User:Ergo Sum/sandbox/Michael O'Kane

Michael A. O'Kane (July 12, 1849 – December 26, 1917) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit.

Early life
O'Kane was born on July 12, 1849, in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. He emigrated to the United States at the age of three months with his parents, where they settled in Spencer, Massachusetts. O'Kane was educated in Spencer, before enrolling at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester in 1865. After two years, he decided to enter the Society of Jesus, and he proceeded to the novitiate in Frederick, Maryland, on July 31, 1867.

Jesuit formation
O'Kane spent two years at the novitiate studying the classics before beginning his philosophical studies at Woodstock College. After three years, in 1874, he became a teacher at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Four years later, he left and taught at Loyola College in Maryland for one year.

In 1879, O'Kane returned to Woodstock for his theological studies, where he was ordained a priest by the Archbishop of Baltimore, James Gibbons, in 1882. Afterwards, he returned to Georgetown for three years, where he held the positions of minister, prefect of studies, and professor of philosophy. In 1886, he completed his tertianship year at the Fredeick novitiate. On August 26, 1887, he was appointed to succeed Archibald J. Tisdall as the master of novices and the rector of St. Stanislaus novitiate in Frederick, a position he held for two years until he was succeeded by James A. Ward as vice (acting) rector.

College of the Holy Cross
In 1889, O'Kane succeeded Samuel Cahill as the president of the College of the Holy Cross.

Later years
In 1917, O'Kane traveled to Worcester for two weeks to celebrate his 50th anniversary in the Society of Jesus. While there, he became ill and died on December 26 at Saint Vincent Hospital.