Dublin

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(DUBLINIUM; DUBLINENSIS).

Archdiocese; occupies about sixty miles of the middle eastern coast ofIreland, and penetrates inland, about forty-six miles, including all the County of Dublin, nearly all of Wicklow, and parts of Kildare and Wexford, with three suffragans: Kildare and Leighlin,Ferns, andOssory. It covers an area of 698,277 statute acres.

Ptolemy, who flourished in the first half of the second century, on his famous map placesEblana civitas under the same parallel of latitude as the present city of Dublin. The first mention ofDuibhlinn in any extantIrish chronicles is found in the "Annals of the Four Masters", underdate of 291, where the name, which in English signifies a black pool, is quoted as that of a river on the bank of which a battle was fought by the King ofIreland against the Leinstermen. A river still empties into the Liffey at Dublin, now known as the Poddle River, but formerly designated the Pool or Pole, clearly a survival of the earlier Black-Pool. The natives distinguished the locality asAth-Cliath, i.e. "The Ford of Hurdles", from the wicker bridge or ford by which the great road from Tara was conducted across the Liffey into Cualann (South County Dublin and Wicklow).

In 852, when Aulaf (Olaf) the Dane invadedIreland and subjected all the contending tribes ofDanes, he erected a fortress on the triangle of elevated land formed by the confluence of the Duibhlinn with the Liffey, a site now occupied by Dublin Castle. This fortress, taking its name from the river over which it stood, was called in ScandinavianDyflin. In Anglo-Norman charters of the time of Henry II it becameDuvelina; the legal scribes of King John brought it nearer to the name Dublin, which it has ever since retained. The fortress once established, there is no difficulty in imagining a town or city growing up and clustering around it, which after some time was furnished with a defensive wall, some remnants of which are yet visible.

Early Christian history

TheChristian Faith was preached in this territory, first byPalladius and then bySt. Patrick. The stay ofPalladius inIreland was very short, scarcely a year, yet during that brief space he established threeChristian communities,Teach-Renan (Tigroney), and Donard in County Wicklow, withCeille-Finne in County Kildare. When the death ofPalladius was known atRome in 431,Patrick was immediately selected andconsecratedbishop for thisIrish mission. To him, therefore, thenceforth regarded as the Apostle ofIreland, the See of Dublin looks as to its founder. His first visit after brief landings at Wicklow, Malahide, and Holmpatrick, was to his old slave-master in the northern parts of the country. But so soon as he was able to gain the sanction of Leoghaire, King ofIreland, to preach the Gospel throughout the land, he visited every part of the island and made innumerable converts. At Kilcullen, in the Dublin Diocese, he established abishop, and another at Lusk; while there are fewparishes in the diocese that do not lay claim to a visit from him. Soon after his death in 492, the monastic system, whichPatrick had himself partly initiated, became the settled form ofecclesiastical organisation inIreland. The number of tribes into which the country was divided, and the fierce inter-tribal jealousy that prevailed at all times, rendered this system the more desirable. Each tribe had its own monastic establishment with a portion of the tribe lands set apart for its endowment, and in most of these centres abishop was to be found, frequently (but not necessarily) the ruler of the community. It was in such establishments that theecclesiastical jurisdiction was centred. In this way we meet mention from time to time ofbishops at Kilcullen, Lusk, Swords, Finglas, Glendalough, Taney, Clondalkin, Castledermot, and Bray. We have no existing records and but scant traditions of any monastic establishment known asDuibhlinn; but a tribe did lie scattered along the valley of the Coombe, which may have taken its name, as did theDanish fortress later on, from theDuibhlinn which meandered through its midst. The old church-dedications, which were certainly Celtic, ofPatrick, Bridget,Kevin, and MacTaill in this very neighbourhood, would point to such a conclusion. Such a tribe would undoubtedly have had itsmonastery with its residentbishop. If this surmise be correct, it would help to explain a list ofbishops given in Harris's edition of Ware's "Antiquities of Ireland", and described as Bishops of Dublin; whilst from the invariable practice they all seem to have adopted, of embarking in some foreign missionary enterprise, they can scarcely be regarded asdiocesanbishops in the accepted sense of the term, i.e. asprelates wedded to theirsees.

