The Holbrook Bell
St. Patrick Parish’s Irish Cultural Committee is grateful to the Lowell City Council for loaning the Holbrook Bell to the Parish for the purpose of display.
For the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the original wooden church, then pastor, Father James T. McDermott, contracted with the Holbrook Bell foundry in Medway, MA, to cast one of its bells for the church. He chose wisely: Holbrook, a successor of the Revere Bell foundry, was one of the oldest bell makers in the country and during its years of operation produced more than eleven thousand bells! When casting St. Patrick’s bell, the company was overseen by Col. George H. Holbrook, third in the family line. Sadly, there’s no record of the bell’s cost or tone when struck. The bell’s inscription reads:
By George H Holbrook,
East Medway, Mass. 1841
+ IHS Erected Oct. 1841
By Rev. McDermott,
Pastor of St. Patrick Church Lowell, Mass.
The bell remained in the tower of the wooden church until another, grander, stone church was dedicated in 1854 at which time the bell was moved there. It remained in the new church until 1890, when it was replaced by the Stuckstede Chime. Upon its removal the Lowell Sun reported, “It has called several generations to devotions and those who have lived within the sound of its mellow tone have learned to harken to its call with the same reverence they would give to the call of an old and venerable friend." A thrifty Irishman, Pastor Father Michael O’Brien sold the Holbrook bell to the City of Lowell for $400. It was installed in the tower of the new firehouse on Mammoth Road, and remained there until the firehouse decommissioned in the late 1900’s. It was then put in a yard where it has remained until very recently. On April 27, 2021, the Lowell City Council voted to permanently loan the bell to St. Patrick Parish where it will be proudly displayed.
Lowell Sun article
For the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the original wooden church, then pastor, Father James T. McDermott, contracted with the Holbrook Bell foundry in Medway, MA, to cast one of its bells for the church. He chose wisely: Holbrook, a successor of the Revere Bell foundry, was one of the oldest bell makers in the country and during its years of operation produced more than eleven thousand bells! When casting St. Patrick’s bell, the company was overseen by Col. George H. Holbrook, third in the family line. Sadly, there’s no record of the bell’s cost or tone when struck. The bell’s inscription reads:
By George H Holbrook,
East Medway, Mass. 1841
+ IHS Erected Oct. 1841
By Rev. McDermott,
Pastor of St. Patrick Church Lowell, Mass.
The bell remained in the tower of the wooden church until another, grander, stone church was dedicated in 1854 at which time the bell was moved there. It remained in the new church until 1890, when it was replaced by the Stuckstede Chime. Upon its removal the Lowell Sun reported, “It has called several generations to devotions and those who have lived within the sound of its mellow tone have learned to harken to its call with the same reverence they would give to the call of an old and venerable friend." A thrifty Irishman, Pastor Father Michael O’Brien sold the Holbrook bell to the City of Lowell for $400. It was installed in the tower of the new firehouse on Mammoth Road, and remained there until the firehouse decommissioned in the late 1900’s. It was then put in a yard where it has remained until very recently. On April 27, 2021, the Lowell City Council voted to permanently loan the bell to St. Patrick Parish where it will be proudly displayed.
Lowell Sun article