St Ann's Catholic Parish
St Ann's Catholic Parish
About us
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St Ann’s Parish encompasses three churches: St. Bernadette’s Church in St. Mary’s, St. Ann’s Chapel in Marion (pictured above), and Holy Spirit Church in Seacombe Gardens. The parish takes its name from the historic St. Ann’s Chapel, which was built in 1859 for Irish Catholic settlers. The decommissioned church is an integral part of the Marion Historic Village Walking Trail and is now ultilized as a private funeral venue (Chapel on Finniss). The new parish of St. Ann’s was formed in 2012, when St. Mary’s Parish amalgamated with Seacombe Gardens Parish.
While St Ann’s Chapel is valued for its historic significance, the Holy Spirit Church, on the other hand, is an outstanding example of a sacred space created by modern
architectural design. When Fr. Robin Sutherland arrived as the new parish priest of Seacombe Gardens in 1975, he assumed the task of building a church for the parish,
since Mass used to be celebrated in the classrooms at Stella Maris School.
The design of Holy Spirit Church was inspired by the shape of the cockleshell. John O’Sullivan, a parishioner, prepared the engineering and architectural drawings; Voitre
Marck (a Czech sculptor) was the artistic consultant; the stain-glassed windows were designed by Olga Sankey (Voitre’s daughter); and the Stations of the Cross in
beaten copper were fabricated by Michael Potoczky. The church was built by the many contributions of dedicated parishioners who volunteered their various skills and
tirelessly undertook fund-raising efforts. The church was opened on the 2nd of September 1977 and is a shining example of what can be achieved when parishioners work together with true conviction, for the glory of God.
History
Our story starts in a paddock.
In 1848, ten years after Europeans settled South Australia, Mass in Marion was said wherever there was room — a farmhouse kitchen, a shed, the corner of a barn. The priest rode out from Adelaide on horseback, and the roads were bad enough that some weeks he didn't make it.
Eleven years later the community stopped borrowing rooms. In 1859 a foundation stone went down on Finniss Street, and limestone was hauled to the site by bullock dray. One local carter spent years on that job — and lived long enough to see the building finished.
What they built is still standing. St Ann's Chapel is the oldest public building in Marion, and everything else grew up around it: a school, a bell hung in a gum tree, generations of families, and a woman named Annie Dolan who looked after the place for most of her life.