Born: 03 August 1848, Dingle, County Kerry
Entered: 10 September 1867, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1885, St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales
Final Vows: 15 August 1888, St Francis Xavier’s, Gardiner Street
Died: 14 July 1924, Mount Saint Evin’s Hospital, Melbourne

Part of the St Patrick’s College, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death

Brother of Thomas Manning = RIP 1893 South Africa

by 1870 out of community caring for health
by 1878 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1879 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1883 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
Came to Australia 1889

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Brother of Thomas Manning - RIP 1893
He made his Philosophy and Theology studies in England and Regency at Tullabeg teaching.
1887 He was Minister of Juniors at Milltown.
1888 He was appointed Socius to the Master of Novices at Dromore whilst making his Tertianship at the same time.
He then sailed for Australia where he was stationed at St Aloysius teaching.
1896 He taught at both Xavier College Kew and St Patrick’s Melbourne.
He worked at St Patrick’s Melbourne up to the time of his death 14 July 1924
He was a very earnest Jesuit.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Denis Manning's early education was at Clongowes Wood College, Ireland, where he was a boarder until he was nineteen years of age. He entered the Society, 10 September 1867, and his ecclesiastical studies were done in Ireland and England, 1879-86. His regency was at Tullabeg College, 1880-82, and he was minister of the scholastics, teaching rhetoric at Milltown Park, 1886-87, before his tertianship, while being socius to the master of novices, at Dromore, 1887-88.
He arrived in Australia in December 1888, and was assigned to St Aloysius' College, 1889-92, teaching for the public examinations. He taught Latin, Greek and French to senior students at Riverview, 1892-95, and at Xavier College, 1895-03. He was prefect of studies from 1897.
His final appointment was to St Patrick’s College, East Melbourne, 1904-24, where he was prefect of studies, 1904-10 and 1923-24. He was also a mission consulter, 1904-16. He was
heavily involved in pastoral work all his working life, but he rarely appeared in the pulpit. If he did, it was not enjoyed. He shunned publicity. His focus was the private chapel and the classroom.
Manning's life was busy, regular and hidden to all except his colleagues and students, and those to whom he gave retreats. He devoted his life to teaching. He taught for 44 years, 36 of them in Australia. He was extremely conservative in his tastes and could hardly be said to bristle with new ideas. He was a bright and lively person in recreation and a good listener. Although inclined to serious reading - even during vacations - he enjoyed a good joke. He was a man of iron will. If he made a plan or undertook a task, he executed it to the last detail. No flights of imagination or temptations to do other work ever deflected him from his purpose.
Although deferent to the voice of authority, he never lightly undertook a new obligation. He was a man to rely on, highly efficient, performing his duties with scrupulous exactitude. He never wavered. He rose every morning at 5.30 am, even when unwell, and was most faithful to his spiritual duties. He had great devotion to the saints. In sickness in later years, he was never heard to complain, working hard until he could physically cope no more. He was content with his approaching death that came suddenly at Mount St Evan’s Hospital.
Apart from teaching, Manning was appreciated for his retreats to nuns. He was always the student, and loved study. Intellectual life was what drew him to the Society - special interests were the ancient classics and professional studies. He thought of himself as a “labourer in the vineyard”, and that is what he was.

◆ The Xaverian, Xavier College, Melbourne, Australia, 1924

Obituary

Father Denis Manning SJ

In Melbourne, on the evening of 9th July, Father Manning died in Mount St Evin's Hospital. His death removes from the ranks of the schoolmasters a highly efficient, very interesting, and somewhat unusual personality. He may be said to have died in harness. He died within a month of his seventy-seventh year, and with the exception of the few weeks spent in hospital, he was doing his usual full work to the end.

His busy and regular, life was a hidden one. He was practically unknown - except to his colleagues and his pupils, to the fairly numerous priests who came to him for confession, and to the religious communities to which he gave retreats. Beyond these he was almost unknown.

