John Walsh (bishop)
His Grace John Walsh | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Toronto | |
 | |
| Diocese | Archdiocese of Toronto |
| Installed | 25 July 1889 |
| Term ended | 30 July 1898 |
| Predecessor | John Joseph Lynch |
| Successor | Denis T. O'Connor |
| Other post(s) | Bishop of London, Ontario |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1 November 1854 by Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel |
| Consecration | 10 November 1867 by Charles-François Baillargeon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 24, 1830 |
| Died | July 30, 1898 (aged 68) Toronto, Ontario |
| Buried | St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto, Ontario |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
John Walsh (24 May 1830 – 30 July 1898) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, Canada from 1889 to 1898.
Early years[edit]
Born in Mooncoin, County Kilkenny, Ireland, Walsh was educated at St. John's College, Waterford before he to Canada in 1852 to complete his studies at the Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Montreal, Lower Canada. He was ordained a priest of Toronto, Upper Canada in 1854 by then Bishop of Toronto Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel,[1] at St. Michael's Cathedral. On his way to Toronto, in the summer of 1854, Walsh came down cholera, which permanently undermined his health.
Father Walsh served as pastor at Brock. In April 1857 he was made parish priest of St Mary’s in Toronto, a parish established by Irish immigrants in 1852. A year later, he went to St. Paul's. In 1860, Walsh was made rector of the Cathedral, but chose to resign the position in 1861 and resume his former place at St. Mary's, while from April 1862 he also served as Vicar General of the Archdiocese.[1] In 1864, he was sent to Rome on business, toured Europe, and spent some time in Ireland.
He was consecrated as Bishop of Sandwich, Ontario in November 1867, and two years later returned the seat of the See to its previous site of London, Ontario and procured from Rome a decree making London once more the name of the diocese.[2] He served as Bishop of London, Ontario until 1889, when he was translated to the see of Toronto. Having paid off the diocese's considerable debt, Walsh the undertook the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, designed by Joseph Connolly[3]
In August 1889 Bishop Walsh was appointed Archbishop of Toronto, and installed on 27 Nov 1889. During his tenure he established the Sacred Heart Orphanage at Sunnyside, and St. John's Industrial School for Boys,[4] and purchased land for the establishment of Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery, as St. Michael's was near capacity.[5] Walsh also invited French Canadian clergy from Quebec to staff the French-speaking parishes in Kent and Essex counties.
In 1894, the Archbishop secured a $40,000 (the equivalent of $1.48 million in 2024) gift from Catholic railway magnate Hugh Ryan to build a three-storey surgical wing for St Michael's Hospital, Toronto.[6][7] The expansion put the hospital on the path to becoming one of Canada's preeminent teaching University, with its state-of-the-art operating theatre designed to accommodate fifty medical students.[6]
Walsh died in Toronto in 1898 and is buried at St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto.
Further reading[edit]
- John P. Comiskey. My Heart's Best Wishes for You: A biography of Archbishop John Walsh (MQUP 2012)
References[edit]
- ^ a b Power, Michael. “Walsh, John”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003
- ^ Meehan, Thomas. "London (Ontario)." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 17 February 2019
- ^ "History", St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica
- ^ ""Most Reverend John Walsh", Archdiocese of Toronto". Archived from the original on 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
- ^ "Mount Hope Cemetery 1898", Toronto's Historical Plaques
- ^ a b McDonald, C.S.J., Irene (1992). For the Least of My Brethren: A Centenary History of St Michael's Hospital (PDF). Toronto, Canada: Toronto and Oxford Dundurn Press. pp. 30–114. ISBN 1-55002-181-8
- ^ "Hugh Ryan, Obituary". The Ottawa Journal. 13 February 1899. p. 1.
External links[edit]
- Catholic-Hierarchy
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto Archived 2020-02-27 at the Wayback Machine
| Bishops of Toronto |  | |
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| Archbishops of Toronto | ||
| Auxiliary bishops, current | ||
| Auxiliary bishops, former | ||
| Bishops who served as priests in the Archdiocese | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1830 births
- 1898 deaths
- 19th-century Irish people
- Alumni of St John's College, Waterford
- 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada
- Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto
- Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario
- People from Mooncoin
- Burials at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica (Toronto)
- Roman Catholic bishops of London, Ontario
- Christian clergy from County Kilkenny