Part 1

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THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD.

JANUARY, 1865.

THE SEE OF CLONMACNOISE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

CARDINAL CONSALVI AND NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

ST. BRIGID'S ORPHANAGE.

THE MSS. REMAINS OF PROFESSOR O'CURRY IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY.

ASSOCIATION OF ST. PETER'S PENCE, DUBLIN.

POLAND.

LITURGICAL QUESTIONS.

DOCUMENTS.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

THE SEE OF CLONMACNOISE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

In the beginning of the sixteenth century the See of St. Kieran was reckoned among the dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Tuam. Dr. Walter Blake was then its bishop; he was a native of Galway, and Canon of Enaghdune, and by the provision of Pope Innocent VIII., was appointed to this See on the 26th of March, 1487. During twenty-one years he governed the faithful of Clonmacnoise with prudence and zeal, and died in May, 1508.

Thomas O'Mullally was appointed his successor the same year, and after administering this diocese for five years, was, in 1513, translated to the archiepiscopal see of Tuam.

There are still preserved in the Vatican archives two original letters written by King Henry VIII., on the 18th of June, 1515, soliciting the appointment of Father Quintinus Ohnygyn, of the Order of St. Francis, as successor to Dr. Mullally. These letters should, of themselves, suffice to set at rest for ever the plea which some modern theorists have advanced, that the course pursued by the English monarch in the latter years of his reign, in appointing bishops by his own authority to the episcopal sees, was the traditional right of the crown, ever exercised by him and his predecessors on the throne of England. The first letter is addressed to the reigning pontiff, Leo X., as follows:

"Sanctissimo, Clementissimoque Dno nostro Papae.

"Beatissime pater, post humillimam commendationem et devotissima pedum oscula beatorum. Certiores facti, Cluanensem Ecclesiam in Dominio nostro Hiberniae per translationem Revmi Patris Dni Thomae ejus novissimi Episcopi ad Archi-Episcopatum Tuamensem vacare, venerabilem ac religiosum virum fratrem Quintinum Ohnygyn ord. min. virum doctum, gravem, circumspectum et probum, multorum testimonio maxime idoneum esse cognovimus qui dictae Ecclesiae praeficiatur. Quapropter Vestrae Sanctitati ipsum commendamus, eamque rogamus, ut eundem fr. Quintinum praedictae Cathedrali Ecclesiae Cluanensi per dictam translationem vacanti praeficere et Episcopum constituere dignetur, quem ut Deo acceptum, sic perutilem eidem Ecclesiae pastorem futurum arbitramur. Et felicissime valeat eadem Vestra Sanctitas, Quam Deus Altissimus longaevam conservet.

"Ex Palatio nostro Grenwici; "die xviii. Junii 1515. "Ejusdem Sanctitatis Vestrae "Devotissimus atque obsequentissimus filius "Dei gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae ac Dom. Hib{ae}. "Henricus".

The second letter was addressed to Cardinal Julius de Medicis, and is dated the same day. It seeks to conciliate for the petition contained in the letter first cited, the patronage of Cardinal de Medicis, who was known to exercise unbounded influence in the councils of Pope Leo:

"Henricus Dei Gratia Rex Angliae et Franciae, ac Dominus Hiberniae, Revmo. in Christo patri D. Julio tituli S. Mariae in Dominica S. R. Ecclesiae Diacono Cardinali nostroque ac Regni nostri in Romana curia Protectori et amico nostro charissimo salutem.

"Commendamus in praesentia Ssm. D. N. venerabilem religiosum virum fr. Quintinum Ohnygyn, virum doctum, prudentem et vitae integritate probatum, Suamque Sanctitatem rogamus ut eundem fratrem Quintinum Ecclesiae Cluanensi, per Reverendi Patris Thomae ejus postremi Episcopi ad Archi-Episcopatum Tuamensem translationem vacanti praeficere et praesulem constituere dignetur. Quare pergratum nobis erit ut Vestra Revma Dominatio relationem de dicta Ecclesia, ut moris est, facere et ejusdem fratris Quintini procuratoribus in Bullarum expeditione favorem suum praestare non gravetur.

