Bishop Denis J. O'Connell
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The Right Reverend Denis Joseph O'Connell |
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| Bishop Emeritus of Richmond | |
A photograph of O'Connell taken during his tenure as rector of the American College (1885–1895)
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| Province | Baltimore |
| See | Richmond |
| Installed | March 19, 1912 |
| Term ended | January 15, 1926 |
| Predecessor | Augustine Van de Vyver |
| Successor | Andrew James Louis Brennan |
| Other posts | Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco (1907–12) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 26, 1877 by Bishop James Gibbons |
| Consecration | May 3, 1908 by Cardinal James Gibbons |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 28, 1849 Donoughmore, County Cork, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Died | January 1, 1927 (aged 77) Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| Buried |
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| Nationality | British until c. 1860, then American |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | Michael O'Connell & Bridget O'Connell |
| Alma mater | Pontifical North American College |
Denis Joseph O'Connell (January 28, 1849 – January 1, 1927) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia.
O'Connell was born in Donoughmore, County Cork, then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the son of Michael O'Connell and his wife Bridget, née O'Connell. His family soon emigrated to the United States and settled in South Carolina, where his father's two brothers, Jeremiah and Joseph, were serving as missionary priests.
As a young man, O'Connell felt called to be a priest and entered St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Maryland in 1868. He came to the attention of James Gibbons, who was then Apostolic Vicar for the State of North Carolina. In part due to the influence of his uncles, in 1871 he was sent to Rome to study at the North American College. "So brilliant was the young man that at his examination for the degree of Doctor of Divinity the cardinal prefect and examining professors accorded it to him by acclamation instead of by the usual method of balloting." O'Connell was ordained in Rome on May 26, 1877 by Cardinal Raffaele Monaco La Valletta.
When Gibbons was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore, he sent Father O'Connell back to Rome in November as his procurator to accept the bishop's pallium. In the two months he was there O'Connell closely observed how the Curia functioned. In 1885 O'Connell (now a monsignor) was appointed rector of his alma mater in Rome, a position he held until 1895. As rector of the North American College, O'Connell was the unofficial Roman contact for the American bishops. Upon his return to Richmond, he was assigned to St. Peter's Church.
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