Maginnis & Walsh

Maginnis & Walsh was an architecture firm started by Charles Donagh Maginnis and Timothy Walsh in 1905. It was known for its innovative design of churches in Boston in the first half of the twentieth century.

Maginnis was born in Derry, Ireland. He emigrated to Boston at age 18 and got his first job apprenticing for architect Edmund M. Wheelwright as a draftsman. Influenced by the work of modern architect Ralph Adams Cram, Maginnis became a distinguished Gothic architect and an articulate writer and orator on the role of architecture in society.

In the Boston area he built St. Catherine of Genoa Church on Spring Hill in Somerville, Massachusetts, regarded as a masterpiece. St. Catherine's, begun in 1907 and completed in 1921, is still (2010) a working parish. He also built St. Aidan's in Brookline, Massachusetts where he was a parishioner along with the Kennedy family and other prominent Irish-Americans. St. Aidan's, the location of the christening of John F. Kennedy, has since been closed and may be converted into housing in the near future. The firm also designed Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic Church in the Oak Square neighborhood of the Brighton section of Boston. That church was also closed by the Archdiocese of Boston in 2005, but it has not yet been converted to another use. In 1909 Maginnis & Walsh won the bid to build the new campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts and he built Emmanuel College in the Fens area of Boston, Massachusettsin 1914. Maginnis also designed the chancel at Trinity Church in Copley Square, the high altar at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York and the Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower on the summit of Mount Greylock. Also designed by the firm is Our Lady of Sorrows church located in South Orange, New Jersey, which was dedicated in 1931. In 1948 Maginnis received the AIA Gold Medal for "outstanding service to American architecture," the highest award in the profession. He died in 1955.

The Maginnis and Walsh collection at the Boston Public Library contains work of the architectural firm from 1913 to 1952.

Works Include

Archdiocese of Boston

St. John's Seminary Chapel, Brighton, Massachusetts ^[1]
St. John the Evangelist Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Immaculate Conception Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts (closed)
St. Catherine of Genoa Church, Somerville, Massachusetts
St. Catherine of Sienna Church, Norwood, Massachusetts
St. George Church, Norwood, Massachusetts
St. Julia Church, Weston, Massachusetts
Most Blessed Sacrament Church, Greenwood, Wakefield, Massachusetts
Campion Renewal Center (former Jesuit Novitiate), Weston, Massachusetts
St. Paul Church, Dorchester, MA
St. Teresa Church, West Roxbury, Massachusetts
Our Lady of Mercy Church, Belmont, Massachusetts
St. Raphael Church, Medford, Massachusetts (destroyed, replaced by Keefe Associates)
St. Angela Church, Mattapan, Massachusetts (superstructure, basement by Patrick C. Keely)
St. Teresa Church, Watertown, Massachusetts (closed, converted to housing)
St. Aiden Church, Brookline, Massachusetts (closed, converted to housing)^[2]
Our Lady of the Presentation Church, Brighton, Massachusetts
St. Gabrael Shrine Church, Brighton, Massachusetts
St. Edith Stein Church, Brockton, Massachusetts
Gasson Hall, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts^[3]
Bapst Library, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts^[3]
Devlin Hall, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (1925, winner of Harleston Parker Medal, Boston Society of Architects)^[3]
St. Mary Chapel, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts^[3]
Administration Building and Chapel, Emmanuel College, Boston, Massachusetts
Sacred Heart Church, Roslindale, Massachusetts (replacement of destroyed tower, interior redesign of 1890 Patrick W. Ford church)
Sacred Heart School, Roslindale, Massachusetts
Sacred Heart Church, Manchester, Massachusetts (demolished)
St. Mathias Church, Marlboro, Massachusetts
Trinity Episcopal Church, Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts (chancel remodeling of famous H.H. Richardson church)

Diocese of Worcester

St. Patrick Church, Whitinsville, Massachusetts (very influential, referred to as the 'Concord Bridge' of Catholic church architecture, Maginnis first church)
St. Joseph Church, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
St. Leo Church, Leominster, Massachusetts
Dinand Library, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts^[4]
St. Joseph's Chapel, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts^[4]

Diocese of Fall River

St. James Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts (alteration to church by Patrick W. Ford)
Holy Name Church, New Bedford, Massachusetts
St. Joseph Church, Taunton, Massachusetts
Holy Family Church, East Taunton, Massachusetts
St. William Church, Fall River, Massachusetts (basement only)
Holy Name Church, Fall River, Massachusetts
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, Fall River, Massachusetts
St. John the Evangelist Church, Pocasset, Massachusetts
St. Margaret Church, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts
St. Patrick Church, Falmouth, Massachusetts
St. Teresa Church, Sagamore, Massachusetts
St. Bernard Church, Assonet, Massachusetts
Holy Trinity Church, Brewster, Massachusetts
Holy Trinity Church, West Harwich, Massachusetts (burned, replaced)
St. Patrick Church, Wareham, Massachusetts
St. John The Evangelist Church, North Attleboro, Massachusetts

Diocese of Springfield

Blessed Sacrament Church, Northampton, Massachusetts

Diocese of Providence

St. Raymond Church, Providence, Rhode Island (demolished)

Diocese of Burlington Vermont

St. Stephen Church, Winooski, Vermont
St. Dominic Church, Proctor, Vermont
Christ the King Church, Rutland, Vermont

Diocese of Portland, Maine

Sacred Heart Church, Hallowell, Maine
Immaculate Conception Church, Fairfield, Maine

Archdiocese of Hartford

Basilica of The Immaculate Conception, Waterbury, Connecticut

Archdiocese of Cincinnati

St. Louis Church, Cincinatti, Ohio
St. Joseph Church, Dayton, Ohio
Holy Angels Church, Dayton, Ohio

Archdiocese of New York

St. Andrew Church (Manhattan), New York (with Robert J. Reilly)
Regis High School (New York City)^[5]
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, New York (new Lady Chapel altar, new high altar and Balanchino, cathedral designed by James Renwick Jr.)

Diocese of Brooklyn

Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, Forest Hills, New York

Diocese of Albany

St. James Church (now St. Francis of Assisi Church), Albany, New York

Diocese of Ogdensburg

St. Mary's Cathedral, Ogdensburg, NY

Diocese of Marquette (Michigan)

St, Peter Cathedral, Marquette, Michigan

Archdiocese of Newark

Our Lady of Sorrows Church, South Orange, New Jersey
Sacred heart of Jesus Church, East Orange, New Jersey
St. Vincent DePaul Church, Bayonne, New Jersey

Archdiocese of Washington, DC

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Catholic Univestity, Washington, DC^[7]
Sacred Heart Church Washington DC (Murphy and Olmstead, architects, Maginnis and Walsh, associate architects) ^[8]
Chapel, Trinity College, Washington, DC
St. Gabriel Church, Washington, DC
New Apostolic Mission House, Washington, DC^[9]

Diocese of Gary, Indiana

unnamed church, Gary, Indiana

Archdiocese of Milwaukee

St. Robert Church, Shorewood, WI

Archdiocese of San Francisco

Carmelite Convent, Santa Clara, California^[10]

Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, Los Angeles, California (plans submitted but cathedral not built)
St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Los Angeles, California
St Agnes Church, Los Angeles, California
Our Lady Queen of Angels Church, Los Angeles, California

Diocese of Dubuque

unnamed church, Dubuque, Iowa

Diocese of Des Moines

All Saints Church, Stuart, Iowa^[11]
St. Anthony Church, Des Moines, Iowa
St. Augustin Church, Des Moines, Iowa
St. John Church, Des Moines, Iowa

Diocese of Cheyenne

Chapel, St. Joseph’s Children’s Home, Torrington, Wyoming^[12]
Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Rock Springs, Wyoming

Outside United States

Holy Redeemer Cathedral, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada
Our Lady of the Snows Church, Campbellton New Brunswick, Canada
St. Patrick Church, Mexico City, Mexico

References

^ http://www.bahistory.org/StJohnsHistory.html t. John Siminary, Brighton Massachusetts History
^ http://www.nps.gov/applications/parks/jofi/ppdocuments/SA%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf St. Aiden Church, Brookline Ma
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d http://www.bc.edu/offices/omc/lindenlane/releases/transforming-light.html Transforming Light: The Stained-Glass Windows of Boston College
^ ^a ^b http://college.holycross.edu/projects/worcester/neighbors/holycross.htm College of thew Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts
^ Norval White and Elliot Willensky with Fran Leadon, AIA Guide to New York City, Fifth Edition, (New York City: Oxford University Press, 2010), p.453.
^ http://www.cathedralofmary.org/ Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, baltimore Maryland
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=G_Q9HG34cRkC&pg=PT17&dq=%22Maginnis+and+Walsh%22&hl=en&ei=y2FZTaPrJMXOgAfygvHaDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Maginnis%20and%20Walsh%22&f=false Shirne of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC
^ http://dcfossils.org/index.php/gallery7/ Sacred Heart Church, Washington DC
^ http://www.booktown.com/stcroixprints/plan.php?id=6438 drawing of New Apostolic Mission House
^ http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2ET4_Carmelite_Monastery_Santa_Clara_CA Carmelite Convent, Santa Clara, california
^ http://www.restoreallsaints.org/history.htm Newspaper articles on restoration of All Siants Church, Stuart IA
^ http://www.dioceseofcheyenne.org/history/1912_McGovern_Stansell.html St. Joseph Childrens Home, Torrington, Wyoming