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Margaret Ball (1515–1584) was a prominent member of 16th-century Irish people society, who, despite being the widow of a Lord Mayor of Dublin, was arrested for her adherence to the Catholic faith and died of deprivation in the dungeons of Dublin Castle. She was declared a martyr for the faith by the Catholic Church and Beatification in 1992, one of a group of 17 Irish Catholic Martyrs.
Margaret Ball's eldest son, Walter, who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and advance his political career, embraced the "new religion" and was appointed Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes in 1577. Margaret was disappointed with her son's change of faith and tried to change his mind. On one occasion, she told him that she had a "special friend" for him to meet. Walter arrived early with a company of soldiers, and found that the "special friend" was Dermot O'Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel. He was celebrating Mass with the family.
Immediately after his installation as Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1580, Walter had his mother and her personal chaplain arrested and taken to the dungeons of Dublin Castle. Due to her advanced age and severe arthritis, she had to be transported there by a wooden pallet.
When the family protested, Walter declared that his mother should have been executed, but that he had spared her. She would be allowed to go free if she "took the Oath", which probably referred to the Oath of Supremacy. Her second son, Nicholas, who supported her, was elected Mayor of Dublin in 1582. However, Walter was still Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes, which was a royal appointment. He outranked Nicholas and kept him from securing their mother's release from prison. Nicholas visited her daily, bringing her food, clothing and candles.
Ball died in 1584 at the age of 69, which was an advanced age at the time. She was crippled with arthritis and had lived for three years in the cold, wet dungeon of Dublin Castle with no natural light. When she died, she was buried in the cemetery at St. Audoen's Church in Dublin. Although she could have altered her will, she still bequeathed her property to Walter upon her death.
Ball and Taylor could not have known each other, but they were beatified together, along with Dermot O'Hurley and 14 other Catholic martyrs, on 27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II.
Ball, along with St. Columbanus and St. Mary MacKillop RSJ, was named a patron saint of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress held in Ireland in June 2012. "Patron Saints for the Congress", International Eucharistic Congress 2012
Her statue stands outside St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral; she is one of only five historical women (excluding Mary, mother of Jesus) to have a public statue in Dublin, the others being Catherine MacAuley (Baggot Street), Veronica Guerin (Dublin Castle), Constance Lloyd (Merrion Square) and Constance Markiewicz (three locations).
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