Born: Waterford, Ireland, April 15, 1819
Took the habit: Longueuil, November 15, 1845
Vows: Longueuil, March 25, 1847 (No. 173)
Priestly ordination: Montreal, August 29, 1847
Dispensed from vows: 1851.
Died: Oak Creek, Wisconsin, December 29, 1890.
Thomas Fitzhenry was born in Waterford, Ireland, on April 15, 1819. He entered the novitiate in Longueuil on November 15, 1845 and he took vows there on March 25, 1847. Bishop Jean-Claude Prince, auxiliary in Montreal, ordained him to the priesthood on August 29, 1847.
The name of Father Fitzhenry is not mentioned often in Oblate sources and writings. He remained in Longueuil (1847-1849) and in Saint-Pierre-Apôtre in Montreal (1849-1851). He then received a dispensation from his vows but there is no mention of him in the minutes of the general council meetings. In a letter to Bishop Charbonnel of Toronto, dated July 26, 1852, Bishop de Mazenod complains that he accepts Oblates too easily into his diocese. He mentions particularly Father Ryan “truly an apostate” and he added “as for Fitzhenry, he seems more correct. But what is his condition before God?”
After his departure, Father Fitzhenry was pastor in the parish of Saint Paul, Toronto. Afterwards he ministered in the dioceses of Kingston, Toronto and Quebec. He was pastor in Saint Matthew, Oak Creek, Wisconsin when he died on December 29, 1890.
Yvon Beaudon
and Gaston Carrière, o.m.i.
