Archbishops.
Dermot O'Hurley,
Archbishop of Cashel, was born in the diocese of Limerick; educated at Louvain,
and appointed Archbishop of Cashel by Gregory XIII. in 1580 or 1581. On his
arrival at Drogheda he was suspected by the same Walter Baal who was afterwards
Mayor of Dublin, and who imprisoned his own mother. At Slane, the learning of
the Archbishop, manifested in his conversation, led him to be suspected by
Robert Dillon, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. The Archbishop
escaped, but was pursued later by the Baron of Slane and overtaken. He went to
Dublin to prove his innocence. There he was burned in oil, and two days later
hanged in a public field not far from Dublin Castle, June 20, 1584.
Richard Creagh,
Archbishop of Armagh, was a native of Limerick; educated and ordained priest at
Louvain; appointed and consecrated Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all
Ireland by Pope Pius V., April, 1564. On his return to Ireland, he was seized
and imprisoned in Dublin Castle, and later in the Tower of London, whence he
escaped, after the manner of St. Peter, and fled to the Continent. On returning
to Ireland, he was a second time arrested and imprisoned. Again he escaped to
the Continent, and a third time returned to Ireland. He was treacherously
seized, sent from Dublin to London, where he was again imprisoned in the Tower,
and, after much suffering, died October 14, 1585.
Edmund Magauran,
Archbishop of Armagh, was transferred from the see of Ardagh in 1857 to the
primatial see of Armagh, in which he succeeded Archbishop Creagh. He was
pursued by the Lord Deputy, Sir William Russell. The Archbishop was defended by
Hugh McGuire, Hugh O'Donnell, and their followers. It was during an attack upon
his defenders, and while he was administering the Sacrament of Penance to one of
the soldiers, that the Archbishop was murdered, June 28, 1593.
The four Primates of
Armagh — Creagh, Magauran, Redmond, and O'Devany — reigning within a period of
thirty years, were all martyrs for the Faith.
Malachy O'Queely,
Archbishop of Tuam, was born in Thomond; appointed Archbishop by Pope Urban
VIII.; captured and killed by the Puritans, October 25, 1645.
Bishops.
Maurice O'Brien: Appointed
Bishop of Emly, 1567; imprisoned in Dublin Castle, 1584; died there March 17,
1586.
Redmond O'Gallagher,
Bishop of Derry. Born in Ulster. One of the three Irish bishops present at the
Council of Trent. Attacked in his own house, and there with three other priests
cruelly put to death, March 15, 1601.
Eugene MacEgan,
Bishop-elect of the diocese of Ross. Attacked by soldiers who left him mortally
wounded. Rescued by Catholics, but died that same evening, 1607.
William Walsh,
Cistercian Monk of the Abbey of Holy Cross, and Bishop of Meath. Born probably
at Dunboyne. Appointed Bishop of Meath in 1554. Refused to take the oath of supremacy
under Elizabeth. Imprisoned in Dublin Castle, where he endured a prolonged
martyrdom for thirteen years. He escaped in 1572; went to Spain and died at
Alcala in 1577.
Patrick O'Healy,
Bishop of Elphin, was born at Connaught; entered the Order of St. Francis, and
was educated at the University of Alcala. Appointed in 1576 by Gregory XIII. to
the see of Mayo. Traveled to Ireland with Cornelius O'Rourke, the Franciscan,
who also has just been beatified. Both were arrested immediately on their arrival
in Ireland, imprisoned, and put to the torture. Drury, President of Munster,
who had condemned them, used every enticement, the offer of rich benefices and
positions of honor, if they would conform. They refused, and both were hanged
on August 22, 1578.
Cornelius O'Devany,
Bishop of Down and Connor, was born in 1533 in Ulster. Before his twentieth
year he entered the Order of St. Francis. While in Rome he was appointed by
Gregory XIII. Bishop of the united sees of Down and Connor, and immediately
returned to his native country. He was one of the prelates who in 1587 met in
the diocese of Clogher and promulgated the decrees of Trent. In 1592, he was
imprisoned in the Castle of Dublin, where for three years he suffered
incredible hardships. He was arrested again
in 1611, tried by jury, and condemned to death; but was offered his life if he
would abandon the Catholic Faith. When he saw the hurdle which was to bear him
to the place of execution, he said: "My Lord Jesus, for my sake, went on
foot, bearing His Cross, to the mountain where He suffered; and must I be
borne in a cart, as though unwilling to die for Him, when I would hasten with
willing feet to that glory? Would that I might bear my cross and hasten on my
feet to meet my Lord!"
In his report to the
Propaganda, February 4, 1623, the Archbishop of Dublin says: "Cornelius
O'Devany, the Bishop of Down and Connor, being almost eighty years of age, was
crowned with martyrdom about ten years ago in Dublin, thus giving a noble
example to the whole nation."
Boetius Egan, Bishop
of Ross, was born in Duhallow, Cork ; entered the Order of St. Francis; was
appointed by Innocent X. Bishop of
Ross. He was seized by the tyrant Lord Broghill, the son of the Earl of Cork,
who was assisting Cromwell in the siege of Clonmel. Lord Broghill offered to
release Bishop Egan if he would induce the garrison at Clonmel to surrender. On
approaching the walls, Bishop Egan exhorted the garrison to stand resolutely
against the enemy of their religion and country. By Broghill's orders the
Bishop was then abandoned to the fury of the soldiers. He was horribly
tortured, and finally hanged with the reins of his own horse, November, 1650.
Terence Albert
O'Brien, Bishop of Emly, was educated in Spain; twice Prior in his native city
of Limerick; and appointed Bishop of Emly by Urban VIII. When Limerick was
besieged by Cromwell's son-in-law, the sum of fifty thousand dollars was
offered to Bishop O'Brien if he would leave the city and urge its citizens to
yield. When the city was taken, the Bishop was seized and put to death. Turning
to his flock at the last moment, he said: "Hold fast to the Faith and
keep its commandments. Murmur not against what the providence of God allows,
and by so doing you will save your souls. Do not shed tears on my account, but
rather pray that in this last trial, I may, by firmness and constancy, obtain
heaven as my reward." October 31, 1651.
Other Bishops included
in this Decree of Beatification are: Edmund Dungan, Tertiary of the Order of
St. Francis, Bishop of Down and Connor; and Heber McMahon, Bishop of Clogher.
Priests.
Maurice Kinrechtin,
chaplain and confessor to Gerald, Earl of Desmond, was born at Kilmallock,
Limerick. Imprisoned at Clonmel, and bound there in chains. A Catholic citizen
bribed the jailer to release Maurice in order that he might celebrate Mass and
administer Easter Communion to the faithful. The jailer gave information
concerning the Mass to the government, and the soldiers rushed in and seized the
people. Although Father Kinrechtin, himself, escaped, he later gave himself up
in order to save the life of the master of the house in which he was about to
celebrate Mass. He was sentenced to death and hanged, April 30, 1585.
Laurence O'Moore:
Remarkable for holiness of life. Captured in Western Kerry, together with two
Irishmen, Oliver Plunkett and William Walsh. After an almost incredible torture
of twenty-four hours, he expired August 5, 1580.
Richard Frinch: Died
in prison, May 5, 1581.
John Stephens: Hanged
and quartered by order of Marshal Burroughs, September 4, 1597.
Walter Ternan: A priest
of Leinster. Flogged and tortured, and eventually died on the rack, March 12,
1597.
Nicholas Young: A
venerable priest of the village of Newtown, near Trim. Imprisoned in Dublin
Castle where, worn out by suffering, he died.
Donagh O'Cronin:
Hanged in Cork, 1601.
John O'Kelly: Priest
of Connaught. Died in prison at Dublin, May 15, 1601.
Bernard O'Kearolan :
Accused of administering the Sacraments; sentenced to death and hanged, January
20, 1606.
Patrick O'Dyry: A
native of Ulster; hanged January 16, 1618.
John Lune: Native of
Wexford; hanged in Dublin, November 12, 1610.
Henry White: Native of
Leinster. In the eightieth year of his age, he was imprisoned and hanged at
Rathconnell.
Roger Ormilius: When
over sixty years of age was taken prisoner by the Cromwellians. Immediately on
confessing that he was a priest, he was hanged October 12, 1652.
At the same time and
place and in the same manner, Hugh Carrighi, in the seventy- fourth year of his
age, earned the crown of martyrdom.
Daniel Delany: Parish
priest, Arklow. He saw his servant, a man named Walsh, murdered before his
eyes. Seeking to defend himself, his assailants promised him his life, if he
would surrender. As soon as the priest had done this, they proved faithless to
their word. The priest was tied to a horse's tail, who in turn was goaded to
his full speed along many miles of the country road. During the night the
priest was tortured by his guards, and even when hanged the next day his last
agony was prolonged in a diabolical manner.
