The following month, Father Matthew Horan arrived on the newly established goldfields and assumed his position as parish priest, which he held until his death in 1923.

Upon his arrival, Father Horan pitched a tent on Calton Hill to celebrate mass, beginning the long Catholic domination of the site.

Plans for the new church were prepared by well known Brisbane architect, FDG Stanley, and a local builder William Streeton and presented to the newly appointed Bishop Robert Dunne in 1881.

The church was described as a landmark for many miles around due to its elevated position, its great height, its pure white stone walls and its well-cut lines.

[1] St Patrick's Church continued to grow under the care of Father Horan; an organ gallery, designed by Hugo Durietz was added in 1896.

[1] On 14 April 1929 Archbishop James Duhig dedicated newly installed stained glass windows placed where in the gables where the transepts were to have been extended.

In 1951, the new parish priest Monsignor David Dee, concerned with the lack of accommodation at St Patrick's, established a new Catholic church in northern Gympie, diminishing the large congregation.

[1] St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is a substantial sandstone building on Calton Hill, a prominent site in Gympie.

The southern end of the church, including the transept gables, diagonal buttressing, chancel, vestry and sanctuary is constructed of bricks with an inscribed render, imitating ashlar stonework.

Featured on each of the gables is a large pointed arch stained glass window, integrating many smaller lights with geometric tracery.

[1] Internally, round sandstone piers supporting pointed arches, form arcades which define the nave and aisles of the church.

Slender engaged columns extend upward from the piers to support a variation of hammer-beam timber roof trusses, strengthened with brackets of decorative joinery.

[1] The organ gallery at the west end of the church is supported on slender round columns with prominent stylised Doric capitals.

St Patrick's Church, erected 1883–87, is a substantial sandstone building which is important in demonstrating the rapid growth of Gympie in the 1880s, as a result of the prosperity of the gold fields.

St Patricks is a good example of church architecture practiced in the 1880s, influenced by Gothic revival styles and of the ecclesiastical work of the prominent Queensland architect, FDG Stanley.

It has a number of elements demonstrating high quality craftsmanship including the marble altar, the organ, joinery, stone masonry and stained glass windows.

St Patricks is a good example of church architecture practiced in the 1880s, influenced by Gothic revival styles and of the ecclesiastical work of the prominent Queensland architect, FDG Stanley.

It has a number of elements demonstrating high quality craftsmanship including the marble altar, the organ, joinery, stone masonry and stained glass windows.