Eugene O'Connell

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Styles of
Eugene O'Connell
Mitre (plain).svg
Reference style The Most Reverend
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Monsignor
Posthumous style not applicable

Eugene O'Connell (June 18, 1815 – December 14, 1891) was the first Roman Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grass Valley, California.[1]

Early pastoral appointments

O'Connell studied at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and was ordained to the priesthood on May 21, 1842. O'Connell, who had been a seminary professor in All Hallows College, Dublin, Ireland,[2] was named Vicar Apostolic of Marysville, California and titular bishop of Flaviopolis on September 26, 1860 by Pope Pius IX.

Episcopal appointment

O'Connell was ordained as a bishop on February 3, 1861 by Cardinal Paul Cullen.[3] On February 3, 1868, O'Connell was named the first bishop of the Grass Valley Diocese. While the diocese was erected in Grass Valley, O'Connell chose to live in Marysville.[4] He served as a Council Father to the First Vatican Council convoked by Pope Pius IX. He was instrumental in choosing then Father Patrick Manogue to start a ministry in the Nevada Territory.[5] Along with Manogue, O'Connell encouraged the Daughters of Charity to help in Nevada.[6] He dedicated Saint Mary in the Mountains Catholic Church in 1864.[7]

Final years

O'Connell resigned on March 17, 1884.[8] On that date, he was appointed as titular bishop of Ioppe.[9] He died in Los Angeles, California on December 4, 1891.[10]

The remains of Eugene O'Connell were moved from Los Angeles to Sacramento over a hundred years after his death.[11]

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by — TITULAR —
Archbishop of Flaviopolis
28 September 1860 - 3 March 1868
Succeeded by
François Laouënan
New creation Vicar Apostolic of Marysville
28 September 1860 - 3 March 1868
Vicariate elevated to diocese
New creation Bishop of Grass Valley
3 March 1868 - 29 February 1884
Succeeded by
Patrick Manogue

Notes