(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.

(From Hartry’s Synopsis, p.247) St Mary’s Abbey was founded by Malachy ardrigh of Ireland, in 948, and by his vassals Gillemoholmoc and his wife Rose. Some parts of it still remain, at the rere of No. 135 Capel Street1 ST. MARY’S ABBEY was for two centuries under the Benedictine rule. It accepted the Cistercian reform about the time of the founding of Mellifont in 1142.’ It was the first house of the Order assailed when the persecution began. Here is Hartry’s description of the sufferings of its inmates: - The manner in which this very noble monastery was suppressed was a very sad spectacle to God and men. Then, little by little, the other monasteries saw themselves ruined and desolate. For, in accordance with the statutes of the parliament under Henry VIII., king of England, and owing to the ambition and avarice of the laity, which they had imbibed together with the pestilential heresy, they panted for the monastery and its very rich possessions. Though they attempted three times, each time by the King’s authority, To wrest the monastery with its appurtenances from the monks, yet these resisted vigorously, defending the rights graciously granted and confirmed to them by Supreme Pontiffs and by the Kings of Ireland and England. But the power of the King and of these greedy men prevailed, and the abbot and monks were put in chains, cast into prison by an armed crowd, in hunger, thirst, and nakedness. Then they were taken to the village of Ballyboght, belonging to the said monastery, and slain. ‘At that time,’ says Philip O’Sullevan,  ‘the religious of the monastery of Dublin were slain and rooted out by different kinds of death. It was supposed that they were no less than fifty in the year 1541‘ 2 1 See The Chartulary of St.Mary’5 Abbey ii.8 2 2 Triumphalla S. Crucis, p.247.  This passage, however, taken from oSullevan’s Decas Patriciana, fol. 162 b.,  seems to refer rather to the Trinitarians. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From the Annals of the Four Masters, v. 1455) The convent of Monaghan was founded by Féilim Mac Mathúna Lord of Oirghialla in 1462. No trace of it remains. The English throughout every part of Ireland where their power extended, were persecuting and banishing the Orders, and in particular they destroyed the convent of Monaghan, and beheaded the Guardian, with a number of the friars. In Ward’s Catalogue the number of religious slain is said to have been sixteen, with their Prior, Patrick O’Brady. The date which he gives is 1589 ; but as the Annals of the Four Masters make no mention of any Franciscans put to death at the later date, we must conclude that both refer to the same fact. See also Annals of Loch Ce, Copinger, Ward, Bruodin, and Hueber. Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

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

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

(From Lopez’ Noticias Hisforicas, p. 150) The convent of Adare was the first house of the Order in Ireland.13  It was founded in 1230 by Thomas FitzGerald, third son of the second Baron of Offaly,14 at the suggestion of the Earl of March, a Scotch nobleman & patron of the Order. The Minister15 of this convent in 1539 was Brother Robert. It was at this time that the impious decrees of the King were published, & officials sent to put them into execution. Having read the decrees and mastered their contents, Robert Summoned the Community of 42 members, told them what the new doctrines were, and declared that the King was a heretic, and, moreover, that he sought to make them share in this crime. Such was the impression which he made on these hearersthat all declared they were ready to lay down their lives in defence of the Catholic faith and of the Pope’s supremacy; and knowing that the convent would be plundered immediately, they set to work at once to distribute among the poor all the provisions and clothing they had. They hid away the sacred vessels and ornaments of the altar in various places, so that when the agents of the Government arrived, they could not find even a wooden crucifix on which to vent their impious rage. Three times summoned before the magistrate, Father Robert was immovable in rejecting the honours offered to him by the Court, and in declaring his devoted attachment to the Catholic faith. None, he said, had ever sought to propagate their religious tenets by the sword except the pagan Emperors in the early ages and Mahomet in later times. As for himself and the community, they were determined that no violence should move them from the principles of truth. They recognised no Head of the Catholic Church save the Vicar of Christ; and as for the King of England, they regarded him not even as a member of that holy Church, but as the Head of the synagogue of Satan. When the venerable Father had uttered these words, a heretical officer drew his sword, and with one blow severed the holy man’s head from his body. The other agents of the Court were at once let loose against the unoffending Community. As the public prison was full of other victims,the religious were confined in private houses. There many died of the injuries and maltreatment which they received. Some too were murdered secretly, whilst others were publicly hanged in the market-place. It was on the 12th and 13th of February, 1539, that these happy Fathers obtained their eternal crown. 1 Ryche. A Catholic Conference. fo. 5 2 C.S.Pl. (1611-4), P. 244 3 Letter of F. Conway, S.J. in Spic. Ossor., I. 127 4 There is preserved in the archives of the Society of Jesus in Rome, a small parcel containing a piece of linen tinged with blood. On the outside is written : ‘Ex sanguine Cornelli Episcopi Dunensis et Conorensis.’ See introduction to Rothe’s Analecta, cvi. and Spic Ossor., iii.33 5 Annals F.M., vi.2371 6 Spic. Ossor., i. 123 7 Moran’s Archbishops, p.289 8 Dist. Irishmen, p. 474 9 Ob fidem Catholicam ab Hreticis obtruncati. Brady’s Epis. Succession, i.269 10 A mistake natural enough for a Protestant to make 11 Lismore Papers, 2 series, ii.86 12 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. 13 La casa capital de la isla,’ says Lopez, p.19. The church was later the catholic parish Church. Some parts of the convent are still standing. See Lord Dunravens Memorials of Adare, p. 36. Adare is 9 miles from Limerick. 14 3Lopez, p. 18 and the Earls of Kildare, Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

