Catholic Presbytery

Bishop Dunne opened this church on 22 August 1886. It was built on one acre of a 12 acre property that had been purchased by Bishop Quinn and presented to the Sisters of Mercy for the purposes of establishing a Magdalen Asylum. These institutions, a feature of Irish society until relatively recently, provided shelter for unmarried mothers and other “wayward and uncontrollable” women, who often worked in an associated laundry. The Magdalen Asylum, and the adjoining Holy Cross Steam Laundry, were built in 1888-9. The Holy Cross School for the district’s children was opened in 1890 with classes originally being held in the church before a regular school building was constructed.

The new church was initially without a resident priest. Sunday morning masses were offered by Father Corrigan of the Valley, Father Dorrigan of Red Hill and Father Brady of South Brisbane. The first resident priest, Father Dunham, was appointed in 1892 and set about having the first school building constructed. Father Dunham lived in a house called ‘Rubyanna’ in James (now Inwood) Street until his death in 1904. His successors lived at St. Patrick’s in Fortitude Valley until this presbytery was constructed not far from Wooloowin church.

In the early decades of the twentieth century the parish grew rapidly as houses were built on the surrounding estates. In 1911 the church was extended allowing for 200 extra people to be accommodated. A Sisters of Mercy convent1 was also built on the site facing Morris Street in 1912. T.R. Hall and R.S. Dods were the architects responsible for the designs of both buildings. By 1914, when the presbytery was built for the parish priest, “the church, even with those extensive additions, [was] already proving quite inadequate” for the increasing congregation. 

Archbishop Duhig opened the timber presbytery, designed by architect Thomas Ramsay Hall, on 19 April 1914. It was situated two blocks from the church on the corner of Chalk and Torrance Streets. Described as a “splendidly commodious and elegantly designed wooden building” it was “just a convenient remove from the church and school”. Built of “picked timber and beautifully put together by the contractor, Mr Corbett, under the direction of the architect, Mr T. R. Hall” it was described by Father O’Leary, Catholic historian, as “a model parochial residence”. With its “spacious grounds” and “avenue of fruit trees in Chalk Street” the presbytery had been designed for maximum comfort and convenience and was a far remove from earlier days when, as Duhig recalled, “the parish priest had to be content with a cottage of three or four rooms”. The completed cost of the property was £2250, a debt which the people of Wooloowin would generously extinguish though their fund-raising efforts.  The Catholic Advocate extolled the virtues of the presbytery reporting that it was situated in 1¾ acres of ground “within two minutes walk of the church”.  The report noted that the Presbytery and its spacious grounds “commands attention, and is a landmark in the district”.

The first parish priest to reside in the new presbytery was Father Walsh. In conjunction with Frank McDonnell , parish priest Father Walsh had purchased the land on which it was built in March 1914.  Title was transferred to Catholic Church trustees Robert Dunne, James Duhig, Andrew Horan, James Benedict Breen, Denis Foughy and Matthew Ryan in October 1918. Following the deaths of Breen, Dunne, Horan and Foughy, James Duhig held title until it was transferred to the Corporation of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane in 1952. Successive parish priests have continued to reside here and minister to the growing local Catholic community. Rev. Father James Byrne (who went on to become Vicar-General of the Archdiocese) erected a Senior School to complement the earlier school which became a junior school. Additions to the presbytery were made in 1954 and it has continued to be the cornerstone of the parish. Archbishop O’Donnell opened a modern church, designed by architects Cullen, Hargraves and Mooney, on the site adjacent to the original church in 1968. The Holy Cross parish, with parish priests at the hub, has been the focal point of worship, ministry and education for the local Catholic community for over a century.

1. Edward Duhig, the brother of Archbishop Duhig whose family lived in the parish, constructed the convent

2. Brisbane Centenary Celebrations Committee 1924, Brisbane Centenary Official Historical Souvenir, Brisbane

3. Brisbane City Council. Heritage Citation. Holy Cross Church, Wooloowin

4. Brisbane City Council. Survey and Record of Building Master Card for 69 Chalk St.

5. Clark, Howard & Keenan, David. Brisbane Tramways: the last decade, Sydney: Transit Press. 1977

6. Environment Protection Agency Entry in the Queensland Heritage Register McDonnell & East Ltd Building 600120 and Holy Cross Laundry 600359

7. Fisher, R. 1991, "John Arthur Manus O'Keefe, Irishman: Stombuco's building associate in boomtime Brisbane", Brisbane: Mining, Building, Story Bridge, the Windmill, BHG Papers no.101

8. Holy Cross 1886-1986 1986, Holy Cross Centenary Committee, Wooloowin

9. ‘Holy Cross Presbytery, Wooloowin’, The Age, Brisbane, Saturday April 25, 1914

10. Kerr, J. 1988, Brunswick Street, Bowen Hills and Beyond: The Railways of the Northern Suburbs of Brisbane, Australian Railway Historical Society - Queensland Division, Brisbane. ‘New Presbytery’, Catholic Advocate, February 19, 1914

11. O'Leary, Rev J. 1914, A Catholic Miscellany: Containing Items of Interest to Queenslanders, Irishmen and Irish Australians, J. O’Leary, St James' Presbytery, Coorparoo

12. O'Leary, Rev J. 1919, Catholic Progress: Archdiocese of Brisbane 1912-1919,J. O'Leary, St James' Presbytery, Coorparoo

13. Queensland Certificates of Title. Historical Titles for 69 Chalk Street, Wooloowin

14. Steer, G.R. 1944, "Brisbane tramways: their history and development", RHSJ, vol.3, no.3. (May 1944)

15. Thorrold Town Estate Map, Wooloowin, 1 July 1882?, JOL, no.2787

16. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940. (St. Lucia: U of Q Press, 1984)