Books published by society members

This little book is based on upon notes jotted down from time to time by Pat Gavan to jog his memory when talking about Mount St Mary's Church, about the people who founded Mount St Mary's and the people who lived and worked there, both clergy and laity for more than 140 years. For many, Mount St Mary's is the Famine Church. The original chapel in Richmond Street was established at a time when Ireland was only just beginning to recover from the Great Hunger, brought about by the failure of the potato crop (due to potato blight) in successive years from 1845 to 1851. Hundreds of families, many of them suffering from the effects of 'famine fever' found some refuge in what became the parish of Mount St Mary's, particularly in that part which for centuries had been known as 'the Bank'. It is impossible to calculate the contribution that Mount St Mary's made in creating a new community out of the mass of desperate refugees who found themselves on the Bank or in other parts of the parish. It was not just the ministrations of the clergy that went into the forging of the new community. It was especially the work of the Sisters of the Holy Family in the caring for the sick and the poor and the establishment of the schools and orphanage on Richmond Hill.

Over fifty years ago Mary Patterson sat down to write "The Ham Shank". It is not a lengthy work but it has a rare literary quality and although written as narrative there is no doubt that it is about real people and real events in a real place. The proper name of the district in Mary's story was the Bank. A cramped neighbourhood of cottages and back to back houses built in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in a part of the city of Leeds bounded by the Leeds-Selby railway line and the river Aire and overlooked by Mount St Mary's Church on Richmond Hill. What gave the Bank the character by which it is still remembered was the coming of the Irish. From the 1820s onward it was a centre of settlement by Irish families who came to work in the texiles mills, the dyeworks and the foundries. With the Great Hunger of 1845-51 the stream of immigrants became a flood. The Ham Shank is really the story of that community as seen through the eyes of a girl whose grandmother, mother and aunts had come to the Bank from Ballina in Co. Mayo. It is a story of the hardships, the poverty and the tribulations they faced but also of the happy times remembered and some the characters and comic events that ocurred. Above all it is an evocation of a community long gone. Mary herself died in 1995, but her memory and the memory of the Bank is celebrated in this book.

In 1853 four sisters of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate arrived in Leeds to work at the recently established Mount St Mary's Chapel in Richmond Street, The Bank, a district largely inhabited by Irish families who had fled from the Great Hunger in Ireland. From their temporary convent in Cross Green Lane, the sisters began there work. In July 1853 the first school of the new Mount St Mary's Parish was formed in the convent cellar which was used as a wash house during the day and converted into a school room at night. From this very humble beginning there evolved a remarkable story.

The sisters had a strong conviction that education would provide a way out of the poverty that they witnessed amongst the Irish families on the Bank. Out of this conviction grew a unique complex of buildings on the summit of Richmond Hill.

A new convent was built along with elementary schools for boys and girls, an orphanage which was the first one to be established in the Leeds Diocese, and in 1896, St Mary's College, which was the first catholic secondary school for girls in Leeds. All of these were clustered around the cathedral sized Mount St Mary's Church.

Based on school records and contemporary accounts the book describes the struggles and successes of the teachers, children and their families, living in what was one of the poorest areas in the city. Also included are interviews and personal memories of past and present pupils and head teachers. Anyone who has a connection with Mount St Mary's or the Bank, or has an interest in education will find it informative, at times sad and at other times amusing, but always very thought-provoking.

About the Author.

Helen Kennally was born in Leeds. She received her educated at Cockburn High School and then trained as a teacher. Apart from one year in London she taught in Leeds schools until her retirement in 1991. Since retirement much of her time has been devoted to researching the history of the Irish community in Leeds, particularly the families who settled in the district known as the Bank. Along with her husband Danny she has been involved in the campaign for the preservation of Mount St Mary's Church.

The book can be obtained directly from Mount St Mary's History Group c/o 15 Gledhow Wood Grove, Leeds LS8 1NZ at the special price of £7.00 plus £2.60 p&p

288pp. 46 photographs ISBN 0-9540245-1-6

The Wicked Door centres on an ordinary 1930s family, quite happy and content until some disastrous events befall them. When circumstances threaten to tear the family apart, father and eldest daughter Peggy wage a bitter battle to keep them together. Though beset by many difficulties, they never loose sight of there goal or let the ties that bind them erode and decay.

Mary Manion demonstrates that, though life rarely turns out the way we planned, one can always make the best of things and stresses the importance of never giving up. The tale she tells is both heart rending and inspirational, a genuine tale of courage in the face of adversity, it does not fail to move, amuse and stimulate.

About the Author.

Mary Manion was born in Leeds and educated at Corpus Christi School in the city. She left full time education at the age of fourteen and went to work in the tailoring industry.

She has been married to Denis for over 40 years and the couple have two sons and four grandchildren. Mary and Denis have also enjoyed acting as short term foster parents to a variety of children.

Though the author has been wheelchair bound for many years she remains active and has undertaken Open University, computing and Water Colour courses. She has also been involved in charitable organisations such as the Pilgrimage Trust for underprivileged children and delights in spending time with her grandchildren.

Copies can be obtained from the author at:
59 Whinmoor Way
Leeds
LS14 5LU
At £5.95 plus £1.50 p&p

192pp ISBN 1-84410-015-4