Welcome
Welcome to the Irish Genealogical Society of Michigan. The Irish Genealogical Society of Michigan is a non-denominational organization focusing on genealogical research in all thirty-two counties of the Emerald Isle. The society is open to everyone!
Next Meeting
Saturday, June 17, 2017
1:30 p.m.
Tour of Old St. Patrick Church and Cemetery
with Jacob Donner
5731 Whitmore Lake Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
In 1829 a travelling priest, Father Patrick O’Kelly [for whom Mount Kelly in Dearborn was named], arrived in Northfield at the behest of Father Gabriel Richard. Its pioneers having built a log cabin church for him, to be consecrated as St. Brigid, it became the first English speaking Catholic parish in Michigan. Construction on the current church building was completed in 1878 and the parish was renamed "St. Patrick's." Lancet windows, identical to those installed at Most Holy Trinity in Corktown, bear the names of several founding families.
The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976 in large part because of its historical association with the State’s earliest Irish Catholics.
This cemetery is a subject of the IGSM’s “New Ireland”: Northfield Township, Michigan’s Irish Pioneer & Early Settler Burials.
Meet at Church with parking at 5731 Whitmore Lake Rd., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105. South of North Territorial Road off US23. If sufficient advance interest is expressed by the membership travel in groups may be possible by contacting Abigail at genealogicaljd@gmail.com.