I imagine he must have preached in his day an occasional sermon - a few words from the altar at Mass - and no doubt he gave regular instruction for over forty years to sodalists and to religious communities, but I cannot recall an instance of his appearance in a pulpit. I daresay he appeared there occasionally, long ago, but if he did I am quite sure he did not enjoy it. : He shunned publicity. His work was in the private chapel and in the classroom.

His full and useful, but uneventful life is, therefore, easily summed up. His early education was at Clongowes Wood College, Ireland, where has was a boarder till his nineteenth year. Then he entered the Society of Jesus. His training in the religious life, as well as his philosophical, theological, and other studies, mainly in England and Ireland, occupied twelve or thirteen years; in teaching he spent forty-four years, thirty-six of which were in Australia; principally in Melbourne.

Like most of his colleagues he disliked office and preferred to serve in the ranks. He was never burdened with the dignity or responsibilities of rectorship, but at Xavier for six years (ending 1903), and at St Patrick's for a much longer period, he was entrusted with the exacting duties of Prefect of Studies, Father Pidcock, so well-known to many generations of Xaverians as an original “character”, used to maintain, and some times remarked it to the present writer, who was Prefect of Studies at the time, that of all the Prefects of Studies known to him, Father Manning was the best of the lot. I suspect that Father Pidcock's admiration was not unconnected with the fact that Fr Manning; more than others, gave him a fair amount of rope for his choir practices and for his appalling concerts. Certainly Fr Manning discharged his duties as Prefect of Studies with success and with scrupulous exactitude, but he was a happy man when he was allowed to return to the ranks.

From his boyhood he was a steady student and loved study. He told me once that it was his love for study which, among other things, impelled him to seek admission into the Society of Jesus. Yet outside of the ancient classics and his professional studies his course of reading was not very varied. He read many books dealing with religious and ascetical questions but not many dealing with the lighter forms of literature, He was extremely conservative in his tastes and could hardly be said to bristle with new ideas. In time of recreation he was bright and lively, talked a good deal and was an interested listener to ordinary small talk, and moreover, though a very serious man, he had his jokes - yes, a fair number of them; but I doubt if in thirty years he added a new joke to his repertoire. Constant to an exceptional degree, he clung, even in the department of wit and humour, to old and tried friends.

Though he had a vigorous constitution, I doubt if, even as a boy, he ever played more football or cricket than he could possibly avoid. I have heard it said on good authority that as a young man he excelled at handball, That may be, but I find it hard to imagine him excelling at that or any other game, for, though firm on his feet and a strong walker in his younger days, his movements were never lively and he was awkward with his hands. At all events, his interest in sport seemed entirely limited to the school contests. Once, indeed, in a moment of inadvertent levity, he quoted from a boxing correspondent in a newspaper about some terrific wallop with which one exponent of the fistic art had put another to sleep. The exact words were, “a pile-driver to the bread basket”, and it was plain that Fr Manning, being totally inexperienced in the vivid literature of the ring, required a certain effort even to pronounce such unaccustomed language. One of his younger colleagues thereupon seized upon this incautious utterance as a pretext for assuming that Fr Manning took an intense interest in the “noble art”, and on the strength of this entirely false assumption used to retell to him the most excruciating details of the latest encounters. Fr Manning used to listen in polite but agonising silence, till one day he nearly jumped a foot off his chair when his colleague, reading something from the sporting columns of the newspaper, in formed the gathering that “Creamy” Pinkerton (or some such name) had polished off “Pinky” Tomkinson with Father Manning's favourite “punch to the bread-basket!”

Though Fr. Manning had intellectual gifts beyond the average, and as we have seen, was also exceptionally fond of books, he took little interest in novel speculations. He kept to the beaten track. Last year I dropped into his room one day in the holidays and found him reading Fabiola. I shrink from guessing how many times he must have read it since his boyhood. On another free day some years ago I called on him and found him quietly enjoying the second book of Virgil's “Aeneid”. His recreative reading was not unduly light nor ultra-modern.

