St. Oliver Plunkett Becomes Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland

Oliver Plunkett (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. He was beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1975, thus becoming the first new Irish saint in almost seven hundred years.

St. Oliver Plunkett was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in 1669. He served in this role during a tumultuous period in Irish history, marked by political and religious conflicts. Plunkett was known for his efforts to maintain the Catholic faith in Ireland during a time when Catholicism faced persecution.

Born in 1625 in Loughcrew, County Meath, Ireland, Oliver Plunkett became a priest and later a bishop. He was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in 1669, succeeding Bishop Peter Talbot. Plunkett faced significant challenges during his tenure due to the Penal Laws, which restricted the practice of Catholicism in Ireland.

The political climate at the time was marked by tensions between Catholics and Protestants, and Plunkett’s efforts to support and preserve the Catholic Church in Ireland led to his arrest in 1679. He was accused of conspiring to bring a French army to Ireland to assist in a Catholic uprising.

On the enactment of the Test Act in 1673, to which Plunkett would not agree for doctrinal reasons, the college was closed and demolished. Plunkett went into hiding, travelling only in disguise, and refused a government edict to register at a seaport to await passage into exile. For the next few years he was largely left in peace since the Dublin government, except when put under pressure from the English government in London, preferred to leave the Catholic bishops alone.

In 1678 the so-called Popish Plot, concocted in England by clergyman Titus Oates, led to further anti-Catholic action. Archbishop Peter Talbot of Dublin was arrested, and Plunkett again went into hiding. The Privy Council of England, in Westminster, was told that Plunkett had plotted a French invasion. The moving spirit behind the campaign is said to have been Arthur Capell, the first Earl of Essex, who had been Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1672-77 and hoped to resume the office by discrediting the Duke of Ormonde. However Essex was not normally a ruthless or unprincipled man, and his later plea for mercy suggests that he had never intended that Plunkett should actually die

Oliver Plunkett was tried and found guilty of high treason. He was sentenced to death and executed on July 01, 1681, at Tyburn in London. Despite the difficult circumstances, Plunkett remained dedicated to his faith and is remembered as a martyr for Catholicism in Ireland.

In 1975, Oliver Plunkett was beatified by Pope Paul VI, and he was canonized as a saint by Pope Paul VI on October 12, 1975. Today, St. Oliver Plunkett is venerated as one of Ireland’s most revered saints, and his feast day is celebrated on July 1st.