Brian McGurk

Brian McGurk (Maguirc) was a Catholic Dean of Armagh during the Penal Times in Ireland, and was Vicar-General to St Oliver Plunkett.

Background

He was imprisoned in Armagh under penal laws in 1712 while in his late eighties. He died in Gaol aged 91 years^[1]

Brian McGurk was Dean of Armagh for forty years and parish priest of Termonmagurk 1660–1672, arrested five times under the penal law statute, but who out-witted the courts with his knowledge of canon and civil laws yet dying at ninety-one in Armagh gaol. He is still revered as a 'white martyr' in Termonmagurk where both churches, Catholic and Protestant are under the patronage of St. Columcille, the McGurks being the saint's coarbs and erenaghs in that parish.^[2]

Brian was born and raised in the townland of Aughnagreggan, near Carrickmore, County Tyrone. In 2013 a small monument was erected on the site of his home to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his death. A secondary school in the village is named after him. A Celtic cross stands in the grounds of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to his memory.

References

T. MacDonald (1948), Dean Bryan McGurk, a hero of the penal days; with historical notes on his times and his native parish, Termonmagurk, Co. Tyrone

Notes

^ Rafferty, Oliver P. (1994). Catholicism in Ulster, 1603-1983: An Interpretative History. pp. 68–99.
^ Marianne Elliott (2000). The Catholics of Ulster: A History. The Penguin Press. ISBN 0-7139-9464-9..

[1] Rafferty, Oliver P. (1994). Catholicism in Ulster, 1603-1983: An Interpretative History. pp. 68–99.

[2] Marianne Elliott (2000). The Catholics of Ulster: A History. The Penguin Press. ISBN 0-7139-9464-9..

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