18
First, towards the South-west, supposed to lead to the Dominican Priory, on the site of which stands the present Four Courts ; secondly, north, via Anne-street, towards the Abbot's Garden, or Anchorite's Park," now the King's Inns, Henrietta-street ; and thirdly, south-east toward St.
First, towards the South-west, supposed to lead to the Dominican Priory, on the site of which stands the present Four Courts ; secondly, north, via Anne-street, towards the Abbot's Garden, or Anchorite's Park," now the King's Inns, Henrietta-street ; and thirdly, south-east toward St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
A.
, was
thorn Todd, St. Syth is thus mentioned
" iii Id. Maii (May 13). Eodem die Sancte -angel, Dublin, surveyed by John Gibson,
:
See p. lxi. These words are added in the margin, and in a hand of the sixteenth century, as we are there in-
formed.
perty
Sithe Virginis.
"
38 In the Calendar, also at page 65,
ix. lee"; and in the Calen-
" poration of Dublin, the words Sancta
"
Sitha Virgo occur at 3 Id. Maii, in a
modem hand.
» Classed B. Tab. 3, No. 10.
40 The passage Dr. Todd refers to is found
to the second
"Sithe
licensed — the
by archbishop
Virginis
dar prefixed to the Chain-Book of the Cor-
"
chaplaincy Locus 2di Cappelani Guildi
St, Sythae, in parochire Sti Michani,"—on the nomination of the master, wardens, brothers, and sisters of the same. This entry bears date 19 July, 1640. See Dublin Titles, Book i,
of May 15th, 189 1. See
of the of St. Michael the Arch- parish
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 371
CHAPTER II.
LATER HISTORY OF ST. MICHAN's PARISH—CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT DIVISIONS- CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES THERE—MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAN— CONCLUSION.
With the endrmous increase in houses and population which sprung up in those new streets, a proportional increase of Roman Catholic inhabitants took place also ; and a similar division of parishes for the Catholics was deemed
out only a few years previously. The Catholic parish of St. Paul was the first in this new department, and it was bounded on the east by Church-
street . (west side), Glassmanogue to Broadstone ; north, by Little Cabra, and so on to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park; and on the south by the River Liffey so far as the old bridge at Church-street. About 1708, a new chapel was erected, or rather an old stable was converted into a chapel. * In course of time, however, the chapel was found to be wholly inadequate to accommodate the number of worshippers who fre- quented it, when it was deemed necessary to seek a more convenient and public site, in 1835. 3 In 1729, the boundaries of St. Mary's Catholic Parish, in the city of Dublin, were defined for the Rev. John Linegar, P. P. ,* and they were then very extensive. In order to accommodate the increasing numbers of parishioners, in the new parish of St. Mary, a chapel was built on an obscure site5 at the rere of Upper Liffey-street, and about equi- distant between the reres of the houses in Mary-street and Abbey-street. It was popularly known as "Liffey-street Chapel. " In 1797, the Most Rev. John Thomas Troy, Archbishop of Dublin, made Liffey-street chapel the metropolitan chapel of Dublin, in lieu of Francis-street Chapel," which, until that time, was the chief or metropolitan chapel. In 1826, on the
In 1707, the Most Rev. Edmond Byrne, Catholic
necessary to be formed.
Archbishop of Dublin, by . collation, dated 16th—October, 1707, divided the Catholic parish of St. Michan's into three viz. , St. Michan's, St. Paul's, and St. Mary's. He allotted to each certain new boundaries, so as to distinguish them from the Protestant parishes, which had been marked
1
of the Church of the 6 Metropolitan Conception, Marlborough-street,
opening
Liffey-street chapel was finally closed.
Early in the last century commenced an active crusade to prevent the growth of Popery, and a Committee of the Irish House of Lords was appointedtotakemeasuresforthatpurpose. Returnswereordered,onthe 4th of November, 1731, of the number of Mass-houses in the city of Dublin
Chapter ii. —' His period of incumbency lasted from 1707 to 1 724.
2
This was situated at the reres of the houses now known as Nos. 11 and 12 Arran- quay, and it was approached from Church- street, by a long and narrow passage, recently closed up. That building, having become ruinous, was taken down and rebuilt in the year 1785. It was provided with a new principal entrance from Arran-quay, through a passage under the house No. 12. This house is remarkable in history as being that in which Edmund Burke, the great states-
man, was born.
3 Then, the Very Rev. Wiliiam Yore, P. P. ,
built the present handsome new church of St.
Paul, facing on Arran-quay, the old chapel having been converted into a school-house,
* Subsequently,hebecameArchbishopof Dublin, on the death of Most Rev. Edward
Murphy, that same year.
5 During the Penal times, and until the
passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829, the Roman Catholics were prohibited
from having their places of public worship fronting any street, but they were tolerated in doing so since the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill in 1 791.
6
dial was laid in 1816.
The foundation stone of this pro-Cathe-
372 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
and in the suburbs thereof, and such of them as had been built since the first year of the reign of King George I. Also it was required, to learn the number of Priests officiating at each Mass-house, the number of private Popish chapels, and of all reputed Nunnerys and Fryerys, as also of all Popish schools within the said City and its Liberties.
In the summary of returns made, the parish of St. Paul? is represented as having one private chapel and one Nunnery j in St. Michan's there were
three public Mass-houses,8 two Nunneries,9 and ten schools10
Mary's, there were one Mass-house, twelve priests, two private chapels, and three schools. " The western boundary of the Protestant parish of St. Michan extends from the southern end of Church-street along Arran-quay to Lincoln-lane, thence to Phcenix-street, through the middle of Smithfield, portion of Redcow-lane, and so continues until it joins the parish of Grange-
at the east side of Richmond 13 Penitentiary.
gorman
This parish, in its integral state, is one of the oldest on the north side
of the River Liffey but since it was divided into Roman Catholic parishes,
;—— in the year 1707, it contains only about one-half on the eastern side
of its original area. Yet the small portion of the original parish that it now contains is full of interest to the antiquary, as well as to the historian, in many ways, more especially as including the following noted places : the
Broad Stone x3 the Old Dominican ;
7 From this parish, there are no official returns.
* Two of these had been built before the
reign of King George I. , and one of these was in Mary's-lane, and another on Arran- quay. Another in Church-street had been erected since the commencement of his reign. But no return could be made of the number of priests officiating in them.
9 One of these was in King-street, and in
it there was a private chapel.
10 Two of these were Latin or classical
Priory,
1* which before and after the
schools : one of them was kept by Phill.
Reilly on the Inns, and the other by one
Murphy, in Bow-lane. In Church-street
were three English Schools, kept respectively
by M'Guire, Lyons and Kearnan. One
English School was in Pill-lane, one by Neal
in Hamon-lane, one by M'Gloughlin in
Phrapper-lane, one by Ward, and one by
Burke in Mary's-lane, and one by Gorman now North Brunswick-street, where the
in Bow-lane. The foregoing information was furnished by W. Percival, Minister of St. Michan's, and by his Churchwardens, James Carson and Thomas Hewlett.
Christian Brothers' School now stands. The
foregoing particulars are abridged, chiefly from an admirable and a learned article, "St. Michan's Roman Catholic Church, Dublin : Its History, Past and Present," published in The Irish Builder, vol. xxxiv. ,
11 However, the report from the Rector of
St. Mary's, W. Crosse, and of his Church-
wardens, Richard Dawson and George No. 781, July 1st, 1892.
and it runs in this " In obedience to yor Lordships' command, we, the Minister and Church- wardens of St. Mary's parish, Dublin, have made enquiry concerning ye Mass Houses wth in ye said parish, and cannot find more
' 3 On the north, the former boundary of
this parish was the " Broad Stone," which, in olden times, was also the extremity of the Liberties of the City of Dublin. That crossing had been placed over the Bradogue Stream, and it formed a kind of bridge for the accom-
Tucker, fashion :
is
very meagre,
than one situate in Liffey-stieet, behind modation of man and beast. The stream Mary-street and Abbey-street. This Mass has since been covered over, and utilized as House was very recently erected, since ye a sewer for the northern extension of the accession of his present Majesty to the metropolis. The Broad Stone is mentioned Throne, and is supply'd by the Registered by Sir James Ware, when describing the
Priest, and no other yt we know of.
know of no Nunneries, Fryerys, or Popish Schools wth in ye said Parish ; neither have
we sufficient knowledge of private Popish Chappels wch may be in ye Houses of persons of that communion, so as to be able to make a return of them. " Whether owing to good feeling towards and want of zeal against the persecuted Catholics of that day, or owing to fidelity on the part of these latter, not to betray the interests of the Church and of their co-religionists, the afore- said inquisition is creditable to all the parties concerned, in frustrating the prosecution of an odious task.
13
Therefore it contained the three chapels and nunnery given in the above report, vir. : Arran-quay chapel ; St. Michan's, in Mary's- lane ; the Capuchins' chapel, in Church- street then budding ; and the private chapel belonging to the convent in Channel-row,
We former ceremony of Riding the City Fran-
j
while in St.
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 373
Reformation T 5 underwent so many vicissitudes l6 and the Granary of St. ;
Mary's Abbey, on the north-western side of George's-hill, and on the south side of Cuckoo-lane. 1 ? In this mysterious vault, there are still traces of three passages, and diverging in three different directions. 18 The various divisions bear a strong resemblance to an ecclesiastical crypt, and having
a 1 ? 20 and choir. " A chancel-arch " divides the apparently nave, chancel,
nave from the chancel. The site under the crypt was originally the northern
chises, as one of the civic boundaries of Earl of Kildare, divers gardens, and an Dublin. orchard containing three acres. Seven years 14 About the year 12 18, the Cistercians of later, she gave to Anthony Deering one messuage, lying on the east side of the churchyard of St. Michan, and a moiety of Ellen Hore's meadow, all being "parcel of the possessions of the Dominican friery. " In 1612 (9 James I. ), the whole site of the monastery and church was appropriated to the lawyers, and formed what was called the
St. Mary's Abbey built a chapel on the north bank of the River Liffey, and which they dedicated to St. Saviour ; but, on the com- ing of the Dominicans into Ireland a few years later, they gave it to them, on condition that the Dominicans should offer a lighted taper on the Feast of the Nativity, yearly, at St. Mary's Abbey, as an acknowledgment that this monastery did originally belong to the Cistercian Order. A Dominican Monas- tery was founded here in the year 1224, by William Mareschall, Earl of Pembroke, "for the health of his soul and that of his wife. " On the 1st of May, 1238, the church was founded and dedicated to St. Saviour, and in it were interred many persons of rank and influence. In the year 1316, on the approach of Edward Bruce, with his army of Scots, the citizens of Dublin destroyed the church of the friary, and made use of the stones in repairing the city walls and extending them from Wormwood Gate towards the quay, and at Winetavern- street. King Edward II. afterwards commanded the Mayor and citizens to restore the church to its former state. A bridge which had been erected in the time of King John was swept away in a flood A. D. 1385 ; but, with the assistance of their generous benefactors, the Dominicans built a new bridge, connecting Church-street with Bridge-street, on the former site. Their new Church of St. Saviour was solemnly consecrated on the 5th of the Ides of July,
1402, by Thomas Cranley, Archbishop of Dublin.
"
OldKing'sInns. " InthereignofCharles I. , the Duke of Ormonde became possessed of the Earl of Kildare's part of the property, a portion of which he laid out for building, and opened a new street, which he named Charles-street,inhonouroftheking. The remaining portion he laid out for a public market, which, although it has been long discontinuedassuch,still retainshisname. The Duke also caused the banks of that part of the Liffey adjoining to be walled in, and a new bridge to be erected over the river leading from Charles-street to Wood- quay. This was known as "Ormonde Bridge. "
16 Beforethesuppressionofmonasteries, in the sixteenth century, the Mayor, Re- corder, and Aldermen of the City of Dublin were obliged to assist at High Mass in the Church of St. Saviour, and to hear a sermon on the duties of magistrates preached in the church of this house on every Michaelmas Day. In1662,theCourtofClaimssathere, andin1688,theCourtofGrace; anddur- ing the abode of James II. in Ireland, he held a Parliament in the Cloisters. He also restored to the Dominicans their ancient priory, which was occupied only a short time ; for, on the accession of William III. , they were again obliged to desert it, and to seek a more safe retreat in Cook-street, over the water. The foundation-stone of the present Four Courts was laid by the Duke of Rutland, on the 13th of March, 1786, on the site of the old King's Inns ; and, in
x* On the suppression of the monasteries,
Patrick Hughes, the last prior of the Domi-
nican house, surrendered it to the Crown on
8th of July, in the thirty-first year of the
reign of King Henry VIII. The monastery
and its possessions were afterwards parcelled
out among the favourites of King Henry and
of Queen Elizabeth. Lord Chancellor Allen
and the judges of the other courts obtained ings in Henrietta-street was laid. The
"thesciteand precincts of the monastery and church, with the steeple and cemetery, and the edifices, mills, orchards, and gardens belonging to it, and fifteen messuages in the parish of St. Michan ; one messuage in St. Patrick-street, one messuage in New-street, and the moiety of a meadow called Ellen Hore's Mead, alias Gibbet's meadow. " Afterwards, Queen Elizabeth, in the twentieth year of her reign, granted to Gerald
former bridge over the Liffey fell in 1806, its foundations having been undermined, by a great flood in the river ; and, in 1813, the foundation of a new bridge was laid a short distance westward from the old bridge. The new erection was opened on St. Patrick's day, 1816, and since it has been named Rich- mond Bridge. See an article by Mr. Edward Evans, in the Irish Builder of July
15th, 1892, and from which the preceding
1802, the foundation-stone of the new build- '
374 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN1S. [August 25.
boundary of the gardens belonging to the Dominican Priory ; but subse- quently, it was granted to the Benchers of Kings Inns. a3 The Granary and other of the above-mentioned places are described in a Deed or grant made
a in 161 1 by King James I. *
Within the Parish of St. Michan, from the introduction of the English Reformation into Ireland, until about the beginning of the last century, the Catholics had no permanent or fixed place where they could assemble for Divine Service. They met most usually in private houses or in retired chambers, situated in back lanes, where they were denounced as recusants, and were subjected to fines and imprisonment for refusing to assist at Pro- testant worship. However, they had a brief respite from persecution during the reign of King James II. , who founded a Benedictine Nunnery in Channel-
accounts are abridged. circular-headed bays on each side, the width x ? This crypt now built up is situated of nave between bays being 24 ft. What
appears to be the new addition to the nave
within a large void space, or yard, popu-
known as "
so called after Mr. Elisha Bayly, who, for
upwards of half a century, carried on the
business of cabinet-maker and timber mer-
chant. Underneath this yard is a large inches.
larly
Bayly's
Timber
Yard,"
at the western end is much narrower than
the original part, it being 30 ft. in length, and 15 ft. in width.
crypt, or vault, 122 ft. long, varying in width from 15 ft. to 32 ft. , and about 14 ft.
