Robert Whittey, or Whitty (1370–1458) was a Bishop of Ferns in Ireland, notable for his long tenure of the

see See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

, and his great age at death. Tower House - geograph

He was the son of Sir Richard Whitty of Ballyteige Castle, outside Kilmore Quay,

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

. The Whittys were early

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

settlers in Wexford.Whitty p.59 Ballyteige was burnt around 1408 but quickly rebuilt: one tower of the castle still stands. Robert himself was in residence at Ballyteige in 1425. The Whittys retained possession of Ballyteige until they were expelled by Cromwellian forces in 1654. Robert was precentor of

Ferns Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Edan is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Ferns, County Wexford in Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Until 1949, the designation of the cathedral was the Cathedral Church of St. Ædan, a v ...

, and was elected bishop by the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

in February 1418.Grattan-Flood p.10 At that time the town of

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it the ...

, which his predecessor

Patrick Barrett Patrick Barrett (died 10 November 1415) was an Irishman who held religious and secular high offices in Ireland. Biography Patrick Barrett was an Augustinian Canon at Kells Priory in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory, County Kilkenny. He succ ...

had made the effective centre of the diocese in preference to Ferns itself, had long been under a papal interdict, as a punishment for a

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which resulted in the killing of several monks of the Order of Crutched Friars by the townspeople.Lewis, Samuel ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'' 1837 The Bishop worked hard to have the interdict lifted and was finally successful in 1435 in persuading Pope

Eugenius IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

to grant absolution to the townspeople of New Ross. He was a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. As he grew older, his health began to fail, and he is said to have been bedridden in his last years. Accordingly, a

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

of 1450 excused him from any further attendance at sessions of parliament or meetings of the Great Council, due to his "age and infirmity".''Statute 28 Henry VI (Drogheda) c.23'' "Robert, Bishop of Ferns, by reason of age and infirmity, excused from attendance..etc." In 1456 he was apparently well enough to sit on a three-man commission to choose the

High Sheriff of Wexford The High Sheriff of Wexford was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Wexford, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Irish Free State and replaced by the office of Wexford County Sheriff ...

.''Patent Roll 35 Henry VI'' He resigned the see in 1457, after a forty-year tenure, and died the following year, aged eighty-eight.

Sources

*Grattan-Flood, W.H. ''History of the Diocese of Ferns'' Waterford, Downey and Co. 1916 *

Nicholas Furlong Nicholas (Nicky)Furlong (born 1929 died 21 March 2022)Furlong, ''Fr John Murphy of Boolavogue 1753–1798'', p. vii. was an Irish farmer, journalist, author and historian from County Wexford. Personal life Nicholas Furlong was born in Wexford i ...

''History of Wexford'' Dublin, Gill and MacMillan 2003 *Whitty, M.J "The Whitty Tomb in the Ruined Church at Kilmore, County of Wexford" (1872) ''The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Society of Ireland'' Series 4 Vol.2

Notes

{{reflist Bishops of Ferns People from County Wexford 1370 births 1458 deaths