St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Cork

Designed by George R. Paine, the Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church was the third church building to be erected under Father James Doheny, the parish priest of Dunmanway. Betweenm 1820 and 1830. He also built the churches of Ballinacariga and Togher.

The foundation stone was laid in 1832, thus, starting the construction of this church. The stone quarries in the parish contributed to the construction of the church by supplying the stone. The architect assigned for the construction of the church was Michael Augustine Riordan, who had previously built the churches at Kinsale, Rossmore, Ovens and Bantry.

He brought cut stone from a quarry in Aherla for the entrance walls and the façade that we can see from the front of the church. The church welcomes you with a hexastyle portico that is Corinthian in design and with a pediment above.

When the roof and altar were completed for the new church in May of 1839, work began on bringing down the old chapel on Monday morning. The work was done at such a pace, that the new church was ready for the Mass on the following Sunday. Contributions towards the £3865 expenditure for the construction of the church came from businessmen, special collections held for the altar, roof etc., Sunday collections and even some Protestant people of the society. In 2009, a booklet containing fully researched history of the church was published to mark the 175th anniversary. The church is well maintained and has very slight alterations from the original construction. A visit to the church is as good as a visit to the past.