| Rebuilding
the Edifice
As
the penal laws were relaxed from the middle of the eighteenth
century, Thurles became the new permanent place of residence
for the Archbishops of Cashel and Emly. At the same time
we glimpse in the pages of the Visitation Book of Archbishop
James Butler (1757-74) the gradual emergence of a
newly vibrant, though impoverished, Church of the People.
This renewed Catholicism gathered momentum from the late
eighteenth century and culminated in a remarkable array
of Catholic institutions ministering to the spiritual and
temporal needs of the people. In Cashel and Emly, the faith
and generosity of a newly emancipated people built, supported
and staffed churches, schools, colleges and other charitable
institutions over the past two hundred years. This achievement
is all the more remarkable when it is remembered that it
occurred in the midst of widespread poverty and massive
emigration, with limited State assistance.
The Synod
of Thurles was held from 22 August to 9 September 1850. This
was the first National Synod of the Catholic Church in Ireland
after Catholic Emancipation. The synod met in the Chapel of
Saint Patrick's College, Thurles.
The era of renewal and consolidation,
which now appears to be changing, is also characterised
by a remarkable commitment of personnel and resources to
the needs of a wider Church. In common with the entire Irish
Church, the Cashel and Emly can be proud of its contribution
to the development of Catholicism through the world, notably
through the work of St. Patrick's College, Thurles. No less
impressive is the work of the many Cashel and Emly missionaries
who serve in Africa, Asia and South America. The lives and
ministry of both Bishop Shanahan in Southern Nigeria
and Bishop Thomas Quinlan in China and Korea are
fitting testimony to the generosity and courage of the many
other missionaries from Cashel and Emly, and the entire
Irish Church, during the past century-and-a-half.
|
