Browne, Robert (1844–1935), catholic bishop, was born probably 9 August 1844 in Charleville, Co. Cork, youngest of three sons of Robert Browne and Margaret Browne (née Mullins). Educated at St Colman's College, Fermoy, from 1859, he matriculated (1860) for St Patrick's College, Maynooth, where he was ordained (1869), and completed his theological studies (1870) as a member of the Dunboyne establishment.
He was appointed (1870) professor at St Colman's College, Fermoy, and subsequently (1874) at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, where he became dean (1875), vice-president (1883), and president (1885). He was an able administrator, and his presidency, lasting until 1894, was notable for the furnishing and completion of the college chapel (consecrated 1891) and – despite limited resources – the building of the Aula Maxima (1893). The cloisters were adorned with portraits of bishops who had been members of the college, the development of sacred music was encouraged, and a full-time organist was engaged. He raised academic standards and was editor (1884–94) of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. Appointed bishop of Cloyne in 1894, he founded St Colman's Diocesan Health Insurance Society, and was chairman of many committees including the County Cork technical and instruction committee. He presided over the building of parish churches, schools, charitable institutions, and the completion of St Colman's cathedral, Cobh (Queenstown) (consecrated 1919), which included the addition of stained-glass windows, the building of the spire, which rises to a height of 300 ft (91.4 m), and the installation of a forty-two-bell carillon.
In 1912 Browne and six priests won a libel case in Edinburgh against the Dundee Courier, which had accused them of abusing their authority over the catholic laity to procure the dismissal of protestant shop assistants employed by catholics in Cobh. On his return to Cork, Browne was congratulated by the Rev. Courtenay Moore (1842–1922), protestant rector of Mitchelstown, who spoke of his ‘tact, honesty, ability, kindliness and fair-mindedness’ (Irish Catholic Directory, 1913, 515).
Committed to constitutional methods for achieving political change, Browne was a steadfast supporter of the Irish parliamentary party under John Redmond (qv) and signed the nomination papers for Anthony Donelan (1846–1924), protestant nationalist MP for Cork East, and the declaration against partition (8 May 1917). He was one of the bishops who immediately signalled his support (13 December 1921) for the Anglo–Irish treaty even before the bishops had met to consider a joint response. In his Christmas day sermon, proclaiming that the people are the fountain of national authority, he urged all supporters of the treaty to express their views and to call on their representatives ‘to obey the mandate of their constituencies’ (Murray, 41), as the results of its rejection would be unthinkable. Believing that ‘the people are most anxiously awaiting the bishops’ pronouncement in the hope that it will bring order and peace’ (Murray, 61), as secretary of the standing committee of the Irish catholic hierarchy he encouraged the strong statement made by the bishops (26 April 1922), in which they endorsed the dáil and the provisional government as the only legitimate authorities. During the election of 1922 he publicly expressed his political views, informing the press that he was giving financial support to the two independent pro-treaty candidates for Cork East and North-East. His pastorals during the 1920s were political in content, emphasising the virtue of full support for the government, which he described as an ‘intelligent, honest, and pure administration’ and proclaiming that ‘the door of the Free State is wide open, with a genuine welcome for every Irishman who is prepared to work for the ordered peace and prosperity of Ireland’ (Murray, 91–2). A man of wide sympathies, he visited the republican Terence MacSwiney (qv) in prison while on hunger strike, but also maintained friendly contact with British forces in Cobh before and after the signing of the treaty. He died 23 March 1935 in Cloyne and was buried in St Colman's cathedral, Cobh.