THE FOUNDING of the Roman Catholic parish of St Benedict’s at Mirehouse took place in 1961, right after the opening of the new church building at St Mary’s, Kells, hence the double 50th anniversary being marked this year.

In fact the pews from the old St Mary’s were ‘recycled’, sent down to the temporary church building at Mirehouse and remained in use there until 2000. The first priest-in-charge who founded the Mission of St Benedict’s was Canon Matthew McNarney who hailed from Carlisle. It was on his recommendation that the name St Benedict’s be selected.

Canon McNarney arrived in Whitehaven for the first Sunday of Advent in 1961 (December 3), however, the Vatican document, written in Latin and sent to the Bishop of Lancaster officially appointing Canon McNarney as priest at the new mission, which was then technically part of St Begh’s parish, officially took effect from December 18.

Canon McNarney oversaw the first temporary church built at Mirehouse which was opened on Palm Sunday, 15 April 1962 and he was invited back to Mirehouse to cut the first sod for the permanent church building of St Benedict’s parish on September 29, 1974. By then he had retired and was living in Carlisle. He died on February 12, 1975, just before the laying of the foundation stone on March 2, 1975 followed by the dedication of the new St Benedict’s Church on Sunday, September 14, 1975.

Canon McNarney had previously been in charge of a mission in Cuba when Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. Many of the western clergy were imprisoned and tortured by the new regime.When he was released he returned to Britain and was soon given the appointment to start the new mission at Mirehouse, where he stayed until 1963, living in a flat above the Mirehouse shops. He suggested the mission became a separate parish, and this occurred in July 1964 when Father Edward Shields became Canon McNarney’s immediate successor and the new parish’s first priest-in-charge.

While he was at Mirehouse, Canon McNarney regularly broadcast on BBC radio, mainly on religious matters but he was also invited to speak about the Cuban situation. The Cuban Missile crisis took place in 1962 while he was at Mirehouse.

Worshippers at St Benedict’s Church were joined by the Bishop of Lancaster Michael Campbell on October 13 when he was in Whitehaven for the 40th anniversary celebrations of St Benedict’s School.