Galway, David, 1575/7-1643, Jesuit priest
- IE IJA J/1345
- Person
- 1575/7-22 December 1643
Born: 1575/7, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 10 November 1604, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: 1609, Rome Italy
Died: 22 December 1643, Cork Residence, Cork City, County Cork
RIP 1634 or 1643 (if he appears in Verdier’s Report it is more likely 1643?)
Educated at Irish College Douai
1617 Catalogue Living in Ireland
1621 Catalogue On the Mission. Strong and fitted for more practical than speculative subjects. Not circumspect in conversations. An assiduous operarius
1622 in West Munster
1626 In Ireland
◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was a merchant in early life; A devoted and daring Missioner for thirty years.
He had extraordinary adventures in Ulster, the Scottish Isles and Highlands, and the Isle of Man;
He converted hundreds to the orthodox faith; He was idolised in Cork; He was a man of singular mortification and piety; Miraculous things are told of him
(cf Foley’s Collectanea)
He left Ireland for Rome with a letter of introduction from Christopher Holywood. 30 June 1604, and a request that he might be sent to the Noviciate at St Andrea, Rome, and might make his Theology at the Roman College.
1617 In Ireland (Irish Ecclesiastical Record August 1874). After his studies and Ordination he came to Ireland, and visited Scotland and the Hebrides and Orkney Islands three times, in the disguise of a merchant, gaining many souls for Christ. he was a daring ad devoted Missioner for thirty years.
He is named in a letter of Father Lawndry (Holiwood) 04/11/1611 (IER April 1874) being then a companion of Robert Nugent, both of whom were assiduous in labour.
We also find him named in the Verdier Report to General Nickel on the Irish Mission 1641-1650, with an account of his virtues and labours.
His death was occasioned by need and want (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Initially had a career of a merchant, but let that go for Priesthood
Studied at Douai from 1601, but returned to Ireland with Christopher Holywood after his release from prison in 1603. Holywood then sent him to the Novitiate in Rome Ent 10 November 1604 St Andrea, Rome
After First Vows he continued his studies at the Roman College, and was Ordained there in 1609
1609 Sent to Ireland and worked mainly in West Munster, but occasionally went to Ulster, as well as visiting Scotland three times and the Isle of Man In later years he was sought by authorities for having reconciled a Protestant woman with the Church, and so he had to leave Cork. For a while he worked on Clear Island, but when he became ill he returned to the Cork Residence where he died 22 December 1634
◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father David Galwey 1579-1643
Fr David Galwey was a merchant in his early life, and well used to the sea. This was of great advantage to him in his later life as a priest. Born in Cork in 1579, he became a Jesuit in 1604. He laboured in Cork City for 30 years, where he was idolised by the people, and after his death on December 22nd 1643, miraculous events were connected with his name.
His most noteworthy exploit was his mission to the Hebrides in 1619. A fluent speaker of Irish, he was at home with the Scots. He visited none of the islands, Islay, Oronsay, Colonsay, Gigha, Kintire, Jura, Arran, Sanday and Torsa. He visited these islands on three separate occasions. While there he went about disguised as a merchant. The Protestants hated him so much that they sent his likeness about in oder to secure his arrest. On wonder what is meant by the word “likeness”. Was it some kind of picture or drawing or a mere verbal description? Be that as it may, his life was hazardous in the extreme. For five months he never changed his garments, though often exposed to wind and rain. He had the consolation of converting many people on the islands, and of saying Mass for Catholics who had never seen the Holy Sacrifice offered up. This mission to the Hebrides was financed by Daniel Arthur, a merchant of Limerick, and fostered by the Irish Jesuits for a hundred years afterwards. A Fr Kelly was there some years after Fr Galwey, and a Fr O’Meara from Drogheda reconciled 200 Scots to the Church in 1712. It is a remarkable fact and a proud memory for the Irish Province, that in the midst of the struggles and dangers of the Penal Times, we still had men and interest for the foreign missions.
Fr David Galwey died himself of a cancer in Cork on December 22nd 1643.
◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
GALWEY, DAVID. In a letter of F. Holiwood, written from Ireland, 30th of June, 1604, he begins by saying, “I send as the bearer of this, Mr David Galwey, an Alumnus of our Society. I wish you to send him to St. Andrew’s house of probation, and to go through his Theological studies in the Roman College. He has been with me for the last year, and in our opinion is fit for the Society, and specially adapted for this Mission, because he is well acquainted with the Irish as well as the English language. The life of a merchant which he followed before, makes him in the transaction of business more cautious and expeditious”. In due time F. Galwey returned to his native country, and multiplied himself in the cause of the Missions. Ireland did not present a field sufficiently extensive for his zeal and charity. For thrice, in the disguise of a merchant, he visited Scotland, the Hebrides, and the Orkney Islands, and gained many souls to God. Severe to himself and dead to the world, he labored and lived but to promote the greater honour and glory of his God. This Apostolical Father died ar Cork, of a cancer, on the 22nd of December, 1643.