Fr. Edward McSweeney Presidential Records

Fr. Edward McSweeney was born in Cork, Ireland in 1843 and came to the United States with his family when he was seven years old. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier College in New York in 1862 and finished his theological studies at the Propaganda in Rome where he earned a degree of Doctor of Theology. After his ordination in 1871 he served in several parishes in New York including the newly formed St. Mary's Church in Poughkeepsie. In 1883 he was invited to join the St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, where he taught Church History and Moral Theology and served as vice president.

Archbishop John Ireland met McSweeney at the Seminary and became impressed with his work. After the resignation of Fr. O'Gorman in 1887, Ireland persuaded McSweeney to become rector of the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary (the precursor of the College of St. Thomas). McSweeney could not adjust to the cold Minnesota winters and in April of 1888 asked for reinstallment at St. Mary's. He returned to Maryland where he continued to teach until his death in 1909.