Patrick Raymond Griffith OP, (15 October 1798 – 18 June 1862) was an Irish Dominican priest, who served the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town, South Africa. Rev. Patrick R. Griffith, who, in 1837 was consecrated the titular Bishop of Paleopolis, in the church of St. Andrew, Westland Row, Dublin where he was administrator,Western Vicariate of the Cape of Good Hope New Advent and was sent to Cape Town by Gregory XVI as the first Vicar Apostolic of Cape Colony.The Glories of Ireland. Edited by Joseph Dunn and P.J. Lennox. Dr Griffith became the first Catholic bishop in South Africa when the vicariate was elevated to a bishopric.Chapter Two Patrick Griffith the First Bishop in South Africa - The Dominican Friars in Southern Africa: A Social History (1577-1990) By Philippe Denis, Brill Lieden (1998)
Dr. Griffith purchased the land on which St. Mary's Cathedral built and oversaw its development. Dr. Griffith died on 18 June 1862 in South Africa, and is buried in St. Mary's Cathedral.Irish Missionaries in South Africa www.ancestors.co.za Bishop Griffith was succeeded as bishop by another Irishman, the Right Rev. Dr. Thomas Grimley.
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