John Walsh (24 May 1830 – 30 July 1898) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, Canada from 1889 to 1898.

Early years

Born in

Mooncoin Mooncoin () is an urban area (Ireland), urban area in County Kilkenny, in Ireland. The population was 1,175 in 2016. Historically part of the Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic kingdom of Osraige, today it is in the far south of the counties of Ireland, cou ...

, County Kilkenny,

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 ...

, Walsh was educated at

St. John's College, Waterford St John's College (or St John's Seminary) was a Roman Catholic seminary founded in 1807 for the diocese of Waterford and Lismore. Foundation The college was founded by Bishop John Power DD. It was one of many seminaries founded in Ireland fo ...

before he to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1852 to complete his studies at the Saint-Sulpice Seminary in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

. He was ordained a priest of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

in 1854 by then Bishop of Toronto

Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel (1 December 1802 – 29 March 1891) was the Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto, Bishop of Toronto from 1847 to 1860 and the only French and non-English priest to hold the post. Early years Born in Ch� ...

,Power, Michael. “Walsh, John”, ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003
/ref> at St. Michael's Cathedral. On his way to Toronto, in the summer of 1854, Walsh came down cholera, which permanently undermined his health. Father Walsh served as pastor at Brock. In April 1857 he was made parish priest of St Mary’s in Toronto, a parish established by Irish immigrants in 1852. A year later, he went to St. Paul's. In 1860, Walsh was made rector of the Cathedral, but chose to resign the position in 1861 and resume his former place at St. Mary's, while from April 1862 he also served as Vicar General of the Archdiocese. In 1864, he was sent to Rome on business, toured Europe, and spent some time in Ireland. He was consecrated as Bishop of

Sandwich, Ontario Sandwich Town (Olde Sandwich Towne) is located along the Canada–United States border, Canada–US border of the Detroit River, and was established in 1797.Windsor Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (WACAC). ''Historic Sandwich Town: Wa ...

in November 1867, and two years later returned the seat of the See to its previous site of

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

and procured from Rome a decree making London once more the name of the diocese. He served as Bishop of London, Ontario until 1889, when he was translated to the see of Toronto. Having paid off the diocese's considerable debt, Walsh the undertook the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral, designed by Joseph Connolly In August 1889 Bishop Walsh was appointed Archbishop of Toronto, and installed on 27 Nov 1889. During his tenure he established the Sacred Heart Orphanage at Sunnyside, and St. John's Industrial School for Boys, and purchased land for the establishment of

Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery at 305 Erskine Avenue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Mount Hope was created near the end of the 19th Century when the Archdiocese of Toronto was faced with a capacity issue at St. Michae ...

, as St. Michael's was near capacity. Walsh also invited French Canadian clergy from Quebec to staff the French-speaking parishes in Kent and Essex counties. In 1894, the Archbishop secured a $40,000 (the equivalent of $1.48 million in 2024) gift from Catholic railway magnate Hugh Ryan to build a three-storey surgical wing for St Michael's Hospital, Toronto.McDonald, C.S.J., Irene (1992).
For the Least of My Brethren: A Centenary History of St Michael's Hospital
' (PDF). Toronto, Canada: Toronto and Oxford Dundurn Press. pp. 30–114. "Hugh Ryan, Obituary".
''The Ottawa Journal''. 13 February 1899. p. 1. The expansion put the hospital on the path to becoming one of Canada's preeminent teaching University, with its state-of-the-art operating theatre designed to accommodate fifty medical students. Walsh died in Toronto in 1898 and is buried at St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, John 1830 births 1898 deaths 19th-century Irish people Alumni of St John's College, Waterford 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada Roman Catholic archbishops of Toronto Irish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario People from Mooncoin Burials at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica (Toronto) Roman Catholic bishops of London, Ontario Christian clergy from County Kilkenny People educated at St John's College, Waterford

Early years

Further reading

References

External links