Prelates

Joyce was certainly capable of savaging Irish Catholic priests for taking craven political positions, but he does not allow the Protestant Mr. Deasy to do so without committing still another distortion of the historical record. Deasy charges that "the prelates of your communion denounced" Daniel O'Connell "as a demagogue." Catholic bishops and archbishops strongly supported O'Connell's efforts to win voting rights for Catholics, though they were spooked by his subsequent efforts to repeal the Act of Union. They never "denounced" him.

John Hunt 2012

The Archbishop of Dublin, William Walsh, welcoming King Edward and Queen Mary to Maynooth in 1911. Source: easy1.hubpages.com.

Cartoon from Punch Magazine, 30 August 1851, depicting Archbishop Paul Cullen striding across all of Ireland with a fiery cross, traditional rallying symbol of Scots Highlanders. Source: multitext.ucc.ie.