A decade of dedication: Archivist Denis Connor to retire

He’s been the guardian of the Archdiocese’s past but it’s to the future that Denis Connor now looks, shortly to retire as our archivist after over a decade of dedication to the role.

For twelve years, Mr Connor has meticulously overseen the Archdiocese’s central archives spanning over 300 meters of historic records.  

Those copious boxes and files, books, and documents and photos, housed at the St Christopher’s Pastoral Centre in Canberra, date back to the 1860s, with even earlier sacramental records existing in individual parishes.

He brought a thirty-year background from the national archives in Canberra to his work for the church and was highly grateful for the open door that came his way.

“It’s a really enjoyable place to work and I am lucky to have had the opportunity to do so,” he said.

The highlight of his time with the Archdiocese was to make more accessible the cherished collection of the late Fr Brian Maher, the honoured former Archdiocesan priest who had authored local histories of many of our parishes. 

While Mr Connor would miss this type of work, he felt the time was right to move on.

When it comes down to it, he simply said, “I’m ready…I’m ready to retire.”

While he had brought the archivist’s precision to put into good order our archival records, he was less precise about where his own retirement might take him in the future. Beyond spending more time with family he might do some travelling, he suggested.

Whatever he would do, he would take with him the treasured memories of those he had worked with at the Archdiocese. 

“I’ve never been to a place where it’s been such a happy place to work,” he said.

“The staff here are terrific”.

Mr Connor will retire from his role as Archdiocesan archivist in early August this year.