Saint of the Day – 7 March – Blessed John Ireland (Died 1544) Priest Martyr, Chaplain to Blessed John Larke and Saint Thomas More. Priest at Eltham, Kent, England from 1535 to 1536. Martyred by being hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn Tree, London on 7 March 1544, together with Blessed Germanus Gardiner and Blessed John Larke for denying that King Henry VIII of England had supremacy over the Church. Additional Feastday – 4 May with the English Martyrs.
Little is known of this you Priest. He was ther Chaplain of the Roper Chantry annexed to St Dunstan’s, in Canterbury (1535–1536) before becoming the Priest of Eltham, Kent and thus the Parish Priest of St Thomas More’s daughter Margaret Roper of West Hall.
On 15 February 1543, Ireland was indicted with the Blesseds John larke, Germanus Gardiner and John Heywood (who recanted on the hurdle or wooden panel and drawn behind a horse to the place of execution). They were brought before Westminster Court and were sentenced to death on the charge of “attempted treason against the King, in the matter of his dignity, title and name of Supreme Head of the Church of England and Ireland, by words, writings and deeds ”. The three Martyrs were hanged, drawn and quartered on 7 March 1544.
The bodies of the Martyrs were buried under the Scaffold. Blessed John Ireland was Beatified by Pope Pius XI on 15 December 1929.
AnaStpaul 