Francis McCormack (8 April 1833 – 14 November 1909) was an Irish Catholic bishop of the 19th and 20th century.

Early life and family

Francis Joseph McCormack was born in Ballintubber in 1833. He studied for the priesthood in

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland. The college and national seminary on its grounds are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was of ...

. His nephew, Captain Patrick McCormack, was shot dead on

Bloody Sunday (1920) Bloody Sunday () was a day of violence in Dublin on 21 November 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. More than 30 people were killed or fatally wounded. The day began with an Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (I ...

in disputed circumstances .

Priest

McCormack was ordained a priest in 1862.

Bishop

McCormack was consecrated a bishop by

John McEvilly John McEvilly (1818–1902) was an Irish Roman Catholic Church clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Tuam from 1881 to 1902. He was born on 15 April 1818 in Louisburgh, a small town near Westport, County Mayo, Ireland., ''The Episcopal Su ...

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. He was Bishop of Achonry 1871 to 1887. In 1879 a minor famine saw 300 people beg food from the bishop at

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. He wrote a letter to the

Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...

, contrasting the vast sums spent on the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

and

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with the minimal amount the government spent on famine relief. He also condemned "assisted emigration," whereby landlords paid the fare to get rid of unwanted tenants. In 1887 McCormack was appointed to the Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh where he served until he retired due to ill health in 1908. He died in 1909. He is buried in Galway Cathedral crypt, his papers are stored in the Diocesan archive.

References

1833 births 1909 deaths Christian clergy from County Mayo Roman Catholic bishops of Achonry Roman Catholic bishops of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub