MacRory, Joseph (1861–1945)

Catholic archbishop of Armagh, Northern Ireland, from 1928 and cardinal from 1931. He supported the creation of a Catholic Irish state and officially opposed the Irish Republican Army.

Although based in Northern Ireland, his primary influence was on the Irish Free State. At William Thomas Cosgrave's instigation, he issued a pastoral letter in 1931 condemning republicanism, especially the ‘communist’ Saor Éire party. He never forgave Éamon de Valera for politicizing the Eucharistic Congress of 1932 and opposed his mention of the Church of Ireland in the constitution of 1937.