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St Patrick’s Cemetery Mortuary Chapel
St Patrick’s Cemetery Mortuary Chapel
The oldest Catholic cemetery in NSW and the first mortuary chapel in Australia
About the building
St Patrick’s Cemetery is a material legacy of the early recognition of Catholic independence within a Protestant-dominated colonial society. In 1822, Father John Joseph Therry, the Catholic Chaplain, sought government assistance to obtain a grant for a burial ground for the exclusive use of Catholics in Parramatta – a ground that would be separate from those of the colony’s official church, the Church of England. Governor Ralph Darling, who described Therry as ‘troublesome and dangerous’, removed him from the position of official Catholic Chaplain, yet Therry continued in his work to support and further the interests of the growing Catholic population of the colony. He eventually secured a block of land for use as the Catholic Cemetery in 1826, although three headstones dating from 1824 suggest that his actions preceded government approval.
While the cemetery was in use from 1824, it was not until 1834 that Assistant Surveyor Felton Mathew visited the site to mark out the ground. He remarked that it was too valuable to be granted to the Catholics and should be retained by the government. When Mathew returned a few months later, the land had been fenced, presumably by the Catholic community, staking their claim to the site.
A central feature of the historic cemetery is the Gothic Revival mortuary chapel, built in 1844 in honour of Father Thomas Francis McCarthy, the first Capuchin friar to arrive in Australia. Constructed with roughly pick-marked local stone, it is the oldest remaining mortuary chapel in the country, providing an early example of Australian religious architecture.
The cemetery is significant for the earliest large group of Catholic convict burials in a Catholic cemetery. Approximately 50 convicts (including two Irish rebels) are known to be buried at the cemetery, and there are likely more. It is also multicultural, with Swiss, Italian, French, German, English, Scottish, Chinese and Indigenous people buried there.
Talks, tours and more
Built
Cemetery in use from 1824; Mortuary Chapel built in 1844
Architect
Unknown
Acknowledgements
The participation of St Patrick’s Cemetery Mortuary Chapel is made possible by the Friends of St Patrick’s Cemetery
Find out more about this building here
St Patrick’s Cemetery Mortuary Chapel
1 Pennant Hills Road, North Parramatta
Entry details
Attendees will have access to the Mortuary Chapel, which is rarely open to the public
10am–4pm
3.45pm
Talks, tours and more
Need to know
Accessible featuresThe Mortuary Chapel is not wheelchair accessible. Toilets are not available
Photography allowed
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