Jan. 26, 1887 Condolence Letter from P. H. McMahon at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Atlanta, GA
February 20, 2018Catholic priest P. H. McMahon (1855-1920) wrote this condolence letter to John F. Armstrong on 26 January 1887. McMahon was a Catholic priest at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Atlanta. Fr. McMahon and JF were both active in Irish aid work.
On April 6, 1884, Fr. McMahon chaired a meeting of Atlanta Irishmen to organize a local chapter of the Irish National League of America (INLA). John F. Armstrong of Augusta, a founding member of the INLA, spoke to the group about its goal to support Irish MP Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. Parnell advocated Irish home rule and land reform through constitutional means rather than violence.
Fr. McMahon was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1855. He was the founding pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Atlanta and served many parishes throughout the state. He died in 1920 while serving as pastor at St. Patrick’s Church in Augusta. He was buried in St. Patrick’s sanctuary.
For more information on Fr. McMahon, see the References and attached notes below.
Marie Van Sant Hudson figured out that the signature on this letter was McMahon not Mahony. She also found the information about Fr. McMahon and JF at the 1884 INLA organizational meeting in Atlanta.
References
“Fr. M’Mahon Is Laid to Rest – Hundreds Attend Funeral Service at St. Patrick’s – Is Buried in Crypt Underneath Sanctuary,” Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA), 27 January 1920, online archives, Genealogybank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 21 March 2018), citing original p. 7.
“The Land League – A League Organized at Concordia Hall Sunday Night by the Atlanta Irish,” Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), 8 April 1884, online archives, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 March 2018), citing original p. 7.