Ralph Matthew McInerny was a Roman Catholic, American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, philosopher, University professor, and prolific author, including fiction of which some appeared under the pseudonyms of Harry Austin, Matthew FitzRalph, Ernan Mackey, Edward Mackin, and Monica Quill, and mysteries of which his best known is the Father Dowling Mysteries

Father Dowling Mysteries

Father Dowling Mysteries is an American television mystery series that appeared between November 30, 1987 and May 2, 1991. For its first season, the show was on NBC; it moved to ABC network for its last two seasons...

. He died of esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

 on January 29, 2010.

Academic Career

McInerny was Professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of Philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, Director of the Jacques Maritain

Jacques Maritain

Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

 Center, and Michael P. Grace

Michael P. Grace

Michael Paul Grace was an international businessman who was a shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of W. R. Grace and Company of New York City and of Grace Brothers & Co. Ltd...

 Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 until his retirement in June, 2009.
He served as President of the Metaphysical Society of America

Metaphysical Society of America

The Metaphysical Society of America is a philosophical organization founded by Paul Weiss in 1950 for promoting the study of metaphysics. The society is a member of the American Council of Learned Societies...

 in 1993.

Father Dowling

• Her Death of Cold (1977)
• Bishop as Pawn (1978)
• The Seventh Station (1977)
• Lying Three (1979)
• The Second Vespers (1980)
• Thicker Than Water (1981)
• A Loss of Patients (1982)
• The Grass Widow (1983)
• Getting a Way with Murder (1984)
• Rest in Pieces (1985)
• The Basket Case (1987)
• Slight of Body (1989; aka Abracadaver)
• Four on the Floor (1989)
• Judas Priest (1991)
• Desert Sinner (1992)
• Seed of Doubt (1993)
• A Cardinal Offense (1994)
• The Tears of Things (1996)
• Grave Undertakings (2000)
• Triple Pursuit (2001)
• Prodigal Father (2002)
• Last Things (2003)
• Requiem for a Realtor (2004)
• Blood Ties (2005)
• The Prudence of Flesh (2006)
• The Widow's Mate (2007)
• Ash Wednesday (2008)
• The Wisdom of Father Dowling (2009)
• Stained Glass (2009)

Sister Mary Teresa (all as by Monica Quill)

• Not a Blessed Thing (1981)
• Let Us Pray (1982)
• And Then There Was Nun (1984)
• Nun of the Above (1985)
• Sine Qua Nun (1986)
• The Veil of Ignorance (1988)
• Sister Hood (1991)
• Nun Plussed (1993)
• Half Past Nun (1997)
• Death Takes the Veil (2001)

Andrew Broom

• Cause and Effect (1987)
• Body and Soil (1989)
• Savings and Loam (1990)
• Mom and Dead (1994)
• Law and Ardor (1995)
• Heirs and Parents (2000)

Notre Dame

• On This Rockne (1997)
• Lack of the Irish (1998)
• Irish Tenure (1999)
• The Book of Kills (2000)
• Emerald Aisle (2001)
• Celt and Pepper (2002)
• Irish Coffee (2003)
• Green Thumb (2004)
• Irish Gilt (2005)
• The Letter Killeth (2006)
• Irish Alibi (2007)
• The Green Revolution (2008)
• Sham Rock (2010)

Egidio Manfredi

• Still Life (2000)
• Sub Rosa (2001)

Other novels

• Jolly Rogerson (1967)
• A Narrow Time (1969)
• The Priest (1973)
• The Gate of Heaven (1975)
• Rogerson at Bay (1976)
• Romanesque (1977)
• Spinnaker (1978)
• Quick as a Dodo (1978)
• The Noonday Devil (1985)
• Leave of Absence
  Leave of absence
  Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
  
  (1986)
• Frigor Mortis (1989)
• The Nominative Case (as by Edward Mackin) (1990)
• Easeful Death (1991)
• The Search Committee (1991)
• Infra Dig (1992)
• The Red Hat (1998)
• As Good As Dead
  As Good as Dead
  As Good as Dead is the second album released by Illinois-based alternative rock duo Local H. It was released in April 1996 on Island Records. This album is notable for including some of Local H's most recognizable songs, including "High-Fiving MF", "Fritz's Corner", "Eddie Vedder", and the hit...
  
