Ulick Nally (; ) was a parish priest, who worked around 1680 - 1697.
Background
Due to the impact of the
Penal Laws on late seventeenth-century
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priests who celebrated the mass could be hung and severe penalties, up to the death penalty, could be imposed upon those who supported priests. O'Conor of Sylane,
Tuam
Tuam ( ; ga, Tuaim , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. Humans have lived in the area since the Bron ...
, received a letter from a Catholic bishop recommending "a poor way-worn man in the gear of a servant" for a position in his house. Recognizing Nally as a priest, "O'Conor engaged him on the spot as a servant, taking care that there should be witnesses of the hiring for his own security." By these means, Nally became one of the few priests who worked without prosecution.
The base of the stone cross upon the
mass rock reads "UN P.P. H O'CONOR 1680."
References
* ''Another Corofin Bishop from Sylane: Dr. Thomas O'Connor, Bishop of Achonry'', by Liam Ó Mainnín and Seán Ó Cuinneagáin, in ''Sylane National School 150th Anniversary'', ed. John Lardner, Margaret Murray, Phil Moran, Tuam, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nally, Ulick
Christian clergy from County Galway
17th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests