At a little after five on the evening of Tuesday August 18th 1908, a sudden massive explosion was heard from the Seven Foot Mine. Large sections of the pit-head gear were blown away. The cage was dislodged from its' fixings and crashed down the shaft. The roof of the fan house was blown off.
Seventy five men had died or were soon to die in the choked and poisonous galleries.
Twenty-one of them came from Saint Patrick's
The grief of the bereaved was shared by all the parish. On the Sunday following the disaster, Canon Sommer sang a solemn Requiem Mass for the dead, which was attended by people from all the Ctholic churches in Wigan. A choir picked from all the churches sang at the mass and Dr. O'Donaghue of Saint Mary's preached the sermon.
As you walk into Saint Patricks today, you will see a memorial to the dead of this disaster. Descendants of the victims still live in the parish today as does those of one of the survivors - Mr Edward Farrell.
| J. McGrath | 17 Wall Street (Scholes) | Left a wife and eight children. |
| M. Gallagher | 17 Wall Street (Scholes) | |
| Pat Carroll | 9 Teck Street | |
| Pat Sloyan | 9 Teck Street | |
| J. Moran | 30 Cambridge Street. | |
| T. Groark | 20 Cambridge Street | Left a wife and child. |
| J. Geohegan | 16 Rupert Street | |
| M. Guckein | 18 Rupert Street | |
| Wm. McCabe | 28 Stewart Street | Left a wife and child. |
| M. Cafferty | 8 Upper Morris Street | Left a wife and child. |
| E. Cafferty | 8 Upper Morris Street | |
| P. Duffy | 8 Upper Morris Street | |
| M. House | 33 St. Patrick Street | |
| M. Molloy | 35 Vauxhaul Road | Left a wife and child. |
| P. Mulligan | 39 Anderton Street | |
| J. Bennett | 15 Belvoir Street | Left a wife and seven children. |
| P. McGowan | 15 Higham Street | |
| Pat Cullen | 11 Holland Street | |
| J. Doyle | 4 Warrington Lane | |
| James Conway | 321 Warrington Road | |
May they rest in peace.