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Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from the Placenames Division of the Ordnance Survey, Phoenix Park, supplying information on the placenames and boundaries of the diocese of Dublin.

Letter from Thomas Bacon of J.G. O'Connor and Co., solicitors, to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ following the death of his sister Sheila. Encloses a copy of Mrs. Moorehead’s will dated 8 November 1978, in which she bequeaths £1,000 to Fr Gwynn; an oil painting of ‘Cattle in Berkshire’ by Walter Osborne and the water-colour sketch of Fr Gwynn as a boy, also by Osborne, to the National Gallery; a lithograph of her grandfather William Smith O'Brien; a poem of his written in Kilmainham Jail and a signed poem by Thomas Francis Meagher, to the Municipal Art Gallery (5pp).

Letter of invitation to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from Donal McCartney, Prof. of Medieval Irish History, U.C.D. (and Dean of the Faculty of Arts) to the reception celebrating 70 years of the Faculty of Arts in U.C.D. – ‘it would be a great honour for us if one of our best-remembered Deans were to attend.’

Letter from James White, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ concerning his sister, Mrs. Sheila Moorehead’s offer or a portrait of her brother, Denis to the Gallery.

Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from James White, Director, National Gallery of Ireland, concerning a portrait of Fr Gwynn’s mother Mary Louisa, by Walter Osborne, in the collection of Fr Gwynn’s sister, Mrs Sheila Moorehead.

Letters from Mercy Simms (nee Gwynn, Fr Gwynn’s first cousin) wife of Archbishop George Otto Simms, to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ, concerning domestic and social affairs. Includes references to the Gwynn genealogy/pedigree and Fr Gwynn’s research on the subject.

Letter from Robin Gwynn, New Zealand (Fr Gwynn’s first cousin once removed, on his father’s side) to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ, concerning the future custodian of the Gwynn family papers (i.e. who should it be and where should the papers be kept). At the time Mercy Simms was the custodian.

Letter from Brian Trainor, Director of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ, enclosing ‘a few references which I came across in our card index some of which might be of interest,’ concerning Gwynn family genealogy.

Information on Fr Aubrey Gwynn’s great-grandfather’s cousin, John Gwynne (1754 – 1828/9), founder of a ‘charitable endowment Institution, Derry.’ Includes letters from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland to Fr Gwynn (30 June, 8 July 1975, 2 items. 1p. each) and note given to Fr Gwynn by Archbishop George Simms (July 1974, 1p.) (John Gwynne bequeathed a large sum of money to found a charitable endowment in Derry known as the Gwynne Institution, for the education of boys whose parents could not afford to give them a suitable education. The money was to be distributed equally among Protestants and Catholics. (from Burke’s Irish Family Records, 19[74], p. 53) )

Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from Geraldine Willis, Librarian, Church of Ireland Representative Church Body Library, Rathgar Road, Dublin, with biographical information on the following Gwynn’s who were clergymen in the seventeenth century: Arthur; John; Roger; William; George and John (1761 – 1852).

Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from Brendan O'Brien concerning volumes of William Smith O'Brien’s diaries and family news.

Letter to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from James White, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, concerning the acquisition from a Mr Stewart Thomson, of a ‘sketchbook of the work of Hugh Thomson, the Belfast artist who illustrated Stephen Gwynn’s well-known book on Donegal.’

Letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from H. George Fletcher, Director of Fordham University Press, concerning Fr Gwynn’s efforts in providing the publishers with ‘a photograph of the Burke portrait…for Professor Hoffman’s The Marquis’ and their gift of certain books to the library in Milltown Park.

Letters from publishers Browne Nolan Ltd. to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ, agreeing to publish his book 'The Reform of the Medieval Irish Church', ‘which, if it will not be a best seller, should certainly enjoy a reasonable sale on publication and a continuing, if limited, demand for many years.’ They are also interested in ‘your short History of the Irish Medieval Church but since Methuens have invited you to write it you may possibly feel some obligation towards them, even though, as you say, you have not yet made a contract.’ Includes summary of book ‘Offered to Browne and Nolan: c.300 pages: to be ready for press in autumn of 1950; to be published in autumn of 1951’ (14 February 1949, 1p.).

File of mission material relating to Fr Joseph Conway SJ. Includes passport, photograph, announcement of death, obituary, personal record and correspondence between Fr Conway and Frs Thomas Martin and Vincent Murphy, Irish Jesuit Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

File of material relating to Fr Thomas Cooney SJ, taken from the Mission Office, 28 Upper Sherrard St (12 July 2011). Includes photograph, mortuary card, announcement of death, obituary, personal record, and correspondence between Fr Cooney and Frs Thomas Martin and Vincent Murphy, Irish Jesuit Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

File relating to Fr Rupert F H Coyle SJ which includes correspondence concerning the Ordo for the Irish Province, catalogue entry.

File relating to the work of Fr Harold E Craig SJ in China and India. Includes correspondence concerning difficulties with Fr Craig in both missions and his recall to Ireland.

File relating to the return of Fr Harold E Craig SJ to Ireland and his appointment to parish work in England.

A file relating to Fr Harold E Craig's return to Ireland and his death in Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin. Includes biographical details, mortuary card and copy of photograph.

Biographical information on Fr Patrick J Cunningham SJ and details of death in an air crash.

Letter to Irish Fr Provincial Thomas Brown SJ from Laurence Gillooly, C.M., Bishop of Elphin (a member of the Senate of the Royal University), concerning Fr Brown’s support for the candidature of Fr Hopkins to the Fellowship of Classics. States ‘His Eminence, Card(inal) McCabe, informed me on Wednesday last of the selection of Fellows made on that day by the Senate of the R(oyal) University; and on Friday I learned from him that he had on the previous day resigned his place in the Senate in consequence of the rejection of his proposal relative to the Fellowships. I had hoped…that the communication made to you by Dr Woodlock of the resolution unanimously adopted…by the Episcopal University Committee in reference to the Fellowships would prevent the unfortunate conflict in the Senate; and it was with deep regret I learned that you had, in opposition to the Coetus Episcoporum, represented by the Episcopal Committee, kept on your two Candidate (sic); and thereby rendered the conflict inevitable –…I take the liberty of writing to you now, to tell you how much I deplore the step you have taken and the conflict in which it engages you and to express a hope that you will for the sake of your great undertaking in Stephen’s Green…remedy the mistake you have made by withdrawing the Revd. Fr Hopkins, as you are of course still perfectly free to do. For many years past I have publicly & privately used my best efforts to secure to your Society an eminent position in your University System. If the result is to be, from the very outset, a conflict…I must say I will heartily repent of what I have done and persuaded others to do in this matter.’ (For background to the appointment see T. J. Morrissey’s article ‘Hopkins’s Friends and Colleagues’, J11/46 and article by Norman White in 'The Hopkins Quarterly' entitled 'An Irish Row').

Letter to Irish Fr Provincial Thomas Brown SJ from Laurence Gillooly, C.M., Bishop of Elphin (a member of the Senate of the Royal University) – ‘I write now to let you know, that at our Committee Meeting when the question of the Fellowships came to be considered, the opinion expressed by his Em(inence) was in perfect accord with the resolution of the Committee. That was on Tuesday at 2 o’c(lock). There was no intimation that he had previously entertained, not to say, communicated to you, a different opinion…Dr. Woodlock…was requested at the close of our Meeting, about 5 o’c(lock) to give you official information of our views respecting the Fellowships…and I had no doubt, neither had any other member of Committee, but he had done so…the selection of the Candidates for the two Fellowships in question was generally supposed to have been deferred by the Senate to his Eminence – and for that as well as other reasons he expected his choice would be approved and so did the other members of the Ep(iscopa)l Committee.’ Includes original envelope addressed to Fr Brown. (See J11/46; pp.197 – 199)

Letter to Fr Fergal McGrath SJ (Irish Province Archivist 1975 to 1986) from Fr Anthony Bischoff SJ (Jesuit Community, Georgetown University, Washington), concerning books used by or belonging to Fr Gerard Hopkins SJ, found in St Ignatius’ House of Writers, 35 Lower Leeson Street. ‘I confess I am appalled at the idea that these books have been carelessly assimilated into the house library. In 1947, I spent hours examining every book in the Leeson Street house Library. The result was that I segregated some fifteen or twenty books that had definitely belonged to or been used by Hopkins. All of these I turned over to Father Aubrey Gwynn, then librarian. I made clear to him what the books were, their value as having been associated with Hopkins, and suggested that they be kept as a separate collection. I do not have a detailed listing of the books…I have only two definite titles that I recall…There are also several books by Richard Watson Dixon that belonged to Hopkins…You ought to also have the autograph manuscript of Hopkins’s poem ‘St. Thecla’, as well as manuscripts of one or two of his letters.’

