Atlanta’s Irish hero

Doc Lawrence

BY DOC LAWRENCE

Since childhood days, I’ve known about the incident. Scott Candler, a once prominent Georgia politician whose family founded Agnes Scott College in Decatur, first told it to me. Every word is true, and it is still the best story I know about the Civil War.

This wasn’t about battlefield courage or a monumental victory. It was about how an Irish immigrant priest acting alone, confronted a mighty warrior, faced impending execution and peacefully won a victory that somehow escaped history books.

A native of County Cavan, Ireland, Father Thomas O’Reilly, appointed pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, arrived in Atlanta in 1861. Atlanta was a strategic transportation center for the Confederacy, and in 1864, the Union army, commanded by Gen. William T. Sherman, held Atlanta under siege.

During the horror of Sherman’s extended assault, O’Reilly ministered to the wounded and dying of both armies, along with civilian casualties.

Civil War Priest Thomas O’Reilly, represented in this oil portrait by John Maier, saved five Atlanta churches from destruction in 1864. (Photo courtesy Keenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.)

After Atlanta fell, Sherman ordered Atlanta to be burned, including all homes and churches. Enraged, O’Reilly gained an audience with Sherman at his headquarters, which is now the site of the Carter Center and Presidential Library.

The confrontation was unpleasant. O’Reilly, failing to persuade Sherman to spare the city, was told by Sherman that he was pondering whether to have the priest executed by firing squad.

Undeterred, O’Reilly reminded Sherman that his army was substantially Irish Catholic conscripts who would likely mutiny before burning a Catholic church. O’Reilly also informed Sherman that, in the event of the destruction of churches, he would take official measures to have every Irish Catholic soldier in Sherman’s army excommunicated.

Sherman relented. Although the city was destroyed, five Atlanta churches were spared—three (Immaculate Conception, Trinity Methodist and Central Presbyterian) remain active today.

O’Reilly was not executed. Upon his death in 1872 at age 41, he was buried in the basement of his church. A few of his possessions are on display. His resting place, which may be viewed by appointment, emits the feeling of a sacred shrine. I have visited there regularly over the years.

Each year, at the end of our St. Patrick’s Day parade, the Hibernian Benevolent Society of Atlanta places a wreath at O’Reilly’s memorial at the corner of Atlanta’s City Hall. It was erected long ago by the congregations of the churches he saved.

Father Thomas O’Reilly’s courage and tenacity embody the ecumenical spirit that continues to make Atlanta an international beacon for human rights. Truly, he is Atlanta’s Irish hero—and mine.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

—Doc Lawrence is an Atlanta-based journalist, broadcaster and television producer.