The Churches of Newport
The Catholic Church, St. Joseph's, was situated on Barrack Hill, close to the present site of St. Patrick's Church. The second Sir Neal O'Donel partly funded the building of this church but later accused Fr. Burke, the parish priest of squandering the church funds (Ó Móráin, 1957). The Rev. James Hughes was the Catholic parish priest at the outbreak of the Famine. He was very politically active, a keen supporter of Daniel O'Connell and the Repeal Movement. He was involved in debates and arguments through the local newspapers with the Rev. Stoney, the Protestant rector, which became very acrimonious. Later, he was promoted to the Deanery of Claremorris and died in 1850. He was replaced as parish priest by Fr. Peter Cannon (Slater, 1846). There are no reports of acrimony between Fr.Cannon and his fellow clergymen.
The Methodists built a chapel on Weaver St., also partially funded by the O'Donels. This building was bought by the Catholic parish priest in 1940 and has served as the town hall or community centre since then. The Methodists never had a resident clergyman but services were held every second week. Margaret Arthur, the postmistress in Newport, was a Methodist. She was a friend of Asenath Nicholson. Her son, the Rev. William Arthur, was a prominent preacher in Westport and in England and India. Although the Methodists were prominent in the evangelical movement generally, there is no mention of their having been involved in the inter denominational conflict in Burrishoole. There is no Methodist community in Newport or Westport now.
Slater (1846), mentions a Presbyterian community in Newport. They had no meetinghouse but met for services in one of the schools in the town. The Presbyterians played a prominent part in Famine relief in other parts of Mayo (Swords, 1999), but there is no record of their involvement in either relief or evangelisation in Burrishoole |
The Episcopalian Church, also known as Church of Ireland or Established Church was St. Catherine's. It is now a private house. The church was built in the grounds of Newport House and the building was funded by the O'Donels (Mullowney, 2002). Rev William Baker Stoney was rector of the parish at the outbreak of the famine. Ó Móráin (1957), says he was a Darbyite (Plymouth Brethren), but as he was a rector of the Established Church this was unlikely. He had very strong views and was anti Catholic. He was a strong supporter of Rev Nangle's mission in Achill, which brought him into conflict with Fr. Hughes. He was involved in relief work during the partial famine in 1835. Later, he was transferred to Castlebar, where both he and his wife were involved in relief work. Rev George Gildea replaced him as rector in Newport.
Sir Richard O'Donel founded a convecticle of the Plymouth Brethren in Newport. . Ó Móráin (1957) says that Sir Richard was a self-appointed bishop, but as the Plymouth Brethren do not have any clergymen, this is untrue. He preached and taught in Sunday School and his wife ran a school for children. He tried to convert his tenants but does not appear to have made many converts apart from his agents and managers. The Plymouth Brethren believe that the 'saved' should keep themselves separated from the 'unsaved', which may have led Ó Móráin to conclude that he was intolerant and prejudiced. Strangely, Sir Richard's sister Mary converted to Catholicism and became a nun (Mullowney, 2002). The Plymouth Brethren building was later used by the Presbyterians. It was a Catholic boys primary school until a new school was erected and was then used by the local youth club.
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