Establishment of St Cecilia’s Church, Hamilton

The parish of Hamilton was formed by Archbishop Duhig on 17 January, 1913, when he purchased the house and grounds at Hamilton known as ‘Huron’ for the sum of £1,450. Father John Gowen had been appointed the first parish priest and, until the church was built and the presbytery – ‘Huron’, the present mission house – renovated, he lived at St Stephen’s and travelled out each day to the parish.  The committee he formed to collect money was successful and the foundation stone for the church was laid on 14 December, 1913.

The church was completed and officially opened and blessed by Archbishop Duhig on Palm Sunday, 5 April, 1914.  At the opening, the church was crowded to its utmost capacity and had in the congregation such notables of the day as T.C. Beirne, G.W.Gray and Peter Murphy.

Establishment of St Agatha’s Clayfield

Clayfield was originally part of Holy Cross Parish Wooloowin. Towards the end of 1917 Archbishop Duhig paid £1,315 for about three acres of steeply sloping land fronting Oriel Road to establish a Mass centre. The land had belonged to Mr J B Charlton whose house was at the top of the hill in Enderley Road near Crombie Street. Mr T R Hall was entrusted with the task of drawing up plans for a building that would serve first as a church, and subsequently as a school. Tenders were called and the building contract was let to Mr Ernest Taylor of Morningside. The foundation stone was placed in position by Archbishop Duhig on 11 August 1918 and the building was blessed and opened for worship on 20 September, 1918.

The Archbishop named the church after St Agatha as she was the patron saint of the 6th century church attached to the Irish College in Rome where he and his two predecessors were educated. Present at that Sunday afternoon ceremony were Father Walsh (Wooloowin), Father Jordan (Nundah), Father Gowan (Hamilton), Father Dorrington (South Brisbane), Father McKenna (Rector of St Leo’s College) Hon F McDonnell MLC and many others from the surrounding district. The new Mass centre was under the care of Father Richard Walsh and his curate who would celebrate Mass on Sundays and sometimes on weekday mornings. Sisters of St Joseph from Nundah Parish walked to Clayfield from their convent to take catechism classes for the children, most of whom attended Eagle Junction State School. From these modest beginnings the parish of St Agatha’s Clayfield grew. The community took on the challenge of major building projects over the years but always kept in mind that the heart of the parish is the communal celebration of the Eucharist, the sense of worship, fellowship and mission, not the structures rising on the hillside land.

St Agatha’s Church Rebuilt

In March 1921 Father Frances O’Connell arrived in Clayfield. He was the first Parish Priest of the newly formed parish, which until that time had been part of the parish of Wooloowin. His early work in the parish convinced him that the parishioners had serious need of a school of their own. He approached the problem by undertaking the construction of a new church and converting the old wooden church to a school. The old church at Clayfield had only been built in 1918, being completed by the end of September that year. It was a wooden structure halfway up the hill towards the site of the present St Rita’s.

Father O’Connell began an ambitious project – the second St Agatha’s, a large brick church to cost £10,000, and overlooking from its raised position the quiet avenue of Oriel Road. Behind it the steep hillside crowned with the stately mansion of ‘Stanley Hall’ towered. Half way up perched the old St Agatha’s, built in wood and now destined to serve as a school. The church property, hilly, steep and as yet only partially cleared, extended around this building.

The Presentation Sisters had been approached as early as 1915 by Archbishop Duhig to open a school for boys and girls in Clayfield. In 1925 the new St Agatha’s church was completed and the Sisters were persuaded by Fr Frank and the Archbishop to come to Clayfield to start the school. The first Sisters to arrive were Mother Mary Patrick Madden, Sister Mary Ignatius Kelly and Sister Mary Bernadette Harman. Initially the community of sisters occupied the presbytery while Fr O’Connell lived in a rented house, and this remained the case until the sisters acquired “Stanley Hall” in September 1926. St Agatha’s school was opened on 27th January 1925 and 120 pupils turned up. By 1926, attendance had reached 230.

On 5 April 1925 the new brick St Agatha’s Church was opened and blessed by His Grace Archbishop Duhig. St Agatha’s was large enough to accommodate 500 people. The early development of St Rita’s and St Columban’s was also entwined with its parish priest for Fr Frank assisted and encouraged in both these projects, but their stories are beyond the scope of this article. Fr Frank died in the year of his silver jubilee, on 28th December 1939 at age 49, in part attributable to his heavy smoking.

