Patrick Carragher

(1877/80?-1916)

Uncle of a Cardinal who had a seminary education on both sides of the Atlantic before a short-lived pastoral career in the American mid-West

Student 1895?-1897?

This is an interesting study in accuracy of historical detail, all the more interesting because the alumnus concerned was an uncle of Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich. The biography is taken from a listing of priests from the parish of Lower Creggan (Cullyhanna) which was the Cardinal's native parish and which supplied more than fifty priests to the home and foreign missions in the 19th and 20th centuries. A surprising number began their seminary training in Ireland and continued it in the US, often serving in the mid-Western states. What is interesting about Fr. Carragher is that the details on his tombstone differ from those in his biography in two details - his middle initial and his date of birth. Since he was buried in Davenport after spending some time in Chicago, it may be that the details were not accurately known or transcribed. The biography would seem to have the better claim to accuracy, since it was researched in Armagh and published in Seanchas Ard Mhacha (expand % in viewer to see detail of panel).