Patrick Francis Moran

Connor Court Quarterly 12 Patrick Francis Moran

For this issue, we remember two great intellects, Cardinal Patrick Moran and James McAuley.

Back in 2006, Connor Court published the new edition of The Heart of James McAuley by Peter Coleman. For the launch of the James McAuley book, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) with John Roskam, held what we at Connor Court remember as one of our best book launches. The speakers on the night, included the Hon Tony Staley, the Hon Tony Abbott and Peter Coleman AO. Thanks to the IPA, the speeches of all three speakers were faithfully transcribed at the time and published on the IPA webpage. So here, thanks to the IPA, are the speeches of the book launch, which rightfully honours the great intellect, James McAuley.

The first half of the quarterly is a controversial paper given back in 1901 by Cardinal Patrick Moran to the Royal Geographical Society of Australia (RGS) entitled: 'Was Australia Discovered by De Quiros in the Year 1606?'
Here Cardinal Moran boldly argues the case that the first Europeans on the East Coast of Australia were in fact, back in 1606 the Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de QuirOs. It was a bold claim, largely dismissed by RGS and many historians since. But what if, there is some substance to the claim. The paper is well argued and could be an excellent launching-pad for the Gladstone region in Queensland to claim their own version of Botany Bay. We have preserved the original scans of the pamphlet, without any editorial additions. It is our hope this work can create further articles on the topic on who were the first Europeans to visit Australia's east-coast.