FERRANDUS
46
FERRARA
MacMurrough in 13S6. Patrick Barret, who ruled
from 1400 to 1415, removed the episcopal chair of
Ferns to New Ross, and made St. Mary's his cathedral.
His successor, Robert Whitty, had an episcopate of
forty years, dying in February, 1458. Under John
Purcell (1459-1479), Franciscan friars acquired a foun-
dation in Enniscorthy, which was dedicated IS Octo-
ber, 1460. Lawrence Neville (1479-1503) attended a
provincial council at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin,
on 5 March, 1495. His successor, Edmund Comer-
ford, died in 1509, whereupon Nicholas Comyn was
elected. Bishop Comyn resided at Fethard Castle,
and assisted at the provincial councils of 1512 and
1518. He was transferred to Waterford and Lismore
in 1519, and was replaced by John Purcell, whose
troubled episcopate ended on 20 July, 1539. Though
Echismatically consecrated, Alexander Devereux was
rehabilitated under Queen Mary as Bishop of Ferns,
and died at Fethard Castle on 6 July, 1566 — the last
pre-Reformation bishop. Peter Power was appointed
his successor in 15S2, but the temporalities of the see
were held by John Devereux. Bishop Power died a
confessor, in exile, 15 December, 158S. Owing to the
disturbed state of the diocese and the lack of revenue,
no bishop was provided till 19 April, 1624, but mean-
time Father Daniel O'Drohan, who had to adopt the
alias of "James Walshe", acted as vicar Apostolic
(1606-1624). John Roche was succeeded by another
John Roche, 6 February, 1644, who never enteretl on
possession, the see being administered by William
Devereux from 1636 to 1644. Dr. Devereux was an
able administrator at a trying period, and he wrote an
English catechism, which was used in the diocese until
a few years ago. Nicholas French was made Bishop of
Ferns 15 September, 1644, and died in exile at Client,
23 August, 1079. His episcopate was a remarkable
one, and he himself was a most distinguished prelate.
Bishop Wadding (1678-1691) wrote some charming
Christmas carols, which are still sung in Wexford. His
successors, Michael Rossiter (1695-1709), John Ver-
don (1709-1729), and the Franciscan Ambrose O'Cal-
laghan (1729-1744), experienced the full brunt of the
penal laws. Nicholas Sweetman (1745-1786) was
twice imprisoned on suspicion of " disloyalty ", while
James Caulfield (1786-1814) was destined to outlive
the "rebellion" of '98. One of the Ferns priests,
Father James Dixon, who was transported as a
"felon", was the first Prefect Apostolic of Australia.
All the post-Reformation bishops lived mostly at
W^exford until 1809, in which year Dr. Ryan, coadju-
tor bishop, commenced the building of a cathedral in
Enniscorthy, which had been assigned him as a mensal
parish. As Bishop Caulfield was an invalid from the
year 1809 the diocese was administered by Dr. Ryan,
who, with the permission of the Holy See, transferred
the episcopal residence to Enniscorthy. Bishop Ryan
died 9 March, 1819, and was buried in the cathe-
dral. His successor, James Keating (1819-1849),
ruled for thirty years, and commenced building the
present cathedral, designed by Pugin. Myles Murphy
(18.50-1856) and Thomas Furlong (1857-1875) did
much for the diocese, while Michael Warren (1875-
1884) is still lovingly remembered.
From an interesting Relalio forwarded to the Prop- aganda' by Bishop Caulfield in 1796, the Diocese of Ferns is de-scribed as 38 miles in length and 20 in breadth, with eight borough towns, and a chapter of nineteen members. In pre-Reformation days it had 143 parishes; 17 monasteries of Canons Regular of St. Augustine; 3 priories of Knights Templars; 2 Cister- cian abbeys; 3 Franciscan friaries; 2 Austin friaries; 1 Carmelite friary, and 1 Benedictine priory. It never had a nunnery nor a Dominican friary. (The Jesuits had a flourishing college in New Ross in 1675.) The population was 120,000, of which 114,000 were Catho- lics, and there were 80 priests, including regulars. There were 36 parishes, many of which had no curates.
