{{about||the English surgeon and medical writer|Jeremiah Whitaker Newman}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} '''Jeremiah Newman''' (31 March 1926 – 5 April 1995) was [[Bishop of Limerick]] 1974–1995 having served as Professor and President of [[St Patrick's College, Maynooth]].
== Early life and education == He was born in [[Dromcollogher]] on 31 March 1926 and after a local primary education attended [[St Munchin's College|St. Munchin's College]], [[Limerick]]. He studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and was ordained there on 18 June 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Limerick Diocesan Heritage Project - Bishop Jeremiah Newman|url = http://www.limerickdioceseheritage.org/Diocese/Jeremiah.htm|website = www.limerickdioceseheritage.org|access-date = 2016-02-07}}</ref>
He began postgraduate studies in Philosophy at the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Louvain]] and was awarded a Doctorate in Philosophy there in 1951. After that he took up studies in Sociology at the [[University of Oxford]] for four years before taking up a teaching post at [[Queen's University Belfast|Queen's University, Belfast]].
==Lecturer in Maynooth College== In 1953 Newman was appointed Professor of Sociology at [[St. Patrick's College, Maynooth]], succeeding [[Peter McKevitt]]. It was an institution he would remain within, and eventually lead with distinction, until he was appointed Bishop of Limerick in May 1974.
He published two books about the college ''Maynooth and Georgian Ireland'' (1979)<ref>{{Cite book|title = Maynooth and Georgian Ireland|url = https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0906312183|publisher = Kenny's Bookshop & Art Gallery|date = 1979-11-01|location = Galway, Ire.|isbn = 9780906312186|language = English|first = Jeremiah|last = Newman}}</ref> followed by ''Maynooth and Victorian Ireland'' (1983).<ref>{{Cite book|title = Maynooth and Victorian Ireland|url = https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_i4e0|publisher = Kenny|date = 1983-01-01|location = Galway, Ireland|isbn = 9780906312254|language = English|first = Jeremiah|last = Newman|url-access = registration}}</ref>
== Bishop of Limerick == He arrived in Limerick with a strong reputation for reform having served a number of years as President of Maynooth where he adapted and shaped the college to the new challenges of the 1970s. His academic background in sociology gave him an informed understanding of the changing dynamic in Irish life, especially rural life which he has been writing about since the early 1960s especially the dangers of depopulation.
He often made comment on national matters particularly about church-state relations which has been his special area of study for over 20 years. He took what might be called a broadly 'conservative' approach which, as time went on, jarred with wider public opinion especially as Ireland faced a number of constitutional referendums in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Debating Divorce: Moral Conflict in Ireland|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eMceBgAAQBAJ|publisher = University Press of Kentucky|date = 2015-02-05|isbn = 9780813159119|language = en|first = Michele|last = Dillon}}</ref> At least one modern author<ref>{{Cite book|title = Histories of the Irish Future|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHvbBAAAQBAJ|publisher = Bloomsbury Academic|date = 2015-01-15|isbn = 9781472532954|language = en|first = Bryan|last = Fanning}}</ref> has quoted the epithet alleged to have been conferred on Dr Newman by [[Conor Cruise O'Brien]] 'The Mullah of Limerick" for articulating a neo-conservative position more commonly associated with the United States.
== Death == Jeremiah Newman died in office and was the subject of many obituaries not least because of his extensive public statements in his years as Bishop of Limerick. The Tablet suggested he was most "well known for his conservatism and taste for controversial remarks" before quoting the homily by Cardinal [[Cahal Daly]] that "he seemed to have a strange sense of inadequacy; and, for one who was so lovable, he seemed to have difficulties in believing that others respected and admired and indeed loved him." [[The Irish Times]] obituary said he was a man "who kept fighting the battles of long ago."
He was succeeded as Bishop of Limerick by [[Donal Murray (bishop)|Bishop Donal Murray]].
[[Limerick City Library]] holds an extensive set of newspaper articles about Bishop Jeremiah Newman which have been made available online.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Limerick City Council|url = http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/LocalStudiesFiles/N/NewmanJeremiahBishopofLimerick/|website = www.limerickcity.ie|access-date = 2016-02-07|language = en|first = Limerick City|last = Council}}</ref>
==See also== * [[:Category:Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth|Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth]] *[[Peter McKevitt]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{S-start}} {{S-rel|ca}} {{S-bef|before=[[Henry Murphy (bishop)|Henry Murphy]]}} {{S-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Limerick]] |years= 1974 – 1995}} {{S-aft|after=[[Donal Murray (bishop)|Donal Murray]]}} {{S-end}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= Ireland}}
{{Roman Catholic Bishops of Limerick}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Limerick}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Jeremiah}} [[Category:1926 births]] [[Category:1995 deaths]] [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Limerick]] [[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland]] [[Category:Presidents of St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth]] [[Category:Academics of St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth]] [[Category:Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth]] [[Category:Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]] [[Category:Christian clergy from County Limerick]]