Martin was born in Pennyburn, Derry, on 30 October 1961, one of twelve children to John James Martin and his wife Catherine (née Crossan).[1] He attended primary school at St Patrick's Primary School, Pennyburn, and secondary school at St Columb's College.[2]
Martin studied for the priesthood at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematical science and a Bachelor of Divinity. During his time in Maynooth, Martin was a senior cantor and leading member of the seminary choir, serving as Acting Director of Sacred Music in his final year.[1][3]
Following ordination, Martin's first pastoral appointment was as assistant priest in the cathedral parish in Derry between 1987 and 1989. Between September 1990 and September 1998, he taught mathematics and religion at St Columb's College, being appointed head of religious education in September 1997.[1]
He was subsequently appointed executive secretary to the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference in June 2008, before returning to the Diocese of Derry two years later upon his appointment as vicar general.[1]
In 2012, he published plans to radically reform Catholic post-primary education in the diocese, with an aim to end academic selection and single-sex education, as well as to create two new sixth-form colleges in Derry.[4]
I am very conscious of the great trust that the Holy Father has placed in me, but in truth, I have to admit it was with considerable nervousness and trepidation that I accepted his call.[8]
In accordance with canon law, Brady tendered his resignation in July 2014, ahead of his 75th birthday on 15 August.[10] It was announced on 8 September that Pope Francis that his resignation had been accepted and that Martin would succeed him to the see and primacy of Ireland with immediate effect.[11]
It was reported in The Irish Times that Martin was a relative "unknown" in Rome, with zero visibility in the Vatican.[12]
In his capacity as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland, he was elected President of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference that October.[3]
Upon his appointment as coadjutor archbishop of Armagh in 2013, Martin addressed the sexual abuse scandals that came to light in Ireland over the last two decades, stating that "[one] of the greatest challenges facing our Church is to acknowledge, live with, and learn from the past, including the terrible trauma caused by abuse". He added that the church "can never take it for granted that the safeguarding systems we have in place are robust and fail-safe, so we have to keep working on that".[17][18]
Martin referred to Parolin's comments as an expression of the deeply held conviction about the meaning of marriage in the Catholic Church:
One of the difficulties of the debate was that we had two parallel discussions going on. One was about the meaning of marriage and the other was about respecting gay people and showing tolerance," he said. "I think what Cardinal Parolin was expressing was our deeply held conviction about the meaning of marriage. He said three things. He said, look, I'm saddened by the result which I think a lot of people in this country are also. He said this isn't just a defeat for Christian principles, it's a defeat for humanity. I think what he was trying to do was express the loss that has occurred here and we do feel it's a loss. Something very unique and precious has been lost. That's not in any way to say that there are not a lot of people who were very happy with the result, and we could see that on the night of the result.[21]
United Ireland
In 2016, Martin expressed his support for a United Ireland, saying:
I do believe that Ireland should be one and I would like to work for that, and continue to work for that, by peaceful means and by persuasion, recognising that there are many people on this island who do not want that. To the extent I think the border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland has become increasingly less important, I would like to see that trend continuing.[22]
COVID-19 pandemic
Speaking to the News at One on RTÉ Radio 1 on 29 October 2020, Martin criticised the imposition of a ban on all public worship in the Republic of Ireland with the introduction of Level 3 restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that such a ban had been imposed without any meaningful consultation with religious leaders across the island. He went to state that he was not aware of any evidence that church buildings had been a source of contagion or of spreading the disease.[23]
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