Msgr. Daniel J. O’Beirne family pose in front of the Celtic Cross on Catholic Hill.
Celtic Cross in Natchez City Cemetery. Photos by Patricia Murphy

On the introductory page VIII, Bishop R. O. Gerow has this to say about the Monsignor’s contribution to Cradle Days of St. Mary’s at Natchez, 1798-1888. First, and above all, acknowledgment is made of the fine work of Rt. Rev. Msgr. D. J. O’Beirne, the Diocesan Chancellor, who has spent much time and toil with the author in the work of minutely card-indexing the Diocesan Archives and the material contained in them. Without this labor, such a story as is here presented could not have been told.

1927
Appointed Diocesan Chancellor. Private accommodations were built onto the rear of the Episcopal Residence for him.
1936
Assisted Bishop R. O. Gerow with research and established a card index on the history of the diocese. O’Beirne family moved to Natchez from New York.
1940
January 31, His investiture as Monsignor at St. Mary Cathedral
1941
Publication of Cradle Days of St. Mary’s at Natchez, 1798-1888
1942
Returned to Vicksburg as pastor of St. Paul’s Church
1950
January 17, Appointed Protonotary Apostolic by Pope Pius XII
1953
...he had the heartbreaking decision to demolish old St. Paul’s which had been mortally wounded in the tornado of 1953,and built a new St. Paul’s. (Quoted from Vicksburg Post, April 7, 1960)
1958
Resigned as pastor and retired to the Alexian Brothers Rest Home, Tennessee.
1960
Died April 5, 1960, Alexian Brothers Rest Home, Signal Mountain, Tennessee. Buried, 8 April, in Vicksburg, church lot, Cedar Hill Cemetery

Timeline compiled by James E. Guercio
For St. Mary Basilica, Natchez
By St. Mary Basilica Archives
November 2, 2014