St. John O'Sullivan

St. John O'Sullivan (pronounced "sin-jin") (1874 –1933) was a Catholic priest who personally undertook the restoration of the old Mission San Juan Capistrano in California.

Early life O'Sullivan was born in Louisville, Kentucky on March 19, 1874. He then attended the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. While at the university, he became determined to become a priest, and was accepted by his home Diocese of Louisville. He enrolled in Saint Bernard's Seminary in Rochester, New York, to do his theological studies, graduating in 1904, when he was ordained by the Bishop of Louisville, William George McCloskey. The pastor suggested that O'Sullivan might find the abandoned Mission San Juan Capistrano in California might provide him a place for him to exercise his ministry in a manner compatible with his health. O'Sullivan traveled to the Mission, where he fell in love with the site. The O'Neill Museum was created at the Mission and serves headquarters of the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society and the repository of all its archives.