Patrick Manogue was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1831. Emigrating to the United States, he left college to support his siblings. Manogue ventured out to Moore's Flat, California, where he prospected for gold. One of his fellow "ordinary miners", John Mackay, the grandfather of Ellin Mackay, wife of Irving Berlin, would spearhead the building of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament starting in 1887. After four years of prospecting, Manogue earned enough to pay his tuition at Saint Sulpice Seminary, Paris. The Archdiocese of San Francisco's Archbishop, Joseph Alemany, recommended the "gold miner" novice. Manogue admired its cathedral, which would become the model for his future diocese, and was ordained a priest on December 21, 1861.
Pastoral appointments
Manogue was ordained to the priesthood on December 21, 1861. Bishop Eugene O'Connell was instrumental in choosing then Father Manogue to start a ministry in the Nevada Territory. Along with O'Connell, Manogue encouraged the Daughters of Charity to help populate pioneer churches in Nevada. Manogue returned to Nevada and built the "first St. Mary's in the Mountains" in 1862. O'Connell felt that a former miner was best suited for a ministry to the growing Nevada mining community.
On May 28, 1886, the Grass Valley Diocese was suppressed when the Diocese of Sacramento was erected. Manogue became its founding bishop and in effect the second bishop of the Sacramento diocese. The new diocese needed a cathedral and with help of Mackay and other influential miners, Manogue built his cathedral on land donated by the first governor of California, Peter Burnett. On June 29, 1887, Manogue was one of the principal Co-Consecrators of Bishop Lawrence Scanlan.
Final years
Manogue died in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament rectory on February 27, 1895.
Legacy
Bishop Manogue Assembly 50, Knights of Columbus, was named in honor of this bishop. Because of his pioneering work in Nevada, Bishop Manogue High School in Reno was dedicated in his name. Bishop Manogue High School, a former female school in the Sacramento Diocese, was named for this Bishop. This school was merged with Christian Brothers High School which hosted a "Bishop Manogue Derby Day" celebrating the Kentucky Derby at the second annual Bishop Manogue H.S. reunion on May 1, 2010.
