Last weekend I heard a talk by a missionary priest Father John who had to stop his work in Africa due to a heart condition and is how living a very relaxed life with the nuns out in Bolwarra.

During his talk he mentions intolerances towards other religions, and I suppose he thought as he was talking to a group of people from Maitland he’ll give us some Maitland History, and proceeded to tell us about a riot in the 1960 due to a Presbyterian minister giving a series of sermons said to be anti-catholic which upset the Irish Catholics at the time. I spent some time googling these riots and apparently it’s not just my neighbours who had no idea of Maitland past but the Internet as well. With the only reference I could find being from this website.

In 1860 he advertised a lecture on ‘The Heathenism of Popery, Proved and Illustrated’, which upset Irish Catholics and led to the famous Maitland riots, said to have involved over 1000 people. McIntyre was injured and seventeen prosecutions followed. [ http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050190b.htm ]

It was an interesting story hard to believe in this day and age first being that there is 1000 pissed off catholic still in Maitland. Though I’m sure there are still some Anti-Catholic sermons out there still. but all church’s these days seem to at least refrain from publicly criticising each other.

If anyone else finds something else be sure to leave a comment.