Saint Anne's Guild was one of the medieval religious guilds or associations of the City of Dublin, Ireland. It is most noteworthy for the considerable documentary evidence extant and for having survived as a Roman Catholic lay association until the eighteenth century.
Fr. Myles Ronan, in his essay 'Dublin Medieval Gilds', found in 'The Irish Ecclesiastical Record', Volume XXVI, July to December, 1925, states:
| “ | "…Occasionally money was left by deed for prayers (evidently meaning Masses) for the donor. One such deed tells how in 1478 Sir Robert Dovedall, in his lifetime, bestowed on St. Ann’s Gild of St. Audoen’s, Dublin, a gift of 100 marks, to be put out at interest, used in merchandise at a profit, or invested in the purchase of land in the country; the yearly income derived to be devoted to the support of two priests, who were to sing and pray for him in St. Audoen’s. After his death, the gild was to see to such priests keeping his mind on the anniversary of his death… | ” |
The origins of the guild were simple, the feeling of brotherhood and neighbourliness, and the impulse to mutual help among private men and women. The guilds filled gaps in the social fabric not provided for by the systems of agricultural life or of military defence, but harmonizing with the efforts of the Church. They were unmentioned in Ireland before the Norman Conquest of 1169-71. If they desired to devote the rent of land or houses to purposes of education or religion, they had to obtain permission from the Crown. Guilds fall into two classes: the social-religious, and the trade guilds, the latter being of two kinds, merchant gilds and craft gilds. Although there were gilds of both classes in the thirteenth century, it was in the period between the fourteenth and the sixteenth century that they really abounded, many of them being set up not long before the Reformation. It was then that they received the royal charters enabling them to hold property and devote some of it to the upkeep of a guild's chapel and chaplain. This was a corporate imitation of the foundation of the [chantry], which was made by private and wealthy individuals. On the religious side, the two classes of gilds had much in common.
From the middle ages the bakers' guild of Dublin was also devoted to St. Anne, and represented her story at Mystery plays and during the triennial "Walking the Franchises" march around the city's limits. In 1528 the bakers represented Ceres at the Corpus Christi play for variety.[1] After the Reformation in Ireland (1533–70) members of trade guilds such as the bakers had to join the Church of Ireland, as they sent four legislators to the former Dublin Corporation, and this led to a division between the purely religious guild that was mostly Roman Catholic, and the trade guild that had to become Protestant. Into the 1700s the bakers were always described as the "Guild of St. Anne", and St. Ann's Church, Dawson Street (founded in 1720) still provides free loaves of bread on a "bread shelf" for hungry Dubliners that are still given daily by the city's bakers.
In religious matters the medieval trade and religious gilds had many things in common, but their primary purposes were fundamentally distinct. The Religious Guilds were fraternities or bodies of lay men and women, formed in many parishes for exclusively religious purposes. The only gilds known in the diocese of Dublin are: St. Anne’s, in the church of St. Audoen; St. Sythe in the church of St. Michan; Corpus Christi, in St. Michael’s on the Hill; St. George’s, in George’s Lane; St. Mary’s in Balrothery; St. Mary’s, at Mulhuddart; St. Canice’s, at Hollywood, North Dublin, and St. John the Baptist’s, in St. John’s Church, Fishamble Street…
The records of these gilds have disappeared, with the exception of those of St. Anne’s, and a few belonging to St. George’s. It is to the former, however, that we owe all our information on the working of the medieval religious gilds of Dublin.
St. Anne’s records form a portion of what is known as the ‘Halliday Collection’ in the [Royal Irish Academy]. There may have been more than 831 original deeds, as, amongst the 160 still extant, one of them is numbered 831. But with this solitary exception, the others are numbered between 1 and 600. In addition there is a volume of abstracts of 841 documents made in 1772 by James Goddard, clerk of the gild, among the Gilbert MSS.
The gild acquired extensive property in the city and county of Dublin and elsewhere. Although the gild was not founded until 1430, some of the title-deeds of its subsequently acquired property extend as far back as the year 1285, and as late as 1740. What became of the rest of the records is unknown. After the Reformation, it became safer to conceal or destroy incriminating documents, because of inquiries by the [Established] Church and Government. It had been suspected that the trusts impressed on the gild were not carried out.
Launcelot Buckeley, [Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin], may have preserved of the deeds in the Academy. James I and Charles I tried to pry into the working of the gild and its alleged illegal procedure. The eagerness of Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, a minister of Charles I, in searching into the affairs of the fraternity may have hastened his end.
