Life
Catholic bishop of Limerick; author of The State of Ireland (1977).
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Works
The State of Ireland (Cork: Mercier 1977), 126pp.
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Notes
God & Fatherland: The State of Ireland (1977),
‘Democracy and Majority Interests’, includes remarks: ‘I
have been disappointed by the use which has been made by Dr Garret FitzGerald
of a book which I published in 1962, and which sought to show that the
special position given to the Catholic Church by the then Article 44 of
the Constitution was not incompatible with democratic principles. I do
not retreat one whit from the views which I expressed in that book concerning
the democratic justification for that article and all that it implied.
I do, however, submit that this has nothing to do with the issue into
which Dr FitzGerald introduced it.’ (p.38.) ‘The proposition
that an overwhelmingly Catholic population should not be deprived of a
legal framework which helps them in sustaining their convictions, should
not be confused with attributing to them or their leaders a claim to impose
their private morals on others. True, it is difficult for anybody whose
educational formation has been mainly in fields other than that of philosophy
- and who may therefore be less attuned to philosophical distinctions
even in the realms of political philosophy - to grasp the validity of
this point. But the point remains valid for all that. (p.39). Further,
(‘On Being Irish’) ‘An Ireland too which in more recent
times was to give the United States the founder of its Navy, John Barry
and Chile its first President, Bernardo O’Higgins. An Ireland indeed
which can also be proud of having given to the city of Chicago its late
distinguished first citizen, Mayor Daley./Nor should we forget its accomplishments
in those later days also in the service of Catholic Christianity. I have
referred earlier to its work for the Church in Chicago. The fact is that
the apostolic endeavours of Irishmen during the last century, not only
in America but also in Australia and New Zealand, in India and Africa
too, indeed over the entire English-speaking world, were such - ironically
- as to conduce to the creation of a spiritual empire abroad within the
very framework of the Victorian empire that trod on Ireland at home. A
tradition was laid which was to bear immense fruit in the present century
in the missionary work of Irish priests and sisters and brothers, work
which places our country second to none in the preaching of the Gospel
of Christ./Lest I seem to concentrate overmuch on its Gaelic and Catholic
past, may I recall that Anglo-Irish Ireland too has been responsible for
the emergence of some of the most illustrious military, political and
literary figures that the world has ever seen—Wellington of Waterloo
and Montgomery of Alamein, Burke, Goldsmith, Shaw and Synge, Yeats and
a host of others. What other country can boast of such riches?/I would
ask people to note, however, that the times of greatest accomplishment
and forward-looking initiative in Ireland have always been those of greatest
stress and travail. (…; 122.) […] In truth its periods of disturbance
have always been productive periods for Ireland. Which brings me to the
Ireland of the present. (p.123.) […] ‘In the case of Ireland
just now there is special need for this, for the kind of concerted involvement
on all sides that will bring about a lasting settlement in our country.
Thank God, the signs are that this concern and understanding are beginning
to have effect and that we may hope that a new Ireland in which sectarian
and political strife will be finally buried and in which all Irishmen
will live together in justice and peace is about to emerge./I am sure
I will be understood when I express the hope that this new Ireland will
remain faithful to the best in the Christian and Irish heritage. There
is a great deal of talk in Ireland at present about the need for a pluralist
society, which would obliterate all differences between people and put
an end to all divisive elements. In many respects this is a most laudable
objective. Still, people will understand me also when I say that I hope
that such a programme will never saddle our homeland with the kind of
secular society that would sell out on the values that our fathers held
sacred./One of the most annoying, frustrating and indeed dangerous features
of contemporary Irish life is the way in which a self-opinionated and
self-appointed minority is striving to force its view on a passive Irish
public, on a people who wish for nothing better than to continue to live
decent Irish and Christian lives such as they have known and to be afforded
the socio-legal framework that will support them in doing so. Certainly
the people whom I have met since I returned to Limerick - whether rich
or poor - have, generally speaking, no hankering after a secular or internationalist
Ireland of a kind that would progressively forget the things of fatherland
and of [126] God. […] The import of this paper is that Ireland -
our Ireland - is a truly great country, historically great and great in
its contemporary situation, despite the disturbance and the conflict.
This Ireland, a small nation, has proved itself to be an entity to be
reckoned with. I am convinced that, small though it is and leaving aside
the current world economic difficulties, which will surely pass, our country
is due for a distinguished and prosperous future. That future will be
all the more sure in the context of political unity. One thing is quite
certain. We can be proud of our Irish ancestry. Few countries can boast
of a greater impact in the making of our world.’ [END] (See also
under Richard Kearney, Rx.)
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Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)