St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church - Brooklyn, NY
 
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Church of St. Malachy
(Roman Catholic)

129 Van Siclen Avenue near Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11207


Organ Specifications:
• II/ Estey Organ Company, Op. 2047 (1922)
► II/18 Reuben Midmer & Sons
• Henry Erben (1861)



St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church - Brooklyn, NY (1905, Brooklyn Eagle)  
St. Malachy Roman Catholic Church was established in 1854 to serve East New York, at the time a fast-growing area of Brooklyn. A simple wooden building with a short tower above the entrance was erected on Van Siclen Avenue, near Atlantic Avenue. The church was 38 feet wide, extended back 58 feet, and had walls 28 feet high. Its interior was simply furnished and could accomodate 500 persons. Bishop John Loughlin officiated at the dedication service on Sunday, April 9, 1854. Over 500 people attended the service, each paying 50 cents for admission. The cost to build the church was $2,300, and most of the debt was paid off by the time that first Mass was celebrated.

The Sisters of St. Joseph have been a part of St. Malachy Church since 1871, when they were brough to teach in the first St. Malachy School. The school had been established three years earlier, in 1868, when Father Patrick Creighton, the first resident pastor, secured a three-story building on Atlantic Avenue and nine adjoining lots. In 1876, the Sisters were also entrusted with St. Malachy's Home for Orphan and Destitute Children, at first a shelter for 150 boys. By 1891, the orphanage had 229 boys and 117 girls, and the home was eventually moved to a new building in Rockaway. In the 1950s, plans were begun to replace the old and overcrowded St. Malachy's School, and around 1958, a new 12-classroom building with an adjoining 800-seat auditorium was built. In 1979, St. Malachy's School closed its doors and joined with St. Michael's to form St. John Neumann School.

By 1964, the parish had changed dramatically as many of the Irish, Italian and German families from the neighborhood moved to Queens, Nassau or Suffolk counties, and Spanish-speaking families took their places. In 1969, the first Mass in Spanish was instituted at St. Malachy's.

In late 2008, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced that St. Malachy would be consolidated with St. Michael Catholic Church, located nearby on Jerome Street. St. Malachy’s had its final closing Mass on Sunday, January 25, 2009, with a Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Frank Caggiano.
           
Estey Organ Company
Brattleboro, Vt. – Opus 2047 (1922)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals


Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
Reuben Midmer & Sons
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 18 stops, 18 ranks


At an undetermined time, Reuben Midmer & Sons of Brooklyn provided a new organ, perhaps rebuilding the 1861 Erben organ. The following specification, dated April 22, 1913, is from the files of Louis F. Mohr & Co., a longtime organ maintenance firm in the area. Mohr's record indicated the organ had an ash case, pipes in green, and was blown by hand on [the] right. Manual and pedal compasses were given, but pipecounts were not; the pipecounts are suggested below.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
   Open Diapason
58
4
   Octave
58
8
   Dulciana [TC]
46
2 2/3
   Twelfth
58
8
   Melodia [TC]
46
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
   St. Diapason Bass
12
8
   Trumpet
58
 
      
 
      
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon [TC] *
46
4
   Violina
58
8
   Open Diapason
61
4
   Flute Harmonic
58
8
   Viola
61
2
   Piccolo
58
8
   St. Diapason Treble [TC]
46
8
   Oboe
58
8
   St. Diapason Bass
12
    
* [TC] indicated by Larry Trupiano
 
      
 
      
Pedal Organ – 27 notes
16
   Double Open Diapason
27
8
   Violoncello
27
16
   Bourdon
27
        
               
Couplers &c ("3 Couplers")
    Great to Pedal       Bellows signal  
    Swell to Pedal       Tremolo  
    Swell to Great          
               
Pedal Movements
    Balance Swell Pedal          
    2 Combination Pedals          
           
Henry Erben
New York City (1861)
Mechanical action


The first known organ for St. Malachy's Church was built by Henry Erben of New York City. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
Sources:
     "Dedication of the Church of St. Malachy," The New York Times (Apr. 12, 1854).
     The Estey Pipe Organ web site: www.esteyorgan.com
     Gutierrez, Stephanie. "Final Mass is Scheduled for East New York Church," The Tablet, Vol. 101, No. 42 (Jan. 17, 2009). Brooklyn: Diocese of Brooklyn.
     Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (Apr. 22, 1913) of Reuben Midmer & Sons organ. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Illustrations:
     Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection: Brooklyn Eagle photo (1905) of exterior.
     Google street view. Exterior (c.2008).