Irish Jesuit lay brother and ex-soldier
Dominic Collins
, SJ (
Irish
:
Doiminic O Coileain
;
[1]
1566 ? 31 October 1602) was an Irish
Jesuit
lay brother
, an ex-soldier, who died for his
Catholic faith
. He was
beatified
by
Pope John Paul II
, along with 16 other
Irish Catholic Martyrs
, on 27 September 1993.
[2]
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Dominic Collins was born in 1566 into a prominent
Hiberno-Norman
merchant family in
Youghal
, County Cork, in the
Kingdom of Ireland
,
[4]
John Collins, his father, and one of his brothers both served as
Lord Mayors
of the town.
[5]
His mother, Felicity O'Dril, or O'Dula, was descended from a family of
Gaels
.
[6]
Around 1586, Collins sailed to France, landed at
Les Sables d'Olonne
, and travelled overland to
Nantes
, where he worked for three years as a inn servant. His years as an inn servant enabled Collins to acquire both the money for a horse and a working knowledge of both the
French
and
Breton languages
. In 1586, Collins joined a
cavalry
unit during the
Brittany Campaign
of the
French Wars of Religion
; namely, the
Catholic League
led by
Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur
. As such, Collins was at war against both
Breton
Huguenots
and the English and German troops who were sent to assist them. Collins' other enemy was the
House of Bourbon
, as the Duke de Mercoeur also sought, with both Spanish and Vatican backing, to restore the
political independence
of the
Duchy of Brittany
from the
Kingdom of France
. Collins was known to be an effective soldier and was promoted to the rank of Captain (and was known to the French under the
nom de guerre
of
Capitaine de La Branche
).
[7]
After personally retaking the district and chateau of
Lapena
from the Huguenots, Collins was appointed
military governor
of the territory by the Duke de Mercoeur.
[8]
Henri of Navarre
, the French throne's still
Calvinist
heir presumptive
, offered Collins a
bribe
of 2,000 ducats to surrender the chateau and surrounding district, but was refused. Only when Collins realized that both the Catholic League and the
Breton nationalist
armies of the Duke de Mercoeur were collapsing, did he surrender Lapena to Spanish General Don
Juan del Aguila
, who dispatched Collins to
Hapsburg Spain
via
San Sebastian
in the
Basque Country
, with a letter of recommendation to
King Philip II
,
[9]
by whom Collins was granted a pension of 25
escudos
,
[5]
which was received only, "for a twelvemonth or thereabouts."
[10]
Collins then transferred to the
Spanish Royal Navy
and was stationed at the port of
La Coruna
in
Galicia
.
[11]
Jesuit vocation
[
edit
]
During
Lent
of 1598, Collins met Jesuit
priest
Fr.
Thomas White
, a native of
Clonmel
, who had arrived at A Coruna to hear the confessions of his fellow Irishmen serving there with the Spanish Navy. Collins was convinced that their meeting was providential and Fr. White, who had previously founded the
Irish College at Salamanca
, has left behind a biography of Dominic Collins, which relates in considerable detail the story of the former Captain's call to the religious life. Collins had so firm a desire to become a Jesuit, that Father White introduced him to Fr.
Alfonso Ferrer
, the Jesuit Provincial of
Castile
.
[11]
[12]
Although he was now 32 years old, the Provincial thought it was wise to delay his
Jesuit formation
, perhaps to test the strength of his vocation. There were doubts too about whether Collins was well-educated enough to become a priest, "but the Provincial finally relented in the face of Collins' repeated requests, as he was received as a brother-novice on 8 December 1598". He began his
novitiate
in the Jesuit college at
Santiago de Compostela
, where the annals describe Collins as, "an Irishman of distinguished parentage, comely appearance and stature", who had just, "passed thirty-two years of age", and, "had been a Captain of Duke Philip's cavalry in Brittany."
[13]
When the Jesuit College was struck by a plague, Dominic tended the victims, nursing some of them back to health and comforting the others in their last hours.
