Shrine of St Oliver Plunkett. Oliver Plunkett (1625 - 1681) was archbishop of Armagh and primate of All Ireland from 1668, at a time when the country was in a state of civil and religious disorder …More
Shrine of St Oliver Plunkett.

Oliver Plunkett (1625 - 1681) was archbishop of Armagh and primate of All Ireland from 1668, at a time when the country was in a state of civil and religious disorder after the interventions of Oliver Cromwell. He persevered for ten years in his effort to ameliorate this state of affairs, until the discovery of a non-existent “Popish Plot” against the English government (invented and revealed by Titus Oates, who implicated many before he was executed for his part in it) gave the authorities an excuse to act against many prominent Catholics. Plunkett was arrested in Ireland but taken to London for trial; one of his companions was saved by being appointed as Bavarian Ambassador to London and therefore acquiring diplomatic immunity, but for Plunkett there was no such escape, and he was hanged at Tyburn, cheating his executioners by dying before he could be ceremonially disembowelled. Regarded as a martyr for the Catholic faith, St Oliver Plunkett's body is enshrined in Downside Abbey in Somerset, together with other relics such as the notes for his defence in the trial against him. His memory is kept on 1 July.

Source: Lawrence OP on Flickr