In Father Manning will-power predominated over intellect. He had an iron will. If he made a plan or undertook a task, he executed it to the last detail. No flights of imagination or temptations to do other work ever deflected him from his purpose. He kept the goal before his mind, and he saw to it that he got there. Apart from deference to the voice of authority, he never lightly undertook a new obligation; but if he did, you might be perfectly sure that he would see it through. He was a man to rely on. He never wavered. He was a man who could look over a period of fifteen or twenty years and not recall a single morning when he remained a second in bed after the call at 5.30, He might have a headache or other ailment, but he simply “got up”. I venture to say that in forty years he never missed a quarter of an hour of the spiritual duties appointed by his rule. He had the heroic fidelity of the saints.

It was clear to others that in recent years his health was not good, but he never spoke a word of his health, never in his life complained, and he consistently refused proffered alleviations. Though extremely grateful for offered help, he always declined it. When I was his superior for a few years, I was in a position to know more than others about his ailments, and I had good reason to wonder at his constancy and patience. He had no fear whatever of death and no wish whatever to live unless he could keep in harness, Constitutionally Father Manning could never be among the unemployed. The limbs might be unwilling, but the strong will was always able to drive them to the task. And till close on his seventy-seventh year that task was always done with wonderful thoroughness.

During the vacation last summer he badly needed a rest, but among other works which he undertook during the recess he gave an eight-day retreat to the Sisters of Charity at Essendon. During the retreat he was far from well and seemed constantly on the point of a break-down, Indeed, he suffered much pain. The Sisters begged him to desist, but he insisted on making the effort and went through the whole retreat with its thirty-two lectures. The Sisters, who were greatly impressed by the retreat, expressed the opinion that Fr Manning would never give another. It was a prophecy justified by events. He returned to St Patrick's very unwell. Even at the end of the holidays he was clearly unfit for a serious effort, but he insisted on making it. When schools were resumed he went on with his usual work till the middle of the year. Then, in great pain he had to retire to Mount St Evin's. On the evening of 9th July he was dead. And his death was that of a true man, a hero, and a saint. May he rest in peace!

At the end of the Requiem Mass at St. Ignatius Church, Richmond, His Grace, Dr Mannix, paid the following tribute, which sums up with perfect accuracy the life of Father Manning:

“For close upon forty years Father Manning has been working continuously in the Jesuit schools of Australia. Outside his own Society his name has been rarely heard. But the fathers who were associated with him and the boys who passed through his classes know the holiness of his life and the value and thoroughness of his work. He was indeed a man of God in our midst, a man whose whole life was filled with work and prayer. . His work itself was a prayer, and he seemed to be always united to God in a remarkable manner. For years he suffered a good deal, and yet he was always at his post and no one ever heard him utter a word of complaint. A few weeks ago he found he could hold out no longer and he went to the hospital knowing, I think, that his end had come. In his last days his suffering was great, but he bore it with the patience and calmness and resignation which had marked his whole life. His work and his sufferings are over, and he has, we may be sure, entered to his reward”.

E BOYLAN SJ

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Denis Manning (1848-1924)

A native of Dingle, was admitted to the Society in 1867 and ordained in 1885 at St Beuno's in Wales. He spent three years of his regency at the Crescent, 1874-77. In 1889, Father Manning was transferred to the Australian mission. He laboured at Sydney as master and minister until 1897 when he took up duty as prefect of studies at St Francis Xavier's, Kew, Melbourne where he remained for the next seven years. In 1904 began his long association with St Patrick's, Melbourne where he was many years prefect of studies. At the time of his death, Father Manning was entering on his forty-fourth year as master in the colleges, a record almost unique in the Society.

