Joseph MacRory

Joseph Cardinal MacRory (Irish: Seosamh Mac Ruairí; 19 March 1861 – 13 October 1945) was an Irish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Armagh from 1928 until his death. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1929. He is regarded as the leading Catholic churchman in Ireland during the period spanning the 1916 Rising, Partition, and the Second World War.

Early life and education

Joseph MacRory was born on 19 March 1861 in Ballygawley, County Tyrone, one of ten children of Francis MacRory, a farmer, and his second wife, Rose (née Montague) MacRory. His younger sister Margaret MacRory became a leading nun in Australia. He studied at St. Patrick's College, Armagh and at Maynooth and was ordained to the priesthood on 13 September 1885.

His first appointment was as the first president of St. Patrick's Academy, Dungannon from 1886 to 1887.

MacRory went on to teach scripture and modern theology at St Mary's College, Oscott in England until 1889, at which stage he was appointed professor of scripture and Oriental languages at his alma mater of Maynooth College.

He was a founder member of the editorial team behind the creation of the Irish Ecclesiastical Review in 1902 and was appointed vice-president of Maynooth in 1912.

Bishop of Down and Connor

On 9 August 1915, MacRory was appointed Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Benedict XV and received his episcopal consecration on 14 November from Michael Cardinal Logue. He chose as his episcopal motto Fortis in Fide ("Strong in Faith").

From 1917-18, he was one of the four clerical members of the Irish Convention and said, in a letter to the Rector of the Pontifical Irish College that he was attending in order to oppose partition "with all my heart."