CORCORAN, James A., clergyman, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1820. He was sent to Rome at the age of fourteen, and studied at the University of the propaganda. He was graduated with the reputation of the best linguist among the students of his time, was ordained in 1842, returned to Charleston in 1843 and organized the Diocesan seminary, in which he was appointed professor of theology in 1844. He held this place till 1851, being also pastor at the cathedral and chaplain to the Sisters. He was for fifteen years editor of the "United States Catholic Miscellany." He was chosen secretary of the Baltimore provincial councils of 1855 and 1858, and of the plenary council of 1866. As his duties consisted in preparing matter for the sessions of these bodies, framing decrees, and reducing everything to order and system, Dr. Corcoran has had considerable influence on the legislation of the Catholic church in the United States. He accompanied the four doctors sent by General Beauregard in 1862 to the relief of the inhabitants of Wihnington who were suffering from yellow fever, and continued to be their pastor till 1868. He was present at the general council of the Vatican, being selected by the American bishops as a representative doctor of the Catholic church of the United States, and in 1870 was appointed professor in the Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, Philadelphia, and founded the "Catholic Quarterly Review," of which he is editor.