History

St Mark’s Drummoyne was established in 1887 under the care of the parish of Balmain West, initially as a school-church. The construction of St Mark’s Church began early in March 1888 and the foundation stone was laid by Cardinal Moran on 8 April 1888.

On 8 September 1888, the school-Church was opened in an informal way with two lay teachers. Rev Father O’Reilly celebrated Mass in the new building for the first time. Father Thomas O’Reilly left the parish of Balmain West in the following year (May 1889), being transferred to Parramatta, and his place was taken by Father J P Moynagh for ten years. In 1899 Cardinal Moran, on the feast of St Joseph (19 March) created Drummoyne as an independent parish.

The Good Samaritan Sisters (1895-Easter 1900), the Sisters of St Joseph (1900-1947) and the Presentation Sisters (1948-1993) have staffed the school. The first lay Principal was appointed in 1994.

Up to the year 1903, school had been conducted in the Church, but in that year a new school building was erected and the older building set aside exclusively for Church purposes. A Church choir was formed in 1904 and a Sacred Concert was given on 14 April 1904 to secure funds for an organ and music.

In 1907, twenty-seven children, the largest number ever presented at St Mark’s Parish, made their First Holy Communion.

For years, the need for a new Church building had been acutely felt and in 1914 a meeting to inaugurate the project had actually been held and £680 had been collected. But the war had intervened and building operations were indefinitely postponed.

By 1916, the parish was still without a new and larger Church and conditions on Sundays were desperate. More seating was brought in and by March the Church benches/pews were lengthened. On 1 July the Catholic population was reported at 926 – and still increasing.

In February 1920 St Mark’s Magazine, a modest little paper of two pages made its introduction to the public for 10 years. In that year also, a new era for parish history opens, in that the new Church building becomes a reality. During 1920 plans for a larger Church were drawn up and the tender let. On Sunday 20 June 1920 Rt Rev Monsignor Moynagh blessed and laid the foundation stone of the new Church.

On Sunday 3 April 1921 the new Church was blessed and opened by the Archbishop of Sydney, Most Rev M Kelly, DD. The blessing of the font and unveiling of the Honour Board took place on Sunday 24 July after the 10 am Mass.

These days, St Mark’s has around 3,300 parishioners.

Listen to memories of St Mark’s Drummoyne on Soundcloud.