Dermot O'Hurley

Dermot O'Hurley (c.1530-1584 Gaelic "Diarmaid O Hiarlatha"). Archbishop of Cashel and the most famous of Ireland's Catholic martyrs. Beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 27, 1992.

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, others have claimed that he continued his work as a professor of Canon Law. However, no documents of his activities there survive.

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 priesthunters.

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.

Despite severe torture, which included having his legs boiled over a roaring fire, the Archbishop refused to embrace Protestantism. After Queen Elizabeth I approved the use of a military tribunal, Archbishop O'Hurley was sentenced to death.

On the early morning of 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 Catholic Faith. 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.

On September 27, 1992, Archbishop Dermot O'Hurley was beatified alongside 16 other Irish martyrs.