Fr Gavan Kennare

Early Life

Gavan Kennare was born at Semaphore on June 20, 1926 of British and Scottish as well as Irish decent. He attended the Dominican Convent Semaphore, then went to Christian Brothers College, Wakefield Street and later to Rostrevor College. His studies for the priesthood were undertaken at St Francis Xavier Seminary and at Corpus Christi College at Werribee in Victoria.

He was the first student from St Francis Xavier Seminary to be ordained in Adelaide and this occurred at St Francis Xavier's Cathedral on July 25, 1951.

Fr  Gavan  served as Assistant Priest at Walkerville, Thebarton and Goodwood before taking up a full-time position as Army Chaplain, initially at the Puckapunyal Army Camp in Victoria in January 1957.  

Stirling and the Army

Then in June 1957 Fr Gavan was asked to establish the new parish of Stirling and while parish priest he also served as part-time chaplain at the Woodside Army Camp.

This appointment turned out to be more complicated than he first anticipated. He soon found that his flock comprised more than 300 families – more than the 40 or 50 that he had been led to believe. Plus his army commitments proved to be more onerous than expected. He spent 14 years at Stirling during which time he achieved much with the establishing of new Mass Centres, fostering Catholic schooling and developing a cohesive Catholic community. He was a forward thinking pastor, he encouraged lay involvement and was one of the first to establish a Parish Pastoral Council. He endeavoured to divide his time between the parish and the army.

But 1963 saw the formation of two battalions of troops at Woodside with troops moving to and from Vietnam and Malaysia. On two occasions when on leave he travelled to Malaysia and Vietnam to visit army personnel he knew from Woodside. Fr Gavan established a great rapport with the troops and he was recognised as a good counsellor for the men.

During his first six years he was also concerned with the welfare of the people at the Woodside Migrant Centre and liaised with various migrant chaplains to visit and provide for the spiritual needs of the migrant people.

In 1957 the only church in the parish was the small Our Lady of the Rosary Church at Stirling East, but it had been closed due to earthquake damage. Mass was celebrated in the old stable at Mt St Catherine at Stirling, the Bridgewater Institute, St Joseph’s Convent chapel and the Woodside Army Camp. Fr Gavan undertook to see that Our Lady of the Rosary church was restored and a new St Matthew’s Church was built at Bridgewater in 1966.

From 1960 to 1967 he was also Chaplain to the Knights of the Southern Cross.

During this time the Dominican Convent served as a novitiate for new sisters, but then in 1962 the parish bought the property next door and with the help of Fr Gavan’s guidance St Catherine’s School was established as a parish school.

During his time in Stirling Fr Gavan was well known throughout the local community and made a point of meeting and getting to know as many people as he could. For relaxation he enjoyed music, golf and cricket. He established a reputation as a good cricketer and was vice captain of the Aldgate Cricket Club.

Brighton

In June 1971 the Vicar General, Fr Horgan asked Fr Kennare if he would apply for the parish of Edwardstown which was vacant at that time.  Knowing that he was about to take over from him as senior chaplin with the army, he thought it might help with that work if he was nearer to Keswick. However Fr Collins was appointed to Edwardstown, leaving the Brighton parish vacant. Subseqently Fr Kennare was appointed to Brighton parish.

After 14 years at Stirling Fr Kennare was transferred to Brighton in September 1971. His predecessor, Fr Bill Collins had undertaken a great deal of development in his time. There were four Churches: Brighton, Seacliffe, Warradale and the newly completed Church at Somerton. There were also two schools, at Brighton and Warradale. Fr Kennare felt rather fortunate to have followed someone who had a well established parish, including a Parish Pastoral Council.

