Saint Brigid's Church (Ottawa)

St Brigid's was a Roman Catholic church located in the Lower Town neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was built to serve the English-speaking, Catholic population of the area. The church's closing was announced in 2006, and it was sold in 2007 and converted into Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts, an Irish-Canadian heritage centre.

Saint Brigid's Church
Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts
Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts, formerly St Brigid's Church
DenominationRoman Catholic
Websitesaintbrigidscentre.ca
History
Statusdeconsecrated, used as arts centre
DedicationSaint Brigid
Clergy
ArchbishopMarcel Gervais

In 2022, it became the focus of a rent dispute involving The United People of Canada.

Church use

Until the opening of St Brigid's, this community, largely of Irish heritage, had formed part of the parish of Notre-Dame, the Cathedral of Ottawa. By 1870, the Irish percentage of the population had declined relative to that of the French Canadian. As a consequence, the Irish played an ever-diminishing role in the life and management of Notre-Dame.

Discussions to establish a distinct anglophone parish and church for Lower Town began in March 1888. A committee of parishioners from Notre-Dame Cathedral held meetings with the Archbishop of Ottawa, the Most Rev. Joseph-Thomas Duhamel. It was agreed to create a new parish; a site for the church chosen; and by May 3, 1888, James R. Bowes had been chosen as architect. The plans called for a substantial structure at the corner of St Patrick and Cumberland Streets.[1] Built in the Romanesque Revival style (generally called Norman at that time), the principal façade has three heavy round headed portals and paired towers of unequal height and detail. The taller (eastern) tower is capped with a stylized bishop's mitre placing the church and its Irish parishioners squarely in the Ultramontanist tradition of the Catholic Church. Work began on St Brigid's in 1889 and the Blessing of the completed Church took place on August 3, 1890.

In May 2006, Archbishop Marcel Gervais announced that the church would be closed, as the shrinking congregation did not justify the several hundred thousand dollars in needed repairs. The parishioners objected vehemently to this and even took the archdiocese to court to keep it open, both unsuccessfully. One condition of the sale was that the building could not be used as a Catholic church, either by the buyers or their successors.

Secular use

In 2007, St. Brigid's Catholic Church was put up for sale. The deconsecrated building was purchased by four investors in the fall of 2007 for $450,000.

The church was purchased by a numbered company owned by former congregation member Patrick McDonald, a Portarlington, Count Laois-born man who moved to Canada in 1989.[2] McDonald turned the building into the Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts, an Irish-Canadian heritage centre and social venue hosting art exhibitions, plays, and concerts.[3] On 6 January 2016, he opened a The Brigid's Well public house in the church's basement.[4] In 2010, the building was used as a location for the filming of the 2011 film Sacrifice. McDonald played the role of Father Patrick.[5]

In 2022, McDonald agreed to sell the church to The United People of Canada (TUPOC).[6] TUPOC occupied and started the process of purchasing the building in July 2022,[7] converting it into what it calls an "embassy".[8][9] The conditional offer to buy the church subsequently fell though.[10] McDonald accusing the organisation of breaking heritage rules, harassing other tenants and failing to pay the deposit.[6] After accumulating $10,000 of rent arrears and failing to provide proof of liability insurance, TUPOC was served an eviction notice on August 17, 2022, with bailiffs changing the locks on August 18.[7] On September 23, 2022, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that TUPOC had materially breached the sale agreement by failing to make required payments despite two extensions, granted the eviction application, and awarded $53,000 in damages to the owners.[11] TUPOC appealed the decision and lost the appeal in 2023.[12]

See also

References
  1. "biography in Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950". Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  2. McDonald, Patrick (6 July 2017). "We saved a church in Ottawa, and turned it into an Irish centre". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 2022-08-12. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  3. "Ontario Heritage Trust St. Brigid's Church (City of Ottawa) - 1889-90". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  4. "Brigid's Well opens in basement of former Ottawa church". CBC. 7 Jan 2016. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2023. Irish immigrant Patrick McDonald now runs a pub in the basement of Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts, called Brigid's Well. It opened on Jan. 6, 2016
  5. "Movie shoot takes over Lowertown church". ottawasun. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  6. "St. Brigid's church owner: 'The water pistol brigade has to stop'". Ottawa. 2022-09-02. Archived from the original on 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  7. Pringle, Josh (2022-08-18). "Freedom Convoy-affiliated group being evicted from Ottawa church". Ottawa. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  8. "An inside look at the Ottawa church property turned 'Embassy' for the United People of Canada". Ottawa. 2022-07-31. Archived from the original on 2022-08-14. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
  9. Taekema, Dan (10 Aug 2022). "Controversial group creates 'private security force' to guard former church". CBC. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  10. Gray, Mackenzie (2022-08-19). "Sale of Ottawa church to 'Freedom Convoy'-affiliated group falls through, but leader says deal is still on". CTVNews. Archived from the original on 2022-08-21. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  11. Woods, Michael (September 23, 2022). "Judge orders eviction of Freedom Convoy-affiliated group from Ottawa church". CTV News. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  12. "TUPOC's appeal to reclaim former St. Brigid's Church building in Lowertown rejected by court". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  • Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures, Ottawa Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee
  • Exploring Ottawa, Harold Kalman and John Roaf
  • Capital Walks, Katharine Fletcher
  • Heritage Ottawa Newsletter, “J. Bowes & Son, Architects, Ottawa: A Forgotten Legacy”, Elizabeth Krug
  • "The artful rebirth of St. Brigid's". Maria Cook, The Ottawa Citizen. Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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