DEATH OF A VENERABLE CLERGYMAN.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 32, 31 July 1880, Page 3

DEATH OF A VENERABLE CLERGYMAN.

A good old man has gone to his rest (says the Wellington Evening Post) in the person of the Rev. Father O'Reilly, whose decease will be sincerely mourned by the religious community to whose spiritual wants he was such a zealous minister, and whose sorrow will be sincerely sympathised \yijfaphy persons of all sections of belief, who^have any knowledge of the many virtues of the kind and charitable old priest now gathered to his fathers. The Rev. Jeremiah Joseph Purcell O'Reilly was bom in Cork, Ireland, in the year 1799. He was educated in France and Rome, and, entering the order of St. Francis, was ordained a priest at the age of 25. After being in Cork "and Dublin for some time, he was stationed in KilEe'fmy, where he greatly endeared himself to his people by his nntiring zeul and kindness of disposition. When, in 1841, he sailed for Wellington, having accepted the position of chaplain to Lord Petre, the parting with his flock, as may be imagined, was a very bitter one. Arriv din this city, Father O'Reilly set to work to establish the first -Roman Catholic Church in the settlement, and zniijisfcered iv "the building erected by his exertions on toe sita of what is now St. I Joseph's, Boulcotfc-street, until 18G8, when he paid a visit to' Europe, spending about s'x months of the time in Rome, where he was appointed chaplain to the Papal Zouaves. He returned to the colony in 1870 with Bishop Viard, and devoted himself with untiring activity to his parish work until 1879, when owing to his great age and growing infirmity,- he was compelled to retire. . . . Father O'Reilly's life was indeed a living sermon to his flock. His charity was unbounded, and the call of sickness was never made to him in vain. In fact, he gave away nearly all his means, living a most abstemious life himself, in order that he might relieve the wants of his less fortunate brethren, no matter to what creed they belonged ; and there is no doubt that his health was greatly injured by the privations and exposure to the weather he endured on his visits of mercy. As an instance of his self-denying habits, it is recorded that he declined to take up his residence in the parsonage erected for him in Boulcott-street, saying it was much too grand a place for him, upon whioh the school-room was fitted up as comfortable as possible for him, and here he breathed his last. It is also told of him that some years ago he was called out to a sick person living at what is now known as Newtown, but which was then a howling wilderness of swamp and hills. Unfortunately, the good old priest lost his waj T , and next morning was found by a milkman up to his waist in a swamp, calmly telling his beads. It may also be mentioned that Father O'Reilly was an earnest and successful temperance advocate, and was an author of culture and ability, having written various books on the teachings of the Church and other subjects.

The Chronicle, in noticing the funeral, at which there were upwards of nine thousand people present, says ;—"; — " It is impossible to rob deatli of all its terrors, but the knowledge (which every man with a conscience entertains) that when a good man " shuffles off this mortal coil," he goes to rest and happiness, divests the grim visitor of half his gloom. Careless, pleasure-loving Wellington wore yesterday an aspect which it seldom assumes. The whole population of the city— and, it may be added, a goodly share of the population of other cities — were in the streets, and furnished to the world an example of Christian brotherhood, independence of creed, and respect for the memory of the dead, which will long render the day remarkable. The late Father O'Reilly was a part of Wellington itself — one of the corner stones. When he died (and at fourscore years one must await the deathly summons without surprise), it is no exaggeration to say that the older residents of this part of New Zealand felt as though a beloved member had dropped from the family circle. Father O'Reilly was not only a good Franciscan p iest — a worthy son of the Saint of Ass'ssi — but he wa§ a pioneer of civilisation. Therefore, this funeral was taken up by the people and made a " big thing." All the ordinary religious rites at the two Catholic churches yesterday morning spoke of the solemn and special occasion. The altars draped iv black — theblack and white vestments of the officiut-

ing clergy — the rcmffled tones of the oagan — the prolonged wail of the requiem masses — all testified to the memory of the good man dead and gone One gratifying circumstance about the procession was the entire absence of religious or class distinction. Protestants outnumbered Catholics — City Councillors, headed by his Worship the Major, vied with M.H.R.'s in doing reverence to Father O'Reilly.

J?OR REMAINDER OF EkADIJTO MaTTEB, see Fourth Page.