The Irish standard., 1905-09-23
GREAT PRELATE
The Useful Work Accomplished
by DR.. O'Gallagher,
Bishop Of Kildare, in Preserving
the Gaelic Tongue.

The Feis committee OF the County
Kildare has given the place OF honor
in the literary competition to the es-
say entitled, OR. O'Gallagher, bishop
u Kildare
"Why it should be so is our purpose
now to tell, says the Leinster Guard
ian. In the disappearing districts OF
the North and West the name OF DIR.
O'Gallagher-at one time bishop of
Raphoe and later bishop of Kildare
and Leighlin-has been for years a
household word. But here, where IN
his old age he labored and suffered for
his prosecuted fock-with the tenn
porary loss Of the Celtic tongue-the
fame, and almost the name, Of this
sanity prelate and great Irish scholar
are forgotten. Although he was not
native of this diocese or province, he
NAV have had some of the blue blood
of the ancient Leinster kings cours-
ing in his veins. For, the tenth cen
tury warrior, Gallchobhair (Gallchob-
DETERMINATIONS of valor) from whom
the family name is derived, was the
twelfth in lineal descent from Conall
Cuban, son of the noted conquering
monarch, Mall of the Nine Hostages.
The same Conall Cuban was the great
grandfather of the poet, patriotic and
greatest of our Irish-born saints-St.
Colmcille. And this saints mother,
Ethne, was the direct descendant Of
the royal line of Cathaoir Nor, the
regnant family of Leinster
With the frequent inter-marriages
among the nobility it is more than
probable that the ehieftain, O'Gallag-
her, derived his valorous qualities and
noble virtues from the same source
t'elimdh and Ethne-that gave to Ire.
land the fiery, earnest statesmen, and
to Scotland the renowned missionary
Abbott of far-famed Iona. In any case
the O'Gallaghers were a notable fam
lily in church and state. They were
the trusted and formidable liegemen
CT the ODonnell in guarding the from
tiers, and for centuries held the castles
Of Ballyshannon and Lifford in the
County Donegal. AS many as seven
bishops OF Raphoe belonged to this
clan, as did also the martyr-bishop Of
Derry, Redmond O'Gallagher.
No definite information is available
to determine the date and place of
birth of DR., James O'Gallagher, the
subject of our present sketch. But
he, like so many other Irish priests in
the penal days, made the adventurous
journey to the Continent. He studied
for some time at Paris, and later on,
probably in the first years of the eigh-
teenth century, at the College Of Prop
uganda, Rome. In 1925 he was ap-
pointed bishop of Raphoe, and on the
14th of November in that year was
consecrated at Drogheda, where the
Dominicans had a strong foundation.
There are other points dwelt upon by
biographers of DIR. O'Gallagher which
make it very probable that he himself
was member Of the same order. His
new dignity brought with it the con-
slant privation and toilsome duty of
an Irish bishop in those troublesome
times. While there is no earthly
record of nine years thus spent, an
event that took place in 1874 shows
strikingly how difficult and dangerous
were missionary labors in the eigh-
teenth century. During an official
visit to Killygarvan he was invited to
dine at landlords place in the neigh
borhood, but did not think it safe to
go there; and so he remained with the
parish priest, Father Hegarty. Retir-
ing to rest at the usual time he found
he could not sleep, and at midnight
rose to tell his host he was about to
depart. AS the night was dark and
stormy, Father Hegarty did not wish
him to go and prevailed on him to re-
turn to bed. But he did not remain
long there till his fears increased. He
quietly left the house unknown to all
in 1t, saddled his horse and departed
for Rathmullen.
Very soon, from the Milford side,
came the e-Buchanan-and
his soldiers to take and imprison the
"popish bishop" Having searched
every corner of Father Hegarty's
house in vain for their prey, the dis
appointed soldiers took the aged priest
with them. But not far-for, with the
coming dawn Buchanan's party found
themselves pursued by multitude of
Father Hegarty's faithful flock. Then
the brutal magistrate fearing rescue,
shot the priest dead and himself es.
capped, owing to the horror-stricken
grief of the people as they gathered
round the remains of their pastor. It
was nearly century and half after.
wards-in 1S7S-at the assassination
of tyrant landowner, Lord I.eitrim
OF evil memory, there also persisted
the last descendant of the brutal Blu
chanan. But DR.. O'Gallagher had
meantime escaped, thus providentially
saved; and remained for some time
safely concealed in an island of the