Tomás Ó Fiaich | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Armagh Primate of All Ireland | |
 Portrait of Cardinal Ó Fiaich | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Armagh |
| Appointed | 18 August 1977 |
| Term ended | 8 May 1990 |
| Predecessor | William Conway |
| Successor | Cahal Daly |
| Other post | Cardinal Priest of San Patrizio |
| Previous post | President of St Patrick's College, Maynooth |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 6 July 1948 |
| Consecration | 2 October 1977 by Gaetano Alibrandi |
| Created cardinal | 30 June 1979 byJohn Paul II |
| Rank | Cardinal Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Fee 3 November 1923 Cullyhanna,County Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 8 May 1990 (aged 66) Toulouse,Haute-Garonne, France |
| Buried | St Patrick's Cathedral Cemetery, Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Alma mater | St Peter's College, Wexford |
| Motto | Fratres In Unum |
| Coat of arms |  |
Tomás Séamus Ó Fiaich,KGCHS (3 November 1923 – 8 May 1990) was anIrishcardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as theRoman CatholicArchbishop of Armagh andPrimate of All Ireland from 2 October 1977 until his death. He was created aCardinal in 1979.[1] Ó Fiaich was born in 1923 inCullyhanna[2] and raised inCamlough,County Armagh.
Tomás Ó Fiaich (bornThomas Fee, adopting the fully Gaelicised version while a lecturer atSt. Patrick's College Maynooth)[3] was born in Cullyhanna, South Armagh, where his father was a local schoolmaster. He was educated locally before attendingSt Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh, and then proceeded to begin his studies for the priesthood inSt Peter's College, Wexford, on 6 July 1948.John Cardinal D'Alton appointed him as an assistant priest inClonfeacle parish, but after Ó Fiaich returned to full health he commenced post-graduate studies inUniversity College Dublin (1948–1950), receiving anMA in early and medievalIrish history. Further study followed at theCatholic University of Leuven, Belgium, (1950–1952), culminating in Ó Fiaich receiving alicentiate in historical sciences.
In 1952, he returned toClonfeacle where he remained as assistant priest until following summer 1953 and his appointment to the faculty ofSt Patrick's College, Maynooth.[4]
Ó Fiaich was an academic and notedIrish language scholar,folklorist and historian in thePontifical University in St Patrick's College, Maynooth, the National Seminary of Ireland.[5] From 1959 to 1974 he was Professor of Modern Irish History at the college.[6] In this capacity he suggested toNollaig Ó Muraíle that he begin research onDubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh and his works. He "was an inspired lecturer, an open and endearing man, who was loved by his students... Tomas O'Fiaich was my Good Samaritan."[7]
He served as vice president of the college from 1970 to 1974, and was then appointed college president. He held this position until 1977.[8]
Following the relatively early death from cancer ofWilliam Cardinal Conway in April 1977,Monsignor Ó Fiaich was appointed Archbishop of Armagh byPope Paul VI on 18 August 1977. He was consecrated bishop on 2 October 1977. Theprincipal consecrator was thepapal nuncioArchbishopGaetano Alibrandi; theprincipal co-consecrators were BishopFrancis Lenny, the auxiliary Bishop of Armagh, and BishopWilliam Philbin, the Bishop ofDown and Connor.[9]Pope John Paul II raised Ó Fiaich to the cardinalate on 30 June 1979; he was appointedCardinal-Priest of S. Patrizio that same day.[10]
The first major event in Ó Fiaich's cardinalate was the first ever papal visit toIreland from 29 September to 1 October 1979 byPope John Paul II. The Pope celebratedMass before one million people inPhoenix Park, Dublin. His major speech calling on all the organisations that were prolongingThe Troubles to end their activities was made in theArchdiocese of Armagh and was followed by a visit to the Marian Shrine atKnock,County Mayo. Cardinal Ó Fiaich was at the Pope's side during the entire visit.
Ó Fiaich took a more understanding, or at least a less critical, stance than other episcopal colleagues on militant republicanism in part because of his own upbringing in Crossmaglen. His approach, including visits to republican prisoners in the Maze, triggered many complaints but Ó Fiaich was always adamant that he had pastoral responsibilities and that the strict work of politics especially in an era of Margaret Thatcher as well asTaoisigh such asJack Lynch andGarret FitzGerald, was not his sphere.Unionists were also critical of Ó Fiaich.
