Maurice Eustace (executed November 1581) was an Irish soldier, secretly ordained a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest, and hanged as a traitor.

Life

He was the eldest son of Sir John Eustace of Castlemartin,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

; they were an old

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

family, a branch of the FitzEustace dynasty. Following the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the FitzGerald dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and their allies, ...

, the family's loyalty to the Crown was suspect, as Viscount Baltinglass, the head of the family, was one of the principal rebels. Maurice was sent to be educated at the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

college at

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

. There, after the completion of his secular studies, he desired to enter the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. His father, however, wrote to the superiors of the college to send him home. Maurice returned to Ireland. After a brief stay, during which he tried to dissuade his father from opposing his vocation, he went back to Flanders. His old masters, at the college of Bruges, advised him to return to Ireland and devote himself in the world to the service of religion. Shortly after his arrival in Ireland, he got an appointment as captain of horse. He never abandoned the idea of becoming a priest, and secretly took

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

. His servant, who was aware of the fact, told his father, who had his son immediately arrested and imprisoned in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. A younger brother, desiring to inherit the family estates, also reported Maurice to be a priest, a Jesuit, and a friend of the Queen's enemies. As a consequence, he was put on trial for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

. During his imprisonment, Adam Loftus,

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

, offered him his daughter in marriage and a large dowry if he would accept the reformed religion. Eustace was sentenced to public execution and was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eustace, Maurice 1581 deaths Year of birth unknown Irish soldiers 16th-century soldiers 16th-century Irish Jesuits People executed under Elizabeth I as Queen of Ireland People executed for treason against Ireland Christian clergy from County Kildare Military personnel from County Kildare People executed by the Kingdom of Ireland by hanging Executed people from County Kildare