Born: 24 November 1925, Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Entered: 07 September 1943, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1957, Kaiserdom Sankt Bartholomäus (Frankfurter Dom), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Final Vows: 02 February 1960, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 15 November 2000, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1955 at Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt (GER I) studying
by 1979 at Rue de Grenelle Paris, France (GAL) sabbatical

Born: 02 April 1856, Corduff, County Cavan
Entered: 22 January 1877, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 26 July 1891
Final Vows: 25 March 1896, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 05 February 1935, Milltown Park, Dublin

Came to Australia 1899

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Edward Masterson entered the Society at Milltown Park, Dublin, 22 January 1877, and after his juniorate taught Greek, Latin, French, English and mathematics at Clongowes Wood, 1880-81, and then again from 1886-87. He taught the senior examination class English, classics, and French at Tullabeg College, 1882-86 .
Philosophy studies were broken and undertaken at Milltown Park, 1881-82, 1887-88, then at Mungret, 1888-89. Theology followed at Milltown Park, 1889-93, and tertianship 1894-95. He became professed of the four Vows 25 March 1896.
Before being sent to Australia, Masterson was prefect of studies at the Crescent, Limerick 1893-94 and 1895-97. For a short time, 1897-98, he lectured in theology at Milltown Park.
His first appointment in Australia was teaching at Riverview, 1898-1901, and then 1905-06. He also taught at St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, and gave philosophy lectures at
St John's University College, 1901-02.
He worked in the parish of Norwood, 1903-05, and returned to Ireland in 1906, where he taught and did parish work in Galway. He was also at Mungret teaching philosophy, and at Milltown Park professing canon law, scripture and philosophy.
He certainly moved regularly. He was a learned man, and wrote letters to the papers defending the Catholic side against the Orangemen during the infamous O’Haran case in Sydney

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 2nd Year No 3 1927
Jubilee :
On February 3rd at St. Ignatius', Galway, Fr. Masterson celebrated his Golden jubilee. In order to be present Fr Provincial travelled from Dublin. He, Frs Rector, Minister and Coghlan spoke in grateful terms of all that Fr. Masterson had done for the Society. The Jubilarian, deeply moved at all the kind things said about him, made a suitable reply. Fr. Masterson held a number of the most important positions in the province. He was Socius to the Master of Novices, Prefect of Studies, and had charge of the Short Course at Milltown. 1898 found him at Riverview. He remained in Australia until 1906, and during that time proved himself one of the sturdiest and most successful champions of Catholicity in Australia. After his return to Ireland he was for many years diocesan examiner in Galway, and subsequently professed Canon Law and Philosophy at Milltown. These absorbing occupations did not prevent him contributing to the Press very many erudite articles on every variety of Theological thought.
Fr. Masterson possesses in a high degree the gift of making sincere friends. This was very much evidenced at the Jubilee. He received more than 100 letters and telegrams, and every oneof them he answered with his own hand. This proves that there is hope of many years sterling work before him still and this hope finds a place in the heart of every member of the Irish province.

