Gideon Ousley

The Ministry of Irish Evangelist Gideon Ousley

By Colin Maxwell

(Prepared for the FPC Vision Magazine) 

If Ireland is to live up to her reputation of being the “Land of Saints and Scholars” then we may expect some of her children to became evangelists. Monastic cells may have been useful in their day in producing beautifully decorated copies of Scripture, but Ireland needed more than that. TC Hammond, an Irish evangelist preaching in England, told his hearers: “Tonight for aught you and I know, men are groaning in their last agonies upon the hills of that land.” Ireland needed fearless preachers.

She found one such evangelist in Gideon Ousley. Born in Galway in 1762 to Deist parents, Ousley’s father had hoped his son would enter the Anglican ministry. His son, however, became most wayward, losing his eye to a gunshot in a pub brawl. Apparently this gave him a rather frightful look for the rest of his life, although it could well be that many of the non genteel population in Ireland sported their own war wounds.

When 29 years old, he came to Christ under the influence of some English soldiers stationed locally who hired an inn for Methodist meetings. Following their example, their new convert also desired to reach the lost. He came to prominence in his own area when he publicly challenged the local curate who had been rubbishing the evangelical doctrines of the Fall of Man etc. Ousley told him that such was the teaching of the Bible and the Liturgy.

Under the oversight of the Irish Methodist church, he became a travelling evangelist riding all over the country and preaching repentance towards God and faith in Christ at fairs and wherever people gathered. He preached in his native province of Connaught – “To Hell and Connaught” as Cromwell over 100 years earlier distained it – and in a few towns in Leinster and even up into Ulster. “Ah Fintona! Fintona!” he was heard to exclaim as he pleaded in the Tyrone village for the people to prepare to meet their God. He preached the great evangelical texts and themes and did not hesitate to preach in the barbaric prisons when able to do so. His preaching style fell in with the common Methodist style of interrogation where he employed direct questions to awaken the attention of often hostile listeners.

His preaching was fearless. Irish fairs were not for the fainthearted and he faced much opposition including stonings, but he kept on regardless onof the personal cost. One companion in labour was John Graham, who became known as the Apostle of Kerry. The two worked well together, being kindred spirits.

What is noticeable in Ousley’s minstry was his use of almost novel yet effective methods of evangelism. It was not every day a preacher on a white horse would turn up in people’s lives, and much less preach while still mounted. This latter tactic might well have been a health and safety mechanism for when it was best to withdraw quickly. Another use of the sanctified imagination was to go to regular services in the local Roman Catholic church. When the priest intoned the various parts of the Prayer Book in Latin to his illiterate hearers, Ousley would translate the non heretical parts into language which the parishioners could actually understand. He would then add enthusiastically “Listen to that” before further exhorting the people. He would go to Irish wakes where, even amidst the serious drinking and spirit of riotousness, people were expected to pray for the dead. There he would offer up what we might call horizontal prayers i.e. notsomuch for the ears of the Almighty (and certainly not for the dead) but for the evangelisation of the mourners. A reminder of the reality of death and the eternity that follows hard on its heels soon solemnized the death house. On another occasion, a Roman Catholic priest looked out his window to see why arrangements were running late for a wedding. He was surprised to see the bride and groom kneeling in prayer at the side of the road, alongside the Protestant evangelist.

On other occasions, people were coming out of Mass heard him proclaim that the Blessed Virgin had the best religion on the world. Having gained their attention, although not necessarily their sympathy, he went on to expound John 2:5 where Mary pointed people to the word of her son. In Ballina, his open air efforts lasted three hours – largely because the people gave him their undivided attention. Then, bathed in perspiration, he rode five miles up the road to another village and began preaching again.

Ousely would usually preach in the native Irish tongue. It has been pointed out how the Irish language, which is often more expressive than the English, is most suited for gospel preaching. For example, we English speakers bid people “welcome” to our homes and maybe even add the word “very” to the original greeting. However, the standard greeting in Irish at that time was “'Cead mille faltha roath' - an hundred thousand welcomes before you, or await you.” You can picture how a preacher with great effect could utilize that if relating the story of the Prodigal Son. The Father ran to his tearful son, threw his big arms of love and mercy round him and bade him “Cead mile failte etc.” Again, the English speaking mother might refer to her child as “my dear child” but what is that to 'a cushla mo chree' or 'the vein, the pulse, the beating voice of my heart.' – perhaps best used if speaking on the manner of love which the Father has bestowed upon us that we should called the sons of God. (1 John 3:1). The people who could not understand Latin, but who hated English – the failed 1798 United Irishmen uprising did little for Anglo Irish relations – could appreciate the language of their own fireside.

Under God, coupled with a genuine warmth and friendliness, he possessed and used both wit and logic in personal evangelism. A pilgrim visiting a so called holy mountain responded to the simple question, “Why are you here?” with the equally simple reply: “I want to find God.” Now that a conversation was at least started, his sanctified wit and logic took over. “What part of the mountain did you expect to find Him on?” The pilgrim confessed that he had never thought of this. Assuring the poor man that “God is everywhere” – then he had as much opportunity to find God at home in his cabin as to travel 80 miles and start climbing. The man returned home, at least well instructed in the gospel, and vowed that he would not go on another pilgrimage.

Gideon Ousley died in 1839 leaving behind many solid converts to Christ. His efforts were perhaps the inspiration of several English Baptist evangelists visiting Irish shores in the 1850’s. They did not stay long. CH Spurgeon was certainly not impressed, calling it “one of the greatest disgraces that ever was cast upon the church in these days.” This is because they withdrew rather quickly citing the fact that the “Irish hooted them.” The next year, the clearly rankled Spurgeon renewed his biting criticism of the “brave men,” although he upped the opposition reported to that of being stoned. Whatever we might think of the efforts made and Spurgeon’s contempt, it throws some light on the worth of the ministry which God enabled Gideon Ousley to exercise to His glory.

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