(From Lopez Noticias, pp. 62 and 584)

BROTHER CORNELIUS O’CONNOR was born in the town of Adare of noble parents, who were descended from the founders of our convent there. 

After studying grammar in his native town he went to France, where he devoted some years to philosophy and theology. 

He was ordained priest in due time, and celebrated his first Mass at Bordeaux in the presence of the Duchess of Guillon, who had supplied him with the means of support during his studies. 

He went from Bordeaux to Paris and asked our Father General, Br. Louis Petit,[1] to give him the habit of the Order, and to allow him to return to Ireland that he might re-establish the convent which his ancestors had founded.

The F. General did not wish to act with undue haste.

Wherefore he sent Cornelius to Richard Arthur, Bishop of Limerick,[2]

to whom he gave the power to invest him with the habit, and he besought his Lordship to aid him, if he thought it well to do so, in getting back the convent. 

He set out with this letter, and landed in England. 

On his way to London, he consoled and encouraged the Catholics whom he fell in with, and when he reached that city he continued the same good work. 

Some heretics who saw that Cornelius was a stranger, and found him hearing the confession of a Catholic, seized him and would have killed him on the spot if they did not think they could induce him to join in their heresy.

One of the heretics who came to the prison in which he was confined, hearing he was a youth of comely appearance, and an Irishman of a noble family, asked him to abandon the Catholic faith, and offered him if he would do so, one of his two daughters, whichsoever he pleased, as wife, with a rich dowry.

In case of refusal he would surely suffer death. 

Cornelius replied that he would not abandon the Catholic faith, nor defile the holiness of his priestly office. 

The heretics went to the Governor of the city and asked to have the sentence of death Carried out. 

Cornelius was taken to the place of execution, but just as the executioner was about to fulfil his office, through the secret agency of some Catholic, a messenger arrived from the King, ordering his life to be spared, on condition that he would quit the kingdom. 

He set out for Ireland, and on his way learned that his mother was a martyr, having been put to death for being a Catholic. 

When he reached Limerick, he presented himself to the Bishop and received from him the religious habit; he was encouraged by his Lordship to make an effort to recover the monastery for his Order. 

He passed some time at Adare, preaching to the Catholics and consoling them.

But finding the heretics who were in possession of the monastery unwilling to restore it to its rightful owners, he determined to return to France in order to make his solemn profession there.

He made known his purpose to a young man, a virtuous Catholic, of the same town, named Robert Eugene Daly, and he offered to accompany Br. Cornelius. 

They set off for France. 

The General of the Order sent them to the convent of Claremont, the one to receive the habit, the other to make his year of noviciate. 

After nine months’ stay there, they were ordered to come to Paris, where they lived for three months; at the end of this time the General, satisfied with their progress in virtue, ordered that both should be admitted to make their profession.

From Paris they were sent to Spain, where they succeeded in obtaining permission to establish a convent in which young Irishmen, Scotchmen, and Englishmen should be trained in the religious state. 

They then set sail for their native country.

When within sight of the coast of England, their vessel was captu

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

 (from Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p. 505)

HE was a native of Ulster, and a priest, and gained a victory at Derry of St Columkille,[1]1 

as he would not obey the iniquitous laws of Elizabeth and James. 

He overcame very cruel tortures, and preferred the ignominious death of the scaffold and the cutting of his body into four parts, to abandoning the way of truth. 

He died, venerable by reason of his age and virtues, January 6th, 1618, and, as we may well hope, enjoys a crown of glory with the Saints.

See also Copinger and O’Sullevan.

[1] Derry was called Doire Calgatch until it was given to St.Columkille by his relative Aedh, son of Ainmire. 
The Saint built a monastery and a church here, which was known as Dubh Regles, on the site now occupied by the Long Tower Catholic church and the adjoining cemetery. 
There is a holy well close by bearing the Saint’s name. 
See the Ordnance Survey Memoir of Templemore
 

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Holing’s Compendium[1] and Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p. 437)

BROTHER TADHG O’DALY, a native of Kinvarra, and a monk of the Order of St. Francis, was seized by the heretics in the monastery of Askeaton, because he wore the habit of his Order and made open profession of the Catholic faith. 

He was led, as if he were a robber or a traitor, to Limerick, sixteen miles off.

There he was stripped of his habit and cast into prison by order of Drury, the President of the province.[2]

After nine weeks, during which time he gave proofs of his attachment to the faith and of his constancy, he was brought to trial, many crimes being laid to his charge. 

But persevering in the confession of the Catholic faith, he was condemned to death by the verdict of twelve men, heretics and schismatics, because he would not admit that the Queen was Head of the Church. 

