. 33 . /?. 
 
 j(7. (/. au<^ <Z\K* / Z6£, 73 o4S, 
 
 'Moa&(/ 7 /fz / 
 
 ——^ 5 ^ 0 ^ u 
 ,osto^ UB ^ 
 
 F* cuC l UVIA.. M*? 
 
 pACVJi-* 
 
THE IRISH CATHOLIC GENESIS 
 
 OF LOWELL 
 
 By GEORGE F. O’DWYER 
 
 Corresponding Member of 
 American Irish Historical Society 
 
 .Y-^ 0 2 
 
 REVISED EDITION 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 SULLIVAN BROTHERS 
 LOWELL, MASS. 
 
 1920 
 
 boston college librarx 
 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS, 
 
FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN LOWELL 
 
 (ST. PATRICK’S DEDICATED JULY 3 1831) 
 

 
 
FOREWORD: 
 
 Here, in the space of a few pages, is unfolded the devel¬ 
 opment of the Irish pioneers of Lowell. In their humble, 
 rude beginnings, they were beset with ridicule and ignorant 
 intolerance. Through their physical fearlessness, native in¬ 
 tuition, and trust in their ancient Faith, they surmounted this 
 and became, in the short space of twelve years, respected and 
 worthy citizens. In the Irish schools of the town, their child¬ 
 ren were educated in Americanism and their Holy Faith, a 
 heritage which they have, in turn, handed down to successive 
 generations. With this heritage inspiring them, the Irish 
 race in Lowell has prospered. 
 
 And the seed of the Irish pioneers has lived and propa¬ 
 gated a thousandfold. As a result, Lowell stands today among 
 the largest Irish and Catholic cities of the country. So, he 
 who reads these few pages, let him ponder well, and marvel 
 at the unexampled progress of those who at first were ridi¬ 
 culed, later, respected, and today are lauded. 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
THE IRISH CATHOLIC GENESIS 
 OF LOWELL. 
 
 I 
 
 In the early years of the 19th century, Irish emigrants 
 arriving at the ports of Boston, New York, and even Quebec, 
 were largely attracted by the building of the New England 
 manufacturing towns, especially those along the Merrimack 
 river in north-eastern Massachusetts. These emigrants 
 toiled side by side with the “native” builders of the mills and 
 canals and dug water-ways which, later, turned the wheels 
 of the big cotton factories and machine shops. As the new 
 industries drew thousands of employes, boarding-houses and 
 homes were erected and Irish laborers used their brain and 
 brawn in their construction. Of these towns, Lowell, (then 
 known as East Chelmsford,) was the most promising in future 
 possibilities, and hundreds of emigrants of Celtic strain were 
 drawn to its confines. Among them were a certain percent¬ 
 age of skilled Scotch, English and Irish textile workers. In 
 the space of a few years, the new settlement became famous 
 internationally, and the most distinguished travellers of world 
 prominence paid it a visit and marveled at its achievements. 
 
 Irish Catholic labor and enterprise was a strong contrib¬ 
 uting factor in the making of the settlement on the banks of 
 the Merrimack. In April, 1822, the first thirty laborers, led 
 by Hugh Cummiskey, walked over the road from Charlestown 
 —it was a 25 mile jaunt—to widen and build arteries from 
 the old Pawtucket canal, which, up to that time, was used to 
 transport lumber and freight boats from New Hampshire to 
 the sea. In a few years, the original thirty pioneers were 
 augmented to hundreds, mostly from the counties of Cork and 
 Dublin, and many of them pitched their camps on the Frye 
 land, afterwards known as the “Paddy Camp Lands.” 
 
 On these lands, the first Irish pioneers constructed their 
 rude huts and cabins with the slight material at their com- 
 
8 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 mand. Like the ancient habitations of the mound-builders 
 and the Indians, they are now a part of ancient history, and 
 only a few traces remain. In Niles’ “Register” of Baltimore 
 for Aug. 27, 1831, there was copied from the Portsmouth 
 (N. H.) Journal, another newspaper of that period, a descrip¬ 
 tive account of “New Dublin” (which was another name for 
 the “Acre” settlement.) It gives one a good idea of how the 
 “Acre” looked in those days: 
 
 “In the suburbs of Lowell, within a few rods of the 
 canals, is a settlement, called by some, New Dublin, 
 which occupies rather more than an acre of ground. 
 
 It contains a population of not far from 500 Irish, 
 who dwell in about 100 cabins, from 7 to 10 feet in 
 height, built of slabs and rough boards; a fire-place 
 made of stone, in one end, topped out with two or 
 three flour barrels or lime casks. In a central sit¬ 
 uation, is the school house, built in the same style 
 of the dwelling-houses, turfed up to the eaves with a 
 window in one end, and small holes in two sides for 
 the admission of air and light. In this room are col¬ 
 lected together perhaps 150 children.”—(Ports¬ 
 mouth N. H. “Journal.”) 
 
 From these rude huts and cabins sprang the descendants 
 of the Irish canal builders and laborers; in the humble pre¬ 
 cincts of these primal habitations, was sown the seed of the 
 race which still vitalizes today the flourishing towns and cit¬ 
 ies of this land. Out from the portals of these pioneer cabins 
 stepped the children who, later, became mayors, judges, law¬ 
 yers, clergymen and prosperous tradesmen in Lowell and 
 throughout the country. 
 
 From the first settlement, the Catholic Irish of the differ¬ 
 ent camps (and they were decidedly in the majority) had in 
 mind their Faith and their religious duties. In the summer 
 of 1822, Rev. Patrick Byrne, an Irish missionary priest, who 
 had been of valuable help to Bishop Cheverus, in ministering 
 to the wants of the Irish in the diocese since his ordination in 
 1820, visited Chelmsford Neck (now Lowell) and Middlesex 
 Village in the course of an extensive missionary trip through 
 the towns and villages in north-eastern Massachusetts. On 
 August 20th, 1822, Father Byrne baptized the first Irish Cath¬ 
 olic children in this vicinity. 
 
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 
 
 9 
 
 The first baptism in what is now Lowell was given in 
 the Irish camp which was pitched on the present site of 
 Wheeler’s block, at the corner of Merrimack and Tilden 
 streets, and Ellen, the child of Patrick and Ann Harrigan 
 (born in what is now Lowell, July 31, 1822) was the recipient 
 on August 20th, 1822.* The sponsors were Michael Doran 
 and Mary O’Brien. On the same day, Father Byrne visited 
 the little Irish settlement at the Chelmsford Glass Manufac¬ 
 tory in Middlesex Village, w r here a number of Irish laborers 
 were employed. Here, the Irish missionary called at eight 
 humble shacks or cabins, erected out of the rude material pro¬ 
 vided, and baptized eight children and cheered the parents 
 in their ancient mother tongue. Once again, after long wait¬ 
 ing, the men and women of the little Irish settlement heard the 
 missionary expound the truths of the Faith in the language of 
 the motherland, heartening them and exhorting them to stay 
 true to the Faith of their forefathers. 
 
 Father Byrne was undoubtedly the priest referred to by 
 Miss O’Keefe and other historians who stated that “tradition 
 and reliable accounts mentioned that mass was celebrated for 
 the first time in Lowell in 1822 in what was known as the 
 ‘Irish Camp’ on ground now occupied by Wheeler’s Block, 
 Tilden street, for the benefit of workmen employed on the 
 Pawtucket canal under the direction of Hugh Cummiskey.” 
 Rev. John Mahony, the first permanent priest, did not visit 
 Lowell until the fall of 1827. 
 
 Bishop Benedict Fenwick in Boston watched over the 
 little settlement with paternal solicitude. On the 24th of 
 October, 1826, there arrived in Boston, Rev. John Mahony, 
 an Irish missionary priest from Maryland, who came with the 
 best of credentials from Baltimore. Father Mahony had 
 been seven years in the United States, coming originally from 
 County Kerry, Ireland. As he could speak the Irish lan¬ 
 guage, his advent into the diocese of Boston was a Godsend, 
 for Bishop Fenwick had been looking and praying for a man 
 of Father Mahoney’s calibre to tend the little Irish flocks in 
 Lowell, Salem and Newburyport. The successful work of 
 Father Mahony among the Irish colonies in Maryland and 
 Virginia, from 1820 to 1826, naturally received the com- 
 
 *George M. Harrigan, Esq., of Lowell, is a direct descendant of Patrick Harrigan. 
 
10 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 mendation fitting to the zeal displayed by the energetic Irish 
 missionary, so when he arrived in Boston, Bishop Fenwick re¬ 
 ceived him with open arms and immediately appointed him to 
 serve the little church in Salem, acting also as a missionary 
 in the outlying settlements. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Catholic leaders of the Irish community 
 at Lowell had written from time to time to Bishop Fenwick 
 for an Irish priest to sustain them in the practices of their 
 Faith. These leaders were actuated, to a certain extent, by 
 the tendency of some of the more unruly spirits in the com¬ 
 munity, to indulge in week-end brawls, fomented by drinking, 
 which led to faction fights and feuds, which did not tend to 
 edify the native population. Bishop Fenwick had received 
 more than a few letters and even visits from the self-respect¬ 
 ing leaders of the community in Lowell, among whom was 
 Hugh Cummiskey who led the vanguard into the town in 
 1822. As a result of the letters and visits, the Bishop decid¬ 
 ed to take up the subject matter with Father Mahony. On 
 October 5th, 1827, the missionary arrived in Boston from Sa¬ 
 lem for instructions. In the course of a long conversation, the 
 Bishop informed him “that he has received many applications 
 from Lowell to have a priest at least occasionally;” 
 
 and other things touched upon in the letters of the 
 leaders of the Catholic community. The result of the confer¬ 
 ence was that the Bishop requested Father Mahony “to visit 
 them the following Sunday; to preach to them and give them 
 Mass, and, at the same time, ascertain the real number of 
 Catholics and the prospects of erecting a church there.” 
 
 Accordingly, Father Mahony set out for Lowell the next 
 day, (Saturday, October 6th) traveling on horseback or by 
 stage, as the pioneer priests usually did in those days. He 
 arrived late in the afternoon and put up overnight in the 
 home of a leading Catholic. The next morning, Sunday, Oct. 
 7th, Mass was said in a little hall in the second story of a 
 house* which stood on the site of the present Green school. 
 And one can imagine the delight of the Irish in the little com¬ 
 munity who heard their native tongue spoken with the im¬ 
 passioned fervor and zeal of an orator from the Motherland. 
 
 *The Merrimack Company’s schoolhouse. 
 
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 
 
 11 
 
 Father Mahony returned to Boston the next day “with 
 the most favorable accounts” of his first visit to Lowell. He 
 stated to the Bishop that “there were fifty-two men—twenty- 
 one of whom have families.” On this statement, the Bishop 
 requested him “to continue his visits there monthly, until some 
 further arrangement is made.” 
 
 So matters went until the latter part of the fall of 1828 
 when, in the course of an extended pastoral trip through New 
 England, Bishop Fenwick, accompanied by his secretary and 
 assistant, Rev. William Tyler, went to Lowell for the first time. 
 The Bishop and his assistant set out from Boston at noon on 
 Saturday, October 25th, 1828, and arrived at Lowell in the 
 evening. Shortly after their arrival Father Mahony ap- 
 peared and the Bishop arranged with him to have Mass the 
 next morning. 
 
 Sunday, October 26th, 1828, was a momentous day in the 
 Catholic history of Lowell. For, on the morning of that day, 
 the first mass ever attended by a Catholic bishop in Lowell 
 was solemnized in the little schoolhouse of the Merrimack 
 Company which stood on the site of the present Green school. 
 Here, the Catholics of the little community, through the gen¬ 
 erosity of Kirk Boott, Esq., the agent of the Merrimack Manu¬ 
 facturing Company, gathered to hear Mass for several years 
 previous. On this particular morning, the little schoolhouse 
 was packed to the doors with Catholics from Lowell and sur¬ 
 rounding towns, including Protestants, drawn by curiosity. 
 In the upper apartment of the schoolhouse, an altar was erect¬ 
 ed and dressed for the unusual occasion by the Bishop, assist¬ 
 ed by Father Tyler. In describing this event, the Bishop has 
 some interesting notes in his Diary. He writes: “At 10, a 
 large concourse of people assembled—Catholics and Protest¬ 
 ants in upper portion of said building [the schoolhouse] so 
 there is great difficulty in reaching altar—makes his way in 
 finally.” 
 
12 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 On this momentous occasion, Father Mahony said the 
 Mass, with the Bishop occupying a temporary throne on the 
 gospel side of the altar. Father Tyler was sub-deacon and 
 master of ceremonies. At the gospel, the Bishop preached, 
 and the little mixed congregation heard the primary princi¬ 
 ples of the Catholic Faith expounded clearly and concisely. 
 The Protestants present were duly awed and impressed by 
 the dress and deportment of the Bishop and the simple fer¬ 
 vor of the Catholic congregation. In the afternoon, there 
 was Vespers and the Recitation of the Rosary at 2 o’clock, at 
 which service Father Mahony preached in Irish and English. 
 Protestants were also prominent in the congregation. 
 
 As an evidence of the broad-minded character of Kirk 
 Boott, the agent of the Merrimack Company, he sent a special 
 invitation for the Bishop to dine with him at his house which 
 then stood near what is now Monument Square. The Bishop 
 complied with this invitation and, as he states in his Diary, 
 “was received with uncommon attention by Mr. Boott.” Both 
 men, between courses, discussed the prospects of the little 
 Irish community, and the advisability of erecting a church on 
 a lot of land of the Company was considered, not only for the 
 spiritual benefit to the Catholics, but also for the indirect ben¬ 
 efit to the Company. In accepting the invitation of Boott to 
 dine, the Bishop had in mind “the hope of obtaining from the 
 Company a lot of land sufficient to build a church.” It is evi¬ 
 dent that Boott and the Bishop took a liking to one another; 
 the former must have been impressed with the open de¬ 
 meanor of the Bishop. As the result of this unusual and 
 agreeable conference, the Bishop obtained from Boott a prom¬ 
 ise of a lot of land for a church. As the Bishop states in his 
 Memoranda: “Mr. Boott is to choose situation [of the land] 
 and give early notice.” 
 
 Of course, one can imagine the happy feelings of the 
 hard-working Fenwick at this unexpected turn of affairs. Nat¬ 
 urally, he was desirous of conveying the good news to the little 
 Catholic community in Lowell, but, with his far-sightedness, 
 (which was one of the Bishop’s strong attributes,) he “defers 
 speaking to Catholics on the subject of a church until he has 
 regulated with the agent [Boott] possession of ground.” This, 
 he states in his Memoranda. With this important matter de¬ 
 cided upon, the Bishop had in mind the opening of a subscrip- 
 
13 
 
 THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 
 
 tion for a church on his next visit to the infant settlement. The 
 next day, Oct. 27th, the Bishop, accompanied by Fathers Ma- 
 hony and Tyler left for Boston where they matured plans for 
 the prospective church. 
 
 Whether Boott’s promise to give land for a church was 
 inspired by the demeanor of the Bishop or whether the idea 
 was originally suggested as the result of a conversation with 
 Mrs. Winters, his Irish nurse and housekeeper, is a question. 
 Tradition says that Boott, for several years previous to the 
 Bishop’s visit, had been sorely perplexed at the reports of 
 week-end spats and fights among his Irish employees who 
 lived on the “Acre.” One evening at supper, according to 
 tradition, Boott asked his Irish housekeeper: “What is the 
 matter with those Irish countrymen of yours up in the Camps, 
 Mrs. Winters? Why are they always quarreling and raising 
 disturbances?” And his housekeeper is said to have replied: 
 “Well, Mr. Boott, those countrymen of mine will continue to 
 fight and drink and be bothersome until they have a priest to 
 steady them. What they want more than anything else is a 
 priest and a church!” Some few weeks later, probably as 
 the result of this conversation, Boott arranged with the direct¬ 
 ors of the Merrimack Company for the loaning of the Com¬ 
 pany’s schoolhouse* to the Catholics whenever they were vis¬ 
 ited by a priest in the course of his missionary journeys. 
 
 Rev. James Fitton, in his “Establishment of the Church in 
 New England,” says that Bishop Fenwick offered the Holy 
 Sacrifice of the Mass “in a temporary building, which had 
 been erected for the two-fold purpose for mass on Sundays 
 and Holidays and for a day school where the children were 
 taught catechism and the ordinary English branches by a 
 schoolmaster whose time and talents had been previously de¬ 
 voted to the same employ in Ireland.” 
 
 *This schoolhouse has become historic in the religious history of Lowell. Here it was 
 that St. Anne’s (Episcopal) church began its existence, March 7. 1824, and where it 
 continued to hold religious services until March, 1825, when it took possession of its 
 present site. The Baptists next occupied the house and continued to hold services un¬ 
 til the dedication of their house of worship on Church street, November 15, 1826. 
 After the Baptists came the Congregationalists where they remained until the comple¬ 
 tion of their new church in 1827 upon the adjoining lot. [On October 7, 1827, the 
 Catholics, who had used the upper hall in the house at intervals, heard Mass for the 
 first time solemnized by Father John IVIahony.] The schoolhouse was subsequently 
 sold to Deacon William Davidson and removed to Cabot street upon the west side, 
 (between Salem and Merrimack) and converted into a dwelling-house. It stands 
 next south of a brick building upon the same street.”—(Editor Old Resident’s Histori¬ 
 cal Society Collections, 1887.) 
 
14 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 One of the big events of the year, 1829, was the establish¬ 
 ment of an Irish Catholic school by Bishop Fenwick. Whether 
 this school was started at the corner of Jefferson and Market 
 streets or in one of the upper stories of Barnes’ “Folly,” a 
 four-story brick building, which still stands near the corner 
 of Merrimack and Suffolk streets, is a moot question. Miss 
 Sarah Smith, who is probably the oldest woman of Irish ex¬ 
 traction living in Lowell at the present time, as a child, attend¬ 
 ed school in a building which stood at the corner of Jefferson 
 and Lowell streets, also in an upper story of Barnes’ “Folly.” 
 Miss Smith was born in Lowell, May 6, 1830. She later at¬ 
 tended, as a grown girl, school in the basement of St. Patrick’s 
 church. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 13th of July, 1830, Bishop 
 Fenwick left Boston for Lowell, “to establish a church there,” 
 as he states in his interesting Memoranda. He arrived in the 
 progressive little town by the Merrimack at 10 o’clock in the 
 morning, probably by stage coach. In his Diary, he notes 
 that “it was raining hard, and I stay at a tavern.” At 4 
 o’clock, the “rain stops, and I visit a Catholic school, estab¬ 
 lished there the year before.” With fitting courtesy, the 
 schoolmaster, Patrick Collins, receives him and puts the child¬ 
 ren through their paces in Catechism and the common English 
 lessons and, of course, the Bishop is appropriately impressed. 
 That afternoon, fifty children are in attendance. Once more, 
 he dines with Kirk Boott, Esq., and brings up the matter of 
 the promised lot for a church. According to the Diary of the 
 Bishop, “Mr. B. asked me to select a lot which I would not do, 
 referring the matter to Mr. B.’s judgment.” Apparently the 
 matter was ironed out agreeable to both, for the next day the 
 Bishop instructed Father Mahony “to tell Catholics of the 
 gift of a lot of land, through the generosity of Mr. Boott and 
 to urge on them subscriptions for the erection of a church.” 
 
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 
 
 15 
 
 It is easy to imagine the joy of the little settlement of 
 more than 400 Catholics when this long-sought news was 
 spread amongst them. The lot given was a piece of land, 
 containing 8140 square feet, “situated near a new canal, 
 called the Western canal.” The west side of this lot bordered 
 on what is now Adams street, and the east side intersected 
 Fenwick street, at a point on a line with the monument in 
 front of the present St. Patrick’s church. On October 5th, 
 the same year, the Bishop, accompanied by Father Mahony, 
 examined the site of the new church and went back to Boston 
 in the evening. 
 
