The Ignatian - December 2016 Vol 26 July Edition Vol 27 | Page 33
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Father John
Joseph Therry
The Saint Ignatius’ College Ignis Project commenced in December last year with
the redevelopment of the Therry Building. It is appropriate that Stage 1 of the
College’s capital building program involves the redevelopment of a building named
after Father John Joseph Therry. Father Therry was a man of great vision – a builder
who was passionate and committed to many projects which helped to lay the
foundations of the Catholic Church in Australia.
The Reverend Father John Joseph Therry was an Irish priest from County Cork.
Hearing that Catholic convicts were without a priest in Australia, he let it be known
that he was prepared to travel to New South Wales to fulfil the role. He arrived
in Australia, aged 30, in 1820 under a senior priest, Father Philip Conolly. Being
authorised by both church and state, they were the first official Roman Catholic
chaplains to New South Wales. At the time of his arrival in New South Wales, Father
Therry was described by Bishop Poynter, vicar-apostolic of the London district, as a
“capable, zealous and valuable young man”.
Above Fr John Joseph Therry,
one of the founders of Riverview and
namesake for the Therry Building.
FR TH E R RY LEGACY
At the Riverview College Foundation we
understand that leaving a bequest is a carefully
considered decision. It is your opportunity to
support a cause you believe in and to create
a legacy that will honour you, your family or
someone you hold dear.
If you would like more information on
bequests or planned giving, please contact:
Aleks Duric, Director - Advancement
Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview
Tambourine Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066
E [email protected]
T 02 9882 8376
In 1821, Father Conolly went to Tasmania and Father Therry was left alone on
the mainland, where he worked diligently with his parishioners, particularly with
convicts and Aboriginal people groups. Father Therry set about establishing a
healthy foundation for the Catholic Church in Australia and made arrangements
for the building of St Mary’s Cathedral. He strove to build churches and schools
throughout Sydney and outlying townships. In order to finance his building
projects and his many charities, he dabbled in farming, stock breeding and even
coal mining. However, as his projects increased in number, his accounts became
increasingly chaotic and he waged continuous war with officials for permission to
carry out vital services of his ministry.
He spent forty-four years, until his death in 1864, working as a priest in New South
Wales and once described his life in Australia as “one of incessant labour, very often
accompanied by painful anxiety.” Today, however, he is remembered as “a man of
large notions and considerable achievement… He undertook many obligations and
responsibilities which would, in the circumstances, have crushed greater men. He
firmly believed in a distant future for which he built, often regardless of existing
conditions.” (Australian Dictionary of Biography)
Father Therry saw the Ignatian tradition as being a vital ingredient in the healthy
foundation of the Catholic Church in Australia, and one of his great abiding
passions was to bring the Irish Jesuits to Australia. This was made possible when,
on his death in 1864, he left the greater part of his property to the Society. The
Jesuits used the sale of one of Father Therry’s properties, Josephton, to provide
much of the finance needed to establish Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview.
Along with Father Joseph Dalton SJ and Archbishop Roger Bede Vaughan, Father
Therry is honoured today as one of the founders of Riverview.
C AT H Y H O B B S , A R C H I V IS T
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