Matthew Gibney

{{short description|Roman Catholic cleric in Australia (1835–1925)}}

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = Bishop

| honorific-prefix = The Most Reverend

| name = Matthew Gibney

| honorific-suffix =

| title = 3rd Roman Catholic Bishop

| image = Matthew Gibney.jpg

| caption = Bishop Matthew Gibney

| motto =

| province = Sydney

| diocese = Perth

| see =

| enthroned = 1 November 1886

| ended = 14 May 1910

| predecessor = Martin Griver

| successor = Patrick Clune

| ordination = 14 June 1925 (Priest)

| consecration = 23 January 1887 (Bishop){{cite web |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgibney.html

|title=Bishop Matthew Gibney |work=The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church |date=20 February 2011 |accessdate=21 December 2011 }}

| cardinal =

| rank =

| other_post =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1835|11|01|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Killeshandra, Cavan, Ireland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1925|06|22|1835|11|01|df=yes}}

| death_place = Perth, Western Australia

| buried = St Mary's Cathedral, Perth

| nationality = Irish Australian

| religion = Roman Catholic Church

| residence =

| parents =

| spouse =

| children v =

| occupation = Roman Catholic bishop

| profession = Cleric

| alma_mater = Catholic Missionary College of All Hallows, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland

| signature =

}}

Matthew Gibney (1 November 1835 – 22 June 1925) was an Irish-born metropolitan bishop in Australia and the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth, serving from 1886 until 1910.

Gibney is perhaps best known for giving notorious bushranger Ned Kelly his last rites following a shootout at Glenrowan, Victoria, in 1880.{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |author=Callaghan, V. E. |title=Gibney, Matthew (1835–1925) |id2=gibney-matthew-6305/text10873 |accessdate=22 December 2011 }}

Early years

File:Matthew Gibney.PNG]]

Gibney was raised on the family farm in Killygorman townland, parish of Kildallan, County Cavan. Gibney studied for the priesthood at the preparatory seminary at Stillorgan and from 1857 at the Catholic Missionary College of All Hallows in Drumcondra, Dublin. He was ordained a priest in 1863 and arrived in Perth, Western Australia later that year.

On an 1880 trip through the Colony of Victoria, Gibney was travelling by train between Benalla and Albury when at Glenrowan, he disembarked to offer assistance during the Siege of Glenrowan. Ned Kelly and his gang had been cornered by the police in a local hotel, which the police set alight in order to draw out the remaining bushrangers. Gibney entered the burning building in an attempt to rescue anyone inside, and found the bodies of gang members Joe Byrne, Dan Kelly and Steve Hart, as well as the mortally wounded hostage Martin Cherry, who he helped retrieve and to whom he gave the last rites. Gibney also tended to the injured Ned Kelly following his capture, heard his confession and gave him the last rites.{{cite news | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5964748 | title=Father Gibney at Glenrowan | work=The Argus | date=19 July 1880 | accessdate=28 November 2014 | location=Melbourne}}

Bishop of Perth

In January 1887, Gibney was consecrated as Bishop of Perth. His episcopate was marked by a number of poor investment decisions as the diocese purchased shops, offices, houses, and a hotel in Perth as well as a newspaper, exerting editorial influence by banning the publication of horse racing information, which led to the paper's eventual demise. As the diocese's debts mounted, Gibney was forced to resign in May 1910. During his episcopate he was closely involved with the founding of the Beagle Bay Aboriginal community north of Broome, along with what eventually became St John of God Health Care.Sisters of St John of God, [http://www.ssjg.org.au/story/index.html "Our Founding Story"], Retrieved 2011-02-28. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041216060054/http://www.ssjg.org.au/story/index.html|date=2004-12-16}}

Gibney died of cancer on 22 June 1925 and was buried in St Mary's Cathedral in Perth.

= Exhumation =

During restoration work in the cathedral from 2003 to 2006, the brick and plaster crypt containing the coffins of Gibney and Bishop Martin Griver were discovered by archaeologists under the floorboards of the cathedral.{{cite news |url=http://cathnews.acu.edu.au/610/78.php |title=Ned Kelly's bishop's tomb found under Cathedral pews |work=Catholic News |date=16 October 2006 |accessdate=22 December 2011 }}{{cite news | author = Laurie, Tiffany | date = 14 October 2006 | title = Cathedral reveals the secret of its lost bishops | work = The West Australian | page = 3 }}

References

Appointment of the Very Rev. Matthew Gibney, Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Perth, Western Mail, 25 Sept. 1886, p. 11
{{Kimberly 1897}}

Matthew Gibney

Early years

Bishop of Perth

= Exhumation =

References

Further reading