Irish Province News 10th Year No 2 1935
Obituary :
Father Edward Masterson
Father Masterson was born at Corduff, Co. Cavan, 2nd April 1856, and educated at the Seminary in Cavan. He began his novitiate at Milltown Park on the 22nd January, 1877, and
remained there as Novice and junior until 1880, when he was sent to Clongowes. After a year he returned to Milltown, got through one year of philosophy, but then had to travel to
Tullabeg, where he taught until 1886 - “amalgamation year” - when he went with the Tullabeg Community to Clongowes. After a year, philosophy was resumed at Milltown, finished at Mungret, and then theology commenced at Milltown in 1889. After the four years we find him Prefect of Studies at the Crescent, the following year a Tertian and Socius to the Master of Novices in Tullabeg, then Milltown, where he professed the Short Course, and in 1898 he turns up in Riverview, Australia. He remained in Australia, doing work in various houses, until 1906, when he was back in Ireland, and stationed in Galway. Here he taught, worked in the church, and for some years was Diocesan Examiner until 1915, when he became Professor of Canon Law at Milltown.
From 1920 to 1922 he taught philosophy at Mungret, then returned to Milltown as Professor first year philosophy, until 1926, when Galway saw him once more as Oper., etc. In 1930 he went to Militown for the last time, and remained there until his death on Tuesday, 5th February, 1935. Father Masterson is entered in the Catalogues 20 times as Cons. Dom. and 18 times as Praes. Coll.
The following tributes to the memory of Father Masterson give us a very true estimate of his character :
From Mr. Costelloe :
These few lines will record a tribute from Milltown Park to the memory of Father Edward Masterson. It is not as a great theologian or brilliant controversialist who brought renown to the Society that the present generation of scholastics will chiefly remember him, although they knew him to be both, but as a religious who by his great kindness and charity endeared himself to all the members of the Society who were privileged to live with him.
All knew that he profited in no small measure by his Jesuit training, and combined in an extraordinary and marked degree the Christlike quality of being all things to all men. Yet I think, it is not untrue to say, that he was most happy and most at his ease when mixing and conversing with the scholastics. The late Father Henry Fegan said of him “I knew no other Jesuit who loves so much to spend his spare time with the young men”. He loved to join them at recreation on the corridors or in the garden. He shared their interests, counseled and encouraged them in their undertakings and applauded generously their successes. For those of other Provinces, there was always the kindly word of welcome on arrival, and the sincere God speed on departure. All knew by hearsay and some by experience the compelling force of his cogent logic, yet he was at all times a most considerate examiner. When a nervous scholastic came before him for examination in theology, it was his custom to begin by putting a straightforward question entailing little thought in order to soothe unsteady nerves and arouse feelings of self confidence. The unsuccessful candidate, particularly in moral theology, was the recipient of much consolation and encouragement. The writer of these lines saw him when a man of 78 years of age climbing several lofty flights of stairs to convey sympathy and hope to one who failed to enlist the favour of his examiners. As a professor he was slow to censure but quick to apportion a full meed of praise. Though his mind was of a serious cast, he was not wanting in a sense of humour and loved to hear or relate a good story. When death robbed a member of the community of one near and dear he was among the first to proper in an unobtrusive way, an appropriate word of genuine sympathy and an assurance of a first intention in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. All who knew him could not fail to be impressed with his deep fidelity to the Society and its traditions.
He was a deeply religious man, exact and careful in the performance of his spiritual duties. In the later years of life, although burdened by ill-health, he never deviated or sought relaxation from the common life of the community, and was a continual source of edification and indeed envy to many some fifty years his junior, He has left a sweet memory enshrined in the hearts of those who lived with him at Milltown Park, and our community, though considerably the poorer by his passing is made rich by the remembrance of his kind deeds. May he rest in peace.

From Father MacSheehan :
Father Masterson was associated with Galway for nearly 20 years, having come here for the first time about 1906, shortly after his return from Australia. Both as teacher and preacher he immediately won an outstanding name for himself, for he was as familiar with the old Delphin Classics as with the works of Newman and Lacordaire. Here however, as elsewhere, it was as theologian that he was best known and esteemed. At the diocesan conferences his opinion was invariably sought when any abstruse or disputed point was in question, and his accuracy for references was a bye-word. He was for some time diocesan examiner of young priests, and the late Bishop did him the honor of submitting to him for revision a new course of catechetical instructions he had just drawn up. With his pen, too, he was busy in Galway, and when delicate health and overstrain of work compelled him to lie up for a few days, it was invariably a sign that he had been pouring too long over his beloved Ballerini, preparing yet another article on “Recidivi” that would bring dismay and consternation among the ranks of his adversaries. (incidentally it is a pity that this particular series of articles has never appeared in pamphlet form.) But, if he could “slay his enemies” on paper, no one could be more genial in social intercourse and in community life. The many warm and lasting friendships that he formed both with externs and especially with the young men of the Society, bear ample testimony thereto. That he claimed many friends in Galway is shown by the fact that hardly a year passed that he did not revisit it, that many in Galway claimed him as a friend, by the spontaneous grief and sorrow with which the news of his demise was heard. The prayer of each and everyone of these is that he may rest forever in the sweet friendship of the Lord.

