1755, 6 Mar AD
Dingle`s successful appeal to Rome against Bishops O`Meara and Madgett
Dingle`s Catholic community appealed to Cardinal Corsini in Rome to remove the burden of having to provide support to Bishop William O`Meara of Killaloe, who had previously been Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe (Kerry). His successor, Bishop Nicholas Madgett, had also claimed revenue from Dingle as his mensal parish, though he, like O`Meara, did not reside there. Apart from the two bishops, the parishioners also had to support their resident parish priest and curate. The situation suggests that both bishops had considered the parish to be particularly wealthy, perhaps due to the presence of a prosperous Catholic mercantile elite in the town, and therefore capable of providing extra dues. The local community had sustained them for some years, but by mid-century there had been a decline in commercial fortunes, which forced the issue to be appealed to Rome. The appeal was successful and both bishops were forbidden from treating Dingle as their mensal parish.
