Patrick Feehan

Who was Patrick Feehan?

Patrick Augustine Feehan, was an Irish Born, U.S. Catholic bishop. He served as the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of Chicago between 1880 and 1902, during which the church in Chicago was elevated to an archdiocese. Prior to moving to Chicago, Feehan served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Nashville. Feehan was ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1852. He was appointed Bishop of Nashville on June 7, 1865 and he was ordained bishop on November 12, 1865. On September 10, 1880, he was appointed to the Chicago Diocese.

Patrick Augustine Feehan was born in Killenaulee, County Tipperary, in Ireland, aged 16 he went to study at Castleknock College as an ecclesiastic student, where he befriended Charles Russell, in January 1947 he entered Maynooth College where he spent five years. In 1852 he left for the United States, his family had emigrated there two years earlier.