Born in the village of Cranna in
County Tipperary,
Ireland, O'Gorman professed solemn vows as a
Trappist at
Mount Melleray Abbey on March 25, 1841, and was ordained a priest on December 23, 1843. He emigrated to the United States and became a monk at
New Melleray Monastery near
Dubuque, Iowa where he became its second
Prior. On January 28, 1859
Pope Pius IX appointed him as the
Titular Bishop of
Raphanea and Bishop of Omaha. He was consecrated a bishop by Archbishop
Peter Richard Kenrick of
St. Louis on May 8, 1859. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops
John Baptiste Miège,
S.J., the
Vicar Apostolic of Kansas, and
Henry Juncker of
Alton. When the Vicariate was established in 1859 it covered and emcopassed what are now the states of
Nebraska,
Wyoming,
Montana,
North Dakota,
South Dakota, as well as northeastern
Colorado, and parts of
Utah. When O'Gorman arrived he had three priests to assist him and ordained another priest that year. By the time he died there were 19 priests that served 12,000 Catholics in 20 parishes and 56 missions. O'Gorman participated in the
First Vatican Council (1869-1870) as one of the council fathers. He died on July 4, 1874, at the age of 69. ==References==