William Ireland
Encyclopedia
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He was executed during the reign of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
for participating in the alleged but fabricated "Popish Plot
Popish Plot
The Popish Plot was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England, Wales and Scotland in Anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there existed an extensive Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II, accusations that led to the execution of at...
" against the king. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929.
Life
Ireland was the eldest son of William Ireland of Crofton Hall, YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, by Barbara, a daughter of Ralph Eure of Washingborough
Washingborough
Washingborough is a large village east of the city of Lincoln in North Kesteven, located on the lower slopes of the limestone escarpment known as the Lincoln Cliff where the River Witham breaks through the Lincoln Edge.-Geography:...
, Lincolnshire, by his first wife. Ireland was educated at the English College, St. Omer; admitted to the Society of Jesus at Watten, 1655; professed, 1673; and was for several years confessor to the Poor Clares at Gravelines
Gravelines
Gravelines is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies at the mouth of the river Aa 15 miles southwest of Dunkirk. There is a market in the town square on Saturdays. The "Arsenal" approached from the town square is home to an extensive and carefully displayed art collection....
.
In 1677, Ireland was sent on the English Mission and appointed procurator of the province. On the night of 28 September 1678, he was arrested by constables led by Titus Oates
Titus Oates
Titus Oates was an English perjurer who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.-Early life:...
, and taken before the privy council. Among those who shared his fate was John Grove, a layman and the nominal occupier of that part of Wild House, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, occupied by the Jesuits and the Spanish ambassador; also Thomas Jenison and John Fenwick
John Fenwick (Jesuit)
Blessed John Fenwick, real surname Caldwell was an English Jesuit, executed at the time of the fabricated Popish Plot. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI.-Life:...
. Together with Thomas Pickering
Blessed Thomas Pickering
Blessed Thomas Pickering was a Benedictine lay brother who served in England during the time of recusancy. He was martyred as a result of the fraudulent claims of Titus Oates that he was part of a plot to murder King Charles II....
, Ireland and Grove were said to have planned on 19 August, in the rooms of the Jesuit William Harcourt, to assassinate the king Charles II at Newmarket. Oates and William Bedloe
William Bedloe
William Bedloe was an English fraudster and informer, born at Chepstow.He appears to have been well educated; he was certainly clever, and after moving to London in 1670 he became acquainted with some Jesuits and was occasionally employed by them...
swore that Grove was to have £1500 for the job and Pickering 30,000 Masses. The sworn testimony of Gates and Bedloe impressed the jury, and Chief Justice William Scroggs
William Scroggs
Sir William Scroggs , Lord Chief Justice of England, was the son of an Oxford landowner; an account of him being the son of a butcher of sufficient means to give his son a university education is merely a rumour....
summed up against Ireland.
After confinement in Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
, Ireland was sentenced to death on 17 December. Ireland wrote a journal in Newgate, which accounted for every day of his absence from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
between 3 August and 14 September, but a Sarah Pain swore that she saw him in Fetter Lane
Fetter Lane
Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in London England. It runs from Fleet Street in the south to Holborn in the north.The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement...
on 20 August. After two reprieves Ireland and Grove were executed together at Tyburn
Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
, Grove saying: "We are innocent, we lose our lives wrongfully, we pray God to forgive them that are the causes of it." A deposition against Ireland's alibi was subsequently published by Robert Jenison, and further charges were brought against Ireland in John Smith's Narrative containing a further Discovery of the Popish Plot of 1679.