GEORGE HALLEY, (Br Angelus of St. Joseph), was born in England, of Catholic parents, he was entrusted for his education to the care of a Carmelite.  In 1640 at 18 he came to Ireland to join the Carmelites. He received the habit on the 5th of May, the feast of St. Angelus, the Carmelite Martyr. Having completed the noviciate, he was sent to Drogheda,1 in 1642, to study.  This year almost all Catholics were driven from the town by the Puritan garrison. Br. Angelus, contrived to depart unobserved. But he was discovered and thrown into prison, where Protestant ministers tried to make him renounce Catholicism; but he remained firm.  He was subjected to injury and insult, and constrained to fast on bread and water. He opposed a rigours and unbroken silence, occasionally replying : - ‘The way of the Lord is immaculate, and the ways of heretics vile.’  Br Angelus, ceased not to beseech the Almighty to grant him perseverance and constancy. He offered his life, and expressed to his desire to shed his blood for the faith. All attempts to subdue the constancy of the dauntless friar having entirely failed, He was released from prison.  He set off to join his religious brethren.  On his way he rested in a certain town, probably Slane. The place was attacked by the Puritans under Lord Moore,1 on August, the 14th and was captured by him during the following night. Brother Angelus, assisted at morning Mass, together with some nuns and received; after which he exhorted the nuns to continue steadfast, faithfully observe their vows, and, if necessary, to defend them by a glorious death. He then offered up his own life.  He endeavoured to escape in the company of the nuns, with whom he appeared before Lord Moore.4 The nuns were granted their liberty. But not Brother Angelus, the tyrant informed him that no mercy would be shown to him, whom, he knew to be an Englishman, a Papist, and a monk, escaped from prison. One way was left open by which he might save his life, profess the reformed religion. Br. Angelus replied that he had not left his country in order to desert the orthodox faith, and that he would not barter his soul for life or liberty.  Lord Moore pronounced sentence of death. The holy confessor only asked that this execution should not be deferred beyond the festival of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. The Puritan immediately gave orders to shoot him. Br Angelus was led to the place of execution, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.  A heretical minister pressed him to adopt his errors but Br Angelus bade him, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’ At the place, he fell on his knees, and raising his heart to God, awaited death. The soldiers fired three times, but he remained unhurt by the bullets; whereupon, by Command of Lord Moore,5 a soldier despatched him with a sword. The nuns related all the circumstances to our Fathers.  The confessor’s body was transferred to the principal church, where it was interred by them with all the Sacred rites of Christian burial. 1 Archdall and De Burgo make no mention of a Carmelite House in Drogheda 2 The convent here was founded by Rudolph Pipard in the reign of Edward I., Monast., P450 3 The founder was William Do Loundres in 1317. Ibid. p.513 4 Edward Moore came to Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth, was knighted and received the Abbey of Mellifont, where his descendants resided till they came about 1750 to reside at Monasterevan, inherited from Lord Loftus of Ely.  See Archdalls Peerage, ii.92.  His son Garrret was created Baron Moore in 1615, and Viscount.  The above-mentioned was his son Charles, 2nd Viscount. 5 He was killed by a cannonball during the siege of Portlester castle 1643 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

1585 (?) FORTY CISTERCIANS OF ST. MARY’S, NENAY (From Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p. 450) THERE was formerly in the diocese of Limerick a celebrated monastery of the holy Order of Citeaux,  situated on the river Maigue,1 from which the monastery took its name.  It was founded in a most generous way by Donald O’Brien formerly Prince, or as other say, King of Limerick.2 Here a large community of monks, under the gentle rule of the Mellifluous Doctor, Bernard,  employed themselves profitably night and day praising God,  till Henry VIII., King of England, begat Elizabeth, the active agent of the Prince of darkness.  While she was on the throne, and, like her father, creating disorder everywhere throughout Ireland,  she determined to put an end to the pious exercises of the monks of Nenay, so odious to the demons. The children of the holy Order of Citeaux refused to obey the unjust laws of that frantic woman.  Wherefore her impious satellites made a sudden attack on the monastery,  and slew at the same time forty monks and their abbot with spears and daggers,  and cut off their heads, in the very church before the Blessed Sacrament. They awaited the attack calmly, and encouraged each other to contend bravely for the faith.  