THE CHURCH IN IRELAND DURING THE REIGNS OF MARY AND ELIZABETH(1553-1603)See bibliography, ii. Hamilton, /Calendar of State Papers, Ireland/, 4 vols. /Calendar of State Papers/ (Carew), 6 vols., 1867-73. /Archivium Hibernicus/, vols. i., ii., iii. (1912-14).
Moran, /Spicil. Ossor. Id./, Editions of the /Commentarius de Regno Hiberniae/ (Lombard), 1863, and of the /Analecta/ (Rothe), 1884. O'Sullevan, /Historiae Catholicae Iberniae Compendium/ (ed.
Kelly), 1850. Bruodin, /Passio Martyrum/, 1666. Molanus, /Idea togatae constantiae . . . cui adjungilur tripartita martyrum Britannicarum insularum epitome/, 1629. Shirley, op. cit. Brady, /State Papers Concerning the Irish Church in the Time of Queen Elizabeth/, 1866. Cotton, /Fasti Ecclesiae Hiberniae/, 6 vols., 1851-78. Hogan, /The Description of Ireland, etc., in 1598/, 1878.
O'Daly-Meehan, /The Rise, Increase, and Exile of the Geraldines, Earls of Desmond/, etc., 1878. Spenser, /View of the State of Ireland/, 1633. Lynch-Kelly, /Cambrensis Eversus/, etc., 3 vols., 1848. /Liber Munerum publicorum Hiberniae/, 1152-1824, 2 vols., 1848. Gilbert, /History of the City of Dublin/, 3 vols., 1859.
Id., /Facsimiles of National MSS. of Ireland/, 4 vols., 1875.
Lodge, /Desiderata Curiosa Hibernica/, etc., 2 vols., 1772.
/Pacata Hibernia/, 1633.
The death of Edward VI. (6 July 1553) and the accession of Queen Mary put an end for the time being to the campaign against the Catholic Church. The party of the Earl of Northumberland made a feeble attempt in Ireland, as they had done in England, to secure the succession for Lady Jane Grey, but their efforts produced no effect. On the 20th July the privy council in England sent a formal order for the proclamation of Queen Mary, together with an announcement that she had been proclaimed already in London as Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and on earth Supreme Head of the Churches of England and Ireland.[1] This command was obeyed promptly in Dublin and in the chief cities in Ireland. In Kilkenny Lord Mountgarret and Sir Richard Howth ordered that a Mass of thanksgiving should be celebrated, and when Bale refused to allow such idolatry they informed the clergy that they were no longer bound to obey the bishop. Mary was proclaimed in Kilkenny (20 Aug.), and on the following day the clergy and people took possession of the Cathedral of St. Canice. Crowds of the citizens proceeded to attack the palace of the bishop, so that it was only with the greatest difficulty that the Mayor of Kilkenny was able to save his life by sending him to Dublin at night under the protection of an armed escort. From Dublin Bale succeeded in ****** his escape to Holland, from which he proceeded to Basle, where he spent his time in libelling the Catholic religion and the Irish clergy and people.
Shortly after the coronation of Queen Mary Sir Thomas St. Leger was sent over to Ireland as Deputy with instructions that he was to take steps immediately for the complete restoration of the Catholic religion. Primate Dowdall was recalled from exile, and restored to his See of Armagh; the primacy, which had been taken from Armagh in the previous reign owing to the hostile attitude adopted by Dowdall towards the religious innovations, was restored, and various grants were made to him to compensate him for the losses he had sustained.[2]
In April 1554 a royal commission was issued to Dowdall and William Walsh, formerly prior of the Cistercian Abbey of Bective, to remove the clergy who had married from their benefices. In virtue of this commission Browne of Dublin, Staples of Meath, Thomas Lancaster of Kildare, and Travers, who had been intruded into the See of Leighlin, were removed. Bale of Ossory had fled already, and Casey of Limerick also succeeded in ****** his escape. O'Cervallen of Clogher, who had been deposed by the Pope, was driven from his diocese, and an inquiry was set on foot at Lambeth Palace before Cardinal Pole to determine who was the lawful Archbishop of Tuam. Christopher Bodkin, Bishop of Kilmacduagh, had been appointed to Tuam by the king in 1536, while two years later Arthur O'Frigil, a canon of Raphoe, received the same See by papal provision. At the inquiry before Cardinal Pole it was proved that though Bodkin had contracted the guilt of schism he had done so more from fear than from conviction, that he had been always a stern opponent of heresy, and that in the city and diocese of Tuam the new opinions had made no progress. Apparently, as a result of the inquiry, an agreement was arranged whereby Bodkin was allowed to retain possession of Tuam.[3] The other bishops were allowed to retain their Sees without objection, a clear proof that their orthodoxy was unquestionable.
In place of those who had been deposed, Hugh Curwen, an Englishman, was appointed to Dublin, William Walsh, one of the royal commissioners, to Meath, Thomas Leverous, the former tutor of the young Garrett Fitzgerald, to Kildare, Thomas O'Fihil, an Augustinian Hermit, to Leighlin, and John O'Tonory, a Canon Regular of St.