page_title: St Monica's Church, Palmers Green
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St Monica's Church, Palmers Green / History
caption_attribution_description: English: St Monica's Church, Green Lanes, Palmers Green, London - East window I am not sure if this is stained glass or a glass painting!
context_page_description: St Monica's Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in the Palmers Green area of north London. The parish church is situated at the junction of Stonard Road and Green Lanes in the London Borough of Enfield.
  It is one of only two parishes in the Diocese of Westminster to be dedicated to Saint Monica, the other being that of St. Monica's Priory in Hoxton.
context_section_description: Father Thomas Heditch was appointed rector of the new parish in 1910, but fell ill in the spring of 1912. He went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, but did not return. Then Father Patrick Gallagher was appointed rector on 27 June 1912.
  Father Gallagher (whose Grandnephew was Dr Joseph Cassidy the former Archbishop of Tuam) originally came from the parish of Midfield, County Mayo in Ireland. He was a late recruit to the priesthood, having previously been a builder based in the Northeast of England (He had this business along with his brother John, Cassidy's grandfather; John would go on to own the Railway Hotel, now Douglas Kelly's Solicitors, in Swinford, Co. Mayo after they disbanded their building company). After a family tragedy he joined the priesthood, and became the main driving force in the building of St. Monica's Church. Using his considerable resources and connections within the building industry, Fr Gallagher managed to build the church within two years of his arrival.
  The church's official opening was on Monday 4 May 1914 by Francis Cardinal Bourne in front of nearly 600 lay people and 40 clergy. The church, together with the presbytery, was built for £6,600 including the cost of the site.
  Then in 1954 Fr Gallagher built St. Monica's Primary School on land in nearby Cannon Hill in Southgate. This was to be his last and dearest ambition achieved, for three years later on 11 December 1957, Fr Gallagher finally passed from this world with his work complete. He is buried with his family in Stanley, County Durham in the northeast of England.
  The church started an amateur dramatic society, Saint Monica's Players (SMP), in 1958 that continues to perform musicals across Enfield today.
  From 1935 to 1987, the parish hall was used for a repertory theatre, the Intimate Theatre.
caption: East window
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