In 1803 Fr. John Rice (brother of Edmund Rice) was appointed prior of Callan. The community still lived in Clodeen lane, with the little chapel nearby. Fr. Rice considered this building hopelessly inadequate as a place of worship, and dreamed of building a more suitable chapel, but he did'nt have the funds. However the matter was decided for him when the chapel foof caved in, during Mass one Sunday morning in 1810. Now he had to get to work on a church. He leased a plot of land in Mill Street, which extended down to the river; and had plans drawn up for the new Church. The building would cost £4,000, which he raised by subscriptions from the people of Callan and the surrounding areas.
The work started before the end of that year, and the building was completed by 1811. There was accomodation in the basement of the Church for the Community. In 1816, Fr. Rice's brother Patrick, obtained a lease on the Abbey Meadow and ruins of the old church, and he transferred this to the Augustinians.
From 1815, Callan was to be the only novitiate of the Order in Ireland. The novices were accomodated with the community in the new apartments under the church. However, in 1829, the Provincial, Daniel O'Connor, suggested that the Friars open a secondary school for the youth of callan. Everyone thought this was a very good suggestion, but where was the space for classrooms? after some thought it was decided to build a separate Priory, so that the rooms vacated by the friars could be used as classrooms. The foundation stone of the new Priory was laid May 1st 1839, and the building was ready for the commmunity
On August 16th 1841, a secondary school for the youth of Callan was opened. This was the first post primary school in callan. in 1846 boarders were accepted, and in 1856, two new dormitories were added. The school was managed and directed by Fr. Niochlas Furlong, QSA and offered a very comprehensive syllabus of studies. The pupils came from all parts of Ireland, as well as from Scotland and Australia. Fr. Furlong died in 1872, and two year later the school closed, and the pupils transferred to the new Christian Brothers schools.