Terence Albert O'Brien (1600 – 30 October 1651) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Bishop of Emly The Bishop of Emly ( ga, Imleach Iubhair; la, Imilicensis) was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the village of Emly in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland. In both the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, it has ...

. He was beatified among the 17

Irish Catholic 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 ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 27 September 1992.

Biography

O'Brien hailed from

Cappamore Cappamore () is a small town in northeast County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Location and facilities Cappamore is situated on the R505 regional road, on the ...

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

. Both of his parents were from the noble family of O’Brien Arra. He joined the Dominicans in 1621 at Limerick, where his uncle, Maurice O'Brien, was then prior. He took the name "Albert" after the Dominican scholar

Albertus Magnus Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his li ...

. In 1622 he went to study in Toledo, returning eight years later to become prior at St. Saviour's in Limerick. In 1643 he was provincial of his order in Ireland. In 1647 he was consecrated Bishop of Emly by

Giovanni Battista Rinuccini Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid-seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar and became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV. In 1625 Pope Urban VIII made him the Archbishop of Fermo ...

. During the Irish Confederate Wars, like most Irish Catholics, he sided with

Confederate Ireland Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

. His services to the Catholic Confederation were highly valued by the Supreme Council. The bishop would treat the wounded and support Confederate soldiers throughout the conflict. O'Brien was against a peace treaty that did not guarantee Catholic interests in Ireland and in 1648 signed the declaration against the Confederate's truce with the Earl of Inchiquin who had committed atrocities against Catholic clergy and civilians, and the declaration against the Protestant royalist leader the Duke of Ormonde in 1650 who, due to his failure to resist the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland was not deemed fit to command Catholic troops. He was one of the prelates, who, in August 1650 offered the Protectorate of Ireland to

Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine Charles IV (5 April 1604, Nancy – 18 September 1675, Allenbach) was Duke of Lorraine from 1624 until his death in 1675, with a brief interruption in 1634, when he abdicated under French pressure in favor of his younger brother, Nicholas Franc ...

. In 1651 Limerick was besieged and O'Brien urged a resistance that infuriated the Ormondists and Parliamentarians. Following surrender he was denied quarter and protection. Major General Nicholas Purcell, Father Wolf, and Bishop O'Brien were

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed and sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

by New Model Army General Henry Ireton.Terence Albert O'Brien
''The Catholic Encyclopedia''] Retrieved 28 September 2007. O'Brien was hanged at Gallows Green.

Legacy

On 27 September 1992, O'Brien and sixteen other

, including

Dermot O'Hurley Dermot O'Hurley (c. 1530 – 19 or 20 June 1584)—also ''Dermod or Dermond O'Hurley'': ga, Diarmaid Ó hUrthuile—was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel in Ireland during the reign of Elizabeth I, who was put to death for treason. He ...

, were beatified by

.Fenning, Hugh. "The Last Speech and Prayer of Blessed Terence Albert O'Brien, Bishop of Emly, 1651", ''Collectanea Hibernica'', no. 38, 1996, pp. 52–58. JSTOR
/ref> A large backlighted portrait of him is on display in St. Michael's Church, Cappamore, County Limerick, which depicts him during The Siege of Limerick.

References

External links

Terence Albert O'Brien' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''Lengthy biographic article from ''Hibernian Magazine'' 1864, p. 246
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Terence Albert 1600 births 1651 deaths Christian clergy from Limerick (city) 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland O'Brien Irish beatified people 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 17th-century venerated Christians Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Bishops of Emly 24 Irish Catholic Martyrs Executed people from County Limerick

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links