John Creagh: Difference between revisions
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'''John Creagh''' ([[Thomondgate]], Limerick, Ireland; 1870 – [[Wellington]], New Zealand; 1947) was an [[Irish people|Irish]] [[Redemptorist]] priest. |
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| ⚫ | Creagh is best known for, firstly, delivering an [[antisemitic]] speech in 1904 that incited [[Limerick boycott|riots against the small Jewish community in Limerick]],<ref name="Eliash2007">{{cite book|author=Shulamit Eliash|title=The Harp and the Shield of David: Ireland, Zionism and the State of Israel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_EgCHD3SMsC|accessdate=17 January 2013|year=2007|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-35035-8|page=54}}</ref> as well as, secondly, his work as a Catholic [[missionary]] in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region of [[Western Australia]] between 1916 and 1922. |
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In 1906, in the Philippines where he had been sent as a missionary, he had a nervous breakdown. A year later he was posted to Wellington. By 1914, he was in Australia and, in May 1916, when he was rector of the Redemptorist monastery in [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]] and when the German [[Pallotine]] missionaries had been interned, was appointed vicar apostolic at [[Broome, Western Australia|Broome]] in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region. He was parish priest at [[Bunbury, Western Australia|Bunbury]] (1923-5), [[Pennant Hills]] (1926–30) and [[Waratah, New South Wales|Waratah]] where he suffered a stroke. After recovering from the stroke, he spent the rest of his life conducting retreats and preaching. He died at a monastery in Wellington. |
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==Limerick boycott== |
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{{main|Limerick boycott}} |
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Creagh played a significant role in launching the “Limerick boycott” of 1904–06, in which many non-Jews economically [[boycott]]ed, on an antisemitic basis, the small [[Jews|Jewish]] community in Limerick. The boycott was accompanied by a number of antisemitic assaults and intimidation, and caused some Jews to leave the city. The boycott and associated events are sometimes referred to as the "Limerick [[pogrom]]" (a name derived, in part, from the Eastern European origins of many Jews in Limerick).<ref>{{cite web|title=The Limerick pogrom, 1904|url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-limerick-pogrom-1904/|website=History Ireland|accessdate=24 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=David B.|title=Anti-Semitic Priest Ignites 'Limerick Pogrom'|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/this-day-in-jewish-history/1.636364|accessdate=24 May 2017|work=Haaretz}}</ref> |
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There had been a community of [[History of the Jews in Ireland|Irish Jews]] in [[Limerick City]] as early as 1790.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feeley|first=Pat|title=Rabbi Levin of Colooney Street|url=http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,3951,en.pdf|publisher=Old Limerick Journal Vol. 2|accessdate=4 September 2013|year=1980}}</ref> A small number of [[Lithuanian Jews|Lithuanian Jews]], fleeing persecution in their homeland, began arriving in Limerick in 1878. They formed an accepted part of the city's retail trade,<ref>Keogh (1998), p. 31</ref> and established a synagogue and a cemetery. From 1884, there was occasional and sometimes violent, antisemitic activity.<ref name="keogh1998">Keogh (1998), p. 19</ref> |
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On Monday, 11 January 1904, Creagh, already a priest, gave a speech in a meeting at the Redemptorist Church at Mount Saint Alphonsus, attacking Jews in general.<ref name="keogh26-30">Keogh (1998), pps. 26–30</ref> He repeated many [[antisemitic canards|historical myths about Jews]], including that of [[Blood libel|ritual murder]], and said that the Jews had come to Limerick "to fasten themselves on us like leeches and to draw our blood".<ref name="Bew">Paul Bew, ''Ireland: The Politics of enmity 1789–2006'', Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 364</ref> Immediately after Creagh made his call for a boycott, according to historian [[Dermot Keogh]], people left the church, passing “Colooney Street where most ... Jews lived... many [members of the crowd] were fired up by Creagh's [speech]... The Jewish community ... [who may have] sensed the menacing mood of the crowd ... remained ... in their homes as [the crowd] ... passed... Jewish shops, however, remained open and their owners felt menaced. One old [[Fenian]] ... single-handedly defended a shop ... until ... police arrived to mount a guard.”<ref name="Keogh39">Keogh (1998), pp. 39</ref> While 300 people reportedly attacked "Jewish" businesses, few arrests were made. A 15 year old youth was arrested and later imprisoned for a month, for throwing a stone at the local [[rebbe]] that hit him on the ankle. Once released, Raleigh was welcomed by a demonstration protesting that he was innocent and that his sentence had been too harsh.<ref name="Keoghp113">Keogh (1998), pps. 113</ref> |
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The boycott was condemned by figures from across the political spectrum in Ireland and Creagh was criticised publicly by his Catholic superiors, who said that "religious persecution had no place in Ireland".<ref>Fisk, (1985), p. 430–431</ref> An anonymous letter to the Redemptorists labelled Creagh a "disgrace to the Catholic religion".<ref>{{cite news|last=Ferriter|first=Diarmaid|title=Review by Diarmaid Ferriter of 'Limerick Boycott 1904' by Dermot Keogh & Andrew McCarthy|url=http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/jews%20of%20limerick%2050.pdf|accessdate=4 September 2013|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=5 March 2008}}</ref> |
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According to a police report, five Jewish families, numbering 32 people, left Limerick due to the boycott and other, concurrent antisemitic activity, while another 26 families remained.<ref name=Keogh1998>{{cite book|last1=Keogh|first1=Dermot|title=Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland|date=1998|publisher=Cork University Press|isbn=1859181503|pages=123–125|url=http://www.corkuniversitypress.com/Jews-in-Twentieth-Century-Ireland-p/9781859181508.htm}}</ref><ref>''Shalom Ireland: a Social History of Jews in Modern Ireland'' by Ray Rivlin, {{ISBN|0-7171-3634-5}}, published by Gill & MacMillan</ref> <ref name="Keoghp123-125">Keogh (1998), pps. 123–125</ref> The boycott appeared to accelerate a general decline in the numbers of Jews in Limerick. While the 1911 census suggested nine Jewish families new to the area had joined 13 families that had remained in Limerick,<ref>''Fr. Creagh C.S.S.R. Social Reformer 1870–1947'' by Des Ryan, ''Old Limerick Journal'' Vol. 41, Winter 2005</ref> the Jewish population numbered only 122 people. By 1926, this number had declined dramatically, to just 30 people. Many descendants of Jewish families and individuals that left Limerick due to the boycott later became prominent in other parts of Ireland or overseas.<ref>{{cite web |title=Provosts, Mayors and Lord Mayors of Cork |publisher=[[Cork County Council]] |url =http://w,ww.corkcity.ie/yourcouncil/mayorsofcork/ |accessdate=30 September 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Raferty | first = John | title = Oughtobiography by David Marcus | publisher = [[RTÉ]] | date = 27 September 2001 | url = http://www.rte.ie/arts/2001/0927/oughtobiography.html | accessdate = 5 August 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=de Valera |first=Síle |authorlink=Síle de Valera |title=Louis Marcus resigns as Film Board Chairman |format=Press release |publisher=Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism |date=3 November 1999 |url=http://www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/publications/release.asp?ID=558 |accessdate=5 August 2008 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502174702/http://www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/publications/release.asp?ID=558 |archivedate= 2 May 2006 |df= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Montefiore|first=Simon Sebag|title=Arthur Griffith, Anti-Semite|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/11th-october-1997/28/arthur-griffith-anti-semite|work=The Spectator|accessdate=4 September 2013|date=10 October 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Census of Ireland 1911|url=http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Limerick/Limerick_No__5_Urban/Catherine_Street/631988/|publisher=National Archives of Ireland|accessdate=4 September 2013}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|title=Census of Ireland 1911|url=http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Limerick/Limerick |
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_No__5_Urban/Mallow_Street_Upper/903844/|publisher=National Archives of Ireland|accessdate=4 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Cork and Munster Trades Directory|year=1925|publisher=Trade Directories, Ltd.|location=Dublin|page=24}}</ref> |
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==Missionary == |
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Creagh was moved briefly by his superiors to Belfast, and transferred as a missionary to the [[Philippines]]. There Creagh had a nervous breakdown in 1906. A year later he was posted to Wellington, [[New Zealand]]. By 1914, Creagh had been transferred to Australia. He was appointed, soon afterwards, as rector of the [[Redemptorist Monastery, North Perth|Redemptorist monastery in North Perth]]. |
