By Nancy Miller Chenier
Two streets in Lowertown bear this name – St Patrick Street running from the Alexandra Bridge to the arterial that connects to the St Patrick Street Bridge over the Rideau River and the truncated Old St Patrick Street on the east side of King Edward that was the original main street before urban renewal and the construction of the arterial to carry traffic to the Macdonald Cartier Bridge.
But more than a duplication of street names, St Patrick was the Patron Saint of Ireland. He is honoured in Notre Dame Cathedral on the main altar as a tribute to the large Irish Catholic population of early Lowertown.
And of course there is St Patrick’s Day on March 17th. Still celebrated at St. Brigid’s Church, now the St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts that operates as an Irish-Canadian cultural centre. St. Patrick’s Day had a huge place in early Lowertown. Seen as a cultural and a religious holiday, it involved public processions and religious services, and street celebrations described by local newspapers as taking place in “the usual happy and enthusiastic manner.”