ST MICHAEL’S CHURCH
CLARE CATHOLIC
PAUL SCOTT
As with many satellite images of country towns, this image of Clare has poor resolution. However, it does show the access for this Church off Temple Road, the Church sitting behind St Joseph’s school. There is car parking along Temple Road, which has to be entered from Gleeson Street to the north.
The axis of the Church is about 30° off due east-west, but with the sanctuary in the ‘westerly’ direction. We shall therefore use liturgical directions in our description of this Church, assigning liturgical East (with a capital letter) to the sanctuary, and other directions corresponding.
I could find no plan for the Church, but it is essentially a rectangle with an attached tower and narthex at the West (approximately northeast!!) end. As we explore the Church we shall find it easy to navigate our way around.
A brief history of the Church is given below. However, if you want to begin your tour of the Church immediately, tap / click on START . You can also access intermediate points in the tour by a tap / click on the following links:
NOTE ON MAGNIFYING IMAGES
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and use Command - + (Mac) or Windows - + (Windows).
HISTORY
Dates: 1849; 1873
Address: 27–33 Victoria Road, Clare SA 5453
The first official Catholic Mass in the Clare Valley was held in the barn of Patrick and Sarah (Naulty) Butler at Armagh in 1844.
The original St Michael’s Church was blessed and opened on May 6 1849 by Bishop Murphy. The town’s first school was conducted in St Michael’s Church from 1849, until several other private schools opened in the town. St Michael’s is now part of St Joseph’s School in Clare.
In the 1860s, Clare was still the most northern settlement in the colony of South Australia and its population increased as new pastoral lands were established, and it became the main business centre for the outlying properties. With the number of Catholics also increasing, it soon became apparent that a bigger church was needed to accommodate the growing congregation.
Construction of the second St Michael’s Church began in 1873, but it was another decade before it was blessed and opened by Bishop Reynolds.
