John O'Mahony (1844–1912) was an Irish

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

, writer and founder member of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. Born near

Enniskean The twin villages of Ballineen () and Enniskeane, or Enniskean, () in County Cork in Ireland are southwest of Cork city, on the R586 road. The linear settlement lies on the River Bandon between Bandon and Dunmanway. The combined settlement i ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

in 1844, O'Mahony was educated in Bandon and

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

before attending

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

. He was ordained in 1870 and moved to Cork city where he was a curate in South (St. Finbar's) Parish. During the 1880s, he was a supporter of the

Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...

Home Rule movement Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governanc ...

and of

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nati ...

. This political position was at odds with that of the then

Bishop of Cork The Bishop of Cork was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the city of Cork in Ireland. The title is now united with other bishoprics. In the Church of Ireland it is held by the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and in the Roman ...

, William Delany, who transferred O'Mahony out of Cork city to a rural parish. Despite an appeal to Rome, this "demotion" was not overturned. After Delany's death, O'Mahony returned to Cork to North (Cathedral) Parish. In later life, O'Mahony was a supporter of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

and was president of the Maynooth Union. Having "literary and antiquarian interests", he was a founder member of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, and contributed a number of articles to the society's journal. O'Mahony died at

Crookstown, County Kildare Crookstown () is a village in the south of County Kildare, Ireland. It lies in the townland of Crookstown Upper on the R448 road where it meets the R415 regional road, about south of Dublin. It has a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a pri ...

on 4 January 1912. A statue of him, reputedly weighing 11 tons, was erected in the Catholic church in Cloghduv.

References

External links

Works by John O'Mahony (1844–1912) in National Library of Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:OMahony, John 1844 births 1912 deaths Irish antiquarians 19th-century antiquarians 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Christian clergy from County Cork