Catholic Heritage Pilgrimage to Armagh Cathedral 2024

The fourth Catholic Heritage pilgrimage to Armagh Cathedral will take place at 3 p.m., on Saturday, 29th June, 2024, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, with the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass using the 1962 Roman Missal of St. John XXIII.  Reports and images of previous pilgrimages can be found here and here.

All the Saints of Ireland

Listen to All the Saints of Ireland on Radio Maria Ireland, on the middle Fridays of the month (not the first and not the last Friday) at 7 p.m. (Irish Time), and the following Wednesday mornings at 2 a.m. (Irish Time), and the following Thursday evenings at 10 p.m. (Irish Time).

Based upon the awesome blog www.omniumsanctorumhiberniae.com, this is the place to hear about the Saints, scholars and martyrs of Ireland, the ones you've heard about and the ones you haven't.  St. Patrick, St. Brigid and St. Colmcille are only the principal stars of this show.  There are thousands of Irish Saints in the heavenly firmament.  The Irish Martyrs who are beatified are only the best-known of our fellow Catholics who suffered for the Faith.  Learn about them, invoke them, imitate their virtues, follow them to Heaven!

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Monastery of Witeschan

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy With the Monasteries of Each County, Biographical Notices of the Irish Saints, Prelates, and Religious, 1854, c. xliv p. 421

Monastery of Witeschan of which there is but slight mention made. It was situate in the west part of Dublin passing from the cathedral of St. Patrick through the Coombe to the pool of the house of St. Thomas the Martyr. There was an order of friars de penitentia who were also called the sac friars. Their origin was in the year 1245 and their arrival in Ireland took place in 1268. The order did not long survive it was condemned in England in 1307 and its houses passed into other hands and in 1311 the council of Vienne condemned the Order everywhere. This monastery of Witeschan may have been of that Order.

The Archiepiscopal See of Dublin (1363-1528)(Walsh)

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy, 1854, c. xvi, p. 110 ff:

Minot's Tower, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

Thomas Minot, prebendary of Mullaghuddart, treasurer of Ireland and also for a time escheator of the kingdom, succeeded by the pope's provision and was consecrated on Palm Sunday in 1363. In the year 1365 the controversy respecting the primatial right was renewed between him and Miles Sweetman, archbishop of Armagh. About the year 1370 Minot repaired part of St. Patrick's church, which had been destroyed by fire, and built the high steeple of hewn stone. In June 1385 he died in London and the care of the temporals of the archbishoprick was committed to the bishop of Meath.

Robert de Wikeford, archdeacon of Winchester, doctor of the civil and canon laws and fellow of Merton College was advanced by Pope Gregory IX to the see on the 12th of October 1375 and consecrated before the close of the year. In 1377 he was appointed chancellor of Ireland, again in 1385 he was appointed chancellor. He obtained leave of absence in 1390 for one year to visit England and, in the interval, died on the 29th of August 1390.

Robert Waldby, bishop of Ayre in Gascony, was translated to the see of Dublin by the pope in November 1391. In 1395 he was transferred to the see of Chichester vacant by the translation of Richard Metford to the see of Sarum and again in 1396 was promoted to the archbishoprick of York.

Richard Northall was promoted to the see in 1396, was a Carmelite friar, the son of a mayor of London and was born near that city. His reputation for preaching learning and other acquirements attracted the notice of the king who procured him the see of Ossory in 1386. Having sat in the chair of Ossory about nine years he was in 1396 translated to the see of Dublin, a promotion which terminated in his death on the 20th of July 1397. He was buried in his own church.

Thomas Cranley, a native of England, a Carmelite friar, doctor of divinity, fellow of Merton College and warden of New College, chancellor of the University of Oxford, was appointed to the see and was consecrated in 1397. He filled the office of lord chancellor of Ireland in that year and again in 1401. In 1416 on Lord Furnival's departure for England, Thomas was his deputy in the government of Ireland. About the end of 1417 he went to England, where he died at Faringdon, full of years and honors on the 25th of May of the same year. His body was conveyed to Oxford and interred in New College, of which he had been the first warden. He was a prelate in high reputation, for his wit and pen was liberal, and fond of alms deeds, an excellent preacher, a great builder and improver of such places as fell under his care.

Richard Talbot, precentor of Hereford, was consecrated archbishop of Dublin in the year 1417. Richard was descended of a noble family and was brother to the celebrated warrior John Talbot, Lord Furnival. In 1423 he was lord justice and subsequently lord chancellor of Ireland. In 1443 on the death of John Prene he was elected archbishop of Armagh but, on declining it, John Mey was promoted to the primatial chair. Richard sat in the see almost thirty two years and all this time was of the privy council of Ireland. He died on the 15th of August 1449 and was buried in St Patrick's church before the steps of the altar.

Michael Tregury, doctor of divinity in the University of Oxford and some time fellow of Exeter College there and chaplain to the king, was consecrated in St Patrick's church archbishop of Dublin in 1449, was at an earlier period of his life esteemed as a man of eminence for learning and wisdom. In 1451 above fifty persons of his diocese went to Rome to celebrate the jubilee then promulgated by Pope Nicholas V. They who returned safe in 1453 brought the saddening news that Constantinople was taken by the Turks and the Emperor Michael Palceologus slain. The Archbishop Michael was so afflicted at the news that he proclaimed a fast to be observed strictly throughout his diocese for three successive days and granted indulgences to those who observed it, he himself walking in procession before his clergy to Christ church and clothed in sackcloth and ashes. In 1453 he was taken prisoner in the bay by pirates who were carrying off some ships from the harbor of Dublin. They were pursued to Ardglass in the county of Down, five hundred and twenty of them were slain and the prelate released. Having presided over his see twenty years he died on the 21st of December 1471 at a very advanced age in the manor house of Tallagh which he had previously repaired. His remains were conveyed to Dublin attended by the clergy and citizens and were buried in St Patrick's cathedral.

John Walton, or Mounstern, abbot of Osney near Oxford was advanced to the see of Dublin and consecrated in England and adorned with the pallium in 1472. In 1475, at the instance of the Dominicans and other regulars, Pope Sixtus IV issued his bull reciting the abundance of teachers but the deficiency of scholars in Ireland and sanctioning the establishment of an University in Dublin for the study of arts and theology and the conferring the usual degrees therein. In 1484 being blind and infirm he voluntarily resigned the archbishopric, reserving to himself as a maintenance during life the manor of Swords. On his resignation Gerald earl of Kildare, then lord deputy, forcibly entered and took possession of twenty four townlands belonging to the see and retained them to the time of his death, these may have been the lands which archbishops Talbot and Tregury alienated. In 1514 they were restored to the see and, in two years afterwards, they were again forcibly seized by the house of Kildare. In 1521 they were again awarded to the archbishopric of which undisturbed possession has since remained in the see. In 1489 five years after his vacating the see he again appeared in the pulpit of the cathedral and preached at St Patrick's church on the festival of the patron before the lord deputy and the nobles to the admiration of his hearers. The precise time of his death is not known.

Walter Fitzsimon succeeded in 1484, was official of the diocese of Dublin, bachelor of the civil and canon laws, a learned divine and philosopher, precentor of St Patrick's church. On the 14th of June 1484 Pope Sixtus IV appointed him to this see and he was consecrated in St Patrick's cathedral in the September following. In 1487 this prelate was one of those who espoused the cause of Lambert Simnel and who were accessory to his coronation in Christ church. In 1488 Walter was permitted to renew his allegiance and receive pardon through Sir Richard Edgecomb. In 1496 he was appointed chancellor of Ireland, in this year he held a provincial synod in the church of the Holy Trinity on which occasion an annual contribution for seven years was settled by the clergy of the province to provide salaries for the lecturers of the University in St Patrick's cathedral. Friar Denis Whyte in the year following, being old and infirm, surrendered the see of Glendaloch in the chapel house of St. Patrick's and, ever since, the archbishops of Dublin have, without interruption, enjoyed that see. Having filled the see twenty seven years he died on the 14th of May 1511 at Finglass near Dublin and his body was conveyed to St Patrick's church and there honorably interred in the nave. He is described as a prelate of great gravity and learning and of a graceful appearance.

