Ireland

Though little known in this country, St. Oliver Plunkett (feast day: July 1), archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland, and ultimately martyr, is revered for rebuilding the Catholic Church in his homeland after the Calvinist ruler of England, Oliver Cromwell, set out to destroy it.

Of the hundreds of Catholic martyrs in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland during the Protestant Reformation, only a handful were women. One of these is Blessed Margaret Ball (1515-1584), one of Ireland’s patronesses, whose feast day is June 20.