St Patrick's Church 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 ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the

Cowgate The Cowgate (Scots language, Scots: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, ...

part of

Old Town, Edinburgh The Old Town () is the oldest part of Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh. The area has preserved much of its medieval street plan and many Scottish Reformation, Reformation-era buildings. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town, Edinbur ...

, Scotland. It was built from 1771 to 1774, and became a Catholic church in 1856. The facade of the church was designed by

Reginald Fairlie Reginald Francis Joseph Fairlie LLD (7 March 1883 – 27 October 1952) was a Scottish architect. He served as a commissioner of RCAHMS and on the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland. Life see Born at Kincaple, Fife, he was the son of J. Ogi ...

in 1929. It is situated between South Gray's Close and St Mary's Street north of Cowgate and south of the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is the nickname of a series of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The term originated in the early 20th century and has since entered popular usage. The Royal ...

. It is a category B listed building.

History

Before the Church

The first records of the site are property deeds from 1503 to 1531 when it was a waste strip of land. When Archbishop James Beaton built his palace a short distance west of the church in 1509, he also purchased much of this waste land. Later

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

’ Italian servant Francisco de Busso owned part of it. The north part of the church sites was owned, in the late 16th to early 17th centuries, by Dr John Naysmith, surgeon to

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. The judge Sir James Elphinstone of Logie built ‘Elphinstone Court’ here in the 1670s. The Episcopal Congregation then bought most of the land in 1770 for the construction of the Cowgate Chapel which was built in 1771.

Construction

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

. In 1818, the church building became part of the United Presbyterian Church. The Scottish Episcopal Church commissioned Alexander Runciman to produce a series of murals for the church. These were installed but covered over by the Presbyterian congregation. The murals were then forgotten until Duncan Macmillan discovered the murals' existence during the 1960s. Since then, some of the murals have been recovered and remain on the east side of the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

and depict the

Parable of the Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father; ) is one of the parables of Jesus in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. In Luke 15, Jesus tells this sto ...

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, Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, and the

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. As of August 2018, the restoration of the murals remains underway. In 1856, the church was bought by the Apostolic Vicar of the Eastern District, Bishop James Gillis. The cost of £4,000 was borne half by the local congregation and half by the Catholic Church. On 3 August 1856, the church was opened in a

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

presided over by Bishop Gillis.

Extensions

In 1898, the

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

for the church was remodelled and a new

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was installed. It was designed by James Graham Fairley. In 1921, the mortuary chapel was built in memory of the parishioners who died in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. From 1924 to 1925, two chapels were built in the church, the Lady Chapel and the Sacred Heart Chapel. In 1929, the front church facade was built. It was designed by

and included statues of St Patrick and St Brigid.

Developments

In 2001, priests from the Redemptorists came to serve the parish. On 21 November 2014, after 13 years in Edinburgh, the Redemptorists left and the parish returned to the care of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. In September 2023, the church became home to a group of priests discerning community life in the Oratorian tradition.

Archaeology

Excavations in the grounds of the Church, were undertaken by Headland Archaeology from 2006 to 2007 on behalf of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in advance of the construction of a hotel on part of the church grounds. These excavations reveled aspects of the development of the

. It was found that flash floods swept through this part of Cowgate up until the development of the medieval town of Edinburgh in the 11th-12th centuries. In the 14th century, a substantial ditch, believed to be the medieval town boundary, was cut across the site. The ditch was a stinking rubbish dump full of human and animal waste. Later, the ditch was filled in and buildings were eventual built over the site in the 17th century onwards before the church was built.

Notable persons

* Canon Edward Joseph Hannan (1836-1891) ran the church for most of his life and founded Hibernian Football Club during this period *Canon John Gray, (1866-1934) poet and priest associate of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, curate and later founder of St Peter's Morningside. * Margaret Sinclair (1900 - 1925) - nun, as Sister Mary Francis of the Five Wounds, declared

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

in 1978. The National Shrine of the Venerable Margaret Sinclair is located within St Patrick's. *

James Connolly James Connolly (; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was a Scottish people, Scottish-born Irish republicanism, Irish republican, socialist, and trade union leader, executed for his part in the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising against British rule i ...

(Irish revolutionary) (5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) born in Scotland to Irish parents.

Parish

On 6 August 1875, Hibernian F.C. was founded at the Catholic Institute, commonly known as St. Mary's Street Halls, by St Patrick's Catholic Young Men Society (CYMS). The parish priest Fr Edward Joseph Hannan and Michael Whelahan from the

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 ...

's CYMS decided to create the football club. On 17 March 2013 (St Patrick's Day), a plaque commemorating this founding of the club was presented to the church by the Hibernian Supporters Club.Hibs’ Fans Present Plaque to St Patrick’s Parish Church
from ''The Edinburgh Reporter'', 18 March 2013, retrieved 30 June 2016 The church has three Sunday Masses; they are at 9:00am, 11:00am and 4:30pm on Sunday.

References

External links

*
St Patrick's Parish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick's Church, Edinburgh, Saint Roman Catholic churches in Edinburgh Listed Roman Catholic churches in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Roman Catholic churches in Scotland Roman Catholic churches completed in 1774 1856 establishments in Scotland 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Listed churches in Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh Neoclassical church buildings in Scotland