(From Hueber’s MartyrolOgiUm, p. 644) WHEN the English soldiers rushed madly into the convent of Kilcrea, [1] on the river Bride, in Muskerry, they seized one of the brethren, Matthew O’Leyne, an aged priest, as he was striving to escape from them across the river, and cruelly pierced him through with their spears, March 6th, 1590. See also Wadding and Ward. 1 Founded by Cormac Laidher McCarthy, lord of Muskerry, in 1465. The castle of that branch of the McCarthys is close by. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Rothe’s Analecta, p.67) BECAUSE he defended the authority of the Church with great firmness, and asserted that the apostolic ceremonies should be retained and the novelties of the heretics rejected, he was frequently sought after by the emissaries of the Queen.  At length he was seized and cast into prison.  He died there. See also Sander, Bridgewater, and Molanus Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

Apologies for the poor and rushed delivery. The recording failed on me a few times. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Molanus’ Idea, p. 66) WHILE striving to protect the flock entrusted to his care from heresy, he was captured, and ended his life in prison. See also Sander and Rothe. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Molanus’ Idea, p. 66) He underwent great toil and hardships while the persecution was raging, in order to encourage the citizens of that very famous city.  When engaged in the performance of the sacred functions, he fell into the hands of the persecutors, and so ended his life gloriously in the year 1578.  He is buried in a marble tomb outside the choir of St. Peter’s church, Cork. See also Sander and Rothe. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

Catholics barred from legal profession Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

Provision for imprisoned priests confined on the islands. from Commonwealth Council books A.24, p.374 & A86, p.213 From a manuscript in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin de Proesulibus Hiberniae ii,631 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

On the confinement of priests on the offshore islands from  Spenser's view of Ireland p.114 Commonwealth Council Books A5, p.327 & A.10, p.277 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

1607 (?) ROBERT LALOR HE was Vicar General of the dioceses of Dublin, Kildare, and Ferns, ‘a good and pious man, who has great influence in the ecclesiastical concerns of this kingdom.’2 His capture is thus spoken of in a letter of Chichester to the Earl of Salisbury, of February 26th, 1606 :  ‘They have taken one Lawler, a priest, whose name is well known to the Lord Lieutenant.  They got him by the endeavour of Sir Oliver Lambert, who set his lieutenant, who was then one of their provost marshals, to watch him, and he was quietly taken, with some papers, and divers popish trinkets.  He is a notable seducer of the people and called himself Vicar General of Dublin and Kildare, and so reputed throughout Leinster.’3 On March 7th, the Lord Deputy4 wrote to the English Privy Council from Dublin : On the 26th of last month, by intelligence from Oliver Lambert, there was apprehended by him in this city, one Robert Lalor, a priest, and a dangerous instrument for these many years, who by his own confession acknowledges that he has for the last twelve years occupied the place of Vicar General in the three principal dioceses of the Pale, to wit, Dublin, Kildare, and Ferns; first, by a commission from two Popish bishops and Bishop Cranagh,5 authorized by Bulls from Rome, and since by a like confirmation to him by Mathias de la Vega,6 a Spaniard, who came to Kinsale with Don John,7 and who after the composition made at Kinsale, sent a commission by Don Pedro under his hand and seal to the said Lalor, which he now confesseth he received.  They now in examination of him.’8 He was indicted under the 2 Eliz. c.i., for advancing and upholding foreign jurisdiction within this realm.  He was a prisoner in the Castle of Dublin on November 12th, 1606.14 Most probably he was confined there till his death, for there is no further mention of him in the State Papers. 1 Brady’s Epis. Succession, .270. Theo there was Cornelius O’Devany. See p. 238, antea 2 Letter of F. Holywood, S.J., in Dist. irishmen, p. 171 3 C.S.P.I. (1603-1606) p. 406 4 Sir Arthur Chichester 5 Dermot Creagh, appointed Bishop of Cork and Cloyne in 1560. The date of his death is uncertain. See Brady’s Epis. Succ., ii.90 6 Matthew de Oviedo, Archbishop of Dublin from 1600 to 1609. See Moran’s Archbishops, p. 193 7 The commander of the Spanish forces which came to assist the Irish in 1601 8 C.S.Rl. (1606— 1608), p.416 14 C.S.P.I. (1 606-1608), p. 18 Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

The Trinitarian convent1 of Dublin was one of the principal houses of the Order in Ireland. It was founded In 1188 by allured Le Palmer. It Stood on the site now Occupied by the Augustinian church, Thomas Street, and dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The building was large and ornamental, its revenues were considerable. The Community numbered about fifty.  On the first news of the King’s design to subvert the faith and introduce a new creed, the former Provincial, Fr Theobald, wrote to his successor suggesting that a meeting of the leading men of the Order should be convened in Dublin, to take the necessary measures in face of the danger that was imminent. The Provincial presided Besides the superiors of houses, several other members remarkable for their learning and virtue were present; among them we find the names of FF. Thaddeus O’Brien, John Hogan, and William Hurley. When the Chapter had assembled, each gave his opinion, upholding the Catholic faith and the pope’s authority, and declaring the impious decrees of the King to be heretical and the King to be a heresiarch; and putting their trust in the Most Holy Trinity, all took the resolution to lay down their lives in defence of the truth. The conference was just ended when the news came of events at Adare. F. Theobald exclaimed: ‘The Most Holy Trinity has blessed our Order with a happy beginning and thus given us a pledge that the like grace will accompany us to the end.’ All signed a profession of the Catholic faith, which might be distributed among the faithful. On February 24th the royal agents arrived in Dublin to enforce their master’s decrees. The next morning the exhortation of the Fathers was found posted in all the public squares and streets. The Provincial and F. Theobald went about preaching to the people. The latter being thought the leader of the resistance, was immediately shot. The Provincial was seized by a hired band and dragged through the streets. He repeated aloud that he would not abandon the faith so long as he had life. The judges ordered the executioners to do their work. A stroke of the hatchet put an end to his life. His ribs were broken, and his heart taken out. His body was thrown on a dunghill. But when night came, the Catholics got possession of his scattered members, and buried them. The other religious, some of whom had gone out into the streets to preach, while others remained in the convent, were all taken and put to death in divers ways. Some were hanged, others beheaded, some stoned; others in fine were dragged through the streets until they expired; and their bodies were cast on the dunghills. These, too, the faithful took away during the night and buried. The triumph of these glorious martyrs took place on the 25th and 26th of February 1539. 1 Lismore Papers, 2 series, ii.86 2 In Spic. Ossor., Hi.32, there is a letter written by F.Thomas Fleming, O.S.F., from Dundal, April 25th, 1612, giving an account of ODevany’s and O’Loughran’s death, corresponding in every detail with that given above. He says he saw some parts of the Martyrs’ bodies kept as relics. Ibid. 3 La casa capital de la isla,’ says Lopez, p.19. The church is now the catholic parochial Church. Some parts of the convent are still standing. See Lord Dunravens Memorials of Adare, p. 36. Adare is 9 miles S.W. of Limerick. 4 3Lopez, p. 18 and the Earls of Kildare, by the Marquis of Kildare, p.19 5 This is the name of the Superior of a convent of this Order Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.