While surviving the threat of closure, it becomes even more important to honour the history of how St. Bridget’s came to be built. In January 1999, Jennie Sullivan whom many readers will remember as the Principal of Gagetown School wrote a history of the church. The next several paragraphs contain facts, dates and events from this book.
On July 4, 1839 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Carney donated ten acres of land to the Catholic Church, of which one half acre was to be solely used for the purpose of a Catholic Burial Ground. This date was the beginning of the Catholic mission at Gagetown.
By 1860 the mission priests began to visit the few Irish immigrant families who had made their way up the Saint John River to settle in Queens County. They came first by stage coach, then boat and later by train. Mass was celebrated in the homes of the Hayden, Owens and Corrigan families. These homes were still being lived in when the history was written.
In 1886, Frank Hayden, Michael and Daniel Mahoney, with their sons and the Owens brothers decided to start building a small church on the donated land. After clearing and cutting the lumber from the land, it was hauled to the Dingee Mill and sawed by water power. Construction began in 1890. Many community members worked to complete the building with the support of other Gagetown denominations. The Queens County Gazette of October 11, 1899 gives a thorough account of one community fundraiser called the “ Mill Road Pie Social “ which raised $31 for the church! The Social was held in the little school on Mill Road and considered to be the “best ever”. The final sentence indicates that a “very pleasant time was spent in discussing dainties provided by the fair sex”.
Once the church was completed Mass was celebrated once a month by priests coming from Petersville, usually on a Saturday as the priest stopped on his way home to Oromocto. Frank Mahoney was the Altar Boy and Leo Mahoney always took the collection. Baptisms, weddings and funerals were held and the congregation was so proud of its church.
In 1932, Rev. C.T. Boyd came to Petersville and for the first time Mass was celebrated every two weeks in Gagetown on Sunday. The Catholic Women’s League was organized with Mrs. Laura Hayden as the 1st President and Mrs. Cora Mahoney as Secretary. This group worked on improving the church and the interior was painted. A large picture of Our Savior was hung behind the altar. It is noteworthy that several years ago, the present day Altar Society with the encouragement of Rev. Dr. Michael McGowan, completed a facelift of the altar and the painting was restored to its original spot. It was painted by Frank McNally while he was in his 20’s. He was Bob McNally and Freda Maysfield’s uncle. Bob knows that he died young and was very devout….walking from his house by Reid’s Mill to attend church every second Sunday.
By 1942, the influx of families working at the army camp increased the size of the congregation. The surnames included Gauvin, Goldie, Lynch, Bent, Shannon, Noble, LeBlanc, Despres and Gratton. Now, they needed a larger church! Again the men went into the woods to cut lumber. Twelve feet was added and a new entry and vestry was built. In order to get enough money to paint the church, the ladies started holding food sales and card parties. They withdrew from the CWL as the dues were too high and reformed as the St. Bridget’s Altar Society. The army base, known as Base Gagetown was established and many changes came to Gagetown, New ways and new people came and went.
In 1973 it was time for further improvements to the church in the form of putting a basement under it which would become our “church hall”. This big undertaking was not without mishaps- after the money was raised, a contractor was hired to put in the basement walls. The first wall fell in, due to poor cement and the church building almost fell into the hole. Fr. Stack was very disturbed and we had to use the Anglican Church for Mass until the contractor put a new wall up ( at no extra cost ) and the church was safely on the basement walls. The second problem was water in the basement, under the direction of Ernest Gauvin the problem was corrected. Through a Winter Works Grant, Norval Sullivan supervised a team of young men to finish the interior, namely Ron Sullivan, Tony Albert and Philip Coy. The beautiful pine cupboards were a gift from the Harmon family. The ladies had carpet laid and furnished the kitchen with pots and dishes.
In August 1984, Fr. Stack and Fr. Alexander cut the ribbon to the newly expanded church which is pretty much the same today. With every new priest came new ideas and improvements….the electric heat was a far cry from the old wood stove, the wiring a huge step up from lanterns, and a few years ago we became the only church in the Diocese to have an air conditioning unit! The first dinner held downstairs was a farewell for Fr. Alexander as he was assigned to a Saint John church in 1990.
Fr. Paul Riley succeeded Fr. Alexander and the biggest change was Mass began to be celebrated EVERY Sunday- something our forefathers could never have imagined!
Jennie listed several important dates including:
1841- First recorded burial
Oldest tombstone- Julia Mathony 1803-1848
1901- First double wedding on June 24 Florence Mahoney & Frank Gallagher and Annie Mahoney & Louis O’Neil
1936- Fr. Gerard Owens was ordained and said his first Mass at St. Bridget’s
1939- Rita Hayden joined the Sisters of Charity and took the name Sister Mary Philip
…….and while not dated there is a notation that the wedding of Miss Maria sera Villa of Engigado, Colombia, South America was solemnized and that Maria’s grandparents are buried in the church cemetery. It is hard to imagine what would have brought them here.
Jennie’s closing words are taken verbatim as not one word could be improved upon-
“The old pine trees still wave in the breeze, flowers bloom around the grounds and the silence is broken by the laughter of young people coming to religious education. St. Bridget’s Church stands as a lasting memorial to those God-fearing settlers of many years ago. It is the hope of all that the spirit and the faith of our ancestors will thrive throughout the years to come.”
This history may have been Jennie’s last large accomplishment in a life of many. It was published in January 1999 and she died later during the summer. She was born a Mahoney and one can determine from the history how faithfully the family served St. Bridget’s.
Connie Denby’s grandparents were cut from the same cloth. Connie remembers the stories of the elder Mullin’s feeding the team of horses by 3 am, heating the bricks to put under the blankets to start the trek to the church from Hibernia before dawn. They either packed a lunch or were invited to one of the Mahoney’s to get warmed up before venturing home. Such was their faith.
The original structure of being formed as a mission church remains the same today. The Altar Society continues to work towards the church remaining self-sufficient and has always had tremendous support from those who attend and those who support our fundraising activities. We celebrated the news by holding a modified Pork Supper downstairs after Mass and anticipate booking the Legion for next year’s supper in early May. The next thing we did was to reserve our Fair Fudge Booth….it is full steam ahead. Everything changes while everything remains the same as the generations change. Jean Shannon said they worried about the fate of the Altar Society after their tenure but it has survived. JudyAnn Breen was reluctant to give up teaching Sunday school after decades thinking it would not continue, but a young girl came forward. While Eric Despres and Clifford Boone still take collection, others will come behind them. Our mission is to build our faith within the building by supporting our priest and adjusting to whatever form the revitalization process defines. For now, it means we remain OPEN and celebrate Mass each Sunday at Noon.
The above historical account was provided by Margaret Rowney of St. Bridget's church.
ED: minimally edited for web reading.