As part of the celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Paisley, Bishop John Mone invited primary schools throughout the Diocese to take part in a competition to produce a "History of the Parish". Our own primary school, St. Patrick's, was awarded second place in this competition on 4th June 1997. We have reproduced here the text of their entry, with grateful thanks to the authors
The text is quite long so we have provided
the following links to the various sections.
| The Beginnings | The First Church | The New Church |
| The War Years | The Parish Schools | Parish Vocations |
| Our Parish Today | The Parish Choir | The Church Hall |
| Our views | Interviews | Acknowledgements |
The Beginnings
Until 1924 there were only two parishes
in Greenock; St Mary's which served the west end and centre of the town
and St. Lawrence's which served the east end.
When St Patrick's parish was established it covered the centre of the town and thus eased the large congregation of St Mary's.
Records as early as 1921 show that Canon Houlihan of St Mary's Parish in Greenock was looking for accommodation for Mission purposes - that is, the setting up of a new parish. From the minutes of a meeting on 14th of October 1923, a request was made for the creation of a new Mission "in order to relieve the congestion at St. Mary's".
At this date it was recognised that St Mary's was too large for effective administration and, therefore, new boundaries would require to be set up in order to form a new parish. Originally the intended name of the mission was St. Matthew's as we discovered from the Glasgow Observer of 1st November 1924: "New Catholic Parish formed: Rev. James P. Kelly D.D., Longriggend has been appointed to the new Mission of St. Matthew's in Greenock. This appointment will take effect on 7th November 1924."
However, this name appeared to surprise the people of the area and they sent a representative group to ask Archbishop Macintosh to name the parish "St. Patrick's" as this had been promised earlier when a new mission was spoken of. This was a popular choice due to the Irish settlement in Greenock. The Archbishop agreed to this request as we read in the Glasgow Observer of 22nd November 1924. "The new mission at Greenock is, by the express and practically unanimous wish of the parishioners to be deadicated to St. Patrick and not to St. Matthew the Apostle as was at first intended. Services, meantime, are being held in Duncan Street Church."
The First Temporary
Church
The first church was on the upper floor
of an unused school at the corner of Duncan Street and Roxburgh Street
on the site of the present Health Centre car park. This building was used
until the new church was built. The lower part of the building was used
by St. Mary's parish as a recreation hall but this was later handed over
to St. Patricks in 1925. In the same year a house was purchased for Fr.
Kelly in Finnart Street at a cost of £825. We noted from the same
minutes that alterations were approved to make the hall suitable for the
chapel at a cost of £620.
Many of the older parishioners fondly remember the social events which took place in this hall in order to raise funds for the new church. Some of these included: Whist Drives, Concerts, Snowball Teas, Plays and Dances.
Under the leadership of Fr. Kelly many societies were established in the Parish e.g. The Children of Mary. (The first president of this in 1925 is still a parishioner in St. Patricks Parish today) .Woman's Guild: Woman's Sacred Heart Confraternity: Young Men's Society: S.V.D.P. Society: Angels Guild: - this was girls under the age of 14 who were taught to develop their skills and talents. Several youth clubs.
All these groups worked together over the next few years to raise money for building the new church . Money in those days was scarce and the amount raised was small but it was the "Pennies" from these devoted people which provided us with the beautiful church we now have.
It was interesting for us to discover that the collection in those day was one penny for the women and two pennies for the men - they could, of course, give more but not very many could afford it
We also noted how actively involved the
people of the parish were then, just as they are today!
After some years in the Duncan Street
Church a site was purchased for the present building on Orangefield Place.
We noted with interest, from the minutes of the meeting on 15th September
1926, that this same site was offered to the church but it was rejected
at that time.
In 1931 Father Courtney replaced Father
Kelly as Parish Priest
It was he who continued with the efforts
to build a new church and in 1935 his labours were rewarded when the new
church was officially opened.
The New Church
This comprises the Church, Hall and Presbytery
and these were built by a well known architect of the time, G.A. Coia.
The building is of red brick both inside and out and this was a typical
feature of the churches built by Mr. Coia. The estimated cost of the building
and furnishings for the church was £21,000.
St. Patricks Church was solemnly blessed and opened by Bishop H.G.Graham on 8th December 1935. Many of our present parishioners remember this day well and were anxious to talk to us about it. To us 1935 seems such a long time ago and yet these people spoke as if it was only yesterday.
In November 1974 the parishioners celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the founding of the parish and we read in the Greenock Telegraphs of that time all about the special Mass and celebrations which were held to commemorate this occasion.
We remember the celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee when we had a special Mass on 8th December 1995. Some of us were singing in the choir. Perhaps we will be able to recall for our children this event when we celebrate the centenary of the church in 2035!
The work of the various sodalities within the parish continued as well as the fund raising which was still necessary to pay off the debt of the church. The building of St. Patricks Church is now designated as a "Listed Building - Category A".
The War Years.
During the raids on Greenock in May 1941
many of the houses within the parish were bombed, some parishioners lost
members of their families and many lost their homes. The people of the
parish rallied round and assisted these people to build up their homes
again and provided temporary relief for them within the parish itself
Thankfully the church buildings were left intact The hall was well used as a refuge for the homeless and St Patrick's parishioners brought comfort and support to these people.
Meanwhile. Father Sexton offered the hall in Duncan Street to the sailors where they could sleep during the night and the Womans Guild provided them with blankets and sandwiches. In return the sailors made a donation to the parish.
Birth of a New Parish
On 11th January 1947 Father Barclay, who
was appointed as the parish Priest of the newly created St Josephs Parish
celebrated Mass in St Patricks Church to mark the opening of the new parish
of St Josephs which was being established partly from St Patricks Parish.
Schools
The primary school was in East Shaw Street
from 1878, long before our parish was opened. Later the junior and senior
pupils moved to Captain Street. The school had been in the charge
of the Franciscan Sisters who came to Greenock in 1874 to assist with Catholic
education.
When St Patrick's parish opened in 1924
the school was within the boundaries of the new parish although it continued
to be known as St Mary's.
When it was replaced by our present one in 1968 it became known as St Patricks. Our present head teacher is Sister M. Anthony and she has been in charge of our school for the past 27 years. When Sister retires in June it will be the end of the era of the Franciscan Sisters looking after our school.
We are very proud of our school and we think it is one of the best schools in the area. We also feel that our school is very much part of St Patricks Parish as we are greatly involved in the activities of the parish.
(Webmaster's Note: Sister Mary Anthony retired at the end of the school term in June 1997. She had been involved in education for 40 years, the last 27 being in St. Patrick's. In recognition for her services to Education she was awarded the M.B.E. in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1998. She continues to be involved spiritually with the school, managing the music and readers for the 10am Family Mass on Sundays.)
St Columbas Secondary School was in our parish from 1933 until 1971 when it moved to Bayhill. The school was then refurbished and reopened in 1972 as Notre Dame High School. In 1995 they moved to their present site in Dunlop Street and so we still have a Secondary School in our parish served by our priests.
Vocations
Over the many years there have been many
Priests, Brothers & Sisters from our parish and it is always nice to
see them around during their holidays. Some of them are working in the
foreign missions.
Our Parish Today
Our Parish Priest is Mgr. John Cunningham
and he is assisted by Father Stephen Baillie and Father Andrew Coleman.
In May 1994, Pope John Paul appointed Father Cunningham to be a Papal Chaplain
in recognition of his years of service to the Church in Scotland particularly
as President of the Scottish National Tribunal. In June 1994 we had a special
Mass for him when Bishop John presented him with this.
Our parish is very active and looks after several institutions such as: Gateside Prison, Ravenscraig Hospitial, Ardgowan Hospice, Sheltered Housing Complexes, a Nursing Home and our two schools. Our priests are kept very busy attending to these places as well as their work within the parish. Our priests are very helpful to us and involve us with many things in the parish.
