Skip to content

Richard Archdeacon

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

An Irish Jesuit, whose name is sometimes given as Archdekin or Arsdekin, b. at Kilkenny, 30 March, 1620; d. 31 August, 1693. He entered the Society of Jesus , at Mechlin, 20 September, 1642, and taught humanities, philosophy, theology, and Holy Scripture at Antwerp and Louvain. He wrote a treatise in English and Irish on miracles, a "Life of St. Patrick" with a short notice on Ireland and the so-called prophecy of St. Malachy, an Irish saint, and the principal controversies about the faith. This he called "Theologia Quadripartita"; it was meant for use chiefly in Ireland. The book sold very rapidly, more than a thousand copies having been disposed of in a few months. He subsequently published it as a "Theologia Tripartita", and in the preface informs his readers that he had more time at his disposal for writing than he had for the preceding book. The "Tripartita" passed through thirteen editions. The twelfth edition contains the "Life of Oliver Plunkett and Peter Talbot". The work is remarkable for its order, conciseness, and lucidity. In spite of its numerous editions, beginning with the year 1671, it was put on the Index in 1700, donec corrigatur . Although at least the Antwerp edition of 1718 was corrected, especially as regards the peccatum philosophicum , and the Cologne edition of 1730 was "revised and corrected", yet in the Index of 1900 he is still referred to as an author previously condemned. He left in manuscript a "Theologia Apostolica". Hurter speaks of him as auctor gravis et probabilista . Webb in his "Compendium of Irish Biography" (Dublin, 1878) declares of the treatise on miracles that "it is said to have been the first book printed in English and Irish conjointly."

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Prayer of the Day logo
Saint of the Day logo

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.