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Irish Jesuits Religious Activities
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‘Dublin, and Proud of It!’

Copy of 'The Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart' containing an article entitled ‘Dublin, and Proud of It!’ on Fr. Doyle (p.65-67).

Irish Messenger Office, 1888-

Article in 'The Commonweal'

Article from The Commonweal entitled ‘Father William Doyle, S.J.’ by Henry Longan Stuart.

Society of Jesus, 1540-

Biographical information on Fr Doyle

Biographical information on Fr Doyle including a copy of his birth certificate and memorial card.

Irish Vice-Province of the Society of Jesus, 1830-

Correspondence mainly between Irish Fr Provincial, Fr Leonard Sheil SJ and the English Provincial, relating to Fr Sheil’s Mission work in England

  • IE IJA J/16/9
  • File
  • 18 May 1949 - September 1967
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Correspondence mainly between Irish Fr Provincial, Fr Leonard Sheil SJ and the English Provincial, relating to Fr Sheil’s Mission work in England. Includes:
– incomplete letter from Fr Sheil to the Provincial referring to a Mission he and Fr Robert L. Stevenson SJ are to give in Peterborough, ‘We will run one mission in a hostel, and another in the church at the same time. There are 180 Irish in the hostel; and there are believed to be about 400 in lodgings around the town. We may, or may not, be able to get at them.’ Also describes his recent travels on the Continent (third page of letter is missing) (12 Sep. 19--, 2pp);
– letter from Fr Sheil to the Provincial describing a ‘country mission in Northampton’ where he “was told to take a different village every day, say Mass in some Catholic house, visit every house – Catholic or no, and ‘hold a service’ on the village green in the evening” (2 September 19–, 7pp);
– covering letter and note (January 1953, 2pp) from Fr Sheil to the Provincial enclosing a memorandum entitled ‘Relations between Irish and English Jesuit Missioners’ (n.d., 3pp);
– covering letter from Fr Sheil (13 April 1953, 1p.) to the Provincial, enclosing a letter he received from the Archbishop of Cius and English Apostolic Delegate following Fr Sheil’s report to him of 1952 Mission work. The Archbishop writes ‘I have read with deepest interest the reports sent to me by the Reverend Father L. Sheil, S.J. and I have informed the Holy See of all the splendid work that has been accomplished. For this most necessary apostolate, certainly the Delegate of the Holy Father must send a cordial blessing in the name of His Holiness and he is confident that, with God’s help, more and more will be achieved for those who stand so much in need of the ministry of their own priests’ (9 April 1953, 1p.);
– copy letter from the Irish Fr Provincial Thomas Byrne to the English Fr Provincial Desmond Boyle SJ, regarding Fr Boyle’s ‘wishes concerning the activities of the Irish Mission staff in England’. States ‘I have…instructed Father Leonard Sheil to confine his activities in future to Camp Missions during the autumn months, and, once he has fulfilled his programme in London this autumn, to approach no parish priest about a parish Mission nor to accept any parish Mission without a specific request from Father Farrell.…I think he (Fr Sheil) has done good work for the Irish in England, some of which, such as the Confraternity in Birmingham, may be of permanent worth. But whatever good he has achieved is due in no small measure to the co-operation of the English Province and the support he received from the English parish clergy’ (22 Apr. 1953, 1p.);
– Fr Boyle’s reply thanking Fr Byrne for his co-operation and stating ‘I only hope that we of this Province have not seemed too difficult or dog-in-the-manger-ish. The position was getting rather confused and it seemed desirable to regularize it. Your mission Fathers have done wonderful work in England, and I am quite sure that Fr Sheil will be approached either directly or through Fr Farrell for further missions’ (29 Apr. 1953, 1p.);
– letter to Fr Sheil from Dr James Staunton, Bishop of Ferns in which he remarks ‘I was glad to know that you are going to St. Wilfrid’s York, and I hope your Fathers and yourself will be invited to give many missions in the secondary modern schools, and pioneer in this sphere’ (20 Aug. 1958, 2pp);
– letter to the Provincial from Fr Sheil describing the work of two Irish chaplains in London – Fr Cullen in Warwick Street and the chaplain in Bayswater (Sep. 1967, 2pp).
Also includes list drawn up by Fr Sheil of Jesuits who ‘should give a very good priests’ retreat’ (n.d., 2pp).

Fr John B Kerr SJ

  • IE IJA J/220
  • File
  • 8 July 1936 - 28 February 1978
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Material relating to Fr John B Kerr SJ which includes correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and curia, personal record and application to join the Society.

Kerr, John B, 1919-1978, Jesuit priest

Fr Richard J Maguire SJ

  • IE IJA J/528
  • File
  • 8 August 1935 - 21 January 1993
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

File containing Richard Maguire's admission papers and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials relating to retreat and mission work and his time as chaplain at the Royal Hospital of the Incurables, Donnybrook, Dublin.

Maguire, Richard J, 1906-1993, Jesuit priest

Fr Thomas Shuley SJ

Obituary for Fr Thomas Shuley SJ from the 'Irish Province News' (July 1965) and small photographic album belonging to Fr Shuley with thirteen images of the west of Ireland while on villa [1916-1930].

Shuley, Thomas, 1884-1965, Jesuit priest

Group photographs and negatives belonging to Fr Pádraic Ó Brólcháin SJ

File of group photographs and negatives belonging to Fr Pádraic Ó Brólcháin SJ. Includes:

  • Juniors Villa, Gormanstown Castle, County Meath, 1930;
  • Juniors 1932;
  • Juniorate 1933;
  • Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, 1933;
  • Irish speaking villa to Roundstone, County Galway [1935] and [1936];
  • Clongowes Wood College villa in Glengarriff, County Cork, 1938;
  • Milltown Park, Dublin [1940 - 41].

All photographs include Fr. Pádraic Ó Brólcháin S.J.

Letter from Irish Fr Provincial to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ concerning the newly founded ‘lectureship in Ancient History

Letter from Irish Fr Provincial John Fahy SJ to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ concerning the newly founded ‘lectureship in Ancient History in U.C.D.’. ‘I feel that you will be very much disappointed when I ask you… to present yourself as a candidate; for I know that you wish to go to China. Do try to forgive me when I ask you to do something that pleases you less.’

Fahy, John, 1874-1958, Jesuit priest

Letter to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from Irish Provincial concerning his ‘future work’

Letter to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from Irish Provincial John Fahy SJ, concerning Fr Gwynn’s ‘future work’. While Fr Gwynn is keen to go to the missions in China, Fr Fahy is anxious that he should stay in Ireland and work at U.C.D. and University Hall – ‘I write…that you may know how I sympathise with missionary work. A decision will not be made for some time about your future. Meanwhile I think that I should say frankly that, in my opinion, our CCs would for many reasons be opposed to your leaving Ireland – wishing to have you for U.C.D., Dr Coffey is, I understand making arrangements to have a chair in Ancient History founded for you.’

Fahy, John, 1874-1958, Jesuit priest

Letters and report to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ concerning missions in Spain

  • IE IJA J/16/10
  • File
  • 7 September [1961] - 30 November 1965
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Letters and report to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ concerning missions in Spain, comparisons with missions in Britain and Ireland and the possibility of Fr Sheil’s working in South America. Includes:
– letter from Fr Sheil to the Irish Fr Provincial seeking permission to go to Spain to study Spanish missions in order to adapt certain practices for use in Britain (7 September. 1961, 4pp);
– copy of a ‘Report on Missions in Spain’ following a visit by Frs Shiggins and Sheil who attended five missions around the country (n.d., 4pp);
– letter from Fr Sheil to the Irish Fr Provincial in which he discusses certain Spanish customs which could be used on Missions in Britain. Remarks that he will send the Provincial a report ‘on the meetings I now hold with Protestant clergymen after missions in Ireland’ and that he has sent in ‘full reports on our missions in Britain’ ‘almost every year for ten years’. Also mentions a new member of the mission staff, Fr Kevin Laheen SJ – ‘You will be glad to know that Fr Laheen on this his first mission did very well. He preaches well and his musical voice was a help to O'Beirne and I. I need not tell you that O'Beirne preaches very well, and is a wonderful companion on a mission. He sleeps badly’ (Fr Gerry O'Beirne) (23 March 1963, 3pp) and
– letters seeking permission to go to Spain (and Italy) as a supply priest (25 May 19?? – 30 November 1965, 4 items).

