Catholic Church -- Ireland -- Periodicals; Catholic Church -- Periodicals
On the death of the last-named bishop, a Dominican, by name Symon, was
appointed by Pope Clement VI. to rule the See of Derry. He had indeed
already been nominated by brief, dated the 5th of the Ides of May, 1347,
to the diocese of Clonmacnoise, but the aged and infirm bishop of that
see, who was reported to have passed to a better life, was not yet
deceased, and hence, on the vacancy of Derry, Bishop Symon was, by brief
of 18th December, 1347, appointed successor of St. Eugene. From the first
brief, which nominated him to Clonmacnoise, we learn that Friar Symon was
Prior of the Dominican fathers of Roscommon, and was remarkable for his
zeal, his literary proficiency, and his manifold virtues. The brief of his
appointment to Derry adds the following particulars:
“Dudum ad audientiam apostolatus nostri relatione minus vera
perlata, quod Ecclesia Cluanensis per obitum Venerabilis fratris
nostri Henrici Episcopi Cluanensis qui in partibus illis
decessisse dicebatur, vacabat: Nos credentes relationem hujusmodi
veram esse, de te ordinis fratrum Praedicatorum professore eidem
Ecclesiae duximus providendum, praeficiendo te illi in Episcopum
et pastorem: et subsequenter per Ven. fratrem nostrum Talayrandum
Episcopum Albanensem tibi apud sedem Apostolicam fecimus munus
consecrationis impendi. Cum autem sicut postea vera relatio ad nos
perduxit praefatus Henricus tempore provisionis hujus modi ageret,
sicut agere dignoscitur, in humanis, tu nullius Ecclesiae
Episcopus remansisti. Postmodum vero Ecclesia Darensi, per obitum
bonae memoriae Mauricii Episcopi Darensis qui extra Romanam curiam
diem clausit extremum, pastoris solatio destitute, Nos ...
cupientes talem eidem Darensi Ecclesiae praeesse personam quae
sciret, vellet et posset eam in suis manutenere juribus ac etiam
adaugere, ipsamque praeservare a noxiis et adversis, post
deliberationem quam super his cum fratribus nostris habuimus
diligentem, demum ad te consideratis grandium virtutum meritis,
quibus personam tuam Dominus insignivit, convertimus oculos nostræ
mentis, etc. Datum Avinione XV. Kalend. Januarii Pontif. Nostri
anno octavo”—(_Mon. Vatic._, pag. 292).
Bishop Symon seems to have held the see till the close of this century,
and the next bishop that we find was John, Abbot of Moycoscain, or _de
claro fonte_, who was appointed to Derry by brief of Pope Boniface IX. on
19th August, 1401. Of his immediate successors we know little more than
the mere names. William Quaplod, a Carmelite and a distinguished patron of
literary men, died in 1421. Donald for ten years then ruled the diocese,
and resigned in 1431; his successor, John, died in 1456. A Cistercian
monk, named Bartholomew O’Flanagan, next sat in the see for five years;
and Nicholas Weston, a canon of Armagh, who was consecrated its bishop in
1466, held it till his death in 1484.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account