 All that fall and winter, and up to July following, (1831) 
 industrious bands of Irish laborers, swelled by a number of 
 English, Scotch and Yankee Catholics, toiled with might and 
 main to erect the little wooden building which was to house 
 the God of their Fathers. Hugh Cummiskey, foreman of his 
 little gang of Irish pioneers—some of whom came in 1822— 
 competed with Michael Connolly and his workmen to lay the 
 substantial foundation, some of which still lays today, as solid 
 as when it was put together. There were incidents in the 
 erection of this first church which threatened, for a time, to 
 make for naught the hard work of the laborers. One of 
 these was the “Battle [so called] of the Stone Bridge,” in 
 which the latent bigotry of certain “native” malcontents 
 found its vent in an ill-advised effort to wreck the “Acre” and 
 the new church. This “battle” was fought on the night of 
 May 18, 1831, in front of the old stone bridge which spans the 
 canal on Broadway near the old Mann school. 
 
 The traditionary account of the “battle” shows that the 
 Irishmen and women of the camps protected their rude homes 
 with the means of defense which nature had endowed them, 
 aided with all available implements at hand. The Irish girls 
 and women of the Camps had stacked the latter in convenient 
 piles and they were used, with telling effect, in repelling the 
 mob from entering the “Acre.” As will be seen from the 
 following traditionary account, the Irish girls and women 
 were the real heroines of this ill-fated attempt to deprive the 
 Catholic community of the fruit of their hard labors: 
 
16 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 “The women of the settlement had been warned in ad¬ 
 vance of the contemplated raid and, that afternoon, they gath¬ 
 ered up every available stone and brickbat in the neighbor¬ 
 hood. They rallied, as did the women of Limerick of old, 
 aroused by the impending danger to their new church and 
 their soggarth. That night, when vigilant scouts gave warn¬ 
 ing of the approach of the bigots from the village, they has¬ 
 tily gathered up the stones and bricks in their big, wide 
 aprons, and, with this improvised ammunition, they followed 
 their husbands, and their brothers, and their sons, to the 
 bushes along the present Suffolk canal and posted themselves, 
 awaiting the coming of the rum-fired bigots. Finally the 
 horde appeared at the bend opposite the old Mann school. 
 At the sight of the crowd, the Irish girls and women stationed 
 themselves behind the men, who were hid in the darkness and 
 bushes. 
 
 “The horde of bigots suddenly made a rush for the stone 
 bridge. As suddenly, a volley of stones and bricks struck 
 them from the shores of the “Acre.” Four men went down as 
 a result of the well-aimed Irish attack. Amazed at the sud¬ 
 den checking of their plans, the native invaders of the baili¬ 
 wicks of the Irish withdrew their forces to a point near what 
 is now the Vocational school, and debated a minute. They 
 decided to make another rush for the bridge. But the Irish 
 forces from Cork and Dublin streets were well-poised for the 
 attack. Just as soon as the vanguard reached the bridge, the 
 second volley of stones struck down the advance and the big¬ 
 ots retired back again in disorder. At this, the Irish girls 
 and women, inspired by the success of their male defenders, 
 rushed from their places of concealment and, with good aim, 
 let fly the reserve ammunition in their aprons at the discom¬ 
 fited bigots in disarray on the Stone bridge. This new source 
 of attack completely disorganized the befuddled horde on 
 the bridge. First, one or two started to run back to the vil¬ 
 lage, and then the entire crowd fled incontinently, pursued 
 by the angry Irish women and their escorts, in reserve. The 
 infuriated women did not stop chasing the would-be invaders 
 until they reached Merrimack street when their breath and 
 ammunition gave out, and they were forced to return to the 
 ‘Acre.’ Thus the battle of the stone bridge leading to the Irish 
 
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD 
 
 17 
 
 camp was won. And won through the impetuosity and init¬ 
 iative of the Irish girls and women of the Paddy Camp Land.” 
 
 The news of this ill-fated attempt to destroy the habita¬ 
 tions of the Irish spread through the town and was a seven 
 days sensation. The townspeople, whatever their religious 
 predilections, sided with the Irish in the main, and the mis¬ 
 doings of the Yankee mob received scathing comment. In 
 the issue of the Lowell “Mercury” for May 21, 1831, a com¬ 
 munication signed, “A Spectator,” reviewed the “battle” as 
 follows: 
 
 “The Yankees rendered themselves obnoxious to cen¬ 
 sure and the law by attacking indiscriminately the innocent 
 and the guilty; it was, in fact, disgusting to hear the mob [the 
 Yankees] talk liberty and of a free country, and at the same 
 time, they invaded the liberties of the Irish, who came here to 
 enjoy the sweets of liberty and freedom denied them in their 
 own native land. The natives complained bitterly that the 
 Dfficers [the constables and town officials] were on the side 
 of the Irish, and insulted every decent individual who op¬ 
 posed them. . . It is but justice to say that very few in¬ 
 
 habitants of the town had any concern in breaking the peace. 
 The rioters, particularly the leaders, were Idlers, who wan¬ 
 dered here professedly, in search of employ.” 
 
 One week later, the editor of the “Mercury,” [Rev. Eli- 
 phalet Case] wrote a column editorial in his little weekly 
 which sarcastically reviewed the misdirected efforts of the 
 Yankee rioters. Among other things he said: “All the 
 Yankees whom we have seen, acknowledge that the attack 
 on the ‘Paddy Camps’ was wrong. It was wrong because its 
 object was to involve in one common destruction, the inno¬ 
 cent and the guilty . . some foolish, inconsiderate men, 
 
 it is said, intend to black up and attack the camps yet; others 
 propose to call a town meeting and vote all the foreigners 
 out of town. Such a thing cannot be done. They [the Irish] 
 have as good a right here, according to the laws of the land, as 
 any other persons. They hire the ground on which they live, 
 and their camps or huts are as dear to them and as sacred, in 
 the eye of the law, as are the most costly houses of our citi¬ 
 zens to those who occupy them!” 
 
18 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 The above comment sums up conclusively the native sen¬ 
 timent as to the rights or wrongs of the native [?] invaders of 
 the Irish habitations at this period. And history has recorded 
 that, from this trying time down to the present, successive 
 generations of the first Irish have always had native defend¬ 
 ers, who aroused themselves in the Knownothing period later; 
 during the Civil war; in the reconstruction of the country in 
 the seventies and eighties; and were the first to extoll the 
 deeds of boys and men of Irish blood who represented this 
 city on the battlefields of France. 
 
II 
 
 DEDICATION OF THE FIRST CHURCH 
 
 The first St. Patrick’s wooden church, which the bigots, 
 described in preceding paragraphs, attempted to destroy, was 
 dedicated with unusual ceremonies on Sunday, July 3d, 1831. 
 Through the greatest good luck, the writer ran across a news¬ 
 paper item, describing the ceremonies of dedication, in a 
 bound volume of the issues of the “United States Catholic 
 Miscellany,” a weekly Catholic newspaper printed in Charles¬ 
 ton, South Carolina, that year. In the issue of the “Miscel¬ 
 lany” for July 23, 1831, w r as the following account: 
 
 CATHOLIC CHURCH AT LOWELL 
 
 “This church, under the patronage of St. Patrick, 
 was dedicated on the 3rd inst. by the Right Reverend 
 Bishop of Boston, [Fenwick] to the service of the Chris¬ 
 tian God. The building is of wood; its structure is of 
 Gothic. The tower supports a guilded globe, surmount¬ 
 ed by a large guilded cross. The external appearance 
 of the church arrests the eye of the beholder, and imme¬ 
 diately produces a conviction of neatness and regularity. 
 The interior is in keeping with the exterior. As a build¬ 
 ing, it constitutes an ornament to the rapidly increasing 
 town of Lowell; as a church, it will not be deficient in 
 its contribution to the formation of the moral and relig¬ 
 ious character of the place. The congregation, under 
 the pastoral charge of the Rev. J. Mahony, consists of 
 nearly a thousand souls. The number of persons, how¬ 
 ever, that were present at the Dedication must have 
 amounted to 2 and 3 thousand persons—among whom 
 are included upwards of a 100 of the congregation of 
 Boston who traveled 25 miles to be present on this occa¬ 
 sion. To the several members of the Boston Cathedral 
 choir, for their efficient exertions, much praise is due. 
 (Rev. Mr. Mahony celebrated mass.) Very Rev. Dr. 
 O’Flaherty took his text from 2nd Book of Chronicles, 
 
 7th chapter, 12th verse. The church was excessively 
 crowded; the day was unusually warm. At the conclu¬ 
 sion of the mass, the Bishop gave the Apostolic Benedic¬ 
 tion. Vespers commenced at 4 o’clock and, owing to 
 
20 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 the length of the service, and the extreme heat of the 
 forenoon, he conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation 
 on thirty-nine candidates in the afternoon. Previous 
 and subsequent to its administration, he addressed them 
 in very paternal and impressive language. 
 
 “It is with pleasure we have to observe the orderly de¬ 
 portment of such of our dissenting brethren as witnessed the 
 Dedication and attended both Mass and Vespers. May it 
 prove to be a happy day to all who never before had an in¬ 
 clination or opportunity to be present on a similar occasion! 
 May Lowell enroll it among the happiest days of her history!” 
 
 In the thirties and forties, and even in the early fifties, 
 Catholics from Nashua, Lawrence, Billerica and within a ra¬ 
 dius of more than twenty miles, attended mass and religious 
 devotions in the first St. Patrick’s. They came to Lowell in 
 all manner of conveyances—by foot, by stage, and on horse¬ 
 back, showing the sterling quality of their Faith. The sturdy 
 Irish pioneers of Nashua, notified in advance of the coming 
 of the priest to Lowell, started, out the day before and, 
 after the usual round of visits on their arrival at the Irish 
 camps among relatives and friends from the ould sod, they 
 called on the priest, and were absolved, or married, or had 
 their offspring baptized, as the case might be, on the Sunday 
 following. The early missionaries, and even Father John Ma- 
 hony and his hard-working curate, Father Peter Connolly, had 
 their hands full attending to the spiritual wants of their ex¬ 
 tended congregation. Mr. Philip Haggerty, probably the old¬ 
 est Irishman in Lowell at present writing, remembers Hugh 
 McEvoy, the tailor, and his family, coming over the road from 
 Nashua in 1839 to attend mass at St. Patrick’s. When a boy, 
 twelve years old, Mr. Haggerty sang in the choir at old St.. 
 Patrick’s. Since this period he has sung in, instructed, and di¬ 
 rected Catholic choirs in Lowell with little interruption, up to 
 the present time. No man in past years or at the present 
 time, has been more energetic in bringing out the beauties of 
 Catholic music in this vicinity. 
 
 In the United States Catholic “Intelligencer” for May 11,. 
 1832, was this notice: 
 
DEDICATION OF FIRST CHURCH 
 
 21 
 
 “The Very Rev. Dr. O’Flaherty will celebrate Mass and 
 preach on Sunday next, God willing, in the Catholic church 
 at Lowell.” Dr. O’Flaherty was, at this time, the vicar-gen¬ 
 eral of the diocese and rendered efficient aid to the Bishop 
 in answering the ill-advised comments and criticisms of Rev. 
 Lyman Beecher and other Know Nothing clergymen. His 
 able oratory and controvertive sermons attracted all denomi¬ 
 nations in Boston, so, when the distinguished doctor went 
 up to Lowell, his coming aroused great interest. Well-mean¬ 
 ing Protestants from all over the town, attended the Mass 
 and vesper services in large numbers. In the issue of the ‘In¬ 
 telligencer’ for May 25, 1832, was this account of the Doctor’s 
 reception in Lowell: 
 
 “It must have been, as it really was, a most gratifying 
 sight to the Catholic clergymen who officiated in the Rev. Mr. 
 Mahoney’s church to behold a number of our Protestant 
 brethren present. They manifested most respectful atten¬ 
 tion to every word that had been uttered by the Clergymen 
 at the 8, 10 and 2 o’clock services of that day. Although it 
 had been distinctly announced that a special meeting of the 
 Catholics was required at 2, yet, such were the numbers of 
 Protestants who assembled on this occasion, that it was a pity 
 to send the good people away hungry. Several articles of our 
 Holy Faith and a rapid sketch and justification of our ceremo¬ 
 nies concluded the services.” 
 
 The fame of Dr. O’Flaherty had preceded him, which 
 accounts for the large number of Protestants, some of which 
 were undoubtedly drawn by curiosity. At this time the fame 
 of the reverend doctor had spread all over New England. He 
 died March 29, 1846, and was interred in St. Augustine’s cem¬ 
 etery, South Boston. 
 
 On Sunday June 23, 1833, the Bishop came up to Lowell, 
 “arriving early,” as he states in his Memoranda, and “gave 
 Confirmation to 36.” His visit was prompted mainly at this 
 time by reports, which he received at intervals, of county 
 feuds and clan-fighting. In the afternoon, after the vesper 
 service, he called all the males of the congregation together 
 and “spoke at some length about quarrels and disputes, with 
 special reference to county feuds,” as he notes in his instruc- 
 
22 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 tive Memoranda. From an early period, clan fights were 
 aroused at unseemly intervals among the Irish camps by hot¬ 
 headed men, and they always had a bad effect among the 
 natives who, at the first manifestation of this typical Irish 
 weakness, were wont to call out the constables and distort an 
 ordinary fist-fight into the dimensions of a battle or a riot. The 
 result was that the peaceful members of the Irish community 
 complained to the Bishop. Hugh Cummiskey, the only Cath¬ 
 olic constable at this time, while trying to act as a peacemak¬ 
 er, a few weeks before the visit of the Bishop, in a fistic en¬ 
 counter between the men of the different counties, received 
 rough usage. In his talk to the men that afternoon in the 
 church, the Bishop spoke strongly against the futility of feuds 
 and mentioned the two divisions in Ireland at that time caused 
 by uncalled for hostility among them. Tradition says that 
 the men heeded the advice and admonition of the Bishop. 
 
 On Saturday, September 5th, 1835, Bishop Fenwick came 
 to Lowell to arouse interest and to receive collections for the 
 building of additions to the original St. Patrick’s church, and 
 to iron out some minor differences between clergymen and 
 laymen in the parish. After hearing and adjudicating the 
 differences, the bishop decided to take personal charge of 
 church improvements, “ leaving the clergy to take charge of 
 the spirituals.” The next morning, at the last mass, the 
 bishop ascended the pulpit, after Father Peter Connolly had 
 delivered an eloquent sermon, and asked the congregation to 
 remain after vespers at which projects for making additions 
 to the church were considered. At the close of an inspiring 
 talk on the need of new wings to the church to take care of 
 the fast increasing congregation, the bishop asked for offer¬ 
 ings. Those present responded in an inspiring way, and the 
 result of the collection was $209. Encouraged at this mani¬ 
 festation of interest in the new parish, the bishop went back 
 to Boston the next day, formed plans, and engaged an expert 
 carpenter to superintend the making of the alterations. The 
 carpenter he selected in Boston was Patrick McDonough, who 
 came to Lowell on the following Wednesday, (Sept. 9) exam- 
 
DEDICATION OF FIRST CHURCH 
 
 23 
 
 ined tne site of the church, looked over the price of materials, 
 checked up the proposals of local masons and carpenters, and 
 finally reported to the bishop that week, “that most of the ma¬ 
 terial for the addition to the church in Lowell can be found 
 there and is cheaper than in Boston.” 
 
 Mr. McDonough afterwards evidently settled in Lowell, 
 for his name occurs in the City Auditor’s report of 1837, un¬ 
 der the head of disbursements for that year. For “making 
 repairs to the schoolroom under the Catholic church,” he re¬ 
 ceived $155 of the city’s money. At this particular period, 
 the city owned the stove and school books in the school rooms 
 under St. Patrick’s, an arrangement which continued up to 
 the merging of the Irish schools into the regular city schools 
 in the early fifties. The city had also an arrangement by 
 which the school authorities paid no rent for five years, from 
 March, 1836, for the use of one of the two school rooms under 
 the church. 
 
 From the first, Catholic music was a feature of old St. 
 Patrick’s. The children of the Irish schools received fitting 
 instruction in bringing out the hymns of Hadyn, Mozart and 
 Lambilotte, as well as the adult singers. 
 
 Miss Catharine O’Callaghan was probably the first or¬ 
 ganist and director of the music in the services of the thirties. 
 During the weekdays she taught the Irish Catholic children 
 in a primary school. At the first dedicatory service in 1831, 
 the music was played and directed by a Mr. Mallet from Bos¬ 
 ton who brought the entire Cathedral choir up to Lowell to 
 enhance the musical part of the first mass in the new St. Pat¬ 
 rick’s. In a letter to Charles Cowley describing the early 
 Irish in the town, John F. McEvoy, Esq., stated that “a Mr. 
 Hector, Edward Kitts and Catharine Hogan [the schoolteach¬ 
 er in the Irish schools] assisted the singers from Boston at 
 thededicatory mass,” July 3, 1831. Eight years later, in 
 1839, Mr. Philip P. Haggerty, who is still living, when a boy 
 of 12, sang in the choir, under Miss O’Callaghan. Following 
 Miss O’Callaghan, came a Mr. James Harrison, an English 
 Catholic, who took the first steps to form a permanent adult 
 choir and who remained at St. Patrick’s for several years. 
 Later, he accepted a position at St. Anne’s church. Miss Nel- 
 
24 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 lie O’Neil, who married Patrick S. Gilmore, the great band 
 leader, and who was a daughter of P. A. O’Neil, the first Irish 
 Catholic in Lowell who designed on copper, wood and stone, 
 sang in her younger days in old St. Patrick’s choir. While 
 playing the organ later, she was admired by Gilmore, and a 
 romantic courtship ensued, which culminated in the great 
 band leader composing the ballad “Seeing Nellie Home,” 
 which had an international fame and which is still, today, on 
 the repertoire of devoted lovers. 
 
 In the fall of 1847, a new organ was set up in old St. 
 Patrick’s to take the place of the small organ which had done 
 service since the dedication, July 3, 1831. The Lowell “Ad¬ 
 vertiser” for Sept. 21, 1847, described it as follows: 
 
 “A new church organ has been set up in St. Patrick’s 
 Church, built by George Stevens, East Cambridge, Mass. It 
 is 16 1-2 feet high; 11 1-2 feet wide; 9 feet deep; has 22 reg¬ 
 isters or stops; 1 octave of pedal bass; case in imitation of 
 English oak; cost, $1400; is a very rich and excellent toned 
 instrument as all instruments are from his factory.” 
 
 ST. PETER’S DEDICATED. 
 
 An interesting account of the dedication of the first St. 
 Peter’s church was printed in the Lowell “Courier” of Oct. 18, 
 1842. The report of the unusual event was headed with a 
 quotation from Ecc. X:29: “A bird of the air shall carry the 
 voice; that which has wings shall tell the matter.” 
 
 “The Dedication of this new Catholic Church took place 
 on Sunday last, the 16th inst. The Church, which is a large 
 convenient edifice of brick, the interior of which is most ele¬ 
 gantly furnished, and capable of accommodating fifteen hun¬ 
 dred persons with ease, was crowded long before the com¬ 
 mencement of the service at half-past ten o’clock. 
 
 “The Right Reverend Benedict Fenwick, Bishop of Bos¬ 
 ton, in pontificates [pontificals] assisted by the Rev. James 
 Conway, Pastor of the Church, together with the Rev. Mr. 
 Hardy, who was the officiating clergyman, all arrayed in their 
 clerical robes, advanced from the Vestry Room to the Sanc¬ 
 tuary, and from thence into the body of the Church and imme¬ 
 diately commenced the dedication. 
 