The first of thesebishops that we meet with is St. Livinus. He travelled intoBelgium, where he converted many, and was at lengthcrowned withmartyrdom, 12 November, 663, in which month hisfeast is celebrated. To him succeeded Disibod, who being driven out byviolence went toGermany, and after forty years labour in the neighbourhood of Disibodenberg named after him, died a very holy death. He flourished about 675. St. Wiro is next. He emulated the example of Livinus and passed over into Gaul. The at the request of Pepin of Heristal, he established himself about 700 atRoermond inHolland, where a portion of hisrelics is preserved under thehigh altar thecathedral dedicated to him. St. Gualafer is mentioned asbishop in the eighth century, but of him nothing is known except that hebaptised and instructed his successor, who figures more conspicuously. St. Rumold was certainly Irish-born, and reputed to have been some timeBishop of Dublin. He cherished an ardent desire formartyrdom, and setting out forRome there received thepope's blessing. On his return journey he preached atMechlin with greatzeal and success. Having had occasion to rebuke certainpublic sinners, he met at their hands the longed-formartyrdom. He is the patron ofMechlin, whose splendidcathedral isdedicated to him, and hisrelics are preserved there in a sumptuous silver shrine. St. Sedulius, who died in 785, is given by some writers as "Bishop of Dublin", by others as "Abbot of Dublin". In all probability he filled both offices. In or about 890 there is mention of Cormac asbishop. Ware could learn nothing about him. D'Alton says he wasbishop when Gregory, King ofScotland, besieged and captured Dublin.

Danish period

The year 815 is commonly assigned as the date when Scandinavian invaders began to make permanent settlements inIreland. Hitherto their repeated visits had been mere piratical expeditions. They landed, plundered, and departed. But that year Turgesius and his followers came to stay. The "Annals of the Four Masters" tell us that in 849 theDuibhgoill or "black foreigners" arrived atAth Cliath and made a great slaughter of theFinngoill or "white foreigners". In 850 the former gained a still more decisive victory. Finally in 852 Aulaf (Olaf) invadedIreland, "and all the foreign tribes submitted to him". Thus was founded theDanish city and kingdom of Dublin. Aulaf was succeeded by Ivar in 870, and as the latter was at the same time King of Northumbria, this dual sovereignty of theDanish kings of Dublin was with occasional brief interruptions maintained throughout a period of nearly a century and a half.Paganism was of course the cult of these rude Norsemen. They sedulously practised the worship of Thor and Woden, and thus during a great portion of their prolonged rule in Dublin itsChristian history becomes a blank, varied at intervals by doleful recitals of the burning and plundering of celebratedmonasteries, such as Glendalough, Lusk, Swords, Clondalkin, etc. The first of theDanish kings to embraceChristianity was Sitric, who wasbaptized inEngland, and married King Athelstan's daughter in 925. But he very soonabjured the Faith, abandoned his wife, and died apagan. His son, however, Aulaf Cuarann, on visitingEngland, was there converted in 943, and received atbaptism by King Edmund. He remained firm in the Faith, and going toIona on apilgrimage in 980, died there "after penance and a good life". It was the conversion of this Aulaf and hisfamily, aided by the efforts of Northumbrianmonks whom he had brought over with him, that led to the conversion of the Danes of Dublin which chroniclers assign to 948.

The great victory won by King Brian Boru on the plain of Clontarf in 1014 broke for ever the power of the Danes inIreland, but it did not dispossess them of Dublin. Their kings continued to rule there for a century and a half; nevertheless, the completeness of the victory, together with the civilising effects ofChristianity, disposed the contending races to more friendly intercourse, and enabled Celt and Dane henceforward to live tog ether in comparative peace. In 1038, little more than twenty years after the battle of Clontarf, we find another King Sitric (II) at Dublin, who, seeing that his subjects had all becomeChristians, was moved to organise theChurch on a proper hierarchical basis. Wherefore in that year he founded and endowed acathedral dedicated to theHoly Trinity (since Queen Elizabeth's time appropriated toProtestant worship and known as Christ Church). To minister in hiscathedral he had abishop appointed andconsecrated; with this firstbishop of theDanishChristians in Dublin, the See of Dublin may be said to have been formally founded. Having received theirChristianity from Northumbria, the Danes looked to Canterbury for their spiritual government; and had their firstbishop, Donatus,consecrated by theArchbishop ofCanterbury. Except infaith and general discipline they were in no way identified with the rest ofChristianIreland.

Donatus died in 1074 and was succeeded by Patrick, who bore commendatory letters toLanfranc and wasconsecrated by him in St. Paul's, London. After ruling the diocese for about ten years he perished at sea in 1084. Donat O'Haingly, evidently an Irishman, came next. He was aBenedictinemonk inLanfranc'smonastery atCanterbury. By consent of the king and of theclergy of Dublin he wasconsecrated byLanfranc in 1085. He died of the plague in 1095. To him succeeded his nephew Samuel O'Haingly, aBenedictinemonk ofSt. Alban's. He wasconsecrated atWinchester by Saint Anselm on theSunday after Easter, 1096, and died in 1121. It was to thisprelate thatSt. Anselm administered the sharp rebuke for having removed themonks from his church, from which we may infer that it was at this period that a chapter of secular canons was established in thecathedral, itsclergy having been previously monastic. Gregory was chosen as successor. He is described as a wise man and well skilled in languages. He wasconsecrated at Lambeth by Ralph,Archbishop ofCanterbury.

Twelfth-century reforms

During Gregory's incumbency great and far-reaching changes were wrought in theecclesiastical organisation ofIreland. Up to this time, except in theDanish towns of Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick, the old system of centeringjurisdiction in themonastery of the clan with abishop resident, almost universally prevailed, but Gillebert (Gilbert),Bishop ofLimerick, who had travelled much, and had made the acquaintance ofSt. Anselm, received a strong letter from the latter exhorting him to do his utmost, in union with theIrishbishops, to reform certain abuses and bring the system ofecclesiastical government more into conformity with the prevailing practice ofChristendom. Whereupon Gillebert having received legatine powers from Paschal II convoked a synod which met at Rath-Breassail in 1118. At this synod the number of sees was fixed at twenty-four, Dublin excluded. Glendalough, the church founded bySt. Kevin in the sixth century, was definitely erected into adiocese, but theDanish See of Dublin was ignored, or if referred to, it is described a being in theDiocese of Glendalough, for the latter came up to the very walls of Dublin and surrounded them on all sides.St. Malachy,consecratedBishop ofConnor about 1127, followed up the work of Gillebert, and on the occasion of a journey toRome, besoughtInnocent II to constitute the Bishops of Armagh and Cashelmetropolitans and transmit thepallium to them. Before his request could be fully considered, Malachy on a second journey fell sick on the way, and died atClairvaux in the arms ofSt. Bernard (1148). The object of his journey, however, was not lost sight of, and in 1151,Eugene III commissioned Cardinal Paparo to proceed toIreland and establish there fourmetropolitans, giving him thepalliums with which each was to be invested. Thecardinal on his arrival convoked a general synod atKells in 1152. At this synod Armagh, Dublin,Cashel, and Tuam, were createdarchiepiscopal sees, withcanonical jurisdiction over their suffragans, and each of the newarchbishops received thepallium. In this way Gregory became the firstArchbishop of Dublin, and had assigned to him as suffragans the Sees of Kildare,Ossory, Leighlin,Ferns, and Glendalough In a document drawn up by the thenArchbishop ofTuam, in 1214 thecardinal is described as finding on his arrival inIreland, abishop dwelling in Dublin, who at the time exercised his episcopal office within the walls. "He found in the same Diocese another church in the mountains, which likewise had the name of a city [Glendalough] and had a certainchorepiscopus. But he delivered thepallium to Dublin which was the best city and appointed that the diocese [Glendalough] in which both these cities were should be divided, and that one part thereof should fall to themetropolitan." This severed the North County Dublin known as Fingall, from Glendalough Diocese and annexed it to Dublin. Thus was theChurch inIreland reorganised in strict hierarchical form, and all dependence upon Canterbury was brought to an end.

