Saint Patrick Church is a historic building and the second-oldest Catholic church building in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. Located in the Discovery District neighborhood, the structure served as the

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish Church (building), church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefect ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of Roman civilization * Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter ...

until the consecration of Saint Joseph Cathedral. It has been served by

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

since 1885 and is currently home to an active

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

History

When

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

immigrants arrived in Columbus in 1848 to escape the Great Famine, the only Catholic church in the city was Holy Cross Church, a predominantly German Catholic parish. The German and Irish worshipers shared Holy Cross until 1850, when the parish voted to split. Archbishop Purcell of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

approved the new parish February 1851 and appointed Reverend John Furlong as its pastor. The lot on which the church stands was purchased from Robert E. Neill for $1000. The new parish was named for Ireland's

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (; or ; ) was a fifth-century Romano-British culture, Romano-British Christian missionary and Archbishop of Armagh, bishop in Gaelic Ireland, Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Irelan ...

. The site chosen was on the west side of town at the corner of Grant and Naghten Streets (then known as the "Irish Broadway"). English-speaking worshipers continued attending Holy Cross during construction, with $1,200 toward the building fund donated by Holy Cross parishioners. it was the first Catholic church in Columbus to have a bell, which was acquired in around 1865.

Aquinas High School

in 1905, bishop James Hartley requested that the Dominican Fathers open a high school. Initially called St. Patrick High School and housed in the parochial school building at the corner of Grant and Mt. Vernon, it was renamed Aquinas High School and relocated to a dedicated building in 1912. It was the largest high school in the Diocese into the mid-20th century, until the need for new facilities and lack of personnel due to the Vatican asking for more of the Dominican Fathers to enter missionary work resulted in the announcing of the closure of the school in 1962. The final class graduated in 1965 and the school building was sold to the Columbus Board of Education. It is currently used by

Columbus State Community College Columbus State Community College (CSCC) is a public community college in Columbus, Ohio. Founded as Columbus Area Technician's School in 1963, it was renamed Columbus Technical Institute in 1965 and was renamed again to its current name in 19 ...

Notable clergy

Interior

Stained glass windows

Paintings

There is a fresco of a medallion depicting a Dominican saint over each stained glass window in the nave. :

References

External links

* {{commons category-inline Roman Catholic churches in Columbus, Ohio Roman Catholic churches completed in 1853 Dominican churches in the United States Gothic Revival architecture in Ohio Buildings and structures in Downtown Columbus, Ohio 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States