Thomas J. O’Neill: Surviving the Fire and a Promise kept – Part II
The subject of last week’s column was Thomas J. O’Neill, the Killeshandra born millionaire-businessman who refused to leave his Baltimore department store having held fast to his principles that God would intercede, even as the demolition crew were carrying dynamite towards his shop he never gave up. Then as the flames angrily licked the southern wall of the store O’Neill tried to have the fire crew removed.
Being a devout Catholic, some hours earlier he turned to his Lord and master for help and rushed to the Carmelite Convent where he persuaded the sisters to ‘intercede with God’ on his behalf. He assured the nuns, if the shop could be saved, he would build a Cathedral worthy of the City of Baltimore. That afternoon, standing in his store, vulnerable to the blaze and the firefighters about to dynamite his life’s work, the unimaginable happened, at the last moment the wind altered its direction, and the fire swiftly moved to the south and east. O’Neill’s store was safe, and its joyful owner promised to build Baltimore a fine Cathedral. Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky and in a seventy-five-block area, around 1,343 buildings were destroyed.
Much of Thomas O’Neill’s great fortune was amassed through careful financial planning, including investments in Baltimore’s city centre , and in properties such as the Professional Building which he built at 329 North Charles Street and the Wizard Motion Picture House which he bought, near Franklin Street. A generous benefactor, Thomas freely gave to numerous organisations, for example, the Maryland School for the Blind, and St. Mary’s Industrial School. After his death, his fortune continued to benefit the citizens of Baltimore and still does to this day.
Thomas J. O’Neill died on April 6, 1919, from a stroke on his return from Mass on Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday). From his fortune, he bequeathed money to build both a Cathedral, and a hospital with work to begin on them after his wife’s death and although Mrs O’Neill died in 1936, it took many more years before both the ‘Cathedral of Mary Our Queen’, Baltimore, and the ‘MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital’ were completed. According to the Cathedral website: ‘In his will, he (Thomas O’Neill) specified that upon his wife’s death (the O’Neills had no children) and the payment of a grant to Loyola College, two thirds of his estate were to become available for the building of a new cathedral in Baltimore, while the remainder was to be devoted to the construction of a hospital.’ It was in October 1954, that the ground was first dug to begin work on Baltimore’s new cathedral with its beautiful Gothic style, which was dedicated for worship in 1959.
In October 1954, Pope Pius XII published a letter ‘instituting’ 31st May as the ‘feast of Mary as Queen’ and on the fourth anniversary of the decree, it was decided to consecrate the building as Cathedral of Mary our Queen. The ceremony was carried out by the city’s Auxiliary Bishop, Jerome D. Sebastian on November 15, 1959. In addition, the website records that ‘the Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Primary See, the first archdiocese, in the United States’ and receives hundreds of visitors of all faiths each year who come to pray and admire its phenomenal architecture. For people who are interested in visiting Baltimore, it may be of interest, that the Memorial Chapel in the Cathedral has a window depicting Thomas J. O’Neill’s image.
The MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore opened in 1968, and according to the hospital’s history, it was Thomas O’Neill’s personal wish that the place ‘should not bear his name’, adding that this generous and unassuming man requested that all who ‘crossed the threshold of his proposed hospital’ should be treated with ‘dignity, respect and consideration’.
In the early days, Medstar Good Samaritan Hospital mainly specialised in treating kidney disease, arthritis, stroke, lung disorders and chronic illnesses needing long-term care, and its patients were cared for by the Sisters of Bon Secours who ran the hospital. Since its foundation, the hospital has granted millions of dollars ‘through the Thomas J. O’Neill Catholic Health Care Fund’ for the benefit of ‘the poor and needy’, funding ‘life-saving medical research and development.’
In a final act of generosity, Thomas J. O’Neill left the entire O’Neill & Company Department Store to his employees who faithfully served him in life. The store then merged ‘into Hahn Department Stores in 1928, and in its final years became part of the Allied Stores Corporation. O’Neill’s which opened in 1882, closed its doors for the last time in December 1954.
Writing in the Baltimore Sun in 1998, Fred Ramussen recalled that, Baltimore had a generation of people who during the holidays proudly displayed their treasured linen tablecloths, and napkins, purchased by grandmothers and mothers at O’Neill’s. The high-quality clothes, and hats too, are still missed by many of the ladies who called to O’Neill’s, all those decades ago. Sadly, O’Neill’s department block no longer exists, having been demolished in 1961 when the space was incorporated into the Charles Centre urban renewal project.
Thomas J. O’Neill, the philanthropic multi-millionaire businessman from Killeshandra, is fondly remembered in Baltimore for his generosity and the example he set to other companies, employing many women whom he believed had better sales acumen when it came to recommending clothing and store items and he never interfered in their work methods, except to ensure that customers were being treated with the utmost respect.
In recent times, a blue plaque was erected on a redbrick property presumably connected to O’Neill, on Park Avenue, placed there by the Bolton Hill Historic District in recognition of his contribution to Baltimore, Maryland. I would like to say a sincere thank you to Concepta McGovern and Cavan Genealogy Centre whose records revealed the birthplace of Thomas J. O’Neill and the details relating to his siblings and his father’s profession.
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY: