Parish of St. Michan's.

Part XI.

Parish of St. Michan.

The Parish of St. Michan may justly claim to be the oldest Parish in Dublin, for, although the Parochial system did not become general prior to the Norman invasion, this particular district had attained something like parochial autonomy a full century earlier.

Lying along the river, and close to its mouth, this was a district to be avoided by the early Celts, who would be constantly exposed to hostile maritime incursions. The advent of the Danes, however, changed this condition of things. No sooner had these hardy adventurers safely entrenched themselves about 938, A.D., in their Castle on the hill overhanging the Black-Pool (Poddle) or *“Dubhlinn,” *than they commenced to organise frequent raids into the neighbouring territory of Bregia on the north side of the river, annexed a goodly portion of it (Fingal), and at the ford of hurdles, - *Ath-Cliath - *which afforded the only passage across the river from south to north, established a strong *tete du pont *to serve as an outwork for repelling the repeated inroads of the surrounding natives. To this settlement perhaps may be traced the Gaelic equivalent for Dublin, - Baile-Ath-Cliath, - rather than to the fortress on Castle Hill on the south of the river, which would be more appropriately designated * Dubh-Linn. *

This ford of hurdles is perhaps the most ancient landmark of our ancient City and deserves especial notice. Dr. Petrie in his “History and Antiquities of Tara,” maintains that from the first century there must have been a roadway across the Liffey. In our oldest manuscripts it is stated that in that same century Ireland was intersected by five great “Slighes” or roads leading to the seat of supreme royalty at Tara. Of these the *“Slighe-Cualann” *was traced with the greatest apparent certainty by the Ordnance Survey. It struck off from the “Fann-na-g-carbad” or “Slope of the Chariots,” and led *via *Ratoath and Stoney Batter into Cualann, a district extending from Dalkey southwards and westwards. This road consequently must have crossed the Liffey, and the passage across the river is frequently referred to as “Ath Cliath Cualann.” It would be clearly impossible to carry a road across a river, unless the roadway was formed by a bridge however rude, or *tochar, *or structure of some kind raised above the ordinary high-water mark. Such a structure, formed of timber or hurdles, the only material then used for the purpose, was doubtless that, which, in the figurative language of the time, was termed an “Ath Cliath,” or Ford of the Hurdles. The “Chronicon Scotorum” makes the statement that in the year 999, King Malachy made tochar at “Ath-Cliath “until it reached “one-half of the river,” so much of it, that is, as was counted in his territory of Meath; the other half being in the territory of Leinster it devolved upon the * regulus *of that district to complete it. By the time of the Battle of Clontarf (1014), the “Ford” had acquired the solidity of a Bridge, though still constructed in timber, for in the “Book of the Danish Wars” preserved in the Brussels Library, we have related that, of the Danes of Dublin who were in the engagement, only nine escaped from it, and “the household of Teige O’Kelly followed these and slew them at the head of the Bridge of “Ath Cliath; that is “Dubhgall’s Bridge.” Similarly the Book of Leinster recording the death of Maelmordha on his retreat from the Battle, expressly states that he was drowned at “Dubhgall’s Bridge.” This new name for the bridhe “Droichet Dubhgall” may be traced either to Dubhgall son of Amalaeibh the brother of Sitric King of Dublin in 1014, or else, because built by the Danes, it was popularly called by the natives, “Dubhgall’s Bridge,” i.e. “Bridge of the Black Strangers.”

The various vicissitudes and re-buildings of the Bridge may be summarised thus:- the Bridge of 1014 served until the reign of King John, when it was re-built in 1215. This structure fell down in 1385, and was replaced by a new Bridge of stone built by the Dominican Friars, who, without it, could not conveniently get to their College on Usher’s Island. The Friars by way of compensation were allowed to exact a toll, and a lay brother was stationed permanently on the bridge in charge of the toll booth. In 1684, this was replaced by a new bridge then called Ormond Bridge, which being swept away by a flood in 1802 was finally succeeded by the existing bridge, of which the foundation was laid by Earl Whitworth in 1813 who gave his name to the structure, but in spite of that, it continues to be called Church Street Bridge. It was the only bridge spanning the river down to 1684.

This bridge, therefore, of such great strategic importance in mediaeval days, formed the connecting link between the main body of the Danes settled on the south bank of the river, and the outpost on the north bank, which gradually became the permanent habitation of a goodly number of Danish settlers. After their conversion to Christianity they naturally set about providing themselves with the necessary conveniences of religious worship, and about the year 1095 erected a Church on the site of St Michael Protestant Church, which they dedicated to St Michan. Whether St. Michan was Irish or Danish by nationality we are unable to determine. His name occurs in the Calendar under 25th of August, at p. xlvii. of Dr. Todd’s “Introduction to the Martyrology of Christ Church,” as “Festum S. Michee Confessoris,” and he is described as an Irish Saint. In Archbishop Allen’s Register the church is called “Ecclesia S. Michie and * Ecclesia S. Michani.” *In the obits of Christ Church the 14th of May is assigned as the date of the Dedication of the Church of St. Michan. In the Calendars prefixed to two ancient Breviaries now in T.C.D. Library, the word “*Episcopi” *is inserted before *Confessoris.” *

So much for the foundation of the Church of St Michan but all through the mediaeval period, we find, that while the Church was dedicated beyond doubt to St Michan the south aisle was dedicated to St. Syth or Osyth. She was daughter of Frewald, a Mercian Prince, and married a King of the East Angles, but the same day obtained his consent to live alwys a virgin. The King bestowed on her the Manor of Chick, near Colchester, where she built a monastery. She governed this monastery for many years with great success, and was eventually crowned with martydom during the incursions of Hinguar and Hubba, Danish Pirates, who beheaded her for her constancy in faith and virtue about 870. Her relics, after sojourning for some years at Ailesbury, were brought hack to Chick, which for some time, according to Camden, was known as St. Osyth’s. The Danes in one of their numerous raids burnt and plundered St. Osyth’s and then sailed for Ireland. It would seem as if their descendants, when they became Christians, were determined to make some reparation to St. Syth for the insult of their forebears, and had the south aisle of their Church in Dublin dedicated to her. A Craft Guild, known at “St. Syth’s Guild,” was formed in the 14th century, and possessed lands and other hereditaments in Oxmantown, which in the 17th century became the property of St. Michael’s.

In the “Inspeximus “of three enrolments on Exchequer Memorandum Roll, Easter Term, 3 Edward IV., - one of St. Laurence, 1178; one of Archbishop Richard, 1300, and one of King John in his third year; St. Michan’s is attributed to Christ Church Cathedral. There can be no doubt that this attribution dates from before the advent of the Anglo-Normans, for, in King John’s Charter, among a crowd of Donations to the Cathedral made by the Danes, occurs the following entry:- “The Church of St. Michan with the land on both sides thereof, by Isaak the Priest and in St. Laurence’s Charter, we meet amongst the witnesses the name of “Peter the Priest of St. Michan’s.” Thus anchored to Christ Church Cathedral, St. Michan’s was administered by Vicars presented to the Archbishop by the Prior and Community, and with the solitary exception of “Peter the Priest,” just referred to, no other name of a Vicar of St. Michan’s has been identified down to its altered condition under Henry VIII. in the 16th century. Indeed records of any kind are exceedingly scant. We can quote but two; one found in the Taxation of 1295, where St. Michan’s is reported as “unable to support the charges ”; and the other, numbered 236, in the published Christ Church Deeds to the following effect:- “Gilbert, late Prior of Holy Trinity Church, Dublin, having granted to John de Grauntsete the obligations to be placed before the image of the B.V.M. on Dublin Bridge for 10 years from 20th of August, 1341, in consideration of certain meritorious works to be performed before the said image, Robert de Hereford the present Prior gives licence to him to build a Chapel in honour of the Holy Trinity in St Michan’s churchyard in Oxmantown on the North side of the Church in lieu of the works to be performed on Dublin Bridge. 17, Aug., 1347.” We know not if this Chapel were ever built, but this document gives clear evidence of a Statue to Our Blessed Lady occupying a position on Dublin Bridge in the fourteenth century.

The Coming of the Dominicans.

The most important event to chronicle in the Annals of St. Michan’s is the advent of the Friars Preachers, or Dominican Fathers, in 1224. It would appear that they came to Dublin from England at the invitation of William Mareschall, Earl of Pembroke, “for the health of his soul and that of his wife.” She was Isabel, only child of Eva, daughter and heiress of Dermod MacMurrough, who had married Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, commonly called Strongbow.

There is a tradition that the site chosen for their first Priory was given to them by the Cistercian Monks of St. Mary’s Abbey, together with a Chapel at the Bridge which they had erected and dedicated to St. Saviour about 1218. The authorities for this tradition are principally Allemand, and De Burgo in his *Hibernia Dominicana *neither of whom however gives historical references. Against it stands the fact that in the Cartularies of St Mary s Abbey published by the late Sir John Gilbert no mention whatever is made of this transfer of such a considerable portion of the Abbey property. Then, with regard to the Chapel of St. Saviour, another doubt arises. That such a Chapel was erected about 1218, there can be no question, but was it built by the Abbey and subsequently transferred to the Dominicans? No 23 of the Christ Church Deeds relates that:- Audeon Brun and Richard de Bedeford grant to Holy Trinity Church land near the water course of the Annaliffey, on the north side of Oxmantown bridge, as a site for St. Saviour’s Church.” This grant was circa 1218. Again Deed 29 mentions that: “Henry Archbishop approves of the erection of St. Saviour’s near Dublin bridge, provision being made for the Chaplain.” This last clause excludes the lordship of the Abbey, for, if the Church had been built by the Monks there would have been no need to stipulate about the Chaplain, as they would, as a matter of course, provide the Chaplain; We are inclined, therefore, to the conclusion that the site - extending from Church Street to Chancery Place, and back to the line of Pill Lane or Chancery Street, and now quite covered by the Four Courts, - was not donated by the Monks of Mary’s Abbey, and that the Chapel of St. Saviour was not erected by them, but by the Prior and Convent of Holy Trinity Cathedral. Whatever the historical facts may be concerning the acquisition of this property by the Dominicans certain it is, that here on this very site they set up their first Priory in Ireland.

In 1238 the Church was founded and dedicated to St. Saviour, replacing the Chapel erected with the same dedication 20 years previously. In it were interred several citizens of distinction -and influence, including John le Decer, several times Mayor of Dublin, and a great benefactor. In the year 1316, on the approach of Edward Bruce with his army of Scots, the citizens of Dublin in self-defence demolished the Church of the Dominicans, and employed the stone thereof in repairing and extending the city walls from Wormwood Gate towards the Quay. King Edward II. commanded the Mayor and Citizens to restore the Church to its former state, a command which they obeyed with the greatest alacrity, and the new Church already many years completed, was solemnly consecrated by Archbishop Cranley on the 5th of the Ides of July, 1402. This Priory had also a school or College on the south side of the river, wherein they taught Philosophy and Theology, and to maintain their access to this school, interrupted by the sweeping away of King John’s Bridge in a flood, they, with the assistance of generous benefactors, erected a new bridge on the same site. De Burgo states that he often saw, when a boy, the old holy water stoup from which the people were sprinkled as they passed over. As already mentioned, this bridge was replaced in 1816 by the present Whitworth, or Church Street Bridge.

The uneventful history of St. Michan’s flowed quietly on through the centuries up to the reign of Henry VIII., without leaving any incident worth recording, or any name of the successive Vicars who administered it for the Cathedral during this prolonged period. At length, about the year 1539, an important change is effected in its hitherto unruffled existence. Henry suppresses the religious houses all over the country, including the Prior and Convent of the Holy Trinity. As both Prior and Convent fell in with the Monarch’s wishes when he proposed to convert them into a secular Dean and Chapter, they were not disturbed, but quietly assumed the new positions and dignities which the Royal Charter had arranged for them. The Prior became Dean, the Sub-prior Precentor, and soforth, with the rest of the community. Under this new constitution, the three appendant churches of St. Michael, St. John, and St. Michan, were relieved of their subservient *status *and erected into Prebends of the Cathedral Chapter, three members of the ex-community being appointed first Prebendaries. To St. Michan’s came as Prebendary, and consequently as Parish Priest, John Kerdiff, brother to the second Justice of the King’s Bench. He was of course a Priest, and as far as we know a good and loyal Priest. He continued the succession of Catholic incumbents under Henry, Edward VI., and Queen Mary. Before 1557 he was promoted Treasurer of the Chapter. To him succeeded as Prebendary of St. Michan’s, Sir Thomas More - not the martyred English Chancellor, Blessed of the name - but one of the Dublin clergy, and like his predecessor, a validly ordained priest. He disappears before 1561, and then comes on the scene as Prebendary of St Michan’s, William Dermott, the first to bow in conformity to the will of Elizabeth. He was Protestant enough to be promoted Chancellor in 1563, and from his day down to the present, the Church of St. Michan, its Clergy, and its form of worship have been exclusively Protestant.

The Dominican Priory fared as badly as the Parish Church. Patrick Hughes, the last Prior surrendered [?] it to the Crown on July 8, in the 31st year of Henry VIII. Lord Chancellor Allen and the Judges of the other courts obtained “the site and precincts of the monastery and church, with the steeple and cemetery, and the edifices and mills, orchards and gardens belonging to it, 15 messuages in the parish of St. Michan, one messuage in Patrick Street, one in New Street and the moiety of a meadow called Ellen Hoare’s mead, alias Gibbett’s mead.” Elizabeth, in the 20th year of her reign, granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare, divers gardens and orchards containing three acres, and in the reign of Charles I., the Duke of Ormond becoming possessed of this part of the property, laid it out for building, and opened a new street, which in honour of the King, he named Charles Street. In 1612 under James I., the whole site of the monastery and church had been appropriated to the lawyers to form what was called “the Old Kings Inns,” and it is thus described in the Deed of Grant:- “The entire site and precinct of the late Priory or house of the Friars Preachers, now called the Kings Inns, with the *ruinous church thereof without roof or walls * [who ruined it?] and all other buildings, the burying ground now waste, and divers gardens and orchards, surrounded with the stone walls of the precinct containing three acres ; all messuages and buildings, situate on the west side of the said site, from the bridge over the Liffey, to the lane leading from thence to the site of the late monastery of St. Mary’s Abbey, &c… . to hold for ever and have and possess all and singular the said premises for a common hall.” In 1662 the Court of Claims sat here, and in 1688 the Court of Grace. James II. held his Irish Parliament here, and restored to the Dominicans a portion of their ancient Priory, to which they moved from Cook Street, only to be thence turned adrift again after the disastrous issue of the Boyne. The foundation stone of the present Four Courts was laid in March, 1786, and that of the buildings in Henrietta Street, whither the “Old Kings Inns” had been transferred, in 1802.

An estuary of the Bradogue, where, in devious rills and pools, it disembogued into the Liffey, and extending roughly from Charles Street to East Arran Street, with Pill Lane on its north, was called “the Pill,” and for centuries was regarded as waste. By 1602 it began to be appreciated, and was granted to William Taaffe at a rent of 1s. and 1d. By Michaelmas of 1617, the eight Corporations (City Guilds) prayed for a lease of it for 99 years, at £10 per annum. In April, 1639, a Grant was made to the Mayor and Sheriffs of “all that waste piece of laud lying between the walls of the Abbey, or Monastery, of the B.V.M. towards the north, to the water of the Annaliffe towards the south, the walls of the said monastery towards the east, and the late house of brethren or Friars Preachers, now called the Kings’ Inns, towards the west.” At Easter, 1684, Sir John Davis being interested in the ground lying on the Pill, laid it out for Ormond Market and the city having lately taken in some of the bed of the river adjacent, he prayed for a lease for 99 years of the ground thus taken in; but the city resolved to have the new ground for a Quay, and, considering that the Fish Market there would hinder the beautifying of the Quay, and ought to stay where it was, would only grant the lease on condition of Sir John keeping it as a Quay, and further undertaking to flag the Market”