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In 1915, [[A. O. Neville]], [[Chief Protector of Aborigines]] in Western Australia, argued that the Catholic mission at [[Lombadina]], in the Kimberley should be closed, because the property of 20,000 acres (8100 hectares) belonged to a [[Filipino people|Filipino]] from [[Manila]], [[Thomas Puertollano]], who was married to an Aboriginal woman and was technically employing the Aborigines. This was a breach of regulations as ‘Asiatics are not allowed to employ Aborigines’. |
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Following the outbreak of World War I, German [[Pallotine]] missionaries at [[Broome, Western Australia|Broome]], in the Kimberley were [[interned]]. In May 1916, Creagh was appointed vicar apostolic at Broome to replace the Pallotines.<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bcreagh|Father John Creagh, C.SS.R.|21 January 2015}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | When Creagh was appointed to the Kimberley region, his brief included safeguarding the mission from threats from the Department of Aborigines and Fisheries and Immigration. Creagh’s brother and a partner bought the land for £1100 and the lease was transferred from Puertollano to Creagh’s brother. Creagh thought highly of Puertollano, writing that he was "a man to whom I am under the greatest obligations. He was the former owner of Lombadina and for years he kept the Mission there going". |
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Creagh officially opened and blessed the Church of Christ the King in [[Beagle Bay Community|Beagle Bay]], south of Lombadina, on the feast of the Assumption in August 1918. He was also involved in supporting the work of the St John of God Sisters in the Broome area. He obtained regular salaries for the Sisters at the Japanese Hospital and had the Sisters put on the staff of the District Hospital where they undertook night duty. Creagh also built a beach house for the Sisters at Broome, located a few miles from town where there was a good water supply. A vegetable garden was planted and goats and poultry were kept, tended by a family from Lombadina. This small farm enterprise helped to supply the convent with fresh produce. In the early 1920s, before leaving Broome, Creagh authorised the Sisters to launch an appeal to purchase more land and build a new convent. |
Creagh officially opened and blessed the Church of Christ the King in [[Beagle Bay Community|Beagle Bay]], south of Lombadina, on the feast of the Assumption in August 1918. He was also involved in supporting the work of the St John of God Sisters in the Broome area. He obtained regular salaries for the Sisters at the Japanese Hospital and had the Sisters put on the staff of the District Hospital where they undertook night duty. Creagh also built a beach house for the Sisters at Broome, located a few miles from town where there was a good water supply. A vegetable garden was planted and goats and poultry were kept, tended by a family from Lombadina. This small farm enterprise helped to supply the convent with fresh produce. In the early 1920s, before leaving Broome, Creagh authorised the Sisters to launch an appeal to purchase more land and build a new convent. |
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He was parish priest at [[Bunbury, Western Australia|Bunbury]] (1923-5), [[Pennant Hills]] (1926–30) and [[Waratah, New South Wales|Waratah]] where he suffered a stroke. After recovering from the stroke, he spent the rest of his life conducting retreats and preaching. He died at a monastery in Wellington. |
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==Footnotes== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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* [[Robert Fisk|Fisk, Robert]]. ''In Time of War'', Paladin: London, 1985. {{ISBN|0-586-08498-3}} |
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* [[Dermot Keogh|Keogh, Dermot]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ae1vo477tVgC&printsec=frontcover Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland]'', Cork; [[Cork University Press]], 1998. {{ISBN|1-85918-150-3}} |
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* [[Dermot Keogh|Keogh, Dermot]], McCarthy, Andrew. ''Limerick Boycott 1904: Anti-Semitism in Ireland'', [[Mercier Press]], 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-85635-453-0}} |
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{{refend}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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[[Category:Irish Roman Catholic priests]] |
[[Category:Irish Roman Catholic priests]] |
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[[Category:Redemptorists]] |
[[Category:Redemptorists]] |
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[[Category:Critics of Judaism]] |
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Revision as of 03:41, 13 December 2017
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2010) |
John Creagh (Thomondgate, Limerick, Ireland; 1870 – Wellington, New Zealand; 1947) was an Irish Redemptorist priest.
