St Patrick's Church, The Rocks
The St Patrick's Catholic Church is the oldest surviving Catholic church in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1844, it is located at the junction of Grosvenor and Gloucester Streets in the inner city suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney. It is also known as St Patrick's, Church Hill or St Pat's Church Hill. The property is owned by the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. The Marist Fathers, a religious order, have administered the parish since 1868. History The church was built on land donated in 1840 by Catholic emancipist William Davis, who had originally been transported after the Irish Rebellion of 1798. In the early years of the colony, when there was no Catholic priest resident in Sydney, Davis had sponsored Catholic prayer at his home. In 1840, plans advanced to build a second Catholic church, after the original St Mary's Church. The site was chosen to be close to the ex-convict working-class neighborhoods in The Rocks, at a distance from the official city, and the foundation stone blessed on 25 August. A design by William Fernyhough, possibly based on St. Anthony's Church in Liverpool, proved unsuitable for the site, and John