Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, pp 48-53:
Dean/Mons. John McCarthy

Just what would a phrenologist say about that high head above the eyebrows? All indications are that he was a very 'high minded man'.

Fresh from ordination at All Hallows in June of 1897 John Francis McCarthy must have found life rather raw during his Blackall and St George appointments of 1898 and 1901. His next was a complete contrast - Parish Priest of Southport for six years. Here one of his traits emerged, viz. the improvement of churches. The little timber building at Beenleigh and Coomera, for example, received the McCarthy treatment. Jerry O'Leary wrote how the Beenleigh Church was 'as well equipped as many a city church and in altar linens and decorations would do credit to a convent chapel'. Similarly, the Upper Coomera church was enlarged 'and boasted of a good altar, fine chalice, paten, vestments, and a good organ'.

A pertinent question might well be asked here because it is Fr McCarthy who answers it: Did the new arrivals from Ireland feel lonely and isolated? In a tribute to Fr Michael Morris in 1908, John McCarthy wrote, 'I well remember my first days in Brisbane. No word-picture can depict the feelings of the young Irish priest who finds himself a lonely stranger in a foreign land. Now I can afford to smile, but I have a never fading recollection of the miserable loneliness that filled me. No one seemed to mind; no one seemed to know. But there was one, and that was Fr Morris, and his heart went out to us. His kindly and hearty invitation to the Valley presbytery, his questions as to our future sphere of work, his own experiences, the encouragement he gave and the reassuring words he spoke beget in me an undying gratitude. To the young priests, he was father, friend and kindly host.'

The parish where Fr McCarthy left his imprint is Red Hill. When he came there in 1908, it apparently had great potential for improvement. Con Roberts gave the impression that it was rather run down and 'when Fr McCarthy announced to we parishioners that he was going to build a new church that would cost £16,000, we were dumbfounded'. He recalls the Parish Priest at the time thus: 'Fr McCarthy had a horse, a fine horse. He was a fine figure of a man, very presentable, very well spoken. He cut a fine figure on his horse, although I don't think he often rode it.' Certainly the remnants of his library included books on art, architecture and well used volumes of T B Macaulay.

Writing of Red Hill, Ed Campion has noted, 'Across Australia the building of St Brigid's dominated the Catholic press. The "generous working folk" of Red Hill (as the Parish Priest called them) chose Albi as their model in order to trumpet an unrepentantly self confident Catholicism to the world.' The design of Robin Dods, it has been rated as Brisbane's finest ecclesiastical building. Fr McCarthy appealed through the Catholic press for donors to buy 100 bricks for ten shillings! The foundation ceremony in 1912 was Archbishop Duhig's first official function as Coadjutor. He was accompanied by Dr Mannix, making his first visit to Brisbane. The fortress-like church was dedicated in 1914 on the eve of the outbreak of World War I. The towering campanile shown on the plans has never been built.

Did Archbishop Duhig harbour any jealous feelings about John McCarthy's building success? It was said, and there is some evidence, that there was friction between the two of them. In a couple of letters to McCarthy, Archbishop Duhig commented that he noticed 'lack of charity and jealousy' were the failing points of many priests'! And Fr McCarthy took his marching orders to Maryborough in 1926 rather badly. A panacea was being made a D P and Monsignor in 1929.

By this time, 'improvements' had begun at Maryborough. The old presbytery was demolished and a large timber one built, furnished throughout by none other than Rosenstengel. Then the pretty red brick St Mary's of Fr Tissot, enlarged by John O'Reilly, was taken in hand. It was turned 'end to end' and finished as a building of cathedral-like proportions. Once again, a large campanile was planned but put off until another day. St Mary's reacted badly to the elephantine growth: for years there were problems with the foundations and heavy roofing, and of course, heavy expense.

Mgr McCarthy took no nonsense from the altar boys or anyone else. There was a properness to be observed. On one occasion he and another priest were on a walk through the town gardens. When they came up to a drunk lying across the pathway, the other priest walked around him but Mgr McCarthy stepped over him because 'he shouldn't be there'. Nor was anyone going to tell him what to do. On the Sunday morning of the big railway picnic to Pialba, a few parishioners went to the sacristy before Mass to ask him to keep the sermon short so that they could get home for breakfast and catch the train on time. The sermon went longer than usual!

Although not enjoying the best of health, Mgr McCarthy's death was described as 'untimely'. He had gone south on a trip, took ill, and died in Canberra on 29th May 1941. At his Requiem Mass at St Stephen's, Archbishop Duhig paid tribute to his valuable service to the Archdiocese, mentioning his building programs at both Red Hill and Maryborough.

He was buried at Nudgee. An imposing granite Celtic cross marks his resting place. It tells us he was born at Bandon in Co Cork in 1874, etc, then Domestic Prelate with the title of Monsignor conferred by the late Pope Pius XI, 1929 ... Deeply Mourned. To perpetuate his memory, his sister Miss Eileen McCarthy established a Memorial Bursary for secondary education at Maryborough.

(Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Martin.)

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Prayer Calendar: Deceased Priests who have ministered the Catholic Faith throughout Toowoomba and districts, 1864–2025, Compiled by Annie Carrett, Diocesan Archivist, 2001, Updated by Gabrielle Saide, Diocesan Archivist, 2023:
Rt Rev Monsignor John Francis McCarthy, died 29 May 1941

John Francis McCarthy was born at Bandon, Co.Cork, Ireland, in 1874. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Cork City and had his early seminary training under the Cistercians at Melleray. In 1893 he entered All Hallows, Dublin, and was ordained from there on 24th June 1897. He arrived in Brisbane in October 1897, and went immediately as Assistant to Blackall. The directory of that year noted that "This district is purely pastoral, and the priests are almost constantly travelling". After less than a year there, he was sent to revive the mission at St George (October 1898). In March 1901, because of the great drought, St George ceased to be a separate mission and was merged into the Roma Parish. John McCarthy then moved to the more 'pleasant' site of Southport where he remained for seven years, the last of which he was Parish Priest. In June 1908, he was appointed pastor of Red Hill. In the following February he transferred to Maryborough, where he demolished and rebuilt the presbytery and set about drastically redesigning the old St Mary's Church along Cathedral lines. It seems he hoped this would become the centre of a separate Diocese - with himself in charge. This did not happen and he had to content himself with being Dean and the title "Monsignor Domestic Prelate". He added the initials "P.P., D.P." every time he signed his name. He died while on a trip to Canberra in 1941 aged 66. He was always a stylish dresser and so there was considerable amusement when his coffin turned up at South Brisbane Station in a hessian sack with a note pinned to it "K.M.Smith, Brisbane". His grave is in Nudgee Cemetery and the inscription includes the line "Domestic Prelate with the title Monsignor, granted by Pius XI in 1928".
(Ref. Brisbane Archives)

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.