St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, Is Accused of Instigating the Irish Popish Plot and Arrested

Oliver Plunkett (or Oliver Plunket; Irish: Oilibhéar Pluincéid; 1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and the last victim of the Popish Plot, was accused of involvement in the so-called “Irish Popish Plot.”

The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy in England and Ireland during the late 17th century that alleged a Catholic plot to assassinate King Charles II and replace him with his Catholic brother James, Duke of York.

Oliver Plunkett was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in 1669 and became a target of anti-Catholic sentiments during a time of political and religious tension. In 1678, the Popish Plot hysteria reached Ireland, and Plunkett was falsely accused of conspiring against the Protestant authorities.

Arrested 1670

He was arrested in 1679 and imprisoned in Dublin Castle. Plunkett’s trial took place in 1681, and despite the lack of evidence and the dubious nature of the charges, he was found guilty of high treason.

Hanged, Drawn and Quartered 1681

On July 01, 1681, Oliver Plunkett was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn, London. He was aged 55, the last Catholic martyr to die in England.

His body was initially buried in two tin boxes, next to five Jesuits who had died previously, in the courtyard of St Giles in the Fields church. The remains were exhumed in 1683 and moved to the Benedictine monastery at Lamspringe, near Hildesheim in Germany.

The head was brought to Rome, and from there to Armagh, and eventually to Drogheda where since 29 June 1921 it has rested in Saint Peter’s Church.

Most of the body was brought to Downside Abbey, England, where the major part is located today, with some parts remaining at Lamspringe.

On the occasion of his canonization in 1975 his casket was opened and some parts of his body were given to St Peter’s Church in Drogheda Ireland and also to the new Worth Abbey Church consecrated 13 July 1975.

The Popish Plot itself is now considered a fabrication, a product of political and religious tensions of the time, and resulted in the persecution of many innocent Catholics in England and Ireland.

Sainthood

He was beatified in 1920 and canonized as a saint by Pope Paul VI in 1975 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, , thus becoming the first new Irish saint in almost seven hundred years.

Oliver Plunkett was beatified on 23 May 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. The cause for his canonization was opened on 27 July 1951, and he was canonized in 1975, the first new Irish saint for almost seven hundred years, and the first of the Irish martyrs to be beatified.

For the canonisation, the customary second miracle was waived. He has since been followed by 17 other Irish martyrs who were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1992. Among them were Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley, Margaret Ball, and the Wexford Martyrs.

Patron Saint for Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland,

In 1997 Plunkett was made a patron saint for peace and reconciliation in Ireland, adopted by the prayer group campaigning for peace in Ireland, “St. Oliver Plunkett for Peace and Reconciliation”