Here, then, we have the origin of Ormond Market and Ormond Quay, which together with Inns Quay forms the southern boundary of St Michan’s Parish

For the afflicted Catholic population of St Michan’s during the whole reign of Elizabeth, and most of that of her successor, the times were hard indeed. Deprived of their Parish Church, and as far as a relentless and continuous persecution could effect it, of their clergy as well, they were commanded and coerced under fines and penalties to frequent the Protestant religious service, but all to no purpose. For full 50 years they dragged out a miserable existence, hunted down like wolves, not other wise than as in the early ages of the Church the Christians were pursued as enemies to the State, but they remained staunch and loyal to the faith. Faithful and devoted priests were always found to minister to them by stealth; defections to heresy were extremely few and martyrs and confessors abounded. The first opportunity afforded them of demonstrating both their numbers and their steadfastness was in 1612, when they poured forth in crowds to swell the triumphal procession of the glorious martyrs Bishop O’Devany and Father Lonergan as they slowly wended their way across St. Michan’s Parish to the gibbet on Arbour Hill, where, as related in Part X., they sealed their constancy with their death. But now some re-organisation must be attempted, and we enter that stage of our parochial history which we have called

The Modern Period

The new Catholic Parishes of Dublin commenced their existence about 1618, as soon as the Statutes of the Kilkenny Synod could be conveniently enforced, and St. Michan’s was at this time re-erected on the north side of the river in all its former extent, *plus *the considerable area, extending from East Arran Street to Ballybough and Clonliffe on the Tolka, which before the suppression belonged to St. Mary’s Abbey. The Abbey being an exempt jurisdiction, was a parish unto itself, forming no part of Old St. Michan’s. In this same year, 1618, the authorities issued a Report enumerating “the places of most public note whereunto the priests resort for Mass in Dublin;” and the place used for that purpose in St. Michan’s Parish is described as “a back room of Shelton’s house beyond the bridge, at the corner of the so-called Hangman Lane.” Alderman Shelton, the proprietor of this double house, was a most respectable citizen. In 1604 he was elected by his compeers to fill the office of Mayor of the city, but refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy then enforced, he was deposed and cast into prison. After some months’ imprisonment, he was transferred to the custody of Cusack, of Rathgar, a rabid Calvinist and proselytiser as well, in the hope that under such influences he might be brought into conformity. But the nets were spread in vain; he remained a staunch confessor of the faith, and his house became the refuge of all that Catholics deem most holy.

The name of the first Parish Priest of St. Michan’s remains, so far, unknown. The list of P.P.’s given in the articles of the late Mr. E. Evans, contributed to the *Irish Builder *of 1892, and subsequently issued in pamphlet form, is inexact, and in many particulars unreliable. The first name we can register with certainty is

V. Rev. William Browne, P.P., 1629-1650.

In the *per obitum *volumes of the Vatican we find the following entry:- “February, 1630. The Parish Church, or its perpetual vicarage, of St. Michan, in Oxmantown so-called, in the suburbs of Dublin, in Ireland, in some certain way vacant, and value for 23 marks, to William Browne, a priest of the Diocese.”

Fr. Browne, we may take it, had been acting P.P. for some time previous to the arrival of this confirmation from Rome. But where was his parish chapel? From 1624, or thereabouts, the Catholics on the south side of the river had plucked up courage to erect or adapt public chapels wherein they might assist at their religious rites but St. Michan’s was not so blessed, for in Bulkeley’s Report of 1630 we find that there was no definite chapel. It “was now in the house of one Patrick White,” and now “in the house of one Widow Geydon or Geaton,” and yet, notwithstanding this forced nomadic existence, and full 70 years of persecution, the report was forced to confess that “the most part of the parishioners are recusants, who go to one Browne to hear Mass.” The next mention we meet of Fr. Browne is in connexion with the disputed succession to the Parish of St. Michan fully related in Part VIII. Many of the secular clergy as well as the regulars, objected to the appointment of Patrick Cahill, made by the V. G. in the Archbishop’s absence, and a protest was signed by all the Parish priests of the City. It is dated 22nd February, 1631, and Fr. Browne’s signature is a very good specimen of clear and legible penmanship. As the case was referred to Rome, each of the signatories was asked to write a letter upholding this protest, and the Pastor of St Michan’s wrote in the following terms:- “I William Browne, Rector of the Parish of St. Michan, Dublin, by these resents certify that on the death of Mr. Thomas Coyle, formerly Rector of St. Michael’s, I advised the most reverend Archbishop not to advance Mr. Patrick Cahill to the vacancy, but to appoint a native to same. Such was my mind then, and such it is now. Witness my hand.

W. Brown,

Rector of St. Michan’s.

Dublin, 12th *October, *1631

In 1646 he joined with several other theologians of Dublin in the answer given by them to the insidious query of Ormonde as to what should be the action of the Catholics in case that the army of the Kilkenny Confederation laid siege to the city. The year following Ormonde basely abandoned the city to the Puritans, who immediately issued a proclamation banishing all priests and Jesuits from the city and forbidding any Catholics to pass a night within its walls. From this year out the persecution waxed fiercer and fiercer, so that 10 years later but one secular priest - Patrick Relly - lurked in Dublin, and still later the new Vicar Apostolic, Dr. James Dempsey, wrote to Rome saying that there were not as many Catholics in Dublin as would make three parishes.

As a proof of the depopulation of Dublin during the Cromwellian period and attributed to war, pestilence and exile combined, we may adduce an extract from a Census taken in 1659, presumably by Sir Wm. Petty. The Return for St. Michan’s Parish is interesting as showing the limited habitable area of the Parish as well as the sparseness of the population. The entire city numbered only 8,780 souls. In this Census the religion of the several inhabitants is not noted, only their racial distinction according as they were reputed English or Irish, but as most of the former and all the latter remained staunch Catholics we may safely predicate, as Bulkeley did in 1630, that the great majority were Recusants.

Census of St. Michan’s in 1659. English Irish

(Name of Street illegible), 48 47

Church Street 179 183

Hangman’s Lane 158 84

The Abbey 167 91

The Green 8 23

Phepoe’s Park 8 0

Bull Lane 33 134

Little Cabragh 6 4

  607 566

This was not a very serious responsibility for a Parish Priest compared with the numbers we are now accustomed to. The name of Phepoe’s Park was given to that portion of the area now covered by Mary Street, Jervis Street, and Stafford Street. The Broadstone (Glasmanogue) and Grangegorman being outlying villages are not here enumerated.

The restoration of the Monarchy was effected in 1660, And brought with it the prospect of settled government. Dublin, as a result, began rapidly to increase in population and building areas were marked out in every direction. The Chapels, so long abandoned, began to reappear, We have no documentary evidence of the precise locality of St. Michan’s chapel. The back room of some private house may have still continued, but we have little difficulty in surmising that Mary’s Lane Chapel began n this period, for although Dr. Nary is usually credited with the beginning of Mary’s Lane in 1702, yet in the British Museum manuscript of 1749, it is described as a “large but irregular piece of building,” implying thereby that Dr. Nary’s work was more of an enlargement than an original structure increased accommodation for the faithful being of more importance than symmetry in structure. It was therefore, at the corner of Bull Lane and the then new thoroughfare of Mary’s Lane. Mole difficult still is it to tell who succeeded Fr. Browne as Pastor. Evidence is forthcoming that he survived until after 1650, but after that we hear no more about him, so that we may conclude that he died before the Restoration. We must therefore leave the next decade blank and get on to 1670 when Dr. John Dempsey would have been old enough to be ordained and may, even so young, have been appointed to the Parish.

**V. Rev. Dr. John Dempsey, P.P., V.G., 1670, ***obit. ***** (circa) - 1702.

His name appears on the list of the Dublin clergy attening the Diocesan Synod under Archbishop Russell in 1686. In a Capitular Document preserved in the Diocesan Archives and dated May 9, 1688, we find his signature as follows:- “Johannes Dempsey, Praecentor Ecclesiae Cathedralis Ssmoe Trinitatis,” thus proving that the dignities of Christ Church Cathedral as well as those of St. Patrick’s were still titularly maintained in the Catholic Church. All the hopes of the Catholics raised by the advent of James II. to the throne were rudely dashed aside by the disastrous issue of the Boyne, and the old ascendancy resumed its sway with increased vindictiveness and energy. The Archbishop was hunted down and confined in a loathsome dungeon where he died in 1692.

