Anthony O'Regan

Anthony O'Regan (27 July 1809 – 13 November 1866) was an Irish Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Chicago from 1854 to 1858.

Biography

Early life Anthony O'Regan was born in Lavalleyroe, County Mayo, and studied at Maynooth College in Maynooth, Ireland.

O'Regan was ordained to the priesthood on 29 November 1834 for the Archdiocese of Tuam in Tuam, Ireland, by Archbishop John MacHale. Following his ordination, MacHale appointed O'Regan as professor of scripture, Hebrew language and dogmatic theology at St. Jarlath's College in Tuam. He was named president of the college in 1844.

In 1849, Archbishop Peter Kenrick of the Archdiocese of St. Louis recruited O'Regan to head the newly established theological seminary in Cardondelet, then a village near St. Louis, Missouri. He received his episcopal consecration on 25 July 1854, from Kenrick, with Bishops James Oliver Van de Velde and John Henni serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. Louis. He soon began construction on a new episcopal residence, completed in 1856. A crash in the Chicago real estate market in 1857 was another stressor for O'Regan.

Unable to cope with the diocese and in declining health, O'Regan traveled to Rome in 1857 to submit his resignation as bishop of Chicago; Pius IX accepted on 25 June 1858, and named him titular bishop of Dora.

Death and legacy O'Regan retired to London, England, where he befriended Cardinals Nicholas Wiseman and Henry Edward Manning. O'Regan died from liver disease on 13 November 1866 at age 57. His funeral mass was celebrated by Archbishop MacHale at Tuam Cathedral, and his remains were buried in Cloonfad, Ireland.