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Saint Patrick's Church #3 was erected on the same foundations as the second church, damaged badly in the Earthquake and Fire of 04/18-19/1906. Many of the original bricks, although charred by fire, were reused in the third church as was the original bell. Many of the original parishioners were either Irish immigrants or their children. Church officials wanted to give the building an Irish character and to use Irish building products for some of the interior's decorative finishes, such as the Connemara marble used for church pillars and interior walls. Marble finishes were in tones of green, white and gold, reflecting the colors of the Irish flag. The church's stained glass by New York's Tiffany Studios also had an Irish theme: "Sixteen windows tell the story of pre-Christian Ireland, beginning with Macha, the first Queen, laying the foundation of Emania. The legendary starting point of Irish history. For the lower windows, [Monsignor John Rogers] chose the thirty-two saints of each county of lreland, from St. Mae Nissi of County Antrim to St. Kevin of County Wicklow." (See Nora Boyd, "The Changing Faces of St. Patrick's,"Accessed 11/14/2014.) The local architectural firm of Shea and Lofquist, a favorite of the San Francisco Archdiocese, designed the third Saint Patrick's Church.

A load-bearing brick church, Saint Patrick's Church #3 underwent a $4 million seismic retrofit following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, but did not close during the process. It was the only Bay Area Roman Catholic house of worship to stay open to the public during seismic reconstruction. Church Deacon Virgil Capetti, a licensed general contractor in CA, worked as the church's projection manager during this process. A 1998 article related what had been done: "A major part of the seismic work involved installing shear walls ofreinforced steel with a new footing across the front and back. The general contractor, Carlin Co. of South San Francisco, drilled through the bell tower to install the front of the wall, in effect converting the tower into a buttress for the building, Capetti said. Workers removed three of the six exterior layers of bricks and drilled %-inch reinforcement bars through the remaining 13 inches of brick. The dowels were attached to an exterior curtain of reinforced steel, which then was coated with 9 inches of concrete. One layer of original brick was returned to the wall, attached with stainless steel pins.The reinforcement made the exterior walls about 4 inches thicker than before, but the average onlooker would not notice. The roof was strengthened with a diaphragm, or steel framework, to collect seismic stress and transfer it to the walls, Capetti said. The slate shingles were removed during the work, then reinstalled." A flying buttress was also added to support the church's apse. While seismic reinforcement was the main focus of work, the diocesse took advantage of the opportunity by adding an ADA-compliant entrance, replacing some casings around stained-glass windows, and upgrading its heating, ventilation and plumbing equipment. (See Judy Richter, "Historic Church Reborn,"Accessed 11/14/2014.)