21
The width of the chancel and choir is
in height. It is approached from the yard
by a flight of stone steps, about seventeen
in number, at the south side. At the bot- springs from the floor-level, and it is the
tom of these steps is a vaulted hall, 6 ft.
square, and at the western end a well about
8 ft. stone The deep, approached by steps.
well is now dried up and has been so for
many years past ; although, strange to say, the water once more sprung up for a brief
same width as the nave, but it is 4 ft. lower than the crown of nave.
23 states that "in Ormond Duhigg 1639
Market was then part of the gardens of King's Inns ; when laid out to its present use after the Restoration, its original name was New Market, but when the river was
period,andagaindisappeared. Thecrypt
is traditionally said to have been a store-
house for the poor in times of war and extended to both. About the year 1634,
famine, belonging to and supposed to lead from George's Hill to St. Mary's Abbey. The original entrance to this singularly con- structed place was by a narrow circular hall,
the summer houses were new built and it thus resembled the Temple Garden toward theriver,andGray'sInn,whereit fronted Cuckoo-lane, and the adjacent Villages of
'
and by a rather mysterious staircase, at the
eastern end from George's Hill. There <nre
traces of these yet extant in the crypt below.
It is thought, that some centuries ago, when
the bed of the River Liffey was shallow, or the site of St. Mary's abbey, Dublin ; a in some parts not more than a stream,
there was from this and from St. Mary's
Abbey, a subterraneous passage by which
the monks of the Abbey walked unobserved
in procession, on different special festivals,
to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, now western side of the south gate near the river
Christ Church Cathedral.
18
First, towards the South-west, supposed to lead to the Dominican Priory, on the site of which stands the present Four Courts ; secondly, north, via Anne-street, towards the Abbot's Garden, or Anchorite's Park," now the King's Inns, Henrietta-street ; and thirdly, south-east toward St. Mary's Abbey.
19 The nave, which seemsto have a modern addition, is 74ft. in length, 18 ft. in breadth, and about 1 5 ft. in height. The original nave was only 44 ft. in length, and it has 5
I iffey, all within the precinct ; the Anchor- —et's or Ankaster's park without the wall, N. the site of the Church of the said monas- tery, the Church porch, Church-yard, the dorture, and a ruinous tower and a court in the western part thereof, and a small piece of ground called Shillingfoord's Garden, all within the precinct, and all other heredita- ments within the said site, which were ever in the tenure of Robert Piphoe, Esq. , and Sir Edward Waterhouse, KntT, to hold, &c. See an article by Mr. Edward Evans in the
Irish Builder of August 1st, 1 892
20
The length of the chancel is 27 feet, 6
32 ft. , and in height from floor to ceiling about II ft. The choir is 15 feet in length.
32
The chancel arch, which is groined,
quayed in, the Viceroy's [Ormond] name
Grange Gorman and Glasmainoge.
24 This was made to Thomas Ilibbots and
William Crowe, Esqrs. , viz. , a mansion or house called the Abbott's Lodging, within
garden called the Abbott's garden ; a large orchard called the Common Orchard ; the Ashe Park, a granary called the Garnell over the outer gate ; 4 messuages lately called the Abbott's stable, lying on the
August 25. LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 375
row, in 1689, and to this was added a private chapel for the nuns ; but after
his reverses at the battle of the Boyne, that chapel was converted into
secular use for the Catholic parishioners. When the Rev. Dr. Cornelius
Nary, a very learned and distinguished priest,85 had been appointed to take
charge of the parish in 1702, notwithstanding the existence of the penal
laws, he ventured to build a new chapel for the accommodation of his flock.
It was situated on the south side of Mary's-lane ; and on the north-west
corner of Bull-lane. This was popularly known as Mary's-lane Chapel.
For the long period of thirty-six years, the Rev. Dr. Nary governed this
parish. He died in the year 1738. Several other zealous pastors succeeded
96
him.
The old Mary's-lane Chapel had been used by the Catholics until the
beginning of the present century, when finding it in a state of decay, the Rev. Christopher Wall, P. P. , resolved on the erection of a more suitable and com-
modious building. Accordingly, a public meeting was called, at which resolutions were passed for the proposed purchase of a piece of ground, on which a new parochial church and presbytery should be placed. A large
Michan's Catholic Church, Dublin.
North King-street, and known as North Anne-
street, on the northern side of the River LifTey. The Ven. and Very Rev. Arch-
's A brief Memoir has been published by Jesuits in Dublin ; or, Brief Biographic
Walter Harris—who was probably person- ally acquainted with him—and a list of his different writings has been given in Harris' Ware, vol. iii. , "The Writers of Ireland," Book i. , pp. 299, 300.
Sketches of those deceased Members of the Society of Jesus, who were born or who laboured in the Irish Metropolis, with an Account of the Parish of St. Michan, their ancient residence, presenting Details of its Abbey, Priory, Churches, Convents, Schools, Pastors, Curates, Religious," etc. Dublin, 1854, i2mo.
36 A
of these will be found in a valuable tract published by William J. Battersby, "The
very interesting
and accurate account
sumwassubscribed. Soon a site was selected and pur- chased. The building was commenced about the year 181 1, and it was finished before 1814, Theeast end of the church terminated in
ablankwall,whichseparated it from or rather united it
with the presbytery, erected after the year 1820, and which faced on Halston- street. The plot of ground on which both stand was sold on the 30th of April, 1853, m ^e Incumbered Estates Court, when it was purchased in trust for the parishioners.
The front entrance of that Catholic Church, dedicated to St. Michan and built in Gothic style, is sit—uated
in a backward street
off
376 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
deacon James M'Mahon, P. P. , erected a new Presbytery for the curates of the parish in Halston-street, and a handsome Gothic church, which
was dedicated to St. Joseph, on Berkeley-road. Afterwards, the Very Rev. Robert F. Canon Conlan, P. P. , who succeeded in 1890 to St. Michan's division of the old parish—a new parish of St. Joseph having been formed around the recently-erected church—resolved on demolishing the former presbytery, with a view of enlarging St. Michan's Church, by extending it to Halston-street. Accordingly on the Sunday, November 14th, 1 89 1, His Grace Most Rev. William J. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, presided at a public meeting of the parishioners, who subscribed over ^1,000, after the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of the new building had taken place. By this most desirable improvement, the church has been lengthened over thirty feet ; while the addition com-
2
prises exteriorly a lofty tower and belfry turret, ? with two entrances to the
church from Halston-street, and interiorly, a chancel, with two side chapels, elegantly designed and suitably decorated, has been constructed. The chancel window, erected in the perpendicular Gothic style, has a very im-
posingappearance. Thetowerrisestoaheightofninety-fourfeet,andit comprises five stories. The main entrance has a double-bayed window over
it ; while a similar window is placed on the corresponding compartment, beside the large chancel-window. Triple lancet windows are in the tower, and lighting the bell-ringing chamber. Above this, there is a circular chiselled limestone case for a clock. The tower-turrets and gables are crenellated ; the whole frontage presenting a very imposing appearance.
The immediate substratum of the entire of the district occupying both sides, in immediate contiguity with the River Lififey, is composed of a bed or series of veins of sand. It varies in depth from 6 in. to 10 ft. or 12 ft. , and this occurs more particularly on the northern side, where it stretches away to a very considerable distance from the river. St. Michan's Protestant Church is built upon that bed of sand ; the foundations, as a matter of course, were excavated through it, and laid upon a substratum of hard tenacious clay. The vaults underlying that church have been for centuries the receptacle of dead bodies a8 and, while some of those have been
;
enclosed for particular families, others have received indiscriminately the coffins and remains of various individuals. A remarkable feature of those
vaults is the antiseptic property they possess for preserving the bodies of
those persons therein deposited. A cemetery also surrounds the church ;
and, for a long series of years, it has been used as a favourite place for
interment, by the Catholics and Protestants of St. Michan's Parish.
