St. Columban Roman Catholic Church a lot for Tom Melady and his family.
“I grew up in St. Columban, and for 50 years I went to the Saray church, just like my father, grandfather and great-grandfather,” Melady explains.
Many families have spent generations at St. John’s Church. Columban because it remained there in Huron County for 174 years. It is the first church built between Goderich, Ontario and Guelph, when Irish immigrants cleared land to settle in the area.
It survived a devastating chimney in 1909 after members of the network rebuilt it. But eventually, the decline in the number of congregations led to its demise in 2005, leading to its demolition in 2006.
An old photo of St. Roman Catholic ChurchColumban from many years ago. (Source: Nancy Kale) “Until now, there was no indication that there was a church here. It’s a parking lot, so we felt we had to recognize it,” says Nancy Kale, a former member of the congregation.
Kale and Melady led the pace of erecting a sign at the ancient Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary. Columban. They have a determination with the last priest ordained here on August 7 at 2 p. m.
“Every little network built on the most sensitive thing in a church. Whether Methodist, Presbyterian, or Catholic, the Church networks it. And sadly, those small rural communities are at the end of their doors, and that’s why we put the sign here, to commemorate a small network that was once traditionally and socially vital,” Melady says.
“To recognize the work and difficulties of our ancestors, who cleared this land, which was completely dense, the Huron Tract, at that time,” Kale says.