Very Rev. John E. Barry, V.G., was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood on June 29, 1864, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, Maine. He was founding pastor of Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Concord, New Hampshire, established Sept. 30, 1865, and remained pastor until his death, a period of more than 35 years.
He was the son of Patrick Barry and Anna Burke Barry, who had wed Oct. 19, 1817, in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, and immigrated to Eastport, Maine, about 1822. Patrick Barry became a citizen of the United States on Sept. 17, 1834, at the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Machias, Maine.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 18, No. 14, Oct. 2, 1897:
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, CONCORD.
Concord, originally occupied by the Penacook Indians, was settled principally by people from Woburn, Haverhill, and Andover [Massachusetts], was incorporated in 1765, and obtained a city charter in 1853. Congregationalism was contemporary with the birth of the community, and was a strong force in its young development. There were no Catholics here in this century until the time of the building of the Concord railroad ; and Mass was said for the first time in town in 1845 by Rev. J. B. Daly, the missionary who made his headquarters in Claremont [N.H.]. Father Daly came, at rare intervals, for the next two years. In 1847, Father McDonald of Concord [Mass.] began coming occasionally, retaining charge until August, 1855, when Rev. John O'Reilly was made resident pastor. Father O'Reilly died six months after his appointment; and Concord was attached, in February, 1856, to the jurisdiction of Rev. Father O'Donnell, who had recently come from Portland to Nashua. For nine years Father O'Donnell said Mass in Concord once a month, officiating in Rumford Hall until towards the end of that period, when he secured Phenix Hall.
Sept. 30, 1865, Rev. John E. Barry came as resident pastor; and for more than thirty-two years he has cared for the Catholic interests of Manchester. Father Barry was born in Eastport, Maine, in August, 1836, studied at Holy Cross College, and spent nine years in the college and seminary of the Sulpitians in Montreal. He was ordained by Bishop Bacon in the Portland cathedral June 29, 1864; and for upwards of a year after his ordination he was attached to the cathedral, coming thence to Concord.
When Father Barry came he found a Catholic population of between 400 and 500. Immediately after taking charge he organized a Sunday-school, saying Mass every Sunday in Phenix Hall. April 24, 1866, he purchased a very eligible lot on Main street; and he began soon afterwards to build a church thereon, Architect Murphy planning the structure.
St. John's Church was dedicated by Bishop Bacon March 14, 1869. In 1870, Father Barry bought a piece of land adjoining the church property, and built the present rectory, at an outlay of $12,000. On the death of Bishop Bacon, which occurred in New York Nov. 5, 1874, Father Barry was made administrator of the diocese of Portland; and he was reappointed vicar-general by Bishop Healy June 10, 1875. During the year he secured, at a cost of $2,500, a finely situated tract of land on North Main street and adjoining Blossom Hill Cemetery, laying it out for burial purposes; and he had it consecrated in 1876 by Bishop Healy, under the name of Calvary Cemetery.
St. John's Church was enlarged in 1883, by the addition of a new transept, its capacity being increased by three hundred sittings. It was re-dedicated June 22, 1884, by Bishop Bradley, this being the Bishop's first official act. April 6, 1887, Father Barry purchased the Pickering property, situated on the corner of State and Thorndike streets; and, remodelling the dwelling, which stood thereon, for convent uses, he began, during the following month, to build, immediately behind this house, the Sacred Heart School for boys and girls. The total cost of the purchase and construction was $20,000. In September, 1888, he opened the school, under a community of Sisters of Mercy from Manchester.
St. John's parish was elevated, in January, 1889, to the dignity of a permanent rectory; and on the second day of the following July, Father Barry celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination. The church was beautifully decorated on that occasion, and nearly all the priests of the diocese were present. Pontifical High Mass was sung by Archbishop Williams of Boston, Bishop Healy delivering the sermon, and Bishop Bradley preaching in the evening. The reception given Father Barry by the children was a testimonial of filial love; that accorded by the citizens of Concord, irrespective of creed, was an earnest of the regard that is ever commanded by good example and public spirit.
In 1893, Father Barry beautified Calvary Cemetery by the erection of a Gothic arch, thirty feet high, at an expense of $5,000. This arch is very graceful, the delicacy of its proportions foiling its massiveness successfully. The cemetery is laid out with care and good taste, and is unsurpassed in situation.
Father Barry is assisted in the parish work by Rev. Francis X. Lyons. Father Lyons was born in Manchester April 16, 1871, and studied at the parochial school of his grand-uncle, Father McDonald. He took his classics at St. Charles' College, and his philosophy and theology at St. Sulpice, Paris, where he was ordained June 8, 1895. This is his first curacy.
The Sacred Heart School of St. John's parish is a long brick structure. Seven Sisters of Mercy (Sister Louise, superior) teach the children, who number three hundred. This school is of a very high grade of excellence, at least maintaining an equality with the Concord public schools, which are confessedly amongst the best in the country. The courses of study are about the same as in the public schools, the examinations being given by the Concord Board of Education. Vertical writing and diagram work are amongst the modern systems in vogue here. History, grammar, geography, and arithmetic are finished, and algebra is begun, in the eighth grade, the ninth grade introducing geometry, Latin, and civil government. The graduates of this school pass without difficulty into the public high school, and while there reflect great credit on the teaching system of the Sisters of Mercy, as well as on the cause of Catholic education.