William Rokeby was a native of England, doctor of canon law and brother to Sir Richard Rokeby, lord treasurer of Ireland. In 1498 was constituted lord chancellor of Ireland and afterwards advanced to the see of Meath by Pope Julius II in 1507 and was on the 5th of February 1511 translated to the archiepiscopal see of Dublin. In 1518 he convened a provincial synod enacted some useful regulations and in the same year confirmed the establishment of a college of clerks founded at Maynooth by Gerald earl of Kildare. Archbishop Rokeby died on the 29th of November 1521, having a few hours before his death given to every one belonging to the priory of Christ church a piece of silver in testimony of his blessing and prayers. According to the instructions of his will his body was sent to England to be buried in his new chapel of Sandal, a fabric of singular beauty.

Hugh Inge, doctor of divinity succeeded him in his see of Meath and in the archbishopric in the year 1521. Hugh was a native of England and born in Somersetshire, was made perpetual fellow of New College in Oxford AD 1444, took his degrees there and, leaving it in 1496, travelled into foreign countries. In 1512 he was made bishop of Meath, which he governed ten years. In 1521 he succeeded to the see of Dublin and the year following obtained the temporals. In 1527 he was constituted chancellor of Ireland and was esteemed as a man of great probity and justice. He presided six years and died in Dublin on the 3d of August 1528 and was buried in St Patrick's church.

The Archiepiscopal See of Dublin (- c. 750)(Walsh)

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy, 1854, c. xvi, p. 98 ff:

ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEE OF DUBLIN

Dublin was only an episcopal see until the pallium was first conferred on its prelate by John Paparo cardinal legate at the council of Kells in 1152 at that time the see of Cashel ranked before Dublin as St Malachy O'Moore sought the pallium for the sees of Armagh and Cashel only and in the distribution by the cardinal of the palliums to the four dioceses of Ireland which are now archbishopricks, the see of Dublin was the third in the series. Dublin is now reckoned as the second see of Ireland and its prelate is styled primate of Ireland in accordance with the directions of the holy see anxious as it was to terminate the controversy that so often arose between the primates of Armagh and archbishops of Dublin regarding the right of precedence as might be observed in the history of the prelates of Armagh. Dublin, the metropolis of Ireland, has two cathedrals, Christ Church and St Patrick's, a peculiarity in which Saragossa alone participates. Both have been forcibly seized by those intruders whom the persecutors of England have sent amongst the people of our country to plunder and spoliate while the descendants of the pious founders and the steadfast adherents of the ancient faith were obliged to worship their God in the most obscure lanes and alleys of the city. Christ Church was erected about the year 1038 and St. Patrick's in 1190 on the site of an old church which was said to have been erected by St. Patrick both cathedrals are situated within the city and liberties of Dublin.

To the see of Dublin was united that of Glendalough in the year 1214 on the death of William Piro the last recognized bishop the union of those sees was ratified by Pope Innocent III on the 25th of February 1215 and again Honorius III confirms the acts of his predecessors in this affair. A controversy having arisen between the chapter of St. Patrick's and Robert de Bedford the dean of Glendalough and afterwards bishop of Lismore the subject was referred by the Pope to Felix O'Ruadan, archbishop of Tuam, who by his decree pronounced in favor of the chapter of Glendalough and which the Pope HonoriusIII also confirmed. The archbishops of Dublin did not obtain quiet possession of the see of Glendalough until a surrender of it was made in the Cathedral of St Patrick by Dennis White who had been the bishop in opposition to the regal authority. Since his surrender Glendalough is become a desert the mountains which gird the valley cast a gloom over its scene contracting every prospect to the eye which looks on the venerable ruins of the sanctuary of St. Kevin its awful and melancholy appearance reminds the beholder that this spot was particularly adapted for a life of prayer and meditation. By the union of Glendalough with Dublin the far famed city memorable for its religious edifices has gone not only to decay but has become the receptacle of robbers and outlaws.

