Margaret Clitherow
English martyr and saint of Roman Catholic Church (1555-1586)
Feast: 25 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Margaret Clitherow, 'the Pearl of York', daughter of a sheriff of York, married a wealthy butcher in 1571 and became a Catholic about three years later. She kept rooms where priests were hidden and Mass celebrated, and was often imprisoned.
Arrested in March 1586, she refused to plead so that her children and servants would not have to testify. Condemned to be pressed to death, she said: 'God be thanked, I am not worthy of so good a death as this.' She died, calm and joyful, on 25 March 1586.
The miracles
As a martyr she was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A wife and mother who sheltered priests and died rather than endanger her children.
Connected on this site
- Francis Ingleby Saint“He was one of the priests whom Margaret Clitherow was arraigned for harbouring.” — Wikipedia
- Richard Gwyn Saint“Margaret Clitherow, Gwyn is the co-patron of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.” — Wikipedia
- Richard Thirkeld Blessed“Richard Thirkeld of County Durham, from Queen's College, Oxford, was ordained at Reims in 1579 and ministered around York, where he was confessor to St Margaret Clitherow.” — this site's research
- Thurston Hunt Blessed“In 1600 he was captured trying to rescue the priest Robert Middleton, nephew of St Margaret Clitherow, near Preston.” — this site's research
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Margaret Clitherow
- Wikidata Q587909 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Margaret Clitherow (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.