Cornelius O'Brien (4 May 1843 – 9 March 1906) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Roman Catholic priest, archbishop, and author of 39 books.

Life

Born in

New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island New Glasgow is an unincorporated area located in Queens County in the central portion of Prince Edward Island, south-west of North Rustico. It is situated amongst beautiful rolling hills on the Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter ...

, the son of Terence O'Brien and Catherine O'Driscoll, O'Brien graduated from Urban College and in 1871 was ordained a priest. In 1882, he was appointed Archbishop of Halifax, Nova Scotia. He followed Michael Hannan in this position. He established a Catholic high school (1888) and Holy Heart Seminary (1896), both in Halifax and helped to found the French-language Collège Sainte Anne (1890) in Pointe-de-l'Église,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. In 1894 he delivered a eulogy for the Rt. Hon. Sir John Thompson, a former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of Nova Scotia and the first Catholic

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

. From 1896 to 1897, he was president of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

. He died in Halifax on 9 March 1906. He was buried in the

Holy Cross Cemetery, Halifax Holy Cross Cemetery is a cemetery in City of Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia, owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth. It was constructed in 1843 under the direction of William Walsh (archbishop of Halifax), Archbis ...

Notes

References

* * *
Peter McGuigan, "Saint Mary's University: the Catholic years, 1838-1971" in ''Catholic Insight'' (2005)
1843 births 1906 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada Canadian people of Irish descent People from Queens County, Prince Edward Island Roman Catholic archbishops of Halifax {{Canada-RC-archbishop-stub