Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, pp 88-91:
Mons. Edmund Barry

Just as St Brigid's at Red Hill captured the attention of visitors to Brisbane arriving by the Sydney mail train, so Our Lady of Victories was designed as a beacon to those arriving or travelling on the river. It was built by Fr Edmond Sarsfield Barry.

Despite his very Irish name, Ed Barry was born in Rockhampton in 1889 - of Irish parents of course. He attended Nudgee College and shipped off to All Hallows in Dublin to study for the priesthood. He was ordained there in June of 1913 and returned to Brisbane soon after.

For two years he worked at the Cathedral and the Valley. Then in 1916 he joined up as an AIF chaplain and sailed for the front line. From 'The Front' later that year, he sent a postcard to Archbishop Dunne at Dara to report: 'Your portable altar is proving most useful and is very suitable for camp work. Barry.'

In his booklet Known and Respected, Barney O'Shea tells of another Front incident. 'Ted hated the un-Australian 'Sarsfield' [an Irish patriotic name]. He was a First World War chaplain, but no small wonder that he did not rise to the rank of General. His was an authoritative voice, his demeanour was always compelling.

On furlough from the front, he travelled to Ireland where he met young recently ordained Pat McGinley due to leave for Australia. At that time, Ted held the championship belt for middleweight boxing in his army unit. They decided to put on the gloves for some fun. Sparring was not Pat's idea of fun. He launched a powerful blow to Ted's chin. Ted told me later that he felt he had been kicked by a mule! They decided to leave the issue to another day - a day that never dawned.'

Back in the Archdiocese, Ed was appointed chaplain to St Leo's University College, then on Wickham Terrace, before going to Stanthorpe [1922-23]. He then became Parish Priest of Bowen Hills until 1947. There he built his church to perpetuate the memory of the Catholic Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses of Queensland who had died in the Great War. It was blessed and opened in May 1925. The high campanile tower was surmounted by a blue illuminated cross, 'an inextinguishable lamp of glory to the memory of the fallen'.

Barney O'Shea recorded too that 'Ted's great mate was J D Kelly at Annerley. He was accustomed to motor over from Bowen Hills every Monday afternoon. At night several priests would arrive for the weekly game of bridge. It was generally a hilarious affair. Nuns across the road could hear the laughter emanating from the presbytery.'

At some time Edmund Barry was named as a Monsignor and afterwards was always formally addressed as such. However, there is a story that he felt he deserved it, so why should he pay, and why should he buy all the fancy rig-out? That is why he was known, at least for a time, as a 'Black Monsignor'. There was some friction between him and Archbishop Duhig too.

In 1947, Ted was transferred to take charge of Wilston. A close friend of his, the tenor Fr Sydney MacEwan, always stayed at the Wilston presbytery during his Australian tours. The neighbours loved to hear him going through his vocal exercises and rehearsing his concert items. Then in 1953, Mons. Cleary was asked to step down as Rector of the Seminary at Banyo and Ted felt it was 'an unfair dismissal'. It was said that 'he did have a rather fierce sense of justice' and that 'loyalty was his watchword and his way of life'. He organised a type of protest, or gathering of Cleary sympathisers, at his presbytery. Archbishop Duhig, hearing about the meeting, sent a rather stiff reprimand by mail to Mons. Barry, reminding him that it was customary and courteous to invite the Archbishop to all clergy gatherings. He disapproved of such secrecy!

Mons. Edmond Barry died on 4th July 1956. The blue cross on Bowen Hills is seen more frequently than his memorial cross at Nudgee Cemetery. The inscription does not mention 'Monsignor' but simply reads, 'Edward Barry ... Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium'.

Note: There was also a Fr Michael John Barry in the Archdiocese for a time.

(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:
Rev Edward Sarsfield Barry, died 4 July 1956

Edward Sarsfield Barry was born in Rockhampton on 23 December 1889; the only son of Edward Barry and Annie Conaghan. [He had 3 sisters who became nuns.] He was educated by the Christian Brothers at Ipswich and at Nudgee College, Brisbane. Seminary studies were completed at All Hallows College, Dublin; being ordained priest there on 22 June 1913. [Archbishop Duhig at his funeral said it was 23 June.] He returned to Brisbane in late October, 1913 and subsequently served as assistant priest at Toowoomba and at St Stephen's Cathedral.
During World War I (1916-1918), he volunteered as an army chaplain. Although among the youngest chaplains, his courage and devotion to the enlisted men won their affection; amongst them he was known as 'Father Ned'.
On his discharge from the services, he served as assistant priest, Fortitude Valley (1919), before being named Rector of St Leo's University College (1920-1921). Other successive appointments were: parish priest, Stanthorpe [where he built the church] (1922-1923), Bowen Hills [again, where he built the church—Our Lady of Victories] (1923-1947), Wilston [where he built a secondary school] (1947-1956). In 1944, Pope Pius XII named him Domestic Prelate with the title Monsignor. For many years he was a member of the Diocesan Council, The Sick and Infirm Priests Fund, The Holy Name Society and the Anzac Day Committee. It has been said of him that he was one of the few priests in the diocese whom Archbishop Duhig 'was afraid of'. This remark speaks eloquently of his strength of character. He had 'no frills' and at times could be painfully straight, yet the blunt exterior masked a deeper kindness for others. Another side of the man was to be seen in his friendship with the Scottish priest-tenor, Fr Sydney MacEwan. He died on Wednesday 4 July 1956, and was buried in Nudgee cemetery the next day, at the conclusion of Requiem Mass in St Stephen's Cathedral. Celebrant of the Mass was Mgr V.F. Cleary and Archbishop Duhig preached the panegyric.
There is further information on Fr Edward Barry in Fr Denis Martin's book Priests of 1928.
"Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium." Died aged 67 years and is buried in Nudgee Cemetery.

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.