Thomas Martin Aloysius Burke

Thomas Martin Aloysius Burke KGCHS was an Irish-born clergyman of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of Albany in New York State from 1894 until his death in 1915.

Biography

Thomas Burke was born on January 10, 1840, in Swinford, County Mayo, the son of Dr. Ulrich Burke. His father moved the family to Utica, New York, in 1850. Thomas Burke received his early education from the Christian Brothers in Utica; he then and attended St. Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario.. In 1856, he entered St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland, where he befriended his classmate James Gibbons. Burke completed his theological studies at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.

Burke was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Albany in Baltimore, on June 30, 1864 by Bishop Francis Patrick McFarland.After his ordination, the diocese assigned Burke as a curate at St. John's Parish in Albany, New York. In 1865, he was named pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in the same city. Bishop Francis McNierney appointed Burke as his vicar general in 1887. Pope Leo XIII named Burke as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre in 1890.

On May 15, 1894, Burke was appointed the fourth bishop of Albany by Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on July 1, 1894, from Archbishop Michael Corrigan, with Bishops Bernard John McQuaid and Patrick Anthony Ludden serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. During his administration, he enlarged the Boys' Asylum in Albany, reduced the large diocesan debt, and renovated the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.Burke established cordial relations with Protestant clergy throughout the diocese.

Burke died on January 20, 1915 in Albany at age 75.