Parish Histories
The histories of St. Aedan and St. Brendan span over 125 years. In the past decade, some elements of the parishes have merged -- like pastoral leadership and the school -- to better serve the needs of parishioners.
St. Brendan
St. Brendan parish was established on April 7, 1913, from the territory of St. Mary in downtown New Haven. Bishop John J. Nilan appointed Father John J. McLaughlin as founding pastor. The priest who had recently worked among Hartford's Italian immigrants opened a frame church on Carmel Street on May 11, 1913, dedicated by Bishop Nilan the following November. The luxurious growth in numbers soon warranted a larger church, and a handsome building of granite was dedicated on January 27, 1924, by Bishop Nilan. Located at the corner of Whalley and Ellsworth Avenues, this scenic site also allowed for the future construction of a compact parish plant. Like that of many pastors, Father McLaughlin's fondest dream was a parish school, a hope finally realized by September 1956. Staffed by the Dominican Sisters, St.Brendan School was dedicated on November 11 of that year by Archbishop Henry J. O'Brien. In 1974, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Garden replaced the Dominicans at the parochial school.
St. Aedan
In 1872, the town of Westville became a mission of New Haven's St. John the Evangelist Church. Father Hugh Carmody of St. John celebrated the first Mass in Westville at Franklin Hall on Fountain Street. Shortly thereafter, an Emerson Street mission chapel, named for St. Joseph, was erected. It was later dedicated by Bishop Francis P. McFarland. In 1895 Westville became a mission of St. Lawrence parish, West Haven. Numbering about 375 communicants, the Westville mission was made a parish dedicated to St. Joseph on June 10, 1900, with Father John D. Kennedy appointed first pastor. Father John McGivney bought land at Fountain Street and McKinley Avenue for a new church. Bishop John J. Nilan dedicated the sturdy new building to St. Aedan on April 2, 1922. The parish patron had been changed because Westville had become part of New Haven, which already had a church named for St. Joseph. By October 1950, St. Aedan built and opened an elementary school on McKinley Avenue, staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. On October 26, 1957, a bigger school and new convent were dedicated by Archbishop Henry J. O'Brien. In 1990 Father McCann initiated significant upgrades to thechurch to align with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
