HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Mary Clare Eyre was the third child of John Joseph Eyre and Margaretta Atkinson. She was born on the 3rd December 1842 in Madeley, Shropshire England. Mary Clare’s older siblings Louisa (b 1839) and Edwin (b 1841) were born in Belgium. Her four younger siblings were also born in England: Teresa (b 1844 in Shropshire); Frances (b 1846 in Yorkshire); Lucy (b 1849 in Durham) and Stanislaus (b 1851 in Yorkshire).
At the age of 23 years Mary Clare Eyre eloped from Clifden Castle in Galway (Ireland), and married Dr Geoffrey Bodkin at the registry office in Galway in 1869.
They had 9 children: Teresa Mary Bodkin; Frances Mary Magdelan Bodkin; John Joseph Bodkin; Mary Clare Bodkin; Terence William Bodkin; Geoffrey Bodkin; Lillian Bodkin; Charles Bodkin; Joseph Bodkin.
Mary Clare Bodkin’s husband Geoffrey Bodkin died at Clifden in Galway on 21st August 1894 at the age of 49 years old.
On 31st March 1901 Mary Clare was 58 years old and lived at 29 Ranelagh Mansions in Fulham, London, England. Her grandson Charles (Carlos) was 6 years old and was staying with her. Nearby at 53 Fulham Park Gardens, in Fulham, resided her eldest daughter Frances Bodkin living with her husband Edward Henry Mary Joseph Eyre and their 8 years old son Vincent. Frances Bodkin gave birth to her daughter Agnes Eyre on 31 May 1901.
Mary Clare Bodkin’s sixth child Geoffrey Bodkin died in 1914 in the first 3 months of World War I at the age of 36 years onboard the HMS Cressey.
In his memory, Mary Clare Bodkin:
“bought the local rubbish tip and built the church of Our Lady there in the memory of her son. She presented a silver cup to the first baby baptised here and a suite of furniture to the first couple married. It has been a parish church ever since.”
The actual cost of building the church was paid for by Mary Clare Bodkin’s second cousin Edward Edmund Eyre. Edward Edmund Eyre was widowed in 1918 after the death of his wife Caroline.
An architect is engaged and the transformation begins. Brick by brick, a church rises up on what used to be wasteland. The surroundings streets were full of families struggling to make ends meet. The menfolk were generally employed in the nearby docks. Today the sounds and smells of industry are a memory, but back when our church began, the streets around it would have been noisy, dirty and not necessarily a place you would linger.
Many people come into our church to find peace and a sense of stillness. Our door is open to anyone who wants or needs to feel closer to God. Our church is far more than a beautiful building. It is a place where people come to be together and support one another. It is a place where spiritual journeys start and are celebrated, from baptism onwards. It is a place where people, from all over the world and all walks of life, feel they belong.
But what about the future? What are we here for if not to strive to keep anticipating and meeting the needs of our community?
Our world is changing fast. Spirituality is increasingly absent and a growing number of people have little opportunity to know God. We need to ensure the people of Fulham know where they can find Jesus, now and in the future. So our challenge goes beyond maintaining what we do today. For every new activity, we need volunteers and we need funding. This isn’t always easy.
One hundred years on from when the foundations of our church were first laid, we will aim to build solid foundations for the financial future of our church.
With your help, we can ensure Our Lady of Perpetual Help is equipped to continue offering help to all those in our community who need it – in perpetuity.
We are the Church and without our support, our parish would stop to exist.