His father, Bernard McQuaid, from Tyrone, Ireland, settled in Powel's Hook (now Jersey City), New Jersey.
It was in the McQuaid home that Mass was first said in Powel's Hook, by Father John Conron, on the first Sunday in Advent, November, 1829.
He mother died when he was young, and his father in a bar fight.
McQuaid spent some time at the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum staffed by the Sisters of Charity.

After his college course at Chambly, Quebec, young McQuaid entered St. John's Seminary, Fordham, and was ordained in old St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York on 16 January 1848 by Bishop John Hughes.
Most of the State of New Jersey was at that time included in the Diocese of New York, so Father McQuaid was sent as assistant to the pastor at Madison, New Jersey.

When the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark was created in 1853, Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley made Father McQuaid rector of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Newark.
When the American Civil War broke out he was the first clergyman at Newark to espouse publicly the cause of the Union; he also volunteered as a chaplain and accompanied the New Jersey Brigade to the seat of war, during which service he was captured by the Confederates.

In 1866, Bishop Bayley named McQuaid his vicar-general.
That year attended the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore.
With the bishop he founded Seton Hall College, and, without giving up his parochial charge or his diocesan office, was its president for ten years.
He also helped to establish the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.
His father, Bernard McQuaid, from Tyrone, Ireland, settled in Powel's Hook (now Jersey City), New Jersey. It was in the McQuaid home that Mass was first said in Powel's Hook, by Father John Conron, on the first Sunday in Advent, November, 1829. He mother died when he was young, and his father in a bar fight. McQuaid spent some time at the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum staffed by the Sisters of Charity.
After his college course at Chambly, Quebec, young McQuaid entered St. John's Seminary, Fordham, and was ordained in old St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York on 16 January 1848 by Bishop John Hughes. Most of the State of New Jersey was at that time included in the Diocese of New York, so Father McQuaid was sent as assistant to the pastor at Madison, New Jersey.
When the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark was created in 1853, Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley made Father McQuaid rector of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Newark. When the American Civil War broke out he was the first clergyman at Newark to espouse publicly the cause of the Union; he also volunteered as a chaplain and accompanied the New Jersey Brigade to the seat of war, during which service he was captured by the Confederates.
In 1866, Bishop Bayley named McQuaid his vicar-general. That year attended the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. With the bishop he founded Seton Hall College, and, without giving up his parochial charge or his diocesan office, was its president for ten years. He also helped to establish the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.
Bernard John McQuaid