Paul KeenanArchbishop Miler Magrath: The Enigma of Cashel by Patrick J. Ryan (Lisheen Publications, €39 hb, €25 pb / £31.99 hb, £20.50 pb)
Joe Carroll
Archbishop Miler Magrath died aged 100 years in 1622. To have lived that long in those tumultuous times would already be an achievement but what he packed into those years is even more amazing.
He was born near Pettigo into an aristocratic Gaelic clan whose territory included Lough Derg in Co. Donegal already a place of pilgrimage. At an early age he joined the Conventual Franciscans and was further educated in Rome during the period the Council of Trent was trying to counter the effects of the Protestant Reformation.
After spending time in Spain and the Netherlands, Miler was appointed Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Pius IV in 1565. This was a very confused time in Ireland with many dioceses having both Catholic and Protestant bishops with the former in permanent danger of arrest for “heresy” or treason.
Transfer refused
Miler played it safe and took the Oath of Allegiance to Queen Elizabeth but not the Oath of Supremacy. He then sought to be transferred to Clogher and lobbied for himself in Rome but was refused. On his way back from Rome he was arrested and held in London.
While there he took the Oath of Supremacy, probably under threat of torture. He was now a heretic in Catholic eyes. The Queen’s reward was to appoint him Protestant Bishop of Clogher but he technically remained Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor for 10 years until a successor was appointed.
It is not clear if Miler ever went to Clogher because the Protestant Archbishop of Cashel died suddenly and in 1571 the Queen appointed Miler to replace him. However, the only known portrait of Miler still hangs in the Clogher episcopal gallery and is on the cover of this book. He was to be described as “the handsomest man in Ireland in his day”.
For 51 years Miler was to lead a turbulent life as Protestant Archbishop of Cashel to which was added later Waterford and Lismore dioceses and, towards the end of his life, Killala and Achonry. He became deeply involved in Anglo-Irish politics as he worked closely with the top British officials in Dublin and London to stamp out the Desmond rebellion in Munster and to undermine Hugh O’Neill’s rebellion which ended at Kinsale.
In the meantime he enriched himself with diocesan benefices and property investment for his large family. He married Amy O’Meara from a Catholic family near Nenagh, by whom he had nine children.
Ambiguities
The author, who is a Spiritan priest and historian, has made an exhaustive study of the twists and turns in Miler’s life delving deeply into contemporary archives. He points out the strongly opposing views of Miler who has been “reviled, demonised and scapegoated”, but has also been “given accolades such as ‘diplomat’, ‘great politician’, ‘a man of gravity and learning’, and ‘a good servant to her majesty’ and to the state”.
Fr Ryan devotes some space to the question as to whether Miler returned to the Catholic Church in his last years. He certainly made a discreet approach to Rome in 1608 when he was facing a possible trial for treason. Pope Paul V indicated readiness to absolve him on certain conditions. Miler was reluctant to accept these, and contacts continued through his former Franciscan colleagues. The Pope legitimised Miler’s children in 1619, but whether there was a death-bed re-conversion is unclear.
The author points to the ambiguities in Miler’s own Latin epitaph over his tomb in the cathedral on the Rock of Cashel, especially to the lines: “Here where I am placed I am not. I am not where I am not. Nor am I in both places, but I am in each.”
The author surmises that this is “a very emphatic statement that Miler does not belong in the Protestant Church.” Perhaps he is saying: “I am not in either Church although I have a foot in both.”