 St.
Mary's of Manhasset is today, in 2007, a sprawling,
prosperous parish. It was not always thus. On July 29, 1853
the Reverend John J. McMahon, who was then pastor of St.
Michael's Church in Flushing wrote to Bishop John Hughes of
the See of New York (the diocese of Brooklyn had not yet
been established) asking permission to establish a mission
church at Manhasset for the few German and Irish Catholic
farmers in the area.
On this same day, July 29, 1853 Pope Pius IX established the
diocese of Brooklyn (including the counties of Kings,
Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk) and named Rev. John Loughlin as
its first Bishop; thus Fr. McMahon was no longer under the
jurisdiction of Bishop Hughes.
In his original letter to Bishop Hughes, Father McMahon
asked permission to "solicit subscriptions (ask for
donations) in the city to erect a small church at
Manhasset—for the residents were too poor in spirit and in
material wealth to help themselves." It is not known whether
he ever received permission for such a subscription but,
judging by his rapid departure from the country, it probably
came to naught.
Rev. McMahon very soon thereafter returned to Ireland and
Reverend James O'Beirne, the new pastor at St Michael's,
continued to promote the mission church of St. Mary's at
Manhasset.
Father O'Beirne organized the St Mary's mission at Manhasset and
he or one of his curates visited there once a month for Mass and
the sacraments. At other times the farmers had to travel by
horse and wagon to St. Michael's in Flushing.
Among his accomplishments at Flushing, Father O'Beirne built a
new church there and, as soon as the new church was ready for
occupancy, had the old church moved to Manhasset and set up on
the east side of Plandome Road.
Mr. Tom Fay, maternal grandfather of Tom O'Connel, helped
dismantle the old church in Flushing and haul it to Manhasset on
a lumber wagon, and then helped to put the church back together
again on the east side of Plandome Road on property deeded to
Bishop Loughlin by William Havilland and wife on Aug 1, 1857.
Below, is a crude map
(author unknown) of old Manhasset showing the location of the
first St. Mary's church. It should be noted that the bulk of
Manhasset activity was in the valley at the foot of Spinny Hill
with very little activity on Plandome Rd. The photo below shows
Plandome Rd. at about the turn of the century, looking north
from the RR overpass. The first St. Mary's church can just
barely be seen at the end of the road.
 On
the left at the top, is a photograph of the actual church which
was reported to be "hot in summer and cold in winter in spite of
its two pot-bellied stoves, one in the middle aisle and the
other up near the altar." The church building was dedicated on
Oct. 4, 1857 and served the people of St Mary's until Aug. 15,
1917 when the present church (about half its present size)
opened.
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If
you have any input or questions regarding St. Mary's Parish
History please contact Communications Director Stephen Cooke at
516-627-4605.
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