In February 1848 a parcel of land (2 acres of section 15) in Bungendore was dedicated to Roman Catholic Church purposes (church, presbytery, school) by government grant according to practice of the time.
Three years later on Sunday, 25 May 1851 Archbishop Polding laid the foundation stone for ‘a small church’, St Mary’s. However, its construction was delayed, and it was not until 1861 that there is a report in a local paper about the church ‘progressing’. There is no record of an official opening or blessing, but the church was in use around 1862-63, there is a record of a marriage in 1863 in the church.
In 1873 consideration was being given to an extension, comprising a new sanctuary which allowed more room for parishioners and a sacristy and at this time Mary Shanahan donated the large window featuring a reproduction of a Reubens painting of Mary and the child Jesus, which overlooks the altar. The extension was blessed by Archbishop Vaughn in February 1875. In 1886 a priest was appointed to Bungendore, and in the absence of any other evidence this is considered to be the commencement of St Mary’s Parish.
Gundaroo and Hoskinstown
The parish includes the Mass centre at Gundaroo’s St Joseph’s church, opened in 1881, and until recently Mass was also available at Sts Peter and Paul’s church Hoskinstown, opened by Bishop Higgins in 1889.
At different times the Parish has included Tarago (now Goulburn) and Captains Flat (Queanbeyan).
St Mary of the Cross
St Mary of the Cross (Mother Mary McKillop) made a number of visits to Bungendore, having established a school in what is now the hall beside the church and a convent, and also spent time at Captains Flat where her nuns also ran a small school. The Josephite nuns remained in Bungendore until the 1975 closure of the school, by then operating in a new purpose-built school building.