McENCROE, JOHN (1794-1868), Catholic priest and archdeacon, was born on 26 December 1794 in Ardsallagh, near Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, son of William McEncroe and Mary D'Arcy. Two years later his father was killed in an accident. One of the children of his mother's second marriage was Teresa Walsh, later to become a Sister of Charity working in the same Australian mission as her brother. McEncroe was educated at Flynn's Grammar School. Wishing to become a priest he entered the seminary of Maynooth and was ordained in 1819. In 1822 he volunteered to go to the American mission with Bishop England of Baltimore, whose liberalism and enterprise had greatly influenced him. He was also deeply impressed by the striking contrast between American democracy and the repressive conditions he had known in Ireland. McEncroe became editor of England's United States Catholic Miscellany. Convinced by his American experience ...

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Australian Dictionary of Biography