John O'Connor (5 December 1870 – 6 February 1952) was an Irish Catholic parish priest in England who was the basis of G. K. Chesterton's fictional detective Father Brown.
Born on 5 December 1870 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, O'Connor was educated by the Franciscans and Christian Brothers until the age of twelve, at which point he left for Douai in Flanders to study at the English Benedictine College.
O'Connor served as curate at St. Joseph's in Bradford, England, and later at St. Marie's, Halifax, West Vale and St. Anne's, Keighley.
O'Connor was also associated with the Catholic authors Hilaire Belloc, Maurice Baring and the (convert) typographer and engraver Eric Gill.
O'Connor published poems, book reviews and prose in English Catholic periodicals and newspapers, and also translated the work of French poet Paul Claudel (including "The Satin Slipper" and "Ways and Crossways") and the philosopher Jacques Maritain's "Art et Scolastique".