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Anyone for Glasgow? The Strange Nomination of the Rt. Rev. Charles Eyre in 1868

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2015

Extract

The Western District of Scotland in the 1860s saw some remarkable changes. The clash between two bishops, groups of priests and laity had contributed to a major crisis. Rival ethnic and political interests further complicated matters. An ecclesiastical, financial and political crisis seemed about to explode. In the circumstances the appointment of a new bishop to regulate an impossible situation was hardly unexpected. The appointment of Charles Eyre however was somewhat surprising.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Catholic Record Society 1997

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References

Notes

1 Bishop Scott's Tory political attitude and antipathy to what he considered radical Irish views and Catholic Emancipation appear in James, Handley, The Irish in Scotland, (Glasgow 1963) pp. 129, 149.Google Scholar James, Darragh, The Catholic Hierarchy of Scotland, (Glasgow 1986), pp. 1922 Google Scholar provides the most accessible biographies of the bishops.

2 Darragh, J., The Catholic Hierarchy, p. 21.Google Scholar Lynch was subsequently transferred as coadjutor to the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin in 1869. He succeeded to the see in 1888.

3 The documentation on these points is considerable. For, example see A. P. Scozia, v 7 ff 99–100, Rev. M. Condon to Propaganda, 9 April 1867; GAA WD 10/2 Rev. Alexander Munro to H. E. Manning, 25 Oct 1867; GAA WD 10.2 Rev. James Danaher, Hamilton, to H. E. Manning, 21 and 31 Oct. 1867; Rev W. Burke Dairy, 2 Nov 1867 reporting Gray's ill-health, incompetence and inconsistency. Rev. Alexander Munro, a convert Presbyterian priest, reputedly intimidated and manipulated Gray at will. Allegations about his morality and cavalier accounting system were rife among the Irish clergy. James, Handley, The Irish, pp. 223–24Google Scholar for the Scottish priests’ Memorial to Rome.

4 AP Scozia, v 7, ff 441–42, J. McArth, Paisley, 25 June 1868; v 7 ff 688–92, Rev. A. Celletti, Glasgow, 18 March 1864; GAA WD 9/4, Clippings on Lavelle's speeches at public meetings in Glasgow. Lavelle's close associate, Rev. Patrick Malone, P.P., Belmullet, Mayo also visited Glasgow in December 1867. The fact that Bishop Lynch had asked Cardinal Cullen to advise Bishop Gray against allowing him to visit Glasgow would discredit the vicious Scottish attacks on Lynch. See Gerard, Moran, A Radical Priest in Mayo: Fr. Patrick Lavelle: The Rise and Fall of an Irish Nationalist, 1825–89, (Blackrock, Co. Dublin), 1994, p. 82.Google Scholar His writings include What Right has England to Rule Ireland?, (Glasgow 1864) and The Irish Landlord since the Revolution, (Dublin 1870). The Free Press controversy needs reconsideration. Handley, J., The Irish, pp. 198231,Google Scholar remains the classic account.

5 See Handley above and my forthcoming article, ‘Nativist and Immigrant’ in the Innes Review. Further evidence appears in for example GAA WD 10/3, letter of Rev. M. O'Keefe, Coatbridge, 19 Nov 1867. AP Scozia, v 6 ff 891–95, Rev. J. Danaher, Hamilton, 10 March 1866; v 7 ff 851–61 Rev. Celletti, Kilbirnie, 2 April 1867.

6 See McClelland, V. A., ‘The Irish Clergy and Archbishop Manning's Apostolic Visitation of the Western District of Scotland, 1867. Part I: The Coming of the Irish.CHR v 53, (1967), pp. 127,Google Scholar especially pp. 18–27.

7 On the background see James, Walsh, ‘Archbishop Manning's Visitation of the Western District of Scotland in 1867’, Innes Review, 18, (1967), pp. 318;Google Scholar McClelland, V. A., ‘A Hierarchy for Scotland’, CHR 56 (1970) 474500 Google Scholar and his ‘Documents relating to the Appointment of a Delegate Apostolic for Scotland’, Innes Review, 8 (1957), pp. 93–8. Robert Monteith unwittingly had contributed to the tensions by preparing a house for Lynch in Glasgow some distance from the traditional residence of the vicar-apostolic. Darragh, J., ‘Two Letters on Charles Eyre in the Talbot Correspondence’, Innes Review, v. 27, (1976), pp. 8796.Google Scholar

