Showing 134 results

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Michael Pelly SJ written while serving as a chaplain with 11th York and Lancaster Regiment (218th Infantry Brigade); in Otley, West Yorkshire; The Military Hospital, York; with the British North Africa Force in North Africa; 1st Battalion, The Buffs, C.M.F. in Italy; in 93rd British General Hospital, C.M.F. and in the School of Infantry, Warminster, Wiltshire. Includes Fr Pelly’s first letter to the Provincial written from Bridlington (23 April 1942, 1p.) and letters describing the monastery of Cassino following the battle of Monte Cassino (30 May 1944, 2pp), being in Rome on the day it was taken by the Allies and his ‘semi-private audience with the Pope’ (30 June, 29 July 1944, 2 items).

Letters and telegrams to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Thomas J Martin SJ written while serving as chaplain with the 4th King’s Own Scottish Borders in Alloa, Clackmannonshire and Buckie, Banff, Scotland; with the 155th Infantry Brigade in Scotland; the 12th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Essex, France and Holland and while based in Palace Barracks, Holywood, Northern Ireland. Fr Martin was sent home from Holland as a result of an eye infection and was released from the Army on health grounds at the end of 1945/beginning of 1946.

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Fergus Cronin SJ written during his time as a chaplain while serving in the Royal Artillery Service Corps in Barry, South Wales; the Faeroe Islands; 101 Military Convalescent Depot, Grange Camp, Bedford and with Paiforce in Iraq. Includes:

• His first letter reporting that he has been informed by the War Office of his appointment as military chaplain effective from 11 May 1942 (24 April 1942, 1p.);
• References to the question of his direct repatriation to Hong Kong (9 January – 22 July 1946, 5 items) and waiting in Haifa in July 1946 to go to Cairo, there to await repatriation to Hong Kong.

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Maurice Dowling SJ written during his time serving as a chaplain in the 11th General Hospital in Peebles; Military Hospital, Drymen, Scotland; with the Shetland Defence Forces in Lerwick; in North Africa with the 58th [Heavy Anti-Aircraft] Regiment, Royal Artillery, B.N.A.F.; 3 L.C.U.; with the 167th Field Ambulance, C.M.F. and 2nd A.G.R.A., C.M.F.; with the 4th Battalion, Oxford and Bucks. in Norfolk and 2nd Army and 21st Army Group in Germany. Includes his first letter written to the Provincial from the 11th General Hospital (1 January 1942, 2pp), Fr Dowling’s memorial card (with photograph), and airgraphs from North Africa.

Biographical information by Fr John Hayes SJ from the 1942 ‘Catalogus personum primus.’

Documents relating to Fr Richard Kennedy SJ as a Japanese prisoner of war in Taiwan. Includes:
– cutting from The Times listing Fr Richard Kennedy SJ as a POW (1 December 1942, 1p.);
– postcard from Fr Richard Kennedy SJ in a POW camp in Taiwan to Fr Provincial (1943);
– letters from Fr Kennedy’s brother, Denis P. Kennedy SJ to Irish Fr Provincial, informing him of letters received by Fr Kennedy’s family (13 July, 30 September 1944, 2 items).

Responses to Irish Fr Provincial's letter seeking volunteers to serve as chaplains. Includes;

• Copy of Provincial’s letter (16 February 1942, 1p.)
• Responses from Frs Michael O'Meara SJ (2 letters, See also CHP2/32), Peter MacSeumais SJ, Brian MacMahon SJ, Fergus Cronin SJ (See CHP2/14), Thomas J. Martin SJ (See CHP2/28), Aidan Ennis SJ, Gerard Perrott SJ (brother of Cyril Perrott SJ) (2 letters) (See CHP2/35), Brendan Lawler SJ, Gerard MacLoughlin SJ and Thomas O'Callaghan SJ.

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Matthias Bodkin SJ written during his time as chaplain in the Royal Navy based at R.N. Base, Derry, Northern Ireland (refers to trips to the Arctic Circle and Western Australia) and serving on the battleship H.M.S. Anson in the East. Includes;

• Letter concerning his finances (February 1945, 10pp) and draft of Fr Provincial’s reply (25 February 1945, 2pp);
• Letter from Sergeant Major D.J. Fitzgerald (R.M. Detachment) of H.M.S. Anson describing Fr Bodkin’s activities in Malta (4 June 1945, 3pp);
• Letters describing his trip to Hong Kong, his visit with the Mission there (12 August – 25 October 1945, 12 items);
• News of the various Jesuits in Hong Kong and how they have fared during the occupation;
• Description of Tokyo (December 1945, 2 items); a ‘rough memory draft’ of his expenditure (1p.)
• Draft copy of letter from the Provincial to Fr Bodkin concerning his finances (5 January 1946, 2pp) (letter was never sent).