"Ex Palatio nostro Grenwici die xviii. Junii, 1515.

"Henricus".

Though the king was thus so eager to have Dr. O'Hnygyn appointed without delay to the vacant see, it was only in the month of November the following year (1516) that the consistorial investigation was made for the appointment of this prelate. The record of this inquiry is still happily preserved, and though there was only one witness present who was a native of Ardfert, by name Nicholas Horan, still, from his scanty evidence we may glean some interesting particulars regarding the ancient See and Cathedral of St. Kieran.

The town of Clonmacnoise, he says, is situated in the ecclesiastical province of Tuam, at the distance of a day's journey from the sea coast. It is small, consisting of only twelve houses, which are built of rushes and mud, and are thatched with straw. At one side flows the river Shannon, and the surrounding country is thickly set with trees. Towards the west stands the cathedral, which is in a ruinous condition. Its roof has fallen, and there is but one altar, which is sheltered by a straw roof: it has a crucifix of bronze, and only one poor vestment: its sacristy, too, is small, but its belfry has two bells. Enshrined in the church is the body of the Irish saint whose name it bears: nevertheless the holy sacrifice of the Mass is seldom offered up, and the whole revenue of the see amounts to only thirty-three crowns. As to Father Quintin, it was further stated, that having been himself in Rome, he was already well known to many members of the Sacred College, and he is described as "in Presbyteratus ordine constitutus, vir doctus, praedicator, bonis moribus et fama, aliisque virtutibus praeditus". (ap. Theiner, page 519.)

Pope Leo X. did not hesitate much longer in appointing one so highly commended to the vacant see, and before the close of 1516 Dr. O'Hnygyn was consecrated Bishop of Clonmacnoise. During the twenty-two years which he ruled this diocese he displayed great energy in reanimating the fervour of the faithful and restoring the ancient splendour of religion. The cathedral was repaired: stained-glass windows and paintings set forth once more the triumph of faith, whilst many precious gems and other decorations were added, as voluntary offerings from his faithful flock. The following description of the cathedral, extracted from Ware, will serve to give a more complete idea of this venerable structure:

"Nine other churches were subject to the cathedral, being, as it were, in one and the same churchyard, which contained about two Irish acres in circuit, on the west whereof the bishops of Clonmacnoise afterwards built their episcopal palace, the ruins of which are yet visible. The situation of this place is not unpleasant. It stands on a green bank, high raised above the river, but encompassed to the east and the north-east with large bogs. The nine churches were most of them built by the kings and petty princes of those parts for their places of sepulture; who though at perpetual wars in their lives, were contented to lie here peaceably in death. One of these churches, called Temple-Ri, or the King's Church, was built by O'Melaghlin, King of Meath, and to this day is the burial place of that family. Another, called Temple-Connor, was built by the O'Connor Don; a third and fourth by O'Kelly and MacCarthy More of Munster. The largest of all was erected by MacDermot, and is called after his name. The rest by others. Before the west door of MacDermot's church stood a large old-fashioned cross or monument, much injured by time, on which was an inscription in antique characters, which nobody that I could hear of could read. The west and north door of this church, although but mean and low, are guarded about with fine-wrought, small marble pillars, curiously hewn. Another of the churches hath an arch of a greenish marble, flat-wrought and neatly hewn and polished, and the joints so close and even set, that the whole arch seems but one entire stone, as smooth as either glass or crystal. The memory of St. Kieran is yet fresh and precious in the minds of the neighbouring inhabitants. In the great church was heretofore preserved a piece of the bone of one of St. Kieran's hands as a sacred relique. The 9th of September is annually observed as the patron-day of this saint, and great numbers from all parts flock to Clonmacnoise in devotion and pilgrimage. The cathedral was heretofore endowed with large possessions, and was above all others famous for the sepulchres of the nobility and bishops, as also for some monuments and inscriptions, partly in Irish and partly in Hebrew. Yet it declined by degrees, and was in the end reduced to a most shameful poverty". (_Harris's Ware_, pag. 166.)

