Bernard Angus MacEachern

Angus Bernard MacEachern (February 8, 1759 – April 22, 1835) was a Scottish Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church who rose to become the first Bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Charlottetown following its separation from the Archdiocese of Quebec on August 11, 1829.

MacEachern was born in Kinlochmoidart, Scotland, the son of Hugh Bàn MacEachern and Mary MacDonald. He became a protégé of Bishop Hugh MacDonald, vicar apostolic of the Highland District of Scotland, and, when his family Prince Edward Island in 1772, 13-year-old Angus stayed behind to study for the priesthood in the secret Highland Catholic college at Buorblach near Morar Station. His seminary training was received in Spain since education was then denied Catholics in England, Ireland and Scotland, and professional training, in particular, training for the priesthood, had been expressly forbidden under pain of death by the penal laws against Catholics. MacEachern arrived on Prince Edward Island, then a British colony in North America known as St. John's Island, in 1790 as a young missionary, joining his emigrant family. MacEachern, who would later be recognized as firmly placing Catholic roots in the colony as well as throughout the Maritimes, travelled endlessly in the area as a priest. He was fluent in English, French, and Gaelic, therefore permitting him to minister to a variety of different cultures in the region.

In 1816, while serving as priest in Charlottetown, MacEachern was advised by a visiting Bishop from Quebec to build a church in the city and dedicate it to St. Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church was the first of several that would occupy the lot where the present cathedral stands today.

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