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Thomas Nulty

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The Most Reverend Dr. Thomas Nulty, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath from 1864–1898

The Most Reverend Dr.Thomas Nultyor Thomas McNulty (1818–1898) was born to a farming family in Fennor,Oldcastle,Co. Meath,[1][2]on 7 July 1818, and died in office as the Irish Roman CatholicBishop of Meath[3]on Christmas Eve, 1898.[4]

Biography[edit]

Nulty was educated at Gilson School,Oldcastle, County Meath,St. Finians,NavanSeminary andMaynooth College.He was ordained in 1846. Nulty was a cleric during theGreat Famine.During the course of his first pastoral appointment, he officiated at an average 11 funerals of famine victims (mostly children or the aged) a day, and in 1848 he described a large-scale eviction of 700 tenants in the diocese,[5]thought to have been nearLough Sheelin,a freshwaterloughat a meeting point of CountiesWestmeath,MeathandCavan.

Nulty rose to become the Most Reverend Bishop of Meath and was known as a fierce defender of thetenant rightsof Irishtenant farmersthroughout the 34 years that he served in that office, from 1864 to 1898.[6][7]Nulty was in agreement with the economic ideas of the progressive reformerHenry George.Nulty read George's bookProgress and Povertymultiple times and agreed with every word.[8]Henry George even said that 'Georgism' could just as well be known as 'Nultyism'.[9]

Thomas Nulty is famed for his 1881 tractBack to the Land,wherein he makes the case forland reformof the Irish land tenure system.[10]Nulty was a friend and supporter of the Irish nationalistCharles Stewart Parnelluntil Parnell'sdivorce crisisin 1889.[11][12]

Dr. Thomas Nulty, who had attended theFirst Vatican Councilin 1870, said his last mass on 21 December 1898.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Meath
1866–1898
Succeeded by

References[edit]

  1. ^The Tablet (31 December 1898)."Obituary. The Most Rev.Dr.Nulty, Bishop of Meath".Retrieved8 June2014.
  2. ^Navan & District Historical Society."Nulty, Bishop Thomas".Retrieved8 June2014.
  3. ^Eubel, Conrad (1913).Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi(in Latin). Vol. 8. Monasterii Sumptibus et typis librariae Regensbergianae. pp. 195, 382.Digitized, University of Toronto.
  4. ^Canning, Bernard (1988).Bishops of Ireland 1870–1987.Ballyshannon:Donegal Democrat.pp. 143–145.ISBN1870963008.
  5. ^The Tablet."Ireland (From our Correspondent)".Retrieved8 June2014.
  6. ^D. Bank & A. Esposito,British Biographical Index,London, K.G. Saur, 1990, Vol. 3 J-O (ISBN0-86291-393-4), p. 1380 (referencing article on corresponding microfiche 824, 206, and which article cites theLondon Timesfor 26 December 1898 at page 4 and Brady's 1877The Episcopal Succession,ii 361, as its sources)
  7. ^"Navan Historical Society – Nulty, Bishop Thomas".Navanhistory.ie.Retrieved26 November2013.
  8. ^Louis F. Post and Fred C. Leubusher, Henry George’s 1886 Campaign: An Account of the George-Hewitt Campaign in the New York Municipal Election of 1886 (New York: John W. Lovell Company, 1887).
  9. ^George, Henry (18 June 1887)."Bishop, Archbishop and Guest".The Standard.1:1.Retrieved1 February2016.
  10. ^"'Back to the Land' (1881) by Dr. Thomas Nulty, Bishop of Meath | Lux Occulta ".Lxoa.wordpress. 29 May 2011.Retrieved26 November2013.
  11. ^Lawlor, David (2010)."Political priests: the Parnell split in Meath".historyireland /.Retrieved8 June2014.
  12. ^O'Beirne Ranelagh, John (2012).A Short History of Ireland(3 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 300.ISBN978-1139789264.Retrieved8 June2014.

External links[edit]