St.Gerard’s Parish

The Story of St Gerard’s

Underneath the face of Cavehill with its historic MacArt's fort and famous caves there lies a heavily wooded property of some 37 acres that stretches down the Antrim Road. In 1951 the owner of this property Major Addley, a North of Ireland Protestant, died. His widow decided to return to her native England and so put the property up for sale. The solicitor, Frank Kerr, father of our confrere Father Hugo, informed the Rector of Clonard, Fr Gerard McDonnell, of this fact. It was good news for the Rector as he was anxious to have another foundation in Belfast, which would serve as a Retreat House or juvenate for the Six Counties.

The Provincial, Father Michael Curran, always ambitious to found, inspected the site and was pleased with it. He told Father McDonnell to approach Bishop Mageean for permission to buy the property with the intention of using it for:

(a) a new church on the front of the Antrim Road,
(b) a monastery for a community that would do some mission
work and serve the church,
(c) a Retreat House at the residence of Major Addley. The Bishop had long wished for a Catholic Church on the front of the Antrim Road. He and his Chapter gave the required permission and the property was purchased for £14,000.

On September 29th, the Addley family left for England and on the same day the Redemptorists took possession. The house formerly called "Ben Edan" was re-named St. Gerard's and made an adopted child of Clonard.

Early Days

The great day finally arrived when the completed church of St. Gerard's was solemnly blessed by Bishop Mageean. It was Sunday, December 9th, 1956. After the dedication ceremony the Bishop presided at Solemn High Mass celebrated by Fr Charles McNiffe, Rector of Clonard. The sermon was preached by Fr James Cleary. The new church was built at a cost of £100,000 on a site overlooking Belfast Lough. The architect was J. J. Brennan, the contractors P. & F. McDonnell. The church of St. Gerard has many features worthy of comment.

New Community Residence (1962)
In late 1961 the building of the long awaited and needed home for St. Gerard's community was begun. The builders and architect were those of the Retreat House, Carvill & Sons of Warrenpoint and J.J. Brennan. It was occupied by the community on June 16th, 1962, five months after the death of Bishop Mageean, without whose interest and encouragement there would have been no St. Gerard’s, no St. Clement’s.

The members of the first community were Fathers James Reynolds (Rector), Matthew Hickey, John Torney, James Scott, Denis Canny and Aodh Bennett. The Brothers were Xavier McDonald and Joachim Murphy.

In 1969 St. Gerard's was made a parish, being carved out of Whitehouse. Though small in numbers with an approximate population of 2,000, its creation was a note-worthy event as it was the first Redemptorist parish in Ireland. Its first parish priest and curate were Fathers Thomas McKinley and Patrick McGowan.

In October 1979 the building of a Community Centre was begun. The story of the long fight with Belfast City Council to get a site for this building has been told in detail by Fr Aodh Bennett, the parish priest, in SEARCH December 1981. It is an interesting insight into the bigotry that bedevils all aspects of life in the North of Ireland. The new building was opened in September 1982. Its service to the community has justified its heavy costs.

The stunning view from St Gerard’s Church showing the city of Belfast