In the wake of King James’ defeat at the hands of the Protestant King William of Orange, some Catholic priests fled Ireland, some were induced to convert to Protestantism (for a payment of 40 pounds a  year), and some were arrested (a reward of 100 pounds was paid if one turned in a bishop, 30 pounds for a Jesuit).  Many priests, however, went underground or otherwise operated below London’s radar.  Not content to have any Catholic clergy remaining in Ireland, in 1703 Parliament passed a law that required all Irish Catholic clergy to register with the authorities so that ‘the government be truly informed of the number of such dangerous persons as still remain among us’.   1089 priests came forward to register their identities.  Within a few years, Parliament passed the ‘Popery Act’ which aimed to ensure that the Protestant succession to the throne was recognized by all.  It required that Irish Catholic clergy take an oath of allegiance known as the Oath of Renunciation (or Abjuration).  Although the Pope forbade the taking of such an oath, 33 Irish clergy did do so, thus affirming the right of Protestant Queen Mary and her heirs to rule.

One is tempted by these facts to get caught up in condemning those clergy who caved to pressure, but instead we should  marvel that so many didn’t at a time when Rome was hardly in a position to protect her servants any more than the Catholic aristocracy could for many of them had fled Ireland with the defeated James.  So, for me, the story here is to be found in the lives of 1056 priests who clung to their faith in the face of adversity or, to paraphrase Lillian Hellman, refused to cut their conscience to fit the fashion of the times.