Creagh is best known for, firstly, delivering an antisemitic speech in 1904 that incited riots against the small Jewish community in Limerick,[1] as well as, secondly, his work as a Catholic missionary in the Kimberley region of Western Australia between 1916 and 1922.
Limerick boycott
Creagh played a significant role in launching the “Limerick boycott” of 1904–06, in which many non-Jews economically boycotted, on an antisemitic basis, the small Jewish community in Limerick. The boycott was accompanied by a number of antisemitic assaults and intimidation, and caused some Jews to leave the city. The boycott and associated events are sometimes referred to as the "Limerick pogrom" (a name derived, in part, from the Eastern European origins of many Jews in Limerick).[2][3]
There had been a community of Irish Jews in Limerick City as early as 1790.[4] A small number of Lithuanian Jews, fleeing persecution in their homeland, began arriving in Limerick in 1878. They formed an accepted part of the city's retail trade,[5] and established a synagogue and a cemetery. From 1884, there was occasional and sometimes violent, antisemitic activity.[6]
On Monday, 11 January 1904, Creagh, already a priest, gave a speech in a meeting at the Redemptorist Church at Mount Saint Alphonsus, attacking Jews in general.[7] He repeated many historical myths about Jews, including that of ritual murder, and said that the Jews had come to Limerick "to fasten themselves on us like leeches and to draw our blood".[8] Immediately after Creagh made his call for a boycott, according to historian Dermot Keogh, people left the church, passing “Colooney Street where most ... Jews lived... many [members of the crowd] were fired up by Creagh's [speech]... The Jewish community ... [who may have] sensed the menacing mood of the crowd ... remained ... in their homes as [the crowd] ... passed... Jewish shops, however, remained open and their owners felt menaced. One old Fenian ... single-handedly defended a shop ... until ... police arrived to mount a guard.”[9] While 300 people reportedly attacked "Jewish" businesses, few arrests were made. A 15 year old youth was arrested and later imprisoned for a month, for throwing a stone at the local rebbe that hit him on the ankle. Once released, Raleigh was welcomed by a demonstration protesting that he was innocent and that his sentence had been too harsh.[10]
The boycott was condemned by figures from across the political spectrum in Ireland and Creagh was criticised publicly by his Catholic superiors, who said that "religious persecution had no place in Ireland".[11] An anonymous letter to the Redemptorists labelled Creagh a "disgrace to the Catholic religion".[12]
According to a police report, five Jewish families, numbering 32 people, left Limerick due to the boycott and other, concurrent antisemitic activity, while another 26 families remained.[13][14] [15] The boycott appeared to accelerate a general decline in the numbers of Jews in Limerick. While the 1911 census suggested nine Jewish families new to the area had joined 13 families that had remained in Limerick,[16] the Jewish population numbered only 122 people. By 1926, this number had declined dramatically, to just 30 people. Many descendants of Jewish families and individuals that left Limerick due to the boycott later became prominent in other parts of Ireland or overseas.[17][18][19][20][21] [22][23]
Missionary
Creagh was moved briefly by his superiors to Belfast, and transferred as a missionary to the Philippines. There Creagh had a nervous breakdown in 1906. A year later he was posted to Wellington, New Zealand. By 1914, Creagh had been transferred to Australia. He was appointed, soon afterwards, as rector of the Redemptorist monastery in North Perth.
In 1915, A. O. Neville, Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia, argued that the Catholic mission at Lombadina, in the Kimberley should be closed, because the property of 20,000 acres (8100 hectares) belonged to a Filipino from Manila, Thomas Puertollano, who was married to an Aboriginal woman and was technically employing the Aborigines. This was a breach of regulations as ‘Asiatics are not allowed to employ Aborigines’.
Following the outbreak of World War I, German Pallotine missionaries at Broome, in the Kimberley were interned. In May 1916, Creagh was appointed vicar apostolic at Broome to replace the Pallotines.[24]
When Creagh was appointed to the Kimberley region, his brief included safeguarding the mission from threats from the Department of Aborigines and Fisheries and Immigration. Creagh’s brother and a partner bought the land for £1100 and the lease was transferred from Puertollano to Creagh’s brother. Creagh thought highly of Puertollano, writing that he was "a man to whom I am under the greatest obligations. He was the former owner of Lombadina and for years he kept the Mission there going".
