Val Noone

Valentine Gabriel Noone (born 9 May 1940) is an Australian writer-editor, historian, social activist and academic. He is a recognised authority on Irish emigration to Australia, especially Victoria, since the time of the great Irish Famine (1845-1852). Noone has a particular interest in the history of the Irish language in Australia, its preservation, and the understanding of its social, cultural and linguistic aspects.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. He was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia in June 2009. In 2013 the Senate of the National University of Ireland (NUI) in Dublin conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, for his contribution to Irish Studies in Australia.

Formative education In 1955, aged 15, Val Noone was specially chosen to represent Victoria in the Sun Advertiser Youth Travel Group, dubbed "Australia's Schoolboy Ambassadors" which involved an educational journey to parts of the Middle East, Europe, and Great Britain.

In 1957, at the age of almost seventeen, Val Noone began his seminary studies for the Catholic priesthood at Corpus Christi College at Werribee, a suburb on the southern outskirts of Melbourne.

Noone spent eight years (1957–1964) at this college and experienced the last years of a dedicated way of life and training regimen.

The Catholic Church: the 1960s Following his ordination to the priesthood, Noone involved himself in pastoral work in various churches in the Melbourne Archdiocese.

In May 1968, Noone was assistant priest in the parish of Frankston. His shocked reaction to the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) and his disagreement with his archbishop, James Knox, was leading to a personal crisis.

With fellow priest, Garry McLoughlin, Noone had founded an independent magazine for priests and ex-priests entitled "Priests Forum". Its articles were an expression of radicalism, and an attempt at reform within the Catholic Church. This rise of critical thought was clearly stimulated by the Second Vatican Council which had highlighted a broad range of issues which the Catholic Church had to face.

In May 1970, Noone and McLoughlin were instrumental in organising a national meeting of priests in Coogee, a beachside suburb of Sydney. They hoped this conference would discuss some of the burning issues of the day, namely the War in Vietnam, the question of priestly celibacy and the imposition of birth control on married Catholics. These controversial issues did not get much traction due to the resistance of conservatives. It was, however, considered a beginning at some level.

Noone and McLoughlin, on their return to Melbourne, became openly critical of their own Archbishop James Knox and his support for the Vietnam War. Shortly after, Val Noone requested leave from the priesthood and after several months returned to life as a private citizen and anti-war activist.

Insiders began referring to it as the “house of hospitality”, a reference to the Catholic Worker Movement in New York. It continued for seven and half years.

Publications He has published many books, articles and reviews, and has been a co-contributor to historical articles in Irish published by the Irish journal Feasta. He is a member of the Irish Language Association of Australia. Two of his most notable works is Hidden Ireland in Victoria, an overview of the history of the Irish language in the State of Victoria, Australia, and Dorothy Day in Australia, an historical memoir of the American peace activist's visit to Australia at the time of widespread protests to the war in Vietnam.(see publications below).

Selected publications Noone, Val; Michael Davitt, Melbourne and the Labour Movement, in the Australian Journal of Irish Studies, Vol. 6, pp 25-42thumb|Val Noone was chair of the committee which erected the monument to the Irish famine at the Burgoyne Reserve, Williamstown, Victoria: The inscription reads: In memory of one million people who died in Ireland during the Great Hunger of 1845–1852. In praise of the courage of tens of thousands of dispossessed Irish who sailed to Hobson's Bay to build a new life. In sorrow for the dispossession of the Bunurong and Woiworong people but in a spirit of reconciliation. In solidarity with all those who suffer hunger today.

Noone, Val;Melbourne and the Irish Famine, Irish Famine Commemoration Committee, Melbourne, 6 December 1998 (Booklet)The booklet refers to a monument which is situated in the Burgoyne Reserve, the Strand, Williamstown, Vic.

Noone, Val; Printers and New Technology around 1980: an Age Proof Reader's View in The Time of Their Lives - The Eight Day and Working Life, J. Kimber, P. Love (eds.), Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (Canberra) 2007

'Ór agus Adhmad: Éireannaigh Bungaree' (with Mary Doyle and Colin Ryan) in Feasta, Márta 2012.

Noone, Val; An Irish Rebel in Victoria: Charles Gavan Duffy, Selectors, Squatters and Aborigines in Echoes of Irish Australia - Rebellion to Republic, J. Brownrigg, C. Mongan, R. Reid (eds.), National Library of Australia (Canberra) 2007

'Nioclás Ó Domhnaill: Laoch na Gaeilge san Astráil' (with Colin Ryan) in Feasta, Bealtaine 2009

Noone, Val (editor), Celebrating Freedom of Speech: Fiftieth anniversary of the 1968 papal ban on birth control (the encyclical Humanae Vitae), North Melbourne, 6 October 2019, Publishers: Val Noone, Robert Crotty, Des Cahill, Joe Broderick, Michael Costigan, page 5

Noone, Val, Disturbing the War: Melbourne Catholics and Vietnam, Melbourne, Spectrum, 1993

Noone, Val (editor and continuity), Nicholas O'Donnell's Autobiography, Ballarat Heritage Services, Bakery Hill Vic; 2017.

Noone, Val; Santamaria, War and Christianity: in Ormonde, Paul (editor), Santamaria - The Politics of Fear, Spectrum publications, Richmond, Victoria; 2000

Noone, Val and Naughton, Rachel; Daniel Mannix : His Legacy; Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission, Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, East Melbourne, Vic.2014

Noone, Val,Hidden Ireland in Victoria, Ballarat Heritage Services, Ballarat, 2012

Noone, Val (ed) with Terry Blake, Mary Doyle and Helen Praetz, Golden Years: Grounds for Hope:Father Golden and the Newman Society 1950-1966; Published by Golden Project, East Burwood. 2008

Noone, Val, From Roscrea to Beagle Bay: Dan O’Donovan, priest and hermit; Published by Mary Doyle & Val Noone, Fitzroy, 2020 (paperback)

Noone, Val, Dorothy Day in Australia; Mary Doyle and Val Noone, Box 51, Fitzroy, Vic 2020