Take Me Back to St. Kyran's - Resettlement Part 4

It's hard to believe a week has gone by without a peep from me, isn't it?  I've been busy collecting photo ops and memories, of course.  Squeezing every moment that I can out of the always-too-short amount of time spent in Newfoundland.

The story of our trip out across the bay ended with our landing on the beach by the Church of the Assumption in St. Kyran's.  The parish served multiple outport communities - St. Kyran's, St. Leonard's, Isle of Valen, Clattice Harbour, St. Anne's, Presque and maybe Toslow.

Information is difficult to come by as the church records were destroyed in a fire.  The  church was built in 1921, and the cornerstone was looking pretty solid there to prove it.

Wayne pointed out the 1921 cornerstone

Jim brought along some old photographs, I'm guessing this one from the 1970's or 1980's maybe of when there was a bit more church left.  I especially like that it gives an idea of what the bell tower was like.

As usual, everyone was way ahead of me, setting up for a picnic lunch on the altar.  Other visitors have signed their names on the boards still behind the altar, but I was too distracted to notice whether any of our expedition added their names.  I know they signed the register in the plastic bag though.

I went in through the "St. Leonard's door" even though my grandmother and great-grandfather would have gone in through the "St. Kyran's door" on the other side of the church.

St. Leonard's entrance

While inside Jim told the story of how he asked his mother whether he remembers where she was when Dad asked her to marry him. She said yes, in the church in St. Kyran's in the third pew!  Since they lived in St. Leonard's and St. Kyran's at different points in time which side of the church was it? 

View from church toward St. Kyran's

Nothing remains of the pews now, or the floor for that matter, but here is an old photo I found at Wayne's mother's house (Nell Leonard) that gives a vague idea of the interior before it started falling apart.  Every family had their own pew that they always stuck to when they went to services according to Jim.  What pew did my family sit in? 

looking towards the altar, year unknown

Up behind the altar was a piece of artwork that now hangs at St. John Bosco Parish in St. John's.  Things certainly don't look the same now, but as my cousin Chris says there is something so beautiful about the way it is falling apart out there by itself.  And look at the shapes, so pleasing to the eye!

So much to investigate, but perhaps best to stay to the concrete altar on this trip.

What I found surprising viewing it in person was that the exterior was actually a type of sheet metal made to look like brick!  Too bad I don't know what the glass in the windows was like.

exterior view of window

interior view of window

I also wonder how different it looked sailing into a cove full of homes as opposed to the empty shoreline that surrounds it now.

We could have lingered there for longer I am sure, but our boat would be back to pick us up before long, so we had to finish our lunch and move along.

We're hoping to come back again next summer and spend a few nights, maybe pick aside through some of the debris and see what we can find?

View towards the choir loft

Jim also had this photo of the view towards the choir loft before things fell away over the last 30-40 years or so.  I'm sorry not to have seen it, but that floor sure would have been something you wouldn't want to be crossing.

Sadly, finally, out the St. Leonard's door we went, facing the Priest's home where all that stands is a portion of the chimney.  Today my aunt told me there is a cellar there somewhere that I'll have to search out next time around.

Where once homes and meadows prevailed now is grown thick with trees.  No deterrent to an avid hiker like myself, but how to know where pictures like the one below of Wayne's mother on her wedding day were taken?

The school wasn't far from the church, though was named St. Peter's.  Here's a picture Jim sent me, he doesn't remember where he got the image from but most likely it was the St. Leonard's/St. Kyran's Facebook group.  Thanks to whoever generously posted it!  Wayne's mother may have gone to school in a different building, I'm not sure, but I did get out of her that when they went to school it was one room and they all brought a piece of wood to put in the pot belly stove for the day.  Jim says they used to play games on the second floor of the building below and that the lower floor had a few different classrooms.

The school is long gone, so off we went through the trees to walk to St. Leonard's - passing ponds, the cemetery, and the old stone church along our way.  More about that next time!

I welcome any comments or corrections from the St Leonard's/St. Kyran's Facebook Group!
If you missed the other posts in this series, here they are:

Crossing the Bay - Resettlement Part 1
The Whittles Lived Here - Resettlement Part 2
Cod Fishing Grounds - Resettlement Part 3