Venerable James Dowdall

Abrreviated Biography

By: Margaret Smith Kristich

For questions and comments please send an email to:mkristich@gmail.com

Note to the readers: this page does not contain numbered footnotes, all references found in this article can be found in the full Seancas Ard Mhacha. This page is still under construction and will be updated at a later date. Thank you for your patience.

           
           James Dowdall of Drogheda, County Louth, was martyred on August 13, 1599 at Exeter Castle.  According to the 1913 Edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia his name is included in the Apostolic Process of the Irish Martyrs. In the Ordinary Process in Dublin in 1904, 400 cases of reputed martyrdom were examined, 309 of them including James Dowdall were put forward. After careful examination in Rome, papal permission was granted for the introduction of the cause of 260 martyrs, James Dowdall was not included in this group. The case of James Dowdall was examined during the last decades of the 19th century at Westminster when an Ordinary Process had begun for many martyrs and eventually examined in the Apostolic Process. It was determined by Rome that since he was already on the English list that he should not be on the Irish list as well. He was eventually elevated to Venerable James Dowdall in the English Catholic Church.  Due to insufficient information James’s cause was deferred. Since then an in-depth study has been done, the findings were published in  the 2004 edition of Seanchas Ard Mhacha (Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society).

           
           James was returning from a buying trip in France when due to bad weather his ship was forced onto the Devon Coast.  He was questioned by the local authorities and refused to take the supremacy oath placing Queen Elizabeth above the Pope in spiritual matters. His ship and goods were confiscated and he was marched to Exeter Castle and held for most of a year. He appeared before the Devon Assize Court three times and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered for refusing to take the supremacy oath.

           
            Why is it important to tell the story of James and in doing so begin down the path to his beatification and canonization in the Roman Catholic Church?  In today's busy world, full of turmoil and too much self absorption, people often forget to take time to stop and contemplate the enormous sacrifice this humble man and others gave for their faith and God.  It is important to remember those who possessed excessive courage and endured the horrors of torture for their faith.  James and many other incredible people led extraordinary lives which placed them in harm's way. In many places today it is easy to practice your faith; you simply get into your car and drive to church.  James did not have that luxury.  He sat in a rat and diseased infested prison for almost one year, undergoing unimaginable horrors, separated from his loved ones and the Church he loved so dearly.

            James Dowdall was born c. 1540 in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. He was from one of the leading noble families of County Louth.  This was how St. Oliver Plunkett referred to the Dowdall family in his report on the Diocese of Armagh in 1671. The Dowdalls were devout Roman Catholics and throughout the centuries provided the Church with many priests and nuns. Three of these were renowned:  Richard FitzRalph (a Dowdall cousin), Archbishop of Armagh amd known as ‘Saint Richard of Dundalk’, (d. 1360); Archbishop George Dowdall  O. Cruc. of Armagh (d. 1558); and  St.  Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1681), who was another cousin. There were many other religious members of the Dowdall family down through the centuries.

            We learn from his brother’s  will that James had a brother named Patrick who died in November 1581, also a sister-in-law, Hanoret, two daughters still living in 1581, Elinor and Mary; nephew Thomas Dowdall; Cousins Gennet Dowdall and her husband Justice William Bathe, George Dowdall; brother George Dowdall; sister Alison and brother-in-law, Nicholas Dardis; and nephews Richard and John Barnewall.

           
           James was surrounded by a family who courageously practiced their Catholic religion. For the Dowdalls service to God and faith were an integral part of their lives. This same dedication to God also played an important roll for the lay members of the Dowdall family. Many Dowdalls jeopardized their lives to help shelter priests or to affirm their Catholic faith: James Dowdall of Athboy, James of Drogheda, the Dowdalls of Athlumney and Glaspistol, to name only a few.   Evidence of the shelter the Athlumney Dowdalls gave to priests is still evident today in the remains of Athlumney Castle in Navan, County Meath. There is a secret staircase which leads down to a hidden room.  It is believed St. Oliver Plunkett, a Dowdall cousin, was one of the priests who found shelter in Athlumney.  With this history it is not unusual to see that three Dowdall cousins were martyred for their faith: Father John Baptist Dowdall (born abt 1629, Glaspistol), James Dowdall of Athboy (d. 1603) and James Dowdall of Drogheda.

There is an intriguing report which was sent to William Cecil, Lord Treasurer of England on April 14, 1582.
           
                My Lord, I have sent unto your honor a box of suche stuffe
                as these libellers  use for their Print.  There be certen Yrishemen
                that are the uttereres of the last lewd booke.  One Dowdale
                dothe use to sell them

            Also sent to Cecil was a box of popish stamps. In 1582 William Cecil (Lord Burghley) was Lord Treasurer of England, Elizabeth’s chief advisor. If this was Venerable James Dowdall it would be a strange twist of fate that William Cecil received a report about James’s religious activities in 1582 and then Cecil’s son, Robert ordered James’s execution in the summer of 1599. 

