HISTORY OF St. MALACHY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, BLACKWOOD

An application for a grant of land for a Catholic Church at Blackwood was made to the Lands Department in August 1860 and an acre allotment was granted on 10 January 1861.

St. Malachy’s Catholic Church, Red Hill, Blackwood was built some time in the 1860’s by the men of the Blackwood congregation.

Prior to the erection of St.Malachy’s Catholic Church at Mount Blackwood in May 1861, Mass was said in the old Purcell homestead at the foot of the mountain. The priest rode on horseback from Bacchus Marsh, celebrated Mass and then continued on to Blackwood to say Mass there. He was always accompanied by two other persons, also on horseback, to keep away the wild cattle which were quite numerous in the bush in those days.

The Blackwood Church had an attached room for the priest to stay in overnight should the weather be inclement or further duties were required of him. This room was removed in the 1920’s and is still part of a house in Blackwood today.

There is a record of a previous Catholic Church at Blackwood before the present building was constructed. It took the form of a large tent and was known as St. Patrick’s Bishop Goold of Ballarat visited Blackwood in September 1855 and the attendance at his service in the tent was estimated to have been between 700 and 800 people. One of the earliest marriages was celebrated in the Church on 17 June 1855 between a John Mitchell and Catherine McGrath by a visiting priest, Father Patrick Maddern.

In later years, the Blackwood Church became part of the Trentham Parish and, as the attendances dwindled over the years, the services were reduced until, at the present time, there are only Masses during the holiday seasons. Mass at aster is always packed out. Over the past30 years, there have been several Marriages, Christenings and a few Funeral Services. After having stood there for over 100 years, the building became very run down, the floor had sunk in one corner and it was in such a bad state of repair that restorative work was urgently needed. An ecumenical fund raising effort was launched and the local community and former residents of Blackwood to enable work to commence quickly raised sufficient money. The building had a complete facelift, was re-stumped, given a new floor, carpeted and painted inside and outside until it looked almost as good as new.

Sunday 22 March 1981 was a momentous occasion for Blackwood with the visit of the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, the Most Reverend Sir Frank Little. People came from far and wide to attend the Mass which was celebrated by His Grace. Visiting Clergy from neighbouring parishes and also Archdeacon Scheumach of the Bendigo Anglican Diocese and Pastor Clark of the Uniting Church were in attendance together with the Hon. Robert Knowles M.L.C., the Hon. Clive Bubb M.L.A., Ballan Shire Councillors and many former residents of Blackwood, including descendants of families who were parishioners of St. Malachy’s in the 1860’s.

Following the Mass, a reception was given to the Archbishop in the nearby Hall. His Grace congratulated all those who were involved in the restoration of St. Malachy’s and expressed his surprise that so much could br done by a comparatively small community. The cost of the restoration work was $5,588 which was raised through donations and various entertainments, High Tea was served and the Archbishop mixed freely with everyone.