The parish of Euroa was established in 1906, but the story of Euroa, Longwood and Violet Town’s faith communities precedes the establishment of the Diocese of Sandhurst. Since 1854 these communities have been served by the Kilmore, Beechworth and later, Wangaratta missions and later, the Benalla Parish, writes Tim Nolan.
By Tim Nolan
The story of the Euroa, Longwood and Violet Town faith communities precedes the establishment of the Diocese of Sandhurst, when the Catholic community was served by five missions. What we now know as the parish of Euroa, was initially served by priests from the Kilmore Mission and, after 1854, from those of the Beechworth Mission.
At that time, the Beechworth Mission embraced a huge area from the Goulburn River to the Murray River and across to Corryong and Omeo. A Rev. Fr Patrick Smyth was the first priest at Beechworth and he stayed at Euroa for three days on his way to the new Beechworth Mission. Fr Smyth was later transferred to Ballarat where he distinguished himself following the battle of the Eureka Stockade in December 1854. Despite great risk, he attended the site of the rebellion, providing comfort to the injured and ministering the last Rites to the dying. While serving at Beechworth, Fr Smyth selected and applied for land at Euroa – the site of the current church.
When the Wangaratta Mission was established in 1857, Fr Patrick Birch and later Fr Francis Cums made occasional visits to Euroa and Longwood from Beechworth. Father Thomas Barry succeeded Fr Cums but, when he left in 1861, Euroa was attached again to Beechworth under the care of Rev. Fr William Tierney. Bishop (later Archbishop) James Alipius Goold of Melbourne had noted this in a diary entry written following a visit to Euroa in 1862. He also noted that the school children had ‘gone home’ by the time he arrived at 3:00 p.m. (June 18, 1862) (Note, no primary sources are available to verify if the children’s parents felt a similar sense of disappointment at their ‘return home’). With the arrival of Rev. Fr George Galen to Wangaratta in 1863, Euroa was attached again to Wangaratta, and Mass was celebrated every sixth Sunday in a small weatherboard church, St Michael of the Archangel which had been blessed and opened by Goold in 1866.
From 1876 Euroa was serviced via the Benalla parish which had been separated from Wangaratta. Thanks to a Rev. Fr John Carolan, St John the Evangelist Church was built at a cost of £2000. It was blessed and opened by the then Coadjutor Bishop, Stephen Reville in March 1887. In 1906 Bishop Reville announced that Euroa would separate from Benalla and the Parish of Euroa was established. The first entries in the Baptismal register date to September 8, 1906. The first priest to sign the register in 1906 was 38-year-old, Rev. Fr James O’Reilly. At its establishment, Euroa Parish included the outlying churches at Longwood, Miepoll (separated from Shepparton) and Ruffy (separated from Nagambie). Later, in 1971, Violet Town became a part of the Euroa parish.
A strong sense of community and generosity was evident in the parish from the start. Grand Bazaars, Annual Catholic Balls and Queen Carnivals were a major source of funding for and from the parish community. The debt incurred through the building of the Presbytery was liquidated through these funds, which were also used to supporting the building of a school and convent for the Sisters of Mercy who taught at Euroa from 1921 – 2002.