DEDICATION OF FIRST CHURCH 
 
 25 
 
 “After the gospel, the Right Reverend Bishop ascended 
 sermon of the Bishop was one well suited to the occasion— 
 plain, practical and truthful. The Bishop drew a beautiful 
 and touching parallel between the state of the Catholic com¬ 
 munity in the city of Lowell at the present time [1842] from 
 what it was fifteen years ago; when he first visited this place. 
 He found then but fourteen resident families of Catholics here 
 at that time, but now he beheld two beautiful churches erect- 
 the Altar and took his text from the II Paul, VIII; 20. The 
 ed by them and consecrated to the worship of the Almighty. 
 ‘And,’ said the Bishop, ‘do you, my friends, feel any the poor¬ 
 er for your liberality in thus parting with a portion of your 
 store, to raise temples to the living God, that you may wor¬ 
 ship the God of your fathers in the way you love best? No! 
 I know you do not; for God blesses those who love Him.’ 
 
 “We [the ‘Courier’ delegation] were much pleased with 
 the enlarged Christian views which the Bishop expressed. He 
 is evidently a man of generous feelings, and warm and tender 
 sympathies. 
 
 “The choir, one of the best in the city—added much to 
 the effect and solemnity of the occasion. The organ accom¬ 
 paniments and the chanting was excellent. . . A collec¬ 
 
 tion was taken up at the conclusion of the sermon, and over 
 three hundred dollars was received. The debt of the Church 
 is merely nominal, and no doubt but in a few years it will be 
 entirely extinguished.” 
 
 The church was built at a cost of $22,000. Nearly half 
 of this amount was raised at a parish meeting in St. Patrick’s 
 district, at which Bishop Fenwick was present. Members of 
 the congregation gave and pledged sums of $100 each. 
 
 DEDICATION OF ST. MARY’S CHURCH, MARCH 7, 1847 
 
 The services of dedication took place on Sunday, March 
 7, 1847, and the renovated meeting-house, (it had been occu¬ 
 pied by the Baptists and Methodists) was beautified by Rev. 
 James T. McDermott and an energetic corps of laymen as¬ 
 sistants. The bare Protestant platform was transformed into 
 an altar at which, for the first time, Bishop Fitzpatrick of 
 
26 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 In those days, the progress of the little Irish Catholic com¬ 
 munity on the shores of the Merrimack was watched with a 
 lively interest by the Catholics of Boston, and news of impor¬ 
 tant events was duly chronicled by the “United States Catholic 
 Intelligencer,” which, at that time, was the official newspaper 
 of the diocese, just as today, the “Pilot” reports official hap¬ 
 penings of the archdiocese. The “Intelligencer” for June 1, 
 1832, reported this interesting happening in Lowell: 
 
 “We are glad to find that the Catholics of Lowell 
 have purchased an acre and a half of land for a bur¬ 
 ial ground, about one mile from that thriving town, 
 on the Boston road—which will save them, in the fu¬ 
 ture, the great inconvenience and expense of remov¬ 
 ing their dead either to South Boston or Bunker Hill 
 graveyard. 
 
 “We stated in our last number that they [the Cath¬ 
 olics of Lowell] bought a piece of land in Lowell for 
 the erection of a schoolhouse. That piece we have 
 been since informed, has been generously given to 
 them by the Manufacturing Company [Merrimack 
 Company] through the agency of the worthy Kirk 
 Boott, Esq. 
 
 “The Rev. Mr. Conolly will celebrate Mass at Lowell 
 on Sunday next.” 
 
 Here, indeed, are interesting fragments of history, never 
 before printed in book form, which will give a sidelight on the 
 progress of the Irish in the new town. The burial ground re¬ 
 ferred to above is now known as Yard 1, (the oldest part of 
 St. Patrick’s cemetery.) One can see, from the date of the 
 notice, that the ground had been used for interments since 
 1832. Previous to this year, the remains of the pioneer Cath¬ 
 olics were brought over the road to either St. Augustine’s cem¬ 
 etery in South Boston or the little yard in Charlestown, under 
 the shadow of Bunker Hill monument. Denis Crowley, the 
 father of the late Hon. Jeremiah Crowley, Esq., usually ac¬ 
 companied the remains of the early pioneers to Boston. The 
 school house land, referred to above, is now occupied by Notre 
 Dame academy. 
 
BOSTON COLLEGE XJBft&BF 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS 
 
 m 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRISH SCHOOLS 
 
 From an early period in the history of Lowell, even as a 
 town, the children of the Irish pioneers were considered in 
 the appropriations of money for public schools. The great 
 progress of the little settlement on the “Acre,” and the in¬ 
 crease of progeny in the camps, bestirred the school commit¬ 
 tee of the town, in the late 20’s, and a room was opened in a 
 convenient place which the Irish children were invited to at¬ 
 tend. This improvised school was kept three months in the 
 year, but, at first, received scant support and consideration 
 on account of the natural prejudice of the fathers and moth¬ 
 ers of the children, who did not relish the idea of the little 
 ones being instructed by non-Catholic teachers. Up to 1834, 
 the Irish children were instructed in the rudimentary princi¬ 
 ples of reading, writing and arithmetic by competent laymen 
 and by the assigned regular priests who came to Lowell— 
 Fathers J. J. Curlin, J. Mahony and P. Connolly. The little 
 scholars were taught the three It’s and still a fourth R—Re¬ 
 ligion—in the basement of the Catholic church on Fenwick 
 street and, with the natural aptitude of the Irish race, they 
 learned quickly and well. 
 
 In the spring of 1830, the welfare of the children on the 
 “Acre” was discussed at a town meeting. On the town war¬ 
 rant, for May 3, 1830, the report of the Committee to divide 
 the money for the support of the public schools in the town 
 included this recommendation: 
 
 “To accept the report of the Committee to de¬ 
 vise a method of dividing the money for the support 
 of the Schools among the several School Districts as 
 also to consider whether it is expedient to appropri¬ 
 ate any part of the money granted for the support 
 of schools exclusively to the Irish Children in said 
 town . . Your Committee further recommend 
 
 that the School Committee be authorized to expend 
 at their discretion, and in the way they shall deem 
 expedient any sum, not exceeding fifty dollars of the 
 money raised for the support of schools for the in- 
 
28 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 struction of the Children of the Irish Families in this 
 town. This provision to apply to this year only. All 
 of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Lowell, May 3, 1830. 
 
 The above-mentioned 
 tempt to apportion public money for the instruction of the 
 Irish Catholic children in the town. It shows conclusively 
 that the school committee and the town officials respected 
 the worth of the Irish population, even though the amount ap¬ 
 propriated was small. At the town meeting in March the 
 next year, (1831) whether it was because of the influence 
 of Mr. Kirk Boott, Esq., or the recommendation of Father Ma- 
 hony, who was working with might and main for the suc¬ 
 cess of the little Irish community at this period, a school dis¬ 
 trict for the exclusive use of the Irish children was planned. 
 The town clerk reported the resolve as follows: 
 
 “On motion of Mr. [Eliphalet] Case, the Town 
 Voted to choose a Committee of five to determine 
 whether it is expedient to establish a School district 
 for the Irish Children in Lowell; to report thereon to 
 the Town at the next Town meeting and Rev. Theo¬ 
 dore Edson, Rev. E. M. Freeman, Rev. E. Case, Elisha 
 Bartlett, and Josiah Crosby were chosen by nomina¬ 
 tion from the chair.” 
 
 At the April town meeting the Committee’s report was 
 accepted on motion of James H. B. Ayer. It was as follows: 
 
 “That a school for the Irish Children has been 
 kept about two years. Last year, the Town voted 
 the sum of fifty dollars for its support. According 
 to the rule by which the School money is now divid- 
 
 WARREN COLBURN, 
 ELISHA FORD, 
 
 HENRY COBURN, 
 
 OLIVER A. WHIPPLE, 
 
 I. A. BEARD, 
 
 ARTEMAS YOUNG. 
 
 School Committee. 
 
 resolve was the first definite at- 
 
HISTORY OF IRISH SCHOOLS 
 
 29 
 
 ed, this, if made a District School, would receive fifty 
 dollars. The average number of Children attending 
 the school is about thirty. The Irish population is 
 located conveniently to form a district by them¬ 
 selves. Therefore your Committee recommend: 
 
 “That the Irish population, living on the Acre, 
 so-called, be formed into a district, to be called dis¬ 
 trict No. 7. 
 
 “That such Irish families not living within the 
 above limits, who, in the opinion of the superintend¬ 
 ing School committee, are conveniently situated to 
 send to the School in district No. 7, be considered 
 as belonging to that district. 
 
 THEODORE EDSON, 
 
 On Behalf of the Committee.” 
 
 The success of the Irish schools, and the liberal policy 
 pursued by the town officials of Lowell, naturally attracted 
 well-disposed Irishmen with families from nearby towns. One 
 of thesp was Mr. Philip F. Scanlan of Dover, N. H., who “had 
 moved from Dover to Lowell because there was a Catholic 
 school here and none there,” as Bishop Louis Walsh states in 
 his pamphlet on the “Early Irish Schools of Lowell.” From 
 the same authority I quote an interesting letter written by 
 Bishop Fenwick to Mr. Scanlan in March, 1831, on the ques¬ 
 tion of the Catholics of Lowell receiving aid from the town 
 school fund: 
 
 “Boston, March 26, 1831. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I received, a few days ago, your kind communi¬ 
 cation. I see no impropriety in the Catholic schools 
 in your town receiving aid from the school fund, es¬ 
 pecially if the Catholics of Lowell have contributed 
 their portion by the payment of taxes, and otherwise, 
 toward the support of said fund. Common justice 
 would entitle them to something out of it, for the 
 payment of their Master. But I really do not un¬ 
 derstand how, in this liberal country, it can be made 
 a condition to their receiving anything, that they, 
 
30 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 the Catholics shall be in that case debarred from 
 having a Catholic teacher, learning out of Catholic 
 books and being taught the catechism of the Catho¬ 
 lic church. We can never accept such terms. I 
 
 have no partiality toward Mr. - further than I 
 
 think him a conscientious, good, moral man. As to 
 his qualifications as a teacher, I have not much to 
 say. I am aware they are not very great, but are 
 they not sufficient, as yet, for those little children 
 he has the care of? However, if the good Catholics 
 of Lowell have an objection to him, I shall not wish 
 to retain him. But, it is all important that the indi¬ 
 vidual whom they select to replace him, be one quali¬ 
 fied to instruct children in the principles of their re¬ 
 ligion, for I would not give a straw for that species 
 of education, which is not accompanied with and 
 based on religion. I remain, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 BENEDICT, BISHOP OF BOSTON.” 
 “Clearer words to put forth the Catholic position have 
 never been penned,” states Bishop Walsh, in his little pam¬ 
 phlet on the Irish schools of that period. 
 
 The School Committee report for 1844 included a his¬ 
 tory of the Irish schools to that year. The report stated: 
 
 “That the district school [for Irish children] appears to 
 have been opened and subsequently taught by Hannah Dyer, 
 Mercy Underwood, Miss Hayward and possibly some others. 
 Like most of the district schools it was kept only a part of the 
 year and was suspended sometimes, from the difficulty of 
 finding a suitable room for it. All the arrangements seemed 
 to have been very unsatisfactory, for, in the year 1834, Rev. 
 Mr. Conolly appears to be carrying on a private school under 
 the Catholic church. This was the position of affairs up to 
 June, 1835, when this gentleman made application to the 
 School Committee for aid, and was present at several of their 
 meetings. After considerable deliberation, an arrangement 
 was, about this time, entered into, which was perfectly de¬ 
 fined and well understood on each side. It is thus detailed 
 in the annual report of the School committee for the year end¬ 
 ing March, 1836: 
 
HISTORY OF THE IRISH SCHOOLS 
 
 31 
 
 ‘It is known to the citizens generally, that several 
 fruitless attempts have been hitherto made, to extend 
 the benefits of our public schools more fully to the Chil¬ 
 dren of our Irish population. These attempts have been 
 hitherto frustrated, chiefly perhaps, by a natural misap¬ 
 prehension on the part of parents and pastors of placing 
 their children under Protestant teachers and, in a meas¬ 
 ure also, by the mutual prejudice and consequent disa¬ 
 greements among the Protestant and Catholic children 
 themselves. Your Committee have great pleasure in stat¬ 
 ing that these difficulties appear to have been overcome, 
 and the above most desirable object to have been finally 
 accomplished. 
 
 ‘As early as the month of June, last, [1835] the Rev. 
 Mr. Conolly of the Catholic Church applied to the Com¬ 
 mittee for such aid as they might be able to give to his 
 exertions for the cause of education and improvement of 
 the children under his charge. The Committee entered 
 readily and fully into his views, and in this, and several 
 subsequent interviews, a plan for establishing one or 
 more separate schools for this purpose was matured and 
 has since been put into successful operation. On the 
 part of the Committee, the following conditions were in¬ 
 sisted on as indispensable: 
 
 ‘1—That the instructors must be examined as to their 
 qualifications by the Committee and receive their 
 appointments from them. 
 
 2—That the books, exercises, and studies, should be 
 all proscribed and regulated by the Committee, and 
 that no other should be taught or allowed. 
 
 ‘3—That these schools should be placed, as regards 
 the examination, inspection and general supervis¬ 
 ion of the Committee on precisely the same ground 
 as the other schools of the town. 
 
 ‘On the part of [Rev.] Mr. Conolly, it was urged, to 
 facilitate his efforts, and to render the scheme accepta- 
 
32 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 ble to his parishioners, that the instructors must be of the 
 Roman Catholic faith and that the books prescribed, 
 should contain no statements of facts, not admitted by 
 that faith, nor any remarks reflecting injuriously upon 
 their system of belief. 
 
 ‘These conditions were assented to by the Committee 
 as reasonable and proper; and the books in use in our 
 other schools were submitted to his inspection and were, 
 by him, fully approved. On these principles, there have 
 been established within the past year, two [schools] 
 under the Catholic Church in June, [1835] and one in 
 the vicinity of Chapel Hill, in September last. These 
 schools have now been in operation more than half a 
 year and your Committee have the satisfaction of be¬ 
 lieving them to be eminently successful and that they are 
 doing much good to this hitherto neglected portion of the 
 community. Four hundred and sixty-nine children, have, 
 during the year, been brought under the influence of 
 these public schools. The average number attached has 
 been 282, of which number, the average daily attendance 
 has been 208 , showing a punctuality fully equal to that 
 of our other schools. 
 
 ‘The Committee think that the advantages of this 
 arrangement must have been obvious to every observer 
 in the improved condition of our streets, in their freedom 
 from noisy, quarrelsome, and truant boys; and, it is confi¬ 
 dently hoped, that they will soon be equally obvious in 
 the improved condition and respectability of these child¬ 
 ren and in their redemption from intellectual and moral 
 degradation. 
 
 ‘Under the above arrangement, the Committee pro¬ 
 ceeded, on June 14th [1835] to assume the supervision 
 of the private school, already existing under the Catho¬ 
 lic Church and elected Patrick Collins its teacher, one 
 of the public instructors. Mary J. Woodbury was next 
 chosen in place of Miss Stevens. On Sept, 14, 1835, an¬ 
 other Catholic school in the vicinity of Chapel Hill, taught 
 by Daniel Mcllroy, under the auspices of Mr. Conolly 
 [Rev. Father Conolly] was adopted as a town school; 
 
HISTORY OF THE IRISH SCHOOLS 
 
 33 
 
 and the salary of its master fixed. The numbers in this 
 school, becoming very large an assistant became neces¬ 
 sary and, on June 6, 1836, Richard Walsh was chosen.’ 
 
 “In the summer of 1837, another school was prepared 
 under the Catholic church; a new Catholic school, being the 
 fourth, was opened, and Mary Ann Stanton elected its teach¬ 
 er. 
 
 “In June, 1838, Mr. Collins’ and Mr. Mcllroy’s schools, 
 denominated the 5th grammar school, were moved to Liberty 
 Hall, since which time the distinction between Grammar and 
 Primary schools has obtained in the Irish as in the other pub¬ 
 lic schools.” 
 
 “The following persons in addition to those mentioned, 
 have been connected with the Irish schools: Sarah M. J. 
 Woodbury, [a Catholic]; Peter McDermott, Catharine A. 
 Hogan, Arvila Woodward, Esther Howland, James Egan, 
 Jane U. Danahy, Louisa M. Adams, Catharine O’Callaghan, 
 Anna Freil, E. D. Sanborn and J. W. Walsh.” These men 
 and women taught the Irish children between 1834 and 1844. 
 
 The Lowell “Courier,” commenting editorially on the ex¬ 
 aminations for the city schools in the summer of 1837, at 
 which the public were admitted as spectators, had this inter¬ 
 esting paragraph, extolling the worth of the Irish schools: 
 
 “In your round, reader, if you make it, be sure 
 you do not omit the Irish schools. They are, more 
 than any other, interesting. The Irish children in 
 the schools are . . bright, active, quick, intelli¬ 
 
 gent, and imitative to a remarkable degree. We 
 may be mistaken, but we cannot help believing we 
 see in them the characteristics of the nation which 
 could give birth to, and foster the genius of, a Sheri¬ 
 dan, a Burke, a Grattan, and an Emmett—No spot 
 on earth is more illustrious by the genius of her sons 
 than “Green Erin,” and these little scholars look as 
 if they had brought a good share of the spirit and 
 genius of the mother land with them.”—Lowell 
 ‘Courier,’ August 19, 1837.” 
 
 And the school report for 1838 states: 
 
34 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 “A general interest is manifested in the pros¬ 
 perous condition of our Irish schools. They now con¬ 
 sist of two Grammar and three Primary schools, kept 
 by four male and two female teachers. The whole 
 number of pupils reported as having attended these 
 schools more or less, during the year, is seven hun¬ 
 dred and fifty-two. Most of these probably attend¬ 
 ed three months at least; the average number of pu¬ 
 pils connected with the schools at once, is 435, and 
 the average daily attendance to 342. There has 
 been an increase this year [1838] of one hundred and 
 twenty-two in the average number, and 83 in daily 
 attendance. It may be seen, to a reference to the 
 tabular summary, that the attendance has been 
 quite as good (in proportion to the average number) 
 as any of our public schools. Irish pupils are not ex¬ 
 cluded from the other public schools, to which con¬ 
 venience of location and requisite attainments may 
 entitle them to be admitted. They have access to the 
 High school on equal conditions with others, and 
 more or less, will be found in the various schools of 
 every rank in the city.” 
 
 The Irish Catholic teachers who taught the children of 
 the Irish pioneers, were men and women of ability. Accord¬ 
 ing to the school report for 1838, these men and women of 
 Irish birth or extraction were on the city payroll: 
 
 Patrick Collins, master of No. 5 grammar school on 
 Lowell street. 
 
 Peter McDermott, brother of Father James McDer¬ 
 mott, who taught the young Irish children in 
 No. 11 primary school on Fenwick street, where 
 he was assisted by Miss Jane U. Danahy. 
 
 Jane U. Danahy, teacher of a primary school for 
 Irish Catholic children on Cross street. 
 
 Richard Walsh, master of No. 19 grammar school 
 on Church street. 
 
 Daniel Mcllroy, assistant to Patrick Collins at No. 5 
 grammar school on Fenwick street. He became 
 later, a distinguished lawyer in Boston. 
 
35 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRISH SCHOOLS 
 
 Catharine Hogan, teacher of “the school under the 
 Catholic Church,” in 1838 and 1839, known as 
 No. 11 primary school. 
 
 The yearly salaries of the Catholic teachers in the Irish 
 schools were equivalent to a present day teacher’s incidental 
 expenses. Patrick Collins, a talented Irishman, received 
 $262.50. His assistant, Daniel Mcllroy, was paid $262.50. 
 Jane U. Danahy, principal of primary school No. 11, received 
 $189.92. In the auditor’s report for the year 1837, we find 
 that Patrick McDonough, [he superintended the building of 
 the wings on the first St. Patrick’s wooden church in 1835] re¬ 
 ceived $155 for “finishing schoolroom in Catholic church.” 
 