To all the promises and threats held out to him by the heretics, he replied with a smile, that no one on account of bodily torments or even death itself should separate himself from the friendship of God.

‘I care not,’ he used to say, ‘how you treat this mortal body of mine; the Almighty God has given you no power to injure my soul.’ 

Again he was thrown into prison. 

There he was often visited by pious Catholics and by a certain holy priest, who obtained access to him in the dress of a layman; from him he obtained absolution of all his sins and received the Blessed Eucharist.

The heretics took him out of the prison, and binding his hands behind his back, had him tied to a horse’s tail and dragged through the streets. 

But he showing not sorrow but delight, repeated aloud with great devotion the hymn Te Deum laudamus.’ 

On the way to the place of execution, he besought his friends who accompanied him, to obtain from the heretics that he should be allowed to wear his religious habit at the time of his death. 

These laughed at the request; but they granted it after a way, and ordered that the habit should be hung up too on the beam by the side of his body. 

After he had hung for a short time, he was taken down half-alive. 

Many of those who were standing by expressly stated that the martyr’s head when cut off uttered these words distinctly :   ‘Lord, show me thy ways.’ 

The fact is attested by F. John good, S.J., who was then in Limerick in his Theatre of Protestant and Catholic Religion. 

And so this brave soldier of Christ earned the palm of martyrdom on January 1st, 1579.

O’Sullevan says another Franciscan, whose name, however, he does not mention, was put to death with him.[3]1

See also Gonzaga, Holing, Rothe, O’Sullevan, Molanus,Ward, Wadding, O’Daly, and Hueber.

[1] In Spic. Ossor., i.92
[2] Drury, of whom mention has been made already at p.102
[3] Decas Patr., fol.. 165 b.

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(Rothe’s Analecta, p. 439)

HE inherited Brittas in Limerick. A fancy took him to visit Spain. 

He heard of the liberty which Catholics enjoyed in Spain, and how that country befriended his own. 

His father-in-law did everything to prevent him from leaving.

When he was hindered from leaving, he resumed the pious manner of life, heard Mass openly, devoted himself to works of charity, especially accompanying priests, on their missionary work.

The report of his piety reached Bronchard, President of Munster. 

He persecuted Catholics.

Lord Burke and Sherriff Walsh, accused Sir John of harbouring priests and erecting an altar in his house, to which crowds of people used to pray. The President sent Captain Miller, to seize Sir John and his chaplain.  

Captain Miller surrounded the house at Mass time. The crowd fled.

Sir John and the chaplain went with the sacred vessels into a strong tower attached to the house. 

When the siege had lasted a few days, Sir John rushed out and ran towards the river. 

He had already sent away his chaplain to a place of safety. 

He reached the other bank, not however without making some noise. 

The guards pursued the fugitive, while he hid the sacred burthen which he had carried under his arm. He was betrayed at Carrick.[13]

The Governor of the town threw him into prison. 

He was visited by his wife, who was about to give birth. He urged her to adhere to the true faith, to serve God and be devout to His Blessed Mother, and avoid all intercourse with heretics.[14] He gave her a letter to Fr. Halaghan, director of the sodality, beseeching him to undertake the task of instructing her. 

She set off, and went to Waterford in search of him, and went onto Kilkenny at a very inclement time of the year, and gave him the letter. 

When Sir John was on trial in the public court, he did not say a word, and like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth. 

The President declared openly that he would treat him with every kindness if he obeyed the wish of the King in all that related to faith and religion; and when he refused he was sentenced to death.

Sir John, bold and unmoved, answered aloud that he would acknowledge no king, no queen, who did not believe in Christ, the King of Heaven, and Christ’s Mother, the Queen of Heaven; and whosoever would strive to turn him from the service of both, deserved neither obedience nor respect; and whosoever would act otherwise was not the servant of God, but the slave of the devil. 

He listened to the sentence with a cheerful countenance, and only answered that he was glad those who harmed his body in such a way had no power over his soul. 

He was carried in a cart to the place of execution outside the city. 

When coming near the place, he asked to be set down, in order that he might approach it on his knees, and this was allowed him. 

He commended himself to the saints and showed as much contentment and joy as if he was going to a sumptuous feast.

He was offered pardon, restitution of his lands, and preferment if he would take the oath of Supremacy and go to church. 

He said that he would not for all the world offend God, he would not exchange heaven for earth, and that he renounced and abominated all that the Catholic Church repudiated and condemned.[19]

When John was hanged, some incl Thomas Browne[20] petitioned that when his body might not be cut limb from limb. 