Letters from Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ relating to the St Joseph’s Young Priests Society

  • IE IJA J/10/12
  • File
  • 30 November-8 December 1937
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Notes and letters from Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ relating to the St Joseph’s Young Priests Society, with regard to its income, expenditure and general policy. Fr Gwynn played an important part in the Society’s foundation and development (1927-49) and was Honorary Editor of its quarterly magazine Saint Joseph’s Sheaf.

Gwynn, Aubrey, 1892-1983, Jesuit priest and academic

Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ concerning Fr Arthur Cox

  • IE IJA J/10/13
  • File
  • 21 December 1964-17 June 1966
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ concerning Fr Arthur Cox, who died in Zambia on 11 June 1965 following a car crash. Includes: letter from Fr Cox to Fr Gwynn describing how Fr Cox is settling in to his new life in Monze and learning new languages (21 December 1964, 2pp);
– letter from Bishop James Corboy SJ with reference to Fr Cox (23 February 1965, 1p) (see also J10/18);
– letter from Fr Frank O'Neill SJ describing the circumstances of Fr Cox’s death (16 June 1965, 3pp);
– letter from Bishop Corboy following the first anniversary of Fr Cox’s death (17 June 1966, 1p.). Includes ordination and memorial card of Fr Cox.

Aubrey Gwynn and Arthur Cox at UCD together.

Cox, Arthur, 1891-1965, solicitor and priest

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ, various Jesuits and others relating to Fr Sheil’s work

  • IE IJA J/16/5
  • File
  • 7 November 1941 - 8 August 1943
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ, various Jesuits and others relating to Fr Sheil’s work in the Jesuit church in Galway. Includes:
– letters from Fr Sheil and the Secretary of the International Catholic Girls’ Protection Society (Veritas House, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin) regarding radio broadcasts for Irish emigrants in England and an appeal for funds for the I.C.G.P.S. (see also J16/6) (7 November 1941 - 6 June 1942, 3 items);
– letters from Fr Hugh Kelly SJ (Rector, Rathfarnham Castle) and Fr Patrick O'Kelly SJ (Director of the Pioneers Association) reporting complaints about Fr Sheil’s behaviour with regard to the content of his lectures to secondary school girls, his running of the Sodalities in Galway and his comments to a young girl who came to him for religious instruction (17 November - 20 December 1942, 4 items);
– letters from Fr Sheil, Fr Hugh Kelly SJ and the Superior of the Presentation Convent, Dundrum, County Tipperary requesting permission for Fr Sheil to give various lectures and retreats and to act as Special Confessor to the nuns of Dundrum Presentation Convent (26 January - 24 May 1943, 3 items) and
– letter from Fr Sheil enclosing a list of his sodality work in Galway, to help his successor, ‘I have tried all these two years to get these works into such order that anyone could carry them on, but I have not had the time. Many details of organization have still to be put into practice. The walls are built but the roof is not yet on. However there is plenty of brains and holiness among the men and women engaged in the work. If I could have any wish where obedience is concerned, I would wish to stay with them’ (8 August 1943, 3pp).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial, mostly from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ, relating to his Mission work throughout Ireland

  • IE IJA J/16/6
  • File
  • 24 Nov. 1943 - 18 May 1949
  • Part of Irish Jesuits

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial, mostly from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ, relating to his Mission work throughout Ireland. Includes:

  • letters concerning a Retreat given by Fr Sheil in Killorglin, County Kerry, a lecture in Cashel, County Tipperary and Missions in Cobh, County Cork and Harrington Street, Dublin (24 November 1943 - 7 August 1945, 6 items);
  • letter from Fr Sheil offering to ‘go to any country where…I would be of use in the service of God, Africa, Australia, China or the Continent.’ Also seeks permission to become the Spiritual Director of the International Catholic Girls’ Protection Society (see also J16/5). ‘Their work (they are some thirty years in existence in Dublin) was chiefly the meeting and protecting of girls travelling, especially to England. Now it includes a registry office of which the object is to find work for girls in Ireland and so obviate the necessity of going to England.…They hope to start a small training hostel for domestics. The Archbishop is very favourable.…I have given their radio broadcast for the past five years, bringing in £100 more or less each year. The work of the Spiritual Director would be to attend the monthly meeting of the Committee…and on these occasions to give what assistance he can as a priest.…In favour of it,…it offers a field of work for youth; and…perhaps no class of youth needs help more than the young country girl, perhaps from a convent orphanage, who comes to Dublin to domestic service…’ (21 Feb. 1946, 3pp);
  • letter from Socius Fr John Coyne SJ to the Irish Provincial relating to a report in the 'Irish Press' of a lecture on ‘Friends of Soviet Russia’ given by Fr Sheil to the Ringsend C.Y.M.S. in which Fr Sheil referred to Dáil Éireann members as ‘frightful loafers’. Encloses clipping of report (2 Dec. 1946, 1p.) and letter from Fr Sheil to Fr Coyne explaining the circumstances of the lecture (n.d., 2pp);
  • letter from Fr Sheil reporting on a number of young men who wish to join the Society and his activities on a recent visit to the North of Ireland (2 Apr. 1947, 4pp) and
  • letter to the Irish Provincial Fr Thomas Byrne SJ from Dr Edward Doorly, Bishop of Elphin stating ‘Father Sheil did not give any offence worth mentioning and further…he gave a splendid Retreat to the priests’ (18 May 1949, 1p.).

Material from Sr Mary Regis, Mercy Convent, Doon, County Limerick, following Fr Leonard Sheil’s death

Letter to Irish Fr Provincial Cecil McGarry from Sr Mary Regis, Mercy Convent, Doon, County Limerick, following Fr Leonard Sheil's death. Encloses letters sent to her from Fr Sheil over a number of years and press-cuttings relating to him, in the hope they might be useful to the Society when writing Fr Sheil's biography. States ‘I thought I would like to do a little for him after all he did for me.…When he started his missions in England I used to make pictures & pieties to help him & send them to the different addresses. He sent me accounts of these missions…He never thought of himself, his aim was to use everything he could to bring souls to God… I have kept letters of his since 1939 & all the years of the war & until he wrote before Christmas to announce his illness’ (Aug. 1968, 4pp). Encloses seven letters from Fr Sheil, thanking her for sending badges and medals and discussing her health and his missions. Includes letter in which he remarks ‘…thanks so much for all your lovely pictures and things. They are immensely valued over here. Sometimes indeed religion is not valued, but I hope that these pictures etc. will make it impossible for them to forget the lovely things of Our Faith. One little boy brought five Protestant pals, mostly bigger than himself, to the mission at West Hartlepool. I have had many conversions of people years away from Mass and the Sacraments. Many others have rejected me. The [leak]age of the children when they leave school, & have no Catholic school, and no good parents, is frightful. I start missions again on January 8th at Coventry and near Northampton. They will be very tough, so help me with your prayers. I bless each house I enter, put them on their knees, if they don’t refuse, and instal (sic.) a holy picture’ (28 Dec. 19--, 2pp). Also includes photocopies of clippings on Fr Sheil from various English newspapers (n.d., 4 items).

Memorandum listing the number of Irish missions given by Fr Leonard Sheil SJ from 1933 to 1947

Typed memorandum for Irish Fr Provincial listing the number of Irish missions given by Fr Leonard Sheil SJ from 1933 to 1947; his work in Britain which began in 1948, ‘Since then Fr Sheil has given five missions most years and never less than three – during the autumn period in Britain’; and listing his work from 1933 to 1947 in Ireland in the autumn as ‘mostly with the convent school-girls, and occasional retreats in convents and in Jesuit churches.’

Pamphlet on "Fr. Willie”

Pamphlet “Fr. Willie” Father William Doyle, S.J. His World-wide Appeal and Favours Attributed to His Intercession, ‘Irish Messenger’ Series.

