generally considered more conversant in the writings of
that Father, than any of his contemporaries. His reputa
tion became at length so fully established, that the Court of
Rome thought
f
i
t
t
o
appoint him
t
o
the titular Archbish
opric
o
f
Tuam, and
h
e
was also for some time provincial
o
f
his order
i
n
Ireland. Philip
I
I
.
o
f
Spain had about the
same time dispatched
a
n
army into Ireland,
i
n
aid
o
f
the
Catholics, who were engaged
i
n
one
o
f
those arduous
struggles for religious liberty which have
s
o
frequently
divided that country; and Conry,
a
t
the command
o
f
Pope
Clement VIII. returned
t
o
his native land
t
o
assist them
with his counsel. Their invasion, however, was defeated;
and his strenuous exertions being but too well known
t
o
the English government, Conry was proscribed;
i
n
con
sequence
o
f
which
h
e
retired into Flanders, where
h
e
continued for some time, and afterwards into Spain. He
was now supported entirely
b
y
the King
o
f
Spain, and
i
t
was
a
t
his request, that Philip III. founded
a
t
Louvain
the Irish college, dedicated
t
o
St. Anthony
o
f
Padua.
The first stone
o
f
the building was laid
i
n
1616,
b
y
the
Princes Albert and Isabell, and
i
t
has since been
o
f
infinite
utility
t
o
Ireland,
b
y
affording
a
n
asylum for the education
o
f
many children, whose genius and abilities would
without such cultivation have reflected no lustre on the
soil which gave them birth.
During his long banishment
h
e
devoted himself entirely
t
o
the works
o
f
St. Augustine, which
h
e
studied with
s
o
great application
a
s
t
o
make himself completely master
o
f
the sentiments
o
f
that Father, concerning the necessity
and efficacy
o
f
grace, and the controversies about
i
t
with
Pitagius and other heretics, and
o
n
this subject
h
e
wrote
several treatises.
He died
i
n
a
convent of his order
a
t
Madrid,
o
n
the 18th
o
f
November, 1629,
i
n
the sixty
ninth year
o
f
his age, greatly respected and lamented
b
y
the Spaniards, among whom
h
e
had resided
f
o
r
s
o
many
years.
I
n
gratitude for his exertions, the friars
o
f
the Irish
college
a
t
Louvain, erected
a
monument
t
o
his memory
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8
CONNOR.
