The territory of Cineal-Eoghain, from a very early period, formed a
distinct diocese, which took its name from the church of Arderath, now
Ardstraw, situated on the River Derg, and founded by St. Eugene, first
bishop of this see. In the synod of Rathbreasail, an. 1110, it is called
“Dioecesis Ardsrathensis” though probably in that very year the city of
Derry was chosen for the episcopal residence. “Sedes Episcopalis”, writes
Dr. O’Cherballen, bishop of the see in 1247, “a tempore limitationis
Episcopatuum Hyberniae in villa Darensi utpote uberiori et magis idoneo
loco qui in sua Dioecesi habeatur, extitit constituta”. For some years
this arrangement continued undisturbed, till the appointment of Dr.
O’Coffy, who about the year 1150 transferred his see to Rathlure, a church
dedicated to St. Luroch; and subsequently, for one hundred years, we find
the see designated “Dioecesis Rathlurensis”, or “de Rathlurig”, under
which name it appears in the lists of Centius Camerarius.
Dr. Muredach O’Coffy was a canon regular of the order of St. Augustine,
and “was held in great repute for his learning, humility, and charity to
the poor”—(Ware). The old Irish annalists style him “the sun of science;
the precious stone and resplendent gem of knowledge; the bright star and
rich treasury of learning; and as in charity, so too was he powerful in
pilgrimage and prayer”. He assisted at the Synod of Kells, which was
convened by Cardinal Paparo in 1152, and in the catalogue of its bishops
he is styled from the territory occupied by his see, _the Bishop of
Cineal-Eoghain_. His death is marked in our annals on the 10th of
February, 1173/4.
Amlaf O’Coffy succeeded the same year, and is also eulogized by our
annalists as “a shining light, illuminating both clergy and people”. He
was translated to Armagh in 1184, but died the following year. Our ancient
records add that “his remains were brought with great solemnity to Derry
and interred at the feet of his predecessor”.
Florence O’Cherballen next governed the see, from 1185 to 1230; whilst the
episcopate of his successor, Friar German O’Cherballen, embraced well nigh
half a century, extending from 1230 to his death in 1279. It was during
the administration of this last-named bishop that the episcopal see was
once more definitively fixed in Derry. The Holy See, by letter of 31st
May, 1247, commissioned the Bishop of Raphoe, the Abbot of the monastery
of SS. Peter and Paul in Armagh, and the Prior of Louth, to investigate
the reasons set forth by Dr. Germanus for abandoning the church of
Rathlure. The following extract from the Papal letter preserves to us the
chief motive thus alleged by Bishop Germanus:
“Cum villa Rathlurensis pene sit inaccessibilis propter montana,
nemora et paludes, quibus est undique circumcincta, aliasque
propter sterilitatem ipsius et necessariorum defectum nequeat ibi
dictus Episcopus vel aliquis de suis canonicis residere, nec
clerus ejusdem dioecesis illuc convenire ad synodum et ad alia
quae saepius expedirent praefatus episcopus nobis humiliter
supplicavit ut utilitatibus Rathlurensis Ecclesiae, ac cleri
ejusdem misericorditer providentes sedem ipsam reduci ad locum
pristinum Darensem villam videlicet de benignitate Sedis
Apostolicae faceremus”—(_Mon. Vatic._ pag. 48).
It was also added by Dr. O’Cherballen, that his predecessor, O’Coffy, had
himself been born in Rathlure, and that it was through love for his native
district he had, by his own authority, transferred the episcopal seat from
Derry to Rathlure (illectus natalis soli dulcedine transtulit motu
propriae voluntatis).
The appointed deputies approved of the resolution taken by Bishop
Germanus, and a few years later (1254), in reply to the Chapter of Derry,
the same Pope Innocent IV. thus confirmed this translation of the see:
“Cum, sicuti ex tenore vestrae petitionis accepimus, sedes
Anichlucensis(1) Ecclesiae de speciali mandato nostro et assensu
etiam venerabilis fratris nostri Archiepiscopi Armachani loci
metropolitani ad Darensem Ecclesiam sit translata, nos vestris
supplicationibus inclinati translationem hujusmodi, sicut provide
facta est, et in alicujus praejudicium non redundat, ratam et
firmam habentes, eam auctoritate Apostolica confirmamus. Datum
Neapoli, secundo Nonas Novembris, Pontificatus nostri anno
duodecimo”—(_Ibid._, 64).