 For the yeat ending March 1841, these salaries were paid 
 the Irish Catholic teachers: James Egan, master of the No. 5 
 grammar school, $700; Peter McDermott, his assistant, re¬ 
 ceived $234.50; Martin Fitzpatrick, $82.12; Daniel Mcllroy, 
 $28.04; Jane Danahy principal of primary school No. 11, 
 $189.92; Richard Walsh, master of the primary school on 
 Church street, $200; Miss Catharine O’Callaghan, primary 
 school No. 21, $200. 
 
 In the items for contingent expenses, Patrick Dailey re¬ 
 ceived $36.62 “for renting a house for primary school.” Cath¬ 
 arine Hogan, who taught the younger Irish children in the 
 basement of the Catholic church in 1838 and 1839, had one 
 hundred scholars, and her record for average attendance of 
 these little scholars was good, in comparison with other pri¬ 
 mary school teachers in the city. Miss Ann Cummiskey, 
 daughter of Hugh Cummiskey, the first Irish pioneer, taught 
 a primary school at the corner of Adams and Cross street. 
 
 The first mention of this school by the Committee, was in 
 the report of 1849. It was described as “two stories high, 
 and will accommodate four schools, though only one is in op¬ 
 eration at the present time. The cost of the building, includ¬ 
 ing land, is $3300. The school now in operation in this house 
 was established early in the year (1849) and was temporarily 
 kept in the basement of the Catholic church. . . . The 
 
 lower rooms have windows only on one side.” 
 
36 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 At about this period, the city officials were duly im¬ 
 pressed with the great progress made by the Irish children, 
 and steps were taken to put the more advanced pupils on a 
 better plane of advancement. The good work of Fathers 
 Peter Conolly and James McDermott were now bearing fruit. 
 In the School report for 1839 it was stated that: 
 
 “In pursuance of a desire to elevate the character of our 
 Irish Grammar Schools the two, of last year’s report (Nos. 4 
 and 5) have been united into one, a large room secured for it, 
 a principal and assistant master appointed (Peter McDermott 
 and Daniel Mcllroy) and the same division of time and rota¬ 
 tion of exercises introduced as in other schools of the same 
 rank.” 
 
 This school was located in Liberty Hall, at the corner of 
 Jefferson and Lowell streets and is still standing today. It is 
 now occupied by a Greek grocer. 
 
 At the meeting of the Board of Aldermen October 5, 
 1839: 
 
 ‘A communication from the School Committee 
 relating to the Primary schools kept in the basement 
 story of the Catholic church, stated that the accom¬ 
 modations are insufficient for the number of scholars 
 and recommending the establishment of another pri¬ 
 mary school in Fenwick street or the vicinity, was 
 read and referred to a joint special committee. Al¬ 
 derman Whipple and Carleton were appointed; so 
 was Messrs. Randall, Mansur and Horn joined, with 
 instructions to report whether suitable land for a 
 schoolhouse can be found near the corner of Lowell 
 and Fenwick streets. The board concurred.” 
 
 In the Lowell School report for 1840 was this enlighten¬ 
 ing comment on the progress of the Irish schools: 
 
 “From inquiries informally made, in respect to 
 the bearing of the common school system upon the 
 Irish population in other cities and large towns, the 
 Committee have derived new evidence of the wisdom 
 of the plan adopted in this city, and which is be¬ 
 lieved to be peculiar to ourselves. No other place, 
 
37 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRISH SCHOOLS 
 it is supposed, can exhibit the same proportion of 
 this class of children in the public schools. Their 
 general attendance at school can scarcely be too 
 highly appreciated, even as a matter of police and 
 protection against juvenile delinquency. As these 
 children are admitted to the high school, and to all 
 other schools, when their parents desire it, on the 
 same terms as other children, the system is charge¬ 
 able, on our part, with no prejudice or exclusive¬ 
 ness nor can any countervailing evils be apprehend¬ 
 ed from the concessions by which these benefits are 
 secured, as long as the course of study and instruc¬ 
 tion is prescribed by the Committee, and is the same 
 as in other schools. 
 
 (REV.) AMOS BLANCHARD, 
 
 (REV.) THEODORE EDSON, 
 
 (REV.) HENRY A. MILES, 
 
 JOHN SMITH, 
 
 H. G. F. CORLISS, 
 
 School Committee. 
 
 Lowell, March 24, 1840.” 
 
 In the School Report, for the year ending December, 
 1847, it was stated that “the schools kept for some years un¬ 
 der the Catholic church on Fenwick street—numbers 15, 22 
 and 32, were removed, the latter part of the season, to the new 
 house on Adams street [the school stood on the corner of 
 Adams and Cross streets.] Of the No. 5 Grammar school 
 [the Mann school] the report stated that “a very large num¬ 
 ber of scholars enter the mills. More than one seventh of 
 the whole number of scholars [50] connected with the school, 
 the past year, have received certificates for the mills by the 
 Principal [Shattuck.] This has fallen heavily on the higher 
 classes taking away, in many instances, the best and most ad¬ 
 vanced scholars.” In the Appendix to the School Report for 
 1851, it was stated that from 1838 to 1851, 669 certificates 
 were issued by the masters of the Mann school, alone, for en¬ 
 try into the mills. 
 
 One of the most flattering encomiums on the Irish schools 
 occurs on the records of the School Committee for 1851. 
 Among other things the regular report had this comment: 
 
38 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 “Of the schools attended only by the Irish, some 
 are deserving of the highest praise, in point of order, 
 vivacity, and proficiency in study. The quickness, 
 intelligence, and spirit of the Celtic race, are easily 
 excited by a teacher, of an earnest, commanding, 
 and enlightened character !” 
 
 As an appendix to this report was the following table: 
 
 Years 
 
 IRISH SCHOOLS 
 
 No. 
 
 Gram. Sch. Prim. Sch. Belonging 
 
 Av. Daily 
 Att. 
 
 1835 
 
 1 2 
 
 469 
 
 208 
 
 1838 
 
 2 3 
 
 752 
 
 342 
 
 1844 
 
 1 5 
 
 638 
 
 443 
 
 In 1850, the city experimented with Intermediate schools 
 for the first time for children between eight and fifteen, and 
 the first organized was among the Irish children on the Acre. 
 It was taught by Miss Laura A. Legate and stood on Lewis 
 street. As to the success of this experiment, the School Com¬ 
 mittee reported that Miss Legate’s school of Irish children 
 “presented an example of order, maintained almost exclu¬ 
 sively by moral means of animated and thorough teaching, in 
 which oral instruction has had a large place. The evident 
 and rapid improvement [of the school] is not surpassed, per¬ 
 haps, by any school in Lowell!” Of all the encomiums for 
 teachers at this period, this was probably the most expressive, 
 and one can imagine how flattered the young woman teacher 
 felt at this description of her school of Irish scholars. Wheth¬ 
 er Miss Legate’s personality inspired the adjectives of the 
 impressionable school committeemen is a question. At any 
 rate, at the examination of the young lady’s scholars that 
 fall, one member of the committee reported “that the exami¬ 
 nation was impartial, and lasted from 1.30 to 4 o’clock in the 
 afternoon, without recess! The order was perfect. No 
 scholar violated even the strictest rule of propriety! Reading 
 was in full, clear tones, the sound of the letters given with ac- 
 
HISTORY OF THE IRISH SCHOOLS 39 
 
 curacy! As a general exercise, the teacher taught History 
 and Physiology orally, and the accuracy of the answers quite 
 surprised all present. Seldom, during my life, have I spent 
 so happy an afternoon!” No name was appended to this 
 graphic encomium. The Irish children must have been 
 marked 100 per cent, that afternoon! 
 
 “In the year 1851,” says Bishop Louis Walsh, in his able 
 resume of the Irish schools, “the state authorities felt, and 
 openly showed anxiety, and even intense alarm, at the invas¬ 
 ion of foreigners. The purpose of this is not to be discussed 
 now—perhaps it had better be left in a misty historical back¬ 
 ground, but a regular crusade was started to compel attend¬ 
 ance of all children at school, quite in contrast to the sleepy 
 indifference that characterized so many of the towns and cit¬ 
 ies previous to that year. . . At this time, the Mann and 
 
 the Franklin schools were the Irish schools of Lowell and the 
 Public High school was, for a time, in the old brick church on 
 Suffolk street (now the St. Patrick’s boys’ school.) . . In 
 
 1852, the Sisters of Notre Dame were induced to teach a free 
 school for girls in St. Patrick’s parish by Rev. John O’Brien, 
 thus beginning, or better, reopening that great and grand 
 movement that places Lowell today, [1901] with its four 
 thousand, five hundred Catholic children, in its seven schools,; 
 among the very first cities of the land in Catholic education.” 
 
IV 
 
 EARLY CATHOLIC SOCIETIES. 
 
 One of the distinguishing features of the early Irish Cath¬ 
 olic emigrations to Lowell in the first half of the 19th cen¬ 
 tury, was the social feeling among the settlements and camps. 
 This led to the forming of benevolent societies among the peo¬ 
 ple from the different counties. The first and most prominent 
 among them was the Hibernian Moralizing and Relief Society 
 which was started in 1833 by three or four energetic Irishmen 
 from the “Acre.” These men were led to organize this socie¬ 
 ty from sympathetic motives in order to lend a helping hand 
 to those Irish families in the community who were deserving 
 of aid. From the first, the society actuated by such motives, 
 was a success, and practical sympathy and help—a natural 
 characteristic of the Irish race—was bestowed on families and 
 worthy individuals on the “Acre” and among other settle¬ 
 ments in the town. In June, 1833, the officials of the town of 
 Lowell showed their practical appreciation of the good work 
 of the society by giving them the use of a room in a public 
 building. On June 28th, the same year, Henry J. Duff, secre¬ 
 tary of the society, inserted a card in the Lowell “Weekly 
 Compend,” thanking the selectmen of Lowell for the use of 
 the room, “which they have generously given for holding their 
 monthly meetings in future.” 
 
 This society, afterwards known as the Lowell Irish Be¬ 
 nevolent Society, was definitely organized under the laws of 
 the state in 1836. It was, up to twenty years ago, the leading 
 Irish benevolent and social society of the city. On its books 
 have been enrolled the most distinguished Irishmen of the 
 community. Through the energy of its members, men of tal¬ 
 ent from Lowell and out of town were brought before the pub¬ 
 lic here, and great orators and literary men from the land 
 across the sea showed their abilities in the halls of the organi¬ 
 zation. 
 
 The first gathering of Irishmen in Lowell to formally ob¬ 
 serve the birthday of St. Patrick convened in the old Washing¬ 
 ton House on Saturday evening, March 16, 1833. The spon- 
 
EARLY CATHOLIC SOCIETIES 41 
 
 sor of this gathering was the Hibernian Moralizing and Relief 
 Society. More than a hundred patriotic Irishmen assembled 
 in the hotel that evening and Mr. Headley, who was then pro¬ 
 prietor, prepared a supper and entertainment. During the 
 evening, the leading Irishmen in the community were heard 
 in extemporaneous oratory, and the toasts, of which there 
 were thirteen regular and twenty-one volunteer speeches, 
 brought out the innate eloquence of those assembled. The 
 full roster was printed in the issue of the Lowell “Compend” 
 a week later. Edward Quigley, a talented young Irishman, 
 was president of the Society this year and extolled the merits 
 of Daniel O’Connell, the Irish agitator, who was then very 
 much in the public eye. He was followed by Richard Plant, 
 of the firm of Conlin and Plant, dry goods dealers (one of the 
 first Irish firms in the town) who as vice-president, followed 
 Mr. Quigley. The subject matter of Mr. Plant’s toast was 
 “May the heavy chains which have compressed the vitals of 
 Erin, forged in Germany, and bolted in England, be, ere long, 
 rent asunder by the floodgates of Liberty.” 
 
 Patrick Power, one of the leading Catholics of the town 
 in the early period, was toastmaster of the gathering and 
 spoke on the “American Constitution.” Other volunteers on 
 the toast list in this first gathering were M. Talles who re¬ 
 sponded to the toast: “Wellington, the turncoat;” John Pren- 
 dergast, a dealer in groceries, who had his store on Gorham 
 street, “opposite the common,” eulogized President Andrew 
 Jackson. In the course of his remarks, the speaker comment¬ 
 ed on the fact that “the Anglo-Saxon tyrants banished Jack¬ 
 son’s father from his dear, native Erin. Like a dutiful son, 
 Andrew Jackson revenged his father’s wrongs and drove the 
 Tyrant from this blessed country!” Henry Duff, the secre¬ 
 tary of the society, spoke on Brian, Brougham and Daniel 
 O’Connell; Thomas O’Sullivan, an humble laborer, had for 
 the subject of his toast: “May the silvery streams of the Lee 
 co-operate the odour of sanctity to rectify the luminous stream 
 of that arch crusader—the Rev. Mr. Pope.” The virtues of 
 Andrew Jackson were eulogized again by James Mclntire. 
 
 James Phalan spoke on “Rev. Mr. Mahony—the watchful 
 and indefatigable guardian in the tower of Light.” Daniel 
 Connell, who in 1833 kept a little general store on Merrimack 
 
42 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 street, responded to the “Catholic press,” and commented on 
 the great work of the “Truth Teller,” a Catholic paper in 
 New York city which was largely circulated among the Irish 
 Catholics of the country in the thirties. R. Plunkett spoke on 
 “General Montgomery, the Irish Catholic soldier of the Amer¬ 
 ican Revolution;” Patrick Power eulogized “Unconquered 
 Erin—like the faith of its patron, the Power of Earth and Hell 
 can never subdue!” James Devlin’s toast was: “May the 
 Paw of the British Lion, like Pliny’s cane, be pulverized by 
 the Law of Liberty.” James McGrath: “the principles of 
 Jefferson, now acted upon by O’Connell.” Patrick Hassett: 
 “The Lowell Railway [Boston and Lowell]—free trade, free 
 steam and free news;”T. Mahoney: “Irish Liberty and Ameri¬ 
 can Freedom;” James Plunkett: “The Sprig of Shillelah;” 
 Henry Duff: “Irishmen—dead or alive—right or wrong;” 
 Michael Conlin: [dry goods dealer] “May the blood-stained 
 shores of Erin ere long be inundated by the blissful tide of 
 Liberty;” “Francis McCanney: “May the Irish Emigrant be 
 always found a firm prop for the American Constitution;” 
 Thomas Connell: “Our host;” Richard Plant: “May the 
 matchless humanity and aspiring intellects of the American 
 glide on the four winds of Heaven;” Hugh Mongan: “The 
 American Press;” Morris Mongan: “The Irish Harp;” John 
 Prendergast: “The health of the virtuous and patriotic natur¬ 
 alized Irish of the United States, who, on a late occasion, have 
 shown their patriotism in electing our great and glorious 
 Chief Magistrate, Andrew Jackson.” 
 
 Another prominent Irish Catholic society, closely affil¬ 
 iated with the social activities of St. Patrick’s church in the 
 late 30’s, was the Catholic Temperance Society, which re¬ 
 claimed many men from the vice of immoderate drinking up 
 to 1849, when Father Theobald Mathew came to Lowell. This 
 society was also prominent in town and city celebrations of a 
 national and general character, including the celebrations in 
 honor of St. Patrick. The organization reached the zenith 
 of its fame between 1847 and 1849, when Father Mathew 
 publicly praised their exertions in the city. Under Rev. 
 James McDermott of old St. Mary’s, its ranks were greatly 
 enlarged. In the early forties, Father McDermott waged un- 
 
EARLY CATHOLIC SOCIETIES 43 
 
 ending war against the ravages of the small saloons which 
 dotted the city, and the men of the society, in recognition of 
 his efforts, gave the fighting pastor a purse of $200. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival in 1837, Father McDermott saw 
 much misery and distress among his countrymen and imme¬ 
 diately set about to relieve it. The necessity of a society for 
 the purpose of relieving the suffering members of his congre¬ 
 gation prompted him to organize the St. Patrick’s Charitable 
 Society, “from which aid to young and old was given indis¬ 
 criminately, as far as the funds would admit.” A society of 
 women, based on similar principles, was also formed, which 
 assisted in “clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and or¬ 
 namenting our church” [St. Patrick’s.] To devise ways and 
 means to look after the poor of the parish, a meeting, which 
 was largely attended, was held on Sunday, April 13th, 1839. 
 At this meeting, the St. Patrick’s Charitable and Catholic 
 Temperance Society were the inspiring forces. 
 
 In connection with charitable activities in the early thir¬ 
 ties, the work of Rev. Peter Connolly, the first curate of St. 
 Patrick’s is deserving of mention. In 1835, the Lowell Fuel 
 Society, an organization which was formed to help the worthy 
 poor of the town, enlisted his efforts. A fitting estimate on 
 the work of Father Connolly among the Irish Catholic poor is 
 reflected in a communication written by William Austin, 
 treasurer of the Society, which was printed in the Lowell 
 “Mercury” for Feb. 20, 1835: 
 
 “It appearing that an opinion prevails among 
 various citizens of Lowell that the funds of the Low¬ 
 ell Fuel Society have been too liberally appropriated 
 to the Irish part of our population, I deem it but just 
 to apprize the public that, under the judicious ar¬ 
 rangements and salutory influence of the Rev. Peter 
 Connolly, the Catholic Society have contributed $82 
 (being one-fourth part of the funds collected from 
 every source the present year) in aid of the objects 
 of the Fuel Society. The indigent Catholics have 
 had, therefore, strong claims for relief and those 
 
44 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 claims have been allowed. Last year, the Catholic 
 Society did not contribute, and it was through the 
 beneficial influence of Rev. Mr. Connolly that the 
 above contribution was made. The Reverend gen¬ 
 tleman has also done much to diminish the neces¬ 
 sary calls for fuel in the encouragement he has 
 given to industry, temperance, and economy among 
 his people and which entitles him to the gratitude 
 of every Irishman, and the thanks of the citizens 
 of the town. 
 
 WILLIAM AUSTIN, 
 Treasurer Lowell Fuel Society/’ 
 
 This was probably the first unsolicited encomium given 
 to the work of a Catholic priest in the formative period of the 
 Irish Catholic settlements, from a non-Catholic. It was 
 through the efforts of Father Connolly that the town school 
 committee, apportioned a part of the town money for the 
 support of the first Irish Catholic teachers in the Irish schools, 
 from 1834 to 1836. 
 
 In the line of literary endeavor and as readers of Catho¬ 
 lic literature, one finds that the Irish pioneers were not lack¬ 
 ing. From the first, the Boston “Pilot” was circulated ex¬ 
 tensively among them. In June, 1839, the editor of the 
 “Pilot” editorially commended Hugh Cummiskey for his un¬ 
 tiring efforts to spread the paper in Lowell “from purely dis¬ 
 interested motives as he has not charged us a mill for his 
 time or trouble.” More than 75 subscribers were the result 
 of Mr. Cummiskey’s efforts in 1839. 
 
 Poetic talent among the pioneers was probably first pub¬ 
 licly exemplified on St. Patrick’s night, March 17, 1835, when 
 Nicholas W. Ryan, president of a gathering of Irishmen and 
 women celebrating the patronal feast, at the old Merrimack 
 House, recited the following original poem: 
 
 “Oh Erin Mavourneen, our heart’s blood is glowing, 
 
 With thoughts of thy sorrows, thy cares, and thy joys; 
 Tho’ wild, mounting billows, between us are flowing, 
 
 The mem’ry of thee still each true heart employs. 
 
EARLY CATHOLIC SOCIETIES 45 
 
 Yes, yes, tho’ in exile, forget, we shall never, 
 
 The land of our birth—that dear land which we prize; 
 With O’Connell, your champion, we declare you must sever, 
 The chains of thy bondage, which reason denies. 
 
 Let sectional feeling, this day be extinguished, 
 
 Let Irishmen join, and be brothers and friends; 
 
 Let dissension and folly, at once be relinquished, 
 
 And the demons of malice shall ne’er gain their ends! 
 
