Dermot O'Hurley

Blessed Dermot O'Hurley (c.1530-1584 Irish Diarmaid Ó hUrthuile) was an Archbishop of Cashel and, after Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, the most famous of Ireland's Catholic martyrs. Beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 27, 1992.

Early Life

Dermot O'Hurley was born in Emly, County Tipperary about the year 1530. As the son of William O'Hurley, chief of the O'Hurley clan and steward to the Earl of Desmond, Dermot sprang from the Irish nobility, one of Europe's most ancient. After being brought up by tutors, he was sent to France to study at the University of Louvain, where he would qualify as a professor of philosophy and Canon law. After spending four years in a high ranking post at the University of Rheims, he departed for Rome, probably around 1570.

After his arrest, his interogators would claim that he had been a member of the Roman Inquisition. Some recent historians have suggested that he continued his work as a professor of Canon law. However, no documents of his activities there survive.

Fugitive Archbishop

In 1581, Dermot O'Hurley was appointed Archbishop of Cashel by Pope Gregory XIII. After his consecration, he arranged for a sea captain from Drogheda to smuggle him into Ireland. He was deposited on Holmpatrick Strand in County Dublin in the year 1583. His letters however, which had been sent via a different ship, were intercepted by the priest hunters.

With his steps being dogged by the Colonial Authorities in Dublin, Archbishop O'Hurley lodged with Baron Thomas Flemyng at Slane. While at Slane, he spread his activities through the territory of the O'Reilly clan. Under severe penalties, the Baron of Slane was induced to hand him over to the authorities. On October 8, 1583, the Archbishop was imprisoned in Dublin Castle.

Martyrdom

Despite severe torture, which included having his legs boiled over a roaring fire, the Archbishop refused to embrace Protestantism. According to the surviving correspondence between Dublin and Whitehall, Elizabeth I of England was reluctant to dispense with a fair trial under Common Law. After her mind was changed by Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen approved the use of a military tribunal. Archbishop O'Hurley was given a one day trial and sentenced to death.

On the early morning of Saturday June 20, 1584, the Archbishop was taken outside the walls of Dublin and hanged. In his last speech, he proclaimed his innocence and declared that he died as a martyr for the Roman Catholic Church. He was buried in Saint Kevin's Churchyard. His gravesite remained a site of pilgrimage for many years, but the location has since been lost.

Legacy

As word of his execution spread, Archbishop O'Hurley was immediately revered as a martyr by Catholics throughout Europe. Several accounts of his life and death were subsequently printed and reached a wide audience.

During the 19th century, the Church hierarchy began an investigation into the Archbishop's life and death, making extensive use of archival documents and letters written by the men who tortured and executed him. In 1904, he was declared a Servant of God.

On September 27, 1992, Archbishop Dermot O'Hurley was beatified by Pope John Paul II, alongside 16 other Irish martyrs.

Quote

"Be it therefore known unto you...that I am a priest annointed and also a Bishop, although unworthy of soe sacred dignitites, and noe cause could they find against me that might in the least deserve the paines of death, but merely for my funcon of priesthood wherein they have proceeded against me in all pointes cruelly contrarie to their own lawes..and I doe injoin you (Deere Christian Brethren) to manifest the same to the world and also to beare witness on the Day of Judgment of my Innocent death, which I indure for my function and profession of the most holy Catholick Faith." Addressing the crowd which had gathered to watch his execution.

Links

• Philip O'Sullivan Beare's Account of Archbishop O'Hurley

Sources

• Patrick J. Corish and Benignus Millet, "The Irish Martyrs," pages 66-80, Four Courts Press, 2005.