CONTENTS

[THE SEE OF DROMORE.]
[DR. COLENSO AND THE OLD TESTAMENT.]
[RICHARD FITZ-RALPH, ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH.]
[MR. BUTT AND NATIONAL EDUCATION.]
[LITURGICAL QUESTIONS.]
[CORRESPONDENCE.]
[DOCUMENTS.]
[NOTICES OF BOOKS.]

THE SEE OF DROMORE.

The see of Dromore, though founded by St. Colman, seems for several centuries to have comprised little more than the abbey of that great saint and its immediate territory. In the synod of Rathbreasil (a. d. 1118), in which the boundaries of the various dioceses were defined, no mention is made of Dromore, and the territory subsequently belonging to it was all comprised within the limits of the see of Connor. The acts of the synod of Kells held about fifty years later, are also silent as to a bishop of Dromore; and Cencius Camerarius, compiling his list of sees in 1192, again omits all mention of this see. Nevertheless, the abbot of the monastery, "de viridi ligno", which gave name to the town of Newry, ruled this diocese with episcopal authority during the later half of the twelfth century, and a bishop of this see named Uroneca (alias O'Rony) is mentioned in a charter of donations to the abbey of Neddrum, about the year 1190 (see Reeves' Ecclesiastical Antiquities, pag. 192).

The last episcopal abbot of this great monastery was Gerard, a Cistercian monk of Mellifont, who, in 1227, was chosen bishop, and died in 1243. A controversy then arose between the chapter of Dromore and the monastery of Newry. Each claimed the right of electing the successor to the deceased bishop; and the Archbishop of Armagh gave judgment in favour of the former. The matter being referred to Rome, all controversy was set at rest by Pope Innocent VI., who by letter of 5th March, 1244, addressed "to the dean and chapter of Dromore", confirmed the decision of the Archbishop of Armagh, and sanctioned the right of the canons of Dromore to elect the bishops of the see (Mon. Vatic., pag. 42). Andrew, archdeacon of Dromore, was accordingly elected bishop, and consecrated in 1245, and the episcopal succession continued uninterrupted till the latter half of the fifteenth century.

Ware, in his Bishops of this see, and Dr. Reeves, in his Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down and Connor (pag. 308), tell us that on the death of the Carmelite bishop, David of Chirbury, in 1427, the see was held by Thomas Scrope, who resigned before 1440; that his successor, Thomas Radcliffe, also resigned before 1461; that the next bishop was George Brann, appointed about 1487; and that the see was held in 1500 by another bishop named William Egremond.

The actual succession of bishops, however, was far different. On the death of David of Chirbury, Dr. Thomas Radcliffe was chosen his successor in 1429, as the historians of the Augustinian order expressly attest. Thus, for example, Herrera writes:

"Thomas Sacrae Theologia professor a Martino V. in Registro Pontificio an. xii. Pontificatus et Christi 1429. prid. Kal. Feb. in Hibernia sub Archiepo. Armacano Epus. Dromorensis instituitur. Hic est ille quem registra ordinis die 19 Martii an. 1426. magistrum Thomam Radclef provinciae Angliae appellant eique Prior Generalis concedit ut in conventu Oxoniensi perpetuo stare possit ut eum fratribus destitutum juvet".

Elsius makes a similar statement (Encomiast. page 662), and also tells us that there is a "Thomas Radclyf, Redcliff, sive Radcliffus, Anglus, S.T.D., in Anglia natus nobilissimâ familiâ ex qua comites Sussessiae ante an. 1369, prodierunt", who is commended in the records of the order as illustrious by his virtues and writings. "Intuitu virtutum", he adds, "Episcopalem Lincolniensem aut Leicestrensem accepit dignitates", which words acquaint us with the English see to which Dr. Radcliffe was promoted some few years after his appointment to Dromore.

