The Irish standard., 1914-10-17
The Martyrs of Limerick

5 The Martyrs Of Limerick (
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Among the poor,
Or on the moor,
Where hid the pious and the true,
While traitor knave
And recreant slave
Had riches, rank and retinue."
The Protestant poet, Thos Davis,
thus sang in describing the condi-
ton to which the Penal Laws had re-
duced the Irish Catholics. Indignity,
poverty, suffering and persecution
were their lot for staining the Faith.
Plundered. homeless, outlawed,
trampled on. his very existence was
crime, while the enemies of the
Ancient Faith and supporters of the
brand new religion" of the sixteenth
century were literally endowed with
the conflscated possessions of the ma
tive population. The clergy was
hunted like wolves. with prices on
their heads, and many were shot
while in the very act of offering up
the sacrifice of the Mass. In Lime
rick the persecution to which the
priests and people were subjected
during the long, dark night Of the
Penal Code, was no less merciful
than than in other portions of the
country, as the following instances
F.. of martyrdom will show:
The minister of the Trinitarian
Convent, Adare. in 1889. was Broth
; er Robert. It was at this time that
the impious decree of the king was
published and officials sent to put
them into execution. Having read
the DEGREES and mastered their con-
tents, which then consisted Of ~
members, told them what the new
doctrines were, and declared that the
king sought to make them share in
his crime. Such was the impression
that he made on his hearers that all
declared they were ready to lay down
their lives In defence Of the Faith,
and knowing that the monastery
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 commission
ers of the government arrived they
could not even find wooden crucifix
on which to vent their impious rage.
Three times summoned before the
magistrate, Father Robert was i'm
movable in rejecting the honors Of
fered to him by the court, and in de-
claring his devoted attachment to the
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 recognized no head of the
Catholic church save the Vicar of
Christ, and as for the king of Eng
land, they regarded him not even as
a member of that church. when the
venerable Father had uttered these
words" says Lopez in his "Noticias
Historicas," 'an, officer drew his
sword and with blow severed the
holy mans head from his body. The
other agents of the" court were at
once let loose on the. unoffending
community. AS the public prisons
were full of other victims, the relig-
ious were confined in private houses.
There many died Of the injuries and
maltreatment which they received.
Some, too, were murdered secretly,
while others were publicly hanged
in the market place. It was on the
18th and 18th Of February, 1889,
that these happy Fathers obtained
their eternal crown" "'--''
The Convent of Limerick, dedicat-
ed to the Holy Cross, was one of the
largest of the whole country, it's in
mates numbering forty-six religious.
Cornelius O'Neill, then Bishop of
Limerick, had been religious Of the
Order, and was much attached to the
bretheren. He belonged to the prince
ly family of Tyrone. He was remark
able for his charity and humanity,
and had filed different offices, and of
late that of Provincial, with much
advantage to the Order. He had
been consulted by Henry VIII. about
-