Fr Alo Connaughton, 2025

There is no authenticated agreement as far as I know on the actual birthplace of Oliver Plunkett – Loughcrew, Clonabraney, Kileen or elsewhere. Around here we opt for Loughcrew. The year was 1625. He was born into an Ireland where harsh Penal Laws against Catholics were in force. His options for education were few. He received a lot of his early education from his cousin Patrick Plunkett, Cistercian abbott of St Mary’s Priory, Dublin and later bishop of Ardagh and, later, again of Meath. Oliver spoke English and Irish; later he would add Italian and Latin.

The civil wars in England in the 1640s, which culminated with the execution of King Charles I, left a political vacuum in Ireland. This enabled the 1641 rebellion and the Confederation of Kilkenny, a kind of parallel parliament. Oliver’s older cousin Nicholas was an important figure here. When a Roman delegate to the Confederation was returning home, Oliver, at the age of 22, went with him. He wanted to be a priest in spite of the dangers and persecutions of the day. The journey overland, during the European 30 Years War was perilous. The small party was held for ransom and robbed.

He studied philosophy and theology in the Irish College and probably in the Jesuit Collegio Romano. In the course of his studies, he obtained doctorates in canon and civil law – the latter in Rome’s famous Sapienza University. After that he served for 13 years as a professor of theology in the College of Propaganda Fide near the Spanish Steps, a famed tourist spot of today. In 1669 he was named Archbishop of Armagh – a difficult assignment at that period of history when England and Ireland formed part of one kingdom. On his way to Ireland the new archbishop spent about three months in London – part of it, unknown to his watchers in the Royal Palace at the invitation of a Fr. Howard, a friend of the queen who was a Catholic. Fr Howard took him in his carriage on a number of occasions to see the sights of London. Most likely he saw Westminster Hall, part of the present Westminster Houses of Parliament, where he would receive the death sentence some eleven years later.

In Ireland a vital issue was the relationship with the civil authorities. The archbishop had the good fortune for the first two years that the Viceroy, Berkeley, was a decent tolerant man so the archbishop had a good deal of freedom and was occasionally discreetly invited to Dublin Castle. He was able to confront the big issues. The Irish Church was in disarray after years of persecution. Most of the bishops had been forced to flee. Most of the priests were poor and badly educated – the lives of some were far from exemplary. Oliver summoned two synods – large meetings – one in Dublin and the other in Clones where problems and the way forward was decided. He quickly organized a school in Drogheda with the help of the Jesuits and soon had 150 students, Catholic and Protestant. He initiated educational programmes for diocesan priests. According to his letters he confirmed 50,000 people in the first six months, travelling extensively in Armagh and beyond.

Over the next ten years he made several new appointments to parishes, ordained many priests, and removed a number of others. He ruled in favour of the Dominican Friars in their property conflicts with the Franciscans. His life over these years is well documented in his scores of letters to people in Rome and elsewhere. Msgr John Hanly of Oldcastle did great work in editing these.

Political violence was common. Former landowners that had lost their property in the ‘plantations’ – confiscations in other words, of Queen Elizabeth and Oliver Cromwell

were bitter. Some had taken up arms and often attacked the persons and property of the settlers. But they were also making life miserable for native workers whom they saw as traitors to their cause. Oliver negotiated with these Tories and arranged for the resettlement of the leaders in France. Many Irish emigrants of this period joined armies in France, Spain and Holland.

Relations with the Viceroys after Berkeley were bad, in general. This was due in part to pressures coming from London. In the 1670s there was a new wave of anti-Catholicism in England . Catholics were blamed, without foundation,  for the Great Fire of London which destroyed the ancient city in 1666.  Then came the Popish Plot – a supposed plan, organized from Rome, to overthrow the king and parliament in England, with the aid of a French army, restore Catholicism and take back confiscated property. A man called Titus Oates was the main promoter of this campaign, which got maximum publicity in the London news sheets. Oates knew every detail of the plot – he had invented all of them himself. But his allegation brought at least 30 innocent men to the gallows.

As the anti-Catholic spirit spread in England, it had serious effects in Ireland. Plunkett had to move around in secret, or in disguise as ‘Captain Browne or Captain Morgan and signed his coded letters with names such as Thomas Cox.  He was arrested on 6 December 1679 and taken prisoner to Dublin Castle.  Bernard Smith will take up the story from here.