St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Cowgate, Edinburgh

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, located on Cowgate in Edinburgh, was originally built between 1772 and 1774 by John Baxter junior, with later additions by James Graham Fairley in 1898 and Reginald Fairlie in 1929. This two-storey, rectangular-plan church features a pedimented design with a central steeple and a polygonal apse to the east. The south elevation, designed by Fairlie in 1929, showcases a triumphal-arch entrance. The church is constructed of cream sandstone polished ashlar on the principal elevation, while the rear is dressed ashlar with ashlar margins. It has a low base course and a dentilled cornice, with round and segmental-arched window openings on the east and west elevations that have raised, key-stoned architraves. There is an internal link to a later presbytery at the north.

The south entrance elevation is accessed by steps leading to a central, double-height round-arched entrance arch. This arch opens to lower recessed two-leaf timber doors that feature decorative carved panels and a raised, key-stoned architrave. Flanking niches house statues of Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget. The outer bays are slightly advanced and have consoled pedimented architraves above the upper windows, with panels displaying carved swags below. The central parapet is balustraded, and there is a recessed pediment. The square-plan tiered steeple, built in 1772-4, is centrally located and topped with an octagonal stage that includes round-arched louvred openings, culminating in an ogee cap.

Inside, as observed in 2007, the church features a white painted interior with a marble-panelled sanctuary and flanking chapels. There is a timber gallery to the south and wall paintings by Alexander Runciman in the polygonal east apse. The entrance lobby includes a Doric-columned glass and timber screen that leads into the nave, which contains timber pews and a decorative plaster cornice. A segmental arch with fluted clasping pilasters leads to the flat-roofed sanctuary, flanked by round-arched barrel-vaulted chapels.