Patrick Keely

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Patrick Keely (1816-1896) was an American church architect. He was an extremely prolific worker and completed a vast number of church structures in New York City, Boston, Massachusetts, and Chicago in the later half of thee 19th century.

Patrick Charles Keeley was born in Thurles County, Tipperary, on August 9, 1816 to a family of comfortable circumstances. His father appears to have been in the building trades in some capacity, possibly as an architect. It is likely, therefore that the son received his training in construction from his father. What training he had in architectural design is not known.

Keeley landed in America in 1842 settling in Brooklyn, New York. At the time of his immigration Catholic life in this country was just developing from small beginnings made in Baltimore, New York, and Boston. Initially he was forced to make his living as a carpenter since the term of architect was hardly known. The practice of the time was that the builder, whether mason or carpenter, made his own plans, and details were often executed without even the aid of drawings.

For a number of years Keeley worked at his trade without attracting attention. During this time he met a priest of his own age, Father Sylvester Malone. In 1846 this priest was sent to form a parish at Willimsburgh on Long Island near the waterfront. Together with Keeley he worked out a plan for a Gothic church possessing pointed arches, pinnacles, and a few buttresses.

Almost immediately the new church of Sts. Peter and Paul became a center of local attraction. It's dedication in 1846 marked a new epoch in Catholic building. Keeley was now approached from all sides with requests for designs of churches and other necessary structures for an expanding religious life. In Brooklyn alone there was a great wave of Catholic settlers for whom churches were urgently needed and Keeley was the only one thought of to do the work.