Peter O'Higgins

Blessed Peter O'Higgins O.P, in Irish Peadar Ó Huiggin, (c.1602 The Pale, Kingdom of Ireland – 24 March 1642, St Stephen's Green, County Dublin, Ireland) was an Irish Dominican priest who was hanged outside the walls of Dublin, officially for high treason against King Charles I but in reality as part of the religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland that began under King Henry VIII and ended only with Catholic Emancipation in 1829. Fr. O'Higgins was Beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 September 1992 as one of the 24 officially recognized Irish Catholic Martyrs.

Early life O'Higgins is believed to have been born at Tipper, near Naas, County Kildare.

He was educated secretly in Ireland and later in Spain. He may have been ordained at Lisbon on 21 December 1624 and he appears in a list of Irish Dominicans resident in the Spanish Empire as of 1627.

By 1635, Peter O'Higgins had returned to Dublin and was engaged in re-opening the Dominican priory in Naas, with the covert support of the same Lord Deputy, who was building Jigginstown Castle nearby.

On 12 May 1641, however, Thomas Wentworth, who had been recalled to England and had been condemned by the Puritan-controlled House of Commons, was executed upon Tower Hill for, among many other things, having covertly granted religious toleration to the Catholic priests, religious, and laity living on his estate at Naas.

The rising of 1641 During the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Rev. Dr. William Pilsworth, Church of Ireland Vicar of Donadea, was arrested by rebel soldiers and was about to be hanged, when Fr. Peter O'Higgins stepped forward to protect him. Dr. Pilsworth later deposed about:

"...a great number of Barberous rouges [rogues] thirstinge for our innocent bloud, heere when they could finde nothinge worthey of death ffitz Gerald of Ballisonan beinge Cheife asked mee whither I would vppon savinge my life goe with them to Mass, I answered I would not save the boddy to destroy the soule whervppon ffitz Gerald of Blackhale swore a great oath that I should hang; and truly I hadd there vndoubtedly suffered hadd not god shewed his wonted wonderfull deliverance, for beinge on the gallows and they revilingly sayinge preach there: a preist whom I never saw before made a Longe speech in my behalfe saynge that my father whoe lived for longe amongst them did not deserve his Child should bee soe miserably vsed and that this & the like blouddye vnhumane acts was it that did and would in a greater measure draw gods vengeance on them; and in that place cursed those that would have a hand in my bloud whervppon I was brought downe..."

On 1 February 1642 the Royal Army skirmished with the Kildare rebels who were based at Newcastle, and went on to take Naas. In the process Fr. O'Higgins was arrested, as described by a royalist Philip Bysse:

"...there were taken at Naas one father Higgin, a prior there, and Thomas and Walter Ashe , of that Towne, these all were brought to Dublin..."

A terrified O'Higgins accordingly sought the protection of the Marquess of Ormond, who ordered him delivered to Dublin under the protection of Royalist cavalry. The fury of Protestant Royalist soldiers towards all Catholics and especially priests, however, was so intense that Ormonde's cavalry, under the command of Colonel Sir Thomas Armstrong, had to fight a pitched battle against Ormonde's infantrymen, who were incited by Sir Charles Coote to demand in vain that O'Higgins be surrendered to him. Despite the cavalry's victory and further efforts by Ormonde to protect him, O'Higgins fell into the hands of Sir Charles Coote. I die a Catholic and a Dominican priest. I forgive from my heart all who have conspired to bring about my death." Among the crowd at the foot of the scaffold was Dr. William Pilsworth who shouted out: "This man is innocent! This man is innocent! He saved my life!" Rev. William Pilsworth was not wanting in courage, but his words fell on deaf ears. With the words "Deo Gratias" on his lips Peter O'Higgins was hanged and died upon the gallows. Fr. O'Higgins believed otherwise and claimed before his death that Sir Charles Coote's signed pardon proved that his imprisonment, trial before a drumhead court-martial, and death sentence were motivated solely in odium fidei ("out of hatred of the Faith").

Despite his efforts to save O'Higgins' life, the latter's execution along with those of many other priests was a major factor in the reluctance and often outright unwillingness of Catholic Royalists to trust or join forces with Ormonde, even a few years later when they faced a common enemy.

Peter O'Higgins' life and death was carefully investigated and publicized by the Dominican Order and other Irish refugees throughout Catholic Europe, particularly through the written accounts by Anthony Bruodin and John Punch. When interest in the Irish Catholic Martyrs was revived following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the name of Peter O'Higgins was firmly established on the list.The evidence was examined in an Ordinary Process held in Dublin in 1904 and submitted to the Holy See. In February 1915, Pope Benedict XV authorized the introduction of Peter O'Higgins cause for Catholic Sainthood, which was examined further in the Apostolic Process held at Dublin between 1917 and 1930, upon which the results were again submitted to the Holy See.

On 27 September 1992, Peter O'Higgins and 16 other Irish Catholic Martyrs were Beatified in Rome by Pope John Paul II. June 20 was assigned as their feast day.