Much of what we know about Logue’s early life and career can be found in the loose-leaf typed and handwritten pages of an unpublished biography compiled by Patrick Toner, former Professor of Theology at Maynooth and co-founder of theIrish Theological Quarterly. The work was commissioned by Logue’s successor as Archbishop of Armagh, Patrick O’Donnell, and was intended to provide a hagiography of the late cardinal, though it was never completed. Most of the information is apocryphal, the result of a public appeal by Toner for letters, anecdotes and stories regarding Logue, and thus much of it remains unverifiable. Despite...

The upsurge in political violence after 1879 posed a series of complex problems for the Catholic Church in Ireland. The nature of violence, its scope and scale, and its origin all presented challenges which were in many ways new. The violent protest associated with the land question after 1879 heralded, or was symptomatic of, sweeping political change. Previously, it was quite often simply a matter of condemnation for the Church. Insurrection, such as the Fenian revolt, could be dismissed as the work of a small group of malcontents or of nefarious secret societies. The Land War, however, presented an altogether...

The issue of university education in Ireland was a constant source of grievance for the bishops. The university system in Ireland was ‘at the centre of a network of proselytism and indifferentism which the hierarchy had come to regard as the characteristic of the Protestant constitution in Ireland’.¹ The Roman Catholic Church demanded the same rights and recognition which the state extended to Protestants in terms of statefunded, denominational university education. The demand for national justice, however, masked other concerns and preoccupations. The challenges to traditional faith thrown up by the intellectual revolution and the advent of Darwinism made a...

The nineteenth century was theologically fraught not just for Catholicism but for Christianity in general. As the Church struggled to face the challenges thrown up by modern science, Logue maintained a simple faith. Along with a commitment to the idea of clerical control over education, he retained an orthodox view of the role of the clergy in Ireland. The bishops stood as guardians over the faith and morals of their flocks and it was the duty of the priesthood to hand down the faith and traditions of the Church as interpreted by Rome. For Logue, true piety among Catholics could...

Logue was a nationalist. He retained a fundamental conviction that the Irish had the right to govern themselves and only self-government could effectively redress Catholic grievances. He supported and participated in the clerical-nationalist alliance forged by William Walsh in the 1880s. Although deeply concerned over the methodology of the National League, he offered nothing but support to the campaign in public. His disapproval of clerical participation in the Plan did not prevent his show of solidarity with Father James McFadden or his defence of the national movement to the Pope. His doubts over land agitation were balanced by outrage at...

It is a mistake to view Ireland’s response to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 in pro-or anti-British terms. There was a very real sense that this was Ireland’s war, as the issues of participation and the enactment of Home Rule merged in the general euphoria of Nationalist Ireland. As Jeffery has pointed out, this was a war for big words. It was a war for the freedom of small nations, for King, Country, Democracy, Duty and Liberty.¹ There was a widespread conviction among nationalists that now was the time for Europe’s newest small nation to take...

Historians have long since divined the signs and portents encompassed in the events of April and May 1916. It has often been chronicled how the seizure of buildings in Dublin by elements of the Irish Volunteers, the proclamation of an Irish republic, the short war of attrition followed by surrender and execution, led to a seismic shift in Irish political aspirations. What has sometimes been lost amid the heavy symbolism of Pearse’s blood sacrifice and the aura of resurrection surrounding the Easter Rising was the fact that it was a military disaster. The destruction of much of the centre of...

The first Dáil which met in Dublin on 21 January 1919 had something of an air of unreality. Only twenty-seven members took part, the remainder being in prison or on the run. The proceedings were dismissed by some as a charade and it was certainly the case, as Lyons has suggested, that the new parliament was convened as much for foreign consumption as it was for Irishmen.¹ Indeed, one of the Dáil’s first acts was to organise a delegation to the Paris peace conference. The new Government was surrounded by an aura of insurrection. Hopkinson has argued that the preponderance...

The attack on the Four Courts confirmed the outbreak of a conflict which had been simmering since February. From the outset, the bishops moved quickly to use all the moral pressure and theological weapons at their disposal to uphold the authority of the Free State. On16 July 1922 Logue condemned IRA units operating around Carlingford. He told a congregation that the country had never dreamt of liberties such as were afforded by the Treaty. He denounced republicans as amere faction who were flouting the Government nominated by themselves and the democratically expressed will of the people. As the IRA fell...

Despite his prominence as a historical figure and the length of his career, Michael Logue has suffered to a surprising degree in the historiography of the period. When not ignored by historians, he has often been dismissed as a known quantity, a one-dimensional character lacking nuance and depth. Most often, historians have questioned his nationalist credentials. Miller’s description of the cardinal has remained rather typical. ‘He enjoyed waiting upon royalty’, he has stated, and ‘delighted in entertaining visiting British dignitaries with champagne and oysters’.¹ Keogh has also picked up the notion that Logue was a royalist, declaring that the cardinal...