Saint Mary's Parish in Kirby began as a mission of New Riegel when the Precious Blood priests traveled to celebrate
mass in private homes as early as 1860. In 1865 a frame church measuring 35x50 feet was completed and the pastor at nearby Upper
Sandusky began to travel by train, horse and buggy, or hand-car to celebrate Mass until 1874. For a short while, the pastor at Bucyrus
also served the mission until 1875 when a pastoral residence was erected and a resident pastor appointed. Immediately the church was
enlarged and a spire was added. By 1880, the first school was opened and in 1882 a new three acre cemetery located a quarter mile outside
the village was established. In 1888, work began on a new brick church of Romanesque design, located just north of the first church.
This second church, measuring 56x104 feet, featured a 130 foot steeple and was dedicated on November 22, 1891. Throughout the years,
a new rectory, a convent, and a succession of new school buildings would spring up near the newly built church. In 1976, the reduced
number of priests serving the diocese made it necessary for the parish to twin with St. Peter's Parish. The resident priest at Upper
Sandusky served both parishes and when St. Mary's School closed in 1978 many children continued their Catholic school education at
Saint Peter's School in Upper Sandusky. A third parish, St. Joseph's in Salem Township, was added to the cluster in 2003. This continued
until 2005 when St. Mary's Parish was closed and the church building became a chapel under the care of the newly formed Transfiguration
of the Lord Parish.
