Michael Angelo Hayes, RHA, Sheehan and the Mail.

Chapter XIV.

Some** **previous details have been necessarily tinged with a sombre hue; and the search-light may not come amiss in such further explorations as remain to be made.

The Right Hon. James Henry Monahan, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, and a successor on the judgment seat to the punning Earl of Norbury, died, aged 74, on December 8th, 1878, and was buried in Glasnevin. Called to the Bar in 1828 - the year before Emancipation - elected to Parliament for Galway in 1846, he discharged the role of Solicitor and Attorney-General from 1847 to 1850 - a period packed with exciting State trials - notably, those of Smith O’Brien, MacManus, Meagher, Mitchel, Gavan Duffy, and others. Some of the men he prosecuted to conviction now sleep beside him. “A thoroughly learned lawyer,” writes Daniel Owen Maddyn, “he showed courage and calmness through the crisis.” Ordinarily, he could crush without effort. As Chief Justice, he showed strength and self-restraint. He would sometimes pace up and down the bench like a caged lion; and when he gave a roar, as he sometimes did, the walls of the court seemed to tremble. Fiat Justitia ruat coelum - “Let justice be done though heaven should fall,” was his motto. He was attacked by Brougham, and defended by Lansdowne. Peel patted him and stroked his mane. Some of the cases which he tried - that of Longworth V. Yelverton, to wit - would afford the richest material for romance. Notwithstanding the apparent roughness of his nature, Monahan possessed a heart of exquisite tenderness. The sexton of the Cemetery stated that every week the Chief Justice visited the grave of his wife; and within the little chapel which he raised over her remains, would pour forth his soul in lamentation and prayer.

We next come to Michael Angelo Hayes, R.H.A. His pictures, not less than his name, were familiar household words. His great strength lay in depicting subjects of military interest. While Petrie was painting “The Last Round of the Pilgrims at Clonmacnoise,” Hayes put all his strength into “The Last Stand of the 44th Regiment at the Khyber Pass.” The whole regiment was cut to pieces, but retribution came. Amongst his pictures, stamped with a spirit of vengeance as well as genius, was “The 16th Lancers Breaking the Square of the Sikh Infantry at Aliwal”; “The Surprise of the Vedettes” (from Kinglake’s “Crimea”); “The Advance Guard on a Night March”; “The Balaclava Charge.” His fine “Cartoons illustrative of the Story of ‘Savourneen Deelish”’, “The Soldier’s Chief Mourner” (a horse draped with crape, led after the coffin), “The Bold Soldier Boy,” and “The Deserter,” are well impressed on the memory. Many of his pictures have been engraved, including “The Old Soldier,” namely, a spavined horse browsing on the roadside, which pricks up its ears on hearing the bugle of a cavalry regiment seen in the distance. [In painting pictures of sporting life he was also happy. His “Meet of the Kildare Hounds,” with 27 portraits, has been engraved, and arrests the eye in most Irish halls. The old and stereotyped attitude given to horses in full gallop he had the boldness to reject, and was the originator of a new pose - the accuracy of which has been since proved by the instantaneous photography of an American artist. His “Patrick’s Day at Dublin Castle,” and “The Investiture of the Prince of Wales,” with hundreds of portraits, are also well known.]

He was Lord Mayor’s Secretary, before whom ladies scattered incense in the hope of obtaining cards for dances. He was City Marshal, clad in rich regimentals, and rode at the head of civic processions. Having accompanied the Lord Mayor in state to the House of Commons, some of the members, thinking that he was Lord Napier of Magdala, rose as he entered. He had the Viceroy’s ear; got the charter of the Royal Hibernian Academy enlarged, its members more than doubled, and its privileges widened. Hayes was great at figures, alike in art and arithmetic, and could use both gifts to disconcert a foe. One day in his own house, and without a moment’s warning, death struck him down, and the palette fell from his hand. He went out with the old year - the date of death being December 31st, 1877 - his age 55. His father, Edward Hayes, R.H.A., a distinguished miniature painter, is also buried at Glasnevin.

A tomb in the Garden Section, dated June 1st, 1878, is inscribed to “Lieutenant-Colonel T. O’Meara.” He is well remembered as a near connection of Daniel O’Connell, and one of the pleasantest of the men whose society served to lighten the tedium of the Great Agitator’s imprisonment.

Complaint had been made that the prices charged for burial in Prospect Cemetery pressed heavily on the poor Cardinal MacCabe, then Bishop of Gadara, having called for and studied the charges made in various cemeteries, and specially those of Glasnevin, thus wrote in 1878, in respect to the latter:- “By them it appears that, for a few pence, the poorest of the poor can secure for the remains of those they loved on earth, a* *grave hollowed out by reverent hands and blessed by the prayers of the Church. This is what we might expect from the character of the gentlemen who constitute the Board of Management.

E. MacCabe.”

It was not until 1878 that the new entrance and mortuary chapel were completed, though the necessity for both had been long previously debated. The vast extension of the Cemetery in the southerly and westerly directions had gradually left the original entrance very distant; and some persons felt that large processions of bare-headed mourners *en route *to an open grave was not without inconvenience. As the great interest of the Cemetery would always centre round the grandly dominating tomb of O’Connell, it was deemed desirable by Mr. J. J. McCarthy, R.H.A., under whose direction the work was carried out, that this striking object should meet the eye immediately on entering. Near it a new mortuary chapel had been in course of erection, designed for the temporary reception of the dead, and the recital of the solemn prayers prescribed by the Church. On arrival of all funerals, entries became necessary in books kept for the purpose, as also the opening of communication with the undertaker in charge of the cortége; and it was, therefore important that the staff and offices should be concentrated at this point. A gracefully-curved avenue leads from the entrance immediately in front of the mortuary chapel; and, unlike most other cemeteries, a point of exit for the hearse and pall-bearers is found at some distance from the gate by which the funeral car entered. This new mortuary chapel, build at a cost of £8,000, affords a fine specimen of the Romanesque style, introduced into Ireland during the ninth or tenth century, and said to have attained its perfection in the twelfth.

“The distinctive character of the Romanesque churches in Ireland,” observes the Rev. Dr. Mahaffy, F.T.C.D., “was their simple ground plan and diminutive size, their rich and delicate decoration, the lingering of horizontal forms, the retention of the inclined jambs of the primitive doors, and the constant use of certain ornamental designs, characteristic of the later Celtic period, which had been common to Britain and Ireland, before the Roman occupation of Britain.” But the term “Romanesque” is, in truth, rather a wide one. Ruskin includes under the name “Gothic” all branches of Romanesque art. It had been at first intended to give the new mortuary chapel a stone roof like that of Cormac at Cashel, but the plan was relinquished chiefly owing to the expense it would entail. In 1879 it was dedicated by Archbishop MacCabe as “The Chapel of the Resurrection of Our Lord.” Its exterior aspect is well known.

Within, on stained glass windows, are represented, in rich tones of colour, subjects which bear reference to that conquest of death and all its woe accomplished upon Calvary. As the chapel is entered, the incident related in the Gospels, of how, at the Divine Word, those whom death had seized were given back to life, are presented at one side of the nave. On approaching the transept we see how the great Sacrifice on the Cross atoned for the sins of mankind. In the semicircle around the chancel, or sanctuary, the joyful subject of how a passage to a blissful Eternity was opened by the victory of the Son of God over death, is depicted. His triumphant ascension, His apostles looking on, shown in the second transept, recalls the promise that so shall He come. The plan finds completion in a representation over the porch, of the Day of Judgment. In keeping with the period and style of the architecture, the ornamentation is quite characteristic. Under some of the windows monumental brasses are inserted, inscribed to the memory of men whose relations lovingly recommend them to the prayers of the pilgrim.

Morgan M. Darcy was nephew to the man whose interrupted obsequies at St. Kevin’s churchyard led to the projection of a Catholic Cemetery. He died in London, June 23rd, 1878, aged 72. This gentleman was the nephew of an eminent pulpit orator, the Rev. Morgan Darcy, whose oration in 1802, on the death of Father Arthur O’Leary, has often been reprinted.

Two days later was buried Jeremiah John Murphy, one of the old Masters in Chancery, a sound equity lawyer, who succeeded in 1846 to Thomas Goold. O’Connell, as father of the Catholic Bar, obtained from the Government the favour of Murphy’s appointment to this position. He died June 25th, 1878, aged 75.

A good type of the Irish gentleman was James Scully, one of the representatives of Denys Scully, author of “The Statement of the Penal Laws which Aggrieve the Catholics of Ireland.” He was buried on December 7th, 1878.

The funeral of John Quinlan, on February 5, 1879, was one of the first to pass through the new entrance. Few men were better known. He wrote for the Press previous to Emancipation; was Irish correspondent for the *Times *during the thirties; but one morning the “Thunderer” pealed a startling change of policy, and Quinlan resigned. The *Morning Chronicle *was then the leading Liberal organ, and Quinlan accepted a similar position on that journal. He succeeded Frederick Wm. Conway as editor of the *Dublin Evening Post; *and during an eventful period, advanced by his advocacy the Liberal cause.

Professor Henry Tyrrell, F.R.C.S.I., a gold medallist and skilful operator, and an acute writer on professional points, of whom a memoir appears in “Cameron’s History of the College of Surgeons,” was buried here on January 2nd, 1879.

The profession of medicine lost a gifted son, and the Board of Glasnevin Cemetery a respected member in the death of Sir Dominic Corrigan, Bart., on February 1st, 1880. He was created a Baronet in recognition not only of the professional eminence he attained, but also on account of his great public services in connection with the health and education of the people.

Another medical light went out some days later. Few faces were better known than that of Dr. O’Leary, M.P. He passed away after a brief illness in London-where he was engaged in the discharge of Parliamentary duties at the comparatively early age of 42, on 15th February, 1880.

A few days later came the sad *cortége *of a true child of song, Ellen O’Hea, better known by her professional name, Helena Norton. She died on 29th February, 1880.

Francis Morgan, Law Agent to the Corporation of Dublin, who died March 15, 1879, aged 73, had previously figured in the field of agitation as one of the most active of O’Connell’s A.D.C.’s. “Morgan’s Rental of the Estates of the Corporation of Dublin, with Historical Memoirs of the Corporate Title to Each Denomination,” will prove a great aid to future historians, especially when it is known that Sir John T. Gilbert, LL.D., F.S.A, revised the dates. Sir Richard Griffith publicly lauded Morgan’s labours as ’ valuable and important.”

The funeral of Wm. Rickard Burke, Assistant Inspector-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary, who probably had at one time in his pocket a warrant for Morgan’s arrest, was followed by long lines of the well-disciplined force he had ruled a feature which relieved the monotony of the ordinary funeral. Burke died January 19th, 1880.

A handsome Celtic cross, erected by the family of Sir Thomas Redington in acknowledgement of the services rendered as legal adviser to two generations of their race, records the death on St. Patrick’s Day, 1880, of Vesey Daly, Clerk of the Crown for Donegal. He is well remembered as a genial Irish gentleman of the old school, popular in his profession, and a favourite in society. He bad married the sister of Sir Christopher Bellew, Bart.

