Waterford and Lismore.
The sees of Waterford and Lismore were united in the fourteenth century. Patrick Walsh, an Oxford graduate, who had been Dean of Waterford since 1547, was appointed in 1551 by congé d’élire, followed by capitular election, and remained in possession during the reign of Mary. The probability is that he was at first a waverer whose English education induced him to conform to Henry VIII.’s arrangements, and that he gradually reverted to Rome. When Sussex entered Waterford in 1558 the Bishop received him in his robes, but the Protestant ritual had not yet been re-established. Walsh resigned his deanery in 1566 in favour of Peter White, who was a very good man but certainly no Protestant. The Bishop retained his place in both successions, but when he died in 1578, Waterford, in the opinion of English Protestants, was thoroughly given up to ‘superstition and idolatry,’ to ‘Rome runners and friars;’ and so it remained during the whole of Elizabeth’s reign. Walsh’s Protestant successor, Marmaduke Middleton, only sat some three years, and was practically expelled by the hostility of his flock. He was translated to St. David’s, and the diocese then fell for several years into the all-devouring maw of Meiler Magrath. The Popes made no appointment till 1629.[374]
Cork and Cloyne. Ross.
Cork and Cloyne were united in the fifteenth century, and Dominic Tirrey was appointed in 1536. He held possession of the see for twenty years, but was never acknowledged at Rome, and there is a double succession from the year 1540. The remote see of Ross does not appear to have been filled either by Henry VIII., Edward VI., or Mary. Papal appointments were made in 1519, 1526, 1554, 1559, and 1561. In 1582 William Lyon was appointed by patent, and soon afterwards received Cork and Cloyne also. The three sees have since been united in the Protestant succession, but the Papal see of Ross has continued separate, though no appointment appears to have been made between 1582 and 1647.[375]
Limerick.
William Casey, who was undoubtedly a Protestant, was appointed Bishop of Limerick in 1551. He was deprived by Mary, but restored by Elizabeth in 1571. Between 1556 and 1571 the see was held by Hugh Lacy, who was not a Protestant, though he seems to have been something of a trimmer. Yet he made no attempt at concealment when Sidney visited his cathedral in 1568. Lacy cannot be held to have conformed, for when the temporalities were restored to Casey he continued to act as Papal Bishop till his death in 1580, not long before which he suffered a short detention in his own house. There is a regular double succession from 1571.[376]
Ardfert and Aghadoe. Killaloe. Kilfenora.
James Fitzmaurice, Cistercian Abbot of Odorney, was made Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe by the Pope in 1536. Queen Elizabeth made no appointment till 1588, some years after Fitzmaurice’s death. Her nominee was unable to hold his ground in Kerry, nor was the Papal Bishop permanently resident. The facts about Killaloe are not very clear. From a comparison of dates it would appear that Bishop James O’Corren, who took the oath of supremacy in 1539, was deprived or suspended at Rome, that he afterwards resigned, that the see was for a time governed by vicars, and that Terence O’Brien was made Bishop by the Pope in 1554. Bishop O’Brien died in 1569, and the Government seems not to have interfered with him. The temporalities were soon afterwards handed over to Maurice MacBrien Arra, who, on account of his youth, was not consecrated till 1576. In the meantime the Pope had appointed Malachy O’Molony. MacBrien was educated at Cambridge, and doubtless conformed, as he remained Bishop till 1612. Being chief as well as pastor, he had a better chance of success than most of Elizabeth’s men, but he had trouble with his Papal rivals, O’Molony and O’Mulrian, the latter of whom was appointed in 1576. O’Mulrian, who was a sharp thorn in the side of Government during the Desmond rebellion, died in Portugal in 1616, having been an exile for many years. John O’Nialain, appointed by Papal provision, was Bishop of Kilfenora from 1541 till his death in 1572. The Popes made no fresh appointment until 1647, nor is it certain that the Queen made any at all.[377]