Archbishop Gregory died in 1161 and was buried in theHoly TrinityCathedral. To him succeeded Lorcan (latinizedLaurentius) O'Toole, son of Muriartach, Prince of Imaile. His mother was an O'Byrne, so that he wasIrish of theIrish. Entrusted at an early age to the care of theBishop of Glendalough he grew up apious and exemplary youth and eventually became amonk there. When but twenty-five years old he was electedabbot and a few years laterbishop of thesee. This choice, however, he successfully withstood. But his resistance did not long avail him. As soon as the See of Dublin was vacated bothclergy and people turned their eyes on theAbbot of Glendalough and would not be refused. He wasconsecrated in Dublincathedral by Gelasius of Armagh in 1162. His first act was to induce the canons of his chapter to become canons regular according to the rule of thepriory of Aroasia. He himself assumed the religious habit with them and scrupulously conformed to the rule. He was indefatigable in his work and boundless in his charity. In 1167 he attended a great convention held at Athboy at the request of King Roderic O'Conor, and helped there to enact several decrees affectingecclesiastical discipline. In the following year the ill-starred Dermot MacMurrough set out forEngland to negotiate the betrayal of his country. In 1169 the first expedition of the Anglo-Normans landed inIreland, and Wexford and Waterford soon fell before them. They then marched on Dublin, and in this expedition Strongbow was joined by the army of Dermot. Hasculf, theDanish king, made a sturdy defence, but eventually the city was captured and Hasculf and his followers escaped to their ships. In 1171 they returned with a number ofNorwegians collected at Orkney and the Isles, and attacked the eastern gate of the city. St. Laurence implored King Roderic to come to their aid; the latter did assemble an army, but their operations were ineffective, and the grip of the Norman fastened on Dublin, never again to be relaxed. King Henry II ofEngland landed this same year, and received at Dublin the fealty of most of the native princes. ThenceforwardIreland became an appendage of the English Crown.

Early in the following year a synod was held in Cashel by order of Henry, at which Laurence assisted and where among other disciplinary regulations, the system oftithes was introduced, as is commonly believed. With the aid of Strongbow and other Norman chiefs he was enabled to enlarge and beautify Christ Church, i.e.Holy TrinityCathedral, and thetransepts and one bay of the choir remain to this day evidences of his work. In 1177 Cardinal Vivian arrived inIreland aspapal legate, summoned a meeting ofbishops andabbots, and inculcated obedience to the conquerors. In 1179 Archbishop Laurence went toRome to attend the Third General Council of the Lateran underAlexander III. Thepope received him with marked kindness, took hissee under his protection, confirmed its possessions, and extended its boundaries on the south as far as Bray. He also appointed him hislegate inIreland. Some time in 1180 thearchbishop again crossed toEngland for the purpose of interviewing King Henry in the interests of his people, but Henry had no wish to see him and fled intoNormandy. Laurence, nothing daunted, quickly pursued him, but had scarcely landed on the Norman coast when he fell seriously ill. He asked to be brought to the community ofCanons Regular established at Eu, and there died peacefully 14 November, 1180. He wascanonised byHonorius III in 1226, and hisrelics, being transferred, were placed over thehigh altar in a costly shrine where they are still devoutlyvenerated. Hisfeast is celebrated in Dublin each recurring 14 November with great pomp and solemnity, and aparish church in a city is specially dedicated to him.