If we could at all regard the Bollandists' Latin " Vita sancti Micheae" as a
safe authority, St. Michan was buried in his parochial church at Dublin.
Moreover, he died on the viii. of the September Kalends, according to the
same account 29 these statements are in accord with a reliable ; yet, probably,
popular and local tradition of remote origin.
'7 The accompanying illustration of the New Facade in Halston-street has been
ferred that sketch to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
"' Several of these were of cele- persons
brity. Among them were the two brothers, John and Henry Shears, who were executed as rebels in 1798, and of whom very full
memoirs are contained in Dr. Richard R. Madden's "United Irish- Evans, and issued, Dublin, 1 892, 4to. From men, their Lives and Times. " Second
it many of the previous statements have been edition, London, i860, 8vo.
drawn. Mr. William F. Wakeman trans- *' The Latin " Vita sancti Micheae "
ap-
from a
in the Irish Builder of October 1st, 1892, and which is given as a frontispiece to an
copied
lithograph,
which
appeared
interesting brochure, "The History of the Roman Catholic Church and Parish of St. and
interesting
Michan, Dublin," written by Mr. Edward
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 377
As has been already stated, at this date, in the ancient Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, and now known as Christ Church, Dublin, there is a record of St. Michan, Confessor. 3° A more recent
hand has there inserted his title as a Bishop. 3
1
In the Martyrology of
3 at the
honour St. Michan of Cill Michen, in Ath-cliath, now Dublin city. No records seem to have been preserved, and which might serve to attest the year, when St. Michan's Church had been first erected ; but, it is not probable, that an earlier building stood on the site of its present vaults. However, the upper structure was remodelled or repaired at different periods. 33 Nor is there good warrant for the statement, that St. Michan's body is yet preserved in one of the church vaults. 34 It is altogether probable, however, that the holy ecclesiastic himself may have built that church during his life-time, and that he may have been buried therein, or at least, in the cemetery adjoining. It is likely, moreover, that the original church and cemetery were laid out, at one and the same time.
There is a place called Cloonymeaghan, in the barony of Corran, and
"
county of Sligo, and it has been rendered 3s
of Mhican. " According to tradition, it is stated, that St. Mhican, the patron
Donegal,*
25th
of we find that a festival was celebrated to August,
Cluain-michan, i. e. , the retreat of a parish in Dublin, which bears his name, was a bishop and confessor,
and an abbot. There a 6 dated 16th perhaps by Bull,3
December, 1488,37
8
Pope Innocent VIII. granted a license, permitting Eugene MacDonagh3 to found a monastery in that place, for Dominican friars. In the registry
of the order which had been preserved in Sligo, it is recorded that Bernard MacDonagh, the son of Dermot, called the prior, and a reader of divinity
pears to conclude with the following : the individual, whose memory it had been " Oratio : Deus, qui beatum Micheam intended to commemorate. Many have
pontificem tuum inter innumera mirabilia
thought, that it was designed as a sculptural representation of St. Michan himself.
spaciosum mare sicco vestigio transire
fecisti : concede, quaesumus, nos ejus inter-
ventu ab omnibus nequitiis peccaminum its Scenery, Character," &c, vol. ii. , p. 312.
liberatos esse, secum in aeterna lsetitia con-
Per Dominum &c. " nostrum,"
3* See Mr. and Mrs. Hall's •» Ireland : 35 By the Rev. Thomas Walsh, in his
gaudere.
Concluding their notices of him, the Bol-
History
of the Irish and Hierarchy
" landists state :
Prseter haec, nihil novimus
Monasteries of Ireland," County of Sligo,
p. 645.
36 Thisgrantedfacultiestoer—ectthreenew
de isto qualicumque Michea, quo vel histo-
riam
ipsius comprobemus. "
vel cultum Dominican houses in Ireland one in Kil-
a fabulis — expurgemus,
'•
Acta Sanctorum," tomus v. , Augusti xxv. Among the pre-
ejus
Cloonymeaghan, in the diocese of Achonry.
See De " Hibernia Domi- Bishop Burgo's
nicana," cap. vii. , Num. vii. , p. 75.
37 My attention was first directed to this passage, by Mr. Edward Evans, in a letter headed 40 Corn-market, April 2nd, 1 89 1. He adds : "If St. Michan was born in the town or county of Sligo, and embraced Christianity there, about the ninth century, Saints by the Bollandists is found the and founded an anchorite or monastery
termitted Saints,
3° See "The Book of Obits and Martyro-
p. 3.
logy of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church,
Dublin," edited by John Clarke Crosthwaite, A. M. , and Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd,
pp. 68 and 149.
31 Among notices of the pretermitted
" Michanus
variis Kalendariis in nostro Ms indice Osith of Colchester. This event would to a
following,
aliquis
notatur ex
there,
he should be with St. co-temporary
sanctorum, de quo supra. "—" Acta Sancto- rum," tomus v. , Augusti xxv. , p. 4.
3» Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp. 226, 227.
» When making some alterations in the
certain extent explain why a church was erect«d to his memory in Dublin two centuries later, at a time when the Danes of this country all embraced Catholicity, and had it doubly dedicated to him and to
interior an ancient* stone figure of an St. Osith. "
ecclesiastic was found in one of the side walls, and it is now visible ; but, it has no inscription or special indication to denote
38 In the Constitution of the Pope, he is called Eugenius Macdonchard.
3» However, De Burgo maintains, that it
dare, another in
Meath,
and the third in
378 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
there, founded the monastery of Clunimhilian, which afterwards became a cell to that of Sligo. 3^ Although suppressed at the time of the Refor- mation/ the remains of the church and the conventual buildings are still in a good state of preservation. The plan was much the same as the ruined Dominican buildings at Sligo, and having the conventual buildings towards the north. However, all the parts were smaller, as also less
ornate, not having any of the elaborate and artistic carving, which forms so
1
At the viii. of the Kalends of September, or the 25th of August,
a feature in the famous cloisters of
1
Sligo. '' Cloonymeighan
conspicuous
cemetery is now the chief burying place for the united parishes of Cloonog- hill, Kilshalvy and Kilturra.
In his day, the prophet Micheas lamented, that the holy men had perished from earth, and that none were found to be upright among men ; while he was left as one to glean in autumn only the few remaining grapes, whentherewasnoclustertoeat. Moreover,hecomplained,thatthewicked lay in wait for blood, and that every one of these hunted his brother to death, while the evil of their hands was called good, when unrighteousness abounded. Still hoping for the coming of his Saviour, and the taking away of iniquity, the prophet had confidence in the Divine mercy and promises, which should restore to Israel her true inheritance. *' Happily for us, living in a more enlightened age, the dark night ol persecution has ceased, and that sacrifice offered by St. Michan on the spot, hallowed by so many Catholic associations, has been renewed and perpetuated by zealous pastors, even to the present day.
Article II. —St. Sillan, Bishop and Abbot of Magh-bile, or
Moville. [Sixth ami Seventh Centuries. '] In the published Martyrology of Tallagh, a notice of this holy prelate's parentage and place of residence will be
found.
his name is likewise to be met in the Tallagh Martyrology contained in the Book of Leinster ; and there, besides his being called Bishop and Abbot of
he is said to have been son to Findchain. 2 In the
Life of St. Patrick,3 we are informed, that when the Irish Apostle directed his course to the northern parts, he came to a territory known as Bredach,4 where he found three Deacons, his own nephews, and who were the sons of his sister. There ruled Olild, son of Eugene, and there, too, on the Lord's Day, he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice and pointed out a spot on which a
Magh-Bile,
Tripartite
was an independent house, although owing
to the fewness of conventuals of its own, it
was ruled for some time by fathers of the
Sligo community. See " Hibernia Domi- Kelly's "Calendar of Irish Saints," &c,
nicana," cap. ix. , sect, xxxix. , p.
thorn Todd, St. Syth is thus mentioned
" iii Id. Maii (May 13). Eodem die Sancte -angel, Dublin, surveyed by John Gibson,
:
See p. lxi. These words are added in the margin, and in a hand of the sixteenth century, as we are there in-
formed.
perty
Sithe Virginis.