This happened on August 14th ; but I do not know the year.3 Hartry adds: Very many grave authors whom the Chrysostom4 of our Orders cites,  have given a very remarkable account of forty Cistercian monks in Ireland, who with their Abbot died for the Catholic Faith, and after their glorious death are commemorated : Concerning Ireland there is a constant tradition in reference to forty monks, martyrs,  who suffered the death of the body by the swords of the impious on August 14th, and on the same day  having had their heads miraculously restored to them they sang at vespers in the choir.’5 1 This river rising in Milford, Co. Cork, passes through Croom, and Adare, and falls into the Shannon seven miles below Limerick.  Hence the name of the monastery De Magio 2 Hartyr says in 1151. Triumphalia, p. 192 3 Bruodin inserts this sketch between 1585 and 1586 4 S. Henriquez, the historian of the Order. 5 Triumphalia, p. 243 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p. 467) HE was a Drogheda merchant, & when returning from France to Ireland he was driven by contrary winds into a harbour in the south of England.  The Mayor questioned him about the spiritual supremacy of Elizabeth.  Dowdall answered, as a Catholic should, that he recognized no other as Head of the Church than the Roman Pontiff.  Because he had spoken thus, his merchandise was confiscated, and he was taken to Exeter, his hands bound behind his back as if he were a robber.  There after being put to the rack, he was hanged and his body was cut into four parts; and in this way, in return for temporal goods, this very wise merchant got in exchange eternal life.  He suffered September 20th, 1600. ‘This year’ (1599), says Challoner,1 ‘I find two of the laity executed for religious matters, viz., Mr. John Lyon... and Mr. James Dowdal, an Irish merchant, native of Wexford, who for the same cause was hanged, bowelled, and quartered at Exeter, August 13, whose burial-place, says his countryman, John Mullan of Cork, is said to be illustrated with miracles to this day.’ Rev. Dr. Oliver, who obtained access to the official records of Devon, says2 :  ‘The only victims I have met within Devonshire are …. . and James Doudal, an Irish merchant and a native of Wexford.  For denying the Queen’s spiritual supremacy he was thrown into Exeter gaol.  When I examined the calendar of the prisoners in September, 1824.  I found this minute at the autumn assizes of 1598  “Jacobus Dowdall remanet in gaola per mandatum Concilii Privati.’3 (J.D. remains in prison by order of the privy Council) At the following Lent assizes he is thus noticed :  ‘Jacobus Dowdall remanet quia judicandus pro proditione.”4 (J.D. remains because he is to be tried for high treason) At the autumn assizes  “Jacobus Dowdall suspendatur, &c., pro proditione.”5 (J.D. shall be hanged, &c., for high treason) His execution took place on the 13th of August, 1598.’ See also Rothe, Copinger, and Molanus. 1 Memoirs, i. 198 2 See his Collections, p. 2 3 J.D. remains in prison by order of the privy Council 4 J.D. remains because he is to be tried for high treason 5 J.D. shall be hanged, &c., for high treason Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Ward’s Catalogue) F. TADHG DONALD, of the convent of Bantry1, a famous preacher,  and his companion2, were seized by English soldiers near the same monastery.  They were tied together with their girdles, and thrown into the sea from a high rock.  Bruodin says they were put to death on the 10th of August. Notes: The convent of Bantry was ‘founded by Dermot O’Sullevan, about 1460, on the water’s edge, a mile west of the town. Nothing remains of it now. Bruodin says the name of Fr Donald’s companion was John Hanly. 1 ‘Founded by Dermot O’Sullevan, about 1460, on the water’s edge, a mile west of the town.  Nothing remains of it now. 2 Bruodin says his name was John Hanly. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

LAURENCE O’MOORE was descended from a very ancient and respectable family in Ireland.  He was a priest remarkable for holiness of life, as Sander testifies.1 When the Spanish General San Jose surrendered the castle of Smerwick,2 in the western part of Co. Kerry, to Lord Grey, who was the Deputy, the conditions were that the garrison should be allowed to march out with their arms, ammunition, and other property. But the treacherous heretics did not think themselves bound either by their oath or by the laws that are held sacred even by barbarous nations.  The Spaniards, nine hundred in number, were made to give up their arms, and all but ten and the cowardly commander either cast into the sea or slain in cold blood. O’Moore and two Irishmen of noble birth, Oliver Plunkett and William Walsh, were taken there also.  These the Deputy required to be handed over to him.  