Oliver Plunket

1629-1681. Primate of Ireland. Born in Loughcrew, Meath, he studied in Dublin and Rome, and was professor of theology in Propaganda College (1657-69). After twenty-five years in Rome he was consecrated at Ghent and returned to Ireland in 1670 as archbishop of Armagh and titular primate. An ultramontane who favored the Jesuits, he established in Dublin a school under their management. He labored unceasingly within and beyond his diocese, often barely housed or fed, and had a good relationship with Protestants. During the persecutions, though guiltless, he was hanged for treason by Charles II. His head remains in the Dominican convent at Drogheda, founded in 1722 by his grandniece Catherine.