Patrick Joseph O'Donnell (28 NovembeIrish6 – 22 November 1927) was an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

prelate who served as

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

from 1924 until his death in 1927. He was made a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 1925.

Early life

Patrick Joseph O'Donnell was born in

Glenties Glenties () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is situated where two glens meet, north-west of the Bluestack Mountains, near the confluence of two rivers. Glenties is the largest centre of population in the parish of Iniskeel. Glenties ha ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

on 28 November 1855, a son of Daniel O'Donnell, a farmer, and his wife, Mary (née Breslin). He was one of nine children in a family that claimed descent from the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell. O'Donnell was ordained a priest on 29 June 1880. He attended Secondary School in

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

, and later studied at the Catholic University of Dublin (1873–75) and at

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

. He was ordained to the priesthood on 29 June 1880. In that same year, he was appointed to the staff of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, holding the chairs of Dogmatic and Moral Theology. In 1884, he became dean of the revived post-graduate Dunboyne Institute and in 1885 was awarded a

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, being the ecclesiastical equ ...

. From his desk in Maynooth, he poured out a continuous stream of articles on moral theology and canon law.

Church leadership

He was appointed

Bishop of Raphoe The Bishop of Raphoe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bi ...

on 26 February 1888, making him the youngest bishop in the world at the time and was consecrated by

Michael Logue Michael Cardinal Logue (1 October 1840 – 19 November 1924) was an Irish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland from 1887 until his death in 1924. He was appointed a cardinal in 1893. Early ...

on 3 April 1888 in

. O'Donnell undertook, and completed, a prodigious building project in his diocese - the superbly-sited neo-Gothic (with Romanesque details)

Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba St Eunan's Cathedral ( ), or the Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba as it is also known, is a cathedral in the parish of Conwal and Leck, part of the Diocese of Raphoe. Built between the years of 1890 and 1900, the cathedral is found in Lette ...

, overlooked by a house for bishop and clergy (1891–1901); St Eunan's Diocesan College (1906); the Presentation Monastery and Loreto schools and an extension to Loreto Convent, all in Letterkenny. He was appointed

coadjutor The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadjutor bishop ...

Archbishop of Armagh on 14 January 1922 and succeeded Cardinal

on 19 November 1924. On 14 December 1925,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

made O'Donnell a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Final years

Cardinal O'Donnell died on 22 October 1927 in

Carlingford, County Louth Carlingford (; ) is a coastal town and civil parish in northern County Louth, Ireland. For the purposes of local government, the town is part of the Dundalk Municipal District. It is situated on the southern shore of Carlingford Lough with S ...

Legacy

St Connell's Museum in his home town of

has a display about his life.

References

Sources

* ''Seventy Years Young, Memoires of Elizabeth, Countess of Fingall'', by Elizabeth Burke Plunkett, Lady Fingall. First published by Collins of London in 1937; 1991 edition published by The Lilliput Press, Dublin 7, Ireland .Elizabeth Burke Plunkett, a Burke from Moycullen, County Galway, who married the 11th Earl of Fingall, should not be confused with Elizabeth O'Donnell, 1st Countess of Fingal (see page 226 for reference to Cardinal O'Donnell)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Patrick 1855 births 1927 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of University College Dublin Irish cardinals

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

People associated with St Eunan's College People from Glenties Roman Catholic archbishops of Armagh Roman Catholic bishops of Raphoe 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Donegal Bishops appointed by Pope Leo XIII