In 1845 three Presentation Brothers from Ireland arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to establish a congregation at the invitation of Bishop Michael O'Connor, a native of Cobh.

Three years later, at 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 2nd 1848, an incredible tragedy struck. Francis Ryan, one of the original three from Ireland, and Paul Carey who had joined the Congregation in America shortly after it was established, were fatally struck by lightning as they were caught in a sudden thunderstorm on their way home from teaching Sunday school at the church. The tragedy resulted in the discontinuation of the congregation in Pittsburgh.

Nearly a century would pass before the Brothers would assemble in the United States again. In 1947, the Canadian Brothers established a community in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; 1972, Marshall, Missouri; 1976, Springfield, Missouri; 1984, Mesa, Arizona; 1989, Kissimmee, Florida; and 1997, Knoxville, Tennessee.