Built for Montréal’s booming Irish population in 1847, the interior of St Patrick’s Basilica contains huge columns from single pine trunks, an ornate baptismal font and nectar-colored stained-glass windows. The pope raised its status to basilica in 1989, in recognition of its importance to English-speaking Catholics in Montréal. It’s a sterling example of French Gothic style and, as you might expect, is classified a national monument.
The Irish-Canadian patriot Thomas D’Arcy McGee was buried here after his assassination in 1868; his pew (number 240) is marked with a small Canadian flag.