By a previous letter he had, as early as the first of July in the fourth
year of his pontificate, in anticipation of this translation of the see,
granted to the chapter of the diocese of Derry the same privileges,
indulgences, and other special favours which it had hitherto enjoyed in
Rathlure (_Ib._, pag. 48).
The successor of Bishop Germanus was Florence O’Cherballen, who held the
see from 1279 to 1293. Five other bishops then came in rapid succession.
Henry of Ardagh, from 1294 to 1297; Geoffry Melaghlin, from 1297 to 1315;
Hugh or Odo O’Neal, from 1316 to 1319; Michael Melaghlin, from 1319 to
about 1330; and Maurice, from about 1330 to 1347.
On the death of the last-named bishop, a Dominican, by name Symon, was
appointed by Pope Clement VI. to rule the See of Derry. He had indeed
already been nominated by brief, dated the 5th of the Ides of May, 1347,
to the diocese of Clonmacnoise, but the aged and infirm bishop of that
see, who was reported to have passed to a better life, was not yet
deceased, and hence, on the vacancy of Derry, Bishop Symon was, by brief
of 18th December, 1347, appointed successor of St. Eugene. From the first
brief, which nominated him to Clonmacnoise, we learn that Friar Symon was
Prior of the Dominican fathers of Roscommon, and was remarkable for his
zeal, his literary proficiency, and his manifold virtues. The brief of his
appointment to Derry adds the following particulars:
“Dudum ad audientiam apostolatus nostri relatione minus vera
perlata, quod Ecclesia Cluanensis per obitum Venerabilis fratris
nostri Henrici Episcopi Cluanensis qui in partibus illis
decessisse dicebatur, vacabat: Nos credentes relationem hujusmodi
veram esse, de te ordinis fratrum Praedicatorum professore eidem
Ecclesiae duximus providendum, praeficiendo te illi in Episcopum
et pastorem: et subsequenter per Ven. fratrem nostrum Talayrandum
Episcopum Albanensem tibi apud sedem Apostolicam fecimus munus
consecrationis impendi. Cum autem sicut postea vera relatio ad nos
perduxit praefatus Henricus tempore provisionis hujus modi ageret,
sicut agere dignoscitur, in humanis, tu nullius Ecclesiae
Episcopus remansisti. Postmodum vero Ecclesia Darensi, per obitum
bonae memoriae Mauricii Episcopi Darensis qui extra Romanam curiam
diem clausit extremum, pastoris solatio destitute, Nos ...
cupientes talem eidem Darensi Ecclesiae praeesse personam quae
sciret, vellet et posset eam in suis manutenere juribus ac etiam
adaugere, ipsamque praeservare a noxiis et adversis, post
deliberationem quam super his cum fratribus nostris habuimus
diligentem, demum ad te consideratis grandium virtutum meritis,
quibus personam tuam Dominus insignivit, convertimus oculos nostræ
mentis, etc. Datum Avinione XV. Kalend. Januarii Pontif. Nostri
anno octavo”—(_Mon. Vatic._, pag. 292).
Bishop Symon seems to have held the see till the close of this century,
and the next bishop that we find was John, Abbot of Moycoscain, or _de
claro fonte_, who was appointed to Derry by brief of Pope Boniface IX. on
19th August, 1401. Of his immediate successors we know little more than
the mere names. William Quaplod, a Carmelite and a distinguished patron of
literary men, died in 1421. Donald for ten years then ruled the diocese,
and resigned in 1431; his successor, John, died in 1456. A Cistercian
monk, named Bartholomew O’Flanagan, next sat in the see for five years;
and Nicholas Weston, a canon of Armagh, who was consecrated its bishop in
1466, held it till his death in 1484.
Donald O’Fallon, an Observantine Franciscan, was advanced to this see by
Pope Innocent VIII. on the 17th of May, 1485: “he was reckoned a man of
great reputation in his time for learning, and a constant course of
preaching through all Ireland, which he continued for full thirty
years”—(_Ware_). He died in the year 1500.
James Mac Mahon is the first bishop whose name appears in the sixteenth
century. He was Commendatory Prior of the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, at
Knock, in the county Louth, and died in December, 1517.
William Hogeson, which is probably a corruption of the Irish name
_O’Gashin_, was appointed his successor by Pope Leo X. on 8th of August,
1520. He belonged to the order of St. Dominic, and seems to have
administered the see till 1529.
