Puritans.1 When returning to Loughrea, from the home of some relatives in the County Tipperary, Father Felix of the Holy Ghost was arrested by the Williamite agents; and both he and Father John Baptist of St. Elias were taken to Galway where they spent some time in prison, until they at length consented to leave Ireland. Fathers Angelus, Luke, and Patrick-and, presumably, the two choir novices-sought and found hospitality in the Province of Avignon; and in the course of the self-same year Father Angelus wrote thence to the General of the Order in quite a hopeful strain concerning Irish Teresian affairs.

Such singular optimism can only be accounted for, in the circumstances, by the writer's own personal convictions as to the efficacy of France's intervention in the cause of Catholic Ireland; and in the truly marvellous efforts still being made by the religious on that Mission to resist utter extinction under the new and most oppressive régime. Hence, he implores the authorities in Rome to spare no pains in fostering so praiseworthy an endeavour. It is now of vital importance that immediate provision should be made for the reception and education of the numerous desirable postulants manifesting their eagerness to perpetuate, at every risk, this genuine spirit of Elian zeal in Ireland. Although chosen Procurator of the Irish Mission, as explained, Father Angelus of St. Joseph did not assist at the General Chapter of 1692; on which occasion the interests of the Fathers then in the country were committed to the discretion of the newlyelected Definitory, until such time as the state of Ireland again admitted of community life, indispensable for due practice of the Regular Observance. With this object in view, Ordinations were made prescribing, in particular detail, how the welfare of the Irish Mission might best be served at the present juncture: the Father-General reserving to himself the right to modify the same to meet any new emergency, And these sufficed until the General Chapter of 1695, when it was decided to send Father Joseph (Power) of the Nativity to

1 MS. History, 1.c. The statements in the concluding section of this MS. are very vague at times; and, occasionally, quite misleading.

2 Ibid., 1.c. A.D. 1715 is the date assigned for the death-in Parisof Father Felix of the Holy Ghost: whose family name may have been 'Felim Kennedy.' (?)

Father Angelus of St. Joseph-Joseph Labrosse-died in 1697. This letter is preserved in Plut. 190, and is written in Italian

• Ibid.

5 A contemporary copy of these Ordinations is preserved in Plut. 190

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Ireland as Vicar-Provincial, in the hope of his being able to re-establish the Novitiate at Loughrea.1 For rumours had gone abroad as to the sincere desire on the part of King William III to grant religious toleration to his Irish Catholic subjects after the death of Queen Mary, the Protestant daughter of the unfortunate King James. The personal experiences of the Discalced Carmelites of the Irish Mission hardly bear out the contention advanced by the Viscount Taaffe on behalf of the Prince of Orange, whose military genius appears to have appealed strongly to so staunch and distinguished a Catholic. Because, about this time, two of them-Fathers John Baptist of St. Elias and Mathias (? Antony) of All Saints-came to implore the intervention of the King of Spain for relief of the persecuted Irish Faithful.2

However, Father Joseph of the Nativity-usually mentioned as the Rev. Joseph Power, O.D.C., in various documents of the period-joyfully undertook the task entrusted to him; and was accompanied to Ireland by a lay-brother named Pius of the Visitation. There were very few Teresians now in the country, probably not more than six; and even these it is not easy to identify. For this purpose the Book of Missionary Obits is simply hopeless; whereas the MS. of Father Blasius of the Purification-especially the concluding section-is anything but reliable in matters of this kind, as the industrious author seems to have trusted much to his memory in recording the facts contained in his narrative. But the critical student of the Italian text should not have any serious difficulty in dealing with the tangles which those frequent slips involve as when the death of a 'Father James of the Assumption' is assigned to the year 1698; since he may prudently infer that this was the actual date of the demise of Father Bernard, a former Vicar-Provincial, bearing the same distinctive title. Now, turning to the Book of Obits a Father James of St. Bernard '-also

1 MS. History, 1.c.

2 Cf. Observations on Affairs in Ireland, from the Settlement in 1691, by Nicholas Lord Viscount Taaffe: London, 1766, p. 6 et passim. The reference to the King of Spain occurs in a 17th century codex containing: Scritti appartenenti alla antichità e dottrina dell' Ordine Carmelitano,' f.327-444. Father Felix of the Holy Ghost mentions the fact of Father Antony having been Master of Novices at the convent of La Scala in Rome; and, according to the Book of Obits, he died in 1720 but not in Ireland. The obits of neither Father Columbanus of St. Martin nor Henry of St. Patrick are given: the family name of the former may have been Coleman; that of the latter Brady (?)

mentioned by Father Blasius-is said to have died in Ireland in 1695, in the 35th year of his age. It is quite certain, however, that this religious was still alive in 1719, and that he held the office of Vicar-Provincial as late as 1725, after which his name does not appear in any of the memorials extant. Whether the entry in the Book of Obits may be taken as suggestive rather of the return of Father James (Smith) of St. Bernard to Ireland in 1695, it would be pure speculation to say; but were this permissible, we should have greater confidence in submitting 1693 and 1694, respectively, as the actual dates of the coming of a Father Jerome of St. Teresa, and a Father Antony of the Resurrection-both in their 26th year-to the Irish Mission; and not the close of their careers, at so very early an age, in this country as the Book of Obits records. Neither may we rely on the accuracy of the entries concerning such senior religious as survived until the advent of Father Joseph of the Nativity. Although we may reasonably admit that Father Thomas of Jesus died in 1700; still it is hardly credible that the death of Father Kieran of St. Patrick had only occurred the previous year: seeing that the name of the latter is not given in what we must regard as the official list of the Discalced Carmelites in Ireland submitted to the Superiors-General of the Order on the occasion of the Chapter held at Loughrea.