The church of St. John the Evangelist is a buttressed brick structure, with foundations of granite and with cornices and buttress bargings of iron. Its facade exhibits three portals, three Gothic windows in the middle stretch, and a campanile tower, which is broken by Gothic lights and a strong lattice, and is topped by a spire. It is ideally situated on the principal street of the city, and is surrounded by tastefully kept grounds. A vaulted and groined ceiling, supported by pendants that are carried across in buff fresco, shows spacings of faint blue, with interposed emblematic and medallion designs in buff. A series of ventilators is made to harmonize with the decorations. Along each clerestory wall runs an arcade, finished in blue quatrefoils, and set off by buff and terracotta ornamentation. The side-aisle ceilings exhibit on their slopes a number of large panels in symbolic quatrefoil. The side walls are in flushed buff, well balanced by a flower and leaf dado and a harmonizing frieze. The intersection of nave and transept is characterized by a fine piece of groining and crown work, and its decoration is like that of the nave ceiling. Each transept wing supports a gallery, and on the wall, and flanking the chancel opening, are two beautiful paintings (after Titiens), depicting the Ascension and the Assumption. The windows, Gothic in formation, are done partly in emblem, the transept, however, showing four figured windows—representing respectively the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph — and two rose openings. The chancel is apsed, its azure crown being bordered in leaf-work and enlivened by an array of buff pendants that meet in a ray-dispersing boss. The general coloring of the chancel walls is dark, making a good ground for a series of ogee arches, which present scalloped cornices and intervening pinnacles. Over this arcade five triple trefoil windows give light to the sanctuary. The altar, in drab and gold, is enriched by a profusion of gilt columns and quatrefoil filling, by a pedimented, pinnacled and panelled reredos, and by a well proportioned canopy tower. The side altars stand in Gothic alcoves.
Father Barry has recently supplied the church with electric lighting. The church property is quite extensive, stretching back, at one point, as far as State street. St. John's parish is free of debt; and Father Barry has already acquired a lot of land at the north end of the city, purposing to erect there before long a parochial school for the accommodation of the children of that district.
When Father Barry came to Concord there was not a little of that suspicious illiberality here which was a mark of the ordinary New Hampshire community at that time; today, however, thanks to his personality and to the gradual enlightening of those who are naturally eager to appreciate virtue and goodness, the story is different. Father Barry has been the recipient of civil as well as of ecclesiastical honors. He was the priest who first said Mass in the state prison; and preparations are being made for the regular celebration of Mass in the state asylum. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and he is a trustee of the state asylum, having been reappointed recently by the governor of New Hampshire for a third term of four years.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 24, No. 21, Nov. 24, 1900:
"Father Barry of Concord, N.H., Buried."
The funeral of the Very Rev. John E. Barry, V. G., of Concord, N. H., who was killed in New York by a cable car on Wednesday of last week, took place last Monday from St. John's Church, of which he had been pastor for thirty-five years. It is said that no citizen of Concord ever received, in death, the tributes of honor and respect offered to Father Barry. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning people began to gather in the church, and at 10.30, the hour when the funeral services began, it was impossible for any more to obtain even standing room within the walls of the sacred edifice. This immense congregation was composed not only of members of the parish, but of Catholics from other parishes also, together with people of all classes and shades of religious belief. Requiem high Mass was celebrated by Bishop Bradley of Manchester, with the Rev. Fathers Murphy and Chevalier as deacons of honor, Reilly and Egan as deacons of the Mass, and O'Callaghan assistant priest. Father Brennan was master of ceremonies. The sermon was preached by Bishop Bradley. Archbishop Williams of Boston pronounced the absolution. The interment was at Calvary Cemetery, where the dead priest had expressed a wish to be laid at rest. Besides the clergymen already mentioned, there were present at the funeral a large number of others, among them being Bishop Harkins of Providence, Bishop Tierney of Hartford, Bishop Brady, auxiliary bishop of Boston, and the Very Rev. John B. Hogan, S. S., D. D., of St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass. A large number of Boston priests were in attendance.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 28, No. 22, Nov. 29, 1902:
A memorial chapel to the late Very Rev. John E. Barry, formerly vicar-general of the Manchester diocese, and pastor of St. John's Church, Concord, N. H., was dedicated in that city, Nov. 9, in the presence of about 2,500 persons, by the Right Rev. Denis M. Bradley, D. D., bishop of Manchester. Bishop Bradley was assisted by the Very Rev. Eugene M. O'Callaghan, V. G., the Revs. Thomas J. O'Leary and Joseph N. Plante of Concord, the Rev. John B. Delaney of the Manchester cathedral, and the Rev. David W. Fitzgerald of Penacook, N. H. The chapel stands in the centre of Calvary Cemetery, Concord, and bears the following inscription: "In memory of the Very Reverend John E. Barry, V. G. Born 1835. Ordained priest June 29, 1864. Appointed first pastor of St. John's parish, Concord, N. H., September, 1865. Died Nov. 14, 1900. This chapel erected A. D. 1902, by the faithful of St. John's parish, a loving tribute, to perpetuate the memory and commemorate the priestly labors of their devoted pastor, who was an example, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith. May he rest in peace." The body of Father Barry lies in a vault beneath the structure.
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The Memorial Chapel built over the grave of the late Rev. John E. Barry, as a tribute of love, was from plans drawn by B. J. Undersee, architect, Boston. The chapel is octagonal in shape, with an offset for a sanctuary. The outer walls are made of Concord granite, and the steep-pitched roof is surmounted with a copper cross. The interior is finished in marble, and the faulted ceiling with tiles. The entrance doors are made of marble, and inside are massive bronze gates. The chapel is built in goth style, and is located in the center of Calvary cemetery.
