FROM COUNTY ROSCOMMON IN IRELAND TO NORTHPHILADELPHIA
By Joanne Ennis and Eileen Troxell
Front row, left to right: Mary Gill, Margaret Lomax, Lois Harris, Bettye Walker. Back row, left to right: Trish di Pietrae, Yvonne Butler, Joanne Ennis, Martha Tisdale. | Photo © Katharine Gilbert
Saint Malachy Parish in North Philadelphia is celebrating its 160th jubilee. The first parishioners of Saint Malachy were part of the great migration from Ireland in the 1850s. They fled famine and tyranny to find a new life in America. They labored in the factories and worked as maids and washerwomen in the homes of the wealthy. At the end of the day, they would return to their homes in Saint Malachy parish. They lived there for generations, founding a school and educating their children. The next generations prospered and moved into the American mainstream.
In the 1930s, there was another great migration, that of the African-Americans from the South. Like the Irish before them, they fled a harsh system to find a better life in the North. The African Americans moved into a neighborhood that no longer had an economic base.
photo © Katharine Gilbert
Unlike the time of the Irish migration, jobs for unskilled workers were no longer plentiful. Factories closed or moved to other locations. Times were even more difficult for the new immigrants.
The descendents of the Irish immigrants no longer felt the need to band together in tight little communities. The old neighborhood had sustained them through the hard times, but now it was time to move on. The Irish moved from Saint Malachy, but Saint Malachy remained. It remains today, serving the community of North Philadelphia. Many descendants of those Irish immigrants have returned to the parish of Saint Malachy. They and the African American parishioners are working to keep the old place going.
Then the Quilting Group at Saint Malachy decided to create a special quilt for the parish jubilee, they remembered that, in 2008, some Irish women from County Roscommon, visiting friends who were Saint Malachy parishioners, were also quilters. They enjoyed sharing quilting tips and patterns with the Saint Malachy Quilters. Returning home, the Irish group wrote that their visit to Saint Malachy was one of the highlights of their stay in Philadelphia.
Roscommon Castle Quilters: Back Row: Ann Raftery, Mona O'Neill, Marie McPhillips, Pat O'Rourke, Kathy Fallon, Monica Lannon, and Lynn Naughton. Front Row: Bridgie Dalton, Maura Cunningham and Marilyn Farrell.
So, given the history of Saint Malachy parish, it was a logical thought to have both groups cooperate on the Jubilee Quilt. The Roscommon group (The Castle Quilters of Roscommon) responded enthusiastically to our invitation to participate in this exciting project. We chose a small heart pattern and decided to call our quilt “Shared History; Shared Hearts.”
Within weeks, packages of beautifully appliquéd (sewn) heart blocks began arriving from County Roscommon. Meanwhile the quilters here at Saint Malachy and many other women in the parish who responded to the invitation to participate, busied themselves sewing blocks. Soon 252 completed heart blocks were ready to be sewn into a stunning quilt top.
A very talented needlewoman in Saint Malachy, Anita D. Bodell, designed and embroidered the four corner blocks in the quilt: one symbolizing Saint Malachy Church; another, Saint Malachy School; a third, Africa, and the fourth, Ireland. The Jubilee Quilt is a symbol of the many hands — Irish, Irish-American and African-American- all working together “Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Present, and Inspiring the Future.”
The Jubilee Quilt is now completed and the quilters hope that many people will have the opportunity to see it and take chances on winning it ($5.00 a ticket; 3 for $10.00). The proceeds will help support the many ministries at Saint Malachy. The drawing for the quilt will take place on November 6th, 2011 at the time of the Annual Mick Moloney Irish Concert.
If anyone would like to obtain chance tickets or would like to exhibit the quilt at a parish or club function, please contact:
Grace Croke: grannygraceann@verison.net
Lois Harris: 215-763-7079