So popular became the devotion in Dublin that in a Provincial Council 21 March 1352, under Archbishop de St. Paul, the festival of St. Anne on 26 July was ordered to be celebrated as a double, and the people to refrain from labour and attend their parish churches. Thus it became a holiday of obligation, along with the festivals of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Translation of Thomas Becket, and St. Katherine who was a virgin and martyr. It was further ordered that curates, on pain of excommunication, if they had not the proper services for these days, were to procure them within six months. On St. Anne’s Day, the service for St. Mary Magdalene was to be used mutatis mutandis. When the religious gild was to be established in 1430 in St. Audoen’s, it was natural to find its patron in St. Anne.
In 1430 Henry VI, by letters patent dated 16 December, with the assent of Richard Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin and Justiciar of Ireland, in homage and reverence of God, the B.V.M., and St. Anne, for the pious intentions of the said prelate and others, noblemen and commoners, granted licence to found a chantry in St Audoen's Church and to endow a chapel there in honour of St. Anne, together with a gild of same, of men and women.
The gild was to support six chantry priests, one to celebrate in a chapel that was to be built and dedicated to St. Anne, one in the Lady Chapel, and one at each of the four altars above named, for the souls of the king, founders, and brethren, etc., and it was allowed to hold lands and premises to the value of 100 marks (£66 13s. 4d. equivalent to about £1,000 before 1939) yearly for their maintenance. (This means that the yearly revenue of the property might amount to the 100 marks.) St. Anne’s Chapel was erected at the south side of the nave, running parallel to it as far as the chancel. The south wall was taken down, and six new pillars formed five bays, which caused the chapel to become the south aisle of the church. Later, this aisle was continued eastwards by the erection of the Portlester Chapel, and thus was formed a church of ‘two aisles’.
Each of the six chaplains of this gild had a special altar or chapel assigned to him on appointment, where he was to celebrate daily for its members and in a general way to serve in the choir. It would seem that even on ‘feryall’ days, there was a Missa Cantata, the Mary Mass, at which they were bound to assist, and on Fridays at the Jesus Mass. Of course, they were also bound to assist at all services on principal feasts and holidays.
They had the assistance of the two clerks attached to the church, one of whom sang and played at the organs, at all those services, for which he received a special annuity of £8 (£120 before 1939), and half profit of the ‘bells and church cake’. The other clerk was likewise appointed to assist the chaplains by singing and reading in choir daily at divine service at a salary of 7 marks. Every second week he was to cause fire and water to be brought, to ring the bells, and to wait on the parish priest or curate in visiting sick folk. He was granted the other half profit of the church cake, bells and ‘mind’ money.
Separate chambers or sets of apartments were allotted to the chantry priests, and the average yearly salary pertaining to their office appears to have been the sum of 8 marks (£80 before 1939). It may be remarked that the senior clerk received about £40 (before 1939) a year more than any of the chaplains. The priests were to have a competent table (or board) provided – ‘a table honestly found, according to the degree of a priest’.
Their tenure of office was for life, ‘as well in sickness as in health, as far forth as God would give grace and bodily health’. In each indenture the gild bound itself to find all accoutrements necessary for singing Mass – bread, wine, wax, chalice, Mass-book, vestments, etc., while the priests agreed to sing at all divine services, so far as their learning and ‘conyng’ extended, binding themselves not to be absent without special leave, and not to relinquish their posts except on promotion to benefices.
The chambers for the chaplains were allotted in houses near the church which had been bequeathed to the gild from time to time. One of these, the ‘chamber of St. Mary’s chaplain’, is mentioned as standing by the stile at the corner of Audoen’s Lane and Cornmarket. It was not until 1534 that they were accommodated in a single building, which became known as the College. This had been known as Blakeney’s Inns, with turret and garden, conveyed to the gild by James Blakeney, and occupied the site on which the present Catholic St. Audoen’s now stands.
Special apartments were assigned to each chaplain, and were known as the ‘second tower of Blakeney’s Inns’; the ‘fourth chamber’, etc.; and the gild undertook their repair and maintenance. In their spare moments the chaplains planted hedges round the college, constructed buildings, and built ‘St. Anne’s Workhouse’, which was evidently a special workshop for the men employed by the gild in connexion with its property in the neighbourhood.
That some educational institution was connected with this parish of St. Audoen is evident from a Will of 1381, by which Joan Douce left 2s. to the four scholars in St. Audoen’s church, and one Codde bequeathed 4 marks for a two-years’ exhibition in the schools. These may have been for the choristers attached to the church.
