St. Patrick’s Square Monuments

St. Patrick’s Square, at the conjunction of Water Street, Prince William Street and Broad Street in Saint John’s South End, is the site of two distinctive Irish memorials. Formerly known as Reeds Point, this triangular little square on the city’s peninsula mainland, looks directly out at Partridge Island, the historic quarantine and immigration station where so many refugees had their first glimpse of Canada.

The grassy square, with its ornamental “Three Sisters” lamp replica of old-time navigational lights, was re-named St. Patrick’s Square during the 1967 Canadian Centennial, to honour citizens of Irish descent.

St Patrick’s Square Saint John

Its principal monument is an eight-foot high Celtic cross – a replica of the 20-foot cross, which can be seen on Partridge Island. The cross on the island was erected in 1927 by George McArthur, a local contractor with the aid of a public subscription. The St. Patrick’s Square replica was dedicated in 1967 by the St. Patrick’s Society of Saint John.

The original cross on the island and the replica on the mainland both bear this same wording:

“This monument was erected in memory of more than 2,000 Irish immigrants who died of Typhus Fever, contracted on shipboard during the voyage from Ireland in the Famine year 1847, and of whom 600 were buried on this island. This cross also commemorates the devotion and sacrifice of Dr. Patrick Collins, who after ministering to victims of the disease, himself contracted it and died.”

Celtic cross, St Patrick’s Square

St. Patrick’s Square was refurbished by the City of Saint John in 1997, including restoration work on “The Three Sisters” lamp. During that same year, Saint John’s St. Patrick’s Society and the group representing “Famine 150” erected a granite marker to commemorate the 150th anniversary of The Great Irish Potato Famine. This marker was unveiled by Paul Dempsey, Ireland’s ambassador to Canada.

Saint John’s Irish Canadian Cultural Association sponsors a public ecumenical service and wreath-laying ceremony at St. Patrick’s Square each March during St. Patrick’s Week.

ST. MARY’S CEMETERY CELTIC CROSS

St Mary’s Cemetery Celtic Cross

“Nineteenth Century Saint John was utterly transformed by the arrival, during the first half of the century, of tens of thousands of Irish immigrants. Though many merely passed through, the impact of the thousands who stayed and put down roots in the community was profound.

“We remember and we celebrate the 15,000 who lie buried here – many of them nameless and forgotten, many of them once prominent citizens, but for the most part, ordinary men and women with no particular claim to fame, but whose offsprings still comprise a major portion of the population of modern day Saint John.

“The enduring Irish presence in the city is a testament to the courage and the tenacity of the immigrant generation and to the commitment of their descendants in preserving their legacy.”

The monument was designed and constructed by Nelson Monuments. The Saint John Branch Irish-Canadian Cultural Association provided all funding for the project. Co-chairs were Dr. Daniel Britt and Donna Blanchard.

DR. JAMES PATRICK COLLINS MEMORIAL
Saint John NB

A relatively new memorial in Saint John, New Brunswick, recognizes one of the most heroic personal stories of the tragic Irish Potato Famine year of 1847. A bronze plaque erected on July 21, 1997, it commemorates Dr. James Patrick Collins, who succumbed to typhus while voluntarily treating Irish fever victims on Partridge Island.

The plaque is located on the right hand side of the main entrance of St. Peter’s Church, on Douglas Avenue in Saint John’s North End. It was a project of Famine 150, a volunteer local organization established specifically to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Irish Potato Famine, with co-operation from the Saint John Irish Canadian Cultural Association (ICCA).

Created by the West Saint John firm of Design Art Signs with assistance from Alma Hazel of the I.C.C.A., the 20″ high by 33″ wide plaque reads:

DR. JAMES PATRICK COLLINS

“Born in County Cork, Ireland, he died at 23 on Partridge Island, Saint John, N.B., 2 July, 1847.

“To alleviate the suffering of his countrymen quarantined there during the typhus epidemic of 1847, he offered his services on the island. Within weeks, he contracted the disease and died alongside those he served.

“Originally interred in these grounds, his body was the only one allowed to be removed from the island.

‘A MARTYR TO HIS DUTY’

“Project of Famine 150 and sponsored by the Saint John Irish Canadian Cultural Association. Dedicated July 2, 1997.”
 

While all other fever victims were buried on the island for health concerns, Dr. Collins’ body was brought to Saint John in a lead-lined coffin and interred in the old Indiantown Cemetery in the North End. It was reburied around 1883 when excavation work began on St. Peter’s Church at that site. And in 1949, when this cemetery was closed, all the remains were transferred to St. Joseph’s Cemetery on Westmorland Road.

Bill Brenan, a past-president of the Saint John I.C.C.A. was master of ceremonies at the plaque unveiling; Eva Steele, a long-time member, recited a poem in tribute to Dr. Collins, and soloist Edmund McDermott sang “The Irish Blessing.” Mayor Shirley McAlary brought greetings from the City of Saint John. The plaque was unveiled by Jack Stevens, president of Famine 150 and Greg McGinnis, president of the Saint John I.C.C.A. Following the ceremony, wreaths were laid by Donna Blanchard for Famine 150 and John (Paddy) Addison for the I.C.C.A.