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The Barry Memorial Chapel was demolished about 1971.
He was the son of Patrick Barry and Anna Burke Barry, who had wed Oct. 19, 1817, in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, and immigrated to Eastport, Maine, about 1822. Patrick Barry became a citizen of the United States on Sept. 17, 1834, at the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Machias, Maine.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 18, No. 14, Oct. 2, 1897:
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, CONCORD.
Concord, originally occupied by the Penacook Indians, was settled principally by people from Woburn, Haverhill, and Andover [Massachusetts], was incorporated in 1765, and obtained a city charter in 1853. Congregationalism was contemporary with the birth of the community, and was a strong force in its young development. There were no Catholics here in this century until the time of the building of the Concord railroad ; and Mass was said for the first time in town in 1845 by Rev. J. B. Daly, the missionary who made his headquarters in Claremont [N.H.]. Father Daly came, at rare intervals, for the next two years. In 1847, Father McDonald of Concord [Mass.] began coming occasionally, retaining charge until August, 1855, when Rev. John O'Reilly was made resident pastor. Father O'Reilly died six months after his appointment; and Concord was attached, in February, 1856, to the jurisdiction of Rev. Father O'Donnell, who had recently come from Portland to Nashua. For nine years Father O'Donnell said Mass in Concord once a month, officiating in Rumford Hall until towards the end of that period, when he secured Phenix Hall.
Sept. 30, 1865, Rev. John E. Barry came as resident pastor; and for more than thirty-two years he has cared for the Catholic interests of Manchester. Father Barry was born in Eastport, Maine, in August, 1836, studied at Holy Cross College, and spent nine years in the college and seminary of the Sulpitians in Montreal. He was ordained by Bishop Bacon in the Portland cathedral June 29, 1864; and for upwards of a year after his ordination he was attached to the cathedral, coming thence to Concord.
When Father Barry came he found a Catholic population of between 400 and 500. Immediately after taking charge he organized a Sunday-school, saying Mass every Sunday in Phenix Hall. April 24, 1866, he purchased a very eligible lot on Main street; and he began soon afterwards to build a church thereon, Architect Murphy planning the structure.
St. John's Church was dedicated by Bishop Bacon March 14, 1869. In 1870, Father Barry bought a piece of land adjoining the church property, and built the present rectory, at an outlay of $12,000. On the death of Bishop Bacon, which occurred in New York Nov. 5, 1874, Father Barry was made administrator of the diocese of Portland; and he was reappointed vicar-general by Bishop Healy June 10, 1875. During the year he secured, at a cost of $2,500, a finely situated tract of land on North Main street and adjoining Blossom Hill Cemetery, laying it out for burial purposes; and he had it consecrated in 1876 by Bishop Healy, under the name of Calvary Cemetery.
St. John's Church was enlarged in 1883, by the addition of a new transept, its capacity being increased by three hundred sittings. It was re-dedicated June 22, 1884, by Bishop Bradley, this being the Bishop's first official act. April 6, 1887, Father Barry purchased the Pickering property, situated on the corner of State and Thorndike streets; and, remodelling the dwelling, which stood thereon, for convent uses, he began, during the following month, to build, immediately behind this house, the Sacred Heart School for boys and girls. The total cost of the purchase and construction was $20,000. In September, 1888, he opened the school, under a community of Sisters of Mercy from Manchester.
St. John's parish was elevated, in January, 1889, to the dignity of a permanent rectory; and on the second day of the following July, Father Barry celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination. The church was beautifully decorated on that occasion, and nearly all the priests of the diocese were present. Pontifical High Mass was sung by Archbishop Williams of Boston, Bishop Healy delivering the sermon, and Bishop Bradley preaching in the evening. The reception given Father Barry by the children was a testimonial of filial love; that accorded by the citizens of Concord, irrespective of creed, was an earnest of the regard that is ever commanded by good example and public spirit.
In 1893, Father Barry beautified Calvary Cemetery by the erection of a Gothic arch, thirty feet high, at an expense of $5,000. This arch is very graceful, the delicacy of its proportions foiling its massiveness successfully. The cemetery is laid out with care and good taste, and is unsurpassed in situation.
Father Barry is assisted in the parish work by Rev. Francis X. Lyons. Father Lyons was born in Manchester April 16, 1871, and studied at the parochial school of his grand-uncle, Father McDonald. He took his classics at St. Charles' College, and his philosophy and theology at St. Sulpice, Paris, where he was ordained June 8, 1895. This is his first curacy.
The Sacred Heart School of St. John's parish is a long brick structure. Seven Sisters of Mercy (Sister Louise, superior) teach the children, who number three hundred. This school is of a very high grade of excellence, at least maintaining an equality with the Concord public schools, which are confessedly amongst the best in the country. The courses of study are about the same as in the public schools, the examinations being given by the Concord Board of Education. Vertical writing and diagram work are amongst the modern systems in vogue here. History, grammar, geography, and arithmetic are finished, and algebra is begun, in the eighth grade, the ninth grade introducing geometry, Latin, and civil government. The graduates of this school pass without difficulty into the public high school, and while there reflect great credit on the teaching system of the Sisters of Mercy, as well as on the cause of Catholic education.