Roderick or Rory O’Donnell, Dean of Raphoe, was chosen by Pope Clement
VII., on 19th September, 1529, to occupy the see of Derry. This bishop was
very much opposed to the religious innovations which Henry VIII.
endeavoured to introduce into the Irish Church. In the _State Papers_
(vol. i. pag. 598) there is a letter dated 14th March, 1539, and addressed
by Lord Cromwell to the English king, in which the following eulogy is
passed on Dr. O’Donnell: “Also there be letters long from an arrant
traitor, Rorick, Bishop of Derry, in your grace’s land of Ireland, his
hand and great seal at it, to the Bishop of Rome, declaring the calamities
of the Papists in Ireland”. It was in the preceding year that Bishop
Roderick had mortally offended the agents of King Henry by his efforts to
preserve from their grasp the youthful Gerald, who, though yet in his
boyhood, was chief of the Geraldines, and destined, it was hoped, to
become one day the rallying point of a confederacy of the Irish
chieftains. In the month of May Gerald and his faithful escort passed
without molestation from the south to the north of Ireland, being
hospitably received in Thomond, Galway, and Sligo; and they were safely
entrenched within the barriers of Tyrconnell before the government spies
had even caught the intelligence of this journey. On the 28th of June the
Earl of Ormonde wrote a long letter to the council of Ireland, giving
information of the movements of young Gerald. From this letter we learn
that it was an Irish rhymist that acted as his spy amongst the Northern
chieftains, and that, according to the latest intelligence received from
him, “twenty-four horsemen, well apparrelled”, had been appointed to wait
upon the young Geraldine. The King of Scotland, too, solicited the Irish
princes to commit Gerald to his care. However, in another letter, of 20th
July, the same earl writes that this scheme was not pleasing to O’Neil and
O’Donnell, but “the Bishop O’Donnell (of Derry), James Delahoyde, Master
Levrous, and Robert Walshe, are gone as messengers to Scotland, to pray
aid from the Scottish king; and before their going, all the gentlemen of
Ulster, for the most part, promised to retain as many Scots as they should
bring with them, at their own expense and charges during the time of their
service in Ireland”—(_St. Pap._, iii. 52). Another information further
states that as a Christmas present in December, 1538, Art Oge O’Toole had
sent to Gerald “a saffron shirt trimmed with silk, and a mantle of English
cloth fringed with silk, together with a sum of money”—(_Ibid._, pag.
139). And a few months later Cowley writes from Dublin to the English
court, that “there never was seen in Ireland so great a host of Irishmen
and Scots, both of the out isles and of the mainland of Scotland; whilst
at the same time the pretended Earl of Desmond has all the strength of the
west”—(_Ibid._, pag. 145). It is not necessary to pursue the subsequent
events of this confederacy, as we have no express documents to attest the
share taken in it by the Bishop of Derry. One further fact alone connected
with our great prelate has been recorded by our annalists, and it, too,
regards the closing scene of his eventful life, viz., that before his
death he wished to become a member of the Franciscan order, and dying on
the 8th of October, 1550, “he was buried in the monastery of Donegal in
the habit of St. Francis”—(_Four Mast._, v. 1517).
Eugene Magennis, the next bishop, governed the see from 1551 to 1568. It
was during his episcopate that the venerable church and monastery of St.
Colomba, together with the town of Derry, were reduced to a heap of ruins.
The fact is thus narrated by Cox: “Colonel Saintlow succeeded Randolph in
the command of the garrison, and lived as quietly as could be desired; for
the rebels were so daunted by the former defeat that they did not dare to
make any new attempt; but unluckily, on the 24th day of April (1566), the
ammunition took fire, and blew up both the town and the fort of Derry,
whereby twenty men were killed, and all the victuals and provisions were
destroyed, and no possibility left of getting more, so that the soldiers
were necessitated to embark for Dublin”—(_Hist._, part i. pag. 322). This
disaster was regarded at the time as a divine chastisement for the
profanation of St. Columba’s church and cell, the latter being used by the
heretical soldiery as a repository of ammunition, whilst the former was
defiled by their profane worship—(_O’Sulliv._, pag. 96).
