St. Augustine's, Boston's first Catholic Chapel & Burying Ground, opened in Southie in 1818

St. Augustine's cemetery, at the corner of Dorchester Street and West Sixth Street, became the first Catholic burying ground in New England.

The cemetery and chapel was erected by Rev. Philip Lariscy, an Augustinian friar, born in County Kilkenny in 1782. It was named for Saint Augustine of Hippo, founder of the religious order. Lariscy was said to be the first priest in Boston to hear confessions in Irish.

As Irish and French Catholics continued to settle in Boston in the early 19^th century, the need for a dedicated Catholic cemetery had became apparent. In November 1818 the Board of Health of the Town of Boston gave "that group of Christians known as Roman Catholics" permission to erect their own cemetery on the South Boston peninsula.

The following year, in 1819, a mortuary chapel was built and mass was said there for the growing Irish community settling in South Boston.

In the 1820s Bishop Joseph Benedict Fenwick enlarged the chapel, and in 1868 St. Augustine's Parish was established with plans for a new church under the leadership of Reverend Denis O'Callaghan.

A majority of Irish buried in the cemetery came from Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny, followed by Donegal, Longford, Waterford and Wexford, according to a survey by George F. Dwyer cited in Irish Boston.

In 1987, the U.S. Department of the Interior official placed Saint Augustine's Chapel and Cemetery in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Chapel, now in the care of the Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid Parish Collaborative, is still a very active worship site celebrating funerals, baptisms, weddings and a weekly Saturday vigil Mass. The chapel and cemetery remain as reminders of the pioneers of the church in the early part of the 19^th century.

Saint Augustine's is part of Boston's Irish Heritage Trail, which includes 20 sites in Boston and an additional 20 sites in the city's neighborhoods.

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