Daniel O'Brien: Dean of
Ferns. As a priest he was remarkable for his great charity and zeal for souls.
Many times arrested and imprisoned; hanged April 14, 1655, with his two companions,
Luke Bergin and James Murchu, who were tried with him. The jury acquitted
Bergin on the ground that he was not guilty of crime. The judge, however, urged
that there was no more grievous crime than that of being a priest. Bergin was
at once found guilty and hanged.
Other priests included
in the Decree of Beatification are:
Aeneas Power, John
O'Grady, Andrew Stritch, Bernard Moriarty, George Power, Vicar-General ; John
Walsh, V. G., Daniel O'Moloney, Brien Murchertagh, Donogh O'Falvey, Donatus
MacCried, Patrick O'Loughran, Louis O'Laverty, Philip Cleary, Theobald
Stapelton, Edward Stapelton, Thomas Morrisey, Bernard Fitzpatrick, James
O'Haggerty, and Eugene Cronin.
Order of Cistercians
Gelasius O'Cullenan:
Abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of Boyle. He was arrested in 1580, and the
Protestant Bishopric of Connaught was offered to him if he would renounce his
Catholic Faith. With him was tried Hugh Mulkeeran, Abbot of the Monastery of
the Holy Trinity. Both were condemned to death. Abbot O'Cullenan unselfishly
asked that his companion be allowed to suffer death first.
James Eustace,
Nicholas Fitzgerald: Two priests of the Cistercian Order, who suffered martyrdom
on the 8th of September, 1620.
Also, the Prior of
Holy Saviour, and his companions; Patrick O'Connor, Malachy O'Connor the Abbot
and monks of the monastery of Magia. Eugene O'Gallagher, Bernard OTreivir,
Malachy Shiel, and Edmund Mulligan.
Order of Preachers
Peter O'Higgin:
Imprisoned in Dublin, and condemned to death. On the scaffold he said : "
The sole reason why I am condemned to death to-day is that I profess the
Catholic religion. Here is an authentic proof of my innocence: the autograph
letter of the Viceroy offering me very rich rewards and my life if I abandon
the Catholic religion. I call God and man to witness that I firmly and
unhesitatingly reject these offers and willingly and gladly I enter into this
conflict, professing that Faith." He died March 4, 1642.
Richard Barry: A
native of Cork and Prior of the Cashel Community. He was tortured by fire and
finally put to death by the sword, September 15, 1647.
Others of the Order of
Preachers who have been beatified are: P. MacFerge, with his companions,
thirty-two religious of the monastery of Londonderry; John O'Luin, William
MacGollen, Cormac MacEgan,
Raymond Keogh, John O'Flaverty, Gerald Fitzgerald, David Fox, Donald
O'Neaghten, James O'Reilly, Dominick Dillon, Richard Oveton, Stephen Petit,
Peter Costello, William Lynch, Myler McGrath, Laurence OTerral, Bernard
O'Ferral, Ambrose Aeneas O'Cahill, Edmund O'Beirne, James Woulf, Vincent G. Dillon, James Moran,
Donatus Niger, William O'Connor, Thomas O'Higgins, John O'Cullen, David Roche,
Bernard O'Kelly, Thaddeus Moriarty, Hugh MacGoill, Raymond O'Moore, Felix
O'Connor, John Keating, Clemens O'Callaghan, Daniel MacDonnel, Felix
MacDonnel, and Dominick MacEgan.
Order of St. Francis.
Fergall Ward: Was a
Franciscan and also a skilled physician. While working among the
plague-stricken, was seized and cruelly tortured. He was hanged by his own
girdle, and while dying exhorted his executioners to return to a better life.
April 28, 1575.
John O'Lochran, Edward
Fitzsimon, and Donagh O'Rourke: All priests of the Franciscan Order; were
tortured and hanged in the convent of Down, January 21, 1575.
John O'Dowd :
Franciscan priest. A certain layman who had been arrested as a Catholic, begged
permission to make his confession to a priest before he was hanged. This
Catholic was supposed to have had information concerning certain plots against the
Queen of England. The permission was granted, his enemies believing that the
priest to whom the man would make his confession, could be forced afterwards to
reveal the plots, under torture.
The priest was Father
O'Dowd. Of course, he would reveal nothing of what had been told to him. They
killed him by knotting the cord around his head, and twisting it with a piece
of wood until his neck was broken.
Daniel O'Neilan: Born
in Thomond of a noble family; joined the. Order of St. Francis, and lived in
Spain many years. On his return was seized, scourged, hanged head downward like
St. Peter, and his body pierced through with shot, March 28, 1580.
