New Advent
 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 
 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 
New Advent
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > B > John Boyce

John Boyce

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Novelist, lecturer, and priest, well known under the assumed name of "Paul Peppergrass", born in Donegal, Ireland, in 1810, died in Worcester, Massachusetts, 2 January, 1864. His father was respectable and wealthy citizen, proprietor of the principal hotel in the town and a magistrate of the county. John early manifested a taste for literary pursuits, and with the desire of studying for the priesthood, entered the preparatory seminary at Navan, County, Meath, and was graduated with the highest honours in rhetoric and philosophy. He completed his studies at the Royal College of Maynooth and was ordained priest in 1837. For eight years he laboured on the Irish mission, but in 1845 he resolved to share the lot of his countrymen in America. From Eastport Maine, the scene of his first missionary labours, he was transferred 14 November, 1847, to St. John's Church, Worcester, where he remained until his death. Father Boyce was an eloquent lecturer and gifted writer. His published works are: "Shanty Maguire, or Tricks upon Travellers" (New York, 1848), which was dramatized by "J. Pilgrim"; "The Spaewife, or the Queen's Secret" (Baltimore, 1853), "Mary Lee or the Yankee in Ireland" (1859), first published serially in the "Metropolitan Magazine" of Baltimore. These novels do not reveal the varied gifts and ripe scholarship of the man, though they illustrate the strong powers of a kneen observer, and the humour and pathos of a graceful and instructive writer. Besides these books he contributed to the editorial columns of the Boston "Pilot", wrote many sketches and criticisms which appeared in print, and a lecture on "The Satisfying Influence of Catholicity on the Intellect and Senses", delivered before the Catholic Institute in New York in 1851.

About this page

APA citation. Spillane, E. (1907). John Boyce. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02725b.htm

MLA citation. Spillane, Edward. "John Boyce." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02725b.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT