Individual Details
John (Jack) Joseph MCDONNELL
(16 Apr 1884 - 10 May 1900)
It appears Jack was sent by his family to Sacred Heard School (renamed Regis University in 1921) in Denver in 1899 at the age of about 15. Sacred Heart was a Jesuit school and I am assuming he went there to study for the priesthood. According to diaries from the college from that time, Jack arrived with "weak lungs" and, sadly, died about a year later from a haemorrhage of the lungs. Death was apparently instantaneous. Jack was originally buried in the cemetery for Jesuit priests on the campus of Sacred Heart School, the only student to have been buried there, but the remains from this cemetery were later moved (in 1958) to Mount Olivet.
While we do not know exactly when Jack's mother, Kate, died, it is believed to have been around 1899. It is possible that this, along with perhaps a belief that the air in Denver would benefit his lungs, were factors in the decision to send Jack to Colorado.
The school register shows that Jack's fees were paid by an M. Fitzgerald. Could M. have been Jack's uncle Michael Fitzgerald, or Michael's half-brother Martin? Bothe Michael and Martin ran a successful distillery business in Dublin and could probably have afforded the school fees. The register gives M. Fitzgerald's address as Alta Vista Hotel, Colorado Springs (60 miles from Denver), indicating he was resident elsewhere.
While we do not know exactly when Jack's mother, Kate, died, it is believed to have been around 1899. It is possible that this, along with perhaps a belief that the air in Denver would benefit his lungs, were factors in the decision to send Jack to Colorado.
The school register shows that Jack's fees were paid by an M. Fitzgerald. Could M. have been Jack's uncle Michael Fitzgerald, or Michael's half-brother Martin? Bothe Michael and Martin ran a successful distillery business in Dublin and could probably have afforded the school fees. The register gives M. Fitzgerald's address as Alta Vista Hotel, Colorado Springs (60 miles from Denver), indicating he was resident elsewhere.
Events
| Birth | 16 Apr 1884 | Charlestown, Co. Mayo | |||
| Death | 10 May 1900 | Denver, Colorado | |||
| Burial | Mount Olivet Cemetery, Wheat Ridge, Colorado |
Families
| Father | Michael Alexander MCDONNELL (1850 - 1924) |
| Mother | Catherine (Kate) FITZGERALD (1853 - 1901) |
| Sibling | Ellen (Ellie) MCDONNELL (1876 - 1937) |
| Sibling | James (Jimmy) Patrick MCDONNELL (1877 - 1945) |
| Sibling | Anne (Annie) MCDONNELL (1879 - 1964) |
| Sibling | Bridget (Bea) MCDONNELL (1883 - ) |