JosephCardinal MacRory | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Armagh Primate of All Ireland | |
.jpg) | |
| See | Armagh |
| Installed | 1928 |
| Term ended | 1945 |
| Predecessor | Patrick Cardinal O'Donnell |
| Successor | John Cardinal D'Alton |
| Other post(s) | Bishop of Down and Connor 1915–1928 |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 13 September 1885 (Priest) |
| Consecration | 14 November 1915 (Bishop) |
| Created cardinal | 16 December 1929 |
| Rank | Cardinal priestof San Giovanni a Porta Latina |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 March 1861 Ballygawley,County Tyrone, Ireland |
| Died | 13 October 1945(1945-10-13) (aged 84) Armagh, Northern Ireland |
| Buried | St Patrick's Cathedral Cemetery, Armagh |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Parents | Francis MacRory and Rose Montague |
| Motto | Fortis in Fide |
JosephCardinal MacRory (Irish:Seosamh Mac Ruairí; 19 March 1861 – 13 October 1945) was an IrishCardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served asArchbishop of Armagh from 1928 until his death. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1929.[1] He is regarded as the leading Catholic churchman in Ireland during the period spanning the1916 Rising,Partition, and theSecond World War.[2]
Joseph MacRory was born on 19 March 1861 inBallygawley, County Tyrone,[3] one of ten children of Francis MacRory,[4] a farmer, and his second wife, Rose (née Montague) MacRory. His younger sisterMargaret MacRory became a leading nun in Australia.[5] He studied atSt. Patrick's College, Armagh and atMaynooth and wasordained to the priesthood on 13 September 1885.[4]
His first appointment was as the firstpresident ofSt. Patrick's Academy, Dungannon from 1886 to 1887.[6] MacRory went on to teachscripture and modern theology atSt Mary's College, Oscott in England until 1889, at which stage he was appointed professor of scripture andOriental languages at hisalma mater of Maynooth College.
He was a founder member of the editorial team behind the creation of theIrish Ecclesiastical Review in 1902 and was appointed vice-president of Maynooth in 1912.[7]
On 9 August 1915, MacRory was appointedBishop of Down and Connor byPope Benedict XV and received hisepiscopal consecration on 14 November fromMichael Cardinal Logue. He chose as his episcopalmottoFortis in Fide ("Strong in Faith").
From 1917-18, he was one of the four clerical members of theIrish Convention and said, in a letter to the Rector of thePontifical Irish College that he was attending in order to oppose partition "with all my heart."[8]
He was one of the delegates who backed the option of fullDominion Status for Ireland.[9]
Sir Horace Plunkett, who chaired the convention, recorded in his diary that, in August 1917, Bishop MacRory made a bad speech "raking up the past."[10]
On 22 June 1928, MacRory was promoted toArchbishop of Armagh and thusPrimate of All Ireland, in succession toPatrick Cardinal O'Donnell, and the following year, in theconsistory of 16 December 1929,Pope Pius XI created himCardinal Priest ofSan Giovanni a Porta Latina.
Cardinal MacRory presided over the 31stInternational Eucharistic Congress, which was held inDublin from 20 to 26 June 1932 and which was a highpoint for the Catholic Church in the newly createdIrish Free State, which was adominion within theBritish Empire. He also exercised occasional additional roles by virtue of being a cardinal; he was, for example, thepapal legate at the 1933 laying of thefoundation stone ofLiverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, in theNorth of England, and the following year travelled to Australia as legate to the National Eucharistic Congress.[11]
He was one of thecardinal electors who participated in the1939 papal conclave, which selectedPope Pius XII.
MacRory was a strenuous opponent of thePartition of Ireland.[12] In late 1931, MacRory made the following statement:
"The Protestant Church in Ireland – and the same is true of the Protestant Church anywhere – is not only not the rightful representative of the early Irish Church, but it is not even a part of the Church of Christ. That is my proposition."[13][14]
It was MacRory who suggested toEoin O'Duffy that he raise anIrish Brigade to aid theGeneralissimo Franco's Nationalists, who were seeking to overthrow thedemocratically elected Spanish government during that country'scivil war. Many of the Brigade's members were blessed by theArchbishop of Tuam,Thomas Gilmartin, before sailing to Spain fromGalway.[15][16] In 1940, duringWorld War II, he voiced strong objections to proposals for conscription inNorthern Ireland, which, in the event, did not come to pass (seeConscription in the United Kingdom).
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MacRory was a supporter of theGaelic League, andErrigal Ciaran, one of the most famousGAA clubs in Ireland, plays at Cardinal MacRory Park,Dunmoyle, which was named in his honour in 1956.
Biographer J.J. Murphy published, in 1945, a 71-page biography of the prelate,The People's Primate. A Memoir of Joseph Cardinal MacRory, (Dublin, 1945).
After a brief illness, Cardinal MacRory died at the age of 84 from a heart attack atAra Coeli, the archbishop's official residence inArmagh. He was interred inSt Patrick's Cathedral Cemetery, Armagh.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Bishop of Down and Connor 1915–1928 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Armagh Primate of All Ireland 1928–1945 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