The famous cross of Clonmacnoise, to which Ware refers in the above passage, was erected about the year 920; and though two centuries ago its inscription was deemed illegible, the illustrious Petrie has deciphered it in our own times. The first part of the inscription is: "A prayer for Flann, son of Maelsechlainn"; and the second part is: "A prayer for Colman who made this cross over the King Flann". (Petrie, _Round Towers_, pag. 268.) This ancient cross is, moreover, richly ornamented with relievos and ornamental net-work: "The sculptures on its west side", says Petrie, "relate to the history of the original foundation of Clonmacnoise by St. Kieran; while the sculptures on the other sides represent the principal events in the life of our Saviour, as recorded in the Scripture; and hence the cross was subsequently known by the appellation of _Cros na Screaptra_, _i.e._, the Cross of the Scriptures, under which name it is noticed in the Annals of Tighernach at the year 1060". Amongst the sacred subjects thus sculptured on this venerable cross we may mention, the Crucifixion--the Blessed Virgin bearing the Divine Infant in her arms--and the adoration by the Magi.

Dr. O'Hnygyn died in 1538, and had for his successor Richard Hogan, who, after presiding for fourteen years in the See of Killaloe, was translated to Clonmacnoise on the 17th July, 1539: he, however, died the same year, and as Ware informs us, "within a few days after his translation". Another bishop was appointed without delay, and on the 15th December, 1539, Dr. Florence O'Gerawan or Kirwan was proclaimed in consistory as successor to St. Kieran. He held this See about fourteen years, and died soon after the accession of Queen Mary. The death of the good prelate was probably hastened by the sad ruin which fell upon his cathedral before the close of 1552. In the spirit of Vandalism to which the noblest monuments of our ancient faith became a prey at this period, the English garrison of Athlone plundered and pillaged the venerable church of Clonmacnoise--an event, the memory of which is still as vividly preserved in local tradition, as though it were only an occurrence of yesterday. It is thus recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters under the year 1552: "Clonmacnoise was plundered and devastated by the English (Galls) of Athlone, and the large bells were carried from the round tower. There was not left, moreover, a bell, small or large, an image or an altar, or a book, or a gem, or even glass in the window, from the walls of the church out, which was not carried off. Lamentable was this deed, the plundering of the city of Kieran, the holy patron".

In the "Patent Rolls", an invaluable work for which we are indebted to the persevering energy of Mr. Morrin, is registered under date of 15th September, 1541, "the confirmation of Florence Gerawan in the Bishoprick of Clonmacnoise, to which he had been promoted by the Pope; and his presentation to the vicarage of Lymanaghan in the same Diocese on his surrender of the Pope's Bull". (vol. I. pag. 82.) The editor, indeed, inadvertently substituted _Cloyne_ for _Clonmacnoise_ in this passage, the Latin name _Cluanensis_ being common to both Sees. Cloyne, however, was at this time united with Cork, and Mr. Morrin may easily be pardoned this error, since it is shared by the learned De Burgo and by Dr. Maziere Brady in the Third volume of his "_Records of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross_". (London, 1864, pag. 97.) The surrender of the Pope's Bull was regarded at this period as a merely civil ceremony, required by law as a condition to obtain possession of the temporalities of the See, and we find an instance of it even in Catholic times on the appointment of Dr. Oliver Cantwell to the See of Ossory in the year 1488. At all events, the fact just now recorded, of the plunder of his church sufficiently proves that Dr. O'Kirwan, at the close of his episcopate, did not enjoy the favour and patronage of the courtiers of Edward VI.