The church of St. John the Evangelist is a buttressed brick structure, with foundations of granite and with cornices and buttress bargings of iron. Its facade exhibits three portals, three Gothic windows in the middle stretch, and a campanile tower, which is broken by Gothic lights and a strong lattice, and is topped by a spire. It is ideally situated on the principal street of the city, and is surrounded by tastefully kept grounds. A vaulted and groined ceiling, supported by pendants that are carried across in buff fresco, shows spacings of faint blue, with interposed emblematic and medallion designs in buff. A series of ventilators is made to harmonize with the decorations. Along each clerestory wall runs an arcade, finished in blue quatrefoils, and set off by buff and terracotta ornamentation. The side-aisle ceilings exhibit on their slopes a number of large panels in symbolic quatrefoil. The side walls are in flushed buff, well balanced by a flower and leaf dado and a harmonizing frieze. The intersection of nave and transept is characterized by a fine piece of groining and crown work, and its decoration is like that of the nave ceiling. Each transept wing supports a gallery, and on the wall, and flanking the chancel opening, are two beautiful paintings (after Titiens), depicting the Ascension and the Assumption. The windows, Gothic in formation, are done partly in emblem, the transept, however, showing four figured windows—representing respectively the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph — and two rose openings. The chancel is apsed, its azure crown being bordered in leaf-work and enlivened by an array of buff pendants that meet in a ray-dispersing boss. The general coloring of the chancel walls is dark, making a good ground for a series of ogee arches, which present scalloped cornices and intervening pinnacles. Over this arcade five triple trefoil windows give light to the sanctuary. The altar, in drab and gold, is enriched by a profusion of gilt columns and quatrefoil filling, by a pedimented, pinnacled and panelled reredos, and by a well proportioned canopy tower. The side altars stand in Gothic alcoves.
Father Barry has recently supplied the church with electric lighting. The church property is quite extensive, stretching back, at one point, as far as State street. St. John's parish is free of debt; and Father Barry has already acquired a lot of land at the north end of the city, purposing to erect there before long a parochial school for the accommodation of the children of that district.
When Father Barry came to Concord there was not a little of that suspicious illiberality here which was a mark of the ordinary New Hampshire community at that time; today, however, thanks to his personality and to the gradual enlightening of those who are naturally eager to appreciate virtue and goodness, the story is different. Father Barry has been the recipient of civil as well as of ecclesiastical honors. He was the priest who first said Mass in the state prison; and preparations are being made for the regular celebration of Mass in the state asylum. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and he is a trustee of the state asylum, having been reappointed recently by the governor of New Hampshire for a third term of four years.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 24, No. 21, Nov. 24, 1900:
"Father Barry of Concord, N.H., Buried."
The funeral of the Very Rev. John E. Barry, V. G., of Concord, N. H., who was killed in New York by a cable car on Wednesday of last week, took place last Monday from St. John's Church, of which he had been pastor for thirty-five years. It is said that no citizen of Concord ever received, in death, the tributes of honor and respect offered to Father Barry. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning people began to gather in the church, and at 10.30, the hour when the funeral services began, it was impossible for any more to obtain even standing room within the walls of the sacred edifice. This immense congregation was composed not only of members of the parish, but of Catholics from other parishes also, together with people of all classes and shades of religious belief. Requiem high Mass was celebrated by Bishop Bradley of Manchester, with the Rev. Fathers Murphy and Chevalier as deacons of honor, Reilly and Egan as deacons of the Mass, and O'Callaghan assistant priest. Father Brennan was master of ceremonies. The sermon was preached by Bishop Bradley. Archbishop Williams of Boston pronounced the absolution. The interment was at Calvary Cemetery, where the dead priest had expressed a wish to be laid at rest. Besides the clergymen already mentioned, there were present at the funeral a large number of others, among them being Bishop Harkins of Providence, Bishop Tierney of Hartford, Bishop Brady, auxiliary bishop of Boston, and the Very Rev. John B. Hogan, S. S., D. D., of St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass. A large number of Boston priests were in attendance.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 28, No. 22, Nov. 29, 1902:
A memorial chapel to the late Very Rev. John E. Barry, formerly vicar-general of the Manchester diocese, and pastor of St. John's Church, Concord, N. H., was dedicated in that city, Nov. 9, in the presence of about 2,500 persons, by the Right Rev. Denis M. Bradley, D. D., bishop of Manchester. Bishop Bradley was assisted by the Very Rev. Eugene M. O'Callaghan, V. G., the Revs. Thomas J. O'Leary and Joseph N. Plante of Concord, the Rev. John B. Delaney of the Manchester cathedral, and the Rev. David W. Fitzgerald of Penacook, N. H. The chapel stands in the centre of Calvary Cemetery, Concord, and bears the following inscription: "In memory of the Very Reverend John E. Barry, V. G. Born 1835. Ordained priest June 29, 1864. Appointed first pastor of St. John's parish, Concord, N. H., September, 1865. Died Nov. 14, 1900. This chapel erected A. D. 1902, by the faithful of St. John's parish, a loving tribute, to perpetuate the memory and commemorate the priestly labors of their devoted pastor, who was an example, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith. May he rest in peace." The body of Father Barry lies in a vault beneath the structure.
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The Memorial Chapel built over the grave of the late Rev. John E. Barry, as a tribute of love, was from plans drawn by B. J. Undersee, architect, Boston. The chapel is octagonal in shape, with an offset for a sanctuary. The outer walls are made of Concord granite, and the steep-pitched roof is surmounted with a copper cross. The interior is finished in marble, and the faulted ceiling with tiles. The entrance doors are made of marble, and inside are massive bronze gates. The chapel is built in goth style, and is located in the center of Calvary cemetery.
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The Barry Memorial Chapel was demolished about 1971.
Very Rev. John E. Barry, V.G., was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood on June 29, 1864, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, Maine. He was founding pastor of Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Concord, New Hampshire, established Sept. 30, 1865, and remained pastor until his death, a period of more than 35 years.
