One of the earliest churches on the Northern Beaches was also its most remote.
Its building was initiated by Father John Joseph Therry, an Irish Roman Catholic priest who arrived in the Sydney colony in 1830 at age 30. His arrival was not welcomed by the authorities, as political relations between England and the Irish were very strained and there were many Irish among the convicts.
Aware that coal had been discovered at both Coalcliff to the south and the Hunter River to the north, Therry was convinced that it must also lie under Sydney. In 1833, he was granted 1,200 acres, extending from today’s Newport to Careel Bay and east to include most of Avalon.
He established a small settlement, Josephtown, on the shores of Careel Bay for his workers who sought coal, farmed and collected shells for the manufacture of lime. They mined at Priest’s Flat, today the site of Avalon Golf Course, to a depth of about 400 feet but did not find coal, only water.
Therry set aside land for a church near the present corner of Therry and George Streets but died in 1864 before it was built. Locals completed a small wooden structure with a shingle roof, which became known as ‘Father Therry’s’ although it was officially the Barrenjoey Church of St Joseph’s.
The building was moved to St Joseph’s at Narrabeen on 6 December 1917, where it was used for meetings and as a lunchroom for voluntary workers.
Eventually it was found too small for practical use and the timbers were moved north to Port Macquarie in 1939.
Richard Michell
Church at Careel Bay before its relocation (St. Josephs, Narrabeen).