St Patrick's Church, The Rocks

St Patrick's Catholic Church, The Rocks
St Patricks's, Church Hill
Grosvenor Street, The Rocks, City of Sydney, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Denomination	Catholic
Religious order	Marist Fathers
Website	stpatschurchhill.org
History
Status	Church
Founded	25 August 1840 (1840-08-25)
Founder(s)	William Davis
Dedication	Saint Patrick
Dedicated	18 March 1844 (1844-03-18)
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	William Fernyhough John Frederick Hilly
Years built	1840–1844
Administration
Metropolis	Sydney

The St Patrick's Catholic Church is the oldest surviving

Grosvenor and Gloucester Streets in the inner city suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney. It is also known as St Patrick's, Church Hill or St Pat's Church Hill. The property is owned by the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. The Marist Fathers, a religious order, have administered the parish since 1868.^[1]^[2]

History

The church was built on land donated in 1840 by Catholic emancipist William Davis, who had originally been transported after the Irish Rebellion of 1798.^[3] In the early years of the colony, when there was no Catholic priest resident in Sydney, Davis had sponsored Catholic prayer at his home.^[1]

In 1840, plans advanced to build a second Catholic church, after the original St Mary's Church. The site was chosen to be close to the ex-convict working-class neighborhoods in The Rocks, at a distance from the official city, and the foundation stone blessed on 25 August.

A design by William Fernyhough, possibly based on

Francis Murphy, was appointed apostolic vicar of Adelaide in 1842.^[1] Irishman John McEncroe became the first permanent parish priest, serving in that role from 1861 to 1868. At his wish, the parish was entrusted thereafter to the French Marist Fathers.^[3]

St. Patrick's opened a parochial school in 1865, operated by the Sisters of Mercy, originally in the crypt of the church and in 1876 moving to a separate school building. The church and school, along with the nearby Scots Kirk and St. Philip's Anglican Church, gave rise to the area being nicknamed "Church Hill."^[3]

The church is associated with the heritage-listed Federation Hall located at 24-30 Grosvenor Street, built as a parish hall and was used for that purpose until 1914. The property was sold by the parish in the 1920s.^[4]

At the turn of the twentieth century, developments such as the plague epidemic of 1900 and redevelopment of The Rocks from a residential to a commercial area, and later the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, contributed to concerns about the viability of the parish. The churches of St Michael's and St. Joseph's Providence were demolished, and St Bridget's was merged with St. Patrick's, the latter remaining in use as a chapel of ease.^[1] Nevertheless, St. Patrick's has remained extremely popular for Catholic services, one of the busiest in Australia.^[1] In 1999, the church underwent a major restoration, including the installation of a new Fratelli Ruffatti pipe organ.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "St Patrick's construction and opening". St Patrick's Church Hill history. St Patrick's Church Hill Parish. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
^ McMurrich, Peter (2018). "Their eminences, an éminence grise, and ruffled feathers: the sometimes rocky voyage of St Patrick's, Church Hill, within the Archdiocese of Sydney". Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 39: 93–106.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dunn, Mark (2008), "St Patrick's Catholic church, Church Hill", The Dictionary of Sydney, retrieved 29 July 2021
^ "St Patrick's history early years". St Patrick's Church Hill history. St Patrick's Church Hill Parish. Retrieved 26 November 2018.

External links

Catholic Church in Australia

A list of the Catholic dioceses, chapels, churches, and cathedrals in Australia.

Province of Sydney

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney	Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians St Philip Howard, Kingston St Anne's, North Bondi St Anne's, South Strathfield St Brigid's, Millers Point St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Paddington Cardinal Cerretti Chapel Garden Island Naval Chapel Mary Immaculate, Waverley Mary Mackillop Memorial Chapel and Museum Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Randwick St Patrick's, The Rocks St Peter Julian's, Sydney
Diocese of Bathurst	Cathedral of Saint Michael and Saint John St Mary's, Mudgee
Diocese of Lismore	Cathedral of Saint Carthage
Diocese of Wagga Wagga	Cathedral of Saint Michael Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes	Cathedral of the Sacred Heart St Ignatius, Bourke
Diocese of Wollongong	Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier St John Vianney Co-Cathedral St Francis Xavier's, Berrima St John's, Campbelltown St Michael's, Nowra
Diocese of Parramatta	Cathedral of Saint Patrick St Thomas Aquinas, Springwood
Diocese of Broken Bay	Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary

Province of Melbourne

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Melbourne	Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of Saint Patrick Our Lady of Victories Basilica, Camberwell Sacred Heart, St Kilda St Ambrose, Brunswick St Ignatius', Richmond St Mary of the Angels, Geelong St Mary's, Williamstown St Mary Star of the Sea, West Melbourne St Francis', Melbourne
Diocese of Sale	Cathedral of Saint Mary
Diocese of Sandhurst	Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Diocese of Ballarat	Cathedral of Saint Patrick

