ander VI. He represented the exactions of the Prior, Prince, and Bishop of the island-" omnes enim petierunt pecuniam." He mentioned his own experiences of itthat he had not been favoured with those glimpses of future punishment and bliss which were ascribed to it. His words added force to prejudices already forming against it over the Continent, and thus its temporary suppression was determined upon, until such times as the abuses complained of should be remedied.

an

In the "Annals of the Four Masters" there is found no allusion to the closing of the cave on Saints' Island by order of the Pope: mention is made of it, however, in the "Annals of Ulster." The reason assigned by the Bollandists and the "Annals of Ulster" for the suppression of the cave are quite different. The Bollandists say it was ordered to be closed because it had become ፡፡ occasion of shameful avarice." It would appear as if they grounded their opinion on the report of the monk of Eymstede, which, however it may have precipitated the action of Rome in the matter, we have yet to learn whether it was the only cause to draw forth that decision. The reason for its suppression, as set forth in the " Annals of Ulster," I hold to be much more tenable, namely, "that it was not the Purgatory which the Lord had shown to St. Patrick." On this subject no better authority could be adduced than the compiler of the Annals of Ulster, the celebrated Cathal Maguire; for he was not only deeply versed in his country's lore above all his contemporaries, but was also, at the time of the edict in question, a high dignitary and official of the diocese in which the Purga

tory is situated; and, over and above all this, he was appointed by the Pope to assist in carrying out the Papal decree, and hence we may reasonably presume that he was fully acquainted with the causes which led to this decree.

In the words of the "Annals of Ulster:"-" A.D. 1497. The cave of Patrick's Purgatory in Lough Gerg, was destroyed about the festival of St. Patrick this year, by the Guardian of Donegal and by the representative of the Bishop in the deanery of Lough Erne" [i.e., Cathal Maguire], "by authority of the Pope, the people in general having understood from the history of the knight, and other old books, that this was not the Purgatory which St. Patrick obtained from God, though the people in general were visiting it."

Now, as this Cathal or Charles Maguire was one of the most illustrious sons of the diocese of Clogher, and one of the most distinguished Irish ecclesiastics in any age, I will be pardoned for giving his obit as recorded by Roderick O'Cassidy in the "Annals of Ulster," which were brought by Maguire from A.D. 444 down to 1498, the year of his death, and continued by O'Cassidy to the year 1541. O'Cassidy writes:-"Anno Domini 1498. A great mournful news throughout all Ireland this year, viz., the following-Cathal Oge MacManus Maguire died this year. He was Canon Chorister at Armagh, and in the bishopric of Clogher, and Dean of Lough Erne, and Pastor of Inniskeen, in Lough Erne, and the representative of a Bishop" [i.e., Vicar-General] "for fifteen years before his death. He was a precious stone,

a bright gem, a luminous star, a treasury of wisdom, and a fruitful branch of the Canon; and a fountain of charity, meekness, and mildness; a dove in purity of heart, and a turtle in chastity; the person to whom the literati, and the poor, and the destitute paupers of Ireland were most thankful; one who was full of grace and wisdom in every science to the time of his death, in law, physic, and philosophy, and in all the Gaelic sciences; and one who made, gathered, and collected this book from many other books. He died of Galar Breac" (the small-pox) "on the tenth of the calends of April, being Wednesday, Ixo. anno aetatis suae. And let every person, who shall read and profit by this book, give a blessing on the soul of MacManus (i.e., Cathal Maguire)."

In the decree of Pope Alexander VI., we can observe the vigilant care with which the Church guards her holy places against even the least infringement of the established and authorized discipline. "Holy Church," says one of our great writers, "neither admits nor encourages, even by silence, anything contrary to truth, virtue, or piety." Hence, in the case of Lough Derg, she did not hesitate to interrupt that pilgrimage until the abuses complained of had been removed. But, as the interval during which it was closed was only of short duration, we may conclude that Rome soon after lent its sanction to the place; and thus the pilgrimage, without further let or hindrance from the ecclesiastical authorities, has ever since maintained its salutary influence throughout the long ordeal of persecution which swept over and laid desolate most of the other religious institutions of our country.

CHAPTER XII.

REOPENING OF THE PILGRIMAGE-SITE OF THE CAVERNA PURGATORII-CHANGE OF PILGRIMAGE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY -ITS JURISDICTION, IN WHOM VESTED-THE COURSE OF PENANCE AND DEVOTION THERE PERFORMED DURING THE SIXTEENTH AND

SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES.

HAT the Pilgrimage of St. Patrick's Purgatory remained closed but for a brief period seems certain. It is stated that George Cromer, Archbishop of Armagh, made a strong appeal to Rome in favour of its reopening; and that, acceding to his solicitations, Pius III., who succeeded to the Papacy in 1503, recalled the Bull of Pope Alexander, and issued another, granting indulgences to the pilgrims and certain faculties to the community of Lough Derg, which Bull has ever since continued in force. Messingham (Florilegium, p. 125,) states that, on the nature of its devotions being explained to the Holy See, indulgences were attached to this pilgrimage before the close of the sixteenth century.

So soon after the closing of the cave as 1504 we find that the Prior in charge of it was the Rev. Turlough, or Terence, Maguire, of whom the following notice is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters:-" 1504.

Turlough Maguire, who had been Canon Chorister at Clogher, Pastor of Derryvullen, and Prior of Lough Derg, fell down a stone staircase at the town of Athboy, about the Festival of St. Patrick, and died of the fall, and he was buried in the monastery of Cavan."*

Nor did the edict of Alexander VI. deter foreign pilgrims from visiting this sanctuary as of old, as we may fairly deduce from the following notable instance, taken from the Annals already referred to :

"Anno 1516. A French knight came upon his pilgrimage to St. Patrick's Purgatory on Lough Gerg, and on his arrival and at his departure he visited O'Donnell, from whom he received great honours, gifts, and presents; and they formed a great intimacy and friendship with each other, and the knight, upon hearing that the castle of Sligo was defended against O'Donnell, promised to send him a ship with great guns."

The question as to where the purgatorial cave was originally situated remains as yet surrounded with a good deal of uncertainty. By writers on the subject it is generally supposed to have been on Saints' Island; but I am inclined to hold that, before the Augustinians became occupants of the place in the twelfth century, this cave was situated on the "Island of the Purgatory," now called Station Island. This opinion is supported by the authority of Giraldus Cambrensis, who, soon after Henry of Saltrey's narrative had appeared, wrote an account of this country, in which he referred to Lough Derg. From

*In 1480 this was chosen as a burial place by his kinsman, Thomas Oge Maguire, an illustrious pilgrim.