  (2002)
• The Ablative Case (2003)
• Slattery (2004)

Collections

• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Father Brown, Father Dowling And Other Ecclesiastical Sleuths (with G. K. Chesterton
  G. K. Chesterton
  Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
  
   and John Mortimer
  John Mortimer
  Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
  
  ) (1992)
• Good Knights (2009)

Anthologies edited

• Murder Most Divine (with Martin Harry Greenberg) (2000)
• Murder Most Catholic (with Martin Harry Greenberg) (2002)
• Great Mystery Series: 11 of the Best Mystery Short Stories from Alfred Hitchcock's And Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazines (with Lawrence Block
  Lawrence Block
  Lawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...
  
   and Mary Higgins Clark
  Mary Higgins Clark
  Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark Conheeney , known professionally as Mary Higgins Clark, is an American author of suspense novels...
  
  ) (2000)

Philosophy and Theology

• New Themes in Christian Philosophy (1969)
• Thomism in an Age of Renewal (1969)
• St. Thomas Aquinas (1977)
• Miracles: A Catholic View (1986)
• Art and Prudence: Studies in the Thought of Jacques Maritain (1988)
• A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas: A Handbook for Peeping Thomists (1990)
• Aquinas on Human Action: A Theory of Practice (1992)
• The Question of Christian Ethics, Washington
  Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
  
  : Catholic University of America Press
  Catholic University of America Press
  The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the academic publishing house of the Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941, the Press is a founding member of the Association of American University Presses...
  
   (1993)
• Aquinas Against the Averroists: On There Being Only One Intellect (1993)
• An Uncertain Legacy: Essays on the Pursuit of Liberty (edited by Edward B. McLean; includes an essay, "Medieval: The Grand Synthesis", by McInerny) (1997)
• Ethica Thomistica: The Moral Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, Washington: Catholic University of America Press
  Catholic University of America Press
  The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the academic publishing house of the Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941, the Press is a founding member of the Association of American University Presses...
  
   (1997)
• What Went Wrong with Vatican II?: The Catholic Crisis Explained (1998)
• Aquinas and Analogy, Washington: Catholic University of America Press
  Catholic University of America Press
  The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the academic publishing house of the Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941, the Press is a founding member of the Association of American University Presses...
  
   (1999)
• Praeambula Fidei, Washington: Catholic University of America Press
  Catholic University of America Press
  The Catholic University of America Press, also known as CUA Press, is the academic publishing house of the Catholic University of America. Founded on November 14, 1939, and incorporated on July 16, 1941, the Press is a founding member of the Association of American University Presses...
  
   (2006)
• Dante and the Blessed Virgin (2010)

Biography

• The Very Rich Hours of Jacques Maritain: A Spiritual Life (2003)
• I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You: My Life and Pastimes (2006)
• Some Catholic Writers (2006)
• The Defamation of Pope Pius XII (2001)

Instruction

• Let's Write a Novel (1993)
• Let's Write Short Stories (1993)
• Let's Read Latin: Introduction to the Language of the Church (1995)
• Characters in Search of Their Author: The Gifford Lectures, 1999–2000 (delivered at the University of Glasgow
  University of Glasgow
  The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
  
  ) (2001)

External links

• McInerny Center for Thomistic Studies
• Ralph McInerny - Daily Telegraph obituary
• The University of Notre Dame, Jacques Maritain Center - Obituary by John O'Callaghan
• Biography and summary of Gifford Lectures, "Characters in Search of Their Author" (University of Glasgow
  University of Glasgow
  The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
  
  , 1999–2000), by Dr Brannon Hancock