Virtual
War Memorial
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Father T J O'Donnell was appointed a captain-chaplin on 22 February 1918. previously he had been in charge of the Roman Catholic parish at Wynard Tasmainia.  For Many years he was a vigorous supporter  of the Labor Party.  He was regarded as the most active politician among Roman Catholic priests in Tasmainia. he disagreed  with the Labor Party in regard to its war policy, and broke with it.  In the conscription campaign in 1916 and 1917 he took an active part being a strong "Yes" advocate in each instance, while at the last Federal election he was a ardent suppo9rter of and prominent worker for, the Nationalist Party.  In an address he delivered at the Auditorium, Melbourne, on 15 December 1917 in the second conscription campaign, Father O'Donnell mentioned that there  was no vacancy for a chaplain, he had that day pasted his medical examination at victoria barracks, and offered to serve in any capacity.  The statement was followed by enthusiastic cheering.  he expressed resentment , as an Australian born Catholic, at insults which had been hurled at people of his faith and said that thousands of these peopleintended to vote "Yes".  He studied in Sydney.  Father O'Donnell is 40 years of age and was appointed on 22 February 1918. He was then living in the ballarat district.  He embarked on the S.S. Nestor on 28 February 1918.  His next-of-kin is his mother Mrs O'Donnell of 404 Eyre St Ballarat.

Prime Minister Mr Billy Hughes was impelled to take action when Father O'Donnell was mysteriously arressted in Ireland in 1919.

Thomas Joseph O'Donnell (1876-1949), Catholic priest, was born on 3 August 1876 at Buninyong, Victoria, fourth of seven children of Irish parents Moses John O'Donnell, farmer, and his wife Mary, née Buckle. Details of O'Donnell's early life and education are obscure but, continuing his studies for the priesthood, by 1905 he was in Tasmania whence he was sent by Archbishop Murphy to All Hallows College, Dublin. Ordained in 1907, he returned to Tasmania as curate at Latrobe. Transferred to Stanley in 1909, he was energetic in promoting the Catholic religion, church-building and local issues. In 1915 he officiated, at the request of the bride to whom he had given religious instruction, at the marriage of Joseph Lyons to Enid Burnell.

A tubby man, of dark complexion and blue eyes, on 22 February 1918 O'Donnell (understating his age by three years) created a sensation by joining the Australian Imperial Force as a chaplain with the rank of captain. This followed an interstate speaking tour in support of conscription and an attempt to enlist as a private the previous December. He served in France with the 11th Battalion.

On 14 October 1919 O'Donnell was arrested in Ireland for traitorous and disloyal language concerning the King and British policy in Ireland, said to have been uttered in the International Hotel, Killarney. He also stated in the presence of a British officer that Germany would have won the war had it not been for the A.I.F. He was held incommunicado in Ship Street Barracks, Dublin, for several days before being removed to Britain on a writ of habeas corpus. W. M. Hughes cabled protests to the British government and messages of support to O'Donnell.

Incarcerated in the Tower of London, allegedly in the cell earlier occupied by Sir Roger Casement, he was released under open arrest and tried in the Guildhall by a general court martial on 26-27 November. Acquitted, though not honourably, O'Donnell wrote to the newspapers about his alleged mistreatment and billed the A.I.F. for his legal costs. His case was raised in the House of Commons.

O'Donnell may have been confused with someone else when arrested (he was wearing no chaplain's insignia) but his stated intention to hand over to Sinn Feiners a pistol presented to supporters of the Irish rebel John Mitchel in Van Diemen's Land was as characteristic as it was unwise.

Returning to Tasmania via the United States of America, he continued Church work at Latrobe, New Norfolk, Moonah, Launceston and Hobart. He became a well-known supporter of sport on the north-west coast, a founder of the North-West Football Union and the Latrobe Cycling Club. Successively a board member of the Spencer Hospital, Wynyard, the Devon Hospital, Latrobe, and the Royal Hobart Hospital (chairman, 1934-36), O'Donnell was a central figure in the 1935 royal commission into the management of the Royal Hobart. He refused to attend the opening of the new building in 1938 when he learned his name had been removed from the foundation stone.

Appointed archdeacon in 1944, O'Donnell vigorously opposed bank nationalization in 1947. When he died in Hobart of hypertensive heart disease on 3 September 1949 he was engaged in litigation with The Rock, a Sydney anti-Catholic publication. A passionate man, O'Donnell became known to all Tasmanians as one who stood for the under-dog and who also believed that there were two sides to every question—his and the wrong one.

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/odonnell-thomas-joseph-7880