Officially known as the “Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Joseph,” this church sits on the original site granted by the British Crown to Jean Baptiste Pompallier -Auckland’s first bishop - in 1841. Opened in February of 1843, St. Patrick’s consisted of a small wooden chapel, a clergy house, and a school room, all of which was designed to minister to the 300 to 400 mostly Irish Catholics of Auckland at that time. Two years later, work began on a more permanent stone structure. In 1848, St. Patrick’s was designated as a Cathedral when Auckland was made a diocese, and the building had grown to accommodate 700 parishioners. Further expansions over the succeeding years brought the structure to its present form. One of the more notable additions was the Bell Tower, constructed between 1844 and 1845, which included bells brought from Rome. By 1908, it had been “...transformed from a modest structure to a large and impressive building befitting its status as a Catholic Cathedral of Auckland” (Peter Shaw’s 1993 biography of architects Edward and Thomas Mahoney). Today, while somewhat smaller than the immense Gothic Cathedrals found throughout Europe, St. Patrick’s is still architecturally beautiful. The Belgian stained glass windows add a sparkle and warmth to this Gothic Revival Church, which is reflected by the more than three thousand worshipers who attend services here each Sunday. This building is definitely worth a visit.
Situated in the heart of Auckland’s Central Business District, on land granted by the British Crown in 1841, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is the mother church of Auckland’s Catholic community. Elegant in its simplicity, St. Patrick’s is well worth a visit. its simplicity carries through the main altar. 1848 archive photo of the cathedral. Preserved in the floor in front of the main altar is this section of the west wall from the original 1848 Cathedral. By far, the most impressive part of the Cathedral (at least for us) were the magnificent Belgian stained glass windows. They are magnificent! Running a close second are the exquisitely carved wooden furniture pieces.
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Carl and Lorraine Aveni are two retirees planning on traveling through Europe for at least one year.
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