Catholic Directory, 1855

At random frequency, a Google search comes up with a scanned copy of a book of fascinating interest. Please go to page 189 of this Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity's Directory 1855 for a description of  Catholic Long Island in that year.
---
The diocese of Brooklyn was only two years old under Bishop John Loughlin. From Brooklyn through Suffolk County there were twenty-four churches, eleven stations, and thirty clergymen. The Brothers of the Christian Schools were already teaching on Jay Street, together with the Sisters of Charity and the Order of St. Dominic at other schools.
---
The directory makes a few geographic errors, listing some Suffolk towns as Queens. Nassau County was cut from Queens in 1898. Parishes listed in 1855 within present Nassau County include St. Boniface, Forster's Meadow (Elmont), Hicksville (St. Ignatius Loyola, with many missions), Manhasset (St. Mary's, attended monthly from St. Michael's, Flushing), and St. Brigid, Westbury, attended occasionally from Jamaica. Glen Cove seems to be missing as an attended mission, but in 1866 Bishop Loughlin erected St. Patrick's parish there.
---
This 1855 directory is free to download.

All Saints School to close

An email from licatholic.org explains that the diocese will close two elementary schools in June, due to low enrollment: All Saints at St. Patrick's, Glen Cove, and St. Joseph School, Ronkonkoma. All Saints is a regional school sponsored by five parishes: St. Patrick, St. Rocco, St. Hyacinth, St. Boniface Martyr, and St. Mary (Roslyn). At All Saints, the current enrollment in K-8 is 132 students, plus eleven more in Nursery level. Two different websites provide more information, drvcschools.org and drvcschools.com

---
The Long Island Catholic weekly newspaper once printed an informative grade-by-grade chart of the enrollment in the Catholic elementary schools of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. If my memory is correct, this was done during the editorship of Msgr. Paul McKeever, 1967-1975. As we approach Catholic Schools week, publishing a similar chart on a drvcschools website org would likewise inform the Catholic population.

Nassau K-8 enrollments in 2015

The 2016 edition of the Official Catholic Directory probably reports information from 2015 or earlier.  This new edition lists twenty-two parish or regional Catholic elementary schools in Nassau County.  The top ten in reported enrollment are:
St. Agnes Cathedral, 728.
St. Anne, Garden City, 540.
St. William the Abbot, Seaford, 538.
St. Aidan, Williston Park, 487.
St. Martin de Porres, Uniondale, 460.
Long Beach Catholic, 440.
St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa Park, 404.
Maria Regina, Seaford, 400.
Holy Family, Hicksville, 397.
Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park, 389.
---
Eighteen schools have more than 300 enrolled.
---
Only one school, All Saints Regional, Glen Cove, has fewer than 200.
---
The total K-8 enrollment in Catholic schools is about 8,544.

St. Patrick, Glen Cove

This 2006 photo from my Flickr pages shows (to the left) All Saints Regional Catholic School and (to the right) St. Patrick's church, with the afternoon sun. Glen Street is in the foreground, and the LIRR Glen Street station is off to the right (south). A pedestrian can reach the parish office, church, and school by climbing from this side. Drivers can find a parking lot up Pearsall Avenue along the left side of the school. Another entrance to all the buildings is behind the school.  The mailing address of the parish office is 235 Glen Street, Glen Cove, NewYork 11542, telephone 516-676-0276. What was an excellent parish website may be off-line temporarily.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

Above are the church and school as seen from the Pearsall Avenue entrance.

According to diocesan archives, Irish, fleeing the famine, arrived in Glen Cove to work in a starch factory.  For several years, priests from Jamaica visited Glen Cove for their care.  In 1856, Bishop John Loughlin of Brooklyn established St. Patrick's parish.  The present church has the above cornerstone.

This is the main door of All Saints Regional Catholic School.  Please see the school's website for information.  The postal address is 12 Pearsall Avenue, Glen Cove NY 11542, telephone 516-676-0762. Five parishes sponsor the school: St. Mary (Roslyn), St. Patrick, St. Rocco, St. Boniface Martyr, and St. Hyacinth. A promotional video from January, 2012, is linked here.
----
A half-mile south of St. Patrick's church is the parish of St. Rocco, established in 1937. In 2012, the same priest is pastor of both parishes.  Weekdays, Mass at St. Rocco is at 7:30 a.m., at St. Patrick at 9 a.m. (as of May, 2012).

St. Rocco, Glen Cove

The church of St. Rocco stands on the south side of Third Street, Glen Cove, east of Cedar Swamp Road.  The address of the parish office is 18 Third Street, Glen Cove, New York 11542, telephone 718-676-2482.  The parish website, linked here, provides schedules, history, photos, and much more of interest.

The image of Jesus as a Good Shepherd dates from the early Roman church, centuries before there were images of the crucified Jesus.

St. Rocco is shown in this bas-relief.  Please note that he was born in France.

Five Catholic parishes sponsor All Saints Regional Catholic School, about a half-mile north of St. Rocco's church.

Oyster Bay deanery

The diocese of Rockville Centre has grouped the parishes of Nassau County into seven deaneries.  The Oyster Bay deanery includes the following eleven parishes, listed in order of foundation:
1856 -- St. Patrick, Glen Cove
1871 -- St. Mary, Roslyn
1894 -- St. Dominic, Oyster Bay
1898 -- St. Boniface Martyr, Sea Cliff
1909 -- St. Hyacinth, Glen Head
1937 -- St. Rocco, Glen Cove
1952 -- St. Edward Confessor, Syosset
1955 -- St. Pius X, Plainview
1959 -- St. Gertrude, Bayville
1962 -- Holy Name of Jesus, Woodbury
1962 -- St. Paul the Apostle, Brookville
-----
Five of the above parishes (St. Patrick, St. Rocco, St. Boniface Martyr, St. Hyacinth, and St. Mary, Roslyn) sponsor All Saints Regional Catholic elementary school.  St. Dominic parish offers both an elementary school and a high school.   St. Edward's parish elementary school is linked here.  St. Pius X supports St. John Baptist de La Salle Regional Catholic Elementary School in Farmingdale, but the diocese has announced the closure of this school in June, 2012.