Celtic Memorial: The Hermitage Cemetery, Fredericton

By James M. Whalen

On 24 September 2000, Monsignor Brian H. Henneberry, Pastor of St Dunstan’s Church, unveiled a Celtic memorial at the Hermitage Cemetery in Fredericton honoring the memory of some of the earliest Roman Catholic parishioners – mostly Irish – who were buried in St Dunstan’s Cemetery between 1836 and 1870. The money for the memorial came out of funds from the sale of St Dunstan’s School that stands on ground where the old cemetery was located.

It is fitting to honor the early Irish Catholic presence in Fredericton that by 1871 was significant. As historian, Peter Toner, has so clearly shown: “There were a few pockets in southwestern New Brunswick where the Irish were mainly Catholic. The City of Fredericton is an example. It was just under half Irish and these were almost 60 % Catholic. The adjacent rural areas shared this distribution.” 1

The memorial in the Hermitage Cemetery actually consists of several components. The centerpiece is a suitably engraved Celtic cross – similar to the one marking the nearby grave of Rt. Rev. William Dollard, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of New Brunswick.2 Then, there are six tablets – three on either side of this high cross bearing names such as: Breen, Dolan, Logue, McCann, O’Brien, Sullivan and Tierney, as well as their year of death. Besides many “known only to God,” Monsignor Henneberry explained “in a very special way, we commemorate the 283 people who were originally buried in the old cemetery on Regent Street, whose remains were moved here in 1910 …” 3 Lastly, a monument, called a “slope marker,” installed directly in line with the Celtic cross, is engraved with the names of eight priests whose graves are close by.

Arranged alphabetically, the names etched on the memorial were compiled mainly from archival and church records and from James Hannay’s “Report on Burying Grounds in New Brunswick.” Before having the names inscribed, Monsignor Henneberry posted a list of them in St.Dunstan’s Church seeking information as to their accuracy but apparently no one suggested any changes.

Unfortunately, those using the memorial for genealogical purposes might have difficulty in identifying the names of some married women. Those recorded in church records and thus on the memorial are mostly married names but in the cases of Anne Bradley, Bridget Bradley and Nancy McGlinn, for example, they are their maiden names.4 Moreover, the wrong prename of Bishop Thomas L.Connolly’s father is engraved on one of the tablets. Undoubtedly, this happened because James Hannay inadvertently put the name “Jane Connolly” instead of “James Connolly” in his 1908 cemetery report. Small wonder that based on this source this error occurred again. 5

The Hermitage property, where the new memorial stands, dates from 1870 when Rev. James C. McDevitt purchased this beautiful site along the Woodstock Road for a burial ground and for other church related purposes. Almost immediately, it became known as the “new Catholic Cemetery.” The former burial ground at St Dunstan’s – referred to as the “old Catholic Cemetery”- was supposedly closed then. Nonetheless, a few burials, especially of those who had close relatives there, took place after its closure. This accounts for names such as Ann Densmore, John Long, Dennis O’Leary and Richard Tobin, all whom died after 1870, on the memorial.

The Hermitage estate and the buildings that once stood on it originally belonged to Hon.Thomas Baillie, who served as Commissioner of Crown Lands and Surveyor General of New Brunswick in the early nineteenth century. Eventually, Baillie went bankrupt and lost the property. Then, William F. Odell acquired it and bequeathed it to his daughter, Elizabeth – Baillie’s second wife. Subsequently, Father McDevitt bought it from Elizabeth Baillie – by then a widow – and her family at a cost of four thousand dollars.6

The memorial erected in the Hermitage Cemetery in the year 2000 was long over due. In fact, it was ninety years before when parishioners of St Dunstan’s voted in favor of using the Regent Street cemetery site for a school. 7 It was then that most of the graves and markers in the path of school construction were moved. According to Fredericton author, Ruth Scott: “the remains of the old graveyard were reverently lifted and re-interred in the new cemetery on the Woodstock Road, now known as the Hermitage. To provide a schoolyard for the children, the remaining gravestones were removed and placed in the Hermitage as well.” 8

Dr. Hannay listed the tombstones in St Dunstan’s Cemetery in his1908 report but very few of these exist today. For example, the headstones for Rev. Michael McSweeney, Lawrence Neville and his wife Mary, as well as that of Mary Friel, wife of John Carten, were moved and are now in the Hermitage Cemetery but not many others. Some were broken or went missing, including an eight-foot marble tombstone over the grave of Private John Brennan, who was murdered in Fredericton in 1868. 9

Long after St Dunstan’s School opened, early in 1911, questions sometimes arose whenever locals, including school children, found broken tombstones and human remains on or near school property. Eventually, most everything was dug up in the former graveyard and transferred to the Hermitage Cemetery or else it deteriorated to the point where today there is virtually nothing left.10

A portion of the original Hermitage property, now consisting of about eight and one-half acres, is at present a well-kept Roman Catholic graveyard. Originally, this land was located on the outskirts of Fredericton but now is within city limits. Situated near the Saint John River and adjoining the Protestant Rural Cemetery, the graveyard known as “The Hermitage” is the main place for Catholic burials in Fredericton and surrounding area. Among those buried there are many descendants of the nearly three hundred, mainly Irish Catholic parishioners of the capital city and vicinity, whose names are so deservedly honored on the memorial.