Daniel Hinrechan, Philip
O'Shea, and Maurice O'Scanlon : All Franciscans, were so old and infirm that
when the heretics came to burn their convent they were unable to flee. The
youngest of them was over seventy years of age. They were seized at once and
killed by the sword in front of the high altar, April 6, 1580,
Dermot O'Mulrony,
Brother Thomas and Another — all Franciscans — were seized at Clonmel and were
decapitated by the soldiers.
Phelim O'Hara and
Henry Delahoyde: Franciscans. Hanged and quartered, May 1, 1582.
Also, Conor Macuarta,
Roger Congaill, Thaddeus O'Daly, Charles MacGoran, Roger O'Donnellan, Peter
O'Quillan, Patrick O'Kenna, James Pillanus, Roger O'Hanlan, Thaddeus O'Meran,
John O'Daly, Donatus O'Hurley, John Cornelius, John O'Molloy, Cornelius
O'Dougherty, Galfridius O'Farrel, Thaddeus O'Boyle, Patrick O'Brady, Matthew
O'Leyn, Terence Magennis, Lochlonin Mac O'Cadha, Magnus O'Fodhry, Thomas Fitzgerald,
John Honan, John Cathan, Francis O'Mahoney, Hilary Conroy, Christopher Dunleavy, Richard Butler, James Saul, Bernard
O'Horumley, Richard Synott, John Esmond, Paulinus Synott, Raymund Stafford,
Peter Stafford, Didacus Cheevers, Joseph Rochford, Eugene O'Leman, Francis
Fitzgerald, Anthony Musaeus, Walter de Wallis, Nicholas Wogan, Denis O'Neilan,
Philip Flasberry, Francis O'Sullivan, Jeremiah de Nerihiny, Thaddeus O'Caraghy,
William Hickey, Roger de Mara, Hugh MacKeon, Daniel Clanchy, Neilan Loughran,
Anthony O'Farrel, Antony Broder, Eugene O'Cahan, John Ferall, Bonaventure de
Burgo, John Kearney, and Bernard Connaeus.
Order of Premonstratensians.
John Kiernan or
Mulcheran.
Order of St.
Augustine.
Donatus O'Kennedy:
Filled many important offices in his Order. Was hanged.
William Tirrey:
Entered the Order of St. Augustine and studied in France and Spain. On his
return to Ireland he was imprisoned and beheaded, 1654.
Donough Screnan:
Suffered a very cruel death. Fulgentius Jordan was dragged from his pulpit and
put to death. Father Redmond O'Malley was scourged, and died under the torture.
Father James Tully died in like manner; and Brother Thomas Deir was shot.
Also, Thaddeus
O'Connel, Austin Higgins, and Peter Taffe.
Carmelite Order.
Father Thomas Aquinas:
A distinguished preacher and zealous missionary. He was taken captive in the
house of a noble family, whom he had recently converted, and was condemned to death,
1642.
Brother Angelus of St.
Joseph, whose family name was Halley, was born in England, and joined the
Carmelite Order in Ireland in 1640. He was arrested and condemned to death, and
begged that his execution should take place that very day, since it was the
Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. He was killed by the sword,
1642.
Peter of the Mother of
God: A Carmelite, known for his singular piety. While on his sick bed in
prison, he was informed that he had been condemned to be hanged. Expressing
great joy, he arose from his bed, saying: "From the cross, not from the
bed, I must go to heaven." He was hanged in the thirty-third year of his age, 1643.
Order of the Blessed
Trinity.
Brothers Cornelius
O'Connor and Eugene Daly: Both of the Order of the Blessed Trinity. They were
returning to Ireland, when the vessel on which they were journeying was
captured by an English heretical pirate, named John Plunkett. One of the passengers,
thinking to save his own life, gave the information that Brothers Cornelius and
Eugene were Catholic priests going to Ireland to preach the Faith. Plunkett
immediately hanged both and threw their bodies into the sea, January 11, 1644.
Society of Jesus.
Dominic Collins, S.J.
: Like his illustrious founder, St. Ignatius, he first took up the profession
of arms. He was a soldier for over fifteen years. Entered the Society of Jesus
in 1598. In 1602 he was sent to Ireland, and shortly after his arrival was
arrested and imprisoned at Cork. He was hanged in that city, October 31, 1602.
William Boyton, S.J. :
Was slain in St. Patrick's Church, Cashel, while administering the Sacraments.