He was the son of Patrick Barry and Anna Burke Barry, who had wed Oct. 19, 1817, in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, and immigrated to Eastport, Maine, about 1822. Patrick Barry became a citizen of the United States on Sept. 17, 1834, at the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Machias, Maine.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 18, No. 14, Oct. 2, 1897:
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, CONCORD.
Concord, originally occupied by the Penacook Indians, was settled principally by people from Woburn, Haverhill, and Andover [Massachusetts], was incorporated in 1765, and obtained a city charter in 1853. Congregationalism was contemporary with the birth of the community, and was a strong force in its young development. There were no Catholics here in this century until the time of the building of the Concord railroad ; and Mass was said for the first time in town in 1845 by Rev. J. B. Daly, the missionary who made his headquarters in Claremont [N.H.]. Father Daly came, at rare intervals, for the next two years. In 1847, Father McDonald of Concord [Mass.] began coming occasionally, retaining charge until August, 1855, when Rev. John O'Reilly was made resident pastor. Father O'Reilly died six months after his appointment; and Concord was attached, in February, 1856, to the jurisdiction of Rev. Father O'Donnell, who had recently come from Portland to Nashua. For nine years Father O'Donnell said Mass in Concord once a month, officiating in Rumford Hall until towards the end of that period, when he secured Phenix Hall.
Sept. 30, 1865, Rev. John E. Barry came as resident pastor; and for more than thirty-two years he has cared for the Catholic interests of Manchester. Father Barry was born in Eastport, Maine, in August, 1836, studied at Holy Cross College, and spent nine years in the college and seminary of the Sulpitians in Montreal. He was ordained by Bishop Bacon in the Portland cathedral June 29, 1864; and for upwards of a year after his ordination he was attached to the cathedral, coming thence to Concord.
When Father Barry came he found a Catholic population of between 400 and 500. Immediately after taking charge he organized a Sunday-school, saying Mass every Sunday in Phenix Hall. April 24, 1866, he purchased a very eligible lot on Main street; and he began soon afterwards to build a church thereon, Architect Murphy planning the structure.
St. John's Church was dedicated by Bishop Bacon March 14, 1869. In 1870, Father Barry bought a piece of land adjoining the church property, and built the present rectory, at an outlay of $12,000. On the death of Bishop Bacon, which occurred in New York Nov. 5, 1874, Father Barry was made administrator of the diocese of Portland; and he was reappointed vicar-general by Bishop Healy June 10, 1875. During the year he secured, at a cost of $2,500, a finely situated tract of land on North Main street and adjoining Blossom Hill Cemetery, laying it out for burial purposes; and he had it consecrated in 1876 by Bishop Healy, under the name of Calvary Cemetery.
St. John's Church was enlarged in 1883, by the addition of a new transept, its capacity being increased by three hundred sittings. It was re-dedicated June 22, 1884, by Bishop Bradley, this being the Bishop's first official act. April 6, 1887, Father Barry purchased the Pickering property, situated on the corner of State and Thorndike streets; and, remodelling the dwelling, which stood thereon, for convent uses, he began, during the following month, to build, immediately behind this house, the Sacred Heart School for boys and girls. The total cost of the purchase and construction was $20,000. In September, 1888, he opened the school, under a community of Sisters of Mercy from Manchester.
St. John's parish was elevated, in January, 1889, to the dignity of a permanent rectory; and on the second day of the following July, Father Barry celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination. The church was beautifully decorated on that occasion, and nearly all the priests of the diocese were present. Pontifical High Mass was sung by Archbishop Williams of Boston, Bishop Healy delivering the sermon, and Bishop Bradley preaching in the evening. The reception given Father Barry by the children was a testimonial of filial love; that accorded by the citizens of Concord, irrespective of creed, was an earnest of the regard that is ever commanded by good example and public spirit.
In 1893, Father Barry beautified Calvary Cemetery by the erection of a Gothic arch, thirty feet high, at an expense of $5,000. This arch is very graceful, the delicacy of its proportions foiling its massiveness successfully. The cemetery is laid out with care and good taste, and is unsurpassed in situation.
Father Barry is assisted in the parish work by Rev. Francis X. Lyons. Father Lyons was born in Manchester April 16, 1871, and studied at the parochial school of his grand-uncle, Father McDonald. He took his classics at St. Charles' College, and his philosophy and theology at St. Sulpice, Paris, where he was ordained June 8, 1895. This is his first curacy.
The Sacred Heart School of St. John's parish is a long brick structure. Seven Sisters of Mercy (Sister Louise, superior) teach the children, who number three hundred. This school is of a very high grade of excellence, at least maintaining an equality with the Concord public schools, which are confessedly amongst the best in the country. The courses of study are about the same as in the public schools, the examinations being given by the Concord Board of Education. Vertical writing and diagram work are amongst the modern systems in vogue here. History, grammar, geography, and arithmetic are finished, and algebra is begun, in the eighth grade, the ninth grade introducing geometry, Latin, and civil government. The graduates of this school pass without difficulty into the public high school, and while there reflect great credit on the teaching system of the Sisters of Mercy, as well as on the cause of Catholic education.