As the dates of Herrera are taken from the consistorial records and other official documents, we may rest assured that 1429 was the year of Dr. Radcliffe's appointment. We cannot fix with the same certainty the year in which he renounced this see. It is probable, however, that about 1434 he was translated to the diocese of Lincoln in England, and we next meet with a Dominican Father who was also named Thomas, already in possession of the see of Dromore in 1437. The following is the letter of Eugene IV., from the papers of Luke Wadding, Rome, which makes known to us for the first time this worthy successor of St. Colman:—

"Eugenius, etc., ven. fr. Thomae, Episcopo Dromorensi salutem, etc.

"Personam tuam nobis et apostolicae sedi devotam, tuis exigentibus meritis paterna benevolentia prosequentes illa tibi libenter concedimus quae tuis commoditatibus fore conspicimus opportuna. Cum itaque sicut exhibita nobis pro parte tua petitio continebat propter bellorum discrimina quae partes illas diutius afflixerunt prout affligunt etiam de praesenti, Ecclesia et Episcopalis mensa Dromorensis cui praeesse dignosceris adeo sit in suis facultatibus diminuta quod ex illius fructibus redditibus et proventibus vestrae decentiam Pontificalis dignitatis sustentare et alia Tibi incumbentia onera commode nequeas supportare: Nos ne in dedecus Episcopalis dignitatis mendicare cogaris volentes Te qui etiam in Theologia Magister existis ob virtutum tuarum merita quibus Te illarum largitor altissimus insignivit favoribus prosequi gratiosis, tuis in hac parte supplicationibus inclinati, tecum ut quodcumque Beneficium Ecclesiasticum cum cura vel sine cura ... dummodo dignitas hujusmodi in cathedrali major post Pontificalem, aut in Collegiata Ecclesia hujusmodi, principalis non existat, si tibi alias canonice conferatur, seu assumaris vel eligaris ad illud una cum dicta Ecclesia Dromorensi quamdiu illi praefueris, in Commendam recipere et retinere libere et licite valeas, quod ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum professor existis, ac constitutionibus apostolicis, necnon bonae memoriae Octonis et Octoboni olim in Regno Angliae Sedis Apostolicae Legatorum, statutis quoque et consuetudinibus Eccelesiae in qua hujusmodi beneficium forsan fuerit, juramento, confirmatione Apostolica vel quacumque firmitate alia roboratis, caeterisque contrariis quibuscumque nequaquam obstantibus, auctoritate Apostolica, tenore praesentium de speciali dono gratiose dispensamus, ita quod hujusmodi durante commenda, fructus, redditus et proventus beneficii hujusmodi percipere et habere, illosque in tuos et hujusmodi Beneficii usus et utilitatem convertere et alias de illis disponere et ordinare libere et licite valeas, etc., etc.

"Datum Bononiae anno Incarnat. Dom. 1437, 19o Kal. Februarii anno 7mo".

This Dominican bishop only held the see till 1440, for, in that year Dromore is described as vacant in the register of archbishop Swain of Armagh. We may incidentally here mention that amongst the same Wadding papers there is another brief of Pope Eugene IV., dated at Florence, 11th of the kalends of December, 1439, confirming the bull of Alexander V., which commenced Etsi pro cunctorum: it is addressed "ad Praedicatores Hibernos, scilicet ad Vicarium Generalem et alios fratres".

Thomas Scrope, a Carmelite, was Bishop of this see[1] before the close of the pontificate of Eugene IV., who died in 1447. He was remarkable for the practice of almost incredible austerities, and it is especially commemorated of him that he had led an eremitical life for several years before he was summoned to the onerous duties of the episcopate. He subsequently was sent by Pope Eugene as apostolic delegate to the Knights of Rhodes; and Leland adds that "whatever he received out of his revenues or could get from rich persons, he bestowed among the poor, or laid out on pious uses". He resigned his see after his return from Rhodes, and acted as vicar-general of the Bishop of Norwich: he died at a very advanced age in 1491.

We next meet with a Bishop of Dromore named Richard Myssin, a Carmelite, who on the 29th July, 1457, was advanced to this see, as appears from the Consistorial acts of Pope Callixtus III. (Biblioth. Carmelit., ii. 965). He was remarkable for the sanctity of his life, and for his great proficiency in learning.

