Charles O'Hea

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Father Charles Adolphus O'Hea OSA (1814–1903) was a Catholic Priest best-known today as the man who baptised Ned Kelly, and who ministered to him before the bushranger was hanged in 1880.

O'Hea was described by Hugh McCrae "as a burly priest, developed like a Thessalonian bull, fisted like a Castor or Pollux; yet withal a learned man, a witty one, and a friend of the masses."

Born in Cork, Ireland, O'Hea entered the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine in Drogheda in 1844, and moved to Melbourne, Australia, seven years later.

O'Hea served the community of Pentridge from 1853 to 1882. He was the man who, in 1867, called a public meeting to discuss the potential for a change of name, as "Pentridge" was seen as too evocative of the gaol. As a result of this meeting, the name of the suburb was changed to Coburg. He now has a street named after him in that suburb.

He retired in 1882 and lived in retirement in what is now Mercy Convent. He died in 1903, at the age of ninety.

During his time in Melbourne, O'Hea was responsible for the building of four churches: Beveridge (1857); St Ambrose, Brunswick (1869); and Woodstock and Epping (1879). All four were constructed from local basalt in the Gothic architectural style.

[edit] External links

Coburg E-zine article about the renaming of Pentridge

[edit] References

Ebsworth, Rev. Walter (1973). Pioneer Catholic Victoria. Polding Press. ISBN 0-85884-096-0.
History of Moreland Fact Sheet 3 Moreland City Council information sheet on Coburg and Pascoe Vale. Accessed on 22 August 2005.
Parish History Webpage on the history of St Peter's Parish, Epping. Includes a section on the Coburg Mission. Accessed on 22 August 2005.
Augustinians in Australia - History List of Augustinians in Australia, with minor details.