Background
John Cunningham was born in Irremore, County Kerry, and received his early education in Listowel.
John Cunningham was born in Irremore, County Kerry, and received his early education in Listowel.
He completed his theological studies at Saint Francis" Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John Baptiste Miège, Society of Jesus (Jesuit), on August 8, 1865.
He served as Bishop of Concordia from 1898 until his death in 1919. After coming to the United States in 1860, he enrolled at Saint Benedict"s College in Atchison, Kansas. Cunningham carried out his priestly ministry in the Diocese of Leavenworth, where was charged by Bishop Louis Mary Fink, Order of St. Benedict, with securing funds to pay off the remaining debt on the cathedral and with helping Kansan settlers during the depressed economy of the period.
He was pastor of the Church of the Assumption in Topeka from 1877 until 1881, when he became vicar general.
He also served as rector of the cathedral. On May 14, 1898, Cunningham was appointed the second Bishop of Concordia by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Archbishop John Joseph Kain, with Bishops John Joseph Hennessy and Thomas Bonacum serving as co-consecrators, at Leavenworth.
Described as the "Diocesan Builder," Cunningham erected 54 churches, 22 schools, and three hospitals during his tenure. He also dedicated the cathedral and laid the cornerstone for the Nazareth Motherhouse in 1902, and founded Hays Catholic College and Saint Joseph"s Orphanage in addition to several rectories and convents.
Cunningham died after an extended illness, aged 76.
He was buried in the Nazareth Cemetery at Concordia.