BŁOGOSŁAWIONY OLIVER PLUNKETT z Irlandii

WITH PICTURES
BY AILBHE O MONACHAIN


TO MARK THE SILVER JUBILEE OF THE MARTYR'S BEATIFICATION AND THE 300th ANNIVERSARY OF HIS FIRST DEPARTURE FROM IRELAND





BRIAN O'HIGGINS 38 UPPER O'CONNELL STREET, DUBLIN 1945, stan db + (zakurzona, podniszczona lekko okładka), str 72
ISBN




FOREWORD
Just one month ago an old priest friend of mine urged me to write and publish a popular sketch of the life and martyrdom of Blessed Oliver Plunkett, in time for the Silver Jubilee of his Beatification, in May.
" Books in plenty have been written about him," my friend went on, " but for some reason or other they have not passed, into the hands of the general public. Blessed Oliver, martyr, priest and patriot, is not known to the people of Ireland as he deserves to be. Draw a true picture of him in simple, stimulating words, a picture thrown against a background of national history, and you will do a service to the Cause of the martyr and to the good name of his native land."
So I began my hurriedly-written sketch less than one month ago, and wrote it whenever I had a leisure hour. It is finished to-day, buidheachas le Dia, and one result of the completed task is that I have fallen in love with my subject. If a similar result follows from the reading of this little book, prayers that have not been said heretofore will go up from thousands of Irish hearts to God, asking Him, if it be His Will, to raise to the glory of sainthood this fearless, lovable, holy man who wrought and suffered so much for Him and for Ireland.
Those who desire to know more about Blessed Oliver and about the time in which he lived are referred to the following books, some of them now out of print but procurable in libraries : Memoir of Oliver Plunket, by Cardinal Moran ; Blessed Oliver Plunket, by Mrs. Thomas Cencannon ; Blessed Oliver Plunket, by A Sister of Notre Dame; The Irish Martyrs of the Penal Laws, by Fr. Myles V. Ronan; The Cromwelllan Settlement of Ireland, by John P. Prendergast, and The Highwayman in Irish History, by Terence O'Hanlon. The latter two books are more than helpful in giving a true idea of the Ireland to which Oliver Plunkett came home, as well as of the difference between the outlaws for freedom and the highwaymen that have flourished in all countries as well as ours. _
A great store of information will also be found in Blessed Oliver Plunkett: Historical Studies, published for the League of Prayer by M. H. Gill & Son, Ltd., Dublin.
I trust it will not be held against me that I do not refer to the martyr as Blessed Oliver until I come to May, 1920. He was not a Beatus until then.
No matter how great may be the circulation of this little book it will bring profit only to the Cause of Blessed Oliver. For that reason I feel free to ask every reader to see that it is bought and read by many others as well as himself, until it goes from end to end of Ireland, awakening in the hearts of old and young love and reverence for him who laid down his life for each and every one of us.
St. Patrick's Day, 1945.