Born in Golden, County Tipperary he was educated at Rockwell College and at 17 entered the Holy Ghost Congregation to train to become one of the Holy Ghost Fathers. He was sent by the order to Orly in 1900 as a novice, not long after the government of René Waldeck-Rousseau had begun an anti-clerical drive in the aftermath of the Dreyfus Affair.
Born in Golden, County Tipperary, he received his education at Rockwell College and entered the Holy Ghost Congregation at age 17 to become a member of the order. He was sent to Orly in 1900 as a novice shortly after the French government's anti-clerical campaign began following the Dreyfus Affair.