The present church is an imposing edifice, rendered in sandstone and in the Romanesque style. Its treasury boasts artefacts of international significance, chief among them a relic of St Patrick’s arm, enshrined in a priceless medieval silver reliquary. It also has a triptych altarpiece entitled ‘Madonna of the Lakes’ painted by Sir John Lavery, himself a celebrated son of the parish.
The parish history goes back more than 200 years – so there’s a lot to tell. Firstly about the origins and architectural features of the church; the treasured relics; the parish art collection; and of course the people who made it all possible.
Luckily all of this has been succinctly summarised by Fr. Michael Sheehan, a former Administrator at St Patrick’s. To save you having to scroll through pages of information, we have reproduced this as a PDF document which you can read below. Using the toolbar at the bottom of the document you can view it full screen or save it to your computer/device to read or print at your convenience.
We have a separate page and document about Sir John Lavery’s acclaimed triptych altarpiece “The Madonna of the Lakes” which is also housed within our church. Please click here to view that page.
Parish History: