Thomas Dease

In spite of persecution and penal laws, he continued loyal to England and preached loyalty to his flock.

He regarded with disfavour the Confederation of Kilkenny, and resisted all the arguments and entreaties of the primate to join it.

This conduct brought him toleration, if not favour, from the Government, though it made him unpopular with his Catholic fellow-countrymen.

And it especially annoyed the nuncio, Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, who charged him with having sown the seeds of enmity between the Confederate generals Thomas Preston and Owen Roe O'Neill.

But the news turned out false, and the nuncio writing to Rome reported that the bishop still lived "to try the patience of the good".