The Catholic Presbytery, Toodyay is a former

clergy house A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

situated on Stirling Terrace in

Toodyay, Western Australia Toodyay (, ), known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, north-east of Perth. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, ...

. The place was built to accommodate the resident priest at the St John the Baptist Church, Toodyay and has also been used as an education centre. In 1923 the building was officially opened in front of a large crowd by

Patrick Clune Patrick Joseph Clune CSsR (6 January 1864 in Ruan, County Clare, Ireland – 24 May 1935 in Perth), an Australian metropolitan bishop, was the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth and first Archbishop of Perth. Clune served continuously in t ...

, Lord Archbishop of Perth. Showers of rain spoiled the occasion, the guests having to crowd onto the verandah. Mr. and Mrs. B.M. Connor's good work on behalf of the church and convent was noted. The presbytery cost £1,300 to build, and was fitted with

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

and other modern conveniences. The first resident priest was the Rev Father McBride. In Father Nolan was in residence. In 1954 Father O'Reilly was the host at the house for a card evening, where

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

and

rummy Rummy is a group of games related by the feature of matching playing cards, cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build ''Meld (cards), melds'' which can be either Set (cards), sets (three ...

were played and supper was served. The building was still owned by the Roman Catholic Church in 1975 when a survey was conducted by Ian Chitty for the

Shire of Toodyay The Shire of Toodyay is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, beyond the north-eastern limits of the Perth metropolitan area. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Toodyay. Hi ...

. A contemporary photograph in Chitty's report shows the building before the present Toodyay Stone wall, now at the front of the block, was erected. The former presbytery is part of the historic Catholic Precinct, Toodyay that also includes the

St Aloysius Convent of Mercy St Aloysius Convent of Mercy is a former Catholic convent located on Stirling Terrace, Toodyay, Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia, part of Roman Catholic Church Group, Toodyay, a larger site owned by the Church. This building is a ...

school buildings. It is located near the present St John the Baptist Church. By December 1998 it had been sold by the Catholic Church and is now privately owned. The building is a single storey brick residence with a green corrugated iron roof and verandah. There are twin

French doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...

facing Stirling Terrace.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Toodyay, Western Australia Stirling Terrace, Toodyay