Father Dowd Memorial home

Post for April 29, 2006

Centre d’Accueil Father Dowd
6565 Hudson Road
Montreal, QC H3S 2T7
Phone: (514) 341-1007
Fax: (514) 341-8988

Description

The Father Dowd Home is a long-term care facility primarily dealing with the English Catholic community. It is totally funded by the Ministry of Health and Social Services with a capacity of 134 beds. Evaluations for admissions are completed through the local CLSC closest to where the future resident lives. The Father Dowd Home also provides a gamut of theraputic services. Pastoral services (mainly Roman Catholic) are available weekly. The senior leadership of the Father Dowd Home are:

David Gregory, President
Carole McDonough, Director General
Lucie Massé, Director

The proud history of the Father Dowd Home

In 1847, a flood of Irish immigrants driven from their own land by famine, disease and poverty, came to Montreal. Many, already dying from typhus, were herded into hastily constructed sheds in Point St. Charles. Overwhelmed by the number of sick people, government authorities sought help from Bishop Ignace Bourget, who in turn, asked the Grey Nuns to care for some of the many widows and orphans who were left without means or protection.

A crudely built limestone house on the grounds of St. Gabriel Farm near the Lachine Canal was offered to the Sisters and they moved into it with their charges in September, 1847. Intended only as a temporary measure, it was closed in February, 1848.

Continuing need demanded that another refuge be opened by the Grey Nuns in a small house on St. Lawrence Street but it was discontinued when resources ran out.

The nuns, unable to leave the poverty-stricken Irish without a place of rest, took over a building on Craig Street now St. Antoine.

Some aged and sick people were kept for a few years in a section of the Grey Nuns General Hospital near the waterfront. Others were placed in private homes and visited by the nuns. This was the situation until 1860.

In 1860, at the request of Father Patrick Dowd, legendary pastor of St. Patrick’s, the Sulpician Fathers gave the Rochblave house, former home of the clergy at St. Patrick’s, to the nuns to be used as a refuge. Five years later, the property on Lagauchetiere Street was officially transferred to St. Bridget’s. With far-seeing enthusiasm, Father Dowd set about planning the erection of a building to properly fill the need.

Opened in 1869, the four-storey grey stone home was completed for a total of $28,978.48. Its purpose was three-fold, to serve not only as a home for the aged and infirm but also as a night refuge for the homeless and destitute wanderers and also as a shelter for young women without work. During the next 20 years, some 203,461 persons were helped.

For several years, the west wing of the building was used as a night lodging for homeless wanderers who "before they left in the morning were given a breakfast of bread and hot tea."e; In the course of time, it was found necessary to convert this space into dormitories and other rooms for the aged as the number seeking admission became increasingly large.

The affection which the residents felt for their founder was shown in a special tribute read to him on the occasion of his golden jubilee on May 19, 1887, and signed "The poor old people of St. Bridgid’s Home."

In 1905, extensive renovations were carried out including installation of an elevator, new floors and toilet facilities as well as a modern kitchen.

Some years later, in 1928, St. Bridget’s Refuge became the Father Dowd Memorial Home, a living testament to his great contribution in caring now only for the aged but also the homeless and the orphans.

From the beginning, the Home was under the supervision of the Grey Nuns of Montreal whose unselfish and devoted service was given generously and freely. However, in 1944, the Grey Nuns asked to withdraw from the mission as they were unable to supply a sufficient number of English-speaking sisters.

With the departure of the Grey Nuns, Monsignor Gerald McShane, pastor of St. Patrick’s, applied to the community of the Sister of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul in Kingston asking for staff. His request was granted and in 1944, ten sisters were assigned. For more than 30 years, the Home was administered by the Sisters of Providence.

The inroads of the passing years were leaving their marks on the old grey building and in July, 1975, Monsignor M.D. Dubee, pastor of St. Patrick’s and chairman of the board of trustees, announced that a site for the new home had been chosen on Hudson Road in the Cote des Neiges area.

The previous month, a meeting was hold in Congress Hall which resulted in the establishment of the auxiliary of the Father Dowd Memorial Home.

By the time the new building was completed with all its modern amenities, the Auxiliary was in full operation and provided remarkable assistance in the moving project from the old home to the new one on September 14, 1977. With the old building looking a little bit older and the new one very inviting, the move started at 7:30 a.m. and ended as the bells of St. Patrick’s rang out the noon hour.

With changes in health care and treatment, the home on Hudson Road is a striking contrast to the old one that stood for so many years on Lagauchetiere Street but its story is a continuing one.

The Father Dowd Memorial Home remains a tribute to all those who have made it what it is — a home in every sense of the word. It has the same source of purpose that it had in the beginning — to care for the elderly and the infirm in the English-speaking Catholic community of Montreal.

Taken from a text written by Eleanor Callaghan, entitled "The Father Dowd Memorial Home: A Story of 120 Years, 1865-1985".

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