Patrick MacMahon, O.F.M. (died c.1572 or c.1575) was

Bishop of Ardagh The Bishop of Ardagh was a separate Episcopal polity, episcopal title which took its name after the village of Ardagh, County Longford in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It was used by the Roman Catholic Church until 1756, and intermittently by t ...

in Ireland, recognised at various times by both the

Roman Catholic church in Ireland The Catholic Church in Ireland, or Irish Catholic Church, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in Full communion, communion with the Holy See. With 3.5 million members (in the Republic of Ireland), it is the largest Christianity in Ir ...

and 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 ...

. His appointment to the see was approved by the Vatican on 14 November 1541. The

Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English Crown at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage was known ...

had begun, but there was not yet a definitive break between, on the one hand, the hierarchy recognised by the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

and, on the other hand, the established church recognised by the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

of the English king

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. The Diocese of Ardagh was in the

Annaly Annaly is an Irish lordship and former principality, named for its conqueror Angaile, ancestor of the Ó Fearghail. The territory of Annaly coincides with modern County Longford and was conquered in the 10th century by Angaile, a King of For ...

region of the Farrell clan, of whom Richard O'Ferrall had secured the

temporalities Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a '' Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...

of the diocese in July 1541.

George Cromer George Cromer (died 16 March 1542) was Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in the reign of Henry VIII of England, from 1521/2. Biography Cromer was English by birth, a descendant of the Cromer (also spelt Crowemer) family of Tunsta ...

, the Church of Ireland

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

and

primate of all Ireland The Primacy of Ireland belongs to the diocesan bishop of the Irish diocese with highest precedence. The Archbishop of Armagh is titled Primate of All Ireland and the Archbishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, signifying that they are the senior ...

, recognised O'Ferrall and had him consecrated on 22 April 1542. Cromer's successor

George Dowdall George Dowdall (1487 – 15 August 1558) was a sixteenth-century Irish cleric, who was twice Archbishop of Armagh. Biography Dowdall was born in Drogheda, the son of Edward Dowdall. The Dowdall family came to Ireland from Dovedale in Derbyshire ...

on 15 May 1544 appointed MacMahon instead as a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

''inter Hibernicos'' ("among the aelicIrish"). When the Catholic Queen

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

succeeded to the throne in 1553,

papal supremacy Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, the visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful, and as priest of the ...

was recognised and MacMahon received the temporalities of Ardagh. While Monahan says that Ardagh was vacant in the Church of Ireland after the accession of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, others regard MacMahon as retaining his place in both hierarchies. A possibly forged

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

, dated 1568, deprives MacMahon of his see for

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

, non-residence, and neglect of the cathedral. A putative 1572 letter from

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners—including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition—it became known, ...

from a former bishop "Malachy" of Ardagh, abjuring "papistical superstition" and promising loyalty to Elizabeth, may if genuine be from MacMahon. MacMahon's death is inferred to have occurred either before 5 November 1572, when a successor was appointed in the Church of Ireland, or else during 1575, before Richard Brady was appointed by the Vatican on 23 January 1576.

References

Irish Friars Minor Roman Catholic bishops of Ardagh Bishops of Ardagh (Church of Ireland) 1570s deaths Year of birth unknown {{Ireland-RC-bishop-stub