Some Account of his Successors, their Trials, Faithfulness, AND ULTIMATE EMANCIPATION. BY THE REV. W. P. WALSH, A.B., Curate of Rathdrum. "Is marso a deir an TighearnA, Sęsñó añsra slíġtib, 7 féuċrd, 7 jamryd na senċasáin, cáit a [bfnl] an tslige mait, 7 siúblyġid iñte, 7 do żębtaśi suáimnęs da bur nanam.” JEREMIAS vi. 16, DUBLIN JAMES MCGLASHAN, 21 D'OLIER-STREET. MDCCCXLIX. Price 6d., or 10s. per quarter of hundred, ST. PATRICK AND THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH IN IRELAND. WHAT true Irishman is there who does not love his country? What true Catholic is there who does not love the Church of his native land? That must be a selfish heart which can look abroad upon the hills and valleys of our lovely isle, and feel no interest in its welfare; and that must be an insensible spirit which can contemplate the history of the Irish Church, without the deepest affection and concern. The very name of Ireland, and of her ancient Church, brings with it many glorious memories of days gone by, when our country received and deserved the name of "The Island of Saints;" and it is some comfort to her faithful sons in these sorrowful days, to turn their eyes from her present low and fallen condition, to those early days when she was celebrated throughout the world for the piety and happiness of her people, as well as for the simplicity and purity of her faith; it gives them hope that their own green isle shall become once more, in the true meaning of the words, "Great, glorious, and free, First flow'r of the earth, and first gem of the sea;" and prompts the prayer, which every true Irishman will join in, that God may again lift up the light of his countenance upon Ireland, and make her, what once she was, a praise and a blessing in the midst of the earth. It may not only prove hope-inspiring and comforting, but instructive also, to review the history of the Catholic Church of Ireland. We shall thus learn the true cause of our country's former happiness, as well as the true reasons of her present misery. We may, by God's grace, be thus led to retrace our steps to the ancient purity and piety of God's saints in the early times; then, indeed, might we expect that God, even our own God, would give us his blessing. We invite Irishmen who love their country, and desire the prosperity of her Church, to the statements made in the following pages; and let it be remembered that they are not vague opinions upon disputed points, but plain and authentic facts from history, which every reader may easily verify for himself, by consulting the authorities noted at the foot of these pages. The history of the Irish Church presents three remarkable periods; the first extending from the time of the apostles to the twelfth century, during which time she maintained her liberty, and, in a great measure, her purity; the second, reaching from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, during which time she was in bondage and darkness; and the third commencing with the recovery of her liberty in the sixteenth century, and extending to the present time, during which she has maintained her liberty and purity, notwithstanding many trials, difficulties and discouragements. We shall distinguish these three periods by three words, viz., INDEPENDENCE, SUBJUGATION, and EMANCIPATION. I. To commence, then, with the period of our Church's independence. Who is there that has not heard of St. Patrick, the most distinguished of the Irish saints? Unfortunately, the circumstance that his history was so overlaid with ridiculous legends and superstitious fancies, by some later writers, served for a time to cast disrespect upon his memory, and even doubt upon his very existence; we have, however, abundant evidence proving not only that there was such a saint, but that he was eminent for his wisdom, piety, and zeal, and the great ornament of the Irish Church in the fifth century after Christ. He has been called the "Apostle of Ireland," and those who know anything of his great exertions in spreading and establishing the gospel of Christ in this land, will willingly admit his right to this exalted title. It is, nevertheless, a well-established fact that Christianity existed in Ireland for ages previous to St. Patrick's visit in 432, A.D. It is, indeed, a matter in dispute who the first heralds of salvation to the Irish were, but it is certain that |