Patrick Moran (bishop)

Patrick Moran (24 May 1823 – 22 May 1895) was Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Province of Cape Colony in South Africa (1856–1869) and the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand (1869–1895).

Moran was born at Rathdrum, County Wicklow, Ireland, and baptised there on 24 May 1823. He was the son of Anne Doyle and her husband, Simon Moran, a farmer. Privately tutored until the age of 12, Patrick attended the Vincentian school in Dublin; St Peter's College, Wexford; and St Vincent's College, Castleknock, Dublin. He studied for the priesthood at the Royal College of St Patrick, Maynooth, from 1841 to 1847; during this time he spent three years as a senior student at the Dunboyne Establishment studying metaphysics and theology. He was ordained in 1847 and served in Dublin parishes from 1848 to 1856.

On 30 March 1856 Moran was consecrated titular bishop of Dardanus by Paul Cullen, Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin, and appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern Province of Cape Colony in South Africa. He was possibly the youngest Catholic bishop in the world at the time. He remained for 13 years, during part of Sir George Grey's governorship there. He was based at Grahamstown. He built several churches, presbyteries and schools allowing no post to be more than a day's ride distant from another, opened a seminary, and introduced Dominican nuns from Ireland as teachers.

In 1869 Moran was appointed bishop of the newly created diocese of Dunedin, New Zealand. This diocese embraced the provinces of Otago and Southland. Leaving South Africa early in 1870 he went to Rome to attend the First Vatican Council. From Rome Moran went to Ireland to recruit staff before heading for New Zealand. He reached Port Chalmers in the SS Gothenburg on 18 February 1871, accompanied by 10 Dominican nuns and a priest, William Coleman. They were enthusiastically welcomed by their compatriot co-religionists.

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