About St. Patrick · Baltimore, Maryland
St. Patrick (Broadway) is the oldest Catholic parish in Baltimore City, founded in 1792 in the Fells Point neighborhood to serve Irish immigrants who disembarked from ships at the foot of Broadway. Its first Mass was celebrated that year by Bishop John Carroll — the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States — in an unplastered garret at the corner of Bond and Fleet streets. The parish is now in a pastorate with Sacred Heart of Jesus / Sagrado Corazón de Jesús in nearby Highlandtown, and the Gothic Revival church at Broadway and Bank Streets is celebrated as the spiritual ancestor of Catholic life in Baltimore.
- Established
- 1792
- Patron
- St. Patrick
- Rector
- Rev. Ako Walker, C.Ss.R (Pastor of the St. Patrick / Sacred Heart of Jesus pastorate)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Baltimore
Why belong here
St. Patrick is Baltimore City's oldest Catholic parish, with roots in the Irish immigrant community that built Fells Point and a present-day identity as a welcoming bilingual (English and Spanish) worship site within the Sacred Heart of Jesus pastorate. For more than 230 years it has gathered Catholics at the foot of Broadway, and its 1898 Gothic Revival church on Broadway and Bank Streets remains a living landmark of the neighborhood. Visiting here means praying in a building where Bishop John Carroll said the first Mass, in a parish whose patron is celebrated every March 17 as the spiritual heart of Baltimore's Irish-Catholic heritage.
Mass times at St. Patrick
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish Identity & Heritage
St. Patrick (Broadway) is recognized as the oldest Catholic parish in Baltimore City, with continuous Catholic worship on the Broadway and Bank Streets site dating to 1792. The parish was originally established to serve Irish immigrants arriving at the Fells Point waterfront, and its identity remains tied to the Irish-Catholic foundation of East Baltimore.
- Oldest Catholic parish in Baltimore City (founded 1792)
- Second Catholic church founded in Baltimore, after St. Peter's Pro-Cathedral
- Patron: St. Patrick, feast day March 17
Founding Story (1791–1792)
According to local tradition, St. Patrick appeared to the parish's founders in 1791, the year before the parish was formally established. In 1792 Bishop John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States, celebrated the first Mass for the new congregation in an unplastered garret at the corner of Bond and Fleet streets in Fells Point — the start of what is now 230+ years of continuous Catholic life in Baltimore.
- 1791: traditional reported apparition of St. Patrick to the founders
- 1792: parish formally founded; first Mass celebrated by Bishop John Carroll
- First worship site: a garret at Bond and Fleet streets
Buildings Through the Centuries
The parish has occupied five successive places of worship over its history. The current — and fifth — church was completed in 1898 after the previous structure was torn down in the 1890s. Built in the Gothic Revival style, it features pointed arches, heavy stonework, clustered chimneys, finials, and tracery, and is dominated by a striking spire that once carried the official town clock of East Baltimore.
- Fifth and current church completed in 1898
- Style: Gothic Revival
- Notable features: pointed arches, stonework, spire with historic town clock, finials and tracery
The 2011 Earthquake & Restoration
On August 23, 2011, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake centered in Mineral, Virginia badly damaged the church. Large concrete sections of the steeple fell — one gouging the sidewalk at the northeast corner of Broadway and Bank Street — and the church was closed indefinitely while the steeple was selectively deconstructed and stabilized. The Archdiocese of Baltimore ran shuttle buses from the St. Patrick parking lot on Gough Street to Sacred Heart of Jesus in Highlandtown so parishioners could still attend Spanish Masses. The church has since reopened, though the parish hall remains closed due to ongoing quake-related damage.
- Damage date: August 23, 2011
- Steeple deconstructed and stabilized; church later reopened
- Parish hall remained closed due to earthquake damage
Pastorate with Sacred Heart of Jesus / Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
St. Patrick is now grouped in a pastorate with Sacred Heart of Jesus / Sagrado Corazón de Jesús in nearby Highlandtown (600 South Conkling Street, Baltimore, MD 21224). The shared clergy team is led by Rev. Ako Walker, C.Ss.R. (Redemptorist), as Pastor, together with several Associate Pastors from the Redemptorist Fathers and the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The parish phone line and contact information for St. Patrick (Broadway) connect to the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish office.
- Sister parish: Sacred Heart of Jesus / Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (600 S. Conkling St., Baltimore, MD 21224)
- Pastor: Rev. Ako Walker, C.Ss.R.
- Pastoral team includes Redemptorist (C.Ss.R) and diocesan priests
Visit & Contact
St. Patrick's church sits at Broadway and Bank Streets in Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood. The St. Patrick parking lot on Gough Street has historically served as a meeting point for the archdiocesan shuttle to Sacred Heart of Jesus in Highlandtown, and the parish phone line is shared with Sacred Heart of Jesus.
- Address: Broadway and Bank Streets, Baltimore, MD 21202
- Phone: (410) 342-4336
- Fax: (443) 759-9862
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.shjbaltimore.com/