Michael John Brenan (1780 – 1847) was an Irish

Roman Catholic 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 ...

priest and a scholar of

church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

who gained notoriety through his temporary defection from the

Catholic Church 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 ...

to the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

(Anglican).

Life

Brenan was born in

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 the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland (; , ) was a dependent territory of Kingdom of England, England and then of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1542 to the end of 1800. It was ruled by the monarchs of England and then List of British monarchs ...

, the son of a stonemason. After his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the

Catholic priesthood The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

, Brenan quickly obtained a reputation as a preacher, but, possibly out of personal issues, quickly came into collision with his bishop and was suspended from his office. He then left the Catholic Church, became an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and was taken up by an early form of the later Priests' Protection Society under whose auspices he was announced to preach at St. George's Church in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. In the meantime he reconsidered his position and repented of his defection. Brenan resolved to make public reparation for his defection to Anglicanism. On the Sunday in 1809 that he was announced to commence his campaign against the Catholic Church, he ascended the pulpit of St. George's, began by

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with doctrines of grace, grace, Sacred, holiness, spiritual Redemption (theology), redemption, or Will of God, divine will. Etymology and Germani ...

himself most reverently, and then to the relief of his audience took up the Bible, and said "This is the Word of God". After a brief pause, he added deliberately and earnestly, "And I swear by its contents that every word I have uttered against the Catholic Church is a lie", and at once left the building. Brenan went to a neighbouring Capuchin friary, explained what had happened, and begged to be admitted into the order. After some time, his request was granted, and he became a Capuchin friar at Wexford, where in later years he wrote (as a penance, it is said) his ''Ecclesiastical History of Ireland'' (2 vols., Dublin, 1840, revised ed., 1864). Brenan died in

during February 1847.

References

*Hogan, ''History of Kilkenny'' (pulpit incident reproduced in ''Ossory Archeological Society Journal'', 1879), 423-425 *''Waterford Mirror'' files (Waterford, 7 November 1809) ---- * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brenan, Michael John 1780 births 1847 deaths Christian clergy from County Kilkenny 19th-century Irish historians Historians of the Catholic Church Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Capuchins