St. Patrick is said to have blessed Dublin and to have foretold its future greatness and prosperity. Saint Livinus, bishop of Dublin, was a native of Ireland aud according to some of royal extraction. He was born in the reign of Colman Rimhe who was king of Ireland in the beginning of the seventh century. Livinus is said to have been instructed by Benignus a priest and after the death of his master to have retired into a desert with three companions Foillan, Elias and Kilian, where he employed his time in transcribing books in order to procure sustenance for himself and the poor. He passed over into Britain and remained five years under the direction of Augustine who ordained him priest and having returned to his native country he was promoted to the dignity of bishop but his see is not known though he is accounted as bishop of Dublin. Urged by zeal for the conversion of those who knew not the true God he set out from Ireland with the former companions of his solitude. Arrived in Belgium having left the care of his Church in Ireland to the Archdeacon Sylvanus he was received with great kindness by Floribert abbot of two monasteries at Ghent one of which was called that of St. Bavo who was buried there and for whom Livinus had a great veneration and whose epitaph he also wrote at the request of Floribert. On the tomb of St. Bavo he celebrated daily the sacrifice of the mass during thirty days that he remained. Having performed those acts of charity and devotion he proceeded on his mission through Flanders and Brabant Berna and Craphraildis two sisters received him with great attention and he there restored the sight of Ingilbert the son of Craph aildis which was lost for thirteen years. He received from the people much opposition and vexation of which he complained in his epistle to Floribert and in which he declared his hope and foreknowledge of his suffering martyrdom. Soon after he was attacked by a multitude of Pagans at Escha near Hauthem one of whom was particularly conspicuous in torturing him Walbert extracted his tongue with nippers and threw it to the dogs but it was miraculously restored. Having cruelly beaten and tortured him he was decapitated on the 12th of November 656. His hostess Craphraildis and her son Brixius who was baptized by the Saint a few days before they also put to death. The remains of St Livinus and Brixius were deposited in one grave by his disciples at Hauthem and near them those of Craphraildis. The memory of Livinus is still greatly revered in Belgium.

The poetical epistle of Livinus as well as the epitaph of St Bavo do honor to the country of his birth. In the decree of Pope Benedict XTV dated the 1st of July 1747 express mention is made of Livinus as bishop of Dublin.

St. Wiro, a native of Ireland the son of Cuan the son of Lugid is said to have been of an ancient family in Corobaschin County of Clare and of which St. Senanus of Enniscathy was sprung. Wiro is said to have travelled to Rome and to have been there consecrated bishop on his return to have governed some see which he afterwards resigned that he might lead a more secluded life He repaired to Gaul where he was graciously received by Pepin Heristall who regarded him with veneration and who made his confession to him barefoot Pepin assigned him a dwelling at Mons Petri now Odilieberg in the diocese of Liege where he died on the 8th of May but the year of his decease is not known. According to Harris his death was in 650 but at this time Pepin was not vested with great power until 680. We may then place his death later than this year. He was buried in the oratory which had erected and in consequence of its collegiate church having transferred to Ruremond a part of the saint's remains were hither and another portion reverentially preserved at Utrecht. He called bishop of Dublin. It was usual with foreigners to assign to Dublin as it became the capital of Ireland some bishops who had to the Continent.

St Disibod was born in Ireland of a noble family and was remarkable for his genius and learning. He was ordained priest in the year of his age and soon after elected bishop and though Dublin is assigned as his see there is not sufficient authority to sustain the assertion. Having governed his see ten years he was driven from it by the insolence of the people and having resigned in 675 he abandoned his native country and associating with him three learned and devout men Gisualdus, Clement and Sallust travelled into Germany where he moved about preaching the Gospel for ten years at last he came to a high woody mountain which the owner of the country conferred upon him and there he settled and practised the life of a hermit many the Benedictine order flocked to him and on this mountain he erected a monastery which was called Mount Disibod. He lived thirty years in exercises of great austerity and there died worn out with age on the 8th of July in the eighty first year of his existence. Hildegardis a nun who was educated at Mount Disibod or Disenburg under the abbess Jutta wrote his life which was published by Surius. The year of his death is not known.

Gualafer or Gallagher is mentioned as bishop of Dublin of whom nothing is known except having baptized his successor St Rumold.

St. Rumold was the son of David an Irish prince and was heir to his father's principality. By Gualafir he was instructed in learning and virtue and through piety having taken a journey to Rome he abandoned his right to his inheritance. He passed first into Britain thence into Gaul preaching wherever he went the Gospel of Christ. It is said in his life written by Theodoric and published by Surius that before engaging on his pilgrimage that he was consecrated for the see of Dublin. He travelled over the Alps and reached Rome where he received the apostolic approbation of his labors. Having made some delay in Rome he left the city repassed into Gaul and came to Mechlin where Odo or Ado count of the place together with his wife received him with great kindness and prevailed on him to settle there. He assigned him a place called Ulmus from the numerous elm trees growing in it. Here he founded a monastery. Mechlin being raised into an episcopal see Rumoldus was made its first bishop.

