Bernard Donnelly (29 June 1810 – 15 December 1880) was an Irish Catholic priest who ministered to the Catholic community in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in the nineteenth century; he was also the founder of Kansas City's Irish community. The Irish immigrants he brought with him to Kansas City helped carve out many of the city's

River Market The River Market (formerly known as Westport Landing, the City Market, and River Quay) is a riverfront neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri that comprises the first and oldest incorporated district in Kansas City. It stre ...

and

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

streets from the bluffs of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

. Fr. Donnelly's brickworks was responsible for the construction of several historic Downtown Kansas City Catholic churches including the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and Old St. Patrick's.

Biography

Bernard Donnelly was born in Kilnacreeva,

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1810. He was educated in Cavan and

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

as an engineer and earned his first job helping to build the

docks The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engli ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the 1820s and 1830s. While in Liverpool, Donnelly met Fr. Theobald Matthew (1790-1856) a noted temperance reformer who mentored Donnelly as a public organizer and speaker. Donnelly immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the late 1830s, first settling in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

where he worked as a teacher. In 1840 Donnelly enrolled in St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary with the intention of serving as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest for the Irish community in the United States. Fr. Donnelly was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1845 by

Peter Richard Kenrick Peter Richard Kenrick (August 17, 1806 – March 4, 1896) was an Irish Catholic priest who served as Bishop of St. Louis from 1843 to 1895. The see was made an archdiocese in 1847, when he was called as the first archbishop west of the Mississi ...

, (1806–1896)

Archbishop of St. Louis The Archdiocese of St. Louis () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of November 2024, the archdiocese is led by Archbishop Mitchell Thomas Rozan ...

. He was assigned to St. Mary's Parish in

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

where he earned the nickname "the

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

Priest". He also served as a priest to the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

community living at the confluence of the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and

rivers established by

François Chouteau François Gesseau Chouteau (February 7, 1797 – April 18, 1838) was a French-American pioneer fur trader and entrepreneur from the prominent Chouteau fur-trading family. He is widely regarded as the "Father of Kansas City". Chouteau was born i ...

(1797–1838) in 1821. Their parish, St. John Francis Regis, was founded as a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

church in 1835. When the City of Kansas City, Missouri was incorporated in 1853 Fr. Donnelly was one of the early proponents of local development. He organized a group of 300 Irish immigrants, mostly from the counties of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

to come to Kansas City and begin the process of carving through the bluffs of the

that were a barrier between the town's original plot and the river landings in the West and East Bottoms. Among the early ecclesiastical buildings that Fr. Donnelly constructed was a new brick Church of the Immaculate Conception built on the site of the old Church of St. John Francis Regis. To serve these Irish immigrants Fr. Donnelly was given permission to establish a new parish in Kansas City called St. Patrick's in 1869 next to which Fr. Donnelly established a brickworks that became central to the construction of many of the original buildings of the new city. In 1872 due to structural problems the original St. Patrick's Church had to be demolished and a new church located at the intersection of 8th Street and Cherry Street was dedicated on Christmas Day 1875. Church of the Immaculate Conception KCMO 1856-1885

Church of the Immaculate Conception KCMO 1856-1885

Fr. Donnelly died on 15 December 1880, in his parish rectory. He was buried in Mount St. Mary's Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.

Legacy

Several of Fr. Donnelly's personal effects are displayed in the chapel at St. Teresa's Academy in Kansas City. Fr. Donnelly is also the namesake of the first modern division of the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...

in the

State of Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, which was founded in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Bernard 1810 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Irish emigrants to the United States Christian clergy from County Cavan Clergy from Kansas City, Missouri Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City–Saint Joseph 19th-century Irish engineers