Ed Synnott (Cardinal Wiseman)

The South Kilkenny and Waterford Connections of the first English Cardinal since the Reformation – Nicholas Wiseman

by Ed Synnott of the South Kilkenny Historical Society

‘By the time that the Congregation of Propaganda decided to advise Pope Pius IX that it was now opportune to restore the normal hierarchial structures to the Church in England and Wales, Nicholas Wiseman was the obvious choice to be the first Archbishop of Westminster. He was not, however, necessarily the most popular choice. For one thing, he was not really English.’

Early life

Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman was born on August 2nd 1802, in Seville, the second child born to James Wiseman and Xaviera Strange. James was a Waterford merchant and his second wife was originally from Aylwardstown House, Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny. His first wife, Mariana, was said to have been the daughter of a Spanish general, but her surname, Dunphy, might suggest that she too originated from, or had connections with, the south east of Ireland. They had four daughters, one of whom died, and Mariana herself died in 1793. James married Xaviera Strange, in April 1800, at the church of St Mary and St Michael, Commercial road, London. The first child, James, was born and baptised in London and by the time the second child, Nicholas, was born the family had returned to Seville. A third child, Francesca, was born two years later. Francesca later married into Italian nobility and became the Countess Gabrielli of Fano. Six months later James (senior) died and Xaviera returned to Glenmore, with her three children.

When he arrived in Ireland he could not speak English and during his visit to Waterford city, in 1858, he recalled this period of his life: ‘The tie between myself and Waterford is not one of yesterday; for when I look around the room, I can find a few countenances which lead me back to the period when I first knew it; or recall the circumstances under which I came. I would not think of the mere fact of my family being united by proximity to the city a subject on which I would consider it worth while entering; all I know is that from her to whom I owe my education (as I had the misfortune to lose my father in infancy) – from her whose warmest recollection and most affectionate feelings were connected with this city, and with the neighbouring place where she was born’. He went on to say that, following his fathers death,  he spend a short time in London, before arriving at Aylwardstown, Glenmore ‘without being able to form a sentence, or perhaps to speak ten words in the language in which I now address you.’ He was put into a boarding school in Waterford and in 1809/10 moved, with his brother, to St Cuthbert’s College, Ushaw.

While attending Ushaw Nicholas decided to join the priesthood. A story is told that this decision was taken in a cottage near the college, while he was sheltering from a storm. Later, the future Cardinal described his years in Ushaw as ‘desolate’. However, his quiet and studious manner attracted the attention of the noted historian, Rev. John Lingard, with whom he would spend only a short time at Ushaw. In 1811, Lingard declined a position at Maynooth College, electing instead to retire to the parish of Hornby, where he died forty years later. Wiseman later developed a love for Ushaw and wrote a play, ‘The Hidden Gem’, for the college’s jubilee of 1858.  In 1818, the ‘somewhat gawky youth, with limbs all knit together, betokening the absence of all aptitude for athletics, sauntering around with a book under his arm, oftener alone than in company’, entered the English College in Rome, with five other students from Ushaw.

Priesthood

The French invasion forced the English College to close and it did not re-open until, December 18th 1818, with the arrival of  James Fleetwood, Henry Gillow, George Heptonstall, William Kavenagh, James Sharples and Nicholas Wiseman. The delay in opening the college was due to political instability in Italy and divisions among the English clergy as to who would be in charge. There was also an attempt to open a rival college, the ‘Venerable English College’, by an Irish Augustinian, Fr O’Handley. For Wiseman and the five others the journey to Rome wasn’t without its difficulties, including a dog going ‘raving mad on board from want of fresh water, and luckily after clearing the decks jumped or slipped into the sea’!

All six ‘hit the ground running’ when they arrived in Rome. They were taken by the Rector, Robert Gradwell, to an ordination at the Lateran the following day and, two days later, they had an audience with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Consalvi, who was ‘pleased that they could converse easily in French’. Consalvi was keen that the students meet with the Pope on Christmas Eve. At this stage four more students had entered the college and huge efforts were made to cloth the students appropriately for the audience with the pontiff. Despite Gradwell’s best efforts only six were properly clothed in time for the audience with Pope Pius VII – Wiseman among one of the ‘lucky six’.