As in the case of the trade gilds, the observance of a death was a matter of supreme importance for the chantry priests of St. Anne’s. No doubt, special remembrance was given to each departed brother or sister on the ‘mind’ or anniversary day, and very likely a book of obits was kept, as in the case of Christ Church. But we find in St. Anne’s records special deeds drawn up by the merchants and others, who could afford the expense, by which the donor bestowed on the gild certain premises in the city, or outside, on condition that the priests maintained on St. Anne’s ‘Rent’ should, yearly, in St. Audoen’s, on a certain Sunday, observe same, with solemn Mass, by plain song, or, as it is again called, Requiem Mass by note, with five ‘pryketts’ (torches) of wax burning. And on the Saturday previous, the Dirige was to be sung, with same wax lights, and, according to the ‘old laudable custom’, the city bellman (polictor) was to go to the old station-places appointed in the city to ‘bid’ a Pater Noster and Ave for the said deceased. Along with these instructions, mention was sometimes made of the burial of the deceased in one of the chantry chapels of St. Audoen’s, beneath the ‘groundsill’. It does not appear that every brother or sister of the gild had the right to be buried in a chantry chapel. Benefactors of the gild and those instituting special chantry priests, in addition to the gild chaplains, to celebrate for them during the year, certainly had the right, as they left specific directions as to which chapel – St. Clare, St. Mary, etc. – they wished to be buried in.
The gild property had accumulated considerably between 1430 and 1558, through bequests and donations. Houses, rents, lands in the city and suburbs, and throughout the country, were made over to it by deeds, many of which are in the gild collection. The gild sometimes carried on a kind of co-operation in commerce. In one of the deeds (No. 1 in Calendar) a certain Robert Dovedall, knight, gave 100 marks (=£1,000 pre-war) to the master and wardens of the gild, to be disposed of in merchandise, iron and salt being mentioned as the probably commodities. The trustees were to give security for the trust, and out of every 12d. increase or profit yearly on the 100 marks’ over and above the 1½d., to go to the merchant in charge of the commodities for the time being. The goods were thus given out on loan to some of the brothers or sisters of the gild, who were not to date part with these goods over the sea, ort of this land. The grantor’s cousins or allies were to receive preference as to the loan, provided they gave the usual security. But if the master and wardens preferred to invest the money in lands in a ‘good part of the country’ they were to be at liberty to do so. This system of loaning out various commodities to members was also in being in the religious gild of St. Mary at Cambridge, the members paying for them at the end of the year, at the same time paying increment in the nature of interest. Thus, it is evident that the religious gilds combined some of the advantages of our present co-operative and tontine societies, as well as Bona Mors associations.
Unfortunately, no other records of the other religious gilds have come down to us, with the exception of the original charters of St. Sythe’s and St. George’s.
The gilds were so numerous and collectively so important in England, being spread all over the land, and were so much feared as wealthy agencies supporting ‘superstitious uses’, that in the last year of [Henry VIII] and the first year of [Edward VI] two Acts were passed which suppressed them all, and appropriated their property to the Crown. The trade gilds has so much in common with the religious gilds that they were included in the inquiry which preceded the Acts; but they escaped the same fate because their character as mercantile and trade companies was clear. Though we have no record to tell the fate of the religious gilds of Dublin, yet we have abundant records to show that St. Anne’s Gild continued at least down to the year 1740. it remained unchallenged and unquestioned practically down to the year 1611, when commenced the earliest of those proceedings which, in the seventeenth century, on the part of the Crown, the Irish Council, some public bodies, and private individuals, began to be directed against it. They Attorney-General required the master and wardens to answer by what warrant they exercised certain liberties in the chapel of St. Anne in St. Audoen’s. They pleaded their charter, and their uninterrupted exercise of it. Though the Attorney-General replied that such a plea was not sufficient in law to preserve their lands, etc., from being seized into the King’s hands, yet there the matter remained for another twenty-five years. Similar proceedings were taken in regard to St. Sythe’s Gild and its original charter endorsed as having been produced in Court. But no conclusion was come to.
In 1634 a very serious attempt was made by Rev. Thomas Lowe to compel the income of the gild property to be devoted to the purposes and service of St. Audoen's Church. Now that the reformed religion was established there was no longer a necessity for a chantry, with priests to celebrate for the souls of the founders and brethren. Accordingly he pleaded that the ancient parish church, with which it had for a couple of centuries been connected, should receive the benefit of the gild endowments, which were gradually being converted, he asserted, to superstitious as well as private uses. He affirmed that the fraternity was bound to support a chanting minister (to which post he claimed to be appointed) and six vicars. He ingeniously evaded the question of the celebration of Mass, which was a fundamental object of the gild. ‘A chanting minister and six vicars’ were not contemplated in the charter, and no revision of the charter had been made. The gild, however, pleaded that its entire revenue was but £74 14s. yearly, which sum was expended on the parson, organist, choristers, and singing men. The commission appointed to look into the question, on the other hand, reported that the annual rents amounted to £289 1s. 7d. Again the question was postponed. The commission that had been appointed consisted of John Bramhall, Bishop of Derry, Sir James Ware, and two others. The inquiries were to be preliminary to an order for the establishment of six ‘priests’ who were to be in possession of the college house belonging to the fraternity, which had been granted away for a term of years. The college and founds were to be restored, and the Rev. Thomas Lowe preferred : new brethren to be appointed, and a principal room in the college reserved for meetings of the gild, and as a place for safely keeping its muniments. It is important to give here the account of the transaction from materials collected by Sir James Ware: –
We are left in ignorance as to what was the result of this commission. The list of "Brethren and Tenants" includes well-connected Protestants such as Bishop Robert Ussher, who was the prebendary of St Audeons from 1617, Sir Philip Perceval, an English-born official in Dublin Castle, and Sir Robert Dixon, Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1633-34 and father-in-law of the future Lord Chancellor Maurice Eustace. Again, during the years 1642-1644, the affairs of the guild were the subject of inquiry by the Irish House of Commons.