In 1693, as we learn from the Carte Stuart Papers the Bodleian Library, Dr Dempsey was nominated by James II., Bishop of Kildare and Administrator of Leighlin, and this nomination was ratified by Rome in the Consistory of January, 1694. The registration of this fact found among the Vallicellian manuscripts, gives us some particulars of our Parish Priest which otherwise might be lost to us. It tells us that he was born of Catholic and noble parents, the Dempseys of Clanmalier, that he was then about 50 years of age, had been a priest for several years, having previously studied in the University of Paris. It was a difficult post to be named to in such difficult times. We can find no record of his consecration or by whom it was performed. Everything had to be conducted with the utmost secrecy, and hence the uncertainty that prevails as to the exact year in which he finally resigned the Parish. In Part X. we quoted an extract from the Government List of 1697, showing how perplexed the authorities were to describe Dr. Dempsey’s precise title, whether P.P. St. Michan’s, or Bishop of Kildare. Our own opinion is that he was both at the same time, for he continued to live in Church Street with his noble relative, the Viscountess Clanmalier. He was certainly Vicar-General of Dublin up to 1699, and only then appears to be registered as P.P., Kilraney near Castlecarberry in the Diocese of Kildare. The year of his death is also uncertain. His successor was not appointed until 1713, but in the Brief of appointment it is stated that the Diocese had been vacant for several years previous. Probably his death may be assigned to 1702. During his administration, and while James II. was King, the Augustinians ventured on a residence and chapel on Arran Quay, but having to fly after 1690, the Chapel was demolished and the materials sold. Similarly the Jesuits opened a Residence, Chapel, and Secondary School in Lucy Lane, now for many years past widened out into Chancery Place. They too had to get out after 1690. Lastly, the Benedictine Nuns in Channel Row returned to Ypres, and their chapel served as a chapel of ease for some years to St. Michan’s.

V. Rev. Cornelius (Canon) Nary, D.D., P.P., V.G. 1700-1738.

In Dr. Nary we meet a very remarkable man, one of the most distinguished of his time, and for 38 years Pastor of St. Michan’s. He was a native of the Parish of Tipper, Co. Kildare, Diocese of Dublin. When he took up the duties of Pastor the condition of the Catholics of Ireland was at its very worst. There was scarcely a Bishop in the country, and many of the clergy were in prison. We hear, therefore, very little of him during the first 20 years of the century. Under the Act for registering the popish clergy in 1704, he figures as Parish Priest of St Michan’s, Oxmantown, 46 years of age, and living in Church Street. He was ordained at Kilkenny in 1682 by Dr James O’Phelan, Bishop of Ossory and had for sureties Nicholas Lincoln, merchant Capel Street, and John Butler, Ormond Quay, in £50 each. In the year following his ordination he went to Paris for the purpose of completing his studies, and there became Provisor of the Irish College. In 1694 he took the degree of Doctor in the University of Paris, and about two years later, upon his going to London, was appointed tutor to the young Catholic Earl of Antrim. In 1700 he returned to Dublin and was placed over the Parish of St. Michan. We prefer giving 1700 as the date of Dr. Nary commencing Parish Priest, to 1702 given in the “Irish Builder” articles, for this reason that in a document dated early in 1729, he is stated to have been already 28 years Parish Priest.

It was within the first decade of Dr. Nary’s administration that the historic event of the subdivision of the Parish took place. For centuries, as we have seen, but one Parish existed on the northern bank of the Liffey, comprising all that there was of north Dublin but the marvellous expansion of the City, both north and south, which commenced about 1670, went steadily on year by year and nowhere more rapidly or to a greater extent than in the Parish of St. Michan. Hence first in 1697 by the civil authorities, and then by the Catholic Archbishop in 1707, the Parish was divided into three, that on the west being dedicated to St. Paul, and that on the east to St Mary.

Dr. Nary was a man of many parts and not the least of his distinctions was his great literary activity. The seclusion which the ferocious Acts of Anne made incumbent on the Catholic clergy gave leisure to those who felt inclined to devote themselves to literary pursuits; and the dusty recesses of Marsh’s Library, where Dr. Nary mostly conducted his labours, were familiar with his appearance during these years of penal madness. The “Irish Builder” already referred to, gives a pretty exhaustive list of his published works, amongst the most remarkable being “A new History of the World. Dublin, 1720,” and the “New Testament translated into English from the Latin, with marginal notes. London, 1705-1718, 8vo.” This latter work cost him 10 years hard labour. In 1722 he was admitted into the Chapter as Prebendary of Maynooth, and a short time before that appointed Confessor to the Poor Clares who had come from Galway and fixed their first abode in Fisher’s Lane. These were soon followed by the Dominicans, who found a temporary residence in the same historic lane. [Why, oh why, was the name of this old lane ever changed into St. Michan’s Street?] The vacancy created in the See by the death of Archbishop Byrne in 1723-24, revealed Dr. Nary in his character of Doctor of Laws, and not with the happiest results. The Chapter met in due course to elect their Vicar sede vacante. The result of the first scrutiny was not final, as the highest on the list had not the two-thirds of the votes present required by Canon Law. The Chancellor, Joseph Walsh, to prevent their having to come together too often and thus arouse suspicion, proposed a compromise, to wit, that they should proceed to a second scrutiny, and whosoever should come out with an absolute majority should be acknowledged by all as Vicar Capitular. This was unanimously agreed to with the result that Dean Russell was elected. Two months later, the Bishop of Ferns, Dr. Verdon, suddenly came to Dublin and as Senior Suffragan, hastily summoning some few members of the Chapter announced that their proceedings were uncanonical, and that it devolved on him to nominate the Vicar Capitular whereupon, he nominated the same Dean Russell, but explained that obedience would be due to him not because elected by them, but because of his nomination. Several of the Canons protested against this invasion of their Capitular rights, and an unhappy division was created which dragged on for many years. The peculiar feature in this transaction was that D. Verdon did not interfere motu proprio as was as first thought, but at the instigation of Dr. Nary, who wrote remonstrating on the subject, and adducing many legal reasons and authorities in support of his view. A second reason urged by Dr. Nary was that the elected of the Canons was not a Doctor, as required by the Council of Trent. This gave his opponents an excuse for imagining a motive in his action, because he, though a Doctor, was not included in the postulation forwarded to the Holy See. Other reasons existed for the disunion in the Chapter with which Dr. Nary was more or less identified. The Bishop had asked Rome’s approval of Nary’s New Testament, but unfavourable rumours had reached the authorihes there, wherefore they postponed approval for two years, pending the Quesnellian discussion.

In June, 1723, the Internunzio writes to Rome, intimating the suppression of the Montpellier Catechism, even Lloyd’s translation. Dean Russell acquiesced, although the Catechism was much used in Dublin. Many attribute dissensions in Chapter to it, and the Internunzio concludes that it will be necessary to appoint an Archbishop as soon as possible. Soon after, Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Kildare, was transferred to Dublin, and that put an end to the discussions for the moment. He was very old and feeble, and by 1728 had asked for coadjutor the Chancellor, Joseph Walsh, one of Dr. Nary’s most active opponents. The memorial was signed by the Archbishop, the Bishop of Kildare, Archdeacon Doyle, and another member of the Chapter, and is dated “e loco nostri refugii, 25 Nov., 1728.” This was a move unfavourable to Dr. Nary, as he was generally reputed to be a candidate for the mitre; but he managed to score a triumph in another direction. Dean Russell had died early in that year, and thus left the first dignity vacant. The majority of the Chapter who followed the Chancellor and Archdeacon Doyle postulated for the latter to be Dean, but by whatever influence it was effected, in August, 1728, Denis Byrne one of Dr Nary s curates was appointed Dean by the Holy See. Little more than two month after these transactions the Archbishop died, and the Chapter had to meet to elect a Vicar Capitular, and choose a terno for the vacant mitre. This meeting seems to have accentuated the disunion already existing, for the result was that a section of the Chapter numbering 14, backed by a formidable army of P.P.’s not members of the Chapter, elected the Chancellor, Fr. Joseph Walsh, P.P., Lusk, to be their Vicar Capitular, whilst the smaller section, including the Dean, chose Dr. Nary. How this difficulty was met we are unable to say. The same two bodies sent forward separate postulations to the Holy See. Father Walsh was the favourite with one side, and Dr. Nary with the other. The result was that an outsider, Dr. Fagan, Bishop of Meath, was transferred to Dublin.