Irish Messenger Office, 1888-

Photographic album by Fr Stephen Bates SJ

Photographic album by Fr Stephen Bates SJ. The photographs depict Jesuits and outdoor scenes such as on villa at:

  • Ballytrent, Wicklow (1929 and 1930);
  • Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin (1928);
  • Gormanstown (1928);
  • Clydagh, County Galway (1926, 1927);
  • the play 'Pinafore', Mungret College, Limerick (1931);
  • Lough Bray, Wicklow (1928);
  • Aloysus Dando, Donald Roset and John Moran, Jersey (17 March 1929);
  • Milltown (1928);
  • Cliffs of Moher (1933);
  • Ballydavid, Kerry (1935);
  • Kilkee, Clare (1933);
  • Killarney, Kerry (1932 and 1945);
  • Waterville, Kerry (1931 and 1932);
  • Caragh Lake, Kerry (1932);
  • Clongowes Wood College, Kildare (1932);
  • Clane, Kildare;
  • Prosperous, Kildare;
  • Maynooth, Kildare;
  • Mount Brandon, Kerry;
  • Killaloe, Clare (1943 and 1945);
  • Keeper Hill, Tipperary (1944 and 1945);
  • Quin Abbey, Clare (1944);
  • Lough Derg;
  • Sacred Heart Church, Limerick;
  • Long Avenue, Limerick;
  • Manister Abbey, Limerick;
  • Junior Rugby Team, Crescent, Limerick (1944 and 1945);
  • Dromore Lake, Limerick (1945);
  • aeroplanes at Rineanna, Clare (1946);
  • Tramore, Waterford (1946);
  • new College extension at Crescent (January 1946);
  • Crescent rugby City Cup winners (1946) and match at Mardyke, Cork (1947);

Retreat and sermon notes attributed to Fr William Flynn SJ

Retreat and sermon notes attributed to Fr William Flynn SJ in the main. One document refers to Easter Sunday, 1 April 1866, [Fr.] James Butler [SJ]. References to sermons at St Beuno's, Wales, Mungret, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Galway.

Servant of God Willie Doyle SJ

William Joseph Gabriel Doyle was born (1873) at Melrose, Dalkey Avenue, Dalkey, county Dublin. Known as Willie, Billie or Sloper (a comic book hero of the time), he was the youngest of seven children of Hugh Doyle, registrar of the insolvency court, and Christine Doyle (née Byrne). Growing up, Willie was devout, caring and cheerful. Educated at Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire, in 1891 Willie followed his older brother Charles into the Jesuits. After two years as a novice, he taught at Clongowes Wood College, where he produced The Mikado and founded the school magazine, The Clongownian. His Jesuit formation included periods in Belgium and England, and further teaching at Clongowes and Belvedere Colleges. After ordination at Milltown Park on 28th July 1907, Willie began work as an urban missionary and retreat giver in Ireland. His positive attitude made him a great success, and he travelled all around the British Isles. He was also the author of best-selling pamphlets on retreats and vocations.

Volunteering as a military chaplain in First World War, Fr Doyle was sent to France with the Royal Irish Fusiliers in early 1916. Within days of his arrival at the Front, he showed himself outstanding in the work of a chaplain. Lt Col HR Stirke noted that Fr Doyle was ‘one of the finest fellows that I ever met, utterly fearless, always with a cheery word on his lips and ever ready to go out and attend the wounded and the dying under the heaviest fire’. Present at the battles of the Somme and Messines, Fr Doyle was killed during the third battle of Ypres on 16th August 1917, while going to the aid of a wounded man near Frezenberg. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot memorial, Belgium. Fr Doyle was awarded the Military Cross, and he was put forward for the Victoria Cross posthumously but did not receive it. Writing to Willie’s father, Hugh, in December 1917, Major General WB Hickie remarks that: ‘I could not say too much about your son. He was loved and reverenced by us all. His gallantry, self sacrifice and devotion to duty were all so well known and recognized. I think that his was the most wonderful character that I have ever known.’

Doyle, Willie, 1873-1917, Servant of God, Jesuit priest and chaplain