HISTORY

Our History

[Background note: Christianity was first established in Scotland at nearby Whithorn with the arrival of St. Ninian in 397AD. Following the Reformation of 1560, and the subsequent penal laws of 1690, Catholic worship and Churches were out-lawed until Emancipation took place in 1829.]
It is known that masses were held at irregular intervals in Stranraer and around the Rhins of Galloway from 1839 and the mission that became St. Joseph’s Parish was officially established in 1846 when the Rev. Thomas Moore came to the town. It is on record that in his nine years in the parish Fr. Moore also held regular masses in Kirkcolm and Portlogan, travelling to these places on horseback.

His first place of worship in Stranraer was in what has been described as the Assembly Room of the old Town House which was on the west side of Castle Court and the cleared site is now part of the Castle Green in George Street. It is known that Fr. Moore frequently pawned his own pocket watch to keep his household going in those early days and the watch, redeemed by a parishioner after Fr. Moore left Stranraer, remains today at St. Joseph’s presbytery.
When he departed from Stranraer in 1855 he left to his successor a purpose-built church and house which had been opened in 1853, thanks to fund-raising which had taken place largely in Ireland. The first record of the provision of music was that of the gift of a harmonium in 1871 and the church was also redecorated the following year.

Extensive changes were made to the building in 1924 when Mr Thomas McAvoy, a local councillor and dairy engineer, financed the addition of a new sanctuary and bell-tower to St. Joseph’s in memory of his wife. The sanctuary was added on the east end of what had been a box-like structure previously and access from the church was made with a large archway cut in the original wall. The most imposing feature of the new sanctuary was the circular antique-glass window above the raised altar depicting the crucifixion. This was the work of Stalens of Antwerp and was one of only two windows he made, the other being in Antwerp Cathedral.
In 1961 the internal porch, with the choir-loft above it, was removed from the west end of the church and a new exterior vestibule and entrance created. At the same time the confessional boxes – which a few years earlier had replaced the original curtained niches – and baptismal font were removed from their place in the north-west corner of the church, the new font being moved into the sanctuary area and the new confessional unit became a part of the added porch. The disappearance of the loft meant that other arrangements had to be made for music.

Over the years other smaller changes had taken place but perhaps the most significant was that brought about by the Second Vatican Council. Following it, the decision was made to create a new altar within the sanctuary, one from which mass would be celebrated with the priest facing the congregation. This was carried out and at the same time the presentation niche above the former altar was taken away.
Nothing is known of any arrangements in the early history of the parish for catholic education but there does seem to have been some sort of school which had a church attachment because it is known that when Mr Peter McGeoch, a local farmer and cattle dealer, financed the building of a new school in 1872, it was either a refurbishment of a building behind the church site which had already been used for educational purposes or it was a new erection to replace another building in a different location. Mr McGeoch arranged with Stair Estates for an extension to the church site for the school and its play area and later, when staffing problems arose and an agreement was made for sisters of the Order of St. Joseph of Cluny to help with the teaching, Mr McGeoch smoothed out any difficulties by leasing Valleyfield in Lewis Street for use as a convent. He also arranged for another site beside the church and school for a purpose-built convent which the sisters occupied until 2002, when, with the school-link broken, the sisters left Stranraer.


This short history has been compiled by Donnie Nelson.
November 2009
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