Paschal Robinson

Paschal Charles Robinson was the first Apostolic Nuncio to the Irish Free State and to Ireland

Life and times

The following obituary from The Times (Ed. August 28, 1948) gives a good summation of his life:

The Most Rev. Paschal Robinson, O.F.M., Papal Nuncio to Éire since 1930, died in Dublin yesterday at the age of 78. He achieved high distinction - both as a diplomat and as a scholar. Before bis appointment to Dublin he had been entrusted with numerous missions and negotiations, particularly with regard to religious interests in the Near East. In addition to original historical research he contributed to encyclopaedias and learned reviews on various aspects of Franciscan studies and medieval European history.

He was born in 1870 in Dublin, where he studied for the Bar, but did not sit for his final examinations, preferring instead to enter jourmalism, which he felt would give him greater opportunity for historical reading and research. His contributions to the North American Review led to his appointment as associate editor, a post from which he resigned in 1896 to apply for adrmission to the Franciscan Order.

He was ordained priest in 1901, in Rome, and remained in Italy for several years, engaged principally in the examnination and cataloguing of archives which had not been accessible previously to students. This work alternated with his duties as professor of theology in Franciscan colleges, and was interrupted partially in 1909 when he was sent to the Near East to conduct visitations to the Franciscan mnissions. In 1913 Mgr. Robinson was offered the chair of Medieval History in the Catholic University of America. He remained in Washington until 1919. when he was recalled to Rome and instructed to attend the Peace Cohference in Paris in connexion with questions affecting the Holy Places in Palestine. Later that year he was sent to Palestine on a special mission which resulted in his appointment as Apostolic Visitor for the Custody of the Holy Land and later for the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem and the Uniate churches in Palestine, Transjordan, and Cyprus.

His consecration as titular Archbishop of Tyana in 1927 was followed by his appointment as Apostolic Delegate to Malta in 1929 at the request of the Governor of Malta. His mission was to inquire into the controversy between Church and State over a question of ecclesiastical discipline. After his accomplished handling of the matter, he was nominated towards the end of 1929 Papal Nuncio to the Irish Free State. His receptton in the land of his birth in January, 1930, was more than cordial and his long sojourn full1y bore out the high hopes of the early days.

Papal Nuncio to the Irish Free State

The Times (Ed. December 27, 1929) reported the following in respect of the first Papal Nuncio to the Irish Free State:

PAPAL NUNCIO TO IRISH FREE STATE It is announced that the Papal Nuncio to the Irish Free State, the Most Rev. Paschal Robinson, Archbishop of Tyana, will arrive at Kingstown on January 14 [1930]. He will be met by Mr. Cosgrave and the Minister for Exterial Affairs, and will drive with a military escort to the Shelbourne Hotel. On the following day he will present his credentials to the Governor-General, and in the evening a State dinner will be given in his honour. The ceremonies will end with a State reception on the evening of January 16.

State funeral

Robinson was given a full state funeral by the Irish government. A very interesting account of the funeral is given in Ireland and the Vatican: the politics and diplomacy of church-state by Dermot Keogh (which is a "google" book).