Turner, William (1871–1936), catholic bishop and professor of philosophy in the USA, was born 8 April 1871 in Ardkilmartin, near Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, in a farming family, son of Patrick Turner and Bridget Turner (née Carey). He was one of five sons and five daughters; three sons became priests, and three daughters nuns. William was educated in national schools and by the Jesuits in Mungret College, Co. Limerick; he received a BA from the RUI (1888). He decided to study for the priesthood in the US, and was accepted as a candidate for the diocese of St Augustine, Florida. He was sent to study theology in Rome, residing at the North American College there, and completed his studies in 1893, receiving a doctorate in sacred theology from the Urban College de Propaganda Fide and also the Benemerenti medal for proficiency in philosophy. He was ordained 13 August 1893.
In 1894, on the invitation of Archbishop John Ireland (qv) of St Paul, Minnesota, he was invited to become professor in the philosophy department at the fledgling archdiocesan seminary of St Paul (founded by Ireland in 1890). He may have been recommended for this post by the archbishop's friend, Mgr Denis O'Connell (qv), who had been rector of the North American College while Turner lived there (Smith, 38). While teaching in St Paul's seminary, Turner wrote his best-known work, History of philosophy (1903; revised 1929). Turner's work was based on extensive research, and his critical assessment of the relevance of classical and scholastic philosophy to modern religious thought was regarded as particularly significant. The book was widely used in seminaries in the US, and was one of the first to be written from the perspective of the American catholic church; before it appeared, nothing but translations of European texts had been available. In 1906 he joined the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. While there, in addition to his work as professor of philosophy, he also volunteered to organise the library, and was a frequent contributor to the university's academic journal, the Catholic University Bulletin, mainly writing on Aristotle and his relevance in modern times. Additionally, he served as the editor of the American Ecclesiastical Review 1914–19, and as associate editor of the Catholic Historical Review 1915–18. Although History of philosophy is his major academic contribution, his Lessons in logic (1935), written in 1911, was also well regarded.
In 1919 he was appointed the sixth bishop of Buffalo, New York, by Pope Benedict XV. He was consecrated by Cardinal James Gibbons (1834–1921), archbishop of Baltimore and chancellor of the Catholic University, on 30 March 1919, at the Franciscan shrine of the Holy Sepulchre in Washington, DC. He was installed in Buffalo on 9 April 1919 by Archbishop Patrick J. Hayes (1867–1938) of New York. During his episcopate, more than thirty new parishes were established, and he also encouraged the work of catholic charities in the diocese. He spent several months in Ireland in 1922, at the height of the civil war, and had been expecting to meet Michael Collins (qv) in Dublin on the day that Collins was killed. On his return to New York in September 1922, Turner's views on Irish politics were headline news in the New York Times. The bishop stated very emphatically that it was sinful of Irish-Americans to send money to support Éamon de Valera (qv) and anti-treatyites, who he said were committing ‘acts of brigandry’, misled by selfish ambition and ‘fanatical women’ (New York Times, 11 Sept. 1922). After a lingering illness, Bishop Turner died 10 July 1936. He is buried in Mount Olivet cemetery in Tonawanda, a suburb of Buffalo, New York; memorial windows in the catholic church in Kilmallock honour his financial support for his home parish, and a catholic school in Buffalo was named Bishop Turner High School.