The Hunter of Priests

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
John Mullowney was a bounty hunter who was tasked with hunting priests. He became so efficient at his work that he became one of the most despised but feared men in the land.

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Queen Anne c.1705

John Mullowney (aka John O'Mullowny, Seán na Sagart, John of the Priests) (1690-1726) was born in County Mayo, Ireland. He led a dissipated life of drinking and carousing, and in order to fund this lifestyle he became a thief. The law caught up with him after he stole horses, which in those times meant a death sentence.

Lucky for Mullowney, it turned out the Anglican-ruled courts were in need of a priest hunter, and someone of such low character was deemed the perfect person to carry out this mission. He was given the status of pursuivant, and in exchange he escaped the hangman's noose. The year was 1715. That same year he gave testimony at Castlebar before the Grand Jury on the whereabouts of the Vicar General of Tuam Diocese, Francis Bourke and James Lynch, Titular Archbishop of Tuam. The document bore a cross (X) for his signature. 

The 1709 Penal Act demanded subjects of the land recognize that Protestant Queen Anne was the Supreme Head of the Church of England and Ireland. The Act was introduced after the battle of the Boyne. The aim was to assure economic, social and political supremacy of Protestantism, and eradicate Catholicism within two generation.

Priests especially, were ordered to take the Oath of Abjuration and recognize her as such. If they refused, they were sentenced to death or deported. Of 2,000 area priests, only 23 had taken the oath, so Mullowney had plenty of work. Bishops and priests were banished and new priests were not allowed entry into Ireland.

Not surprisingly, Mullowney outdid himself in hunting priests. One of his tricks was to pretend to be on his death bed, and when a priest was summoned to administer last rites, he would pull out a knife to force the man to return or kill him. Other times he would go into the confessional, and then kill the priest who sat close by to forgive him of his sins. He became known as a demon of death, however despite his notoriety many priests did not know exactly what he looked like. No doubt he was also spurred by the rewards he received, which were rumored to be £100 for a bishop or archbishop, £20 for a priest, £10 for a hedge school teacher and £5 for a priest in training.

Instead of acting as a spy, Mullowney had become an executioner.

Once he brought them back, if they refused to take the oath they would be executed. It turned out most of the time he would kill them ahead of time just to collect the bounty on them.

​A rogue is a rogue, no matter how good he was in bounty hunting priests, but the copious amounts he received for his efforts were wasted on heavy drinking and expensive tastes, which had led him to a narrow escape from the gallows before.

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Ballintubber Abbey, Ireland

Despite his services to the courts, he was extremely unpopular and hated by all, especially the Catholics. Some of the protestants received him at their house, including John Bingham who was the Sheriff of Mayo. He opened the doors of his home Newbrook House in South Mayo. Rumors were that the heads of the executed priests were kept in the house's cellar. Another place where the remains of the murdered priests were dumped was a lake in the parish of Ballintubber.

​Mullowney became the scourge of the area priests, and he killed all but two of them.

They had outsmarted him by living in disguise. Masses were celebrated in secret, where the priest kept his face hidden so the congregation could honestly claim they did not know the identity of who conducted the Mass. Lookouts would watch for soldiers, and an escape route was planned ahead.

John Mullowney convinced his own sister, Nancy Loughnan, a devout Catholic that he was at death's door, and that a priest should be brought to him. Father Kilger, one of the two remaining priests came in response to the summons, and for his troubles he was stabbed to death by Mullowney. The priest hunter knew the last remaining priest would come to the funeral, so he lay in wait for him. This man was Friar Bourke, Father Kilger's nephew. Suspecting that Mullowney planned to ambush him, he brought two bodyguards, John McCann and Fergus McCormick. McCann had his own personal vendetta against Mullowney since one of his relatives, Father Higgins had been murdered by the bounty hunter. 

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This stone is to mark the death place of the feared Priest hunter, Sean na Sagart. It can be found in Party village

Friar Bourke acted as a pallbearer, and as the funeral proceeded to the cemetery, Mullowney jumped from behind a tree with a knife in hand, and chased the poor friar who fled towards the Partry mountains. Finally the friar couldn't run anymore, and in the struggle he stabbed his attacker, and then McCann arrived on the scene and finished the job of killing John the Hunter.

Stories are told that after Mullowney was buried in the cemetery of Ballintubber Abbey, the inhabitants of County Mayo dug him from his grave and threw him into Lough Carra. Eventually the body was recovered and buried in unconsecrated ground, facing north where the sun never rises. An ash tree was planted as a marker, which became know as the Hangman's Tree. It never bore fruit and after 150 years it was split in half.

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Sean Na Sagart's Tree

Another who acted as a spy for the courts was John Garzia (Garcia). He was either from Spain or Portugal. He was brought in from abroad as a priest catcher. 

Garzia's antipathy towards the Catholic Church was a run in he had with the Inquisition after he questioned dogma. There were rumors that he was not Catholic, but Jewish.

He came to Dublin in 1717, lodged with Catholic clergy, and claimed he had once been ordained a priest. Thus establishing himself as a staunch Catholic, he circulated among the local families and passed on the intelligence he gathered to the authorities.

In June 1718,  seven priests and nuns at the convent of the Poor Clares in North King Street were arrested during a night raid. Garzia testified they had celebrated mass. They were sentenced to being transported to a penal colony, even though it's not certain if this took place, since some of the priests continued to live in Ireland.

Enthusiasm for hunting priests waned, and eventually Garzia's service were no longer in high demand. He complained of poverty, and that he was openly hated by the catholic populace. He was once attacked by a mob, which was a common occurrence for those who had once spied on priests and Catholics.

William King, the archbishop of Dublin never paid him all he was owed, and eventually Garzia was accommodated at Dublin Castle to keep him safe.

​In 1720, he said that Irish priests had instigated persecution of his family in Spain, and as a result his mother had cut off his allowance. No doubt she also learned he had become a protestant. The Inquisition had ordered his picture to be burnt.

In 1723, it's believed he went to Minorca then a British possession as a missionary, despite having a wife and two children while he was in Dublin.

So it seems that being a priest catcher was considered a despicable trade not only by the Catholics, but by the protestants who employed them.

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