Books used by or belonging to Fr Gerard Hopkins SJ
Annotated books, 1876 - 1884
IE IJA J/11/18 - 'The History of Tacitus According to the Text of Drelli. Books III, IV, V.'
IE IJA J/11/19 - 'Corpus Poetarum Latinorum'
IE IJA J/11/20 - 'The Acharnians of Aristophanes'
IE IJA J/11/21 - 'Aeschylus – Choephoroi'

Non-annotated books, 1884 - 1918
IE IJA J/11/22 - ‘Poems’ by Richard Watson Dixon
IE IJA J/11/23 - 'Poems' by Henry Patmore
IE IJA J/11/24 - 'Prometheus. The Firegiver' by Robert Bridges
IE IJA J/11/25 - 'Eros and Psyche. A Poem in Twelve Measures' by Robert Bridges

Letter to Fr Gerald Manley Hopkins SJ from Cardinal John Henry Newman, following Fr Hopkins's letter for the Cardinal's birthday in which Fr Hopkins commented on the state of the country. The Cardinal replies, ‘Your letter is an appalling one, but not on that account untrustworthy. There is one consideration however, which you omit. The Irish Patriots hold that they never have yielded themselves to the sway of England and therefore never have been under her laws, and never have been rebels. This does not diminish the force of your picture, but it suggests that there is no help, or remedy. If I were an Irishman, I should be (in heart) a rebel. Moreover, to clinch the difficulty the Irish character and taste is very different from the English.’

Copy of letter from Fr Fergal McGrath SJ to Fr Anthony Bischoff SJ concerning the books, following a recent inquiry about them from Dr James Cotter, New York. ‘I gave you the news that I had found five (probably seven) of the books used or annotated by G.M Hopkins, which you so painstakingly located in 1947. You had mentioned that you had found fifteen to twenty such books. I sent you a list of all the books which I had found in the same cupboard, and asked you to let me know whether you could establish a link between any of them and Hopkins. If my letter went astray, I shall be glad to make another copy of the list.’

Letter to Fr Fergal McGrath SJ from Fr Anthony Bischoff SJ after Fr McGrath sent him the card index of books belonging to, or associated with Hopkins. Fr Bischoff indicates those ‘having definitely been Hopkins…None of the other titles on your list were associated with Hopkins.’

Letter to Fr Gerald Manley Hopkins SJ from Cardinal John Henry Newman thanking him for his ‘kind remembrance’ of the Cardinal's birthday and stating ‘I grieve to find you corroborate from your own experience what other friends tell me about the State of Ireland. What are we coming to!’ Also original envelope for the letter, addressed to ‘The Revd. G. Hopkins, S.J., 85.86 Stephen’s Green, Dublin’ dated 27 Feb. 1885, Birmingham. With Holyhead Kingstown Packet franking on back, dated Feb. 28.

Holograph letter to Dr Michael Cox from Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins, in which he comments on the thesis of a book, or pamphlet, lent to him by Dr. Cox. The book in question was 'Arts and Industries in Ireland' by S.A. [Sarah Atkinson] (Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son: 1882), which contains two essays, one of which is ‘Irish Wool and Woollens, passages from the history of the staple trade’. Its thesis was that English interests had secured the suppression of the Irish woollen trade, thus contributing to the poverty of Ireland. Hopkins does not accept this – ‘Irish writers on their own history are naturally led to dwell on what in history is most honourable to Ireland…They are also led to dwell on what in history is most dishonourable to England…the most extensive…Irish woollen industry was frieze…this was never checked by English legislation…’.

Dr Cox, a university colleague of Fr Hopkins, was a distinguished Dublin physician, lecturer in the Medical School of the Catholic University Dublin and Examiner for the Royal University of Ireland.
S.A. was Sarah Atkinson, author of a Life of Mother Mary Aikenhead, Foundress of the Irish Sisters of Charity.

The letter along with another by Fr Hopkins (See J11/7) was presented to the then Editor of 'Studies' Fr Roland Burke Savage SJ by the late Fr Arthur Cox, son of the recipient. Both letters were published in 'Studies', Spring 1970 (Vol. LIX, No. 233) pp.19 - 25, with an explanatory introduction and notes by the then Editor, Fr Peter Troddyn SJ.

Typescript copy of original holograph letter of Fr Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ to Dr Michael F. Cox (31 March 1887) commenting on the thesis of the pamphlet on the Irish woollen industry by Sarah Atkinson. ‘I now return your pamphlet with thanks…I more than ever note the selfishness of the legislation of 1699 etc., but I also more clearly see that it goes but a very little way to explaining the poverty in Ireland…’ Comments on a paper by Rev. William Cunningham (a distinguished economic historian), from which he lists a number of ‘relevant facts’ and concludes ‘The above shews a picture of selfishness and shortsighted folly, but it also fails to shew the cause of Ireland’s want of commercial prosperity. So far as there is blame Irishmen must be in great part to blame for that.’

With note on top left corner by Fr Peter Troddyn SJ (Editor of 'Studies'), ‘Copy typed from original (which is mislaid at Feb 1970)’ i.e. this copy was made by Fr Roland Burke Savage SJ about 1965 when he received the two letters from Fr Arthur Cox, son of Dr. Michael F. Cox. The letter published in 'Studies' was taken from this typescript copy as the original holograph letter had, by that time, been lost. (See article in 'Studies', Spring 1970, pp.19-25 for explanatory notes and introduction to the letter.)

