Looking Over the Convent Wall

From the Annals of the Sisters of Notre Dame- Lowell  , MA

December 1, 1879           

About this time was purchased a lot of land from a certain John Hennessy for $4,000, and the buildings having been moved in the Spring of 1880, and the ground cleared, a brick wall was built on Adams street extending 123 ft in length.

This is the first mention of the brick wall that surrounded the school, academy, convent, chapel and grounds of the Sisters.  One of the next entries in the Annals tells that the Sisters had to sell off their cows and poultry and to close the gardens which grew some of their food.  The Rule of the SNDs was changing.  The Sisters who once freely mixed with parishioners and often visited homes as nurses were now to be semi-cloistered.  The wall was extended along the Suffolk Street side as well and the vegetable gardens were transformed into formal gardens.  The greatest section of the wall was brick with a granite capstone.  Looking at the eastern wall of St Patrick Church a large outline of a doorway exists today.  Though many recall it as a way to get from the school to the church, originally it was where the Sisters would sit to observe the Mass.  The Order mandated that the Sisters were no longer to assist at Mass sitting with the congregation and to remain within the cloister.  The Sister who wrote the annals during this period put in that this was a sad time for both the Sisters and parishioners.  The inclusion of such personal feelings was highly unusual and shows the close ties the two groups must have enjoyed.   The convent wall was a source of intrigue for many neighborhood children who would devise means on finding their way in and mention is made of neighbors hearing the nuns chanting the Divine Office or the Tantum Ergo on Sunday afternoons.  Even William Cardinal O’Connell mentions that he would make his way over to the Acre and scale the wall with his friends to see the Sisters walking in the flower gardens and grotto.

When the old school was demolished and the new school built in 1958 most of the wall was taken down with it.  The Sisters moved to the Academy grounds at Tyngsboro and made the daily trek by car.  The wall no longer served its purpose.  A small section remained in front of the current school along with several granite capstones strewn along the fence near the housing.  By the 1980s the wall was becoming a hazard.  Bricks were falling out.  The mortar was deteriorating making the wall a potential hazard.  I was there the day they took it down, pleading that maybe a small section could be retained.  As the workmen left I stole a single brick, the only relic to tell the story.  If walls could speak……..

Cardinal O'Connell Parkway

Postcard of O'Connell Parkway

It was as if the fates were against the idea from the beginning.  William O’Connell, a favored son of Lowell, was given the red hat of Cardinal in 1911.  It took years before the city that witnessed his birth could decide how to appropriately mark O’Connell’s being made a prince of the Church.  There were financial reasons, then the Great War took precedence, and the Spanish influenza epidemic that ravished the US in 1918.  After much negotiation, the Committee decided that naming a parkway along with a fountain and bust of the prelate would be the most fitting. 

The big day was set- Sunday, November 17, 1918.  Humphrey O’Sullivan, the rubber heel king, and others from the Committee traveled to New York City to pick up the bronze bust which would surmount the granite shaft and fountain.  A grand parade would top off the day.  Weeks ahead of the event, organizations posted their “marching orders” in preparation.  Every parish, Holy Name Society, Knights of Columbus Council, temperance society, drum & bugle corps, cadet band, fraternal group, parochial school and whatever other group you could think of was invited to the parade.  And those were just the Catholic groups!  Since the Cardinal was quite proud of his Irish heritage and his American patriotism, many of those ethnic and civil groups were invited as well.  The Grand Marshall of the parade invited over 100 men to march with him, all wearing frock coats with gloves and cardinal red sashes. Badges with the Cardinal’s likeness and a red, white, and blue ribbon were distributed to the crowds.  There was discussion about allowing the women of the Catholic League to march.  Some were not opened to the idea, but in the spirit of the event, they were allowed. 

The Cardinal has gone down into history as someone who got his way.  He personified the rise of Irish-American Catholicism.  He never forgot how Boston treated his Irish ancestors.  He was quoted as saying, “The Puritan has passed, the Catholic remains.”  But even the good Cardinal could not control the New England weather.  Even days before the event, the weather was miserable.  A large tent was erected by the canvas-covered bust and fountain.  It rained so hard that there was serious consideration of cancelling the entire parade.  The parade marshal made the decision that the weather was not appropriate for women to march in.  But the crowds could not be disappointed and the parade stepped off.  The Cardinal’s niece from Boston pulled the cord that unveiled the bust.  Speeches were made and then more speeches were made.  His Eminence spoke of home, industry, faith, and peace.  The ceremony closed with the thousands joining in the singing of America.

"In the Name of Saint Bridget"

Like his ancestors before him, Msgr. William O’Brien was a man with a vision.  A cousin of St Patrick Parish’s previous pastors, Fathers John, Timothy, and Michael O’Brien, he had big ideas.  A native of Nenah, County Tipperary, Msgr. O’Brien, like his ancestors, made frequent trips home.  On one of these trips, he came back with an idea to build a mortuary chapel in Saint Patrick Cemetery.  Not just any chapel, but the best New England had ever seen.  Again, this was not some ordinary chapel, he designed it himself based on a chapel he saw back home in Tipperary.  Dotting the Irish countryside are dozens of these small stone oratories that were the places of prayer for some of the ancient Celtic saints.  He probably based his designs on examples he saw in his own hometown.

He wanted to incorporate the primitive design of an oratory with all the modern technologies of the 1920s.  A primary concern would be the inclusion of a holding area for coffins that needed storage during the winter months when the frozen ground made internments difficult, if not impossible.  Placing the chapel on the slight rise of earth made it ideal for his next idea.  The coffin would be borne into the chapel, and at the end of the committal prayers an elevator would lower it into the receiving chamber below.  From there, cemetery workers could transport the coffin to the appropriate lot. 

The exterior was made of granite with a slate roof.  Large oak doors allowed entrance to the chapel’s interior and could remain open if there was not enough room for priest and mourners inside.  Upon entering, the eye was immediately drawn to the marble altar with a statue of Our Lady of Victory.  The walls too were of white, Carrara marble imported from Italy.  Six stained glass windows, some donated by local undertakers, lined the walls allowing tinted light to dapple the interior.  Msgr. O’Brien saw to it that the Stations of the Cross lined the walls of the interior so the faithful could later visit and pray for the deceased.

The dedication ceremony was set for Memorial Day 1922.  The Cardinal himself, Lowell native William O’Connell and good friend of Msgr. O’Brien, would lead the services.  When the day arrived he visited the grave of his parents and then processed to the chapel.  Thousands attended.  He blessed the chapel and dedicated it to Saint Bridget.  The Cardinal admired the chapel so much he had an almost identical one made for himself and placed in the Chancery grounds.  (The Cardinal’s remains were recently removed with plans for the chapel to be demolished.)

Msgr. O’Brien was sure to include one more detail to his plan.  Unlike his ancestors who all chose to be buried in the front yard of St Patrick’s church, William O’Brien chose to be interred in the chapel which he built.  Little do today’s mourners know that when they enter the chapel, William O’Brien’s remains are located just under the doorway in a niche in the foundation.  Interestingly, O’Brien dies just a year after the completion of the chapel.