Rev.
Patrick Power (1862-1951)
Patrick Power,
later
canon and doctor of literature, was born in Callaghane, about 3km from
Waterford city, on March 8, 1862. He
became the historian par excellence of the diocese of Waterford and
Lismore. Patrick Power
began his schooling in the National School in Ballygunner near his home
and continued in the Catholic University School in Waterford before
studying for the priesthood at St John's College, Waterford. He was ordained in 1885 and spent his early life in the priesthood in
Liverpool before he contracted TB. This caused him to go to
Australia where he stayed seven years before he returned home to Waterford.
He was attached to the Cathedral for three years and was then diocesan
inspector of schools before becoming a curate in Portlaw. His first published work was A Manual Of Religious
Instruction, in 1900. He
then wrote an article on the Rian Bó Pádraig, the ancient road from
Cashel to Lismore in an article in 1903 in the journal of Royal Society
of Antiquaries of Ireland. By this time the Journal of the Waterford and
South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society was flourishing and he was
its editor for years, as well as a prolific and distinguished
contributor
His greatest work was Place-Names of the Decies (1907), which had
been appearing for years in the local journal as a series of articles. He went from parish to parish collecting the information and the
book was published in 1907. All who have written since then on County Waterford,
must always refer to this book, whether in agreement or otherwise. In 1911 he wrote about Donnchadh Rua Mac Conmara and Dunbrody
Abbey in County Wexford. In
1912 Parochial History of Waterford and Lismore appeared, which
dealt with the eighteenth and nineteenth century generally. It was
re-issued later in an amended form
From 1910 until 1931 he lectured on archaeology in University
College, Cork and was professor of that subject there from 1915 to 1932. During that time he was awarded a D.Litt. He published Place Names & Antiquities Of South-East Cork (1917).
He was especially interested in the Ogham stones that are the
earliest record of the people who inhabited the land
When Canon Power left the university he published quite a number
of significant Works—Ancient Topography of Fermoy, Waterford
and Lismore (1937) books on
Ardmore, A Bishop of the Penal Times and A Short History of
the County Waterford (1933). He also edited nineteen volumes of the Journal of the
Waterford and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society. There were countless articles in magazines on the topics that
interested him—archaeology and the history of his native county. He died in 1951 and is buried in St. Otteran's cemetery in
Ballynaneashagh, where the paupers and the victims of the Great Famine
are buried
In 1959 his Place-Names of the Decies was re-published by
the Cork University Press, at the request of the Waterford County
Council—a fitting tribute. |