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Ainm Gaeilge:
Athair Urramaigh Mícheál de Móinbhíol

Michael was the 3rd of 10 children of John Joseph & Elizabeth (née McGowan) Mansfield of Sandymount, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

During the Irish War of Idependence and Irish Civil War, Michael served with his brother Tom in the nationalist youth organization
Na Fianna Éireann, (Warriors of Ireland), receiving their paramilitary training directly from legendary Irish Republican Freedom Fighter Countess Constance Markievicz. In the 1940's, the Irish government awarded him both the Fianna Éireann Pin and War of Independence Service Medal.

Michael entered the Society of Jesus in 1929 and was ordained a priest on May 13, 1945. He taught on all levels of education from grammar school to post-graduate and was an international college professor of economics.

The holder of six degrees, the Jesuit scholar received a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from the National University of Ireland, a Doctorate in Ancient and Modern Philosophy from Stanislaus College (Tullamore, Ireland), and Divinity and Theology degrees from Dublin's Collegium Maximum, S.J., at Miltown Park in Dublin.

Rev. Mansfield went to Australia where he taught at Melbourne University from 1946 to 1949. He continued his teaching at Hong Kong University, where he was a Professor of Economics from 1949 to 1955. While in Hong Kong, he was the only priest at the university. He also served as a member of the Government Social Advisory Council, the Hongkong Housing Authority and the Hongkong Central Council of Social Service and as Chairman of the Hongkong Committee on Mental Defectives.

In 1955 he was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship and came to the United States to study at New York University, where he received another Masters degree. He was also the recipient of the Gold Key Award from the alumni of the college.

His honors for consistently high academic achievements also include a Senior Fulbright Fellowship to perform economic surveys in Malaya, Siam, Pakistan, Lebanon and Iraq. In addition, he toured extensively in France, Germany, Thailand, Italy, Austria and Spain.

Begining in 1963, Fr. Michael spent nine years as a weekend assistant at St. Joseph Church in Bound Brook, New Jersey, then Our Lady Of Mt. Virgin Church in Middlesex, N. J.

For the the last 8 years of his life, Michael was a weekend assistant in residence at Christ the King Church, Manville, N.J. While saying Sunday Mass at Christ the King, he suffered a stroke, passing away a week later.

✞ Reverend Father Michael Mansfield is buried in a Mansfield family plot at St. Charles Resurrection Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.

✞ 'The Good Shepherd'
Christ the King Roman Catholic Church
Manville, New Jersey
In 1983, the parishioners erected a large and magnificent stained glass window "The Good Shepherd" dedicated to his memory. Fr. Mansfield was still fondly recalled by these parishioners more than 30 years after his passing.

✞ The Mansfield Family Memorial Stone
Holmpatrick Graveyard, Skerries, Ireland
Michael is remembered on the Mansfield Family Memorial Stone erected by his brother Liam over the grave of his parents, sister Alice, his brothers Seán & Cathal his grandparents, Capt. Thomas & Mary Anne (née King) Mansfield The Mansfield Family Memorial Stone is located in Holmpatrick Graveyard, Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland.