Patrick H. Scully

Patrick H. Scully was a Catholic priest and astronomer who served as a missionary in Cape Town and built the first Catholic parish church in South Africa.

Biography

After the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, the Colonial Office gave permission for a Catholic priest to be stationed in Cape Town. On 13 February 1820, Scully opened a church in a repurposed store on Buitekant street, donated by a local Catholic, Philip Albertus. There he said Mass on Sundays and holy days at 11 AM. He initially ministered mainly to local Irish soldiers.

Rufane Shaw Donkin, the acting governor of Cape Town, approved a salary of £75 for Scully on 17 January 1821.

In a letter to Barrow, Fallows wrote of Scully:

Fallows also praised Scully in a letter to John Herschel, writing:

Construction began on Scully's church on 28 October 1822. Due to continuing funding issues, Scully took out a number of loans in 1823 to fund the ongoing construction of the church. He never paid interest on these loans, and they were the subject of extensive litigation after his departure. In March 1824, he began to say Mass in the unfinished chapel.

In July 1824, Fallows found Scully in bed with Fallows's 17-year-old maid. Due to the "improprieties" committed and the "violence of [Scully's] manner" when discovered, Fallows promptly dismissed Scully, who was also defrocked over the incident. Scully left the colony for London on 11 July 1824, aboard the Venus. Upon his departure, he entrusted the church he had built to two curators. He was succeeded as chaplain by Theodore Wagner. Fallows asked the Admiralty to continue Scully's salary for six months after his dismissal, but the request was declined, and Scully was formally dismissed on 5 October 1824.