‘A Little Bit of God’s Mercy’

MORRISTOWN  Early Irish immigrants, who came to the U.S. in pursuit of the American Dream, often found their search for “a little bit of God’s mercy” — a job, a home, friendship and a sense of security — more difficult, as they sometimes faced bigotry from an unfriendly wider society. Many of these newcomers to Morristown discovered the open arms of the “Dublin” neighborhood — an ethnic enclave that nurtured generations of its Irish and their descendants for more than a century. At its heart was Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, which led the community in welcoming the stranger.

Irish eyes were smiling on the afternoon of March 3, as a sea of spectators crowded at the corner of Madison Street and MacCulloch Avenue in Morristown to view the ceremonial unveiling of a historical marker and two “interpretive panels” on Assumption’s property. They tell the story of Dublin and the faith, hard work and courage of its inhabitants, who lived here from the 1840s to the 1950s. These markers also recognize the notable faces and places of the neighborhood, including Assumption, as well as the scores of unsung people here, who banded together and became close — strangers no more — to make a lasting impact on Morristown, Morris County and the entire U.S. Presented by the Friendly Sons of Morris County, the project was funded by a grant from the Morris County Heritage Commission.

“Welcome to Dublin neighborhood. We wanted to put the story of the people who lived here on the map,” said Michael P. Keown, an Assumption parishioner and member of the Friendly Sons, during his address as master of ceremonies of dedication, which also brought out former residents of the Dublin section of Morristown.

He and William C. Duggan Jr., also of Assumption and the Friendly Sons, led a committee that coordinated the creation of the historic markers. “Picture this: you have a population of poor, uneducated Irish-Catholic workers, who are untrusted by the people around them and unliked by some. Then, you have this Church of the Assumption — also untrusted by some — which welcomed the people around it. Together, they grew hand in hand, symbiotically interdependent on one another and both rising to great pride in the community,” he said.

To great applause, an array of public officials, Friendly Sons and community leaders, including Msgr. John Hart, Assumption’s pastor, helped unveil the maroon historical marker with white lettering at the curb of the intersection. The sign calls Dublin — named after the Irish capital —“the center of Irish immigrant life” in the area. Residents worked as laborers, domestic help, merchants and civil servants. Later generations were elected to public office and served in the military “in large numbers.” In 1892, they also helped establish the former All Souls Hospital, the marker states.

“What a wonderful neighborhood this has always been. People, like the Caseys, the Murphys, the Murrays and so many Irish families, who came here, found each other and supported each other — all within eyesight of our beautiful Church of the Assumption, built mainly by the Irish. I know that all the people who lived here — all our forebears — are smiling down from heaven and smiling, watching us now,” Msgr. Hart, also of Irish heritage and a supporter of the project, said before he conducted a blessing at the unveiling.

That cold afternoon also saw the unveiling of the two interpretive panels, one of which tells a brief history of Dublin, located a few blocks south of the Morristown Green. The area was comprised of parts of Maple and MacCulloch avenues, Green Street, Catherine Lane, and Madison and James streets. This working-class neighborhood was populated by modest, wooden dwellings that were “set close to the road and mostly unadorned” and included tenement houses. Built in 1848, Assumption had served as the “backbone and guiding light” of the community that started to change in 1960s, when Irish descendants left and other ethnic groups moved in, according to a panel, which features a map of the area.

These interpretive panels highlight several buildings of the area — accompanied by old photos and short text descriptions — including Assumption. The faith community began in 1848 with the building of a wooden structure and continued with the construction of the current stone church in 1872 on Maple Avenue. Also featured is the former Bayley High School at 25 Madison Street. In 1923, it received state accreditation as a four-year high school, after having offered two years of study to parish students; shut its doors in 1949, after quickly outgrowing the space; and moved to Madison, reopening as Bayley-Ellard High School, which has since closed.

The panels also feature Father Joseph M. Flynn, pastor of Assumption from 1881 to 1912, who “changed the course of the parish.” He built All Souls’, Bayley, a building for the local Young Men’s Catholic Association and several nearby churches. The priest also told all immigrants, “Let none sneer at your nationality or the nationality of your fathers. Let none use with contempt the scurrilous epithets, which ignorance and bigotry have heaped in the past upon the Irish. We are no more alien upon this soil of America than were the Puritans,’ ” according to a panel.

Other speakers at the event — held under waving Irish and American banners and flags — included some of the people who helped make the markers possible. They included Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty, Heritage Commissioner Director Peg Schultz and Cheryl Turkington, author of “Ordinary Days, Extraordinary Times: Morristown, New Jersey’s Immigrant Past.” The unveiling took place a few days before Father Patrick “Paddy” O’Donovan, pastor of Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Parish, Cedar Knolls, leads the Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Morristown on March 9.

“This [the marker project] has given a voice to a part of our heritage that so often has been marginalized, shunted aside in favor of citizens who are more wealthy or perhaps more famous,” Turkington told the crowd. “These newcomers made their way across the Atlantic to the far reaches of Morristown. They walked these streets, searching for a little bit of God’s mercy — a job, a home, friendship, connections and safety and security — and they found it here. Their contributions to their community are no less significant, because that history is harder to find. The cohesion and the sense of belonging that was fostered here slowly gave residents the confidence to confront bigotry, enter society and gain access to a community, where they and future generations might benefit,” she said.

After the unveiling, the Guard Pipes & Drums led a short procession to the Dublin Pub for a celebration. That afternoon seemed like “old home day” for many former residents of the neighborhood, who came from near and far — many of whom had not seen each other for decades. They chatted about the “old days” — pointing to their former houses and talking about the people that they knew and their memories of the place.

One of those former residents was Mary Louise Hallinan Smith, whose family owned many of the houses that surround Assumption. Her great-grandfather arrived here before the Civil War. She went to Catholic school in Dublin and remembers the adults being involved in the parish’s Holy Name Society, Knights of Columbus and Rosary Altar Society. Several members of Smith’s family donated their gold jewelry to be melted down for chalices for seminarians. Smith also recalled sledding down a steep and icy Madison Street during the winter.

“Here [in Dublin], we were one big family — and Assumption was the heart of the community,” Smith said. “We all got along and all knew each other. We were such lucky people,” she said.