Early life and ministry Born on October 6, 1854, in
Dubuque, Iowa, Mathias Lenihan was educated at
St. Joseph College in Dubuque, Iowa, St. John's College in
Prairie du Chien,
Wisconsin and the
Grand Séminaire de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec. Lenihan was ordained a
priest in Montreal on December 20, 1879, by Archbishop
Édouard-Charles Fabre for the
Diocese of Dubuque. He was the first native-born Iowan to be ordained a priest. From the time of his ordination until 1904 he was involved in parish ministry in the diocese, and later archdiocese, of Dubuque. His first assignment was at a parish in
Vail, Iowa and his second was at
Marshalltown, Iowa. In Marshalltown he founded St. Thomas Hospital, named in memory of his brother, Bishop
Thomas Mathias Lenihan of the
Diocese of Cheyenne.
Bishop of Great Falls On August 26, 1904
Pope Pius X named Lenihan as the first bishop of Great Falls. He was consecrated a bishop at
Saint Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque on September 21, 1904, by Archbishop
John Joseph Keane of Dubuque. The co-consecrators were Bishops
James John Keane of
Cheyenne and
Joseph Bernard Cotter, of
Winona. ==References==