William Egremond was probably his immediate successor, being appointed to the see in 1462, as Herrera and the other Augustine writers attest.[2] The country, however, was so disturbed that this diocese had few attractions for an English bishop; and hence he abandoned it in 1467, and lived for many years as suffragan of the archbishop of York. His monument, erected in the cathedral of York, bore the following inscription:—

"Hic Egremond Will'mus Dromorensis Episcopus olim
Marmore pro nitidis tectis utrinque mitris.
Pavit oves Cithiso qui sub bis Praesule bino
Atque lupi rabiem movit ab Aede trucem.
Unguine quot sanxit pueros, quot Presbyterosque
Astra nisi scirent, credere nemo valet.
Ante prophanus erat locus hic quem dextra beavit
Ejus, et hinc pro se dicito quisquis Ave".

The next mention we find of this see is in a petition of the Archbishop of Armagh, Octavian de Palatio, addressed to Henry VII. about the year 1487, in which he writes that, "the fruits, rents, and revenues, as well spiritual as temporal (of Dromore), extend not above the sum of £40 of the coin of this your land of Ireland, which is less by one-third than the coin sterling; and that for the expense and poverty of the same, the see is void and desolate, and almost extinct, these twenty winters past and more, insomuch that none will own the said bishoprick or abide thereupon".

Nevertheless, in that very year, 1487, George Brann was appointed to this see by Pope Innocent VIII. He had lived for several years in Rome as procurator of the Hospital of the Santo Spirito, and had also proceeded to Ireland to establish a branch house of that institute. He held the see till his translation to Elphin on the 18th of April, 1499.

The first bishop of Dromore whom we find commemorated in the sixteenth century is Galeatius, whose death is registered in 1504. Of his successor, John Baptist, we only know that he was appointed on June 12th, the same year. Thaddeus, a Franciscan friar, was next advanced to the see on 30th April, 1511. He is commemorated in Archbishop Cromer's register, as still ruling the see in 1518, and we find no other bishop mentioned till the appointment of Quintinus Cogleus (i.e. Con MacCoughlin), of the order of St. Dominick, in the year 1536 (Hib. Dom., p. 486). This bishop, however, seems to have held the see only for a short time, for in the Consistorial Acts we soon after find the following entry:—"An. 1539. Sua Sanctitas providit Ecclesiae Dromorensi in Hibernia de persona Rogerii".

Ten years later Arthur Magennis was chosen by Pope Paul III. to govern the diocese of St. Colman. On the 10th of May, 1550, he surrendered his bulls to the crown, and had in return "a pardon under the great seal for having received the Pope's bull, and for other misdemeanours". (Reeves' Eccles. Antiq., p. 308. V. Morrin, Pat. Rolls, i. p. 205). Nevertheless, there can be but little doubt as to the orthodoxy of this prelate. Even Cox (i. 288) attests his devotion to the Catholic cause. He, moreover, specially names him as an instance of a Catholic bishop, and adduces the fact of his being allowed by the crown to hold peaceable possession of his see as a proof that "the Reformation made but small progress in Ireland" at this period. In 1551 he gave a public proof of his devotedness to the Catholic faith. Edward VI., in the beginning of February, sent an order to the viceroy, Sir Anthony St. Leger, commanding the use of the English liturgy in all the churches of Ireland. On the 1st of March the same year this order was communicated to the archbishops and bishops assembled in council for that special purpose; but no sooner had St. Leger made his discourse, commending the royal prerogative, and extolling the liturgy now proposed to the Irish clergy, than Dr. Dowdall of Armagh opposed it with all his zeal, and denounced the measure as anathematized "by the Church of St. Peter, the Mother Church of Rome". It must ever remain a special glory of the province of Armagh, that, as Cox informs us (p. 290), one only of the suffragan bishops of the primatial see—viz., Dr. Staples, who held from the crown the revenues of Meath—could be found to support the proposal of the government, whilst all the others adopted the sentiments of Dr. Dowdall. The year of Dr. Magennis's death is uncertain; he seems, however, to have survived some years the accession of Queen Elizabeth, and on his death the see of Dromore became canonically united with Ardagh.

