Father Andrew Fitzgerald O.P (30 November 1763 – 14 December 1843) was a

Dominican friar The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

and professor of theology from

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He attended

Kilkenny College Kilkenny College is a Church of Ireland co-educational day and boarding secondary school located in Kilkenny, in the South-East of Ireland. It is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland. In 2013 it transferred to the state/public se ...

, and

University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

. He was a professor at St. Patrick's College,

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had a population of 27,351, the List of urban areas in the Republic of Ireland, ...

. Fitzgerald taught classics, philosophy, theology and sacred scripture. He was chair of divinity, and president. at St. Patrick's. In 1811 he set up a school for girls in Carlow town. Fitzgerald was imprisoned during the

Tithe War The Tithe War () was a campaign of mainly nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes, in Ireland between 1830 and 1836 in reaction to the enforcement of tithes on the Roman Catholic majority for the upkeep of the est ...

in 1832 for his refusal to pay tithes. In 1835, the French political philosopher

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (29 July 180516 April 1859), was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, diplomat, political philosopher, and historian. He is best known for his works ''Democracy in America'' (appearing in t ...

said "''Mr. Fitzgerald is a lovable old man; democratic and Catholic fervour is shown more openly with him than with the Bishop.''"

Education

A native of

, he was born in 1763 to James FitzGerald and Mary Fitzgerald (née Knarsborough) on High Street, he went to school in the Church of Ireland run

and at the age of 16 went to study in the

, becoming a Dominican friar. He also studied in Lisbon, where he was awarded degree of master of arts, on 4 September 1788.

Career

He returned to Ireland in 1792, and with Rev. Patrick McGrath was in charge of St. Canice's Academy, Kilkenny. He spent three years rebuilding the Dominican Abbey, Kilkenny He joined the teaching staff at Carlow College on 1 March 1800. At Carlow he taught classics, philosophy, theology and sacred scripture. In 1810 Fitzgerlad, then professor of theology at Carlow College, invited the Presentation Sisters to set up a school for girls in Carlow, which they did in 1811. He succeeded Dr. Henry Staunton in 1814 to become president of the college, some years earlier he had left his teaching position being replaced by

James Warren Doyle James Warren Doyle, OESA (1786–1834) was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin in Ireland, who used the signature "JKL", an acronym from "James Kildare and Leighlin." Doyle was active in the Anti-Tithe movement. A campaigner for ...

, in dispute with the college only to return soon afterwards. In 1814 Rev. Andrew FitzGerald was appointed professor of sacred scripture 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 ...

he declined to accept the office staying at Carlow.

Tithe War

He was imprisoned during the

in 1832 for his refusal to pay tithes when he was president of the college. Amongst his students in Carlow was the Irish patriot

James Fintan Lalor James Fintan Lalor (in Irish, Séamas Fionntán Ó Leathlobhair) (10 March 1809 – 27 December 1849) was an Irish revolutionary, journalist, and “one of the most powerful writers of his day.” A leading member of the Irish Confederation (Yo ...

. Fr. Fitzgerald proposed

Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...

MP in the election 1832, and again in 1835, in Carlow borough, seconded by a fellow anti-tithes campaigner the Quaker Thomas Haughton. The French political philosopher

who toured Ireland in 1835, commented that Monseigneur Fitzgerald was a man of openly Catholic and democratic passions.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Andrew 1763 births 1843 deaths People educated at Kilkenny College Old University of Leuven alumni Irish tax resisters Irish Dominicans Christian clergy from County Kilkenny Academics of St. Patrick's, Carlow College Burials at Carlow College Cemetery Activists from County Kilkenny