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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Te Aro Parish

Te Aro Parish, which includes Te Aro, Newtown, Oriental Bay, Kilbirnie, and Island Bay, has made wonderful strides page 395 since the year 1842, when the Rev. J. P. O'Riely, O.S.F., arrived on the shores of Port Nicholson. The reverend father had been requested by the Most Rev. Dr. Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, to take charge of the then far away Catholic mission. On arrival, Father O'Riely found that no Catholic church existed; he had therefore to utilise an old store on the beach for some time in which to celebrate mass. Having secured the site now occupied by the roomy and convenient presbytery in Boulcolt Street, he succeeded in erecting the first Catholic Church in Wellington. Owing to the growth of the City, the little building was enlarged more than once, and in 1874 it was replaced by the present church, which was erected by the zealous exertions of the good Father O'Riely. The church, which was dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels, is a wooden building capable of accommodating about 450 worshippers. It contains an organ loft, in which a fine little organ has been placed. This church is now too small for the congregation, and it is contemplated to enlarge at an early date. In 1880 Father O'Riely died, greatly beloved and esteemed by all classes of the community. The late Rev. Father Kerrigan, S.M., succeeded to the charge of the parish, and occupied the position till 1891, when he resigned, owing to ill-health. The present parish priest is the Very Rev. Father Devoy, S.M., V.C. There is a second church in the Te Aro Parish; it is known as St. Joseph's, and is situated in Buckle Street, close to St. Patrick's College. It is an octagonal building of wood, which has a large seating accommodation for about eight hundred on the ground floor, and an additional five or six hundred in the gallery. A school for boys is conducted under the auspices of the Church in Boulcott Street, by the Manist Brothers. It serves for the two parishes—Thorndon and Te Aro—and is attended by some three hundred boys. In Dixon Street a girls' convent school is carried on by the Sisters of Mercy. This school was established by the late Rev. Father Kerrigan about the year 1878, and the scholars now number three hundred. A convent school for girls has been founded in Newtown; this is conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. There are 150 girls in attendance, besides about fifty little boys. The site of the Newtown School was bought and the building erected by the Very Rev. Father Devoy, in the year 1893. A good Sunday school, numbering about six hundred children, assembles each Sabbath in the Buckle Street Church. At both churches in Te Aro Parish four services are held every Sunday, and all are very largely attended. The assistant priests of the parish are the Rev. Fathers Goggan, S.M., and Ainsworth, S.M.