Father Anthony Grogan

Fr. Anthony Grogan was born June 14, 1873 in Bracka, Tullamore. He was educated at national schools in Ireland, and later emigrated to America where he entered St. Joseph’s Seminary, Troy. He was ordained in 1889, and his first mass was said at St. Peter’s Church in Yonkers, where his uncle was the pastor.

Fr. Grogan first came to the Mission in 1900, as assistant to Fr. Michael Henry. He served the Mission during the years of the First World War, when he also served as chaplain for the Knights of Columbus. During the war, responsibility for the chapel on Governor’s Island was under the control of Msgr. George Waring and the Military Vicariate. In 1923, responsibility for the chapel there returned to the Mission and Fr. Grogan.  Fr. Grogan was the first priest to say mass on Ellis Island on Sunday, March 10, 1918.

After Fr. Henry’s death in 1922, Fr. Grogan became the pastor for the Mission. He died on a trip to Ireland on August 25, 1930.