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In our green isle of old renown, From many a by-gone age, Full pure and clear the fame comes down Of soldier, saint, and sage; But high amidst those glories bright That shine on Innisfail, `Tis ours to write in lines of light, The name of John Mac Hale. Tribute to John MacHale by T. Sullivan, St. Patrick’s Day, 1876. Preface A long process is now over. It has been hard work and it has been a lot of fun! I would like to thank some people, without whom, this process would have been far less inspiring: First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor William H. Hubbard, Ph.D. for secure guidance and support. I would also like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, Sissel Rosland, who has given me unlimited amounts of time, interest and expertise. I am also most grateful to Birte for reading, discussing, criticising and encouraging my work. I would like to thank the professors and students who have participated on seminars for vitalising and revitalising my work on various levels in my progression. Thank you, Veronika, for walking through stormy weather to read my manuscript, and thank you, Irene, for being the technical wizard that you are. Feelings of gratitude also go to my mother, who has the unique quality of always asking the right question. And last, but far from least, I want to thank you, Tom, for support and sympathy. Without you by my side, this would have been a far more exhausting process! Bergen, May 15, 2002 Mari Janne Solbø Zahl iii Chapter 1 – Introduction The State recognises the special position of the Holy Apostolic and Roman Church as the guardian 1 of the faith professed by the great majority of its citizens. Thus reads article 44 of the Irish Constitution of 1937. It confirmed the close alliance between the Catholic Church and Irish nationality that was implicit in the founding of the Irish Republic.2 This alliance emerged during the nineteenth century. For centuries Ireland had been subjected to strong English and British political influence, and in 1801 a legislative Union between Ireland and Great Britain was established. At the time the Catholic Church and Catholic believers were still burdened by penal legislation issued to keep the ‘papists’ in an inferior position. During the nineteenth century the Irish Catholic Church developed from being badly organised and decentralised to become a powerful, centralised institution with vast influence in Irish society. In addition, and this is part of a general European trend, the Irish people became more politically self-aware, and they realised and criticised that the Union State did not promote the Irish cause; in fact, they reckoned that the Union itself in many ways was the reason for Irish grievances. Increasingly, the Catholics, who made up some eighty per cent of the Irish population, identified with an institutionalised Church and an Irish nationhood. The Church’s increasing political power gave it an important role in Irish nationalism. And the Irish Church was truly concerned with Irish affairs, although the Roman Catholic Church has a very international perspective. The main reasons for this feature are probably that the Irish people were governed, and governed badly, the Church thought, by a Protestant State. Not only were Catholics penalised by the law, but the State Church in primarily Catholic Ireland was Protestant. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church in general did not adhere wholeheartedly to the national cause until the 1880s. Especially the holder of the important office of Archbishop of Dublin had checked such attachment. By custom and practicality, the Archbishop of Dublin was the true Primate among the four archbishops in the country and was generally the mouthpiece of the official opinions of the Church.3 1 The 1937 Constitution. Quoted in O’Day and Stevenson 1992: 196. 2 The Republic was given international recognition in 1949. 3 The Archbishopric of Armagh was the apostolic see of St. Patrick, founder of the Irish Catholic Church. Therefore, the Archbishop of Armagh is given the title Primate of All Ireland. The Archbishop of Dublin is correspondingly given the title Primate of Ireland. However, by custom the Archbishop of Dublin is the head of the four archbishops. 1 But the Catholic Church was not as uniform as it might appear to have been. Behind this official unity emerged dissenting voices, one of which belonged to John MacHale. MacHale was Archbishop of Tuam, the westernmost province in Ireland, between 1834 and 1881. He was a high-profile prelate who challenged the position of the Church on many areas. Most importantly, he was a fervent nationalist. Throughout his priestly life, MacHale worked on the edge of official hierarchical opinion and behaviour; he was a truly political prelate, defending a consistent belief in the need of an Irish nation state. He was the essence of the typical nationalist prelate emerging after his time; it was only after he died that one could find a similar national-political zeal in the Catholic prelacy in general. MacHale, with his firm confidence and never-yielding conviction, was a pivotal vehicle in this development.4 The Catholic Church, Irish nationalism and the British State were the most significant institutions in the development of Irish society and politics in the nineteenth century. Their agendas were different and often opposing; whereas the Church worked to achieve a higher degree of internal institutionalisation and at the same time worked to advance its dominant political concerns, especially within education, the nationalists tried to gain support from many quarters to be able to increase Irish political autonomy. The State tried to oppose both of these developments and keep its political power in the country. The biography of a nationalist Catholic prelate such as MacHale functions to encapsulate important parts of the development of these three institutions, and his biography can hence be seen as a point of intersection between the three institutions in nineteenth-century Ireland. It is thus logical to make John MacHale the primary subject of a thesis on the Irish Catholic Church and nationalism in the nineteenth century. The fact that he was an archbishop is an important element. Thus he was something more than a radical countryside priest. In a Church that put much emphasis on hierarchy, MacHale was one of the four foremost prelates and hence a central religious leader. MacHale also lived to be a very old man and thus participated in and had first-hand experience with a wide range of questions of Irish religious and political interest. His length of office also made him the contemporary of numerous religious and political leaders. The development of nineteenth- century Ireland is thus in many aspects encapsulated in the biography of John MacHale. 4 Because of his strong position and towering personality, MacHale was called the Lion of St. Jarlath. St. Jarlath is the patron of the Archdiocese of Tuam. 2 My contention in this thesis is that John MacHale, all the way from the 1820s, represents the nationalist prelate who came to the fore around the turn of the nineteenth century. I further claim that MacHale is important not just as a representative of times to come, but as a significant force in his own time that contributed to such a development. By constantly focusing on national questions, MacHale forced the rest of the hierarchy to do the same. And after his death, the reward came in form of an Irish nation state in coalition with his Catholic Church. Since the Archbishop of Dublin was the mouthpiece of official and general Catholic opinion, I will often present MacHale in opposition to the holders of this office. The Archbishopric of Dublin was very important because its headquarters was situated in the Capitol City of the country. Dublin was the hub of communication with England and within Ireland. Dublin was also the political centre of Ireland. The persons chosen for the office of Archbishop of Dublin were generally in harmony with Roman (or papal) opinions, as they because of the See’s geographical position would have to relate to the political leaders of the country. Why write a biography? A historical analysis can be presented in a number of ways, and a historian may choose to write a biography for one of two reasons: The person portrayed either had vast influence on his surroundings or can be seen as a representative of a larger environment.5 As indicated, MacHale was not representative of the official opinions of the Irish Catholic Church in his time. Neither did he have enough influence on the majority of the hierarchy to impose his views on his fellow prelates. However, MacHale proved to be a representative of the position taken by the Catholic Church after his death, when his views and activity became a model for priests and prelates in their work for an Irish nation. The effect of his influence hence became visible post mortem. MacHale is also a favourable subject for a thesis as his life encapsulates the development of all three institutions of Church, State and Nation. Because he was so politically active, his biography gives a good insight into nineteenth-century Ireland. A biography is a very good narrative tool. To structure a theme around one person and one chronology can make very good reading. The American historian Barbara Tuchman states that: 3 As a prism of history, biography attracts and holds the reader’s interest in the larger subject. People are interested in other people, in the fortunes of the individual. If I seem to stress the reader’s interest rather more than the pure urge of the writer, it is because, for me, the reader is the essential 6 other half of the writer.