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Churches and Places of Worship

St Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church, Cantley

St-Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church, Cantley
St Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church, Cantley

In 1858, a chapel was built beside the cemetery on land donated by Michael Shields. Prior to this, the Irish Catholic families residing in the Cantley area had to cross the river by ferry in summer and cross the ice in winter to attend St. Stephen’s Church in Chelsea. The chapel was blessed in the summer of 1861 during a visit by Bishop Guigues. The parish was officially established in 1868 under the protection of St-Elizabeth of Hungary. Rev. Patrick McGoey was appointed as the first priest and started the construction of St. Elizabeth Church. With financial contribution and labour of the parishioners as well as donations from E.B. Eddy and Alonzo Wright, the present church was built and equipped with its basic necessities. The Bishop blessed the bell and the new church in August 1872.

In 1900, work started on a new rectory which in 1916 was struck by lightning and lost to fire. A new rectory was finished the following year. Unfortunately much of the interior of St Elizabeth was destroyed through renovations in the 1960s.

St-Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church, Cantley
St-Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church, Cantley

Additional resources:

St Elisabeth Roman Catholic Cemetery

History of St Elizabeth parish External Link by Richard Dompierre.