"
38 In the Calendar, also at page 65,
ix. lee"; and in the Calen-
" poration of Dublin, the words Sancta
"
Sitha Virgo occur at 3 Id. Maii, in a
modem hand.
» Classed B. Tab. 3, No. 10.
40 The passage Dr. Todd refers to is found
to the second
"Sithe
licensed — the
by archbishop
Virginis
dar prefixed to the Chain-Book of the Cor-
"
chaplaincy Locus 2di Cappelani Guildi
St, Sythae, in parochire Sti Michani,"—on the nomination of the master, wardens, brothers, and sisters of the same. This entry bears date 19 July, 1640. See Dublin Titles, Book i,
of May 15th, 189 1. See
of the of St. Michael the Arch- parish
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 371
CHAPTER II.
LATER HISTORY OF ST. MICHAN's PARISH—CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT DIVISIONS- CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES THERE—MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAN— CONCLUSION.
With the endrmous increase in houses and population which sprung up in those new streets, a proportional increase of Roman Catholic inhabitants took place also ; and a similar division of parishes for the Catholics was deemed
out only a few years previously. The Catholic parish of St. Paul was the first in this new department, and it was bounded on the east by Church-
street . (west side), Glassmanogue to Broadstone ; north, by Little Cabra, and so on to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park; and on the south by the River Liffey so far as the old bridge at Church-street. About 1708, a new chapel was erected, or rather an old stable was converted into a chapel. * In course of time, however, the chapel was found to be wholly inadequate to accommodate the number of worshippers who fre- quented it, when it was deemed necessary to seek a more convenient and public site, in 1835. 3 In 1729, the boundaries of St. Mary's Catholic Parish, in the city of Dublin, were defined for the Rev. John Linegar, P. P. ,* and they were then very extensive. In order to accommodate the increasing numbers of parishioners, in the new parish of St. Mary, a chapel was built on an obscure site5 at the rere of Upper Liffey-street, and about equi- distant between the reres of the houses in Mary-street and Abbey-street. It was popularly known as "Liffey-street Chapel. " In 1797, the Most Rev. John Thomas Troy, Archbishop of Dublin, made Liffey-street chapel the metropolitan chapel of Dublin, in lieu of Francis-street Chapel," which, until that time, was the chief or metropolitan chapel. In 1826, on the
In 1707, the Most Rev. Edmond Byrne, Catholic
necessary to be formed.
Archbishop of Dublin, by . collation, dated 16th—October, 1707, divided the Catholic parish of St. Michan's into three viz. , St. Michan's, St. Paul's, and St. Mary's. He allotted to each certain new boundaries, so as to distinguish them from the Protestant parishes, which had been marked
1
of the Church of the 6 Metropolitan Conception, Marlborough-street,
opening
Liffey-street chapel was finally closed.
Early in the last century commenced an active crusade to prevent the growth of Popery, and a Committee of the Irish House of Lords was appointedtotakemeasuresforthatpurpose. Returnswereordered,onthe 4th of November, 1731, of the number of Mass-houses in the city of Dublin
Chapter ii. —' His period of incumbency lasted from 1707 to 1 724.
2
This was situated at the reres of the houses now known as Nos. 11 and 12 Arran- quay, and it was approached from Church- street, by a long and narrow passage, recently closed up. That building, having become ruinous, was taken down and rebuilt in the year 1785. It was provided with a new principal entrance from Arran-quay, through a passage under the house No. 12. This house is remarkable in history as being that in which Edmund Burke, the great states-
man, was born.
3 Then, the Very Rev. Wiliiam Yore, P. P. ,
built the present handsome new church of St.
Paul, facing on Arran-quay, the old chapel having been converted into a school-house,
* Subsequently,hebecameArchbishopof Dublin, on the death of Most Rev. Edward
Murphy, that same year.
5 During the Penal times, and until the
passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829, the Roman Catholics were prohibited
from having their places of public worship fronting any street, but they were tolerated in doing so since the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill in 1 791.
6
dial was laid in 1816.
The foundation stone of this pro-Cathe-
372 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
and in the suburbs thereof, and such of them as had been built since the first year of the reign of King George I. Also it was required, to learn the number of Priests officiating at each Mass-house, the number of private Popish chapels, and of all reputed Nunnerys and Fryerys, as also of all Popish schools within the said City and its Liberties.
In the summary of returns made, the parish of St. Paul? is represented as having one private chapel and one Nunnery j in St. Michan's there were
three public Mass-houses,8 two Nunneries,9 and ten schools10
Mary's, there were one Mass-house, twelve priests, two private chapels, and three schools. " The western boundary of the Protestant parish of St. Michan extends from the southern end of Church-street along Arran-quay to Lincoln-lane, thence to Phcenix-street, through the middle of Smithfield, portion of Redcow-lane, and so continues until it joins the parish of Grange-
at the east side of Richmond 13 Penitentiary.
gorman
This parish, in its integral state, is one of the oldest on the north side
of the River Liffey but since it was divided into Roman Catholic parishes,
;—— in the year 1707, it contains only about one-half on the eastern side
of its original area. Yet the small portion of the original parish that it now contains is full of interest to the antiquary, as well as to the historian, in many ways, more especially as including the following noted places : the
Broad Stone x3 the Old Dominican ;
7 From this parish, there are no official returns.
* Two of these had been built before the
reign of King George I. , and one of these was in Mary's-lane, and another on Arran- quay. Another in Church-street had been erected since the commencement of his reign. But no return could be made of the number of priests officiating in them.
9 One of these was in King-street, and in
it there was a private chapel.
10 Two of these were Latin or classical
Priory,
1* which before and after the
schools : one of them was kept by Phill.
Reilly on the Inns, and the other by one
Murphy, in Bow-lane. In Church-street
were three English Schools, kept respectively
by M'Guire, Lyons and Kearnan. One
English School was in Pill-lane, one by Neal
in Hamon-lane, one by M'Gloughlin in
Phrapper-lane, one by Ward, and one by
Burke in Mary's-lane, and one by Gorman now North Brunswick-street, where the
in Bow-lane. The foregoing information was furnished by W. Percival, Minister of St. Michan's, and by his Churchwardens, James Carson and Thomas Hewlett.
Christian Brothers' School now stands. The
foregoing particulars are abridged, chiefly from an admirable and a learned article, "St. Michan's Roman Catholic Church, Dublin : Its History, Past and Present," published in The Irish Builder, vol. xxxiv. ,
11 However, the report from the Rector of
St. Mary's, W. Crosse, and of his Church-
wardens, Richard Dawson and George No. 781, July 1st, 1892.
and it runs in this " In obedience to yor Lordships' command, we, the Minister and Church- wardens of St. Mary's parish, Dublin, have made enquiry concerning ye Mass Houses wth in ye said parish, and cannot find more
' 3 On the north, the former boundary of
this parish was the " Broad Stone," which, in olden times, was also the extremity of the Liberties of the City of Dublin. That crossing had been placed over the Bradogue Stream, and it formed a kind of bridge for the accom-
Tucker, fashion :
is
very meagre,
than one situate in Liffey-stieet, behind modation of man and beast. The stream Mary-street and Abbey-street. This Mass has since been covered over, and utilized as House was very recently erected, since ye a sewer for the northern extension of the accession of his present Majesty to the metropolis. The Broad Stone is mentioned Throne, and is supply'd by the Registered by Sir James Ware, when describing the
Priest, and no other yt we know of.
know of no Nunneries, Fryerys, or Popish Schools wth in ye said Parish ; neither have
we sufficient knowledge of private Popish Chappels wch may be in ye Houses of persons of that communion, so as to be able to make a return of them. " Whether owing to good feeling towards and want of zeal against the persecuted Catholics of that day, or owing to fidelity on the part of these latter, not to betray the interests of the Church and of their co-religionists, the afore- said inquisition is creditable to all the parties concerned, in frustrating the prosecution of an odious task.
