Connolly, Thomas Louis
CONNOLLY, THOMAS LOUIS
Archbishop; b. County Cork, Ireland, 1815; d. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, July 27, 1876. He was educated for the priesthood at Rome, where he entered the Capuchin Order, and was ordained at Lyons, France. After serving for several years in Ireland he immigrated to Nova Scotia (1842) as secretary to Bp. (later Abp.) William Walsh. In 1845 he was appointed vicar-general of the diocese of Halifax. He was consecrated 12th bishop of St. John's, New Brunswick, Aug. 15, 1852. There he founded (1854) a community of Sisters of Charity to whose care he entrusted an orphanage. He began to build a cathedral there but was transferred to the see of Halifax (1859), becoming its second archbishop. His chief work was along charitable and educational lines, but his influence was also great against the secret revolutionary Fenian movement that sought to achieve Irish separation from England. He showed remarkable tact in dealing with the Protestant elements, especially at Halifax. He figured prominently in vatican council i, where he aligned himself with Abp. Peter R. Kenrick of St. Louis, Missouri, and the minority group on the question of papal infal libility. Upon the definition of infallibility, he immediately submitted to the Holy See. He was also influential in Nova Scotia's entry into the Canadian Confederation.
Bibliography: n. f. davin, The Irishman in Canada (Toronto 1877).
[j. t. flynn]