When the Doyles and other Irish families of Lake O’Law and North East Margaree, Cape Breton, began the construction of their own St. Patrick church building in North East Margaree, their relatives at Whiteside off Lower River Inhabitants followed their lead. The church in North East had its vestry built as a place of worship in 1850, and did not have the main section of the church constructed until 1855. Using the same building plans, the men of Whiteside built the first St. Patrick Church parallel to the present road, with the entry to the church facing west and the sacristy towards the east. Though the bell wasn’t christened until 1864, church services were held in the building as soon as priests would agree to do so. That building served as the community’s center of worship until its destruction by a bolt of lightning.
For slightly over a year before the destruction and up to the present, the story was told within the community that while waiting for the priest‘s arrival to say midnight mass on December 24, 1906, a confrontation arose between the then warden of the church and a neighbor over whether or not the latter should be allowed to enter the building, since the warden claimed the neighbor had not paid his church dues. This claim could have been but an excuse to air a grievance, since the two men had been in an ongoing dispute for years over a ten foot wide strip of field between their adjoining properties. In any case, many of those in attendance took sides, and the priest arrived to find actions unbecoming to those in church attendance. He said mass, but during his sermon declared that because of the behavior he had witnessed on his arrival; behavior which he judged to have desecrated the building; no future Christmas midnight masses would be said in the building. True to his word, no midnight mass was held for Christmas, 1807, and in the early morning of February 2, 1908, lightning set the church on fire. The local men made a futile effort to fight the blaze, but were only successful in saving the altar and one of the two wall brackets that held candles on either side of the altar. Until a new church could be built, the rescued items were stored in the neighboring barn of Michael John White. The majority of the people then had to attend services at St. Francis de Sales in Lower River Inhabitants, with some of the families in the eastern end of Whiteside going to church in Louisdale.
By 1912, the residents of Whiteside had accumulated enough money to begin the construction of a second St. Patrick Church. Daniel O’ Connell Doyle and his third oldest son, Edward Daniel took on the job of construction. Since the construction of the new church was under the reluctant permission of the bishop and in opposition to the will of Reverend Father Angus Beaton, parish priest of St. Joseph Parish, Port Hawkesbury and of the mission of St. Francis de Sales, Lower River Inhabitants, Father Beaton used his authority as the pastor of the future mission to reduce the planned dimensions of the new church by one yard ( 0.91 m ) in both length and width and had them build with the entry towards the Whiteside Basin (River Inhabitants harbor). (St. Francis de Sales had been reduced to being a mission when Father Maurice Thompkins was transferred to Guysborough in 1910.) Apparently some of the men, on learning of their pastor’s opposition to their plans, went directly to the bishop to gain permission. Father Beaton had his revenge, for the first change in plans resulted in a building too small to ever become a parish church, making it uncomfortably small for the size of the congregation, if all were in attendance. The second change was positive, resulting in a picturesque church facing a beautiful body of water and having as its background a high forested hill. Further fund raising, such as church picnics, supplied the money for the purchase of pews. The statues and Way Of The Cross pictures were donated by parishioners, while the altar from the first church was installed in the sacristy. That altar was destroyed in 1966, under the changes enacted from Vatican Council II and in accordance with the regulations under Canon Law, when it was replaced by a modern altar that now faces the people.
The new church was consecrated in 1922, but saw only some week day masses, funeral masses and wedding masses until 1936. Prior to that year residents had to walk, or ride by horse and wagon or horse and sleigh to the Inhabitants River, to be there ferried by row boat and later by passenger cable ferry, to the Lower River Inhabitants side of the river and then walk a half mile to St. Francis de Sales Church in order to fulfill their Sunday obligations. Depending on the respective distances of the parishioners from St. Francis de Sales and weather conditions, the trip could be a heavy sacrifice.
After confirmation service at St. Joseph Parish Church, Port Hawkesbury, 1936, a delegation of men from Whiteside approached Bishop Morrison to request that Sunday masses be said at St. Patrick Church. The bishop’s first response was, “What do you want to do, kill your priest?” After the men described the hardships endured by many of the parishioners in having to bypass their church to travel the long distance ( for some) to St. Francis de Sales Church, the bishop reconsidered and agreed to reestablish St. Francis de Sales as a Parish Church with St. Patrick as a mission. Reverend Father Alexander MacDonald, then assistant pastor at St. Joseph, agreed to be the new pastor. Sunday masses were then held at St. Patrick up to the present, except from October 1969 to May of 1970 when there was a closing of the church through unfortunate misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication. On that later date Bishop William Power granted permission for the building to be reopened under the pastorship of Reverend Father James MacIntyre.
