History

The name Narrogin is said to have originated from the Aboriginal word ‘gnargijin’ which means; place of water and is named after a large pool on Narrogin Creek.   The first settlers in the area were sheep herders who had followed water courses and selected property suitable for grazing.

The Town started as a small group of buildings centred on the railway station on the Albany – Beverley line. The ‘Father of Narrogin’ Michael Brown was responsible for a great deal of building construction in the town and this in turn attracted new settlers. Narrogin was one of the largest towns on the fringe of the Wheatbelt region. Its  emergence as a regional centre for the Central South region can be traced back to the construction of the Great Southern Railway Line between Albany and Beverley in the late 1880’s.

Catholic presence in this regional centre was very visible from 1880’s. Father F Mattheu from Albany (1882) Father Duff from Kojonup (1880’s or Early 1890’s) and Father Flood (1985) have celebrated mass in this area.

In about 1900 Fr James Phelan (c.1900-1911)  became Narrogin’s  first resident priest celebrating mass in the agricultural hall. In August 1902 he wrote to Bishop Mathew Gibney in Perth, asking him to help secure the northern end of Lot 244. as a Church site. When permission was granted in late 1906 the building committee led by Tom O’Connor, and James Baron raised funds by personal canvass, and a local architect prepared the plans. On 10 November 1907, Bishop Gibney arrived to open and bless Saint Mathew’s Church.

When Dean Brennan was Parish Priest, Archbishop Clune blessed extensions to the sanctuary and sacristy on 27 May 1923. During 1938 Father O’Callaghan had stained – glass windows inserted and a new alter was built. Then in 1940, a large statue of the Sacred Heart was erected as a memorial from parishioners to Fr. Sheridan , two side sides of the alters were  created and statue of Saint Joseph and Saint Therese were  donated by individual Parishioners. In 1943 the sanctuary floor was raised and a new altar rails were put in.

The Sisters of the Congregation de Notre Dame Des Missions founded a convent and school at  Narrogin in 1918 and it was highly significant both for Catholics and the general community. The convent school gradually changes it name over the years. The Sacred Heart Convent became St Philomina’s Convent, and eventually St Matthew’s School when the Church calendar of Saints was revised. After the dedicated service to God and to the Christian education of the young, the sisters left Narrogin in 1998. Later in February 1998 the Servites sisters of the Congregation of the Mother of Sorrows, the servants of Mary  commenced the pastoral and other works in the Parish, and their service continued till the year 2022

After the Narrogin Parish was established in 1911, the Narrogin priests were also responsible for the spiritual welfare of the Catholics in surrounding areas like Wickepin, Wandering, Jitarning, Kulin, Kondinin, Dudinin, Harrismith, Yealering, Williams. Quindanning, Marling, Cuballing, Boddington……………

The original church building was demolished in May 1963 and the new foundations were poured on the same site on 27 June. On 12 June 1964 the new church, with its foundation stone announcing ‘Nova Veteri decentior’ ( the new is more fitting than the old) was consecrated by Bishop Goody.  The parabolic arches of  the church building symbolizes the Trinity, the main altar’s gold mosaic representation of the Lamb of God holding the Cross of Redemption, the mosaic stations of the Cross, the old church windows set into the new, a black marble font in the same shape as the Church, a communion rail with 24 mosaic panels and a spectacular dodecagon highlight, representing the Crown of Throns above the sanctuary were the special features of the new church design.