Private. II. CATHOLICS. Mr. Cooke to the Rev. Dr. Troy. Dublin, October 25, 1800. Dear Sir-According to your desire, I enclose to you a list of Queries, on which it is requested you will obtain every information in your power, in order that his Majesty's Ministers may be possessed of the state of the Roman Catholic Church in this kingdom. It is extremely wished that the information desired may be procured with as much expedition as possible. I have the honour to be, &c., The Rev. Dr. Troy to Mr. Cooke. E. COOKE. North King Street, Dublin, December 20, 1800. Dear Sir-In compliance with your desire, I have the honour to inform you that the regular Roman Catholic Clergy of Ireland, and everywhere, are subject to the respective Bishops, without whose license they cannot preach, hear confessions, or administer any sacrament. The Bishops likewise take cognizance of their conduct. With respect to the observance of domestic discipline peculiar to the respective religious institutions, each order is governed by a Provincial, elected every third or fourth year by the senior members. I shall mention the names of the present Provincials, and their places of abode, on the next side, and have the honour to be, Your most faithful humble servant, Provincials of the Religious Orders in Ireland. Franciscans-Rev. Bernard Brady, Adam and Eve, Dublin. Dominicans-Rev. Patrick Gibbons, Denmark Street, Dublin. Augustinians-Rev. Edmond Keating, Brunswick Street, Cork. Carmelites-Rev. Patrick O'Ferrall, Kildare. Teresian Carmelites-Rev. Andrew O'Hara, Clarendon Street, Dublin. Capuchins, a branch of Franciscans-Rev. Celestine Corcoran, Church Street, Dublin. N.B. Of the Regulars in Ireland, there are 150 Parish Priests and Curates. Many others officiate in the parish chapels, and all assist the Secular Clergy. Their total number of every description does not exceed 400. That of the Secular Clergy does not exceed 1,400; all together are insufficient to comply duly with the various functions of their ministry. Many more are requisite for the instruction, &c., of a numerous and increasing population. The want of them at present is caused by the destruction of Irish Seminaries in France, Flanders, and Italy, since the French Revolution. Five hundred Clerical Students were educated in these different seminaries. Dr. Troy to Lord Castlereagh. Dublin, August 30, 1799. Dr. Troy has the honour to Answer the following Queries proposed to him by the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Castlereagh : Q. 1. What is the precise mode in which the Catholic Bishops are appointed?-A. The Catholic Bishops receive canonical institution from the Pope. Without it they cannot be consecrated: such is the general discipline of the Catholic Church. In Ireland, the Catholic Bishops are usually appointed at the instance and recommendation of the respective Prelates of the Province. Q. 2. What is the gradation of church preferment from the Bishop to the parish Priest?-A. Each Bishop has one or more Vicars-General, who exercise his ordinary jurisdiction as delegated by him. The Priests are first employed as assistants or Curates to the parish Priests, and afterwards succeed them. A Dean and Prebendaries compose a Chapter in each diocese as in the Established Church, but exercise no jurisdiction in that capacity. They are generally parish Priests, and appointed by the Bishop, except the Dean, or first Dignitary, who is named by the Pope, at the recommendation of the respective Bishop. Q. 3. What number of religious houses in each province?— A. Dr. Troy cannot at present exactly state the number of religious houses in each province. There are, he thinks, about one hundred in the kingdom, mostly in the cities and large towns. Q. 4. Of what particular orders?—A. The religious orders in Ireland are Dominicans, Franciscans, including Capuchins, Augustinians, Carmelites, and two Trinitarians-Dominicans and Franciscans are the most numerous. The total number of Individuals composing these orders does not exceed 250. Q. 5. By whom, and in what manner, are the principals and subordinate officers appointed, and their gradations?-A. The respective orders are governed by a superior called Provincial, elected by the seniors amongst themselves, every third or fourth year. Each religious house is governed by a Prior or Guardian, elected by the members of it when they are sufficiently numerous, or nominated by the Provincial. Many of the Regulars act as Curates to the parish Priests, and some of them are parish Priests. All of them assist the Secular Clergy by preaching, hearing confessions, visiting the sick, &c. The respective Bishops take cognizance of their public conduct. Without the license of the Bishop, they cannot preach, hear confessions, or administer sacraments. respect they are constituted as in England. Queries to Dr. Troy. In every J. T. TROY. October 25, 1800. Q. 1. What are the Roman Catholic Bishoprics in each Province, and which of them are united, and what is the income of each See, and whence does it arise, and what are the commendams held with each? Q. 2. What is the nature of the Chapter of each Diocese, and what stipends have the members of each Chapter as such? Q. 3. What is the number of Deaneries in each Province, and what is their value, and how are their incomes made up? Q. 4. What is the number of Roman Catholic benefices in each Province, distinguishing unions from single benefices, and what is the value of each benefice, and whence does the value arise, and what are the precise dues which form the value, and does the value so far arise from the greatness and population of the benefice as to show its relative real importance? Q. 5. What are the number of Curates and coadjutors in each Diocese, and to what benefices do they belong, and whence do they derive their support, and are the Curates and Coadjutors Regulars or Seculars? Q. 6. What is the number of Monastic Institutions in Ireland, and what number does each contain, and how are they supported, and what duties do they perform? Q. 7. What is the number of the regular Priests in Ireland, distinguishing the orders and the number of each order? Q. 8. By whom, and by what form of appointment or election are the Roman Catholic Metropolitans and Bishops constituted; by what form are the Deans constituted, the Prebendaries, the Rectors, Vicars, Coadjutors, and Curates in each Province ? Q. 9. What are the canons of discipline by which the Irish Roman Catholic Church is regulated? Q. 10. What are the regulations with respect to their marriages, viz., who can marry, what qualifications are required, what consent of parents, what license, what dispensations are allowed, and how granted? Q. 11. Has the Irish Roman Catholic Church any particular liberties (as the Gallican), and what are they, and is there any regulation as to the appeal to Rome? Return to the Queries proposed by his Majesty's Ministers to the Roman Catholic Prelates of Ireland, relative to the present state of their Church. Dublin, November 29, 1800. 1. There are four Metropolitical Bishoprics in Ireland, which denominate the four Ecclesiastical Provinces into which its Roman Catholic Church is divided, viz., Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam. In the Province of Armagh are the following Roman Catholic Bishoprics: Meath, Clogher, Raphoe, Dromore, Ardagh, Downe and Connor united, Derry, and Kildare and Leighlin united, Ferns and Ossory. In the Province of Cashel, are Killaloe, Cork, Cloyne and Ross united, Limerick, Waterford and Lismore united, Ardfert and Aghadoe united, Kilfenora and Kilmacduagh united. In the Province of Tuam are, Killala, Clonfert, Elphin, Achonry. N.B. Glandelough is merged in the Metropolitan See of Dublin; Emly is united to that of Cashel; Kilmacduagh is in the Province of Tuam, though united with Kilfenora, which is in the Province of Cashel; Clonmacnoise is merged in the Bishopric of Ardagh; Galway and its district has a Warden and Vicars. The income of each Bishopric, and the sources from which such income arises, will be stated in the particular return of each Bishop for his diocese. |