When the first Irish immigrants began to arrive in Cleveland in the 1830s, they settled in a neighborhood that would come to be known as Irishtown Bend, which was part of a larger area known as the Angle. Situated along the river east of W 25 th Street and south of Detroit Avenue, this neighborhood encompassed a total of 22 streets. However, Cleveland’s Irish population quickly outgrew the bounds of the Irishtown Bend neighborhood, particularly with the influx of refugees from the Potato Famine in the late 1840s. By 1853, the St. Patrick Parish was established on Bridge Avenue to help serve the rapidly expanding population, and in 1868, St. Malachi’s Church was established in the center of Irishtown Bend.
Unfortunately, many residents of the neighborhood struggled with extreme poverty and were especially susceptible to diseases such as cholera, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. As families became more prosperous, they began to move away from the neighborhood, seeking to distance themselves from the impoverished area. By 1900, most Irish residents had moved on, and the neighborhood was resettled by Eastern European immigrants. Sadly, the neighborhood began to decline, and by the 1980s, no commercial or residential buildings were left in the area.