[1][2][3] In 2013 the Senate of the National University of Ireland (NUI) in Dublin conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Literature, honoris causa, for his contribution to Irish Studies in Australia.

[4] In 1955, aged 15, Val Noone was specially chosen to represent Victoria in the Sun Advertiser Youth Travel Group, dubbed "Australia's Schoolboy Ambassadors"[5] which involved an educational journey to parts of the Middle East, Europe, and Great Britain.

[6] In 1957, at the age of almost seventeen, Val Noone began his seminary studies for the Catholic priesthood at Corpus Christi College at Werribee, a suburb on the southern outskirts of Melbourne.

[7] He was required to participate in a program of cooperative manual labor somewhat akin to the ancient monastic Rule of St Benedict.

Students were required to tend gardens and farm work, carry out maintenance normally performed by tradesmen, and a variety of other tasks which ensured the smooth and efficient running of the college as a religious community.

In the turmoil and change of the 1960s Noone found himself, in addition to his normal priestly duties, challenged by a range of social and moral issues.

His shocked reaction to the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) and his disagreement with his archbishop, James Knox, was leading to a personal crisis.

This rise of critical thought was clearly stimulated by the Second Vatican Council which had highlighted a broad range of issues which the Catholic Church had to face.

They hoped this conference would discuss some of the burning issues of the day, namely the War in Vietnam, the question of priestly celibacy and the imposition of birth control on married Catholics.

Shortly after, Val Noone requested leave from the priesthood and after several months returned to life as a private citizen and anti-war activist.

[8]: 22 On leaving the catholic ministry, Val Noone became involved with a group of dynamic and idealistic young Catholics who, in the inner city Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, informally practised community living, voluntary poverty, and open house hospitality including the provision of caring accommodation for homeless men.

[9]: 67 Noone also assisted in the organising of the Sydney Town Hall meeting of Vietnam Moratorium Supporters convened by Dr Jim Cairns and featuring discourses by Dorothy Day and her companion Eileen Egan.