The next bishop was Raymond O’Gallagher, who, when receiving the
administration of the see of Killala, in 1545, is described in the
Consistorial Acts as “clericus dioecesis Rapotensis in vigesimotertio anno
constitutus”. It was also commanded that after four years, _i.e._ when he
would have attained his twenty-seventh year, he should be consecrated
Bishop of Killala. In 1569, he was translated from that see to Derry,
which he ruled during the many perils and persecutions of Elizabeth’s
reign, till, as Mooney writes, “omnium Episcoporurm Europae ordinatione
antiquissimus”, he died, full of years, on the 15th of March in 1601. In a
government memorial of 28th July, 1592, Dr. O’Gallagher is thus noticed:
“First in Ulster is one Redmondus O’Gallagher, Bishop of Derry.... The
said Bishop O’Gallagher hath been with divers governors of that land upon
protection, and yet he is supposed to enjoy the bishoprick and all the
aforesaid authorities these xxvi years and more, whereby it is to be
understood that he is not there as a man without authority and secretly
kept”—(_Kilken. Proceedings_, May, 1856, pag. 80). The xxvi of this
passage has led many into error as to the date of Dr. O’Gallagher’s
appointment to Derry, which, reckoning back from 1592, should be placed in
1567. However, that numeral probably is a misprint for xxiii, such
mistakes being very frequent in the mediaeval manuscripts, as well as in
more modern publications. The following extract from the papers of
Cardinal Morone in the Vatican archives, will serve to show that in 1569
the see was vacant by the death of Bishop Eugenius:—
“Litterae Reverendissimi Armachani ad Patrem Polancum: Quod Daniel
ab ipso nominatus fiat Episcopus Darensis: contentio de Episcopatu
Clogherensi inter duos, videtur ponendus tertius: Rapotensis et
Darensis non iverunt ad concilium Provinciale propter bella:
Archiepiscopus Armacanus haberet suam Ecclesiam si vellet
consentire Reginae: posset mitti subsidium pro Armachano ad
Praesidentem Collegii Lovaniensis: Archiepiscopus Armachanus male
tractatur in carceribus”.
This minute of Cardinal Morone bears no date, but is registered with a
series of papers of 1568 and 1569. The Father Polanco to whom the
Primate’s letter was addressed, was the Procurator-General of the Society
of Jesus, and was the same who was deputed to be bearer of the blessing of
the Holy Father to the dying founder of that great order. To the preceding
_minute_ are added the following remarks, which seem to have been
presented to the Cardinal by Father Polanco:—
“Archiepiscopus Armachanus scribit expedire ut tertius nominetur
Episcopus pro Clogherensi Dioecesi, non tamen favet Domino Milero.
Causa posset committi in partibus D. Episcopo Accadensi et
aliquibus aliis comprovincialibus Episcopis.
“Episcopatus Darensis in dicta Provincia Armachana vacat nunc per
obitum Eugenii ultimi Episcopi. Duo Hiberni dictae Dioecesis pro
eo obtinendo venerunt ad curiam: viz. Cornelius O’Chervallan cum
quibusdam litteris Patris David Wolff et cum aliis Rectoris
Lovanii. Item Magonius (Mac Mahon) Abbas commendatus litteris
Episcoporum Rapotensis et Kilmorensis cum approbatione capituli
Darensis”.
Dr. O’Gallagher, however, was the person chosen by the Holy See, and was
proclaimed in consistory before the close of 1569. A few years later we
find faculties communicated to him by Rome for his own diocese, and for
the whole province of Armagh, “quamdiu venerabilis frater Richardus
Archiepiscopus Armachanus impeditus a Dioecesi et Provincia Armachana
abfuerit”—(13 April, 1575, _Ex. Secret. Brev._). About 1594 other special
faculties were again communicated to him through Cardinal Allan—(ap.
_King, Hist._, pag. 1213); and we soon after meet with him in the camp of
O’Donnell, when that chieftain was gathering his forces to cut short the
military career of General Norris: “There were there”, writes O’Sullivan,
“some ecclesiastics, and especially Raymond O’Gallagher, Bishop of Derry,
and Vice-Primate of Ireland, who absolved from the excommunication which
they had incurred, those troops that passed from the Elizabethan ranks to
the Catholic army”—(_Hist. Cath._, p. 181). It was in 1596 that Norris set
out with about 10,000 men to invade North Connaught and Tyrconnell. That
general was flushed with his victories in France and Belgium, nevertheless
he was obliged to ignominiously retreat from the Ulster frontiers, being
unable even to bring to battle the chosen army of 5,000 men which was led
by the brave O’Donnel.
