NUGENT, FRANCESCO. - Irish Capuchin, b. at Moyrath, a castle in County Meath, in 1569, d. at Charleville on 17 May 1635.
A graduate of the Universities of Paris and Louvain, he entered the Order in 1591. He is regarded as an exponent of that spiritual movement among his confreres which undervalued ascetic practices and external devotional exercises in favour of states of union with God and contemplation; but he effectively cleared himself of the accusations before the Holy Office in Rome (1599–1600); indeed, he was entrusted with composing a manual of spiritual doctrine.
Before 1597 he founded the convent of Trento; in 1602 he established a convent at Metz for the apostolate against the Calvinists; at Colonia (1611) he laid the foundations of the Rhenish province. At the same time, he devoted himself to preparing missionaries for England, Scotland, and Ireland; he established a house in Dublin in 1624; subsequently missionary stations arose at Slane, Limerich, Molingar, and Drogheda. In order to devote himself to this work, he refused the archbishopric of Armagh. In 1628–30 he was apostolic visitor in Ireland. He encountered difficulties and misunderstanding; in 1631 he was relieved of all offices. His scholastic, mystical, and controversial writings have been lost.
III, ivi 1947, pp. 13-29; Melchior a Pobladura, Historia generalis Ordinis Min. Capuccinorum, I, Roma 1947; part 2°, I, ivi 1948, V. indici; A. Daseville, F. N., Irish Capuchin, in Round Table, 15 (1950), pp. 103-17. Ilarino da Milano