St Mary's Church, Holyhead (or St. Mary Help Of Christians RC Church, Holyhead) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

on the

Isle of Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, north Wales. It is within the Diocese of Wrexham. The church was officially opened on 28 February 1965.

History and location

St Mary's Church is located between Market Street and Longford Road in

, the principal port of the north Wales county of

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

. It was built to replace a previous Roman Catholic church in Holyhead dedicated to St Mary, which was built in 1860 but could only seat 150 people. By the 1960s, the old church had 1,000 parishioners. The new church, which cost £50,000 and could seat 880 people, was opened in 1965. An extension to the church in 1992 added a church hall and a library. St Mary's is described in a book describing the buildings of north Wales as "a large formal square church"; the authors also noted the copper roof, and the platform upon which the church is raised. The church is part of

Caernarfon Deanery The Caernarfon Deanery is a Roman Catholic deanery in the Diocese of Wrexham that covers several churches in Caernarfon and the surrounding area in Gwynedd and Anglesey. The dean is centred at St Mary's Church in Holyhead, where on the island of ...

within the Diocese of Wrexham. As of 2013, the parish priest is Father Frank Murray, of the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation wa ...

. The parish of Holyhead also includes St Therese's Church,

Rhosneigr Rhosneigr () is a village in the south-west of Anglesey, north Wales. It is situated on the A4080 road. It is south-east of Holyhead, and is on the Anglesey Coastal Path. From the clock at the centre of the village can be seen RAF Valley an ...

. The pattern of services (as of 2013) is for a celebration of Mass on Sunday morning at 11am (with a vigil Mass on Saturday evening) and Mass every weekday morning preceded by Morning Prayer. In April 2008, the church was burgled and vandalised. £230 from collection boxes was stolen, a font was damaged, paint was poured into the speaker system, white spirit was poured across banners, and hymn books were damaged. The damage to the church cost £14,239.

St Mary's RC School

St Mary's Catholic Primary School, situated next to the church, is part of the parish and has links with the church.

References

External links

Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyhead, Saint Mary Roman Catholic churches in Wales Churches in Anglesey

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate churches in the United Kingdom