John Carpenter (archbishop of Dublin)

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St. Michan's Churchyard, Dublin
DenominationRoman Catholic

John Carpenter (1729 – 29 October 1786), (in

Roman Catholic archbishop of Dublin
from 1770 until death in 1786.

Biography

John Carpenter was born in 1729 in Dublin. His father was a merchant tailor, of Chancery Lane, a respectable residential area near the law courts.

bardic family who had settled in Dublin.[2] It was probably under Ó Neachtain's influence that he compiled an Irish grammar, a miscellany of prose and poetry and a book of devotion for his personal use which included part of the Imitatio Christi in Ulster Irish. He also collected manuscripts written in Irish, particularly those of a devotional nature.[3]

In 1747, at the age of eighteen, he became a student at the Irish College of Lisbon, and was ordained a priest five years later. He successfully studied for a doctorate in theology, returning to Dublin in 1754 to begin his ministry at St. Mary's Chapel on Liffey Street.[2]

Early ministry

During his early pastoral career, he gained a reputation as an elegant preacher and a zealous catechist who had built three schools for the poor and orphaned and managed to stay above diocesan party politics. He was not afraid, however, to challenge established, diocesan custom. In 1763, for instance, he put his name to a complaint that many parish priests were cheating their assistant priests regarding the chapel door collections.[4]

In 1756 Archbishop Patrick Fitzsimons appointed him

Penal Laws. With O'Conor, he shared an abiding interest in the Irish language and its attendant culture.[4]

In 1767 Fitzsimons sent him to London as secretary to Nicholas Taaffe, Viscount Taaffe, who sought to negotiate the wording of the Test Oath. Taffe was impressed with Carpenter, and recommended him to his superiors for promotion.[4]

Archbishop of Dublin

In late 1769, Archbishop Fitzsimons was described in a letter as "old, blind, hors de combat and perhaps already dead." On 15 April 1770, Carpenter was appointed his successor, and was consecrated on 3 June of that year.[2] Mindful of the limits of Catholic practise in Ireland under the Ascendancy, the latter ceremony had to take place in a private house.

In 1773 he was invited to join the Dublin Society (now the Royal Dublin Society), an act of unofficial recognition that in the context of the penal laws was described by Charles O'Conor of Belanagare as: "...a revolution in our moral and civil affairs the more extraordinary, as in my own days such a man would only be spoken to through the medium of a warrant and constable."[5]

Archbishop Carpenter held the parish of

St Nicholas
as his mensal, and "resided in a large house on Usher's Island...[saying] Mass in Francis Street every Sunday at eight o'clock." Enjoying the support of his clergy, Archbishop Carpenter's first act was "to ensure that collections taken up at the church door were properly divided between parish priests and assistants." Commenting further on these aspects of his ministry, his entry in the 2004 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says of him:

"An assiduous administrator, Archbishop Carpenter visited his diocese regularly and his first publication was a set of provincial and synodal constitutions. This appeared in 1770. His pastoral priority was to improve standards of religious and moral practice among clergy and laity alike. In this context, he was especially concerned about clerical drunkenness. His social concerns were part of a broader political vision for he was convinced that the maintenance of moral and social order was the best way to persuade the government to relax anti-Catholic legislation. He enjoyed good relations with Protestants. In 1773 he was admitted to the Royal Dublin Society, an event described by Charles O'Conor as 'a revolution in our moral and civil affairs the more extraordinary, as in my own days such a man would only be spoken to through the medium of a warrant and constable.' This was an indication not only of changing religious attitudes in the establishment, but also of the widespread esteem for Carpenter's character and learning."

In related areas, he aided the publication of

Penal Laws
, a test-oath acceptable to Catholics, and gradually re-establishing the Irish Catholic church's link with the Irish government. A firm defender of property, and law and order, he denounced oath-bound secret societies such as those of Dublin workers who used industrial strife to gain concessions and working rights.

Archbishop Carpenter died on 29 October 1786, and was buried in the graveyard of

John Thomas Troy
.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Archbishop of Dublin

1770–1786 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Phádraig, Brian Mac Giolla. “Dr. John Carpenter: Archbishop of Dublin, 1760-1786.” Dublin Historical Record, vol. 30, no. 1, 1976, pp. 2–17.
  2. ^ a b c John Carpenter (1770–1786),Archdiocese of Dublin/Ard-Deoise Bhaile Átha Cliath: accessed 7 January 2012.
  3. ISBN 9780521302616
    , p. xix
  4. ^ a b c O'Connor, Thomas. "Carpenter, John (1729–86)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, http://eprints.nuim.ie/379/,PDF at http://eprints.nuim.ie/379/1/Carpenter.pdf, accessed 7 January 2012.
  5. ^ Ó Catháin, D. Charles O’Conor of Belanagare: antiquary and Irish scholar. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 119 (1989), p. 154.
  6. ^ Webb, Alfred. "Archbishop John Carpenter", A Compendium of Irish Biography, 1878, accessed 7 January 2012.

External links

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