Theme no. 6 of the exhibit “The Irish Presence in Rawdon, Yesterday and Today,” held at the Centre d’interprétation multiethnique de Rawdon, Saturdays and Sundays, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., from March 2 to 30, 2025 (except March 22).
The first years
The Irish are credited with founding Rawdon’s Catholic parish, as they were the first to request its establishment.
In 1831, members of the Irish community recommended a chapel be built at the site of the present cemetery. It wasn’t until 1834 that the first mass was celebrated.
Before then, Catholic events were recorded in Saint-Jacques. The cemetery in Rawdon was blessed by Father Roderick Ryder in June 1836. He was the priest in charge of the Rawdon mission and was a vicar of Saint-Jacques-de-l’Achigan and, by his name, he is presumed to have been Irish.
In March 1837, Father Dennis McReavy, opened his Saint Patrick’s Rawdon register. He was born in Ireland and was ordained in Montréal in 1835. In 1836, he was appointed priest in Rawdon and remained there until early 1841.
The names of the first churchwardens (John Carroll, Luc Dupuis and Luke Daly) reflect the union of Irish and French-Canadian Catholics.
The Irish were responsible for founding the Catholic parish of Rawdon.
In the 1820s, Irish Catholics met and practised in certain houses, notably John Carroll’s in the 7th Range. Missionary priests from the neighbouring parish of Saint-Jacques shared the task.
The Irish were the first to request the establishment of a Catholic parish. Thomas Lane and his wife Margaret Wood were pioneers in this respect within the township’s Irish Catholic community. Born in Dublin, Thomas Lane learned several languages and received a higher education in Ireland, before immigrating and settling in Rawdon in 1824, on lot 25 in the 3rd Range.
In 1831, the Bishop of Montréal, Jean-Jacques Lartigue, asked the parish priest of Saint-Esprit, Charles-François Caron, to see to the needs of Rawdon’s Catholics. His report, signed by Irish Catholics Thomas Lane and John Daly, recommended the construction of a chapel measuring 50 feet by 30 feet on lot 17 in the 5th Range.
It was not until September 21, 1834, that the first mass was celebrated in the chapel, located on the site of the current cemetery on Chemin du Lac-Morgan. A Montréal newspaper of the time reported that 600 people had gathered for the occasion and that an amateur orchestra had even played St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning.
The union of Irish and French-Canadian Catholics can be seen in the very names of the first churchwardens elected in the parish: John Carroll, Luc Dupuis and Luke Daly.
The first events
The first events were recorded in the parish registers starting in 1837: the first baptism, the first burial and the first marriage, that of the Irish couple John Doherty and Catherine Tansey.
Over time, the chapel, having become too small, was replaced by a church in 1880, which was again replaced in 1956.
The year 1837 was one of great firsts, even if celebrations had already taken place before then. It was in 1837 that the first major events were recorded in the parish registers. The first baptism, that of Thomas Boilen, was recorded on March 26. The first burial, that of Eléza Moore, daughter of William Moore and Catherine Pratt, was recorded on March 31. One week later, the marriage of Irish couple John Doherty and Catherine Tansey was the first to be recorded.
In 1844, Bishop Ignace Bourget of Montréal appointed Rawdon’s first resident priest, Joseph-Amable Flavien Cholette.
Over time, other churches and larger presbyteries replaced those that had become obsolete or too small. The name of the parish also changed. Until 1845, the parish bore three successive names, according to the wishes of the Bishop of Montréal: it was known as Saint-Philippe in 1831, Saint-Grégoire in 1832 and Immaculée-Conception in 1838.
It was in 1845 that the key contribution of Rawdon’s Irish was recognized when the parish was named after the patron saint of Ireland: Saint Patrick. Irish descendants, including Anastasia Quinn, wife of Member of Parliament Firmin Dugas, were devoted parishioners.
The parish name
The parish bore three different names until, in 1845, it became the parish of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
In 1956, when the present church was consecrated, the parish name was changed to Marie-Reine-du-Monde-and Saint Patrick.
The name remained for more than a century, until the present church was consecrated in 1956. The history of Irish and French-Canadian Catholics was then brought together under the name Marie-Reine-du-Monde-de-Rawdon and Saint-Patrick Parish.
Today, Sunday Mass in English, bilingual ceremonies at Christmas and Easter, and the presence of Irish descendants on the parish council all demonstrate the lasting influence of the Irish in the life of the parish.
Irish presence
Today, Rawdon bears the imprint of the Irish.
Irish descendants work on the parish council. In the choir of the church stands the sculpture of Saint Patrick created by Armand Filion, professor at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, blessing the people of Ireland and recalling the ancestry of the parishioners of Irish origin.The façade features a stained-glass window depicting Saint Patrick. The coat of arms can be seen in the vestibule at the entrance to the church.