Letters and telegrams to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Laurence Kearns SJ written during his time as a chaplain serving with various anti-aircraft units: 117 Z.A.A. Battery, 7 (M) Z.A.A. Regiment, Royal Artillery: Stockton-on-Tees; 107 Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Surrey; 32 Light Anti-Aircraft Brigade: France; 52nd Lowland Scottish Infantry Division, 157 Infantry Brigade: Holland, Germany, Belsen and in Garrisson Catholic Church, Bordon, Hants. Includes:

• his first letter to the Provincial from Edinburgh (18 September 1943, 2pp);
  – photographs of Fr Kearns blessing the graves of British falen 1940 and his driver, Liet. Joseph McPatlan (November, December 1944, 6 items: 8½cm x 6cm);
  – copies of extracts from Irish Province News on the chaplains (14 – 28 January 1945, 2 items, 1p. each);
  – letters describing his car accident (24 June 1945, 8pp), operations to rebuild his damaged face and his convalescence (11 July – 21 December 1945, 5 items).

Documents relating to Fr Michael Pelly's time as a chaplain. Includes Fr Pelly's ‘British Military Identity Document’ with photograph (December 1943, 1 item) and photocopy from a newspaper [Irish Independent?] of an article on the ‘Mass of Reparation said in Monte Cassino Ruins’ by Fr Pelly (1944, 1p).

Memorial card and obituary for Fr Joseph Flinn SJ.

Letters to Irish Fr Provincial John MacMahon SJ from Fr Alan Birmingham SJ written during his time as a chaplain attached to the 2nd Battalion, The Loyal Regiment in Sussex and Northern Ireland; 32 Casualty Clearing Station in England and France; 4 Army Group Royal Artillery, B.L.A. in France and Germany; 150th Infantry Brigade in Southern India and the Indian Artillery Centre, Kamaredi. Includes description of his role in the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 (16 November 1944, 4pp) and his last letter written on his way home (29 September 1946, 2pp).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Anthony MacSeumais SJ written while serving as chaplain in the R.A.F. at R.A.F. Stations in Cosford, Wolverhampton, Staffs. and Leuchars, Fife, Scotland; with the 5023 Airfield Construction Squadron in Holland and Germany and 124 Wing in Lübeck. Includes his first letter to the Irish Fr Provincial written from Belfast (March 1944, 2pp) and letter in which he lists all the places he has served since arriving in Belgium (1 June 1945, 4pp). This letter also contains Fr MacSeumais’s only reference to Belsen Concentration Camp. Also includes Fr MacSeumais’s memorial card (with photograph) (Fr MacSeumais died on 13 January 1989).

Biographical information, obituaries and memorial card of Fr Cyril Perrott SJ (4 items). Military file 3601/CH(RC) which contains various documents belonging to Fr Cyril Perrott taken from Irish Provincialate (2010). Includes:

• 6 black and white photographs of unknown people (perhaps niece and brother who lived in Western Australia, and brother who was a Jesuit in Western Australia);
• details of his successful application for rate of pay increase;
• release certificate;
• details of medical prescription;
• receipt for demand for civilian clothing;
• document outlining principles and priestly duties;
• tax requests;
• request and reply for contingency allowance;
• documents outlining ration cards and national registration on return to the United Kingdom and instructions to personnel released or invalided during release period to Eire who are granted leave with pay and who are eligible for medical attendance etc, under army regulations (1945/46);
• claim for award of 1939/45 Star/Burma Star/Defence Medal;
• obituary (1952);
• card to be shown by celebret whenever a Chaplain wishes to say Mass;
• officers’ kit insurance;
• copy of gospel in funeral Mass and
• letters from Captain George P. Grossmith.

