Tuesday 13 December 2016

Ecclesiastical History Diocese of Cloyne and Ross - 3.

From Walsh's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, from p. 246, Chapter XXVI:

Diocese of Ross (Contd...)

Dermod MacDomnuil was bishop of Ross in 1544. Dermod died in 1552. He must have resigned before his death as there was one John, bishop of Ross, in 1551.
Thomas O'Hurley bishop of Ross assisted at the council of Trent in 1563 together with Donat bishop of Raphoe and Eugene bishop of Achonry Thomas was forced to resign in 1570 died in 1579 and was buried in the Franciscan convent of Kilchree county of Cork Thomas was taken after a long search for him together with his chaplain in a small island by a son of O Sullivan More and delivered up to Sir John Perrott was sent to the tower of London in the year 1571 where he spent three years and seven months with Primate Creagh of Armagh was at length liberated and returned to Ireland attended to his episcopal functions and died holily while in prison he had to endure hunger thirst the darkness and the stench of his dungeon and the annoyance of fleas and mice the latter gnawing his feet Those Irish prelates arrived at Trent on the 25th of May 1562 and it is gratifying to find that the representatives of the Irish church were not silent spectators of the important proceedings of this holy council their votes in some of the congregations are recorded and their signatures are found together at the end of the council On the question of communion under both kinds on which there were seven different opinions the bishops of Ross and Raphoe gave an unqualified negative but the bishop of Achonry voted for the giving of the cup to the laity leaving the matter to the Pope's discretion several other fathers giving a similar qualified vote In other transactions of the council the Irish prelates acted a distinguished part Some sort of union existed between this see and Cork in the year 1586 and from that time until the appointment of Boetius MacEgan a minorite to the see of Ross This holy prelate in the fullness of his charity ventured to take excursions through the neighboring mountains for the purpose of administering sacraments to the dying and on his returning to a lonely retreat where he had been a long time concealed he was overtaken by a troop of Ludlow's cavalry the holy prelate was assured that a renunciation of his faith would secure him not only pardon but the confidence as well of their general bribes and promises were employed but tried in vain Boetius MacEgan of Ross was immediately given up by orders of Ludlow to the fury of the soldiers his arms severed from his body he was brought to a neighboring tree and suspended from one of its branches by the reins of his own horse In the year 1748 the illustrious Pontiff Benedict XIV separated the see of Cloyne from Cork and constituted John O Brien bishop of that see uniting it to that of Ross Doctor MacKenna was bishop of Cloyne and Ross in 1775 William Coppinger coadjutor bishop in 1778 Succeeded in 1791 and died in 1831 This prelate has done eminent services to the Irish church by his writings Michael Collins coadjutor in 1827 Succeeded in 1831 died in 1832 Bartholomew Crotty elected in 1833 Was at the period of his election president of the college of Maynooth and was consecrated there in the June of that year Thomas Walsh succeeded sat but a short time and died in 1849 Timothy Murphy the present bishop of Cloyne was consecrated on the 16th of September 1849 On the 2d of February 1851 William Kane who was then parish priest of Middleton was consecrated bishop of Ross at the solicitation of Dr Murphy who was instituted to both sees His disinterestedness on this occasion forms a striking contrast with the conduct of other prelates in that province who were more intent on extending than contracting the revenues of their sees

Friday 9 December 2016

Kilcrea Abbey

A little further from my home in Blarney away to the south west is Kilcrea Abbey. Kilcrea is certainly one the best preserved monastic ruins in County Cork. The story of the Abbey intertwines a number of themes that have appeared on this blog.

On the south bank of the River Bride, to the west of Ovens, Ballincollig and the City, lie the remains of Kilcrea Abbey.

Ovens itself is the location of the Ovens Cave which contains a Mass Rock in a chamber about 100 yards from the entrance along a gallery that is only five or six feet high. Mass Rocks are found all over Ireland in secluded spots where Mass could be said by fugitive Priests away from the notice of the persecuting English who had outlawed the Mass and the Priesthood among the provisions of the Penal Laws. So there remains plenty of physical evidence of the cruel persecution and the stubborn fidelity of the Catholics in this area of Cork.

