Patrick MacSwiney

Patrick J. MacSwiney (frequently spelled McSwiney or MacSweeney,[1] 16 March 1885 – 16 November 1940) was an Irish Catholic priest, Gaelic scholar, antiquarian, historian, teacher, founder of the Kinsale Regional Museum, and benefactor of the people in the parishes in which he worked.

Born in Cork as one of the three children of Terence McSweeney, a boot maker, he became a draper's clerk at the age of 16 [2] before beginning his studies for the priesthood at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, where he was ordained on 18 June 1911.

[3] He returned to Cork in 1914, became chaplain to Clifton Convalescent Home and convent in Montenotte, and was appointed to the staff of St Finbarr’s Seminary of Farranferris as professor of Irish, Greek and Latin.

He studied the piano with the latter and gave lecture-recitals with her; he frequently delivered introductory talks before performances of Aloys Fleischmann's Cathedral choir at broadcasts from the Honan Chapel of University College Cork.

It was rumoured by government supporters that this was part of the £100,000 that had been robbed by republican forces from the Customs House in Dublin and that the priest had abused the nuns' trust by hiding the stolen money in the convent on behalf of Mary MacSwiney.

He wrote to her:[9] His acute sense of deprivation illustrates the cultural stagnation of rural Ireland which Corkery spoke of when presenting the Munster Society of Arts, which Canon Sheehan had described with such feeling in My New Curate, and which George Russell had combated with his work for the cooperative movement and his journal The Irish Homestead.

[12] MacSwiney spent the rest of his life working to alleviate the distress, his considerable organisational talents, his determination, dedication and kindly disposition leading to remarkable achievements.

[15] MacSwiney aimed at creating a sense of civic pride among the townspeople, particularly the young, and campaigned to save historic buildings; he succeeded in having Desmond Castle classified as a national monument and restored.

The Vocational School, St Eltin’s Graveyard and the seat on the Low Road were all monuments to Fr McSwiney but it is the fact that so many people still remember and honour him after all these years that is the greatest memorial of all.”[21]