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He was imprisoned in the Castle for nearly a year, and then removed to the Tower of London, with his friend MacMahon. During his incarceration he was more than once examined, and substantially admitted the charges brought against him. After nearly two years' imprisonment, he and MacMahon escaped on i8th August 1643, and were at liberty until 20th October. They lay hid in a house in Drury-lane, and would probably have escaped to the Conti- nent, but for the rashness of one of them in calling from a top window to an oyster-man in the street. The voice was recognized ; they were recaptured, and in two hours were again in the Tower. Maguire was brought up for trial for high treason at the King's Bench on the nth November 1644. He pleaded his right to be tried by his peers in Ireland. This was overruled by the judge, as well as by both Houses of Parliament, to whom the matter was re- ferred, and his final trial came on loth February i644-'5. He defended himself with great ability, and urged so many technical objections to the proceedings that the case went over to the second day. The judge charged strongly against him; he was found guilty, and condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Both after conviction in court, and in an appeal to Parliament from his prison, he unsuc- cessfully prayed that his body might be spared the indignity of quartering. ' ' Then the prisoner departing from the bar, Mr. Prynne advising him to confer with some godly ministers for the good and comfort of his soul, he answered that he would have none at all, unless he might have some Eomish priests of his own reUgion."^^^ This prayer was also denied, and when he was brought up on a sled for execution the 20th February i644-'5, te repeatedly broke in upon the reiterated exhortations of the sheriff that he should renounce his faith, w ^n cries of " For Jesus Christ's sake, I beseech you to give me a little time to prepare myself. . . For God's sake, give me leave to depart in peace. . Pray let me have a little time to say my prayers." At the final moment " the sherifi" commanded his pockets to be searched whether he had no bull or pardon about him ; but they found in his pockets only some beads and a crucifix, which were taken from him." 3=3 His title was assumed by his son and descendants, the last of whom, Alexander Maguire, 8th Baron, was^ a captain in the Irish Brigade in France. [In commemoration of his aiTest and the discovery of the plot for insurrec- tion in October 1641, it was customary, until the year 1829, for the bells of St. 326
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Audoen's Church to be rung every 22nd of October at midnight.} William Prynn, the Parliamentarian, took a prominent pai-t against Maguire on his trial, and printed a pamphlet (running to thirty-two pages of Cobbett's State Trials) to prove " that Irish peers, as well as commons, may be law- fully tried in this court in England." s? "o 312 323
MagTiire, John Francis, politician and- writer, the son of a merchant in Cork, was born about 1 8 1 5 . He was called to the Irish Bar in 1843, sat as member for Dun- garvan from 1852 to 1865, and for Cork from that date till his death. He actively supported the Liberal party, especially in its legislation regarding the disestablish- ment of the Church, and the land ques- tion. It was known that he was not in affluent circumstances, and it was ex- pected that he would soon be ofi'ered a government position of some description ; so that his sincerity was strikingly shown in 1870, when he joined the Home Rule party, led by Mr, Butt, and thereby sacri- ficed all his prospects of an official career. A series of articles on the question of Home Rule, which appeared in his paper, the Cork Examiner, were published in a collected form in 1871. Mr. Maguire was author of Rome aoid its Rvler (1857), Life of Father Mathew (1862), Irish in America ( 1 868), The Next Generation, a novel ( 1 87 1 ), and other works. He was a brilliant raconteur, was a prominent advocate of female suffrage, and for his defence of the position of the Pope was created a Knight Commander of St. Gregory. He died near Cork, 1st November 1872, aged 57. His character for earnestness and sincerity stood so high that a testimonial subscrip- tion, opened after his death, was joined in by the Queen, and by many others who were imable to endorse his political opinions. ^ -33
Mahony, Francis Sylvester, Rev., a distinguished writer, was born in Cork about 1805. He was educated at a Jesuit college in France, and at the University of Rome, and returning home in orders, he for a short time performed the duties of a Catholic clergyman, and was a tutor in Clongowes Wood College. Eventually he gave up his cure, and devoted himself entirely to literature. His ripe scholar- ship, his pathos and wit, soon became known to the public in a series of papers, " The Reliques of Father Prout," which first appeared in Eraser's Magazine, and were published in a separate form in 1836. For Eraser, also, he wrote "The Bells of Shandon" and other well-known pieces of poetry. His powers of versification
