About Our Parish

Holy Spirit Parish wishes you a warm welcome,

“Whether you’ve lived here for a long time, have just moved here or are visiting our beautiful parish, we hope this website will provide you with a glimpse of God’s work within our parish community.

Situated in the delightful Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales our parish includes the towns of Byron Bay, Bangalow, Clunes, Suffolk Park and the surrounding villages including Ewingsdale, Newrybar, Eureka.

We invite you to join us in our parish life – the vibrant Masses, our Catholic School and group activities which bring us together as a family of God.”

Father David Gilbey, Parish Priest

Our History

For thousands of years, Indigenous Peoples occupied the Northern Rivers region known as Bundjalung country. After European settlement, the settlers were drawn to the area around Bangalow (known as Byron Creek) by the rich stands of Red Cedar of the Big Scrub, later to give way to fertile dairy farms. The Parish was established in 1902, and its boundaries took in the towns of Bangalow, Mullumbimby and Byron Bay.

The first Catholic Church in Bangalow was built in 1894, the same year the railway line was opened between Lismore and Byron Bay. The Presentation Sisters opened St Kevin’s Convent school in Bangalow in 1909 with an enrolment of 43 students. The Sisters of St Joseph (Josephites) became the leaders of the school in 1914 and they travelled each day to Byron Bay from Mullumbimby until a new convent was built for them.

The first church in Byron Bay was built in 1900 and was also used as a school in those early years. At this time, the separate parish of Mullumbimby was established in 1917, leaving Bangalow and Byron Bay as the main towns of the parish. When the Sisters of St Joseph left Bangalow in 1973, St Kevin’s school amalgamated with St Finbarr’s in Byron Bay as the prominant town of the parish.