Irish American News Ohio

by J.Michael Finn
One of the neat things about Irish history is that you always encounter persons or events that make you say, “I didn’t know that.” The story of the Irish Madonna of Gyor is one of those stories. The fact that the story is over 350 years old and has an Ohio connection makes it even more interesting.
Beginning in 1649, Oliver Cromwell relentlessly and without mercy pursued the persecution of Irish Catholics in Ireland. Catholic bishops, priests and nuns were hunted down, imprisoned and executed for practicing their religion.
Bishop Walter Lynch (1595-1663) was the Bishop of Clonfert in County Galway, having been appointed in March 1647. When Cromwell’s forces invaded Galway in 1651, Bishop Lynch fled for protection to the walled city of Galway. The city eventually fell to Cromwell’s forces in 1652 and Bishop Lynch and a few fellow priests were able to escape to Inishbofin Island, seven miles off the coast of Galway.
Bishop Lynch had brought a few possessions with him. One of his treasured possessions was a painting of Mary standing and praying over the sleeping infant Jesus. Nothing is known about the origins of the painting, but it is reported to have hung in the ancient Cathedral of Clonfert. The Bishop had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother and while the forces of Cromwell separated him from his diocese, they were not about to separate him from his painting.
When it became apparent that Inishbofin was also about to fall to Cromwell, Bishop Lynch was smuggled out of Ireland to the continent, where he soon took up residence in Belgium. There he lived in poverty and deprivation.
Many of the circumstances of his life in Belgium remain unknown, but by 1655, he had relocated to Vienna, Austria. There he met Hungarian Bishop Janos Pusky, the Bishop of Gyor in Hungary. Gyor is approximately an hour and a half northwest of Budapest. He convinced Bishop Lynch to move to Gyor, where Pusky made him a pastor of the Cathedral and later appointed his as Auxiliary Bishop.
By 1660, Cromwell had died and Charles II was on the English throne. Conditions for Catholics had improved in Ireland and Bishop Lynch decided that he should end his exile and return to Ireland. As he was making preparations to return, he died unexpectedly, on July 14, 1663, in the city of Gyor. He was buried in the Cathedral crypt, although his actual resting place can no longer be identified. Among his possessions was the portrait of the Madonna that he had brought with him from Ireland. In honor of Bishop Lynch, the people of Gyor hung the painting over the side altar of the Cathedral.
That might have been the end of the story except for an event that occurred on St. Patrick’s Day, thirty-four years after the bishop’s death. It gained nationwide attention for the painting and made it a source of great religious devotion and pilgrimage for the Hungarian people.
Early on the morning of March 17th, 1697, as Mass was being offered in the Cathedral, what appeared to be tears of blood were noticed on the painting of the Madonna. The tears continued for three hours and many people, including the local Protestant minister and Jewish rabbi, witnessed the event. At one point, the painting was taken down and examined to assure that there was no physical explanation for the occurrence. It was wiped clean with a linen cloth. The blood stained cloth remains preserved in the Cathedral.
What was significant about the date the miracle occurred? On the day before, March 16, 1697, the Irish Parliament in Dublin had convened. Their first act was to consider and vote upon the passage of the Banishment Act, or as the act was titled: An Act for banishing all Papists exercising any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, and all Regulars of the Popish Clergy out of this Kingdom.
The law ordered the banishment of all bishops, priests and religious from Ireland. Returning would mean punishment by transportation. If they returned again they would be charged with treason, for which the penalty was death. It is generally considered that Mary was weeping for the clergy and people of Ireland.
The picture was removed from display until 1708, when the miracle received official ecclesiastical approval. It was then returned to its place above the side altar. In 1767, a large marble structure was built around the painting. Sometime during its history crowns for Mary and Jesus were added to the painting.
Since the miracle the Cathedral has continued to be a site of pilgrimage for the Hungarian people. The painting was given the title Our Lady, Consoler of the Afflicted. In 1947, the 250th anniversary was celebrated, when it is estimated 100,000 pilgrims visited the shrine. In 1979, the Cathedral of Gyor was made a Basilica.
In 2005, a green marble memorial plaque was placed in the Cathedral. The plaque commemorates the 350th anniversary of the coming to Gyor of Bishop Walter Lynch. The plaque reads in part, “Please Bless Bishop Walter Lynch who carried the picture with him and give him the honor, together with Your holy angels, the ceaseless praise in everlasting life.”
As you recall, I mentioned there was an Ohio connection to this story. In 1913, Bishop Joseph Schrembs (1866-1945), the first bishop of the Diocese of Toledo, visited the Cathedral of Gyor. When he heard the story of the painting and the event that occurred in 1697, he was so moved that he requested a copy of the painting.
Bishop Schrembs explained that there were many Irish in his diocese who would be interested to learn about the history of the Irish Madonna and he wanted them to be able to see a copy of the actual painting. The Bishop of Gyor, Leopold A. Veraday, directed that a copy be made. The copy was placed face-to-face with the original for 30 days. It became a prized possession of Bishop Schrembs.
The following year in Toledo on August 23, 1914, the new St. Stephen of Hungary Church was dedicated. The church was located in the historic Hungarian “Birmingham” section of east Toledo. Bishop Schrembs used the story of the Irish Madonna in his dedication sermon. He was so impressed by the hard work of the church’s Hungarian parishioners that he donated his portrait of the Irish Madonna of Gyor to St. Stephen Church.
Today, that copy is displayed in a place of honor on the side altar at St. Stephen’s. Each year, the parishioners of St. Stephen Church hold a solemn novena around St. Patrick’s Day to commemorate the miraculous event in Gyor.
So, for over 350 years, commemorations of the Irish Madonna have continued in Gyor, Hungary and Toledo, Ohio. All of this occurred because of an Irish bishop’s care and devotion to a sacred image.
*J. Michael Finn is the Ohio State Historian for the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Division Historian for the Patrick Pearse Division in Columbus, Ohio. He writes extensively on Irish and Irish-American history; Ohio history and Ohio Catholic history. You may contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .