Fr Martin O’Hanlon O.S.A.

Up until 1889, Rochester formed part of the Echuca Parish and was administered from there. However, with the formation of the new Parish of Rochester in 1889, Fr. Martin O’Hanlon OSA became its first parish Priest. He was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1860 and studied for the priesthood in Rome, where he was ordained in 1888. Soon after (1889) he was sent to Australia and not long thereafter appointed as the Parish Priest of Rochester. At this time, Rochester already had a church which had been opened almost a decade earlier, under the pastorate of another pioneer Priest, Fr. James McGillicuddy. Fr O’Hanlon now set about augmenting the Parish by organising for the construction of a new convent and school. Up until that time, Catholic children attended the local State School but received religious instruction, by volunteer parishioners, after Sunday Mass.

By all accounts, Fr O’Hanlon was a keen landscape gardener and took it upon himself to beautify the church grounds. He is described in Fr Hickey’s History¹ as being ‘up to date’ regarding the ceremonies of the Church. By this he means that Fr O’Hanlon introduced the ceremonies of Holy Week, the Forty Hours Devotion, and Public Processions.
He was also a great organiser of social events, fundraising and otherwise. In this regard he had a keen sense of what we might call community spirit. Added to this was a marvellous sense of humour and an abiding interest in puzzles and conundrums- something he used to advantage in dealing with children who relished his company.
In regard to his riddles, Fr Hickey published an example for which, he admitted, he had not been able to supply an answer:
Twice nine of us are eight of us,
Ten of us are three of us,
Five of us are four of us,
Who can we be?
The conundrum arises because we instinctively look for a ‘numerical’ solution but once you regard the letters of a word as being additive, the solution is easy. So ‘twice nine’ (four letters) becomes eight!.
Fr O’Hanlon died at the young age of 41 years. We have been unable to ascertain the cause of death or whether it was preceded by a long illness.

1. Hickey, Rev. P.J. 1946. A short history of the Catholic Church in Rochester. Privately published. ↩︎

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