St Patrick Church, Verona

  The parish was begun by a number of Irish immigrants.  The first that came was Mr. Thomas O. Dwyer.  He came to Cincinnati from Ireland, leaving a large family behind him.  He came from Cincinnati to Verona to work on the farm of a certain Mr. Hudson.  Later his family was brought over and located on Mr. Hudson’s farm.  Other country men followed Mr. Dwyer and worked in the neighborhood and on Sundays, the home of Mr. Dwyer was headquarters for a short while.  Then others came with their families or the young fellows married and began homes of their own till there was a number of Irish homes scattered over the neighborhood. 

There were families around Crittenden by the names of Murphy and Flynn, Father Wiley, it seems, came to administer to them first, and went from house to house and had services, and by this time a number of families by the name of Dwyer, Ryan, Dempsey, Carr, and Cane, and others were living around Verona.  Father Wiley also came on to them.  These trips were hard ones for the priest because they were made on horseback, mostly, and the trip was made from Covington.  

In 1865 John Dempsey, who lived near where the church now stands gave a lot for the church.  Rev. Father Watson, who succeeded Father Wiley, built what is now St. Patrick’s church at Verona.  Since that time many other Catholics have moved in and many other pastors have come to care for the spiritual wants of the people.   

from the 1930 Historical Edition of the Boone County Recorder.