(From Rothe’s Analecta, p. 456 and O’Sullevan’s Cath. Hist., p. 298) CORNELIUS O’DEVANY was born in 1533 in Ulster. He entered the Order of St. Francis.  He went to Rome & the Pope appointed him Bishop of Down & Connor on 18-4-1582.  He was one of the bishops who in 1587 in Clogher  solemnly promulgated the decrees of the Council of Trent. 5 years after, he was jailed in Dublin Castle.   In 1588, Ó Duibheannaigh was committed to Dublin Castle. Failing to convict him of any crime punishable by death, Lord Deputy William Fitzwilliam sought authority from William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley to "be rid of such an obstinate enemy of God and so rank a traitor to Her Majesty as no doubt he is".[5] He lay in prison until November 1590, being then released ostensibly on his own petition but doubtless through policy. He was protected by Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone until 1607 (see the Flight of the Earls), and escaped arrest until the middle of 1611, when, almost eighty years old, he was taken while administering Confirmation and again committed to Dublin Castle.[5] His execution was at the personal wish of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Arthur Chichester, who was vehemently anti-Catholic, and seems to have been rather against the wishes of the Government as a whole.[citation needed] On 28 January 1612, Ó Duibheannaigh was tried for high treason, found guilty by the majority of a packed jury, and sentenced to die on 1 February (Julian Calendar). He was drawn on a cart from the Castle to the gallows beyond the river; the whole route was crowded with Catholics. Protestant clergymen pestered him with ministrations and urged him to confess he died for treason. "Pray let me be", he answered, "the viceroy's messenger to me here present, could tell that I might have life and revenue for going once to that temple", pointing to a tower opposite. He kissed the gallows before mounting, and then proceeding to exhort the Catholics to constancy, he was thrown off, cut down alive, and quartered.[5] With him suffered Patrick O'Loughran, a priest arrested at Cork. The people, despite the guards, carried off the halter, his clothes, and even fragments of his body and chips of the gallows. They prayed all night by the remains, an infirm man was reported cured by touching them, and Mass after Mass was said there from Midnight until day. Such was the concourse that the viceroy ordered the members to be buried on the spot, but next night the Catholics exhumed them and interred them in St. James's Churchyard. A list of martyrs compiled by Ó Duibheannaigh was used by Rothe in his "Analecta".[5] Please pray for final perseverance for all of us! May the martyrs of old inspire us all.

23 George II. C.II:  An Act to provide for begging children and the better regulation of Charity Schools.

The martyrdom of Margaret Ball