The East Sydney Hotel - Cathedral Street - Woolloomooloo - East Sydney

 

The East Sydney Hotel - 1856 - Cathedral Street - Woolloomooloo - East Sydney

 it's a wonderful place to indulge yourself on an afternoon, 

especially since they offer up their own craft beer and have revitalised their bistro.

 Dating back to 1856, it's a landmark pub in a suburb of landmark pubs, 

but what stands out is its simplicity. 

No bells and whistles here, 

just a genuine nineteenth-century inn, 

with a commanding wooden bar,

copper nail floorboards and an interior decked out like the Parisian Salon. 

It's a bush poem come to life.

Historical Sydney Hotels

First Fleet House, Cathedral Street, East Sydney,

First Fleet House - Cathedral Street, East Sydney 

Riley street Woolloomooloo

Good Old Riley Street - Woolloomooloo 

I Spent Some Of The Best Years of My Life Living In Riley Street At Tue Woolloomooloo End. 

Convicts And Crew Of The First Fleet - Fellowship Of First Fleeters - Cathedral Street - Woolloomooloo

Convicts And Crew Of The First Fleet 1788 - 
Pictures Taken From The Front Of The Fellowship Of First Fleeters - Cathedral Street - Woolloomooloo

St Mary’s Cathedral - College Street & Art Gallery Road

 ST MARYS CATHEDRAL 

Cnr Of College Street & Cathedral Street 












The dramatic beginnings of Roman Catholicism in Australia lie on Church Hill. Where St Patrick’s college stands, next to the old church of the same name, was the cottage of ex-convict William Davies, Irish rebel. For two years in 1818 to 1820, he secretly sheltered the sacrament consecrated by A priest deported from New South Wales for saying mass without permission.

There had Been Roman Catholics in New South Wales from the time of the first fleet, but their religion as prescribed. They were obliged, on penalty of flogging for absenteeism, to attend protestant services. Sacrament on Church Hill kept hope alive At a time when the felling of persecution Was intense. 

Macquarie had deported the unauthorised father Jeremiah Flynn as he feared  that designing artful priest might stir up a spirit of resentment among the Irish in the colony.
But it was Macquarie who, three years later, magnanimously laid the foundation stone of St Mary’s chapel, the first Roman catholic church in Australia.





This was on the side where the great basilica now stands, opposite Hyde Park. Macquarie, a mason of many years standing made a neat joke about the fact that he had trowellef the stone into  place.
St Mary’s Became A Cathedral after the first Bishop, Dr Polding arrived in 1835.






The enlarged Gothic building burnt down in
1865, and the temporary wooden church also destroyed by fire.
Another wooden pro cathedral  was built and was used until the first part of William Wardell’s Great perpendicular gothic Cathedral could be opened in 1882.
Work went on until 1928, but Unfinished Between spires  that were planned for it




















The  First St Mary's Church Was A Much Smaller Building Than The One We Know Today. The First Mass Was Held In Its Simple Stone Structure In 1833. 
In the Years Later After A Bellflower. offices, Cloister & Library Were Added. 
4. The Church Was Destroyed Fire On June 29, 1865. Plans For The Construction of A New, Larger Cathedral Were Immediately Put Into Place.
Architect William Wardell, A Man With A Reputation For Building In The Gothic Revival Style, Designed The New Building. 
5. Archbishop Polding Had Given William Wardell A Completely Free Hand On The Design. "Any Plan, Any Style, Anything That Is Beautiful & Grand, To The Extent Of Our Power," The Archbishop Wrote To The Architect. 
The Cathedrals  Nave Was Completed In 1928, Which Ended The Construction Period which Had Taken 60 Years & Cost 700,000 Pounds. 






Yet For Almost Another 75 Years, st Mary's Cathedral Remained In Many Peoples Minds Unfinished. Two Squared Off Towers, Rather Than Wardell's Original Plans For Spires , Framed The Building.
With The Assistance Of A Grant From The NSW Government, The Spires Were Built In 2000. 






The Bells Of St Mary's Cathedral Were The Only Feature To Survive After The June 1865 Fire. Cast at The white Chapel Foundry In London, They Were Traded In For A New ring Of Eight Bells, Which Were Installed In1881. 





Three Popes Have Visited St Mary's Cathedral Including Pope Paul XI In 1980, Pope John Paul II In 1986 & 1995, & Pope Benedict XVI, As Part Of World Youth Day Celebrations Held In Sydney In 2008. 







A House For God In Old Sydney Town - Catholic Weekly