Over 130 years ago, the area now known as South Hobart was included in the Parish of St Joseph. It was not until 1873 that the first sign of identity came into being. It was in this year that the Sisters of Charity took charge of St Luke’s School, which until this time had been run by lay teachers under the supervision of the clergy since it was founded in 1863. The school was located in a building behind the present church and it was here that Mass was first offered in the district at regular intervals by the priests from St Joseph’s.

The present Church of St Francis Xavier was opened in 1932. It continued to be served from the city until 1934, when it was incorporated into the new Parish of the Holy Spirit in Sandy Bay. The Reverend Father T J O’Donnell was Parish Priest.

The Parish

The Parish of St Francis Xavier was created by Archbishop Simonds in 1938 and Father James Barry was the first Parish Priest. He was followed in 1943 by Father John Ryan, who was appointed by Archbishop Tweedy. He remained in the parish until 1956, when Father Denis Murphy was appointed briefly, followed in the same year by Fr R A Kennedy.

Within two years of the opening of this church, the new Church of St Patrick was built at Ridgeway to fill the needs of the growing population in the area. The Tagg family donated the land on which the church was built. At one time, Mass was celebrated on the first Sunday of the month at St Patrick’s as well as in a hall at Fern Tree.

This church was destroyed in the 1967 bushfires. These fires affected the whole parish dramatically. In September 1998 the ownership of the land on which St Patrick’s had stood was transferred back to the Tagg Family. It is worthy of note that Monsignor J H Cullen VG was responsible for the building of both of these churches.

The parish was badly affected by the Second World War and St Luke’s School was closed in 1949, after 86 years of operation and 63 years under the care of the Sisters of Charity.

The Parish Priest originally resided in a house purchased in 1943, a short distance from the church in Adelaide Street. The house was sold in 1955, when a house located next door to the church was purchased to serve as a presbytery.

The Crucifix above the altar in St Francis Xavier's Church, is the original crucifix used in St Joseph's Church.

The parish school of St Francis Xavier was opened in 1965 and was housed in a brick building behind the present church. The school was closed in the mid 1970s due to a diminished number of enrolments.

In 1998, due to the declining number of priests in the Archdiocese of Hobart, Archbishop Adrian Doyle requested that the Passionist Fathers extend the parish boundary to again incorporate St Francis Xavier’s Church. This has been a successful amalgamation, which has resulted in the people of South Hobart being accommodated in all their pastoral needs.

Parish Priests

J. Barry 1938 – 1942; J. Ryan 1943 – 1956; D. Murphy 1956; R. Kennedy 1956 – 1972; R. Mitchell 1973; M. Byrne 1974; P. Rushton 1975 – 1981; J. Kearns 1982 – 1986; J. Reilly 1987 – 1991; R. Wells 1992 – 1996; M.Freeman 1997; P. Addicoat CP1998 – 2004, Michael Hickey CP 2004 - 2005, Gerard Glynn CP 2006 - .


St Francis Xavier's Church
61 Adelaide Street
South Hobart.

< Prev