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Parish History Good Times Dorothy O'Neill Remembers Dorothy O'Neill, originally from Edinburgh, has lived in the parish since the end of the war and together with Charles, raised a family here. They both greatly supported the Sacred Heart Church - Charles was one of the founder members of its SVP team and Dorothy belonged to the UCM and served as president for a while. Dorothy is the sister of Fr Jack Quigley, a familiar figure at Sacred Heart for over 50 years, and who served most of his priesthood in Guyana as a Jesuit missionary. During visits home, he stayed with Dorothy in Leighton Buzzard, and has assisted every Sacred Heart priest since Fr Henslow. He passed away in 1996 and is very much missed by his family and members of the parish.
Fr Henslow travelled about the town on a huge bicycle and was easily recognisable by his great black cape, long soutane and wide hat. He was eventually given an old Austin 7 car but drove it so slowly, people around the town wondered if it actually had an engine under its bonnet. The confessional in the tin church was small and cramped, and because of woodworm, most of the floor was missing, leaving a large hole which had to be very carefully negotiated by the penitents, in case they found themselves dropping unexpectedly into a pit! One Christmas, at Midnight Mass, Fr Henslow thought it would be wonderful to have bells (even though there were none) rung from the bell tower on the church roof during the Consecration so that people in the street could hear them . He had an old '78 recording of the bells. Dorothy's husband, Charles O'Neill, a six foot Irishman, was assigned to climb up into the tiny recess in the church roof with Father's hand-cranked record player. Regrettably, just before the Consecration, as Charles squeezed into position, he dropped the torch, and in the pitch black, wasn't able to operate the record player - so no celebration bells rang out (seemed a good idea at the time)! Harry & Sally Rooney Remembers Harry and Sally Rooney moved to the parish from Lisburn, Co Antrim in 1949, to join Jim and Bridget Kelly, Jim was Sally's brother. Their life in Leighton Buzzard has been immersed in their family, and in the Sacred Heart parish; some of the most memorable events include the parish's trip to Rome in 1975 with Fr Nightingale, and the many visits to Walsingham. Harry has belonged to both the SVP and the Knights of St Columba and Sally has been in the Union of Catholic Mothers since its inception in the parish. Sally and Harry celebrated their Golden Wedding in August 1999, with a holiday to Cyprus. They greatly miss Jim, who passed away in 1995, and Bridget, who passed away in 1997, and pride of place in their home is the Silver Medal award presented to Bridget and Jim by the Bishop of Northampton for their wonderful service in the work of the SVP over many decades.
Harry Rooney remembers: My brother-in-law, Jim Kelly, and I had to work seven days a week at Vauxhall in the 1950s - industry was trying to get back on track after the war years - and although we were not able to hear Mass, I remember calling at the presbytery at around 6.00 on a Sunday morning for Holy Communion before work. Fr Henslow always provided us with a huge mug of tea, and toast, before we went off to catch the bus to Luton. Sally Rooney remembers: In those same years, I worked at John Dickinson's factory in Bassett Road and on a Friday, after a long week at work, I would buy flowers from the florist's in North Street to put on my sideboard. More often than not, Fr Henslow would call in and remark how lovely her flowers would look on the altar ... and they always did! St Patrick's Night: In 1972, Irish parishioners decided to put on a concert in honour of St Patrick. Local artist, Michael Holmes, painted a large Irish landscape as a backdrop to the stage, the hall was decorated in green and gold and white, and Irish food was served - potato farles, soda bread etc. The concert included barber-shop singing by the Four Linnets (Harry Rooney, Jack McGlaughlin, Pat O'Connell, and Charles O'Neill), monologues, a comedy play called “The Pawnbroker” (with Ron Brumwell, Jack O'Hanlon and Malcolm Barker, among others) and soloist Sally Rooney singing songs from Finian's Rainbow. It was followed by Irish dancing. The concert was so successful, there was a move to take it on tour to Luton!
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