 Take O’Connell’s advice—Ireland’s pilot and glory! 
 
 Be united and firm, ne’er let discord deform; 
 
 Our champion and people shall tell the proud story, 
 
 Dear Erin Mavourneen, must weather the storm! 
 
 In addition to his original poem, Mr. Ryan gave some 
 original remarks and mentioned the fact “that a Dr. Sheridan, 
 an Irishman, was selected to teach the German wife of George 
 III, the English language!” This scored another hit with 
 the gathering. The company assembled at 8 o’clock in the 
 evening and the “doors were thrown open at 8.30,” according 
 to the report in the Lowell “Patriot” of April 8, 1835. This 
 in part, was as follows: 
 
 “An excellent band struck up ‘Patrick’s Day.’ 
 
 The company marched in first, led by the President 
 and Rev. P. Conolly, one of the invited guests. On 
 entering the hall, the companj^ had to march under 
 a military flag displaying the American Eagle, after 
 passing which, the ancient Irish Banner appeared in 
 the other end of the hall; the Irish Harp, on a flag 
 of green silk, underneath which, the motto: “Erin go 
 bragh” was inscribed (the banner was painted for 
 the occasion by Dr. [William] Dusenbury, whose in¬ 
 ability to attend as one of our English invited guests, 
 was much regretted.) Immediately behind the 
 President’s chair was displayed a large transpar¬ 
 ency of St. Patrick. The company sat down to an 
 excellent entertainment. The company did not sep¬ 
 arate until a late hour. The celebration closed with 
 the President taking down the banner of Erin and 
 
46 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 took the head [of an improvised procession] the 
 band playing Yankee Doodle, while the company 
 followed the banner in the same regular order by 
 which they had entered; the toastmaster conducted 
 them to the door, when, holding the Banner over 
 their heads, each one passed under it, shook hands, 
 and returned to their homes.” 
 
 The toasts responded to at this pioneer banquet were 
 well selected. Toast No. 4 was “Kirk Boott, Esq., and the 
 other liberal and independent gentlemen of Lowell—true 
 and generous friends to industrious Irishmen—remember the 
 gratitude we owe them all.” The president of the gathering, 
 Nicholas W. Ryan, gave the above original poem; Michael 
 Burrows vice-president, spoke on Thomas Addis Emmett 
 And Thomas Read, the toastmaster, followed. His sentiments 
 were: Prosperity to Gen. Andrew Jackson, the chivalrous son 
 of Tennessee and the imperishable motto: Will Protect the 
 Ladies; and confusion to the vandal-like, cowardly, blood¬ 
 thirsty, midnight incendiaries of Mt. Benedict, Charlestown— 
 the persecutors of female virtue, learning, religion and sancti¬ 
 ty.” James Smith responded to the toast: “The memory of 
 Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the friend of freedom, the foe of 
 tyranny. He died a martyr for his country;” Lawrence Hill: 
 “To Ireland’s regeneration and happiness,” Patrck Byrnes; 
 “Wellington, the perjured son of Erin;” Owen McCosker: 
 “Ireland, the isle of saints and scholars;” Ambrose Keating: 
 “Civil and religious liberty;” Thomas H. Fales: “To the army 
 of Hill;” Richard Savage of Salem: “The clergy of Ireland;” 
 Thomas Bohan: “The land of our choice;” Richard Kean: 
 “The glorious memories of our statesmen and soldiers;” Fran¬ 
 cis McCanning: “May the sons of Ireland support the cause 
 of civil and religious liberty;” Daniel Mcllroy: “To the mem¬ 
 ory of the Irish bards;” Hugh O’Rourke: “Ireland the home 
 of our nativity;” Jeremiah Leonard: “Daniel O’Connell;” 
 Mr. McMungan: “The day that reminds us of our native coun¬ 
 try;” Mr. John Ryan: volunteer toast. 
 
 The Repeal movement in Ireland in the early forties nat¬ 
 urally reflected itself in America, and patriotic Irishmen used 
 their voices and pens in arousing enthusiasm in it. 
 
EARLY CATHOLIC SOCIETIES 47 
 
 In the Lowell “Herald” for March 19,1844, was the fol¬ 
 lowing communication signed “Rockgrove,” which it is said, 
 was the pseudonym for Patrick Byrnes, one of Lowell’s Irish 
 pioneers who, from time to time, in the early period, wrote to 
 the local papers and aired his views on the Irish situation: 
 
 “Citizens of Lowell—the glorious agitation in Ireland 
 at the present day to repeal that accursed Union with England, 
 passed in 1800, and which has proved so fatal, so disastrous, 
 to the people of the Irish nation, is a cause which enlists 
 the sympathies of all freemen, no matter upon what part of 
 the earth they dwell, whether basking under the sunshine of 
 prosperity in the south, or amid the ice-clad turrets of the 
 north. The cry of justice to Ireland should be heard from 
 every freeman, and a promise of aid and assistance to assist 
 her while battling against tyrants, by peaceable and by con¬ 
 stitutional means. It is thus with Ireland at the present pe¬ 
 riod of her existence. She is exercising the rights guaranteed 
 by the laws of the land; to repeal the act of Union that has 
 been wrested from her by corruption and fraud, by the Min¬ 
 isters of a despotic government, who are now laboring to rivet 
 the chains firmer, and are binding her bold limbs to the car 
 of English despotism. What Irishman possessed of one drop 
 of Irish blood, that will not be aroused at the present condi¬ 
 tion of his fatherland? What countryman of Washington 
 that will not shrink back with horror at the recital of the 
 countless deeds of barbarity practised by the hellhounds of 
 England upon the vitals of the Irish people, who have too pa¬ 
 tiently borne the injustice for years gone by? Witness her 
 very conduct at the present day, when the eye of the world 
 is upon her!—waiting anxiously the result. 
 
 “Citizens of Lowell—are you prepared to welcome the 
 glorious expression of the jury: ‘Not guilty/ and let the same 
 be echoed throughout the length and breadth of the land? 
 Are you prepared to act upon the ‘state trials?’—if not, arouse 
 yourselves at once. Ireland calls upon you for a return of 
 favors conferred at a time ‘that tried men’s souls.’ The blood 
 of Montgomery is not yet avenged! Be up and doing, be ac¬ 
 tive; be vigilant and determined, be pledged to a fearless ac- 
 
48 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 tivity in case of an emergency. Violate no law but speak out 
 in trumpet tones to that despotic government by demanding 
 justice for Ireland. Look around you—the people of every 
 state in the Union have acted their part like men, like patriotic 
 descendants of the heroes of the Revolution—your nearest, 
 dearest, and best loved sons are enlisted among the Repealers 
 of America. Will Lowell be behind hand in the good work? 
 No! I trust not—forbid it, spirits of Washington and Mont¬ 
 gomery! Rally, then, like the patriotic sons of Columbia in 
 every other city in the Union. Let us have another Mass 
 Meeting after the arrival of the next Mail Steamer, and let it 
 be one that will do immortal honor to the patriotic sons of 
 this Manchester of New England! 
 
 ROCKGROVE.” 
 
 Obedient to this appeal and others of a like nature, meet¬ 
 ings were held in the City Hall at intervals. At the end of 
 one meeting in 1844, Hon. J. A. Abbott, a leading Yankee law¬ 
 yer of the city, was elected president. Richard Walsh, who 
 opened the first Catholic bookstore in Lowell at the corner of 
 Market and Worthen streets, and Michael Cassidy, one of the 
 Irish pioneers of the 30’s, were chosen vice-presidents. Martin 
 Fitzpatrick, who was a teacher in the early Irish schools of 
 the town, and Timothy McLaughlin, were elected secretaries. 
 John McNulty of the Lowell Irish Benevolent society was 
 chosen treasurer. 
 
ADDENDA 
 
 The success of the little Irish colony in Lowell, as early 
 as 1829, attracted the attention of aspiring young Irish law¬ 
 yers and orators from the homeland. In the Lowell “Jour¬ 
 nal” for June 3, 1829, one reads this interesting announce¬ 
 ment: “The attention of our citizens is directed to the per¬ 
 formance of Mr. Glasscott at Carter’s Hall, this evening. He 
 is recommended as a young gentleman of talents and educa¬ 
 tion; a native of Ireland, where he has studied the law for four 
 years, and is now completing his studies in Boston with a view, 
 partly, to benefit the Irish population of that city. We have 
 been informed that his addresses before the Hibernian Relief 
 Society have been very favorably received and highly recom¬ 
 mended.” Needless to say, Mr. Glasscott invested a part of 
 his funds in an ad in the “Journal.” According to his ad¬ 
 vertisement he delivered an “Oration on the Emancipation of 
 Ireland . . bringing to view the Disabilities which the 
 
 Catholics have suffered for so many years. . . Tickets of 
 
 Admission, to be had at Mr. Carter’s Hotel.” 
 
 On the evening of March 18, 1837, “O’Connell, the tat¬ 
 tooed man” appeared in an exhibition in Case’s hall on Cen¬ 
 tral street, and a local newspaper remarked that his enter¬ 
 tainment “was worth twenty-five cents to anyone.” In the 
 “Courier” for the same date, appeared an advertisement of 
 the performance which, among other things stated that “Mr. 
 F. O’Connell, the Tattooed Man and Adventurer (whose life 
 has just been issued from the press) will appear and give an 
 nistorical account of his remarkable fortunes in Oceanica, ap¬ 
 pearing in the costume of a Chief of the Ascension Islands, 
 and will also exhibit his tattooed marks. He will also give 
 his wonderful feats of dancing which has astonished everyone 
 that beheld him, in Case’s Hall, Central street.” 
 
 This celebrity, whose name betrays his origin, was in the 
 city for some time at this period, and his unique entertainment 
 was given in connection with a “Ciclorama.” In the early 
 forties, Mr. P. F. White, an Irish minstrel and story-teller ap¬ 
 peared in old Mechanics Hall, and entertained large crowds 
 of the Irish in the city at that time, with his Irish songs and 
 original stories. 
 
50 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 THE PADDY CAMP LANDS 
 
 The sixteen acres of land owned by Samuel Frye, guar¬ 
 dian for the Frye children, “lying on and near the little canal 
 and the New Factories, built and building,” was known in the 
 early thirties as the Paddy Camp Lands, because of the large 
 number of Irish laborers and mill employees who had their 
 huts and cabins in their precincts. The land was also known 
 as the “Acre” from that time to the present, probably owing 
 to the fact that the original Irish squatters occupied an acre 
 of land. On two early plans in the Registry of Deeds, drawn 
 in 1832 and also in 1838, are outlined two streets, intersecting 
 this acre, called Cork and Dublin streets on the map. These 
 were named after County Cork and County Dublin in Ireland. 
 Most of the Irish pioneers on the “Acre” came from the south¬ 
 ern counties of Ireland and the above-named were strongly 
 represented. 
 
 Among the natives in the town, the district was known 
 as the Paddy Camp Lands since 1830 and, between 1833 and 
 1840, was the subject of much litigation. The lands were 
 finally the subject of a case brought before the U. S. Supreme 
 Court in Boston at which the tangle of proprietors and liti¬ 
 gants was ironed out. 
 
 The lands were owned at the beginning of the 19th cen¬ 
 tury, by Samuel and Polly Frye of Danville, Vt. On the 10th 
 of June, 1823, the property was sold at public auction to Luth¬ 
 er Richardson of Waltham, trader, for $594.05. He was the 
 highest bidder. The lands changed hands often after Rich¬ 
 ardson got hold of the property and, finally, in October, 1833, 
 one Henry Flagg who had some equity, sued Samuel Mann 
 et al. and the case was brought to the United States Supreme 
 Court, for decision. 
 
 In a deposition made by Francis Hilliard, Esq., in 1831, 
 regarding the occupants of the “Paddy Camp Lands,” so- 
 called, he cited affidavits made by some of the Irish pioneers, 
 who originally settled on the lands. Among them were: 
 Morris Fielding, Timothy Crowley, Dennis Crowley, George 
 E. Cooley, Denis Leary, Michael Lee, Timothy Connelly, James 
 O’Brien, Patrick Barney, James Carney, Thomas Fitzpatrick, 
 Henry Farrell, Thomas Driscoll, Solomon Trainer, Michael 
 Murray, John Sullivan, John Sullivan 2d, David Whelton. 
 
ADDENDA 
 
 51 
 
 One of the first of the Irish pioneers to buy a lo.t for a 
 dwelling on Cork street (now Marion street) was Michael 
 Doyle, the grocer, who, in 1831, leased the property from 
 John R. Adams, one of the litigants in the “Paddy Camp Land 
 case,” as the U. S. Supreme court case was called. Other 
 early Irish property-holders were John and Jeremiah Sullivan, 
 Michael McCarthy, Nicholas Fitzpatrick, Timothy Ford, 
 James Barry, Hugh Cummiskey, Samuel Murray, Dennis Kelly, 
 James Marren, David Whelton, Patrick Powers, Edward Far¬ 
 rell, Patrick McCaffrey, Stephen McKenna, Patrick McManus 
 and Owen McOsker. 
 
 Among some of the unusual transactions recorded in the 
 old days was an agreement entered into by James Barry, car¬ 
 penter, and Michael McCarthy, laborer, in which a tenement 
 on Lowell street, (now Market) “being the second from the 
 Main road of four tenements recently erected by said Barry,” 
 was concerned. The deed was dated, the 3rd of December, 
 1832. McCarthy was “to hold [the tenement] for ten years, 
 from the 14th of May 1832, yielding and paying therefor, the 
 rent of Thirty Dollars for the year —not to permit any riotous 
 or disorderly persons to occupy said tenement, or permit any 
 riot, tumult, or disorder to be made or committed therein. 
 
 (Signed) James Barry and Michael McCarthy.” 
 
 In April, 1832, John Sullivan leased “a lot of land on 
 Fenwick street for a term of two years for $30 a year, from 
 T. W. Churchill. Land for the same terms and the same pe¬ 
 riod was leased by Mr. Churchill to Michael McCarthy, David 
 Whelton, James Campbell and Michael Doyle on Fenwick 
 street. In July, 1831, Denis Kelly leased “land on the east 
 side of Fenwick street;” so did James Marren. 
 
 By a deed, dated the 9th of December, 1831, land “on 
 the west side of Gorham street” was transferred from Ed¬ 
 ward Farrell and Margaret, his wife, to Samuel Howard, 
 bricklayer, for a consideration of $250. 
 
52 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 MEMORABLE HISTORICAL DATES OF IRISH CATHOLIC 
 
 PIONEERS 
 
 1822—April 6—Hugh Cummiskey leads first thirty Irish la¬ 
 borers into East Chelmsford to start work widening 
 and building the Pawtucket canal and its arteries. 
 
 1827— Oct. 7—Fr. John Mahony celebrates first mass in Mer¬ 
 rimack Company’s school house. 
 
 1828— “Acre” settlement firmly established. 
 
 1828—Oct. 28—Bishop Fenwick visits Lowell for the first 
 time. Religious services were held on the site of the 
 present Green school. Four hundred Irish Catholics 
 employed in the mills as laborers in the town at this 
 period. 
 
 1828— 1830—Prominent Irishmen in town were Hugh Cummis¬ 
 
 key, Patrick Powers, Patrick McManus, Nicholas 
 Fitzpatrick, John Green. 
 
 1829— First Irish school started at the corner of Jefferson and 
 Lowell (now Market) streets. 
 
 1830— July—Frame wooden building, 70x40 feet projected 
 for a Catholic church. 
 
 1830— Sept. 4th—Deed, conveying lot of land for the building 
 of the new church signed by Kirk Boott and directors 
 of the Locks and Canals Company. Land given free 
 to Bishop Benedict Fenwick by Boott and the directors 
 of the company. 
 
 1831— July 3—First Catholic church (St. Patrick’s) dedicated 
 by Bishop Fenwick of Boston assisted by Vicar-Gener¬ 
 al Thomas O’Flaherty, D. D. of Boston, Rev. John Ma¬ 
 hony, the first regular pastor, and 100 members of the 
 Cathedral congregation of Boston, who journeyed from 
 Boston to be present. Twenty-five members of the 
 Cathedral choir, Mr. Mallet at the organ, also sang 
 selections from Haydn, Mozart and Lambilotte at the 
 dedicatory mass. Sermon preached by Fr. O’Flaher¬ 
 ty. Vespers celebrated by the bishop in the afternoon 
 at 4 and the bishop confirmed 39 candidates. Bishop 
 Fenwick and Father O’Flaherty journeyed over the 
 road from Boston the day before the dedication in a 
 carryall, and lodged that night at the Stone house (now 
 the Ayer Home) at the head of Fletcher street on Paw- 
 
ADDENDA 
 
 53 
 
 tucket street. 
 
 1831— Children of Irish parishioners attend school in the 
 basement of the new wooden church on Adams street. 
 
 1832— Father Mahony builds a priest’s house next to the 
 church on Fenwick street. Here Father Peter Connol¬ 
 ly and Rev. Fr. Curlin lodged. 
 
 1835—Aug. 14—Fr. James Conway visits Lowell for first time. 
 
 1835—Father Curlin came to Lowell and stayed a short time 
 assisting Father Mahony. He was succeeded by Father 
 Peter Connolly who, under Fr. Mahony’s direction, 
 built two wings to the new wooden church. 
 
 1837—Fr. J. T. McDermott succeeds Fr. Mahony as pastor. 
 
 1839—Rev. James Conway, Fr. McDermott’s assistant, can¬ 
 vasses among the Irish Catholics who lived around 
 Green street and Chapel Hill for funds for the erection 
 of a new church. 
 
 1841— Aug.—Land secured on the corner of Gorham and Ap¬ 
 pleton streets for the erection of a new church. 
 
 1842- —Oct. 16—St. Peter’s church dedicated. Rev. James 
 
 Conway, first pastor. 
 
 1842—Prominent Irish Catholics at this period were Hugh 
 Cummiskey, Owen M. Donahue, who kept the Ex¬ 
 change coffee house on Lowell street, John Quinn, the 
 tailor; Hugh McEvoy, the tailor; Charles M. Short, real 
 estate agent; Patrick Moran, dry goods dealer; Peter 
 McDermott, Irish schoolmaster, brother of Fr. McDer¬ 
 mott; Michael McDonough, dealer in dry goods; Nich¬ 
 olas W. Ryan, dealer in crockery and glassware; Ma¬ 
 guire and Cassidy, dry goods; John O’Connor, glazier 
 and painter; James Egan, who taught in the Mann 
 school, later a prominent lawyer in Boston; Daniel Mc- 
 Ilroy, another Irish schoolmaster who achieved fame 
 
 as a lawyer in Boston; Stephen Castles, real state 
 dealer. 
 
 1844-1846—Cornelius Nolan superintends the erection of a 
 portion of the new canal. 
 
 1847—Rev. J. T. McDermott purchases the Baptist meeting¬ 
 house on Suffolk street, near Market (now the site of 
 St. Patrick’s school.) 
 
 -Mar. 7- 
 
 -St. Mary’s church dedicated. 
 
 ! B 
 
 COLLEGE 
 
 -TON - 
 
 I " - faculty j 
 
 1 CHESTNUT 
 
54 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 NOTES FROM BISHOP FENWICK’S DIARY. 
 
 1830—July 20—Peter Connolly, “a young man of Irish origin, 
 arrives in Boston from New York and offers himself 
 as a candidate for the priesthood.” [Mr. Connolly 
 was first curate of St. Patrick’s.] 
 
 1830— Aug. 8—Rev. Peter Connolly is ordained to the priest¬ 
 hood in Boston. 
 
 1831— Sept. 2—Mr. James McDermott, “a young man who 
 has finished the course of philosophy at Montreal, of¬ 
 fers himself as a candidate [for the priesthood.] 
 
 1832— March 15—Father Mahony arrives in Boston from 
 Lowell—“gives the Bishop a deed of the new lot pur¬ 
 chased by Catholics of Lowell opposite side of new 
 church—house to be erected on it as a rectory as soon 
 as funds can be raised.” 
 
