Rev. Michael O’Kane, S.J. Papers, circa 1890

Michael O’Kane, S.J. was born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland on July 12, 1849. His family moved to Spencer, MA where he enrolled at Holy Cross in 1865, before entering the Jesuit order in 1867. After teaching philosophy and theology at Georgetown he became an ordained priest in 1882. He became president of Holy Cross in 1889 after serving as a rector to the Jesuit Tertianship in Maryland. He was president of the College until 1894 when he took up roles as a parish priest in Philadelphia and Boston for the remainder of his life. His Golden Jubilee was celebrated at Holy Cross in 1917. While in Worcester, O’Kane became ill and died at St. Vincent’s Hospital on December 26, 1917.