Daniel O'Sullivan (19 March 1846 – 3 February 1928) was an Irish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and theologian.

Personal life and education

Daniel O'Sullivan was born on March 19, 1846, in

Listowel Listowel ( ; , ) is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,794 according to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the third large ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland, the fourth child of Eugene Owen O’Sullivan and Margaret Nolan. He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the All Hallows Major Seminary in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and was ordained on June 24, 1871, in All Hallows Chapel by Bishop William Whelan, O.C.D., who from 1848 to 1850 was Vicar Apostolic of Bombay. Daniel O'Sullivan died on February 3, 1928, and was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, where a large monument stands in his memory.

Priesthood

In August 1871, O'Sullivan moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was pastor of the Saint Joseph Church in Crescent City from 1871 to 1872 and founding pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Smartsville from 1872 to 1878. Dr Hugh Quigley wrote of O'Sullivan in 1878: "He is a gentleman of fine parts, and highly accomplished as a theologian, especially in that department of the sacred science which treats of Rubricks, or ceremonials. No small distinction for a young man." In 1878, he moved to St. Mary's in the Mountains Catholic Church in Virginia City, where he was an assistant until 1881 when the first pastor of St. Mary's,

Patrick Manogue Patrick Manogue (May 28, 1831 – February 27, 1895) was an Irish-born prelate of the Catholic Church in America. He served as the founding bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento in California from 1886 until his death in 1895. He previously ser ...

, was appointed Bishop of Grass Valley and O'Sullivan was appointed the second pastor. From 1881 to 1883, he was pastor of the church and Vicar General for Northern Nevada. From 1883 to 1887, he was pastor of the St. Anthony's of Mendocino Church in Mendocino. On May 7, 1886, he became a United States citizen by decree of Mendocino County Superior Court. On May 28, 1886, the Vatican merged the Diocese of Grass Valley into the newly erected Diocese of Sacramento and all the coastal parishes as far north as Fort Bragg into the

Archdiocese of San Francisco The Archdiocese of San Francisco (Latin: ''Archdiœcesis Sancti Francisci''; Spanish: ''Arquidiócesis de San Francisco'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the Unit ...

. O'Sullivan thus became a priest of this archdiocese. From 1887 to 1896, he was the founding pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 according to the 2020 census. The Port of Redwo ...

. He was appointed pastor of the

Mission San José Mission San José may refer to: *Mission San José (California), a Spanish mission in Fremont, California *Mission San Jose, Fremont, California, a neighborhood *Mission San Jose High School, a high school in Fremont, California *Mission San José ( ...

on June 15, 1896. From 1898 to 1928, he was pastor of the All Hallows Chapel in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OSullivan, Daniel 1846 births 1928 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 19th-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests People from Listowel, County Kerry