Roche MacGeoghegan (1580 – 26 May 1644), also known as Roque de la Cruz, was a seventeenth-century Irish Dominican

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

and Tridentine reformist. A member of an aristocratic family from

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, he obtained a mostly Roman Catholic childhood education before, in his twenties, moving to

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and entering the Dominican Order. After many years promoting the revitalisation of the Order in Ireland, from Ireland and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

, he was considered unsuccessfully for the

archbishopric of Armagh In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

in 1625 and then successfully for the bishopric of Kildare in 1629, gaining himself the title of Ross, al Roche, D.D., Bishop of Kildare. After a dozen years as bishop, his health slowly declined and he died in 1644. His nephew was historian and translator Conall MacGeoghegan.

Origins and background

Born in 1580, Roche was the sixth son of Giles (Giles) "Sheila" O'Dempsey (1561-1619) and Ross MacGeoghegan (1549-1580), chief of the MacGeoghegan kindred of

Moycashel Moycashel (), previously the barony of Rossaughe, and before that, Delamares country, is a barony in south County Westmeath, in Ireland. It was formed by 1542.

.Forrestal, "MacGeoghegan, Roche (1580–1644)". His family had a background of involvement in the Irish Counter-Reformation. Later, two of his cousins became Dominican friars, and another cousin,

Anthony MacGeoghegan Anthony MacGeoghegan, OFM (died 1664) was a 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic Friar Minor and bishop. After he entered the Order, MacGeoghegan was educated at the College of the Immaculate Conception operated in Prague by the friars for their I ...

, became the Roman Catholic

Bishop of Clonmacnoise Bishop of Clonmacnoise was the ordinary of the Roman Catholic episcopal see based at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland. The bishops of Clonmacnoise (Old Irish: ''Cluain Moccu Nóis'') appear in the records for the first time in the 9th century ...

. Despite being educated in a Protestant school for 6 months, the bulk of MacGeoghegan's early education was in the hands of Catholics, men such as the Westmeath priest John Power, as well as Catholic laymen in Westmeath and

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

. He travelled to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in 1600 and joined the Dominican Order, acquiring the name ''Roque de la Cruz''. At the

Irish College Irish Colleges is the collective name used for approximately 34 centres of education for Irish Catholic clergy and lay people opened on continental Europe in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. History The Colleges were set up to educate Rom ...

in Lisbon he spent many months learning the

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, before he moved to

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in 1601 .

The Dominican

MacGeoghegan spent 8 years at Salamanca, during many of which he lectured to students from Ireland. From 1614 onwards he was active in Ireland in the service of his Order, promoting and reorganising the Dominicans on the island, who had declined almost to oblivion in the previous century. He served as Vicar of the Dominican Order in Ireland between 1614 and 1617. The revitalisation of the Order played an important part in the Irish counter-Reformation, and MacGeoghegan's leadership in this task required grants from the Pope to read banned texts, to grant marriage dispensation and to celebrate the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

s anywhere on the island. For his preaching and organisational efforts he achieved recognition in

, for instance when he attended the Dominican chapter meeting at Lisbon in 1618. he was awarded the decree of ''praesentatus''. While at this chapter meeting, MacGeoghegan presented his plans for the recovery of the Dominicans in Ireland, a plan that was accepted by the Order. All Irish Dominicans in Continental Europe were instructed to return to Ireland after completion of their training, and MacGeoghegan was empowered to recall Irish Dominicans who had not returned after their training.

The Bishop

MacGeoghegan continued in such a manner for the following decade. After the death of

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096 – 21/22 August 1160) was an Italian scholasticism, scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of ''Sentences, Four Books of Sentences'' which became the s ...

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

, MacGeoghegan emerged as one of the leading candidates to be Lombard's successor. The Dominican Order pressurised the papacy for his appointment, keen to secure one of their Order in such a position to compete with the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

s, who held a number of Irish sees. He was also supported by Philip II,

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. However, mainly due to the opposition of the

Earl of Tyrone The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland, and once in the Spanish nobility. It was created for the final time in 1746 for Marcus Beresford, 1st Viscount Tyrone, son-in-law of the last de Poer earls. His son wa ...

and the

Earl of Tyrconnell Earl of Tyrconnell is a title that has been created four times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was first created in 1603, for Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, formerly king of Tyrconnell, along with the subsidiary title Baron Donegal. The 1 ...

, who were opposed to someone from

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

becoming the archbishop in Ulster, his candidacy failed and a Franciscan, Hugh MacCaghwell, succeeded instead. He was compelled to go into exile after briefly falling foul of government authorities, fleeing to

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(Louvain),

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, in 1626. At Leuven, MacGeoghegan remained active, successfully lobbying King Philip II for the foundation of a Dominican college in that city. In 1628, the prospect of a more modest episcopal post closer to his homeland came up. On 5 May 1628, he was unsuccessfully provided to the bishopric of Kildare. This provision was repeated on 12 February 1629, this time successfully, and MacGeoghegan returned to Ireland as bishop.Forrestal, "MacGeoghegan, Roche (1580–1644)"; Fryde et al., ''Handbook'', p. 431. The new Bishop of Kildare was highly active during his early years and was known for his piety and discipline, wearing chains and a hair-shirt under his clothes. He actively carried out visitations and other episcopal duties, held

diocesan synod In the Anglican Communion, the model of government is the 'Bishop in Synod', meaning that a diocese is governed by a bishop acting with the advice and consent of representatives of the clergy and laity of the diocese. In much of the Communion the b ...

s and attended a

provincial synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

in 1640.

Death

Two traditions exist about his death exist. A traditional story is that while preaching a sermon in praise of

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

, he was overcome with

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

and died immediately. Contemporary official records however reveal that in the 1640s Bishop MacGeoghegan's health declined and that he became paralysed, remaining is such a condition for an extended period before his death. In the event, he died on 26 May 1644, perhaps in County Westmeath. His place of burial is not known for certain, but it was likely at either

Multyfarnham Multyfarnham or Multyfarnam () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, it had a population of 460 people. History First founded in 1268, the Franciscan monastery at Multyfarnham is still home to a community of fria ...

Franciscan friary, the traditional burial place for his family, or at the Catholic Church of Kildare. He left an extensive library which, after his death, was divided between his diocese and the Dominican Order.

Notes

References