About Our Parish
SHORT HISTORY OF IRISH TRAVELLERS
Irish Travelers are celts, fair skinned, often blonde and blue-eyed people. It is believed that the Travellers were originally small land owners or laborers in Ireland. But After the military campaign of Oliver Cromwell over Ireland in 1649, their land was confiscated and hence they were forced to leave their farming and ranching way of life. So the clans got banded together and formed itinerant groups of families and traveled across Ireland. They mended pots, pans, and farm equipment. Thus, they were called "Tinkers" in Ireland. Due to the great misery and financial distress created by the Potato Famine in Ireland (1845-1852) some of them seriously thought of migrating to the US. The first Irish Traveler came to the US was one Mr. Tom Carroll. He came to New York after being processed through Ellis Island. At that time, there was a large community of Irish settlers in Boston. So Tom quickly went and settled down there. After arriving there , he quickly found work in a tannery because he could speak English as against many European immigrants who could not.
After working for several months, Tom Carroll was able to get his brother Patrick to the US. Patrick again sent for his other brothers Jimmy and John. Very soon many of their relatives migrated to the US. Just before the Civil War (1861-1865) the Travellers slowly moved to the South, living in Georgia ,South Carolina, and Tennessee. There, they began to travel throughout the South buying mules and horses to trade and sell them among the farming communities. As the town of North Augusta began to grow, many Catholics relocated there from the Northeast. Due to this large influx of Catholics to this area, the Catholic Parish of Our Lady of Peace was established in North Augusta, SC in 1948. Rev. Fr. Murphy, an Irish immigrant himself, was made its Pastor. He greatly helped the Travellers in their spiritual needs. He encouraged the travellers to buy land a few miles north of the town. As a result of this, the community of Murphy Village was born bearing the name of this kind and enthusiastic priest who ministered them for over 20 years.
After a few years, the parish of St. Edward the Confessor began. This parish was established exclusively for Irish Travelers, but recently a couple of non-travelers registered to be members of St .Edwards. Today St. Edward Parish Family has grown rapidly to over 560 families.
Irish Travelers are very much devoted and faithful Catholics. They attend the Church regularly and consider the Church as the source of their spiritual life. Even before the establishment of this Parish they used to travel a long way to find a Catholic Church to participate in the Mass and receive the Sacraments.
