Saint Michael's Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as Duane can carry it to you. Way out in Milam County, Irish Catholic settlers put down roots in this stretch of Texas soil starting in 1875. They called the place Irish Settlement, which, you have to admit, is a name that leaves very little to the imagination.

For a good while, those families had no church of their own. Visiting priests came through beginning in 1879, making their rounds, tending to the faithful as best they could across the long miles. But a visiting priest is not the same as a home, and these folks knew it.

So in 1885, eight families made a decision together. Eight families pooled what they had and built a church, and when it was done, they dedicated it to St. Michael.

Now there's something in that number worth sitting with. Not eight wealthy patrons. Eight families, neighbors, people who understood that some things you simply cannot do alone.

The community that grew around St. Michael's was predominantly Irish, but in time a number of German-American Catholics joined the membership, and the congregation widened its circle. Then in 1891, a parochial school opened its doors, and nuns of various orders took up the work of teaching there.

That school ran for decades, one order of nuns passing the mission to the next, until it finally closed in 1956. And out on the land, about seven tenths of a mile to the east, St. Michael's Cemetery holds burials dating all the way back to 1878, and the church maintains it still.

Some communities plant a church and let everything else drift away. This one planted a church, built a school, dug a cemetery, and kept tending all three. That's not ambition.

That's faith with its boots on.

What the marker says

Irish Catholic settlers first came to this area in 1875. The community, first called Irish Settlement, was served by visiting priests beginning in 1879. Eight families joined together in 1885 to build a church, which they dedicated to St. Michael. The predominantly Irish membership was eventually joined by a number of German-American Catholics. A parochial school opened in 1891 and was operated by nuns of various orders until it closed in 1956. St. Michael's Cemetery (.7 mi. E) contains burials dating to 1878 and is maintained by the church.