In response to the Bishops requests our
parish has developed the following ministries:
Eucharistic Ministers: (53), Readers:(18),
Cantors (3), Parish Council, Liturgy Group, Altar
Servers (boys and girls), Church Cleaners, Hall Committee,
Fabric Group, R.C.I.A.
We feel that all these people work so well together with our priests to make sure that St Patricks Parish is caring for all the needs of the congregation.
The Choir
The choir has existed almost from the
beginning of the parish and today we have a very active group providing
us with beautiful music for special occasions. Some of us join the Adult
Choir to sing on special occasions and we feel very privileged to do this.
Our organist and choir mistress is Sister M. Anthony.
Some of the parishioners whom we interviewed recalled the beautiful Latin motets which they used to sing. We have since learned about these settings although at the time, these seemed strange to us.
Folk Group
Last year a folk group was formed in the
parish and they play at the 7:00pm Mass on Sunday evenings. This gives
the parishioners a wider choice of music.
The Hall
Thanks to the fundraising efforts and
hard work of the Hall Committee we have a special place for the parishioners
after the Sunday Mass. We enjoy going in there after the 10am Mass and
talking to our priests. The hall is well used by the parishioners
for Bingo, Dances, Meetings, Cake and Candy Sale, retreats, Talks, etc.
Our View of the
Parish:
We see St Patrick's as a flourishing parish
where the attendance at Mass is steadily on the increase. At our 10am Mass
on Sundays there are between 140 and 200 children there each week. We like
this Mass because we do the Readings, the Offertory Procession, help the
passkeepers to take up the collection and have our own hymns. Our
priests have always something special to say to us and many of our parents
enjoy coming to it. There is a great response to this Mass from the
families and other parishioners and they all say they want it to be kept
on. We, therefore, feel we are helping others to join with us at Mass.
We have an 8am Mass every day during Lent and other important seasons of the year. Many of us go to this before school and there are about 60 to 80 of us trying to do this for Lent. We are greatly encouraged by the example of our priests, teachers and parishioners. Many of them take us up to school in their cars afterwards so that no one needs to walk. That is typical of the spirit of our parish. We then have our breakfast in school and we enjoy this.
We saw a letter which Bishop John sent
out to the parishes last year and he said:
"The parish is a place where each person
is made welcome, cared for and at home - a place where everyone is valued
and respected"
We feel we are always made welcome and cared for in our parish, that people are friendly towards us and that what we do is appreciated. We feel that they are in interested, approachable and down to earth.
Conclusions
We sum up our parish under the headings
of Faith, Hope and Charity
Faith: - reflected by the great
faith and prayer life of the parish.
Hope: - our trust in the future
of our parish that we will grow in strength from the seeds that have been
scattered and sown over the years.
Charity: - reflects the caring,
the respect and kindness shown by all.
We are the future of this great parish
and we hope that we will live up to, and build on the examples set to us
by a wonderful group of people.
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Memories from Parisioners
We spoke to our priests and parishioners
of different age groups who shared with us their memories and their hopes
for the parish. We enclose these edited versions
of their interviews.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the following for their
help and encouragement in assisting us to discover the history of our parish.
Our Priests:
Mgr. J. Cunningham
Father Stephen Father Andrew.
The parishioners who allowed us to talk to them and share their memories with us.
The Staff of the Archives, Glasgow Archdiocese
The Staff of the Mitchell Library.
The Staff of the Watt Library Greenock.
The Staff of the Public Library Greenock.
The teachers of our school
We are grateful to be given this opportunity to study and write about the history of our parish because it has given us an insight into the development of this great parish of which we are so proud.
Gerry Blyth:
Stephanie Coombes:
Frankie Green:
Arlene Grierson:
Siobhan OKane:
Mark McCorkindale:
Emma Whitelaw.
Primary 7.