St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh-Birthplace of Hibs

Proud to have finally visited the birthplace of my beloved Hibernian Football Club (with Fudge in tow).

The football club owes its existence to Canon Edward Hannan, who, in 1869, founded a branch of the Catholic Young Men’s Society (CYMS) as a focus for and support for young Irish immigrants.

As a result of the activities of the CYMS, and responding to a request by a young member, Michael Whelahan, Fr Hannan decided to establish a football team. He hoped that this would help to integrate the Catholic community of the South Side into the wider Edinburgh community.

The Making of Hibernian

In his book The Making of Hibernian, Alan Lugton describes how the name of the club was chosen:

“Giving St Patrick’s CYMS football club a name, proved to be difficult. Father Hannan proposed the obvious name: The Catholic Young Men’s Society Football Club. Though appropriate, it was generally agreed it was just too long-winded. St Patrick’s F.C. was thought to be disrespectful to Ireland’s patron saint. Other suggestions that were rejected included Harp, Shamrock, Emerald and Celtic. Michael Whelahan asked for more time to think about it, and came to St Patrick’s church to pray for inspiration. Here he remembered that the fiercely Catholic Ancient Order of Hibernians had been absorbed into the CYMS many years before. Hibernian was the old Roman name for Irishman. This was a name that would stir the soul. There and then, Hibernian football club was born.”