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CSO/RP/CA/1825/17

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of the final meeting of the Roman Catholic Association held at the Corn Exchange, [Dublin], chaired by Col [Pierce] Buter; [Frederick W] Conway read the ‘farewell’ address of the association and it was agreed that 5000 copies be printed. A number of speakers commented on a letter from Daniel O’Connell despite [Nicholas] Mahon’s request to the contrary and it was agreed that the letter be read into the minutes; Maurice O’Connell made reference to [John] Lawless ‘who calls himself a member of the Deputation’; [Richard] O’Gorman expressed his indignation at the ‘aspersions contained in Mr Lawless letter against Mr O’Connell’; Dr Magee and Anthony Browne also commented on the letter. The following resolutions, which had the ‘approbation’ of Lord Killeen, O’Connell and the deputation, were passed: that the association should cease; that all catholic rent in the treasurer’s hands be vested in Lord Killeen; that aggregate meeting were in future to be held by separate societies which were to exist for no longer than 14 days; that a society ‘for promoting education for the peasantry free from sectarian prejudice or proselytizing quackery’ be established; report contains verbatim text of resolutions in a separate hand. A vote of thanks was proposed to protestant attendees including Alderman Abbott, Councillor Cuthbeth and Mr Harte who recounted an anecdote about [Henry] Grattan and the passage of an insurrection bill; when Magee, A Browne and Mr White proposed votes of thanks and confidence in O’Connell ‘several applauded but a colder feeling than usual seemed to exist towards that gentleman’; Maurice O’Connell noted that the association had received £252 19s 3d in the previous two days; Mr McDermott made a lengthy formal speech; at the conclusion of the meeting [Nicholas] Mahon, as lessee of the Corn Exchange, caused all the doors to be locked up.

18 Mar 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/18

Memorandum by unknown author providing an eyewitness account of an 'Aggregate Meeting' held in Clarendon Street Chapel, [Dublin], chaired by Lord Gormanstown; votes of thanks were expressed for [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman and Eneas MacDonnell for their services as secretary and London agent to the ‘Catholics of Ireland’ respectively; Sir John Burke paid tribute to the late catholic deputation to London and both he and Hugh O’Connor praised Marquis Wellesley [Richard Wellesley, Lord Lieutenant], ‘a nobleman … worthy of the confidence reposed in him by his Majesty’; Mr Woulfe read an address to the King from the catholics of Ireland expressing fidelity and soliciting the ‘royal interposition as far as it consistent with the constitution, in favour of the great national arrangement’; Nicholas Mahon proposed the names of the 31 catholic peers, baronets and gentlemen to comprise the delegation to present the address to the King [document includes list of names] and it was later agreed that Irish bishops be added to this delegation and that Maurice O’Connell should act as secretary; it was shouted from the floor that [John] Lawless should be included in the delegation but this proposal was not seconded; Daniel O’Connell argued that the ‘people of Ireland were heretofore enemies to themselves by differing with each other without considering its merits’ and he gave as an example the political differences that existed between himself and [Charles] Brownlow ‘a man of sincerity’ and ‘integrity of heart’; O’Connell welcomed the presence of the British and continental press at the meeting and admitted that in the past he had ‘abused the press’; finally O’Connell believed that commerce would flow from emancipation, praised the head of the Irish government who ‘held the scales of Justice with an even hand’ and claimed that [William] Plunkett, Attorney General was ‘honestly anxious for Ireland’s welfare’.

14 Apr 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/19

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of an ‘Aggregate Meeting’ held in a chapel on [Saint] Anne Street, [Dublin], chaired by [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman and subsequently by Lord Gormanstown [Edward Preston, 13th Viscount Gormanston]; eyewitness noting that the chapel was filled to capacity causing confusion and swooning and noting the presence of reporters from the ‘Register’, ‘Freeman’s Journal’ and ‘Morning Post’; meeting addressed by Mr Howley and [Richard Lalor] Sheil and Mr Lawless whose attempts to address the meeting were ‘generally overwhelmed by disapprobation comingled with cheers’; when Daniel O’Connell addressed the meeting wearing ‘the new uniform of the new Association’ the eyewitness was forced to exit to escape being trampled and was ‘obliged to take Mr Byrne’s report for tomorrows paper’, later learning that a ‘committee of twenty one Gentlemen has been appointed’.

