Background
Cleary was born in Dungarvan, Company Waterford, Ireland.
Cleary was born in Dungarvan, Company Waterford, Ireland.
He was educated locally at a classical school. He studied for the priesthood initially in Rome but then at Saint Patrick"s College, Maynooth, where he was ordained on 19 September 1851.
He was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree, by the Catholic University of Ireland. He was appointed vicar general of the Diocese of Waterford and parish priest of Dungarvan in 1876, prior to being named Bishop of Kingston in Ontario. In Canada he oversaw the development of the diocese with the building of over 40 new churches.