List of post-Reformation Catholic saints in Ireland

Edmund Ignatius Rice was the first Irish-born Catholic to be beatified after the English Reformation

The Catholic Church recognises certain deceased Catholics as saints, beati, venerabili, and servants of God. In the post-Reformation period, some such people were born, died, or lived in Ireland.

Saints

• Joannes Andreas Houben (Charles of Saint Andrew) (1821–1893), Professed Priest of the Passionists (Limburg, Netherlands – Dublin, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 10 May 1979
  • Beatified: 16 October 1988 by Pope John Paul II
  • Canonized: 3 June 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI

Blesseds

• Edmund Ignatius Rice (1762–1844), Widower; Founder of the Irish Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers of Mary (Kilkenny – Waterford City, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 2 April 1993
  • Beatified: 6 October 1996 by Pope John Paul II
• Joseph Marmion (Columba) (1858–1923), Professed Priest of the Benedictines (Annunciation Congregation) (Dublin, Ireland – Namur, Belgium)
  • Declared "Venerable": 28 June 1999
  • Beatified: 3 September 2000 by Pope John Paul II
• John Sullivan (1861–1933), Professed Priest of the Jesuits (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 7 November 2014
  • Beatified: 13 May 2017 by Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B.

Venerables

• 
  Ven. Matt Talbot
• 
  Ven. Catherine McAuley
• 
  Ven. Edel Mary Quinn
• 
  Ven. Nano Nagle
• 
  Ven. Mary Aieknhead
• 
  Ven. Patrick Peyton

• Matt Talbot (1856–1925), Layperson of the Archdiocese of Dublin; Member of the Secular Franciscans (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 3 October 1975
• Catherine McAuley (1778–1841), Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Dublin, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 9 April 1990
• Edel Mary Quinn (1907–1944), Layperson of the Archdioceses of Nairobi and Dublin; Member of the Legion of Mary (Cork, Ireland – Nairobi, Kenya)
  • Declared "Venerable": 15 December 1994
• Honora [Nano] Nagle (1718–1784), Founder of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Cork, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 31 October 2013
• Mary Aikenhead (1787–1858), Founder of the Religious Sisters of Charity of Ireland (Cork – Dublin, Ireland)
  • Declared "Venerable": 18 March 2015
• Patrick Peyton (1909–1992), Professed Priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross (Mayo, Ireland – California, United)
  • Declared "Venerable": December 18, 2017

Servants of God

• 
  Tomb of Fr. Andrew Mullen
• 
  Mo. Margaret Mary Healy Murphy
• 
  Fr. Willie Doyle
• 
  Fr. Edward J. Flanagan
• 
  Mo. Mary Kevin Kearney
• 
  Alfie Lambe
• 
  Frank Duff

• Andrew Mullen (1790–1818), Priest of the Diocese of Kildaire and Leighlin (Offaly – Kilkenny, Ireland)^[1]
• Alice O'Sullivan (Louise) (1836–1870), Vowed Member of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul; Martyr (Tipperary, Ireland – Hebei, China)^[2]
• Patrick Ryan (1845–1878), Priest of the Diocese of Knoxville (Tipperary, Ireland – Tennessee, United States)^[3][4]
• Margaret Mary Healy Murphy (1833–1907), Widow; Founder of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate (Cahersiveen, Ireland – Texas, United States)^[5]
• William [Willie] Doyle (1873–1917), Professed Priest of the Jesuits (Dublin, Ireland – Zonnebeke, Belgium)^[6]
• Joseph Shanahan (1871–1943), Professed Priest of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans); Bishop of Onitsha; Founder of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Tipperary, Ireland – Nairobi, Kenya)^[7]
• Edward Joseph Flanagan (1886–1948), Priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha (Roscommon, Ireland – Nebraska, United States)^[8][9][10]
• Martyrs of North Korea
  • Anthony Collier (1913–1950), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban; Martyr (Louth, Ireland – Gangwon, South Korea)^[11]
  • Patrick Reilly (1915–1950), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban; Martyr (Westmeath, Ireland – Gangwon, South Korea)^[12]
  • Thomas Cusack (1910–1950), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban; Martyr (Clare, Ireland – Daejeon, South Korea)^[13][14][15]
  • John O'Brien (1924–1950), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban; Martyr (Roscommon, Ireland – Daejeon, South Korea)^[16]
  • Francis Canavan (1915–1950), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban; Martyr (Galway, Ireland – Chagang, North Korea)^[17][18]
• Teresa Kearney (Mary Kevin) (1875–1957), Founder of the Little Sisters of Saint Francis and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa (Wicklow, Ireland – Massachusetts, United States)^[19][20]
• Alphonsus [Alfie] Lambe (1932–1959), Layperson of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires; Member of the Legion of Mary (Offaly, Ireland – Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Francis Michael [Frank] Duff (1889–1980), Layperson of the Archdiocese of Dublin; Founder of the Legion of Mary (Dublin, Ireland)
• Declan O'Toole (1971–2002), Priest of the Mill Hill Missionaries; Martyr (Galway, Ireland – Kotido, Uganda)^[21][22]
• Colm O'Brien (1973–2009), Priest of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore (Waterford City – Dublin, Ireland)^[23][24]
• Clare Crockett (1982–2016), nun who died in the 2016 Ecuador earthquake and was declared as Servant of God in 2024.^[25]

