BANNON, JOHN B.

Military chaplain, Confederate commissioner; b. Roosky, County Roscommon, Ireland, Dec. 28, 1829; d. Dublin, Ireland, July 14, 1913. Following his ordination at Maynooth, Ireland, in 1853, he came to St. Louis, Mo., where he served at St. Louis Cathedral and the Immaculate Conception Church. In 1858 he was made pastor of St. John's parish and immediately began the construction of a new church, which was completed in 1860. With the outbreak of the Civil War, St. Louis was divided in its loyalty. Many of Bannon's parishioners joined the Confederate forces under Gen. Sterling Price at Springfield, Mo. Without obtaining permission from his bishop, Bannon left his newly built church and in January of 1862 began serving as a chaplain to the Confederate forces under Price. He was on the battlefields of Pea Ridge, Iuka, Corinth, Fort Gibson, and Vicksburg, winning the respect of all religious groups. He was granted a commission as chaplain, on Feb. 12, 1863. Later in the same year, he was released from the Confederate army and appointed Confederate commissioner to Ireland. His task was to win friends for the South among the Irish. He enjoyed some success in explaining the Confederate cause as he wrote letters to the leading newspapers, prepared articles for magazines, and distributed thousands of handbills throughout Ireland. When Bishop Patrick Lynch of Charleston, S.C., visited Europe as Confederate commissioner in 1864, Bannon accompanied him to Rome. Their efforts to obtain papal recognition of the Confederacy were unsuccessful. After returning to Ireland, Bannon entered the Society of Jesus on Jan. 9, 1865, and made his final vows on Feb. 2, 1876. He served at St. Ignatius University College Church, Dublin, and St. Francis Xavier, Dublin, where for a while he was superior.

Bibliography: j. e. rothensteiner, History of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, 2 v. (St. Louis 1928). l. f. stock, "Catholic Participation in the Diplomacy of the Southern Confederacy," American Catholic Historical Review 16 (1930) 1–18.

[a. plaisance]