November 20 1924
HIS eminence Cardinal [Michael] Logue was 84 when the final summons came; but the sad news that the great Prelate and Prince of the Church has passed away will be received with astonishment as well as with heartfelt regret by the Irish people at home and the Irish race everywhere – for no warning had been given that would have prepared the public mind, and the Cardinal Primate of All Ireland was generally regarded as one of those men over whom the years were almost to roll harmlessly until at least a century of life made “Death, kind nature’s signal of retreat”, inevitable at last. But His Eminence was prepared for the signal, and ready to obey the summons that had for him no terror. As an ecclesiastic he was one of St Patrick’s most notable successors in many respects. The history of the ancient Archdiocese has had few periods more remarkable than the 36 long years during which the Bishop translated from Raphoe as Coadjutor to the Most Rev Dr [Daniel] McGettigan ruled as Archbishop and Cardinal Archbishop over a territory embracing portions of two Irish Provinces and extending into many counties. Cardinal Logue’s name will always be prominently associated with the religious annals of Ireland.
He was, like his predecessor and his destined successor, a son of Tirconaill – a native of the County that has probably given more illustrious prelates to the Irish Church since the days of Columba of Gartan than any area similarly defined. The Cardinal owed nothing to worldly fortune; he was, like many Popes, a child of the “common people”; he owed everything to inherent talent, to a shrewdness that never failed while dealing with men and masses of men in pursuance of his sacred duties, and to the indomitable earnestness with which he devoted himself to the task of improving the facilities for religious progress within the far-flung boundaries of the Primatial Archdiocese. His life was one of sustained effort; death came as he would have wished – peacefully, painlessly, surrounded by devoted and sorrowing colleagues in the service of Holy Church, and confident of enjoying, by God’s Will, the eternal reward promised to those who serve their Creator faithfully and well. May that reward be his portion in everlasting life!
Effusive editorial from the Irish News on the death of Cardinal Michael Logue who led the Catholic Church in Ireland throughout the turbulent Irish revolutionary years including the partition of Ireland.
