John Barnewall

Who is John Barnewall?

John Barnewall, O.F.M., was a member of the aristocracy in Ireland who became a Franciscan friar. He served as a teacher and lecturer both locally and on the Continent. He was the Minister Provincial of Ireland during the Irish Confederate Wars, due to which position he communicated on Irish affairs with Franciscans on the European mainland, such as the historian, Friar Luke Wadding. He became involved in the conflict, opposing the excommunications issued by the papal nuncio in 1648. He last appears in documents dated July 1649.