13
Therefore it contained the three chapels and nunnery given in the above report, vir. : Arran-quay chapel ; St. Michan's, in Mary's- lane ; the Capuchins' chapel, in Church- street then budding ; and the private chapel belonging to the convent in Channel-row,
We former ceremony of Riding the City Fran-
j
while in St.
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 373
Reformation T 5 underwent so many vicissitudes l6 and the Granary of St. ;
Mary's Abbey, on the north-western side of George's-hill, and on the south side of Cuckoo-lane. 1 ? In this mysterious vault, there are still traces of three passages, and diverging in three different directions. 18 The various divisions bear a strong resemblance to an ecclesiastical crypt, and having
a 1 ? 20 and choir. " A chancel-arch " divides the apparently nave, chancel,
nave from the chancel. The site under the crypt was originally the northern
chises, as one of the civic boundaries of Earl of Kildare, divers gardens, and an Dublin. orchard containing three acres. Seven years 14 About the year 12 18, the Cistercians of later, she gave to Anthony Deering one messuage, lying on the east side of the churchyard of St. Michan, and a moiety of Ellen Hore's meadow, all being "parcel of the possessions of the Dominican friery. " In 1612 (9 James I. ), the whole site of the monastery and church was appropriated to the lawyers, and formed what was called the
St. Mary's Abbey built a chapel on the north bank of the River Liffey, and which they dedicated to St. Saviour ; but, on the com- ing of the Dominicans into Ireland a few years later, they gave it to them, on condition that the Dominicans should offer a lighted taper on the Feast of the Nativity, yearly, at St. Mary's Abbey, as an acknowledgment that this monastery did originally belong to the Cistercian Order. A Dominican Monas- tery was founded here in the year 1224, by William Mareschall, Earl of Pembroke, "for the health of his soul and that of his wife. " On the 1st of May, 1238, the church was founded and dedicated to St. Saviour, and in it were interred many persons of rank and influence. In the year 1316, on the approach of Edward Bruce, with his army of Scots, the citizens of Dublin destroyed the church of the friary, and made use of the stones in repairing the city walls and extending them from Wormwood Gate towards the quay, and at Winetavern- street. King Edward II. afterwards commanded the Mayor and citizens to restore the church to its former state. A bridge which had been erected in the time of King John was swept away in a flood A. D. 1385 ; but, with the assistance of their generous benefactors, the Dominicans built a new bridge, connecting Church-street with Bridge-street, on the former site. Their new Church of St. Saviour was solemnly consecrated on the 5th of the Ides of July,
1402, by Thomas Cranley, Archbishop of Dublin.
"
OldKing'sInns. " InthereignofCharles I. , the Duke of Ormonde became possessed of the Earl of Kildare's part of the property, a portion of which he laid out for building, and opened a new street, which he named Charles-street,inhonouroftheking. The remaining portion he laid out for a public market, which, although it has been long discontinuedassuch,still retainshisname. The Duke also caused the banks of that part of the Liffey adjoining to be walled in, and a new bridge to be erected over the river leading from Charles-street to Wood- quay. This was known as "Ormonde Bridge. "
16 Beforethesuppressionofmonasteries, in the sixteenth century, the Mayor, Re- corder, and Aldermen of the City of Dublin were obliged to assist at High Mass in the Church of St. Saviour, and to hear a sermon on the duties of magistrates preached in the church of this house on every Michaelmas Day. In1662,theCourtofClaimssathere, andin1688,theCourtofGrace; anddur- ing the abode of James II. in Ireland, he held a Parliament in the Cloisters. He also restored to the Dominicans their ancient priory, which was occupied only a short time ; for, on the accession of William III. , they were again obliged to desert it, and to seek a more safe retreat in Cook-street, over the water. The foundation-stone of the present Four Courts was laid by the Duke of Rutland, on the 13th of March, 1786, on the site of the old King's Inns ; and, in
x* On the suppression of the monasteries,
Patrick Hughes, the last prior of the Domi-
nican house, surrendered it to the Crown on
8th of July, in the thirty-first year of the
reign of King Henry VIII. The monastery
and its possessions were afterwards parcelled
out among the favourites of King Henry and
of Queen Elizabeth. Lord Chancellor Allen
and the judges of the other courts obtained ings in Henrietta-street was laid. The
"thesciteand precincts of the monastery and church, with the steeple and cemetery, and the edifices, mills, orchards, and gardens belonging to it, and fifteen messuages in the parish of St. Michan ; one messuage in St. Patrick-street, one messuage in New-street, and the moiety of a meadow called Ellen Hore's Mead, alias Gibbet's meadow. " Afterwards, Queen Elizabeth, in the twentieth year of her reign, granted to Gerald
former bridge over the Liffey fell in 1806, its foundations having been undermined, by a great flood in the river ; and, in 1813, the foundation of a new bridge was laid a short distance westward from the old bridge. The new erection was opened on St. Patrick's day, 1816, and since it has been named Rich- mond Bridge. See an article by Mr. Edward Evans, in the Irish Builder of July
15th, 1892, and from which the preceding
1802, the foundation-stone of the new build- '
374 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN1S. [August 25.
boundary of the gardens belonging to the Dominican Priory ; but subse- quently, it was granted to the Benchers of Kings Inns. a3 The Granary and other of the above-mentioned places are described in a Deed or grant made
a in 161 1 by King James I. *
Within the Parish of St. Michan, from the introduction of the English Reformation into Ireland, until about the beginning of the last century, the Catholics had no permanent or fixed place where they could assemble for Divine Service. They met most usually in private houses or in retired chambers, situated in back lanes, where they were denounced as recusants, and were subjected to fines and imprisonment for refusing to assist at Pro- testant worship. However, they had a brief respite from persecution during the reign of King James II. , who founded a Benedictine Nunnery in Channel-
accounts are abridged. circular-headed bays on each side, the width x ? This crypt now built up is situated of nave between bays being 24 ft. What
appears to be the new addition to the nave
within a large void space, or yard, popu-
known as "
so called after Mr. Elisha Bayly, who, for
upwards of half a century, carried on the
business of cabinet-maker and timber mer-
chant. Underneath this yard is a large inches.
larly
Bayly's
Timber
Yard,"
at the western end is much narrower than
the original part, it being 30 ft. in length, and 15 ft. in width.
crypt, or vault, 122 ft. long, varying in width from 15 ft. to 32 ft. , and about 14 ft.
21
The width of the chancel and choir is
in height. It is approached from the yard
by a flight of stone steps, about seventeen
in number, at the south side. At the bot- springs from the floor-level, and it is the
tom of these steps is a vaulted hall, 6 ft.
square, and at the western end a well about
8 ft. stone The deep, approached by steps.
well is now dried up and has been so for
many years past ; although, strange to say, the water once more sprung up for a brief
same width as the nave, but it is 4 ft. lower than the crown of nave.