The holy bishop planted the true faith everywhere about Mechlin with such zeal and earnestness that he is justly styled their apostle. At length two villains one of them thinking that he was possessed of money the other through revenge because the saint reprimanded him for living in adultery attacked him and having severely wounded him in the head put an end to his existence on the 24th of June 775 and in order to conceal their crime threw his body into a river and on its being discovered by a heavenly light Count Odo removed it and gave it an honorable interment in St. Stephen's church. His remains were afterwards translated to a church in Mechlin dedicated to his memory and there preserved in a splendid silver shrine. His festival is observed on the 3d of July as the day of his martyrdom took place on the day sacred to John the Baptist. A shrine constructed in 1369 for his relics cost 66,000 florins. In the wars of 1580 it was broken up and sold Norris when commanding the English troops rifled the cathedral of Mechlin destroyed the shrine and scattered the relics of St. Rumold but the relics were collected again deposited in a new shrine of far more elegant design and about one third the cost of the first. It is exhibited in the cathedral.

Priory of the Holy Trinity, Dublin (Christ Church)(Walsh)

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy: With the Monasteries of Each County, Biographical Notices of the Irish Saints, Prelates, and Religious, 1854, c. xliv, pps. 421ff:

Priory of the Holy Trinity commonly called Christ church. Sitric the Danish prince of Dublin is said to have given Donatus the bishop of that see a site on which to erect a church in honor of the blessed Trinity. The year of the grant is marked in the black book of Christ church as taking place AD 1038.

On the advancement of St. Lawrence O'Toole to the see of Dublin AD 1163 he instituted the canons regular of the order of Arras instead of the secular canons.

AD 1176 died Richard earl of Pembroke called Strongbow of a cancerous sore in his leg and was interred in the church of the Holy Trinity within sight of the holy cross.

AD 1546 the tomb of a bishop who had been many centuries interred was this year opened the body was found whole and uncorrupted with a gold chalice rings and episcopal vestments.

Relics religiously preserved in this church: A crucifix said to have spoken the staff of Jesus; St. Patrick's altar; a thorn of our Saviour's crown; part of the Virgin Mary's girdle; some of the bones of SS Peter and Andrew; a few of those of the holy martyrs St. Clement, St. Oswald, St. Faith, the abbot Brendan, St. Thomas a Becket; St. Woolstan bishop of Worcester and St Lawrence O'Toole, all of which have been destroyed by the English reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in detestation of popery and idolatry.

The cloisters and other buildings attached to this magnificent church have been removed, the church alone remains, reminding the spectator of the splendor of ancient days and of the piety and faith of the Catholic church as exemplified in works of art and architectural taste. The court yard and the aisles of Christ church are at present nothing more than the promenade of the idle and the curious.

The Archiepiscopal See of Dublin (1180 - 1294)(Walsh)

Medieval Walls of Dublin with St. Audoen's Tower

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy, 1854, c. xvi, p. 110 ff:

John Comyn succeeded and the English monarch who persecuted the holy prelate St Lawrence for his ardent attachment to the land of his birth no longer able to appropriate the revenues of the see resolved that an office of so much importance should not be entrusted to an Irishman who perhaps might be actuated by the same patriotic motives as St Lawrence and might more openly assume an hostility to the rule of the British monarch Accordingly on the monarch's earnest recommendation his chaplain John Comyn a native of England and a Benedictine monk of Evesham a man of eloquence and learning was elected on the 6th of September 1181 to the archbishopric of Dublin by some of the clergy who had assembled at Evesham for the purpose John was not then a priest but was in the following year ordained one at Velletri and on the 21st of March 1181 was consecrated by Pope Lucius III who took under his especial protection the see of Dublin and by bull dated the 13th of April 1182 and by virtue and authority of the holy canons ordered and decreed that no archbishop or bishop should without the assent of the prelate of Dublin presume to hold within the diocese of Dublin any conference or entertain any ecclesiastical causes or matters of the same diocese unless enjoined by the Roman Pontiff and his legate From this privilege which was introduced as appears against the claims of Canterbury arose the controversy regarding the primatial right of visitation which distracted both provinces for centuries afterwards The Primate of Armagh contended that he had notwithstanding this exemption the right of having his cross borne before him of holding appeals and visitations in the whole province of Leinster Though a bishop is bound to residence by the canons John was absent from his church three years and at length arrived in September 1184 having been despatched by the King to prepare for the reception of Prince John earl of Morton whom his royal parent had resolved to send into Ireland John as an English baron received the Prince at Waterford and obtained from him a grant of the bishopric of Glenda loch with all its appurtenances in lands manors churches tithes fisheries liberties to hold to him and his successors for ever but this union was not to take place during the life of William Piro then bishop of Glendaloch In the year 1186 archbishop Comyn held a provincial synod in Dublin in the church of the Holy Trinity The canons then enacted were confirmed under the leaden seal of Pope Urban III and are extant In 1189 this prelate rebuilt the cathedral of St Patrick erected it into a collegiate church and endowed it with suitable possessions plac in it thirteen prebendaries he also repaired and enlarged the choir of Christ church cathedral founded and endowed the nunnery of Grace Dieu in the county of Dublin for regular canonesses of St Augustine whom he removed from the more ancient convent of Lusk In 1197 Hamo de Valois justiciary of Ireland under Prince John finding the government embarrassed through the want of a treasury harassed John Comyn by seizing on several lands belonging to his see De Valois having enriched himself by plundering this see and also the laity was recalled from the government in consequence of a papal remonstrance in September 1198 Hamo de Valois struck with remorse for his spoliation made a grant of twenty ploughlands to the archbishop and his successors for ever The appeal to Rome having excited the anger of Prince John the prelate was not for some time received into favor John Comyn died on the 25th of October 1214 having survived the reconciliation about six years and was buried in Christ church where a noble monument was erected to his memory.

Henry de Loundres succeeded in the year 1213 He was archdeacon of Stafford and was consecrated in the beginning of 1214 in the following year he was cited to Rome to assist at a general council On his arrival there Pope Innocent HI ratified the union of Glendaloch with Dublin and in 1216 confirmed the possessions of this see in 1217 constituted legate of Ireland by the Pope he convened a synod at Dublin in which according to the annals of St Mary's abbey he established many things profitable to the Irish church In 1219 Henry de Loundres assumed the second time the administration of Ireland Jeoffrey de Marescis the governor having been recalled In 1228 by writ directed to the lords justices he received the custody of all vacant archbishoprics and bishoprics in Ireland the profits to be received by John de St John bishop of Ferns and treasurer of Ireland and by de Theurville archdeacon of Dublin and to be by them paid to the archbishop until the debts and obligations due by the crown to him should be satisfied This prelate erected the collegiate church of St Patrick into a cathedral united as Allen says with the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in one spouse saving to the other Church the prerogative of honor Having filled the see fifteen years he died about the beginning of July 1228 and was buried in Christ Church Of his tomb there is no trace This English prelate obtained the disgraceful epithet of Scorch villain Having summoned his tenants to give an account of the titles by which they held their lands they appeared and produced their deeds The bishop instantly possessed himself of them and consigned them to the fire to the injury of the unsuspecting farmers Whereupon they are said to have given him the opprobrious epithet alluded to.

Luke Dean of St Martin le Grand London treasurer of the king's wardrobe was through the influence of Hubert de Burgh Earl of Kent whose chaplain he had been elected in 1228 but his election had been declared null at Rome whereupon he was reelected though not confirmed by the Pope until the year 1230 when his patron the Earl of Kent incurred the king's displeasure and was cruelly persecuted and deserted by all his friends The Archbishop Luke mindful of the obligations of gratitude adhered to his interest and obtained by his perseverance in his cause milder terms from the sovereign than were originally intended In 1150 the archbishops bishops and clergy of Ireland who were of Irish birth had in a synod enacted a decree that no Englishman born should be admitted a canon in any of their churches A remonstrance being forwarded to the pope a bull was directed to them in which they were commanded to rescind the said decree within a month In 1258 a contest arose between the chapters of the two cathedrals concerning the election of the archbishops. Luke strove to adjust the matter by prescribing that the place of election should be only in the church of the Holy Trinity the dean and chapter of St Patrick's by joint votes assisting in the election but the latter not content with this adjustment the affair was brought before Innocent IV as a special injustice to the chapter of St Patrick's The pope empowered by bull dated the 20th of May the bishop of Emly the bishop and the dean of Limerick to settle the controversy About this time arose also the contest with Reyner archbishop of Armagh concerning the right of visitation In the latter part of his life Archbishop Luke suffered severely by a malady in his eyes which brought on a total loss of sight and eventually hastened his death in December 1225 He was buried in Christ church with his predecessor John Comyn.