 1833— June 23—Bishop Fenwick arrives in Lowell and calls 
 on Kirk Boott. 
 
 1834— July 26—Rev. Peter Connolly, having returned from a 
 mission in Providence, R. I., starts for mission in 
 Lowell. 
 
 1833—April 4—Bishop Fenwick sets out for Lowell with 
 Father Michael Healy—“roads horrible—did not reach 
 Lowell until 1.30 P. M.—started at 7.30 A. M.—had 
 often to descend from chaise and walk.” Inspects 
 premises of St. Patrick’s with view of making addi¬ 
 tions to church. 
 
 1835— Aug. 10—Bishop again in Lowell—calls on Kirk Boott, 
 Esq., “to thank him for land adjoining that already ob¬ 
 tained from Company.” An interesting note in the 
 Bishop’s Diary for this date: “His [Kirk Boott’s] 
 friendship for Catholics has always been very great!” 
 
 1835—Aug. 14—Rev. James Conway visits Lowell for the 
 first time. [He was, later, the first pastor of St. Peter’s 
 church.] 
 
 1835—Sept. 5—Owing to difference of opinion between 
 priests and laymen on building matters the Bishop 
 goes to Lowell—adjusts difficulties and takes active 
 charge of church improvements. 
 
 1835—Sept. 6—Bishop present at last Mass at St. Patrick’s 
 
ADDENDA 55 
 
 —also officiates at Vespers—asks for subscriptions to 
 build new wings to St, Patrick’s. 
 
 1835—Sept. 9—Mr. McDonough, an expert Irish church car¬ 
 penter from Boston, arrives—He examines site of 
 church—compares price of material, etc.—reports to 
 Bishop that “most of the material for the addition to 
 the church in Lowell can be found there, and is cheap¬ 
 er than in Boston.” 
 
 HUGH CUMMISKEY: FIRST DISTINGUISHED IRISHMAN 
 
 Hugh Cummiskey, after a long life of usefulness, died in 
 Lowell on the 12th of December, 1871, aged 82, at his home 
 on Adams street on the same land, where, nearly fifty years 
 before, the first Irish pitched their camp when they came, un¬ 
 der his leadership to build and repair the canals. The Lowell 
 “Courier” of Dec. 14, 1871, had the following account of his 
 life and death: 
 
 “Mr. Cummiskey was born in Dromore, county Ty¬ 
 rone, Ireland. He came to this country in 1817. At 
 the founding of Lowell, he was employed to enlarge 
 the old Pawtucket canal which, up to that time, had 
 been used only for passing rafts of lumber around the 
 falls. He took the first contract and walked up 
 from Charlestown to Chelmsford, now Lowell, in 
 April, 1822, with thirty men to commence the work. 
 
 His job being finished that fall, he returned to 
 Charlestown where he remained until 1828 when he 
 came back to Lowell, and resumed contracting for 
 jobs of excavating about the canals and mills which 
 he carried on extensively until prevented by the in¬ 
 firmities of age. In addition to the Lowell contracts, 
 he also took contracts at Manchester (N. H.) and 
 Lawrence. Mr. Cummiskey has always borne an 
 excellent character and been highly esteemed both 
 by his own countrymen and others. He leaves a 
 widow, to whom he was married in 1821 and five 
 daughters, two of whom are nuns; two others have 
 been teachers in our public schools.” 
 
56 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 PATRICK TRACY JACKSON 
 
 This history would be incomplete without a mention of 
 Patrick Tracy Jackson, who was of Irish extraction, and who 
 was one of the active founders of Lowell. His maternal 
 grandfather was Patrick Tracy of Newburyport who was born 
 in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1711 and who, when but a 
 mere lad, came to Newburyport. He became, later, one of 
 the substantial men of the town, and during the Revolution¬ 
 ary war, was an active supporter of the Colonial government. 
 Mr. Michael J. O’Brien, in his article “Irish Mariners in New 
 England” in the Journal of the American Irish Historical So¬ 
 ciety, (vol. XVII, page 162) states: “One of Patrick Tracy’s 
 grandsons, Patrick Tracy Jackson, of Newburyport, was one 
 of the leading merchants and shipowners of the time, and for 
 many years he carried on an immense trade with the West In¬ 
 dies. He was at the head of numerous enterprises in New 
 England and imported much machinery from Europe, and 
 built several cotton mills in New England towns. Patrick 
 Tracy Jackson, with his brother-in-law, Francis C. Lowell, 
 and Paul Moody are credited in New England history as the 
 founders of the flourishing city of Lowell, Mass.” 
 
 Mr. Jackson was one of the men who financed the Boston 
 and Lowell railroad, which started running in 1835 (one of 
 the first four roads in the country) and the first engine to draw 
 cars was the “Patrick,” named after Mr. Jackson. He died 
 in Beverly, Mass., Sept. 12, 1847. 
 
 In the Lowell “Courier” for Sept. 28, 1841, was a lengthy 
 account of a presentation of $200 to Rev. James T. McDermott, 
 pastor of St. Patrick’s, by a committee representing the 
 Lowell Roman Catholic Temperance society. The commit¬ 
 tee were Nicholas W. Ryan, John McLaughlin, James Fitz¬ 
 patrick, Isaac B. Lovejoy, Michael McGuire. The “Courier” 
 reported the resolutions of the society fully in this issue. An 
 announcement of a concert of Catholic music at the “new 
 Catholic church [St. Peter’s] on Sunday evening,” the 24th of 
 April, 1842, was also reported in the “Courier.” It stated 
 that, “Mr. Herrwig, the celebrated violinist is engaged, and 
 will perform several solos on the violin and organ, assisted by 
 other talent from Boston.” 
 
ADDENDA 57 
 
 One of the first book printers and engravers in Lowell 
 was Patrick A. O’Neil who, in 1842, issued a book by a local 
 author from his press and printing shop on Merrimack street 
 “only a few doors from the Railroad bank.” The book was 
 by Betsy P. Hildreth, and was entitled: “Jerusalem’s Pilgrim.” 
 It had 132 pages, and was on sale at the bookstore of Mr. 
 Dayton on Merrimack street. The editor of the “Courier” 
 stated at the time, “that the work was well printed, and is 
 from the press of our friend and neighbor, Mr. O’Neil.” 
 
 From Lowell “Patriot,” Feb. 20, 1835: “The Literary and 
 Catholic Sentinel is the name of a new and spirited Journal 
 published by Henry J. Devereux and Patrick Donahue and 
 edited by George Pepper, Esq. It is an able Journal, Roman 
 Catholic in its Religion, and Democratic in its political char¬ 
 acter. We are glad to learn that it has an extensive circula¬ 
 tion in this Town, and most cheerfully, do we recommend it 
 to all our Irish citizens of the Catholic Church.” 
 
58 
 
 IRIH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 IRISH TOWN OFFICIALS 
 
 At the town meeting in March, 1833, Samuel Murray and 
 Hugh Cummiskey, both Irishmen and Catholics, were chosen 
 constables, by ballot. At the same meeting Hugh Cummiskey 
 was elected to the board of health; and was also chosen one 
 of the tythingmen of the town. John Murray was appointed 
 a surveyor of lumber and Samuel Murray a hog reeve. 
 
 Kirk Boott, Elisha Ford, Oliver M. Whipple, John Avery, 
 Sidney Spaulding, James Cook and Hugh Cummiskey were 
 “constituted a Committee, to ascertain as nearly as possible, 
 what amount of money the town will be required to grant, to 
 meet the expenses of the town the ensuing year, and report 
 thereon at the adjourned meeting.” In March, 1834, among 
 the constables elected were Hugh Cummiskey and Samuel 
 Murray, traders in real estate, and both leading men in the 
 Irish settlement in the town. On Sept. 12, 1834, James Camp¬ 
 bell was sworn in as a constable by Joseph Locke, the first 
 judge of the Lowell police court. Campbell was an Irishman. 
 
 In the Lowell “Mercury” for Jan. 17, 1834, appeared this 
 interesting notice: 
 
 “ORATORIO. 
 
 The public of Lowell are respectfully informed that 
 the Oratorio given by a Choir of the Catholic Church 
 from Boston, will be repeated on Sunday evening, 
 January 19th if a sufficient number of tickets are 
 sold to defray the expenses—Tickets to be had at the 
 several Book stores.” 
 
 The first concert was given in the Town Hall on Sunday 
 evening, Jan. 5th, and, as a correspondent of the “Mercury” 
 stated, “had music, mostly of the Catholic order, performed 
 by a Catholic choir from Boston. Among the selections most 
 appreciated was the ‘Pilgrim Fathers/ ‘Ave Sanctissima/ and 
 ‘Hail, Glorious Apostle/ [which was evidently for the delec¬ 
 tation of the Irish Catholics present.] There was one cause 
 for regret and that was so few attended.” The correspond¬ 
 ent of the “Mercury” hoped “that the Catholic choir will be 
 generously remunerated for their long ride [from Boston] 
 and kind exertions to please us.” 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 59 
 
 REV. JOHN MAHONY—-FIRST REGULAR PASTOR 
 
 The first regular priest assigned to cover Lowell and vi¬ 
 cinity was Rev. John Mahony, who came to Lowell in October, 
 1827, after effective missionary work in Maryland, Virginia, 
 Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Father Mahony was born 
 in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1781, and came to America when 
 a young man. He reported to Archbishop Marechal at Bal¬ 
 timore for missionary duty and was assigned to the new dio¬ 
 cese of Richmond in 1820, under Bishop Kelly, the first bishop. 
 Here, he proved his worth as a hard, willing worker in the ex¬ 
 tensive diocese and founded new parishes in several towns. 
 Later he extended his good work to Maryland. In 1826, Bish¬ 
 op Benedict Fenwick of Boston, being greatly in need of Irish 
 priests for the new settlements in Lowell and other points, the 
 Archbishop at Baltimore assigned Father Mahony to the Mas¬ 
 sachusetts field. At first he assisted Bishop Fenwick at the 
 Cathedral in Boston where there was an extensive Irish pop¬ 
 ulation, many of whom could only speak the Irish language. 
 In October, 1826, Father Mahony was assigned to Salem and 
 outlying points. In the summer of 1831, the Bishop appoint¬ 
 ed the hard-working Irish priest to a regular pastorate in 
 Lowell, and, from the start, his work met with success, 
 not only from his countrymen, but also with the native popu¬ 
 lation. Probably his most noteworthy accomplishment in 
 Lowell was his success in making the town school committee 
 appreciate the importance of the Irish children in receiving 
 town money for the support of schools for their instruction. 
 
 In 1836, Father Mahony was transferred to St. Augus¬ 
 tine’s church in South Boston, where he continued his good 
 work. After thirteen years continuous work in the diocese 
 of Boston and twenty years in America, Father Mahony died 
 in Boston on the 29th of December, 1839, aged 58 years. His 
 
 remains were interred in the southwest corner of St. Augus¬ 
 tine’s chapel, South Boston, 
 
60 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 INTERMENTS FROM LOWELL AND CHELMSFORD IN ST. 
 AUGUSTINE’S CEMETERY, SOUTH BOSTON- 
 
 1823 TO 1847. 
 
 Burk, Patrick, (C) June 27, 1824, aet 35. 
 
 Burn, Augustine, (L) July 8, 1831, aet 4. 
 
 Burn, Thomas, (L) Feb. 9, 1832, aet 2. 
 
 Campbell, Ann, (L) Jan. 17, 1829, aet lm. 
 
 Crowley, Jeremiah, (L) Dec. 27, 1829, aet 15. 
 
 Canfield, Ann, (L) Sept. 12, 1829, aet 23. 
 
 Dougherty, James, Jr., (L) Aug. 4, 1847, aet 1 s., James and 
 Bridget. 
 
 Ford, Timothy, Jr., (L) Mar. 9, 1830, aet 1. 
 
 Gorman, Catherine, (L) Oct. 5, 1847, aet 72. 
 
 Landigan, John (C) July 26, aet 30. 
 
 Landigan-, wf, John, (L) Sept. 29, 1830, aet 32. 
 
 Mahony, Thomas, (L) Oct. 30, 1829, aet 30. 
 
 Madden, Mary, (L) Apr. 5, 1830, aet 22. 
 
 Murray, Margaret, (L) Mar. 26, 1829, aet 28. 
 
 McDermott, Rose, (L) Oct. 30, 1845, aet 86. 
 
 McQuade, Andrew, (L) Oct. 23, 1829, aet 41. 
 
 O’Brien, James, (L) May 8, 1830, died in infancy. 
 
 O’Brien, John, (C) May 4, 1823, died in infancy. 
 
 O’Brien Thomas, (L) Sept. 23, 1829, aet 30. 
 
 O’Neil, Patrick, (L) June 3, 1844, aet 29. 
 
 Redman, John, (C) July 19, 1824, aet 40. 
 
 Redman, John, (C) July 19, 1824, aet 40. 
 
 Timmins, Rebecca, (L) May 20, 1830, died in infancy. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS OF LOWELL 
 
 COMPILED FROM LOWELL DIRECTORIES 1833-5. 
 
 V 
 
 Allen, Mary, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Allen, John, machinist, bds Kelley's Carpet blocks. 
 
 Allen, Thomas, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Banigan, Peter, dyer, h Lowell street (Market street.) 
 
 Barry, Bridget, widow, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Barry, James, housewright, h Lowell street. 
 
 Barney, Patrick, stone blaster, h South street. 
 
 Barrett, James, housewright, h Lowell street. 
 
 Barry, P. R., machinist, bds at Mrs. Turner’s Jefferson street. 
 Barron, Christopher, blue dyer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Blake, Catharine, tailoress, h Gorham street. 
 
 Bodge, James, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Bowers, John, housewright, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Braidy, John, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Breed, Hannah, rear Suffolk street (boarding house.) 
 
 Brilay, John, laborer, bds J. Gannon’s Merrimack Square. 
 Brown, John, machinist, bds Mrs. Turner’s, Jefferson street. 
 Burk, John, at Middlesex factory, h Merrimack street. 
 
 Burns,-, schoolmaster, bds Ephraim Andrew’s. 
 
 Burrows, Michael, at factory, h Tyler street. 
 
 Butler, James, laborer, h near Catholic church. 
 
 Byrnes, Martin, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Bolton, John, laborer, h Lawrence street near Massic Falls. 
 Boughen, Thomas, clerk, at Dean and Short’s. 
 
 Boyes, Daniel, at Carpet factory, b Jefferson street. 
 
 Braidy, James, at Carpet factory, h Middle street. 
 
 Burk, Richard, at flannel factory, h Washington street. 
 
 Burns, Edward, laborer, Fenwick street. 
 
 Burns, Edward, wine cellar, Merrimac street. 
 
 Burns, Michael, cordwainer, Green street. 
 
 Burns, Patrick, dye house, bds M. Burns’. 
 
 Burns, Patrick, blacksmith, Middle street. 
 
 Burns, Thomas, carpet weaver, 22 Carpet. 
 
 Butler, James, laborer, Lowell street. 
 
 Byrns, John J., merchant tailor, Merr’k street—bds at Mrs. 
 Smith’s. 
 
62 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Cadden, John, bds at J. Campbell’s. 
 
 Cahalane, P., bds Connell’s, D., Lawrence street. 
 
 Cahill, James, laborer, h near Catholic church. 
 
 Cain, Michael, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Callahan, Thomas, laborer, h Boston road. 
 
 Campbell, James, constable, Fenwick street; also boarding 
 house. 
 
 Campbell, James, overseer Ham. Corp. 
 
 Campbell, John, at Carpet factory, h Lowell street. 
 Campbell, John, merchant tailor, bds at Michael Magoon’s. 
 Campbell, Philip, laborer, at John B. Ray’s. 
 
 Campbell, Michael, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Campbell, Michael, laborer, near 2nd Baptist church. 
 
 Cannon, James, tailor, bds Miss Putnam’s, Appleton street. 
 Carey, Michael, laborer, rear Lawrence street. 
 
 Carey, Mary, widow, 25 Appleton Corp. 
 
 Carley, Peter, watchman Ham. Corp., bds 20 Ham. Corp. 
 Carney, James, laborer, Chapel Hill. 
 
 Carney, John, Merr’k Corp., bds Merrimack street. 
 
 Carney, Joseph, laborer, near Lawrence street. 
 
 Carney, Mary, h Merrimack Square. 
 
 Carpenter, John, blue dyer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Carr, Jeremiah, bds 9 Law. Corp. 
 
 Carr, John, boarding house, 9 Law. Corp. 
 
 Carr, John, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Carr, Joseph, tailor, h Gorham street. 
 
 Case, Patrick, h Lowell street. 
 
 Case, John, laborer, Lowell street. 
 
 Cassidy, Bernard, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Cassidy, Robert, bleachery Merr’k; h Fenwick street. 
 Cassidy, Michael, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Gassy, James, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Cater, Denis, grocer, Gorham street; h Gorham street. 
 Caughlin, James, laborer, Fenwick street. 
 
 Cavenough, James, h Lowell street. 
 
 Chambers, John, laborer, bds Mrs. Allen’s, Fenwick street- 
 Clark Mathew, cordwainer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Clark, Michael, housewright, h near Massic Falls. 
 
 Cochran, Edward, mason, bds 16 Carpet blocks. 
 
 Collins, John, laborer, bds at Fitzpatrick’s. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 63 
 
 Collins, Michael, watchman, h 2 Appleton Corp. 
 
 Corcoran, John, Lowell Bleachery, bds Mrs. Corless’. 
 Corcoran, Michael, bds Mrs. Lepere’s, Wowell street. 
 
 Conley, James, tailor, bds at Gibby’s. 
 
 Conley, John, laborer, bds at Mrs. Murray’s. 
 
 Connell, Denis, blue dyer, bds at Mrs. Sharpie’s, Prince street. 
 Cochran, John, h Boston Road near Hale’s Mills. 
 
 Cochran, Michael, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Cokely, John, boarding house, Fenwick street. 
 
 Collins, Joseph, h 43 Merrimack street. 
 
 Comerford, Garret, clerk at Cummiskey’s, Merrimack street. 
 Conden, Patrick, h Green street. 
 
 Conden, William, h Lowell street. 
 
 Conner, Caroline, widow, boardinghouse; 10 Merr’k Corp. 
 Conner, Edward, laborer, h Green street. 
 
 Connif, Martin, laborer, h Lowell street—at Cummiskey’s. 
 Conely, Michael, h Lowell street. 
 
 Conley, Edward, tailor, at Philip T. White’s. 
 
 Conley, Mary, widow, h rear Merrimack street. 
 
 Conley, Peter, h Lowell street, Hilliard’s block. 
 
 Conlin Michael, dry goods, 44 Merrimack street; bds at Amer¬ 
 ican House. 
 
 Connell, Daniel, W. I. goods, Lowell street; h same. 
 
 Connell, Matthew, machine shop, h Lowell. 
 
 Connell, Timothy, laborer, h rear Lowell. 
 
 Connell, Mrs., h Fenwick street. 
 
 Connell, Thomas O., at factory, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Conner, Perkins, painter, bds at C. Connor’s. 
 
 Connary, Peter, laborer, bds J. Campbell’s. 
 
 Connily, Otis, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Cooley, George, tailor, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Coolian, Patrick, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Corbin, William, Merr’k Corp., h Clark’s, Lowell street. 
 Corckland, James, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Corren, Thomas, laborer, h Winter street. 
 
 Corrigan, Mathew, bds at Egan’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Coughlin, Morris, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Cox, John, machinist, h Suffolk street. 
 
 Crane, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Cronan, Denis, clerk at Dean & Short’s. 
 
64 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Crowden, Patrick, mason, h Chelmsford old road. 
 
 Crowley, Bartholomew, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Crowley Cornelius, bds at T. Ford’s. 
 
 Connolly, Rev. Peter, at Rev. Mr. Mahony’s. 
 
