Walsh c. xx., p. 211-
Cashel and Emly united in 1569 Maurice Gibbon who was appointed bishop by the Pope about the year 1567 having it is said attempted the life of MacCaghwell Queen Elizabeth's bishop made his escape into Spain and died in the city of Oporto then under the dominion of that country about the year 1578 Dermod O Hurley archbishop of Cashel who was renowned for his learning eloquence and ability in refuting the heresies of England was from the very moment of his arrival in Ireland marked out as the special object of the hate and vengeance of the heretics At Lou vain his studies were finished and there he became a graduate and at length professor of canon law in the university of that city During the pontificate of Gregory XILT he repaired to Rome and in this city his splendid talents and acquirements soon rendered him conspicuous He was introduced to the notice of that pontiff and soon after promoted to the arch see of Cashel Having returned to Ireland he found the persecution raging in all its fury yet Dermod intrepidly proceeded through his diocese traveling from district to district and ultimately from county to county consoling exhorting and confirming the people Tarrying for some time at the residence of Thomas lord of Slane in the county of Meath he was there recognised by the chief justice of the queen's bench who procured without delay two messengers with whom he forwarded this intelligence to Loftus the Protestant or parliamentary archprelate of Armagh and the chancellor of Ireland Some of the family having discovered the treacherous design of the chief justice apprised the venerable Dermod of the danger and earnestly entreated him to consult for his safety by a timely flight from his pursuers Yielding to their tears and entreaties he was conveyed privately from the mansion and proceeded as far as Carrick on Suir in the county of Tipperary Here he was arrested and under an armed escort was conducted to Dublin and brought before the chancellor Loftus left nothing untried
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to shake the constancy of the holy prelate The chancellor engaged to reconcile him to Elizabeth and that he might waive other doctrinal points provided he would recognise her supremacy a proposition which he instantly rejected Another offer was made he would be restored to favor and reinstalled in the see of Cashel if he would reject the title which the Pope had conferred upon him and accept his right to the see by letters patent from the queen but those insidious terms he immediately spurned and he was thereon remanded to prison and bound in heavy irons Thirsting as they were for his blood his enemies hastened to the dungeon and commenced the work of torture First bound to a stake his arms and legs covered over with pitch salt oil and sulphur fire was then slowly applied and managed with such barbarous dexterity that their victim was kept in torture for several hours The night thus spent in a melancholy scene of insults and sufferings he was led out at the dawn of day conveyed to Stephen's green put upon the rack and at last strangled AD 1583 His body was removed in the evening by the faithful and deposited in the neighboring oratory of St Kevin then almost in ruins This church was some years after repaired and several miracles are said to have been wrought at the tomb of this holy and illustrious martyr for the faith of Christ Thurlough O Neil succeeded the martyred Dermod in 1583 Moriarth O Brien bishop of Emly died in a prison at Dublin in 1586 David Kearney bishop in 1625 James O Hurley a Dominican friar elected prior provincial at Youghal of Ireland in October 1638 Appointed to the see of Emly in 1641 by Pope Urban VIII James was a prelate remarkably religious and learned Terence Albert O Brien was promoted to the see of Emly on the death of his predecessor in 1644 was master of theology and alumnus of the Dominican convent of Kilmallock and was elected at Kilkenny in 1643 prior provincial of the order in Ireland When Ireton stormed the city of Limerick he caused the venerable prelate Terence Albert to be brought before him Threats and bribes were tried without success and the prelate continuing inflexible Ireton with a view of overcoming his resolution gave orders to have him bound and thrust into prison but it had no terrors for him as his constancy and confidence in God rendered him superior to his suffering At last sentenced to undergo death he was brought forth to the place of execution When he arrived at the spot the serenity and cheerfulness of his
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countenance excited sentiments of pity on the part of his executioners and the people who had ventured to approach were inconsolable Weep not for me says the holy prelate but rather pray that I may receive strength from the throne of mercy and that I may happily end my course keep the faith submit to the dispensations of Heaven dread the wrath of God observe his commandments and thus shall you possess your souls in peace The martyr then addressed Ireton and in language prophetically awful warned the commander to beware of the vengeance of Heaven which was impending over him He assured Ireton that his days were numbered and that a few weeks would terminate his career and that his end would be miserable Soon after the prediction was verified In three weeks seized with a plague Ireton protesting his innocence of the death of the martyr and affirming it to have been the work of the government died in all the horrors of despair On the eve of All Saints 1651 the venerable prelate was strangled in the public place of execution His head was severed from the body fastened on a spike and set up on the pinnacle of the citadel where it remained without change or decay until the usurpation of Cromwell had ceased Thomas Walsh bishop of Cashel in 1659 Having a long time escaped the vigilance of his pursuers by concealing himself in the wild mountains which run between the counties of Cork and Tipperary at length having embarked in one of the southern ports of the former county arrived after a perilous voyage at Compostella in the kingdom of Gallicia in Spain where he died William Burgott died in the year 1671 John Brennan translated from Waterford in 1676 died in 1685 His name occurs in the Registry Act Edward Comerford died in 1711 Christopher Butler son of Walter Butler whose father was drowned on his voyage to Ireland in December 1619 and of Maria Plunkett the only daughter of Christopher the second earl of Fingal was consecrated in 1712 and died in the year 1757 having sat near forty years James Butler who became an apostate but died in the Catholic Church AD 1800 became coadjutor of Cashel in 1750 See Cork James Butler of Ballyraggat bishop of Cashel in 1791 Thomas Bray bishop of Cashel died in 1821 Patrick Everard coadjutor of Cashel in 1815 died AD 1822 Robert Laffan succeeded died in 1833 Michael Slattery president of Maynooth College during a portion of that year was elected bishop of Cashel and consecrated on the 24th
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of February 1834 still happily presides and is esteemed as a patriot and the fearless opponent of British intrigue against the Irish Church and the faith of her people
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