Born at Waterford, Ireland, to James Kelly, a master mariner,[3] and Mary née Grant, Kelly was educated at Christian Brothers’, Enniscorthy and the Classical Academy, New Ross.
Kelly served on the staff of the House of Missions, Wexford and was made vice-rector of the Irish College in Rome in 1891.[3] In 1894 he become rector of the college and as such an important figure in Anglophone Catholicism.
Elected Archbishop of AchridaIn Partibus Infidelium and coadjutor cum jure successionis of Sydney on 20 July 1901, Kelly received episcopal consecration as coadjutor archbishop on 15 August 1901 at St Joachim's Church, Rome, by Cardinal Francesco Satolli.
Kelly eventually succeeded to the See of Sydney on 16 August 1911 on the death of Cardinal Moran.
During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, Kelly publicly criticised the federal government's "impious refusal" to allow Catholic priests to minister to dying victims, in particular nurse Annie Egan who died without receiving the last rites. He sent a telegram of protest to acting prime minister William Watt, and then when no response was received attempted to enter the North Head Quarantine Station, where he was told he would be arrested if he attempted to enter.[4]
As Kelly continued his crusade for temperance and he undertook extensive fund-raising for Catholic schools. It is estimated that £12,000,000 was spent on scholastic and church properties from the time of Kelly's arrival in Sydney until his death. St Mary's Cathedral was completed in 1928 and statues of Kelly and Moran stand in the main portal.[3] He took a less belligerent attitude to sectarian tensions and political questions such as Irish affairs than Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne.[5]
In recognition of his extensive service to the church, Kelly was named Assistant to the papal throne, associated with the title Roman count, on 25 June 1926. Kelly died in Sydney aged 90, still of sound mind.[3]
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