Joseph T. Moriarty, O.S.A.

1863 – 1905 (June 21)

Joseph Thomas Moriarty, son of Eugene and Margaret Moriarty, was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1863. He was baptized the following day at Immaculate Conception Church in that city. He entered the novitiate at Villanova in 1882, but left in June due to illness. The following January he returned, healed of his infirmity, and began his second novitiate on February 2nd. He professed simple vows on February 3, 1884, and pursued studies at Villanova, while also serving for a time as disciplinarian. He made his solemn profession on February 6, 1887, and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Patrick Ryan in the Philadelphia Cathedral on Pentecost Sunday, May 29, 1887. 

Following ordination, Father Moriarty assisted at the mission church in Bryn Mawr until November 3rd when he was assigned to Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish, Waterford, New York. In May, 1890, he was transferred to Villanova and placed in charge of Bryn Mawr. In August, 1891, he was assigned to Carthage, N.Y., and in July, 1894, to Schaghticoke. Four years later he returned to Carthage where he spent an additional year. In December, 1899, Father Moriarty was assigned to Our Mother of Consolation Church, Chestnut Hill, PA., until December, 1900, when he was moved to Mechanicville, N.Y. 

Father Moriarty was 42 when he died at Mechanicville on Wednesday, June 21, 1905, after a prolonged illness. He is buried in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Lawrence, Massachusetts. A week later, his widowed mother passed away.