Charles McNally

{{Short description|Irish Roman Catholic Bishop}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Use Irish English|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | name = Charles McNally | title = [[Bishop of Clogher]] | image = | alt = | caption = | church = [[Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = [[Diocese of Clogher (Roman Catholic)|Clogher]] | term = 20 February 1844 – 21 November 1864 | predecessor = [[Edward Kernan]] | successor = [[James Donnelly (bishop)|James Donnelly]]  | ordination = | ordinated_by = | consecration = | consecrated_by = | rank =  | birth_date = 1787 | birth_place = Ardaghy, County Monaghan | death_date = 21 November 1864 | death_place = | previous_post = Professor in Maynooth | alma_mater = [[Maynooth College]] }} '''Charles McNally''' (1787 – 21 November 1864) was the [[Roman Catholic]] [[Bishop of Clogher]] in [[Ireland]].

==Early life and education==

Born at the [[List of townlands of County Monaghan|townland of Ardaghy]], near [[Monaghan (town)|Monaghan town]] in [[County Monaghan]], he entered Maynooth in 1808, aged 21 matriculating in Logic and was ordained for service in the [[Diocese of Clogher (Roman Catholic)|Diocese of Clogher]] on 13 June 1813. In 1815 he was appointed professor of Logic, Metaphysics and Ethics, and in 1820 he was appointed Prefect of the Dunboyne Establishment at [[Maynooth College]].

In 1843 McNally was appointed the [[Coadjutor Bishop]] of the Diocese of Clogher in Ireland succeeding less than a year later on 20 February 1844, following the death of his predecessor Bishop [[Edward Kernan]].<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmcna.html History of Bishop McNally]</ref>

==Bishop of Clogher==

The esteemed Irish ecclesiastical historian Donal Kerr assessed McNally as an "O'Connellite Bishop and Reforming Pastor", the son of a 'middling farmer' who grew up in the aftermath of the [[1798 Rising]] and would live long enough to see the stirrings of the [[Fenian Rising]].<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 25487439|title = Charles McNally: O'Connellite BishopReforming Pastor|journal = Archivium Hibernicum|volume = 37|pages = 11–20|last1 = Kerr|first1 = Donal|year = 1982|doi = 10.2307/25487439}}</ref> He was O'Connellite in that he tolerated his clergy speaking on political matters, specifically the issue of the day which was the Repeal of the 1800/1 [[Acts of Union 1800]] and in this regard he was in conflict with his [[Metropolitan bishop]] [[William Crolly]].<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVrEemCr5UUC&q=bishop+charles+mcnally&pg=PA130 | title=Catholicism in Ulster, 1603-1983: An Interpretative History| isbn=9781570030253| last1=Rafferty| first1=Oliver| year=1994| publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press}}</ref>

He witnessed at first hand the [[Irish Famine]] and wrote of "corpses lying out in the fields...and none but the clergy can be induced to approach."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/times-gives-its-view-of-the-irish-1.68601|title="Times" gives its view of the Irish|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=3 May 1997|first=Brendan|last=O Cathaoir}}</ref>

He died in office in on 21 November 1864 having served as bishop of his diocese for over twenty years. McNally was succeeded by Bishop [[James Donnelly (bishop)|James Donnelly]].

Perhaps Bishop McNally's most enduring accomplishment is the decision to build Monaghan's [[St Macartan's Cathedral, Monaghan|St. Macartan's Cathedral]].<ref>[http://www.clogherdiocese.ie/cathedral/cathedral-history.html Decision to build St. Macartan's Cathedral] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010093008/http://www.clogherdiocese.ie/cathedral/cathedral-history.html |date=2006-10-10 }}</ref> The bishop presided at a meeting of the Catholics of Monaghan where it was resolved that a church in the town was urgently needed. He then purchased an {{convert|8|acre|m2|adj=on}} site on the outskirts of the town from Humphrey Jones of [[Clontibret]]. On 21 June 1861, the foundation stone was solemnly laid in the presence of most of the bishops of Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dia.ie/works/view/10589/building/CO.+MONAGHAN,+MONAGHAN,+CATHEDRAL+OF+ST+MACARTAN+(RC)|title=Co. Monaghan, Monaghan, Cathedral of St Macartan (RC)|publisher=[[Dictionary of Irish Architects]]}}</ref>

==References== <references />

==See also== *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher]]

{{s-start}} {{s-rel}} {{succession box | title=[[Bishop of Clogher]] | before=[[Edward Kernan]] | after=[[James Donnelly (bishop)|James Donnelly]] | years=1844 – 1864 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNally, Charles}} [[Category:1787 births]] [[Category:1864 deaths]] [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Clogher]] [[Category:Christian clergy from County Monaghan]] [[Category:19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland]] [[Category:Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth]] [[Category:Academics of St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth]] [[Category:People from Monaghan (town)]] [[Category:Scholars and academics from County Monaghan]]