Magonnell, bishop of Raphoe, is a witness to the treaty made in 1565, between the Deputy and Calvart O'Donnell, of Connalia, in which the latter agrees, among other things, that the Queen shall have the nomination of all bishops and other ecclesiastics in Connalia ;* that Patrick M'Mahon, bishop of Ardagh, can scarcely have been a supporter of the papal supremacy, as the Pope issued a bull against him in 1568, for non-residence and for leaving his cathedral in ruins.† Unless, therefore, we are to imagine that all these instances of the exercise of her ecclesiastical jurisdiction by Elizabeth in Ireland were a dumb show, a romance, or a political fiction,-that the Deputies and Council in Ireland were so supine, negligent or ignorant, as never to complain, and never to betray the emptiness and vanity of the Queen's commands as well as the impossibility of complying with * Morrin, I. 496. † Hamilton, I. 362. I am unwilling to encumber these pages with a multitude of small details, but I find that Queen Elizabeth within the first ten years of her reign made the following ecclesiastical appointments beyond the English Pale, in addition to those already mentioned. In the diocese of Armagh, to Rathdrumin and Dromysken (402). In Tuam William Lealy, Dean of Tuam, to Gransear; John Brangan to Kilmyckrian (402); Hil. O'Dounlay to Donmore (474). In Cashel, Nicholas Archdeacon, to the treasurership of the Cathedral, and to the livings of Keighmockmocke and Galvoly (481); John Archdeacon, to the chancellorship of the same (479); John Wale to Killenale (478); John Bighton to Croghane (467). In Cork, confirmation of John Miagh as proctor, &c. of the cathedral of St. Finbar (466); Andrew Skeddy to the chapel of St. John's (518); Thos. Gerrod to St. Miloch, Kynsale (402) In Cloyne, Wm. Flynne to the deanery (440); Wm. Kevan to the Holy Trinity, Ballyloghlany (442); Maur. Orodecan to Hatlin (508). In Emly, Thos. Mulryan to be chancellor (478); Dermot O'Mulryan to be archdeacon (441); Const. Aylward to the prebend of Downe (478); John Hogan and Thos. Hanyn to vicarages (ibid.). In Ardagh, Wm. Brady to the deanery (481). In Clonfert, Dion. More to Kylronane (402). In Clonmacnois, Pat. Morgan to the vicarage of Thesam (432). In Waterford, Malachy Barry to Loynan (478). The figures represent the pages in Morrin's Calendar. them, we must admit that from the first year of her reign, and all through to the close of it, the Queen exercised her jurisdiction far beyond the limits of the English Pale. If that jurisdiction was sometimes evaded-if there were pretenders to sees, who claimed the name, though they possessed not either the revenues or the cathedrals belonging to their sees-that is no more than what happened in England. There were, of course, other bishops in Ireland, of whom no distinct notice is recorded in the State Papers of the period. Whether they conformed or not must be left to conjecture only. If they did not, it is hardly probable that they would have been permitted to continue in their sees. For though the reign of Elizabeth was not exempt from troubles, and Ireland was a continual thorn in her side, it must be remembered that those troubles were chiefly confined for many years to the northern province. In 1563 so much progress had been made in reducing this unhappy country to order, that the Queen could direct her Commissioners in Ireland, that, seeing the whole realm was in quietness,* and she had been often moved to establish councils with good presidents and assistants in sundry parts, they should confer with the Lieutenant and the Council on this subject. "And herein might be remem"bered what number of houses of religion, having sundry possessions and remaining unserviceable, and occupied by disobedient subjects, and light persons, going and coming from Rome with bulls and writings for the same; which houses, being with their lands brought to our possession, might serve for some good part for the This is no official exaggeration, as some might imagine. Even in Ulster, the terra incognita as it has been called of Ireland, we learn from a letter of Terence Danyell, the Dean of Armagh, O'Neill's relative, that the whole of the North was quiet, and all kinds of husbandry and the sowing of wheat were then carefully followed. March 25, 1564.-I. S. P. yearly sustentation of officers and ministers of justice. If it be thought that the Queen would have remained satisfied with a general acquiescence in her authority, I must call attention to the very precise orders issued by her to the Lord Deputy in 1562, in which she directs him to see that all the nobility and others do their homage in the forthcoming parliament. Upon repeating this command in 1563, you are to inquire, she says, “in what "sort our laws are there observed for the orders of religion, "and what disorders you find therein, and by what causes "the same do arise, and to note well who be of our "nobility and Council therein conformable, and who "not."