Micheál Ó Mordha
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Michael Moore () (c.1639–1726) was an Irish priest, philosopher, and educationalist.


Early life

Moore – generally referred to as ''Moore'' or ''Moor'' in contemporary documents – was born in
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 ...
about 1639. He left Ireland at a young age to be educated in
Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...
and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he taught
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and
rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
at the Collège des Grassins. He was proposed for the position of rector at the
University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
in June 1677 by a faction who wished to replace the then rector, Nicholas Pieres, but felt compelled to decline the offer. Returning to Ireland in the early 1680s, he was ordained in 1684.
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...
, Patrick Russell appointed him
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 ...
of the Diocese of Dublin.


Provost of Trinity College

Upon the flight of provost Robert Huntington of
Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...
, in 1689, Moore became the college's first
Catholic 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 ...
provost. He acquired the post via the influence of Richard Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, to whom he was
chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...
and
confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...
. The
Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
states "The college was seized by the Jacobites, the chapel was made a powder magazine, one portion of the building was turned into a barrack, and another into a gaol for persons suspected of disaffection to the royal cause. .. He upheld the rights of the college, secured it from further pillage, and endeavoured to mitigate the treatment of the prisoners. With the librarian, Father McCarthy, he prevented the soldiery from burning the library, and by preserving its precious collections rendered an incalculable service to letters." However, a sermon which Moore delivered in Christ Church Cathedral concerning King James's ecclesiastical policies so offended the king that he was obliged to resign the post in 1690; after this, he returned to Paris. He moved to Rome in 1691 when King James arrived in Paris, after fleeing Dublin in the wake of the Jacobite defeat at the
Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...
.


In Rome

While in Rome, Moore became Censor of Books. He came to the attention and favour of the successive
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
s, Innocent XII (1691–1700) and
Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...
(1700–1721). When Cardinal Barbarigo established his college at
Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...
, he appointed Ó Mordha as rector and professor of philosophy and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
. The college attracted men of learning, and received from Innocent XII an annual grant of two thousand crowns.


Rector of the University of Paris

After the death of James II in 1701, Moore returned to France, where – through Cardinal de Noailles – he was appointed Rector of the University of Paris. He remains the only Irishman to hold the post, serving from 10 October 1701 to 9 October 1702. He was also made principal of the
Collège de Navarre The College of Navarre (, ) was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It rivaled the University of Paris, Sorbonne and was renowned for its library. History The college was founded by Queen Joan I of Navarre in 1305, who provi ...
, and professor of philosophy, Greek, and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
in the
Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
.


Final years

In 1702 he delivered the annual
panegyric A panegyric ( or ) is a formal public speech or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing. The original panegyrics were speeches delivered at public events in ancient Athens. Etymology The word originated as a compound of - ' ...
on
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
. Moore joined Dr. Farrelly (Fealy) in purchasing a house near the Irish College for poor Irish students. Blind for some years he had to employ an
amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...
, who took advantage of his master's affliction to steal and sell many hundred volumes of his choice library. What remained, Moore bequeathed to the Irish College. He died in the Collège de Navarre, and was buried in the vault under the chapel of the Irish College.


References

* "Irishmen in the University of Paris in the 17th and 18th Centuries", Patrick Boyle, in ''Irish Ecclesiastical Record'', 14, pp. 24–45, 1903. * "Knowledge and Piety:Michael Moore's Career at the University of Paris and Collège de France, 1701–20", Liam Chambers, in ''Eighteenth-Century Ireland'', vol. 17, pp. 9–24, 2002.


Bibliography

* ''De Existentia Dei, et Humanae Mentis Immortalitate, secundum Cartesii et Aristotelis Doctrinam'', Paris, 1692. * ''Hortatio ad Studium Linguae Graecae et Hebraicae'', Montefiascone, 1700. * ''Vera Sciendi Methodus'', Paris, 1716.


External links

* http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10553a.htm * * https://web.archive.org/web/20111002042449/http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/product.php?intProductID=352 * http://www.irishineurope.com/front {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Michael 1630s births 1723 deaths 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic theologians 18th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 18th-century Irish Roman Catholic theologians Irish educators 17th-century Irish philosophers People from County Dublin Provosts of Trinity College Dublin Rectors of the University of Paris 18th-century Irish philosophers