Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral

About

Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral is a heritage-listed cathedral at 132 Dangar Street, Armidale, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It is the diocesan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Armidale and the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Armidale. The cathedral was designed by John Hennessy of Sheerin and Hennessy, and built from 1911 to 1912 by George Frederick Nott. It is also known as the St Mary & St Joseph Catholic Cathedral and the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Joseph. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 13 February 2015.

Religion and the establishment of places of worship have played an important role in the colonial expansion and settlement of NSW. As the boundaries of the colony expanded and settlers pushed into previously unestablished areas, the government ensured religion followed to cater for the spiritual education and morality of the settlers.

As for the Northern Tablelands region, European settlement came as early as 1832 as pastoralists searched beyond the colonial boundaries for new land on which to run their stock. At this time, the early settlers of the district were in fact illegal squatters who only gained colonial approval to work the land in 1836 with the passing of legislation recognizing the pastoralist's rights to graze (but not own) the land (for an annual fee of ten pounds). Caroline Chisholm, known as the immigrants' friend, arrived in Sydney in 1838.

Religion soon followed the pastoralists into the newly declared township of Armidale (established in the late 1840s). A townsite was surveyed in 1848 and gazetted in 1849. The town benefited from being situated on the Great Northern Road with Cobb and Co establishing a service in 1850. The following year the population was recorded at 547. The first recorded Catholic service was conducted in Armidale in 1848 by a travelling priest in a newly constructed Catholic chapel. The first parish church building was on the same location as the current O'Connor Catholic College. The first resident priest, however, was not to arrive in the parish until 1853. Father Timothy McCarthy was to lead the parish until 1862 when the Catholic Diocese of Armidale was formally established.

The Most Reverend Timothy O'Mahony, familiar with fundraising for the missions, was appointed as the first bishop for the Armidale Diocese, being consecrated on 30 November 1869, in St Finbar's Cork by Bishop William Delany of Cork. He then attended the First Vatican Council and was not to arrive in Armidale until 1871. He served as the bishop of Armidale for 7–8 years but was forced to resign after probably false allegations of misbehaviour. He served the remainder of his career as a bishop in Toronto Canada. In the meantime and under the bishop's instruction, the veteran pioneering parish priest Dean John Thomas Lynch and first administrator of the Armidale Diocese was responsible for the construction of the diocese' first cathedral. After receiving the Abstinence Pledge from many & laying foundation stones at places such as Maitland, Grafton & Tenterfield to name a few, Dean Lynch officiated at the laying of the foundation stone in Armidale on 8 December 1870. The Armidale Express reported the occasion and provided a photographer. 1870 was the centenary of the discovery of Australia by Captain Cook and the same year that Thunderbolt was apprehended at Kentucky Creek. Built on the same site as the present cathedral at the corner of Dangar St and Barney St, the brick, stone and shingle cathedral was opened and dedicated in 1872 as the principal church of the Catholic Diocese of Armidale. Growth was quick due to mission donations from Europe and the opportunities of this region. There is a later 1912 historic photo of the new and old cathedrals standing side by side – illustrating the wisdom of the buildings project managers. Parts of the first cathedral were recycled to the Bundarra Catholic church & to the nearby St Mary's primary school. Dean Lynch was well known in Maitland and Taree parishes prior to his duties in Armidale. Dean Lynch was one of the original "Men of '38". In Maitland and in Armidale, "the Dean" collaborated with The Patriarch of Armidale, "Joseph Daly" and his wife Mary. The couple were married in Ireland prior to migrating to New South Wales. In Armidale they were initially based as overseer at Tilbuster station & they raised an Armidale-based family. The Daly family donated the land the cathedral is presently built upon. Mary Daly died in the same year the foundation stone was laid, namely 1870. Their last resting place is in the Old Catholic cemetery at Armidale about 50 meters south of Lynches Rd Armidale, named after their good friend Dean Lynch. Dean Lynch, Monsignor Lynch by then, later worked from St Bedes Parish Church Pyrmont and a chapter was dedicated to "The Dean" in the 2017 publication for the sesquicentenary of that historic Pyrmont parish. As a passing note, the sandstone pointed arches at the entrance and the internal sandstone pillars of the cathedral are known as Pyrmont Sandstone. The last resting places of all of the "Men of '38" are side by side at Rookwood Cemetery Sydney. This continues a long established Sydney – Armidale interdependent link between the first convict built great northern road to Maitland, the later steamship access via Taree and Grafton and the later Great Northern Railway line. The Armidale Diocese is described as a suffragan diocese of the Sydney Archdiocese. [ citation needed ]