Brighton was still a rapidly growing parish – in 1972 the Mass attendance was well over 4,000 every Sunday. 1973 saw the introduction of the Saturday evening Mass and the following year the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist. With a $130,000 grant from the Federal Government the parish school at Brighton was extended in 1976. Then in 1979 the building of an activity Centre at Brighton was proposed; it was competed in 1983 and continues to be a regular hive of activity. About this time the decision was made to sell St Patrick’s Church at Seacliffe, which in part enabled the purchase of land at Hallett Cove for a new Church and presbytery, later to become a separate parish in 1988.

His involvement with the Army continued and in February 1972 he was appointed senior chaplain to the Fourth Military District. Fr Gavan kept in contact with the Vietnam Veterans and was able to help many of them. One “Veteran” visited Gavan in the Mary Potter Hospice. Another said: “He received me into the Church in the 1950s, married us and has been a good friend and pastor ever since.”

In May 1973 he took five months long service leave and travelled overseas. In June 1981 he was appointed a member of the Diocesan Sites & Architecture Committee – a position he held until June 30, 1990.

Always a keen sportsman, in 1976 he won the first Dean Travers Cup for clergy golf.

After 17 very productive years at Brighton is was time for Fr Gavan to move on, though he did so with some reluctance. In leaving he acknowledged the tremendous support he had received from parishioners which had made it possible to achieve so much.

Aberfoyle Park

In January 1989 he was appointed administrator of the Mount Barker parish after the retirement of Fr Terry Wall. Having been the first parish priest of the neighbouring parish of Stirling back in 1957 it was almost ‘like coming home’. He remained there for three months until appointed parish priest of Aberfoyle Park in April. He was initially appointed for a six-year term, but this was extended a further three years from April 1995, and in April 1998 it was extended for another three years.

This was a young and vibrant parish and Fr Gavan had baptised more than 60 children by the end of the year. However in January 1990 he was hospitalised for shoulder surgery and was away for four months. During this time he was replaced by Fr Sean McGearty who had just returned after 10 years in Ireland. In July Fr Gavan celebrated 40 years as a priest.

During his time at Aberfoyle Park there were a number of innovations. In May-June 1992 he organised an Outreach Program intended mainly for lapsed Catholics. There was a series of six information sessions attended by approx 50 people. A branch of the Knights of the Southern Cross was established, Children’s Liturgy was introduced, a Baptismal Preparation Team was established, the BEC’s were officially launched in October 1999, there was an active Antioch group for the youth and quite a number of social activities were encouraged.

In October 1992 Fr Gavan was again hospitalised for a hip replacement and was absent from the parish until mid January. After Easter 1993 Fr Gavan attended a three month renewal Course at St Peter’s Centre in Canberra.

In September 1995 Fr Gavan featured in an article in the Australian Magazine. It paid tribute to his many involvements especially the army and also reflected the influence of the Second Vatican Council on his priesthood.

In July 1995 Fr John Fleming was appointed as a regular supply to assist with Sunday Masses. He continued until the end of 2000. But in July 2000 Fr Gavan spent two weeks in hospital when he was diagnosed with cancer and his health declined. He did not return to the parish. Although he had hoped to stay at Aberfoyle Park until July 2001 when he was to celebrate his Golden Jubilee, he retired at the end of December 2000, due to his ill health.

However he was well enough to return to the parish on July 8, 2001 to celebrate his 75th Birthday and 50 years as a priest. Several priests joined him for a con-celebrated Mass when tribute was paid to his great love for the parish, and especially the Nativity parish school where he was always warmly welcomed by the staff and students.

As his health declined he moved to the Philip Kennedy Centre at Largs Bay and this is where he died on January 13, 2002. His funeral Mass, attended by a large crowd of priests and former parishioners, was celebrated in St Joseph’s Church, Brighton on January 17 and his mortal remains were buried in a family grave at the Cheltenham Cemetery.

“One year after his death Fr Kennare was included in the Australia Day honours list on January 26, 2003 being posthumously awarded and Order of Australia Medal (OAM)  “for services to the community as Parish Priest and Army Chaplain”.

May he rest in peace.