Denis M. Long, Pioneer and Early Priests, Archdiocese of Brisbane, Deceased or retired by 1929, 2021, pp 173-174:
Very Rev Dean Andrew Horan

Dean Horan served as priest-in-charge of the Ipswich mission from 1 May 1873. It was not until 1915 that he was given the canonical title, Parish Priest.

Andrew Horan was born on 11 May 1845 at Gormanstown in County Kildare Ireland to gentleman farmer John Horan and his wife Sarah, the sister of Bishop James Quinn. Andrew was the youngest of four sons who were ordained priests: Joseph came to the Australian mission in the diocese of Bathurst where his maternal uncle, Matthew Quinn, was bishop. He died in 1888 at Carcoar just three years after the death of his uncle.

Andrew and his brothers Matthew and James came to Brisbane where another uncle, James Quinn, was bishop. Matthew was parish priest of Gympie for 55 years. James, the parish priest of Warwick for 29 years, was the first to die. Andrew, although seemingly more delicate than his brothers, survived them all.(1)

After private tuition in his home and at a Dublin preparatory school on Usher Quays, Andrew entered St Laurence O'Toole College in Dublin. During this time he took a BA degree at the Royal University of Dublin. It was during this time of study that he entertained the idea of becoming a priest and so entered St Patrick's College Carlow before moving to Propaganda College in Rome. He was ordained a priest in the basilica of St John Lateran on Pentecost Sunday 1870. On his return to Ireland he served for some time as vice-president of Gayfield College in Dublin.(2)

In 1873 he chose to join his brothers Matthew and James as priests in the young diocese of Brisbane. On the feast of the Purification 6 February 1873 he embarked for Queensland at Gravesend aboard the Storm King. The Storm King dropped anchor in Moreton Bay on 2 May 1873. On Monday 5 May Father Andrew landed at Harris wharf to be welcomed by his uncle the bishop. After four weeks in Brisbane, Father Andrew arrived in Ipswich on 10 May as priest-in-charge of the Ipswich mission. He succeeded the pioneer Fr Brun.

Andrew Horan was to spend fifty one years in charge of the Ipswich mission. Bishops Quinn and Dunne appointed priests in charge of a mission. In 1915 Rome pressurised Archbishop Dunne to establish parish divisions in his diocese. Other diocese had done this long before. This law was canonised in the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

Fr Andrew Horan established a reputation for erecting churches, schools and convents in many districts. Later some of these became parishes in their own right. A year after arriving in Ipswich his first major decision was to build a convent. On the occasion of the opening of St Stephen's Cathedral in 1874 he invited the Coadjutor Archbishop of Sydney, and the many bishops present, to the laying of the foundation stone of the new convent on 23 May.(3)

For whatever reasons, we do not know, but Fr Horan did not proceed with that project at the time. Instead he turned his energy to another project, the construction of the finest presbytery in the new diocese.

Just three months later, Fr Horan had not only changed his mind and decided to build himself a fine presbytery, he had already organized architect's plans – not from any architect, but from Stombucco – and called for tenders in July 1875. Tenders were to close on the 8th August.(4)

Popularly known as 'The White House' it is one of the finest buildings in Ipswich. It was opened in October 1876 costing about £3000. A flat for an aging parish priest was added in the 1960s and then a parish administration block was erected to the left of the house.

Many buildings including a fine stone and brick convent and two schools - one for girls and another for boys- were erected in Ipswich. Twenty six churches were erected in various districts of the extensive parish by Fr Horan.(5)

His major project was the construction of the beautiful new St Mary's church.

The old church was built by Fr McGinty, who feared no troubles and spared no labour in erecting a splendid church, in cut stone, to the service of God at a time when the population was small, and no one but himself would have faced such an arduous undertaking. In time it became too small, as the population increased. Father Horan … saw that something should be done to accommodate the increased congregation. After very long and mature deliberation he decided that there was no way out of the difficulty only to build a new and much larger one.(6)

Fr Horan convened a meeting to discuss the alternatives of a parish hall or a new church.(7) As a result Fr Horan decided to erect a new parish hall, opened in August 1901. This was to serve as a Mass-centre during the construction of the new church.

Archbishop Dunne laid the foundation stone of a new St Mary's Church on 20 October 1900. The magnificent St Mary's Church, which cost £42,000, was opened by Cardinal Moran in October 1904. It was paid off within five years.

The large Ipswich parish of 1873, by the time of the Dean's death, was divided into eight parishes; Gatton in 1886; Laidley in 1891; Goodna in 1894; Esk in 1913; Rosewood and Helidon in 1915; Booval in 1918.

During his fifty one years the Dean was assisted by over thirty priests in one of the most active parishes in the diocese. With poor health afflicting him for many years curates such as James Duhig and Maurice Lane took charge of many of his projects.

Dean Horan suffered illness for a number of years, becoming so bad that he spent the last seven years of his life as a resident at Nazareth House, Wynnum. During that time he remained parish priest, with Monsignor James Byrne being administrator of the parish.

His illness appears to have been depression and dementia. This aggravated any cold or influenza he caught. His last years in Nazareth House were very sad for a man of such foresight and energy. Monsignor James Byrne, administrator of the parish for the last seven years of Dean Horan's life, succeeded Horan as parish priest until appointed the first bishop of Toowoomba in 1929.

Dean Horan died in Nazareth House, Wynnum at 7.35 pm on Friday 10 October 1924.

The passing of Dean Horan is the passing of a very notable figure in the history of Ipswich and the West Moreton district. It is a touching and fragrant reminder of the inevitable surrender of spirit, however rugged and ardent, to the siege of age and physical infirmity.

The body of the late Dean will be brought to Ipswich and will be on view at St Mary's church to-morrow. A solemn requiem Mass will be held at St Mary's Church at 10 o'clock on Monday morning, and the funeral will take place immediately after Mass. The body of the revered prelate will be laid to rest in a vault in St Mary's Church, a fitting resting place for one who had laboured so long and arduously for the erection of St Mary's.(8)

Footnotes
1. Catholic Press, Sydney, 16 Oct 1924, p. 21.
2. John R Kane, St Mary's Ipswich – the Luckie Parish – Fr Luckie to Dr Oxenham 1849-1983, 2011, p. 115.
3. Queensland Times, Ipswich, Sat 23 May 1874, p. 9.
4. John R Kane, op. cit. p. 117.
5. Ibid. pp. 115 to 147.
6. Freeman's Journal, Sydney, 9 Apr 1904, p. 25.
7. Queensland Times, Ipswich, 4 Sep 1897, p. 4.
8. Queensland Times, Ipswich, 11 Oct 1924, p. 4.

Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Long.