St Brigid's Church

St Brigid's Catholic Church

11 Railway Street

Whilst there were only six Catholic families living in the Rosewood area, Father Brun would travel from Ipswich to celebrate Mass at the homes of the Moran family and other settlers.

As parishioner numbers grew, Mass was moved to a room at William O’Brien’s Sunrise Hotel (later Rising Sun) in 1875.

The need for a dedicated place of worship for the district’s Catholic community was realised on the 3 August 1885 when Father Andrew Horan secured land fronting the railway line and a simple timber church with a shingle roof was constructed.

Father Horan, who would oversee the erection of twenty-seven churches during his time with the St Mary’s Parish, laid the foundation stone of a new St Brigid’s on 13 December 1908.

Construction was undertaken by day labourers, under the supervision of builder R.J. Murphy, with Ipswich tradesmen Cuthberts installing plumbing and acetylene lighting and W.G. Cafferky constructing the first altar. Carpets for the altar area were donated by Ipswich department store owner T.C. Beirne.

St Brigid’s is recognised as the largest timber church in Queensland. When the building was consecrated on the 13 February 1910, it was the largest timber church in the Commonwealth.

On the day of the first service, hundreds were said to have been unable to gain entrance to a church that could seat 2,000. The Ipswich Model Band and the Rosewood Choir provided entertainment to the massed congregation, who watched as the Bishop of Rockhampton, James Duhig, blessed the new church.

The church remained part of St Mary’s parish until it was excised in 1915. In December 2019, St Brigid’s Parish merged with St Mary’s Parish once more to form the Ipswich Catholic Community Parish, along with the former St Joseph’s Parish of North Ipswich and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Leichhardt.

The building is significant as an example of an oversized variation of a traditional timber country church.

Its three flush gables divide the church into three distinct sections, corresponding with the central nave and two side aisles each ending in decorative timberwork, surmounted by a cross.

Whilst the exterior is impressive, with its Gothic Revival pointed arched windows, it is the interior features that receive the most attention: Wunderlich Art Metal ceiling; the stained glass window above the altar depicting three female Saints – St Brigid, St Agnes and St Philomena; and the mural. The mural was commissioned in 1935, as part of the jubilee celebrations for the congregation. Along with two stained glass windows by R.S. Exton and Co, William Bustard was attributed to the scroll work above the altar, containing the words <em>O memorial mortis domini</em> (In memory of the death of the Lord), and possibly the upper mural with its Eucharist theme of grapes, wheat and symbols of the Passion (some sources attribute this work to a Mr. Walsh).

St Brigid’s was entered into the Queensland Heritage Register on the 21 October 1992.

Original St Brigid’s Catholic Church, Former St Brigid’s School and current Parish Centre

Railway Street, St Brigid’s Catholic Church Precinct

After Lucas Ulrich built the first Catholic Church in the Rosewood Scrub district, St Boniface Church at Tallegalla in 1882, he was asked to commence work on St Brigid’s, with the simple timber church being completed by James Madden of Ipswich.

Opening in 1885, it served the Catholic community as their church until the consecration of the larger St Brigid’s in 1908. At this time, it became the Parish Hall.

With the arrival of the Sisters of Mercy in 1922, the church was relocated towards the rear of the church grounds, a verandah and double staircase added, and it began a new life as a parish school.

In the late 1990s, it was moved to its current position, facing Railway Street and has since been used as the Parish Centre.

Former St Brigid's Presbytery and Convent

Matthew Street

Prior to the arrival of Father Kelleher, Priests from St Mary’s Parish, Ipswich, would regularly visit Rosewood to say mass.

In 1915, the parish of Rosewood was created, encompassing the townships of Rosewood, Walloon, Marburg, Grandchester and Rosevale, with Father Kelleher the first parish priest.

With his arrival, it became necessary to build a presbytery on the grounds of St Brigid’s. Archbishop James Duhig blessed the exterior and interior of the presbytery on 30 April 1916.

When the Sisters of Mercy arrived in 1922, the house became a convent and a new presbytery was built that year at the north-east end of the church property (destroyed by fire in 1948).

The Sisters of Mercy remained in Rosewood until 2011.

Sometime between August 2013 and May 2014, the convent was sold and relocated to its present site in Matthew Street.

The former Presbytery and Convent, which indicates the buoyant economy of Rosewood at the time of its construction, is a large timber building with a bat window beneath a prominent front gable.

The front staircase with landing was originally a double staircase. It appears that the western wing was removed at the time the building was relocated.