[11]
A report from that time describes him as a man of sound judgement and great physical strength; mature, prudent and sociable, though inclined to be hot-tempered and obstinate. He was allowed to
profess
his
Solemn vows
in February 1601.
[5]
The Nine Years War
[
edit
]
Soon after his profession, a Spanish expedition was organised by
King Philip III
to assist the rising of the
Irish clans
led by
Aodh Mor O Neill
and
Red Hugh O'Donnell
during the
Nine Years War
against
Queen Elizabeth I
and in resistance to the
Reformation in Ireland
. Fr.
James Archer
, an Irish Jesuit priest assigned by the King as
military chaplain
to the Spanish Army, requested that Dominic Collins be assigned as his companion and assistant, due to his extensive military background.
[8]
The fleet set sail on 3 September 1601 in two squadrons. The smaller part of the fleet, to which Collins was assigned, ran into bad weather and was delayed, eventually reaching
Castlehaven
in southwestern Cork on 1 December, the main squadron having reached
Kinsale
more than two months earlier.
[5]
On finally arriving in Munster, Collins discovered that the province lay docile under
Lord President of Munster
Sir
George Carew
's domination and control. This was largely due to the recent capture and imprisonment of both
Finghin mac Donncha Mac Carthaig Mor
and
the Sugan Earl of Desmond
.
Meanwhile, Collins and Fr. Archer vouched with del Aguila for local
Irish clan chief
,
Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare
, who offered to raise his clan and block the march from
the Pale
of the Crown's principal army under
Lord Mountjoy
, but del Aguila declined.
The Spanish instead occupied the walled town of
Kinsale
, which was almost immediately surrounded by Lord Mountjoy in a
siege
that was to last three months. Seeking to rescue Juan del Aguila's forces and break the siege, the anti-Tudor coalition of the
Irish clans
of
Ulster
under the leadership of
Aodh Mor O Neill
and
Red Hugh O'Donnell
marched across the whole length of Ireland through extremely bitter winter conditions, but were catastrophically defeated by the English cavalry at the
Battle of Kinsale
on 24 December 1601. The results would prove every bit as devastating for
Gaelic Ireland
as the
Battle of Culloden
would be for the Gaels of the Scottish
Highlands and Islands
in 1746.
Juan del Aguila then surrendered Kinsale on terms. Based almost certainly upon Dominic Collins' tactical assessments, Fr. Archer immediately engaged in recrimination. He accused the Spanish commander of cowardice, vacillation, and
dereliction of duty
by both refusing to heed the advice of local
Irish clans
and refusing to sally forth and meet his Ulster allies at the critical point. Archer concluded, "[He] has the reputation in other parts of being a brave soldier, but [in Ireland he was] cowardly and timorous."
[14]
Determined to continue the fight, Archer and Collins left Kinsale and joined the forces of
Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare
, who were still holding out with Spanish backing further down the coast at
Dunboy Castle
. To Juan del Aguila's fury, Archer overruled the local Spanish commander and announced, in violation of the surrender terms negotiated after Kinsale, that Dunboy Castle would not be surrendered but that
Clan O'Sullivan
would continue holding it in the name of King
Philip III of Spain
. Juan del Aguila was reportedly so incensed that he offered to personally help the English take the castle.
[15]
In a letter to
Robert Cecil
, Sir
George Carew
, "could not forbear", according to Irish historian Proinsias O Fionnagain, "voicing his almost superstitious fear of Archer". Carew commented, "Archer the priest conjures the foul weather, which I do partly believe, for the old men have never seen the like in May. If he remains in Dunboy I hope to conjure his head in a halter. He hath a fellow devil with him, one Dominic Collins, a
friar
, who in his youth was a scholar and brother to him that was last year mayor of Youghal. Every week that traitorly priest administers the sacrament to them; yet I hope to sow such sedition amongst them that they will break."
[16]
Instead of falling into Carew's hands, Fr. Archer returned to Spain to seek further reinforcements, while Dominic Collins remained behind at
Dunboy Castle
with 143 Irish soldiers who were besieged by 4,000 English troops. After an
eleven-day siege
, Dunboy fell into the hands of the English on 18 June 1602.