8 GAA, WD 10/3, R. Whitty S.J. to H. E. Manning, 23 Oct 1867.

9 GAA, WD 10/3, Bishop Lynch to Cardinal Cullen, 17 Mar 1867, copy.

10 Ibidem Also GAA WD 10/3 Rev. Alex Munro to H. E. Manning, 25 Oct 1867. The origins of the conflict lay in the earliest days of Irish priests on the mission. My forthcoming article in the Innes Review will discuss these problems in detail. The first Maynooth priest to come to Glasgow, abjured and was soon appearing on the Glasgow Protestant Association platform. On Michael Crotty see Ignatius, Murphy, The Diocese of Killaloe, 1800–50, (Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 1992), pp. 127133.Google Scholar

11 Ibidem.

12 GAA, WD 10/3, Bishop Lynch to Archbishop H. E. Manning.

13 GAA, WD 10/3, Rev. B. Tracey, Pollokshaws to H. E. Manning, 28 Oct 1867.

14 Archives of Propaganda, Rome, Scritture Riferite nei Congressi, Scozia, hereafter refered to as AP Scozia Rome, vol. 7, ff. 371–75, Bishop J. Lynch to Propaganda, 29 Feb 1868; ff, 349–51, Rev. F. Danaher, Duntocher — Feb 1868; ff 394–96; ff 357–59, Rev. J. Danaher — Feb 1868; Rev. G. McBrearty, Wishaw, 27 Feb 1868; ff, 386–91, ff. 419–21 critical letters from A. Doud, a layman, 26 Feb, 30 April 1868 against Lynch and the Irish; GAA WD 10/7, Rev. John Shaw, Rutherglen, to H. E.Manning, 19, 22, Dec 1867 and particularly 25 May 1868 in which he claims the Clerkenwell explosion was concocted in the Free Press office. Rome Archives of Propaganda, Udienze 1868, v 158 ff 596–97 Bishop John Gray to Propaganda, 23 May 1868, written by Rev. A. Munro and signed by Bishop Gray, urging that Rev. Patrick Lavelle be banned from the Western District. Ibidem f 518, 7 June 1868, reporting letter to Archbishop John MacHale of Tuam to ban Lavelle from the Western District under pain of excommunication.

15 J. H. Newman to Miss M. R. Giberne, 20 July 1872, in Dessain, C. S. and Gornall, J., eds., John Henry Newman Letters and Diaries, v. 26, (London 1974), pp. 140–41.Google Scholar Newman visited Scotland and met with the leading Scottish Catholic laity. He met Eyre at Robert Monteith's home, Carstairs House, Montieth's daughter had married into the Lothian family.

16 McRoberts, p. 23. Douglas, the Roman Provincial, wanted to establish a Redemptorist house in Scotland. Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh were felt unsuitable. A house was founded in Perth. Sharp, Reapers of the Harvest: The Redemptorists in Great Britain and Ireland, 1843–1898, (Dublin 1989), pp. 40–1.Google Scholar

17 Rome, Archives of Propaganda, Udience de N.S de 1868, f 1035–36, 13 Sept 1868. On the back-ground see James, Walsh, ‘Archbishop Mannings's Visitation of the Western District of Scotland in 1867’, Innes Review, 18 (1967) pp. 318;Google Scholar McClelland, V. A., ‘A Hierarchy for Scotland’, CHR, 56,(1970), pp. 474500;Google Scholar his ‘Documents relating to the Appointment of a Delegate Apostolic for Scotland’, Innes Review, 8 (1957), pp. 93–8,CrossRefGoogle Scholar ‘The Irish Clergy and Archbishop Manning's Apostolic Visitation of the Western District of Scotland, 1867’, CHR, 53, (1967), pp. 1–27 and pp. 229–50.

18 AP, Scozia, vol. 7, f 505, H. E. Manning letter, 27 Nov 1868.

19 GAA, WD 10/3, Rev. A. Munro to H. E. Manning, 22 July 1868.

20 Udience., P.2, 159, ff 1045–46, IV. On Coffin see D.N.B; Gillow I, pp. 523–26; John Sharp, Reapers of the Harvest, passim.

