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immaculate concePtion cHurcH
Since its founding in 1848, Immaculate Conception Parish has been a bastion of Catholic faith and tradition in the college-oriented City of Ithaca.
IImmaculate Conception was originally known as St. Luke, with Father Michael Gilbride serving as its rst resident pastor. The parish’s original church opened in 1851, with Buffalo Bishop John Timon presiding at the dedication and, only nine years later, a larger church – also dedicated by Bishop Timon – went up and was incorporated as Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Flanked by Cornell University and Ithaca College, it was Ithaca’s lone Catholic parish for more than
a century.
In September 1884 the parish opened its rst school, with the Diocese of Rochester’s Bishop Bernard J. McQuaid presiding at its dedication. Bishop McQuaid also was on hand in September 1898 to dedicate Immaculate Conception’s current church, located at 113 North Geneva Street.
In October 1948, Immaculate Conception simultaneously celebrated three events: the parish’s 100th anniversary, the 50th anniversary of its church and the laying of the cornerstone for Immaculate Conception School, which had been heavily damaged by a 1946 re. The school, located at 320 W. Buffalo St., continues today as the only Catholic school in Tompkins County.
A parish sesquicentennial/church centennial celebration in October 1998 saw Louisville Archbishop Thomas Kelly, OP, a native of Immaculate Conception Parish, being welcomed back as presider.
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