Patrick Charles Keely (1816-1896) at Convent Station

Patrick Charles Keely
(1816-1896) at Convent
Station
Ashley Bouwense
February 2014
Bouwense 1
Mother Xavier’s mission at Convent Station was developing during the late 1800’s. Cofounder of the Sisters of Charity in Newark, New Jersey, Mother Xavier decided to move to
Madison where she would continue her plan for a growing Catholic community, particularly one
that empowered women. Originally from Ireland, Mother Xavier was not educated, but she was
of “shrewd mind and fearless spirit” (Burstyn). Nicknamed “Mother of the Community,” Xavier
collected a total of 225 acres of land, now known as Convent Station (Burstyn).
Convent Station, named after the railroad stop that Mother Xavier’s persistent petitioning
won for the 200-plus acre land, was established in 1876. On the border of Morristown and
Madison, New Jersey, Convent Station is currently home to multiple establishments. A few of
these institutions include The Academy of Saint Elizabeth, established in 1860, The College of
Saint Elizabeth, established in 1899, the Sisters of Charity’s Motherhouse, established in 1880,
and the Holy Family Chapel, established later in 1909 (Significant Dates”). However, Mother
Xavier’s vision would have been for naught if it were not for the creative and magnificently
talented architect, Patrick Charles Keely, who was responsible for these structures which
represent Convent Station today.
P. C. Keely, (1816-1896), was an architect who emigrated from Ireland to the United
States in 1842 (Field). Little is known about his formal architectural training, but Keely’s father
taught him construction (“Symposium”). In total, Keely designed “approximately 700 churches
and ecclesiastical buildings in the eastern and western United States during the 19th century when
the Gothic Revival style of building he had adopted was the preferred style (“Symposium”).
At Convent Station, Keely was responsible for the architecture of the Motherhouse and
the original chapel within. Later, the chapel was transformed for another use and Keely’s son-in-
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law, Thomas Houghton, used Keely’s influence to design the Holy Family Chapel that stands
next to the Motherhouse today.
A less than sufficient amount of information is known about Keely, but there is even less
known information about his work at Convent Station. His professional relationship with
Mother Xavier is almost completely erased; not many documents were recorded and official
papers, such as letters and other transactions between Keely and Mother Xavier, were either lost
or thrown away. Despite this disappointing shortage of material, there are still remnants of
Keely’s documentation. Although not the most well-known of Keely’s works, the Motherhouse,
the original Holy Family Chapel, and his influence on the current Holy Family Chapel, give
insight into Keely’s architectural interests.
It is not certain as to why Mother Xavier chose Keely as the architect for the
Motherhouse, however, it can be assumed that it was because he was also a native-born Irish
Catholic like Mother Xavier. Sister Noreen Neary, a current Sister of Charity, who is in charge
of record-keeping at the Motherhouse, explained, “Mother Xavier, of course, would have been
inclined to hire an Irish Catholic architect, since that fit our own culture. She probably knew of
Keely and his work through her many contacts in the New York/New Jersey area, including the
New York Sisters of Charity (of which she had been a member before founding our
congregation)” (Neary, “Essay Contest”). Keely’s heritage and outstanding reputation during his
lifetime were his credentials.
In 1878, the Motherhouse’s construction began (“Significant Dates”). The building is
made of brick and masonry. The Motherhouse has a length of 476 feet, an average depth of 156
feet, and a height of 90 feet (Sharkey Vol. I, p. 151-152). In her history of the New Jersey
Sisters of Charity, Sister Mary Agnes Sharkey commented on these dimensions: “This is the
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description given in the advertisements, and for vastness they are probably unrivalled in the
United States” (Sharkey Vol. I, p. 151-152). Despite the scarce documentation, simply
observing Keely’s choice of dimensions for the Motherhouse gives insight into his original style.
Keely planned for the Motherhouse to have three wings: The Center Wing, South Wing,
and North Wing. The Center Wing was finished first in 1880 (“Significant Dates”). It holds the
beautiful center staircase that was not to be used on a regular basis, but only on special
occasions. Two smaller stairways, meant for ever-day use, were built on either side. These two
staircases are now gone, but the main staircase remains for every-day use.
