Francis Taylor and fourteen companion martyrs (†1572–1654)

Biography

Francis Taylor, former mayor of Dublin, and fourteen companions represent the Irish bishops, priests, religious and laity who suffered for remaining Catholic under persecution. Taylor, a husband and father, was excluded from public life and imprisoned for years for refusing to abandon the faith; He died in prison in 1621. The other companions suffered imprisonment, torture or death on different dates between the 16th and 17th centuries. Their testimony shows the fidelity of an entire ecclesial community, lived in various states of life.