Matthew Kelly (21 September 1814 – 30 October 1858) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, academic and antiquary.

Life

Born 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 ...

, he was eldest son of James Kelly, by Margaret Sauphy. An uncle, Patrick Kelly, was

Bishop of Waterford The Bishop of Waterford was a medieval prelate, governing the Diocese of Waterford from its creation in the 11th century until it was absorbed into the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore in the 14th century. After the creation of ...

. Kelly was taught in very early years by Michael John Brenan, author of the ''Ecclesiastical History of Ireland''. When about seven years of age he entered the Kilkenny diocesan seminary, and in 1831 he began theological studies at

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 ...

, where he was elected a Dunboyne student in 1836. From 1839 to 1841 Kelly was professor successively of philosophy and theology in the Irish College at Paris, and on 5 November 1841 was appointed to the chair of ''

belles-lettres () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

'' and French at Maynooth; on 20 October 1857 he became professor there of ecclesiastical history. In 1854 he was made D.D. by the pope, and about the same time a canon of Ossory. Kelly died on 30 October 1858, and was buried in the cemetery of Maynooth.

Works

Kelly was a student of Irish antiquities and ecclesiastical history. He made large collections for a work on ‘The Ecclesiastical Annals of Ireland from the Invasion to the Reformation,’ as a continuation of the work of John Lanigan, and was superintending the publication of the ‘Collections on Irish Church History’ by Laurence Renehan. He edited John Lynch's ‘Cambrensis Eversus,’ Dublin, 3 vols. 1848–52 (for the Celtic Society, of whose council he was a member); Stephen White's ‘Apologia pro Hibernia,’ Dublin, 1849; and Philip O'Sullivan's ‘Historiæ Catholicæ Iberniæ Compendium,’ Dublin, 1850. He also translated

Jean-Edmé-Auguste Gosselin Jean-Edmé-Auguste Gosselin (28 September 1787 at Rouen, France – 27 November 1858 at Paris) was a French Catholic priest and ecclesiastical author. Life Gosselin studied philosophy and theology at St-Sulpice, Paris from 1806 to 1811; be ...

's ‘Power of the Popes during the Middle Ages,’ London, 1853 (vol. i. of the ‘Library of Translations from Select Foreign Literature’), and published a ‘Calendar of Irish Saints, the Martyrology of Tullagh; with Notices of the Patron Saints of Ireland. And Select Poems and Hymns,’ Dublin, 1857. Kelly contributed to various periodicals, notably the '' Dublin Review'', and a collection of his essays, entitled ‘Dissertations chiefly on Irish Church History,’ was edited, with a memoir, by D. McCarthy, Dublin, 1864.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Matthew 1814 births 1858 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish antiquarians Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Academics of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Burials at Maynooth College Cemetery