He strove to induce them to abjure the Catholic faith and to embrace Protestantism; and when they refused, and said that with God’s grace they would continue even till death to profess the Catholic faith, he sent them to a blacksmith’s forge and had their limbs broken to pieces with a hammer.  This butchery lasted for twenty-four hours.  During all that time these noblemen displayed extraordinary courage, having been strengthened with the sacraments, which they had received from Father Laurence.  All three expired almost at the same moment, their last words being : ‘Into Thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit.’  They were put to death August 1580. The State Papers confirm fully the above narrative: This day was executed an Englishman who served Dr. Saunders, one Plunkett, and an Irish priest. Theire armes and legges were broken, and hanged upon a gallowes upon the wall of the fort.’3 Sander was the Papal Legate, who died soon after in the woods at Aherlow, raving in a phrenesy.’4 Plunkett, the writer says, was born near Drogheda. See also Holing, Rothe, O’Sullevan, Copinger, Henriquez, Molanus, Hartry, and Porter. 1 See Spic. Ossor., i. 88 2 See Hennessy’s Raleigh in Ireland, p. 10. The castle was called Dún an Óir. 3 Ibid., p.211. Letter of Sir R, Bingham to Walsingham. 4 See the Introduction to Sander’s Anglican Schism, p.20 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p. 426) The first of our known later martyrs was John Travers, a Dublinman, a priest of the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine, and a Doctor of Theology. He wrote anonymously a famous work: 'On the Authority of the Roman Pontiff.2' In it he proved that the primacy of Henry VIII was a mere fiction, and only a name, without any foundation in fact or in reason. Whereupon he was seized by the King’s ministers. He was kept in the Tower for 4 months. During that time he was examined on four different occasions, and put to various kinds of torture, and being found faithful and steadfast, he was declared guilty of high treason by Cromwell and the other flatterers of the King. He was led out, his hands tied behind his back and a rope round his neck, placed on a hurdle, and taken to the usual place of execution.3 (A hurdle is a moveable section of light wattle, in medieval England a hurdle was used as a makeshift sledge, to which a prisoner was tied to be dragged behind a horse to a place of execution.)4 When he reached the top of the ladder leading to the gallows, he prayed for pardon, and exhorted the bystanders to pray earnestly to God, the refuge of sinners, for the conversion and salvation of the King and of all the mad heretics who adhered to him. And then he exclaimed in a loud voice. ‘It is not for any crime, Christian hearers, that I have been sent hither from Ireland, my native country, but rather because I professed the Catholic faith, which I, like my ancestors, have drunk in with my mother’s milk; and also, because I am supposed to be the author of a certain work lately spread abroad among the Catholics. The moment of my death is now close at hand, which will surely open for me the door to eternal life. Hence it behoves me not to use any ambiguous or obscure language for the purpose of concealing the truth. Wherefore I declare openly that I am a priest of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, and, moreover, that it was with these three fingers,’ and he raised aloft the three fingers of his right hand,  ’I wrote that work on the Authority of the Roman Pontiff.’ When he had said these words, the sheriff gave the order; he was hanged, cut down before life was quite extinct, and quartered. His right hand and his intestines were cast into the fire; and while other parts were reduced to ashes, the three fingers of his right hand which he had raised aloft on the scaffold, were seen in a like position in the midst of the flames, and afterwards were found whole and fresh, as if they had never been cast into the fire, like the right hand of King Oswald, the martyr, which the Venerable Bede5 tells us remained up to his own time fresh and uncorrupted, in token, no doubt, of the divine approval of his charity to the poor. Harpsfield6 says that the flesh on the martyr’s fingers remained fresh long after his death. O’Sullevan says Travers was executed on the 30th July; Fitzsimon on the 31st.  See also Harpsfield, Bridgewater, Fitzsimon, White, Copinger, O’SuJlevan , O’Daly, and Lynch. 1 Broudin writes the name Tanner; but it is usually written as above.  The complete identity of the facts given under both names by the different authors shows that they refer to one person only, not to two, whatever his name may have been. 2 Though I’ve searched for this book, I have not been able to find a copy of it in any library in this country. 3 Tyburn, close to the present Marble Arch. A stone marks the spot where Tyburn Gate stood. 