On the 22nd of July, 1597, an Irishman named Bernard O’Donnell was
arrested at Lisle, and brought before the royal court, accused of carrying
on treasonable intercourse with the Spanish government, and of being
bearer of despatches from the Irish bishops and chieftains to the
authorities in Spain and Rome. From one of the questions proposed to him
at his cross-examination, we glean some further particulars connected with
our Bishop of Derry:—
“Respondes tibi nulla fuisse negotia ab Hibernis commissa: et
tamen reperimus prae manibus tuis litteras cujusdam Gabrielis
Vasci (Vasquez), Theologi Societatis Jesu ex Hispania decimo die
mensis Junii superioris (1596) scriptis Romam ad Franciscum
Rodrigum (Rodriquez) Societatis Jesu, quibus te illi unice
commendat scribitque te eo profecturum fuisse negotiorum
publicorum causa. Simul etiam invenimus exemplum manu tua scriptum
epistolae cujusdam a Remundo Derensi Episcopo ad summum
Pontificem, ex qua apparet, te, post tuum ex Hispania ad Hibernos
reditum, nobiles Hibernos firmasse et illis animum addidisse ad
arma suscipienda contra Reginam Angliae: idemque rogat summum
Pontificem, ut tibi fidem adhibeat in multis quae illi dicenda
tibi commisit. Invenimus etiam prae manibus tuis exemplum
litterarum manu tua exaratum quibus O’Nellus ille summum
Pontificem rogat ut tibi fidem adhibeat non modo in his quae illi
dicturus eras de beneficiorum Ecclesiasticorum dispensatione apud
Hibernos, sed etiam de omnibus rebus publicis Hibernorum? _Resp._
Agnosco equidem illa omnia exemplaria litterarum fuisse mea manu
scripta: sed ad cumulandam commendationem meam”.
Fortunately, appended to this examination, the letter itself of the Bishop
of Derry has been preserved to us. We present it in full to the reader, as
it is the only letter of this great bishop that the calamitous era of
persecution has permitted to reach us:—
“Copie de lettre escrite au Pape par Remond Derensis Episcopus.
“Tuam Sanctitatem latere non arbitramur quam alacri et excelso
animo nostrae nobilitatis praecipui, Sancti haud dubie Spiritus
instinctu, tyrannicae Anglorum pravitati ausi sunt resistere:
omnem ipsorum virulentiam et Satanici furoris artificia, aperto
marte viriliter irritando. Tametsi quis facile enumeret quae
quotidie volvantur et emergant quibus ut animum adderet, ipsosque
in hoc pulcherimo instituto spe subsidii confirmaret,
stabiliretque, cum lator praesentium N. (_sic._) ex Hispania
novissime venisset, cuncta ita uti sunt Catholicae majestati
fideliter relaturus, volumus atque monemus ut Tua quoque Sanctitas
fidem incunctanter eidem adhibeat; ac luctuosae tuae Hiberniae et
innumeris cladibus ab haereticis jamdiu afflictae, squalidam ac
funestam faciem benigno vultu aspiciat et egregiam hanc occasionem
divinitus, ut credimus, oblatam opportune arripiat, memor quam
eadem esse soleat occipiti calvo: suisque fidelissimis non modo ab
ineunte Christianismo clientibus, sed ab aliquot annorum centuriis
regio jure subditis, quam maturee poterit clementer prospiciat, ac
expectationis nostrae ac Tabellarii, cui pleraque Tuae Sanctitati
nuncianda relinquimus, desiderio satisfaciat: cujus etiam nos,
generis, industriae, nobilitatis, ac sinceri et vehementis in
religionem et patriam affectus, rationem habentes, Tuam oramus
Sanctitatem ut eundem benigno favore prosequatur, ipsique de
dignitate _N._ providere non cunctetur nostrum in hac re judicium
auctoritate sua comprobando”—(_St. Pap._, Public Rec. Off.
London).
With this evidence before him, the reader may fully appreciate the
favourite modern theory of the defenders of the Protestant Establishment,
that, forsooth, the Irish bishops during Elizabeth’s reign abandoned the
faith of their fathers, and became liege servants of the church by law
established! Dr. Cotton when speaking of our see makes a somewhat more
reserved, but equally erroneous statement: “Redmond O’Gallagher”, he says,
“was bishop at this time, but whether recognised as such by Queen
Elizabeth and the Protestant Church _does not appear_”—(_Fasti_, iii.
