Item 1188 - Fr Thomas Dillon SJ

Born: 1611, County Meath
Entered: 02 February 1627, Seville, Spain - Baeticae Province (BAE)
Ordained: 1635, Granada, Spain
Final Vows: 08 December 1647
Died: 07 February 1690, Granada, Spain - Baeticae Province (BAE)

Alias de Leon

1629 First Vows at Seville College 14 February 1629
1633 At Córdoba College - had studied 3 years Philosophy and 2 years Theology
1639-1643 Professor of Humanities, Logic, Philosophy and Metaphysics already for 3 years at Professed House Seville
1644-1690 At Granada : Teaching, Theology, Philosophy, Rhetoric, Logic
1661 Was rector of Granada College
Was at Granada presiding over a Thesis by De Vagara on 01 March 1653

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Educated in Spain.
Taught Philosophy six years, and Moral Theology eighteen years with distinction at Seville and Granada
1661 Deputed by the Andalusia Province to the Eleventh General Congregation, cum jure suffragii
He was “Linguarum Orientalium at abstrusioris doctrinae veterum Exploratur eximius” - Antonio, “Hispana Nova p 247 (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
Writer and praised by Kiercher for his knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, as well as the abstruse sciences of the ancients
Dr Talbot says his real name was “Talbot”

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ:
Had studied at Seville before Ent 02 February 1627 Seville
After First Vows he completed his studies at Cordoba and Granada and was Ordained at Granada 1635.
After four years at teaching Úbeda and Cádiz he was appointed Chair of Philosophy at San Hermenegildo’s in Seville. Three years later he was appointed to Granada as Chair successively of Philosophy, Moral Theology and Dogmatic Theology. He remained at Granada where he died 07/02/1690
In 1661 He was entrusted by the General with the difficult task of recovering custody of a legacy of the Archbishop of Cashel for the Irish Mission, which had been claimed by the Provincial of Andalusia (BAE). After four years of negotiation he was successful.
Superiors of the Irish Mission had also tried repeatedly over years to have him appointed their Procurator at Madrid.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Dillon (De Leon), Thomas
by Elaine Murphy

Dillon (De Leon), Thomas (1613–90), Jesuit and scholar, was born in Ireland and educated in Spain. In 1627 he entered the Society of Jesus in Seville. He taught philosophy and then scholastic and moral theology at the society's colleges at Seville and Granada. In 1640 he was professor of humanities at Cadiz and, in 1661, he was deputed by the province of Andalusia to the eleventh general congregation. He was highly regarded for his knowledge of languages, including Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. He produced two major works; the first, entitled ‘Lección sacra en la fiesta célebre que hizo el collegio de la Compagnia de Jesús de la ciudad de Cadiz en hazimiento de gracias a Dios Neustro Señor por el complimiento del primer siglo de su sagrada religión’, was published on the centenary of the Society of Jesus in 1640. His second work was a manuscript commentary on the book of Maccabees. By 1676, Dillon, or de Leon as he was also known, was residing at the Jesuit college in Granada suffering from ill health and failing eyesight. He died 7 February 1690 at Granada.

G. Oliver, Collections towards illustrating the biography of the Scotch, English and Irish members of the Society of Jesus (1838), 225; E. Hogan, ‘Chronological catalogue of the Irish members of the Society of Jesus, from the year 1550 to 1814’, Records of the English province of the Society of Jesus, ed. H. Foley, vii, no. 2 (1883), 1–96; DNB, v, 992; Crone, 53; ODNB

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Thomas Dillon (De Leon) SJ 1613-1676
Thomas Dillon was born in Ireland in 1613. He is more commonly known by his Spanish name “De Leon”.

He was a pensioner of the Irish College at Seville, and at the age of 14 left for the Novitiate at St Louis. He taught Philosophy and Theology at Granada. He received a high encomium from Athanasius Kirsher for his profound knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and Arabic : “Linguarum orientalium et abstrusioris doctrinaeveterum exploratur eximius”. Peter Talbot called him “the oracle of Spain”. He compose his works mainly in Spanish.

While teaching at Cadiz, he published a Spanish panegyric on the Centenary of the Society in 1640. He also arranged materials for a Commentary on the Book of Maccabees, but ill health and weak sight hindered publication.

After 1676 there is no record of him

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
DILLON, THOMAS, was born in 1613, and was educated in Spain. For many years he taught Philosophy and Divinity, with distinguished credit at Seville and Grenada. We learn from his friend Antonio, p. 247, Hispana Nova, that F. Kircher, a very competent judge, pronounced him to be “Linguarum orientalium et abstrusioris doctrines Vcterum Explorator eximius”. Whilst teaching Humanities at Cadiz, he published a Spanish Panegyric on the Centenary of the Society of Jesus, 4to. Seville, 1640. He also arranged materials for a Commentary on the Books of Maccabees ; but delicate health, and weakness of sight, prevented him from finishing them for the press. After 1676 I cannot trace his biography.