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The present Church of the Assumption was the concept of Rev. Joseph Synnott, the third pastor of Assumption Parish, who became pastor in April (on Holy Thursday) of 1886. Fr. Synnott immediately saw that the first Church was too small. In August 1888, he secured from Mrs. Charles H. Hill the property where the present Church stands on North Cliff Street at a cost of $25,000. On April 4, 1889, ground was broken by the men of the parish for the new Church of the Assumption. The Church was designed by Irish-born architect Patrick Charles Keely (1816-1896) of Brooklyn, New York. [ more ]

Early clergy in Cheshire were all Irish or of Irish descent. The first known Mass in Cheshire was offered in 1843 at the Booth homestead on Meriden Road by Father Bernard Tevin of St. Mary, New Haven. The priest also celebrated Mass from 1852 until 1854 at the Main Street home of Michael Garde (currently the site of the Hull Memorial Baptist Church). In 1854, Cheshire passed to the care of St. Rose, Meriden, whose pastor, Father Hugh O'Reilly, said Mass on Main Street at Baldwin Hall and later at the home of Martin Brennan. In 1855, Father O'Reilly bought an acre of land at Highland Avenue on Route 10 for $200 and presented it to  ... [ more ]

On September 10, 1833, the first Irish Catholics landed on the Derby docks. A late nineteenth century history of Derby states that, "A son of Erin at that time was rather a curiosity for the denizens of the town. Michael Stokes, Patrick Quinn, John Regan, Farrell Reilly, and others soon followed the first until their numbers were legion."  ... [ more ]

The Gaelic Football and Hurling Club (NHGFHC) started in 1949 as an informal group of recent immigrants wanting to play their traditional games of Gaelic football and hurling. The Irish-American Community Center was founded in 1982 as a non-profit organization for the promotion and preservation of Irish Culture in South Central Connecticut ... [ more ]

The mission of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University is to collect, preserve, exhibit and study its collection of art, artifacts and literature relating to the Irish Famine/Great Hunger that occurred from 1845–52. In doing so, it seeks to educate audiences of all ages about the underlying political, social, economic and historic causes to the Great Hunger, and the magnitude of the disaster on Ireland and its people. The museum contains the world's largest collection of Great Hunger-related art by noted contemporary Irish and Irish American artists as well as  ... [ more ]

At the time of construction of the farmhouse, c. 1875, a 19-acre property was owned by Jared Dickerman, a well-to- do farmer in Mount Carmel Village, just north along Whitney Avenue. Dickerman mortgaged the property to Patrick and Annie Kelly in 1876 and title was transferred in 1881. The Kellys farmed the site for almost 30 years, and eventually sold it to the Agricultural Experiment Station in 1910 ... [ more ]

Michael Donlon (1876-1909) was born in Galway, Ireland, but by 1909 he was living with his uncle on Pratt Street in Meriden, Connecticut. He had been working as a porter at the Meriden railroad station for about three years at the beginning of 1909. On January 2 of that year, he was moving one of the baggage trucks towards the north end of the station to meet the New York to Boston express train which was due to stop in Meriden at 2:12 pm. As the train was nearing the station, he noticed a woman and child on the tracks in the path of the oncoming locomotive. According to witnesses  ... [ more ]

The Irish Heritage Society of Milford had its beginning in March 2006, when Martin Hardiman and Christopher McEnerney, who had worked together on the Milford St. Patrick's Day Parade, discussed the possibility of forming an Irish Club in Milford. They placed a small article in the local newspaper announcing that a meeting would be held, inviting anyone interested, and over 80 people attended in response. The organization's purpose is to bring about the association of individuals of Irish descent or relationship, in whole or in part, for the purpose of conducting educational and benevolent activities of all kinds, including  ... [ more ]

St. Francis of Assisi School was designed by James Murphy, who was born in 1834 in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 1852, he emigrated to the United States . Soon after his arrival, Murphy entered the Brooklyn, New York firm of Patrick C. Keely, another Irish immigrant, as an apprentice. Keely was already an established architect specializing in ecclesiastical design. Eventually, Murphy became a partner in the firm, which operated as Keely & Murphy. In 1875, the partnership was dissolved and Murphy established his own practice. Murphy continued to specialize in church design ... [ more ]

New Haven pastors assumed spiritual responsibility for the growing numbers of Irish Catholics in the Naugatuck area, then called Salem Bridge. In 1847, Waterbury pastor Father Michael O'Neil began visiting Naugatuck to offer Mass at private homes as well as the Naugatuck Hotel. The town soon passed to the care of Derby priests, but reverted again to Waterbury in 1859. Local men bought Water Street property for a church site, which they deeded to the Diocese. At first named for St. Anne, the Naugatuck church was dedicated by Bishop Francis P. McFarland on ... [ more ]

The Knights of Columbus Museum has been renamed the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center which commemorates Fr. McGivney's extraordinary life. Docent-led group tours are available at no cost but donations are accepted. The building still houses the Knights of Columbus Museum and special exhibitions are still mounted during the year. The McGivney Center was created in response to Pope Francis' approval of a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father McGivney and ... [ more ]

The first generation of Coyles came to New Haven from Ireland in the 1850s. They settled in The Hill neighborhood in southwestern New Haven, which was home to many Irish families in the middle of the nineteenth century. They were a close-knit family who worked mostly in the building trades. Charles proved to be more ambitious than his relatives and he eventually became a lawyer and real estate developer. He began by buying and selling houses ... [ more ]

