The cache is near St Joseph’s School, Nyngan. Please cover completely when replacing.
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.
Nyngan…
Saint Joseph’s Nyngan was founded in April 1884. The ‘Freeman’s Journal’ reported in February 1884:”A catholic school will be opened at Easter and conducted by three Sisters of Saint Joseph.” At that time, Nyngan was part of the Dubbo parish, within the Bathurst Diocese. In 1887 the Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese was formed. In 1905, Fr John Moran became the Parish Priest of Nyngan and ministered here for 26 years. In 1911, Fr Moran organised the building of the school at the corner of Terangion and Warren Streets. In 1914, he had the two-storey convent on the corner of Terangion and Bogan Street constructed. Fr John Sexton arrived as Parish Priest in 1932 and managed the parish for 36 years. In his time, he doubled the size of the building constructed in 1911, as well as approving the building of the Infants School in Bogan Street which was completed in 1967. The first Lay Teacher was employed at St Joseph’s in 1965. The convent ceased to have boarders in 1970. The secondary section of the school was closed in 1972. Fr Kevin Murphy was appointed Parish Priest in 1981. In 1984, St Joseph’s School celebrated 100 years of operation in the Nyngan community when the old convent was opened for tours for the last time. The building was demolished in 1987. A house in Bogan Street was purchased in 1984 which was used as the convent up until the end of 2005. In April 1990, Nyngan experienced major flooding, the township was evacuated. The school was closed and became fully operational again in June of that year. On 6th January 1998 a severe storm hit Nyngan which resulted in severe damage to the Primary section of the school. This block needed major repairs and was reopened in September that year. At the end of 2005 the Sisters of St Joseph could no longer provide leadership or even teachers for the school and so they withdrew from St Joseph’s that year.
A sister continues to work in the parish.
Mary MacKillop…
Mary MacKilop's famous saying was "Never see a need without doing something about it"
Well..... there was a need, a geochache 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.