After more than two centuries of worship, the oldest church building in the Diocese of Youngstown is closing its doors. Saint Philip Neri Parish at Dungannon, in Hanover Township, was gathered in 1817 — when Ohio was still young and Catholic missionaries rode on horseback to say Mass. But as parishioners gather for the final time, they say that faith, and legacy will endure. Our Dennis Biviano has more.
The bells of Saint Philip Neri Parish have echoed across Dungannon more than 200 years. The three bronze bells were hoisted into place with horses and pulleys. For Dr. Kelly Darney, uncovering stories like that led to her 2017 book, “St. Philip Neri Catholic Church: A Bicentennial Parish History.”
“I did not intend on making a whole hardbound book, but that’s what it ended up because there was a lot to tell,” says Kelly Darney, Ph.D.
Darney, a longtime educator and researcher, and graduate of Kent State University and Youngstown State University, spent more than a year documenting the parish’s 200-year+ history. Founded in 1817, Saint Philip Neri is the oldest parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown–and considered the birthplace of Catholicism in northern Ohio. The first Mass was celebrated at the log cabin home of Daniel McAllister. In the early years, Mass was attended by Irish immigrants, many who worked as bricklayers on the Sandy and Beaver Canal.
“They were Catholic, they wanted their Mass, so for the first 50 years they had had traveling priests that would come on a horse, and come for a few days and then have to go,” says Darney.
Later, German immigrants joined the congregation. This plaque stands in memory of the Pioneer Sisters of Divine Providence who came to Ohio from Germany in 1876.
“They worked really hard. They started a school. They grew their own vegetables out in the back of the church. And then it went on for a while. They had a little house that they lived in,” says Darney.
The original log cabin still stands beside the church, as a carefully preserved time capsule. Inside it sits a simple dresser once used as an altar by prominent 19th century Ohio missionary priest Father Eli Lindesmith, who is recognized in hand-chiseled stone in the parish’s St. Paul’s Cemetery. By 2007 a brick structure was added to enclose the cabin.
“Preserving that log cabin was so key,” says Diocesan Chancellor, Joan Lawson.
Lawson, who is also the Diocese of Youngstown Archivist, says she remembers attending mass at Saint Philip Neri Parish as a child.
“When I was young, my family used to camp at Guilford Lake, and we went to Mass at Saint Philip. And I loved it because it was very different from the Mass I went to during the fall, winter, spring. And this summer we went to this beautiful church that had the kinds of art that I had never seen. It was a place of beauty for me and excitement. And I just have very strong and fond memories of it,” says Lawson.
Longtime parishioner and Knights of Columbus member Joseph McKarns has spent decades maintaining the property and serving in parish council.
“I’ve done a lot of work here over the years. It’s just become part of your nature, your second home,” says McKarns.
McKarns grew up hearing stories of the parish’s past. Generations of his own family are listed as sponsors on the current church altar.
“Grandpap, Donald T. McKarns, he donated this. Now, at the time he did this, I was only 5 or 6 years old. So I was born in 59. So I believe this was like 65. So I as a little kid knew nothing of it at the time. But, this is to represent his second great grandparents, which would be my fourth great grandparents,” says McKarns.
Now, as the church closes its doors the final time, McKarns remains hopeful while acknowledging the pain of uncertainty.
“We people are creatures of habit. We don’t like change, we want to do the same thing every time the same way we did it before. Now that we’re forced to have to change, you can either make the best of it, or it can be devastating. Or you can accept it with open arms, and now you have a new outlook on things and new opportunities can come,” says McKarns.
And as Saint Philip Neri Parish approaches its final chapter, parishioners say its story is not ending — only turning a page. Because for more than 200 years, faith built more than a church here. It built a community.
“It was really the first established parish in this whole section of Ohio, and those people were so dedicated and so faithful, and it meant so much to them to have that. It really touches your heart,” says Darney.
In January 2026, the Parish Pastoral Council at Saint Philip Neri Parish presented a letter to members of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council, recommending Saint Philip Neri enter an extinctive union with its neighboring parish, Saint George in Lisbon. On February 15, the church celebrated its final mass in a parish that began in 1817 in Dungannon township. Diocesan leaders say plans are still being finalized for preserving historical items from the church and its original log cabin.
