Background
He was born in 1797 at Longford Pass in the parish of Gurtnahoe, Tipperary.
He was born in 1797 at Longford Pass in the parish of Gurtnahoe, Tipperary.
He was educated first at Freshfield, and afterwards at Kilkenny.
He served as president of Street Patrick"s College, Maynooth in County Kildare, Ireland, from 1845 through 1857. (Street Patrick"s College is now formally the Pontifical University and National Seminary of Ireland, but is better known simply as Maynooth College As such, it shares a campus and works in close cooperation with the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) In September 1819 he entered Maynooth College to study logic, and in 1825 was elected a Dunboyne student. On 15 September of the same year he was appointed junior dean, and a few weeks later was ordained priest.
On 27 July 1827 he was elected professor of scripture, and he held this chair till June 1834, when he reluctantly accepted the post of vice-president
From 4 June 1841 to 24 June 1843 he also filled the office of bursar, and succeeded in extricating the college from financial difficulties. In 1845, on the resignation of the Very Michael Montague, Renehan became president of Maynooth, retaining the position until his death on 27 July 1857.
Renehan was succeeded at Saint Patrick"s by Charles William Russell. A large meeting-room at Maynooth is named in Renehan"s honor.
He lies buried in a small cemetery on the campus.