315). Why, it does appear as plainly as the noon-day sun that he was the
determined enemy of the Protestant queen and her establishment: throughout
his whole episcopate he was a devoted pastor of the Catholic Church, and
thus his fidelity and devotion to the cause of God merited for him in
death the martyr’s crown. First on the list of those who suffered for the
faith during the reign of Elizabeth is reckoned by Dr. Mathews, Archbishop
of Dublin, in 1623, “Redmondus Galluthurius Darensis Episcopus et
Martyr”—(_Relat. ad. S. C. de Prop. Fid._) Mooney, writing in 1617, also
styles him a martyr: “Episcopus Redmondus Gallaher martyr obiit anno
1601”; and O’Sullivan Beare, about the same time, adds some of the
circumstances of his death: “Raymundus O’Gallacher”, he writes, “Derii vel
Luci Episcopus, ab Anglis bipennibus confessus, et capite truncatus annum
circiter octogesimum agens”—(_Hist. Cath._, pag. 77). The Four Masters (ad
an. 1601) also mention his being put to death by the English; and Rothe
reckons him amongst those who suffered for the faith. Tradition still
points out the spot on which the venerable bishop was slain, almost midway
on the high road between O’Kane’s Castle and Dungiven. (See Dr. Kelly’s
_Essays_, with the additions of Dr. M’Carthy: Dublin, 1864, pag. 425).
It now only remains to notice some few popular errors connected with this
see.
1. On account of the old Latin form of the name of this see, _i.e._
_Darensis_, it has frequently been confounded with the Diocese of Kildare.
Thus, not to mention more recent examples, Ware severely criticises Bale
of Ossory for falling into this mistake—(_Bishops_, pag. 190). The chief
criterion for distinguishing between the two sees, is the mention which is
generally made of the metropolitan to whom the brief is addressed, or of
the ecclesiastical province to which the diocese belongs.
2. Dr. King notices as an improbability that O’Gallagher could have been
bishop for fifty-two years, and, nevertheless, be only (as Dr. King
imagines) seventy years of age at his death. However, true dates are sure
always to mutually correspond. Referring to the Consistorial Acts, cited
above, it appears that in 1545 Dr. O’Gallagher was in his twenty-third
year, and that a dispensation was then granted to him to be consecrated
bishop in his twenty-seventh year: hence, at his death in 1601, Dr.
O’Gallagher may very well have attained the fifty-second year of his
Episcopate, whilst he will be found, not indeed in his seventieth year,
but, as O’Sullivan writes, “circa octogesimum annum agens”.
3. The succession of bishops in the See of Derry affords a practical
refutation of the novel theory so fashionable now-a-days amongst the
clergy of the Establishment, that forsooth the native clergy without
hesitation embraced the tenets of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, and that the
Catholic Church was only upheld in our island “by begging friars and
foreign priests”. We pray the reader whenever he hears such a statement
made, to call to mind the See of Derry. Was Roderick, “the arrant
traitor”, in the days of King Henry, a _foreign priest_ and a stranger to
our island? Was Raymond O’Gallagher a foreigner during Elizabeth’s reign?
Oh! ask the faithful of Innishowen, amongst whom he first exercised his
sacred ministry—ask the camps of Maguire, O’Donnell, and O’Neill! Ask,
too, the very enemies of our holy faith, the first founders of the
Protestant Establishment: their deeds will tell you that he was the true
pastor of the fold, and hence they set a price upon his head, and at
length conferred on him the martyr’s crown.
There was, however, one foreign prelate who received an appointment in
Derry at this period, and he was precisely _the first_ and _only_
Protestant nominee to this see during Elizabeth’s reign. “To the two
northern sees of Raphoe and Derry”, writes Dr. Mant, “Elizabeth made no
collation, unless in the year 1595, when her reign was drawing towards its
close”—(_Hist._, i. 284). George Montgomery, a Scotchman, was the
individual thus chosen to be the first representative of the
_Establishment_ in our northern sees. His patent for the sees of Clogher,
Derry, and Raphoe, was dated the 13th of June, 1595, where already for
many years a canonically appointed bishop ruled the fold of Christ. The
good sense, however, of the Knoxian reformer judged it more prudent not to
risk himself and family amidst the O’Kanes whilst arms were in the hands
of the Irish chieftains: he hence consigned to oblivion his royal patent,
and allowed the Irish pastors to feed in peace their spiritual fold. Even
when, in 1605, he sought for a new appointment to these sees at the hands
of King James, as we learn from Mant, Ware, and other Protestant
authorities, he took care to make no allusion to the writ which he had
formerly received in the thirty-seventh year of Elizabeth.