Rev. J. Dunne, Freeman's Journal, Sydney, 13 July 1861, p 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115759266:

The. Rev. Father Hanley, late of Singleton, having been appointed to the Yass mission, His Grace the Archbishop has sent Father Dunne to replace him in that locality. Father Dunne arrived in the colony about eight years ago, and at once proceeded to assist Rev. T. McCarthy in the extensive and important district of New England. A few months ago he was removed to Sydney, where he has been assisting Father Corish in the parish of St. Benedict's. The mission of Singleton being a very extensive one, and requiring a vast amount of riding, Father Dunne is well suited to it, having spent most of his time in the bush, and being well used to a country life.

The Wagga Wagga Express says, that it has been informed on good authority that the Deanery of Goulburn, lately held by the Very Rev. R. Walsh, is about to be transferred to Yass, the Rev. Father Hanley to be appointed Dean. This ecclesiastical arrangement has also been named to us as being about to be, if not already made.

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Town News, Freeman's Journal, Sydney, 30 November 1867, p 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119438880:

We understand that the Rev. Dean Hanly, of Yass, is to succeed the Rev. J. T. Dunne, at Penrith, in the Archdiocese of Sydney.

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T.W. Campbell, The Priests of the Diocese of Armidale: A Necrology, Braddon ACT, 2005:
Hanly, James

Born in 1815 in Moorestown, Co Tipperary. Details of education unknown. He commenced his studies for the priesthood at St John's College, Waterford and volunteered for the Sydney mission after hearing Archbishop John Bede Polding speak about the need for priests in New South Wales. He arrived in Sydney on 10 March 1843 as a student on Templar, from Waterford, and completed his studies at St Mary's Seminary, Sydney. He was ordained in September 1843 in Sydney by Polding, exact date unknown. After some months in Sydney he was sent to Moreton Bay in January 1844 as the first resident priest. During that period he travelled to Sydney by an inland route through the Armidale district and undertook a number of pastoral duties while on that journey. He remained in the Moreton Bay district until 1857, when transferred to Singleton, then to Maitland, Yass and Goulburn. When Polding first recommended the creation of an Armidale diocese in July 1862 he recommended that Hanly, who had experience of the Armidale region, and who was by then in the Yass district, should be consecrated as its first bishop. When the appointment of bishops was made to the new dioceses of Goulburn and Armidale in May 1865 Hanly was appointed to Goulburn. In September 1865 the appointment was revoked on grounds that Hanly was poorly educated, having little zeal for preaching, pastoral care or ecclesiastical discipline, and for being addicted to shooting kangaroos. Hanly then left Goulburn, returned to Sydney, saw service in Penrith and Manly, then retired in 1886 to become chaplain at the Good Samaritan Sisters' convent, Five Dock. He died at Five Dock on 3 February 1895. He was buried at Rookwood cemetery.
(Sources: Farrell, O'Brien, MDHC A-Z H22).

(Reproduced by permission of Tom Campbell.)

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Catholic Parish of St Augustine, Yass, Priests who have served in the Parish of Yass, July 2018, https://staug-yass.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/priests_list.pdf, accessed on 24 December 2025: "Rev. Father James Hanley, 1861-1868."

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Catholic Parish of St Augustine, Yass, History, available from https://staug-yass.org.au/wp/about/history/, retrieved on 10 November 2025: "Dean James Hanly (1861-1867)"

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Denis M. Long, Pioneer and Early Priests, Archdiocese of Brisbane, Deceased or retired by 1929, 2021, pp 46-47:
Very Rev Dean James Hanly

In writing short stories of the early priests of Brisbane, no one is more important than The Parish Priest of Queensland, as Fr James Hanly loved to refer to himself in his old age.

James Hanly was born in Moorestown, Co Tipperary, in 1815, the son of Michael Hanly, a farmer, and Ellen Heffernan. He was a 28 year old student from St John's College, Waterford when he accompanied Bishop Polding to Sydney on the Templar arriving late on 9 March 1843. The students went to St Mary's Seminary, adjacent to St Mary's Cathedral. Father Hanly was ordained to the priesthood in September.(1)

Three months later with Fr John Kavanagh Fr Hanly sailed from Sydney for Moreton Bay on the paddle steamer James Watt arriving on 13 December 1843.(2)

Fr Therry had gone to Moreton Bay when it was a penal settlement (sic); Dr Polding had said Mass in a temporary building on 25 May, 1843 and had collected £60 towards the building of a church; the Passionists had been working on the Mission for the Aborigines for a few months, and that was all that had been done for the Catholic religion in Queensland until Hanly arrived. Brisbane was a mere village at the time; its population was not more than 700, and that of the entire territory about 2 000.(3)

Nothing is known of their (Hanly & Kavanagh) first movements in the district except for the entries in the Church registers. On the 12th of January 1844 James Hanly baptised Benjamin Stuart. … This is the first record of any Catholic Baptism in the Moreton Bay district. The next baptism was not until the 3rd April. … The first recorded Catholic burial in Brisbane was performed by John Kavanagh on the 8th June 1844. The first recorded Catholic Marriage in Brisbane was performed by James Hanly on the 20th September 1844. John Kavanagh's name first appears in the register for a burial on 28th January 1844. … At the time Kavanagh was gazetted as Chaplain to the Moreton Bay Regiment.(4)

It appears that Fr Hanly celebrated his early Masses in the old Government Stores, where Bishop Polding celebrated the first Mass in Brisbane. This unused building was near the intersection of the present Albert and Elizabeth streets. After six months, Fr Kavanagh moved to Maitland, so Fr Hanly was on his own. His early residence was a small cottage, rented or loaned, erected in 1829 at the lower end of George Street.(5)

In 1844, the Vicar General, Fr McEncroe wrote to the Executive Council in Sydney: as from the want of the necessary funds, a chapel cannot at present be erected at that place (St Stephen's present site). Fr Gregory gave the same reply in 1846 and 1847. At the end of 1844 or early in 1845, Fr Hanly applied for a survey of the Catholic Church land grant. The report gave details of the appropriation of allotments for a Roman Catholic Church, School and parsonage - two-thirds of the present St Stephen's site. Fr Hanly travelled extensively in his parish of Queensland. A popular story relates that Fr Hanly travelled 600 miles to Sydney on horseback for a diocesan synod in 1844; on this Fr Denis Martin's research casts doubt.(6)

During 1844 Fr Hanly collected £62-5-0, in accordance with Governor Sir Richard Bourke's Church Act of 1836, that the Government subsidize privately subscribed funds, pound by pound, up to an amount of £100. By January 1846, £107 was subscribed by the Catholic community allowing the reception of the maximum government subsidy.(7)

In July 1847, Fr Hanly 'made preliminary arrangements for the erection of a temporary school house and chapel in Ipswich. Unfortunately, the timber for the erection of the building mysteriously went astray'. This was a setback. Fr Eugene Luckie arrived in September 1848 to assist Fr Hanly's in his extensive parish. In January 1849 Fr Luckie transferred to Ipswich when the first steps were taken to establish a simple church there.

With the assistance of his curate Fr Hanly was able to move about his parish more regularly. A few days after Fr Luckie's arrival Fr Hanly called a meeting at which it was recommended that a tender for £1,400 for the construction of a stone church on the government land grant in Brisbane, be accepted. Work proceeded on this project with Fr Hanly celebrating the first Mass in the building on the 12 May 1850. This building, still standing and in use as the Mary MacKillop chapel, is one of the best preserved of the historical buildings in Brisbane.

In June 1852 Fr Hanly purchased three acres and thirty perches in Boundary Street for thirty pounds. Here he erected his home Castleracket with spaces for his horses to feed and roam. The certificate of purchase was not entered in the Surveyor General's office in Sydney until October 1853, but it is likely that Fr Hanly had moved in before that date.

Fr Luckie was transferred south in early September 1850, and Fr Robert Downing OSA arrived as assistant to Fr Hanly on 21 September. Both priests continued their great pastoral work in this large area, regularly in the saddle, covering areas from the Burnett River in the north to New England and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. They could be away for six weeks or more. Fr Downing was recalled to the south in July 1852. For about a month Fr Hanly was the only priest in Queensland. During this time, Fr Hanly, on a visit to Maryborough, celebrated the first Mass there, in the house of the chief constable (Sergeant McAdam) at the 'Old Township' (Baddow).

There arrived on Sunday August 22nd of 1852 another Priest who is considered a giant in the history of the Church in Queensland, Fr William McGinty.
The diocesan changes of 1857 meant a big change for Brisbane. Father Hanly was to leave the place to which he had come thirteen years previously as a young priest. This was the first and the only Parish he had so far known – in fact as the priest of the Moreton Bay District (the Parish Priest of Queensland); he founded the parish which was later to become the Archdiocese of Brisbane. In his place was to come from Singleton, Father John Rigney who, in the same letter of appointment had conferred on him the title of Dean and was told that 'the young assistant at Brisbane, Patrick Birch, whom had been sent to help Hanly' was being transferred and would not be replaced.

Fr Hanly sailed from Brisbane for Sydney on the steamer Boomerang on Friday 25 August. He has a wonderful ministry in NSW, dying on 3 February 1895.

A full summary of Fr Hanly's ministry in Queensland is contained in Fr Denis W Martin's "The Foundation of the Catholic Church in Queensland, pages 48 to 123.

Footnotes
1. Fr Denis W Martin, The Foundation of the Catholic Church in Queensland, 1988 edition, p. 48.
2. Ibid. p. 49.
3. John O' Brien, The Men of '38 and Other Pioneer Priests, Kilmore 1975, p. 102.
4. Fr Denis W Martin, op. cit, p. 50.
5. Ibid, pp. 53-58.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid. pp. 59-70 and pp. 76-79.

Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Long.