Priest hunter
Encyclopedia
A priest hunter was a person who, acting on behalf of British forces, spied on or captured Catholic priests during Penal Times
in seventeenth and eighteenth century Ireland.
After the English conquest of Ireland, the majority of the population of Ireland had remained Roman Catholic. Large areas of Ireland remained in the control of resisting Irish clans who found the Roman Catholic priests useful conduits for clandestinely obtaining supplies, information, and gold from outside, thereby maintaining their independence from central and especially Protestant authorities.
A 1709 Penal Act
demanded that Catholic priests take the Oath of Abjuration, and recognise the Protestant Queen Anne
as Queen of England, and by implication, Ireland. Priests that did not conform were arrested and executed. This activity, along with the deportation of priests who did conform, was a documented attempt to let the Catholic clergy die out in Ireland within a generation. Priests had to register with the local magistrates to be allowed to preach, and most did so. Bishops were not able to register.
Priest hunters were effectively bounty hunters; in most cases the men were criminals who were forced into the position by the police force. Some were volunteers, experienced soldiers or former spies. They used numbers of informants within Catholic communities.
The reward rates for capture varied from £100-£50 for a Bishop, to £20-£10 for the capture of an unregistered priest; substantial amounts of money at the time. The work was dangerous, and some priests killed in defence. The hunters were outcast from their communities, and were viewed as the most despised class. Often when a gentleman informed on a priest, locals would effect revenge by burning his house and farmyard. The risks were the same for known informants.
The Penal law made fugitives of the remaining clerics, and they were forced to conduct ceremonies in secret, and in remote locations. Irish Catholics were never large Church goers, however night time worship at mass rock
s became common. The attending priest would usually wear a veil, so that if an attendee was questioned they were able to truthfully say that they did not know who had said the Mass.
The distribution of Priest hunters was uneven; some local police forces chose to overlook both the presence of priests and their activity around mass rocks.
Perhaps the most notorious was Sean na Sagart
from County Mayo, an alcoholic horse thief who took up the profession in return for a pardon from the hangman's noose, c. 1715. He was eventually murdered by a priest he was pursuing, and his body was thrown in a lake. Later it was recovered and buried.
The term 'Priest hunter' or 'pursuivants' is also found in 16th century England, where fugitive clerics used priest holes to evade arrest.
Penal Laws (Ireland)
The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
in seventeenth and eighteenth century Ireland.
After the English conquest of Ireland, the majority of the population of Ireland had remained Roman Catholic. Large areas of Ireland remained in the control of resisting Irish clans who found the Roman Catholic priests useful conduits for clandestinely obtaining supplies, information, and gold from outside, thereby maintaining their independence from central and especially Protestant authorities.
A 1709 Penal Act
Popery Act
An Act to prevent the further Growth of Poperty was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1703 and amended in 1709, one of a series of penal laws against Roman Catholics....
demanded that Catholic priests take the Oath of Abjuration, and recognise the Protestant Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
as Queen of England, and by implication, Ireland. Priests that did not conform were arrested and executed. This activity, along with the deportation of priests who did conform, was a documented attempt to let the Catholic clergy die out in Ireland within a generation. Priests had to register with the local magistrates to be allowed to preach, and most did so. Bishops were not able to register.
Priest hunters were effectively bounty hunters; in most cases the men were criminals who were forced into the position by the police force. Some were volunteers, experienced soldiers or former spies. They used numbers of informants within Catholic communities.
The reward rates for capture varied from £100-£50 for a Bishop, to £20-£10 for the capture of an unregistered priest; substantial amounts of money at the time. The work was dangerous, and some priests killed in defence. The hunters were outcast from their communities, and were viewed as the most despised class. Often when a gentleman informed on a priest, locals would effect revenge by burning his house and farmyard. The risks were the same for known informants.
The Penal law made fugitives of the remaining clerics, and they were forced to conduct ceremonies in secret, and in remote locations. Irish Catholics were never large Church goers, however night time worship at mass rock
Mass rock
A Mass rock was a stone used in mid-seventeenth century Ireland as a location for Catholic worship. Isolated locations were sought to hold religious ceremony, as observing the Catholic mass was a matter of difficulty and danger at the time as a result of both Cromwell's campaign against the Irish,...
s became common. The attending priest would usually wear a veil, so that if an attendee was questioned they were able to truthfully say that they did not know who had said the Mass.
The distribution of Priest hunters was uneven; some local police forces chose to overlook both the presence of priests and their activity around mass rocks.
Perhaps the most notorious was Sean na Sagart
Sean na Sagart
Seán na Sagart was a notorious priest hunter during Penal Times in Ireland.Born John Mullowney in Derrew, near Ballyheane, County Mayo, he began his career as a horse thief but was arrested and sentenced to death in Castlebar in his youth...
from County Mayo, an alcoholic horse thief who took up the profession in return for a pardon from the hangman's noose, c. 1715. He was eventually murdered by a priest he was pursuing, and his body was thrown in a lake. Later it was recovered and buried.
The term 'Priest hunter' or 'pursuivants' is also found in 16th century England, where fugitive clerics used priest holes to evade arrest.
Sources
- de Burca, Eamon. South Mayo Family Research Centre Journal, 1987.
- McGee, Thomas D'Arcy. "The priest hunter : a tale of the Irish penal laws", 1844.
- Power, Denis. Archaeological inventory of County Cork, Volume 3: Mid Cork, 9467. ColorBooks, 1997. ISBN 0-7076-4933-1