John B. Bannon excelled in four distinct capacities: as a pastor
of a thriving Catholic congregation in St. Louis; as a chaplain
with the First Missouri Confederate Infantry at Pea Ridge,
Corinth, and Vicksburg; as a diplomat winning Irish support for
the cause of the Confederacy; and as Ireland's greatest preacher
in the 1880s.
William Barnaby Faherty's latest book, Exile in Erin: A
Confederate Chaplain's Story, looks at new historical
research and covers the entire life of this great man. It
examines Bannon's boyhood in Ireland and his early years as a
priest in St. Louis. Bannon gave up a major parish to serve the
spiritual needs of the soldiers in the field—the only chaplain
in either army to do so. He turned Irish opinion to sympathy for
the South, then reoriented himself in his native land after the
war. His preaching was part of a devotional revolution that put
new life in the Irish Church.
In reading Exile in Erin, Civil War buffs will view the
conflict from an unusual vantage, students of Irish history will
understand the Celtic religious scene from Catholic emancipation
in 1827 to the vote for home rule, and all readers will meet a
towering and inspirational personality.
About the Author
William Barnaby Faherty, S.J., is Professor Emeritus in history
at Saint Louis University. He is the author of numerous books,
including The St. Louis Irish: An Unmatched Celtic Community,
Moon Launches, and St. Louis: A Concise History.