In 1882 Brother Gatti from the Catholic Church volunteered to landscape Central Park opposite the cathedral together with the original Catholic Church grounds, the Convent grounds and the Catholic section of the Armidale cemetery. These plantings included Mediterranean cypresses ( Cupressus sempervirens ) and Himalayan cedars ( Cedrus deodara ). The cypresses in Central Park were planted c. 1902. The two Italian cypresses in the cathedral grounds may have been planted not long after demolition of the original 1870 built brick cathedral in 1912 and may demonstrate an association with the life and work of Brother Gatti, who was a keen horticulturist. The diameter of the base of the trunks of the cypresses in the church grounds is comparable with most of those planted in Central Park indicating that they may have planted within 10–20 years of one another. The Cedar planted more or less at the entrance of the first Cathedral was planted in the 1970s and is either an Atlas Cedar or a Cedar of Lebanon – both originating in the mountains of the eastern Mediterranean. These cedars have been famous throughout history and if left to run their natural course can live for 2000 years. Armidale Regional Council has placed a label on all of the tall trees in Central Park providing both the common and scientific names & throughout Armidale there are about 200 established Atlas Cedars. [ citation needed ]

The first catholic cathedral in Armidale was to serve the religious needs of the growing community for some 40 years but it inevitably became too small for the expanding congregation. Considered to be beyond any structural alteration or enlargement, plans were soon underway for the construction of a larger and more resplendent cathedral to become the new seat for the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Armidale.

Under Bishop Patrick O'Connor, the contract for the design of the new cathedral was awarded to Sheerin and Hennessy, a Sydney -based firm previously responsible for a number of Catholic buildings in NSW, with John Hennessy as principal architect. The builder engaged for the project was the prominent local contractor, George Frederick Nott, who, although a practising Anglican, was one of a number of local residents who contributed generously to the project.

In fact, the widespread support for the cathedral saw the construction complete and the cathedral opened within a mere 20 months after the laying of the foundation stone in February 1911. Opened in October 1912, the quick construction of the cathedral was a considerable achievement and was "a great tribute to the faith and generosity of the people". The generosity of the congregation and community was so great that St Mary and St Joseph Catholic Cathedral was the first Australian cathedral opened free of debt – the A£ 28,000 cost paid entirely by pledges and donations.

With its commanding position on Armidale's Central Park, its finely decorated Federation Gothic Revival design and 47-metre (154 ft) needle spire dominating the landscape, the new Catholic cathedral was a grand ornament to the district and diocese and was considered to be the finest cathedral in all of Australia.

Although the original cathedral had remained next to its replacement during its construction, it was dismantled in 1912 and much of its material retained and reused later in the construction of the St Mary's Primary School and Cathedral Hall. A remnant of the original cathedral can also be seen in the plinth supporting the statue of St Peter overlooking the grave site of Bishop Edward Doody (appointed bishop, 1948–68). A further remnant of cathedral artefacts from these times is a finely painted timber reredos used until replaced by the 1919 Italian marble rererdos. The painting was done by Elizabeth Statter. Elizabeth studied at Oxford University prior to meeting the Capuchins destined for NSW and carried out diocesan duties in those pioneering days which would have included liaising with the now St Mary MacKillop. Elizabeth Statter's last resting place is 2 meters south of that of Bishop Elzear Torreggiani.

