Thomas Delaune was the first Cork man to become an evangelical Christian through the local church that would become Cork Baptist Church. He was the son of a tenant farmer on the estate of Major Riggs, situated in the townland of Brinny, northwest of Bandon, Co. Cork. As a young Christian, Delaune was victimised by his peers, so much so, that he moved away from Cork to England. However, because Major Riggs had paid for his education in Cork, he went to England as an educated man. Delaune became the Headmaster of a small Grammar School, as well as a writer and translator. He joined one of the London Baptist churches and became well known amongst the Baptist leaders. After writing a defence of Baptist ecclesiology Delaune was charged with sedition by the English courts and thrown into Newgate prison. Despite the injustice of the charge the court declared him as guilty and punished him with a fine equivalent to approximately 80 euro. He was imprisoned because of his inability to pay the fine. Delaune's family were forced to join him in prison where they all died within fifteen months, with Thomas being the last to pass away in 1685. Delaune's writings lived on after his death. The author Daniel Defoe republished Delaune's writings on religious liberty in the early 1700's. In the preface of the publication Defoe expressed his lament concerning the manner of Delaune's end. It is right to understand Thomas Delaune as the first Irish Baptist martyr and for this reason MBC calls its open lectures the Delaune Lectures.