Glengariff

As one of the remaining large Victorian villas that sprang up around Brisbane in the late 1800’s, Glengariff is one of the grandest in scale and most imposing. At the time it was built in 1888 and named ‘Dura’ the area was semi-rural and connected to the nearby racecourses.

Its first owner was Edward Jones, the original bank manager of CBA (then the Commercial Bank of Australia) in Queensland. Then in 1898 TC Beirne the high profile Catholic retailer of Fortitude Valley bought it, possibly as a tree change from living above his store in the Valley after his son died of pneumonia and he himself had suffered from typhoid fever.

In 1907 he commissioned RS Dods to design some substantial alterations and extensions. Dods was renowned for his Arts and Crafts architectural influences as well as the adopted Edwardian concepts of light and ventilation – the latter resulting in his open air designs for hospital wards as well as open air schools. It was possibly the latter that helped TC Beirne choose RS Dods as his family’s health history was poor – five of his ten children did not survive infancy.

TC Beirne and his wife continued to live in the house until their deaths in the mid 1900’s, after which his daughters gifted it to the Catholic Church. The only remaining part of the original estate is the charming little TC Beirne Park which was established in 1949 at the rear of the house.