The church of St. John the Evangelist is a buttressed brick structure, with foundations of granite and with cornices and buttress bargings of iron. Its facade exhibits three portals, three Gothic windows in the middle stretch, and a campanile tower, which is broken by Gothic lights and a strong lattice, and is topped by a spire. It is ideally situated on the principal street of the city, and is surrounded by tastefully kept grounds. A vaulted and groined ceiling, supported by pendants that are carried across in buff fresco, shows spacings of faint blue, with interposed emblematic and medallion designs in buff. A series of ventilators is made to harmonize with the decorations. Along each clerestory wall runs an arcade, finished in blue quatrefoils, and set off by buff and terracotta ornamentation. The side-aisle ceilings exhibit on their slopes a number of large panels in symbolic quatrefoil. The side walls are in flushed buff, well balanced by a flower and leaf dado and a harmonizing frieze. The intersection of nave and transept is characterized by a fine piece of groining and crown work, and its decoration is like that of the nave ceiling. Each transept wing supports a gallery, and on the wall, and flanking the chancel opening, are two beautiful paintings (after Titiens), depicting the Ascension and the Assumption. The windows, Gothic in formation, are done partly in emblem, the transept, however, showing four figured windows—representing respectively the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph — and two rose openings. The chancel is apsed, its azure crown being bordered in leaf-work and enlivened by an array of buff pendants that meet in a ray-dispersing boss. The general coloring of the chancel walls is dark, making a good ground for a series of ogee arches, which present scalloped cornices and intervening pinnacles. Over this arcade five triple trefoil windows give light to the sanctuary. The altar, in drab and gold, is enriched by a profusion of gilt columns and quatrefoil filling, by a pedimented, pinnacled and panelled reredos, and by a well proportioned canopy tower. The side altars stand in Gothic alcoves.
Father Barry has recently supplied the church with electric lighting. The church property is quite extensive, stretching back, at one point, as far as State street. St. John's parish is free of debt; and Father Barry has already acquired a lot of land at the north end of the city, purposing to erect there before long a parochial school for the accommodation of the children of that district.
When Father Barry came to Concord there was not a little of that suspicious illiberality here which was a mark of the ordinary New Hampshire community at that time; today, however, thanks to his personality and to the gradual enlightening of those who are naturally eager to appreciate virtue and goodness, the story is different. Father Barry has been the recipient of civil as well as of ecclesiastical honors. He was the priest who first said Mass in the state prison; and preparations are being made for the regular celebration of Mass in the state asylum. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and he is a trustee of the state asylum, having been reappointed recently by the governor of New Hampshire for a third term of four years.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 24, No. 21, Nov. 24, 1900:
"Father Barry of Concord, N.H., Buried."
The funeral of the Very Rev. John E. Barry, V. G., of Concord, N. H., who was killed in New York by a cable car on Wednesday of last week, took place last Monday from St. John's Church, of which he had been pastor for thirty-five years. It is said that no citizen of Concord ever received, in death, the tributes of honor and respect offered to Father Barry. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning people began to gather in the church, and at 10.30, the hour when the funeral services began, it was impossible for any more to obtain even standing room within the walls of the sacred edifice. This immense congregation was composed not only of members of the parish, but of Catholics from other parishes also, together with people of all classes and shades of religious belief. Requiem high Mass was celebrated by Bishop Bradley of Manchester, with the Rev. Fathers Murphy and Chevalier as deacons of honor, Reilly and Egan as deacons of the Mass, and O'Callaghan assistant priest. Father Brennan was master of ceremonies. The sermon was preached by Bishop Bradley. Archbishop Williams of Boston pronounced the absolution. The interment was at Calvary Cemetery, where the dead priest had expressed a wish to be laid at rest. Besides the clergymen already mentioned, there were present at the funeral a large number of others, among them being Bishop Harkins of Providence, Bishop Tierney of Hartford, Bishop Brady, auxiliary bishop of Boston, and the Very Rev. John B. Hogan, S. S., D. D., of St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass. A large number of Boston priests were in attendance.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 28, No. 22, Nov. 29, 1902:
A memorial chapel to the late Very Rev. John E. Barry, formerly vicar-general of the Manchester diocese, and pastor of St. John's Church, Concord, N. H., was dedicated in that city, Nov. 9, in the presence of about 2,500 persons, by the Right Rev. Denis M. Bradley, D. D., bishop of Manchester. Bishop Bradley was assisted by the Very Rev. Eugene M. O'Callaghan, V. G., the Revs. Thomas J. O'Leary and Joseph N. Plante of Concord, the Rev. John B. Delaney of the Manchester cathedral, and the Rev. David W. Fitzgerald of Penacook, N. H. The chapel stands in the centre of Calvary Cemetery, Concord, and bears the following inscription: "In memory of the Very Reverend John E. Barry, V. G. Born 1835. Ordained priest June 29, 1864. Appointed first pastor of St. John's parish, Concord, N. H., September, 1865. Died Nov. 14, 1900. This chapel erected A. D. 1902, by the faithful of St. John's parish, a loving tribute, to perpetuate the memory and commemorate the priestly labors of their devoted pastor, who was an example, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith. May he rest in peace." The body of Father Barry lies in a vault beneath the structure.
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The Memorial Chapel built over the grave of the late Rev. John E. Barry, as a tribute of love, was from plans drawn by B. J. Undersee, architect, Boston. The chapel is octagonal in shape, with an offset for a sanctuary. The outer walls are made of Concord granite, and the steep-pitched roof is surmounted with a copper cross. The interior is finished in marble, and the faulted ceiling with tiles. The entrance doors are made of marble, and inside are massive bronze gates. The chapel is built in goth style, and is located in the center of Calvary cemetery.
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The Barry Memorial Chapel was demolished about 1971.
