Career
He was known for his activism on behalf of social and community services. He served as a guide and mentor to Sister Stanislaus Kennedy who, in 1974, was appointed by the Irish Government as the first chair of the National Committee on Pilot Schemes to Combat Poverty. Birch was born in 1911 in Tullowglass, Jenkinstown, County Kilkenny to a farming family, the eldest of seven children.
He began his education in Clinstown National School in 1916, and later was educated at Street Kieran"s College, Kilkenny and Street Patrick"s College, Maynooth, where he was ordained in 1937, and following ordination he gained a Higher Diploma in Education.
In 1938, Birch joined the teaching staff at Street Kieran"s College. After writing about the history of Street Kieran"s, he received an Master of Arts in English before earning a doctorate, and was later appointed to the staff of Street Patrick"s College, Maynooth, and as a Professor of Education and Lecturer in Catechetics in 1953.
In 1962, Birch was apppointed as the Coadjutor Bishop of Ossory, Ireland. In the same year, he was appointed and ordained as the titular Bishop of Dibon (Dibona).
In 1964, Doctor Birch became Bishop of Ossory, instrumental in the establishment of the Diocesan Social Services.
Birch died on 7 March 1981, aged 69, and was succeeded as bishop by Laurence Forristal.