Unlike the time he spent at Ushaw, Wiseman felt at home at the English College which had ‘a library, airy, large, and cheerful’ and seemed to be fascinated with church ceremonies and the pageantry of the papacy. Students rose at 5.30am – the day beginning with a half an hour’s meditation. This was followed by Mass and breakfast. He would have attended lectures every day, except Thursdays and Sundays, in philosophy, theology, canon law and Church history. Mid-day dinner would be preceded by an examination of conscience and followed by a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. Some time would be spent in the afternoon walking through Rome – walking two abreast, in double file. He settled down, happily, and enjoyed the life and atmosphere of the Eternal City.

In 1823 he witnessed the destruction of the Benedictine Monastery and Basilica of St. Paul and the next day, August 20th, Pope Pius VII died. Wiseman watched the princess of the church enter the conclave to elect his successor – Leo XII. On July 7th 1824 he successfully defended his thesis, in public, for the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Later he described the scene of defending his thesis by ‘Public Act’:  ‘A huge oval chain of chairs stretches down the room, on either side, and soon begins to be occupied by professors, doctors and learned men, of whom he has heard perhaps only in awe; each of whom receives a copy of the thesis, and cons it over, as if to find the weak points between the plates of mail, into which he will later try to thrust his spear.’ Among the others defending their thesis on the day was the future Pope Gregory XVI and the following day Wiseman received an audience with the Pope – receiving not only a blessing but ‘words of encouragement, and even words of praise’ from the pontiff. On July 12th he left Rome for Paris, where his mother was residing. He wrote to friends in Rome, describing the French as ‘the greatest political hypocrites of the world. Two-thirds of them are liberals, and pretend to be Royalists’. He returned to Rome and was ordained on March 10th 1825.

His mother never wanted any of her two sons to enter the priesthood, and was very unhappy about the missionary oath which he took, fearing that her son could be sent to any part of the world. However, he pursued a future as a scholar and academic, rather than a mission priest. In 1827 his work Horae Syriacae was published – the Syriac version of the Old Testament. This brought the twenty-four year old to the attention of ecclesiastical scholars throughout Europe. 1827 was an eventful year for Wiseman. The English College Rector was granted an audience with the pope. Wiseman was present at the audience and was asked to deliver sermons in English at the Church of Gesu e Maria and he was also appointed Vice-Rector of the English College that year. By 1829 he was Rector of the English College and, in that capacity, informed Pope Pius VIII of the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. He was a popular Rector in the English College and made it a centre for intellectual and social life. During his tenure he received many dignitaries, including Manning, Gladstone and Macaulay.

By the mid-1830s he turned his thoughts towards England and embarked, in 1835, on a lecture tour of London. In 1840 he became Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of the newly formed Central District and President of Oscott, and was consecrated Titular Bishop of Melipotamus at the English College, in the presence of his mother. A Vicar Apostolic serves in the absence of a bishop in missionary territory or where dioceses and parishes have not yet been formed. In 1847 he became Pro-Vicar Apostolic of the London District and was involved in efforts to re-establish the Hierarchy. In 1850 Wiseman was created Cardinal Priest of Santa Pudenziana and presumed that he would be returning to Rome, to work in the Curia. However, when he arrived in Rome he learned of his appointment as Archbishop of Westminster – at the helm of a new Hierarchy. He issued a ‘triumphant’ pastoral letter in October, which caused uproar in England. Queen Victoria asked ‘Am I Queen of England or am I not?’. It seems that the Roman Catholics of England had a problem with the appointment and had little time for his ‘bombastic pastorals’. The catholic Duke of Norfolk converted to Anglicanism and the Prime Minister, Lord John Russell introduced the Ecclesiastical Titles Act of 1851. This Act prohibited catholics assuming territorial titles. Cardinal Wiseman alluded to the situation which he found himself  in when he arrived back to England, following his appointment as Archbishop of Westminster, during his visit to Waterford in September 1858: ‘when I arrived there, I was requested by many to change my plan, and not to appear and officiate in the church. I received letters announcing that the moment I entered the pulpit a pistol would put an end to my course. I was warned even by Catholics, and entreated not to appear; and I was told there was a design to hustle myself and those who might attend on me, and to make away with me.’ He went on to say that despite the negative reaction, things had turned out well: ‘With the grace of God everything was done as originally designed; the church was never more orderly, and the functions were performed with that peace and tranquility which have ever since prevailed.’