23 states that "in Ormond Duhigg 1639
Market was then part of the gardens of King's Inns ; when laid out to its present use after the Restoration, its original name was New Market, but when the river was
period,andagaindisappeared. Thecrypt
is traditionally said to have been a store-
house for the poor in times of war and extended to both. About the year 1634,
famine, belonging to and supposed to lead from George's Hill to St. Mary's Abbey. The original entrance to this singularly con- structed place was by a narrow circular hall,
the summer houses were new built and it thus resembled the Temple Garden toward theriver,andGray'sInn,whereit fronted Cuckoo-lane, and the adjacent Villages of
'
and by a rather mysterious staircase, at the
eastern end from George's Hill. There <nre
traces of these yet extant in the crypt below.
It is thought, that some centuries ago, when
the bed of the River Liffey was shallow, or the site of St. Mary's abbey, Dublin ; a in some parts not more than a stream,
there was from this and from St. Mary's
Abbey, a subterraneous passage by which
the monks of the Abbey walked unobserved
in procession, on different special festivals,
to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, now western side of the south gate near the river
Christ Church Cathedral.
18
First, towards the South-west, supposed to lead to the Dominican Priory, on the site of which stands the present Four Courts ; secondly, north, via Anne-street, towards the Abbot's Garden, or Anchorite's Park," now the King's Inns, Henrietta-street ; and thirdly, south-east toward St. Mary's Abbey.
19 The nave, which seemsto have a modern addition, is 74ft. in length, 18 ft. in breadth, and about 1 5 ft. in height. The original nave was only 44 ft. in length, and it has 5
I iffey, all within the precinct ; the Anchor- —et's or Ankaster's park without the wall, N. the site of the Church of the said monas- tery, the Church porch, Church-yard, the dorture, and a ruinous tower and a court in the western part thereof, and a small piece of ground called Shillingfoord's Garden, all within the precinct, and all other heredita- ments within the said site, which were ever in the tenure of Robert Piphoe, Esq. , and Sir Edward Waterhouse, KntT, to hold, &c. See an article by Mr. Edward Evans in the
Irish Builder of August 1st, 1 892
20
The length of the chancel is 27 feet, 6
32 ft. , and in height from floor to ceiling about II ft. The choir is 15 feet in length.
32
The chancel arch, which is groined,
quayed in, the Viceroy's [Ormond] name
Grange Gorman and Glasmainoge.
24 This was made to Thomas Ilibbots and
William Crowe, Esqrs. , viz. , a mansion or house called the Abbott's Lodging, within
garden called the Abbott's garden ; a large orchard called the Common Orchard ; the Ashe Park, a granary called the Garnell over the outer gate ; 4 messuages lately called the Abbott's stable, lying on the
August 25. LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 375
row, in 1689, and to this was added a private chapel for the nuns ; but after
his reverses at the battle of the Boyne, that chapel was converted into
secular use for the Catholic parishioners. When the Rev. Dr. Cornelius
Nary, a very learned and distinguished priest,85 had been appointed to take
charge of the parish in 1702, notwithstanding the existence of the penal
laws, he ventured to build a new chapel for the accommodation of his flock.
It was situated on the south side of Mary's-lane ; and on the north-west
corner of Bull-lane. This was popularly known as Mary's-lane Chapel.
For the long period of thirty-six years, the Rev. Dr. Nary governed this
parish. He died in the year 1738. Several other zealous pastors succeeded
96
him.
The old Mary's-lane Chapel had been used by the Catholics until the
beginning of the present century, when finding it in a state of decay, the Rev. Christopher Wall, P. P. , resolved on the erection of a more suitable and com-
modious building. Accordingly, a public meeting was called, at which resolutions were passed for the proposed purchase of a piece of ground, on which a new parochial church and presbytery should be placed. A large
Michan's Catholic Church, Dublin.
North King-street, and known as North Anne-
street, on the northern side of the River LifTey. The Ven. and Very Rev. Arch-
's A brief Memoir has been published by Jesuits in Dublin ; or, Brief Biographic
Walter Harris—who was probably person- ally acquainted with him—and a list of his different writings has been given in Harris' Ware, vol. iii. , "The Writers of Ireland," Book i. , pp. 299, 300.
Sketches of those deceased Members of the Society of Jesus, who were born or who laboured in the Irish Metropolis, with an Account of the Parish of St. Michan, their ancient residence, presenting Details of its Abbey, Priory, Churches, Convents, Schools, Pastors, Curates, Religious," etc. Dublin, 1854, i2mo.
36 A
of these will be found in a valuable tract published by William J. Battersby, "The
very interesting
and accurate account
sumwassubscribed. Soon a site was selected and pur- chased. The building was commenced about the year 181 1, and it was finished before 1814, Theeast end of the church terminated in
ablankwall,whichseparated it from or rather united it
with the presbytery, erected after the year 1820, and which faced on Halston- street. The plot of ground on which both stand was sold on the 30th of April, 1853, m ^e Incumbered Estates Court, when it was purchased in trust for the parishioners.
The front entrance of that Catholic Church, dedicated to St. Michan and built in Gothic style, is sit—uated
in a backward street
off
376 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
deacon James M'Mahon, P. P. , erected a new Presbytery for the curates of the parish in Halston-street, and a handsome Gothic church, which
was dedicated to St. Joseph, on Berkeley-road. Afterwards, the Very Rev. Robert F. Canon Conlan, P. P. , who succeeded in 1890 to St. Michan's division of the old parish—a new parish of St. Joseph having been formed around the recently-erected church—resolved on demolishing the former presbytery, with a view of enlarging St. Michan's Church, by extending it to Halston-street. Accordingly on the Sunday, November 14th, 1 89 1, His Grace Most Rev. William J. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, presided at a public meeting of the parishioners, who subscribed over ^1,000, after the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of the new building had taken place. By this most desirable improvement, the church has been lengthened over thirty feet ; while the addition com-
2
prises exteriorly a lofty tower and belfry turret, ? with two entrances to the
church from Halston-street, and interiorly, a chancel, with two side chapels, elegantly designed and suitably decorated, has been constructed. The chancel window, erected in the perpendicular Gothic style, has a very im-
posingappearance. Thetowerrisestoaheightofninety-fourfeet,andit comprises five stories. The main entrance has a double-bayed window over
it ; while a similar window is placed on the corresponding compartment, beside the large chancel-window. Triple lancet windows are in the tower, and lighting the bell-ringing chamber. Above this, there is a circular chiselled limestone case for a clock. The tower-turrets and gables are crenellated ; the whole frontage presenting a very imposing appearance.
The immediate substratum of the entire of the district occupying both sides, in immediate contiguity with the River Lififey, is composed of a bed or series of veins of sand. It varies in depth from 6 in. to 10 ft. or 12 ft. , and this occurs more particularly on the northern side, where it stretches away to a very considerable distance from the river. St. Michan's Protestant Church is built upon that bed of sand ; the foundations, as a matter of course, were excavated through it, and laid upon a substratum of hard tenacious clay. The vaults underlying that church have been for centuries the receptacle of dead bodies a8 and, while some of those have been
;
enclosed for particular families, others have received indiscriminately the coffins and remains of various individuals. A remarkable feature of those
vaults is the antiseptic property they possess for preserving the bodies of
those persons therein deposited. A cemetery also surrounds the church ;
and, for a long series of years, it has been used as a favourite place for
interment, by the Catholics and Protestants of St. Michan's Parish.
If we could at all regard the Bollandists' Latin " Vita sancti Micheae" as a
safe authority, St. Michan was buried in his parochial church at Dublin.
