Msgr. James M. Kirwin: Chaplain and Veteran
Perhaps one of the most well-known Texas priests, Msgr. James M. Kirwin began his career in Texas in 1896 as rector for St. Mary’s Cathedral in Galveston. Today, Kirwin is remembered for his assistance during the aftermath of Galveston’s Great Storm of 1900 and his ecumenical relationships with religious leaders of other faiths in the Galveston area.
The photograph above shows an outdoor Field Mass celebrated by Bishop Nicolaus A. Gallagher of Galveston (seated). Although the exact location and date of the photograph are unknown, the photograph may have been taken at Camp Logan in Houston around 1917 or 1918.
Kirwin, standing to Gallagher’s right, was no stranger to war. Between June 27 and October 28, 1898, Kirwin served as a chaplain and a captain for the United States First Volunteer Infantry in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. On November 14, 1914, Kirwin was appointed as a First Lieutenant for the Texas National Guard. After the Glenn Springs Raid (within modern-day Big Bend National Park) in 1916, Kirwin served as a chaplain during the Punitive Expedition to secure Texas from Pancho Villa's troops.1
Two months after the short-lived Punitive Expedition ended, the US entered World War I. During war preparations, Kirwin was asked by General John Pershing to serve as a chaplain for the American troops in France. However, due to Gallagher’s declining health and death in 1918, Kirwin remained in Houston during the war to serve as diocesan administrator.2
Beyond his service as a chaplain, overseeing St. Mary’s Seminary, and serving as vicar general for the Diocese of Galveston, Kirwin was one of the first Knights in the Galveston area. A year after his death, the Texas State Council established a bursary to support priestly vocations in his honor, stating there was "no better way to perpetuate the memory of a great priest than to have another priest to live and serve in his place when God has summoned him on."2