Fr Denis W. Martin, Priests of 1928, Brisbane, 2003, pp 44-47:
James Power

He volunteered to work on the missions in Queensland for seven years and ended up spending 55 year at Sandgate! This was James Power, the only one in the photo wearing a hat. He came out of Mt Melleray and St John's College, Waterford, being ordained in 1891.

Nine months at the Cathedral was the duration of his 'running in' appointment before being sent to Sandgate to assist the ageing 'J P M' Connolly although his main work was chaplaincy to the new Nudgee College.

His arrival at Sandgate was thus: late in the day he caught the train down and arrived in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. Carrying his two ports, it was by the flashes of lightning that he saw a church and made his way to the house alongside. It was only when he inquired later in the evening about morning Mass times that he found he was at St Margaret's Church of England rectory!

On Fr Connolly's death in 1907, James Power was appointed Parish Priest and remained as such for 40 years. One reason given for this was because he 'was one of the old time priests who always considered his loyalty and obedience was owed to none other than Robert Dunne. Several of the senior priests lacked Fr Therry's humility in kneeling before the very young V G Ullathorne. They found it difficult to accept the young Archbishop Duhig. In Fr Power's case, James Duhig was big enough to overlook it and let JP go his own way.

Duhig later spoke of him: 'His directness of manner was misunderstood by those who did not know him. Behind an abrupt manner was a heart of gold. His presbytery was always open to those who sought his direct and honest opinions.'

One priest who enjoyed his hospitality was apparently a friend from seminary days, Fr Joseph Ahern who had gone 'on the missions' in Iowa in the United States. As his health was failing, he came across to benefit from 'the salubrious air of Sandgate by the sea'. A large smoking room was added to the presbytery as their relaxation area although it was strictly out of bounds to Mrs Doran, the housekeeper. While he was staying there, Fr Ahern wrote a book The Achievements of the Irish Race which was published in Brisbane in 1920. He very tactfully began with a sketch of the life of Archbishop James Duhig as an illustrious example from Limerick.

In Green Mountains, Bernard O'Reilly writes of Fr Power, 'Two days after dad's funeral, I tore up the steps of our Sandgate home on my way home from school. I stopped at the door of our little sitting room. Our old priest, Fr Power, was standing with his hands behind his back. There was a piece of crumpled blue paper clenched in one hand; mother was sitting forward in her chair sobbing her heart out - big Norbert had been killed at Menin Road.' Norbert was Bernard's brother [...]. This was in 1917. It records a duty which unfortunately befell many of the clergy in the photo.

During the First World War years, Fr Power moved upwards from his horse 'Sheila' and a sulky to a motor car - the ubiquitous model T Ford. He also kept a cow on the property for fresh milk. At one of the school fetes the cow got stuck into the toffee baskets before anyone had noticed. On Sunday mornings, Fr Power drove up to Nudgee College for the 7am Mass and returned for the 9am Sandgate Mass. Sandgate was for many years a popular 'watering place'. Crowds travelled down by train for a Sunday outing and many influential residents of Brisbane owned substantial holiday homes there. The Church was extended in 1935.

James was said to have been 'a remarkably healthy man who never had either a headache or the flu', but age he could not resist. In 1947 he bought a house not far from the church and there he retired with his faithful housekeeper, Miss Win Kennedy.

He died on 11th September 1950 and was buried at Nudgee. His nephew, Fr Denis Power, is still with us.

(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 James Power, died 11 Sep 1950

James Power was born at Carrickberg, Co. Waterford, Ireland on 6th May, 1968. Seminary studies were undertaken at Mt Melleray and at St John's College, Waterford, and on their completion he was ordained priest for the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore on 26th July, 1891. Later that year he was recruited by Archbishop Dunne (himself a Lismore man) for his Brisbane Archdiocese, and he arrived there in November, 1891. He served in the following places: Assistant Priest St Stephen's Cathedral; Sandgate (including Chaplain Nudgee College); Toowoomba (there 1891); Warwick; Parish Priest Sandgate (1914-1947). He retired from active ministry in April 1947 and died aged 84 in 1950. He is buried in Nudgee Cemetery.
(Ref. Brisbane Archives)

Reproduced by permission of Bishop Ken Howell.