They carried it into the city and buried it in St. Joh

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Hueber’s Menologlum, p. 2327) 

The Franciscan convent of Armagh was founded in 1263 by Maelpatrick OScannell, Archbishop of Armagh.

ON the 16th December, in the primatial city of Armagh, Roger Congaill and Cornelius Mac Varra were seized by a certain heretic named Donald, through hatred of the Catholic faith.

They were stripped of their religious habits, cruelly scourged, and taken through the public streets of the city.

In fine, worn out by the scourging they died victims of God.

See also Wadding. 

A part of it is still standing. See Reeves’ Ancient Churches ofArmagh, p32. He says it was destroyed in 1565.

See Stuart’s History of Armagh, p.512

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

1588. JOHN O’MOLLOY, CORNELIUS DOGHERTY, AND GEOFFREY FERALL, O.S.F.

(From Broudin's Propugnaculum, p.455)

THESE three members of the Franciscan Order were famous preachers of the word of God, and much respected by all the leading men throughout Leinster, not merely for their illustrious descent, but for their extraordinary prudence, pious eloquence, great learning, rare modesty, and extreme humility. 

They fell, I know not how, into the nets of the heretics. 

Wherefore the supreme judge of Leinster, with his usual ferocity, vented his wrath on them. 

By his order they were first beaten with sticks, and then scourged with whips till the blood came; and when even by this means they could not be diverted from the paths of justice, the wicked judge offered to them rich bishoprics if they would abjure papistry and obey the whims of Elizabeth.

These brave men could not be induced to abandon the Catholic faith of their father. 

Wherefore they were hanged and quartered at Abbeyleix,[1] in Leinster, and so obtained the crown of martyrdom, December the 15th, 1588.

See also Copinger, Ward, and Hueber.

[1] There was a Cistercian house here, founded by one of the O’Mores. The sole remains of it is a tomb in Lord De Vesci’s garden.

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p. 457)

HE was the son of a citizen of Wexford. 

When he had nearly completed his studies at Louvain, he was obliged, through ill health, to return home. 

He was arrested at Bristol, examined, and asked to take the oath of Supremacy. 

He absolutely refused to stain his soul with such a perjury. 

In consequence he was sent to London. 

First, he was flogged through the streets by the executioner in a very cruel manner. 

Then, after enduring the horrors of Newgate prison for four months, he was put to the torture of the scavenger’s daughter[1], and under it gave up his soul to God, December 13th, 1590.

See also Copinger.

[1] An instrument of torture invented by Skeffington, Lieutenant of the Tower in the time of Henry VIII., from whom it has its name. It was a circle of iron, in which the whole body was, as it were, folded up, and the hands, feet, and head bound together. See Challoner’s Memoirs, i.57

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

HE was a citizen of Wexford. 

Being an earnest Supporter of the Catholic faith, he was denounced by spies not only for having given shelter to Catholic bishops and priests who were pursued, but also for conveying them to France and Spain. 

By order of Lord Grey, the Viceroy, he was taken to Dublin and imprisoned there, though he had already paid a very heavy fine. 

This excellent man, worn out by the filth and hardships of the prison, died in the Lord, December 4, 1600.

[1] Probably the same whom Rothe calls Haius, though the date of his death is set down by that Writer as 1581. 
The facts related of both are the same.
 

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From O’Daly’s Relatio, p.364)

F. MALPHÆUS, O.P. gives a detailed account of him. 

He landed in England. 

He was soon after accused in London of having said that it's lawful for any one to kill the King of England. 

He was found guilty, & hanged. 

But when the matter was brought too late to the notice of the Queen,[1] he was declared to have been falsely accused. 

F. Malphus relates wonderful things that happened. 

1stly that when the rope was cut and he was let down and his heart and entrails cut out, and while the executioner was shewing his heart to the crowd, he turned his eyes towards the executioner, and spat at him; 2ndly, when the executioner was throwing his entrails into the fire, a man, seeing the liver outside the fire, thrust it in, and went away cursing his religion.

But his sacrilegious hand immediately trembled, and he was struck down with such pains that he was obliged to throw himself down on the nearest mound of earth. 

Some women perceived a very sweet odour. A German, a dealer in spices perceived the same sweet smell. 

One judge declared that he suffered in consequence.

We have several accounts of his trial and death written at the time. 

‘On Wednesday, the 27th November, Arthur Gohagan was drawn on a hurdle ...to Tiburne, ...where ... he spake these words : - 

“In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum qula redemisti me, 0 Deus veritatis meæ,”... 

Then ... he earnestly commended his soul to God, and said 

“0 thou glorious Virgin Mother of our Lord and Saviour, pray to thy Son Jesus Christ to receive my soul. I would fain have received the Holy Sacrament, according to the injunction of our Order, but I could get not priest to give it me.”