The organ of the old Tory party, against which Conway and Quinlan waged relentless war, was the Evening Mail, and between the latter and the *Post *a fusilade, often swelling into heavy broadsides, was steadily interchanged The *Mail *opposed O’Connell not less consistently than it did the Catholic Church in Ireland, which it described as “Popery.” It was a curious climax to see the Catholic burial service read over Tom Sheehan’s body [Sheehan succeeded Haydn, editor of the “Dictionary of Dates,” as editor of the Mail.] by a Priest, his own brother, Monsignor Sheehan of Cork. When he fell ill at his handsome residence, Mespil House, he sent for the Rev. David Mulcahy, who did all he could to smooth his passage to a kingdom not of this world. The inscription on Sheehan’s tomb reads that he died on Lady Day, March 25, 1880.

A determined foe of Sheehan in the political arena had been Richard O’Gorman, whose burial took place 11th November, 1867. Allusion has already been made to the fact that he accompanied O’Connell to the lonely field in Kildare, and witnessed the fatal duel between him and Mr. D’Esterre. He was the brother of Nicholas Purcell O’Gorman, Secretary of the Catholic Association, and afterwards Chairman of Kilkenny; but be surpassed Purcell in energy and fire; and more than once it became evident that he loved Ireland not wisely but too well. His son, who joined the party of Young Ireland, was tried for high treason, and eventually became Attorney-General of New York.

Thomas Mathew Ray, a talented and popular gentleman, was known formerly by the *sobriquet *“My Dear Ray,” from the mode in which O’Connell constantly addressed him in public letters. His career was in some respects remarkable. He was one of the “Repeat Martyrs” of 1843, and underwent imprisonment with O’Connell. Twenty years after the death of his old friend, the “Liberator,” Earl Russell appointed Mr. Ray to the post of Registrar of Deeds. The Recording Angel had nought to register but good deeds after the name of Ray. He was interred at Glasnevin on January 5th, 1881.

Robert Cryan, a Fellow of the College of Physicians, and an able lecturer on anatomy and physiology, was laid to rest on February 19th, 1881.

The Rev. Dr. John T. Laphen rests in Glasnevin. Dr. Laphen on being transferred from the Pro-Cathedral to St. Catherine’s, Meath Street, found a relic of penal times in its old chapel. By dint of great energy he built a handsome new church at a cost of £11,000. It was pleasingly remarked at the time by his curate, afterwards Canon Daniel, that “This if church, however beautiful, is but a material emblem of the spiritual temple of holiness that the good priest had raised up in the hearts and souls of his people.” Among other worthy deeds due to Dr. Laphen, is that of having restored the tomb of Fr. Austin, S.J., in St. Kevin’s churchyard. [Bunden, who published a tour through Ireland in 1791, tells us that “Austin was a very remarkable character, of extraordinary learning and piety. Most of the Catholic youth of Dublin received their education under him, including O’Keefe, the dramatist.]

Quite a sensation was caused by the premature death on April 15th, 1881, of Denis Caulfield Heron, Q.C., LL.D., Sergeant-at-Law, M.P. for Tipperary. He was a skilful pleader, a brilliant orator, a trusted friend. When standing in the waters of Lough Corrib, after having landed two salmon, and while playing a third, the rod fell from his hand; death promptly followed. His coif he had worn only for three months. Heron had been a member of the Board of Glasnevin Cemetery; and a more than passing reference is due to him - apart from the fact that he had long held a distinguished place in public and professional life. In 1845 he passed an examination for a Scholarship in the University of Dublin; but being a Catholic was denied the privilege. His next move was an application for a mandamus against the Board of Trinity College to compel them to yield; but the action failed. However, it bore fruit, for after some time the law was altered, and Catholics can now be Fellows as well as Scholars. Heron became Professor of Law in Queen’s College, Galway, and besides his “History of Jurisprudence,” was the author of several political and economical works. One of his first promotions at the Bar was to the Law Advisership of Dublin Castle. He married the sister of Lord Fitzgerald, but she predeceased him, and left no children. She was returning to her home when she breathed her last on board the mail boat, in sight of the Irish shore. His epitaph on this lady is one in Latin. The monument is found in the South Section: “In memoriam Emiliae D. C. Heron, dilectissimae conjugis morbum saevum pectoris per longos annos humiliter ac pia fortitudine patiebatur. Rediens ex Helvetia ubi sanitatem frustra quaerebat in navi ‘Munster’ carae patriae Hiberniae in conspectu subito mortua est XXX. Aug., MDCCCLXIII. Nunquam erat in terris anima magis pura.”

Two days later another funeral of some interest entered the grounds. The old medico who wore the broad-brimmed hat of a bishop, and the white cravat of a Brummel, was a familiar figure in Dublin from the days of George the Third. The favourite post of Dr. Thomas Willis was at book sales, or by the bedside of the sick poor. When sales in the Incumbered Estates’ Court began, men pronounced Willis mad, because of his persistent regularity in gathering up the rentals [These rentals, furnished with maps, contain a mass of local statistics, together with a deduction of title to the estate, commencing at a very early period. The explanation of Irish names attached to the lands shows that they arose from some distinguishing feature belonging to each. Dr. Willis’s granddaughter is is married to the Rt. Hon. Joseph Meade, LL.D.] which some threw away; and his collection after thirty years be came so important, that the Crown were glad to buy it at a high price These rentals, accompanied by an alphabetical index, exceed 3,700 in number; but the wonderful hoards of Dr. Willis were of more varied interest. Throughout a long life his attention had been directed to the acquisition of all sorts of books relating to Irish affairs, whether of historical, local, or general interest. He used to relate that Charles Reade, the novelist, opened communication with him in regard to curious matter calculated to sustain the interest of his novels. Dr. Madden, in his “History of Irish Periodic Literature,” avows his obligation to Willis. His volumes of newspaper-cuttings were ranged like a cyclopaedia. All his books had curious MS. notes in the autograph of the indefatigable collector. Dr. Thomas Willis died, aged 91, on April 17th, 1881.

Captain Morgan O’Connell, grandson of the Liberator, A.D.C. to General the Hon. Leicester Smythe, Commanding the Forces at the Cape of Good Hope, was cut off on the threshold of a promising career, 22nd September, 1881, aged 35.

During the same year (30th October, 1881), Dr. Thomas Hayden, F.R.C.S.I., of whom a full memoir has appeared from the pen of Sir Charles Cameron, was buried at Glasnevin. He had been Vice-President of the College of Physicians, and at the time of his death Vice- President of the Royal Irish Academy, and a Senator of the Royal University. He wrote for the *Atlantis, *under the cultured editorship of Newman, and probed his pen deep into the subjects of anatomy, physiology, and pathology. His great book on “Diseases of the Heart and Aorta” is of vastly comprehensive range.

Edmund Jordan, Q.C., Crown Prosecutor for Galway, was a learned lawyer, a hospitable host, and highly esteemed for his many admirable qualities. He died on 8th March, 1882, aged 66.

James J. MacCarthy was the famous architect of whom it will be remembered Florence MacCarthy said : “Jem an’ I (Gemini) are twins.” The fine mortuary chapel, which we owe to his skill, contained his own coffin on February 8th, 1882. Like the “Corsican Brothers,” the lives of both MacCarthys were much bound together; and it is remarkable that within the same week the poet followed the architect. The chief ecclesiastical edifices designed by the latter are the Cathedrals at Armagh and Monaghan; the parish churches of Rathkeale and Carrickmacross; the Dominican church, Dublin; that of the Seminary of Clonliffe, and the Passionists’ Retreat, Mount Argus; St. Catherine’s Meath Street; the College chapel at Maynooth, and St. Mary’s Star of the Sea, Sandymount.

A pleasant personality, John King Forest, M.D., Surgeon to Jervis Street Hospital, and to the Theatre Royal, Dublin, passed away on April 17th, 1882, aged 78 years. He had a fund of gossip about people he had known.

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