8 Jun 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/20

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholics in Saint Andrew's Chapel, [Dublin], chaired by Rev M D'Arcey, parish priest of Saint Andrews; the meeting first debated if only parishioners should be allowed speak at the meeting and this was followed by a heated proposal to adjourn the meeting; Patrick White and Mr Forde argued that continuing the meeting ‘was likely to divide the Catholic body’ and ‘as the wings of the late bill were dead the subject should not be agitated’; [Richard] O’Gorman, however, wanted to debate ‘whether they did or did not approve of the wings of the late bill’ ‘bribing their clergy’ and the ‘vile barter of the elective franchise’; J D Mullen noted that a committee of twenty one persons had already been appointed to deliberate on the means of forwarding the Catholic cause; a committee was then appointed to prepare a petition in light of the recent rejection of the Emancipation bill and the approaching dissolution of Parliament; O’Gorman objected to a vote of thanks to Daniel O’Connell owing to ‘measures which had been agreed between O’Connell and Mr Plunkett’ [William Plunkett, Attorney General] adding that ‘no man was wise at all hours, Mr O’Connell may have been duped’; O’Connell, speaking from the gallery, argued that he had spent twenty five years struggling for emancipation, that the ‘scene exhibited there that day would afford a triumph to the Mail’ and that [James] Doyle [Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin] and [Daniel] Murray [Catholic archbishop of Dublin] ‘had sanctioned and approved of everything he had done’; O’Connell urged them to ‘sink all bickerings, to join hands against their common enemy and join … in making arrangements for a new campaign’; the vote of thanks was passed after ‘much desultory and warm language’.

9 Jun 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/21

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of an ‘Aggregate Meeting’ held in Clarendon Street Chapel, [Dublin], chaired by Lord Gormanston [Edward Preston, 13th Viscount Gormanston]; the report prepared by a committee of twenty one individuals was received which [Nicholas Purcell] O'Gorman hoped would show ‘his Majesty’s ministers how impossible it was to stop the march of the public mind in Ireland’; Lord Killeen hoped that catholics ‘would not enter into a collision with the law’ or force their honest friends in government to become hostile to them and proposed they adopt ‘the recommendation of the sixty seven Peers’; [Richard Lalor] Sheil, in a long speech, called for ‘2500 Aggregate meetings [to] be held in the land on the same day by means of their clergy’ and extolled listeners to emancipate themselves from ‘the cant of Liverpool, the lachrymatory hypocrisy of Eldon and the plebeian arrogance of Peel’. [Daniel] O’Connell launched an attack on members of the British administration including Lord Wellesley, [Lord Lieutenant] who had ‘put his foot’ on the association; [Charles] Wetherell, the Solicitor General, whose ‘reasons are like grains of wheat hidden in bushels of straw’; Mr Bright, MP of Bristol whom he compared to Titus Oates; the ‘ferocious nonsense’ of Thomas Lethbridge; the ‘whining cant’ of [] Banks and he ‘regretted the English people had such a man as their prime minister’ as Lord Liverpool [Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool]. O’Connell announced the formation of a ‘New Catholic Association’ which would meet on the following day at the Corn Exchange, which had the sanction of the committee of twenty one, which would collect a new rent and which he hoped would incur no legal punishment; report includes a list of the rules and objectives of this association; O’Connell and Sir John Burke both doubted the veracity of an ‘unconstitutional speech’ which they believed was falsely attributed to the Duke of York; Hugh O’Connor proposed that the catholics of Ireland should meet during the assizes at their respective counties and the meeting was also addressed by the O’Conor Don and Maj Bryan.

13 Jul 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/22

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the 'New Catholic Association' held at the Corn Exchange, [Dublin], attended by [Daniel] O’Connell, [Richard O’Gorman], [?Edward] Dwyer and twenty others; noted that those attending the meeting acted ‘with a degree of caution that was particularly remarkable’ as no chair was appointed, no debate was held and O’Connell refused to answer a question from Mr Glascock, press reporter, as to whether a public meeting was to occur; Dwyer had with him a book containing the names of the twenty two £1 subscribers to the association who had joined at the aggregate meeting in Clarendon Street Chapel; during the day 66 new subscribers arrived, were enrolled and then left; includes annotation recommending that the document be shown to the [Attorney General] and Solicitor General and [Robert] Peel.