Yet another breeze ruffled the Chapter at the next vacancy, on Dr. Fagan’s death in 1733. The latter had appointed Dr. Nary his Vicar General, but at the Chapter meeting Father John Linegar came to the top of the poll for the Vicar Capitularship, with Dr. Nary a good second. The latter raised the old difficulty about the elected not having a University degree, as prescribed by the Council of Trent. The matter was referred to the Internunzio at Brussels, who, pending the reply from Rome, advised the rule of Trent to be adhered to, and Dr. Nary to act as Vicar Capitular. Very soon after Dr. Linegar was appointed Archbishop, and with that event the Capitular troubles apparently came to an end. It will be now interesting to revert to parish matters.

The Report of the Lords’ Committee appointed in 1730 to study the increase of Popery furnishes the following facts:-

“There are three Publick Mass-Houses in the said parish; one in Mary’s Lane, another in Arran Key, both built, as we are informed, before the first of George the First (1714). Another in Church Street, fitted up into a Mass-House since the first of George the First.”

The Report continues:-

“As to the number of priests who officiate in each or any of them, we have endeavoured to get information but can get none.”

A scholar himself, Dr. Nary was determined, however difficult the times, that his people should not suffer from want of education, at least of such education as was then available. In the Return of Popish Schools St. Michan’s makes a goodly show. “As for schools, we have endeavoured to get a knowledge of them and are informed that there are the following schools.” He then enumerates two Latin schools and ten English schools.

Dr. Nary also instituted public lectures or conferences, to which Protestants had access, with the result of many conversions. Of these the Lords’ Committee also took cognisance, and report “nine at the King’s Head on the Inns; one at the Black Lyon, in Pin Lane; one at Mr. Cannon’s, on Ormond Quay.”

Dr. Nary died on the 3rd March, 1737-8, and Pue’s * Occurrences *of the following day thus records his death:-

“Last night died Dr. Nary, at his lodgings in Bull Lane, in the 79th year of his age.” Almost the earliest parochial registers are to be found in St. Michan’s. They date back to 1726. The first volume was printed in full in the *Irish Builder *of 1892. His will, executed on the day of his death, directs that he “be interred in the churchyard of Tipper, Co. Kildare, at the foot of an ash tree, south side of the churchyard, and where my father and mother were buried,” as also, “that nothing costly be laid out on my funeral, but to have a plain coffin put into a hackney coach to carry my corpse to the grave; and whereas most of my worldly substance consists of my library and furniture of my room, clothes, and a few pieces of church plate and other plate, I will, and my will is, that my executors hereafter named do sell all the premises to answer the legacies hereinafter mentioned. I bequeath to Mr. Willes £5, and £5 to him that shall be my servant at my decease. I devise £30 to be equally divided between my brother Walter, the children of my brother Denis, of my sister Mary, my sister Joan, my sister Ann, share and share alike. And I do constitute Mr. Denis Byrne sole executor and residuary legatee.” Proved 7th March, 1737-8. We had inquiries made in Tipper Churchyard to see if any stone marks Dr. Nary’s resting place, but our efforts went unrewarded. To Dr. Nary succeeded the Dean.

Very Rev. Denis (Dean) Byrne, P.P., V.G., 1738-1744.

He appears to have commenced his missionary career in St. Michan’s, and remained there all his time. In 1722 he entered the Chapter as Prebendary of Kilmactalway and in the Chapter troubles which ensued he invariably sided with his P.P., Dr. Nary, by whom he was much esteemed.

In August, 1728, while still a working curate, he was appointed Dean of the Chapter. In this capacity he inaugurated and carefully kept a Register of all the appointments and changes in the Chapter which occurred during his time. From Archbishop Russell’s Decree of precedence in 1688, no list of the Canons existed until Dean Byrne’s in 1729, except a rough list made up much later in the century by Dr. Carpenter from loose memoranda since lost. Of his parochial administration which only lasted six years we have nothing to record. He seems to have died in the autumn of 1741, for his will was admitted to Probate on the 16th October of that year. He desires to be interred in the churchyard of St. James, his family burial place, and after bequeathing to several relatives sums varying from £10 to one shilling, “because they are poor objects,” he appoints Dr. Fitzsimons and Fr. George Byrne Exors., directing them to give “2 crowns to each priest of the Chapel, and 2 crowns to each Chapel in town to say Mass for me. To Mr. Thady Byrne one guinea and all my sermons; to Dr. Fitzsimons the Crucifix and all my vestments, I mean what belong to me, together with the Ciborium and all the rest left to me by Dr. Nary. The Candlesticks left to Dr. Nary and by him to me, for the same use and intent together with the house in Capel Street for the same use and purpose left to me to my Executor.”

V. Rev. Patrick (Dean) Fitzsimons, V.G., P.P., 1744-1763

He had been P.P. of St. Paul’s since 1729, and Vicar General to Archbishop Linegar since the commencement of his Episcopacy in 1734. He succeeded Dr. Byrne not only in the Parish, but also in the Deanery. Of parochial incidents during his twenty years occupation of the Parish, there are none to record, if we except the death of a very valuable Curate who for many years was the right hand man of Dean Byrne, that is the Rev. Miles Reilly. The latter left by will a small legacy of one shilling each to several relatives, and the residue to Dr. Fitzsimons. In Roman documents principally we catch glimpses of Dr. Fitzsimons in his capacity of Vicar-General. At the time of his translation to the Parish, Archbishop Linegar was in his 74th year, and was giving evidence of great feebleness and infirmity, so much so that a portion of the Chapter in 1742, postulated for a Coadjutor. The Archbishop concurred, and repeatedly asked that Dr. Fitzsimons might be appointed. Cardinal Corsini, Protector of Ireland, had, however, conceived some prejudice against our P.P., possibly on account of his too great intimacy with the Spanish authorities, and in a Propaganda note dated August 29th, 1744, we read that Cardinal Corsini being influenced by a rumour which reached him that this Sacred Congregation had little reason to be satisfied with the attitude of Sig. Fitzsimons V. G., Dublin had warned His Britannic Majesty (James III) against nominating him for any Bishopric or Co-adjutorship. On the 5th Dec., 1744, the Cardinal thanks the Nunzio in Brussels for papers forwarded in *re *Fitzsimons, V.G., and recommends further diligence and that “he find out before Congregation of 7th April, if there be other against him, especially if he aspire to Co-adjutorship.” We are unable to guess the nature of these State secrets, but later on, whatever they were, they were found groundless and had no effect as the event proved. About this time, Government was about to introduce a Bill to alleviate somewhat the grievances under which Catholics laboured. For this purpose a certain Nobleman signified his wish to confer with the V.Gs. Dr. Fitzsimons and Dr. Lincoln. In this Conference he hinted that Parliament was intending to confer some favours and immunities on Catholics, but on condition of their taking an Oath to be drawn up by Parliament. Being asked what Oath they would subscribe to, the Vicars replied, that no Test Oath that did not violate their conscience or religious principles would be refused by Catholics but they had no authority to draw up a form of Oath in the name of others, and asked that they might consult their brethren. The Vicars related the substance of the Conference to Seculars and Regulars alike, and wrote to the Bishops as to what should be done. But without waiting for their reply, out came a copy of the intended Bill which proved equally formidable to Seculars and Regulars. The latter at once blamed the Vicars, and especially Dr. Lincoln, but Rome, when referred to, exculpated them. By the year 1754, the age and infirmities of the Archbishop had almost rendered him incapable. He allowed himself to be influenced and ruled by an intermeddling layman to such an extent, that both Vicars-General thought it due to their own characters to resign their office. Their successor was Fr. Archbold P. P. of Irishtown who was nearly as old as the Archbishop and like him under the influence of the same layman. This state of things at once aroused the attention of the Primate and the other Bishops, and eventually led to the appointment of Dr. Lincoln *cum jure successionis *in 1755. The Archbishop died in 1763, when Dr. Lincoln succeeded and appointed Drs. Fitzsimons and Richard Campbell his Vicars -General. The reign of the Archbishop was rather short and stormy. The confusion created by the indiscreet action of some among the Regulars became so intolerable that the Ordinary felt it necessary to recall all Faculties from Seculars and Regulars alike, and only re-issued them *ad annum *after examination. “All,” he writes, “submitted except a few Franciscans,” and as the Archbishop bore all the brunt of this storm himself, his Vicars were spared the unpleasantness that must have attended it. Dr. Lincoln died on the 18th June, 1763. The Chapter immediately assembled and elected Dr. Fitzsimons Vicar-Capitular and Dignissimus for the See. Three months later he was appointed by Brief Archbishop of Dublin. This of course vacated the Parish of St. Michan, and it received as Pastor

