




                     The Irish Ecclesiastical Record

                                Volume 1.

                              November, 1864





CONTENTS


The Holy See And The Liberty Of The Irish Church At The Beginning Of The
Present Century.
   I. From Mgr. Brancadoro to Father Concanen, O.P., Agent at Rome for the
   Irish Bishops. Dalla Propaganda. 7 Agosto, 1801.
   II. From the same to the same. Dalla Propaganda, 25 Settembre, 1805.
A Recent Protestant View Of The Church Of The Middle Ages.
The Mss. Remains Of Professor O'Curry In The Catholic University. No. II.
The Destiny Of The Irish Race.
Liturgical Questions. (_From M. Bouix's __"__Revue des Sciences
Ecclesiastiques__"_).
Documents.
   I. Condemnation Of Dr. Froschammer's Works.
   II. Decree Of The Congregation Of Rites.
Notices Of Books.
Footnotes






THE HOLY SEE AND THE LIBERTY OF THE IRISH CHURCH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
PRESENT CENTURY.


All students of Irish Catholic affairs must feel, at every moment, that we
are at a great loss for a collection of ecclesiastical documents connected
with our Church. The past misfortunes of Ireland explain the origin of
this want. During the persecutions of Elizabeth, of James the First, and
Cromwell, our ancient manuscripts, and the archives of our convents and
monasteries, were ruthlessly destroyed. At a later period, whilst the
penal laws were in full operation, it was dangerous to preserve official
ecclesiastical papers, lest they should be construed by the bigotry and
ignorance of our enemies into proofs of sedition or treason. Since liberty
began to dawn on our country, things have undergone a beneficial change,
and recently great efforts have been made to rescue and preserve from
destruction every remaining fragment of our ancient history, and every
document calculated to throw light on the annals of our Church. We are
anxious to cooeperate in this good work, and we shall feel deeply grateful
to our friends if they forward to us any official ecclesiastical papers,
either ancient or modern, that it may be desirable to preserve. Receiving
such papers casually, we cannot insert them in the RECORD in chronological
order, but by aid of an Index, to be published at the end of each volume,
the future historian will be able to avail himself of them for his
purposes