The Most Rev. James Gallagher (died 1751), was a Roman Catholic bishop.

Life

Gallagher was a member of the

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

sept A sept () is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used both in Scotland and in Ireland, where it may be translated as Irish , meaning "progeny" or "seed", and may indicate the descendants of a person ...

of ''Ó Galchobhair'', anglicised Gallagher. He was born about 1684, possibly near

Kinlough Kinlough ( ; ) is a large village in north County Leitrim. It lies between the Dartry Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the River Duff and the River Drowes, at the head of Lough Melvin. It borders County Donegal and County Fermanagh ...

, a village in the north of

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

in the north of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

, and was educated at the Irish College in Paris, where he received an MA in 1715. He entered the priesthood of the

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, and was consecrated

Bishop of Raphoe The Bishop of Raphoe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bi ...

, whose diocese covered most of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, in November 1725 at

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

.Mac Murchaidh, Ciarán. "Notes on the Use of the Bible in the Sermons of James Gallagher", ''Ireland and the Reception of the Bible: Social and Cultural Perspectives'', (Bradford A. Anderson, Jonathan Kearney, eds.), Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018
/ref> Bishop Gallagher administered his diocese, the Diocese of Raphoe, until 1735, when he left due to threats to his safety in regards to the

Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

. It has been reported that he went to an island in

Lough Erne Lough Erne ( , ) is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the fourth biggest in Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River E ...

, where he worked on the sermons which he published the following year. In May 1737, Gallagher was translated from the bishopric of Raphoe to that of

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

, and in the same year he was appointed administrator of the Diocese of Leighlin. In April 1741, Bishop Gallagher, then at

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, was one of four bishops who gave a certificate of approval regarding

Andrew Donlevy Andrew Donlevy (born c.1694) was an Irish Catholic priest and educator. Life Little is known about his early life. He was probably born in County Sligo and went abroad to study for the priesthood, reaching Paris in 1710 and becoming a student ...

's Irish-English catechism of the Christian Doctrine. This work, with Gallagher's certificate prefixed, was printed in the following year at Paris by James Guerin. Gallagher succeeded in evading the Penal Laws against

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

ecclesiastics, and died in May 1751.

Works

In 1736 he published in Dublin ''Sixteen Irish Sermons, in an easy and familiar style, on useful and necessary subjects, in English characters, as being the more familiar to the generality of our Irish clergy''. In his preface the author mentioned that he had composed those discourses principally for the use of his fellow labourers, to be preached to their respective flocks, as his repeated troubles debarred him "of the comfort of delivering them in person". He added:

I have made them in an easy and familiar style, and of purpose omitted cramp expressions which be obscure to both the preacher and hearer. Nay, instead of such, I have sometimes made use of words borrowed from the English which practice and daily conversation have intermixed with our language.

Several editions of his sermons were published, the latest of which was issued in Dublin in 1877, with an English translation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, James Year of birth missing 1751 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Roman Catholic bishops of Raphoe Roman Catholic bishops of Kildare and Leighlin Alumni of the Irish College in Paris