Kōrero: Catholic Church

The heavily bearded Father James McDonald (known to Māori as Maketanara) stands beneath the cross of this small raupō chapel at Opanaki (later renamed Kaihū), in Northland. Father McDonald arrived in New Zealand from Ireland with his brother William in the 1850s. By the 1880s, when this photo was taken, he held responsibility for all Māori Catholics in the northern North Island. He made huge journeys on horseback to remote communities like Opanaki to say Mass, baptise babies, hear confessions and insist that his parishioners repair their local chapel.