Rev. Michael J. Shea [1601] ¹

   Cause of his death was heart attack.

  General Notes:

According to his neice, Hannah M GRIFFIN Baker, Michael was a fine musician and authority on Gregorian chants. He studied [music] in Rome. He wrote the Notre Dame Victory March with his brother.

Notre Dame Victory March
Without a doubt the most recognizable collegiate fight song in the nation, the "Notre Dame Victory March" was written just past the turn of the century by two brothers who were University of Notre Dame graduates.
Michael J. Shea, a 1905 graduate, wrote the music and his brother, John F. Shea, who earned degrees in 1906 and 1908, wrote the words. The song was copyrighted in 1908 and a piano version, complete with lyrics, was published that year.
Michael, who became a priest in Ossining, N.Y., collaborated on the project with John, who lived in Holyoke, Mass. The song's public debut came in the winter of 1908 when Michael played it on the organ of the Second Congregational Church in Holyoke.
The "Notre Dame Victory March" later was presented by the Shea brothers to the University and it first appeared under the copyright of the University of Notre dame in 1928. The copyright was assigned to the publishing company of Edwin H. Morris and the copyright for the beginning of the song is still in effect.
The words and music which begin with the words "Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame" are in the public domain in the United States, but are protected in all territories outside of the country.
Notre Dame's fight song was first performed at Notre Dame on Easter Sunday, 1909, in the rotunda of the Administration Building. The University of Notre Dame band, under the direction of Prof. Clarence Peterson, played it as part of its athletic event 10 years later. In 1969, as college football celebrated its centennial, the "Notre Dame Victory March" was honored as the "greatest of all fight songs."
Michael Shea was the pastor of St. Augustine's Church in Ossining until his death in 1938. John Shea, a baseball monogram winner at Notre Dame, became a Massachusetts state senator and live in Holyoke until his death in 1965.
Lyrics:
Rally sons of Notre Dame:
Sing her glory and sound her fame,
Raise her Gold and Blue
And cheer with voices true:
Rah, rah, for Notre Dame
We will fight in ev-ry game,
Strong of heart and true to her name
We will ne'er forget her
And will cheer her ever
Loyal to Notre Dame
Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame,
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send a volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky.
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to victory.

  Research Notes:

burial?: NOV 18,1940 at Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, Plot: Sec: 15, Lot: 86

  Burial Notes:

Busired on the campus of Notre Dame University.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Graduate: Notre Dame University, 1905, Notre Dame, Indiana. ²

• He was educated at Saint Joseph's Seminary in 1914 in Yonkers, New York. The Rev. Michael J. Shea was appointed to teach Junior Phil-
osophy and to direct the Plain Chant, at the opening in Septem-
ber when two hundred and forty-six students enrolled, of whom
one hundred and eighty-seven were for New York, Father Shea
was a graduate of Notre Dame University and an alumnus of
Dunwoodie of the class of 1914. After his ordination he had
studied liturgical chant in the Isle of Wight and at the Pontifical
School of Plain Chant in Rome. -- St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, New York, 1896-1921 : with an account of the other seminaries of New York : historical sketch", United States Catholic Historical Society, 1922, p 138

• He was educated at Pontifical School of Plain Chant after 1914 in Rome. The Rev. Michael J. Shea was appointed to teach Junior Phil-
osophy and to direct the Plain Chant, at the opening in Septem-
ber when two hundred and forty-six students enrolled, of whom
one hundred and eighty-seven were for New York, Father Shea
was a graduate of Notre Dame University and an alumnus of
Dunwoodie of the class of 1914. After his ordination he had
studied liturgical chant in the Isle of Wight and at the Pontifical
School of Plain Chant in Rome. -- St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, New York, 1896-1921 : with an account of the other seminaries of New York : historical sketch", United States Catholic Historical Society, 1922, p 138

• He worked as a Parish Priest, Saint Ann's Catholic Church after 1938 in Ossining, New York.

• He worked as a Sing Sing prison chaplain after 1938 in Ossining, New York.

• He had a web site at D:\Shared\Genealogy\Notes\Shea\nd-fightsong.pdf.

• He appeared on the Federal census in 1900 in Holyoke, Hampden County, Massachusetts. ³

• He appeared on the census in 1910 in Holyoke, Hampden County, Massachusetts. ⁴

• He appeared on the Federal census in 1910 in Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. ⁵ A student at Dunwoodie, Saint Joseph's Seminary

• His obituary was published in the New York Times on 20 Aug 1940 in New York, New York.

• He was buried at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Notre Dame, St. Joseph County, Indiana in 1940.