15 Jul 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/23

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the 'New Catholic Association' held at the Corn Exchange, [Dublin], chaired by Mr Redmond with [John] Bric acting as secretary; noted that the association had 96 members. [Daniel] O’Connell outlined the objectives of the association and the limits of their operation so as not to violate the law; in response to a statement from Luke Plunkett, he stated that they were prohibited from corresponding with any other society but could correspond with as many individuals as they pleased; he noted that despite the large funds available to [Richard] Wellesley, [Lord Lieutenant] and the Commissioners of Education, 400000 were being educated by the catholic clergy in Ireland without government support and he suggested that they establish their own model school in order that ‘the Kildare Place Society would hereafter become as useless as it had been mischievous hitherto’; he observed that Ireland was tranquil with the exception of the north where ‘triumphant Orange arches [sic]’ existed; he condemned the false sermons of Rev McNeile, son-in-law to the [Church of Ireland] archbishop of Dublin, who was ‘afflicted by the disease of the family’; he dismissed the absurd population estimates of [John] Leslie Foster and announced that the association would conduct a census demonstrating ‘on what cheap terms Catholics go to Heaven’ adding that ‘Protestants may take the hint and go there at the same rate’. Dowel O’Reilly believed that they could collect rent for all purposes except the ‘redress of grievances’ and also that there was no need for the association to have a committee to keep them within the law but he was chastised for expressing this opinion by O’Connell and Rev [Francis J] L’Estrange; the report includes the names of the nominated committee members.

16 Jul 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/24

Incomplete memorandum by unknown author providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the Catholic Association in unknown location, chaired by [Dowall] O'Reilly; [John] Dillon read the rules and regulations of the ‘New Catholic Association’ noting that they were based on the report of the aggregate-meeting committee of twenty one persons; [Frederick W] Conway read a letter from Thomas Martin, son of the member of parliament for Galway, wishing to become a member and Martin and Robert Power were duly admitted; Mr Redmond stated that he had been contacted by clergymen from Saint Peter and Saint Mary’s concerning a piece of ground that was available should the association have any proposals concerning a burial ground; Conway, supported by Mr Foster, Dillon, Rev [Francis J] L’Estrange and O’Reilly proposed that a census be commenced in order to convince ‘Mr Foster and Lord Liverpool how much in error they were’ in reporting the population of Ireland in parliament; Luke Plunkett withdrew his objection to this proposal which he believed could ‘give offence in a high quarter’ and was contrary to the advice of the 67 peers who had cautioned ‘firmness’ and ‘temperance’; O’Reilly argued that they needed to know the population in order to promote education and a committee of 15 persons was appointed to conduct this work; Conway asked L’Estrange to comment on [William] Magee’s [Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin] statement that ‘Catholic clergy had ordered their flocks not to read the evidence of Dr Magee before the House of Lords’; L’Estrange refuted the evidence as ‘a studied and determined tissue of misrepresentations’ and added that catholics were not ignorant of the existence of the bible and that most respectable catholic families had a copy; L'Estrange also delivered a partial response to Rev MacNeil’s letter concerning absolution being given to the deceased [missing final pages].

23 Jul 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/25

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the 'New Roman Catholic Association' held at the Corn Exchange, [Dublin], chaired by Mr O'Brien with [Frederick W] Conway acting as secretary; Conway temporarily postponed the appointment of a committee for making arrangements to take a census; Dowall O’Reilly presented the report of the committee appointed to report on the rules and regulations of the new association and also proposed that two persons be appointed in each parish to communicate information and collect subscriptions; Mr Dwyer noted that they now had 151 members and Mr Curran proposed that the names of new members be published weekly; Mr Baggot [Baggott] took the chair and proposed Mr Deece as a new member; Sir [Edward] Bellew recounted how he recently saw buttons stamped ‘New Catholic Association’ in the Murphy-Collier button factory in College Green, [Dublin] but was informed by O’Reilly that the association was to have no uniform; Mr Read, Benedict Murphy, Luke Plunkett also contributed to the meeting; includes annotations recommending that the report be sent to the Attorney General and emphasising the desirability of acquiring an accurate short-hand writer [to prepare these reports].

30 Jul 1825

1825

CSO/RP/CA/1825/26

Memorandum by author identified as 'S N E' [Stephen N Elrington] providing an eyewitness account of a meeting of the 'New Roman Catholic Association' [probably at the Corn Exchange], chaired by Mr Corballis with [Frederick W] Conway acting as secretary; Conway temporarily postponed the appointment of a committee for making arrangements to take a census and was against Mr Curran’s suggestion that they appoint a financial committee; Curran withdrew his proposal that they publish the names of new members regularly; [Rev Francis J] L’Estrange gave notice of a motion regarding the appointment of a committee ‘to forward the objects of the Association relative to education’; Counsellor O’Brien was moved to the chair and the meeting was adjourned prematurely owing to the fact that Mr Talbot Glascock, who was ‘considered to be deranged’, ‘had threatened to make a long speech’; observed that the attendees ‘consisted chiefly of Clerks in the Distilleries or Breweries’ and that it was clear that ‘there was little increase of the new body … for none was announced’; includes annotations recommending that the report be sent to the attorney general and emphasising the desirability of acquiring an accurate short-hand writer [to prepare these reports].

6 Aug 1825

1825