He was the son of Patrick Barry and Anna Burke Barry, who had wed Oct. 19, 1817, in Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, and immigrated to Eastport, Maine, about 1822. Patrick Barry became a citizen of the United States on Sept. 17, 1834, at the Washington County Court of Common Pleas in Machias, Maine.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 18, No. 14, Oct. 2, 1897:
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, CONCORD.
Concord, originally occupied by the Penacook Indians, was settled principally by people from Woburn, Haverhill, and Andover [Massachusetts], was incorporated in 1765, and obtained a city charter in 1853. Congregationalism was contemporary with the birth of the community, and was a strong force in its young development. There were no Catholics here in this century until the time of the building of the Concord railroad ; and Mass was said for the first time in town in 1845 by Rev. J. B. Daly, the missionary who made his headquarters in Claremont [N.H.]. Father Daly came, at rare intervals, for the next two years. In 1847, Father McDonald of Concord [Mass.] began coming occasionally, retaining charge until August, 1855, when Rev. John O'Reilly was made resident pastor. Father O'Reilly died six months after his appointment; and Concord was attached, in February, 1856, to the jurisdiction of Rev. Father O'Donnell, who had recently come from Portland to Nashua. For nine years Father O'Donnell said Mass in Concord once a month, officiating in Rumford Hall until towards the end of that period, when he secured Phenix Hall.
Sept. 30, 1865, Rev. John E. Barry came as resident pastor; and for more than thirty-two years he has cared for the Catholic interests of Manchester. Father Barry was born in Eastport, Maine, in August, 1836, studied at Holy Cross College, and spent nine years in the college and seminary of the Sulpitians in Montreal. He was ordained by Bishop Bacon in the Portland cathedral June 29, 1864; and for upwards of a year after his ordination he was attached to the cathedral, coming thence to Concord.
When Father Barry came he found a Catholic population of between 400 and 500. Immediately after taking charge he organized a Sunday-school, saying Mass every Sunday in Phenix Hall. April 24, 1866, he purchased a very eligible lot on Main street; and he began soon afterwards to build a church thereon, Architect Murphy planning the structure.
St. John's Church was dedicated by Bishop Bacon March 14, 1869. In 1870, Father Barry bought a piece of land adjoining the church property, and built the present rectory, at an outlay of $12,000. On the death of Bishop Bacon, which occurred in New York Nov. 5, 1874, Father Barry was made administrator of the diocese of Portland; and he was reappointed vicar-general by Bishop Healy June 10, 1875. During the year he secured, at a cost of $2,500, a finely situated tract of land on North Main street and adjoining Blossom Hill Cemetery, laying it out for burial purposes; and he had it consecrated in 1876 by Bishop Healy, under the name of Calvary Cemetery.
St. John's Church was enlarged in 1883, by the addition of a new transept, its capacity being increased by three hundred sittings. It was re-dedicated June 22, 1884, by Bishop Bradley, this being the Bishop's first official act. April 6, 1887, Father Barry purchased the Pickering property, situated on the corner of State and Thorndike streets; and, remodelling the dwelling, which stood thereon, for convent uses, he began, during the following month, to build, immediately behind this house, the Sacred Heart School for boys and girls. The total cost of the purchase and construction was $20,000. In September, 1888, he opened the school, under a community of Sisters of Mercy from Manchester.
St. John's parish was elevated, in January, 1889, to the dignity of a permanent rectory; and on the second day of the following July, Father Barry celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination. The church was beautifully decorated on that occasion, and nearly all the priests of the diocese were present. Pontifical High Mass was sung by Archbishop Williams of Boston, Bishop Healy delivering the sermon, and Bishop Bradley preaching in the evening. The reception given Father Barry by the children was a testimonial of filial love; that accorded by the citizens of Concord, irrespective of creed, was an earnest of the regard that is ever commanded by good example and public spirit.
In 1893, Father Barry beautified Calvary Cemetery by the erection of a Gothic arch, thirty feet high, at an expense of $5,000. This arch is very graceful, the delicacy of its proportions foiling its massiveness successfully. The cemetery is laid out with care and good taste, and is unsurpassed in situation.
Father Barry is assisted in the parish work by Rev. Francis X. Lyons. Father Lyons was born in Manchester April 16, 1871, and studied at the parochial school of his grand-uncle, Father McDonald. He took his classics at St. Charles' College, and his philosophy and theology at St. Sulpice, Paris, where he was ordained June 8, 1895. This is his first curacy.
The Sacred Heart School of St. John's parish is a long brick structure. Seven Sisters of Mercy (Sister Louise, superior) teach the children, who number three hundred. This school is of a very high grade of excellence, at least maintaining an equality with the Concord public schools, which are confessedly amongst the best in the country. The courses of study are about the same as in the public schools, the examinations being given by the Concord Board of Education. Vertical writing and diagram work are amongst the modern systems in vogue here. History, grammar, geography, and arithmetic are finished, and algebra is begun, in the eighth grade, the ninth grade introducing geometry, Latin, and civil government. The graduates of this school pass without difficulty into the public high school, and while there reflect great credit on the teaching system of the Sisters of Mercy, as well as on the cause of Catholic education.
