Peter Christopher Yorke (13 August 1864 – 4 April 1925) was an American
Irish Catholic priest and an
Irish Republican
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The develop ...
and
Labor activist in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
Early life
Born on
Galway's Long Walk on 13 August 1864, he was the youngest child of Gregory Yorke, a sea captain, and his wife, Bridget, née Kelly. Gregory Yorke died six months before Peter was born.
The Yorke family were originally from
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
, where the name was spelled Jorke. Peter Yorke's grandfather, Christopher Yorke, came to Galway in the early 19th century, building lighthouses and breakwaters in Galway, Aran and Westport.
Priesthood
In 1882, after initially schooling at
Coláiste Iognáid
Coláiste Iognáid SJ ( en, link=yes, Ignatius College), a bilingual secondary school, is located on Sea Road in Galway, Ireland. It was founded in 1645 and has had numerous locations over the years before its current home. The college is a co- ...
Galway,
Yorke then graduated from
St. Jarlath's College
St Jarlath's College () is a Catholic secondary school for young men in Tuam, County Galway. The college was founded in 1800 and in 2009 absorbed St. Patrick's College, Tuam. The College, which operates under patronage of the Archbishop of Tu ...
in
Tuam. He then went to
St. Patrick's College, Maynooth
St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland ...
, where he studied for four years before being adopted by the
Archdiocese of San Francisco. He was ordained in 1887. He was pastor of St. Peter's in 1914.
In San Francisco, he became the editor of ''The Monitor'', the official newspaper of the archdiocese. In 1901, he supported the workers in a
Teamsters strike. In 1902, he founded and edited a local newspaper called ''The Leader''.
Yorke was the author of the best-selling textbook ''The Ghosts of Bigotry'', originally republished in San Francisco 1913 from new plates, the originals having been destroyed in the
earthquake and fire of 1906. It was the genesis work of the
Catholic Truth Society, in response to an anti-Catholic literary campaign by the American Protestant Association, and a frank account of the "Black Myths" of English Protestant opposition to the Roman Catholic Church from the reign of
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
through to
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
and the
Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851
The Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851 was an Act of the British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at ...
in the 19th century. Its concluding chapter sets the scene of Catholic resurgence in the USA. The publisher was the Text Book Publishing Company, 641 Stevenson Street.
Legacy
Yorke is buried at
Holy Cross Cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery may refer to:
United States
California
*Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California)
*Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California
* Holy Cross Cemetery (Menlo Park, California)
* Holy Cross Cemetery (Pomona, California)
*Holy C ...
in
Colma, California.
Every Palm Sunday the United Irish Societies of San Francisco hold a memorial celebration of Peter Yorke at Holy Cross Cemetery. Following the Palm Sunday Mass at All Saints Chapel, there is a short procession to his graveside. There poems, music and speeches celebrate his life.
A short street called Peter Yorke Way in San Francisco, which runs from the junction of Geary Boulevard and Gough Street to Post Street, is named after him. The headquarters of the archdiocese is located at 1 Peter Yorke Way.
References
* Joseph S. Brusher, Consecrated Thunderbolt: Father Yorke of San Francisco (Hawthorne, New Jersey: Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., 1973)
*Sr. Mary Camilla Fitzmaurice, Historical Development of the Educational Thought of the Reverend Peter C. Yorke, 1893–1925 (1963)
*James P. Walsh, Ethnic Militancy: An Irish Catholic Prototype (San Francisco: R and E Research Associates, 1972)
*Priscilla F. Knuth, Nativism in California, 1886–1897.
God give us men
External links
YouTube links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, Peter
1864 births
1925 deaths
19th-century Irish people
People from Galway (city)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco
Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth
Irish humanitarians
Irish revolutionaries
19th-century American Roman Catholic priests