Bart Bear's Blog

I am not one of those small bears who is overly impressed with churches and cathedrals but this one, St Patrick's, in Boorowa is a beaut. It is actually the second church of the same name in Boorowa. The original opened in 1855 and was demolished 130 years later. You wouldn't expect to find an impressive cathedral in a small New South Wales country town, but back in the 1870s the strong Irish community in Boorowa decided to build a splendid one that would also commemorate Daniel O'Connell, the "liberator of Ireland". The interior is really impressive, with Italian marble altars and statues. Most of the windows are stained-glass art commemorating the founding families of the town (there are a couple of plain windows left for late starters). The window above the main entrance shows the Irish connection. The 3 large sections show St Patrick, St Bridget and St Columba. The 3 small circular panels show the Irish harp, Daniel O'Connell and the badge of St Patrick. Our weekend explorations of country towns and places near Canberra are finding some wonderful surprises.