THE
STORY OF
ST OLIVER PLUNKETT'S LIFE
Oliver
Plunkett was born in Loughcrew in County Meath in
1629 to a wealthy and well-connected family who had
family relations with the Earl of Finglas, Lords Dunsany
and Louth.
At
the age of 16 he was sent to Rome to continue his
education, rather than England, who was passing Intolerance
Laws against Catholics. After his studies in the Irish
College he was ordained and spent the next 12 years
lecturing theology at the College of Propaganda Fide,
and by all accounts this period was for him a happy
and peaceful time.
On
the 21st of January 1669, when there were only two
bishops in Ireland, he was appointed Archbishop of
Armagh, and by mid-March of 1670 in his 40th year
he returned to Ireland. The Penal Laws had by this
time been relaxed to a degree, allowing Catholics
to again publicly practice their religion. Immediately
setting up a Jesuit College in Drogheda, by 1671 he
had 150 students.
|
|
On
October 4th 1670 the Council of Ireland met and ordered
that all bishops and others under the jurisdiction
of the See of Rome must leave the country by November
20th of that year. Rewards were posted offering £5.00
for priests and £10.00 for bishops. Anti-Catholic
fervour re-erupted in 1672. The College was levelled
to the ground and persecution increased. Many senior
Catholic churchmen left the country, yet Plunkett,
as did many others, stayed.
An
Order from Parliament in 1673 again ordered all bishops
and regular clergy to finally quit the Kingdom. Again
Plunkett refused to comply, instead continuing to
travel the country dressed as a layman. By this time,
after only four years, it is estimated that he confirmed
over 48,000 people, sometimes on mounts and in woods.
On the 6th of December 1679 on his way to a friend's
house in Dublin he was arrested and detained for six
weeks in Dublin Castle under false charges that he
had 70,000 Irish Catholics prepared to rise up and
murder Protestants in a plot to restore the Romish
rule to Ireland.
The
trial was first set up to be held in Dundalk. No Protestant
juror would convict Plunkett on the evidence of the
two renegade priests, John McMoyer and Edmund Murphy.
Indeed, Murphy fled during the trial sessions in fear
of his life and the proceedings were adjourned. Plunkett
was then sent to London where he was jailed for six
months pending a new trial. At this trial there were
three Chief Prosecution witnesses: the Franciscans
Hugh Duffy and John McMoyer, and Edmund Murphy of
Oliver's own diocese. Murphy was imprisoned for contempt
of court during the trial. Lord Pemberton, the Lord
Chief Justice, pronounced sentence:
"Well,
however, the judgement which we must give you
is that which the law says and speaks. And therefore
you must go from hence to the place from whence
you came, that is Newgate. And from thence you
shall be drawn ( two miles by sledge) through
the City of London to Tyburn; there you shall
be hanged by the neck but cut down before you
are dead, your bowels taken out and burnt before
your eyes, your head shall be cut off, and your
body divided into four quarters to be disposed
of as his majesty pleases. And I pray God to
have mercy on your soul." |
As to whether Plunkett survived to witness his own
disembowellment, the general view is that he died
shortly after the procedure started.
The whole incident was recognised as such a travesty
of justice that many English Protestants had a change
of heart. The Earl of Essex, the former Viceroy of Ireland,
petitioned King Charles to pardon Plunkett before the
execution, assuring him of Plunkett's innocence. The
King is said to have lost his temper and replied "Why
did you not attest this at the trial? It would have
done him some good then. I dare not pardon anyone. His
blood be upon your head not mine." It was Essex
who had Plunkett arrested on the 6th of December.
The
Earl of Shaftesbury, who had contrived Plunkett's downfall,
was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London the
day after Plunkett's execution. Elizabeth Shelton, from
a highly regarded Catlolic family, succeeded in petitioning
the King to recover the remains immediately after the
execution. She, and others with her, got the head and
other 'quarters' after the bowels had been cast into
the fire. Some parts were buried in the north wall of
St. Giles cemetary. She saved the head and two forearms,
keeping them in two tin boxes, and had them certified
by John Ridley, a surgeon acquaintance. These items
were eventually entrusted to the Siena Nuns (of the
Dominican Convent at Drogheda). They are presently on
view, enshrined in St. Peter's Catholic Church in Drogheda,
as is the door of the cell he occupied at Newgate.
|
