Joseph MacRory, Catholic Primate of All Ireland and Cardinal, Is Born in Ballygawley, Co. Tyrone

Joseph Cardinal MacRory (Irish: Seosamh Mac Ruairí; 19 March 1861 – 13 October 1945) was an Irish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Armagh from 1928 until his death. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1929.

He is regarded as the leading Catholic churchman in Ireland during the period spanning the 1916 Rising, Partition, and the Second World War.

Joseph MacRory was born on 19 March 1861 in Ballygawley, County Tyrone, one of ten children of Francis MacRory, a farmer, and his second wife, Rose (née Montague) MacRory. His younger sister Margaret MacRory became a leading nun in Australia. He studied at St. Patrick’s College, Armagh and at Maynooth and was ordained to the priesthood on 13 September 1885.

On 9 August 1915, MacRory was appointed Bishop of Down and Connor by Pope Benedict XV and received his episcopal consecration on 14 November from Michael Cardinal Logue. He chose as his episcopal motto Fortis in Fide (“Strong in Faith”).

Archbishop of Armagh

On 22 June 1928, MacRory was promoted to Archbishop of Armagh and thus Primate of All Ireland, in succession to Patrick Cardinal O’Donnell, and the following year, in the consistory of 16 December 1929, Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina.