Thomas-Louis Connolly

Life

Connolly was born in Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland. His father died when he was young and he and his younger sister were raised by their mother. At school, he was a quick student and by age 16 had mastered Greek, Latin and French. He became a novice in the Order of Capuchins. At age 18 he went to Rome to complete his studies for the priesthood. He was ordained as a priest in 1838 in Lyons, France. He returned to Ireland, where he served as a prison chaplain in Dublin. When fellow Capuchin, Father William Walsh, was appointed bishop of Halifax in 1842, Father Connolly accompanied him to Nova Scotia as his secretary. In 1845 he became Vicar-General and administrator of the diocese.

Bishop of St. John

Between 1845 and 1847, approximately 30,000 Irish arrived in Saint John, more than doubling the population of the city. During this period, Saint John was second only to Grosse Isle, Quebec as the busiest port of entry to Canada for Irish immigrants. The Roman Catholic population was largely impoverished and uneducated.
In 1852 Father Connolly was appointed bishop of St. John, New Brunswick.
In 1853, Bishop Connolly organized the construction of a cathedral for the city. Four hundred men gathered as volunteers in the work of digging the foundation at the site. Local quarries supplied the stone. The Gothic Revival cathedral and the stone, Gothic Revival/Italianate Bishop's Palace were recognized in January 2014 as The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Provincial Heritage Place.
In April 1854 the ship Blanche arrived in St. John, and brought cholera to the city. Of 5,000 people stricken, 1,500 died. The periodic outbreaks centered largely in the poorer Catholic district, where people were scarcely over the effects of ship fever (typhus). The care for orphaned children became a priority. Bishop Connolly oversaw the opening of a Catholic orphanage run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
Connolly also previously contacted the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in New York to staff a planned orphanage. He was advised that while the community could not then send any sisters, they were willing to train any young women he might send to them. Honoria Conway entered the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul at Mount St. Vincent, New York. It is uncertain whether she entered with the intention of returning to Saint John to work with Bishop Thomas Louis Connolly, who had begun a number of initiatives on behalf of poor immigrants, or whether she intended to remain in New York. She and three companions returned from New York to New Brunswick and, on October 21,1854, made their vows as Sisters of Charity of Saint John, a new diocesan religious congregation. In Saint John, early sisters first lived in temporary housing provided by the bishop. He also encouraged the building of Catholic schools.