Kilcrea Abbey was founded in 1465 for the Franciscans by Cormac Láidir MacCarthy Mór, the chief of his name and Lord of Muskerry. He was later buried in the Abbey. A monument erected in his memory reads in Irish:

In ndílchuimhne ar
Chormac Láidir MacCárthaigh
Tiarna Mhúscraí
an té a bhunaigh an mhainistir seo
d'Ord Phrionsais
agus a chuir faoi choimirce bhríde í
d'éag 1494
gura sona Dé a anam a dea-bheart
Coiste Cuimhneacháin 1965-1966

That translates as:

To the sweet memory of
Cormac the strong MacCarthy
Lord of Muskerry
who founded this Abbey
of the Order of Francis
and who placed it under the patronage of St. Brigid
in the year 1494
may God give his soul his good measure
Commemmoration Committee 1965-1966

The Abbey was dedicated to the patronage of St. Brigid of Kildare.  Historians tell us that our heavenly patron, Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy (b. 1455), studied here before pursuing his studies on the Continent at Paris and later Rome.  Less than a century after its foundation, in 1542, the Irish Commissioners of Henry VIII set about the work of dissolving the religious houses of Ireland but it was not until 1577 that Cormac McTeige MacCarthy, of the family of the founder, received the lease of the property from the Commissioners. However, faithful to the wishes of his forebear, he did not expel the Franciscans in taking possession of their property. He died in 1584 and the convent was raided twice by the authorities between his death and the fall from favour of Sir Cormac Diarmuid MacCarthy, when the Abbey was confiscated again by the English Government in Ireland.

However, the Franciscans returned quietly at the beginning of the 17th century but in 1650 the troops of Cromwell occupied the buildings of the Abbey and the nearby Castle. From that point onwards, the Abbey fell gradually into ruin until it became a National Monument at the end of the 19th century although that did not mean it was a dead museum piece. The Franciscans continued to appoint Priors to Kilcrea well into the 19th century and the Abbey continues to be a burial ground for the local people to this day, like so many of the ruins that punctuate the landscape of Ireland, reminders of the glories of past glories and past persecutions.

As well as the founder and his decendants, the famous Bishop O'Herlihy of Ross was buried near the high Altar in 1579. Bishop O'Herlihy was one of the few Irish Bishops to attend the sessions of the Council of Trent but shared with many the distinction of imprisonment in the Tower of London where he was consigned by the infamous and bloody President of Munster, Perrot.

Another notable burial in Kilcrea is Art O'Laoghaire, a martyr of the Penal Laws. Returning from exile, where he had served the Empress of Austria with distinction, he was hunting one day when a local magistrate named Morris took advantage of one of the Penal Laws of William III that required Catholics to offer up their horse for sale if it be demanded by a Protestant.

O'Laoghaire would not offer up his horse and they quarrelled. The magistrates of the area met and declared O'Laoghaire an outlaw. He was shot dead at Carriganimna, close to Macroom, by a force of English soldiery.

His wife, Eibhlín Dubh, an aunt of the great Daniel O'Connell, composed the Toramh-Chaoineadh Airt Ui Laoghaire or Lament for Art O'Laoghaire. His epitaph reads:

"Lo Arthur Leary, generous,
Handsome, Brave, slain in
His bloom, Lies in this humble
Grave. Died May 4th 1773.
Aged 26 years."

"Having served the Empress Marie Therese as
Captain of Hungarian Hussars, he returned
home to be outlawed and treacherously shot
by order of the British Government, his sole
crime being that he refused to part with a
favourite horse for the sum of five pounds."

St. Brigid of Kildare, patroness of Kilcrea, pray for them!

[First Published on the St. Conleth's Catholic Heritage Blog in December, 2009]