St. Patrick Church

This white clapboard edifice was built by Irish immigrants in 1840. It is believed to be the oldest existing frame Catholic church building in the Lower Peninsula. This area was one of the earliest in Michigan to be settled by Irish immigrants who arrived during the 1830s. The parish was organized in 1839 with about thirty members. Their numbers increased when the potato famine of 1845 in Ireland forced thousands of others to the United States. Having outgrown this tiny structure by the 1880s, the congregation travelled to Pontiac, Milford, and other areas until approximately 1950, when a permanent parish was established here in Union Lake. Maintaining its original floors, walls, and windows, this edifice is still used for ceremonial purposes. Today, the surrounding neighborhood is known as the “Dublin” area.