Moreover, he died on the viii. of the September Kalends, according to the
same account 29 these statements are in accord with a reliable ; yet, probably,
popular and local tradition of remote origin.
'7 The accompanying illustration of the New Facade in Halston-street has been
ferred that sketch to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
"' Several of these were of cele- persons
brity. Among them were the two brothers, John and Henry Shears, who were executed as rebels in 1798, and of whom very full
memoirs are contained in Dr. Richard R. Madden's "United Irish- Evans, and issued, Dublin, 1 892, 4to. From men, their Lives and Times. " Second
it many of the previous statements have been edition, London, i860, 8vo.
drawn. Mr. William F. Wakeman trans- *' The Latin " Vita sancti Micheae "
ap-
from a
in the Irish Builder of October 1st, 1892, and which is given as a frontispiece to an
copied
lithograph,
which
appeared
interesting brochure, "The History of the Roman Catholic Church and Parish of St. and
interesting
Michan, Dublin," written by Mr. Edward
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 377
As has been already stated, at this date, in the ancient Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, and now known as Christ Church, Dublin, there is a record of St. Michan, Confessor. 3° A more recent
hand has there inserted his title as a Bishop. 3
1
In the Martyrology of
3 at the
honour St. Michan of Cill Michen, in Ath-cliath, now Dublin city. No records seem to have been preserved, and which might serve to attest the year, when St. Michan's Church had been first erected ; but, it is not probable, that an earlier building stood on the site of its present vaults. However, the upper structure was remodelled or repaired at different periods. 33 Nor is there good warrant for the statement, that St. Michan's body is yet preserved in one of the church vaults. 34 It is altogether probable, however, that the holy ecclesiastic himself may have built that church during his life-time, and that he may have been buried therein, or at least, in the cemetery adjoining. It is likely, moreover, that the original church and cemetery were laid out, at one and the same time.
There is a place called Cloonymeaghan, in the barony of Corran, and
"
county of Sligo, and it has been rendered 3s
of Mhican. " According to tradition, it is stated, that St. Mhican, the patron
Donegal,*
25th
of we find that a festival was celebrated to August,
Cluain-michan, i. e. , the retreat of a parish in Dublin, which bears his name, was a bishop and confessor,
and an abbot. There a 6 dated 16th perhaps by Bull,3
December, 1488,37
8
Pope Innocent VIII. granted a license, permitting Eugene MacDonagh3 to found a monastery in that place, for Dominican friars. In the registry
of the order which had been preserved in Sligo, it is recorded that Bernard MacDonagh, the son of Dermot, called the prior, and a reader of divinity
pears to conclude with the following : the individual, whose memory it had been " Oratio : Deus, qui beatum Micheam intended to commemorate. Many have
pontificem tuum inter innumera mirabilia
thought, that it was designed as a sculptural representation of St. Michan himself.
spaciosum mare sicco vestigio transire
fecisti : concede, quaesumus, nos ejus inter-
ventu ab omnibus nequitiis peccaminum its Scenery, Character," &c, vol. ii. , p. 312.
liberatos esse, secum in aeterna lsetitia con-
Per Dominum &c. " nostrum,"
3* See Mr. and Mrs. Hall's •» Ireland : 35 By the Rev. Thomas Walsh, in his
gaudere.
Concluding their notices of him, the Bol-
History
of the Irish and Hierarchy
" landists state :
Prseter haec, nihil novimus
Monasteries of Ireland," County of Sligo,
p. 645.
36 Thisgrantedfacultiestoer—ectthreenew
de isto qualicumque Michea, quo vel histo-
riam
ipsius comprobemus. "
vel cultum Dominican houses in Ireland one in Kil-
a fabulis — expurgemus,
'•
Acta Sanctorum," tomus v. , Augusti xxv. Among the pre-
ejus
Cloonymeaghan, in the diocese of Achonry.
See De " Hibernia Domi- Bishop Burgo's
nicana," cap. vii. , Num. vii. , p. 75.
37 My attention was first directed to this passage, by Mr. Edward Evans, in a letter headed 40 Corn-market, April 2nd, 1 89 1. He adds : "If St. Michan was born in the town or county of Sligo, and embraced Christianity there, about the ninth century, Saints by the Bollandists is found the and founded an anchorite or monastery
termitted Saints,
3° See "The Book of Obits and Martyro-
p. 3.
logy of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church,
Dublin," edited by John Clarke Crosthwaite, A. M. , and Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd,
pp. 68 and 149.
31 Among notices of the pretermitted
" Michanus
variis Kalendariis in nostro Ms indice Osith of Colchester. This event would to a
following,
aliquis
notatur ex
there,
he should be with St. co-temporary
sanctorum, de quo supra. "—" Acta Sancto- rum," tomus v. , Augusti xxv. , p. 4.
3» Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp. 226, 227.
» When making some alterations in the
certain extent explain why a church was erect«d to his memory in Dublin two centuries later, at a time when the Danes of this country all embraced Catholicity, and had it doubly dedicated to him and to
interior an ancient* stone figure of an St. Osith. "
ecclesiastic was found in one of the side walls, and it is now visible ; but, it has no inscription or special indication to denote
38 In the Constitution of the Pope, he is called Eugenius Macdonchard.
3» However, De Burgo maintains, that it
dare, another in
Meath,
and the third in
378 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
there, founded the monastery of Clunimhilian, which afterwards became a cell to that of Sligo. 3^ Although suppressed at the time of the Refor- mation/ the remains of the church and the conventual buildings are still in a good state of preservation. The plan was much the same as the ruined Dominican buildings at Sligo, and having the conventual buildings towards the north. However, all the parts were smaller, as also less
ornate, not having any of the elaborate and artistic carving, which forms so
1
At the viii. of the Kalends of September, or the 25th of August,
a feature in the famous cloisters of
1
Sligo. '' Cloonymeighan
conspicuous
cemetery is now the chief burying place for the united parishes of Cloonog- hill, Kilshalvy and Kilturra.
In his day, the prophet Micheas lamented, that the holy men had perished from earth, and that none were found to be upright among men ; while he was left as one to glean in autumn only the few remaining grapes, whentherewasnoclustertoeat. Moreover,hecomplained,thatthewicked lay in wait for blood, and that every one of these hunted his brother to death, while the evil of their hands was called good, when unrighteousness abounded. Still hoping for the coming of his Saviour, and the taking away of iniquity, the prophet had confidence in the Divine mercy and promises, which should restore to Israel her true inheritance. *' Happily for us, living in a more enlightened age, the dark night ol persecution has ceased, and that sacrifice offered by St. Michan on the spot, hallowed by so many Catholic associations, has been renewed and perpetuated by zealous pastors, even to the present day.
Article II. —St. Sillan, Bishop and Abbot of Magh-bile, or
Moville. [Sixth ami Seventh Centuries. '] In the published Martyrology of Tallagh, a notice of this holy prelate's parentage and place of residence will be
found.
his name is likewise to be met in the Tallagh Martyrology contained in the Book of Leinster ; and there, besides his being called Bishop and Abbot of
he is said to have been son to Findchain. 2 In the
Life of St. Patrick,3 we are informed, that when the Irish Apostle directed his course to the northern parts, he came to a territory known as Bredach,4 where he found three Deacons, his own nephews, and who were the sons of his sister. There ruled Olild, son of Eugene, and there, too, on the Lord's Day, he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice and pointed out a spot on which a
Magh-Bile,
Tripartite
was an independent house, although owing
to the fewness of conventuals of its own, it
was ruled for some time by fathers of the
Sligo community. See " Hibernia Domi- Kelly's "Calendar of Irish Saints," &c,
nicana," cap. ix. , sect, xxxix. , p.
