Denis O'Donaghue (November 30, 1848 – November 7, 1925) was an American prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as Bishop of Louisville from 1910 to 1924.

Biography

Early life

O'Donaghue was born on a farm in Daviess County,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, to Irish immigrants James and Mary (née Toomey) O'Donaghue. Five of his sisters became religious sisters, and one brother also became a priest. He attended Saint Meinrad Seminary for a year before transferring to Saint Thomas Seminary in Bardstown,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. In 1871 he entered the

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, where he completed his theological studies.

Priesthood

O'Donaghue was ordained a priest on September 6, 1874 by Bishop

Jacques-Maurice De Saint Palais Jacques-Maurice des Landes d’Aussac de Saint Palais (November 15, 1811 – June 28, 1877) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Bishop of Vincennes, from 1848 until his death. Biography De Saint Palais ...

. His first assignment was as assistant pastor to Rev. Augustus Bessonies at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. In 1878, when

Silas Chatard Silas Francis Marean Chatard (December 13, 1834 – September 7, 1918) was a Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indianapolis in the United States. Life He was born Silas Francis Marean Cha ...

became Bishop of Vincennes (renamed the Diocese of Indianapolis in 1898), he named O'Donaghue as chancellor of the diocese. He retained his duties at St. John's until February 1885, when he became pastor of St. Patrick Church in the same city and held that position for 25 years (until he went to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

). He was also named

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of the diocese in March 1899.

Episcopal ministry

On February 13, 1900, O'Donaghue was appointed auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of ''Pomaria'' by

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. He was the first auxiliary bishop in the entire state of Indiana. He received his episcopal consecration on the following April 25 from Archbishop

William Henry Elder William Henry Elder (March 22, 1819 – October 31, 1904) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi from 1857 to 1880 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in Ohio b ...

, with Bishops

John Samuel Foley John Samuel Foley (November 5, 1833 – January 5, 1918) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Detroit from 1888 until his death in 1918. Biography John Foley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Matt ...

and

Thomas Sebastian Byrne Thomas Sebastian Byrne (July 28, 1841 – September 4, 1923) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Nashville in Tennessee from 1894 until his death in 1923. Biography Early life Thomas Byrne ...

serving as co-consecrators, at St. John's Church in Indianapolis. O'Donaghue was named the fifth Bishop of Louisville,

, on February 7, 1910. He succeeded the late Bishop William George McCloskey, at whose funeral O'Donaghue had preached the previous September. Over the next 14 years, he guided the Catholics of central Kentucky through difficulties like

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and the

1918 influenza pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

. He closed the diocese's churches during the pandemic, saying "the civil laws of the community always take precedence over the laws of the church" and adding "I think it was a good thing and the only thing to do." For his efforts and those of the religious sisters and

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in Louisville during the pandemic, General

Fred Thaddeus Austin Fred Thaddeus Austin (December 28, 1866 – February 26, 1938) was an American military officer who attained the rank of major general as the United States Army's Chief of Field Artillery.Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ''Who Was Who in American History, ...

of Camp Zachary Taylor wrote him a public letter of gratitude. Given his advanced age and ill health, O'Donaghue requested a coadjutor bishop to succeed him, and received 36-year-old John A. Floersh in February 1923. He subsequently resigned as Bishop of Louisville on July 26, 1924, at which time he was also named titular bishop of ''Lesvi''. He celebrated the golden jubilee of his priestly ordination the following September and the silver jubilee of his episcopal consecration in February 1925. O'Donaghue died in Louisville on November 7, 1925, at age 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonaghue, Denis 1848 births 1925 deaths People from Daviess County, Indiana Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Indiana Catholics from Indiana Grand Séminaire de Montréal alumni Burials at St. Louis Cemetery, Louisville