Dr. Peter Wall, of the Order of St. Dominick, was the next bishop of this See. He had for a while been led astray by the novelties of the preceding reigns, but, as the Consistorial register records, returned repentant to the bosom of Holy Church, and was now absolved from all the censures which he had incurred. He was appointed Bishop on the 4th of May, 1556, and for twelve years remained in undisturbed possession of his See. He died in 1568; and though the heretical government annexed this diocese to Meath, the Sovereign Pontiff never recognized the union, and Clonmacnoise continued to be governed by Vicars till, after a widowhood of eighty years, it again received a chief pastor, in the person of Anthony M'Geoghegan, who was appointed its bishop on 22nd of January, 1647.

The reader may here expect some remarks on the vicissitudes of this see, and its successive connection with the provinces of Tuam and Armagh. When as yet there were only two archiepiscopal sees in our island, extending to Leath Cuinn and Leath Mogha, all Connacht, and with it Clonmacnoise, was comprised in the northern district. Gradually, however, Tuam grew into the proportions of a distinct province, and in the synod of Rathbreasil, held by St. Celsus of Armagh in 1110, we find the five sees of Tuam, Clonfert, Cong, Killalla, and Ardchame or Ardagh, clustered together, though still subject to the Archbishop of Armagh. When at length, in the synod of Kells, in 1152, Tuam received the archiepiscopal pallium from the hands of Cardinal Paparo, Ardagh was assigned to the primatial see, but Clonmacnoise was referred to the new province of Tuam. This division soon became a subject of controversy. Tuam claimed the diocese of Ardagh for the western province, whilst Armagh declared that the Shannon was its boundary, and hence reckoned Clonmacnoise as a northern see, and at the same time claimed, as subject to its own metropolitical jurisdiction, the churches of Killmedoin, Croagh-patrick, Killtulagh, and some others of the diocese of Tuam. At the Council of Lateran, held in Rome in 1215, Felix O'Ruadhan, Archbishop of Tuam, and Eugene MacGillividen, Archbishop of Armagh, were both present, and laid their dispute before the great Pontiff Innocent III., and a decree soon after emanated, assigning indeed the above named churches to Tuam, but deferring to a future day the decision of the other points of controversy. In the meantime Armagh was in possession of both sees, and for more than a hundred years they continued thus subject to its metropolitical jurisdiction. As to Ardagh, the question was never after mooted; but towards the middle of the fourteenth century, Clonmacnoise seems to have been again numbered amongst the dioceses of the western province. This change probably took place during the episcopate of Bishop Symon, of the Order of St. Dominick, who, though omitted in the lists of Ware and De Burgo, was appointed to this see on the death of Dr. Henry, in 1349. This prelate, in the bull of his appointment, is declared to be "Priorem fratrum ordinis Praedicatorum de Roscommon, Elfinensis dioecesis, in sacerdotio constitutum et cui de religionis zelo, litterarum scientia, vitae ac morum honestate et aliis virtutum meritis laudabilia testimonia perhibentur" (_ap. Theiner_, pag. 291). At all events, soon after this period we find a list of Irish bishoprics which is now preserved in the Barberini archives at Rome, and in it the see of Clonmacnoise is referred to the province of Tuam. In the consistorial record of the appointment of Dr. O'Higgins, cited above, it is in like manner described as subject to the metropolitical jurisdiction of St. Jarlath's. The episcopate of Dr. O'Hnygyn seems to have been the period when at last all controversy was hushed, and this diocese was finally adjudged to the province of Armagh. This prelate assisted indeed at the Provincial Synod of Tuam, held in 1523, but, in the preamble to the Synod, he is expressly described as "Dominus Kyntius (_i.e._, Quintinus) Dei gratia Episcopus Cluanensis Provinciae Armachanae". (_Irish Arch. Soc. Miscellany_, vol. I., p. 77.) An official list of all the dioceses was drawn up and published during the pontificate of Pope Paul III., in 1546, and in it Clonmacnoise is marked as belonging to the primatial see. The era of persecution during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. produced no change in this arrangement; and when a momentary peace again smiled on the Irish Church, in 1632, we find the vicar-apostolic of Clonmacnoise, Rev. John Gafney, after administering this see _for thirty-five years_, taking his place among the assembled fathers in the provincial synod of Armagh.

