HISTORIES OF SAINT PATRICK
In 1831 immigrant
laborers, many of them Catholic, settled in the Borough of Norristown to
work in constructing a railroad between Philadelphia
and Reading.
With no Catholic church in Norristown,
this meant traveling to Manayunk to worship. In 1834 Bishop Kenrick
gave Father David Mulholland permission to start a parish in
Norristown and when a Mr. Patrick Flynn came up with the
necessary $100 needed to complete startup costs, a grateful pastor
announced that the church would be placed under the patronage of St.
Patrick.
The first church was
completed in 1839 on Washington
St. above Cherry on land donated by Bernard
McCready. In 1840 Bishop Kenrick came to administer the Sacrament of
Confirmation for the first time in the parish. Bishop Neumann, later
canonized a saint, administered Confirmation in 1852 and 1855.
During the Civil War the
parish continued to grow. A new church site was selected at Lafayette and
Cherry Streets; groundbreaking was held in 1859 and construction was
completed in 1864. St.
Patrick School
opened in September of 1875 staffed by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary.
During these years the
Pennsylvania Railroad had laid tracks in front of the church, resulting in
the depreciation of parish property and an excessive amount of noise and
dirt associated with the steam engines of the day. After a suit was filed
against the Railroad, lasting several years, the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania in 1889 awarded St. Patrick Church $24,000 to recompense the
parish. This allowed Father Shannon to purchase land at
700 DeKalb Street
to begin the construction of a school and new church for the still growing
parish. The school was completed and blessed in 1895. Parishioners gathered
for the groundbreaking of the new church in 1905 and in 1907 for the
dedication of the church. The statue of St. Patrick in front of the church
was installed and blessed in 1920. The painting of the Crucifixion above
the main altar is a copy of the original painting that graced the
Lafayette St. church, which had been destroyed by
fire.
As Norristown grew over
the years, the boundaries of St. Patrick gave birth to new parishes: Holy
Saviour’s in 1903, St. Helena’s in 1919, St. Francis’ in 1923 and
St. Paul’s in 1963. The 150th Anniversary of
St. Patrick’s was celebrated in 1985 and we continue a strong parish serving
God and our diverse community into the 21st century.
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