Everybody seems to have heard of Owen Connolly but are not really sure why. He maintains a presence in downtown Charlottetown by virtue of the Owen Connolly Block from which his statue looks down on lower Queen Street. His name is also associated with the Owen Connolly Bursary awarded by the Connolly Estate for Catholic post-secondary students of Irish descent.
But who really was this man who came to the Island as an emigrant from County Monaghan in Ireland in 1839 and 48 years later died as one of the leaders of the commercial and social class on the Island?
Leonard Cusack’s presentation will provide the answers.
Leonard Cusack, educator, administrator and public servant has been a sessional lecturer in history at UPEI. He was PEI’s representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and is the author of A Party For Progress: The P.E.I. Progressive Conservative Party 17790 – 2000, and A Magnificent Gift Declinedthe account of the Dalton Sanatorium in Emyvale, He is currently working on a biography of Owen Connolly.
St. Andrew’s Chapel stands as a memorial to the pioneer priest and first Bishop of Charlottetown, Angus Bernard MacEachern and to the early settlers of Prince Edward Island. Owen Connolly was such an immigrant that helped develop a vibrant Irish-Catholic commercial presence on the Island.
The presentation will begin at 3 p.m. Admission is by donation. St. Andrew’s Chapel is located 3 km. east of Mount Stewart on Route 2.
