DEVOTION TO DUTY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3831, 9 November 1936, Page 5

DEVOTION TO DUTY

FORMER TE AWAMUTU PRIEST’S COURAGE. The following message from Kenmare (Ireland), dated September sth, appearing in the current issue of “Zealandia,” will be read with interest by those who had the privilege ot knowing Father Browne: How the Rev. Father P. Browne, curate at Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland, courageously recovered the body ot a young man who had been drowned in the river Sheen after all attempts at rescue had failed, was told by Police Superintendent Harte at the inquest. The deceased, Timothy O’Shea, had been swimming, when he sank and efforts to recover him were unsuccessfully made by his companions. Superintendent Harte drew attention to the fact that the body was recovered by Father Browne, who had been informed of the tragedy and who immediately motored to the scene. Divesting himself of his clothes, Father Browne dived in and brought the body to tlie bank, where he administered the conditional last rites of the church. In expressing warm appreciation of the priest’s action, the coroner said: “That is what I would expect from Father Browne. His action was absolutely creditable. (Father P. Browne was one of six priests loaned from Ireland to the Auckland diocese in 1927. He was stationed at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for over a year, and subsequently was in charge ot the parish of Te Awamutu during a prolonged illness of the parish priest, the Right Rev. Msgi. Edge. Father Brown was recalled to Ireland in 1929.) ■