Rebel Priest painting found in Ennistymon

A PAINTING discovered in Ennistymon depicting one of the most outspoken priests of the 19th century has been returned to Tipperary more than 140 years after it was removed.
The painting was found as author, Tim Boland researched his new book, Fr John Kenyon, The Rebel Priest. The book is the first in-depth study of the career of controversial priest, Fr John Kenyon.
Fr Kenyon came to national prominence as a polemicist for the Young Ireland movement and was a long-time friend and confidant of several of its leaders, including John Mitchel. He held controversial views on several subjects, including the contribution of O’Connell to Irish life, the use of physical force and slavery and he was always prepared to defend his views in the public press. His outspoken opinions led him into conflict with his bishop and he was twice suspended from clerical duties.
Mr Boland, a retired teacher, explained he was drawn to Fr Kenyon’s story while researching for his masters in the University of Limerick. This is his first book, although he has published historical articles in the past.
“The topic of my thesis was the famine in my locality. During my newspaper research I was constantly drawn to articles about Kenyon. I began interested and there and then decided he would be my next project. I subsequently did a PhD and my topic was Kenyon’s involvement with the Young Ireland movement. When completed, the powers that be in UL encouraged me to cover his life and publish it. In North Tipperary he has a kind of folklore status, yet practically nothing concrete has been known about him,” Mr Boland explained.
Fr Kenyon was a native of Limerick but was ordained in Killaloe. His first appointment in 1835 was to Doora, where his parish priest was Fr James Malone. Within a few months he was transferred to Ennis, where he remained for three years.
Mr Boland explained, “While there, he became involved in fundraising for the Cathedral, which was under construction. One of his projects was a scholarly pamphlet on the use of church buildings throughout history. The pamphlet was ‘published for the advancement of the Grand Roman Catholic Cathedral now in the process of erection in Ennis’. Credit was attributed to ‘Rev John Kenyon of that town’.
“However, leaving aside his commendable fundraising efforts, events did not run smoothly for the young curate during his time in Ennis. A series of incidents, including a condemnation of a Protestant family from the altar, caused serious disquiet in the Clare town.
“The Clare Journal was to the forefront in a campaign to have him removed and when in November 1838 he was transferred to Silvermines, County Tipperary, the editor suggested that he was ‘a half lunatic and a demented and vulgar creature’. Despite such condemnation, a campaign was established to keep Kenyon in Ennis. A meeting was held with Bishop Kennedy in Newmarket-on-Fergus and while Dean O’Shaughnessy denied involvement in the removal, he refused to attend the meeting.”
During his time in Silvermines, and later Templederry, Kenyon immersed himself in political activity.
Mr Boland said, “His disapproval of what he perceived to be the lack of progress on Repeal led him to join the Young Ireland movement. A prolific letter writer, he contributed numerous letters on matters of national importance to the Nation and local newspapers. His two passions of religion and politics proved a lethal cocktail that propelled him through the hungry years of the 1840s. His belief that physical force, as a means of achieving national independence, was not contrary to Roman Catholic teaching alienated him from his contemporaries in the Church.”
The book outlines that John Kenyon, along with William Smith O’Brien and Charles O’Connell, addressed a Repeal meeting at Kilrush on Wednesday, July 15, 1846.
“When O’Connell criticised the actions of Young Ireland, Kenyon responded with his theory that while the moral force ideal used by the Liberator was commendable, physical force could not be ruled out. An immediate rift developed between Kenyon’s Young Irelanders and O’Connell’s Repeal party. Within two weeks, Young Ireland walked out of Conciliation Hall, abandoning Daniel O’Connell and creating a major political divide in the country.
“O’Connell never again attained his previous greatness and was dead within a year. Kenyon went on to become one of the most prominent members of Young Ireland but as the rebellion of 1848 loomed, he was forced by his bishop to choose either Church or politics. He choose Church and on July 27, 1848, when William Smith O’Brien sent Thomas Francis Meagher and John Blake Dillon to Templederry with a request that Kenyon mobilise his parishioners, he refused and took no part in the rising,” Mr Boland explained.
John Kenyon spent his summer holidays walking the beaches of Lahinch and Kilkee. A chance meeting with Dr McEvilly, bishop of Galway, resulted in his unplanned attendance at a retreat at the Christian Brothers monastery, Ennistymon during the summer of 1868. Within a year he was dead, having willed all his possessions to the Brothers. The Brothers removed all the contents of Chapel House in Templederry, except the piano, and brought them to Ennistymon.
During his research, Mr Boland chanced upon a reference to a portrait of the Rebel Priest, which at one time hung in the dining room of the Ennistymon monastery.
“I went there but was disappointed to discover the Brothers had long moved on. In their place were a farm office and the headquarters of the Burren Chernobyl Project,” he explained.
Leaving his contact details with the lady in charge, he returned to his home in Nenagh. A week later, he received an email from Brother Liam O’Meara in Belarus, who recalled a painting that may be the one in question.
On his return, he rescued the painting from storage and contacted Mr Boland, who identified Kenyon. Through the intervention of Brother O’Meara, and the generosity of the Christian Brothers community, the return of the portrait to Templederry was arranged.
At the Kenyon Community Centre, Templederry, Fr John Kenyon, The Rebel Priest was launched by Fr Joe Kennedy. At the launch, the author presented the portrait of John Kenyon to Fr Willie Teehan PP, Templederry, on behalf of the Christian Brothers.
“It gave me great pleasure to present the portrait to Fr Teehan for the people of Templederry, compliments of the Christian Brothers,” said Mr Boland.
Fr John Kenyon, The Rebel Priest by Tim Boland is available at the Ennis Bookshop and also online.