Cornelius O'Brien (4 May 1843 – 9 March 1906) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Roman Catholic priest, archbishop, and author of 39 books.

Life

Born in

New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island New Glasgow is an unincorporated area located in Queens County in the central portion of Prince Edward Island, south-west of North Rustico. It is situated amongst beautiful rolling hills on the Hunter River. New Glasgow has several popular t ...

, the son of Terence O'Brien and Catherine O'Driscoll, O'Brien graduated from

Urban College The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peopl ...

and in 1871 was ordained a priest. In 1882, he was appointed Archbishop of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He followed Michael Hannan in this position. He established a Catholic high school (1888) and Holy Heart Seminary (1896), both in

Halifax Halifax commonly refers to: *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada * Halifax, West Yorkshire, England *Halifax (bank), a British bank Halifax may also refer to: Places Australia *Halifax, Queensland, a coastal town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook *Halifax ...

and helped to found the French-language Collège Sainte Anne (1890) in Pointe-de-l'Église,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. In 1894 he delivered a eulogy for the Rt. Hon. Sir John Thompson, a former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of Nova Scotia and the first Catholic

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as suc ...

. From 1896 to 1897, he was president of the Royal Society of Canada. He died in

on 9 March 1906. He was buried in the

Holy Cross Cemetery, Halifax Holy Cross Cemetery is a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth. It was constructed in 1843 under the direction of Archbishop William Walsh, on land provided by local authoriti ...

Notes

References

* * *
Peter McGuigan, "Saint Mary's University: the Catholic years, 1838-1971" in ''Catholic Insight'' (2005)
1843 births 1906 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada Canadian people of Irish descent People from Queens County, Prince Edward Island Roman Catholic archbishops of Halifax {{Canada-RC-archbishop-stub