Vinny O’Malley: St. Dominic’s & the Irish Community of the West End

Vinny O’Malley: St. Dominic’s Church and the Irish Community of the West End

Every month PelotonLabs co-founder Liz Trice interviews a local community member. This month, Liz caught up with Vinny O’Malley, a volunteer and founding member of the Maine Irish Heritage Center (MIHC). The Center is located at the former St. Dominic’s Church at the corner of State and Gray Streets. 

How did the building go from being the St. Dominic’s Church to being the Maine Irish Heritage Center?

Saint Dominic’s Parish Church, which had served the mostly Irish community of the West End of Portland since 1832, was closed by the Diocese of Portland in 1998. This created great turmoil for parishioners whose parents and grandparents had been baptized, gone to school, were married, and had their funerals at Saint Dom’s.

The first generation of immigrants came, and for many of them, one of the only things they brought with them was their faith. In Portland, the vast majority of them were Irish Catholics, and they built these beautiful edifices like Saint Dominic’s to honor their faith. Saint Dominic’s church was the first Catholic church in Portland and the third oldest in Maine.

SAINT DOMINIC’S PARISH CHURCH

The Sisters of Notre Dame began teaching students there in 1865. Students continued to be educated there until the mid-1970’s. Saint Dominic’s had as many as four thousand parishioners in the 1940s.

Subsequently, other Portland churches were built – Sacred Heart and St. Patrick’s in Portland. And many of the first waves of immigrants moved out to the suburbs and created new parishes there. Eventually, there weren’t as many people left in the West End, and either St. Dominic’s or Sacred Heart had to close.  The diocese opted to close Saint Dominic’s.

The diocese tried to sell the property but eventually had a “paper” sale to the City of Portland. The city instituted a request for proposals to reuse the facility. Ex-parishioners, the Irish American Club and many other community members got together and submitted a proposal. We worked with PROP (now Opportunity Alliance) and Portland West Neighborhood Planning Council (now LearningWorks) to convert the old girls’ school to low-income housing.

In 2003 we took ownership of the main building and began the development of a vibrant cultural and community center for the neighborhood and the City of Portland. We want to preserve its historic character while creating a gathering place for all local residents, regardless of economic or immigrant status.

What’s your long-term vision for the building? It’s so huge and so beautiful! 

For nearly two centuries, the structure has been a beacon welcoming immigrants. We want to continue to enhance the inclusiveness of the Center and increase our value as a community resource. It’s a unique facility. We’ve had tons of events there, and we already have an established library with an archival component and a popular genealogical center. The goal is to make it more of a performing arts center with its own niche.

Upon completion of the exterior projects, there are plans for the interior, including a new modern performance space on the upper level, as well as a music rehearsal room, art and history exhibition space, a snack bar and wet bar area for event nights, and two new restrooms. Upstairs in the sanctuary, we had a great live event this past November where over a dozen Irish musicians and entertainers performed and local breweries were available for refreshments. We continue to be an outstanding venue for wedding celebrations. On the lower level, we intend to completely modernize the event space, the kitchen, and the bathrooms.

On a recent Saturday evening in our downstairs community space, we had over 120 folks come watch the Stillson School Dancers perform. The following Monday we hosted a Rapid Response session sponsored by the Maine Department of Labor attended by over two hundred laid-off workers – mostly new immigrants. We believe we are uniquely situated to provide a space of inclusivity to strengthen our community by making it clear that “all are welcome here.”

What’s your role and how did you get involved? 

I’m a volunteer on the construction/facilities committee. It was my parish growing up, and I was the former executive director (I stepped down in June of 2019).  I joke that all the years as a parishioner of Saint Dominic’s when I was supposed to be there, I wasn’t. And now that it’s not a church anymore, I am here doing penance! But it’s good penance.

This is our 20th year now. In the beginning there were times where we were held together with duct tape and chewing gum. We literally passed the hat a few times to hold things together – like when the bell fell and there was no oil in the tank. Our team has grit and determination that our dreams for this building will work out. 

What was it like growing up Irish in Portland’s West End? 

Tyng Street, where I grew up, used to run all the way to the old bridge (we called it the viaduct). And there were hundreds of kids just on that street and the vast majority of them went to St Dominic’s. The Jesuit priests lived at the top of Tyng Street before they moved out to Cheverus, and the building on the corner of State and Danforth – one block away – was the grammar school that I and thousands of other kids attended.  

Every year there would be a St. Patrick’s Day concert and every class at the school would put on a show with original music and costumes. There would be a big meal and the whole community would turn out. There was a lot of Irish spoken on the streets when I was growing up. Portland had one of the highest percentages of Irish speakers in the country!

A lot of people worked on the waterfront. My father was a longshoreman, and I continue to work as a longshoreman.

No one was driving cars. You could walk to neighborhood stores, pharmacies, work, and Mercy Hospital. It seemed like everything you needed was within walking distance. The suburban malls had not been developed yet. So, we had major department stores (Sears, Porteous, Mitchell and Braun), movies, and restaurants all close by downtown. It truly was pretty ideal.

What’s the Irish community like in Portland now? 

We’re a membership organization and I believe our numbers would skew to folks closer to my age. My parents were Irish immigrants. There are not a lot of first generation Irish still around. We’ve noticed in the last few years, there are more young people showing up. There were over one hundred people watching the Stillson Dancers last Saturday night, and that was mostly younger couples who had children or grandchildren dancing.

The Maine Gaelic Sports Alliance (MGSA) is designed to teach kids about Irish sports including Irish Hurling and Gaelic Football. If you haven’t noticed, Ireland and Irish culture have become pretty cool these days. It wasn’t until sometime in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s where there was net immigration into Ireland. Ireland has gotten cool!

When I lived there in the 70’s, Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Europe. But then the “Celtic Tiger” of the 90’s came to Ireland and there was rapid economic growth which changed everything. Ireland’s youth are highly educated and have great technical skills.

Greater Portland has seen an influx of Irish-born folks living and participating in many of the cultural activities that the MIHC has to offer. These new Irish folks join with our second and third generation Portland Irish who have been here for years and are creating a vibrant community in Portland.

We haven’t talked about what’s most meaningful to you. Is there a spirit of being Irish that you are passionate about and want to see live in the world?

There are a lot of Irish proverbs and blessings, but this W.B. Yeats quote does it best for me:

“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.”

Upcoming Events – March 2023

• March 5 – Ceil dance at RiRa
• March 7 – Derek Warfield and the Young Wolf Tones concert at MIHC
• Mach 10 – Irish Night at Mariners Hockey
• March 12 – Saint Patrick’s Parade on Commercial Street
• March 16 – Congresswoman Pingree will tour MIHC 
• March 17 – St Patrick’s Day Flag Raising at Harbor View Park

Learn more or get involved. Visit https://maineirish.com.