Nanango Presbytery, The Age, Brisbane, 9 May 1903, p 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article292059554:

Recently the building trade has been very brisk at Nanango, where the Catholics have erected a new Presbytery for the Rev. Father Cosgrove in place of the humble little dwelling which originally did duty as a church. It is a long way back to the old days of the Clappertons, when Father Romani kept the light of faith burning brightly at Nanango, but since then a very fine church has been built, and now the priest who is endearing himself to the hearts of his flock will have a comfortable and proper place of abode.

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Irish death record, https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1947/04574/4208960.pdf: "1947. Deaths Registered in the District of Colmcille in the Superintendent Registrar's District of Longford in the County of Longford. No. 426. On 5 August 1947 at Ballyduffy, death of Revd. Mark Cosgrove, male, bachelor, age 85, Roman Catholic Priest; cause of death: hemiplegia, 1 1/2 years, cardiac failure, some months, certified; informant: Mary Cosgrove, niece, present at death, of Ballyduffy; 15 November 1947; May McKeon Jnr, Registrar."

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Fr T.J. Linane, From Abel to Zundolovich, Vol. 2: Biographies of Priests on the Australian Scene up to 1900, 1980, pp 89-90:

Cosgrove, Mark Francis, Very Rev., Irish, Golden Jubilarian
Revered Pastor in Clifton, Toowoomba Parish
Of course, until the establishment of the Toowoomba diocese in 1929 the country parish of Clifton belonged to Brisbane. Mark Francis Cosgrove was its pastor for some 25 years, being promoted thereto and made a Vicar Forane in 1910. So his pastorate in Clifton was served under three bishops - Robert Dunne, James Duhig (both of Brisbane) and James Byrne (Toowoomba) — all of them reputedly exacting. Brisbane readers may know something of his Irish origins, seminary education, and character — details which are missing in Fr. Jeremiah O'Leary's Catholic Progress and Catholic Miscellany (sometimes referred to by clerical wags as 'Suppressio Veri', by Jerry O'Leary). The newly-ordained first comes to notice in the shipping records when he arrived in Melbourne on the 'Austral' on 22 December 1886. Probably the first years of apprentice-ship were spent at St. Stephen's where Archbishop Dunne kept a large staff under his watchful eye, assigning them to suburban places that were far removed from the central base. In 1890 we find M.F. listed as assistant to Fr Peter Capra in Roma, the priest eugolised in these columns under the caption — 'From Roma to the Gulf of Carpentaria with Vestments on the Pack-horse', and whether the curate learned any of the wiles of the pastor we cannot guess. Certainly the travelling conditions must have been tough, in Roma itself, in Dalby, where for some ten years he assisted the Administrator, Fr D.J. Byrne, and in the scrubby country around Nanango which was his first parish from 1902 to 1909.

Closer settlement in the Burnett River area was about to be ushered in when Father Mark was promoted to Clifton. We would like to know more about his achievements in the twenty-five year stay, apart from what Fr. O'Leary has to record — the building of a convent and school for £3050, and its opening by Dr. James Duhig on 25 February 1917. As mentioned before he was a diocesan consultor in the reign of Bishop Byrne, and, either through choice or a break-down in health, retired about 1935 to return to Ireland. A brother, Fr. James Cosgrave, served on the staff of St. Mel's College, Longford, and it was in this region (at the town of Moyne) that Mark Francis died on 5 August 1947. He had attained the age of 85 and celebrated a golden jubilee (if not a diamond). A death report states that his funeral left the Lagga (should this be Laggan or Lagan?) church and that he was buried in the Tober Patrick cemetery.
(Footprints, Vol. 2, No. 12).

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Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, pp 56-57:
Mark Cosgrove

There is a vast gap between the Basilica of St John Lateran where Mark Cosgrove began his priesthood in 1886 and the little wooden churches dotted about rural Queensland.

Mark was born in Co. Longford, like Monsignor Potter, and voyaged to Australia on the Austral which, the second largest steamship in the world, had sunk in Sydney Harbour in 1882 and been raised. He spent almost his entire 48 years 'in the bush ', at Roma, Dalby and Clifton 1910-1935. The travelling was demanding as even Nanango was administered from Dalby. How did these men from 'the old world' adapt to the primitive conditions, the immense distances, the heat, the venomous snakes, the loneliness, etc. of Australia? For his little communities, he built churches at Cooyar, Mooretown, Taroom, Miles, Chinchilla and Jondaryan.

In 1910, Mark Cosgrove was made a Vicar Forane and in the new Toowoomba Diocese he became a Consultor to Bishop Byrne.

At the age of 75 or so, he decided to retire and returned to Ireland. He died on 7th August 1947 and was buried in Lagan. At a Solemn Requiem Mass in St Patrick's Cathedral, Toowoomba, Bishop Roper recalled his hard work of building up the faith under pioneering conditions.

Some few years after his death, two Toowoomba priests were visiting Ireland. When they were in 'Cosgrove country' they decided they would like to see where Fr Mark was buried. As they passed through a little town, they saw an old man sitting on a church wall so they asked him if he knew where Fr Mark Cosgrove was laid to rest. The answer came back in a strong Irish brogue, 'I aught ta - I'm his brother'.

(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:
Very Rev Mark Francis Cosgrove, died 7 Aug 1947

Born in Ireland. Until the establishment of Toowoomba as a Diocese in 1929, the country parish of Clifton belonged to Brisbane. Mark Francis Cosgrove was its pastor for some 25 years, being promoted thereto and made a Vicar Forane in 1910. So his pastorate in Clifton was served under three Bishops - Robert Dunne, James Duhig (both of Brisbane), and James Byrne (Toowoomba). As a newly ordained priest he arrived in Australia in 1886. His early years were probably at St Stephen's. In 1890 he is listed at Roma assisting Fr Peter Capra. He was in Dalby for ten years assisting Fr Denis Byrne and as PP around Nanango from 1902-1909. His next assignment was Clifton where he is remembered for the construction of the convent and school. Either through choice or a breakdown in health, he retired about 1935 and returned to Ireland, where he died in 1947. He is buried in the Tober Patrick Cemetery, Dublin.
(Ref. Linane C162)

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.