Saint Patrick's Catholic Church
San Patricio, San Patricio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin brought irish catholic immigrant families to Texas about 1829 to form a new colony, San Patricio de Hibernia. Under the direction of the Rev. Henry Doyle, the colonists established Saint Patrick's Catholic Church about 1830. A fire in 1858 destroyed the original frame church building and all church records. The Rt. Rev. Jean Marie Odin, first Bishop of Texas, dedicated a replacement church building about 1859. Local citizens built a two and one half story building for a convent and school on the grounds of Saint Patrick's Church. After an 1875 hurricane destroyed facilities at Indianola, nuns from the order of Sisters of Mercy relocated in San Patricio and operated Saint Joseph's convent and school from 1876 until 1884. After a 1919 hurricane completely demolished the church facilities, the congregation rebuilt in 1922. A need for a larger facility led the congregation to build a fourth structure in 1961. Through the years Saint Patrick's Catholic Church has served the community with sunday mass and the sacraments and missions given by visiting priests.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
About 1829, empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin recruited Irish Catholic families to found the colony of San Patricio de Hibernia in Mexican Texas, and by 1830 the settlers had established St. Patrick's Catholic Church under the Rev. Henry Doyle. Fire, hurricanes, and storms repeatedly destroyed its buildings, yet the congregation rebuilt again and again across nearly two centuries. For a time in the 1870s and 1880s, Sisters of Mercy relocated here and ran a convent and school after a hurricane wrecked their facilities at Indianola.
Why it matters
St. Patrick's marks one of the rare Irish colonial settlements in Texas, a distinctive strand of immigration in the state's founding and a testament to a community's persistence against disaster.
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Related people
- · John McMullen
- · James McGloin
- · Rev. Henry Doyle
- · Bishop Jean Marie Odin
Themes & tags
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