Margaret’s of Scotland in Edinburgh, this mountain church is the oldest wooden frame church and the earliest public building still in existence in Inverness County. It is known as the smallest church in the diocese of Antigonish and stands highest above sea level. It was large enough to house 30 families, one foot per family in length and 20 feet wide. “Yet the history of this faithful congregatio
n shows a record of achievement unequalled by the people of many a church of larger dimensions.The church was split in two in 1889 and a piece added to the center to accommodate the increase in size of the parish at the time. By the 1940’s, many of the parish had left for more prosperous places and the church began to fall in disrepair. Margaret of Scotland began to repair the church; saving it from ruin. The Graveyard behind the church has many graves, some marked and some not. The settlers of this mountain parish were immigrants from Ormaclet, South Uist who were driven out of their homes during the Highland Clearances. Eugene MacDonald of Clan Ranald moved with his family and some thirty other families to eventually arrive in Cape Breton. The Scottish settlers, after founding the settlement called River Deny’s Mountain in 1833, began the long arduous task of building themselves a new life on the mountain. Over the next several years the community prospered and grew. On Sunday mornings, or sometimes Saturday evening, the people would make the trip to Judique to attend mass. They did this from 1833 until 1841 when they completed the construction of their own church. Mass on the Mountain
Long before the first settlers came to be on the mountain, a young woman had a vision of a church standing on the very spot it is today. She was in the first wave of Scottish immigrants to settle in Cape Breton in 1810. She and her family spent their first winter with the Chisholms in Judique. When spring came the MacDonalds moved to Malagowatch area to start their own homestead. Flora, however, deeply missed the Chisholm family and would run away from home, going over the mountain by a blazed trail and return to the Chisholm family. On one of her escapades Flora became lost on the mountain at nightfall. Making a bed on a large rock she fell asleep. She was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a harp playing a gaelic air. Looking around she saw the church lit up as bright as day. Past Priests
The church was built under the direction of Fr. Alexander MacDonnell, the first resident priest of Judique and served the River Denys Area. He died before its completion. Michael McKeagney celebrated the first mass in the church in autumn of 1841 and served from 1841-1842. Angus MacDonald was pastor from 1842-1843. Alexander MacDonnell served from 1843-1846. Ronald MacGillivary served until 1852. James MacIntyre was next and was succeeded by Fr John V. MacDonnell. He in turn was succeeded by Fr. Hugh MacDonald. The last pastor of Judique to serve the mountain church was Fr. Allan MacLean. The mission church was passed, in 1875, from the care of Judique to the new parish in Glendale whose pastor was Fr. Donald MacIsaac. During Fr. MacIsaac’s time , the church was enlarged in 1889 due to the increase in parishioners. Donald MacPherson served from 1901-1915. MacLennan then served until 1929. He was succeeded by Fr. Angus A. MacNeil who by the 1940’s, saw major decline in parishioner numbers. He was succeeded by Fr.John Angus Rankin who over saw the church’s reconstruction in 1963.
