St Patrick, Missouri,
USA
some of the History
Come see our "Little Bit
of Ireland"
in the Northeast Missouri Hills
From Ireland to America came the immigrants, bringing with them customs, music, faith and love. They used a symbol proclaiming love for both countries - the harp for Ireland and the eagle for America.
Their Descendants would inherit this way of life. Some of these Irish Catholics settled St Patrick, Missouri in 1833. Over 100 yrs later (1935) a young Irish priest, Fr Francis O'Duignan (born in Co. Longford Ireland) came to St Patrick.
He
dreamed of building a Shrine that would do honor to St
Patrick, in a country where millions of Irishmen had found
refuge. What better place than St Patrick, Missouri . . .
the only town in the world (with a post office) bearing the
name of Ireland's patron saint.
Knowing the task was too great for a small farming community, Fr O'Duignan sent letters all over the world asking for donations - and on each letter he placed the shamrock cachet, he designed in 1936, stating
St Patrick, Missouri
'The Only One in the World'
He
believed St Patrick would bless all who aided in making this
Missouri Shrine possible. His dream was realized when the
Shrine of St Patrick was dedicated March 17, 1957. The style
was Celtic, complete with Celtic crosses, round bell tower
and 37 stained glass windows made in Dublin, Ireland. It was
fashioned after the Church of Four Masters in Donegal,
Ireland.
The post office has played an important role in St Patrick, since it was first granted in 1858. Traditionally, each year, letters come from all over the world to be mailed on March 17th with the special green shamrock cachet, along with the traditional regulation postmark. It takes the cancellation and shamrock cachet to change an ordinary envelope into a collector's item.
St Patrick Missouri Celebrations
Preparations are now under way for the St
Patrick's Day and if you want mail from St Patrick you
will need to contact us.
Some historical facts about
St Patrick, Missouri
|
1827 |
Diocese of St Louis |
|
1832 |
Fr P. Lafevre - Circuit Rider |
|
1833 |
North Santa Fe settled by Richard and Rose Simpson Riney |
|
1834 |
Log Church |
|
1838 |
Bishop Joseph Rosati purchased 80 acres for church land |
|
1846 |
Fr Denis Byrne - First resident Pastor |
|
1852 |
First organized Catholic congregation in Clark County |
|
1854 |
Fr B.P. McMenomy sold 10 acres of church land and platted St Marysville |
|
1858 |
Fr McMenomy re-named it St Patrick to obtain a Post Office |
|
1858 |
John McSorley - First Postmaster |
|
1860 |
Brick Church |
|
1861 |
Brick Rectory |
|
1867 |
First July 4th Picnic |
|
1903 |
White Frame Church |
|
1909 |
School |
|
1912 |
Changed to Diocese of St Joseph |
|
1923 |
|
|
About 1925 |
Convent |
|
1928 |
Fr Tom Dempsey, Pastor - worked to gravel the dirt road - Route Z - now Dempsey Highway |
|
1935 |
Fr Francis O'Duignan, Pastor |
|
1936 |
Fr O'Duignan designed the shamrock cachet for March 17 letters |
|
1951 |
New Rectory |
|
1956 |
Changed to Diocese of Jefferson City |
|
1957 |
Shrine of St Patrick Dedicated |
|
1968 |
School Closed |
|
Early 1970's |
Convent and School torn down - St Patrick statue placed in front of Shrine |
|
1979 |
First envelope (Anna Longsdon) first special cancel |
|
1984 |
First Church Envelope |
|
1988 |
Shrine Museum |
|
1996 |
Special March 17th postmark could be used March 1 - I 7 for the first time |
|
1997 |
Special March 17th postmark could be used March 1-30 for the first time |
|
2000 |
First special March 17th envelope and postmark of the new century and Millennium |
|
2007 |
50th Anniversary of the Shrine Dedication |
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