Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1914-03-21
Friend and Protector of All I'm
One of Chicago's Big
Parishes.
Carried Papers to England That
Cleared Charles Stewart
Parnell.
WAS LOVED BY ALL CREEDS

Poignant sorrow was felt through
out the country when it became
known that the Rev. Father Mauric =
]. Dorney, a Chicago Catholic
priest, whose name is familiar on
both sides of the Atlantic, died Sun
day morning at Mercy Hospital,
where his sister is one of the nuns
in charge. Death was due to
paralysis, following heart trouble.
which attacked him few weeks ago.
Archbishop Quigley was present at
the bedside shortly before Father
Dorney became unconscious.
Father Dorney, "the King of the
yards" was one of the strongest and
most picturesque characters in the
West. Counsellor, protector, friend
to thousands, he had the power for
thirty-five years of the ruler of a
principality in one of the greatest
Industrial centers in the world-the
packing house district of Chicago.
His prestige extended to the White
House in Washington, and on a
memorable occasion he earned the
gratitude of Celts everywhere as a
trusted envoy from Irish leaders on
this side of the Atlantic to Charles
Stewart Parnell in London.
What is said to be the strongest
Irish parish outside of Ireland was
Father Dorney's official charge-St.
Gabriels, at Forty-fifth street, the
nearest Catholic parish to the main
entrance of the stockyards To peo-
MI n1I wit hof na ri
of Chicago no more evidence Is
needed to illustrate the force of his
personality than the fact that by his
efforts mile square of territory
surrounding. his church has for
twenty years been absolutely free
from the presence of saloon. Irre-
| spective of creed, the residents of
| the district Ievered him to an extent
that has been a standing wonder to
outsiders. Here is the reason, as
explained by one of the men of the
yards:
"If you want a battle just say
something against Father Dorney,
and you'll get fight in plenty all the
way from kids to grandfathers. No
hour was ever too long or too dark
or too cold or the roads too rough to
stop Father Dorney from going to one
who needed help. And what's more,
| it never made any difference whether
man or woman was Catholic or
| Protestant, Gentle or Jew, Father
Dorney helped. When he started
out for something it was nothing
short of riot till he got what he
| af W
from Forty-third to Forty-ninth and
| from Halsted to the Wabash tracks
was surely bound to be sad tonight?"
Perhaps the meeting of Parnell
and Father Dorney in the House of
Commons at London will be the
public incident to be longest remem
bered in the civil life of the priest
Father Dorney it was who delivered
| to the Irish Parliamentary leader
| the documents which showed that
the informer Pigott's accusations
against Parnell were based on
forgery. The Pigott charges, which
formed an elaborate attempt to link
Parnell with crime upon crime, had
threatened to bring about the ex-
pulsion of Parnell from the Com
mons and to cause the defeat OF
home rule for Ireland. Largely as
the result of Father Dorney's sue
cessful mission the prosecution sud
denly collapsed and Pigott not long
after committed suicide in Spain.
Father Dorney had been Entrusted
with the documents by his lifelong
friend, Alexander Sullivan, President
of the Irish National League of
America, and by Patrick Egan, for
mer Treasurer of the Irish National
League of Ireland, and later United
States Minister to Chile.
Although native of Massa-
chusetts, Father Dorney was typi-
cal Irishman, much like Daniel
O'Connell, both as an orator and in
person, a six-foot athlete, with a
voice of corresponding power; yet
capable of the finest modulation. and
with a ready wit and smile thai
never failed to charm. Most often
he spoke in an easy, almost
colloquial way, but II was no rare
thing for him to move an audiencs
to tears.
The regret OF Father Dorney's lifs
was that he missed participating Ia
the battle of Santiago. He had vol
unteered as a naval chaplain, anf
was expecting to be assigned to dut,
under command OF Fighting Bob
Evans. The destruction of Ceryera'I
ships, however. left the plan neces
sarily incomplete.
Father Dorney when he VISITED
Mount Olivet cemetery frequently
said mass at a little altar In
private mausoleum there-said to b
one OF the finest OF its kind In thu
United States. Few persons knew
however. that in that mausoieun
rested the bodies OF many a pauper
whose family could not bury him
, whose widow. or child perhaps, ha'
come to Father Dorney and aske'
! to have the dead man decently bur
led. And few persons know how tn