John O'Molony (1617–1702)

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The Most Reverend

John O'Molony

D.D.
Bishop of Limerick
ChurchRoman Catholic
DioceseLimerick
Appointed1688
Term ended3 September 1702
PredecessorJames Dowley
SuccessorCornelius O'Keeffe
Orders
Ordination1642
Consecration6 March 1671
Personal details
Born1617
Kiltannon, County Clare, Kingdom of Ireland
Died3 September 1702
Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, France
BuriedCollège des Lombard, Paris, France
Previous post(s)Bishop of Killaloe
Alma materCollege of Sorbonne

John O'Molony (1617 – 3 September 1702) was an Irish

Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Killaloe from 1671 and as Bishop of Limerick during the Williamite War in Ireland.[1] He was a Jacobite who spent much of his life in France, where he lived in exile throughout the final decade of his life.[2]

Early life

O'Malony was born at Kiltannon, County Clare, the son of Thomas O'Molony and Anne McMahon. From the age of 13 was he raised in the household of his uncle, Bishop John O'Molony (1591–1651).[2]

He was ordained as a priest by

canonry in Rouen.[2]

Bishop of Killaloe

On 6 March 1671 he was consecrated as Bishop of Killaloe and he returned to Ireland in August of that year.[3] In late 1673 he was nominated by Irish bishops to establish an Irish theological college abroad, and O'Malony moved again to France to petition Jean-Baptiste Colbert.[4] His efforts were successful and in 1677 the Irish College in Paris received a charter from Louis XIV.[2]

In 1677, O'Molony returned to Ireland under the patronage of

Connaught for his safety; a £150 bounty had been offered for his capture. In June 1681 he left in secret for France.[2]

Bishop of Limerick

The accession of James II to the throne enabled O'Molony to return to Ireland in 1685. On 1 May 1687 he participated in the consecration of Ferdinando d'Adda at St James's Palace, London. In 1687 he was appointed administrator of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick and the following year he was made Bishop of Limerick upon James II's recommendation to Pope Innocent XI. In 1689 he condemned the failure of James's Jacobite Patriot Parliament to repeal Poynings' Law. He remained in Limerick during the first Siege of Limerick in 1690. Upon the lifting of the siege, he left the city for France as part of a delegation sent by James II to request further French support for the war. He never returned to Ireland.[2]

Throughout the 1690s, O'Molony remained in France and was in receipt of a clerical pension from the French king. In the early 1690s, the English government identified him as a likely Jacobite conspirator.[3] In 1691 he subscribed to a letter written by the Irish episcopate to the pope, seeking support for the Jacobite cause.[2]

O'Molony died in 1702 at

livres for a new Irish college in Paris, 300 livres for the support of students in the Collège des Lombards, and six bursaries for Irish students in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand.[2]

References

  1. JSTOR 30082976
    . Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cronin, John (October 2009). "O'Molony, John". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. ^
    ISBN 1015586996.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  4. ^ Irish Colleges on the Continent. Catholic Answers. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  5. ^ Hurley, Patrick (April 1892). "The Irish at Nantes". The Dublin Review (2): 351. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Limerick
1688–1702 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Denis Harty
 Bishop of Killaloe
1671–1702 		Succeeded by
Eustace Browne
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