Norman-English archbishops

With the passing of St. Laurence, theIrish character of the newly constructedhierarchy, as far as Dublin was concerned was brought to a premature close. The conquerors brought with them a colony ofBristol men and settled them in Dublin, and also brought all theirfeudal privileges and customs, prominent among which was the right of the English monarch to nominate to vacant sees within his dominion, this with the concurrence of theHoly See. In the exercise of this prerogative, Henry II named John Comyn, an Englishman, as successor to Laurence O'Toole. Henceforward, for full four centuries, thesee was occupied by an unbroken line of twenty-fivearchbishops, all English men, born, bred, andbeneficed inEngland. Comyn proceeded toRome where he was firstordainedpriest, and thenconsecratedbishop, by Lucius III atVelletri. He did not take up his residence in Dublin until 1184. The king conferred additional lands upon him to be held in barony tenure, by virtue of which he became a Lord of Parliament. In 1185 he received Prince John on his landing inIreland, and in the same year theDiocese of Glendalough was united to Dublin; this union, however, was not to take effect until after the death of the governingbishop, William Piro. In 1186 he assembled a provincial synod in Christ Churchcathedral at which several important canons were enacted. In 1190 he undertook the work of building a new church just outside the city wall. He erected it on the site of an old Celtic church dedicated toSt. Patrick, but preserved the original dedication and opened it with great solemnity on Patrick's Day, 1191. In connection with this church he founded and endowed a collegiate chapter of thirteen canons and erected an episcopal residence close by, which became known as St. Sepulchre's.

Archbishop Comyn died in 1212 and was succeeded by Henry de Loundres,Archdeacon of Stafford. Two years later William Piro,Bishop of Glendalough, died, whereupon the union of the sees promised by King John took place. De Loundres's principal work was the conversion of the collegiate chapter established by his predecessor in connection with St. Patrick's, into acathedral chapter, with four dignities and an increased number ofprebendaries. This change presented the singular spectacle of a city having twocathedrals, with two chapters, one monastic, the other secular, an arrangement which fed to a good deal of friction and gave much trouble to succeedingarchbishops. In 1228 de Loundres was succeeded by Archbishop Luke, brought over fromLondon. Flourishing as he did in the period ofcathedral building, we need not be surprised to learn that he caught the infection, and practically re-erected St. Patrick's as we have it today, and put thenave to Christ Church as we see it in its restored condition. It scarcelynecessary to go through nominatim the series ofEnglishbishops who filled thesee during themedieval period. Suffice it to mention, that as most of them held some government post, such as lord chancellor, or lord treasurer, in conjunction with the arch-bishopric, their spiritual influence was thereby rendered obnoxious to the native clans of the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles, when they shook off the English yoke during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. TheHoly See, not to leave the natives without episcopal care, was compelled to provide abishop for them, titularly of Glendalough, and therubricelle in the Vatican Library furnish a list of six suchbishops who presided over the mountainous region of thediocese well into the reign ofHenry VIII.

The Anglican schism

This monarch, unhappily as is well known, dislocated everything inChurch and State. The foulmurder of Archbishop Alan, author of the valuable "Liber Niger" and "Repertorium Viride", by the followers of Silken Thomas in 1534, afforded the king the much desired opportunity of introducing his religious vagaries intoIreland. He kept thesee vacant for nearly a year, and then filled it without any reference to thepope, by the appointment of George Browne. Browne had beenprovincial of the suppressedAugustinian Hermits inEngland, and was the bond slave of Henry, ready to do his master's bidding. He wasconsecrated by Cranmer, 19 March, 1535-6, and took up his residence in Dublin in August, 1536. The antecedents of Browne and theschismatical character of his appointment did not recommend him to the Dublinclergy. He complained of their resistance to his injunctions and was compelled to send round his own servants in order to cancel thepope's name in the service-books. A sharp warning from the king stirred him up to more demonstrative action, and forthwith he had allholy relics preserved in Christ Churchcathedral, includingSt. Patrick'scrosier known as the "Staff of Jesus", gathered into a heap and burned. He co-operated only too gladly in the suppression of all thereligious houses, in changing the prior andconvent of Christ Church into a secular dean and chapter, and in the total suppression of St. Patrick's chapter. Under Edward VI he introduced that monarch's new liturgy, as found in his first "Book of Common Prayer", into thecathedral, and finished by taking a wife.

With the accession ofQueen Mary all thingsCatholic were restored, and Browne, being convicted of being a marriedbishop, was deposed. The queen filled the vacant see by nominating Hugh Curwen, Dean ofHereford, yet another Englishman, and the royalnomination was confirmed atRome. She also reestablished the dean and chapter of St. Patrick's. While the queen survived, unhappily not long, Curwen behaved as aCatholic, but on the accession of Elizabeth, he was ready to worship the rising sun, to accept her royal supremacy and Act of Uniformity, and eventually a transfer to the See of Oxford as itsProtestantbishop. This apostasy, coupled with the severepersecution ofCatholics which continued through the whole of Elizabeth's reign, left the See of Dublin without aCatholicbishop for full forty years. The compensations were, however, a firm and faithfulclergy and people, and a long roll ofmartyrs and confessors.

End of persecution

Some attempt was made by theHoly See to provide abishop in 1585 by appointing a certain Donald or Donatus, but he did not live to take possession, and not until 1600 was his successor appointed in theperson of Matthew d'Oviedo, a SpanishFranciscan. Though he came toIreland, he dared not set foot in hisdiocese, but governed it through vicars-general, three of whom successively ended their days inprison. Finally about 1611 d'Oviedo returned toSpain and resigned thesee, being succeeded by Dr. Eugene Matthews, transferred fromClogher. Dr. Matthews laboured hard and in most difficult times. In 1615 he called a provincial synod in Kilkenny wherein, amongst other enactments, theparochial system was reorganised and order evolved out of chaos. He narrowly escapedimprisonment more than once, and eventually betook himself toRome where he died in 1623. Early in 1625 his successor Dr. Thomas Fleming, aFranciscan, was appointed. After the outbreak of 1641 and when the Confederation of Kilkenny was initiated, he was appointed a member of the supreme council and took part in its deliberations. But the arrival and victory of the Cromwellians in Dublin in 1649 closed the gates of hiscathedral city against him; he took refuge inGalway and died there in 1651 or 1652.Dr. Edmund O'Reilly, hisvicar-general, was proposed asvicar Apostolic, but hisimprisonment and subsequent exile rendered this proposal abortive, and in 1656 Dr. James Dempsey,vicar capitular of Leighlin, was appointed to this office. In his first report to theHoly See, after the horrors ofwar, pestilence, and banishment, he states "that in thediocese of Dublin there were not enoughCatholics to form threeparishes".

The restoration of Charles II to the throne occurred during Dr. Dempsey's administration and would probably have resulted in some benevolent policy of toleration had not the intrigues of theFranciscanfriar, Peter Walsh, brought new troubles upon the suffering members of the Faith. The assembly ofclergy held in Dublin in 1666 at the instance of. Walsh and out manoeuvred by him, did not bring peace. Dr. Dempsey died in 1667, and thesee was again vacant until 1669 when theHoly See appointedDr. Peter Talbot of the Malahidefamily. He wasconsecrated atGhent, 2 May. In 1670 he held adiocesan synod, and a meeting ofbishops was held in Dublin in the same year which furnished the occasion, by a claim for precedence, for the first contention between Armagh and Dublin concerning the primacy. In 1673 he was banished the kingdom; it was not until. 1677 when broken in health, that he was allowed to return; he was, however, immediately committed a closeprisoner to Dublin Castle where after lingering for two years he died. He was a learned man and a prolific writer. In 1683 Dr. Patrick Russell, a native of the County Dublin, succeeded him. The advent of aCatholic king raised the hopes of the afflictedCatholics ofIreland, and with liberty restored to theChurch they took heart to make a strong march forward. A provincial synod was assembled in 1685, another in 1688; in 1686 and 1689diocesansynods were held. Themetropolitan chapter, which had never died, was reorganised and the precedence of its members settled. Many other works were projected by Dr. Russell, but the disastrous defeat at the Boyne, in 1690, and the flight of King James put an end to all hope and reduced theCatholics to a worse condition than ever. Dr. Russell was apprehended and cast intoprison, where he died in 1692. King James, still recognised by theHoly See, claimed the exercise of the royal prerogative of nominating to vacant sees; the claim being admitted, he named Peter Creagh,Bishop ofCork, asArchbishop of Dublin. Dr. Creagh was an exile inFrance, and wasobliged to govern through avicar general. He went himself as auxiliary to theBishop ofStrasburg where he died in 1705. Of the sixarchbishops who filled thesee in the seventeenth century, two could never set foot in thediocese, two died in exile, and two inprison. When thepenal laws commenced their ferocious career (1705)Ireland was reduced to a singlebishop, theBishop ofDromore, and he was confined in Newgate Prison, Dublin. The newhierarchy sprang from hisprison cell. Therein wasconsecrated (1707) Dr. O'Rorke,Bishop ofKillala, and once established in the Apostolic office, he imposed hands on the newly chosenArchbishop of Dublin, Dr. Edmund Byrne,parishpriest of St. Nicholas.

The population and extent of Dublin had been steadily increasing ever since the Restoration, and new quarters had grown up. Dr. Byrne's first care was to erect these intoparishes. To him owe their origin St. Mary's, St. Paul's, and St. Andrew's. In 1710 theoath ofabjuration, aimed against the Stuarts, but full of other objectionable matter, raised a new storm ofpersecution, and Dr. Byrne for a time was forced to hide with his relatives in Kildare. With varying vicissitudes he continued to rule the diocese until his death in January, 1723-4. He was succeeded by Dr. Edward Murphy, transferred from Kildare. Thisarchbishop continued to date his letters, according to the well-known formula of huntedbishops:e loco refugii nostri, i.e. from our place of refuge. He died in 1729 and was followed by Dr. Luke Fagan, translated fromMeath, who died in 1734, and had for his successor Dr. John Linegar, a native of Dublin, who lived until 1757, when his coadjutor Dr. Richard Lincoln, also a native of the city, succeeded him. In 1763 he died, and was followed by Dr. Patrick Fitzsimon who governed thesee until 1770, when Dr. John Carpenter succeeded. With him may be said to commence the modern history of thediocese, for he was the first of thearchbishops, since Archbishop Alan's time, who left behind him, carefully compiled, detailed records of thediocese. He died on 29 October, 1786.

Restoration of Catholic life

With a rapidity extraordinary for that time, Dr. John Thomas Troy, aDominican, was transferred 9 December, 1786, fromOssory to the Archbishopric of Dublin. For thirty-seven years he governed theChurch of Dublin well and wisely. He witnessed the first assertion ofCatholicrights, took part in the foundation ofMaynooth College, and laid the foundation stone of themetropolitan church in Marlborough Street, which still doesduty as pro-cathedral. Archbishop Troy saw the beginnings of theChristian Brothers and the restoration of theJesuits, while churches andschools multiplied under his eyes. He died in 1823 and was buried in the vaults of the newmetropolitan church not yet quite ready for use. His coadjutor,Dr. Daniel Murray, a native of Wicklow, succeeded him.Educated in Salamanca, he was an eloquent, cultured, andpious ecclesiastic, described by his panegyrist as "the Francis de Sales ofIreland". To him belong the completion of thepro-cathedral, the founding of theIrish Sisters of Charity and the communities of Loretto. He witnessed the achievement of Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the wonderful career of the Liberator, Daniel O'Connell of the great temperance movement under Father Mathew, and the establishment of a system of national (primary)education of which he himself was appointed a commissioner. The awakening of a nation and of a church to a new life and increased responsibilities was accomplished in his time. He died in 1852 regretted by all, and was buried in the Marlborough Street vaults, where in the church above them, a beautiful kneelingstatue by Sir Thomas Farrell, adorn the northerntransept.

