Michael Tierney (September 29, 1839 – October 5, 1908) was an Irish-born American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Hartford from 1894 until his death in 1908.

After his father died in Ireland during the Great Famine, his mother brought the family to the United States, settling in South Norwalk, Connecticut.

[2] [3][3] Tierney was ordained to the priesthood in Troy on May 26, 1866, by Bishop John Joseph Conroy for the Diocese of Hartford.

After Tierney's ordination, Bishop Patrick McFarland named him chancellor of the diocese and rector of Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence, Rhode Island.

He received his episcopal consecration on February 22, 1894, from Archbishop John Williams, with Bishops Matthew Harkins and Thomas Beaven serving as co-consecrators, at the first Cathedral of St.

[7] During his 14-year-long tenure, Tierney founded St. Thomas Seminary; St. Mary's Home for the Aged; St. John's Industrial School; the hospitals at Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Willimantic; and numerous charitable institutions conducted by the Sisters of the Holy Ghost and the Little Sisters of the Poor.