P. F. M.

CARDINAL CONSALVI AND NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

The concordat signed at Paris on the 15th July, 1801, between Pius VII. and Napoleon, is one of the most important facts of modern history. The magnitude of its results may best be learned from the contrast between the present state of religion in France and that which existed during, and for long after, the Revolution. "There is no negotiation", says M. Thiers, "which is more deserving of serious meditation than that of the Concordat"; but up to the present day the materials for such a study have been wanting. At length the full light of history has been let in upon the secret conferences in which the articles of that treaty were prepared; and the hand which has traced for us their history is the same which signed the Concordat itself. The memoirs of Cardinal Consalvi, who took part in the negotiations as the plenipotentiary of the Roman Pontiff, penned by him during the days of his exile, have at length been given to the world.[1] Since the Cardinal's death in 1824, these memoirs have been religiously left in the obscurity to which their author condemned them, and which he willed should last as long as the life of the principal personages of whom he has made mention in his pages. But when at length, in 1858, there appeared no reason for further silence, they were handed over by Consalvi's executors to M. Cretineau-Joly, who has published, not the original text, but what he assures us is a faithful version of it. We propose to give our readers a sketch of the history of the Concordat as it is recorded in these memoirs, and in doing so, we shall make use as often as we can of the Cardinal's own words.

The victory of Marengo, gained June 14, 1800, made the First Consul master of Italy. Five days after the battle, passing through Vercelli at the head of his army, he charged Cardinal Martiniana, bishop of that city, to communicate to the Pope his desire of negotiating a settlement of the religious affairs of France, and for this purpose he requested that Mgr. Spina, archbishop of Corinth, might be sent to him to Turin. His request was gladly complied with. But scarcely had that prelate entered Turin than he was ordered to set out at once for Paris, where Napoleon awaited his arrival. It needed but a short stay in that capital to convince Mgr. Spina that the projects of concordat proposed by the consul were absolutely inadmissible, as being founded on a basis completely at variance with the laws of the Church. In vain did the Pope, in his anxiety to promote the good of religion, forward to Paris an amended plan of concordat, in which he made every concession permitted by his duty as head of the Church. The only answer he received was an intimation from M. Cacault, the French agent at Rome, that unless within five days the proposals made by Napoleon were accepted without the slightest change, the least restriction or correction, he, Cacault, should declare a rupture between the Holy See and France, and immediately leave Rome to join General Murat at Florence. To all these threats, and to the menace of the loss of his temporal power, the Pope had but one reply, that same reply which we have heard from Pius IX. in our own day--that _non possumus_ against which all the assaults of the masters of legions have ever failed, and evermore shall fail.

M. Cacault, not daring to disobey the orders he had received, prepared at once for his departure, but his excellent heart and his affection for Rome suggested to him a means of preventing the mischief that was sure to follow from the anger of Napoleon, if once kindled against the Holy See. He proposed that Cardinal Consalvi, the Pope's secretary of state, should at once set out for Paris, to lay before the First Consul the imperious reasons by which the Holy Father was forced to refuse the proffered concordat. The French agent felt confident that, whilst it would flatter Napoleon's pride to be able to exhibit to the Parisians a Cardinal prime minister in waiting upon his will, the presence of Consalvi would also be a proof of the Pope's anxious desire to come to a favourable understanding on the affairs of the French Church. After mature deliberation this plan was adopted. The Cardinal took care that to the credentials usually given in cases of treaties, the Pope should add a most precise command that his envoy was to consider the project of concordat which had been corrected at Rome, and hitherto rejected at Paris, not only as the basis of the future treaty, but as the concordat itself. Powers were granted, however, to make such changes as did not alter the substance of the document. "I thought it necessary", says the Cardinal, "to have my hands tied in this way, because I foresaw that, unless I were in a position to show the French government how limited were my powers, they would soon force my entrenchments".