The Graves on the Point Cornelius and Mary Kelleher

This is an excerpt from A History of Abergowrie by Brother Vincent Malachy Doran, the highly regarded founding Christian Brother of Abergowrie College. Many people have probably seen the grave of Cornelius and Mary Kelleher on the Point at the College and wondered at their story and why they are buried there. Here is what Brother Doran writes.

The Point is the high promontory at the back of the school overlooking the river flats. Many students over the years have found it to be a quiet and secluded area where they could forget the stresses of school life. Many people are curious about the two graves on the Point.

Cornelius Kelleher migrated to Australia from Ireland. He did well and acquired substantial property in western Queensland. His sister Mary went to America and worked as a domestic servant in Boston. One day however, Mary received news that her brother had been swindled by a lawyer and was left a broken man.

Mary left America, found her brother and established a home for them near Townsville. She engaged in poultry farming in a modest way and happily prospered. When Bishop McGuire established Abergowrie in 1934, Mary’s venturesome spirit stirred. Con had by now deteriorated physically and was bedridden. Mary suggested to the Bishop that she would like to offer him her life’s savings, some 3,000 pounds, for the building of a chapel at his new college, on condition that he would allow her and Con to live out their days in peaceful retirement at Abergowrie. The bishop was happy with the proposition and promptly had a cottage erected on the point area of the college property in preparation for Mary and Con’s arrival.

At the inauguration of the college, a room in the original building, upstairs between the boys’ dormitory and the Brothers’ rooms, had been used as a chapel. With Mary’s contribution, a separate and more appropriate building was erected. This structure was later extended, and is still being used by the college community and the parishioners of Abergowrie.

Moving Con and Mary and her goods and chattels from Townsville to Abergowrie was something of a military manoeuvre. Household items, poultry, “Talkie” the dog, a sulky drawn by “Bridie”, an undersized brown mare, and the bed-ridden Con, posed a formidable exercise in transportation. At the time a bush track served as a road from Townsville to Ingham, and the route from Ingham to Abergowrie has been described elsewhere in this history.

It was decided to bring Con and Mary by train to Ingham. To the surprise of many, Con survived the journey to Ingham. He was a man of stamina, and no doubt his experiences in western Queensland stood him in good stead. Nevertheless, on arrival at Abergowrie, slumped in the back seat of a car, Con’s pronouncement to the world at large was, “Hit me on the head ........ I’m finished!” He was carried to his new bunk in Mary’s humble cottage, where she would devote her time to looking after him with sisterly care.

In due course, the truck with Mary’s belongings, the poultry and the sulky drawn by the gallant but footsore Bridie arrived after the journey from Townsville, and so Mary and Con Kelleher became permanent citizens of Abergowrie. Con was confined to his bed until his death in 1935.

Mary fraternised little with the college staff, which was a blessing in so far that she was not easy to get on with, and when stirred could hold an army at bay. She was possessed of great physical and moral courage, and her faith in God and her religious beliefs knew no bounds. On one Good Friday she shocked everyone by travelling from her cottage to the chapel on her knees.

One evening, after having put the boarders to bed, the Brothers were aroused by a commotion. Mary had been out gathering some wood for the stove when she encountered a six foot snake. Seizing a hurricane lamp in one hand and a piece of wood in the other, she proceeded to challenge Joe Blake’s right of entry. “Talkie” the dog not very helpfully joined in the fray. By the time the Brothers arrived on the scene Mary had the reptile reduced to a pulp. Seeing the approach of reinforcements she dropped her weapon and declared “There's no power in me arm,” and with that, she flopped exhausted into the arms of a young Brother.

One early morning in 1935, Con died in his sleep. He was buried with ceremony on the point. With increasing age, Mary’s health deteriorated and periods of hospitalisation in Ingham and Townsville became necessary. In due course, in 1942, she died and was buried on the point beside Con. May the sandy soil on the point rest lightly on their remains, and may the breezes through the Messmate and the Moreton Bays sing a paean in their honour.

Source: A History of Abergowrie by Brother Vincent Malachy Doran provided by Christopher and Vivienne Parry.