Edmund O'Reilly (b. at

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, 3 January 1598; d. at

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

, France, 8 March 1669) was an Irish

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as the

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

and

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland belongs to the diocesan bishop of the Irish diocese with highest precedence. The Archbishop of Armagh is titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior ...

from 1657 to 1669.

Biography

His father was Gearoid O'Reilly. Edmund's pedigree is preserved in the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

(Ms 23 F 11, pp. 32–47 & Ms 23 F 12, p. 31). He was a descendant of the O'Raghallaigh chiefs of East Breifne and was born in Dublin on 3 January 1598. Edmund was educated in Dublin and ordained there in 1629. After ordination he studied at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

, where he held the position of prefect of the college of Irish Secular Ecclesiastics. In 1640 he returned to Dublin and was appointed

vicar-general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar ...

. In 1642 the

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is the head of the Archdiocese of Dublin in the Catholic Church, responsible for its spiritual and administrative needs. The office has existed since 1152, in succession to a regular bishopric (subject to Canterbury, ...

, Thomas Fleming, having been appointed on the Supreme Council of the Confederate Catholics, transferred his residence to

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

and until 1648 O'Reilly administered the Archdiocese of Dublin. With the triumph of the

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

he was imprisoned and his deposition was taken on the 8th e 1652.http://1641.tcd.ie/deposition.php?depID=811219r150 In 1653, ordered to quit the country, he took refuge at the Irish College of Lisle where he was notified of his appointment to the See of Armagh, and shortly after consecrated at

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. Ireland was then a dangerous place for ecclesiastics, and not until 1658 did he attempt to visit his diocese; even then he could proceed no further than London. Once more ordered to quit the country, he returned to France, but in the following year went to Ireland, this time directly from France, and for the next two years exercised his ministry. Accused of favouring the Puritans and of being an enemy of the

Stuarts The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been hel ...

, he was ordered by the pope to quit Ireland. At Rome he was able to vindicate himself, but he was not allowed to return to Ireland by the English authorities until 1665, and then only in the hope that he would favour the Remonstrance of

Peter Valesius Walsh Peter Walsh, O.F.M., (; c. 1618 – March 15, 1688) was an Irish theologian and controversialist. Biography Peter Walsh was born near Mooretown, County Kildare. His father was a chandler in Naas, and his mother is said to have been an English p ...

. O'Reilly, like the great majority of the Irish bishops and priests, rejected it, nor could the entreaties of Walsh or the threats of

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde Lieutenant general, Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, Knight of the Garter, KG, Privy Council of England, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond fr ...

change him. In consequence he was imprisoned by Ormonde, and when released, driven from the kingdom. He spent the remaining years of his life in France, chiefly concerned with the care of the Irish colleges there. He died at

, France on 8 March 1669 and was buried in the Church of Notre Dame des Ardilliers at Saumur on St. Patrick's Day 17 March 1669.

References

*Stuart, ''Historical Memoirs of Armagh'', ed. Coleman (Dublin, 1900) *Renehen, ''Irish Archbishops'' (Dublin, 1861) *D'Alton, ''Archbishops of Dublin'' (Dublin, 1838) *Brady, ''Episcopal Succession in Ireland and England'' (Rome, 1876) *Tomás Ó Fiaich, "Edmund O'Reilly, archbishop of Armagh 1637-1669" in Father Luke Wadding Commemorative Volume, pp. 171–228.

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Edmund 1616 births 1669 deaths 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Roman Catholic archbishops of Armagh People of the Irish Confederate Wars Christian clergy from County Dublin