Letter to Fr Fergal McGrath SJ (Province Archivist, 1975 to 1986) from Fr Roland Burke Savage SJ (Clongowes Wood College), concerning the holograph manuscript of Hopkins’s 'St. Thecla' which Fr Burke-Savage discovered ‘while cleaning out Fr [Patrick] Connolly’s room (in St Ignatius, House of Writers, 35 Lower Leeson Street) when he was in (St.) Vincent’s having his leg set about 1948…I got leave from Engl(ish) Provincial to keep it on permanent loan.’

A file relating to Fr William Dargan SJ, including biographical information, black and white photographs, birth certificate and stole with the initials W.D. (William Dargan) and the date of his ordination, 31 July 1935.

A file relating to Fr Vincent Dennehy SJ.

Notes on Genicot ‘De jure et justitia’ printed as MSS., Milltown Park, Dublin. (Printed by Ponsoby & Gibbs, Dublin University Press). With names on front of Fr Matthew Devitt SJ and Fr Donal McCarthy SJ, and with pen annotations. Inserts in different hands.

Biographical information on Fr Martin Cryan SJ.

File of material relating to Fr Martin Cryan SJ taken from the Mission Office, 28 Upper Sherrard St (12 July 2011). Includes passport photographs; menology; personal record; announcement of death; obituary; and correspondence between Fr Cryan and Fr Thomas J. Martin SJ, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Material relating to the work of Fr Daniel Donnelly SJ including correspondence from St Stanislaus College, Bandra, Bombay, India.

File of material relating to Fr Daniel Donnelly SJ, taken from the Mission Office, 28 Upper Sherrard St (12 July 2011). Includes passport
photographs of Frs Daniel and Leo Donnelly; personal record; document entitled ‘The Irish Jesuit Mission in Hong Kong: A retrospect’ by Fr Donnelly from the Irish Ecclesiastical Record (1937); and correspondence between Fr Donnelly and Fr Thomas J. Martin SJ Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Letters written to Fr John Conmee's friend, Fr Matthew Russell SJ, following Fr Conmee’s death. Includes:
– letter from Fr Patrick J. Ryan, C.C. of Fairview, Dublin – ‘God grant that he is now with the good Master he loved to speak of and to paint in words love and rainbow-hope. Your Fathers will miss his sweet, lovely voice, and so will many hundreds of secular priests who rose up to better and loftier things begotten of his preaching and good example. Who can tell the number of wounded hearts he cured and sent away rejoicing?’ (13 May 1910, 2pp);
– letters from a Mr Cullinan and his wife of Portrane House, Donabate, Dublin – ‘His whole personality endeared him to everyone with whom he came in contact…he was always a true friend and advisor.…We both owe more to Fr Conmee than you can have any idea of and his loss is a cruel blow to us’ (14 May 1910, 4pp). Also states “As regards our dear friend being ‘forgotten’ – that can never apply to 'us', at any rate. He lives in our memory every hour of the day and his place in our hearts, as the dearest friend and finest man we ever met, can never be filled” (16 Jun. 1910, 2pp).

Letter to Fr John Conmee SJ from a [ ] Lalor SJ in Petworth (an English Jesuit house) thanking Fr Conmee for writing to him following the death of a mutual friend, Fr Michael Waters SJ in Upper Gardiner Street on 22 November 1895.

Letter from Fr John Conmee SJ, University College, Dublin to Fr Matthew Russell SJ (Editor of 'The Irish Monthly'), thanking him for the ‘kind and encouraging things’ Fr Russell said of Fr Conmee’s ‘little paper’ i.e. 'Old Times in the Barony', which was published as a booklet in 1900. “Anything I may write on the Barony is already promised to the New Ireland. If I can send you any thing worth printing…I will – but I only write on compulsion and compose – as the Scotch joke– wi’ deefeculty’ ”.

Letters to Fr John Conmee SJ written by, and on behalf of, Dr William J. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin. Includes
– letter concerning a point of theology (18 Feb. 1901, 4pp);
– a confidential letter from the Archbishop concerning the idea of the Loreto Sisters congregation gaining Papal rather than Diocesan right (4 Feb. 1905, 8pp) and letter relating to the Constitutions of the German branch of the Loreto Sisters (26 Feb. 1905, 3pp).

Holograph letter from Fr Patrick Duffy SJ, Rome to John Patrick Duffy, 6 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Dublin concerning the plight of the Irish, ‘the death of the old Volunteer of 82’, the weather in Rome ‘we have been frying in here for the last two months. The heat has been fierce’ and Daniel O'Connell.

