Rev. William Corby was born October 2, 1833 in Detroit, Michigan, to Daniel Corby, an Irish native and his wife Elizabeth, a Canadian. He was an American priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a Union Army chaplain attached to the Irish Brigade. The Irish Brigade perhaps best knows Corby for his giving general absolution on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Fr. Corby also served twice as President of the University of Norte Dame. The school's Corby Hall is named for him, and a statue of him similar to that at Gettysburg stands outside this building on the Notre Dame campus.
Widely remembered among military chaplains and celebrated by Irish-American fraternal organizations, his statue with right hand raised in the gesture of blessing was the first statue of a non-general erected on the Gettysburg Battlefield. He died December 28, 1897.