Bernard O'Reilly (1 March 1803 – after 23 January 1856) was an Irish-born

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

prelate. Known for his service during the 1832

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreak in New York, he later served as Bishop of Hartford from 1850 until his death in 1856.

Biography

Early life

Bernard O'Reilly was born on 1 March 1803 in Columcille,

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

, in Ireland. His brother was Reverend William O'Reilly, who eventually became

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Diocese of Hartford. Bernard O'Reilly embarked for the United States in January 1825, planning to study there for the priesthood. He attended the Seminary of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, before completing his

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

studies at St. Mary's Seminary in

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, Maryland.Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor,
The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.
' (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.392.

Priesthood

O'Reilly was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest for the Diocese of New York in Philadelphia by Bishop Francis Kenrick on 13 October 1831. After his ordination, the diocese assigned O'Reilly to the pastoral staff at St. James Parish in Brooklyn, New York. During the

cholera epidemic Seven cholera pandemics have occurred in the past 200 years, with the first pandemic originating in India in 1817. The seventh cholera pandemic is officially a current pandemic and has been ongoing since 1961, according to a World Health Organi ...

in New York during the summer of 1832, O'Reilly distinguished himself caring for the sick; he contracted the disease twice. The diocese in December 1832 transferred O'Reilly to serve as pastor at St. Patrick Parish in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, then the only Catholic parish in that city. Under O'Reilly's direction, the parishioners purchased a larger Methodist church to replace their current one. In 1834, O'Reilly was sent to a new Catholic parish in Rochester, St. Mary's Church of the Assumption. However, a financial collapse in Rochester forced the closure of St. Mary's later in 1834 and O'Reilly returned to St. Patrick. One night in December 1839, O'Reilly was attacked while sleeping by a priest he had suspended. O'Reilly was injured, but was sufficiently recovered to deliver a speech on

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

in February 1840 O'Reilly in 1847 traveled to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to serve as executor of his brother's substantial estate. While there, he ministered to

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

troops fighting in the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

. In 1847, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Buffalo, which included the Rochester area. O'Reilly was now incardinated, or transferred, to the new diocese. The first bishop of Buffalo, John Timon, named O'Reilly as his

. His duties included the supervision of the diocesan seminary in Buffalo.

Bishop of Hartford

On 9 August 1850, O'Reilly was appointed the second bishop of Hartford by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 November 1850 from Timon, with Bishops

John McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as the first American-born Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his ...

and John Fitzpatrick serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

, at St. Patrick Church in Rochester. One of O'Reilly's battles was with anti-Catholic prejudice. In May 1851, the commandant of Fort Columbus in

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

ordered the jailing of 21 Catholic soldiers for refusing to attend

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

religious services. He tried one of the soldiers, who was found guilty and sentenced to the stockade for two months. In response, O'Reilly wrote a fiery letter denouncing the action to the ''Boston Pilot'' newspaper in Boston. He signed the letter with the pseudonym "

Roger Williams Roger Williams (March 1683) was an English-born New England minister, theologian, author, and founder of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Pl ...

". Williams was the Protestant founder of the Providence Plantations in 1636 and a champion of

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

. The War Department of the US Government in Washington D.C. overturned the soldier's conviction in July 1851. During the 1850s, there were few American priests and religious sisters in New England to serve the growing Irish Catholic immigrant populations. As a result, bishops were forced to recruit them from other American states and from Ireland. In 1851, O'Reilly persuaded the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

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, to send a contingent of religious sisters to Providence. They started teaching

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

and recruiting other sisters. They then began providing food to the poor and took over the school at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. Also in 1851, the sisters, with O'Reilly's help, opened the first Catholic orphanage in Rhode Island, the second in the entire New England region. Two other orphanages would open during O'Reilly's tenure as bishop. In 1852, during a trip to Ireland, O'Reilly convinced several newly graduated priests from

All Hallows College All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing because of declining student enrollment. The sale ...

in Dublin to come to the United States. He also recruited Reverend Thomas Hendricken from St. Patrick's College in Maynooth, Ireland, a future bishop of the Diocese of Providence. The Sisters of Mercy also established convents in Hartford and

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. O'Reilly attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852. After the end of the council, he traveled to Washington for a meeting with US President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

. Throughout the 1850s, there was extensive prejudice against Catholics and Irish immigrants in New England. During their travels throughout Providence, the sisters frequently became targets of taunts and insults. At one point in 1855, a mob marched on the Sisters of Mercy convent in that city. When they arrived at the convent, they found it being guarded by O'Reilly and a group of young Irish men. He told the mob, "The sisters are in their home. They shall not leave it for an hour. I shall protect them while I have life, and if needs be, register their safety with my blood." At this point, the mob dispersed.

Death

O'Reilly visited Europe to recruit more priests in December 1855. After stopping in Ireland to visit his parents, O'Reilly boarded the SS ''Pacific'' in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

, on 23 January 1856 for the voyage home. The ''Pacific'' never arrived in New York; the speculation then was that the ship hit an

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

and sank off the coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Bernard 1803 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Irish expatriate Roman Catholic bishops Christian clergy from County Longford St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni Irish emigrants to the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Hartford People lost at sea