Sunday, July 01, 2018

St Oliver Plunkett



St Oliver was martyred on 11 July, the Irish calendar keeps his feast on 10 July, and the Ordinariates of England and Australia keep it today, the 1st of July.

The American Ordinariate of the Chair of S Peter, alas, doesn't keep it at all.

St Oliver Plunkett, born in 1629,  was of a noble Irish family, educated and ordained in Rome.  After many years in Rome as an academic he was consecrated bishop and appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.  At that time his jurisdiction included the Hebrides and some other parts of Scotland. He was the last "official" martyr of the English reformation persecutions and the last of Titus Oates's victims.

The good old Catholic Encyclopædia give his vita here.  Wikipedia bases its life on the Catholic Encyclopædia but has a bit more information and includes and few pictures here.