The church of St. John the Evangelist is a buttressed brick structure, with foundations of granite and with cornices and buttress bargings of iron. Its facade exhibits three portals, three Gothic windows in the middle stretch, and a campanile tower, which is broken by Gothic lights and a strong lattice, and is topped by a spire. It is ideally situated on the principal street of the city, and is surrounded by tastefully kept grounds. A vaulted and groined ceiling, supported by pendants that are carried across in buff fresco, shows spacings of faint blue, with interposed emblematic and medallion designs in buff. A series of ventilators is made to harmonize with the decorations. Along each clerestory wall runs an arcade, finished in blue quatrefoils, and set off by buff and terracotta ornamentation. The side-aisle ceilings exhibit on their slopes a number of large panels in symbolic quatrefoil. The side walls are in flushed buff, well balanced by a flower and leaf dado and a harmonizing frieze. The intersection of nave and transept is characterized by a fine piece of groining and crown work, and its decoration is like that of the nave ceiling. Each transept wing supports a gallery, and on the wall, and flanking the chancel opening, are two beautiful paintings (after Titiens), depicting the Ascension and the Assumption. The windows, Gothic in formation, are done partly in emblem, the transept, however, showing four figured windows—representing respectively the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph — and two rose openings. The chancel is apsed, its azure crown being bordered in leaf-work and enlivened by an array of buff pendants that meet in a ray-dispersing boss. The general coloring of the chancel walls is dark, making a good ground for a series of ogee arches, which present scalloped cornices and intervening pinnacles. Over this arcade five triple trefoil windows give light to the sanctuary. The altar, in drab and gold, is enriched by a profusion of gilt columns and quatrefoil filling, by a pedimented, pinnacled and panelled reredos, and by a well proportioned canopy tower. The side altars stand in Gothic alcoves.
Father Barry has recently supplied the church with electric lighting. The church property is quite extensive, stretching back, at one point, as far as State street. St. John's parish is free of debt; and Father Barry has already acquired a lot of land at the north end of the city, purposing to erect there before long a parochial school for the accommodation of the children of that district.
When Father Barry came to Concord there was not a little of that suspicious illiberality here which was a mark of the ordinary New Hampshire community at that time; today, however, thanks to his personality and to the gradual enlightening of those who are naturally eager to appreciate virtue and goodness, the story is different. Father Barry has been the recipient of civil as well as of ecclesiastical honors. He was the priest who first said Mass in the state prison; and preparations are being made for the regular celebration of Mass in the state asylum. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and he is a trustee of the state asylum, having been reappointed recently by the governor of New Hampshire for a third term of four years.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 24, No. 21, Nov. 24, 1900:
"Father Barry of Concord, N.H., Buried."
The funeral of the Very Rev. John E. Barry, V. G., of Concord, N. H., who was killed in New York by a cable car on Wednesday of last week, took place last Monday from St. John's Church, of which he had been pastor for thirty-five years. It is said that no citizen of Concord ever received, in death, the tributes of honor and respect offered to Father Barry. As early as 7 o'clock in the morning people began to gather in the church, and at 10.30, the hour when the funeral services began, it was impossible for any more to obtain even standing room within the walls of the sacred edifice. This immense congregation was composed not only of members of the parish, but of Catholics from other parishes also, together with people of all classes and shades of religious belief. Requiem high Mass was celebrated by Bishop Bradley of Manchester, with the Rev. Fathers Murphy and Chevalier as deacons of honor, Reilly and Egan as deacons of the Mass, and O'Callaghan assistant priest. Father Brennan was master of ceremonies. The sermon was preached by Bishop Bradley. Archbishop Williams of Boston pronounced the absolution. The interment was at Calvary Cemetery, where the dead priest had expressed a wish to be laid at rest. Besides the clergymen already mentioned, there were present at the funeral a large number of others, among them being Bishop Harkins of Providence, Bishop Tierney of Hartford, Bishop Brady, auxiliary bishop of Boston, and the Very Rev. John B. Hogan, S. S., D. D., of St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass. A large number of Boston priests were in attendance.
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The Sacred Heart Review, Vol. 28, No. 22, Nov. 29, 1902:
A memorial chapel to the late Very Rev. John E. Barry, formerly vicar-general of the Manchester diocese, and pastor of St. John's Church, Concord, N. H., was dedicated in that city, Nov. 9, in the presence of about 2,500 persons, by the Right Rev. Denis M. Bradley, D. D., bishop of Manchester. Bishop Bradley was assisted by the Very Rev. Eugene M. O'Callaghan, V. G., the Revs. Thomas J. O'Leary and Joseph N. Plante of Concord, the Rev. John B. Delaney of the Manchester cathedral, and the Rev. David W. Fitzgerald of Penacook, N. H. The chapel stands in the centre of Calvary Cemetery, Concord, and bears the following inscription: "In memory of the Very Reverend John E. Barry, V. G. Born 1835. Ordained priest June 29, 1864. Appointed first pastor of St. John's parish, Concord, N. H., September, 1865. Died Nov. 14, 1900. This chapel erected A. D. 1902, by the faithful of St. John's parish, a loving tribute, to perpetuate the memory and commemorate the priestly labors of their devoted pastor, who was an example, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith. May he rest in peace." The body of Father Barry lies in a vault beneath the structure.
---
The Memorial Chapel built over the grave of the late Rev. John E. Barry, as a tribute of love, was from plans drawn by B. J. Undersee, architect, Boston. The chapel is octagonal in shape, with an offset for a sanctuary. The outer walls are made of Concord granite, and the steep-pitched roof is surmounted with a copper cross. The interior is finished in marble, and the faulted ceiling with tiles. The entrance doors are made of marble, and inside are massive bronze gates. The chapel is built in goth style, and is located in the center of Calvary cemetery.
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The Barry Memorial Chapel was demolished about 1971.
Gravesite Details
The Barry Chapel was taken down about 1971.
Buried in the same lot is Rev. Monsignor James P. Watson, retired pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church (memorial ID 88610721).
Family Members
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