Michael Slattery (1783–1857) was a

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 ...

clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Cashel & Emly from 1833 to 1857. He was born at

Tipperary town Tipperary (; ), commonly known as Tipperary Town, is a town and a civil parish in County Tipperary, Ireland. Its population was 4,979 at the 2016 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, ...

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 ...

in 1783, and was educated at the Abbey School there. He entered

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

when only fifteen years of age, one of the first Catholics to do so, earning a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1804.Murphy, David. "Slattery, Michael:, ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', 2009
/ref> He then decided to become a

Roman Catholic priest 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'' re ...

, and was enrolled at the

St. Patrick's, Carlow College St Patrick's, Carlow College, is a liberal arts college located in Carlow, Ireland. The college is the second oldest third level institution in Ireland and was founded in 1782 by James Keefe, then Roman Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, a ...

. He was ordained in 1809, and continued at

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, ...

as a professor of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and of Moral Theology. As a priest, Father Slattery served the parishes of Ulla in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

for two years, and

Borrisoleigh Borrisoleigh () is a small town in County Tipperary, Ireland. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 679. It is in the ecclesiastical parish of Borrisoleigh and Ileigh in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Location and ac ...

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 ...

for over twenty years. In 1832 he we elected president of the

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 ...

; in 1833 he was elected to succeed Archbishop

Robert Laffan Robert Laffan (died 3 July 1833) was an Irish Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly from 1823 to 1833. He was the son of Walter Laffan, Esquire, of Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland, and a grandson of Richar ...

as head of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly The Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in mid-western Ireland, and the metropolis of the eponymous ecclesiastical province. The cathedral church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral of the Assump ...

, and was installed at Thurles Cathedral on 24 February 1834. Slattery was a moderate

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and supported

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

, but also spoke out against more militant nationalism. In 1842 Slattery established a foreign mission department in

St. Patrick's College, Thurles Mary Immaculate College, (MIC) St. Patrick's Campus, Thurles is a third-level college of education in Thurles, County Tipperary. Formerly a seminary, the college specialises in humanities courses in accounting, business studies, Irish and relig ...

. Archbishop Slattery died at

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles. The cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

on 4 February 1857.

The Michael Slattery Lecture Series

The Michael Slattery Lectures series is held by Carlow College in association with

, recognising his connection to both institutions. Participants from the Departments of History, English, History of Art and Architecture from Trinity and the Humanities Department at Carlow College attend. * ''Re-interpreting Rebellion in Irish History'', The Michael Slattery Lectures, 2008.Trinity lecture series begins in Carlow College
'' The Nationalist'', Wednesday, 2 January 2008 * ''Irish Reputations'', The Michael Slattery Lectures, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slattery, Michael 1783 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ireland Christian clergy from County Tipperary Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Carlow College Academics of St. Patrick's, Carlow College Presidents of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Roman Catholic archbishops of Cashel People educated at The Abbey School (Tipperary) People from Tipperary (town)