Area 2 acres (0.81 ha) NRHP Reference # 85002376 | Built 1838 Added to NRHP September 16, 1985 | |
 | ||
Location 76 St. Malachi Road Cochranville, PA 19330 MPS West Branch Brandywine Creek MRA | ||
St. Malachi Church is a historic Irish Roman Catholic mission church on St. Malachi Road in rural Londonderry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is a mission of Our Lady of Consolation of Parkesburg. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The church is remarkable for its simplicity, resembling a Quaker meeting house more than a Catholic parish church. It is a rectangular one story stone stucco-covered building.
History
The congregation was founded in the eighteenth century with the earliest standing tombstone bearing the date 1771. The land was donated to the church in 1794 by Andrew Maguire. An attempt to build a church started in 1800. The building was completed in 1838. The church is unusual in Chester County, an early stronghold of Quakerism in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania. Irish had settled in the area before 1730, but they were Presbyterians and Quakers. In 1757 there were 55 Irish Catholics (32 male, 23 female) counted in Chester County.
The church is a rectangular one story stone stucco-covered building. It has never had a resident priest, remaining a mission since its founding. Early services were conducted by visiting missionaries. In 1840 it became a mission church of St. Agnes Church in West Chester. Later it was a mission of successive parishes in Parkesburg and Coatesville.