During his last stay at Milltown, Father Masterson was confessor to some of our well-known public men. Amongst the general public who attended his funeral were : Mr. P. J. Little, T.D., representing Mr. de Valera; Mr. T. O. Deirg Minister for Education; Mr. W. Honohan, representing Mr MacEntee, Minister for Finance; Mr. Sean Brady, TD; Mrs de Valera; Mr. F. Fahy; Mrs. Concannon TD; Mr. Louis Walsh, DJ; the President of the High Court and Mrs. Sullivan.
By mistake Father Masterson's name was left out of the 1923 Catalogue. It is certain that in 1922-23 he was Professor of first year philosophy. One of his pupils of that year writes “I remember being impressed by his great care in preparing lectures, and, in general, by his devotion to his work. He always seemed to set a very high store on doing what he considered his duty.”

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Edward Masterson SJ 1856-1935
Edward Masterson was born at Corduff Couthy Cavan in 1856 and received his early education at St Patrick’s Seminary, Cavan. He entered the Society in 1877, the noviceship then being in Milltown Park.

His Regency and Philosophy were erratic, commuting between Milltown, Clongowes and Tullabeg. He was a Master on the staff in Tullabeg in the fateful year of 1886 and migrated to Clongowes on the amalgamation of the two Colleges that year. After his Ordination in Milltown in 1892 he was Prefect of Studies at Crescent for some time, and then after his tertianship he began to profess in Milltown Park.

He went to Australia in 1898 where he began to show that talent for controversy which was to make him famous afterwards. He defended the Catholic doctrines on mental reservation brilliantly in a controversy which excited the widest attention.

He returned after 8 years in Australia, and was stationed in Galway from 1906-1915. In the latter year he became Professor of Canon Law in Milltown, where he spent the rest of his life, except for a brief period at Mungret, and another at Galway. In all he was associated with Galway for 20 years, where his reputation as a theologian was extremely high and where he still plied his pen. To this period date his series of articles on “Recidivi” in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. It was at Milltown that he defended the political opinions of Suarez against a Professor of Clonliffe. After expounding Suarez’s view he said “This is the doctrine that is taught on the banks of the Tiber, let us now see what is taught on the banks of the Tolka”.

He was a most kindly man, renowned for his interest in the young theologians, a most considerate examiner, the first to console the fallen and to congratulate the victor. Much consulted by public men acting as their ever-ready counsellor and confessor. A deeply religious man, renowned for his religious observance, seeking no relaxation on account of his health, he ended his active and fruitful life at Milltown Park on February 5th 1935.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Edward Masterson (1856-1935)

Born at Corduff, Co. Cavan and educated at the diocesan College of St Patrick, entered the Society in 1877. He was ordained at Milltown Park in 1892. Father Masterson was a member of the Crescent community in 1893-94 and from 1895 to 1897, during which time he held the office of prefect of studies. In 1897 he left for Australia and remained on the mission until 1906. On his return to Ireland, he was stationed at Galway until 1915 when he was appointed to the chair of Canon Law at Milltown Park. With the exception of a few years as lecturer in philosophy at Mungret or back once more in Galway, Father Masterson spent most of his time at Milltown Park. He had a facile pen in theological or philosophical controversies of other days, and was esteemed in his time as an able spiritual adviser.