Establishment of Our Lady, Help of Christians, Hendra

Our Lady Help of Christians Parish began its origins in the purchase by the Catholic Church of an old rambling residence belonging to the Bowman family on 3 acres of land which became the temporary church. A magnificent residence, although in very poor condition, it became the school as well in 1937 and incorporated the accommodation for the Parish Priest and housekeeper. It was used as a Church and School until 1946 and each weekend the school desks and church seats had to be interchanged to accommodate Masses. The Parish was established in 1928 by Fr Joseph V. Troy and the first Mass was held in the old house/church on 9 June 1929.

The first Parish Priest was Fr J B Lynch, later to become Monsignor Lynch, who was instrumental in the development and construction of the new church, Hall and Presbytery over the long period of his tenure, from 1934 – 1966. Two of Brisbane’s leading citizens played an important role in the establishment of the parish and school: T C Beirne and FJ MCDonnell. The Parish Priest of Hendra was invited to be the Racing Chaplain, a tradition which still stands today.

The original Presbytery in Bowman Street was built for Monsignor Lynch and dedicated in 1938. However, he elected to live in the old house and allow the Josephite Sisters who taught at the school to live there until such time as a Hendra convent was built for them. St Joseph’s Convent’s foundation stone was blessed and laid by Archbishop Duhig on 4 April 1948. During Monsignor Lynch’s pastorship, Our Lady Help of Christians School was opened by Archbishop Duhig on 8 December 1946. The newly opened school building also doubled as the church until the new church was built in 1961.

Our Lady Help of Christians, Hendra Rebuilt

Establishment of St John’s Church, Northgate

St John’s Catholic Church in Nudgee Road, Northgate was Australia’s first civilian church erected as a Royal Australian Navy War Memorial Church. Archbishop Patrick O’Donnell blessed and opened it on Sunday 5th August 1962.

The Navy Minister (Senator Gorton), the officer-in-charge of the Eastern Australian area (Rear Admiral G.Gatacre) and the Naval officer-in-charge, Queensland (Commander J. Ferguson) were present at the Opening.

On Thursday, 2nd August 1962, Northgate’s Parish Priest (the Rev Father V. Rowan) formally received from the Naval Association a roll of honour bearing the names of 171 sailors, enlisted in Brisbane, who died in World War II.

St John’s Convent School, under the care of the Presentation Sisters, was opened on 9th December 1951 and the first classes commenced on 29th January 1952. The school closed on 31st December 1995.

St John’s Church and School were under the leadership of one priest based at Our Lady Help of Christian’s, Hendra until steps were taken to formalise an amalgamation of the two Parishes.

A Parish Meeting dated Tuesday 1 December 1981 at which the parishioners of St John’s were consulted by members of the Archdiocesan Consulters, namely Fathers Kearney and Mollison. While they indicated that they were operating as two parishes and two schools, they were under the leadership of one priest who administered the two entities as one unit. This document also suggests that Fr Peter Gillam who was appointed to Hendra on the First Sunday of January 1977 was then in charge of the St John’s Parish of Northgate. A second letter of appointment dated 8th September 1980 from Archbishop Francis Rush stated, ‘This letter will serve as official confirmation of your appointment as Parish Priest of Hendra and of the enlargement of the Parish to include what was the Parish of Northgate.’ However no formal signed decree was undertaken at this time.

In response to the omission of a signed decree when the Archbishop enlarged the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, Hendra to include the parish of St John’s Northgate in 1980, Fr Michael McCarthy (now Bishop McCarthy), then Parish Priest of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, petitioned the Archbishop on 5th August 2013 for a formal signed degree of amalgamation of the two Parishes. On 2nd October 2013, after having consulted the Council of Priests, Archbishop Mark Coleridge signed the decree that the parishes of Our Lady Help of Christians and St John’s were amalgamated to form the new parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, Hendra.

This decree was back dated to the 8th September 1980 when a letter of appointment was signed by Archbishop Rush appointing Fr Peter Gillam as the Parish Priest of the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, Hendra and to include the enlarged area which was previously the parish of St John’s, Northgate.
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St John’s now rests in the care of the Parish Priest of the amalgamated Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians.

St Cecilia’s Centenary

The centenary of the opening of St Cecilia’s Church was marked on Palm Sunday, 13 April 2014 with a Mass at 2.00pm celebrated by Archbishop Mark Coleridge.  After the Mass there was a celebration with an afternoon tea in the Church Hall.

In recent years, St. Cecilia’s Church has been repainted and has had a new roof installed.  The old school building which doubled as the church hall for many years has been transformed into St Cecilia’s Childcare and Early Learning Centre.

St Agatha’s Centenary

The centenary of the opening of the second St Agatha’s Church was marked on Saturday, 5th April 2025 with a Mass at 11.00am celebrated by Archbishop Mark Coleridge. After the Mass there was a celebration with an afternoon tea outside.

Please click here to access a series of talks given in the lead-up to the centenary, exploring the history and architecture of St Agatha’s.