“As the midday sun shone down on 2 May 1654 and the river Suir went quietly by, while the Comeraghs looked on, Fr Tirry’s life on earth was ended on a scaffold in the Market Square in Clonmel. He was now a grain of wheat.” In a booklet  Priest on the Run by Fr John O’Connor OSA, gives a short account of Fr Tirry’s life and his strong faith and of his amazing courage when he was arrested and taken to be hanged -simply for practicing his priestly ministry. He also gives the names of others who were executed or banished. 

 

I wonder does Pope Leo XIV, who is a member of the Augustinian Order, know about the execution of this member of the Augustinian community in Ireland by Cromwell’s English army in 1654 during one of the many persecutions of Irish Catholics by English colonialists. Hundreds of Catholics were massacred. They are recognised as martyrs.

 

Fr William Tirry was born in Cork in 1608 into a well-to-do family. His family were very religious and involved in the Catholic Church. His uncle, also called William Tirry, was the bishop of Cork and Cloyne. At age 18 years William joined the Augustinian order in Cork. We know from the records that he studied in Valladolid, and also in Paris and Brussels. He was ordained in Spain in 1636 and returned to Ireland in 1638.

 

 These were difficult and dangerous times for Catholics and especially for clergy in Ireland. The outbreak of the 1641 rebellion was the response of many leading Irish families to the ongoing persecution and suppression of the Catholic faith under Queen Elizabeth. The war which began in 1641 went on for ten years with many Irish people killed and many others forced to leave Ireland.

 

In 1641, Fr William Tirry was back in Cork in the Augustinian abbey and also employed by his uncle the bishop as his secretary. He also travelled between Cork and the Augustinian monastery in Fethard. The situation was becoming very difficult for Irish priests to exercise any form of ministry. Mass was said in secret. Priests had been ordered to leave the country or risk being arrested and executed. Fr Tirry became friendly with the Everard family, another well-known Catholic family, who lived near Fethard Co Tipperary. He was employed to teach their sons. Mrs Everard was formerly Amy Roche from Fermoy, Co Cork. Fr Tirry went to live with this family for safety. People still came to see him for spiritual advice. He was well known for his holiness and devotion.

By now his whereabouts became known to the authorities and his life was in grave danger-but he refused to leave. Many priests were ‘on the run’ and lived in hidden places around the countryside.

Eventually, on Holy Saturday, 25  March 1654, the Cromwellian soldiers caught up with Fr Tirry. He was “vested reddy to do the ceremonies and office of that day”. Three local people betrayed his presence in the area for the £5 reward offered for information. He was taken to the gaol in Clonmel. Also in the gaol were four secular priests of the diocese and a Franciscan Fr Matthew Fogarty. 

 

All Catholic clergy at the time were considered guilty of high treason and subject to the death penalty. This was a provision of an English statute of Queen Elizabeth I in 1585, which was extended to Ireland by a proclamation on 6 January 1653. Sometimes the death penalty was not enforced and instead the priests were banished from the country. The five others in gaol with Fr Tirry were banished to the Continent and escaped the death penalty. Some of them have left glowing accounts of Fr Tirry’s faith and courage while in prison. 

Fr William Tirry was executed by Cromwell’s soldiers on 2 May 1654 in the square in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.  His remains are buried in the grounds of the Augustinian abbey in Fethard, Co Tipperary. He was not the only Augustinian priest to be killed during the persecution.

 

 

I wonder does Pope Leo know about the many other members of the Catholic Church in Ireland who were executed by the English colonialists during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries? He may have heard of Oliver Plunkett, archbishop of Armagh, executed at Tyburn in London on 1st July 1881 when he was 55 years of age. Saint Oliver Plunkett was canonised in 1975 by Pope Paul VI. There were at least 

 

I doubt if the Pope knows that a former bishop of my diocese of Clogher, Bishop Heber Mac Mahon, was executed by the same English forces in Enniskillen in 1650 – four years before Fr Tirry.

Does Pope Leo XIV know about the many British orchestrated famines in Ireland which caused millions to die of starvation especially in the 1840s and 1850s?

 

I wonder does Pope Leo know anything about the persecution of Catholics by British forces and their Unionist allies in Ireland during the 1900’s and immediately  after the Partition of Ireland in 1920-21? Does he know about the many innocent Catholics killed by British soldiers, the RUC and their allies in the pro-British loyalist death squads between 1969 and 1995. I doubt if he will have heard much about this because of British censorship and British propaganda.  

 

If Pope Leo XIV does not know about this organised persecution of Irish Catholics and the criminal conspiracy against the Irish people – then he should be made aware of the history of persecution in Ireland over many centuries. He should also be made aware of the resilience and courage shown by many Catholics who remained loyal to the church and to the Gospel. This history of the English persecution in Ireland has never been properly or fully recognised by the Catholic Church at an official level. Nor has any Dublin government ever made it an issue of importance for understanding our history. 

 

Pope Leo should be informed about the execution of the Augustinian priest Fr William Tirry in 1654. The Pope should be asked to recognise the supreme sacrifice made by this dedicated Augustinian priest. He should also be informed about the many other Catholics, including priests and bishops, who gave their lives rather than deny their Catholic faith. Pope Leo XIV should be informed about the systematic persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland by successive English governments and the harm that has done and the suffering that it has caused. Many Irish people were forced to flee their native land as a result. This long suffering has never been fully recognised by the Catholic Church.

 

If Pope Leo XIV and the Church authorities in Rome were to be fully informed about the history of persecution in this country and if they were to acknowledge the suffering caused to the people of Ireland by successive English and British rulers it might contribute to the search for a just and lasting peace on this island and between these two islands.

 

The history of persecution of Irish Catholics did not begin with Partition. It goes back for many centuries and it should never be forgotten. The Truth about our history must be made known. Otherwise the propaganda story will continue.