Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 29 August 2013

Canon Patrick Sheehan Remembered

Passing through the County Cork countryside recently, I was struck by the myriad of community festivals and Gathering events taking place. One group, whose work I came across recently was that of the Canon Sheehan Commemoration Group. The Very Rev Patrick Augustine Canon Sheehan (1852 – 5 October 1913) was an Irish Catholic priest, author and political activist. He was invariably known and referred to as Canon Sheehan of Doneraile, having been appointed on 4 July 1895 as Parish Priest of Doneraile, where he wrote many of his literary works.

During Patrick’s early years, the Fenian movement was beginning to take shape with men secretly drilling and marching in the woods in and around the area. This period of history remained ingrained in his memory and was a central theme in the book he completed shortly before he died – The Graves at Kilmorna.  He referred to the Fenians of his youth as “strong silent men into whose character some stern and terrible energy seemed to have been infused..Their passion was too deep for words and that passion was an all consuming, fierce unswerving love for Ireland”.

His carefree youthful days took a backstep when, in 1863, his father died and in February of the following year his mother passed away. Rev John McCarthy, PP Mallow, became guardian to the Sheehan children. At the age of 14 Patrick was sent to St. Colman’s College in Fermoy, which served as the Diocesan Seminary for Cloyne. Upon completion of his secondary education the young Patrick entered Maynooth. On Sunday 18 April 1875, he was ordained in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Cork by Bishop Delany.

              As no vacancy existed in Cloyne the young priest began his ministry as part of the Cathedral staff in Plymouth. He returned to Ireland and to Cloyne in 1877 and took up duty as a Junior Curate in his home town of Mallow. Patrick was subsequently transferred to Cobh in March 1881. His experience as a curate in Plymouth stood him in good stead in the naval town of Cobh. Though his pastoral work always took precedence, the young Fr Sheehan began to realise the power of the pen, and started to contribute to local publications. In 1890 he returned as Senior Curate to Mallow and this marked a new phase in his literary life. He saw his writings as a means of spreading the Christian message through short stories, poems and novels. In 1895 he completed the manuscript of his first novel, Geoffrey Austin, Student. This coincided with his appointment to be Parish Priest in Doneraile.

Fr Sheehan’s growing reputation as an author –“the world’s greatest living author” according to Tolstoy, would lead one to believe he spent the greater part of his life in literary pursuits. This was not so – writing was always secondary to his sacred and pastoral duties.  His early years in Doneraile coincided with the last stages of the Land War and the introduction of the Land Acts. He played a major part in the negotiations between tenant farmers and landlords in the parish. Following the satisfactory conclusion of the land purchases, he used his influence to get as many improvements as possible for Doneraile. With the help of Lord and Lady Castletown, he was instrumental in getting an electric plant to provide light for the town and Doneraile Court. The power plant also supplied electricity to pump water to the houses which was of enormous benefit. In 1910 he consulted an eminent surgeon in Dublin, Sir Charles Ball, who diagnosed him with cancer. Nevertheless, he continued to write and was still working on The Graves at Kilmorna on his death. Canon Sheehan of Doneraile died on Rosary Sunday, 5 October 1913.

    One of the most memorable chapters in Canon Sheehan’s novel Glenanaar is the one describing the famous dash from Derrynane, Co Kerry to Cork to secure the services of Daniel O’Connell in a forthcoming trial.  The event is commonly known as “The Doneraile Conspiracy” and arose when 21 Doneraile men were brought before a court in Cork accused of being part of Whiteboy agitation in the Doneraile area. The first four to be tried were sentenced to death. William Burke, a brother of one of the accused, undertook to ride the 90 miles to Derrynane in to bring O’Connell back to defend the rest of the prisoners. The ride in question was an epic one, which the canon calls the Night Ride. O’Connell returned to Cork on the Monday and successfully defended the rest of the prisoners.

This chapter is known to generations of children who grew up in Ireland in the 40s 50s and 60s as it was a part of the Intermediate English reader. Canon Sheehan beautifully describes the various scenes. William Burke rides through, from the river Lee, to Macroom, the Pass of Keimaneigh, to wild mountain scenery, eventually arriving at the coast road, the Atlantic and the Abbey of Derrynane itself. The Canon Sheehan Commemoration Committee and Ballyhoura Bears’ Walking Club will host a walk commemorating the event over the weekend of 31 August-1 September. 

Check out www.canonsheehanremembered.com for more information.

Caption:

706a. Statue of Canon Patrick Sheehan on grounds of Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Doneraile, Co. Cork (source: Canon Sheehan Commemoration group).