 Connell, Patrick, laborer, near Catholic church. 
 
 Connell, Joseph, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Conner, Robert, laborer, bds Connell’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Conner, Thomas, bds at Sullivan’s. 
 
 Corey, Michael, at factory, h Lowell street. 
 
 Crane, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Croney, Bart., laborer, bds Peter Harris’. 
 
 Crowley, Denis, laborer, h rear D. Connel’s. 
 
 Crowley, John, laborer, bds T. Crowley’s. 
 
 Crowley, James, laborer, bds T. Crowley’s. 
 
 Crowley, Timothy, laborer, h Gorham street. 
 
 Crowley, Patrick, h Lowell street near Fitzpatrick’s. 
 Cummings,Thomas , housewright, h Fenwick street. 
 Cummings, Thomas, housewright, h Gorham street. 
 Cummiskey, Eugene, h Merrimack street. 
 
 Curlin, Rev. J. J., h Fenwick street. 
 
 Dean, John, (Dean & Short’s) dry goods, bds Mrs. Murray’s 
 Dean, John, broading house, Gorham street. 
 
 Davelin, John, bds J. Campbell’s. 
 
 Dempsey, Mary, widow, h Merrimack Square. 
 
 Delaney, Mathew, at dye house, bds J. Lavey’s. 
 
 Delaney, Lawrence, at dye house, bds J. Lavey’s. 
 
 Devine, John, at print works, bds J. Sullivan’s. 
 
 Donley, Edward, dyer, bds John McManus’. 
 
 Donely, Daniel, laborer, h between Fenwick and Suffolk sts. 
 Donley, James, bds Patrick Timmins’. 
 
 Donnahu, Jeremiah, stone layer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Donnahu, Thomas, tailor, Lowell street, h Hurd street. 
 Donnell, Francis, cordwainer, bds Mrs. Durant’s. 
 
 Donovan, John, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Doheity, Patrick, mason, bds Quimby’s, South street. 
 
 Dowling, Michael, housewright, h near soap works, Chapel 
 Hill. 
 
 Driscoll, Cornelius, bds Ford’s, Suffolk street. 
 
 Driscoll, Thomas, laborer h Fenwick street. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 65 
 
 Doolan, Col. Thomas, bds at Hugh Young’s near Catholic 
 church. 
 
 Dulan, William, bds Hannah Breed’s near Catholic church. 
 Dulay (Dooley) Matthew, housewright, bds Mrs. Piper’s, Suf¬ 
 folk Corp. 
 
 Dunn, Barney, bds 22 Carpet blocks. 
 
 Dunn, Mary, confectionery, Merr’k street, opp. Tremont Corp. 
 Dunney, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Dailey, Denis, at Merr’k Corp., h Lowell street. 
 
 Dailey, Francis, bds at Young’s. 
 
 Daland, Thomas, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Dempsey, Mary, widow, h Merrimack Square. 
 
 Dray, John, bds at Bangan’s. 
 
 Devlin, Francis, bds at Gleason’s, Jefferson street. 
 
 Devlin, John, h Cross street near Adams. 
 
 Devoy, Mary, bds Gleason’s, Jefferson street. 
 
 Divland, James, bds Gannon’s. 
 
 Devine, John, h Pine street, near Middlesex. 
 
 Donnahue, James, bds at M. Davis’. 
 
 Donnahoe, Jeremiah, h near Adams street. 
 
 Donnahoe, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Dolton, Christopher, at factory, h Winter street. 
 
 Donavan, Thomas, bds at B. Egan’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Donavan, Timothy, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Dorry, Luke, laborer, Fenwick street. 
 
 Downie, Hugh, dyer Carpet, h 11 Carpet. 
 
 Doyle, Bryan, laborer, h Lowell street—long block. 
 
 Doyle, Hugh, carpet weaver, h 19 Carpet. 
 
 Doyle, Lawrence, laborer, bds John Tool’s. 
 
 Doyle, Michael, grocer, Fenwick street; h same. 
 
 Doyle, Patrick, bds at M. Doyle’s. 
 
 Duff, James, calico printer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Duff, William, clerk, Conlin’s, 44 Merrimack street. 
 
 Duffey, Felix, h Merrimack street. 
 
 Duffey, Thomas, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Dunn, Bryan, carpet weaver, bds 19 Carpet blocks. 
 
 Dnnaman (Donovan) Mrs., h Fenwick street. 
 
 Eearley, Michael, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Earley, Martin, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Eagan, Barney, h Lowell street, (laborer.) 
 
66 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Earley, Michael, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Enright, Michael, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Ewing, Samuel, bds Mrs. Croth's (McGrath's) Fenwick street. 
 Fay, Michael, bds Sullivan's, Fenwick street. 
 
 Falvey, John, bds P. Timmons'. 
 
 Farrell, Henry, laborer, h Merr’k street, Cottage buildings. 
 Farrell, John, laborer, h Suffolk street. 
 
 Farrell, Robert, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Fitzgerald, Patrick, laborer, bds Geo. Barnes’. 
 
 Fitzgerald, Garrett, bds H. Reed’s. 
 
 Fling, Timothy, laborer, h School street. 
 
 Ford, Timothy, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Fraley, Patrick, h opp. new Methodist meeting house (Chapel 
 Hill.) 
 
 Faray, Andrew, laborer, Fenwick street. 
 
 Farley, Andrew, laborer, Fenwick street. 
 
 Farrill, John, h Gorham street. 
 
 Farrell, Edward, laborer, h Gorham street. 
 
 Fay, Denis, confectioner, east end Town House. 
 
 Fitzgerald, Richard, h rear Suffolk Square. 
 
 Fitzpatrick, Nicholas, h Lowell street. 
 
 Fitzpatrick, Thomas, h back soap works Lawrence street. 
 Fitzsimmons, Bryan, laborer, Lowell street, Ray's. 
 
 Flanagan, Timothy, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Flud, Patrick, carpet weaver, bds 22 Carpet. 
 
 Flynn, Michael, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Flynn, John, cordwainer, Lowell street. 
 
 Ford, P., watchman, Merr’k Corp., bds 61. 
 
 Ford, Timothy, laborer, h Suffolk street near Baptist meeting¬ 
 house. 
 
 Furlong, John, dyehouse, bds J. Lavey’s. 
 
 Gallagher, James, tailor, bds B. Gallahur's. 
 
 Galivan, Bart., bds at Sudar’s. 
 
 Galvin, John, bds. D. Connell's. 
 
 Gaffney, Patrick, laborer, h old Chelmsford road. 
 
 Garrway, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Gormley, Patrick, h lane off Lawrence street. 
 
 Griffin, Michael, h Merrimack Square. 
 
 Griffin, Patrick, at Lowell Bleachery, bds Mrs. Murray's. 
 Green, Peggy, h Lowell street. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 67 
 
 Green, John, gardner at K. Boott’s, Merrimack Square. 
 Green, Patrick, laborer, h Merr’k street, Fisk’s building. 
 Green, James, laborer, h rear Merrimack street. 
 
 Gallahur, Bernard, h Lowell street. 
 
 Gallahur (Gallagher), Owen, at Ham. Corp., h Lowell street. 
 
 Gallagher,-, h Middle street. 
 
 Gannon, Hugh, bds Young’s Fenwick street. 
 
 Gannon, John, barroom, Merrimack Square. 
 
 Gardman, Anthony, bds Egan’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Garretty, Michael, bds P. Banican’s. 
 
 Garthy (Garrity), Bartholomew, at dye house near Lawrence 
 street. 
 
 Garthy, James, Ham. Corp., h North street. 
 
 Garvey, Marcus, laborer, bds D. Connell’s Lowell street. 
 
 Gary, John, cordwainer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Gary, Thomas, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Garthy, Patrick, h North street near Lawrence. 
 
 Gately, John, h Lowell street. 
 
 Gill, John, overseer Ham. Corp., bds 30. 
 
 Gilday, Patrick, mason, bds Ray’s, Appleton street. 
 
 Givings, John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Gleason, Daniel, boarding house Jefferson street. 
 
 Gleason, William, cordwainer, bds Marden’s. 
 
 Gormeley, Mark laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Gormley, Martin, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Goodwin, Bryan, bds 5 Tremont Corp. 
 
 Gorman, John, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Griffin, John, at cotton batting factory, h Washington street. 
 Griffin, John stonelayer, h near guard locks. 
 
 Grimes, Elizabeth, h Lowell street. 
 
 Grimes, John, at Merr’k dye house, h 12 Prince street. 
 
 Haines, Mary, widow, boarding house 4 Merr’k Corp. cor. 
 Dutton street. 
 
 Haley, Patrick, laborer, bds John Tool’s. 
 
 Hand, Thomas, Ham. Corp., bds J. McCarthy’s, Green street. 
 Harris, Peter, boarding house Merr’k cor. Suffolk square. 
 Hart, Elizabeth, tailoress,Fayette street. 
 
 Hassett, Patrick, Ham. Corp., bds 47. 
 
 Haviland, Patrick, clerk, Fitzpatrick’s, Lowell street. 
 Healand, Richard, blacksmith, h Lowell, Fitzpatrick’s bldg. 
 
68 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Hart, John, musician, h High street. 
 
 Henry, Michael, laborer, Lowell street. 
 
 Hessett, Edward, W. I. goods, Merrimack Square. 
 
 Hiland, Thomas, at factory, bds Mongan’s Green street. 
 
 Hines, Thomas, hat and cap store, 6 Merr’k, bds Am. House. 
 Hogan, Edward, laborer, h Lowell. 
 
 Hughes, John, Ham. Corp., bds Mongan’s. 
 
 Hughes, John R., machinist, Fenwick street. 
 
 Hughes, Owen, laborer, h rear Lowell street. 
 
 Hughes, Peter, laborer, h Green street. 
 
 Jorry, John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Judge, James, laborer, h avenue between Hurd and Green. 
 Kalahan, Thomas, at Merr’k Corp., bds Ducker’s Merrimack 
 Square. 
 
 Kean, Philip, tailor, at Joel Davis’ Central street. 
 
 Keating, James, dry goods, Merrimack Square. 
 
 Keating, Patrick, clerk, Dean & Short’s. 
 
 Kelley, Andrew, carpet weaver, h 19 Carpet blocks. 
 
 Kelley, John, stone mason, h Chapel street. 
 
 Kelley, Denis, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Kelley, John A., stageman, h Chapel street. 
 
 Kelley, Morris, cordwainer, h Middle street. 
 
 Kelley, William A. boots and shoes Merr’k street, Suffolk 
 Square. 
 
 Kenedy, James, laborer, bds D. Connell’s. 
 
 Kenedy, Timothy, bds Doyle’s. t 
 Kenney, Lawrence, h Church street. 
 
 King, Daniel, trader, h Merrimack street, Merrimack Square. 
 Keene, Michael, laborer, h near Catholic church. 
 
 Kerlin, John, laborer, h Suffolk street. 
 
 Kelley, Francis, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Kelley, Mary, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Kelley, Mathew, gardner, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Kelley, Daniel, overseer, Ham. Corp., bds 48 Hamilton Corp. 
 King, Robert, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Lanagan, Stephen, carpet weaver, h 19 Carpet. 
 
 Lee, Michael, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Loughran, Peter, yeoman, h Lowell, long block. 
 
 Loughran, William, laborer, h Central street. 
 
 Lynch, Joseph, clerk, Dean and Short’s. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 69 
 
 Lynch, Patrick, laborer, factory yard, h Gorham street. 
 
 Lynch,-, laborer at Josua Swan’s. 
 
 Lynes, Daniel, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Largan, James, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Larkin, Arthur, at Lowell Bleachery, bds Mrs. Murray’s. 
 Lawnell, Denis, housewright, rear Appleton street; near Stone 
 meeting-house. 
 
 Leonard Jeremiah, blacksmith, bds MacAvoy’s, Lowell street. 
 Leonard, Thomas, bds Mrs. P. Leonard’s. 
 
 Locklin, John, at factory, h Merrimack street. 
 
 Long, James, at factory, h Lowell street. 
 
 Lord, Jeremiah, at factory, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Loughran, John, laborer, h Church street. 
 
 Loughran, Luke, bds Wm. P. Sawyer’s. 
 
 Loughran, Moses, stonelayer, h Church street. 
 
 Long, James, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Lordan, Jeremiah, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Lovery, James, laborer, bds Hugh Young’s, Fenwick street. 
 Lynch, Michael, h rear Lowell street. 
 
 Lynch, Patrick, at factory, h Gorham street. 
 
 Mahan, James, h Lowell street near Central street. 
 
 Mahan, Francis, laborer at Capt. J. Tapley’s. 
 
 Mahan, Owen, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Mahan, Patrick, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Mahan, Patrick, bds at Connif’s. 
 
 Mahar, Patrick, laborer, bds Hodgman’s Gorham street. 
 Mahar, James, bds J. Campbell’s. 
 
 Manahan, Cornelius, bds Ford’s Fenwick street. 
 
 Martin, Mary, widow, h Lowell, street, Hilliard’s block. 
 Martin, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Martin, Moses, housewright, h Jefferson street. 
 
 Maginley, Francis, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Magan, John, dyer, h Cross near Lowell street. 
 
 Magoran, John, dyer, h rear South street. 
 
 Mahoney, Owen, laborer, bds P. Timmins’. 
 
 Marren, Luke, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Moran, James, laborer, h between Suffolk and Fenwick streets. 
 Monahan, Patrick, at factory, h 48 Bowditch street. 
 
 Marren, Francis, h Lowell street. 
 
 Marren, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
70 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Mahony, Rv. John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Maloy, John, tailor and draper, Lewis street, bds Murray’s 
 building. 
 
 Mallon, John, h High street. 
 
 Mannice, John, at factory, bds McCarthy’s, Green street. 
 Mannice, Patrick, laborer and fisherman, h Middle street. 
 Mansfield, James, Merr’k print works, h Merrimack street. 
 Martin, John, laborer, rear soap works, near Lawrence street. 
 Martin, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Marren, Francis, h Lowell street. 
 
 Mellen, John, overseer of watchmen at Tremont, bds 3 Tre- 
 mont street. 
 
 Menneugh, Mathew, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Miles, Michael, at Merr’k Corp., h Lowell street. 
 
 Mitchell, James, machinist, rear Lawrence street; near Massic 
 Falls. 
 
 Mongan, Francis, Lowell Bleachery, h near Bleachery. 
 Mongan, Mary, widow, h Green street. 
 
 Mongan, Michael, reedmaker, h Green street. 
 
 Mongan, Morris, Ham. Corp., h Green street. 
 
 Morris, John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Morey, Patrick, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Monagan, Patrick, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Morrison, Stephen, at Whipple’s powder mills. 
 
 Morrison, Mark S., at Tremont Corp. 
 
 Moar, Francis, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Moran, James, laborer, h between Suffolk and Fenwick streets. 
 Moran, James, bds McManus’. 
 
 Mornley, Bart., bds at Sullivan’s. 
 
 Murphy, Patrick, laborer, bds P. Barnahan’s. 
 
 Murray, John, blue dyer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Murphy, John, blue dyer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Murphy, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Murphy, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Murphy, Cornelius, carpet weaver, bds Mrs. Grime’s. 
 Murphy, James, laborer, h rear Col. Fletcher’s. 
 
 Mullin, John (Bailey & M), bds Capt. Bailey’s. 
 
 Mullin, Peter, h Lowell street. 
 
 Murphy, Bernard, boarding house, Lowell street. 
 
 Murphy, Eugene, laborer, bds Ray’s, Appleton street. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 71 
 
 McAloon, Edward, laborer, h Cross street. 
 
 McAloon, James, laborer, h Merrimack street. 
 
 McAloon, Thomas, laborer, bds Mrs. Murray’s. 
 
 McAvoy, James, rug finisher, 21 Carpet blocks. 
 
 McAnnuna, Owen, h Lewis street. 
 
 McAnuly, Michael, blue dyer, bds Mrs. Mongan’s. 
 
 McAnulty, Owen, at factory, h Middle street. 
 
 McAvoy, John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCaffrey, Patrick, W. I. goods, Hurd street, h near Catholic 
 church. 
 
 McCaffrey, Peter, at factory, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCanelly, John, bds Wm. Davies’. 
 
 McCann, Peter, at factory, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCann, Thomas, at factory, h Hurd street. 
 
 McCannan, P., h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCanney, Francis, at Merr’k print works, bds McAvoy’s. 
 McCanney, Mathew, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCarney, Thomas, Ham. Corp, h Washington street. 
 McCarty, Denis, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCarty, John, cordwainer, h Green street. 
 
 McCarty, Michael, mason, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCarthy, Denis, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 McCarthy, Daniel, bds Gleason’s, Jefferson street. 
 
 McCarthy,-, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCabe, Owen, cordwainer, h Lowell street. 
 
 McCanary, Owen, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCann, Barney, h near soap works, Lawrence street. 
 McCaffrey, Patrick, h Green street. 
 
 McCardy, Robert, blacksmith, at J. G. Kittredge’s. 
 McCormic, Hugh, at factory, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCormic, Mary, widow, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McClaning, John, carpet weaver, bds 22 Capt. 
 
 McCleary, Denis, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McCleary, Wm. T., millwright, bds 5 Tremont street. 
 
 McClure, Patrick, at Bleachery house, bds E. Hodgman’s. 
 McConna (McKenna), Patrick, h rear Merrimack street. 
 McConihe, William, at Merr’k Corp., bds 24. 
 
 McConnell, Nicholas, h rear Lawrence street. j 
 
 McCormic, Bartholomew, at factory, bds Wm. Davis’. 
 
 Mellon, John, stonelayer, h Middle street. 
 
72 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 McDaniel, Alex., bds Egan’s, Lowell street. 
 
 McDermott, Thomas, at Lowell Bleachery, h near Bleachery. 
 McDaniel, James, laborer, bds Mrs. Lepere’s, Lowell street. 
 McDermott, Patrick, laborer, h rear Merrimack street. 
 McDermott, Torney (Anthony?) bds Campbell’s. 
 
 McDermott, Michael, laborer, bds P. McDermott’s. 
 McGarrah, James, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McGary, Jane, widow, h near soap works. 
 
 McGary, John, laborer, h near Lawrence street. 
 
 McGinley, Francis, at Middlesex Corp, h Green street. 
 McGinly, Daniel, carpet weaver, bds 21 Carpet. 
 
 McGovern, Barney, bds Everett’s, Lowell street. 
 
 McGowin, Hugh, at Lowell Bleachery. 
 
 McGuire, Charles, at factory, h Middle street. 
 
 McGarrah, James, bds Griffin’s, Merrimack Square. 
 
 McGuire, John, h Green street. 
 
 McGuire, Francis, bds Mrs. Barry’s, Lowell street. 
 
 McGuire, James, dye house, h 47 Ham. Corp. 
 
 McHune, Bernard, housewright, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McHugh, Hugh, h Lowell street, d July 10, 1845, aet 82. 
 Mcllroy, James, confectioner, Merrimack street, Merrimack 
 Square. 
 
 Mcllroy, Peter, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Malarchy, Arthur, bds J. Campbell’s. 
 
 Mclntire, William, bds Doyle’s. 
 
 McLench, John, blacksmith, bds 27 Lawrence Corp. 
 McLaughlin, Philip, dyer, bds at McManus’. 
 
 McMahon, Owen, h rear Catholic church. 
 
 McManus, John, h Merrimack street. 
 
 McManus, Owen, bds J. Campbell’s. 
 
 McManus, Thomas, at Lowell Bleachery, bds Mrs. Murray’s. 
 
 McMahon,-, tailor at Ager’s, Central street. 
 
 McMann, Patrick, laborer,h Lowell street. 
 
 McMann, Thomas, bds Davies’. 
 
 McMorrow, Charles, Mdx. Corp., h rear Appleton street. 
 McMurphy, Timothy, hatter, h Washington street. 
 
 McMullin, Andrew, bds 4 Tremont Corp. 
 