John Bathe, S.J., and
Thomas Bathe, his brother, a secular priest, were seized in Drogheda; tortured
and shot, August 16, 1649.
Also, Edmund
MacDaniell and Robert Netterville.
Laymen and Noblemen.
Sir John Burke: Born
in the county of Limerick. Prominent for many years because of his public
devotion and zeal. He gave up all his worldly interests in order to devote
himself to works of charity, and to accompany the persecuted priests. Arrested
as the leader of the Catholics, he was imprisoned in Dublin, but during the
plague was released. Later he was assailed in his castle because he had erected
an altar therein for the celebration of Mass. He escaped, but was eventually
betrayed into the hands of the enemy. Life and restitution of his lands were
offered, if he would renounce the Faith. He was hanged in the year 1610 — about
December 20th.
Maurice Eustace: Was
denounced by his own brother, as a Catholic and a Jesuit. He was imprisoned,
and Adam Loftus, then Protestant Archbishop of London, offered to set him free
and give him his daughter in marriage, if he would renounce his Faith. He
refused and was hanged November, 1581.
Christopher Roche: Had
almost completed his studies at Louvain for the priesthood when he was obliged
through ill-health to return home. He was at once arrested and imprisoned; then
sent to London. There he endured the hardships of Newgate prison for four
months, and under the torture known as the "scavenger's daughter,"
died 1520.
Daniel O'Hanan: A
native of Ulster. Died in prison.
Thaddeus Clancy: Born
in Limerick. Beheaded, September 15, 1584.
Patrick Hayes: Was a
merchant of Wexford. He died after a long imprisonment in Dublin in 1581.
Francis Tailler: Had
filled many public offices with great credit. Was in turn Mayor, Treasurer, and
Senator in the city of Dublin. He was much honored by all good men. After an imprisonment
of seven years, he died in Dublin Castle, January 30, 1621.
Thomas Stritch, Mayor
of Limerick. Hanged in 1651.
Sir Patrick Purcell:
In his eightieth year was hanged at Fethard, 1612.
Eleonora Birmingham:
Resident of Dublin, and widow of Bartholomew Baal, was a faithful mother, a
generous patron of the poor, and a devoted protector of priests. She was
arrested because she allowed the Sacrifice of the Mass to be offered in her home,
and imprisoned. By bribing the jailer, her escape was secured. Her elder son,
Walter Baal, became a pervert. He was elected Mayor of Dublin, and, as the old
chronicle says, "was so hardhearted and truly venomous towards his own
mother that, old and weak as she was, he had her put into prison." He even
endeavored to have her deny the Faith. In prison she died, 1584.
Honoria Burke: Born
in Connaught. When fourteen years of age she took the habit of the Third Order
of St, Dominic. Erected a house in Burishoole, where, during the reigns of
Elizabeth, James the First, and Charles the First, she devoted herself unceasingly
to works of charity. In the last persecution, under Cromwell, this holy virgin
was compelled to flee with two companions to Saint's Island. There they were
cruelly tortured, stripped naked, and left in a boat to die. Honoria, however,
was rescued by a servant, brought to the convent at Burishoole, and in a short
while expired. Honoria Magaen was a companion of Honoria Burke. She escaped
from the hands of her mad persecutors and fled to a wood where she concealed
herself in the hollow trunk of a tree. She was found next day frozen to death.
Also, Daniel Sutton,
John Sutton, Robert Sherlock, Matthew Lamport, Robert Myler, Edward Cheevers,
John O'Lahy, Patrick Canavan, Robert Fitzgerald, Walter Eustace, Thomas
Eustace, Christopher Eustace, William Wogan, Walter Aylmer, Peter Meyler,
Michael Fitzsimon, Patrick Browne, Thomas MacCreith, Elizabeth Kearney,
Marguerite de Cashel, Brigid Darcey, Brian O'Neil, Arthur O'Neil, Roderick
O'Kane, Alexander MacSorley, Hugh MacMahon, Cornelius Maguire, Donatus O'Brien,
James O'Brien, Bernard O'Brien, Daniel O'Brien, Dominick Fanning, Daniel
O'Higgin, Louis O'Ferral, Galfridius Galway, Theobald de Burgo, Galfridius
Baronius, Thaddeus O'Connor, John O'Connor, Bernard MacBriody, Felix O'Neil, and
Edward Butler.
John J. Burke, C.S.P., ‘Some of Ireland’s Martyrs’,
The Catholic World, Vol. CI. May, 1915, 215-226.
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