Basilica of St Patrick 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 located on Adelaide Street in

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

. It is one of five churches in Australia with

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

status.

History

The parish of St Patrick Fremantle was created around 1850. In 1894, 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 ...

arrived in Australia from Ireland and the parish was given to their care. Here, they established their first community. In 1994, they celebrated a century of ministry to the church in Australia, and commissioned the current church as an icon in Fremantle as part of their celebrations. Designed by Michael Cavanagh in a

gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, the

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was laid on

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

, 17 March 1898 and the nave opened on 3 June 1900. The design incorporated a nave with aisles and clerestory, transepts, a wide and spacious apse, with a tower and spire supported by flying buttresses rising from the northern side. Only the nave was initially completed. A new sanctuary of equivalent scale was opened on 24 April 1960. The building was raised to the status of a minor basilica in 1994. The basilica and adjacent presbytery are listed on the Western Australia Heritage Register.

Blessing of the fleet

The parish is also linked into the annual blessing of the fleet in Fremantle.

Pipe organ

The original two manual organ was by Bishop & Son, of London, supplied in 1895. J.E. Dodd & Sons' Gunstar Organ Works electrified this organ in the 1960s and they divided the case and provided some extensions. The present organ dates from 1988 to 1990 and was built by Bellsham Pipe Organs (Aust.) Pty Ltd and incorporated some of the pipework and chests from the Bishop organ. Apart from the divided Grand Organ in the west gallery, it incorporated an interconnected two-manual organ in the south transept. The organs were given as a thanksgiving in memory of the many priests of the Congregation of Oblates of Mary Immaculate who have served the parish since their arrival from Ireland in 1894. This instrument was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the

South Island Organ Company The South Island Organ Company is a manufacturer of pipe organs in Timaru, New Zealand. The company, in business since 1968, has manufactured and restored over 300 pipe organs throughout New Zealand, Australia and Oceania. Founders South Island ...

Ltd, of Timaru, New Zealand, with Rod Junor as consultant, and resulted from a private donation from the Hughes family in memory of Alice Hughes. The work was completed for Easter 1998 and represents the largest parish church organ in Australasia. The work carried out was extensive, involving the complete reorganisation and expansion of the internal layout, with several new divisions, additional pipework and complete revoicing, new winding system, new serial drive MIDI electrical and combination systems, made by Muldersoft of Auckland, and a new low profile transept console. The Grand Organ has four manuals and pedal, and 109 stops, while the Transept Organ has two manuals & pedal.

References

External links

Official website

Oblates International

Oblates Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's Basilica, Fremantle Patrick's Basilica, Fremantle Patrick's Basilica, Fremantle Roman Catholic churches completed in 1900 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Australia Churches in Fremantle State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Fremantle 1900 establishments in Australia Donnybrook stone buildings Gothic Revival architecture in Western Australia Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia

History

Blessing of the fleet

Pipe organ

See also

References

External links