[17]
While all other prisoners were immediately hanged en masse, Collins and two other survivors were held prisoner. They were then taken as State prisoners to
Shandon Castle
, on the modern location of
Firkin Crane
, in
Cork City
. There, they were tortured and the two surviving Irish soldiers were executed.
Dominic Collins, however, was far more valuable to the Queen's officials alive rather than dead. More than four months were accordingly spent deciding his fate. Determined upon the
propaganda coup
of having a Jesuit abjure the Catholic Faith in his very hometown, the Queen's officials removed Collins from Shandon Castle and brought him back to Youghal, a distance of 173 km.
[18]
There, the
Lord Deputy of Ireland
, Sir
Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy
, offered Collins a full pardon for
high treason
, the favour of the Queen, and promotion to a high position within either the
Irish Royal Army
or the
Protestant
Church of Ireland
in return for taking the
Oath of Supremacy
and accepting the
subservience of the Church to the State
. To Lord Mountjoy's fury, however, theological arguments by
Anglican clergy
and even visits from Collins' relatives and their pleas with him to conform to
Anglicanism
and spare them from the shame of having a family member face a traitors death, did nothing to shake the prisoner's resolve.
[19]
Martyrdom and burial
[
edit
]
According to
Pacata Hibernia
, a detailed account of Sir George Carew's term as
President of Munster
, which was compiled under his close supervision soon after the events it describes and published posthumously in 1633,
[20]
"the Fryer, in whom no penitence appeared for his detestable treasons, nor yet would endeavour to merit his life, either by discovering the Rebells' intention, (which was in his power) or by doing
some service
that might deserve favour, was hanged at Youghall, the Towne wherein he was born."
[21]
The accounts by Bishop
David Rothe
and John Mullin confirm that, after being tried and condemned to death by
military tribunal
,
[22]
Dominic Collins was publicly
hanged
at Youghal on 31 October 1602.
[23]
According to D. P. Conyngham, "At dawn, they led him out to execution, with his hands tied behind his back and a
halter
around his neck. He walked calmly along, with his eyes raised to heaven and his mind fixed on God, reflecting on Christ bearing his Cross. When he arrived at the foot of the gallows, he fell on his knees and kissed it, commending his passage to God; then, following the example of the martyrs, he prayed for his enemies, for the Queen, and for his country, and with alacrity and a cheerful countenance ascended the ladder."
[24]
According to Conyngham, "Turning round on the topmost step, from thence, as from a pulpit", Collins addressed the crowd in Spanish, Irish and English. He urged local Catholics, "to preserve the Faith undaunted unto death, and disregard alike the threats and promises of the heretics."
[25]
So moved was the crowd that the hangman fled and a passing fisherman was forced to do carry out the execution. Collins's last words before being turned off of the ladder and hanged were, "Look up to heaven and, worthy descendants of your ancestors, who ever constantly professed it, hold fast to the faith for which I am this day to die!"
[26]
According to D. P. Conyngham, Dominic Collins was secretly buried two days later by local Catholics inside a nearby chapel and under the cover of night. He was the last of the
Irish Catholic Martyrs
to die for his faith during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I
.
[27]
Legacy
[
edit
]
According to historian David Murphy, "It was clear from Collins's attitude and final words that he was convinced that he was being persecuted for his religious beliefs. Carew's account of Collins's statements under interrogation support this and this fact became crucial in his cause for beatification. The
Society of Jesus
immediately accepted that he had been martyred, and his status as a martyr was soon generally accepted by Catholics across Europe. Some miracles were later attributed to him."
[28]
Following the
reversal
of the
Suppression
of the
Society of Jesus
in 1814 and
Catholic Emancipation
in the
British Isles
in 1829, an early 17th-century portrait of Brother Dominic Collins was brought from the
Irish College at Salamanca
to
St Patrick's College
at
Maynooth
, where it still remains.
[29]
Beatification
[
edit
]
Collins was beatified ? along with
Francis Taylor
,
Dermot O'Hurley
,
Margaret Ball
, and 13 other
Irish Catholic Martyrs
? on 27 September 1992 by
Pope John-Paul II
.
