Luke Kirby (also spelt ''Kirbie'' ''c''. 1549 – 30 May 1582) was an English Catholic priest and martyr from the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

, executed during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. He was is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Early life

Kirby is said to have received his M.A. in England, probably at Cambridge, before converting to Catholicism at

Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

and entering

Douai College The English College (''College des Grands Anglais'') was a Catholic seminary in Douai, France (also previously spelled Douay, and in English Doway), associated with the University of Douai. It was established in 1568, and was suppressed in 1793. ...

in 1576. He was ordained a priest at

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

in September 1577 and left

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

for England on 3 May 1578; however, he returned on 15 July and went to Rome. There he took the college oath at the

English College, Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

, on 23 April 1579. It was in Rome that he met the spy/informer

Anthony Munday Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560?10 August 1633) was an English playwright and miscellaneous writer. He was baptized on 13 October 1560 in St Gregory by St Paul's, London, and was the son of Christopher Munday, a stationer, and Jane Munday. He ...

, who later gave false testimony against him.

Mission

He was chosen to accompany Campion and

Ralph Sherwin Sherwin (25 October 1550 – 1 December 1581) was an English Roman Catholic priest, executed in 1581. He is a Catholic martyr and saint. Early years and education Sherwin was born at Rodsley, Derbyshire to John and Constance Sherwin and ...

on their way to England, and the three set out from Rome on 14 April 1580, arriving in Rheims on 31 May. On 16 June he left Rheims with William Hartley. They made the journey to the coast by Douay and Dunkirk on foot.Camm O.S.B., Dom Bede, ''Lives of the English Martyrs'', Vol. II, pp. 500-522, Longmans, green and Co., London, 1914
/ref>

Arrest

In June 1580, he was arrested on landing at Dover, and committed to the Gatehouse, Westminster. On 4 December, he was transferred to the Tower, where he was subjected to the torture known as the "

Scavenger's Daughter The Scavenger's daughter was a type of torture device invented during the reign of King Henry VIII of England. History The Scavenger's Daughter (or Skevington's Daughter) was invented as an instrument of torture in the reign of Henry VIII by Sir ...

" for more than an hour on 9 December. Luke Kirby was tried at the same time as

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

, on the same charge of treason against the Queen, but his execution was deferred to the following May, and took place immediately after that of William Filby.

Execution

Kirby was condemned on 17 November 1581, and from 2 April until the day he died, he was put in irons. With him at Tyburn died a Jesuit priest,

Thomas Cottam Thomas Cottam (1549 – 30 May 1582) was an English Catholic priest and martyr from Lancashire, who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I. Life Cottam was born to Protestant parents, Laurence Cottam of Dilworth and Anne Brewer, but was ...

, and two seminary priests: Lawrence Richardson and William Filby on 30 May 1582. All were later beatified equipollently in 1886 by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. He was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

Legacy and relic

A relic, a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

, which is housed in the

English College in Rome The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

, has the names of five priests. Kirby is one of those names stitched in the cloth. A book entitled "Blessed Luke Kirby: Priest and Martyr" was written by Michael TH Banks, and published nine months before the martyr's eventual canonization. A portion of a stained glass window in

St. Edmund's College, Ware St Edmund's College is a coeducational independent day and boarding school in the British public school tradition, set in in Ware, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1568 as a seminary, then a boys' school, it is the oldest continuously operating and ...

depicts him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Luke 1540s births 1582 deaths English College, Douai alumni English beatified people Catholic saints who converted from Protestantism Converts to Roman Catholicism English Roman Catholic saints Forty Martyrs of England and Wales Martyred Roman Catholic priests 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests People executed under the Tudors for treason against England Executed English people 16th-century Christian saints 16th-century Roman Catholic martyrs People executed under Elizabeth I