Telegrams and letters to the Provincial from various sources following the death of Fr John Hayes SJ from typhus on 21 January 1945. Includes: telegram from the Rector of Crescent College Limerick to the Provincial (John McMahon SJ) informing him that the War Office had ‘wired Mrs. Hayes that Father John died of typhus Jan 21st’ (26 January 1945, 1p.);
– note of acknowledgement to the Provincial from Frank G. Hayes (Fr Hayes’ brother) (27 January 1945, 1p.);
– copy of letter sent to the Rector of Belvedere College (James Gubbins SJ) from Old Belvederian (1923-1931) and comrade of Fr Hayes, Captain W.A. Ward following the death of Fr Hayes (27 January 1945, 1p.);
– copy of letter sent by Joseph Gardner, S.C.F. (R.C.) (Senior Catholic Chaplain, Allied Land Forces, South East Asia) to Mgr. John Coghlan (Principal R.C. Chaplain, War Office, London) giving further details of Fr Hayes’ death (28 January 1945, 1p.);
– letter from Mgr. Coghlan to the Irish Fr Provincial John R MacMahon SJ (29 January 1945; 2pp);
– letters from Rev. A. Clancy (Senior Catholic Chaplain, H.Q. 36th Division, South East Asia) and from Rev. J. Gardner, S.C.F. (R.C.) to Irish Fr Provincial John R McMahon SJ (29 January 1945, 2 items, 1p. each);
– copy of letter sent to Mrs. Hayes by her son’s Commanding Officer, Major-General Francis Festing, following his death (23 January 1945, 2pp);
– letter from Agnes Hayes to Irish Fr Provincial (13 February 1945, 1p.);
– letter to Irish Fr Provincial John R McMahon SJ from George Hickson, the chaplain who was with Fr Hayes before he died (15 February 1945, 3pp);
– copy of letter from Rev. J. Gardner to Fr D. Donnelly SJ (St. Stanislaus High School, Bandra, Bombay) listing the articles of ecclesiastical equipment of the late Fr Hayes, which Fr Gardner is sending to Fr Donnelly (17 March 1945, 1p.);
– copy of an Appreciation of Fr Hayes written by Rev. Terence M. Hogan, C.F. (R.C.)(Fr Hayes’ Senior Chaplain for six months) (19 March 1945, 1p.) and
– label tags ‘O.H.M.S. Deceased Officer’s Kit’ for Fr Hayes’ property (n.d., 3 items).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Richard Kennedy SJ from the 5th Replacement Camp, Manila, Philippines, Military Hospital, Moira, County Down and the College of the Rhine Army, Göttingen, following his time as a Japanese POW. immediately

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial John R McMahon SJ from Mgr John M. Coghlan (Principal Chaplain (R.C.) concerning the chaplains’ release from the Army; the War Office’s request to retain the services of a number of them and the urgent need for Jesuits to work on the Hong Kong Mission. Includes copy letter to Fr Edward J. Warner SJ (Staff Chaplain to Mgr. Coghlan) from the Irish Fr Provincial in reply to the War Office’s request to retain the services of Fr Conal Murphy SJ. ‘I am sorry to say that I am worse off than ever for men, having received the other day a cable from Fr Joy, the Superior of our Hong Kong Mission, asking me to send out twelve men. As he and his fellow-missioners have been through a very rough time, as you can well imagine, I am anxious to send this help as soon as possible…I regret very much, then, that I cannot spare Fr Murphy, as I know by experience what it means to have vacancies yawning wide around one and none to fill them!’ (1 October 1945, 2pp).
Also includes letters to Irish Fr Provincial concerning Fr Richard Kennedy ‘ex P.O.W. from (the) Far East’ (7 January 1946 – 17 January 1947, 5 items).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Joseph McSweeney SJ written while serving as a chaplain in the R.A.F. at R.A.F. College, Cosford, Wolverhampton and at R.A.F. Station, Colerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire. Includes his first letter to the Irish Fr Provincial written from Cosford (June 1945, 1p.).

Typescript article entitled ‘Atomic bomb on Hiroshima: eyewitness account of P. I. Siemes SJ’. With pencil annotation ‘Not to be published - Rights are being sold in aid of our Hiroshima Fathers’.

Booklet entitled ‘Father Francis Woodlock S.J. 1871 - 1940’, published by Manresa Press, Roehampton, England.

'The priest among the soldiers' edited by Martin Dempsey, (London, 1947) which includes ‘At Belsen’ by Fr Michael Morrison SJ (pp188-194).

Biographical information on Fr John Delaney SJ, M.C. Includes memorial card and obituary.

In the late 1940s, Fr Leonard Sheil SJ (1897-1968) travelled to Britain in an effort to serve Irish emigrants. Fr Sheil was a familiar sight on his motorbike visiting building sites, construction camps, mines, steel works, oil refineries and industrial hostels. Frs Matthew Meade (1912-1992) and Kevin Laheen (1919-2019) also provided missions.

