martyred_by death_date birth_place feast_day venerated_in article_title name beatified_date beatified_by
english monarchy 1537 -- 1714 ireland june 20 roman catholic church irish catholic martyrs
 irish martyrs 27 september 1992 pope john paul ii
irish catholic martyrs

irish catholic martyrs were dozens of people who have been sanctified in varying degrees for dying for their roman catholic faith between 1537 and 1714 in ireland .
the canonisation of oliver plunkett in 1975 brought an awareness of the other men and women who died for the catholic faith in the 16th and 17th centuries .
on 22 september 1992 pope john paul ii proclaimed a representative group from ireland as martyrs and beatified them .
`` martyr '' was originally a greek word meaning `` witness '' .
in the acts of the apostles , peter , speaking to those in jerusalem at pentecost , claimed he and all the apostles were `` martyrs '' , that is , witnesses , in this case to jesus 's resurrection .
later the word came to mean a person who followed the example of christ and gave up their lives rather than deny their faith .
