If you could time travel, where would you go? Would you go to see Ancient Rome in all its majestic splendour? Perhaps you might like to watch the moon landing in real time…as it happened (1969! it’s with some sadness that I say, been there done that…seriously!). Maybe you’d just like to go back to last week when the autofill function on your email app filled in the wrong address a microsecond before you clicked send and send it you did (again, been there done that).
Time travel has fascinated us since time immemorial. The ability to go back and right wrongs, possibly wrong rights or even view rights and wrongs as they happened, is something that has been coveted by many. Whether it’s the goofy adventures of Doctor Who, traveling the centuries in his TARDIS; the banana peel fuelled chaos of a DeLorean shaped time machine in Back to the Future or Hermione Granger’s ever so clever use of a Time Turner to blitz her A+ report card — we’re entranced by the idea of stepping outside the flow of seconds that makes the river of time. Spin a dial, get to 80mph in a flash car, hop into a Police Box and land in a different moment — past or future — where things might be simpler, clearer or just different.
Yesterday a contingent of our young men and our staff travelled to St Stephen’s Cathedral to celebrate a liturgy marking 150 years of the Christian Brothers in Queensland. For me, looking around and gazing up at the imposing sandstone façade, my mind drifted to time travel.
If you rewound the clock to 1875, what would you see? Stepping onto the dusty streets of colonial Brisbane, it’s hot, humid and life is slow. Horse-drawn carts rumble by. There, among the clatter near a small building now known as Pugin Chapel, is a man in long black robes, stern face, sleeves rolled up: Brother Patrick Ambrose Treacy (actually not sure he ever did this but hey…artistic licence).
He's no Dr Who or Hermione Granger but Ambrose Treacy’s impact on Queensland over time is epic. An Irish Christian Brother with a vision, he arrived in Australia determined to build not just schools, but futures. The first Brothers’ school in Queensland began under his guidance — no fanfare, just an unwavering belief in the power of education; three brothers and 26 boys launched what would become St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace.
Now, it’s great to go back but what if we brought old Bro Ambrose forward 150 years all the way to today? We’d step him through a swirling iridescent wormhole and into a 21st-century school. He’d marvel at glass buildings and LED lights…and why are these black boards white and shiny? Students type on laptops rather than scratching on slates; they refer to the internet instead of referring to books and not even Google knows what he’d think of TikTok. Nevertheless, what he’d understand immediately, would be the heartbeat of it all: students learning, parents and staff guiding, communities growing.
He’d see sports fields filled with camaraderie, assembly halls echoing with values and young people not just being taught but being formed — in resilience, respect, responsiveness and reflection. He might be puzzled by the subjects, struggle with the swipe cards and most likely, politely decline the sushi at lunch. But I’d hope he’d proudly recognise his legacy, the many schools that have come into being because of his vision. Today Eddies is governed by Edmund Rice Education Australia Colleges Ltd, an organisation wisely created by the Brothers as their numbers diminished. We are one of nine remaining as schools in the Edmund Rice Tradition:
- St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe
- St Laurence's College, South Brisbane
- St Edmund's College, Ipswich
- St James' College, Brisbane
- St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane
- St Joseph's College, Nudgee, Brisbane
- St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
- Ignatius Park College, Townsville
- Ambrose Treacy College, Indooroopilly (formerly Nudgee Junior College)
…but there are so many more founded by the Brothers now governed by Catholic Education Offices around the state.
- Christian Brothers' College, Southport (now Aquinas College)
- Christian Brothers' College, Bundaberg (now Shalom Catholic College)
- Christian Brothers' College, Gympie (now St Patrick's College)
- Christian Brothers' College, Maryborough (now St Mary's College)
- Christian Brothers' College, Rockhampton (now The Cathedral College)
- Christian Brothers' College, Warwick (now Assumption College)
- Clairvaux MacKillop College, Brisbane
- Mt Carmel College, Charters Towers (now Columba Catholic College)
- Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham (formerly Cardinal Gilroy College and Santa Maria College)
- Good Shepherd Catholic College, Mount Isa (formerly Mount Isa Catholic High School and St Kieran's College)
- St Mary’s College, Dalby (now Our Lady of the Southern Cross College)
- St Columban's College, Caboolture
- St Joseph's College, Toowoomba
- St Mary's College, Toowoomba
- St Patrick's College, Mackay
- St Teresa's College, Abergowrie
Ambrose would recognise the core of his dream thriving; that humble beginnings had become a wide-reaching legacy. He would see that the mission he began had travelled through time, not in a machine but in the hearts of those who came after him.
After all, this “to and fro” of months and years isn’t about mechanics or machines or magic. It’s about legacy. The past shaping the present and the present honouring the past. Every school founded, every lesson taught, every value lived — these are the real threads connecting centuries. If Bro Ambrose came to Ipswich today with his black robes, stern face and sleeves rolled up, I’m sure he’d crack a smile as he looked out on our place here at the top of Mary Street — his legacy, in crisp blue and white uniforms, eleven hundred and eighty loud and enthusiastic and friendly, strong, kind and gentle, Eddies Men.
Musical
Last Saturday I had the very great privilege of attending the Combined Colleges’ performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This year was Eddies turn to take the reins for the production, and it was nothing short of spectacular. From the opening number to the final curtain, every moment was infused with energy and passion. Standout vocals and choreography kept the large and appreciative audience captivated. It was clear that this production was the result of many long hours of hard work and dedication by students from both St Edmund’s and St Mary’s, as well as our Eddies staff.
Congratulations to everyone involved - your efforts culminated in a night that will be remembered.
