Rev. Thomas Dowling. The
great mother church of Christendom finds effective
representation in Clayton county in St. Mary's Church
at McGregor, of which Father Dowling was the revered
and zealous pastor. His consecration has been shown
not only in connection with the spiritual affairs of
his parish, but also in his earnest labors to advance
its temporal welfare, and in addition to this he
stands forth as a broad-minded and public-spirited
citizen who commands the high regard of the entire
community. A devoted worker in the vineyard of the
Divine Master, his labors have been fruitful in
goodly results and his prominence and influence in
the community life specially entitle him to
representation in this history of Clayton county.
Hard by the beautiful Lake
Killarney, in Kings county, Ireland, Father Thomas
Dowling was born on the 1st of February, 1878, a son
of James and Hannah (Slattery) Dowling, both of whom
were born and reared in that same district of the
fair Emerald Isle, where the venerable father still
maintains his home, the devoted wife and mother
having passed to the life eternal.
Of the four children, Father
Dowling of this review is the only one in America,
and was the second in order of birth. John continues
his residence in Kings county, Ireland, as do also
Margaret and Diana, the former of whom is the wife of
John J. Barry, and the latter of whom is the wife of
O. Flaherty.
In the common schools near
the old home in Ireland Rev. Thomas Dowling acquired
his rudimentary education, which was supplemented by
his attending in turn the intermediate and the
university schools in the seaport city of Tralee, in
County Kerry. His higher academic studies were
prosecuted in a seminary at Killarney, and in
preparation for his high ecclesiastical functions he
completed a thorough philosophical and theological
course in St. Patrick's College, at Carlow, in which
institution he was graduated as a member of the class
of 1901. On the 1st of June of that year he was
ordained to the priesthood, and within a short time
thereafter he came to the United States.
In September, 1901, he
became assistant pastor of St. Patrick's Church in
the city of Dubuque, Iowa, where he remained until
January 1, 1911, when he assumed pastoral charge, as
priest of St. Mary's parish at McGregor, where in his
earnest and devoted labors he retained the zealous
co-operation of his parishioners and the confidence
and good will of the entire community. The parish
organization under Rev. Father Dowling was
represented in about one hundred families, and its
property, including the church edifice, valued at
about fifty thousand dollars. In connection with the
work of the church there were maintained effectively
the men's and the women's courts of the Catholic
Order of Foresters, the Altar Society, and the League
of the Sacred Heart.
In the chapter in Volume 1
of this history, devoted to the work of the Catholic
church of Clayton county will be found a complete
history of this parish. Rev. Father Dowling was given
charge at McGregor, January 1, 1911, and for more
than five years he devoted himself with faithful
diligence and well directed zeal to the spiritual and
material welfare of his church and parishioners,
earning the affection and esteem of all. It was with
deep regret that the members of his congregation and
the entire citizenship parted with him upon his
transfer to the church at Eldora, Iowa, in the early
months of 1916.
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II, 1916; pg. 93-94
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
