, “Keep the flag flying”. He was visited in his last hours by Cardinal Gilroy, by his own Provincial Fr. Kerrins, by a former A.I.F. Chaplain Fr. McAuliffe, and by his own nephew Fr. Patrick McGuane M.S.C., who came from Hobart to be with him at the end. He is buried among the members of his Order at Douglas Park.

Courtesy of Peter Malone