San Patricio de Hibernia
San Patricio, San Patricio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in 1830 by John McMullen and James McGloin as the seat of their Irish colony under an empresario contract dated August 17, 1828 which was fulfilled by the empresarios 1830-1835. Named in honor of Saint Patrick the Patron Saint of Ireland. As the frontier outpost of Texas when the revolution began San Patricio 1835-1845 suffered all the miseries of that conflict with no compensating returns. At and near San Patricio, on February 27, 1836 General Jose Urrea's division of Santa Anna's army surprised and overwhelmed Johnson's Texan party of 35 men, 9 or 10 Texans were killed, 6 or 7 escaped and 20 were sent to Matamoros as prisoners. After San Jacinto the town was destroyed and its inhabitants driven away. In memory of Rev. Henry Doyle, Rev. T.J. Molloy, Wm. O'Docharty, Geo. O'Docharty, Walter Henry, Patrick Henry, John Hart, Michael Haley, Mark Killalea, Wm. Hefferman, Oceola Archer, Lewis Ayers, Catherine Hoye, Owen Gaffney, John Ross, Wm. Pugh early settlers of San Patricio. John McMullen delegate to the Consultation, 1835. John Turner, John White Bower, signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. John McGloin, John Fadden, Dennis McGowan, Andrew M. O'Boyle, Geo. Pettuck, Mathew Byrne, Patrick Nevin, Edward Garner, Edward Ryan, Dennis Mahoney, Miles Andross, W.M. Quinn soldiers in Texas Revolution. San Patricio has contributed the following distinguished citizens Patrick O'Docharty, Susanna O'Docharty, Thomas O'Callaghan, Patrick McGloin, Chris Sullivan, Rose K. Mahoney, John Ryan, Geo. McCowan, Catherine Ryan, James McKeown, Patrick McMurray, Thomas Magowan, Wm. P. Allen, Mary Ann Collins, Hubert Timon, David Odem, John Timon, Andrew Jackson Brown, John Donahue, Mary E. McCloin Murphy, Robert Dougherty, Alexander McCloin, Margaret Hart McFall, Patrick Brennan, Margaret Baldeschwiler, John Corrigan, Margaret Q. James, Andrew Gerhardt, Mathew Kivlin, James Grover, Robert Weir, Eliza A. Sullivan, J. Chrys Dougherty, Steve J. Lewis, Joe E. Sullivan, Hugh Touhy, John Dee. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1830 by empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin as the capital of their Irish colony, San Patricio de Hibernia—named for the patron saint of Ireland—stood as a lonely frontier outpost when the Texas Revolution erupted. On February 27, 1836, General José Urrea's division of Santa Anna's army surprised and overwhelmed a small Texan party under Johnson, killing several and marching the survivors to Matamoros as prisoners. After the Texan victory at San Jacinto the town was destroyed and its people scattered, and this 1936 monument names its early settlers, soldiers, and notable descendants.
Why it matters
San Patricio was among the few Irish Catholic colonies in Mexican Texas, and its destruction during the Revolution shows the heavy price frontier settlements paid in the fight for independence.
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Related people
- · John McMullen
- · James McGloin
- · José Urrea
- · Johnson
Related events
- · Battle of San Patricio
- · Texas Revolution
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
San Patricio County
San Patricio, TX
This ground carries three centuries of change, from Spanish exploration beginning in 1519 through Mexican independence in 1821. In 1828 empresarios James McGloin and John McMullen won a Mexican land grant and brought Irish colonists to settle it, and the county—named for St. Patrick—was created in 1836 and organized the next year. Its southern edge, the Nueces River, became a flashpoint in the run-up to the Mexican-American War, crossed by Zachary Taylor's army as it marched south.
Battle of San Patricio
San Patricio, TX
In the predawn hours of February 27, 1836, during the Texas Revolution, Mexican General José Urrea's troops surprised a Texan force in the streets of Old San Patricio. The Texans, remnants of an ill-fated expedition against Matamoros led by Francis W. Johnson and Dr. James Grant, were scattered — sixteen killed and thirty taken prisoner — while a few, including Johnson, escaped. Days later Urrea crushed Grant's remaining men at Agua Dulce Creek, sending the survivors into months of captivity in Matamoros.
Old Cemetery on the Hill
San Patricio, TX
This hilltop cemetery is believed to have served Native peoples and Mexican settlers long before Anglo colonization reached the area. After Irish empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin founded San Patricio de Hibernia in 1830, the colonists kept burying their dead here, beneath wooden crosses and stones inscribed in Spanish and English. Among those laid to rest are Lt. Marcelino García, killed at the 1835 battle of Lipantitlán, and soldiers who fell at the battle of San Patricio in 1836.
Old Cemetery on the Hill
San Patricio, TX
On a rise above San Patricio lies a burial ground older than the Anglo town, used by Indian peoples and Mexican settlers before empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin planted their Irish colony of San Patricio de Hibernia in 1830. The colonists kept using the old cemetery, and its graves record the turbulence of the Texas Revolution — Lt. Marcelino Garcia, killed at Lipantitlan in 1835, and soldiers who fell in the Battle of San Patricio in 1836. Empresario McGloin himself lies here in an unmarked grave, alongside settlers lost to scarlet fever, duels, and the ordinary attrition of frontier life.