Education
Born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, Lenihan was educated at Saint Thomas College in Bardstown, Kentucky, Saint Vincent"s Seminary in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and Saint Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, Lenihan was educated at Saint Thomas College in Bardstown, Kentucky, Saint Vincent"s Seminary in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and Saint Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He served as bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne in the state of Wyoming from 1896-1901. He was an older brother to the first bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls, Mathias Clement Lenihan. Early life & Ministry
He was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Dubuque, Iowa on November 19, 1868.
He was involved in parish ministry while a priest in the diocese, and later, archdiocese of Dubuque.
In addition to older brother, Thomas also had a sister, Katherine Kelly (nee Lenihan). Bishop of Cheyenne
On November 30, 1896 Pope Leo XIII named him the second bishop of Cheyenne.
He was consecrated a bishop on February 24, 1897 by Archbishop John Hennessy of Dubuque. The co-consecrators were Bishops Henry Cosgrove of Davenport and Thomas Bonacum of Lincoln.
The Cheyenne diocese had been without a bishop for almost four years when his predecessor, Bishop Maurice Francis Burke, left to become bishop of Saint Joseph, Missouri.
Bishop Lenihan, however, was a man of poor health that was made worse by Wyoming"s high altitude and dryness. He was the bishop of the diocese for 5 years.