About the Parish

There is no record of the date of the foundation of the Catholic community in Lisburn, but it appears reasonably certain that it was in existence as early as 500 A.D. It is quite certain that about 1750 the central place of worship was a Mass House in Bow Street. In 1786 the parish priest, Father Magee, built a church in Chapel Hill. Thanks to the generosity of the Marquis of Hertford in donating land and a subscription of £20, the first priest’s house was built in Longstone Street at the entrance to Holy Trinity Cemetery in 1830. St Joseph’s Hall was built in 1889. A later parish priest, Father Dorrian, a brother of the future bishop of the diocese, enlarged and almost rebuilt the church in 1841 but by the end of the century it was no longer adequate for the congregation.

The splendid gothic Church of St Patrick, on Chapel Hill, erected on the site of the earlier church at a cost of £13,000, is undoubtedly one of the landmarks of Lisburn city and is admired by visitors as a very imposing, commodious, and handsome church. The church was dedicated on 10th June 1900 and the church remained with the tower incomplete from 1900 till 1932. In the entrance is a memorial to The Very Rev Mark McCashin who initiated the construction of the church. The first burials in the graveyard behind the church date from 1850 and the church was last renovated in 2000.

The Priest’s house on Longstone Street was burned to the ground and a new Parochial House on Chapel Hill replaced it in 1920. The present parish priest, The Very Rev Dermot McCaughan, formerly of Hannahstown Parish, was installed on 3rd November 2006. During his ministry, the Parochial House was demolished and replaced with a new residence. A new Pastoral Centre was also built on the site of the former St Joseph’s Hall.