DEATH OF THE VEKY REV. DR. M'ALROY, V.O.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VII, Issue 380, 30 July 1880, Page 16

DEATH OF THE VERY REV. DR. M'ALROY, V.G.

It is with the deepest regret, though from what we (Sydney Fxjtress) have already published, not with surprise, that we have to chronicle in this issue, the death of the Very Rev. Michael M'Alroy, D.D., Vicar-General at Albury. The Very Rev. Dr. Bermingham, his long tried and true friend, was with him to the last ; and his death, after 60 many and such herculean labours he has endured for the sacred cause no man Joyed better, was singularly peaceful. Many of the priests of the diocese of Goulburn, which he administered in the absence of its bishop, and of which it is an injustice to no man to call him the mightiest benefactor, were present ; and weeping prayerful religious of the Order of Mercy, of which he may be called the founder in New South Wales, repaid at his dying couch, the great and siccessful efforts he made for years to extend, and render permanent the blesssing that, and other such Orderp, are so well calculated to confer upon the orphan, the ignorant, the sick, and the poor. It is nothing more than we expected, that the telegram which Dr. Bermingbam sent us, informs us that the church of Albury, one of the innumerable monuments cf Dr. M'Alroy's zeal, was filled with his weeping people. He was their glory and their pride, for amongst them the evening of his lite was spent, and in their service the sun of his valuable life is set in peaceful and unclouded splendour. But many an eye will weep as well, when the sad intelligence reaches the cathedral city, the towns, the villages, and the scattered homesteads of the south ; for there is scarce a spot in all the wide extent of the diocese of Goulburn, which does not contain some substantial memorial or some more valuable evidence of his zeal. It is but proper to say that in many of these works, and at the most striking period in his ecclesiastical career, Dr Bermingham shared ; and that in Dr Bermingham's absence he received valuable co-operation in his greatest achievements. But all this, far from detracting from his merits, proves the rare ability of one who could weld into his works every available talent, and sink all pettiness of aim, that God's greater glory might be promoted. Dr McAlroy was one of the truest priests that ever appeared on the Australian mission, and it is in no sense too much to say, that considering the means at his disposal, no other prelate or priest of this continent, if we accept the great apostle of Australia, Father Therry — whom no man loved or venerated in life more than Dr McAlroy did — accomplished more for the permanent service of religion than did the illustrious ecclesiastic now gone to his reward. — R.I.P.