| Description | Sermons and addresses; offprints regarding the history of the Ancient See of Glasgow and Glasgow Cathedral; The Children of Holy Scripture; A Memoir of Archbishop James Beaton; Born at York on 7 November, 1817, son of a wealthy and distinguished North of England Catholic family. Trained for the priesthood at Ushaw College, Durham and the English College in Rome. Was ordained in 1842. Worked in several parish charges and reached the rank of Vicar General of Hexham and Newcastle Diocese in 1868. Sent to Scotland in 1868 as Apostolic Delegate and titular Archbishop of Anabarbus. Became Apostolic Administrator of the Western District of the Scottish Mission in 1869 and when the Scottish Hierarchy was restored in 1878, named Archbishop of Glasgow. Founded the seminary at St. Peter's Partick, and was involved in the establishment of Notre Dame Training College for Catholic teachers. Took part in the First Vatican Council 1869-70. Published a number of studies of the early historical and archaeological remains of pre-Reformation ecclesiastical sites.
Charles Eyre came from a distinguished and wealthy Catholic family in the north of England. He studied at Ushaw and the English College in Rome and was ordained in 1842. For 20 years he gained experience at every level in Newcastle Diocese and in the late sixties had risen to the position of Vicar General.
Serious problems in the Scottish Mission account for the summons to him to become Apostolic Administrator of the Western Vicariate based in Glasgow. After the Potato Famine years, the numbers of Irish immigrants- and of Irish priests- had greatly increased, putting great pressure on the resources of the local Catholic Church. A scandalous spectacle of a Scottish Vicar Apostolic, Bishop John Gray, and his Irish coadjutor, Bishop John Lynch, totally at loggerheads with each other threatened to embroil the Church in social and political conflicts. A vicious local press campaign fanned the flames
Henry Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster and future Cardinal, was sent to assess the situation, and examine the issues and the personalities. Manning's recommendation was that both prelates should leave and be replaced by Eyre, a neutral figure, and that the loose organisation of the Scottish church should be tightened up by the restoration of the Hierarchy. This restoration came about in 1878 and as Manning had foretold, it was received in the Protestant community with "civilised tolerance", (In England in 1850 the parallel event had caused much popular unrest and hostility.) Eyre's formidable task was to restore order in the Western Vicariate and his previous experience of the problems of an immigrant community in Newcastle stood him in good stead as he set out to drive a wedge between the majority of the Irish faithful and the political and religious extremists. It was also his task to steer the Scots through the Restoration of the Hierarchy and he managed to avoid disputes about the boundaries of the newly-created Scottish dioceses. Now Archbishop of Glasgow, his organisational gifts were totally dedicated to his new sphere of operations and he fostered by his personal example great pride in the achievements of the Catholic community. He worked hard to bring harmony among priests and laity and to show respect and friendship to people of other faiths. Calm, strong and resolute, he maintained a "hands-on" style of leadership and it was said that no new development ever got off the ground until he had considered and approved it.
The most lasting of his legacies was the establishment of a diocesan seminary and his contribution to the foundation of a training college for Catholic teachers. Both these developments were much needed as the numbers of priests, and baptisms increased immensely during his long episcopate.
Scope and Content: Sermons and addresses; offprints regarding the history of the Ancient See of Glasgow and Glasgow Cathedral; The Children of Holy Scripture; A Memoir of Archbishop James Beaton
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