OSA Timeline Australia

Since the first Augustinian arrival on the Australian continent in 1838, the Order has been part of Australian history. One of its priests was a convict chaplain at Port Arthur in Tasmania, two of them were associated with the Eureka Stockade both before and after the event, another supported St Mary Mother of the Cross MacKillop against the Bishop of Adelaide, while another attended the death of Ned Kelly and may have earlier been the one who baptised him. Approximately two hundred Augustinians have served in Australia. The pages listed below give a timeline summary of the highlights of Augustinian history in Australia.

1838 – 1900

1838 On 24 February James Alypius Goold osa arrived in Sydney as the first Augustinian to live and minister in Australia. His career was an illustrious one.

1900 – 1948

1901 Stephen Reville osa, who earlier had been appointed as Co-Adjutor Bishop of Sandhurst, became Bishop in his own right upon the death of Bishop Martin Crane osa.

1948 – 1978

1948 Opening of Villanova College on its first site at Whinstanes, Brisbane. In 1954 the College moved across the Brisbane River to its present site at Coorparoo.

1979 – 1989

1980 Patrick Fahey osa becomes the first Australian Augustinian appointed to teach at the Augustinianum, the OSA theological faculty in Rome.

1990 – 2007

1990 Laurence Mooney osa elected Provincial, initially reident at Newcastle. 1991 Pastoral Plan was adopted by the Province.

2008 – 2013

2008 The ninth Augustinian International Encounter for Young Adults took place in Sydney, Australia on 21st – 27th July 2008.

2014 > present

Both Augustinian colleges in Australia in 2014 advance a further step in medium and long-term planning: Villanova College in Brisbane and St Augustine's College in Sydney.

175th anniversary in 2013

Sunday, 24th February was the day and month that an Augustinian friar first set foot on Australian. On that day in 1838 an Irish Augustinian named James Alypius Goold O.S.A. began serving as a priest...

180 years in Australia

Saturday 24th February 2018 marked the 180th anniversary of the continuous presence of the Order of St Augustine on the Australian continent. The Irish-born James Alypius Goold O.S.A.