The South Wing was completed in 1885 (“Significant Dates”). This wing leads toward
the Academy of Saint Elizabeth. The North Wing, which leads towards the current Holy Family
Chapel, was completed in 1900 (“Significant Dates”). Keely made the plans for the North Wing,
but he was too sick to carry-out his design and, therefore, left the work to be finished by ablebodied contractors.
Inside of the Motherhouse, Keely designed a chapel for Mother Xavier that would be a
place of worship for the Sisters of Charity and students of the Academy of Saint Elizabeth. The
chapel was designed in the then current style of the era: Gothic Revival. The Gothic Revival
aimed to emulate the Gothic cathedrals of medieval times and was immensely popular in the 19th
century England and Ireland. Mary Mahoney, author of “Art and Architecture in the 19th
Century,” wrote, “Known for its asymmetry, spires, towers, buttresses, arches, and dark stone
facades (usually red or brown), this revival was a reaction against the industrialization.”
Immigrants from Europe, specifically Irishmen, brought their Gothic Revival style expertise to
America (Mahoney). Keely, having observed Gothic cathedrals in Europe before his
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immigration to America in the 1840’s, enabled him to imitate the remarkable beauty of the
archaic cathedrals of the 12th century.
In the Sisters of Charity archives, there is a photo of the original chapel, (see “Figure 3”).
The chapel was rectangular in shape. On either side of the nave was one row of wooden pews.
Along the sides of the chapel were stained glass windows that depicted stories of scripture. The
windows’ pointed peaks ran into the ceiling structure, which was comprised of the classic Gothic
rib vaults. The ceiling of the nave contained three faux oculi. The main oculus, which was
larger than the others, was painted with Biblical figures.
Three steps led to the altar. One wooden railing, which extended from one side of the
chapel to the other, separated the altar from the nave. Past the railing were three magnificent
pointed archways: a large arch in the middle with two smaller ones on either side. Each arch
perfectly framed a stained glass window, which made the stained glass a predominant piece in
highlighting the altar.
The altar contained an altarpiece carved from marble. This altarpiece was framed by the
center pointed archway. On one side of the altarpiece was a carved statue of the Blessed Mother
and on the other side was another carved statue of Saint Joseph. Both statues were framed by the
pointed archways on either side of the main archway.
Artistically, every piece in the chapel was built to emphasize Christ and the Heavenly
realm. The pointed arches literally “pointed” to the sky, or Heaven. The stained glass shone
colorful light, which was representative of Heavenly light. A Gothic style chapel is meant to
give people a glimpse of Heaven. Architecturally, the rib vaults, the pointed arches, and the
stained glass windows took heavy weight off of the chapel’s brick structure, which allowed for a
more structurally-sound building.
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Mother Xavier realized that this small chapel in the Motherhouse was not going to be
able to house the ever-growing Sisters of Charity population and the students at the Academy of
Saint Elizabeth and the College of Saint Elizabeth (Neary January 6, 2014). Therefore, Mother
Xavier hired architect Thomas Houghton of Brooklyn, son-in-law of Patrick Charles Keely,
along with contractors John Kelly and Sons of Brooklyn, to create a larger chapel next to the
Motherhouse (Sharkey Vol. II). Although Keely was deceased by the time Houghton was
commissioned to create the Holy Family Chapel, Houghton took Keely’s architectural influence
and incorporated it into the chapel that stands today.
The Holy Family Chapel was dedicated on December 30, 1909, which “coincide[d] with
the 50th anniversary (or “golden jubilee”) of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth” (Neary,
“Essay Contest”). The chapel “was built to… provide functional space for this worshiping
community where they, the living temple of God, could assemble to carry out the Liturgy”
(Hagan 3). Because of the need for a larger communal space, Mother Xavier decided to replace
the original chapel and transformed the area into a dining hall for the students of the Academy.
Like the Motherhouse, The Holy Family Chapel was constructed of brick and masonry.