V. Rev. James (Dean) Dowdall, P.P., 1763-1774.

He had been Curate in St. Nicholas under Fr. Austin in 1733 and now succeeded Dr. Fitzsimons both in the Deanery and the Parish. According to a Government Return made in 1766 St. Michan’s had 3,051 Catholic families as against 1,157 Protestant. Dean Dowdall was of a good Fingal family and in possession of a considerable patrimony, as his Will discloses. The manuscript in the British Museum so often referred to describes Mary’s Lane Chapel as “a large but irregular piece of building. The altarpiece is a painting of the Annunciation, and on the Epistle side stands a large image of B.V. with Jesus in her arms, which statue before the dissolution belonged to Mary’s Abbey. There is another altar near the pulpit, over which is a large painting of a crucifix, and under it the picture of St. Francis Xavier.” Pity this latter should have been ever removed as it was a souvenir of the long services rendered by the Jesuits during the entire 18th century to this Chapel and Parish. They formed half of the Curates’ staff. Amongst them we find the names of Fathers Thos. Brennan, James Usher, Michael Cawood, Henry Nolan, John Fullam, Richard Callaghan, and James Philip Mulcaille. They accounted St. Michan’s as a local *residentia *in the furtive hunted manner in which they were compelled to live. Hence the devotion to St. Francis Xavier. In 1773 came the Decree of suppression but they continued their services as secular priests. The other curates whose names we can recover during the century are very few, amongst them Dr. Linegar, Dr. Denis Byrne, Frs. Miles Reilly, George Byrne, Joseph Dixon, Frs. Kelly, Carey, Browne, Byrne, Thompson.

Dean Dowdall died in 1774 and was succeeded in the Parish by -

V. Rev. Joseph (Canon) Dixon, P.P., 1774-1797.

He had been P.P. of St. James’s for the previous three years and was Prebendary of Tipperkevin. He was barely installed in his new Parish when he had to leave for Paris in order to protect one of his flock from being brought up a Protestant. Viscount Gormanstown, a Catholic, but married to a Protestant; died in Dec. 1786, and was succeeded by his son Jenico. He was a minor at his father’s death, and his Protestant mother sought to make him a ward in Chancery and have him educated and brought up a Protestant, but his other relatives had him removed to St. Michan’s Parish. Having got the order from the Court, Father Dixon fled with him to Paris and remained with him until he attained his majority. Whilst there in charge he was obliged to have a well armed companion, and being a good swordsman did a little himself with an elegant cane-sword given him by one of the Princes of he blood in France. On Fr. Dixon’s return to his Parish he had the happiness to learn that his Parish was well taken care of in his absence by Father Mulcaille and his assistant priests, Kelly, Corr, Farrell, and Browne. Fr. Mulcaille ever since his religious profession in 1763 was attached to St. Michan’s. He continued to minister there as a secular priest after the suppression. In 1792 Dr. Troy appointed him Vicar General and Archdeacon of Dublin. He died at his residence in George’s Hill next door to the Convent.

And now it behoves us to say a few words of the Presentation Convent. It was founded by Miss Teresa Mullally, who took a small house nearly opposite Mary’s Lane Chapel and taught such of the poor children as she could collect about her. She was joined by Miss Corballis and Miss Clinch. She then went to Cork to inspect the Presentation Convent just founded there by Miss Nano Nagle, and on her return with assistance generously furnished by Lords Fingall, Ffrench, Kenmare, Sir E. Bellew and others, she acquired the large piece of ground on which an old glass house stood, and finally in 1794 the Convent and Chapel were solemnly opened. Fr. Mulcaille was the first Chaplain and was buried in the vaults under the Chapel at his own request. A rapid succession of short Pastorates now occurs.

V. Rev. Nicholas (Canon) Wade P.P., 1798-1802.

On the resignation of Fr. Dixon, which he only survived one year, Fr. Wade was appointed his successor. He was a native of Lusk and on his death in 1802 he was buried in Lusk Churchyard with his ancestors of New Haggard and Tomminstown. To him succeeded

V. Rev. Thomas (Canon) Maguire, P.P., 1802-1804.

He reigned but for two years, dying in 1801, and was followed by

V. Rev. Patrick Michael (Canon) Byrne, P.P., 1804.

He was a very active Curate in St. Nicholas, Francis St., was reluctantly promoted to the Parish, and resigned within a fortnight.

V. Rev. Christopher (Dean) Wall, P.P., 1804-1826.

At length we come to a prolonged and fruitful administration. Canon Wall had been P.P. in Blanchardstown and subsequently in James’s St. He entered on his new sphere of duties with alacrity and determined to put St. Michan’s in the forefront of the Church-building movement which commencing then went on unflaggingly through the century and left Dublin City and suburbs at the end of it fully equipped with a complete array of splendid and useful Churches instead of the lowly and inconvenient little Chapels which had to suffice during the penal times. He called a Meeting at which resolutions were passed for the purpose of purchasing a piece of ground whereon to build a new parochial Church and Presbytery instead of the old and dilapidated chapel in Mary’s Lane. Three parochial delegates- C apt. Bryan, J. P. Doyle, and Bernard Coyle - were requested to act as parochial collectors. They were not long in collecting such a sum as enabled them to procure the only available piece of ground in the parish on which to erect the present fine Church in North Anne St. It lay on the Green of St. Mary’s Abbey, and in 1853 was purchased in the Incumbered Estates Court for the sum of £250 by Cardinal Cullen in trust for the parishioners in the names of Archdeacon John Hamilton, and Rev. Joseph Christopher McCann. Captain Bryan of Jenkinstown contributed £300, with £100 yearly until the Church would be completed, together with £100 for his son. The Committee in gratitude had his arms emblazoned in the porch at the entrance of the Church, where they still remain. The front is in Anne St., in Gothic style, of mountain granite. The whole building is after a design by Messrs. O’Brien and Gorman. On the opening of this Church in 1816, the old building in Mary’s Lane was converted into a school which served for some time.

On the death of Dean Hamill in 1823 die Chapter took the course of electing his successor and chose our Parish Priest. But when Rome heard of it, it remonstrated strongly as by Rule IV. of the Apostolic Chancery the right of nominating the Dean appertains exclusively to the Holy See. It declared the election null and void but in view of the special merits of Canon Wall it named him from itself Dean of the Chapter.

In 1826 he passed to his heavenly reward and was followed by

V. Rev. Edward (Canon) Armstrong. P.P., 1828.

He had been a Curate in Liffey St., and on Dr. Murray becoming Archbishop was appointed Administrator in Townsend St. His administration was of short duration, but two years. He was succeeded by

V. Rev. Patrick (Dean) Coleman, P.P., V.G., 1828-1838.

Transferred from St. Paul’s Parish, where he preceded Dr. Yore, he proved a very zealous and highly respected Parish Priest, and at his death the parishioners testified their appreciation of him by the Mural tablet they set up to his memory with a most eulogistic epitaph. To him succeeded

V. Rev. Patrick Doyle, P.P., 1838-1853.

He had been P.P. first of St. Audoen’s and then of Booterstown. He occupied during his Pastorate the house 59 Eccles St. and in his Will bequeathed it to Cardinal Cullen who lived in it during the remainder of his life. From him it passed to the P.P. of St Joseph’s and serves as the Curates’ residence. To Father Doyle succeeded

V. Rev. John (Archdeacon) Hamilton, P.P., 1853-1862.

He was for many years connected with the Pro-Cathedral where his history will be fully told. His first care in St Michan’s was to secure the tenure of the Church. The short lease under which it was held had expired, but an arrangement was made to purchase at the small cost of £250. This accomplished, he summoned a Meeting of the Parishioners for the 17th July, 1853. In the first resolution he appealed for subscriptions to clear off a debt of £450, which still hung over the Church, and then, for means to paint and repair it. In the concluding Resolution, a hint was given of an intention to provide for the *country parts *of the Parish (between the Circular Road and Glasnevin), an additional priest, Chapel and School, and those present were encouraged to increase their subscriptions proportionately. This was the first intimation of the coming of St. Joseph’s and of St. Columba’s.

In 1854 he took steps to provide a Christian Brothers’ School in St. Mary’s Place at a cost of £1,200, which the Brothers subsequently enlarged by adding another storey.

On Sep. 24, 1861, was opened to the suffering public that Palace of benevolence which is known to us as the Mater Misericordiae Hospital It originated with the Sisters of Mercy, who desirous of carrying out the known wishes of their founder, Miss Catherine McAuley devoted £10,000 of their Community funds to this purpose. Generous offerings from the citizens at large added to these commencements and enabled them to open the front wing this year. The archdeacon was too ill to take any part in this memorable function occurring though it did within his Parish The east wing was opened in 1872, and in 1886 the opening of the west wing completed the original plan. Its total cost was £68,000 and it can accommodate 311 patients. Last year it celebrated its Golden Jubilee when two of its original co-workers were present - the Superioress Mrs. Barry, and the solo survivor of the original medical staff Sir Francis Cruise. Both have since passed to a better life

The Archdeacon’s health was never very robust and towards the close of this decade he showed evident signs of failing, Eventually his sight got seriously impaired and the senior curate, Fr. MacMahon, was entrusted with the administration of the Parish. After a lingering illness he passed to his reward in May, 1862. His Curates on his appointment were Revs. F. Bell, J. Cogan, C. J. McCann, Jas. McMahon, Ed. O’Connell, and Danl. O’Brien. Frs. Cogan and O’Brien died before 1862, and were replaced by Fr. H. Beardwood and P. Kirwan, D.D. The latter soon after by Rev. James Roche.

V. Rev. James Archdeacon McMahon, P.P., 1862-1890.

A 30 years vigorous and fruitful Pastorate signalised the career of Canon McMahon, for he was made Prebendary of Rathmichael immediately on his appointment to the Parish. His first work was the building of the fine Presbytery in Halston St. which he handed over to the Curates, he himself preferring to remain on in the old unhealthy quarters built up against the east wall of the Church. For many years whilst Curate, he had charge of a small orphanage founded in 1797, and domiciled, first in Blessington St., then in Wellington St., when in 1869 it passed under the care of the Sisters of Charity, who moved it to Mountjoy St., where with a flourishing National School they administer the fine premises of St. Joseph’s Ophanage. Some time earlier (1850) the late Fr. Gaffney, S.J., opened a School in Lower Dorset St., on St. Michan’s side of it, known as St. Francis Xavier’s School, but much more popularly known as Fr. Gaffney’s school. It continues to flourish under the fostering care of Fr. Verdon, S.J.

The echo of the Resolution passed at Archdeacon Hamilton’s Meeting, concerning better spiritual provision for the *country parts *of the Parish, kept sounding in Canon McMahon’s ears. They were no longer *country parts *but were rapidly assuming civic importance by reason of the streets of houses arising on every side. Wherefore acquiring a plot of ground at the top of Eccles St. and fronting to Berkeley Road, in 1870 he set up a wooden Chapel thereon, and dedicated it to St. Joseph. In 1880 St. Joseph’s New Church was opened, and in 1882 the Canon was raised to the dignity of Archdeacon of Glendalough. He lived on to 1890, and then went the way of all flesh, freatly regretted by Parishioners and friends, the number of whom was legion.

The Curates from 1862 to 1890 were C. J. McCann (res. 1863) Frs. Bell and E. O’Connell (P.P.’s in 1864), H. Beardwood (ob. 1871), Jas. Roche (P.P. 1881), C. Horris (tr. 1869), G. Warren (res. 1868), J. McSwiggan (tr. 1868), J. Maxwell (tr. 1870), J. McVeigh (tr. 1875), M. Scally (tr. 1871), B. Sheridan (tr. 1879), Paul Kehoe (res. 1884), Dr. Doyle (tr. 1883), Dr. Keane (O.P. 1883), Ferd. Byrne (tr. 1882), Henry Dudley (tr. 1900), R. Staples, J. Ryan, P. Kavanagh, J. Brady, Jas. Murphy, J. Butterfield.

On the death of Archdeacon McMahon the parish was divided, St. Mary’s Place being made the line of division, but the eastern frontier of the Parish was advanced from E. Arran St. to Capel St. To this thus altered Parish of St. Michan was assigned as Pastor-

V. Rev. Robert (Canon) Conlon, P.P., 1890-1904.

He had graduated as Curate in Kingstown, Ballybrack, and the Pro-Cathedral, of which, in 1882, he became Administrator. He was favourably known as possessed of good critical taste in the matter of Church Architecture and Church Furniture, and he was not long in St. Michan’s before he gave proofs of it. He declined taking up his quarters in the old unhealthy Presbytery built up against the Church, and dwelt instead in the new Presbytery for which the diminished number of Curates left ample accommodation; he furthermore decreed to demolish it, the space thus gained to be added to the Church so as to increase its accommodation. In November, 1891, the Archbishop laid the foundation stone of the new addition, and at a Meeting held after the ceremony, over £1,000 were subscribed to the work. This addition gave 30 additional feet to the length of the Church. The Chancel window in the perpendicular style is 21 feet high by 13 wide and forms one of the most imposing Gothic windows in the City. The tower, turrets, and gables are crenellated and the entire work reflects great credit on the eminent architect Mr. G. Ashlin. In 1895 Fr. Conlan was admitted into the Chapter. In 1904 he thought well of resigning the Parish on an annual pension being arranged for. This pension he continued to enjoy together with a quiet chaplaincy in the S. Heart Convent, Leeson St., until April 2nd, 1911, when after a very brief illness, h died. The vacancy created in the Parish by his retirement in 1901 was filled by –

Rev. John Grimley, P.P., 1901.

He had served many years in the Parishes of Rathfarnham and Ballybrack.

The opening of the new City Markets a short time previously made great alterations in the neighbourhood. Whole streets of slums and rookeries were swept away; and the fever of demolition continued so long and so effectively, that now the entire area between Pill Lane (Chancery St.) and the Quay is so thoroughly eviscerated, that it forms the derelict region reproachfully known as Ormond Market. The Curates from 1890 to present date were P. Kavanagh (P.P. 1904); John Ryan (trans. 1906), H. Dudley (tr. 1900); M. Hogan (tr. 1907); P. O’Byrne; M. Ronan (tr. 1904); J. Ryan (tr. 1906); Joseph Hickey, Eug. McCarthy (tr. 1908); M. P. Kennedy who with P. O’Byrne and Joseph Hickey form the present staff of Assistants.

