Description

This extensive historical collection provides an invaluable window into the evolving role of the Catholic priesthood in the West of Ireland over four hundred turbulent years. By charting the biographies of fifty individual priests within the Diocese of Killala, the text explores the underground survival of the church during the Penal Laws, the active involvement of clerics in the 1798 Rebellion, the struggles to manage localized relief during the Great Famine, and the modernization of the modern parish. It is a brilliant genealogical and ecclesiastical reference work, drawn directly from diocesan archives, providing distinct insights into the complex relationship between regional spiritual leaders and their communities.