[30]
Liturgically
his feast is celebrated on 20 June, or 30 October (in the
Society of Jesus
). Today a Jesuit residence in
Dublin
is named after him.
[31]
Folklore
[
edit
]
- According to historian and
folklorist
Tony Nugent, Fr. James Archer and Brother Dominic Collins are associated in local
Irish folklore
with a rock located in a mountain pass between
Kenmare
,
County Kerry
and
Bantry
,
County Cork
. The rock, which is known in
Munster Irish
as
Leim an tSagairt
("The Priest's Leap"), is alleged to be where Fr. Archer, Brother Dominic, or in some accounts both, leapt an enormous distance on horseback to escape pursuit by a posse of Elizabethan soldiers. A metal cross now marks the site.
[32]
[33]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Blessed Dominic Collins"
. 19 January 2009.
- ^
"Beatifications During Pope John Paul II's Pontificate | USCCB"
.
www.usccb.org
.
- ^
CREAZIONE DI VENTUNO NUOVI BEATI: OMELIA DI GIOVANNI PAOLO II
, Piazza San Pietro - Domenica, 27 settembre 1992.
- ^
Forristal p.5
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Oct 31 - Bl Dominic Collins (2) A man of decisions"
.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 95.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 96.
- ^
a
b
"Living Space Dominic Collins | Sacred Space"
.
livingspace.sacredspace.ie
.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Pages 96-97.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 97.
- ^
a
b
c
"Oct 31 - Blessed Dominic Collins (1) 1566-1602 Irish martyr, Jesuit brother"
.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 97.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 97.
- ^
Des Ekin (2015),
The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del Aguila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion
, Pegasus Books. Page 330.
- ^
Des Ekin (2015),
The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del Aguila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion
, Pegasus Books. Page 335.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 99.
- ^
Forrestal, p. 21
- ^
Collins, J. T. (1943).
"Military Defences of Cork"
(PDF)
.
Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society
. 2.
48
(167): 64.
In the aftermath of the battle many Irish gentlemen were tried at Shandon for treason. Amongst them was Dominic Collins, the Jesuit friar, captured at the Siege of Dunboy and subsequently executed in his native town of Youghal
- ^
D. P. Conyngham,
Lives of the Irish Martyrs
,
P.J. Kennedy & Sons
,
New York City
. Page 102.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 99.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 101.
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 100.
- ^
Forrestal p. 24
- ^
D. P. Conyngham,
Lives of the Irish Martyrs
,
P.J. Kennedy & Sons
,
New York City
. Page 102.
- ^
D. P. Conyngham,
Lives of the Irish Martyrs
,
P.J. Kennedy & Sons
,
New York City
. Page 102.
- ^
D. P. Conyngham,
Lives of the Irish Martyrs
,
P.J. Kennedy & Sons
,
New York City
. Page 102.
- ^
D. P. Conyngham,
Lives of the Irish Martyrs
,
P.J. Kennedy & Sons
,
New York City
. Page 103.
- ^
Dominic Collins
(c.1566?1602),
Dictionary of Irish Biography
- ^
Edited by Patrick J. Cornish and Benignus Millet (2005),
The Irish Martyrs
, Four Courts Press, Dublin. Page 105.
- ^
"Church of the Irish Martyrs"
. Archived from
the original
on 13 July 2011.
- ^
Muldoon, Patrick (4 November 2014).
"Dominic Collins House"
.
- ^
Tony Nugent (2013),
Were You at the Rock? The History of Mass Rocks in Ireland
, The Liffey Press. Pages 113?117.
- ^
Edited by Fr. John Shine (1992),
Bonane: A Centenary Celebration
, Printed by the
Leinster Leader
,
Naas
. pp. 40-50.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Finegan, F.: "The Beatified Martyrs of Ireland," in
Irish Theological Quarterly
, vol. 65, 2000, 157?167.
- Forristal, D.:
Dominic Collins: Irish martyr, Jesuit brother
, Dublin, 1992.
External links
[
edit
]