Priests serving the
Church of the Most Holy Trinity
Augusta, Georgia
This list is compiled from information gathered from Board of Trustee meeting minutes, church letters, newspaper articles, other publications, and memory. Although desiring accuracy it is constantly being updated as new information becomes available.
Rev. Abbe Carrnele (Carl) - 1805 — resident in Savannah visiting Augusta occasionally
Rev. Edward Sweeney - 1807 — non resident priest
Rev. Dr. Robert Browne - 1809-1810 — first resident priest
Rev. Cloriviere - 1811-1819 — First Catholic church built in Augusta; priest residence built in 1818
Rev. Samuel Sutherland Cooper — ordained in 1818 — assigned to Augusta 1819
Rev. Edward Swiney - 1824-1828
Rev. D. Corkery — Assistant 1824; buried in the city cemetery
Rev. J. McEncroe - 1828
- Rev. Michael D. O’Reiley — Assistant 1828
- Rev. Andrew N. Byrne — Assistant 1828
- Rev. J. F. O’Neil — Assistant 1829-1830
Rt. Rev. John Barry 1830-1853 — became the second bishop of Savannah in 1854; old church enlarged in 1843; laid the cornerstone for the new church 1857; died in Paris, France 1859; interred under the church in 1866.
- Rev. Joseph Stokes— Assistant 1830
- Rev. Timothy Bermingham— Assistant 1832
- Rev. P. D. Hackett— Assistant 1835
- Rev. Dominick Byrne — Assistant 1837
- Rev. T. J. Cronin — Assistant 1839
- Rev. John W. Gifford — Assistant 1840-1849
Rev. Gregory Duggan 1854-1865 — Assistant to Fr. Barry 1841-1854; pastor when the new church was built; interred under the church
- Rev. Peter Whelan — Assistant 1854
- Rev. James Hasson — Assistant 1856
- Rev. John F. Kirby 1865- 1870 — Assistant 1854-1865; interred under the church
- Rev. B. O’Hara — Assistant 1867
- Rev. Louis Denis Xavier Bazin — Assistant 1867-1870; Jardine organ installed 1868
- Rev. Abram Ryan — Assistant 1868; poet priest of the confederacy; Jardine organ purchased with proceeds from poetry readings and lectures
- Rev. James O'Hara — Assistant 1871-1873; buried under the church
Very Rev. Wm. J. Hamilton 1870-1873 — put up the iron railing around the church property; built priest's residence
Rev. Charles C. Prendergast -1873-1881
- Rev. W. F. Brown — Assistant
- Rev. Michael J. Rice — Assistant; interred under the church
Rev. William Quinlin - 1882-1884
Rev. H.J. McNally - 1885-1888 — Assistant 1880-1885
- Rev. Richard J. O’Brien — Assistant
Rev. James M. O’Brien - 1889-1894 — Finished the bell tower for the bell to be installed in 1894
Very Rev. P. H. McMahon - 1894-1907 — Replaced the wooden steps on the front of the church; replaced the wooden altar rail with marble (Board of Trustee minutes also list him as pastor 1917-1920) Twelve stained glass windows down the side aisles installed in 1919; last priest interred under the church
- Rev. R. M. Hamilton — Assistant
Very Rev. Louis Denis Xavier Bazin — 1907-1913
Very Rev. James A. Kane — 1914-1917
Rev. H. A. Schonhardt — Acting pastor January 1, 1921-January 1, 1922; Pastor 1923-1930
- Rev. Jeremiah O’Hara — Assistant 1920-1935
Very Rev. Leo M Keenan - 1930-1941
Rev. Joseph J. Malloy - 1943
Rev. Harold J. Barr - 1948-1951
Rev. Joseph J. Malloy - 1950-1952
- Rev. Honeck — Assistant
Rev. Arthur A. Weltzer — 1952-1960
Rev. Ralph Seikel — 1963 - pastor for 100th anniversary; $40,000 spent on renovations
Rev. Sean N. O’Rourke — 1969-1970
Rev. Benjamin Werner — 1970-1971
Rev. William Simmons — 1971-1983 — fund started for the renovation of the Jardine organ
- Rev. Wm. O’Neill — Assistant 1971-1975
- Rev. P. James Costigan — Assistant 1971-1972
- Rev. Michael A. Burke — Assistant 1972-1974
- Rev. Liam Collins — Assistant 1975 - ?
- Rev. Wayland Brown — Assistant
- Rev. John Lyons — Assistant 1980-1985
Rev. John O’Brien — 1983-1990
- Rev. Robert E. Chaney — transitional deacon in 1987, Assistant 1988-1989
Rev. Fred Nijem — 1990
Rev. Richard Canty — 1990
Rev. Daniel Munn — 1991-2006
Rev. Allan McDonald - 1991- 2004 — church nominated to the National Register of Historic Places; Jardine organ restored
- Rev. Thomas Murphy — Assistant 1996
- Rev. Tom Peyton — Assistant
Rev. Brett Brannen — 2004-2005
Rev. Tim Donahue — 2005-present
- Rev. Michael Lubinsky — Assistant 2001-present
