How the Mount’s John Hughes Saved New York’s Irish

On Tuesday, March 20, despite the snow day, speakers Fr. Richard Shaw and Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies gave a lecture on How the Mount’s John Hughes Saved New York’s Irish And Showed the Power of Civil Society. This event, sponsored by the BB&T Center for the Study of the Moral Foundations of Capitalism, was originally scheduled in Knott Auditorium after a scheduled dinner, but because of the unexpected weather, was relocated to the O’Donnell Lecture Hall, located in the seminary.

Dr. John Larrivee, who organized the event, began with a brief introduction where he asked some open-ended discussion questions to consider throughout the lecture. These questions included, “What makes us more than just irrational creatures?”, “How do we help others develop to their full potential?”, “What is it that the federal government can do to help faith-based universities?” and “How can faith-based universities help civil society?”.

The first speaker was Fr. Richard Shaw, who is the author of biographies of both John Hughes and John Dubois, two notable Mount alumni. Fr. Shaw is a priest in the diocese of Albany, teaches at Siena College, has a PhD in criminal justice and has been involved with prison ministry for over forty years. With his extensive knowledge on the subject, Fr. Shaw described the details in John Hughes’ life that led him and his family to the United States.

John Joseph Hughes was an Irish immigrant, born on June 24, 1797 in Annaloghan, County Tyrone. Hughes and his family left Ireland in 1817 to flee from both poverty and persecution under English rule. He would live on his life in America, not forgetting the injustice Catholics faced while he was growing up in Ireland. Fr. Shaw highlighted the event that really pushed the Hughes family to move overseas, and that was when Hughes’ sister, Mary had died when Hughes was fifteen. English law did not allow the Catholic priest to enter the cemetery during the burial leaving the priest unable to do anything more than bless a handful of dirt and give it to Hughes to put on her grave.

After immigrating to the United States, Hughes found himself here in Emmitsburg. Although he was not immediately enrolled as a student upon his request at Mount St. Mary’s seminary, he was admitted in the fall of 1820 thanks to Mother Seton, who was familiar with the school and John Dubois. Eventually, Hughes graduated from the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1826.

John Hughes was made a bishop in 1838 of the New York diocese. Shortly after, 1845 marked the start of the Great Famine in Ireland, when the potato crop failed. Approximately 2 million Irish began emigrating from Ireland, now just in the hope that they would be able to eat. Outbreaks of illness, gang violence, prostitution, alcoholism, drug addiction and child abandonment made life for the Irish less than desirable in the city. The average expectancy for the New York Irish was less than 40 years.

Remembering the injustice the Irish Catholics faced back in Ireland when he was growing up, Hughes and effort to make changes to benefit the New York Irish population. Hughes took several approaches to healing the Irish population and their families. Through education, a reestablishment of faith through the Catholic church and encouraging the formation of church societies, Hughes had a large impact on the Irish and rebuilding the Irish community through his encouragement and his actions through the diocese.

After hearing more from Fr. Shaw about John Hughes and what he did for the New York Irish, Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies spoke about the role of civil society around the world and how it relates to us as a University. Dr. Carlson-Thies was one of the founders of George W. Bush’s Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, a consultant for both the Obama and Trump administrations and is currently director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance.

Although the concept of civil society may not sound so familiar, civil society is all around us. Civil society can be found in a variety of different places. These include families, newspapers, groups, churches, ministries and many more. These organizations can be a major source of development and a way for people to acquire relationships. Civil society has a critical role in society by supporting other people in our communities. “Civil society organizations are sea beds of virtue.” emphasized Dr. Carlson-Thies, “A group of people can make a lot happen over time.”.

This event left Mount students and community members in a place to consider what Mount St. Mary’s University can do and the impact that the unity of multiple faith-based universities can have on civil society, alike how John Hughes was successful in impacting such a large community in dire need of support.