Letter from Sr John Gaynor, The Sisters of Charity, Our Lady's Hospice for the Dying, Harold's Cross, Dublin to Mother Prioress Sr Mary Gabriel, Carmelite Convent, Firhouse concerning the illness of her sister and Fr Duffy's sister, Anne. Remarks 'Although I know you must feel it a blessed thing for a soul to be nearing its eternal house, still it pains me to have to tell you your dear sister is visibly losing ground.' Refers to Fr Duffy and remarks that she sent for him.

Letter from Hester Marie, 15 Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin to Mother Mary Gabriel, Prioress, Carmelite Convent, Firhouse, Dublin concerning the illness of her sister, Nannie (Anne). Remarks that she has been in to visit her in the hospice.

Letter from Hester Marie, 15 Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin to Mother Mary Gabriel, Prioress, Carmelite Convent, Firhouse, Dublin concerning the death of her sister Nannie (Anne).

A file of material relating to Fr Peter Dunne SJ including biographical information and correspondence concerning various duties he attended to as a Jesuit.

File of material relating to Fr Peter Dunne SJ including passport photographs, personal record, and correspondence in the main from Fr Dunne to Fr Thomas J. Martin, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin. (Nickname - Pinky Dunne, due to pink cheeks).

Material relating to Fr Dermot Durnin SJ including biographical information, correspondence concerning his health and correspondence relating to the JSA (Jesuit Seminary Association).

A file of material relating to Fr Eamon Egan SJ including biographical information and correspondence relating to his death in a boating accident.

File of receipts, requests for masses, and bequests sent to Fr Charles Farley SJ, St. Francis Xavier, Upper Gardiner Street, (Province
Procurator). Includes receipts, postcards and letters from Frs Edward Boyd Barrett, James O'Connor, Joseph Flinn, A. Magne, Daniel J. Finn (from R.M.S Orsova on the way to Australia), James Creagh, James Farrell, John Ryan (Valkenberg), William Byrne, Bernard Page, John Nerney, C. Wishoff, Leopold Skarek, and Dr. Conway Dwyer, 86 Merrion Square, Dublin.

Letter from Sr M. Catherine of the Convent of Our Lady of Mercy, St Mary’s, Limerick, to Fr Stephen Farrell SJ, Milltown Park, Dublin. Conveys her thanks, through the latter, to the anonymous benefactor, who gave a donation of £100 for the use of her Convent. Includes a handwritten receipt for the above donation, signed by Sister Mary Catherine Bren.

Letter from Fr E O'Donnell, Redemptorist, Limerick, to Fr Stephen Farrell SJ, Milltown Park, Dublin. Encloses receipt for the sum of £100 (included), received from an anonymous donor through Fr. Farrell for the use of the Fathers at Mount St. Alphonsus.

Letter from Sr Mary of St Mary Magdalene of Pazzi Lawson, Prov. Superioress of the Convent of the Good Shepherd, Limerick, to Fr Stephen Farrell SJ. Encloses a receipt for the gift of £100 from an anonymous donor, and received through Fr Farrell (included).

Material relating to Fr Gregory Ffrench SJ which includes correspondence concerning his work for the Society throughout his life. Includes notes by Msgr Alfred O'Rahilly on the life of Fr Willie Doyle SJ sent to Fr Ffrench SJ (18 August 1964, 2pp). Includes a letter from Fr Ffrench SJ, Jesuit Retreat Centre, Tullamore, County Offaly to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the closure of Emo. Remarks 'But this dinner for Ours on the 11th? Apart from considerations of poverty, I cannot see that the closing of Emo is any occasion for festivity. After all, Emo is being closed because God does not see fit to bless the Province as at present being run with sufficient vocations to justify keeping it open.' (27 August 1969, 3pp). Includes correspondence concerning his work for the Crusaders of the Blessed Sacrament (1974-1982).

Biographical information Fr John Ffrench SJ which includes 'A few particulars relative to the Hon. and Rev. John Ffrench SJ', Dolllard, Printinghouse, Dublin (1887), 'Memoirs of Father Ffrench of the Society of Jesus', Manresa Press, Roehampton (1898) and copy of a letter from Fr Ffrench, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly to Mother Ursula Querk, Ursuline Convent, St Joseph's, Sligo concerning his nephew's accident and his cure due to the intercession of (6 February 1854, 4pp), with note from Sr. M. St. Dominic, Ursuline Convent, St Joseph's, Sligo (20 September 1983).

Material relating to Fr Thomas FitzGerald SJ including pasport photogrpah, catalogue entry (1939, 1962 and 1965) and application to join the Society.

File of Irish mission office material relating to Fr Thomas FitzGerald SJ. Includes passport photographs; announcement of death; personal record; correspondence between Miss Eva Fitzgerald, Patient, Waterford County and City Infirmary, Waterford (sister of Fr Thomas) and Fr Provincial regarding her application for assistance from the Royal United Kingdom Beneficent Association; and correspondence between Fr Fitzgerald and Fr Thomas J. Martin SJ, Mission Office, Dublin.

Letter from Fr Proinsias Ó Fionnagáin SJ, 35 Lower Leeson St, Dublin to Br John Maguire SJ, replying to a query on Fr Daniel Finn SJ. Fr Ó Fionnagáin SJ researches Finn’s writings in the Irish Province News and at the National Library of Ireland. Note on top of letter ‘Copy of this letter posted to Fr Joe Shields – 2/7/74 John Maguire’

Material relating to the entry of Br Peter Foley SJ into the society, final vows and medical note.

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 and notes, mostly from Professor Patrick Fitzgerald to Fr Leonard Sheil’s Superiors, concerning Fr Sheil’s’ cancer. Includes:

• letters from Prof. FitzGerald (Fr Sheil’s surgeon) to Irish Fr Provincial Brendan Barry SJ, informing him of Fr Sheil’s condition (4 items);
• letter from Fr Sheil (St. Mary’s Open-air Orthopaedic Hospital, Finglas, Dublin 11) to the Irish Fr Provincial, quoting Prof. FitzGerald’s opinion that it would ‘be better’ for Fr Sheil to get back to work, ‘physically, psychologically and morally!’ (2 Mar. 1966, 1p.) and
  – letter from Fr Sheil to Fr Brendan Lawler (Irish Fr Provincial’s Socius) seeking help in arranging his trip to Dublin to see Prof. FitzGerald (9 Feb. 1967, 1p.)

Correspondence between Vice-Provincial Brendan Lawler and the English Provincialate in Mount Street, London, relating to Fr Leonard Sheil’s recall to the Irish Province due to his final illness. Includes:

• letter from Irish Fr Provincial Brendan Barry SJ to Fr Thomas Dunphy SJ of Mount Street in which he states that Fr Sheil ‘…is beyond medical aid, since he has cancer of the liver. He is not confined to bed and – characteristically – he is all on for doing some work for God before he dies. Nevertheless it is obvious that his days at Farm Street have come to an end. I am therefore putting him in the Catalogus as withdrawn from Farm Street and stationed at the College of Industrial Relations, Sandford Road, Dublin 6. He went there from the nursing home last week and he is to stay there as long as his health allows. Please advise Father Corrigan that it seems best now to regard Father Sheil as no longer applied to the English Province or attached to Farm Street’ (19 Oct. 1967, 1p.) and
  – reply from Fr Dunphy to Fr Lawler – ‘I need hardly say how sorry we are about this, because he has been such a wonderful man. There is no doubt that he has done great work in the parish and has been deeply loved and respected by all who knew him. He was certainly a source of great edification to this community’ (22 Oct. 1967, 1p.).

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).

Documents relating to Leonard Sheil's entrance into the Society of Jesus. Includes:
– introductory letter from Leonard to Irish Fr Provincial Thomas V. Nolan SJ seeking information on the Society (6 March 1919, 2pp);
– note from Dr. J. Redmond to Fr George Byrne SJ, [Novice Master] following his medical examination of Leonard Sheil (22 July 1920, 1p.);
– letter from Mrs Helen Sheil, Leonard's mother to ‘Father Rector’ describing Leonard’s education and state of health. Remarks ‘I hope…that you will not discourage him – his whole heart is set on things spiritual & I know that he has it in him to do great things for God. He is so shy that he will perhaps have difficulty in speaking to you…’ (6 August 1920, 2pp) and
– letters from Mrs Sheil to Irish Fr Provincial on financial matters, following his acceptance of her son into the Society, (28 August - 4 October 1920, 3 items).

Correspondence between Fr Leonard Sheil SJ and Irish Fr Provincial Laurence Kieran SJ concerning the relationship between the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Legion of Mary.

