Eugene O'Connell (June 18, 1815 – December 14, 1891) was the first

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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Grass Valley, California. Born in County Cavan, Ireland, O'Connell sailed to San Francisco upon the request of Bishop Alemany for priests to serve in the diocese of Monterey. O'Connell was rector of the diocesan seminary, and later appointed to the Vicariate of Marysville, up in the gold fields. The Diocese of Grass Valley later became the

Diocese of Sacramento The Diocese of Sacramento is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. The diocese's see is Sacramento, it is led by a bishop who pastors the mother church of ...

Early life

O'Connell was born June 15, 1815, the eldest of four children, in the parish of

Kingscourt Kingscourt, historically known as Dunaree (), is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It is located near the Cavan–Meath border. The town was founded near the site of the old village of Cabra, by Mervyn Pratt, towards the end of the 18th century ...

, County Cavan. He studied at the diocesan seminary, St. Finian's College in Navan, then at

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 ...

, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 21, 1842. O'Connell taught at the seminary in Navan from 1843 to 1846. O'Connell then moved to

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 down, due to decreasing student numbers. The sale o ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. During this time, he witnessed the terrible famine years of 1845-1848 in Ireland.

California

In August 1850,

Joseph Sadoc Alemany Joseph Sadoc Alemany y Conill, O.P. ( Spanish: José Sadoc Alemany y Conill; July 3, 1814 – April 14, 1888) was a Spanish Catholic clergyman, who served most of his career in California. He served as the first Bishop of Monterey (1850–53) ...

, Bishop of Monterey, California stopped by All Hallows on his way back from Rome, looking to recruit priests for his new diocese. O'Connell agreed to serve three years. He arrived in San Francisco on July 1, 1851 and was appointed pastor of Mission Santa Inez, where he was also director of the diocesan seminary.Meehan, Thomas. "San Francisco." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 3 February 2019 O'Connell had to learn Spanish to serve the parishioners and teach the seminarians.Boll, John E., "Bishop Eugene O'Connell", Sacramento Diocesan Archives
/ref> In November 1852, O'Connell was assigned to the Church of St. Francis on Vallejo Street in San Francisco. In September 1853, he was named pastor of Mission Delores. There he served as rector and professor of the Diocesan Seminary of St. Thomas Acquinas. The following year Father O'Connell was recalled to All Hallows College in Ireland. He left San Francisco in May 1854 and was appointed Dean of All Hallows. On September 26, 1860 Pope Pius IX appointed O'Connell was

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

of the newly established Vicariate Apostolic of Marysville. He journeyed to Rome to ask to be relieved of the appointment. When Pope Pius IX declined, O'Connell responded, "“You mean I am condemned to the mines.”Dwyer, John. "Homily on the occasion of Bishop O'Connell's re-burial in Sacramento", May 31, 1982, Sacramento Diocesan Archives
/ref> He was consecrated titular Bishop of Flaviopolis, and Vicar Apostolic of Marysville, 3 Feb., 1861, at All Hallows College, by Cardinal Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin. O'Connell reached Marysville 8 June, and was inducted on the following day at St. Joseph's Pro-cathedral by Archbishop Alemany.

Bishop of Grass Valley

In 1868 the vicariate was erected into the

Diocese of Grass Valley The Diocese of Grass Valley ( la, Dioecesis Vallispratensis) now a titular see, was formerly a residential diocese of the Catholic Church located in northeastern California, United States. The diocese also included most of Nevada, and, early in its ...

and Bishop O'Connell was transferred to this title 3 Feb. of that year. Located in northeastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, the diocese also included most of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and, early in its history,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

and part of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. St. Joseph Church in Marysville served as the pro-cathedral of the vicarate. While the diocese was erected in Grass Valley, O'Connell chose to live in Marysville. He recruited a number of priests to serve in his diocese from All Hallows in Dublin. He served as a

Council Father An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christianity, Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitl ...

to the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth e ...

convoked by Pope Pius IX. He also attended the

Third Plenary Council of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of Catholic bishops in the United States in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. During the early history of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States all of the diocese ...

in 1884. He was instrumental in choosing then

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

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 ...

to start a ministry in the

Nevada Territory The Territory of Nevada (N.T.) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until October 31, 1864, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Nevada. Prior to the creation of the Nevada ...

. Along with Manogue, O'Connell encouraged the Daughters of Charity to help in Nevada. He dedicated Saint Mary in the Mountains Catholic Church in 1864. In 1881, Minogue became his coadjutor.

Final years

O'Connell retired on March 17, 1884. On that date, he was appointed as

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of Ioppe. He died in Los Angeles, California, on December 4, 1891. The remains of Eugene O'Connell were moved from Los Angeles to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

over a hundred years after his death.

References

External links

Stoltz, Eric. "The Forgotten Diocese and the Spurned Cathedral", Cathedrals of California, January 31st, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Eugene 1815 births 1891 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic bishops of Grass Valley 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States First Vatican Council Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth People from Marysville, California People educated at St Finian's College