Ashgrove Historical Society

The Commercial Rowing Club boathouse 1905. Trove Images. Accessed 23.01.18

The hulk of the barque Beatrice circled in red queenswharf.org. Image accessed 21.01.18

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Ashgrove Historical Society

Denis O’Connor and the O’Connor Boathouse

One of the many landmarks in Brisbane lost to fire was the O’Connor Boathouse on North Quay. The boathouse was named after Denis O’Connor who lived in Ashgrove. His home, Hernsdale, was built on Three Mile Scrub Road, now known as Ashgrove Avenue, in 1879. [The house was moved to Brookfield in the early 1980s and the land is now occupied by the Highgrove unit complex situated on the corner of Bott Street and Ashgrove Avenue].

O’Connor took a great interest in sport and participated and supported a number of sports such as walking, rifle shooting, riding and horse racing. However, his favourite was rowing which he began in his youth in Ireland. He migrated to South Australia in 1877, moved to Sydney that year then onto Brisbane in 1879 where he joined the staff of Finney Isles. In 1887 he built a hotel at Stones Corner which began his long association with the hotel business. He was very active in the Commercial Rowing Club, taking part in many regattas and competing successfully in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. In his seventies, he kept himself fit by rowing a number of times a week on the Brisbane River. Denis O’Connor was 80 years old when he died suddenly in January 1937. At the time of his death he was chairman of directors of the Queensland Brewery, a position he had been elected to in 1919. He was one of the most prominent and popular business figures in Brisbane.

O’Connor was also president and patron of the Commercial Rowing Club at various times. After the boatsheds were washed away in the 1893 floods the club purchased the hulk of the barque, Beatrice, for £100 and it served the club till 1896. Denis O’Connor assisted with the funding of a new boathouse which opened in 1905.

Many older Brisbane residents have happy memories of dances and functions held at the boathouse. The building would rock to its foundations! However, it became the victim of arson in 1968. The arsonist also set fire to the nearby Supreme Court building on the same night. The ruined boathouse was demolished a few years later to make way for the Riverside Expressway which was opened in July 1976.

Riverside Expressway under construction 1973 Transport Main Roads archives. Accessed 21.01.18 website: http://www.westernecho.com.au