Correspondence between Fr Leonard Sheil SJ and Irish Fr Provincial Laurence J. Kieran SJ on the content of Fr Sheil’s mission sermons. Includes:
– censors’ judgements on the manuscript of a sermon on ‘Sin’ by Fr Sheil (Jun 1936, 2 items); copy of summary of censors’ judgements (n.d., 2pp) and letter from Fr Sheil to the Irish Fr Provincial after receiving the censors’ reviews (24 June 1936, 2pp);
– letter from Fr Sheil in which he explains his delay in sending the Irish Fr Provincial the texts of his sermons, ‘My delay, and indeed serious negligence, has not been due, I think, to wilful disobedience, or to the opinion that they did not need censoring, but to this. I have eight fully written sermons in my drawer at present, but my dissatisfaction with them has caused me to cross out and amend lines and pages, so that none of them are yet in fit condition to send.…also…between missions my head is so tired that I am loathe to work.’ Also refers to the Sodality and the Legion of Mary (see J16/3) (12 Oct. 1936, 2pp);
– copy letter to Fr Sheil from the Irish Fr Provincial calling attention to Fr Sheil’s ‘want of prudence and discretion’ and warning him that if he continues ‘on present lines’ he may be ‘removed from the mission staff and given work in a College. With a view to rendering such a change unnecessary I forbid you in future to speak in the pulpit on questions of sex or, on general, matters relating to the VI commandment, without having first submitted your MS to the Socius for censorship. I wish also that you give up mentioning in public estimates or conjectures regarding the number of Irish emigrants who lose the faith or give up its practice’ (24 Jan. 1938, 2pp);
– note from Fr Sheil to the Irish Fr Provincial in which he lists the topics of his sermons that have been passed by the censor (12 Mar. 1940, 3pp);
– letter from Fr Tom Counihan SJ to ‘Fr. John’ in which he refers to Fr Sheil’s sermons, ‘You should have heard his sermons on sin, temptation, holyhour, family life & Holy Communion to feel utterly ashamed of the twaddle neither here nor there (sic.) No Scripture, no sound reasoning & abundance of crudity & naked realism…It is very unfortunate & I am not at all comfortable when I have to hand over an out-church to his tender mercies!’ (15 May 1940, 2pp) and
– copy letter from the Irish Fr Provincial to Fr Sheil in which he states, ‘I have been regretfully obliged to change you from the mission staff, and it is only fair that you should know the reason of this change. From information I have received from many different quarters it seems clear that you are greatly lacking in prudence in the things you say; and I cannot help thinking that if you were allowed to continue working as a missioner you would land both yourself and the Society into serious trouble…you allow your zeal to get the better of you with the result that you act contrary not only to the advice of your colleagues but also to that of your Superiors. I am afraid also that your knowledge of theology is very much wanting in accuracy…As to your work in Galway in the coming year, I must forbid you to preach anything in the Church without first having shown the MS to Fr Rector…’ (30 Jul. 1940, 2pp).

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. 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.).

Letters from Fr Leonard Sheil SJ to the Irish Fr Provincial John R MacMahon SJ and his Socius, Fr John Coyne SJ seeking permission to visit his brother’s widow and children. His brother was killed in the war, 1945.

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).

Material relating to Fr Leonard Gallagher SJ and his brother, Frank Gallagher. Includes Frank's anti-treaty material, material relating to the Irish civil war, letters from Frank to Fr Leonard from Gormanstown Internment Camp (17 January - 4 August 1923, 9 items) and letter from Joseph Cripps to Fr Leonard from Gormanstown Internment Camp (30 August 1923, 1p). Includes some biographical information on Fr Leonard Gallagher SJ.

• brief details of Patrick O'Reilly and Michael Fitzgerlad, Youghal, County Cork who were arrested on possession of Arms and Ammunition at Ballinaclash, Clashmore, County Waterford;
• typed correspondence and accounts relating to anti-treaty publicity (1922-1923);

File of material relating to Fr Richard Gallagher SJ, including photographs, passport, announcement of death, personal recor,; obituaries, and letters from Fr Gallagher to Fr Thomas J Martin, Mission Office, Dublin and Fr Eddie Bourke SJ 19 Kickham Street, Carrick-on-Suir, county Tipperary.

Letter from Fr Terence L Connolly SJ, Boston College Library, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA to Frank Gallagher, Director of Government Information Bureau, Merrion Street, Dublin (brother of Fr Richard) thanking him for sending a inscribed copy of his book ‘The Four Glorious Years’.

Letter from Victor G SJ, Constantine, 55 rue Serigny, Algeria to Fr David Gallery SJ thanking him for his letter but cautions him against using the address and putting SJ after his name. Remarks 'You put my Superior in boiling water..now in several of our domiciles any letter bearing the name of Reverend Pere etc.is returned unopened to the sender...Just as present we are hunted by the detectives of the sectarian government to be taken as delinquent or rebelious [sic] to the law in reconstituting a community'. Continues 'We don't pass for Jesuit anymore, we are diocesan missionaries'. Remarks that the Bishop ordered him to Biskra to help out the priest who had fallen ill. Remarks that the heat was unbearable and he was relived to return to Constantine.

Biographical information on Br William Glanville SJ and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials. Includes a photograph of Br William Glanville SJ and Fr Sean Noonan SJ, September 1957, and mortuary card.

