Holy Name Cathedral was planned in the 1920s as the Roman Catholic mother church for the Australian state of Queensland. Designed by architects Hennessy & Hennessy, it was intended to be the largest church building in the southern hemisphere, and was the pet project of Archbishop James Duhig, who headed the Archdiocese of Brisbane between 1917 and 1965. The intended site for the cathedral was on the rise at the southern end of the inner city suburb of Fortitude Valley, between Ann and Wickham Streets. Concrete foundations for the building were laid in the 1920s, and a crypt was completed in 1934, however fundraising efforts stalled shortly thereafter, and construction never recommenced. Church services were conducted in the crypt for many years; however, both the foundations and crypt were demolished in the 1980s after the Church sold the site to developers. The site subsequently changed hands several times before an apartment complex was constructed there between 1997 and 1999. It was at this time that the cathedral's remaining southern and eastern sandstone retaining walls and balustrade were restored; these are now the only extant remnants of Holy Name Cathedral. The area is now known as Cathedral Place. St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane in the central business district has remained the seat of the Archbishop of Brisbane; stone remaining at the former site of Holy Name Cathedral was sold to the Anglican St John's Cathedral, whose own rather less ambitious completion project is proceeding.