Houghton was able to work with more space compared to the confines of the Motherhouse,
allowing for the chapel to currently stand at “one hundred and thirty feet in length by fifty-five
feet in width,” (Sharkey Vol. II, p.8). Houghton imitated the classic Gothic cathedral layout in
the cruciform shape. In her writing on The Holy Family Chapel, Sister Marie Imelda Hagan
explained, “The long axis formed by the nave and the apse is crossed by the short axis of the
transepts.” This shape that Houghton calculated symbolizes Christ’s crucifixion on the cross (3).
The exterior of the Chapel is an allusion to the medieval Gothic style. Specifically,
Houghton chose to model the second chapel after the English Gothic style (“Holy Family
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Chapel”). The Chapel, as in an English Gothic cathedral, has an apse that is square-ended
(Hagan 4). One of the chapel’s most iconic features is its bell tower. Hagan explained, “It is a
beautiful…bell tower, a copy of the famous Madeleine (pronounced Maudlin) Tower in Oxford,
England” (4).
Moving into the Holy Family Chapel is the vestibule (Hagan 4). Originally, the vestibule
was a threatening place to walk into because the room was painted a dark shade of brown and
had heavy, dark wood doors that opened to the nave (Neary, January 6, 2014). Recently, the
vestibule was painted a light crème and the wooden doors were replaced with translucent glass
doors to make entering the Chapel a more visually pleasant experience.
Rows of dark wood pews are placed on opposite sides of the nave, separated by a tiled
walkway towards the main altar. The altar is in the Gothic style made out of Carrara marble. It
was presented by Mrs. Julia Dolores Hyde Shanley as a memorial to her late husband, Bernard
Michael Shanley (Sharkey Vol. II). Looking towards the altar, on the left is a statue of the
Blessed Mother and on the right is a statue of Saint Joseph, both pieces which were taken from
the original chapel in the Motherhouse. The north transept and the south transept, (the sections
of the Chapel that create the arms of the cross) held confessionals. Only the north transept holds
the original confessional now; the south transept is a handicap-accessible entrance and exit, but
still incorporates the wooden framing of its original confessional.
Like Keely’s construction of the Motherhouse chapel, Houghton used ribbed vault
architecture. Hagan wrote, “Supporting the rib vaults are the large piers that… coax our eyes
upward to the vaults where we observe the pattern formed by the ribs and the bosses (clusters) at
the juncture of the ribs” (7). In-between the ribbed vaulting are painted designs in rich blue and
red, highlighted with gold leaf.
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Keely and Houghton infused their chapels in the influence of Gothic architecture. Every
detail of the chapels alludes to and literally points to Heaven and Christ’s majesty. Every aspect
of Keely and Houghton’s chapel designs encourage a full experience of the Lord.
On January 6, 2014, Sister Noreen Neary gave me a tour of the Motherhouse and the
Holy Family Chapel. Just observing the outside of the Motherhouse alone, I was in awe. It was
amazing to see how a building of such magnitude could have such detailed artistry. The building
is six stories high. The second and third stories, composed of a light greystone, have openarched porches above the entranceway. Beginning on the fourth floor, there is a closed-in tower
which supports the cupola with a golden cross on top. Rectangular inset windows dominate all
but the second floor of the structure which has elongated but rounded windows across the façade.
The North Wing and South Wing of the Motherhouse are made with red brick stone.
Making my way into the Motherhouse, I passed under its porte-cochère, then walked up
the steps to open the Motherhouse’s two archaically large wooden doors. As I entered, I was
immediately struck with the beautiful main stairwell, which is, without a doubt, the centerpiece
of the main floor. Everything about the Motherhouse echoed its harmony; every piece of work
was essential to the functionality and splendor of the building.
I ascended the staircase to the second story. The hallways seem to stretch on with their
lavish tile floors. On either side of the halls are smaller parlor rooms with tastefully chosen 19th
century furniture and decor. Wandering the corridors and observing their beauty was such an
experience. Once I had stepped into the Motherhouse, I felt as though I had crossed a threshold
into the 19th century.