4 Channel4.com (25 March 2009) "Perkin Warbeck (1474-99)" Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant. Retrieved 2011-11-19 5 Hist. Eccl.Angl., iii.6 6 In whose work he is called Gravesius, no doubt a misprint for Traversius See Dial, p995 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From F. Eusebius’ Enchiridion, p.202) Fr THOMAS AQUINAS was a distinguished preacher and zealous missionary, who earned for himself the hatred of the heretics by the assiduity and successful results of his preaching and labours in confirming the oppressed and persecuted Catholics in the faith, and in winning several back who had fallen into the errors of heresy.  He was captured in the house of a noble family recently converted by him. The Puritans, having obtained information of his whereabouts through the treachery of a servant, invested the house on all sides,  threatened the inmates if the priest were not given up to them. They searched the house in every part, but having searched in vain retired, and prepared to set it on fire. Seeing the danger to others, Fr Thomas came and surrendered himself to his pursuers, by whom he was most cruelly beaten, bound and carried almost lifeless to Drogheda, and cast into prison, where he was left to languish for a considerable time.  Under treatment so harsh he suffered no expression of complaint to escape from his lips but he bore all with joy, rejoicing to suffer for Christ, and meditating on the words of the Apostle ‘I am apprehended by the Lord.”1 Among many others imprisoned, for the same cause, was a priest of the Order of St. Francis, the Guardian of the Franciscan community in Drogheda.  By him Father Thomas was received with extreme joy, and with his assistance succeeded in procuring the sacred habit of the Order, with which he clothed himself in prison.  To prepare himself for the conflict, he carefully confessed to this Franciscan Father the faults of his whole life, celebrated Mass daily, thus fortifying himself with the bread of the Strong.  The remainder of the day he spent in comforting and encouraging the Catholic Prisoners, in company with the good Franciscan.  He devoted the greater part of the night to mental and vocal prayer; he fasted continually, and chastised his body with great severity, in order to detach it from the love of this present life, and lest it should impede his spirit from union with its Lord, to whom he frequently offered the sacrifice of his life.  He besought the Blessed Mother of God and all the heavenly citizens to succour him in his struggle. Early on the morning of the 6th of July, while the Father was offering the Holy Sacrifice, a messenger from the Governor1 of the town announced to him that he was condemned to be hanged within an hour.  Fr Thomas received the announcement of his fate unmoved by the fear of death. He thanked God, confessed again, and prepared himself for death.  When the time had come, he took a last leave of his fellow-prisoners implored the assistance of their prayers, and then resigned himself into the hands of the Puritan satellites.  These men, strange to say, notwithstanding their abhorrence of all religious garbs and symbols, suffered him to retain his religious habit to the last. .......... 1 Phil. ii.12 2 Lord Moore of Mellifont. See DAlton’s H. of Drogheda 1.226 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Bruodin’s PropugnacUlUm, p.456) HE was a native of Meath.  Because he upheld the Catholic religion, he was hanged and quartered in Dublin.  Wherefore, fighting bravely for Christ to the end, he obtained the martyr’s crown, and an increase of honour of his most illustrious family. He suffered May 6th 1588. This is probably the same person who is called by Copinger Sir Patrick of the Anally. [1] 1 Spic. Ossor., iii.42 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(from Broudin's Propugnaculum, p. 432) MAURICE GIBBON, a native of Munster, and Archbishop of Cashel, a prelate endowed with every kind of virtue, was confined in prison for many years,[2] in Cork because he refused to take the oath of Supremacy, and endured therein endless misery.  He ended his life very holily there [3], on May 6th, 1578. See also Sander, Bridgewater, Bozius, Rothe, Copinger, and Arsdeken. 1 Or Fitzgibbon. He is also called Maurice Reagh. See his Life in Renehans Collections, i.241. 2 In his letter to Pope Gregory XIII. He speaks of his creberrims vincula.’ Spic. Ossor., i.70 3 Holing, however, says he died at Oporto. Ibid., p.83 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Bruodin’s Propugnaculum, p.443) He was a native of Wexford, and a pious and prudent priest. He was imprisoned in Dublin, and for three years in succession he had to endure the filth and other miseries of the place, with robbers for his constant companions, because he defended the Catholic faith strenuously.  At last he was sentenced to die, and was sent to Wexford to be executed in the usual way. But he died in the prison before he was taken out to be executed in public, May 5th, 1581. See also Holing, Rothe, Copinger, Molanus, and Lynch. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.