           
           The Dowdalls of Drogheda were not only merchants but mariners, so it is very probable that James captained his final tragic voyage when he departed from Drogheda in 1598 on either the Mary Bonaventure or the Saviour of Drogheda. Both ships were used by the Dowdall family to transport their merchandise to France and Spain in the 1590s. James traded during a very treacherous time of English history when agents were always on the lookout for Irish merchant ships. In the words of Giles Van Harwick alias William Resoute, a member of England’s extensive spy network, Irish merchant ships were valuable “because in them passes the treasure of the Jesuits of that nation…”    

            The Devon Assize Records of 1598 and 1599 have survived and tell us the courageous story of Venerable James Dowdall. James could have taken an easier path and signed the Supremacy Oath proclaiming Queen Elizabeth’s spiritual supremacy over the authority of the pope.  James had an inner light which guided him to speak up for his faith and religion. His faithfulness, devotion and love for God were more important than the pain he suffered at the hands of his torturers. To survive the agony of his year in Exeter Castle Prison, he must have had a very essential quality, one of patience and a listening heart.  His heart listened to the call of God regardless of the pain inflicted upon his body. It would have been this quality that held him and strengthened him during the lonely horrifying times of his imprisonment and torture.  His constant fidelity greatly perplexed William Bourchiers, Earl of Bath, and other local authorities.  Bourchiers wrote to Robert Cecil, Elizabeth’s Secretary of State, to seek advice on what to do with James Dowdall.

                         William, Earl of Bath to Sir Robert Cecil
                                            1599, June 18
 I have sent my certificate of the forces of Devon. About a year since I signified to my lords that I had apprehended one James Dowdall, an Irishman, whose examinations I then sent, finding thereby that he had been reconciled to the church of Rome, for which he was committed to the common gaol. Now that      our gaol delivery will be shortly, I pray you to direct me what shall be done with him.  

            Within two months of Bourchiers’ letter, James Dowdall was hanged, drawn and quartered. The following is taken directly from the Devon Assize Court Records.  James Dowdall was mentioned in three separate sessions.

                 1. At the end of the gaol calendar for the Midsummer Sessions -1598
                            James Dowdall remains by order of the Privy Council. 

There is no Assize calendar at the end of the 1598 Michaelmas sessions and no mention of James Dowdall in the minutes.

                 2.  The gaol calendar at the end of the Epiphany session -1599
                  James Dowdall remains because condemned for treason


There is no calendar of Assize prisoners in the 1599 Easter session

                           3.  The last gaol calendar with James’s name was 
                                     July 31, 1599 Midsummer Sessions                                                                                                                                                
 
                             James Dowdall let him be hung for treason.
           
            The authorities attempted many times to break James Dowdall’s fidelity and faithfulness and tortured him on the rack. This was excruciatingly painful; it caused the dislocation of the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and wrist joints. It is hard to think of James having to endure this horrific torture knowing that his broken body did not receive any comfort or medical aid. God’s divine presence watched over James and strengthened him for the ordeal to come.

            Father George Oliver’s History of the City of Exeter, gives us an ugly glimpse into Exeter Prison around the time James was imprisoned.  It is amazing that James survived a year in this hell hole.  Most prisoners died from starvation or disease.  The prison was located beneath the Assize Court. Gaol fever was so rampant that many of the judges and jurors contracted the fever (typhus) and died.

           
           The Courts of Assize and General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the county of Devon were holden within the castle of Exeter from an early period. ‘The county jail lay just below it, a living tomb – a sink of filth, pestilence, and profligacy.   The situation was so deadly for the judges and jurors that funds were finally raised in 1607 to move the court.
           
             David Rothe, (1573-1650) Bishop of Ossory has left us a valuable historical gift which relates the details of the Irish Martyrs. What makes Bishop Rothe’s source extraordinarily valuable is that his Analecta was published in 1619, not long after James Dowdall was martyred. He was a contemporary of those he wrote about. In the Analecta, Rothe suggests that the grave site of James is known. There was no cemetery inside the walls of Exeter Castle when James was executed and James’s remains were not buried as was tradition when the martyrs were hanged, drawn and quartered. Sadly over the passage of several centuries the knowledge of the location of James’s grave has been lost. 

           
           James Doudall a merchant of Vadipont (Drogheda), while he had crossed over to England to carry out some business, was examined first on the royal oath, and entrapped with snares of examinations by torture, and because he was not afraid to profess his mind and Catholic faith openly, he was put to death in the city of Exeter and it is said that his monument shines with stars to this very day.

In Rev. George Oliver’s History of City of Exeter, which includes the County of Devon he wrote:
                 The only victim I have met within Devonshire was
                 Mr. James Doudal, an Irish merchant.  For denying
                 the queen’s spiritual supremacy, he was thrown into
                Exeter Jail. 

From    Molanus we learn that James’s grave site is illuminated with miracles.  Whose monument is said to shine with stars by divine providence to this very day.

            Bishop Challoner was concerned that the English Martyrs were in danger of being forgotten, so he published two volumes about the martyrs who were executed between 1577 and 1681.   His work is considered to be the definitive work on English Martyrs.

           
           In 1599 – This year, also I find two of the laity executed for religious matters, viz: Mr. John Lion, who was hanged, bowelled, and quartered, at Okeham in Rutland, July 16, for denying the queen’s spiritual supremacy  And Mr. James Doudal, an Irish merchant, who for the same cause, was hanged, bowelled, and quartered, at Exeter, August 13.  Whose burying place, says his countryman, John Mullen of Cork, is said to be illustrated with divine miracles to this day.

            The Devon Book of Days, by Todd Gray, includes Venerable James Dowdall,  probably  because the execution of Catholics in Exeter was not a common occurrence.

                    August 12. 1599.  James Dowdall, an Irish Catholic,
                    was  hanged, bowelled and quartered at Exeter.

            James Dowdall has left a precious legacy, not only to his family, but for all of us, particularly those in Plymouth Diocese where he lived his last days in God’s grace.  As we approach the 410th anniversary of James’s martyrdom it is important to tell his story.   James’s life was a rich fabric full of beauty and strength; the vibrancy and essence of his life is retold in the many works about the English and Irish Martyrs. 

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