At present (1909), the population is 108,750, of
which 99,000 are Catholics. There are 41 parislies,
two of which (Wexford and Enniscorthy) are mensal.
The parish priests are 39 and the curates are 66, while
the churches number 92. The religious orders include
Franciscans (one house), Augustinians (two houses),
and Benedictines (one house). The total clergy are
140. In addition, there are 14 convents for religious
women, and a House of Missions (Superior Father
John Rossiter), as also 6 Christian Brothers schools, a
diocesan college, a Benedictine college, and several
good schools for female pupils. Enniscorthy cathe-
dral was not completed until 1875, and the interior was
not completely finished till 1908. Most Rev. Dr. James
Browne was consecrated Bishop of Ferns 14 Septem-
ber, 1884. He was born at Mayglass, County Wex-
ford in 1842, finished his studies at Maynooth College,
where he was ordained in 1865, and served for nine-
teen years as curate and parish priest with conspicuous
ability.
CoLGAN, Ada Sanct. Hib. (Louvain, 1648); Brenan, Ecct. Hi^l. of Ireland (Dublin, 1840); Rothe, Aiialecta, ed. Moran (Dublin. 1884); Ware, Bishops of Ireland, ed. Harris (Dublin, 1739); Renehan, Collections on Irish Church Histoni, ed. McCarthy (Dublin, 1874), II; Grattan-Flood, Hist, of Ennis- corthy (Enniscorthy, 1S98); Idem, The Episcopal City of Ferns in Irish Eccl. Record, II, no. 358; IV, no. 368; VI, no. 380; Bas- set, Wexford (Dublin, 1885).
W. H. Grattan-Flood.
Ferrandus. See Fulgentids Ferrandus.
Ferrara, Archdiocese op (Ferrariensis), imme- diately subject to the Holy See. The city, which is the capital of the similarly named province, stands on the banks of the Po di Volano, where it branches off to form the Po di Primaro, in the heart of a rich agricul- tural district. The origin of Ferrara is doubtful. No mention is made of it before the eighth century. Un- til the tenth century it followed the fortunes of Ra- venna. In 986 it was given as a papal fief to Tedaldo, C'ount of Canossa, the grandfather of Countess Ma- tilda against whom'it rebelled in 1101. From 1115 it was directly under the pope, though often claimed by the emperors. During this period arose the commune of Ferrara. Gradually the Salinguerra family became all-powerful in the city. They were expelled in 1208 for their fidelity to the emperor, whereupon the citi- zens offered the governorship to Azzo VI d'Este, whose successors kept it, as lieges of the pope, until 1598, with the exception of the brief period from 1313 to 1317, when it was leased to the King of Sicily for an annual tribute. Alfonso I d'Este, hoping to cast off the overlordship of the pope, kept up relations with Louis XII of France long after the League of Cambrai (1508) had been dissolved. In 1510 Julius II at- tempted in person to bring him back to a sense of duty, but was not successful. In 1519 Leo X tried to cap- ture the town by surprise, but he too failed; in 1522, however, Alfonso of his own accord made his peace with Adrian VI. In 1597 Alfonso II died without issue and named his cousin Cesare as his heir. Clem- ent VIII refused to recognize him and sent to Fer- rara his own nephew, Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, who in 1598 brought the town directly under papal rule. In 1796 it was occupied by the French, and be- came the chief town of the Bas-Po. In 1815 it was given back to the Holy See, which governed it by a legate with the aid of an Austrian garrison. In 1831 it proclaimed a provisional government, but the Aus- trian troops restored the previous civil conditions, which lasted until 1859, when the territory was an- nexed to the Kingdom of Italy.
The dukes of Ferrara, especially Alfonso I (1505- 1534) and Alfonso II (1559-1597), were generous pa- trons of literature and the arts. At their court lived Tasso, Ariosto, Boiardo, V. Strozzi, G. B. Guarini, the historian tiuido Bentivoglio, and others. It counted many artists of renown, whose works adorn even yet the churches and palaces of the city, e. g. the ducal palace,
