Father Charles Adolphus O'Hea OSA (1814–1903) was an Irish Australian

Catholic Priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

. He began his ministry in Ireland before travelling to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia where he lived until his death. He is best known for establishing a number of churches north of Melbourne and for both

baptizing Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three t ...

and administering

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

to the

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...

Early life

Charles Adolphus O'Hea was born on the first of April 1814 in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

to parents James O'Hea and Elizabeth de Lacey Evans. He was the youngest child of a large family, members of which eventually went on to represent various professions. Educated in Rome he entered the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

in 1844, was later ordained, and engaged himself in missionary works in Ireland. In February 1853, O'Hea arrived at

Hobsons Bay Hobsons Bay is a small open bay in Victoria, Australia, and is the northernmost part of the larger Port Phillip Bay. Its western and eastern boundaries are marked by Point Gellibrand in and Point Ormond in respectively, and defines the coas ...

, Victoria, from London on board the

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

the ''Koh-I-Noor'' along with four other priests. By chance he had met the first bishop of Melbourne,

James Alipius Goold James Alipius Goold (4 November 1812 – 11 June 1886) was an Australian Augustinian friar and the founding Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne in Australia. Life Early years Goold was born in Cork, Ireland. He attended a school established by ...

, in Rome in 1852 and volunteered to travel to Australia to assist in establishing new churches in the State. Later newspapers describe him as being "... a man of magnificent physique and dominating personality..." and a man of means. He was well known for his charitable works and his wealth allowed him to achieve much more for his ministry than would be allowable with his stipend.Australia's Sporting Prelate. (newspaper article) Retrieved on 20 April 2016 from http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045366/1903-11-11/ed-1/seq-4/

Career

Taking over from the Rev Patrick Dunne, O'Hea was assigned as the new Pastor to a large district which extended from Brunswick to Yan Yean 30 km north of Melbourne. The area included two churches, one at Coburg and the other in Epping and he received an annual stipend of £200 with an additional £100 from the Government for his work as prison chaplain. He made his base at St. Paul's church Coburg which was opened in August 1855. He served both the community of

HM Prison Pentridge HM Prison Pentridge, better known as Pentridge Prison, was an Australian prison established in 1851 in Coburg, Victoria. The first convicts arrived at the gaol in 1851. The facility closed on 1 May 1997, although some of the heritage-listed buil ...

itself and the residents of the area from 1853 to 1882 when he was made

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

. In 1867 O'Hea called a public meeting to discuss the potential for changing the name of the local area, as "Pentridge" was seen as too evocative of the

gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...

.History of Moreland Fact Sheet 3
Moreland City Council information sheet on Coburg and Pascoe Vale. Accessed on 22 August 2005. As a result of this meeting, the name of the suburb was changed to

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

. To show the esteem in which he was held a street was named after him in that suburb. During his time in Melbourne, he was responsible for the building of four churches: St. John's at

Beveridge, Victoria Beveridge is a town in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne, Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Whittlesea and the Shire of Mitchell Local government areas of Victori ...

(1862); St. Ambrose Church, Brunswick (1869); and

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

and Epping (1879). All four were constructed from local

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

in the Gothic architectural style. The church community at Beveridge included

, who lived there during his early years, and the rest of the Kelly family who lived in the town. O'Hea baptised Kelly who along with his siblings attended the parish school. On 11 November 1880 O'Hea also administered the Catholic sacrament of

Extreme Unction In the Catholic Church, the anointing of the sick, also known as Extreme Unction, is a Catholic sacrament that is administered to a Catholic "who, having reached the age of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age", except in ...

(as it was then called) to Kelly at the

Old Melbourne Gaol The Old Melbourne Gaol is a former jail and current museum on Russell Street, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It consists of a bluestone building and courtyard, and is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildi ...

shortly before the bushranger was hanged, and remained near Kelly during the execution. Fr O'Hea was described by Hugh McCrae "as a burly priest, developed like a Thessalonian bull, fisted like a Castor or Pollux; yet withal a learned man, a witty one, and a friend of the masses."

Later life

O'Hea retired in 1882 and was given the title

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

around 1893 possibly for his financial support to the papal treasury. He lived in retirement in what was the Mercy Convent, Coburg, and died on 31 August 1903, aged nearly ninety. His remains were interred in the crypt for Roman Catholic priests at the chapel in Melbourne General Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohea, Charles 1814 births 1903 deaths Augustinian friars Christian clergy from County Cork Irish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests