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- St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church situated on the corner of St. Patrick and Cumberland streets in Lowertown was opened to the public by an inaugural mass Sunday, August 3, 1890.
- Planning had begun in 1888 when a committee of English-speaking parishioners of Notre Dame Cathedral met with Archbishop Duhamel to establish a separate parish for the English of Lowertown.
- The selected architect was James R. Bowes; the contractor for the construction was Mr. J.J. Lyons.
- Situated in the most historic section of Ottawa, St. Brigid's parish served a community of trades people, lumbermen, and other labourers, involved with the building of Lowertown and the Rideau Canal.
- Architectural features include a massive limestone exterior, Romanesque portals, cast iron, and two bulb steeples of different heights showing a Russian-Byzantine influence.
- The interior has outstanding Tudor fan vaults with pendants, similar to those found in the Rideau Chapel, now in the National Gallery of Canada.
- Stained glass windows were supplied in 1890 by Messrs. Castle of Montreal.
- Over the main altar is a window representing St. Bridget praying.
- Over the organ is a four-light window containing representations of St. Patrick, Ste. Anne, the Virgin, and St. Joseph.
- The windows running down the nave, a mixture of grisaille and stained glass, represent symbols of Salvation and of the Passion of Christ: eg. the Lamb, the Nails of the Crucifixion, the Cross, the Sacred Heart, the Chalice, the Crown, Palm leaves, the Fountain, the Anchor, etc.
- The stained glass light over the main door, showing signs of deterioration in the masonry, represents the monogram for the name of Christ: I.H.S.: in Latin , Iesus Hominum Salvator ( Jesus, Saviour of Mankind).
- Superb example of a 1910 pneumatic action Casavant Organ with a French style ‘tirages en escalier’ console comprised of three manuals, 30 note pedal board, 23 stops and 22 ranks.
- The interior was decorated in 1908 by Toussaint-Xenophon Renaud, of Montreal, and featured many beautiful murals, stencils, gilding and faux stonework. The walls and vault were a pleasing blend of light blues, ivory and grey. The richly painted white and gold altars suggest the facade of a church. The columns were painted to look like marble and decorated with gold on the cast iron capitals.
- Unfortunately all the rich décor was painted over in the 1960's.
- In 1981 the exterior building was designated a Heritage property by the City of Ottawa. The interior was designated in 1989.
- In 1989 the church interior was designated “provincially significant" by the Ontario Heritage Foundation.
- Three murals were uncovered by conservator Stanislaw Dusko in 1989: The Nativity, The Descent from the Cross, and the Shrouded Cross.
- Two other murals are showing through on the transept walls facing the side aisles.
- The painted canvas facings on the triforium levels are showing signs of deterioration and desiccation.
- Saint Brigid's had many famous hockey and football players which included Hockey Hall of Fame inductees King Clancy (Ottawa Senators) and Frank Boucher.
- December, 1944. H.H. Bloom recorded St. Brigid’s Chancel Choir on two master phonograph records. In the 1980s three tapes of the Oratorian Choir were made.
- In 2008 the University of Ottawa Symphony held its first recital.
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