Wedding Celebration in the City Market

By Connor DeMerchant - 13 August 2026

While no couples have ever chosen the Market as their wedding venue, it has been the scene of at least one wedding celebration over the last 150 years. 

At 2:30pm on Saturday, January 11^th, 1936, the Market bell rang out, halting business for the afternoon. With this as their cue, farmers, stall owners, and buyers, “between 200 and 300 in number,” assembled in a crowded ring around the stall of wholesaler and retailer P. C. McGrath at the upper end of the market. Confused shopper quickly learned the reason for this interruption of Market operation; Mr. McGrath was to be married the following week to Miss Mary O’Brien. 

As detailed in the Saint John Times Globe, “the object of the bell summons was a presentation of household linens to him [McGrath] and the bride to be, made by S. J. Withers, the clerk of the market, on behalf of Mr. McGrath’s business friends.” Evidence of the high esteem in which McGrath and his bride-to-be were held, this display of well-wishes in the Market was in fact one of several social events held for the couple leading up to their nuptials.      

The Times Globes reported that “it was the first time such an event had been held in the market” and was a “complete surprise” for visitors to the market, being “held among vegetables, meats, flowers and cheeses.”[1]

Peter Clarence McGrath (1904-1981) was united in marriage to Mary Joan O’Brien (1916-2004) on Tuesday morning, January 14^th at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Saint John’s North End. Following a wedding breakfast, the couple left for New York where they embarked on the S. S. Monarch of Bermuda for a honeymoon in Bermuda. Upon their return to Saint John Mr. and Mrs. McGrath took up residence at 59 Carmarthen Street and P.C. McGrath returned to his livelihood in the City Market.[2]

[1] The Evening Times Globe. 13 January 1936, Pg. 9. 

[2] “Wed at St. Peter’s Church.” The Evening Times Globe. 14 January 1936, Pg. 9.

Photos: O'Neill's Butcher Stall in the City Market, c. 1890-1900 (PANB P13\133) and St. Peter's Catholic Church (PANB P210\1234)