Then ... earnestness, repeating:

“In manus tuas, et.,” ...some of his friends obtained the disposing of them, and sent them over sea to be interred as he requested.[2]

2 days after his execution the Spanish Ambassador,[3] wrote : 

‘They hanged an Irish Dominican Friar here 2 days ago. He can enter into the number of the Martyrs. ...whatever the French may ... this Friar suffered for religion. 

His persecutors maliciously invented a pretext, and all I could do with the King and his ministers was of no avail.’

The General Chapter of the Order held in Rome in 1644, thus speaks of him: 

‘The Venerable F.B. Arthur Geoghegan, ... was seized by the English heretics and cast into prison in London. 

He ... was brought to trial on a charge of high treason, ... and was condemned to death. 

...

He was hanged, and while half-alive he was cut down, his limbs cut asunder, and his entrails burnt. 

And so he ended his life gloriously in the year 1633.[4]

[1] Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. And sister of Louis XII., King of France
[2] Mostyn MSS., in Irish Ecci. Record for November, 1894
[3] He asked on the Scaffold that ‘his body be not dismembered and that the Spanish Ambassador would Sent it to be buried in some abbey or place belonging to an abbey of St. Dominick’ Ibid
[4] Hib. Dom., p.559
 

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Hartyr’s Triumphalia, p.253)

GELASIUS O’CULLENAN[1] was born in Connaught. He was the oldest of 6 brothers, 5 joined the clergy. 

He went to Louvain and Rome. Having completed his studies, he returned to Ireland. 

He entered the Cistercian Order. 

His great virtue pointed him out as a fit person to be appointed Abbot of Boyle. 

One of the gentry had taken possession of the monastery and lands, by the edict of Elizabeth. The Abbot went to the usurper, admonished him of the guilt he was incurring and of the curse he would bring down on his whole family. 

The nobleman gave him up the monastery and lands; and sometime after, he too renounced the world and embraced the religions institute.

 In 1580, Gelasius was arrested by order of the Government, and together with Hugh Mulkeeran, abbot of the monastery of the Holy Trinity,[2 imprisoned in the public gaol.

John O’Garwin’[3] Protestant Dean of Christ Church, was among those who assisted at his first interrogatory. 

Many inducements were held out to him to abandon the Catholic faith if he would renounce the Catholic creed and the authority of the Supreme Pontiff. 

His answer was: 

The benefices you offer me are very valuable in truth; but how long will you allow me to enjoy them?’ ‘As long as you live,’ they answered. ‘And what length of life will you give me,’ he asked. ‘We can not determine the end of your life or prolong it, nor do we know the day of your death.’ 

‘Well then,’ he replied, ‘is it not much wiser for me to obey Him and to keep his law who can, if he pleases, prolong my life, and give me a life of eternal happiness in the world to come, than to obey you who cannot lengthen my life by one instant, and are striving by your deceitful and perishable gifts to lead me away from the laws of heaven?‘[4]

The English were angered by this answer and ordered his fingers, arms, and legs to be crushed with blows of a hammer. 

And when they could not break down his courage, they ordered him and Hugh Mulkeeran to be hanged.

The Abbot asked that Hugh should suffer death first, as he wept. 

He was hanged first. 

The Abbot was then put to death, and while he was on his way to scaffold, 500 heretics were converted by the sight of his constancy. 

At the request of his friends, his body was not cut in pieces. However it was set on the top of the Castle. The English used it as a mark to fire at. 

Many took away his clothes as relics. They suffered, November 21st, 1584. 

Henriquez[5] styles O’Cullenan in his Menologium Cisterciense, ... the ornament of the Cistercian Order, the light of our century, the glory of all Ireland.

Rothe says Eugene Cronius, a secular priest, was martyred with him.

See also Rothe, Copinger, O’Sullevan, Annus CistercienSiS, Molanus, Henriquez, Hartry, Porter, and Bruodin.

[1] He is called O’Boyle by Bruodin and others.
The mistake arose, no doubt, from his having been Abbot of the monastery near Boyle.
[2] In one of the islands of Lough Ce, near Boyle. It was founded by Clarus M’Mailin, Archdeacon of Elphin, in 1213 for Premonstratensians.
    See Mon. Hib., 0.615
[3] John Garvey, who became Protestant Archbishop of Armagh in 1584
[4] ‘Just such a colloquy is said to have taken place between Sir Thomas More and his wile.
    See his Life, by Roper, p.89
[5] 2 The learned Historiographer of the Order, in his Menologium Cisterciense, p. 389

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.