St Patrick’s Cathedral

Rev James Dixon celebrated the first Mass in Parramatta near the present-day St Patrick’s on 22 May 1803.

After the Vinegar Hill Rebellion of 1804, Mass privileges were withdrawn. Rev Therry’s arrival in 1820 reinstated Mass celebrations. Rev Daniel Power started the first church in Parramatta in 1827. Archbishop Polding OSB laid the Foundation Stone on 17 March 1836, and the church was consecrated on 28 May 1837.

A larger church was commissioned in 1854, and the Foundation Stone was laid on 13 August. The Pugin Tower’s Foundation Stone was laid on 10 November 1878, and the tower was consecrated on 17 March 1880. A new church was built in 1936, incorporating the tower and spire. The Cathedral was destroyed by fire on 19 February 1996, and rebuilt to its current form, dedicated on 29 November 2003.