Andrew Killian

Andrew Killian (26 October 1872 – 28 June 1939) was an Irish clergyman and the fourth Archbishop of Adelaide. Born and ordained in Ireland, Killian moved to Australia, where he became Bishop of Port Augusta before succeeding Robert Spence as Archbishop of Adelaide.

Early life

Andrew Killian was born on 26 October 1872 in Edenderry, County Offaly, Ireland. Son of Nicholas Killian and his wife Eliza Josephine, née Ryan, Killian was educated at Mungret College, Limerick and St Patrick's College, Carlow. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal University of Ireland in 1894, and was ordained a Catholic priest on 4 June 1898. a position he held until 1933. During his time as Bishop of Port Augusta, Killian would travel over large distances to visit the scattered parishes of the rural diocese. Killian became Archbishop of Adelaide.

Killian's tenure as archbishop saw Adelaide host the National Catholic Education Congress in 1936, in part as a contribution to the celebrations of the South Australian colony's centenary. While Bishop of Port Augusta, Killian had attended Catholic conferences in Chicago and Dublin, and endeavoured to use the Congress to project South Australian Catholic enthusiasm and make a case for increased public funding of Catholic education. The event took place over one week in November 1936 and hosted bishops and archbishops from Australia and New Zealand, as well as the apostolic delegate to Australia Giovanni Panico. Leading Catholic educators presented papers, and the Congress concluded with a procession of 100,000 people along King William Street. When reflecting on his time as archbishop, Killian listed the conference as one of his proudest achievements, along with the re-opening of Mary MacKillop's school and convent in Penola.

In the last year of his life, Killian suffered from cancer, and on 28 June 1939 he died while undergoing surgery in St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne.