Denis M. Long, Pioneer and Early Priests, Archdiocese of Brisbane, Deceased or retired by 1929, 2021, p 58:
Rev Fr Patrick Duhig

When I saw the name Patrick Duhig on the list of 1930, I asked 'Was he a relative of James Duhig?' My research provided a little information about Fr Duhig. In the Brisbane Archdiocesan Archives I discovered a well-researched essay on Fr Patrick Duhig, composed in 2016, by Br Brian Grenier CFC. From that essay I paint this short picture of this pioneer.

Like James Duhig, Patrick Duhig was born in Co Limerick Ireland in 1829.

"On Friday Messrs. John Ryan, Daniel O'Donoghue, Patrick Duhigg (sic), and John Halpin, received deacon's orders at the Convent of Mercy, and next day were ordained priests for this diocese by Right Rev Dr Ryan RCB, at the Presentation Convent, Seaton-street."

Fr Duhig ministered in his native diocese; at Rathkeale (1848-1853) and St Munchin's in Limerick City (1854-1856). He set sail on the Gipsy Bride from Liverpool on 12 December 1856 to reach Melbourne on 9 March 1857. He had been commissioned by Bishop Ryan to receive contributions towards the construction of St John's Cathedral in Limerick.

Fr Duhig sailed on the coastal paddle steamer Waratah from Sydney on 28 August 1861 to arrive in Brisbane on 1 September 1861. In November he was registered to officiate at marriages in the new colony, registrations being renewed in 1862 and 1863. He officiated at many baptisms in the new diocese, notable among which was that of Thomas Vincent Hayes, on 5 April 1862. Thomas, later a first day student at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, was ordained as the second Queensland born priest at Innsbruck, 22 July 1885. Fr Duhig was an examiner of mathematics at the newly established Bishop Quinn's Grammar School on Wickham Terrace in December 1861. He played a leading part in the 1862 Saint Patrick's Day function organised by the Catholic Young Men's Society.

On 15 April 1862, accompanied by Fr Edmund Scully, Fr Duhig left Brisbane on the steamer Clarence, for Rockhampton, arriving there on 19 April. About 50 people attended a Mass celebrated by Fr Duhig, in the newly erected Court House on 3 May 1862. There is some confusion as to whether this was the first Mass in that city. Fr Duhig remained there for about two months. During this time money was being raised to build a church in the city. Tenders for building a temporary church were called in November. Fr Duhig had returned to Rockhampton, after reporting to Bishop Quinn on the region and the need of appointing a permanent priest to this mission. He returned to Brisbane on 19 December 1862. The church for which he raised funds in Rockhampton was dedicated to St Joseph on the corner of Derby and Alma Streets. It was blessed and opened by Fr Jeremiah Moynahan on 4 January 1863 prior to Mass being celebrated there.

Fr Duhig left Brisbane on the Telegraph for Sydney on 18 February 1863. On 25 August he sailed for New Zealand, aboard the 703 ton Prince Alfred. Following his New Zealand ministry, by 1869 he was in Illinois in the USA. In 1888 he was serving as an assistant priest in St John the Evangelist parish in Jackson, Michigan.

Fr Patrick Duhig contacted pneumonia and died in St John's Rectory in Jackson on 5 September 1891. Bishop Foley presided, in the presence of an immense concourse of people including 30 priests, at the funeral in St John's church and the burial in St John's cemetery.

I thank Br Brian Grenier for his research to enhance this short story. Br Brian's essay is in the Patrick Duhig folder in the Brisbane Catholic Archives.

Reproduced by permission of Fr Denis Long.