21 See Buscot, W., The History of Cotton College, (London 1940), pp. 239–42, p. 243.Google Scholar On the largerissue see McClelland, V. A., English Roman Catholics and Higher Education, 1830–1903, (Oxford 1973) especially pp. 205–08.Google Scholar

22 The Correspondence of Lord Acton and Richard Simpson, eds., Josef, L. Altholz and Damien, McElrath, 3 vols., (Cambridge 1971–75), especially I. 112, 120, 146–7,Google Scholar 151.153.; II 312: III 41. On the background see Josef, L. Altholz, The Liberal Catholic Movement in England: The ‘Rambler’ and Its Contributors, 1848–1864, (London 1962).Google Scholar

23 Sharp, Cf John, ‘The Influence of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Nineteenth Century Britain’, Downside Review, 101, (1983), pp. 6076.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

24 See Purcell, E. S., The Life of Cardinal Manning, 2 vols., (London 1894) II. 189, 215–18Google Scholar: Robert, Gray, Cardinal Manning, (London 1985) pp. 160–1, 200.Google Scholar

25 quoted by Sharp p. 40.

26 See Frank, V. S., ‘A Displaced Person: The Strange Life of Fr. Vladimir Petcherine,Dublin Review 445 (1949) pp. 139–53;Google Scholar Mac White, E., ‘Vladimir Pecherin, 180–85, First Chaplain of the Mater Hospital, Dublin, and the first Russian Political Emigre’, Studies, 60 (1971), pp. 295310;Google Scholar ‘Towards a biography of Father Vladimir S. Pecherin (1807–1885): a progress report and bibliography’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 80 section C, number 7, (1980) pp. 109–58; Sharp, pp. 108–9. Interestingly, the then Redemptorist, Isaac Hecker, later founder of the American Paulists, had conducted his first ever mission with him in Liverpool for three weeks in 1851: Walter, Holden, Yankee Crusader: Isaac Thomas Hecker, (Milwaukee 1958).Google Scholar

27 Quoted by Sharp, p. 76.

28 Sharp, pp. 40–43.

29 Sharp, 42–43.

30 Sharp, pp. 108–9.

31 Kathleen, O'Meara, Bishop Grant, Bishop of Southwark, (London 1886 ed.), pp. 23.Google Scholar By stressing the two McGowan bothers’ remarkable piety and strict observance of religion she overlooks the difficulties between them and bishop Scott.

32 Sharp, p. 38 and passim.

33 Udience., IV. 1045–46.

34 T. E. Bridgett to the Scottish-born Rev. Edward Douglas, Rome, 2 Jan 1868, quoted in Ryder, C., Life of T. E. Bridgett, (London 1906), pp. 45–6, 55.Google Scholar Henry Belletable, a non-commissioned army officer founded the confraternity in Belgium in 1844. It was adopted by the Redemptorist Rev. V. A. Dechamps, later Cardinal Archbishop of Malines. The reference to Malines above then takes on additional meaning. See also J. Magniwer,’ The Rev. Thomas Edward Bridgett, C.SS.R.’, Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 4th series, 5 (1899), pp. 305–18;Google Scholar Venn; Deleny, J. F. and Tobin, J. E., Dictionary of Catholic Biography, (London 1962),Google Scholar although he is placed incorrectly in Oxford: W. Gordon Gorman, Converts to Rome, (London 1899 ed.) A younger brother, Ronald, was British consul in Buenos Aires.

35 Quoted in Ryder, C., Bridgett, p. 156.Google Scholar Gladstone was referring to the Duke of Norfolk and his reactionary friends who were busily lobbying in Rome against any concessions to the Land League or Home Rulers. See Curtis, L. P. Jr., Coercion and Conciliation in Ireland, 1880–1892, (Princeton 1963), pp. 270–77;CrossRefGoogle Scholar O'Brien, C. C., Parnell and His Party, (Oxford 1957), pp. 213–25;Google Scholar Emmet, Larkin, The Catholic Church and the Plan of Campaign, 1886–88, (Cork 1978);Google Scholar Lawrence, Geary, The Plan of Campaign, 1886–91, (Cork 1986), p. 38, 87.Google Scholar

36 Quoted by Sharp, p. 11.

37 Bridgett, T. E., Life of Blessed John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and Martyr under Henry VIII, (London 1888)Google Scholar and Life and Writings of Sir Thomas More, (London 1891). Wellesey Index to Victorian Periodicals.

