Bishop Daniel Delany
Daniel Delany was born in Paddock, Mountrath, Co Laois in 1747. This was during the Penal Laws, when Irish Catholics were not allowed to get an education. Daniel received his early education in a hedge school near his home. After his father and brother died his mother sent him to be reared and educated by his aunts, (Fitzpatricks) in the town of Mountrath.
At 16 Daniel was smuggled to France to train as a priest. Having heard that the Penal Laws had relaxed a bit, he returned to Ireland in disguise in 1777. A few months after he returned he was appointed curate in Tullow, Co Carlow. He started Sunday Schools to teach children about the Catholic religion, and also a band to teach them hymns. Six years later he was appointed Co-adjutor Bishop in Kildare and Leighlin, and four years after that he was appointed bishop (1788).
Daniel's mother had died in 1781 and she left him all her property. He invested some of it and gave the rest to charity. He was involved in opening St Patrick’s College Carlow for educating priests and lay students. As bishop, Daniel was having difficulty in getting teachers for his Sunday schools. He decided to found an order of religious sisters to solve this problem and to serve the spiritual and educational needs of the people.
On Feb 1st 1807 he founded the Brigidine Order. There were six women at first: Eleanor Tallon, Eleanor Dawson, Margaret Kinsella, Catherine Doyle, Judith Whelan and Brigid Brien. He brought an oak sapling from Kildare and planted it in the convent grounds in Tullow, as a link to the ancient congregation of St Brigid. Today many of the Brigidine congregations have an oak tree that was grown from acorns from the tree in Tullow. In 1808 Bishop Delaney founded the Order of Patrician Brothers.
In April 1809 Bishop Delany sent three Brigidine Sisters (Margaret Kinsella/Sr Francis, Catherine Doyle/ Sr Clare and Mary Fitzpatrick/Sr Joseph) to open a school in Mountrath. This was the first foundation outside of Tullow. They travelled the eight-hour journey by horse and dray-cart through unseasonably snowy weather. In 1810 the Patricians came to Mountrath. The orders set up schools for both children and adults, and for both rich and poor.
Bishop Delany’s health began to fail in 1812 and he died in the convent in Tullow in 1814, at the age of 67. He is buried in the parish church in Tullow. He is commemorated by a plaque on the Rushin Road bridge leading out of Mountrath towards Paddock, and also in St Fintan's Church Mountrath. His legacy lives on in Scoil Bhríde Mountrath, in St Fintan's Boys' NS and in Mountrath Community School, which incorporates the former Brigidine and Patrician secondary schools.
At 16 Daniel was smuggled to France to train as a priest. Having heard that the Penal Laws had relaxed a bit, he returned to Ireland in disguise in 1777. A few months after he returned he was appointed curate in Tullow, Co Carlow. He started Sunday Schools to teach children about the Catholic religion, and also a band to teach them hymns. Six years later he was appointed Co-adjutor Bishop in Kildare and Leighlin, and four years after that he was appointed bishop (1788).
Daniel's mother had died in 1781 and she left him all her property. He invested some of it and gave the rest to charity. He was involved in opening St Patrick’s College Carlow for educating priests and lay students. As bishop, Daniel was having difficulty in getting teachers for his Sunday schools. He decided to found an order of religious sisters to solve this problem and to serve the spiritual and educational needs of the people.
On Feb 1st 1807 he founded the Brigidine Order. There were six women at first: Eleanor Tallon, Eleanor Dawson, Margaret Kinsella, Catherine Doyle, Judith Whelan and Brigid Brien. He brought an oak sapling from Kildare and planted it in the convent grounds in Tullow, as a link to the ancient congregation of St Brigid. Today many of the Brigidine congregations have an oak tree that was grown from acorns from the tree in Tullow. In 1808 Bishop Delaney founded the Order of Patrician Brothers.
In April 1809 Bishop Delany sent three Brigidine Sisters (Margaret Kinsella/Sr Francis, Catherine Doyle/ Sr Clare and Mary Fitzpatrick/Sr Joseph) to open a school in Mountrath. This was the first foundation outside of Tullow. They travelled the eight-hour journey by horse and dray-cart through unseasonably snowy weather. In 1810 the Patricians came to Mountrath. The orders set up schools for both children and adults, and for both rich and poor.
Bishop Delany’s health began to fail in 1812 and he died in the convent in Tullow in 1814, at the age of 67. He is buried in the parish church in Tullow. He is commemorated by a plaque on the Rushin Road bridge leading out of Mountrath towards Paddock, and also in St Fintan's Church Mountrath. His legacy lives on in Scoil Bhríde Mountrath, in St Fintan's Boys' NS and in Mountrath Community School, which incorporates the former Brigidine and Patrician secondary schools.