Walter Wellesley

Wellesley was called a man who "had a singular mind towards the maintenance of English rule in Ireland", and as a result, he enjoyed the trust of Henry VIII.

His assurance to Thomas Cromwell that "no brother is elected unless he be of the English nation" was not necessarily a sign of anti-Irish prejudice, since monasteries within the Pale were not permitted to admit Irish monks, and he may simply have been stressing that Great Connell observed this rule strictly.

The lands were granted to Edward Randolfe, and later passed to the eminent judge Nicholas White, and the priory was allowed to fall into ruin.

Wellesley died in October 1539 and was buried in Great Connell where an impressive effigy was erected to his memory.

Bishop Wellesley was described as a man of "gravity and virtuous conversation", the most famous scholar in Ireland in his time, and a firm upholder of English rule.