Daniel William Cahill

Lecturer and controversialist, born at Ashfield, Queens County, Ireland 28 November, 1796; died at Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 28 October, 1864. The third son of Daniel Cahill, a civil engineer, he was sent to Carlow College, and in 1816 entered Maynooth, where he became proficient in natural philosophy and languages. He was ordained a priest after he had passed through the Dunboyne establishment, and in 1825 was appointed professor of natural philosophy at Carlow College where he taught for some years. He then opened a school at Seapoint, Williamstown, which he conducted from 1835 to 1841. Meanwhile he wrote largely for the press, and for a time edited the Dublin "Telegraph". He became a distinguished preacher and lecturer, and his vigorous attacks on the government and the Established Church of Ireland extended his reputation in all directions. In December, 1859, he visited the United States and lectured on Astronomy and other scientific subjects, and preached in many American and Canadian cities. As he generally gave his services for religious and charitable purposes, large sums of money were raised by him for Catholic objects. He was of commanding presence, being six feet five inches in height, and extremely handsome. He was buried in Boston, but his body was exumed in 1885 and taken to Ireland, where it was buried in Glasnevin Cemetary, Dublin. His writings consist chiefly of lectures and addresses, with some letters to prominent Protestants. The most important of them were collected and published in Dublin in 1886 under the title "Life, Letters, and Lectures of Rev. Dr. Cahill".