38 See his Reapers for the Harvest: A Treatise for Laymen and Women, (London 1898), especially p.14.Google Scholar

39 Sharp, pp. 40–41.

40 See further evidence of Manning's esteem, pp. 45, 62, 98. See his The Discipline of Drink, (London 1876), especially p. 221.Google Scholar

41 Udience., 1045–46 IV.

42 Sharp, 72, 132–33; Boase, II. 1252.

43 Udience., 1045–6 IV. See Boase, II 1271.

44 Cuthbert, Butler, History of the Vatican Council, 2 vols., (London 1920) I. p. 181.Google Scholar

45 Udience., ff. 1045–46, 12 Sept 1864.

46 Ibidem.

47 Udience., f1144. 18 Oct 1868.

48 Udience., 11241, 22 Nov 1868. Cf. J. Darragh, Two letters …’

49 See James, Darragh, ‘Two Letters on Charles Eyre in the Talbot CorrespondenceInnes Review, v. 27, (1976), pp. 8796;Google Scholar David, McRoberts, ‘The Restoration of the Scottish Hierarchy in 1878Innes Review, v. 29, (1978), pp. 329,Google Scholar especially pp. 14–16, 19 n. 51. On the general background see James, Walsh, ‘Archbishop Manning's Visitation of the Western District of Scotland in 1867’, Innes Review, v. 18, (1967), pp. 318;Google Scholar McClelland, V. A., ‘A Hierarchy for Scotland’, CHR, v. 56 (1970), pp. 474500 Google Scholar and his ‘Documents relating to the Appointment of a Delegate Apostolic for Scotland’, Innes Review, v. 8, (1957), pp. 93–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

50 Udience., f1273, 29 Nov 1868.

51 Quoted by McClelland, V. A., English Roman Catholics., p. 242.Google Scholar

52 See Darragh, J., The Catholic Hierarchy, pp. 52–3Google Scholar and my ‘The Catholic Irish and Wealth in Glasgow’, in Devine, T. M. ed., Irish Immigrants and Scottish Society in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, (Edinburgh 1991), pp. 91115.Google Scholar

53 On Maguire see Darragh, J., The Catholic Hierarchy, p. 53.Google Scholar Also Sheridan, Gilley, ‘Catholics and Socialists in Glasgow, 1906–12’, in Lunn, K., ed., Hosts, Immigrants and Minorities, (Folkestone 1980), pp. 160200.Google Scholar

54 This paragraph is based on statistical information in the Scottish Catholic Directory 1869 and 1902. The interpretation draws on Dolan, Jay P., Catholic Revivalism, (Notre Dame 1978)Google Scholar and my ‘The Formation of the Catholic Community in the West of Scotland’, Innes Review, v. 33 (1982), pp. 4457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

55 Ibidem.

56 See my ‘The Formation of the Catholic Community’ and ‘The Child as Maker of the Ultramontane’, in Diana, Wood, ed., The Church and Childhood: Studies in Church History, v 31, (1994), pp. 427–45Google Scholar Sheridan, Gilley, ‘Catholics and Socialists in Glasgow, 1906–12’, in Lunn, K., ed., Hosts, Immigrants and Minorities, (Folkestone 1980), pp. 160200,Google Scholar and The Scottish Catholic Director, for 1868–1910.

57 Ibidem.

58 See my ‘The Irish Abroad: Michael Condon in Scotland, 1845–1878’ in Shields, W. J. and Diana, Wood, eds., The Churches, Ireland and the Irish: Studies in Church History, v 25 (1988), pp. 279–97Google Scholar and The Scottish Catholic Directory, 1869 and 1902.

59 See Short, K. R. M., The Dynamite War: Irish-American Bombers in Victorian Britain, (Dublin 1979), pp. 102–53.Google Scholar

60 See James, Handley, The Celtic Story, (Glasgow 1960)Google Scholar and Brian, Wilson, Celtic: A Century with Honour, (London 1988), pp. 117.Google Scholar

61 See John, F. McCaffrey, ‘The Irish Vote in Glasgow in the Late Nineteenth century’, Innes Review, v 21 (1970), pp. 3036;Google Scholar James, Hunter, ‘The Gaelic Connection: The Highlands, Ireland and Nationalism, 1878–1922’, Scottish Historical Review, v 54 (1975), pp. 180–85;Google Scholar Ian, Wood, ‘Irish Immigrants and Scottish Radicalism, 1898–1906’, in Ian, MacDougall, ed., Essays in Scottish Labour History, (Edinburgh) 1978 pp. 6589 Google Scholar and his ‘John Wheatley, The Irish and the Labour Movement in Scotland’, Innes Review, v. 31 (1980), pp. 71–86.

62 Thomas Joseph Eyre owned 5,283 acres in Ireland and one acre in Surrey. John, Bateman, The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland, (Leicester 1971 ed.) p. 157.Google Scholar

63 See my ‘The Catholic Irish and Wealth’ for details particularly of Eyre's will.