The first generation of Coyles came to New Haven from Ireland in the 1850s. They settled in The Hill neighborhood, located in the southwestern quadrant of New Haven, which was home to many Irish families in the middle of the nineteenth century. They were a close-knit family who worked mostly in the building trades. Charles proved to be more ambitious than his relatives and he eventually became a lawyer and real estate developer. He began by buying and selling houses in The Hill and eventually started building houses, including these three homes ... [ more ]

Charles T. Coyle, an Irish-American lawyer and real estate entrepreneur, entered into one of the biggest real estate ventures in New Haven in 1907 when he purchased the entire square from Cold Spring Street to Canner Street between Whitney Avenue and Livingston Street from the Henry Whitney estate. This area was built out and fully occupied within four years. The block includes Coyle's own home at 569 Whitney Avenue, and ... [ more ]

Canals were a transportation dream of the early Republic. George Washington called them "fundamental to nationhood" and was president of a canal company in Virginia. By 1790 canal companies had been founded in 8 of the original 13 states. On the heels of the completion of the Erie Canal in New York State, a group of New Haven businessmen met in 1821 with the goal of constructing a canal in Connecticut to facilitate trade. Ground was first broken on July 4, 1825. It was completed in 1835. The canal was dug by hand by mostly Irish laborers ... [ more ]

Established on March 17, 1878, the Knights of St. Patrick (KOSP) has a long and distinguished history in the New Haven area. The organization's goal is to honor Irish heritage and to continue to promote it within the community. The KOSP, as the founders established, continues to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with an Annual Banquet held on March 17. The KOSP is one of four New Haven area Irish organizations that organizes and promotes New Haven's Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade ... [ more ]

The St. Patrick's Day Parade of Greater New Haven has become one of New England's premier Irish events. It is the largest, single-day spectator event in the State of Connecticut. The Parade was recognized by the Library of Congress in 1999 as the 6th oldest parade in the nation and an outstanding example of American folk life. Large crowds (an estimated 325,000 spectators in 2012), annually attend the parade. Parade day begins with Mass and small reception at St. Mary's Church. A Parade Ball is held on Saturday evening one week prior to parade day ... [ more ]

The Soldiers Monument, 9th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers in New Haven, is significant historically because it honors a Civil War regiment primarily made up of Irish- Americans. Its dedication on August 3, 1903, was held in connection with a national convention of the American-Irish Historical Society of the United States. The monument's cost of $4,500 was paid for with $3,500 subscribed by the Ninth Regiment Veterans Association and $1,000 provided by the State of Connecticut  ... [ more ]

In 1832 Father James McDermot, a priest of the Diocese of Boston, which encompassed all of New England, was sent to assist the pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Hartford. Fr. McDermot's special duty was ministry to the Catholics in the western part of the State of Connecticut including New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Derby, Waterbury, Meriden, and Middletown. Later that year he became the resident pastor in New Haven while continuing the pastoral care of the Catholics in the western Connecticut. At that time, there were about two hundred Catholics in New Haven ... [ more ]

Winchester Repeating Arms was one of the largest and most important American firearm manufacturers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It originated in New Haven, moved briefly to Bridgeport and returned to New Haven to establish itself in this location in 1870. The company grew rapidly and it employed over 600 workers in 1887 and about 1,000 workers by 1900. Many of them were Irish and they lived nearby in the residential neighborhoods that sprang up around the plant ... [ more ]

Rev. James Smyth of New Have offered the first Catholic Mass in Seymour to six Irish immigrants in 1844. The first St. Augustine's Church (now the rectory) was dedicated in 1856. Ground is broken for a new church in 1888 and it is formally dedicated on May 18, 1890. The new church has a capacity of 600 and it cost $13,000. The congregation at that time was a mix of Irish, Polish and German. A tolling bell is placed in the bell tower in 1895 and an organ is purchased in 1910. The church interior sees the installation of ... [ more ]

The Jones farm began in 1848. Philip James Jones, a Welsh-Irish immigrant, purchased the land from the Jeremiah Shelton family and engaged in general farming. He sold beef, lamb, eggs, and apples from his horse-drawn cart to the city folks of Derby.  His son, William Henderson Jones, joined him in farming and he eventually established a dairy farm. Philip James and William built the oldest extant farm buildings in what is now the Christmas yard area ... [ more ]

Waterbury has drawn a steady stream of Irish immigration from its earliest history as a city. By the turn of the twentieth century six Ancient Order of Hibernians divisions met in Waterbury and the 1896 City Directory also listed two Ladies' Auxiliary Divisions.  When Monsignor William Slocum, Rector of the Immaculate Conception Church and benefactor for all Waterbury Catholic institutions died unexpectedly in 1907, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th divisions met and consolidated into the ... [ more ]

St. Patrick's Church is in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Waterbury. Like most of Waterbury's neighborhoods, Brooklyn was virtually a self-sustaining community with its own stores, two churches, taverns, bakeries, factories, and schools. As early as the 1860s, Irish immigrants began settling in Brooklyn, followed by the Polish and Lithuanians in the 1890s. St. Patrick's was founded in the area where new Irish immigrants lived and was Waterbury's second Catholic church ... [ more ]