James Dowdall (died 20 September 1600) was a Roman Catholic merchant of

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, Ireland. The

Dowdall Dowdall is an Irish surname. The earliest forms of spelling were: Dowdell, Dowdale and Dowdle. Dowdall was first used as a surname in Yorkshire, certainly by the time of the Norman conquest of England. The Irish Dowdalls came from the valley of ...

s of

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town *Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * County ...

originated at

Dovedale Dovedale is a valley in the Peak District of England. The land is owned by the National Trust and attracts a million visitors annually. The valley was cut by the River Dove, Central England, River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale ...

in Derbyshire and became prominent in Ireland in the late Middle Ages.

James Dowdall James Dowdall (died 20 September 1600) was a Roman Catholic merchant of Drogheda, Ireland. The Dowdalls of Louth originated at Dovedale in Derbyshire and became prominent in Ireland in the late Middle Ages. James Dowdall, the Lord Chief Justice o ...

, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who died in 1584, was a cousin of Dowdall.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 Vol.1 p.210 Dovedale

In the summer of 1598, when returning from France, his ship was driven by stress of weather onto the coast of Devonshire, and he was arrested by William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath, who had him under examination. Dowdall publicly avowed that he rejected the supremacy of Elizabeth I of England, and only recognized that of the Pope. The earl forwarded the examination to Sir Robert Cecil, and had Dowdall committed to Exeter jail. Whilst in prison he was tortured and put to the rack, but continued unchanged in his Catholicism. On 18 June 1599, the Earl of Bath wrote to Sir Robert Cecil for instructions in regard to James Dowdall, who had been detained in prison for almost a year. Accordingly, he was tried at the Exeter assizes, and was ordered to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. His name was included in the Apostolic Process of the

Irish Martyrs Irish Catholic Martyrs () were 24 Irish men and women who have been beatified or canonized for dying for their Catholic faith between 1537 and 1681 in Ireland. The canonisation of Oliver Plunkett in 1975 brought an awareness of the others who d ...

before the

Congregation of Sacred Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a Congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by ''Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969. The Congreg ...

. It stalled, apparently because of the uncertainty of identification of the James Dowdalls.

Notes

References

;Attribution *

External links

Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowdall, James People of Elizabethan Ireland 1599 deaths People from Drogheda Irish Roman Catholics People executed under Elizabeth I by hanging, drawing and quartering Year of birth unknown 16th-century Irish people Executed Irish people