Whatever hopes Father Joseph of the Nativity may have entertained for eventual success of his undertaking, these were speedily dispelled as soon as his arrival became known to the authorities through the treachery of an unhappy apostate. Availing himself of the commotion caused by rumours of an alleged attempt on the life of King William the same year (A.D. 1695), his wretched accuser denounced Father Joseph as a Papal Envoy sent to negotiate the dethronement of the Prince of Orange; and the New VicarProvincial's arrest followed, instantly, as a matter of course. Fortunately, his calumniator was seized with remorse betimes, taking effective measures to insure Father Joseph's release; but his victim was compelled to go into immediate

1 Neither of these names appears in any of the other documents at our disposal, but it is possible that they were both on the Irish Mission at the date mentioned above

2 We have seen that Father Henry of St. Patrick was joined, at Loughrea, by several of the other Teresian fugitives; and these must have included Father John Baptist of St. Elias, who was again arrested in 1695, at the same time as Father Joseph of the Nativity (MS. History). Among their companions in captivity at Galway were several Franciscans and Dominicans.

6

exile, if he would avoid threatened recapture in the troubles befalling the Catholics of Ireland during the closing years of the 17th century. The Act of Banishment was revived in 1697, and in a 'Particular Account of the Romish Clergy, Secular and Regular, in each parish of the diocese of Dublin,' drawn up by the civic authorities that very year, there is reference to certain Carmelite Friars lately residing in the convent at Wormwood Gate in the Parish of St. Audoen. Only two were known by name, Arthur Walsh and one Dalfin,' but others, among them several lay-brothers, were supposed to be skulking about the towne.' It would be mere conjucture to recognize in either of these proscribed priests any Teresian Missionary mentioned in the series of documents before us; yet it is significant that a Father John Dolphin' happens to be one of the Irish Discalced Carmelites whose memory has come down to us, by tradition, from the penal times. Three of the religious of that period were among the exiles assisted by Dr. Dominic Maguire in 1699, at the instance of the Holy See; and later on, the same illustrious Archbishop of Armagh was in correspondence with Father Joseph of the Nativity as Agent,' in Rome, of the Irish Bishops. And it was to Father Joseph Pope Innocent XII turned for reliable information concerning the progress of events in Ireland, on hearing those glowing reports spread through the Courts of Europe by emissaries of William III, now anxiously sensitive, it seems, about his reputation in the matter of religious tolerance. But, speaking from recent personal experience, Father Joseph's testimony, as to the hardships endured by Irish Catholics under the new laws, was not calculated to reassure the Sovereign Pontiff on the grounds put forward to substantiate a notoriously shameless claim."

6

Nevertheless, the documents concluding the present

1 MS. History, l.c. The humble petition of John Collman, Carmalett fryar from the County of Galway '-transcribed in Irish Priests in the Penal Times, by Rev. W. P. Burke, p. 145 sqq.-seems to establish that the unhappy apostate in question was one of Father Joseph's own subjects. But it would be impossible to identify this particular Carmalett fryar' as one of the religious named in the Teresian documents of the period.

2 The MS is dated 2nd March, 1697; and is preserved in Marsh's Library, Dublin

The list was published in Carmel in Ireland, p. 233 sqq. 4 Spicil. Ossor. ii. p. 347.

I. E. RECORD, Fourth Series, Sept. 1906 and Sept. 1907.

series are likewise dated 1698-1699; and demonstrate finally that, no matter how oppressive the trials borne by our Irish Missionaries of the 17th century, they ever looked forward to the future with buoyant hope of victory in the end. One of the most important of them is a retrospect of the struggles made by the Teresian Friars in those later times, submitted as an appeal to the Superiors-General of the Order for sympathy and succour in this truly heroic endeavour to perpetuate their predecessors' spirit of zeal. Although neither signed nor dated, there is intrinsic evidence to show that it was written by Father Joseph (Power) of the Nativity; whose other preoccupations did not hinder him keeping fixedly in view the needs of his long-suffering brethren, striving wearily against the monotony of misery to which the Faithful of the Irish Church were pitilessly subjected during the next five and twenty years. The author ardently urges their claims for special consideration, pointing out how the Superiors-General might best cooperate in furthering the interests of the Order in a country always most loyally devoted, no matter at what sacrifice, to the Catholic Cause. In the correspondence of the year 1699-including a holograph letter of King James the Second to the Superior-General in reference to the affairs of the Discalced Carmelites at Loughrea-there is abundant proof of the influence which Father Joseph Power could command, when it became a question of securing direct intervention of the Holy See on behalf of the victims of so cruel a persecution. He himself had the consolation of living to behold the fruits of his own generous perseverance, in this respect, in the comparative flourishing condition of the Irish Teresian Mission, despite the crushing penal enactments of the reign of Queen Anne. But the papers preserved in the General Archives relating to this period form a distinct series for review at some future time. Meanwhile, the fact of the present writer having been instrumental in the discovery of the sources, which afford a sufficiently satisfactory account of the progress of the Discalced Carmelites in Ireland from the accession of Charles I until the

1 General Archives (Plut. 190).

2 This Statement is preserved among the Irish papers (Plut. 190). 3 The holograph letter of King James is, also, among the Irish papers. 4 Father Joseph of the Nativity died in Rome in 1725; but his name is not included in the Missionary Obits of the Order. At this date there were upwards of twenty Teresians in Ireland.