The Convent of Limerick was one of the largest of the whole country, its inmates numbering forty-six religious. Cornelius O’Neill, Bishop of Limerick, had been a religious of the Order. 

He had been Consulted by the King about the divorce from his lawful wife, which he wishes to bring about, and gave his opinion firmly in her favour. The King was much angered and declared he would have his revenge.

The Bishop was aware of the dangers. He called the Trinitarians together and addressed them in the following words: 

"A beginning like this does not lead to a good end. The King and his kingdom are lost. The Catholic Church is in great danger, and heresy will be introduced amongst us unless God’s omnipotence protects us."

He advised them to prepare, to sell all the Property of the monastery, even the gold and silver vessels, lest they might be profaned, and to distribute the money among the poor. He gave like warning to the other religious Orders, and the secular clergy under his jurisdiction.

When he learned of the destruction of the monastery of Adare and the death of the religious there, he called the brethren together, and solemnly intoning the ‘Te Deum,’ he earnestly besought the Most Holy Trinity to grant them courage and Strength, that they might imitate their brethren who had been martyred.

The Bishop let it be known that he would preach on the feast of St. John in the cathedral. A large congregation assembled. He set before them the grounds of the Catholic faith and the Pope’s authority; he declared that the commands of the King were heretical and that he, and all who adhered to him were anathematized and concluded by asking from God strength for himself and for all under his care to defend the Catholic faith, even at the peril of their lives.

The King’s officials, afraid to offer him any violence in the church, on the evening of that day, went to his house; and they told him that he should obey the King’s order or suffer instant death.

Throwing himself on his knees and raising his eyes to Heaven, he exclaimed: ‘Lord, to-day I offered to Thee the unbloody sacrifice of the Body of my Lord Jesus Christ. Now accept the sacrifice of my life, to Thy greater honour and glory.’ And then fixing his eyes on a picture of the Most Holy Trinity, he ejaculated ‘Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus, Miserere nobis.’ A moment after the executioner severed his head from his body.

The officials then went through the house, and seized on the religious who happened to be there, and slew them. Their anger was all the greater when they found that nothing was left for them to plunder.

The Minister and his brother, who had come to visit the Bishop, were seized the next day. They were brought to the public square and ordered to swear obedience to the King. As they refused, they were beheaded on the spot.

The other religious in the convent were also asked to take the oath; and as all refused, some were hanged, other slain, others tied to the tails of horses and dragged along until they were dead. And so all triumphed gloriously on the 25th, of June, 1539.

‘The other convents of the Order,’ says Moran, Cork, Kilkenny, Ross, Dundalk, Galway, and Cashel, showed the same fortitude. All were plundered of whatever they possessed, And there was not one of them but was adorned with the palm of martyrdom. So universal indeed was the ruin that fell upon this religious Order, that all vestige of it has disappeared from the subsequent history of our Church.[1]

[1] Archbishops of Dublin, p.26. It is very probable that Lopez had his information about the sufferings of his brethren through F. Richard Goldie, a native of Limerick, who died at Madrid in 1652. See Noticias, p.521. O’Sullevan derived his knowledge from the same source.

Please pray for final perseverance for all of us!
May the martyrs of old inspire us all.