His Tour of Ireland

In 1858 Cardinal Wiseman embarked on a three-week tour of Ireland. He arrived on August 23rd and the following day left Dublin for Ballinasloe, where he consecrated St. Michael’s church on August 25th. On September 7th he visited The Royal Irish Academy and Trinity College, where he closely examined the Salisbury Missal, The Book of Kells and The Book of Armagh. Between Ballinasloe and  reaching Kilkenny, on Monday September 13th, Cardinal Wiseman visited Athlone, Birr, Dundalk, Dublin, Maynooth and Carlow. Crowds greeted the Cardinal at stations between Carlow and Kilkenny to receive ‘his Eminence’s blessing’. Kilkenny station was so thronged that it was with great difficulty that he emerged from the train. Welcome addresses, in Kilkenny, were made by the High Sheriff, Saint Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Young Men’s Society, before proceeding to Waterford that evening. Once again, large crowds were present to greet the Cardinal and he was taken by his cousin, Peter Strange to Aylwardstown, where he spent the night.

Placards had been posted on Monday evening announcing his arrival the following day at 2pm. Large crowds lined the route from Aylwardstown to Waterford, where he arrived at 4.40pm. Like at every other location he visited in Ireland, Waterford was well decorated for the occasion and all the ships on the river had their flags flying. He visited the two convents in the city before proceeding to the Town Hall. In his reply to the Mayor’s welcome, Wiseman stated that he had ‘never experienced greater pleasure and happiness than I have since I came amongst this warm-hearted people, to whom I am so closely allied that I may claim to belong the them.’ A banquet followed, where ‘over two hundred sat down to dinner’. When the banquet had concluded, he addressed the attendance and stated how happy he was with the visit, saying ‘that in the progress which I have made through different parts of Ireland, I have been filled with astonishment at seeing what has been done everywhere for the advance of religion. The fact that this has been performed after years of pestilence, famine, and emigration, is another proof that faith supplies every want.’ When events had concluded in Waterford, he was taken back to Aylwardstown, followed by large, cheering crowds.

He returned to Dublin, via Bagenalstown, attending a number of engagements there before he departed Ireland on Thursday, September 16th 1858, having completed a very successful trip to Ireland.

Death and legacy

His time at Westminster was marred by disputes with his fellow bishops, who felt that Wiseman was acting as if he was Primate of England. He clashed with others on issues such as seminary education and appointments. He became embroiled in a case involving Giacinto Achilli and John Henry Newman (whom he had confirmed in 1845, following his conversion to Catholicism), which eventually ended in court, with Newman being fined £100 with costs. Newman was very annoyed by Wiseman’s behaviour and relations deteriorated further when he failed to urge Newman’s promotion to the office of bishop. However, on the positive side, he reigned over a rejuvenated Catholic England and invited many religious orders to London, from which resulted a huge growth in church building. He also set up services for the poor which were hugely beneficial to Irish immigrants to London. He was a temperamental character, who enjoyed food – one of his Irish servants referred to him as ‘his immense’, presumably instead of His Eminence.

By November 1864 it was clear that Cardinal Wiseman was dying and he planned his funeral rites to the last detail. He died on February 15th 1865 and his funeral attracted huge crowds. Henry Edward Manning, who succeeded him as Archbishop of Westminster, preached at his funeral mass and he was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. Forty-two years later his body was moved to the crypt of Westminster Cathedral.

While in no way perfect, Nicholas Wiseman must be credited with doing much good for Catholicism in England. Brian Fothergill described Cardinal Wiseman as ‘one of the neglected figures of the Nineteenth Century; he has been overshadowed by his two great contemporaries, Newman and Manning, whose submission to the Roman Catholic Church owed so much to his influence’. When speaking of Wiseman, Manning, who succeeded him as Archbishop of Westminster, quoted the Book of Ecclesiasticus – ‘Let Nehemias be a long time remembered, who raised up for us our walls that were cast down, and set up the gates and the bars, who rebuilt our houses’.

[Editor’s note–For more information concerning Aylwardstown House see, the National Architectural Survey https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12404107/aylwardstown-house-aylwardstown-co-kilkenny

To mark the 400th anniversary of the house the Kelly Family in conjunction with the South Kilkenny Historical Society organised an open house on the 8th of August 2009. Liam Aylward, MEP was the guest of honour (New Ross Standard, 26 Aug 2009).]