A plaque has been erected in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, to commemorate
three long-lost Franciscan martyrs who were brutally murdered over four
hundred years ago.The plaque was erected 300 metres from where the atrocity occurred in the grounds of what is now Abbey Leix estate.
The three martyrs were John O'Molloy, Cornelius O'Doherty and Geoffrey O’Farrell, and they were hanged, drawn and quartered by an English garrison based in Abbeyleix on December 15 1588.
Their crime was that they were Catholic priests, who were known to secretly celebrate Mass and minister to people in the area and elsewhere in Leinster, all of which was illegal in the Ireland of Queen Elizabeth I.
The Franciscan band is recorded as having operated for eight years in remoter parts of Wicklow, Carlow, and Wexford and moving mostly under cover of darkness.
According to tradition, fate caught up with them while they were travelling through what is now County Laois; they were overtaken by a party of cavalry, bound hand and foot, brought to the garrison in Abbeyleix, where they were flogged, strangled, disembowelled and quartered.
The inscription on the plaque describes the three men as, “inspired preachers of the Word of God to their people in the Catholic tradition and had ministered throughout Leinster.”
It says that, when they were captured, they were, “first beaten with sticks and scourged with whips,” and, “were then offered rich rewards to abandon their beliefs which all three rejected.”
Their remains were buried in Oldtown, Abbeyleix and it is only after 424 years that their story has been formally commemorated.
Mass was celebrated in Church of the Most Holy Rosary, Abbeyleix and the memorial was unveiled by Fr Joseph MacMahon, accompanied by local clergy and a representative of the Holy Ghost order, Fr Walter McNamara.
Fr MacMahon confirmed the martyrdom from the Franciscan records and thanked those involved in bringing the memorial to fruition.
He paid particular tribute to Joseph Kennedy of Heritage House, Abbeyleix and parishioners Billy Quinn, Larry Cummins and John Moore, who played key roles in having the three martyrs commemorated.