On building a Church in the north: Father William McGinty’s time in Bowen

Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Bradshaw, Wayne
Abstract

[Extract] Father William McGinty has long been recognized as a foundational figure in establishing the Catholic Church in Queensland. His work in Ipswich mission between 1852 and 1862 included arranging the funding of multiple churches, the grandest of which was the gothic St Mary’s which still stands today. Indeed, he was a prodigious fundraiser for the early church in Queensland and a noted controversialist who regularly found himself embroiled in public arguments with parishioners, superiors, and the editors of multiple newspapers alike. One particularly unedifying quarrel with the Bishop of Brisbane, James Quinn, led to his reassignment to Port Denison. Effective banishment in early 1864 to spend his final years in the isolated township of Bowen might seem like the end of McGinty’s story, but he had unfinished business in the north, and a new bastion of Catholicism to establish.

Journal

N/A

Publication Name

AHA Conference 2021: ‘Unfinished Business’

Volume

N/A

ISBN/ISSN

N/A

Edition

N/A

Issue

N/A

Pages Count

5

Location

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Publisher

Australian Historical Association

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

N/A