The cache is located near St Patrick’s School, Holbrook formerly staffed by the Sisters of St Joseph.
Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne in 1842. When she was in Penola she met Julian Tenison Woods and together they opened the first St Joseph's School in 1866.
Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods founded the Sisters of St Joseph to continue this work. Over the many following years, the number of Sisters grew as did their schools. Schools were opened as the needs arose: in country towns, mining towns, cities. The Sisters also became involved in other areas of need including setting up a refuge for women in need and orphanages for children, visiting prisons and working with the sick.
The first founding of Sisters of St Joseph, Goulburn …..
On 13th August, 1882, the first five Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in Goulburn by train from Bathurst. Upon arrival, the Sisters lived in a cottage in Lagoon Street which belonged to the Sheekey family. They lived there until 5th May, 1883 when the Convert was opened.
Today the sisters have a commitment to rural communities and their work extends from the bush to the mountains from Ungarie, to Canberra from Wagga Wagga to Batemans Bay. They look to help families, the aged through Education and Service in Parishes.
History of St Patrick’s Holbrook..
As early as 1877 Holbrook (then known as Germanton) had a Catholic School with 27 pupils, the teacher being a Miss Prendergast. The foundation stone for the Church was laid in 1885 and the completed church was blessed by Fr. (later Bishop) Gallagher on 8th May, 1887. In 1955 the church was remodelled, the position of the altar changed and a new wing built on. The first Presbytery was commenced in 1882 and completed the following year. The present Presbytery was built in 1959.
In 1892 sisters from the Goulburn Foundation arrived in Germanton and as the convent was not completed, they resided in the Presbytery.
The new convent, when completed, was enclosed by a high galvanised iron fence and a brick wall, on top of which broken bottles had been cemented. Additions were completed on the convent in 1952 and the convent is now used as a business centre.
The Sisters of St. Joseph left Holbrook at the end of 1985 and since then the school has been staffed by lay teachers.
The oldest school building was blessed and opened on 13th May, 1917. Another wing was commenced in the early 60’s and the administration and tuckshop area was added in 1984.
In 1990, a new kindergarten classroom was built along with new toilets and wet weather walking areas.
In 2009/2010 three new classrooms and a COLA were built, and the oldest building converted back to a hall. In 2011 the front fence was replaced.
Mary MacKillop
Mary MacKilop's famous saying was "Never see a need without doing something about it"
Well..... there was a need, a geocache in her honour, and something has been done about it!
This is one of many caches placed in significant locations of her story.
Mary died on August 8th, 1909.
She was declared Australia’s first Saint in 2012.