MC CLOSKEY, WILLIAM GEORGE. – American prelate, born in Brooklyn (New York) on 10 November 1823, died in Louisville (Kentucky) on 17 September 1909.
Ordained a priest in 1857, he taught moral theology, Sacred Scripture, and Latin for six years at Mount St. Mary’s College. In 1859 he was unanimously designated by all the American bishops as the first rector of the American College in Rome.
He directed the College during the extremely difficult period of the Civil War, when the conflicts and hatreds between North and South, between the Union and the Confederates, were reflected within the College. Bishop of Louisville from 1868; energetic, resolute, and tenacious, he carried out tireless activity in his diocese. He found there 64 churches and 80 priests; at his death the churches numbered 165, and the priests had increased to 200.