St. Patrick's Church ( more than 176 year old) Of Bangalore: Established to Serve Colonial Irish Soldiers

navrangindia.blogspot.com October 17, 2026

St. Patrick's Bangalore.panoramio.com

St. Patrick's  Bangalore. Bangalore davecatlettjr.net

Bangalore city, Karnataka has many colonial churches built during the East India company rule and later under the Raj.  Numerous churches in Mangalore and other places were destroyed during the reign of Tipu Sultan because of his hatred for the corrupt and dishonest  East India company officials. As for the churches in and around Bangalore, it is said, they were not affected during Tipu's regime. The beautiful St. Patrick's Church is one among the early colonial churches in South India. In the later years, besides Kanada, Tamil language  services were popular at many churches because of the presence of a large Tamil Christian community in those days.

St. Patrick's Church, located in the prime area of the city  is one of the oldest churches belonging to the Archdiocese of Bangalore. Way past as a Parish and cathedral, it was dedicated to  Our Lady,

The church came into being in 1844, having taken three and half years to complete it. Dedicated as  the "Church of the Assumption".it was popularly known as  St. Patrick's Church, this being due to its popularity among the Irish troops stationed in Bangalore cantonment by the East India Company's Army. Obviously, it was patronised by the Irish people living in Bangalore in those days. Very first church in the cantonment area, it was built to cater to the 700 Catholic soldiers.

St. Patrick's,  Bangalore. bangaloretourism.org

St.patrick's church Bangalore
travelandleisureasia.com

Above image: St. Patrick's,  Bangalore is located in a prime area of Bangalore/ Early records reveal that the initial building was well known for its sturdy structure with minimum architectural style.The high roof steeples and Gothic elements were added half a century later as part of expansion. Records further reveal that many  prominent people lie buried inside the church including Lady Bowring, first wife of Mr Bowring, Commissioner of Mysore and also five bishops. This month October  2026, this impressive church  completes 185 years  Earlier, the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael. However, it earned its name from the nearby Irish troops stationed there.............

The church was dedicated to the honour of the blessed Trinity - Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Michael and the Archangel. It was dedicated as the "Church of the Assumption". Fr. Jacques - Henry Gailhot, the then Roman Catholic Chaplain for the British troops, and the first Parish Priest of the church made serious efforts for the construction of this church. Bishop Charbonneau of Mysore made it his Cathedral in 1845 and an interesting feature is the church did  not have  steeples then. 

St.Patrick's, Bangalore
projectbengaluru.wordpress.com

St.Patrick's, Bangalore   medium.com

When the British Crown took over the administration of  India  after the exit of EIC,  Fr. M. Tabard in 1891 became Chaplain of the British troops posted here. He was also the parish priest of St. Patrick's Church and paid particular attention to rebuilding of the church between 1894 and 1899  and before that he  opened  a school and an  orphanage,  The church was consecrated as the cathedral of the Mysore Diocese on 12th November 1899 by Bishop Kleiner.  It’s famous twin bell towers can be seen for blocks away.

In 1940s the Pope  gave special rights to  St. Patrick's, a canonical parish with personal jurisdiction for Europeans, Goans, Konkanis and Parsis who were staying in the parishes of St. Mary's and Sacred Heart churches  and the personal jurisdiction continued till the early 1960s.

Additional changes in 2000 took place for allowing more people to sit -  for up to 550 people. St Patrick's  still houses an orphanage, a nursery school, a computer center and the well known St. Patrick's Middle and High school within the church grounds. All these were established in the colonial period. The St. Patrick's Industrial Training Institute, a PUC College, a Community College, a Nursery School and the well known St. Patrick's Middle and High School - all on the same campus

In August 2017, the church celebrated its 175 year; it foundation was  first laid on 22 July 1841. Built in an impressive Gothic architecture, this place of worship with colonial legacy, has been serving the humanity for a pretty long time mingled with many stories of joy and happiness. 




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