Formally opened in the year of 1912 (although not consecrated until the Golden Jubilee year of 1919 co-inciding with the installation of the reputedly finest Italian sourced marble reredos in Australia & the attendance in Armidale of the Apostolic Delegate to Pope Benedict XV, Dr O'Connor writes about the occasion in the Freemans Journal of 21 Aug 1919), the cathedral was dedicated to the memory and legacy of Bishop Elzear Torreggiani, who served the faithful of this diocese for 25 years, from 1879 to 1904. This dedication is seen at the base of the great eastern window from the inside of the present cathedral. Bishop Torreggiani was dedicated to building communities and establishing a number of schools and parish churches in the diocese at a time when funding education was often troublesome. (In December 2019, after some two weeks of closure & minor renovations to the cathedral and temporary relocation of the liturgies to the St Mary of the Angels Chapel on Barney Street, the faithful of the Armidale Diocese celebrated the centenary of these events led by the current bishop Robert Kennedy, the new Dean Roel Llave and accompanied by appropriate musicianship.) A record of the occasion may be found in the February 2020 Viewpoint magazine. With his fellow capuchins the provision of pastoral care had a distinctly gentle franciscan nuance and to this day, Francis is a popular local boy's name. Until 1882, funding for secular and denominational schools was administered by the government but funding for denominational schools was to cease following the passing of the Public Institutions Act of 1880. Although a substantial impost on the diocese, Bishop Torreggiani was committed to continuing schools at the direct expense of the diocese. A good number of foundations were made by St Mary Mackillop in the Armidale diocese during the administration of Bishop Torregiani. Bishop Torreggiani's last resting place is in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Armidale beside a good number of fellow veteran Capuchin missionaries who travelled with him to New South Wales shortly after he was chosen by Pope Leo XIII to be ordained in London as the Bishop of Armidale.

In 2020, a collection of online fine photographs about the cathedral can be found at https://www.facebook.com/SMJCathedral/

In order to achieve this, the bishop sought to appoint Catholic nuns who, having vowed to a life of poverty, could establish and operate educational facilities for the children of the district. During the 1880s, the bishop attracted several teaching orders including a group of Ursuline sisters who, having been expelled from their convent in Duderstadt, Germany in 1877, had settled in Greenwich, London. In bringing the Ursuline sisters to Armidale, the diocese secured their permanent home by purchasing an 1860 house (to be named Merici House after the founding member of the order, St Angela Merici) to be used as the convent. The diocese would also pay the passage of 12 sisters from London to Armidale. The sisters arrived in 1882 and soon opened the High School for Young Ladies as well as operating the existing parish school in Dangar Street.

The sisters were an experienced order with an established educational philosophy. "For them, education was total, embracing all the years of a child's life from about seven to 17" and catered for students of all ages and educational standard. The sisters focussed on instilling refinement in their pupils and teaching the necessary skills required for a well-educated lady (namely music, art and needlework). The widespread success and popularity of the Ursuline convent saw the construction of St Ursula's College in 1888, the convent chapel in 1928 and a new presbytery in 1938. St Ursula's School closed in 1975 and was converted into the O'Connor Catholic High School and, although education continues, the Ursuline Sisters finally left the convent in 2011 after some 130 years of service to the Catholic community of Armidale. Angela Merici was a member of the third order of St Francis. Some history of the Australian Ursulines is available at http://www.australianursulines.org.au/our-story/history along with a photo of them welcoming Lady Stonehaven in 1929, the wife of the governor general of Australia. The last resting place of a good number of these Armidale based Ursuline Nuns, who are also referred to as the founding mothers of the Ursuline foundations in Australia, is 20 meters south of the last resting place of Bishop Torregiani, in the old catholic portion of the Armidale Cemetery.

- 1919 – high altar added (replaced timber pulpit from original cathedral)

- 1946-47 – lead material in roof replaced

- 1961 – mosaic added to quatrefoil and tympanum of eastern doorway

- 1970s/80s – restoration and maintenance

- 1979 – modifications to entry foyer, narthex, airlock screen and confessionals; glass doors added to western entrance; and external paving, waterproofing and repainting of western wall