left behind him the reputation of great dignity, piety, assiduity and beneficence. The following is his epitaph in the Cathedral of Tuam:—
The Chief Shepherd,
Whom he loved and served, in whom he now sleeps,
Called away from the evil to come
The Hon. and Most Rev. Power Le Poer Trench, D.D.,
Lord Archbishop of Tuam,
On the 26th of March 1839.
A lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate.
Holding first the faithful word,
With a father’s love
He presided nineteen years over this province,
With unquenchable zeal promoted the spread of true religion.
With uncompromising fidelity opposed error,
With inflexible integrity obeyed the dictates of an enlightened conscience,
With surpassing benevolence relieved want,
With mingled meekness and dignity exercised his apostolic office.
Dearer to him than life itself was the word of the truth of the Gospel,
And tenderly did he sympathize with the whole Church
In all her joys and sorrows.
To him to live was Christ,
To die was gain.
Besides the old diocese of Tuam, the Archbishop’s actual diocese included the territories of the suppressed sees of Ardagh, Killala, and Achonry. The clergy of Ardagli set up a monumental slab in Longford Church, and also established an exhibition in the University of Dublin, called “The Power-Trench Memorial;” an annual prize in money to be given to the son of an Ardagh clergyman who shall have distinguished himself in the Divinity class, prior to the commencement in each year. The Archdeacon of Ardagh, a brother of the Archbishop, died the same year, and thus the memory of the Trench family was doubly fragrant in that quarter. The Honourable and Venerable Charles Le Poer Trench, D.D., Archdeacon of Ardagh, and Vicar-General of Clonfert, died in his 67th year, having been born in December 1772. The following account of him is entirely in the words of Dr Sirr. He was a man of great original genius and rare powers, intellectual and corporeal. His mind was well-stored with various knowledge; his wit was of the first order, and his conversation abounded with such felicitous and amusing anecdotes, illustrative of every subject on which he discoursed, that there never existed a more agreeable companion. He won all hearts — his fascination extended to the cabin as well as to the palace. When, through the grace of God, he was led to reflect more seriously on his ministerial responsibilities than he had in the early part of his ministry, his extraordinary energy of character was all concentrated in promoting the progress of divine truth. Schools rose up in every direction. His position, as brother to the noble proprietor of the soil, gave him peculiar facilities in protecting the poor, who had the boldness to send their children to scripture schools in defiance of priestly interdicts. No labour was too great — no service too humble — for his ardent zeal. No engagements — no visitors — were permitted to interfere with his prescribed periods of attendance at remote localities. It mattered not what the season of the year, what the dangers of the way or the darkness of the evening, oft he marched to instruct the ignorant and poor. Lantern in hand he would wend
