[1] St Patrick's Church, a modest timber building in a picturesque rural setting, was opened in November 1889 to serve the small farming community of Rosevale, south of Ipswich in south-east Queensland.

The run extended over the lightly timbered plains of the Bremer River, with the head station situated near the present township of Rosevale.

By 1848, when the lease was taken up by G John Brewster, Rosevale (Rosa Vista) comprised an estimated area of 25,600 acres with a grazing capability of 3,700 sheep.

Franklin Valley (later Franklyn Vale) and Laidley runs to the north and north-west of Rosevale were owned by Joseph Robinson and together covered an area of 150,000 acres.

[1] Between 1848 and 1865, Rosevale was leased by a variety of early figures in Queensland history (including Charles Rolleston and Patrick Leslie in 1856, Charles Macarthur King in 1858 and Patrick Mayne in 1862) until acquired by Henry Mort in the mid-1860s to counter impending resumptions on his Laidley and Franklyn Vale properties.

Although a town survey was never made, some businesses were attracted to the district, including a general store, butcher, baker, blacksmith, and in the 1890s a cheese factory and the Rosevale Co-operative Dairy Company.

This was a vast parish extending from Brisbane west to Warwick, south to Tenterfield and the Clarence and Richmond rivers districts, north to Maryborough, and north-west to Gayndah.

The parish of Ipswich was reduced at this time but was still a vast area extending from near Brisbane to the foot of the Great Dividing Range in the west and north to Nanango.

[1] Andrew Horan served the Ipswich parish during a period of rapid immigration to Queensland and extensive agricultural settlement.

All the pastoral runs in the Ipswich parish that had been taken up in the 1840s were subdivided into smaller grazing and agricultural blocks between the 1860s and the early 1900s, populated by small farming communities served by tiny rural towns.

[1] Prior to construction of a Catholic church at Rosevale, Father Horan travelled by horseback or buggy (a journey of about five hours from Ipswich) to conduct mass in the homes of local farmers, including Patrick Quirk, Michael Kelly and Hugh Ahearn.

As the Irish Catholic community at Rosevale became more established, Father Horan encouraged his parishioners to erect a local church.

A block of 11 hectares (26 acres) (portion 79, parish of Rosevale, county of Churchill) selected by William O'Niell in 1878, was acquired in Andrew Horan's name in mid-1888, having cost about £80.

The building was erected by Ipswich contractor John Madden and his son, to plans prepared by Father Horan, and was completed by early November 1889 when church and altar were blessed by Archbishop Robert Dunne, who had replaced Bishop Quinn in 1882 and who in 1887 was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane and head of the Catholic Church in Queensland.

There was a small vestry in the south-west corner of the interior, near the altar, created by timber partitions lower than ceiling height.

The renovations and additions were blessed in January 1922 by Archbishop James Duhig, who as a curate of the Ipswich parish at the turn of the century had conducted mass often at the Rosevale church.

[1] Some small changes to the interior of the church were made in the 1960s following Vatican II, when the communion rail was taken up and stored elsewhere in the building and the decorative timber altar was cut lengthwise in half, so that the front could be moved forward for the priest to stand behind and face the congregation.

[1] The number of local parishioners gradually declined through the twentieth century, but at the time of assessment in 2009, the place was still being maintained by families descended from the original Irish Catholic settlers.

[1] St Patrick's Church and graveyard is located approximately two kilometres north-west of the small township of Rosevale, in a farming district to the south-west of Ipswich.

Built in 1889 at the instigation of the local Catholic community, this small timber building – with gabled roof, porch and simple gothic windows – has changed very little on its exterior.

The gable roof is clad in corrugated iron with the ridge at each end having a simple wooden cross attached to it, one of the few decorative features found on the exterior.

[1] The main northern facade has few decorative features, apart from the small porch addition, which has a single window with a fixed, pointed-arch top light in the centre of its north-facing wall.

The east and west facades are identical, featuring four sets of tall paired casement windows spaced equally along their length.

Beyond this door, the central aisle runs through the nave towards the altar at the far end and is formed by rows of pews placed on either side.

Two small rooms (a vestry and a sacristy) have been enclosed by timber-framed partitions on either side of the altar, with a pointed-arch ceiling spanning between them and forming a canopy above the sanctuary.

Various members of the timber roof trusses project through the lining, including the tie beams and scissor braces.

Framed Stations of the Cross are spaced along the east, north and west walls, each with a small plaque naming the family that donated it.

Made from polished silky oak, intricately carved with floral patterns and religious motifs in relief, the altar was adapted to the liturgical changes brought about by Vatican II in the mid to late 1960s by being cut in two; allowing the priest to face his congregation using the front half shifted forward.

Recent burials are located along the western edge of the graveyard or in reserved family plots, and are usually marked with sandstone or concrete blocks with a granite plaque attached.

The church itself, fronted by sloping grass lawns and set against a dark background of trees, also has picturesque qualities, especially when glimpsed in passing along the Rosewood-Aratula Road.