Meagh, John, 1600-1639, Jesuit priest and Martyr

Person

Meagh, John, 1600-1639, Jesuit priest and Martyr

• Meach
• Meade
• Giovanni Meagh
• Mede

1600-31 May 1639

Born: 1600, County Cork
Entered: 25 October 1626, Naples, Italy - Neapolitanae Province (NAP)
Ordained: - pre Entry
Died: 31 May 1639, Kuttenburg (Kutná Hora), Czech Republic - Austriacae Province (ASR) - described as "Martyr"

Studied Rhetoric and Philosophy
“Gio Meagh of the city of Cork in Ireland. 27 years of age more or less, entered Soc on 25/10/1626” (written by himself, Naples Novice Book)
1628 In NAP
1632 Sent to Bohemia
1639 Martyr RIP 31/05/1639 at Kuttenburg BOH. So it is stated in Annals of Kuttemburg for year 1639. According to corrections made with pencil, hardly had he pronounced the salutary names of Jesus and Mary. He was destined for Ireland. A man of very great zeal and some with pious curiosity took notice of him while celebrating the sacred mysteries, and because they had observed his devotion they assisted attentively at his Mass. With externs his conversation was of God and he spoke with such unction and if permissible they would enjoy his conversation a whole day without weariness. He was much grieved when required to speak of common subjects. Known for his integrity of life and spirit of prayer.
Studied 1st year Theology at Rome and 2nd at Naples. 1632 went to Germany and Bohemia
“Shot 30/05/1639”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of William Meagh or Mede, a celebrated citizen of Cork, who died in exile 1614.
Sent as a Missioner to Bohemia, he was shot out of hatred of religion by Swedish soldiers near Kuttenburg and was on his way to Ireland. (cf Tanner’s “Martyrs” and Drew’s “Fasti SJ”)
Imprisoned in Naples on a false accusation; Of great zeal and piety; A good Scholar, and knew Virgil and Imitation by heart;
He had knowledge of his Martyrdom twelve years previously

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Ordained before Entry without having done the usual studies in Theology
1628-1629 After First Vows he was sent to study Rhetoric in the Novitiate
1629 He was then sent for Theology successively to Naples, Roman College and Vienna. His transfer to Vienna was affected in order to enable him to make temporal provision for his niece, who was a member of a Religious Order which had been dissolved by Papal authority. She was shortly married, but it turned out her husband had severe mental health problems. So, he was able to get his nice taken under the wing of the Queen Of Hungary. Meanwhile his nieces’ husband starting issuing defamatory statements about Meagh, but his integrity was upheld. At this time he had also inherited a sizeable sum, and he got permission from the General to sign over most of it to his brother, but also he was planning to allot part of this inheritance to found an Irish Jesuit House in Austria.
1634 While in Vienna he was allowed by the General to serve as a Military Chaplain in the Imperial Army until he could go to Ireland. When he was asked to go his Colonel refused to part with him, and over the next four years he was stationed mostly at Prague but he saw service also in Pomerania and Saxony. By 1638 he was stationed at Guttenburg and eventually given permission to go to Ireland. But as he set out he was killed by Calvinists 31 May 1639
The cause of his beatification with that of the martyrs of Bohemia is before the Holy See

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father John Meagh 1598-1639
In the neighbourhood of Guttenburg, near Prague, Fr John Meagh died a martyr at the hands of some Swedish soldiers, out of hatred for the faith.

While in the service of the Duke of Ossuna, Viceroy of the King of Spain John Meagh had been converted from a worldly life through reading the life of St Dympna. During his preparations to enter religious life, he was wrongly accused and cast into prison. Observing therein a statue of St Ignatius, he recalled how that Saint had also been wrongfully imprisoned. He invoked him and soon after was set free. His devotion led him to visit Rome during the Jubilee, and there he met with an accident, seriously injuring his leg. The Jesuit Fathers kindly received him into their house, and recalling that St Ignatius had also been injured in the leg, he came to the conclusion that he was called to the Society. He applied and was admitted at Naples in 1625.

After his ordination he was sent to Bohemia. He was on the point of returning to the Irish Mission, when the Swedes, in the course of the Thirty Years War, invaded Bohemia. The Fathers thought it wise to remove to the College at Guttenburg, and it was on the road thither that Fr Meagh fell into the hands of the heretical Swedes and was killed by a bullet in the chest.

This happened on the 31st of May 1639, when he was 41 years old, having been born in Cork in 1598.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MEAGH, JOHN, made his Noviceship at Naples. As a preparation for the Irish Mission, he was ordered to cultivate the vineyard in Bohemia. There he was massacred “odio Rcligionis” by some Swedish soldiers, on the 31st of May, 1639, aet. 41. See the life of this Irish Father in Tanner, also his notice in F. John Drews Fasti, S. J.*

• This posthumous work was printed in 1723, at Brunsberg, and contains 516 pages.

IE IJA