 McNulty, John, h Hurd street. 
 
 McNally, Patrick, tailor, h Green street. 
 
 McOsker, Owen, W. I. goods, Lowell street, h Lowell street. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 73 
 
 McParlin, Thomas ,laborer, h Suffolk street. 
 
 McQuade,-, h Fenwick street. 
 
 McVey, John cordwainer, bds Peter Harris’. 
 
 McVey, Hugh, Bleachery, bds Timmins’. 
 
 McVey, Owen, engraver, h Water street. 
 
 McWade, James, dyer, bds McManus’. 
 
 McWade, Michael, tailor, bds McManus’. 
 
 Nailor, James, laborer, h Lowell street. 
 
 Naverley, Philip, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Noland, Moses, blacksmith, bds Mongan’s. 
 
 Nealand,-, at factory, h Lowell street, Hilliard’s block. 
 
 Noonan, John, undertaker at railroad, bds Hartley’s on West 
 Chelmsford road. 
 
 Murphy, Michael, laborer, bds Doyle’s. 
 
 O’Brien, Catharine, widow, h Lowell street. 
 
 O’Brien, James, dyer, bds McManus’. 
 
 O’Brien, Mary, widow, h Fenwick street. 
 
 O’Brien, William, laborer, bds Crowley’s. 
 
 O’Haran, Jeremiah, h Middle street. 
 
 O’Neal, Matthew, laborer, h rear South street. 
 
 Owens, James, carpet weaver, h Lowell street. 
 
 Pattin, Thomas, laborer, bds Connif’s. 
 
 Plant, Richard, (Conlin and Plant), bds 26 Hamilton Corp. 
 Palmer, Thomas, tailor, h betw. Suffolk and Fenwick streets. 
 Phelan, Charles, W. I. goods, Merrimack Square. 
 
 Powers, Patrick, h Merrimack Square (W. I. goods, in com¬ 
 pany with Phelan.) 
 
 Powers, Peter, mason, h Chapel Hill near North street. 
 Powers, Wm. B., variety store, Central, bds P. Powers. 
 Prendergast, John, trader, h Gorham street. 
 
 Queen, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Quigley, Edward, W. I. goods, Merr’k street, h Lowell street. 
 Quigley, Hugh, h Lowell street, Hilliard’s block. 
 
 Quinn, John, tailor, Perez Fuller’s, Merrimack Square. 
 
 Quinn, William, Ham. Corp., h Green street. 
 
 Quigley, Martin, laborer, bds Fitzpatrick’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Quigley,-, laborer, h Merrimack street. 
 
 Quinn, Patrick, Bleachery, bds at Ducker’s. 
 
 Quinn, Thomas, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Ragan, John, Merr’k Corp., h Fenwick street. 
 
74 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Railley (Riley), Bernard, W. I. goods, h Lowell street. 
 
 Ray, John T. teamster, h Lowell near Adams street. 
 
 Rayan (Ryan), Richard, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Raydon, Lawrence,dyer, h Cross street. 
 
 Redmond, Michael, laborer, bds at Gibby’s. 
 
 Reynolds, Thomas, overseer dye house, bds at J. Lavy’s. 
 Reynolds, William, slater, bds J. Page’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Roach,-, tailor, bds M. Parker’s. 
 
 Rossiter, Patrick, tailor, bds M. Parker’s. 
 
 Rogers, William, dyer, bds 20 Carpet Blocks. 
 
 Ryan, Bridget, h Lowell street. 
 
 Ryan, Bridget, h Lowell street. 
 
 Ryley, Ann, widow, h Lowell street. 
 
 Riley, Bernard, slater, h rear Lawrence near soap works. 
 Rily, William, at Bleachery. 
 
 Riley, James, laborer, h Lowell (113 Market.) 
 
 Riley, Peter, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Robertson, John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Robinson, William, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Ryan, Nicholas, crockery and glassware, Merrimack Square* 
 Ryan, Roger, mason, h High street, bds 22 Ham. Corp. 
 
 Ryan,-, bds Mrs. Sparks’, Fenwick street. 
 
 Shanley, Michael, h Lowell street (rear 117 Merr’k.) 
 
 Shehan, Martin, h Lowell street. 
 
 Sherden, Hugh, at factory, bds Banican’s. 
 
 Sherden, Patrick, at Carpet factory, h Green street. 
 
 Shields, Michael, laborer, h Fenwick (lived 23 Hanover, 1861.) 
 Short, James, at Ham. Corp., h 48. 
 
 Short, Edward, factory, bds J. Campbell’s. 
 
 Short, Charles M., (Dean & Short’s) dry goods, Merr’k street. 
 Shay, Patrick, laborer, bds M. Doyle’s. 
 
 Shelly, Luke, dye house, h Carpet blocks. 
 
 Short, Patrick, bds James Short’s. 
 
 Short, James, at Hamilton, h rear Appleton street. 
 
 Short,-, machinist, bds Winn’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Slattery, Maurice, foreman railroad, bds Hartley’s. 
 
 Sleven, Patrick, servant at Merrimack House. 
 
 Slaven, Lawrence, at Lowell Bleachery. 
 
 Slaven, Michael, h Lowell street. 
 
 Smith, Andrew, h Water street, Evan’s building. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 75 
 
 Smidy, Margaret, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Smith, Daniel, bds 23 Carpet. 
 
 Smith, Ellen, widow, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Smith, Francis, carpenter, h Lowell street. 
 
 Smith, John, dry goods Merr’k street opp. Suffolk, bds Mrs. 
 Smith's, Lowell, street. 
 
 Smith, John, at Bleachery house, h Lowell street. 
 
 Smith, Owen, at Merr’k Corp., h Lowell street. 
 
 Smith, Patrick, bds at Francis Smith’s. 
 
 Smith, Richard, laborer, h Lowell near Fenwick street. 
 
 Smith, Sally, widow, nurse, Lowell near Fenwick street. 
 Smith, Thomas, at factory, h Lowell street. 
 
 Smiddick, Patrick, cordwainer, h Merrimack street. 
 
 Smith, Owen, at factory, h Lowell street. 
 
 Sullivan, Daniel, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Sullivan, James, bds Connell’s. 
 
 Sullivan, Jeremiah, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Sullivan, John, h Suffolk Square. 
 
 Sullivan, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Sullivan, John, laborer, h. Fenwick street. 
 
 Sullivan, Patrick, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Sullivan, John, laborer, h between Suffolk and Fenwick streets, 
 Sullivan, Thomas, laborer, bds P. Timmon’s. 
 
 Sullivan, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Sweeney, John, laborer, bds D. Connell’s. 
 
 Symons, Mary, boarding house, 8 Appleton Corp. 
 
 Tempany, Rose, widow, h Cross street near Lowell. 
 
 Tenney, Patrick, bds Everett’s, Lawrence street. 
 
 Timmins, Patrick, dyer Ham. Corp., h 47. 
 
 Tool, John, laborer, h Hurd treet near J. Lawrence’s. 
 
 Torrill,-, at Merr’k Corp., bds 24 Dutton street. 
 
 Towle, Jeremiah, laborer, Chapel Hill. 
 
 Trainer, Catharine, widow 7 , h Fenwick street. 
 
 Trainer, -, bds James Campbell’s. 
 
 Trainer, Patrick, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Tomolty, Charles, at Low^ell Bleachery, bds McDermott’s. 
 Tyning, Patrick, wool sorter, h Washington street. 
 
 Timmons, Patrick, dyer Ham. Corp., h 42 Bowditch street.. 
 Towle, Jeremiah, laborer, h Green street. 
 
76 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Trainer, Catharine, widow, near Lawrence street, Francom's 
 building. 
 
 Vale, Michael, at factory, bds J. Lavy’s. 
 
 Wallace, John, laborer, bds, Ray’s, Appleton street. 
 
 Ward, James, baker, bds T. Smith’s, Lowell street. 
 
 Welton, David, slater, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Wayland, John, laborer, h rear Lawrence street. 
 
 Welch, John, laborer, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Welch, Mathew, at Middlesex Corp., bds Burrow’s. 
 
 Welch, Thomas, h Lowell street (long block.) 
 
 White, James, h Fenwick. 
 
 White, Mary, widow, h Fenwick street. 
 
 White, John, at Ham. Corp., h North street. 
 
 White, Thomas, h Fenwick street. 
 
 White, Michael, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Wise, Mary Ann, h Lowell, Hilliard’s block. 
 
 Woods, John, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Young, Hugh, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Young, Mary Ann, boarding house, South street. 
 
 Young, Michael, h Fenwick street. 
 
 Young, Patrick, laborer, bds McManus’. 
 
 Young, Sarah, boarding house, Lowell street, Hilliard’s block. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 77 
 
 IRISH MARRIAGE INTENTIONS, 1827—1840. 
 
 Barry, Patrick and Miss Bridget Driscoll, July 20, 1829. 
 Brenley, Patrick, and Catherine Lenney, May 13, 1832. 
 Boyle, Michael, and Bridget Monahan, June 14, 1835. 
 
 Burk, John, and Eliza McPadden, Sept, 15, 1833. 
 
 Crowley, Denis, and Mary Connelly, Oct. 22, 1827; m. Oct. 25, 
 1827 by Rev. P. Byrne. 
 
 Crowley, John, and Mary Driscoll, Dec. 1, 1828. 
 
 Crowley, John, and Joanna Donovan, Sept. 26, 1831. 
 
 Crowley, Bartholomew, and Catharine Desmond, July 8, 1832. 
 Collins, Denis, and Catharine Bohan, May 3, 1829. 
 
 Connelly, Michael, and Miss Nora de Nevern, July 13, 1830. 
 Carney, Thomas, and Catharine McCue, Oct.ll, 1829. 
 Crudden, John, and Miss Ann Curry, Jan. 17, 1830. 
 
 Costello, James, of Chelmsford, and Mary Welch, Nov. 6, 1831. 
 Callahan, Thomas, and Mary McCartin, Nov. 20, 1831. 
 Cummiskey, Eugene, and Mary Loughran, Nov. 11, 1832. 
 Connolly, Mathew, and Margaret Fennell, Nov. 25, 1832. 
 Curry, John, and Bridget McDermott, Dec. 29, 1833. 
 
 Davitt, Patrick, and Catharine White, June 11, 1837. 
 
 Delaney, Thomas, and Ann Toulen, May 2, 1830. 
 
 Delaney, Matthias, and Mary McQuade, Nov. 20, 1836. 
 Dinney, John and Mary Desmond, July 2,1837. 
 
 Dolan, Thomas, and Rose Mahon, Feb. 2, 1834. 
 
 Desmond, Timothy, and Sarah Leavitt, Jan. 14, 1838. 
 Donovan, Timothy, and Nora Courtney, Aug. 12, 1832. 
 Donovan, William, and Honora Scully, Sept. 9, 1838. 
 Donovan, Timothy, and Margaret Donovan, Jan. 31, 1838. 
 Donnelly, Neil, and Mary Mellroy, June 18, 1837. 
 
 Doyle, Michael, and Elizabeth Nicholson, June 3, 1832. 
 Dowling, Thomas, and Catharine Kennedy, Apr. 29, 1838. 
 Doyle, Patrick, and Ann Flanagan, July 9, 1837. 
 
 Dulea, John, and Catharine Caddigan, July 31, 1836. 
 Dowling, James, and Ann Kearney, Jan. 20, 1833. 
 
 Enright, Michael, and Margaret Kirk. (No date.) 
 
 Farrell, John and Ann Duffy, Nov. 14, 1830. 
 
 Fielding, Maurice, and Catharine Donovan, July 18, 1830. 
 Finn, Michael of Boston, and Bridget Sullivan, Sept. 4, 1836. 
 Finn, James, (of E. Cambridge) and Catharine Quigley, Feb. 
 5, 1837. 
 
78 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Flynn, William, and Ellen Farrell, Sept. 2, 1838. 
 
 Flood Patrick, and Ellen Duffy, June 5, 1837. 
 
 Flynn, Thomas, and Mary McDoyle, Nov. 20, 1836. 
 
 Frawley, William, and Honora Scully, Sept. 9, 1838. 
 
 Ford, Denis, and Sarah Whitehead, of Andover, May, 13,1838. 
 Ford, Philip, and Bridget Burns, Nov. 29, 1832. 
 
 Ford, Timothy, and Miss Ellen Toomey, Nov. 28, 1831. 
 
 Ford, Timothy, and Mary Murray, Sept. 29, 1833. 
 
 Garvey, Marcus, and Ellen Sullivan, Jan. 15, 1837. 
 
 Garrity, Michael, and Rosanna Dolan, Feb. 25, 1838. 
 
 Garity, Patrick, and Ann Timmons, July 20, 1834. 
 
 Gallivan, Edward, and Mary Scanlan, Apr. 30, 1837. 
 
 Hill, John, and Mary Connelly, Aug. 17, 1832. 
 
 Haviland, Patrick, and Catharine Fitzpatrick, Feb. 9, 1834. 
 Hughes, Edward, and Rose Duffy, Jan. 3, 1836. 
 
 Kelly, John, and Sarah Fitzwilliams, May 15, 1836. 
 
 Keely, Lawrence, and Margaret Creighton, Apr. 29, 1838. 
 Keefe, Nicholas, and Eleanor Burns, Oct. 8, 1837. 
 
 Keyes, Patrick, and Ann Daily, Aug. 20, 1837. 
 
 Kennedy, John, and Mary Sullivan, Aug. 12, 1832. 
 
 Keegan, Michael, and Alice Early, Oct. 20, 1833. 
 
 Kilfoyle, Thomas, and Mary Connolly, Jan. 3, 1836. 
 
 Kenny, John, and Ann Bradley, Feb. 17, 1839. 
 
 Lynch, John and Margaret Timmons, Feb. 17, 1839. 
 
 Leary, Mathew, and Catharine Lary, May 28, 1831. 
 
 Lynch, Patrick, and Miss Mary Mullins, Feb. 19, 1832. 
 
 Lacey, Daniel, and Bridget Madden, Apr. 28, 1833. 
 
 Leonard, John of Strafford, N. H., and Susan McVey, Apr. 28, 
 
 1833. 
 
 Mansfield, James, and Johana Dempsey, Jan. 20, 1833. 
 Mahon, Patrick, and Margaret Cummiskey, July 29, 1833. 
 Mangan, Michael, and Harriet Jameson, Oct. 13, 1833. 
 Mahon, James, and Bridget Murray, Apr. 20, 1834. 
 
 Meehan, Patrick, and Mary Donahoe, May 4, 1834. 
 
 Mongan, Hugh, and Caroline Didiat (b. Germany) July 13, 
 
 1834. 
 
 Morrison, John, and Margaret Butler, June 14, 1835. 
 Monehan, Patrick, and Ann Powers, July 19, 1835. 
 
 Muldoon, James and Margaret Meginis, May 4, 1829. 
 Mooney, James, and Miss Sara Quinn, Sept. 2, 1832. 
 
IRISH PIONEERS 
 
 79 
 
 Moran, Patrick and Honora Fitzgerald, June 9, 1833. 
 
 Murray, Jeremiah, and Catherine Reardy, Jan. 17, 1830. 
 Murray, Michael, and Mary Donovan, Feb. 12, 1832. 
 
 Murray, Samuel, and Margaret Holland, Jan. 6, 1833. 
 Murray, John, and Jane McGarvey, Nov. 29, 1832. 
 
 Murphy, Peter, and Rosanna McAvoy, May 2, 1831. 
 
 Murphy, John, and Peggy Sullivan, Sept. 17, 1831. 
 
 Murphy, Timothy, and Jerusha Shattuck, May 27, 1832. 
 Murphy, James, and Mary Burns, Jan. 27, 1833. 
 
 Mullen, Denis, and Ann Carroll, Jan. 26, 1834. 
 
 Mullin, Thomas, and Ellen Donahoe, Jan. 26, 1834. 
 
 McCarty, John, and Margaret Fielding, Nov. 21, 1830. 
 McCarty, Daniel, and Margaret McCarty, June 14, 1835. 
 McCarthy, Daniel, and Ellen McCarthy, Nov. 25, 1832. 
 McCarthy, Daniel, and Miss Nancy McLenney, Apr. 7, 1833. 
 McCaffrey, Charles (of Poultney, N. H.) and Hannah McVey, 
 McCormick, John, and Margaret Tarbox, Feb. 21, 1831. 
 McCormick, Bart., and Mary White, Nov. 8, 1835. 
 
 Oct. 27, 1833. 
 
 McCluskey, Denis, and Catharine Farrell, Feb. 2, 1834. 
 McDermott, Thomas, and Margaret Leacy, Nov. 10, 1833. 
 McGinley, Daniel, and Ann Sheridan, July 14, 1833. 
 McGarvey, Patrick, and Bridget O’Brien, July 5, 1835. 
 McHugh, Hugh, and Margaret King, Oct. 13, 1833. 
 
 McHugh, Hugh, and Bridget Canfield, July 5, 1835. 
 
 McNulty, John, and Isabella McCaffrey, Oct. 27, 1833. 
 McLaughlin, Terence, and Miss Catharine Brennan, Oct. 17, 
 1830. 
 
 McManus, Patrick, and Sally Slaven, Nov. 10, 1829; m. Nov. 
 
 20, 1829, by Rev. J. Fitton. 
 
 McNulty, John, and Bridget Fagan, July 5, 1835. 
 
 Naylor, James, and Nancy Power, Oct. 23, 1831. 
 
 O’Connor, John, and Ann Lockwood, 1834. 
 
 O’Brien, James, and Mary Murray, Oct. 19, 1828. 
 
 O’Brien, Patrick, and Mary Johnston, Aug. 12, 1832. 
 O’Sullivan, Daniel, and Julia O’Neil, July 5, 1835. 
 Prendergast, John, and Miss Nancy D. Appleton, Apr. 15, 
 1832; m. by Fr. Mahony, July 1832. 
 
 Phalan, James, and Miss Margaret Connelly, May 31, 1829. 
 Ryan, Rogers, and Hannah White, of Westford, Mar. 31, 1833. 
 
80 
 
 IRISH GENESIS OF LOWELL 
 
 Reynolds, Thomas, and Margaret Burns, Apr. 21, 1833. 
 Riley, Hugh, of Boston, and Lucy M. Hunt, May 12, 1833. 
 Riley, Bernard, and Ann Morgan, Dec. 22, 1833. 
 
 Riordan, Lawrence, and Susan McCann, July 27, 1834. 
 Rourke, Patrick, and Ann Duff, Aug. 30, 1835. 
 
 Roach, John, and Honora Monahan, Aug. 21, 1836. 
 Sullivan, James, and Catharine Michael, Feb. 26, 1832. 
 Sullivan, Jeremiah, and Margaret McCarty, Feb. 3, 1833. 
 Sullivan, Michael, and Johanna Reardon, Jan. 26, 1834. 
 Sullivan, John, and Mary Daigre, Feb. 2, 1834. 
 
 Sullivan, James, and Julia Scanlan, Oct. 11, 1835. 
 
 Sheehan, Edmund, and Mary McKenney, June 2, 1833. 
 Short, Francis, and Catharine Donnelly, June 2, 1833. 
 Shields, Michael, and Margaret Mills, May 11, 1834. 
 Smith, Patrick, and Rosanna Welch, Oct. 18, 1835. 
 
 Welch, Thomas, and Catharine Crowley, Jan. 24, 1831. 
 White, Michael, and Johanna Galivan, July 26, 1835. 
 
BOSTON COLLEGE 
 
 3 9031 01 
 
 555684 8 
 
 56109 
 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. 
 
 Books may be kept for two weeks and may 
 be renewed for the same period, unless re¬ 
 served. 
 
 . Two cents a day is charged for each book 
 kept overtime. ^ 
 
 If you cannot find what you want, ask the 
 Librarian who will be glad to help you. 
 
 The borrower is responsible for books drawm 
 on his card and for all fines accruing on the 
 
 same.