Patrick Neeson Lynch (March 10, 1817 – February 26, 1882) was an Irish-born prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

from 1857 until his death in 1882.

Biography

Early life

Patrick Lynch's birthplace is sometimes attributed to

Clones, County Monaghan Clones ( ; , meaning 'meadow of Eois') is a small town in the west of County Monaghan in Ireland. The area is part of the List of regions of the Republic of Ireland, Border Region in the Republic of Ireland, earmarked for economic development b ...

but he was actually born in the

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

portion of the Parish of Clones, probably in the townland of Kibberidogue. His parents were Conlaw Peter and Eleanor (née Neison) Lynch. Eleanor's father disapproved of the marriage and disinherited her. Lynch was a granduncle of

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Admiral Patrick N. L. Bellinger. In 1819, the Lynch family immigrated to the United States, settling in

Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Like their neighbors, they became slave owners. Lynch was one of fourteen children, twelve of whom lived to maturity. One sister became a

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

nun in Baltimore, another sister became an Ursuline nun; his brother John became a doctor in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

. Lynch studied at the diocesan Seminary of St. John the Baptist, then entered the Pontifical Urban College in Rome, where he graduated with a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

degree.

Priesthood

Lynch was ordained to the

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 ...

hood in Rome for the Diocese of Charleston on April 5, 1840, by Cardinal

Giacomo Filippo Fransoni Giacomo Filippo Fransoni (10 December 1775 – 20 April 1856) was an Italian prelate and cardinal who served from 1834 to 1856 as prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He was the cardinal priest of the Church of ...

. After his ordination, Lynch was assigned to the pastoral staff of the

Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar The Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar was the first Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic cathedral in Charleston, South Carolina. The cathedral followed the first Roman Catholic Church in Charleston, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Charles ...

in Charleston. He served for a time editor of the ''United States Catholic Miscellany'', founded by Bishop John England.

Bishop Reynolds Christopher Augustine Reynolds (1834–1893) was an Irish Catholic Church, Roman Catholic bishop who became the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, Archbishop of Adelaide in Australia. Biography Born in Dublin, Ireland on 25 July 1834 ...

appointed Lynch pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Charleston and as

vicar-general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar ...

of the diocese.

Bishop of Charleston

After the death of Reynolds in 1855, Lynch was elected as apostolic administrator of Charleston. On December 11, 1857, he was appointed bishop of Charleston by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

. Lynch was consecrated on March 14, 1858, at the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar by Archbishop

Francis Kenrick Francis Patrick Kenrick (December 3, 1796 or 1797 – July 8, 1863) was an Irish-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Philadelphia (1842–1851) and Archbishop of Baltimore (1851–1863). Kenrick grew up in Ireland, where he received ...

. Lynch was the third bishop of Charleston, which at the time covered North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, the Bahamas and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. The diocese was later reduced to the state of

Civil War

In the first year of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, a major fire in December 1861 destroyed the cathedral, the bishop's residence and the diocesan library. The bombardment of Charleston by the Union Army for nearly two years closed most of the churches and impoverished the congregations.

Confederate delegate to the Holy See

On February 20, 1864, Lynch was named by President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

(CSA) as its delegate to the Vatican. Lynch then travelled to Rome. Since the Vatican had never recognized the CSA, Lynch did not present his diplomatic credentials to Pius IX, who received him only in as a bishop. Like his predecessors, Pius had condemned slavery. During Lynch's audience, Pius suggested that "something might be done looking to an improvement in he slaves'position or state, and to a gradual preparation for their freedom at a future opportune time."

Postwar reconstruction

During the 1865 burning of

, St. Mary's College, the Sisters' Home, and the Ursuline Convent were all destroyed. After the end of the war, US President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

pardoned Lynch for his role as Vatican delegate for the Confederacy. With a diocesan debt exceeding $200,000, Lynch began soliciting donations throughout the country to keep the diocese functioning and to pay off the debt. Lynch attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

in Rome from 1869 to 1870.

Death and legacy

Lynch died in Charleston on February 26, 1882, at age 64.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Patrick Nieson 1817 births 1882 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Charleston 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Irish emigrants to the United States People of South Carolina in the American Civil War American slave owners People from Cheraw, South Carolina