+ Nor must it be forgotten that there were other inducements in Ireland, as well as here, which tended to make the great Irish chiefs, and the bishops who were under their control, more subservient than otherwise they might have been; these were, leases and gifts of the abbey lands still remaining in the Crown. Many of them had been granted by the Sovereign as rewards for obedience or good service, and the possessors of them, whatever might be their religion, had no thought of parting with their monastic property, any more than the sturdiest protestant. These possessions had been originally conferred on the Crown by Act of Parliament; many still remained concealed; many had been usurped, and a just title to them depended on the grace of the Sovereign. In *Carew, I. 358. † Ibid., 329. Ibid., 359. See also the commission issued in 1564 to the Archbishop of Armagh, the Earl of Kildare, and others, to inquire into all disorders connected with divine service, to redress and reform all ecclesiastical errors, offences, and heresies, to remove all intruders into benefices, &c. Morrin, I. 489. 1559 the Earl of Clanricard petitions for the fee-farm of the nunnery of Killcienaught in his own country, and is gratified in his request by Queen Elizabeth.* Viscount Montgarret, James Butler, brother of the Earl of Ormond, the Earl of Desmond, the Baron of Dunboyne, prefer similar suits with similar results. The Patent Rolls of Ireland, as published by Mr. Morrin, reveal numerous instances of concessions made by the Crown, absolutely or at a small rent, of conventual lands and buildings, to trustworthy and obedient subjects, both within and without the Pale. It is not to be denied that a large majority of the population in all parts of Ireland still adhered to the old religion; and that emissaries from Rome were employed to oppose the progress of those religious reforms which Elizabeth desired to introduce. But these efforts were neither systematic nor generally successful. Even if Irishmen, actuated by ambition or by better motives, were willing to undertake the duties and responsibilities of the episcopate, with all its perils, there were many grave objections, in the papal court, which stood in the way of their advancement. A Roman Catholic bishop must be trained to his office. He has to administer the laws and be guided by the traditions of a Church which denies the right of private judgment, and demands from its priesthood something more than a knowledge of the Scriptures, or a service in the vulgar tongue. He must have a professional education, which could not at that time be obtained in Ireland. If the hierarchy was to be respected and obeyedfor even then it was exposed to jealousy and disrespect --it would not do to add ignorance to its poverty. There might be candidates enough; whether they were eligible candidates was another question. But why should the papal court appoint Roman Catholic prelates to every vacant see in Ireland? What was to be gained by such a proceeding? The preservation of the apostolical succession in every see? By the magnificent theory of ultramontanism, the Pope is in himself the fountain of all spiritual dignity, the bishop of bishops, the ever present representative of all episcopal succession, which can never lapse or disappear, even when bishop, diocese, and congregation may have been swept away or trampled into indistinguishable dust by infidels and heretics. Was it to preserve the Irish Catholic in obedience to the Holy See? That was unnecessary; bishops had never been popular or influential in Ireland. The religious education of the people, such as it was, had been carried on by the religious orders, more devoted to Rome than the bishops themselves; more manageable and submissive than bishops; more acceptable to the people; supported at less cost. So, with occasional exceptions, with just so many bishops as were absolutely indispensable for ecclesiastical discipline, the Roman Court fell back upon a more modest system of ecclesiastical government, both in England and in Ireland, biding its time, as it always has done, until more favourable opportunities occurred. An occasional visit from the nuncio, a bishop here and there, as often non-resident as resident, an arch priest, and a vicar general in this or that diocese, were more effectual instruments for preserving and propagating the ancient faith, than a full blown ecclesiastical hierarchy, whose cathedrals were occupied by the nominees of Queen Elizabeth, and against whose persons the shafts of authority fell with an effect which priests of humbler rank and pretensions easily escaped. The ill success attending these efforts whenever they were made must have convinced the Pope of their in |