Kelly, Francis (1812–89), catholic bishop of Derry, was born at Drudgeon in the parish of Drumragh (near Omagh), Co. Tyrone, on 6 April 1812, one of seven children of Edward Kelly, blacksmith and smallholder, and his wife, Mary. He was educated locally and learned classics from Father Francis McHugh (PP Langfield), before studying at St Patrick's College, Maynooth (1835–40). He was ordained priest on 13 June 1840. From 1840 to 1846 he was curate of Drumragh. In 1846 Kelly was appointed to the staff of the newly established diocesan seminary, but had to resign later that year because of ill health. After two brief curacies, at Strabane (1846–7) and Culdaff (1847–8), he became parish priest of Upper Fahan (1848–9). He had already won a reputation as a pious and efficient pastor, and it is alleged that Bishop Edward Maginn (qv) expected him to succeed eventually to the see. (The bishop of Derry, John McLoughlin, had been confined to a Dublin asylum for the mentally ill since 1845; Maginn was apostolic administrator of the diocese and co-adjutor with the right of succession.)
The question of succession arose earlier than expected when Maginn died of typhoid in January 1848; Kelly was the unanimous choice of the diocesan clergy. On 19 April 1849 Kelly was appointed apostolic administrator, co-adjutor, and titular bishop of Titopoli, though the arrival of the briefs of appointment was delayed by the pope's exile from Rome after the 1848 revolution. Kelly was consecrated on 21 October 1849 and succeeded to the see on 18 June 1864. Kelly's principal achievements were as a ‘bricks and mortar’ bishop, who oversaw the renewal and extension of the physical facilities of his impoverished diocese. He built or rebuilt twenty-two churches and superintended the building of St Eugene's cathedral (1851–73; the spire was added by his successor). In order to avoid burdening the diocese with debt, Kelly instituted a regular weekly collection for his building projects, and he paid the cathedral workmen in person every Saturday; all but £3,000 of the £40,000 cost of the cathedral was raised in the diocese.
Kelly's primary concern was the development of catholic education: he wished to improve the prospects of his impoverished flock in the aftermath of the famine, to prevent ‘leakage’ from the faith, and to create a catholic professional class who would improve the church's standing. He is said to have built a school in every parish. While attending the synod of Thurles in 1850 he came into contact with the Christian Brothers, whom he invited to open a school at the ‘Brow of the Hill’ in the Bogside in Derry city; this establishment became renowned for technical education and was extended in the 1870s. In January 1861 the brothers opened a second school in the diocese (at Omagh); Kelly also persuaded the Sisters of Mercy, who had been brought to Derry by Maginn, to set up an industrial school at Omagh, and he oversaw the expansion of their seaside convent at Moville. In 1879 Kelly founded St Columb's College as a secondary school and diocesan minor seminary, contributing £3,000 of the £8,000 cost out of his own money. He maintained ‘unsparing enmity’ to the two model schools in his diocese and was highly suspicious of the presbyterian Magee College. (He privately expressed doubts about whether such a thing as a ‘liberal presbyterian’ really existed.)
Kelly was a firm disciplinarian who paid triennial visits to every parish and exercised scrupulous care in the choice of candidates for the ministry. As senior suffragan bishop in the province of Armagh, he three times presided over the selection of candidates for the archbishopric by the priests of the archdiocese; in 1869 five priests voted for him as archbishop but he let it be known he would decline if appointed as his age and ill health left him unsuited to manage the traditionally turbulent Armagh clergy.
Kelly preferred to avoid direct involvement in politics; he did not support the National Association of Ireland established by John Blake Dillon (qv) and sponsored by members of the clergy, and he was neutral on the Land League, though he endorsed the episcopal condemnation of secret societies and party processions. His only direct electoral involvement came in December 1872 when he supported the candidacy of the liberal law officer Christopher Palles (qv) in the Derry by-election at the behest of Cardinal Cullen (qv). This proved a painful experience for Kelly; Palles was subjected to vitriolic attacks (some covertly sponsored by Bishop Patrick Dorrian (qv) of Down and Connor) as a traitor to his country and his God because he had prosecuted priests for electoral intimidation, and A. M. Sullivan (qv) extended these criticisms from Palles to Kelly. Towards the end of his career Kelly restrained his priests from participation in the Plan of Campaign. He has been criticised for his political passivity by some later commentators, though he seems to have been at least partly motivated by fear of bringing down violent retaliation against his flock.
Kelly's presence was emphasised by his tall stature and dignified manner – a Times correspondent reporting on the first Vatican council of 1869–70 singled him out for his stately bearing – but he suffered from chronic health problems which he attributed to wettings received on childhood fishing expeditions. In the later years of his episcopate Kelly was exempted from his five-yearly ad limina visits to Rome because of ill health. In 1887 Monsignor Persico visited Derry while making his visitation of the Irish dioceses. He reported to Rome that Kelly was physically feeble, could no longer effectively oversee his clergy (who had become factionalised), and had allowed problems to develop within the diocesan education system. Despite a stroke in 1888 Kelly refused to apply for a co-adjutor, and he was able to resume his duties shortly thereafter. On 19 August 1889 he began a tour of the Donegal portion of his diocese, during which he confirmed 2,561 children. While administering confirmation at Moville on 29 August he suffered a seizure; the ceremony was broken off and he returned to Derry. He suffered another stroke at the residence attached to St Eugene's cathedral on 31 August and died 1 September 1889.
The official eulogies for Kelly emphasised his modest lifestyle (said to be as frugal as a curate's) and the fact that he devoted almost his entire income and savings to works of charity (notably bursaries to educate seminarians in Rome and at Maynooth); he left no private bequests except for small legacies to his servants. Even local protestant and unionist newspapers praised his modesty and benevolence. While their aim was at least partly to contrast him with political prelates such as Thomas Croke (qv) and William Walsh (qv), there is no reason to think they were insincere in praising ‘a gentleman of kindly and benevolent disposition . . . a great man . . . in that he could control the spirit of man that was within him . . . he has left [his flock] better and happier than he found them’. He embodies many of the pastoral achievements of nineteenth-century Irish catholicism, and his local importance was magnified by his longevity.