Fulk de Sandford succeeded in 1256. Both chapters elected Ralph of Norwich canon of St Patrick's and treasurer of Ireland but he was betrayed at Rome by his agents as Matthew Paris states He was a witty pleasant companion and one who loved good cheer He was it seems too secular and worldly to be consecrated His election was therefore set aside and Fulk de Sandford archdeacon of Middlesex and treasurer of St Paul's London was by the pope's bull declared archbishop of Dublin In 1261. Fulk de Sandford took a journey to Rome on business connected with his see the management of it during his absence having been committed by the pope to the bishops of Lismore and Waterford On the 6th of May 1271 Archbishop Fulk died in his manor of Finglass his body was conveyed to St Patrick's church and deposited in the chapel of the Virgin Mary.

John de Derlington was declared the archbishop of Dublin by the pope who annulled the elections of William de la Corner by the prior and convent of the Holy Trinity and of Fromund le Brun by the dean and chapter of St Patrick's John was a doctor of divinity a Dominican friar and confessor to the late King Henry EH and had been his ambassador to Pope Nicholas in 1278 He was consecrated in Waltham Abbey on the 8th of September 1279 by John archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Paris describes him as a prelate of great authority because of his learning and wisdom Bale calls him a mercenary hireling and no shepherd and says that he died blasted by divine vengeance He was collector of the Peter pence both in England and Ireland to the pontiffs John XXI Nicholas HI and Martin IV His death took place suddenly in London on the 29th of March 1284 in the fifth year after his consecration in a Dominican convent and there buried John de Sandford was a native of England brother to Archbishop Fulk dean of St Patrick's a Franciscan friar and for some time es cheator of Ireland He was canonically elected by the chapter of St Patrick's and being confirmed by the king he was consecrated in the church of the Holy Trinity on palm Sunday 1286 In his early life he came to Ireland as vicar general to his brother and was presented by the baroness of Naas to the rectory of Maynooth John was a prelate in great reputation for learning wisdom and discretion He died in October 1294 having been seized with a grievous distemper His body was conveyed from England at the desire of the Canons of St Patrick's and buried there in his brother's monument.

Finglas Abbey (Walsh)

Finglas Abbey

From Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy, 1854, c. xliv p. 429ff:

Finglass in the barony of Castleknock two miles north of Dublin. According to Archdall this monastery was founded in the early ages ot the Irish Church and probably by St. Patrick himself. One would suppose that the disciples of St. Patrick were required for the wants of the mission nor can it be imagined where postulants for admission to all those establishments could be procured all at once.

Saint Kenicus is called abbot of Finglass. His festival was observed here on the 12th of October. Saint Florentius whose feast is observed on the 21st of January according to Archdall is buried in Finglass.

There is a St. Florentius who was contemporary with St. Germain of Paris who died in 576. Florence was a priest and an Irishman of great reputation and whose memory is revered at Amboise in France. Dagobert, son of Sigebert, king of Austrasia, had been sent when a child to a monastery in Ireland after his father's death A.D. 655 by Grimoald, mayor of the palace. The monastery in which he was placed is said to have been that of Slane. Dagobert remained in Ireland until about the year 670 when he was recalled to his own country and received a part of Austrasia from Childeric II. On the death of Childeric he became sovereign in 674 of all Austrasia by the name of Dagobert II and ruled over that country until he was assassinated in 679. After his return to Austrasia we find some distinguished natives of Ireland, particularly St. Argobast and St. Florentius and who is different it seems from the saint of that name revered in Amboise. Argobast was living in a retired manner at Suraburg when he was raised to the bishopric of Strasburgh about the year 673 by king Dagobert. At Suraburgh, a monastery was erected in honor of St. Argobast. Being a very holy man he is said to have possessed a considerable share of learning and to have written some ecclesiastical tracts. St Argobast died on the 21st of July 679 and was succeeded in the same year by his friend and companion St. Florentius. Florentius took up his abode in the forest of Hasle in Alsace near the place where the river Bruscha flows from the Vosges. Here was founded a monastery either by himself or for him by Dagobert by whom he was greatly esteemed. It is said that he restored her sight and speech to the daughter of that king. While bishop of Strasburgh he founded according to some accounts the monastery of St. Thomas in that city for Scots or Irish. Having governed the see of Strasburgh eight years St. Florentius died on the 7th of November A.D. 687.

