Letter, Rev. Bernard O'Reilly to the Bishop of Meath, 1823

The other day in my post on my 3x great grandfather, Laurence O'Reilly, I mentioned some other O'Reillys who seem to be connected to his family.  One of these was Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, an Irish-born priest who taught in France.  A letter from him to Patrick Joseph Plunkett, the Bishop of Meath, can be found in the third volume of Dean Anthony Cogan's The Diocese of Meath, a history of the diocese compiled between 1862 and 1870.  Cogan's sources have since been lost, and his compilation is all that remains of the early records of the diocesan archives.

Seminaire de St. Sulpice, September, 1823

My Lord,

I trust that the motives which induced me to your Lordship will justify the propriety thereof.  It's to inform you that the Bishop of Perigeau [sic - Périgueux] has written to the superior of this seminary, requesting of him to send him an ecclesiastic qualified to profess theology in his seminary, and that I have been elected to fill that situation.  Although I have no doubt of your granting me permission to accept of it (particularly as I want three years of age for priesthood), still, I considered it a duty incumbent on me to inform you of it, and to request your sanction and approbation.  I shall be comfortably situated, and be worth about a thousand francs per annum.

I should think that your dimissories to Mr. Duelax, superior of St. Sulpice, will be sufficient for me there ; but in case any other should be required, the bishop shall write to you about them.  The death of my uncle has exceedingly affected me ; but it gave me peculiar satisfaction to learn that he died regretted by his flock, particularly by the widow and the orphan ; which gives me room to hope that he has exchanged this world for a better.  Dr. Kearney, superior of the Irish college, inquires for you incessantly, recalling with pleasure the happy days which you both passed together in this capital.  All your subjects at Paris are well, and join me in best respects to your Lordship.  Wishing you many happy years to govern the diocese of Meath,

I remain, with veneration,

Your Lordship's most obedient and humble servant,

 BERNARD O'REILLY.

Of note here is the mention that Bernard lacks "three years of age for priesthood".  If the canonical minimum of 25 applies, this puts Bernard's age at 22, making him born about 1801.  The other tantalizing item of note is the mention of an uncle who has died.  The mention of a flock would suggest the uncle was also a cleric, but if that is the case then the mention of "the widow and the orphan" seems to be figurative.  But who was he?  Clearly he was someone who had died recently, and whose death the bishop knew about.  Unfortunately, as Bernard didn't name him in the letter and these archives no longer exist, I may never know the answer to that question.

Bernard is mentioned twice more in a catalogue of additional letters held by the Meath archives.  Unfortunately Cogan did not reproduce these letters in their entirety, so the originals are now lost, but the catalogue entry does provide us with useful information nevertheless.

1825, May 29th.  Letter from Alexander, Bishop of Perigueaux, to Dr. Plunket, passing encomiums on Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, a native of our diocese, who had been recently appointed Professor of Theology, in the College of Sarlat.
1825.  Letter of Rev. Bernard O'Reilly to Dr. Plunket.

 We learn that Bernard's post is at Sarlat - the same place mentioned in a list of contributions provided for "the continuance of the public sympathy" (probably famine relief), published in the Cork Examiner on 22 March 1848.  "The Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, Professor of Divinity in Sarlat, France, per L. O'Reilly M.D., Radoath" provided £12.  L. O'Reilly M.D. of Radoath (sic) could only be Dr. Laurence O'Reilly of Ratoath, who was proved to be a brother of James O'Reilly of Mount Albion House through the probate of James's will.  It would appear that Bernard was another sibling (very likely the Rev.O'Reilly who received a bequest from James), and the likelihood of there being more than one Bernard O'Reilly from Meath who became a theology professor at Sarlat stretches credibility.  I propose that Bernard O'Reilly who wrote to the bishop and who was represented in the Irish donations by Dr. Laurence O'Reilly are the same individual, and that he was Dr. O'Reilly's brother.  Given the educational backgrounds and financial situations of these O'Reillys, it also seems likely they were from a family of some standing in the county.  There were at least three different O'Reilly families with significant property in Meath, however, so it will take some more time and research to figure out which one was the likely origin of these brothers.