Narator's Introduction

Our Martyrs

By Fr Dennis Murphy

Rescued & Re-printed by Damien Richardson

Read and Arranged for narration by Manus Mac Meanmain

Thank you for listening to this serialised audio presentation. Here are just a few notes before I begin.

The equipment used, is, for economic reasons, not up to the standard I would like to use for this purpose. Likewise, my own performance is nowhere near that of those podcasters I have come to admire and has tempered my opinion of those whom I had regarded as poor performers.

You would think it would be straightforward to read a book out loud,

but unfortunately the voice I record is not a patch on the voice that rehearses in my head.

However, it is my hope that the message and history in Fr Murphy’s words will overcome any limitations placed on them by my way failings, so that you, the listener, will reach a new understanding and appreciation of the sacrifice previous generations made to pass on the faith, a faith which contemporary Ireland is trying to turn its back on.

There are a few places where I have made changes, usually on the assumption that there has been a mis-print. Mostly this consisted of changing a letter, or at most a word. In other places I have added to the original, usually in circumstances where a modern listener would not know that which I presume was common knowledge to readers of Fr Murphy’s time. Elsewhere, where I deemed appropriate I have included what was in the footnotes as part of the normal narration. A reader could easily refer to the bottom of the page, but the listener cannot.

This audio serialisation does not follow exactly the order in which the material appears in the book. Fr Murphy deals with the political and legal situation in his early chapters, with the individual stories of martyrdom in the second part of the book. I have judged that if I were listening to, rather than reading Fr Murphy’s book, I would want to hear the stories of individual martyrs as soon as possible. Therefore I have submitted to the web the narration of individual stories immediately after the chapter concerning the reign in which the murders occurred. If you have come to this series after the final episode has been completed, you can of course listen to the episodes in accordance with the order in the book. To facilitate you I will be numbering the first part of the book alphabetically, and the second part numerically.

Finally, you will I’m sure, find that the episodes vary greatly in length. In some cases this is because the different stories of Martyrdom themselves vary in length. Some are little more than a few lines, whilst others, such as that of Primate Archbishop Richard Creagh are as long and detailed as a whole chapter of a book.

The first few episodes of this series, such as this one, deal not with Fr Murphy’s work but my introduction, the story of how the book was found, and the preface written when the book was first published.

Despite the flaws of both the narrator and his equipment, I hope you enjoy this presentation of this important work.

To order a copy of the book, or to make a contribution towards future re-prints, please contact Damien Richardson on O86-336 1392

Or e-mail Fr Michael Ross at rossmichaeljohn@gmail.com