A.D. 795 died the abbot Dubhlitter.
A.D. 865 died Robertach bishop and chronographer of Finglass.  If Dublin had been a see as early as some pretend it to have been it would be absurd to have a bishop at Clondalkin and another at Finglass. There is a remarkable well at Finglass dedicated to St. Patrick. Tradition affirms that it was formerly celebrated through the miracles wrought there.

Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Wicklow Town

St. Patrick's Church, is set strikingly on a hill overlooking the scenic and historic coastal town of Wicklow.  Although the area has been populated for thousands of years, the town itself was settled by the vikings about the year 800.  To that extent, it is older even than Dublin City.  The Irish name Cill Mhantáin, or Church of the toothless, is replaced by the Norse Vikló, or harbour of the meadow.

 

The town would have found itself in the Gaelic Diocese of Glendalough, which extended across the whole of what is now the Archdiocese of Dublin.  Viking Dublin did not have a Bishop until Donatus was consecrated in 1038.  At the Synod of Rathbreasail in 1118, Dublin is not mentioned.  At the Synod of Kells in 1152, the Diocese of Glendalough was divided, giving the northern portion of its territory to Dublin, which also received a Metropolitan pallium.  Gregory became the first Archbishop of Dublin and was succeeded by St. Laurence O'Toole.  In 1185, King John decreed the union of Glendalough to Dublin but it wasn't sanctioned by the Pope until 1216.

 

In the valley between the Catholic Church and Anglican church and at the medieval town gate lie the ruins of a Franciscan Abbey, built about the year 1265.  Only elements of the south transept and nave are visible today.

 

As already noted in the post on the pilgrimage to Bray, the facade of the Church is remarkably similar to that of the original facade of the Church of the Holy Redeemer, Bray, and to other Churches by W.H. Byrne.  It was completed about 1840 to an unknown architect's design, where there is a gap in Byrne's list of works.  Therefore, it may cautiously be attributed to him. 

 

Members and friends of St. Laurence's Catholic Heritage Association made a pilgrimage there on Saturday, 22nd August, including a Mass celebrated by a Priest of the Diocese.

 

Latin Mass in Wicklow Town

Prayer for the Church in Ireland

God of our fathers,
renew us in the faith which is our life and salvation,
the hope which promises forgiveness and interior renewal,
the charity which purifies and opens our hearts
to love you, and in you, each of our brothers and sisters.

Lord Jesus Christ,
may the Church in Ireland renew her age-old commitment
to the education of our young people in the way of truth and goodness, holiness and generous service to society.
Holy Spirit, comforter, advocate and guide,
inspire a new springtime of holiness and apostolic zeal
for the Church in Ireland.
May our sorrow and our tears,
our sincere effort to redress past wrongs,
and our firm purpose of amendment
bear an abundant harvest of grace
for the deepening of the faith
in our families, parishes, schools and communities,
for the spiritual progress of Irish society,
and the growth of charity, justice, joy and peace
within the whole human family.
To you, Triune God,
confident in the loving protection of Mary,
Queen of Ireland, our Mother,
and of Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid and all the saints,
do we entrust ourselves, our children,
and the needs of the Church in Ireland.
Amen.

Pope Benedict XVI
19th March, 2010
Solemnity of St. Joseph

National Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Armagh

The Irish are very devoted to pilgrimage.  In the Golden Age of Faith the Saints of Ireland undertook Peregrinatio Pro Christo to Heaven-knew-where to bring them the Catholic Faith.  It is a startlingly rare thing to make a pilgrimage to Armagh, the seat of Saint Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, and his successor the Primate of All Ireland, and, in a sense, the spiritual heart and ecclesiastical capital of Ireland.

The present Cathedral, the National Cathedral, as Cardinal Logue called it, was built between 1840 and 1904, the medieval Cathedral having been confiscated during the 16th century.  Historic images of the Cathedral can be seen here.

Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Armagh