Brady, Rev Matthew

Rev. Matthew Brady

Personal Info

  • Date of Birth: 27 September 1889
  • Place of Birth in Ireland: Farring Arriff, Arva
  • County: Cavan
  • Education: Mungret College, Limerick; St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny; Collegio Brignole, Genoa, Italy and St Peter’s College, Wexford
  • Date of Ordination: 27 September 1914
  • Place of Ordination: St Peter’s, Wexford, Ireland

Diocesan Appointments

  • Father Brady, originally ordained for the Diocese of Wichita, worked several years in Ireland and England before coming to Wichita.
  • Assistant – Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Wichita, 4/28/1921 – 7/27/1922
  • Pastor – St Martin of Tours, Caldwell, 7/28/1922 – 12/15/1930
  • Chaplain – St Rose Hospital in Great Bend – 1922-1923
  • Pastor – Immaculate Conception – Burns, KS and St Michael’s in Cassoday as a mission – 1923-1924. He was the 1st resident pastor at Immaculate Conception and built the rectory.
  • Rector – St Francis de Hieronymo, St Paul, 1923 – 1924
  • Leave of Absence due to poor health, 1925 – 1930
  • Pastor – Sacred Heart, Chetopa, 1924 – 1927
  • Pastor – St Ambrose, Erie, 1924 – 9/30/1926
  • Pastor – St. Joseph, South Mound, 1924 – 1927
  • Pastor – Mother of God, Oswego, 1924 – 6/30/1927
  • Pastor – Assumption, Turon as a mission, 12/16/1930 – 1/11/1931
  • Chaplain – St Mary’s Hospital in Winfield, 1/12/1931 – 2/9/1931
  • Assistant – Our Lady of Lourdes, Pittsburg, 2/10/1931 – 11/28/1932
  • Assistant – St Joan of Arc, Elkhart, 11/29/1932 – 10/8/1935
  • Chaplain – St John’s Hospital in Iola, 10/9/1935 – 11/25/1941

 

According to Father Thomas Hickey’s book, Fr Brady served as pastor for Fruita, Colorado from 1926 until 1927 during his medical leave from Wichita. Fr Brady promised the people of Palisade, that he would come every Sunday to celebrate Mass for them if they purchased him a car. They did that and from that time on, he celebrated Mass in Palisade every Sunday until he returned to the Wichita Diocese. At first people didn’t think that made much sense, but according to the Denver Catholic Journal, Fr Brady had been in poor health with a heart ailment for a number of years and having a car made it possible for him to commute to Palisade to celebrate Mass.

In 1939, Fr Brady, chaplain of St John’s Hospital in Iola, was principal speaker at the 60th annual convention of the Kansas Pharmaceutical Association conference held in Wichita. According to the newspaper, Fr Brady described the advent of the drug store from the old apothecary to the modern day pharmacies. He outlined the important leadership roles that early druggists played in their respective communities and reminisced over the times he had personally spent rummaging through the old time apothecaries.

  • Date of Death: 25 November 1941
  • Place of Death: Iola, KS
  • Age of Death: 52
  • Cause of Death: Heart ailment
  • Funeral Celebrant: Most Rev. Christian Winkelmann, Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita – 34 priests in attendance
  • Burial: St John’s Catholic Cemetery – Gas, Allen County, KS

View full story with footnotes.