From the Motherhouse, we walked down a passageway in the North Wing that attaches
the Motherhouse to the Holy Family Chapel (Mother Xavier wanted this built so there was easy
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access to each building without having to walk outside). The exterior of the Chapel is made of
the same light grey stone as another part of the Motherhouse. It is an asymmetrical building- a
design that directly correlates to Gothic style architecture. Every decoration is in groups of
three, which symbolizes the Holy Trinity. In the middle of the façade are three stained glass
windows that are placed directly above the wooden door. There are three peaks to the Chapel.
The tallest peak on the left is the bell tower, the smallest peak in the middle holds a group of
three stained glass windows, and the middle peak to the right is a small, ornamental tower with
grey shingles.
Upon taking my first steps through the Chapel doors, I was amazed at the lightness and
stunning splendor of its interior. The high rib vault ceilings, the ornate patterns and
embellishments, the artfully crafted stained glass windows, and the marble altar piece are but a
few of the many parts of the whole structure that make The Holy Family Chapel a truly
masterfully designed work of art. On December 30, 1909, the day the Holy Family Chapel was
dedicated, the Newark Evening News most simply but eloquently stated, “The Chapel itself, one
of the most beautiful to be seen, is throughout the rarest workmanship and taste” (“Holy Family
Chapel”).
Any amount of description would not do the Motherhouse, the original chapel, or the
Holy Family Chapel justice. While descriptive writing helps readers envision these fascinating
pieces of architecture, words provide merely a fleeting image of their splendor. Only when one
is immersed in Keely’s structures can the thoughtfulness and sheer precision of his work be fully
appreciated. Patrick Charles Keely, though nicknamed the “Forgotten Architect,” shall be
forever celebrated for his creative influence at Convent Station.
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Figure 1: The Motherhouse of the New Jersey Sisters of Charity, Convent Station, New Jersey;
Photo taken by Ashley Bouwense
Figure 2: Main Staircase of the Motherhouse; Photo taken by Ashley Bouwense
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Figure 3: Original Chapel in the Motherhouse, Convent Station, New Jersey;
Photo taken from the Sisters of Charity Archives
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Figure 4: The Holy Family Chapel, Convent Station, New Jersey;
Photo taken by Ashley Bouwense
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Figure 5: Interior of the Holy Family Chapel; Photo taken by Ashley Bouwense
Figure 6: The main altar piece made of Carrara Marble in the Holy Family Chapel;
Photo taken by Ashley Bouwense
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Figure 7: Interior of the Holy Family Chapel; Photo taken by Ashley Bouwense
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Works Cited
Burstyn, Joan N. “Past and Present: Lives of New Jersey Women.” N.p.: Syracuse UP, Oct 1,
1996. Print.
Field, William N. "Patrick Charles Keely, Forgotten Architect." New Jersey Catholic Records
Newsletter 3 (1991): n. page. Web.
Hagan, Mary Imelda. “Holy Family Chapel.” N.p. n.d. Print.
“Holy Family Chapel, Convent Station, NJ.” Fact sheet compiled by Sister Noreen Neary in the
Archives of the Sisters of Charity, Convent Station, NJ, examined on January 6, 2014
by the author.
Mahoney, Maureen. "Art and Architecture in the 19th Century." American History Online. New
York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
Neary, Noreen. “Essay Contest about Patrick Charles Keely.” Message to Ashley Bouwense. 13
Jan. 2014. E-mail.
Neary, Noreen. Personal Interview. 6 Jan. 2014.
Sharkey, Mary Agnes. “The New Jersey Sisters of Charity.” Vol. 1. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Sharkey, Mary Agnes. “The New Jersey Sisters of Charity.” Vol. 2. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
"Significant Dates in the History of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth." Fact sheet
compiled by Sister Noreen Neary in the Archives of the Sisters of Charity, Convent
Station, NJ, examined on January 6, 2014 by the author.
"Symposium on the Work of Patrick Charles Keely." The Society of St. Hugh of Cluny » Post
Topic ». N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Dec. 2013.
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