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In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Local Town Pages looked to the Franklin Historical Society for a little insight into Irish history in Franklin. Mary Olsson quickly delved into Blake’s 1878 History of Franklin. She found that Catholicism’s arrival to the town coincided with the arrival of the Irish.
The first Irish families arrived in Franklin in the late 1840s. There were just two families in 1848. Shortly after, others, who were employees of the Norfolk Railroad Company settled in Franklin.
The first Catholic Mass was held for five worshipers by Fr. Charles O’Reilly at the John L. Fitzpatrick home on Medway Road (now 316 Lincoln Street).
By 1851, there were more Catholics, presumably Irish, since the Italians weren’t to arrive for many more years. They were allowed to hold Mass in the Town Hall (first given by Rev. M.X. Carroll and later by Rev. Michael McCable, and finally were able to purchase a building in 1871.
One of the earliest Irish residents, J.L. Fitzpatrick, was instrumental in getting the Catholic congregation started as well as the Catholic Cemetery.
When Mortimer Blake wrote the History of Franklin, for the Centennial in 1878, there were a few Irish names listed in his book. https://archive.org/details/historyoftownoff79blak