Redemptorist Monastery (former)

Archbishop Duhig had invited the Redemptorist fathers to the Brisbane Archdiocese in 1917. The original house, followed by the monastery became the centre of theological studies and missionary work in the district. The Redemptorist fathers provided religious services, including administering the sacraments to Catholics in the district, and assisted the priests in the Grovely and Mitchelton parishes. On the original 15 acre site the Redemptorist fathers kept pigs and poultry, and ran a large dairy herd, which supplied milk to orphanages and convents. The Redemptorist priests continued to serve and live in the community until 1985 when the monastery was sold to the Archdiocese of Brisbane. Around 1992 the monastery was converted to an aged persons hostel and nursing home, and a retirement village was constructed in the grounds.

The monastery has occupied its elevated site overlooking the surrounding district for almost 70 years. The imposing red brick building, displaying the creative use of brick detailing for which Hennessy and Hennessy architects were renowned, remains a valued local landmark.

Local legend has it that the Oxford Park railway station, located just to the north of the monastery along Church Road, was constructed to facilitate the delivery of building materials. The Enoggera-Samford railway extension had been completed in 1918, and the flanking Mitchelton and Grovely stations opened in that year. Public demand for the opening of another station between Mitchelton and Grovely appears to have forced the Railways Department to consider the placement of another station, allowing easier access by numbers of local commuters who complained about the length of the walk to the nearest station. Oxford Park opened in 1920, six years before construction of the new monastery began, but it remained little more than a siding with shelter shed until rapid post-war growth of the suburb necessitated the appointment of a station mistress and the construction of a platform.

1. Arana Hills and District, p. 125

2. Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, 4, 45, 10 March 1926, p. 90

3. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plan 2537, 27 October 1966

4. Kerr, John. Brunswick Street, Bowen Hills and Beyond: The Railways of the Northern Suburbs of Brisbane. Australian Railway Historical Society – Qld Division, Brisbane, 1988, pp. 73-4

5. The Courier Mail, 3 Feb 1920, p. 6

6. Ware, L. (comp) St William’s Parish Grovely: The First 25 Years 1960-1985, Brisbane, 1985

7. Watson, Donald and Judith McKay. A Directory of Queensland Architects to 1940, UQP, Brisbane, 1984, p. 103