Fr Michael J Dunne

Early years

Fr Michael Dunne was born in Galway, Ireland in 1914. He was ordained priest at All Hallows College on June 23, 1940.
He had decided to join the Archdiocese of Adelaide but because of World War II and travel regulations he was unable to come to Australia. So in 1941 he joined the British Army as a Chaplain, and was appointed to a parachute unit. He served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and West Germany.

Experiences as an army chaplain

In a parachute drop over Arnhem (Holland) he was badly wounded. In all he was wounded eight times. He later recalled an incident on the West Coast of France in 1941 when he saved the life of a companion as a German soldier went to shoot him. Michael shot the German in the knee, then grabbed his rifle and bashed it against a tree. He tended to his mate and then bandaged the German's knee.

He said: "I told him as best I could with my few words of German that I was sorry and that I'd see him after the war. He seemed surprised but wound up giving me a grin".

Eventual arrival in Adelaide

In April 1945, Michael was sent to Burma. Eventually he was discharged and arrived in Adelaide in 1947. He was appointed assistant priest in the parish of St Peter's and remained there for more than two years. Then followed a Parkside appointment for nine months.

It was here that his war wounds caught up with him and he was hospitalised a number of times for operations on both legs. He firmly resisted the suggestion of amputation, but these wounds were to plague him for the remainder of his life. During this time he stayed at the Good Shepherd Convent at Plympton and travelled to work at the Catholic Welfare Office.

At Clearview and Yatala

After four years, he was appointed parish priest of Clearview (1955-1962). While at Clearview, he was chaplain to the Yatala prison. It was here that he became renowned for his work among the prisoners. He was their priest, their psychologist, their social worker.

While he was at Clearview that he built a primary school and assisted in the building of St Paul's College. He also bought the land in which the present Church and Presbytery now stand. There are reams of stories told of Father Michael and some of the current parishioners involved can vouch for them.

Astute fundraiser

At one stage he ran a two-up school to raise money for St Paul's College. He says he made $10,000 from this. On one occasion it was raided by the police. One of the parishioners was the 'lookout'. He got such a surprise at seeing the police that he fell out of the tree and broke his arm. There is suggestion that the parish was required to give him financial assistance to get him through the next six months. Coincidentally, the next day, Michael received a call from the Church Office to say the Archbishop wished to speak to him about the parish school. Whimsically, Michael asked, "Which one?"

Although he was very popular, Michael did not hesitate to chide his parishioners at times for their lack of financial support. Some of his outlandish remarks in this regard are there to be read in some of the Sunday Notice Books which are still available. For example, he referred to their giving as "a unique monster of iniquity to which no horror stretch in any Redex Trial could be compared" or as "cynical treason against God". For all this they forgave him, and tended to laugh about Fr Michael's “recent rantings”.

Last words and literary gems

At one time a fellow priest spoke to Michael about these 'literary gems': He said: "Michael, I will wait till you die and then I will publish these erudite outbursts.” He roared with laughter: “Yes, they were rather far-fetched, weren't they?"

Following a bout of pleurisy and pneumonia in 1962 Michael was transferred to Birdwood where he stayed for five years, and in 1967 he moved to Balaklava where he spent 17 years.

He died at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1989. His funeral Mass was celebrated in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral on August 3, and his remains were buried at the Enfield General Cemetery.

One of his friends said of him, "Father Michael was a lovable rogue.” But his companion added, "Yes, but a real hero and a darn fine priest. We loved him.” 

Vale, Michael, warrior and priest.