The life of a great bishop of Ferns
NEW BIOGRAPHY OF BISHOP JAMES BROWNE LAUNCHED AT HERITAGE PARK
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Wednesday March 03 2010
THE LIFE OF a bishop has changed since the era of Dr. James Browne, who presided over the Diocese of Ferns from 1884 until his death in 1917, and whose career is recalled in a new book written by two of his relatives.
The book was launched at a well-attended reception in the National Heritage Park by the current bishop, Dr. Denis Brennan, who wittily contrasted the public reception Bishop Browne received on his return from Rome, where he was summoned during the land wars of 1885, and his own arrival home last week after crisis talks with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican.
Bishop Browne was greeted by rapturous crowds while Bishop Brennan got off a Ryanair flight from Rome after a three-hour delay and arrived back in Wexford alone at 3 a.m.
The book which had a limited print run, was written by Fr. Bill Cosgrave, the parish priest in Monageer, and his brother Nick, an Enniscorthy accountant, who are related to Bishop Browne through their father, Nicholas, who was a nephew of the bishop.
It covers the Bishop's life and career from his birth in Bigbarn, Ballycogley, to his service as a parish priest in Piercestown and his subsequent appointment as Bishop of Ferns.
He presided over the Diocese through the land agitation years, the fall of Parnell, the First World War, and 1916. Before his death, he spoke out against the partition of the country.
One humorous tale in the book concerns a priest, Fr. Michael Murphy, a curate in Ferns who was caught with guns in Dublin in 1916. A military commander contacted Bishop Browne asking that he be removed. The Bishop wrote to the parish priest of Ferns, saying it appeared that if he didn't do something about the curate, the entire British Empire would be shaken to its foundations.
The curate in question was eventually transferred to Taghmon.
Bishop Browne was the last bishop of Ferns to be buried inside St. Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy. He was laid to rest in the eastern transept.
The book launched was attended by a large gathering of people, including family members, parishioners from Monageer and the Cosgrave's home parish of Davidstown, local historians, and book collectors.
The front cover was designed by Anne Browne of Bigbarn, another relative, and was printed by Des Walsh, who is also related to the bishop.
