Laurence F. Renehan (1797–1857) was an Irish historian, author, administrator and Roman Catholic priest who served as president of

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

from 1845 to 1857. Renehan conducted extensive research on the history of Catholicism in

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 ...

Biography

Renehan was born in 1797 at Longford Pass in the parish of Gurtnahoe,

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 was educated first at Freshfield and then at

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 ...

. In September 1819, Renehan entered St Patrick's College as a student for the Archdiocese of Cashel to study

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

. In 1825, Renehan was elected a

Dunboyne Dunboyne () is a town in County Meath, Ireland, north-west of Dublin city centre. It is a commuter town for Dublin. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitan ...

student. On 15 September 1825, Renehan was appointed junior dean, and a few weeks later was ordained a priest. On 27 July 1827 Renehan was elected professor of

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

at St Patrick's. He held this position until June 1834, when he became vice-president of the college. From 4 June 1841 to 24 June 1843, Renehan also filled the office of

bursar A bursar (derived from ''wikt:bursa, bursa'', Latin for 'Coin purse, purse') is a professional Administrator of the government, administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usual ...

and was instrumental in extricating the college from financial difficulties. In 1845, Renehan became president of St. Patrick's While college president, Renehan commissioned

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

to construct the buildings on St Mary's Square at the college. These buildings include the Russell Library and a large meeting-room that was later named after Renehan. Renehan was a historian of the development of

Catholicism in Ireland The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

.Some figures from the past
Maynooth College website, accessed 22 August 2007 He collected 79 volumes of early Irish Church

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

, housed today in the Russell Library. Renehan served as St Patrick's president until his death on 27 July 1857. He is buried in a small cemetery on the campus.

Works

* ''Collections on Irish Church History, Vol. 1: Irish Archbishops'', not published during his lifetime. It was later edited by his colleague Daniel McCarthy and published in 1861 by C.M. Warren and Thomas Richardson, Dublin. * ''Requiem Office'' * ''Choir Manual of Sacred Music'' * ''History of Music''.

References

External links

Maynooth College - Pontifical University (official website)

National University of Ireland, Maynooth (official website)

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Laurence F. Renehan

Renehan's "History of Music" on Google Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renehan, Laurence 1797 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish historians of religion Irish antiquarians Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Presidents of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Burials at Maynooth College Cemetery