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Joseph MacRory

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Joseph MacRory
Cardinal, Archbishop of Armagh
Primate of All Ireland
SeeArmagh
Installed1928
Term ended1945
PredecessorPatrick O'Donnell
SuccessorJohn D'Alton
Other post(s)Bishop of Down and Connor 1915–1928
Orders
Ordination13 September 1885 (Priest)
Consecration14 November 1915 (Bishop)
Created cardinal16 December 1929
RankCardinal priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina
Personal details
Born19 March 1861
Died13 October 1945(1945-10-13) (aged 84)
Armagh, Northern Ireland
BuriedSt Patrick's Cathedral Cemetery, Armagh
DenominationRoman Catholic Church
ParentsFrancis MacRory and Rose Montague

Joseph MacRory (Irish: Seosamh Mac Ruairí; 19 March 1861 – 13 October 1945) was an Irish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Armagh from 1928 until his death. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1929.[1]

Biography

Joseph MacRory was born in Ballygawley, County Tyrone, as one of the ten children of Francis MacRory, a farmer, and his wife, Rose (née Montague) MacRory. He studied at St. Patrick's College, Armagh and at Maynooth. He was ordained to the priesthood on 13 September 1885 and served as the first president of St. Patrick's Academy, Dungannon from 1886-87.

MacRory taught Scripture and Modern Theology at St Mary's College, Oscott in England until 1889, when he was appointed Professor of Scripture and Oriental Languages at his alma mater of Maynooth College. In 1906, he co-founded the Irish Theological Quarterly.[citation needed]

In 1912 he was made Vice-President of Maynooth. MacRory was appointed Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Benedict XV on 9 August 1915, and received his episcopal consecration on 14 November from Cardinal Michael Logue. He chose as his episcopal motto Fortis in Fide ("Strong in Faith"). From 1917-18 he was a member of the Irish Convention.[citation needed]

On 22 June 1928, MacRory was promoted to Archbishop of Armagh and thus Primate of All Ireland, in succession to Patrick O'Donnell, and in the consistory of 16 December 1929, Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina. MacRory was the papal legate at the 1933 laying of the foundation stone of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, in England, and one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII.

MacRory was a strenuous opponent of Protestantism[2] and the Partition of Ireland.[2] In late 1931, MacRory made the following statement:

"The Protestant Church in Ireland – and the same is true of the Protestant Church anywhere – is not only not the rightful representative of the early Irish Church, but it is not even a part of the Church of Christ. That is my proposition."[3][4]

Wartime

It was MacRory who suggested to Eoin O'Duffy that he raise an Irish Brigade to aid the Generalissimo Franco's Nationalists, who were seeking to overthrow the democratically elected Spanish government during that country's civil war. Many of the Brigade's members were blessed by the Archbishop of Tuam before sailing to Spain from Galway.[5][6] In 1940, during World War II, he voiced strong objections to proposals for conscription in Northern Ireland, which, in the event, did not come to pass. See Conscription in the United Kingdom.

Miscellanea

MacRory was a supporter of the Gaelic League, and Errigal Ciaran, one of the most famous GAA clubs in Ireland, play at Cardinal MacRory Park, Dunmoyle, which was built in his honour in 1956, the year the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign began, and a quarter century after the prelate's most notably publicised anti-Protestant comments.

The People's Primate

Biographer J.J. Murphy published, in 1945, a 71-page biography of the prelate, The People's Primate. A Memoir of Joseph Cardinal MacRory, (Dublin, 1945).

Death

After a brief illness, Cardinal MacRory died at the age of 84 from a heart attack at Ara Coeli, the residence in Armagh. He was interred in St Patrick's Cathedral Cemetery, Armagh.

References

  1. ^ Miranda, Salvador. "Joseph MacRory". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  2. ^ a b "St. Patrick's Successor", time.com, 12 October 1942.(subscription required)
  3. ^ Richard Doherty, The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC, Pen & Sword Books; ISBN 1-84415-058-5, pg. 27
  4. ^ Megahey, A. (17 August 2000). "The Irish Protestant Churches in the Twentieth Century". Springer. Retrieved 1 August 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Gerard Madden (31 May 2016). "Defending the Faith". Jacobin. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  6. ^ Cunningham, Niall (2 March 2001). "General Eoin O'Duffy: Ireland's Answer to Mussolini". The Irish Post. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Down and Connor
1915–1928
Succeeded by
Preceded by Archbishop of Armagh
Primate of All Ireland

1928–1945
Succeeded by