St. Patrick's Church (Lowell, Massachusetts)
Description
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.HistoryThe original Saint Patrick's church was a wooden structure, 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.The current stone structure dates to 1853, although a fire in 1904 caused much of the church to be rebuilt by 1906.Saint Patrick's todayToday, 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.
Tell your friends
Quiz
