Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HENNESSY, John
HENNESSY, John. (County of Limerick, Ireland, Aug. 20, 1825-Mar. 4, 1900). The third bishop in Dubuque and the first of Dubuque's ARCHBISHOPS when the area became the ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBUQUE in 1893. Rev. Hennessy became Bishop of Dubuque on April 24, 1866, and was consecrated in Dubuque at SAINT RAPHAEL'S CATHEDRAL September 30, 1866. Bishop Hennessy was elevated to archbishop on September 17, 1898.
An advocate of Catholic education, Hennessy served from 1866 through 1900, a period of strong anti-Catholic feeling in Dubuque and nationwide. Upon his arrival in Dubuque, Hennessy found twenty-seven priests, thirty churches, two schools and seven sisters. By 1891 there were 203 priests, 319 churches, 615 sisters, and over 135 parochial schools attended by 16,257 students. A census bulletin in 1891 showed Dubuque had 303 church organizations and 319 edifices, more than any one archdiocese or diocese in the United States.
In addition to the founding of the Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Archbishop Hennessy had schools and convents established in all the large Iowa cities and founded St. Joseph's College (now LORAS COLLEGE) on September 8, 1873.