Creagh officially opened and blessed the Church of Christ the King in Beagle Bay, south of Lombadina, on the feast of the Assumption in August 1918. He was also involved in supporting the work of the St John of God Sisters in the Broome area. He obtained regular salaries for the Sisters at the Japanese Hospital and had the Sisters put on the staff of the District Hospital where they undertook night duty. Creagh also built a beach house for the Sisters at Broome, located a few miles from town where there was a good water supply. A vegetable garden was planted and goats and poultry were kept, tended by a family from Lombadina. This small farm enterprise helped to supply the convent with fresh produce. In the early 1920s, before leaving Broome, Creagh authorised the Sisters to launch an appeal to purchase more land and build a new convent.
He was parish priest at Bunbury (1923-5), Pennant Hills (1926–30) and Waratah where he suffered a stroke. After recovering from the stroke, he spent the rest of his life conducting retreats and preaching. He died at a monastery in Wellington.
Footnotes
- ^ Shulamit Eliash (2007). The Harp and the Shield of David: Ireland, Zionism and the State of Israel. Psychology Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-415-35035-8. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
- ^ "The Limerick pogrom, 1904". History Ireland. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- ^ Green, David B. "Anti-Semitic Priest Ignites 'Limerick Pogrom'". Haaretz. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
- ^ Feeley, Pat (1980). "Rabbi Levin of Colooney Street" (PDF). Old Limerick Journal Vol. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ Keogh (1998), p. 31
- ^ Keogh (1998), p. 19
- ^ Keogh (1998), pps. 26–30
- ^ Paul Bew, Ireland: The Politics of enmity 1789–2006, Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 364
- ^ Keogh (1998), pp. 39
- ^ Keogh (1998), pps. 113
- ^ Fisk, (1985), p. 430–431
- ^ Ferriter, Diarmaid (5 March 2008). "Review by Diarmaid Ferriter of 'Limerick Boycott 1904' by Dermot Keogh & Andrew McCarthy" (PDF). The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ Keogh, Dermot (1998). Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland. Cork University Press. pp. 123–125. ISBN 1859181503.
- ^ Shalom Ireland: a Social History of Jews in Modern Ireland by Ray Rivlin, ISBN 0-7171-3634-5, published by Gill & MacMillan
- ^ Keogh (1998), pps. 123–125
- ^ Fr. Creagh C.S.S.R. Social Reformer 1870–1947 by Des Ryan, Old Limerick Journal Vol. 41, Winter 2005
- ^ "Provosts, Mayors and Lord Mayors of Cork". Cork County Council. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
- ^ Raferty, John (27 September 2001). "Oughtobiography by David Marcus". RTÉ. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ de Valera, Síle (3 November 1999). "Louis Marcus resigns as Film Board Chairman". Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. Archived from the original (Press release) on 2 May 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Montefiore, Simon Sebag (10 October 1997). "Arthur Griffith, Anti-Semite". The Spectator. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ "Census of Ireland 1911". National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ [http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Limerick/Limerick
_No__5_Urban/Mallow_Street_Upper/903844/ "Census of Ireland 1911"]. National Archives of Ireland. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help); line feed character in|url=at position 67 (help) - ^ Cork and Munster Trades Directory. Dublin: Trade Directories, Ltd. 1925. p. 24.
- ^ "Father John Creagh, C.SS.R." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
References
- Fisk, Robert. In Time of War, Paladin: London, 1985. ISBN 0-586-08498-3
- Keogh, Dermot. Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland, Cork; Cork University Press, 1998. ISBN 1-85918-150-3
- Keogh, Dermot, McCarthy, Andrew. Limerick Boycott 1904: Anti-Semitism in Ireland, Mercier Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-85635-453-0
External links
- Ann Dolan, Irish Lives: John Creagh, Irish Times, 17 April 2010
- Catholic Diocese of Broome
- Deborah Ruiz Wall, "The Pigram Brothers: a top Aboriginal band talk about their Filipino heritage", Kasama 21(2), April 2007
- Regina Ganter, "Mixed Relations: Asian Aboriginal Contact in North Australia", University of Western Australia Press, ISBN 1-920694-41-2, 2006
- Dampier Peninsula Parish
- Heritage Council of Western Australia, Register: St John of God Convent (fmr), Broome, 26 August 2009