Today we honor the Irish Martyrs of the more than 260 people who died for the faith in Ireland between the year 1537 and 1714. Their beatification began in March 1915. Many were beatified on September 27, 1992.
Here is the story of some of the blesseds:
Patrick O'Healy was born in Leitrim and was a member of the Franciscan Friars Minor and was elected bishop of Mayo, Ireland in 1576. He died on August 31, 1579.
Margaret Ball was born around the year 1515 in Meath. She was a married lay woman in the Archdiocese of Dublin. She died in the year 1584.
John Kearney was born in 1619 in Tipperary. He moved to Belgium in 1638 and entered the seminary and was ordained in Brussels in 1642 as a Franciscan Friars Minor. When he was returning to Ireland in 1644 he was arrested in London and tortured and condemned to death. He escaped and went to France and made it back to Ireland. He taught philosophy and was the novice master and he lived as a wanted man for nine years. He was arrested in Tipperary in 1653 with the charge of being a Catholic priest. He was hanged on March 11, 1653 in Clonmel, Ireland.
Elizabeth Kearney was a laywoman in the Diocese of Cashel. She died on September 13, 1647 in Cashel.
James Murphy was a priest in the Diocese of Ferns. He died on April 14, 1655 in Wexford.
Let us always remember those men and women who came before us and defended the Catholic faith. Let us hope that we never experience an encounter like this, but the courage to defend our faith always.
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