Born: 16 November 1833, Mount Hanover, Drogheda, County Louth
Entered: 13 November 1852, Amiens France - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 22 September 1866, Drogheda, County Louth
Final vows: 15 August 1872
Died: 31 December 1878, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin

by 1855 at Villa Mongré France (LUGD) studying
by 1862 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying Philosophy 3
by 1864 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying Theology 1
by 1865 at Montauban France (TOLO) studying Theology 3
by 1866 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying Theology 4

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
1856-1863 He was sent for Regency to Teach at Tullabeg, and then for two years at Limerick.
1863 He was sent to Stonyhurst for Philosophy and from there to St Beuno’s for 1st and 4th Year Theology, 2nd and 3rd Years were completed in the South of France.
1866 He was Ordained by Dr Nulty at Drogheda 22 September 1866.
1869 He was sent to Teach at Belvedere and was appointed Rector there in 1873. He died in office there 31 December 1878.
He was a very good religious. Though not of a robust constitution, his death was a peaceful one.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Stanley Mathews 1833-1878
Fr Mathews was born in Drogheda on November 15th 1833. He entered the Society in 1852 at St Acheul. He did most of his studies abroad but was ordained at Drogheda by Dr Nulty in 1866.

Three years later he went to Belvedere as a Master, and in 1873 he becmae Rector of the College. This post he filled until his death, which took place on December 31st 1878.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father John Stanley Mathews (1833-1878)

Was born at Drogheda and entered the Society at St Acheul in 1852. He spent two years of his regency at the Crescent, 1860-62, and can therefore be regarded almost as one of the pioneers of the re-establishment of the Society in Limerick. His higher studies were made in England and France, but his ordination took place at Drogheda on 22 September, 1866. The years after his ordination were spent entirely at Belvedere College where he was rector at the time of his early death.

Born: 10 March 1913, Rathgar, Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1931, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 19 May 1945, Zi-Ka-Wei, Shanghai, China
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Holy Spirit Seminary, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Died: 01 March 1991, Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross - Macau-Hong Kong Province (MAC-HK)

Part of the Sacred Heart, Limerick community at the time of death

??Brother Ted McAsey - RIP 2001??

Transcribed HIB to HK : 03 December 1966

Entered as James;

by 1940 in Hong Kong - Regency
by 1943 at Bellarmine, Zi-ka-Wei, near Shanghai, China (FRA) studying

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :

Note from John B Wood Entry
Father Wood began his theological studies in 1942 in Zikawei, Shanghai. He was ordained on 19 May 1945 with Fathers Timothy Doody, Matthew Corbally and Joseph McAsey, all of when spent most of their working lives in Hong Kong.

Born: 23 April 1894, Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone
Entered: 20 November 1920, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1932, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 18 February 1936, Our Lady's Hospice, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Farmer before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 11th Year No 2 1936
Obituary :
Brother William McCaffrey

Brother William McCaffrey was born at Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone, on the 23rd April, 1894. He entered the novitiate at Tullabeg on the 20th November, 1920. The noviceship over, he remained in Tullabeg, working in the garden, until 1928, when he went to Galway to be employed in the same kind of work. After two years there he was changed to Rathfarnham to act as Infirmarian, where he spent a year, and was then transferred to the Crescent, (cur pen Disp).
In 1932 he was back in Rathfarnham, this time (Cur. Val.) as a result of lung trouble. In the hope that the bracing air of Wicklow would do him good, he was sent to the Newcastle Sanatorium in that county. It failed to have any effect, and, after a brief stay, he was placed under the care of the Irish Sisters of Charity at the Hospice tor the dying, Harold's Cross, Dublin. Under their kind care he lingered on for some years , but nothing could save him and he died Tuesday, 18th February, 1936.
In 1934 he was attached to Milltown Park. A few days before he died, Father C. Power, Rector, gave him the Last Sacraments and on the morning of his death he was attended by the Minister Father D. Hayes. RIP

Born: 01 October 1907, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1938, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1942, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 16 July 1975, Mungret College, County Limerick

Part of the Sacred Heart, Crescent, Limerick community at the time of death

Early education at O’Connell’s School Dublin

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
John McCarron was known as Sean. Even as a novice, his qualities of leadership and practical common sense were recognised. He was self-confident, sure of his judgment and, on occasion, forthright in urging his point of view. His self-confidence stood to him in counselling and directing the large number of people, both clerical and lay, who sought his advice.
He was born in Dublin on 1 October 1907 and entered the Society in 1925. After the normal course of studies, juniorate, philosophy, regency and theology, he was ordained at Milltown Park in 1938.

