Holy Name Cathedral, Brisbane

In the early years of Duhig's ecclesiastical provinciate, his archdiocese took on an extensive building program, including churches, hospitals and schools.[1] Projects included the Convent of the Sacred Heart, St Vincent's Hospital, Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola in Toowong 1920s,[2] and the Corpus Christi Church in Nundah in 1926.[3] Within Brisbane, he commissioned the Villa Maria Convent in Fortitude Valley, built in 1927-28. With plans to build new larger Cathedral, he commissioned completed the existing 19th century Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane with an apse and sanctuary in a simpler design than intended in 1922.

The site chosen for the cathedral was in part that of the Bishop's residence, located on a rise just outside the central city, at the south western end of the inner suburb of Fortitude Valley, bounded by Gotha and Gipps, Ann and Wickham Streets.

A house called "Dara" had been built on that site in 1850, and in 1859 it became the residence of the first Catholic Bishop of Brisbane, James Quinn (1859–1881).[4] In 1890 the house was replaced by a more substantial dwelling of the same name for the second bishop, Robert Dunne (1830–1917). It was then occupied by his successor Archbishop Duhig from 1917 until he demolished it to make way for his Holy Name Cathedral project.[4]

The rear part of the site on Gipps Street, where the crypt of the Cathedral was eventually built, was owned by Simon Kreutzer (1865-1926), who sold it for a nominal rate to the Brisbane Town Council as a possible site for a new town hall.[5]

However, Charles Moffatt Jenkinson, the mayor of Brisbane in 1914, decided to construct the city hall at Albert Square (now known as King George Square), and he committed council to that decision by selling the Fortitude Valley site to the Catholic Church for the construction of the Holy Name Cathedral.[6][7]

Holy Name Cathedral was designed by the Sydney based firm of architects Hennessy, Hennessy & Co.[4]

It was intended to be "the largest sacred building in the Commonwealth" being 330 feet (100 m) long, 220 feet (67 m) wide and 270 feet (82 m) high. It was to be capable of seating 4000 people.[8] This would have in fact been slightly smaller than Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Canada, which is 344 ft (105m) by 213 ft (65m), which had just begun construction in 1924. It was a modified version of the original design of 1914, which bears strong similarities with the Holy Name Cathedral.

A report, with published plans, in Building magazine of 12 September 1927, shows the perspective sketch at the top of this article, which is stated as the first design from 1925, and was 'somewhat fussier' than the final design shown in the plans of 1927.

Holy Name Cathedral Brisbane design as published 1927 :

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  Holy Name Cathedral Brisbane elevation
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  Holy Name Cathedral Brisbane section
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  Holy Name Cathedral Brisbane plan

This retaining wall and balustrade along Ann Street is the only remaining part of the projected cathedral.

Concrete foundations for the building were laid in the 1927, and the foundation stone was laid on 14 Sept 1928 by the papal legate, Cardinal Cerretti, with a crowd of 35,000 people in attendance.[9] Due to the Great Depression which began in late 1929, fund-raising efforts in the 1930s stalled. Because of lack of funds caused by unwise investment in oil shares of the Roma oil wells the dream did not come to fruition.[10] Nevertheless, Duhig managed to raise enough funds to build a crypt on the site which was completed in 1934.[4] In August 1935, the principal altar in the crypt was consecrated by Duhig.[11] However, fundraising efforts stalled shortly thereafter and construction never recommenced.[12]

The Holy Name Cathedral project was subject to further ongoing setbacks. In 1949 the Holy Name architect Jack Hennessy sued for unpaid fees and in 1950 the court awarded him over £25,000.[1][13]

The archdiocese sold the site to property developers in 1985, and an apartment complex called "Cathedral Place" was subsequently built. Today the perimeter walls and topped by balustrades on the boundaries along Ann Street and part of Gotha Street have been preserved, with these remnants of the cathedral were heritage-listed in 1992.[14]

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  Cathedral Place courtyard
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  Balcony overlooking the street

St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane in the central business district has remained the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Holy Name Cathedral, Brisbane.

• "History of Cathedral Place". Archived from the original on 3 October 2008.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
• "Laying of the foundation stone".