General papers on Irish Jesuit missions;

• Letters to the Provincial from Irish Jesuit missioners which give their opinions and impression of mission work in England (1960-1961);
• Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants Easter conferences (1960-1977) which concerns the attendance of the Jesuit Provincial (1960-1972) and reports of proceedings, minutes and addresses (1962; 1977);
• Working Party on the Irish Emigrant Missions in England and Wales (1973);
• Mission reports and statistics (1966-1975) including Jesuit missions (1966-1970) and Irish Catholic missions in England and Wales (1968; 1974-1975);
• Jesuit Chaplains in Westminster and Birmingham Archdioceses (1966-1969);
• Irish Chaplaincy Scheme (1971-1979) including conference reports (1978-1979), details of chaplains and services (1971; 1976-1977) and Jesuit appointments (1974-1979);
• Irish Centre Advisory Service, Liverpool (1976) and
• Lillie Road Centre London (1978).

Two articles on ‘The Functions of a Chaplain in a College of Third Level Education’ by Fr [Peter] Dunne SJ. Deals with the role of the chaplain in third level institutions and the facilities required by him to fulfil this role.

Jesuit involvement as chaplains in VEC (Vocational Educational Committee) Colleges, Dublin can be traced to the early 1940’s when a number of Irish Jesuits taught religion in technical schools in Dublin. From 1951, when Fr John McAvoy SJ (1908-1983) was appointed Spiritual Director of the Centre of Technology in Bolton Street, Jesuits have worked as chaplains at the College of Commerce, Rathmines and at the Colleges of Technology, Bolton Street and Kevin Street.

The material consists of documents which outline the establishment of the College of Technology at Bolton Street; attempts to establish a student centre (1965); chaplains’ correspondence with Fr Provincial on the status and role of chaplains: problems and issues (1965-1973), ‘John Austin House’, 135 North Circular Road (1974) and a proposal to set up Jesuit house in Dominick Street (1976); Fr Provincial’s nominations for chaplains (1968-1976); Archbishop of Dublin’s Planning Commission for V.E.C. Colleges (1971-1972); Role of college chaplains ([ ]; 1973); reports (1973-1978); The V.E.C. and chaplains (1973; 1975).

Memorandum entitled ‘Students’ Centre for Bolton Street Apprentices’, giving an account of a meeting of the chaplains held in October 1965 to discuss the possible establishment of a students’ centre in the College.

‘An Historical Critique’. History of the College of Technology, Bolton Street from the 1950s up to the writing of the document, in relation to its development, education, student numbers and facilities. The writer, in an attempt to encourage the directors of the College to extend the facilities to cope with the changing needs of the students, warns of imminent revolt.

File of correspondence relating to the nominating of Jesuit priests as priest-teachers in the Vocational Schools (Bolton Street and Kevin Street). Includes letters from Monsignor John O'Regan (on behalf of the Archbishops of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid and Dermot Ryan) to the Irish Fr Provincials (Brendan Barry and Cecil McGarry), asking the latter to forward the names of their nominees, as well as the Provincials’ replies. These replies, as well as containing the names of nominees, often refer to the problems encountered by the priest-teachers in the Colleges in relations to their work-load, professional development, status within the Colleges etc. Also includes a letter from the Archbishop’s House to Irish Provincial Fr Patrick Doyle SJ, in relation to his nominations (22 June 1976, 1 page).

Documents relating to ‘The Archbishop’s Planning Commission for Third Level Colleges under the City of Dublin Vocational Education Authority’, which was established to investigate the ‘religious, educational, emotional and intellectual needs of the students’ and to ‘determine the policy to be pursued and the measures to be taken for the adequate religious education of Catholic students attending Third Level Courses in the Colleges of the City of Dublin Vocational Education Group’. Includes a report of the Commission (4 May 1971, 11 pages).

Document entitled ‘Notes on Third Level Chaplains presently appointed to the Technological Colleges of the Dublin Vocational Education Committee’. Gives details of chaplains in various V.E.C. institutions, including Bolton Street and Kevin Street.

Document entitled ‘What is your function, Father?’, produced by the Chaplains’ Office, Kevin Street College of Technology. Explores the roles of chaplains in the Colleges of Technology.

Biographical information on Fr Francis M. Browne SJ, M.C., Belgian Croix de Guerre.

Memorial card (with photo) of Fr Daniel Shields SJ.

Chronology of Fr Edward Sydes’ life.