St. Patrick's Church (Lowell, Massachusetts)

St. Patrick's Church

St. Patrick's, front view (2012)
Location 284 Suffolk St.
Lowell, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°38′43.05″N 71°19′7.1″W / 42.6452917°N 71.318639°W / 42.6452917; -71.318639Coordinates: 42°38′43.05″N 71°19′7.1″W / 42.6452917°N 71.318639°W / 42.6452917; -71.318639
Architect Patrick C. Keely
Architectural style Gothic Revival
NRHP Reference # 85000027
Added to NRHP January 3, 1985

St. Patrick's Church in Lowell, Massachusetts is an historic Roman Catholic church, with historical ties to the city's Irish American population. The parish's foundation date of 1831 and makes it one of the oldest Catholic parishes north of Boston in the United States.[1]

History

The original Saint Patrick's church was a wooden structure,[2] built in 1831 to support the Irish workmen who had moved to Lowell, largely to work on the Pawtucket and Merrimack Canals. Prior to its construction, they were attended by Rev. John Mahoney, a Catholic clergyman from a nearby town. By 1830 there were over 400 Roman Catholics in Lowell, and on July 3, 1831, St Patrick's Church was consecrated, led by Mahoney. Mahoney left in 1836 to work in Boston, and was succeeded by E.J. McCool.[3]

The current stone structure dates to 1853, although a fire in 1904 caused much of the church to be rebuilt by 1906.[4]

Saint Patrick's today

Today, the church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the traditional Irish and French Canadian congregations, the parish, including its school, serves local Southeast Asians, specifically with Vietnamese and Cambodian native-language Masses.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Parish Online. "St Patrick Parish". Parish Online. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Eno 1976, p. 195.
  3. ↑ Citizen-Courier Company 1897, p. 718.
  4. ↑ Forgotten New England. "The Grand Fires of 1904 – Lowell, Massachusetts and Fire's Constant Threat". Forgotten New England. Retrieved 15 January 2013.

Bibliography

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