On April 21st  I set out to the Abbey of Gethsemani to get a photo of Rohan Knob for this post on Father William de Rohan. That was the plan. So I climbed up to the statue on the hill overlooking the Abbey—beautiful view, with Rohan Knob off in the distance, about three miles away. As I was lining up my shot, I noticed a man and woman sitting quietly nearby, taking in the silence. They looked like they belonged there.
If I had known what I was about to learn, I might have left them alone. But I’m a curious sort. So I walked up, offered a polite hello, and asked, “What brings you here?”
The woman, maybe in her forties, answered first. She was from Nashville. “I’m here on retreat,” she said. “I’m a convert to Catholicism, and I wanted to spend some quiet time deepening my faith.”
The man, also in his forties, said he’d come up from Florida. “Life’s gotten loud,” he told me. “Work, responsibilities, nonstop demands. I needed to get away from the noise—and look inward.”
Then the woman turned the question on me: “Now it’s your turn. Why are you here?”
I paused. I could’ve made something up, but I didn’t. “I’m here to get a photo of Rohan’s Knob,” I said honestly.
After the heartfelt reasons they gave, I felt like a fool.
But they both smiled—no judgment, just understanding. We sat in silence a little longer before I thanked them and went on my way.
And so, here’s the story I came to tell:

Father William de Rohan – Builder of Kentucky’s First Catholic Church

Before there were grand brick churches on every hilltop in central Kentucky, there was a French priest with a rugged soul and a heart full of faith. His name was Father William de Rohan, and in the early 1790s, he arrived on the frontier to serve the scattered Catholic families of what would become Marion County.
He came alone, likely a refugee from the turmoil of the French Revolution. He brought with him little more than a Mass kit, some books, and a missionary’s determination. What he gave to Kentucky’s early Catholic settlers would become the foundation for generations of faith.

The First Church

Local tradition and early histories agree on one remarkable fact: Father de Rohan built the first Catholic church building in the state of Kentucky. Not a cathedral, not even a frame structure—just a simple log chapel near what is now Holy Cross, built with his own hands and those of the settlers he served.

“Father Rohan built the first church edifice ever erected in Kentucky. It was a log building, very plain and humble, but it answered the purpose of a house of worship for the little Catholic community at Holy Cross.”- Ben J. Webb, The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky (1884), p. 71

Though crude by today’s standards, that church gave form and focus to a growing Catholic presence west of the Alleghenies. It would later evolve into Holy Cross Church, often called the “Mother Church” of Kentucky Catholicism.

Rohan Knob and Early Ministry

Father de Rohan made his home on a nearby rise—still known today as Rohan Knob. There, he lived in a cabin, celebrated Mass, and, according to oral history, taught school to local children. These early lessons likely included reading, catechism, and writing—making him not just a spiritual guide, but one of the first Catholic educators in Kentucky.

“It is said that he established a school in the settlement where the children of Catholic settlers received elementary instruction, both religious and secular.” – Local tradition and early diocesan notes

He ministered to a wide swath of territory on horseback, offering sacraments and encouragement to families living miles apart.

Struggles and Humanity

But Father de Rohan’s story also includes shadows. Like many frontier priests working in isolation, he seems to have struggled personally. Church historian Ben J. Webb, writing in the 1880s, notes that:

“He was zealous and for a time quite active, but his career was not marked with the prudence and discretion that characterized the conduct of other pioneer missionaries.”
—Webb, p. 71

This phrase, used delicately at the time, is now widely understood to refer to problems with alcohol. It’s a detail preserved not only in church commentary but in the oral memory of families who heard the story passed down through generations.
Still, Webb acknowledged the importance of his ministry:

“Whatever may have been his faults, his early services to the Church in Kentucky cannot be denied.” – Webb, p. 72

Final Years and Burial

In his later years, Father de Rohan moved to St. Thomas Church near Bardstown, founded by Bishop Flaget. There he lived out his days in the quiet shadow of the growing Church he helped plant.
He was buried at St. Thomas, among the pioneers of the Catholic faith in Kentucky. No monument bears his name in grandeur, but his contributions speak for themselves.