Some of Ó Fiaich's sternest critics were in the Irish media, notablyThe Sunday Independent (which had a very strong anti-republican stance) andThe Irish Times. He was, however, strongly defended on occasion byThe Irish Press (a morenationalist paper) andAn Phoblacht (which had a very pro-Sinn Féin & IRA stance).
During theIRA hunger strikes Ó Fiaich was believed by many to have been a privately influential figure among militant republican supporters, credited with helping end the first hunger strike through direct contact with militant republicans in theMaze Prison in Northern Ireland.[11] He visited the Maze and witnessed the"Dirty Protest" (where prisoners rubbed their faeces on the walls of their cells and left food to rot on cell floors, while just wearing blankets and refusing to wash, in protest at the withdrawal ofSpecial Category Status from militant republican prisoners). He stated:
When hunger strikerRaymond McCreesh died, Ó Fiaich said:
While the Cardinal showed deep concern for the treatment of prisoners, he was equally critical of those who used violence to further the cause of Irish nationalism.[12]
In 1983, the Reverend David Armstrong, aPresbyterian minister, was forced to leaveLimavady due to threats that followed his wishing Father Kevin Mullan's Catholic congregation "Happy Christmas". Cardinal Ó Fiaich gave the clergyman a cash donation to help him resettle in England.[13]
During his tenure, Cardinal Ó Fiaich attended many synods and meetings of the SacredCollege of Cardinals. The main meetings were
| Styles of Tomás Ó Fiaich | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Religious style | (autofilled) |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Armagh |
Ó Fiaich's re-ordering of the high Victorianneo-GothicSt. Patrick's Cathedral inArmagh proved very contentious. He had the highly decoratedHigh Altar androod screen replaced by a plain whiteWicklow granitealtar table.
Though Cardinal Ó Fiaich himself wrote approvingly of the new design for the sanctuary, many others were highly critical, arguing that the new sanctuary design defaced what had been a particularly fine nineteenth-century building, with the brutal simplicity of the white oval altar contrasting with the original features surviving. One critic, writing inThe Sunday Independent, compared Ó Fiaich's altar to something from the set ofStar Trek. The altar table installed during his time asArchbishop of Armagh was subsequently removed bySeán Cardinal Brady and a more classical replacement installed.
Ó Fiaich died of a heart attack on the evening of 8 May 1990 while leading the annualpilgrimage by theArchdiocese of Armagh to theMarianshrine ofLourdes in France. He had arrived in France the day before and had complained of feeling ill shortly after saying Mass at the grotto in the French town. He was rushed by helicopter to a hospital in Toulouse, 125 miles (200 km) away, where he died. He was aged 66. He lay in state at the cathedral in Armagh, where thousands of people lined up to pay their respects.[15]
He was succeeded as archbishop and cardinal by a man six years his senior,Cahal Daly, then the Bishop ofDown and Connor.[16]
The Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Memorial Library, a registered charity, was officially opened in Armagh 8 May 1999 by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State,Marjorie Mowlam.[17] Named after the cardinal to honour his academic interests, it contains extensive archival material about Irish folklore, heritage and history. Cardinal Ó Fiaich's private papers covering his period as archbishop and cardinal are held by the library, as are those of nine previous Roman Catholic Archbishops of Armagh dating back to the mid-eighteenth century.
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich is named in Cardinal Ó Fiaich's honour and is anIrish language cultural centre in which the firstIrish-mediumsecondary school in Northern Ireland,Coláiste Feirste was founded.[18] A bust of the cardinal can be seen inAn Ceathrú Póilí, the centre's book shop.
TheAncient Order of Hibernians, an exclusively Roman Catholic organisation largely (though not exclusively) based in the US, has named its No. 14 Division in Massachusetts and No. 7 Division in New York City after the late Cardinal.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Armagh andPrimate of All Ireland 1977–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Priest ofSan Patrizio 1979–1990 | Succeeded by |
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