The name of this illustrious bishop recalls our attention to Dr. Magennis, bishop of Down and Connor, of whom we treated in the March number of the Record. An esteemed correspondent, in a highly interesting letter, published in May (p. 385 seq.), contends that that prelate, in his public acts at least, deviated from the path of orthodoxy, and allied himself to the enemies of our holy faith. His reasons, however, are far from sufficient to justify such a serious charge.

1. In the first place, he argues from the fact of the bishop of Down having surrendered his bulls to the crown. However, the bishop of Dromore did the same, and, nevertheless, no one questions his orthodoxy. Long before the dawn of Protestantism we find the same course pursued by some bishops, as, for instance, by the celebrated Oliver Cantwell, bishop of Ossory, towards the close of the fifteenth century (Ware, p. 414). In fact, the surrendering of the bulls was regarded as a purely civil ceremony, which secured to the canonically appointed bishop the peaceful possession of the temporalities of his see.

2. The learned correspondent lays special stress on the bulls being described as "obtained from Paul, Bishop of Rome, not His Holiness". However, it is in the letter of the king that this form of expression is used (Morrin, i. 91), and any insult which it may involve must be referred to the good taste of Henry VIII., and not to the bishop of Down.

3. It is added: "It is an oversight to suppose that about 1541 and 1543 the northern chieftains who submitted to Henry VIII. were exempted from all pressure in matter of religion". The statement which we made on a former occasion (p. 268) had reference only to 1543; and it was not without historic grounds that we asserted that, "the northern chieftains who then submitted were exempted from all reference to religion when professing their allegiance to the government". It is true that in 1541 O'Donnell and O'Neil, and other chieftains, acknowledged the king's supremacy; but it is equally true that this submission of the Irish princes was an illusory one, and their profession was so lavish of loyalty that even the government felt that no reliance could be placed on such declarations. To similar professions, made in 1537, the King "replied by his letter to the lord deputy, that their oaths, submissions, and indentures, were not worth one farthing". (Cox, p. 253, ad. an. 1537). In fact, we find O'Donnell, in 1542, sending to Rome a commissioner (whom we shall have to commemorate again as bishop elect of Raphoe), humbly asking pardon for the guilt of perjury which he had incurred. However, in 1543 it was far different. The government feared the reconstruction of the confederation of the Irish chieftains; and hence, when the great O'Neil, as he is styled by Cox (p. 257), sailed in this year for England and surrendered his estate to the king, the conditions imposed on him, howsoever humiliating to his national pride, were wholly silent in regard of religion. These conditions are given in full by Cox (p. 275).[3] About the same time, O'Brene made also his submission, and the articles exacted from him omit all reference to the royal supremacy or other matters of religion. The letter of the King, March 5th, 1543 (Morrin, i. 99), giving instructions to the Deputy regarding O'Neil Connelaghe, nephew of the earl of Tyrone, in like manner makes no mention of the religious articles. On the 24th of May an agreement was made with the Magennises, as Cox informs us, yet without the obnoxious clauses; and on the 9th of July, 1544, these clauses were again omitted, when several grants in Dublin, including 140 acres of the beautiful "Grange of Clonliffe" (Morrin, i. 103), were made to the earl of Desmond. These examples sufficiently prove that the government in 1543 was anxious to conciliate the Irish princes, and hence was not particular in exacting the obnoxious declaration of supremacy.

4. That a portion of the diocese of Down and Connor was subject to the English government in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, admits of no doubt; but it is equally certain that the greater portion of it remained under the control of O'Neill. Hence, a Vatican paper, written about 1579, adds to a list of the Irish sees, the following important note:

"Ex praedictis Dioecesibus duae sunt in quibus libere et sine periculo possunt Episcopi vel Vicarii; residere. Una est Ardfertensis, quod sita sit in ea Desmoniae parte quae Kierri nominatur in qua Comes Desmoniae omnino liber est et jus plane regium habet. Altera est Dunensis et Connorensis quae in ditione est O'Nellorum qui continenter contra reginam bellum habent, suntque Catholicissimi principes".—Ex Archiv. Vatican.

