Dermot O'Hurley

The Most Reverend Dermot O'Hurley
Archbishop of Cashel
Archdiocese	Cashel
Appointed	September 1581
Term ended	19 or 20 June 1584
Predecessor	Maurice MacGibbon
Successor	David Kearney
Orders
Ordination	9 September 1581
Consecration	10 September 1581 by Pope Gregory XIII
Personal details
Born	c. 1530 Lickadoon Castle, Lickadoon, Ballyneety, County Limerick, Lordship of Ireland
Died	19 or 20 June 1584 Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland
Buried	St. Kevin's Church, Camden Row, Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Parents	William O'Hurley
Alma mater	University of Leuven
Sainthood
Feast day	20 June
Venerated in	Ireland
Title as Saint	Blessed
Beatified	27 September 1992 Vatican City, by Pope John Paul II
Shrines	St. Kevin's Church, Camden Row, Dublin, Ireland

Dermot O'Hurley (c. 1530 – 19 or 20 June 1584; Dermod or Dermond O'Hurley, Template:Lang-ga) was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel in Ireland during the reign of Elizabeth I who was put to death for treason. He was one of the most celebrated of Irish Catholic Martyrs, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 September 1992.

Biography

Early life

O'Hurley was born in Lickadoon Castle, Lickadoon, Ballyneety, County Limerick, around the year 1530. Dermot's father, William, was the O'Hurley clan's Chief of the Name and steward to James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond. As such, he was a member of the O'Hurley clan, who claim descent from the Dál gCais, one of the more powerful Irish clans in Munster's history.

O'Hurley was educated by tutors and then sent to Flemish Brabant to study at the University of Leuven. In 1551 he graduated with a Master of Arts degree, then a doctorate of Law and was appointed a professor of philosophy in one of that university’s greater colleges, where he remained for 15 years. In 1574 he was appointed a professor of both canon and civil law for the Faculty of Law of Reims University, where he spent 4 years.

Fugitive Archbishop

In 1570 Pope Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England in the papal bull Regnans in Excelsis. This led to the Second Desmond Rebellion in 1579-83, which was still in progress at the time of his voyage. On 11 September 1581, while still a layman, Pope Gregory XIII appointed him Archbishop of Cashel. He was ordained and consecrated and in 1583 set out on his mission. O'Hurley's voyage was fraught with danger but he was prepared to take the risks involved. He arranged for a sea captain from Drogheda to smuggle him into Ireland. He was deposited on Holmpatrick Strand in County Dublin in the autumn of 1583. His letters, which had been sent via a different ship, were intercepted by the priest hunters.

Through its elaborate spy system, the government in Dublin had knowledge of Dermot's appointment to the See of Cashel and Elizabeth's spies were soon on his tracks. He never reached Cashel. O'Hurley lodged with Thomas Fleming, 10th Baron Slane, at Slane, and from there he spread his activities through the territory of the O'Reilly clan. While sheltering at Slane Castle he was recognised. Under pain of severe penalties Fleming was ordered to arrest O'Hurley who had by then left Slane. O'Hurley was arrested at Carrick-on-Suir in September 1583, while staying with Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, a Protestant, referred to as dubh (the black), who was the Lord Treasurer of Ireland at the time. Butler was much offended and distressed at the arrest, and afterwards did his best to rescue O'Hurley from the executioners. On 8 October 1583 O'Hurley was imprisoned in Dublin Castle.

Martyrdom

Upon his arrest, his interrogators claimed 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.

St. Kevin's in Camden Row, burial place of O'Hurley

Despite severe torture, which included having his legs boiled over a roaring fire, O'Hurley refused to embrace Protestantism. According to surviving correspondence between Dublin and Whitehall, Elizabeth I was reluctant to dispense with a fair trial under English Law, but her mind was changed by Sir Francis Walsingham and she approved of a trial by military tribunal. O'Hurley was tried in a day and sentenced to death.

The Chancellor, learning that Butler was coming, by whose influence and power they feared O'Hurley would be saved, determined to put him to death as soon as possible. In the early morning of 19, or 20, June 1584, O'Hurley was taken outside the walls of Dublin and hanged at Hoggen Green. In his last speech, he proclaimed,

Be it therefore known unto you...that I am a priest anointed 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.

He was buried in St. Kevin's Church, Camden Row, Dublin. His gravesite remained a site of pilgrimage for many years.

Legacy

As word of his execution spread, 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.

Following Catholic Emancipation in the 19th century, Ireland's Roman Catholic hierarchy began an investigation into his life and death. One of the most valuable resources was found to be the documents and letters written by the men who tortured and executed him. In 1904, he was declared a Servant of God.

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

See also

• Margaret Ball
• Francis Taylor (martyr)

Sources

• "Blessed Dermot O'Hurley". Saints.SQPN.com. Star Quest Production Network. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 4 October 2011 suggested (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Boylan, Henry (1998). A dictionary of Irish biography (3rd ed.). Dublin: Gill and MacMillan. p. 334. ISBN 0-7171-2945-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Brady, W. Maziere (1876). The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland, A.D. 1400 to 1875. Vol. Volume 2. Rome: Tipografia Della Pace. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Corish, Patrick J.; Millet, Benignus, eds. (2005). "Dermot O'Hurley". The Irish martyrs. Irish theological quarterly monograph series. Vol. 1. Dublin [u.a.]: Four Courts Press. pp. 66–80. ISBN 9781851828586. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• McNeill, Charles (1911). "Dermond O'Hurley". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J., eds. (1984). Maps, genealogies, lists: a companion to Irish History, part II. New History of Ireland. Vol. 11. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821745-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• O'Doherty, James (June 2005). "Dermot O'Hurley, a hero of his time". news4.ie. Dublin: NewsFour. Archived from the original on 2007-11-19. Retrieved 2013-04-13. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• O'Sullivan-Beare, Philip (1903). "Dermot O'Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel, the most unconquerable and illustrious Martyr". In Byrne, Matthew J. (ed.). Ireland under Elizabeth : chapters towards a history of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth being a portion of the history of Catholic Ireland. Translated by Matthew J. Byrne. Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker. pp. 33–36. OCLC 808171203. Archived from the original on 2014-10-24. Retrieved 2014-10-24 – via electronic edition compiled by Benjamin Hazard. Published 2008. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)