Candidates for sainthood

• John Christopher Drumgoole (1816–1888), Priest of the Archdiocese of New York; Founder of the Sisters of Francis of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin (Longford, Ireland – New York, United States)^[26]
• Patrick Manogue (1831–1895), Bishop of Sacramento (Kilkenny, Ireland – California, United States)^[27]
• Geraldine Gibbons (Scholastica) (1817–1901), Founder of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan (Kinsale, Ireland – New South Wales, Australia)^[28][29]
• Timothy Leonard (1893–1929), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban (Limerick, Ireland – Jiangxi, China)^[30][31]
• Johanna Butler (Marie Joseph) (1860–1940), Professed Religious of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Kilkenny, Ireland – New York, United States)^[32]
• Martyrs of the 1945 Battle of Manila, Philippines:
  • John Heneghan (1882–1945), Priest of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban (Mayo, Ireland – Manila, Philippines)^[33]
  • William Kelly (Egbert Xavier) (1894–1945), Professed Religious of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers) (Wicklow, Ireland – Manila, Philippines)^{[citation needed]}
• Hugh O'Flaherty (1898–1963), Priest of the Vicariate of Rome (Cork – Kerry, Ireland)^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of post-reformation saints in the United Kingdom
• List of Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
• List of American candidates for sainthood
• List of Canadian Catholic saints and beatified people
• List of Scandinavian saints

References

1. "Case for Daingean priest to be saint". The Irish Times. 4 May 2000.
2. "China – Claude Chevrier, Wu Vincentius, Marie-Thérèse Marquet and 9 Companions from the Vincentian Family of the Diocese of Tianjin". Hagiography Circle.
3. Kevin J. Jones (3 October 2020). "Sainthood inquiry continues for Tennessee priest who died in yellow fever epidemic". Catholic News Agency.
4. Kethy Schiffer (6 October 2020). "Canonization Cause for Father Patrick Ryan Moves Forward". National Catholic Register.
5. Jason Osborne (10 June 2021). "Cahersiveen cause for canonisation opened in Texas". The Irish Catholic.
6. Sarah MacDonald (1 November 2022). "Cause opens for canonisation of Fr Willie Doyle". The Tablet.
7. "Cause of Canonization of Bishop Joseph Shanahan, C.S.Sp". mshr.org.
8. Father Flanagan League
9. "Boys Town founder, Father Flanagan, advances on path to sainthood". America: The Jesuit Review. 24 July 2019.
10. "Father Flanagan sainthood process takes important step forward". 6 News on Yourside. 23 July 2019.
11. "KOREAN MARTYRS – Fr. Tony Collier". koreanmartyrs.com.
12. "KOREAN MARTYRS – Fr. Paddy Reilly". koreanmartyrs.com.
13. Susan Szalewski (11 November 2022). "Two missionaries, one a martyr who refused to leave his flock, are connected by name, vocation and family". The Catholic Voice.
14. "Irish priest murdered by Communist forces may be made a saint". Irish Mirror. 25 September 2013.
15. "KOREAN MARTYRS – Fr. Tommie Cusack". koreanmartyrs.com.
16. "KOREAN MARTYRS – Fr. Jack O'Brien". koreanmartyrs.com.
17. Dara Bradley (11 December 2013). "Beatification call for Galway-born missionary martyr". Connacht Tribune.
18. "KOREAN MARTYRS – Fr. Frank Canavan". koreanmartyrs.com.
19. "Cause of Beatification of Mother Kevin Kearney OSF (1875–1957)". Archdiocese of Armagh.
20. Matt Moran (28 November 2018). "Uganda: Irish Missionary Nun on the way to canonisation". Independent Catholic News.
21. "Uganda/Ireland: 20th Anniversary Of Violent Death Of Fr Declan O'Toole MHM". Mill Hill Missionaries. 21 March 2022.
22. Tom Gilmore (25 March 2015). "Sainthood calls for young headford priest". The Tuam Herald.
23. Susan Gately (3 December 2018). "Irish priest who died of cancer at 36 put on first step of path to sainthood". Independent.
24. Susan Gately (10 December 2018). "More than a hundred people consider cause for Tipperary priest". The Tablet.
25. "Sister Clare takes first step towards sainthood". BBC News. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
26. "Saints of New York: Father John C. Drumgoole (1816–1888)". Archdiocese of New York. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017.
27. "Gold rush miner turned Catholic bishop considered for beatification". Diocese of Sacramento.
28. "Our Story |The Sisters of The Good Samaritan". goodsams.org. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
29. "Opening the Door to a Saint" (PDF). sosj.org. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
30. Georgette Bechara (10 April 2019). "From Ireland to China and Martyrdom: The Legacy of Father Timothy Leonard". National Catholic Register.
31. "One lone unarmed man had the courage to stand up..." (PDF). Limerick Leader. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2012 – via limerickcity.ie.
32. "Mother Marie Joseph Butler". britannica.com.
33. "Victims of War – Philippines". Hagiography Circle.