Archbishop Murray was followed byDr. Paul Cullen, thenArchbishop ofArmagh, who in June, 1852, wassolemnlyenthroned in Dublin. He founded thediocesanseminary and the Mater Misericordiae Hospital. He inaugurated innumerable new churches, colleges, andschools, and became the recognised champion ofCatholiceducation all the world over. In 1866 he was madecardinal —Ireland's firstcardinal. In 1870 he took a distinguished part in theVatican Council, and in 1875 presided over theNational Synod of Maynooth. In 1878 he went toRome to assist at theconclave which electedLeo XIII, but arrived late, and in October of that year passed to his reward. He isinterred in thecrypt of the collegechapel at Clonliffe; a fine marblestatue perpetuates his memory in thepro-cathedral.

In October, 1878, Dr. Edward McCabe,consecrated assistantbishop in 1877, was raised to thearchiepiscopal office. His administration was short. In 1882 Pope Leo conferred on him the dignity ofcardinal. Never in very robust health, he died in February, 1885. He wasinterred at Glasnevin where a handsome mausoleum is erected to his memory. In July, 1885, the Most Rev. William J. Walsh was appointed to succeed him.

Statistics

The status of thediocese (1908) is as follows:archbishop 1:bishop (ofCanea) 1;parishes, 74;parishpriests, 70; administrators, 4; Curates etc., 190; indiocesanseminary, 9;chaplains, 21;secular clergy, 293;regularclergy, 247; public churches,chapels, andoratories, 193;convents, 93.Catholic population (Census of 1901), 407,514; non-Catholic population, 112,498; total, 520,012.

Thereligious orders are very well represented in Dublin by houses of Augustinians,Capuchins,Carmelites,Dominicans,Franciscans, Holy Ghost Fathers,Jesuits,Lazarists,Marists, Oblates, andPassionists. Dublin is the residence of the Superior General of theIrish Christian Brothers and the seat of theirnovitiate. Numerous sisterhoods, both within and without the city (Sisters of Charity, Mercy, Loretto,Dominican, Presentation,Carmelite, Holy Faith, Sacred Heart,Poor Clares, Assumption, Bon Secours, Poor Servants, Heart of Mary, etc.) devote themselves to the usual works ofeducation and charity (hospitals,orphanages, asylums for the aged poor, for the blind and for deaf-mutes of both sexes, industrialschools, homes, refuses, lunatic asylums, etc.).

TheCatholic University of Ireland, founded in 1854, consists (since 1882) of the following (6) colleges located for the most part near Dublin: St. Patrick's College, Maynooth; University College, St. Stephen's Green (Jesuits); University College, Blackrock (Holy Ghost Fathers); St. Patrick's College, Carlow; Holy Cross College, Clonliffe; and the School of Medicine, Dublin. Each of these colleges retains its own independent organisation. (For the history of thisuniversity see CULLEN; MACHALE; NEWMAN;IRELAND.) Other colleges are conducted by theJesuits (Belvedere College), the Holy Ghost Fathers (Rathmines), theCarmelites (Terenure), and theLazarists (Castleknock). The Holy Cross College (Clonliffe) is thediocesan college orseminary for aspirants to thepriesthood. For theecclesiastical seminary of St. Patrick's, Maynooth, seeMAYNOOTH COLLEGE.

By the New Universities Act passed in 1908, the official existence of theCatholic University of Ireland was brought to a close. This Act suppressed the Royal University ofIreland, and created two newuniversities inIreland, both strictly undenominational. One had its seat in Belfast, and absorbed the Queen's College already existing there; the other had its seat in Dublin, with a new college founded there, and absorbing the Queen's Colleges inCork andGalway. The new Colleges of Dublin,Cork, andGalway, although undenominational under the Act, principally subservedCatholic interests, Dublin University (Trinity College) being left undisturbed and mostly frequented as well as governed by members of theProtestant Church. TheArchbishop of Dublin is nominated, though notex officio, a member of the Senate of the newuniversity having a seat in Dublin, and also a member of the Statutory Commission charged by the Crown with theduty of revising and approving of thestatutes of the several colleges comprised in theuniversity.

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