He had been a distinguished student of Louvain， and was then a professor of Canon Law at Rheims. Hardly had he reached Ireland when the government spies were on his track. For some time he remained in the vicinity of Drogheda， and then he withdrew to the castle of the Baron of Slane， from which he proceeded through Cavan and Longford to his diocese. Having learned， however， that the Baron of Slane was in danger for having afforded him assistance he surrendered himself to his persecutors. He was brought to Dublin， in the course of which he admitted that he was an archbishop appointed by the Pope， but he denied that he had come to Ireland to stir up strife or to encourage treasonable conspiracies. On one occasion at least he was subjected to horrible torture to extract from him some damaging admissions. At the advice of Walsingham his feet and legs were encased in tin boots and he was held over a fire. As he still refused to submit he was tried by court-martial and condemned. In June 1584 he was hanged in Dublin.[80]
Edmund McGauran， who was translated from Ardagh to Armagh in 1587， devoted himself earnestly to the task of inducing the Catholic princes of Ulster to defend their religion and their territories. He was slain during a battle between Maguire of Fermanagh and the English in 1593.[81] Redmond O'Gallagher， Bishop of Derry， was specially active throughout the whole province of Ulster， and so powerful were his protectors that for years the government agents were afraid to arrest him， but in the end he was slain together with three of his priests by soldiers from the Lough Foyle garrison (1601).[82]
In the early years of Elizabeth's reign the government from motives of prudence abstained from adopting violent measures to promote the change of religion. But after 1570 there was a decided change， and particularly after 1580 the persecution was carried on with great bitterness. Many of the clergy， both secular and regular， were put to death. Amongst the latter the few Jesuits who had come into the country to help to carry on the work begun by Father David Wolf， the Franciscans， and the Dominicans， were pursued with relentless severity. Sometimes they were put to death by the soldiers without any form of trial， sometimes they were executed according to the proclamations of martial law， and sometimes they were allowed a form of trial. But the fact that they were priests was sufficient to secure their conviction. Several laymen were put to death for refusing to change their religion， for harbouring priests， or for having studied in some of the Catholic colleges on the Continent. Although Henry VIII. had succeeded in destroying many of the religious houses， still in a great part of the North， West， and South of Ireland the law had not been enforced， and even in the districts where the English held sway several of the monasteries enjoyed a precarious existence， partly owing to the kindness of certain noblemen， partly also to royal exemptions. But with the gradual subjugation of the country during the reign of Elizabeth more determined measures were taken for the suppression of such institutions. According to a return presented to the authorities in London (1578) "thirty-four abbeys and religious houses with very good lands belonging to them， never surveyed before 1569，" were seized， as were also "seventy-two abbeys and priories concealed from her Majesty."[83] From a revenue return presented in 1593 it can be seen that the suppression of these houses and the seizure of their property helped considerably to strengthen the royal exchequer. From the possessions in Ireland that belonged formerly to religious houses in England the queen received annually in round numbers ā538， from the lands belonging to St. John of Jerusalem ā776， from those of the monastery of Thomastown ā551， from the possessions of St. Mary's Abbey， Dublin， ā329， and from the monasteries and other religious houses in Ireland ā4，716.[84] The destruction of the monasteries did not， however， mean the extinction of the Mendicant Orders. They still continued to maintain themselves in the country， so that during the worst days of the seventeenth century the Franciscans and Dominicans were to be reckoned with as the most dangerous opponents of the religious policy of the English government.
Only in case of one bishop， the notorious Miler Magrath， was Elizabeth able to secure submission. He was a Franciscan friar， who， having been sent to Rome to petition that the vacant See of Down and Connor should be conferred on Shane O'Neill's brother， took steps to secure the appointment for himself (1565). Finding on his return that he could not hope to get any revenue from his diocese on account of the opposition of O'Neill， he made his submission to the queen (1567) and received as his reward the diocese of Clogher， and later on the Archbishopric of Cashel (1570). For the greater part of his term of office as archbishop he held the Sees of Waterford and Lismore， and when he resigned them in 1607 he obtained a grant of Achonry and Killala. While pretending to be scandalised by the toleration shown to Catholics， and especially to Catholic officials， and to be anxious that the laws should be enforced with the utmost rigour he took measures to warn the clergy whenever there was danger of arrest. On one occasion when he was in London， having learned that a raid was contemplated against the priests， he wrote to his wife to warn Bishop MacCragh of Cork to go into hiding at once， and to send away the priests who had taken refuge in his own palace at Cashel lest he should get into trouble. He was denounced by the officials in Dublin as a traitor， a drunkard， and a despoiler of the goods of the Church.