I had sent a previous email but I don't think it went thru. I was born and raised in Newburgh. I am also of Catholic and Protestant Irish heritage. Back in the 1800s most Irish Catholics went to St. Patrick's on Grand St. and St. Mary's on South St. Early on the first St. Patrick's church was on Broadway across from St. Patrick's Cemetery. It later moved to Grand St. The Catholic Italians went to Sacred Heart on Rt 9W and most Eastern Europeans went to St. Francis of Assisi on Benkard Ave. The Protestant Irish went to St. George's on Grand St. and also later on Good Shepherd on Broadway. Back in the 1800s the people tended to go to the closest church to where they lived because they had to walk. Case in point, my Protestant side lived on upper Broadway/Washington/Ann St. area in Newburgh. They went to St. George's till Good Shepherd opened up in the 1890s because it was only a couple of block away from where they lived. St. George's has been around since the early 1800s. St. Patrick's opened up a little later around the 1840/50s. My Irish have been going there since 1860. St. Mary's opened around 1875 and Sacred Heart and St. Francis was later. Later on a lot of the Polish, Eastern Europeans lived in the Town of Newburgh called Ducktown and St. Francis was the closest church. Catholic Germans tended to go to St. Patricks's. Hope this helps a little. Robin