History of

St. Patrick Church

After some years of being served by the priests of Bristol and Plainville, the Roman Catholics of Farmington, under the care of Bishop John J. Nilan and their first resident pastor Rev. M. Ernest Wilson, came together to build their own church, which was formally dedicated on Sunday, June 11, 1922.

Over the decades that followed, the community would have the leadership of Father Henry Cassidy, Father James Barrett, Father William Kilcoyne, Father Austin Dignam, Father Paul Dignam, and Father Charles Kane. These men, who served the parish as administrators and pastors, worked to cultivate new ministries and apostolates to the surrounding community.

In 1951, Father John Kelly was named as pastor. He became an important civic figure while also continuing the growth of the parish. Following Father Kelly was Father James Conefrey, who in 1975 began the process of renovating the parish plant. He was followed by Father Thomas Quinn, Father James Pilon, and Father Mark Flynn, who all continued to strengthen the parish with enhancements to liturgy, pastoral ministry, social outreach, religious education, and other critical aspects of the church and its mission.

Then in 2011, Monsignor Thomas Barry was named pastor of the parish. Focused on the youth and building up the community, he also began dedicating great effort to the idea of building a new addition to the church, a project that had been in the minds of the parish for many years. Fully behind the initiative even in face the face of challenges, Monsignor Barry and the whole Saint Patrick community were able to successfully turn that dream into a reality.

As the final touches of the new addition were being completed, Monsignor Barry was able to retire, with Father Matthew Gworek beginning as pastor at the beginning of 2022. He was for a time assisted by Father Joshua Wilbur as Parochial Vicar and now works alongside Father Roberto McCarthy in that role, as the two serve at both St. Patrick Church and St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Unionville.

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

On June 11, 1922, a beautiful celebration was held to formally dedicate St. Patrick Church. Then, exactly 100 years later, the parish community was honored to hold another celebration, recognizing the 100 year anniversary of the church and also formally dedicating the brand new church addition that has recently been completed.

	Click on the image of the Memorial Book to see the full program from the original dedication of the church in 1922.
	Click on the image of the Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future booklet to see the full program from the 2022 event celebrating 100 year anniversary and dedication of the new church addition.