File 4 - Memoir of Canon James Casey

42 pp; Bound volume; Manuscript

Autobiographical memoir of Canon James Casey (1824-1909). At pp 21-6 reference is made to Casey having taken the pledge from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC on 22 Sept. 1840. He writes ‘I remember well the crowds and the crushing. … The people were got to kneel down in rows while enthusiastic priests rode among the vast multitude to keep order. The great and special graces showered down that day will never be known till the day of judgement’.

James Casey was born in Riverstown, County Sligo, on 26 September 1824. In August 1857, he was ordained a priest by the Most Rev. Laurence Gillooly, Bishop of Elphin. He was principal of St. John’s Seminary in Sligo from 1860-73. In 1873, he was appointed Parish Priest of Athleague in County Roscommon. He was a prolific writer in prose and verse and was an Irish language enthusiast. He published several collections on the subjects of temperance and later Home Rule. His first notable metrical composition, 'Tyndall on Materialism; a philosophical poem', was published in 1875. Between 1880 and 1889 he published several collections of verse. These included 'Home Rule Rhymes', 'Temperance Poems' and 'Temperance Songs and Lyrics'. One of his most popular shorter pieces was 'The Gaelic Revival', which he published in 1903. He died in February 1909.