St. Patrick's Church (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

In 1843, the parish of St. Patrick was founded. The first Masses were held in a local stable on the corner of Gerrish and Göttingen streets. Two years later, in 1845, the parish moved to a former chapel that was previously an Anglican Garrison Chapel.

In 1851, this was extended when a spire with a bell was added. In 1857, a school was opened in the basement of the church. In 1867 the school was moved to a separate building.[2]

With the congregation growing in number, plans were drawn up to rebuild the church so that it would have a larger capacity. A local architect, Henry Peters, was chosen to design the church. He also designed St. Matthew's Church in the city. Peters, who is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery was a well known local builder. He built the South Street Poor House, an Irish Catholic Institution in the Victoria Era.[3]

The last Mass in the old church was said on 2 April 1883. On 8 August 1883, the Archbishop of Halifax, Cornelius O'Brien laid the cornerstone of the new church. The first Mass in the new church was said in the basement on 22 December 1883. On 27 December 1885, the church was opened to the congregation and the first Mass was said on the main altar.[2]

From 1898 to 1903, stained windows were installed in the church. In 1922, those windows were replaced with ones from Franz Mayer & Co., after all but 5 of the original windows had been blown out in the December 6, 1917 Halifax explosion. That year, St Patrick's Boys School was opened opposite the church. On the same street was St Patrick's Girl School. In 1954 the schools were merged when a new school was built on Quinpool Road.[2]

In 1946, work was carried out to repaint and maintain the church. In the 1960s and 1970s, following the Second Vatican Council, the altar rail was removed, some statues taken away and a small table altar placed before the old high altar. In 2005, the Jesuits moved into the area and started to serve as parish priests later that decade.[2]