Lester Morgan: Revised August 6, 2017
For slightly over a year before the destruction and up to the present, the story was told within the community that while waiting for the priest‘s arrival to say midnight mass on December 24, 1906, a confrontation arose between the then warden of the church and a neighbor over whether or not the latter should be allowed to enter the building, since the warden claimed the neighbor had not paid his church dues. This claim could have been but an excuse to air a grievance, since the two men had been in an ongoing dispute for years over a ten foot wide strip of field between their adjoining properties. In any case, many of those in attendance took sides, and the priest arrived to find actions unbecoming to those in church attendance. He said mass, but during his sermon declared that because of the behavior he had witnessed on his arrival; behavior which he judged to have desecrated the building; no future Christmas midnight masses would be said in the building. True to his word, no midnight mass was held for Christmas, 1807, and in the early morning of February 2, 1908, lightning set the church on fire. The local men made a futile effort to fight the blaze, but were only successful in saving the altar and one of the two wall brackets that held candles on either side of the altar. Until a new church could be built, the rescued items were stored in the neighboring barn of Michael John White. The majority of the people then had to attend services at St. Francis de Sales in Lower River Inhabitants, with some of the families in the eastern end of Whiteside going to church in Louisdale.
By 1912, the residents of Whiteside had accumulated enough money to begin the construction of a second St. Patrick Church. Daniel O’ Connell Doyle and his third oldest son, Edward Daniel took on the job of construction. Since the construction of the new church was under the reluctant permission of the bishop and in opposition to the will of Reverend Father Angus Beaton, parish priest of St. Joseph Parish, Port Hawkesbury and of the mission of St. Francis de Sales, Lower River Inhabitants, Father Beaton used his authority as the pastor of the future mission to reduce the planned dimensions of the new church by one yard ( 0.91 m ) in both length and width and had them build with the entry towards the Whiteside Basin (River Inhabitants harbor). (St. Francis de Sales had been reduced to being a mission when Father Maurice Thompkins was transferred to Guysborough in 1910.) Apparently some of the men, on learning of their pastor’s opposition to their plans, went directly to the bishop to gain permission. Father Beaton had his revenge, for the first change in plans resulted in a building too small to ever become a parish church, making it uncomfortably small for the size of the congregation, if all were in attendance. The second change was positive, resulting in a picturesque church facing a beautiful body of water and having as its background a high forested hill. Further fund raising, such as church picnics, supplied the money for the purchase of pews. The statues and Way Of The Cross pictures were donated by parishioners, while the altar from the first church was installed in the sacristy. That altar was destroyed in 1966, under the changes enacted from Vatican Council II and in accordance with the regulations under Canon Law, when it was replaced by a modern altar that now faces the people.
The new church was consecrated in 1922, but saw only some week day masses, funeral masses and wedding masses until 1936. Prior to that year residents had to walk, or ride by horse and wagon or horse and sleigh to the Inhabitants River, to be there ferried by row boat and later by passenger cable ferry, to the Lower River Inhabitants side of the river and then walk a half mile to St. Francis de Sales Church in order to fulfill their Sunday obligations. Depending on the respective distances of the parishioners from St. Francis de Sales and weather conditions, the trip could be a heavy sacrifice.
After confirmation service at St. Joseph Parish Church, Port Hawkesbury, 1936, a delegation of men from Whiteside approached Bishop Morrison to request that Sunday masses be said at St. Patrick Church. The bishop’s first response was, “What do you want to do, kill your priest?” After the men described the hardships endured by many of the parishioners in having to bypass their church to travel the long distance ( for some) to St. Francis de Sales Church, the bishop reconsidered and agreed to reestablish St. Francis de Sales as a Parish Church with St. Patrick as a mission. Reverend Father Alexander MacDonald, then assistant pastor at St. Joseph, agreed to be the new pastor. Sunday masses were then held at St. Patrick up to the present, except from October 1969 to May of 1970 when there was a closing of the church through unfortunate misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication. On that later date Bishop William Power granted permission for the building to be reopened under the pastorship of Reverend Father James MacIntyre.
Lester Morgan: Revised August 6, 2017
