Irish Connections
Celebrating St Patrick’s Day: Irish Connections in the Albany, New York Stake
By Sharon Watson Maughan (Glenville Ward)
Ever since I was a little girl, my Irish parents made sure I knew that there were two people directly responsible for my family’s membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two people whose love and concern for my dad began with his baptism in Niagara Falls, Canada (where he was working at the time) and followed him as he returned home to Ireland immediately after his baptism.
The first person was President Thomas Monson, then President of the Canadian Mission, who sent a telegram to my father, George Watson, welcoming him into the Church. The second person was Bob Lynn, president of the Dublin Branch, who also received a telegram from President Monson, this one asking him to welcome George into his little branch. President Lynn and his young son, Ken, had some difficulties tracking down my father but eventually knocked on the right door and invited him to church, much to Dad’s absolute shock and surprise. He had assumed there were no Church members in Ireland! My mother, Chloë, was soon baptized as well, and they became the 16th and 17th members of the Dublin Ireland Branch.
My parents have stayed in touch with Bob Lynn and his wonderful family through the years, including son Ken and his wife and children. Dad and Mom often said that we would not be in the church today if it weren’t for the love and kindness the Lynns showed them in that tiny branch in Dublin.
In the fall of 2019, my father passed away in St George, Utah, and I visited with Ken and Rienna Lynn following the funeral. Imagine my surprise when I learned that their daughter lived 15 minutes from my home in New York! Tarra Lynn Rust (Saratoga Ward) and I definitely have a connection that goes much deeper than we ever knew, as it was her Irish father and grandfather that found my dad in Dublin all those years ago and welcomed him into the Church. They are the reason my family enjoys the blessings of the Gospel today.
It makes me smile to know that George Watson’s grandson, Craig Maughan, teaches Sunday School in Saratoga Ward to a class that includes Bob Lynn’s great-granddaughter, Juanita Rust! Who knew that the connection these men made in Ireland so many years ago would someday come full circle here in the Albany New York Stake.
Top left: George and Chloë Watson (1959); Top right: Bob and Maureen Lynn and family (1955); Bottom: Sharon Watson Maughan and Tarra Lynn Rust
