by Molly McDonnell
In March of 1982, we celebrated the Golden Jubilee of St Francis Xavier’s Church, Arncliffe. The present beautiful edifice with its magnificent façade, round tower, and beautiful interior will forever stand as a monument to the great and untiring efforts of the late Monsignor Joseph Patrick Rafferty. With his great band of helpers he was responsible for the building of our present church which was opened in 1932 and only 4 years later being declared free of debt, was duly consecrated. Given that all this was achieved during the years of the “Great Depression”, this itself stands as a tribute to the generosity of parishioners and others and the hard work of all those who committed themselves wholeheartedly to this project.
Prior to this we had the original school-church, but the first of the ecclesiastical buildings was the convent, about which we shall talk.
The Convent
There was much speculation as to when the convent was actually built and by whom. But the first name to appear in Sands Directory was a Mr Parrish, in 1887, who lived there with his family until about 1900. In 1901, it became the property of a Mr Herd who died in 1909, leaving the property to his wife who remained in residence until 1911. There is letter extant in the Kogarah Parish archives written by the sisters of Charity saying that they could no longer staff the Kogarah Parish school. There would have been a reply and correspondence requesting help from the Sisters of St Joseph, North Sydney. These letters no longer exist, unfortunately. They would have given us definite dates. However, 1911 seems to be the year when things began to move. The convent at Arncliffe was purchased by the sisters of St Joseph. The Superiors at the time, of the Sydney Province of the Sisters of St Joseph, signed the Certificate of Title on 14 September 1911. Their names as they appear on the deeds were:- Mary Molloy, Bridget Howley, Veronica O’Brien, and Mary Meskill. It would have been shortly after this date that 4 sisters took up residence: They were Sisters Gerard, Conception, Ignatius, and an unknown postulant. From Arncliffe they travelled to Rockdale and Kogarah to teach in the parish schools. As at that time there was no school in Arncliffe, the first pupils about 12 in number, were taught in the convent until the church-school was completed in 1912.
Over the years there have been many alterations to the present convent, mainly interior. New additions were also added upstairs. What is now the chapel was once the music room and later the room adjoining it became the music room. In these days the chapel had to be upstairs in 2-storey type buildings. When our new church was built, the passageway leading to the sacristy and church was added, giving the sisters direct and easy access to the sacristy and their own chapel at the side of the High Altar, this later is no longer in use as a chapel. In recent years the small vestibule leading into the present music room has been considerably altered providing the sisters with a beautiful dining-room and access to a very modern kitchen
To the best of the writer’s recollection, sister Marcellus was the first music teacher, with pupils numbering over 90. Lessons were given at all hours including Saturday.
The Church School
The district stagnated during the 1850s as the lure of gold enticed many families to the goldfields but by the time Alexander Brodie Spark died at Tempe House in 1856, there was a well established village at Arncliffe, with an inn and several substantial buildings. As the population increased, the need for schools and churches was increasingly evident. There were other denominational churches and schools in the district but none for the Catholic population. About 1862, and due to the untiring efforts of Archbishop Polding, there were at least 2 schools in the Cook’s River district. One at Rocky Point Road Kogarah, and one at Cook’s River, Tempe.
In the early 1900s Hurstville appeared to be the central church for all the surrounding districts, including Kogarah. Pastors were Rev. Fathers O’Driscoll, Walsh, Peoples and Cusack. Then Kogarah became the parent church and Arncliffe was incorporated in it.
Before these parishes were established, the nearest church was St Benedict’s Broadway. It was nothing for families to travel a distance of 20 miles there and back to mass, sometimes on foot. With the establishment of St Peter and Paul’s, Tempe, some of the Arncliffe Catholics were able to attend Sunday Mass there. Later on some of these families were privileged to attend Mass at St Magdalene’s Retreat (on the former Tempe House estate) for some years until the number of people increased and the problem of accommodation arose, and the Rev. Mother was forced to revoke the privilege. From Arncliffe and Banksia nearly all went to Rockdale church which by now had been established. It was a normal sight to see several families grouped together going to and returning from Sunday Mass all on shanks’s pony (on foot / walking). Members of the Hardge, Stone, O’Keefe, Scott and other families used to walk to Rockdale to school and back, because trains were few and far between.
In 1904, Farther O’Driscoll was placed in charge of St Patrick’s Kogarah. He erected Catholic buildings in Rockdale, Arncliffe, Hurstville, Penshurst, Cronulla, and in later days completed St Patrick’s Kogarah which up to that time was an unpretentious stone church. The foundation stone of St Joseph’s, Rockdale, was laid in 1891, but even the establishment of Rockdale church did not suffice for the ever-increasing number of Catholics common in to the district; and on 5 February 1911, Fr. O’Driscoll presided over a meeting, held in the convent, Arncliffe, to discuss the desirability of erecting a school-church to meet the requirements of the Catholics of Arncliffe, and to relieve the congestion of Sunday morning at Rockdale. It was decided to erect a school-church at a cost not to exceed £600. As the sisters had acquired their convent on Forest Road, the site of the school was purchased from them at cost of £200.
In the Freemans’s Journal and Catholic Press of 7 December, 1911, the following article appeared: “New Church At Arncliffe, his Grace Archbishop Kelly, ceaseless in his efforts to provide for the spiritual wants of his flock, opened a new church at Arncliffe on Sunday, 3 December 1911. The rapid growth of that part of the Illawarra District has increased the religious responsibilities of the energetic Father O’Driscoll. During recent years he had his hand to the busy plough of Catholicity, furrowing a road that leads sons to their eternal home and, with the co-operation of generous parishioners, new schools and churches have studded the picturesque heights of the district.”
The new church will be of brick. The building will be 70-foot long and 30-foot wide, with walls 15-foot 6 inches in height, and will accommodate 400 persons. The windows will be of Gothic design and the church is to be well lighted and ventilated to the apex of the roof with patent cowl ventilator. The site is alongside the convent in Forest Road, and is convenient to the railway station. Architect is Mr J Frank White, 94 Pitt St Sydney, and the contractor Mr W J Symons, Forest Road, Arncliffe.
The school-church was eventually completed in 1912 with pupils numbering 72. By 1914, it had increased to 76. The 4 extra pupils could have included the writer’s 2 sisters and brother, whose family had arrived from England in April that same year. The writer also recalls Father O’Driscoll. In August, 1914, World War I broke out. It was a very sad and hard time for all concerned and, no doubt, raising money for the completion of the church must have been a problem.
The building was one long room with two long red curtains dividing the school from the sanctuary where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. The curtains were easily drawn aside for the altar to be exposed and for Mass to be celebrated. Large heavy desks were supported by adjustable brackets in such a way that they could be dropped perpendicularly on their hinges. Ink pots, of course, had to be removed from ink-wells! The front of the building did not reach the footpath alignment, as at present. There were a few steps leading into a porch and thence into the classroom.
By now the number of Catholics continued to increase; and in March 1916, the Rockdale-Arncliffe portion was divided from the parent Parish of Kogarah and made a separate parish under Father J P Hyland. A year later the parishioners of St Francis Xavier’s rejoiced to learn that the Archbishop had formed a separate parish in Arncliffe, with Rev. Father Andrew Mulvihill as its first pastor.
This article was first published in the April 1991 edition of our magazine.
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