ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS NEWPORT: CELEBRATING 150 YEARS OF SERVICE
(Excerpt from the St Mary and St Augustin Church’s Weekly bulletin dated; 11 January 2026)
Today, as we gather around this altar, we do something the Church has always done well—we remember. Not nostalgia, not sentimentality, but holy memory. We remember who we are, where we came from, and why faith mattered enough for people to build, defend, and hand it on.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America was founded in 1836, in New York and Pennsylvania, at a time when being Irish and Catholic was not a source of pride, but a cause for suspicion—and often violence. Irish immigrants and their churches were targets of the so-called “Know-Nothings,” a movement built on fear, prejudice, and exclusion. The Hibernians were born as a response—not with fists, but with faith. Not with anger, but with commitment.
Their motto says it all: Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity. And from the very beginning, the AOH made something clear: we support the doctrines and laws of the Roman Catholic Church; we attend Mass; we participate in the life of the Church. In other words, faith was not a decoration—it was the foundation.
That spirit arrived here in Newport early. Our local division was chartered on January 11, 1876. Many of those early Hibernian brothers learned from the generation of builders who quite literally shaped this community with their hands. They came to Newport to build Fort Adams. They helped dig the foundation of St. Mary’s Church. They built the mills along Thames Street, stone by stone. Men who taught their sons to build places that would outlast them because they believed their faith and their families deserved permanence.
As membership grew, the need for a permanent home led to the purchase of the former Grace Chapel on Wellington Avenue in 1906. A Presbyterian church became Hibernian Hall—a powerful symbol of Irish Catholics claiming their place in the life of this city.
When the Catholic population exploded in the early 1900s, and St. Augustin’s Church was built in 1911, the Hibernians were there again. During construction of the new church, daily Mass was celebrated in Hibernian Hall. And when fire damaged St. Augustin’s in 1957–58, the Hall once again became a spiritual home. The AOH didn’t just support the Church—it was the Church when the Church needed a place to gather. But Hibernian Hall wasn’t only about worship. It was a place where Irish immigrants came looking for work, guidance, and community. It was a lifeline. A reminder that no one had to face hardship alone.
Over the years, that mission continued to grow. In 1972, the division was named in honor of Dennis E. Collins. In 1976, Newport hosted the AOH National Convention under the leadership of Edward “Lard” Dugan. In 2006, Brother Joseph Brady was elected National Director, overseeing New England divisions—a point of pride not just for the AOH, but for this entire community.
And the influence of local Hibernians reaches far beyond these walls: the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the former Newport Irish Heritage Association, the Museum of Newport Irish History, the Newport–Kinsale Twinning Association, the AOH Pipe and Drum Band, and of course, the Newport Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians. These are not accidents. They are the fruits of people who believed heritage matters because identity matters.
Today, the Dennis E. Collin Division of the AOH stands among the largest in the nation. True to its motto, it supports countless charitable organizations, hosts family and community gatherings, supports brothers in need, establishes scholarships, and promotes Irish heritage—not for nostalgia’s sake, but to remind us that faith, culture, and charity belong together.
At its best, the AOH has always lived the Gospel before preaching it: friendship rather than isolation, unity rather than division, charity rather than indifference. That is not just Irish history. That is Christian discipleship. So today our parishes give thanks—not only for what the Hibernians have done in our community, but for what they continue to be: living stones, built into the Church of Christ, carrying forward a faith that was hard-won, deeply loved, and generously shared.
May God bless the Ancient Order of Hibernians, our brothers and sisters who carried the faith before us, and all those who will carry it forward—faithful, united, and charitable—long after we are gone. — Pastor Fr. Mark Sauriol