Religious Tradition (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge)

I'm American, but of 100% Irish ancestry. Three of my grandparents were born in Ireland (Mayo, Cavan, Tyrone) and emigrated to the US (NYC) in their 20s in the 1920s. My remaining grandparent, my maternal grandmother, Margaret Charles "Pearl" (nee McCann) Kilgariff (1885-1977) was born in the US, but her parents had emigrated here from Belfast in the early 1880s.

So, being of all Irish ethnicity, would you venture to guess that my family was all Catholic? Well, the answer is yes...mostly.

We all know about the sectarianism in northern Ireland. So I was surprised to see that although *most* of my family was Catholic, yes, there were also cross marriages in my relatives from the Belfast area! 

My maternal great great grandfather, Patrick Sherlock (1838-1941) and family were Catholic. I don't know if he was born and raised in the Catholic church though, because his brother James (1846-1923) was married in the Presbyterian church, to Rebecca Gibson (c.1854-1936) and raised his family Presbyterian.

On my mother's other side, also in Belfast, her dad's sister, Bridget Kilgariff (1886-?) married Charles Thomas Boyce (1880-1951) in the Church of England in 1911.

Their sister Mary "Minnie" emigrated to NYC in 1897 and married Theodore Bonville (1882-1952) in the historic "Little Church Around the Corner," the Church of the Transfiguration, on E. 29th Street in Manhattan, which is an Episcopalian Church.

Their brother Francis "Frank" Kilgariff (1975-1908) who also emigrated to NYC (in 1895), married a German immigrant, Sophie Albrecht (1874-1943). They were married by a parson ("minister of the gospel") of the German Evangelical Congregation. 

Nowadays, of the family members I'm in touch with, some still practice Catholicism, some are other variations of Christianity. Some are practicing Judaism, or other faiths, or no faith at all. But I'm going to write here of the Catholic faith of most of my ancestors and into the present.

Catholics have seven sacraments they believe were instituted by Jesus. 

BAPTISM - This is the first of the three sacraments of initiation. In the Catholic church babies are baptized into the family's faith. 

Baptismal certificate of my Great Uncle Charles McCann, 11 Dec 1892, NYC.

Uncle Charlie's sister, my great Aunt Mary "Mamie" McCann, 8 August 1882, in Ireland.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION - Usually the second rite of initiation. Catholics believe communion, or the eucharist, is the body and blood of Jesus. It's a rite of passage for Catholic children, and is referred to as First Holy Communion. Here are some family photos.

My mom, Margaret Peggy" (nee Kilgariff) McLaughlin (1928-2004), about 1936?

My mom's first cousin, Joseph McCann (1927-2022), about 1935. 

Their first cousin, Neil McCann (1916-1986), 1923. 

I must say, I've never seen a boy dressed all in a white outfit like this for their First Holy Communion. 

I have seen boys in white suits. 

CONFIRMATION - The third rite of initiation for Catholics. Typically also made when one is young, anywhere from about 11 to 17. 

My sister Joan, dressed for her Confirmation, about 1968. NYC.

MARRIAGE

My parents, Peggy and John McLaughlin (1928-2003) getting married at St. Augustine Church, 11 April, 1953, Brooklyn, NY.

My dad's maternal uncle, Michael Harrington (1909-1985) marrying Margaret McCarrick in in Ireland, c. 1950s.

The wedding photo of my mom's first cousin, Geraldine "Gerry" Holzmann (1920-2023)

to Vincent Cassidy (1915-1983) in 1946. 

Her brother Neil (1923-2018) is on the left, her brother George, Jr. (1916-1924), 

is next to the bridesmaid. 

This document, below is interesting. My mother's uncle, Dominick Kilgariff (1882-1961) married Mary Kydd (1882-1960) on 10 November 1916 in the Established Church of Scotland. But note, on the left hand side of the document, the couple remarried in a Catholic ceremony in 1925 at St. Alphonsus Catholic church in 1925.

My own Celtic-themed wedding to my husband!

HOLY ORDERS - I have found a few priests in the family, but these are the ones I have photos of.
My mother's first cousin Neil, from the First Holy Communion photo above, was ordained a priest in 1953. He was with the Order of St. Benedict as a missionary, later a parish priest in California.

My father had a second cousin who was a bishop, Thomas O'Brien, of Phoenix. 

There are two other sacraments that won't have family photos: Penance, and Anointing of the Sick.

Here are some photos which speak more of the family's religious traditions.
Headstones, all with crosses.

The black headstone is in County Mayo, Ireland, my father's maternal grandmother, Hanoria (nee McGuinn) Harrington.
The white headstone is also in Ireland, County Cavan. It's for my father's paternal uncles Cormick and Tierny, and their cousin, James. 

Below: Sherlock relative (actually three are buried there) + my mother's parents, Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY.

When my maternal grandfather was in WWI with the Irish Rifles in the British Army, his regiment participated in a Catholic feast day in the British mandate of Palestine. Part of the programme below.

My mom and siblings, older brother Neil and younger sister Joan (in the front). We are in Florida at my Mom's mother's house, Grandma Margaret Charles (nee McCann) Kilgariff. 

I believe this may have been for Easter in about 1961?

My second cousin (on my mother's maternal side) Susan McCann dressed like a sister for a school pageant! She said after wearing this on a hot May day she decided she could never be a sister.

Blessings to all my ancestors and relatives!