- Born
- 1812
Cork, Ireland - Died
- 1886
Brighton, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Catholic Archbishop
James Alipius Goold was appointed by Pope Pius IX as bishop of the new see of Melbourne on 9 July 1847. Goold, who was installed in St Francis pro-Cathedral in Melbourne, oversaw the growth of the Catholic Church in the Port Phillip District, including the recruitment of clergy for metropolitan and rural communities, and the establishment of new buildings and schools. Goold laid the foundation stone of St Patrick’s Church in Melbourne where Mass was first celebrated in 1858. He was also instrumental in the building of St Patrick’s Cathedral, consecrated in 1897.
The twofold problem of providing both sufficient clergy and buildings in the District was exacerbated by the gold rushes; permanent pastors could not be appointed to the goldfields until 1853. According to some contemporaries, Goold’s visits to the Ballarat goldfields in late 1854 and 1855 pacified many of the diggers and contributed to the orderly behaviour of Catholic miners, particularly after the Eureka Stockade.
Goold survived an assassination attempt at Brighton in 1882, when an old acquaintance, Peter O'Farrell, fired at him. He died of a heart attack four years later in 1886.