The most important proceedings were those taken on 27 March 1682, by the prebendary and churchwardens of St. Audoen’s, on behalf of the parish, who filed a Bill in Chancery against the master and wardens of the gild. As in the case of Lowe’s action, the plaintiffs assumed that its revenues, in the present state of religion, were to be used solely for the benefit of St. Audoen’s Church and parish (see: Purpose trust). The bill stated that the fraternity had been originally erected for the purpose of founding a chantry of six priests, two choristers, and six singing men, together with an organist, for the worship of God in the said parish church; that its annual revenues now amounted to £2,500; and that a gross breach of trust was being committed. It was likewise stated that the reason the gild had not long ago been prevented from their illegal perversion of funds was that before 1641 the greater number of the members were Roman Catholics; that since that year the gild had been reconstructed, church services properly maintained, and the church fabric repaired. But since the 1641 Rebellion, they asserted, Roman Catholic masters and wardens were elected, who distributed the revenues among popish priests and the members of the fraternity, and allowed the college to become ruinous. These Catholic brethren had been successful in concealing the nature and true value of a large portion of such revenues. The Protestant plaintiffs, therefore, sought that the Catholic defendants should be compelled to make discovery of the means and bounds of the gild property, and that its original purposes should be carried into effect.
On 16 June 1682, the principal defendants filed their answer, in which they furnished a general history of the gild from about 1620, and totally denied that they or their predecessors were bound to support the clergy and services of St. Audoen’s. to show that there was no foundation for the insinuation in the Bill as to the principal officers having been Roman Catholics, a list of masters and wardens from 1638 was supplied, from which it appeared that nearly all elected up to 1681 belonged to the Protestant religion. Again, no decree appears to have been pronounced. In 1684 a vestry meeting was held at St. Audoen’s, which decided to leave the case to the [Lord Chancellor] (Michael Boyle, [Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh]) for arbitration. But it appears that the fraternity evaded this reference to the Archbishop, and the matter again fell through.
In the present state of our information as to the history of the gild from 1558 onwards, it is impossible to come to any definite decision as to whose hands the gild property fell into. The Bull of St. [Pius V] was a natural warning to preserve Roman Catholic property during the troubled times. But it seems extraordinary that no move was made to enforce the handing over of the gild property of St. Anne’s to the Crown. It would seem that from 1558, during Elizabeth’s reign, the master and wardens had succeeded in keeping their affairs to themselves, in Roman Catholic hands. They could not appoint priests to the chantry in St. Audoen’s, which had since reformed herself and consequently the college premises fell into ruin. In the reign of James I some effort was made to trace the property, and the charters ordered to be brought into Court. But it was with the coming of Wentworth to Ireland as Deputy in 1633 that the real searching began. It might be legitimately inferred from all this that so far the property had lain mostly in Roman Catholic hands, and that the revenues were devoted to the maintenance of their religion among the parishioners of St. Audoen’s. The admission by the [Roman Catholic] defendants that at all events from [1638] to [1681] nearly all the masters and wardens were of the Established Church would indicate that before [1638] such was not the case. There is no doubt, however, that with the insurrection of 1641 began the downfall of the Roman Catholic domination of the gild. And yet, strange to say, some of the principal brethren of the gild in 1682 were Catholics. In that year, after the storm created by the [Titus Oates] ‘[Popish Plot]’, the imprisonment and death of Peter Talbot, [Archbishop of Dublin] ([1680]) and execution of [Oliver Plunket] ([1681]), a new move was made to get the remnant of the gild property into the hands of the Established Church. What became of the property after 1682 is unknown. That it remained in Protestant hands there can be scarcely a shadow of doubt, without any question as to the fulfilment of the trust. What division of the spoils was made after 1740, in whose hands are the leases, or whether they have been destroyed as incriminating documents, we cannot tell. What has been said of St. Anne’s Gild may very probably be true also of the other religious gilds of medieval [Dublin]. Similar circumstances may have produced similar results. It is an important chapter in the history of the diocese which probably will never be completed, but is of no legal importance due to the lapse of time.
A group of Roman Catholics attending the Traditional Latin Mass in St. Audoen's formed a branch of the Sodality of Our Lady called 'Saint Anne's Guild' in May, 2001.