A Date to Remember- July 3, 1831

St. Patrick Church, 1831 in Irish Catholic Genesis of Lowell

From Bishop Fenwick’s Diary: The Bishop this day performs the ceremony of dedication of the catholic Church in Lowell, under the auspices of St Patrick.  The Very Rev Dr O'Flaherty preaches on the occasion & the Rev Mr Mahoney celebrates Mass.  An immense concourse of people attend of all denominations, as also many Catholics from Boston.  The large open space around the Church is literally covered by those unable to obtain place in the Church.  The Choir is conducted by singers chiefly from Boston who volunteered on the occasion.  In the afternoon the Bishop administers the holy sacrament of Confirmation to thirty nine persons.  The weather is excessively hot.  The Church at Lowell is 70 feet by 40 & is neatly finished in the Gothick style.  

July 3^rd, 1831.  The dedication of Lowell’s first Catholic church (only the third in all of New England) received but a single sentence in the Lowell Mercury.  More space was given to elections in Kentucky or rowdiness of certain boys in the city.  Other cites’ newspapers gave more space to the event than did the Mercury.  

The day was exceptionally warm.  Dr. O'Flaherty who gave the sermon was the preeminent Catholic speaker of his day.  The Catholic Miscellany (the forerunner of The Pilot) stated that the Catholic population was about a thousand people in 1831, and 2 to 3 thousand showed up for the dedication.  The church was likely constructed by the Irish workers who made up the Paddy Camps.  It was made of wood with a stone basement.  The top of the steeple was surmounted by a gold orb and cross.  (The top of the cross is among the prized artifacts in the parish archives.)  Surely the steeple was one of the tallest buildings in the town of Lowell and made a bold statement to the Yankee population.  

In the afternoon the bishop confirmed 39 candidates.  It was a busy day for the Bishop with Benediction and Vespers rounding out the day.  The Miscellany concluded by saying, "May Lowell enroll it among the happiest days of her history."

Interestingly, just weeks before the Mercury gave detailed accounts over several days of the troubles in the Acre while the church was being constructed.  In May of 1831, several groups of trouble makers (some say unemployed men, others say out-of-towners) made threats upon the Paddy Camps with threats of burning down the church which was under construction.  

Father Mahoney of St Mary’s church in Salem MA had been assigned as the visiting priest prior to the church being built. Poor Mahoney had a wide circuit, probably on horseback, of riding through different towns during the week to celebrate Mass.  Bishop Fenwick made him pastor in Lowell to the disappointment of those in Salem.

When the church was opened in July of 1831 it was already too small for the growing congregation.  People traveled as far as Nashua and Groton to attend Mass.  If Mahoney knew what was in his future he may have told the Bishop no thanks.  Within a short time, trouble within the Irish community brewed to the point of in-fighting between those who came from different counties in Ireland, problems with his new curate, and problems with fundraising for extensions and paying workers.

It’s good for us who claim Irish roots to remember this date and to remember those who went through trials and tribulations so that we can be here today.  For 185 years St. Patrick’s has been a landmark in the Acre continuing the mission of those who started our story.  May they be remembered.

Dedication- July 3, 1831

From: Irish Catholic Genesis
of Lowell, by G. O'Dwyer

The town of Lowell was a busy place that July of 1831.  Preparations were in place for festivities to celebrate the 4^th.  The Mechanic Phalanx was preparing a grand meal along with a reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Other citizens were in deep discussions debating if Belvidere should be annexed to Lowell.  Reverend Edson was preparing his homily for Sunday.  The doings of President Andrew Jackson and talk of temperance were popular topics heard in the streets.  The shops along Merrimack and Lowell Streets were busy with buyers making their purchases before closing for the Sabbath on the 3^rd.

In the Acre things were just as busy.  For a year the neighborhood had been watching the progress of the first Catholic church to be built in the city, and only the third in Massachusetts.  The agent for the Corporation, Kirk Boott, had donated a parcel of land on which to build.  Just weeks before a series of riots broke out along Lowell Street with some Yankees calling to burn down the church.  Others called for calm.  Michael Connelly had overseen the foundation and construction with frequent check-ins with Bishop Fenwick.  The two would later have a number of discussions about payment for labors rendered.  Slowly, but surely, the 70’x40’ wooden church rose.  The tower surmounted by a golden orb and cross was in stark contrast to the surrounding shanties.   At this point there were about 500 people living in the Paddy Camps.  Already it had gotten a reputation for being rather seedy with its make-shift cabins and pigs running between the alleys that passed for streets.  The little church had outgrown itself even before it opened. 

The Bishop, along with Rev. Dr O’Flaherty, the well known orator, arrived the day before having taken a carriage from Boston.  The two would spend the night at the Stone Tavern near the falls.  The weather that day of July 3^rd of 1831 was unusually hot, but that did not deter the crowds.  Over one hundred singers from the Cathedral choir came by stage to provide the music for the Mass.  Edward Kitts, the shoemaker, Miss Catherine Hogan, a teacher in the Irish School, and Mr. Hector, all of Lowell, also accompanied the Boston choir.  The pastor assigned to the new Catholic Church was John Mahoney, who had been serving the Lowell community for several years and had just been informed that he would not be returning to his previous post as pastor in Salem.  When Fr. Mahoney arrived a few years before to celebrate the first Mass, some of the Irish wept to hear their mother tongue being spoken.

Many of those in attendance for the dedication were likely among the first pioneers who traveled from Charlestown to build the foundations for the mills and widen the canals.  There was Cummiskey, Murray, McManus, Smith, Green, Fitzpatrick- all of them surely vying for a front pew.  The pews would be auctioned off at a later date to help defray the cost of building extensions to the church just 2 years later.  The church could not hold the crowds that showed up.  It was filled to overflowing with the open area around Fenwick Street packed with spectators as well.  Some reported that the crowd surpassed two or three thousand.  Considering the entire population of Lowell was about 7,000 at this time, it must have been quite a crowd.  The Bishop claimed the church under the patronage of Saint Patrick and anointed the altar with sacred oils.  Reverend O’Flaherty chose his sermon from the Book of Chronicles. “I have chosen this place to be a house of sacrifice and prayer.”   O’Flaherty was well known throughout the area as a gifted speaker and thus many Protestants attended just to hear his address.

The heat persisted through the afternoon when the priests and Bishop chanted evening Vespers.  The Bishop also confirmed 29 individuals.  The church still crowded to overflowing.  The event was recorded in newspapers across the state and even the country.  It was remarked that the church was one of the finest buildings in the city and represented things to come for the Irish and the Town of Lowell.  Surprisingly the only mention of the event in the Lowell newspapers is a single sentence in the Lowell Mercury, “The Catholic Church recently erected in this town was consecrated last Sabbath with appropriate services.”  The Irish were here to stay.

The Parish has a single remaining artifact from that original church.  When the wooden structure was dismantled to make way for the present structure the lead construction man was given a piece of the cross that topped the tower of the church.  Luckily a thoughtful collector returned the item to the church where it is in safe keeping.  We are always looking for pieces of our past that fills in the jigsaw puzzle of our story.  Can you help us? Family photos, business advertisements, graduation diplomas, musical programs, newspaper articles, class pictures, school uniforms, First Communion certificates…….  All tell a part of the story of the Acre.  So many have told us of what they thought was worthless, yet could tell us so much.  A picture can be worth a thousand words.