herr2ck: Naomh Pádraig

August 2025.

St. Patrick’s Basilica in Montreal is known for its connections to Canadian Irish immigrants. It is a very stalwart and bare Gothic Revival structure on the exterior, but the sumptuous interior makes up for it. The contrast between the two is very similar to Notre-Dame Basilica’s effect.

St. Patrick’s Basilica is located at 460 Boulevard Rene-Levesque West in downtown Montreal, Quebec. It is bordered by Rue Saint-Alexandre to the north, 500 Rene-Levesque West to the south, Rue de la Gauchetiere to the east, and Boulevard Rene-Levesque to the west.

History

The earliest Catholics in Montreal spoke French and worshiped at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, whose earliest incarnation dates to 1670. (The existing church was completed in 1773.) However, a wave of English-speaking Irish immigrants arrived in Montreal in the late 1810s, and these parishioners were transferred to the Church of the Recollets in 1825. By 1841, there were around 6,500 Irish Catholics, and a purpose-built church for them was required.

Historic view of St. Patrick’s and its surroundings. (St. Patrick’s website)

In 1843, the site that St. Patrick’s stands on today was purchased, and construction began that year. At the time, the area was on the outskirts of town, and it was largely surrounded by homes. Parishioners lived in Pointe-Saint-Charles, Griffintown, and Windmill Point, the latter being host to an epidemic of typhus in 1847. The church was designed by architect Pierre-Louis Morin and priest Felix Martin, while the interior was done by Victor Borgeau (who also worked on Notre-Dame Basilica and Mary, Queen of the World). St. Patrick’s was completed in 1847 and its first Mass was held on St. Patrick’s Day. The church’s first organ dated to 1850. It was only the second Gothic Revival church in Montreal, which spurred the construction of several more.

Another historic view of the church. (St. Patrick’s website)

St. Patrick’s is well-known for its bells, known as “St. Patrick’s Chimes.” Its oldest bell, Charlotte, was cast in 1774 for Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours. (Many cathedrals and large churches name their bells.) The system was restored in 1989.

Only minor changes have been made to the interior, such as two stained-glass windows in 1922 and 1931. The pews date to 1894, and the large chandelier was added in 1896. The interior has been restored four times. One source claims the church has the oldest unaltered interior in Montreal.

St. Patrick’s was designated a historic monument by Quebec’s government in 1985, and it was made a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990. On St. Patrick’s Day of 1989, the church was made a minor basilica by pope John Paul II.

Photos

The principal facade of St. Patrick’s:

The design looks to early French Gothic architecture as precedent. Much of the facade is stone with comparatively small window openings, and they are confined to two lancet windows above the side portals and a small rose window over the central entrance. The belfry and steeple sit atop the roof of the nave and not on an individual tower.

Some stones sat in the parking lot, presumably older ones removed after a restoration:

The main entrance portal:

This area is the most richly decorated on the facade, as it has a peaked gable form (wimperg) surrounding the doors and two pinnacles on either side. The portal itself recesses into the facade by successively smaller arches.

On top of the gable is a statue of St. Patrick:

Each column capital has a different design:

The doors are fancily carved and have stained-glass inserts:

One of the corner entrances, which are similar but lack as deep an opening or pinnacles:

Circular rose window:

The tracery is very floral and much simpler than the flamboyant rose windows of other churches. Note the trefoil motif above and this area’s slight recession into the wall, which is capped by another pointed arch.

The central bell tower:

Here, two openings reveal the bells inside, while two blind arches with a similar form surround them. A copper steeple rises above the belfry. The tower is surrounded by two smaller octagonal towers with steep roofs. The relatively flat wall planes and lack of tracery again refer to a revival of early Gothic architecture.

The sides of the church are again largely flat, as the buttresses do not project outward much and the windows are tall and skinny.

No fancy transepts or anything, this is it:

**In the coming interior photos, you will notice an orangeish tint. My camera’s light balance at the time was calibrated to a gray card in neon purple lighting for an old photography class project, which I failed to reset afterwards. I only noticed this discrepancy and rectified it months later.

Compared to the sober exterior, my jaw just about hit the floor when entering:

Yeah, my white balance is absolutely fizclucked and the church is nowhere near this orange in real life, but it is absolutely gorgeous. The central nave is bordered by massive bays between it and the side aisles, and a five-sided apse extends outward from the rear wall of the church. However, the design lacks transepts, being a simpler hall church instead. The altar and its surrounding statuary is insane in its scale.

Looking back at the entrance I came in, which has a fancy stained-glass tympanum and bananas wood trim:

One of the aisles, with a chapel in the background:

The ceiling is vaulted using a process called groin vaulting, where two perpendicular pointed arches meet and form a sort of four-sided design. It is also painted, which is more of a picturesque tendency of Gothic Revival architecture but did exist in medieval times.

These columns are actually wood painted to look like marble in a process called scagliola.

Remember, electricity and radiator heating did not exist at the time of this church’s construction, so those two features date to the later Victorian era.

Even the confessionals have really fancy wood carving: