Places of Interest in Diego Martin
St. Dominic's Pastoral Centre
The home of the Order of Preachers in Trinidad and Tobago is located in Diego Martin at the St. Dominic's Pastoral Centre.
Approximately eight hundred and seven (807) years ago (prior to 2016), a second group of Dominican Preachers settled in Trinidad and Tobago and established a House or Centre. Over the years priests from the original centre or community in Ireland have visited and ministered in Trinidad and Tobago, joining with locals who have been ordained into the priesthood.
There are several Roman Catholic Churches which are located in Diego Martin, some of which are: St. Finbar's, St. Anthony's, Crystal Stream, (St. Augustine) are all administered/managed by priests of the Order of the Preachers.
St. John, the Evangelist which is located in Diego Martin and is accessed from the Diego Martin Main Road is administered separately to the other churches.
Over the years the site of the Order of Preachers in Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago has been developed/redeveloped to house the following: ~ Adoration Chapel
~ Church - St. Finbar's R.C.
~ Auditorium and a school is located above the auditorium. The school is said to have 'state of the art audio visual facilities.[5] Some of the activities which have been held at the auditorium are as follows:
- Catholic Religious Education Development Institute's (CREDI')s first graduation ceremony in September 12, 2011. The graduands consisted of students in the Post graduate programme "Masters in Educational Leadership course with UD" (University of Dayton Ohio) and "five of the seven persons who completed the 2010 Social Justice online course with the UD, in partnership with CREDI – The Catholic Institute, and CCSJ"...[6]
- The launch by CREDI of its East Port of Spain Project on April 11, 2015 at its 2015 CREDI-table conversations on Equity in Education in Trinidad and Tobago. [7]
- Wedding Receptions
- Plays and other events
- Meetings for various purposes such as to accommodate "break out" sessions at conferences
~ Parish Office
~ Soup Kitchen
~ Book Store and Aquinas Altar Wines - Aquinas Altar Wines sells unconsecrated host and wine which is transformed into the "Body and Blood of Jesus Christ" during the Holy Mass.
~ Presbytery
In close proximity to the St. Dominic's Pastoral Centre is the Finbar Ryan Geriatric Home. This Home for the aged is managed by the Society of St.Vincent de Paul of Trinidad and Tobago.[5]
Cemetery
According to "BURIAL GROUNDS, CEMETERIES & CREMATION SITES (TRINIDAD) Arranged by Ward/District" there are two cemeteries which are located in Diego Martin. The names of the cemeteries are as follows:
~ Diego Martin Catholic Cemetery, Cemetery Street. This cemetery is also referred to as "St.John's the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery" and is located on Cemetery Street, Diego Martin.[8]
~ St. Michael's Anglican Churchyard Cemetery
Businesses
The Diamond Vale Industrial Park, currently under management by E-Teckparks has spaces for approximately 30 tenants.[9] This industrial park is one of the older parks having been established as far back as the 1980's, with one of its reasons being to take advantage of tax incentives which allowed the companies to operate in certain zones under The In Aid of Industry Act.
There is at least one Mall which is located in Diego Martin, Starlite Plaza.[10] This mall was established as far back as the 1980's and was one of the earliest ones to have branches of at least three banks, Republic Bank Limited, Scotia and RBTT, as well as a supermarket, a gym, pharmacy and other stores. The location of the mall made it an easy drop in place on the way home for the pick up of groceries or to deal with one's personal affairs.
Persons of Interest in Diego Martin
Priests
In 2013, Rev. Matthew Martinez O.P. was ordained a deacon in Ireland.[11] In July or August 2014, Rev. Matthew Martinez O.P. was ordained a priest at St. Finbar's R.C. Church on the "feast of Blessed Jane of Aza, mother of St Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order".[12] "Fr Joseph Harris CSSp, Archbishop of Port-of-Spain, was the ordaining bishop. He was assisted by Robert Rivas OP, Archbishop of St Lucia and a former member of the Irish Dominicans, as well as Bishop Jason Gordon of Barbados, and Bishop Malcolm Gault, bishop emeritus of Barbados".[12]
Sport Achievers
Ms. Fana Ashby who was born in Petit Valley has represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics in the one hundred (100) metres and the four x one hundred metres (4x100m) relay.[13]
Ms. Enid Browne was born in Diego Martin, attended Providence Girls in Belmont and in 1963 represented Trinidad in England at the Workd Championships. "Her stellar performances on the courts led her to be named T&T captain ahead of the second World Championships in 1967 in Australia. Her exploits Down Under were heralded by the Australian Press, when T&T finished fourth in the eight-team tournament".[14]
Mr. Chris Braithwaite was born in Maraval, Diego Martin in 1948, represented Trinidad and Tobago at international meets. His first appearance was "at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games. He later competed at that event in 1982. His other major competitions were the 1975 and 1984 Pan-American Games, the inaugural 1983 World Athletics Championships, and the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games. Brathwaite attended several schools in the United States, starting at Eastern New Mexico in 1972, moving to Spokane Community College in 1973, and then do most of his studies at the University of Oregon (1974-77), from which he graduated with bachelor's and masters' degrees in sociology." [15] Mr. Braithwaite died in 1984.
Here is the link to the article in Wikipedia if you are interested in reading more about Diego Martin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Martin
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