Blessed Maurice MacKenraghty

Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh, anglicised as Maurice MacKenraghty (died 30 April 1585), was an Irish Roman Catholic priest who was put to death, officially for high treason, but in reality as part of the religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland by Queen Elizabeth I and her officials. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II, along with 16 other Irish Catholic Martyrs, on 27 September 1992. Although the exact date of his birth remains unknown, Muiris Mac Ionrachtaigh, was born at Kilmallock (Irish: Cill Mocheallóg), which was "a prosperous walled town in the Desmond lands in County Limerick". His father, Tomás Mac Ionrachtaigh ("Thomas MacKenraghty"), was a goldsmith and silversmith who was originally from the civil barony of Irraghticonnor. The MacKenraghty family were full citizens of the town of Kilmallock and probably also enjoyed the patronage of the Earl of Desmond. Mac Ionrachtaigh embraced the ecclesiastical state and is believed to have studied abroad in Catholic Europe and to have graduated bachelor in theology. Returning to Ireland, he became chaplain and confessor to Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, and shared the fortunes of his patron in the Second Desmond Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I. During the uprising, Mac Ionrachtaigh continued his priestly ministry to the best of his ability and is said to have suffered immensely during the Earl of Ormond's retaliatory campaign of scorched earth and total war that triggered a State-imposed famine which killed an estimated third of Munster's population. On 17 September 1583, while a fugitive with the Earl, Mac Ionrachtaigh was surprised on Sliabh Luachra by Maurice Roche, 6th Viscount Fermoy's gallowglass. On 19 September, Lord Roche wrote to the Earl of Ormond that the Rebel Earl's chaplain was in his hands.