Catalogue entry and material on the health of Fr Mortimer Glynn SJ.

Catalogue entry, obituary, and correspondence concerning Fr Gerard Guinane SJ. Includes letters relating to his nomination to the board of the IRFU (10 May - 17 June 1968, 4 items).

Biographical information on Fr John J Hannon SJ. Includes catalogue entry (1930), correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and brief biography by Fr Fergus O'Donoghue SJ.

Letter from Fr Timothy Corcoran SJ, Department of Education, University College Dublin to Fr John Hannon SJ, Professor of Catholic Theology in the National University of Ireland, concerning the assertion in 'The Month', November 1929, that there is no chair of theology in the National University, and that the late Fr Peter Finlay SJ, could not have occupied such a position. Includes clippings on the legalities of the Professorship of Theology at the National University of Ireland (1908-1912) and counterpart deed of endowment of the Professorship of Catholic Theology in the National University of Ireland.93 December 1912).

File relating to the wish by Baghdad College, Iraq to move the body of Fr Jeremiah Austin Hartigan SJ from the war cemetery at Amara, to their own cemetery in the college grounds. Information from the Commonwealth War Grave Commission suggests this never happened. Includes birth certificate for Jeremiah Austin Hartigan.

Letters to scholastic William Sutton SJ from fellow Jesuits, Frs Heinrich Thiemann (Stonyhurst) and Edmund O'Reilly (Milltown Park) on philosophical matters.

Letters and notes to Fr William A Sutton SJ from various individuals including the Editor of 'The Lamp', Alfred de Burgh (Shankill, County Dublin), Hanbury Geoghegan, Charles Coppinger (Upper Merrion Street, Dublin) and A.H. Matthew (Chelsfield, Kent).

Material relating to Fr Jeremiah Hayes SJ, including catalogue entry and correspondence regarding dispensation to say Mass due to health.

Material relating to Fr Piaras de Hindeberg SJ including admission details, catalogue entry, correspondence with Irish Fr Provincial, death certificate and mortuary card,

Material relating to Fr William Hogan SJ, including admission details, catalogue entry, and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincial.

Material relating to Fr Thomas Hurley SJ, including correspondence with the Irish Fr Provincial, items relating to his health and catalog entry

File of material relating to Fr Francis Joy SJ including catalogue record, mortuary card, and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials.

Material relating to Br James Kavanagh SJ including admission details, catalogue entry, correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and mortuary card.

File of materiel relating to Fr Joseph Kavanagh SJ including: correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials; his work at St Joseph's East Wall and St Kevin's, Harrington Street, Dublin: catalogue entry: obituary and correspondence relating to his death in a motorcycle accident.

Material relating to Fr Laurence M Kearns SJ containing admission details, his work within the Society (chaplain in the Second World War, communications and media work in Zambia and Lesotho, correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials. Includes biographical information.

Mission Office material relating to Fr Laurence Kearns SJ, which includes announcement of death, personal record and correspondence between Fr Kearns and Frs Thomas Martin and Vincent Murphy, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

File relating to to Fr Hugh Kelly SJ which includes two scrap books containing newspapers cuttings of Lenten lectures delivered by Fr Hugh Kelly SJ in St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin, correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials.

Material realting to Fr John C Kelly SJ including correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and the curia (on his work in communciations and the media), personal record and application to join the Society.

File relating to Fr Joseph Kelly SJ which includes travel documents, correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and curia, personal record and application to join the Society.

Letter from Rev. George O'Neill SJ, 35 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin to Irish Fr Provincial concerning an article written by Fr Phelan about Canon Sheehan. Remarks that the article was sent to him as a reader for the Catholic Truth Society ‘I reported strongly against its publication thinking it lamentable from many points of view. The other reader and the Hon. Sec. were equally unfavourable.’.

Letter from Rev. George O'Neill SJ, 35 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin to Irish Fr Provincial concerning Fr Provincial’s objection to Scholastics continuing as committee members of the English Society at University College. Remarks ‘This Society fulfils an exceedingly useful function in the college. It exercises its members in three most useful things...writing...reading them out...(and) criticizing each others work.’. Continues ‘I fear that their (the Scholastics) withdrawal from active participation...would simply mean its extinction.’.

File relating to Fr Thomas P Kelly SJ, includes correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials.

File relating to Fr Denis P Kennedy SJ which includes correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and curia, and application to join the Society.

Material relating to Fr Patrick G Kennedy SJ including correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and memorandum of agreement for the publication of 'Birds of Ireland' by P.G. Kennedy SJ, Robert F. Ruttledge and C.F. Scroope.