St Brendan's Parish
Until 1934 the Northamptonshire town of Corby did not have a Catholic Church. In that year Our Lady's Parish was founded and by the mid 1950s the town had grown large enough to need the establishment of additional parishes; and so the Bishop of Northampton, Leo Parker, asked Father Dan Cronin, one of the curates in Our Lady's to found St Brendan's Parish. Father Dan rented a house from Corby Urban District Council and it was there at number 12 Essex Close where he celebrated weekday Mass; with the first Sunday Mass being celebrated in Lodge Park School Hall in October 1956.
St Brendan's Junior School opened in 1957 and an altar in the School Hall supplied the needs of a Church in the Parish. Father Dan, full of energy, embarked on a campaign to raise funds to build a new Church; and whilst parishioners in Corby organised a variety of fund raising activities, Father Dan headed to America where he invited Bishops, priests and people to contribute to the building of the new Church which was to be dedicated to the great Irish missionary, St Brendan.
It was on St Brendan's Feast Day, 16th May 1961, that Bishop Leo Parker laid the foundation stone for the Church which was complete by 20th December 1962, on which day it was blessed and the first Mass was celebrated there by Bishop Charles Grant.
Twenty-five years later, Bishop Grant was again in St Brendan's for the celebration of the Parish's Silver Jubilee, at which time he encouraged the clergy and parishioners with words that are just as relevant for all of us today:
"I would ask you all to try to grow in faith. To make the Holy Mass the foundation of your life as Christians, to build on that foundation a meaningful Liturgy, with devotion to Our Lady and the Saints of the Church, to care for the sick, the lonely and the lapsed. By doing these things you will give an example to the people of your town and help to rebuild its fortunes on a sound base of work and prayer."
St Patrick's Parish
As the town of Corby grew with the development of the steelworks the population increased considerably; and the original Catholic Church of Our Lady's was not big enough to accommodate the growing Catholic population
and so additional Parishes were founded, one of which was St Patrick's established in 1950.
The parishioners were great at helping to raise funds and soon enough had been collected to begin building work. On the 16th May 1962 the Church was opened and Holy Mass was celebrated for the first time, with the dedication being to St Patrick, the great Apostle of Ireland, an acknowledgement of the many Irish men and women who came to Corby and contributed so much to the life
of the Parish and the town.
The Church was solemnly consecrated on the Feast of St Patrick, 17th March 1981, by Bishop Charles Grant, who in his homily encouraged the parishioners to be active members of the Church, living the missionary zeal of St Patrick in their daily lives.
In the summer of 2022 the Diocesan Trustees took the difficult decision to close the church. A final Mass was celebrated on 31st August 2022 where all those who had helped build the church and worshipped there, together with the priests who had served the parish over the past 60 years were remembered and prayed for. The current congregation heard how their holy patron, St Patrick overcame many difficulties and obstacles in his life, always holding fast to the Catholic Faith and trusting firmly in the power of God. From Sunday 4th September 2022 the parishioners of the parish have been warmly welcomed into their new spiritual home of St Brendan’s with Mass at 9.30am.
St Brendan and St Patrick's Parish
In
accordance with canon 515 §2, having made the necessary consultations including
that with the Council of Priests, Bishop David has issued a decree amalgamating the parishes of Saint Brendan and Saint Patrick in Corby. The new parish of St Brendan and St Patrick came into effect as of 1 April 2024.