Province of Brisbane

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Brisbane	Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Stephen St Stephen's Chapel Corpus Christi, Nundah Our Lady of Victories, Bowen Hills Marist Brothers College, Rosalie Mary Immaculate Church, Annerley Mount Carmel Convent, Wynnum Mount St Mary's Convent, Toowong St Brigid's, Red Hill Church Convent St Brigid's Church, Rosewood St Francis Xavier, Goodna St Ignatius Loyola, Toowong St Mary's, Ipswich St Mary's, Maryborough St Mary's, South Brisbane St Patrick's, Fortitude Valley St Patrick's, Gympie St Patrick's, Mount Perry
Diocese of Toowoomba	Cathedral of Saint Patrick Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick First Church Second Church Convent Presbytery St Patrick's, Rosevale
Diocese of Cairns	St Monica's War Memorial Cathedral Old Cathedral St Monica's Priory/Bishop's House Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Thursday Island St James', Malanda St Joseph's, Cairns St Mary's by the Sea Church, Port Douglas St Patrick's, Yungaburra
Diocese of Rockhampton	Cathedral of Saint Joseph Old St Patrick's, Brandon Our Lady Star of the Sea, Gladstone
Diocese of Townsville	Cathedral of the Sacred Heart St Brigid's, Stuart St Joseph's, North Ward St Mary's, Townsville St Patrick's, North Ward St Patrick's, Ravenswood

Province of Perth

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Perth

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Pro-Cathedral of Saint John

Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier

Province of Adelaide

Metropolitan Archdiocese of Adelaide	Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier St Augustine's, Salisbury St Ignatius' Church, Norwood St Patrick's, Adelaide
Diocese of Port Pirie	Cathedral of Saint Mark
Diocese of Darwin	Cathedral of Saint Mary, Star of the Sea Christ the King, Tennant Creek

Immediately subject to the Holy See

Archdiocese of Hobart	Cathedral of Saint Mary Church of the Apostles, Launceston
Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn	Cathedral of Saint Christopher St Peter and Paul's, Goulburn Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St Thomas	St Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Church (Seat of the Eparch's Cathedra)
Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of St Thomas	St Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (Seat of the Eparch's Cathedra)

Catholicism portal

v t e The Rocks historical attractions
Residential buildings	Argyle Terrace Avery Terrace Baker's Terrace Cadmans Cottage Cumberland Street Nos. 106-128 Nos. 130, 132-134, 136-138, and 140-142 No. 182 Nos. 182.5-188 Gannon House George Street Nos. 29-31 No. 93 Nos. 95-99 No. 101 No. 103 No. 105 Nos. 107-109 No. 121 Nos. 123-125 Nos. 139-141 No. 145 No. 147 Nos. 149-151 [some of the aforementioned were subsequently converted into commercial buildings] Gloucester Street Nos. 32-36 and 38-40 Nos. 46-56 103-111 Nos. 113-115 Nos. 117-117a Harrington Street No. 32 Nos. 42-52 Nos. 55-59 Nos. 61-65 No. 67 No. 71 Jobbins Terrace Lilyvale Long's Lane Precinct Merchant's House Penrhyn House Playfair Street Terraces Playfair's Terrace Reynolds' Cottages Samson's Cottage Samson's Cottage wall remains Sergeant Major's Row Susannah Place (museum) View Terrace facades
Commercial buildings	Accountants House Ambulance Station (former) ASN Co building Argyle Stores ASN Hotel Building Bushells Building Butchery Building Campbell's Stores Cleland Bond Store Coroner's Court (former) English, Scottish and Australian Bank Federation Hall George Street No. 231 Harrington's Buildings Harts Buildings Joe Bananas shop Johnson's building Julian Ashton Art School Lawson House Metcalfe Bond Stores Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (former MSB building) Mining Museum (former) New York Hotel (former) Model factory building, Gloucester Street NSW Housing Board Building, Grosvenor Street Old Bushells Factory Phillip's Foote Restaurant Police Station (former) Raphael Mackeller Stores Royal Naval House Science House Sydney Sailors' Home Union Bond Store (former) Unwin's Stores
Churches	Mariners' Church St Patrick's Church, Church Hill
Pubs and hotels	Australian British Seamen's Brooklyn Fortune of War Glenmore Harbour Rocks Mercantile Observer Orient Russell
Transport infrastructure	Argyle Bridge Argyle Cut Captain Tench Arcade Cumberland Place and Steps Sydney Cove railings
Other significant historical features	Cumberland Street Archaeological Site Dawes Point Battery Rocks Push Sydney Cove West Archaeological Precinct

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History

See also

References

External links