Patrick Manogue (May 28, 1831[a] – February 27, 1895) was an Irish-born prelate of the Catholic Church in America. He served as the founding bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento in California from 1886 until his death in 1895.[1] He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Grass Valley in California from 1881 until 1886.
After four years of prospecting, Manogue earned enough money to pay his tuition at Saint Sulpice Seminary, Paris.[2][3] While at Saint Sulpice, Manogue admired its church; he would use it as a model for his future diocesan cathedral.[citation needed]
Priesthood
Father Patrick Manogue, c. 1860s
Manogue was ordained to the priesthood on December 21, 1861.[4] Bishop Eugene O'Connell chose him to start a ministry in the Nevada Territory.[5] O'Connell felt that a former miner was best suited for a ministry to the growing Nevada mining community.[6] The first Catholic church in the Comstock, which stood for only a year, had been blown down by heavy storm in 1861. Along with O'Connell, Manogue encouraged the Daughters of Charity to help populate pioneer churches in Nevada.[7] The modest, wooden St. Mary's in the Mountains was completed in 1862.[8]
On February 29, 1884, Manogue succeeded O'Connell as the second and last diocesan bishop of Grass Valley.[11] Manogue served two years as its final diocesan bishop.[4]
Bishop of Sacramento
On May 28, 1886, the Vatican merged the Diocese of Grass Valley into the newly erected Diocese of Sacramento.[11][12] Manogue became its founding bishop and in effect the second bishop of the Sacramento diocese.[4][13][14][12] The new diocese needed a cathedral and with help of Mackay and other influential miners,[3] Manogue built his cathedral on land donated by the first governor of California, Peter Burnett.[3]
Bishop Manogue Assembly 50, Knights of Columbus, was named in honor of this bishop.[15] Because of his pioneering work in Nevada, Bishop Manogue High School in Reno was dedicated in his name.[16] Bishop Manogue High School, a former female school in the Sacramento Diocese, was named for this Bishop.[17] This school was merged with Christian Brothers High School which hosted a "Bishop Manogue Derby Day" celebrating the Kentucky Derby at the second annual Bishop Manogue H.S. reunion on May 1, 2010.[17] Fr. Manogue was portrayed by Steve Cochran in the western television series Death Valley Days episode The Westside of Heaven, which aired on March 1, 1964.[18]
Notes
^ abCatholic-Hierarchy.org reports Manogue's birth year as 1831,[4] but the Diocese of Sacramento says 1932.[2] A photograph of the plaque marking Manogue's remains in the Bishop's Crypt of St. Mary's Cemetery and Mausoleum, Sacramento, lists his year of birth as 1831: "NATUS IN HIBERNIA MDCCCXXXI" (Born in Ireland 1831). See Findagrave Memorial No. 144880086.
Breault, William (October 31, 1988). Miner Was a Bishop: The Pioneer Years of Patrick Manogue in California and Nevada 1854-1895. Landmark Enterprises. ISBN978-0910845342.
"Bishop Manogue Dies At Sacramento". San Francisco Call. Vol. 77, no. 80. Sacramento. February 28, 1895 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
Gaffey, James (September 23, 1976). "A Critical Look At Bishop Manogue"(PDF). Catholic Herald – via Bulletin of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Volume 18, Issue 35, Sacramento, September 22, 2018.
