"If the old stones of Saint Nicholas Collegiate
church could speak, what strange tales they would tell of war and peace,
prosperity and adversity, civil and religious strife, of self-denying devotion
to the service of God and rash sacrilegious spoliation"
Rev J. Fleetwood
Berry, Rector of Galway 1912
The
church of St Nicholas in Galway is the city’s oldest church. Built in 1320 it
was more than likely built on the site of an older once, possibly a Knights Templar
and contains a crusader grave much older than the present church. There are
many tales told of this historic building. It is said that Christopher Columbus
prayed here when he visited the city in 1477.
A Lesser well know tale connected to the church is that of John Bodkin
and his hand. John Bodkin, the last Catholic warden was forced to give up his
church in the 17th century before it became Protestant. Bodkin is a name
long associated with the city of Galway and was one of the fourteen tribes of
Galway, wealthy merchants who made the city very rich and prosperous. Such was
their power that they created church wardens directly elected by them in 1484,
a system which lasted until Galway became a diocese in 1831. The
prosperity of Galway suffered a severe setback in the 17th century.
The city had always been loyal to the Crown, which was not a good idea during
the English Civil War. When Cromwell’s troops entered the city they used the
church as a stable. A few decades later Williamite forces besieged the city as Galway
had once more backed the losing side. The city surrendered to General Godert de
Ginkell, 1st Earl of Athlone, in July of 1691. Ginkell’s soldiers came to
Warden Bodkin to collect the keys to his church. As he handed them over he
cried out in despair: “ My God, that my right hand may not decay until the key
of this church be restored to its proper owners”.From that day on the
Church of St Nicholas ceased to become Catholic and was reconsecrated into the Church of Ireland.There appears to have been no ill feeling among the
Catholics and when Dr George P Brown was appointed first
Protestant bishop of Galway both Protestants and Catholics rejoiced. The infamous penal laws followed the Williamite wars and
Catholics continued to worship, albeit secretly and gathered at places such as
the mass rock in Shantalla. Little more was recorded about Bodkin, save that he
died in 1710 and was buried in the vaults of the church he once administered. Although now a Protestant church it was agreed
that the deceased of the old Galway merchant families would continue to be
buried there, a practice that continued until the 19th century. The
people of Galway remembered what Bodkin had said and came to pray at this tomb which
could be viewed by entering a private passage into the vault from the High
altar. Three times within the space of a hundred years his coffin disintegrated
with age and had to be replaced but the corpse had not decayed in any way. In
1738 some stones from the tomb fell and damaged the toes, but otherwise the
corpse looked very fresh indeed.The years passed and the city continued to decay but
something that had not decayed was the body of Bodkin. And this became clear
when it was decided to carry out much needed repairs on the vaults. Under the
supervision of a Mr Clare the repairs began in 1838. In the course of the
repairs the workmen came across the 129 year old corpse of Bodkin. Mr Clare who
would later give a sworn statement to his solicitor described the body as being
in perfect condition, save damage to the toes, the teeth perfectly white and the
skin somewhat elastic. Word quickly spread through the streets of Galway and
many wondered if the prophecy would be fulfilled. According to some rumours the
corpse was holding the keys to the church in his right hand. Thousands came in
to have a look at the body which was now being looked upon as a miracle. Among most of the population, it was held that the return
of the church to the Catholics of Galway was imminent. The chaos caused by the crowds meant the restoration work
had to be called off three days after the discovery.The next morning the foreman carpenter, John McMahon
called to Mr. Clare’s house at six o’clock in the morning to tell him that the
right hand of the corpse had been cut off. McMahon, a Presbyterian was scared that the
people would blame him for the desecration. Not only had the right hand been
removed but flesh was removed from the chest and an attempt had been made to
destroy it with lime, but this had only discoloured the skin. The church had
been cleared of all onlookers and Henry Caddy, the sexton, was the only one
with a key. Caddy was summoned and interrogated by a crowd anxious to know what
had happened. He refused to talk but when the crowd dragged him down to the
river and threatened to throw him in. He knew they meant business and he told
them that he had given the key to Timothy Murray and Dr McSweeney. Murray was
approached and he admitted to having committed the desecration of the corpse
and would only give the hand back to Reverend Roch. Roch in turn promised to
return it at 2 o’clock and the mob dispersed. An even larger crowd returned at
the appointed time but Roch did not appear until four. He had the hand with him
which was minus the fingers and slashed in many places. Rejecting suggestions to bury the body elsewhere Clare
lifted up the body and placed it in a new coffin. He then closed the coffin and
vault in such a way that there can be no access to it except by ripping up the
floor.
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