5. As regards the year of Dr. Macgennis's demise, the letter of the Queen, dated 6th of January, 1564, appointing his successor, though at first sight it seems so conclusive an argument, nevertheless, is far from proving that our bishop had died in 1563. For at the period of which we treat, January was not the first month of the year 1564, but was rather one of its concluding months; according to our present manner of reckoning it would be the 6th of January, 1565. (See Shirley, Original Letters, page 132).

6. The last and weightiest remark of the esteemed correspondent concerning Dr. Macgennis is, that he "assisted in consecrating by the vitiated rite of king Edward" the unfortunate John Bale of Ossory. However, we must remark that Dr. Macgennis is certainly not responsible for the appointment of this unworthy apostate to the see of St. Canice; and the antecedent character of Bale seems to have been wholly unknown in Ireland, especially in the Irish districts of the island. Much less is the bishop of Down responsible for the use of the new-fangled vitiated rite; for, it was Bale himself that at the very time of the consecration insisted on the new liturgy being employed:[4] and this event supplies us with an additional argument in favour of the orthodoxy of Dr. Macgennis, for, it is expressly recorded that, "in union with the clergy of Dublin", he entered his solemn protest against this heretical innovation. We shall return again to this subject when speaking of the Bishops of Ossory. In the mean time we may conclude that there is no sufficient proof of Dr. Macgennis having swerved from the rule of orthodoxy; whilst on the other hand the silence of the advocates of the new creed, who never even whispered his name in connection with their tenets—the omission of the supremacy clause in his submission to the crown—his union with Dr. Dowdall in repudiating the English liturgy when proposed by the viceroy—his protest on the occasion of Bale's consecration—his retaining the see of Down and Connor during the reign of Queen Mary—the consistorial entry which subsequently describes the see as vacant per obitum Eugenii Magnissae, seems to us to place beyond all controversy the devotedness of this worthy prelate to the Catholic cause.

But to return to the diocese of Dromore. On the death of Dr. Arthur Macgennis, it was united with the see of Ardagh, and for the remaining years of the sixteenth century seems to have shared the trials and sufferings of that diocese. In the consistorial acts the appointment of Dr. Richard MacBrady is registered on the 16th January, 1576, and it is added that his see was the "Ecclesia Ardacadensis et Dromorensis in Hibernia". On his translation to Kilmore on 9th of March, 1580, Doctor Edmund MacGauran was chosen his successor, and thus our see is entitled to a special share in the glory which this distinguished bishop won for the whole Irish Church by his zealous labours and martyrdom.

The first Protestant bishop of the see was John Todd, who was appointed to Down and Connor on 16th of March, 1606, and received at the same time the diocese of Dromore in commendam. We shall allow the Protestant writers Ware and Harris to convey to the reader an accurate idea of the missionary character of this first apostle of Protestantism amongst the children of St. Colman. Ware simply writes:

"In the year 1611, being called to account for some crimes he had committed, he resigned his bishoprick, and a little after died in prison in London, of poison which he had prepared for himself" (pag. 207).

To which words Harris adds:

"The crimes of which he was accused were incontinence, the turning away his wife, and taking the wife of his man-servant in her room; to which may be added subornation of witnesses. It doth not appear that he resigned his bishoprick voluntarily, but was convented before the High Commission Court in England in the tenth year of king James I., and degraded. His case is cited in the long case of the bishop of Lincoln. Before his deprivation he made a fee-farm lease of the tithes of his see in the territory of Kilultagh to Sir Fulk Conway at a small rent", etc. (Ibid., pag. 208-9).

We already had occasion to mention this unfortunate man, when treating of the see of Down and Connor in the March number of the Record (page 271); and surely no words of ours are required to make the reader fully appreciate the true character and mission of the Establishment in our see, the life of whose first apostle is described in such language by the great Protestant historians.