The Irish Franciscans

This book explores the endeavors and activities of one of the most prominent early modern Irishmen in exile, the Franciscan Luke Wadding. Born in Ireland, educated in the Iberian Peninsula, Wadding arrived in Rome in 1618, where he would die in 1657. In the "Eternal City," the Franciscan emerged as an outstanding theologian, a learned scholar, a diplomat, and a college founder. This innovative collection of chapters brings together a group of international scholars who provide a ground-breaking analysis of the many cultural, political, and religious facets of Wadding’s life. They illustrate the challenges and changes faced by an Irishman who emerged as one of the most outstanding global figures of the Catholic Reformation. The volume will attract scholars of the early modern period, early modern Catholicism, and Irish emigration.

2009 marks the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Franciscan Order. To mark the world wide celebration of the Order's foundation, this volume examines all aspects of the Irish Franciscans and their impact in Ireland and on the Continent. It includes chronological accounts of their history from 1540 to 1990 and thematic studies on their legacy in historical writings, hagiography, catechism, philosophy, Irish literature, missionary work, art and architecture. The volume also covers the history of the Poor Clares in Ireland. Particular attention is given to the history of St Anthony's College Louvain founded by the Irish Franciscans in 1607. Contributors include: Patrick Conlan OFM, Bernadette Cunningham, Mary E. Daly, Ignatius Fennessy OFM, Raymond Gillespie, Malgorzata Krasnodebska-D'Aughton, Colm Lennon, Mary Ann Lyons, Micheal MacCraith OFM, Joseph MacMahon OFM, Michael O'Neill, Padraig O Riain, Salvador Ryan, Martin Stone.

At the end of the sixteenth century, Queen Elizabeth I forced the Irish Franciscans into exile. Of the four continental provinces to which the Irish Franciscans fled, the Prague Franciscan College of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was the largest in its time. This monograph documents this intense point of contact between two small European lands, Ireland and Bohemia. The Irish exiles changed the course of Bohemian history in significant ways, both positive — the Irish students and teachers of medicine who contributed to Bohemia’s culture and sciences— and negative — the Irish officers who participated in the murder of Albrecht of Valdštejn and their successors who served in the Imperial forces. Dealing with a hitherto largely neglected theme, Parez and Kucharová attempt to place the Franciscan College within Bohemian history and to document the activities of its members. This wealth of historical material from the Czech archives, presented in English for the first time, will be of great aid for international researchers, particularly those interested in Bohemia or the Irish diaspora.