 A school fronting Minnie Street opened at the beginning of the 1890 school year - staffed initially by lay teachers, but from October 1892 by Sisters of Mercy from St Mary's Convent in Cooktown, who established a foundation in Cairns.In 1906 the Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown moved his residence to Cairns, which had eclipsed Cooktown as the principal port of Far North Queensland, and at this time St Monica's Church acquired the status of Pro-Cathedral.The first St Monica's church and school were destroyed in the cyclone of 9 February 1927.