Robert Dunne was the second Roman Catholic bishop of Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 and later he became its first archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

.

Dunne was born in Ardunnan, County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and was educated at Lismore Grammar School and the Irish College at Rome

Pontifical Irish College

The Pontifical Irish College is a Roman Catholic seminary for the training and education of priests, in Rome.-Foundation and early history:Towards the close of the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII had sanctioned the foundation of an Irish college in Rome, and had assigned a large sum of money...

. After a brilliant collegiate course, Dunne was ordained priest in 1855, then appointed a master at St Laurence O'Toole Seminary, Dublin, of which the Rev. James Quinn was president. When Quinn was made the first bishop of Brisbane he brought Dunne with him. They arrived at Brisbane in May 1861 and Dunne began to carry out the work of diocesan secretary in addition to his duties as a parish priest. Dunne soon became a prominent figure in the young city, and there was much regret when he was removed to Toowoomba in 1868. On Quinn's death, Dunne became the second Roman Catholic bishop of Brisbane, and was consecrated on 18 June 1882. On 10 May 1887 Dunne was appointed the first Roman Catholic archbishop of Brisbane, holding the office for nearly 30 years. In 1890 Dunne visited Rome and during his absence the opportunity was taken of building a new episcopal residence for him.

Dunne did not take a prominent part in public affairs, but his church work was unrelenting. And though he was glad to see new churches springing up everywhere, and was especially interested in the spread of new schools, he insisted strongly that the real foundation of the church was religion in the home. Dunne's health began to fail in 1910 and in 1912 Dr James Duhig

James Duhig

Sir James Duhig, KCMG was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane from 1917 until his death. At the time of his death he was the longest-serving bishop in the Catholic Church .-Early life:...

became coadjutor archbishop. Dunne died at Brisbane on 13 January 1917.