In the earlier part many foot-notes appear, detracting, probably, from the artistic effect of the page. But it is some consolation that they are far less full than in Mitchelet's life of Luther, which has been pronounced a model of biographic composition. Be this as it may, I gradually relinquished them altogether, or welded their strength into the text. If Dr. Lanigan had errors-and that he had any has yet to be shown-I disclaim any attempt to justify them. I have no sympathy with his mistakes, if any; but I have every sympathy with his sufferings, his patriotism, his genius, his achievements, his aspirations. I believe there is internal evidence in one page only to show that these sheets were printed off several months ago, though, for reasons uninteresting to explain, their publication was deferred. I allude to a passage in which poor Charles Lever is spken of as still alive. The delay in question was at least useful in confirming the accuracy of some anecdotes introduced. For instance, I did not at first know who the two professors were who visited Dr. Crowley after he had left the Catholic Church and become a parson (p. 93); but inquiries since instituted at Maynooth show that Dr. Crolly, afterwards Primate, was one, . and Dr. Denvir, afterwards Bishop of Down, the other. W. J. F. 75 Pembroke-road, Dublin. 15th December, 1872, IRISH WITS AND WORTHIES; INCLUDING DR. LANIGAN, HIS LIFE AND TIMES. CHAPTER I. BIRTH AND BOYHOOD IN CASHEL. "See the space within yon dwelling, 'Tis the cold blank space of death; Lowly at the Virgin's altar Will his kinsfolk kneel in prayer." CROFTON CROKER. JOHN LANIGAN, the eminent ecclesiastical historian of Ireland, was born in the city of Cashel, two houses from the entrance gate of the Protestant archiepiscopal palace, and within the broad shadow of the Rock of Cashel, A.D. 1758. Mr. Henebry Green, in an interesting pamphlet of fifteen pages, devoted to a sketch of Dr. Lanigan, published at Cincinnati, U.S., ten years ago, incorrectly assigns a house in "antique Chapel-lane" as the natal site; but we have been at some pains to trace and identify the spot. The day or even month of his birth, however, is not known, as the baptismal registries of Cashel do not date back further than the close of the last century, owing to the more than ordinary severity of the penal code in Munster, of the extent of which, at one period, an idea may be formed from the fact that Dr. O'Hurly, Archbishop of Cashel, because he refused to acknowledge the royal supremacy and repudiate the Pope's, was tortured on * a gridiron, and finally hanged. Numerous other instances of greater or less severity could be cited. The lash had ceased to smart and the bludgeon had ceased to smite, but the marks of both still lay upon the Irish Catholic priest, when John Lanigan first drew breath in the middle of the eighteenth century. The sept from which he sprang was an ancient one. According to high authority, the Lanigans of the county Tipperary are the O'Longachains of HyCoonagh, near Crotta-cliach-the Galtee Mountains-and of the same race as the O'Dwyers.† *The late Dr. O'Renehan, President of Maynooth College, a native of the diocese of Cashel, and an indefatigable collector of rare historic documents, has given a startling account of Dr. O'Hurly's sufferings "The holy prelate was then bound to the trunk of a large tree, with his hands and feet chained, and his legs forced into long leather boots reaching up to the knees, as they used to be worn then. The boots were filled with salt, butter, oil, hemp, and pitch; and the martyr's body was stretched on an iron grate over a fire and cruelly tortured for more than an hour. The pitch, oil, and other materials boiled over, the skin was torn off the feet, and even large pieces of flesh, so as to leave the bones quite bare." But the description is too painful to pursue to its climax. Those desirous of learning the most accurate account of the execution will find it supplied by the Rev. C. P. Meehan, M.R.I.A., who unshrouded the harrowing detail from original documents deposited in the State Paper Office. Letter from the late John O'Donovan, LL.D., to the author, 13th July, 1860. As every waif and stray of this great Irishman is interesting, a more extended extract from this letter may be given: "MY DEAR FRIEND-With respect to the origin of the family of Lanigan, I had once been of opinion that they are the O'Flanagans of Kinel-Arga in Ely O'Carroll-that is, I thought that O'Lanigain was put for O'Flanagain by the aspiration of the f, as in O'Lyn for O'Flyn. But I have latterly changed my idea on this subject, for my opinion now is that the Lanigans of the county of Tipperary are the O'Longachains of Hy-Coonagh, near Crotta-cliach-the Galtee Mountains-of the same race as the O'Dwyers. We, of the south of the ancient Ossory, always call the Lanigans by the strange name of O'Luingeachain, which certainly is not O'Flanagan; but I can only speculate on its probable origin. The Rev. Mr. Fitzgerald, P.P. of Ballingarry, is a good Irish scholar, and very fond of Irish historical researches, and will, I feel confident, coinmunicate to you all he knows about the Lanigans of Tipperary." Our late friend, Dr. Fitzgerald, to whom Dr. O'Donovan referred us, had no information to impart, although diocesan traditions were The name is also occasionally found among our Cambrian neighbours with an extra 1, as in Llewellyn; and, without going so far as to assert that some trace of the former influence of the sept presents itself in the town of Llanigan, Brecnockshire, South Wales, the fact may be mentioned at least as a coincidence.* But Tipperary has always been the nursery of their race, and traces of their former possessions in that fine county may be found in "the Cross of Ballylanigan," near Mullinahone, and the valuable estate adjacent, now owned by Mrs. Pennyfeather, Ballylanigan House. John Lanigan's father and mother had sixteen children, of whom John was the eldest, and Mrs. Anne Kennedy, who died at Clonmel 30th October, 1860, was the youngest. Mary Anne Dorkan, of Beakstown, Holycross, the mother of Dr. Lanigan, is traditionally described as a very superior woman, whose mind was as original as her appearance was beautiful. Her brother, a person of good family, possessed such eminently engaging social qualities that he acquired, through the length and breadth of Tipperary, the sobriquet, "Silver-tongue of the Golden Vale." The father of our historian was a native of Dundrum, i. e. the fort on the hill, or as it is sometimes styled, Ballinin general very full with him. We give his reply, that the subsequent success of our researches may prove the more welcome. Dr. Fitzgerald writes: "I cannot say that I have any information that could be of use in Dr. Lanigan's biography. I have often inquired about him, and with little success. Even in Cashel the clergy there know very little of his history. A Mr. Lanigan, the present proprietor of Castle Fogarty, and John Lanigan, M.P. for the borough of Cashel, are the most respectable of the name in this county. Both the P.P. of Kilcummin and his curate are of the name, but they know no facts whatever appertaining to the ecclesiastical historian's life." *Historians record that when the Romans had, after four centuries, relinquished Britain, it became exposed to the inroads of the Picts and the Scots on the north; while the west-Wales-was invaded by the Irish. † Dr. Lanigan had four sisters-Mary, Catherine, Hobanna, and Anne. Catherine was considered the belle of Cashel. |