The peculiar topical formation of St. Michan’s Parish, a comparatively limited river frontage, and then a long narrow hinterland stretching away like the tail of a comet to Cody’s Lane on the banks of the Toika, practically dissevered the in dwellers of this *country * district from their fellow parishioners who lived in the city. One needed not to be a prophet to foretell a speedy dissolution of partnership, which eventually came off’ in 1890, on the death of Archdeacon MacMahon. During his life time no change was made, although to meet the demand caused by the ever increasing streets of new houses that were springing up he had set up a wooden chapel in 1870, which he replaced in 1880 by the fine granite edifice dedicated to St. Joseph which now fronts to Berkeley Road Road. The building of this Church absorbed all the Archdeacon’s thoughts and energies during the last 20 years of his life. Meetings had to be held, collections to be set on foot, and Bazaars to be organised, in order to provide the necessary funds for its erection. The work went on according as the latter flowed in, and eventually in 1880, in the mouth of September, the Church was blessed and opened. Its total cost we have been unable to ascertain, but there still remains on it a debt of £3,000. Whilst the wooden Chapel did service the following curates from Anne St. served it, Revs. J. Maxwell (tr. 1873); Hugh MacManus, D.D. (tr. 1874); Fran. Ryan (tr. 1879); Sylvester Bourke (tr. 1877); John Byrne (commenced), Peter O’Connor. After the opening of the new Church a third priest was found necessary, so that in 1881, the staff was Revs. P. O’Connor, J. Byrne, and Chas. Ridgeway. Fr. O’Connor died in 1882, and Fr. Ridgeway in same year was transferred to Marlborough St. They were replaced by Frs. Patk. Ryan and Ferdinand Byrne. The latter was transferred in 1883 and was followed by Dr. Butler who in 1892 had Rev. Jos. O’Callaghan for a successor. On the division of the Parish in 1890 the first Pastor of the new Parish was

V. Rev. Francis J. (Canon) Ryan, P.P., 1890-1901.

From this same district he had been transferred to Kingstown in 1879, and was now heartily welcomed by the people of St. Joseph’s who had known him so favourably during his curacy with them. The three Assistants already named remained until 1902, when Fr. Byrne being placed over the Drumcondra district, Fr. Brennan replaced him, and in 1906 Fr. P. Ryan, compelled to resign on account of failing health, after 23 years’ work in the parish, was succeeded by Fr. J. Dempsey, M.A.

In 1895 were opened the fine Schools facing Dorset St., and in 1898 the P.P. was promoted to a stall in the Chapter. Never a tower of strength, Canon Ryan was destined for a short pastorate, and on the 29th April, 1901, he passed to his great reward. The vacancy was filled by the promotion of

V. Rev. Daniel (Canon) Downing, P.P., 1901.

For many years previous he had been Curate and eventually Administrator in the Pro-Cathedral, where he left behind him many monuments of his zeal. He has beautified St. Joseph’s by adding shrines decorated in fine mosaic, and to him may be credited the establishment and direction of the Night Schools in Dorset St. The latest accession to the parochial advantages is the construction of a foot bridge over a disused arm of the Canal, which brings the Church within easy reach of a great number of parishioners who previously had been much inconvenienced.

St. Columba’s Parish, Drumcondra.

Rev. John Byrne, P.P. 1903-1912.

Not many years had elapsed - just 12 - since the division of St. Michan’s in 1890, when it was found necessary to sub-divide St. Joseph’s. The parallelogram which extends from the N. bank of the Royal Canal between Dorset St. and Cross Guns Bridges, with Glasnevin and Drumcondra roads as N. and S. boundaries, had long been known as the Bishop’s fields - the Bishop in question being Dr. Lindsay, Protestant Bishop of Kildare. With the exception of a few old-fashioned houses on Drumcondra Road, a small group echeloned along the Canal front, and a few of more modest pretensions in Cody’s Lane, there were no residences. The core of this parallelogram was fields and nothing but fields. In the summer of 1802 the first inroad was made on this truly rural tract, by the laying, amidst much pomp and circumstance, of the foundation stone of the projected Catholic University. But the project advanced no further, and the property secured for the purpose was passed on to the Redemptoristine Nuns, who in 1870 moved from Drumcondra Road where they had lived obscurely since 1859, to the beautiful new Convent and Chapel of St. Alphonsus which they had erected on this site. The short road leading to it was appropriately called St. Alphonsus Road. But *paulo majora canamus. *Drumcondra became a Township - subsequently to be absorbed into the City - and filled with the consciousness of their new importance its Commissioners ventured on extensive building schemes. Glasnevin Road, a melancholy lane between two mud banks, was suddenly transformed into a suburban highway, with handsome houses on either side stretching down to the Botanic Gardens, for which reason it received the new name of Botanic Road. Cody’s Lane, bursting with envy, as quickly blossomed out into new and tidy dwellings and in recompense received the more fragrant appellation of Botanic Avenue. Similarly Hollybank Road and St. Alphonsus Road were built on as far as they were allowed to go.

All these accretions meant population, and the Church accommodation was limited to a small wooden Chapel set up a few years previous by Canon Keon for the use of the Glasnevin villagers. It contained only 130 people, the rest, forming the great majority, being compelled to hear Mass under umbrellas in the rain. Wherefore the Archbishop sent for Canon Downing and informed him that with his consent he was about to relieve him of some of his responsibility, and cutting off Drumcondra, erect it into a new Parish. The Canon gladly consented and then writing to Father John Byrne, for 26 years Curate in St. Joseph’s, His Grace informed him that he was about to transfer him to a new sphere of duties. He now (March 3, 1902) appointed him Administrator of this Drumcondra district, and at the same time Senior Curate of the Parish of Fairview. This latter appointment gave him the use of the wooden Chapel which he at once proceeded to enlarge at a cost of £640, the funds being generously provided by the Archbishop. He at once began to look out for a site for the new Church. Disappointed twice, he at length applied to the Redemptoristines, who handsomely agreed to give him two acres of their land at the same rate as they were paying the landlord - £200 an acre. No time was lost in getting plans, of which two were furnished, one Gothic, the other Romanesque. The latter was accepted, Mr. Coleman being the Architect. Mr. Connolly’s tender for the building was accepted as the lowest of five - £13,500. At a meeting held in the wooden Chapel on Oct. 12, 1902, £5,234 was subscribed, the Archbishop giving £1,000 and promising a second thousand. The foundation stone was laid on August 7, 1903, just three days after Pius X. had been chosen Pope, and St. Columba’s was the first building in Christendom to have the new Pope’s name included in its corner stone. Two short years sufficed to bring the work to a finish, and on Oct. 15, 1905, it was blessed and opened for Divine worship under the dedication of St. Columba, who here passed some portion of his saintly life with St. Moby of Glasnevin. It has turned out one of the most spacious, imposing, and beautiful Churches, that we have to show in and around Dublin. All was not done yet. There was no road up to the Church, and the landlord would only grant building leases. So with the builder between as a buffer, a purchase of nine acres was effected on condition of building six houses value each for £500. This was done, and the houses were built and sold, the road was opened up and consecrated throughout its entire length to St. Columba as Iona Road. Not a vacant spot on that long road now remains to be let for building. So that in Fr. Byrne’s history we have to chronicle an unprecedented feat, of not only organising a new parish but of creating it as well and the raising of a splendid church of which riot only the parishioners but the whole Diocese may well feel proud, and all accomplished within nine years. Of course the cost was heavy-£13,500 the original contract; £3,000 for the road, and then the fitting, and furnishings and benching, etc., ran it up to well over £20,000, of which no one will be surprised to hear, £14,000 still remain due. But the heaviest part of the cost was the precious and valuable life of the Pastor. Since shortly after the opening his health began to show signs of weakness, and the continuous anxiety of the work must have told on an exceptionally weak heart. so that towards the end of February, 1912, all Dublin was shocked to hear of his death. Great was the grief everywhere manifested and his funeral resembled a public funeral.

The Ven. Archdeacon Gorman, P.P., 1912.

For eight years Parish Priest of Bray, the Archdeacon was asked to transfer himself to this new Parish where we wish mm *ad Multos annos. *His assistants are Revs. P. J. McGrath, B.A., Fras. Quinn, B.D., B.A., and Thos. Graham, B.A. We omitted to mention in its proper place that St. Columba’s received an accession of territory in having annexed to it all that portion of St. Paul’s from the Canal towards Finglas, except Prospect Cemetery, the chaplaincy of which remains an appanage of St. Paul’s. On the other hand it has lost the north side of Botanic Avenue, which with the wooden Chapel goes to the still newer Parish of Glasnevin and Ballymun.

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