1. Richard Phelan was born on January 1,1828, in Sralee, near Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland, to Michael and Mary Keoghan Phelan.
11 Facts About Richard Phelan
1. 2.
Richard Phelan was educated by private tutors, and at St Kieran's College in Kilkenny.
3.
In 1850, as a seminarian, Phelan was recruited by Bishop Michael O'Connor of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, to serve in the United States.
4.
Once in Pennsylvania, Richard Phelan continued his studies at the Seminary of St Michael and after two years entered St Mary's Theological Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.
5.
Richard Phelan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh by Bishop Michael O'Connor in Pittsburgh on May 4,1854.
6.
Richard Phelan served in the Pittsburgh area based out of Saint Paul Cathedral.
7.
Richard Phelan built a new church at a cost exceeding $150,000.
8.
Richard Phelan completed the schools that his predecessor had begun.
9.
Richard Phelan automatically became bishop of Pittsburgh upon the death of Bishop Tuigg on December 7,1889.
10.
Richard Phelan died on December 20,1904, at age 76, at St Paul's Orphan Asylum in Pittsburgh.
11.
Richard Phelan was buried in St Mary Cemetery in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood.