Robert Daly (10 June 1783 – 16 February 1872) was

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

Bishop of Cashel and Waterford The Bishop of Cashel and Waterford (''Full title'': Bishop of Cashel, County Tipperary, Cashel and Emly with Waterford and Lismore, County Waterford, Lismore) was the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Cashel and Wate ...

from 1843 to 1872.Bishop Robert Daly: Ireland's "Protestant pope"
by Eugene Broderick, History Ireland.

Life

Daly was born at Dunsandle Castle,

Loughrea Loughrea ( ; ), is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains and Lough Rea, the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the urban sk ...

, the newly built residence of his father, Denis Daly. His ancestor, Dermot Ó Daly (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1574–1614) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

descent but his grandfather and father had converted to the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

faith to ensure legal title on their lands. By 1800, the family were among the largest landowners in Ireland and dictated the mayoralty of

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

for some sixty years. His mother was Lady Henrietta Maxwell, only daughter of

Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham Privy Council of Ireland, PC (c. 1720 – 16 November 1779), styled The Honourable Robert Maxwell from 1756 to 1759, was an Irish peer and a Member of both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ir ...

and Henrietta Cantillon, widow of the 3rd

Earl of Strafford Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history. The first creation was in the Peerage of England in January 1640 for Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, the 1st Viscount Wentworth, the clo ...

. Daly graduated with a B.A. from

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 1803,"Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860

George Dames Burtchaell George Dames Burtchaell, KC, MA, LLB, MRIA, JP (12 June 1853 – 18 August 1921) was an Irish genealogist. Education Burtchaell was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin. Career *Barrister King's Inns, 1879 * KC 1918 ...

Thomas Ulick Sadleir Thomas Ulick Sadleir (15 September 1882 – 21 December 1957) was an Irish genealogist and heraldic expert. He was successively registrar of the Order of St Patrick, Deputy Ulster King of Arms and Acting Ulster King of Arms. Career Sadleir's fi ...

p208: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935 was ordained deacon and then priest of the

, and became Rector of Powerscourt in 1814. He was leader of the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

section of the church, the subject at the centre of most of his publications, which numbered over twenty-two between 1815 and his death. Daly was passionate in his support of anti-Catholic missions: his hatred of the Irish Catholic church, and especially its priests, endured to the end of his life, although he must have known that his own family had originally been Catholics. He was one of the founders in 1818 of the controversial

Irish Society for Promoting the Education of the Native Irish through the Medium of Their Own Language The Irish society for promoting the scriptural education and religious instruction of the Irish-speaking population chiefly through the medium of their own language, sometimes called the Irish Society, was a Protestant missionary society which pros ...

. Daly also supported the setting up of Church Education Society in 1839 countering the setting up of the National School system in Ireland. He was appointed Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin in 1842; and

in 1843 and was serving in that capacity when he died in 1872.

Select bibliography

* ''A sermon preached on ... 25 May 1815, in the Catholic Church of St. Patrick ... at the annual visitation, held by ... the Archbishop of Cashel'',

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 ...

, 1815. * ''Letters on the Subject of the Scotch Episcopal Church ... to the Right Rev. Bishop Low'',

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, 1846. * ''Extract on the subject of liturgical revision from the charge delivered by the ... Bishop of Cashel'',

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, 1863.

Notes

References

* ''Memoir of Right Rev. Robert Daly, D.D., Lord Bishop of Cashel'', 1875 * ''Galway Authors'', Helen Mahar, 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, D.D., Robert 1783 births 1872 deaths People from Loughrea Writers from County Galway Bishops of Cashel and Waterford Deans of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Christian clergy from County Galway 19th-century Irish Anglican priests

Life

Select bibliography

See also

Notes

References