CHICAGO – Although he was the second-longest-serving leader of the Chicago archdiocese, presided over explosive growth in Chicago’s Catholic community and laid the groundwork for many of Chicago’s most important Catholic institutions, Archbishop Patrick Feehan remains far from a household name in his adopted city.

But a long-forgotten portrait of the archbishop, recently found in the basement of an academic building at All Hallows College in Dublin, Ireland, has just been given a place of honor at DePaul University, one of the institutions Feehan helped establish.  It will hang in the board room of Cortelyou Commons, 2324 N. Fremont St., Chicago. Until now, only portraits of the presidents of DePaul have been displayed in the building.

The Irish-born Feehan was Chicago’s archbishop from 1880 to 1902, and his tenure as head of the archdiocese was eclipsed only by that of Cardinal George Mundelein, who served from 1915 to 1939. During the years of Feehan’s service, Chicago’s Catholic population mushroomed from 230,000 to more than 800,000. Feehan’s skills as an administrator and his sound management of financial matters won him widespread admiration, according to his biography by the Rev. Martin Zielinski in the Encyclopedia of American Catholic History.

Feehan also played a key role in founding major charitable organizations such as the Mercy Home and Maryville, which both serve orphaned children or those without stable family homes. He also was a national leader in the development of Catholic education. One of his more visible contributions to Chicago was the construction of the cardinal’s home at 1555 N. State Parkway.

Before coming to Chicago, Feehan served as bishop of Nashville. He began his studies for the priesthood in Ireland and completed them in St. Louis, where he studied with the Vincentian religious order. That later inspired him to recruit the Vincentians to start what eventually would become DePaul University, St. Vincent’s College which opened in 1898.

Though Feehan often shied away from public speaking, he created a major impression on religious leaders around the world when he delivered the welcoming remarks at the World’s Parliament of Religions, held during the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

When he died suddenly of pneumonia at age 73, he was being considered for appointment as the first cardinal of Chicago.

“In many ways, we consider Archbishop Feehan one of the founders of DePaul.  He encouraged the Vincentian community to open a college on the north side of Chicago, and one year later in 1898, DePaul opened its doors,” said the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president of DePaul, who unveiled the newly restored portrait during the May 16 meeting of DePaul’s Board of Trustees. “We are very proud to have this connection to Archbishop Feehan and all of the wonderful things he did for the city of Chicago.”

A photo gallery of the May 16 unveiling of the Archbishop Feehan portrait by Holtschneider, is available on DePaul’s Facebook page at: http://depaulne.ws/FeehanPortraitphotos.

About DePaul University

With approximately 25,000 students, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the United States and the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest. The university offers approximately 275 graduate and undergraduate programs of study on three Chicago and two suburban campuses. Founded in 1898, DePaul remains committed to providing a quality education through personal attention to students from a wide range of backgrounds. For more information, visit www.depaul.edu.