Lambert, Matthew

by Judy Barry

Lambert, Matthew (d. 1581), catholic martyr, was a Wexford baker of whom little is known apart from the circumstances of his death, which were described in the contemporary martyrology of Fr John Houling (qv). He inadvertently became involved in the aftermath of the Baltinglass rebellion in February 1581 when Viscount Baltinglass (qv), pursued by government forces, arrived in the port of Wexford with his chaplain, Robert Rochford. They were hoping to escape to the Continent, but found no support from the people of standing in the town. Lambert, a poor man with a reputation for generosity and piety, fed and sheltered them in his bakery and tried to secure a safe passage for them on a ship. Although he made contact with some seamen he failed to find a ship and Baltinglass and Rochford left Wexford, eventually escaping from Ireland by another route.

When the authorities discovered what had happened, Lambert and five of the sailors were arrested and imprisoned in the royal castle in Wexford town. Lambert was interrogated, threatened with torture, and possibly tortured. He was a simple man who could neither read nor write, and to all the questions about matters of politics and religion he gave the same answer: ‘I am not able to debate with you. All I can tell you is that I am a catholic and I believe whatever our holy mother the catholic church believes.’ He was tried, found guilty of treason, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. In July 1581 he was bound to a horse's tail and dragged through the streets of Wexford to the gallows where he and the five sailors were executed.

In 1975 a diocesan commission for causes agreed that Matthew Lambert and the sailors, two of whose names are unknown, should be put forward as candidates for beatification. All six were among the seventeen martyrs who were beatified in 1992.