Until the seventh century, Christians in Ireland were buried next to non-Christians. Later, there was a shift toward Christian burials in cemeteries attached to churches, especially those linked to saints. The faithful believed that a saint could take anyone buried near them to heaven on Judgement Day. Cemeteries maintained by a church or religious organization were also considered sacred land or concentrated grounds.

In the Middle Ages, the well-to-do in Ireland were often buried dressed in a religious habit like monks or nuns. They wished to secure a place in heaven by appearing before God dressed as extremely religious and pious persons. This tradition of being buried in religious habit continued until it was condemned at the Synod of Dublin in 1670.

In the twelfth century, there were references of Palladius bringing soil from the graves of saints, including Peter and Paul, and spreading the soil in Irish cemeteries in the hopes of obtaining some of God’s blessing and increasing the odds of souls entering heaven. The Irish also believe relics act as a special channel for prayer: to help heal the sick, make peace between warring nations, change the course of nature, and even raise the dead. Still, only God has the power to perform miracles, with saints acting as intercessors of God’s will.

The Catholic Church supports the practice of venerating relics. Veneration is not worship; rather it is honoring the work, cherishing the devotion, and respecting the faithfulness of the saints. Veneration comes from the participants admiration of the saint’s holy life on earth and their presence with God in heaven.

An Irish word for cemetery (relec) comes from the word relic, reflecting the desire to be buried near a saint and to use his or her merits to assist in entering heaven. Since early Christian times, communal burial grounds or cemeteries have served as a spiritually important part of Irish faith. There was a strong belief that the fate of one’s soul was linked to the location where the body was buried. Selecting the right cemetery plot could help protect one’s soul from hell. The Irish have a strong connection to their ancestors with family ties binding even beyond death. Family members are often buried next to each other at Wexford cemetery.

Father Thomas Hoare of County Wexford Ireland is the founding priest at Wexford, Iowa. His name has appeared with different spelling, “Hore”, “Hoar” and “Hoare”. In Wexford Wanderings, I will use the same spelling found in the stained-glass window of the current Wexford church “In Memory of Rev. Thomas Hoare by the first settlers.” The founding settlers arrived at Lafayette Landing (aka “Big Meadow”) at the mouth of the Wexford creek in Allamakee County with eighteen Irish families in 1851. Irish settlers and their families who purchased land in Lafayette and Taylor Townships that year included: James and Paul Brickley, John Brophy, Catherine Bulger, Timothy Collins, John Gavin, William and Eliza Heatley, Timothy Howe, Austin Joyce, Edward and John Kelly, John Lamb, Catherine McKeogh. Patrick McNamara, Thomas Mullins, George, Frank, and Edward Murphy, Edward O’Neil, John Ryan, and Mary Ryan. Other names on the ship’s passenger list who may have come to Wexford in 1851 include: John and Kate Bulger, Thomas Burns, James and Henry Curran, Sally Esmond, Mary Fennel, Daniel Finn, Michael and Mary Heyfron, Peter Kavanagh, Patrick Kiernan, John Kinsella, Andrew Nolan, Edmond Stafford, and William Sullivan.

Soon after their arrival, a log church was built and dedicated to St. George by Father Hoare on April 23, 1851. This date fell on the Feast of St. George, and so the church was named in his honor. The church was built near the east end of a small plateau-like hill with a good view of Wexford Creek. St. George Church was the handiwork of Hugh Vincent Gildea, a pioneer church builder who built eight churches in Iowa for Bishop Mathias Loras of the Dubuque Diocese.

As was the custom since Pope Felix I (~270), a saint’s relic was placed inside the primary alter used for saying Mass in every Catholic church. The relic is often placed into an altar stone. The altar stone is a natural stone with a cavity encasing a relic. The alter stone is consecrated by a bishop and built into the altar. The relic serves as a tangible reminder of the faithful parishioner’s relationship with the saints. This is why a priest kisses the alter during Mass, as a sign of the spiritual connection between the living and deceased.

There are three classes of relics. The most sacred class is the remains of saint including blood, bones, or hair. Second class relics are items personally owned by the saint, such as a rosary, pastoral staff, pen, clothing, crucifix, or holy book. Third class relics are objects touched to a first class relic, such as a piece of cloth touched to the bones or hair of a saint.

Besides St. George, the early settlers at Wexford built a two-story priest house and storage buildings. During his stay in Wexford Iowa, Father Hoare raised crops and maintained a fine herd of cattle and sheep.

Father Hoare was the only priest in the area until 1855. He traveled on horseback across Iowa covering Allamakee County and into Winneshiek, Howard, Fayette, and Clayton County, as well as into Minnesota and Wisconsin, tending the faithful and spreading the Catholic faith. While preaching the Word of God, Father Hoare became the founding priest of at least seven of the Catholic parishes in Allamakee County. Circuit-riding Father Hoare and early pioneer Wexford priests were tireless in their missionary zeal, traveling long distances by horse to keep the faith alive.

Michael Mooney and at least eight French families were already living in the Wexford area when Father Hoare arrived in 1851. The French families were Chanviere, Cotas, La Point, La Tronche, Martelle, Revoir, and Verdon. When Father Hoare and the Irish colonists first arrived in 1851, the early French settlers assisted and furnished lodging. Michael Mooney donated the transom over the door, below the belfry, with the inscription: “Donated by Michael Mooney 1848”. This date is earlier than the year that Father Hoare arrived with the Irish settlers.



The early French settlers in Allamakee County lived on land north of Harpers Ferry. In the 1840s, they built a cabin ‘later called Cabin Hill’ on a little knoll located just a little below James Kernan’s old farmhouse and about half a mile west of Mohn’s Fish Market. The cabin on Cabin Hill was built so the early missionary priests would have a place to stay and say Mass while traveling up and down the Mississippi River. Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, Father Lucien Galtier, and Father Joseph Cretin were missionary priests working with Indian tribes, including the Winnebago Indians. They visited a Winnebago camp located at the base of Mt. Madden, near Lafayette Landing in the Wexford area. Father Cretin would have been one of the priests who said Mass at Cabin Hill. Both the Cabin Hill building and James Kernan’s old farmhouse and buildings are now gone.