Patrick Clune


Patrick Joseph Clune, DD CSsR,, an Australian metropolitan bishop, was the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth and first Archbishop of Perth. Clune served continuously in these roles from 1910 to 1935.

Early years and background

Clune was educated in Ruan and at St Flannan's College in Ennis. In 1879 he entered the Catholic Missionary All Hallows College in Dublin to study for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1886, aged 22. His first appointment was to St Patrick's College, Goulburn in New South Wales.
He professed vows as a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on 13 September 1894.

Bishop and archbishop of Perth

He was consecrated by Cardinal Patrick Moran on 17 March 1911. In 1913 he was elevated to the role of Archbishop, the first such position available in Perth.
Prior to December 1920, Archbishop Clune acted as an intermediary between David Lloyd George and the Irish leaders during the Irish War of Independence; he had a strong personal interest in the outcome since his nephew Conor Clune had been executed by the British in what seems to have been a case of mistaken identity.
He played a significant role in the split of Christian Brothers College, Perth to form Aquinas College in the 1930s.
He died on 24 May 1935 and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. His remains were exhumed in June 2013, and reinterred in the crypt of St Mary's Cathedral Perth in September 2013.