John O'Connor (priest)

John O'Connor (1870–1952), an Irish Catholic parish priest in Bradford, Yorkshire, was the basis of G. K. Chesterton's fictional detective Father Brown. O'Connor was instrumental in G. K. Chesterton's conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1922. O'Connor also received the poet and painter David Jones into the Church in 1921, and was associated with Eric Gill and The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic at Ditchling.

This article is about the Yorkshire Catholic priest. For the Anglican priest, see John O'Connor (Archdeacon of Emly). For the former archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, see John O'Connor (cardinal).
The Right Reverend Monsignor

John O'Connor
Born(1870-12-05)5 December 1870
Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland
Died6 February 1952(1952-02-06) (aged 81)
Horsforth, Leeds, England
ReligionRoman Catholic Church
Ordained30 March 1895
Congregations served
  • Curate at St Joseph's Church, Bradford
  • Curate at St Marie's Church, Halifax and St Anne's Church, Keighley
  • Parish Priest of Heckmondwike
  • Parish Priest at St Cuthbert's Church, Bradford

Biography

Born on 5 December 1870 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, O'Connor was educated by the Franciscans and Christian Brothers until the age of twelve, at which point he left for Douai in Flanders to study at the English Benedictine College. He later studied theology and philosophy at the English College in Rome.

O'Connor was ordained at St. John Lateran on 30 March 1895. O'Connor served as curate at St. Joseph's in Bradford, England, and later at St. Marie's, Halifax, West Vale and St. Anne's, Keighley. From 1909 to 1919, the then Father O'Connor was parish priest of Heckmondwike, where he helped build the Church of the Holy Spirit. It was in Keighley that O'Connor met the writer G. K. Chesterton in 1904. He would later receive Chesterton into the Roman Catholic faith in 1922. O'Connor served as parish priest at St. Cuthbert's from 1919 until his death. In 1937 he was made a 'Privy Chamberlain to His Holiness' (a Monsignor). O'Connor died in the Sisters of Mercy Nursing Home at Horsforth on 6 February 1952.[1]

Literary connections

After meeting G. K. Chesterton in 1904, O'Connor became the model for the Father Brown character and the two men maintained a friendship for over 30 years. O'Connor was also associated with the Catholic authors Hilaire Belloc, Maurice Baring and the (convert) typographer and engraver Eric Gill. O'Connor published poems, book reviews and prose in English Catholic periodicals and news papers, and also translated the work of French poet Paul Claudel (including "The Satin Slipper" and "Ways and Crossways") and the philosopher Jacques Maritain's "Art et Scolastique".[2]

Archive

The papers of Monsignor John O'Connor are held at the University of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. The collection contains hand-written and typed manuscripts, poems, translations and radio transcripts created and accumulated by Monsignor John O'Connor, as well as his correspondence, collected ephemera (including news clippings, Christmas cards, posters, pamphlets, and small press publications) and research notes. The majority of the material relates to O'Connor friendship with the author G. K. Chesterton, although O'Connor also translated Latin religious poetry and composed his own verse and wrote prose pieces on literature, Church history, morality, religion and philosophy.[2]

gollark: Nope.
gollark: Does the binary say anything? Did you try with curl?
gollark: The page for dwm literally states it as an advantage of it.
gollark: ?urban apioform
gollark: CLEARLY you are a noob.

References
  1. Monsignor John O'Connor Papers
  2. "Monsignor John O'Connor Papers". University of St. Michael's College, John M. Kelly Library. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

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