A year before his death, Dr. Courcy resigned the administration of his see, and petitioned the then reigning Pontiff, Leo X., to appoint as his successor John O'Murrily, Abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of _de Fonte Vivo_. The deed by which he thus resigned the see of Ross was drawn up in the presence of three witnesses, one of whom was the Lady Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Kildare; and it assigns as the motive of his resignation, that he had already gained his eightieth year, and that his increasing infirmities rendered it impossible for him to give due attention to the wants of the diocese. King Henry VIII. wrote to His Holiness, praying him to accede to the wishes of the aged bishop, and to appoint to the see of Ross the above-named Cistercian abbot, who is described as adorned with every virtue, and especially remarkable for modesty, mildness, and learning. We give in full this letter of Henry VIII., as it is a solemn condemnation of the subsequent rebellion of that monarch against the authority of the Vicar of Christ:-- "Beatissime Pater, post humillimam commendationem et devotissima pedum oscula beatorum. Exposuit nobis Reverendus in Christo pater Episcopus Rossensis in dominio nostro Hiberniae, se quibusdam idoneis caussis moveri ut suam Rossensem Ecclesiam Reverendo patri Domino Joanni Abbati Monasterii Beatae Mariae de fonte vivo resignet, quibus caussis a nobis cognitis et probatis, intellectis praeterea egregiis dicti Domini Joannis virtutibus et imprimis praecipua modestia, probitate ac doctrina, Vestram Sanctitatem rogamus ut praedictam resignationem admittere, eundemque Dominum Joannem ad supradictam Ecclesiam provehere dignetur. Praeterea ut honestius ac decentius Episcopalem dignitatem sustinere queat, quoniam dictae Ecclesiae Rossensis reditus et proventus admodum tenues et perexiles esse cognovimus, Vestram Sanctitatem rogamus ut una cum eodem Episcopatu Rossensi praedictam Abbatiam S. Mariae cum nonnullis aliis beneficiis in commendam ei concedere dignetur. Quod ut gratum nobis erit, sic eidem Ecclesiae utile futurum non dubitamus. Et felicissime valeat Vestra Sanctitas, etc. "Ex Regia nostra apud Richemontem die xvii. Julii, 1517"--(Theiner, _Monumenta_, etc., pag. 520). Before giving his sanction to the newly-elected bishop, Pope Leo ordered a consistorial investigation to be made, as was usual with the sees of all Catholic countries, and fortunately the minute of this inquiry is still preserved in the Vatican archives. We cull from it the following interesting particulars: