The houses at St Patrick's College are all named after significant members of the Catholic Church. Rice is named after the founder of the Christian Brothers, McAuley is named after the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Colin is named after the founder of the Marists (Society of Mary), and Chisholm is named after an Australian pioneer who helped numerous poor women on the wharves of Sydney. As of 2004, the houses have been separated along gender and year level lines, for example, in 2004 Rice house was year 12 boys.