Sacred Places : Two Churches, One Family Story
St. Dunstan’s (Charlottetown) and St. Eugene’s (Covehead)
Sacred Places
In tracing the Kenny and Connors families of Prince Edward Island, a curious pattern emerges in the parish records: children baptized at St. Dunstan's in Charlottetown, yet their families buried at St. Eugene's in Covehead. This apparent discrepancy tells us much about how Catholic families navigated religious life in 19th-century PEI—and ultimately reveals the deep roots these families planted in the fertile soil of Queens County.
This companion piece explores the history of both churches and explains why our ancestors traveled between them, following a rhythm of births and deaths that connected the rural parish to the urban cathedral.
St. Dunstan's Basilica, Charlottetown
Since 1816, four St. Dunstan's churches have risen on Great George Street in Charlottetown. In 1829, with the creation of the Diocese of Charlottetown, the original wooden chapel assumed the role of cathedral—becoming the spiritual center for Catholics across the island.
This photograph, taken in 1861 looking north from the east side of Great George Street, captures St. Dunstan's during the very years when Lawrence Kenny and Catherine Corcoran would have brought their children here for baptism. Province House, the seat of government, stands visible in the background—a reminder of how tightly woven were the civic and religious lives of Charlottetown's residents.
For families living in rural communities like Covehead, the journey to St. Dunstan's for baptisms was more than a matter of convenience—it reflected the organizational structure of the early Catholic Church in Prince Edward Island:
- Centralized Record-Keeping: St. Dunstan's served as the primary hub for Catholics across the region. Parents traveled to ensure their children's baptisms were officially recorded in the main parish register.
- Availability of Priests: Smaller parishes like St. Eugene's did not always have a resident priest. Traveling missionaries performed sacraments in outlying areas but often recorded them at St. Dunstan's upon returning to Charlottetown.
- Medical Care: Families often traveled to Charlottetown for childbirth or to seek medical aid. If a child was born while the family was in the city, the baptism naturally occurred at St. Dunstan's.
The Kenny Children at St. Dunstan's
Lawrence Kenny and Catherine Corcoran brought their children to St. Dunstan's for baptism throughout the 1830s. These records, preserved on index cards by the Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, document the family's presence in Charlottetown during these early years.
Alice Kenny
Born July 1, 1835, Charlottetown. Parents: Lawrence Kenny and Catherine Cockeren [Corcoran]. Clergy: B.D. McDonald. St. Dunstan's Basilica, Record Book No. 1, Page 122.
Bridget Kenny
Born approximately 3 weeks prior, Charlottetown. Parents: Lawrence Kenny and Catharine Corcoran. Clergy: Chas. McDonnell. St. Dunstan's Basilica, Record Book No. 1, Page 212.
Research Note
Note the variation in spelling of Catherine's maiden name—"Cockeren" in 1835 and "Corcoran" in 1839. Such spelling variations were common in an era when names were recorded phonetically by the officiating clergy. Both records locate the family in Charlottetown and reference St. Dunstan's Basilica, Record Book No. 1.
The Connors Children at St. Dunstan's
Hugh Connors and Mary Henery (Henepy) likewise brought their children to St. Dunstan's for baptism. Their records span the late 1830s through the 1840s.
David Connors
Born May 7, 1838, Charlottetown. Parents: Hugh Connors and Mary Henepy. Clergy: James F. Morris. St. Dunstan's Basilica, Record Book No. 1, Page 198.
Ann Connors
Born approximately 5 weeks prior, Charlottetown. Parents: Hugh Connors and Mary Henery. Clergy: M. Reynolds. St. Dunstan's Basilica, Record Book No. 2, Page 122.
Again we see spelling variations—"Henepy" in 1838 becomes "Henery" in 1846. The eight-year gap between these records suggests additional children may have been born during this period, their records perhaps waiting to be discovered in the parish registers.
Two Families Become One
The Kenny and Connors families, who had worshipped side by side at St. Dunstan's for decades, united through marriage in the 1860s. The original marriage register pages, preserved in the Diocesan Archives, tell the story.
The Double Union: Kenny & Connors
Witnesses: [illegible] Connors, Bridget Kenny
Witnesses: Thos Maher, Elizr Connors
These two marriages, occurring just three months apart, created a double bond between the families. James Kenny married Margaret Connors in November 1866, and his sister Bridget Kenny married Edward Connors in February 1867. Both marriages were performed by banns rather than special license, suggesting the families were well-established members of the parish community.
St. Eugene's Parish, Covehead
While St. Dunstan's served as the cathedral church for baptisms and marriages, St. Eugene's in Covehead became the final resting place for both the Kenny and Connors families. Located in West Covehead, Queens County, St. Eugene's has served the local Catholic community since 1832.
The parish history is well-documented in the book Our people: Covehead, P.E.I.; the genealogies of the families of St. Eugene's Parish, published by the parish's history committee in 1984, which emphasizes the deep, intergenerational connection of local families to the church.
The pattern of baptisms at St. Dunstan's and burials at St. Eugene's reflects practical realities of 19th-century rural life:
- Proximity to Home: Covehead was the local community for these families. When death came, it was far easier to carry a body to the nearby parish cemetery than to transport it all the way to Charlottetown.
- Consecrated Ground: Families wanted burial on consecrated Catholic ground. St. Eugene's provided this locally, allowing families to be interred near their farms and alongside neighbors they had known for generations.
- Community Connection: The cemetery served as a gathering place for the living as well as the dead. Families could visit graves easily, maintaining connection with ancestors who had built the community.
Standing Witness: The Gravestones
Lawrence Kenny & Catherine Corcoran
The Kenny family gravestone at St. Eugene's Parish Cemetery (Lot 34, Stone #53) stands as weathered testament to a long marriage and early loss. The double-arched limestone marker, topped with the words "FATHER" and "MOTHER," records the following:
LAWRENCE KENNY
Æt. 95
CATHERINE CORCORAN
Æt. 53
Their Son
JAMES
Died June 25, 1872
West Covehead, Queens County, Prince Edward Island
Catherine died in January 1855 at age 52–53, leaving Lawrence a widower for 44 years. He lived until February 1899, dying at the remarkable age of 94–95. The gravestone also memorializes their son James, who died in 1872. Lawrence would outlive his wife by nearly half a century—a testament to both his longevity and, perhaps, his loneliness.
Research Note
The Find A Grave entries show Catherine's death date as January 23, 1853, while the gravestone appears to read 1855. Such discrepancies between different sources are common and require careful evaluation of all available evidence.
Moses Connors & Ann Lacey
The Connors family gravestone at St. Eugene's Parish Cemetery, though partially obscured by weathering, records the following:
MOSES CONNORS
Aged 72
ANN LACEY
Aged [?]
West Covehead, Queens County, Prince Edward Island
Moses Connors, likely a relative of Hugh Connors, died in 1897 at age 72. His wife Ann Lacey (sometimes recorded as "Leary") survived him by approximately three years. Their shared gravestone at St. Eugene's places them among the other Irish Catholic families who shaped the Covehead community.
Timeline: Two Churches, One Family
"In these sacred places, the Kenny and Connors story endures—written in parish registers, carved in limestone, and preserved in the institutional memory of a faith community that has witnessed two centuries of Island life."
The seemingly puzzling pattern of baptisms in Charlottetown and burials in Covehead reflects the practical realities of 19th-century Catholic life in Prince Edward Island. St. Dunstan's, as the cathedral church, served as the administrative and sacramental center where records were kept and traveling missionaries reported. St. Eugene's, as the local parish, served the everyday spiritual needs of the Covehead community—and provided consecrated ground where families could rest together for eternity.
For the Kenny and Connors families, these two churches bookended life's most significant moments. Their children were welcomed into the faith at St. Dunstan's grand altar. Their marriages united two families in the cathedral's registry. And when their journeys ended, they returned to the quiet cemetery at St. Eugene's, overlooking the farms they had worked and the community they had built.
Today, descendants can visit both places. St. Dunstan's Basilica still stands on Great George Street, rebuilt after fires in 1913 and 1979 but maintaining its role as the mother church of the diocese. St. Eugene's continues to serve the Covehead community from its location at 1583 Covehead Road, the cemetery still accepting burials from families whose roots stretch back to the parish's founding in 1832.
Sources
Church Records
- St. Dunstan's Basilica, Baptism Records, Record Book No. 1 (1835–1846)
- St. Dunstan's Basilica, Marriage Book No. 8 (1866–1867)
- Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, Charlottetown, P.E. Island (index cards)
Cemetery Records
- St. Eugene's Parish Cemetery, West Covehead, Queens County, Prince Edward Island
- Find A Grave, Memorial ID 216699562 (Catherine Corcoran Kenny)
- Find A Grave, Memorial ID 216699475 (Lawrence Kenny)
Photographs
- Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island, Acc3218/26 (St. Dunstan's, 1861)
- Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island, Acc2301/196 (Charlottetown aerial view)
Secondary Sources
- Diocese of Charlottetown, "The 4 St. Dunstan's" (diocesan history)
- St. Eugene's Parish History Committee, Our people: Covehead, P.E.I.; the genealogies of the families of St. Eugene's Parish (1984)
- GCatholic, "Church of St. Eugene - Covehead, Prince Edward Island"
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