For 15 years (1942 to 1957) Fr Sean was the Central Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) with the exception of the first year when he was the assistant. He possessed tremendous drive and was demanding of others both as to the quality and quantity of their work. Some within the Society said he was too demanding. However he had the knack or ability to draw around him people of talent and dedication who would give of their best.

He had a genius for organisation and administration which showed itself in the restructuring of the Pioneer office, in the conducting of Pioneer affairs and also in the overall direction of the memorable Golden Jubilee of the Association in 1949 which entailed a huge parade through the centre of Dublin and a massive meeting in Croke Park. He founded and launched the Pioneer Magazine in 1948 which quickly built up a good circulation in spite of the pundits who said that such a magazine would not be a practical proposition. He even procured a car for his work of promoting the Association - a very progressive action at the time. Until the late 40s, the only cars permitted in the Province were the four official cars for the country houses - Emo, Clongowes, Tullabeg and Mungret. The annual Pioneer Rally at Dublin's Theatre Royal was certainly the biggest annual rally of any group in Ireland. Because of the Association, he became one of the best known priests in Ireland.

An amusing incident took place when he was Director of the Pioneers. One afternoon seeing a poor woman pushing a pram up the hill in Gardiner Street, he went to assist her and found himself pushing a pram, not with a baby, but one full of bottles of beer!

He left the Association to be posted to Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) for the express purpose of building and setting up Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College. His right hand man was Br Pat McElduff. It was quite a showpiece with even a fountain on the campus. He was a tremendous worker but at the same time he had great kindness towards the workers and foremen. The firms he dealt with had great respect for him as he was always so straight and clear about what he wanted. He lived where he worked, in a small house, the inside of which was littered with plans everywhere – on the floor, on the table, on his bed. Zambia was a very happy episode in his life which revealed his charm and affability.

Back in Ireland he founded Manresa Retreat House and was the first Superior of Loyola House, the provincial’s new residence. His health had not been good for a number of years though he always made light of this. The end came suddenly early in the morning of 16 July 1975 in Limerick where he had been living.

Note from Arthur J Clarke Entry
During his six years as rector, he was blessed with such outstanding heads of Canisius as Dick Cremins and Michael J Kelly. Arthur's vision for Canisius as a leading secondary school was influenced by his experience of Clongowes Wood College in Ireland. First, he wanted a proper house for the community. Though the actual building was the responsibility of Fr McCarron and Br Pat McElduff, the siting and design of the spacious community house are largely Arthur’s.

Note from Pat McElduff Entry
For the construction of the Teachers Training College Charles Lwanga across the river from Chikuni, Br Pat was the obvious man for the building together with Fr McCarron just out from Ireland.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 4 1948

Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin.
We moved in on Saturday morning, 14th August. Fr, Superior (Fr. McCarron), Fr. Minister (Fr. Kearns), and Bro. E. Foley constituted the occupying force, and Fr. T. Martin not only placed his van at our disposal, but gave generously of his time and labour for the heavy work of the first day.
A long procession of vans unloaded until noon, when the men broke off for their half-day, leaving a mountain of assorted hardware and soft goods to be unpacked and stowed. By nightfall we had a chapel installed, the kitchen working, dining-room in passable order, and beds set up, so we said litanies, Fr. Superior blessed the house and consecrated it to the Sacred Heart.
Next morning Fr. Superior said the first Mass ever offered in the building. It was the Feast of the Assumption and a Sunday, so we. placed the house and the work under the Patronage of Our Lady and paused to review the scene. Fr. Provincial came to lunch.
The building is soundly constructed from basement to roof, but needs considerable modification before it can be used as a temporary Retreat House. The permanent Retreat House has yet to be built on the existing stables about 130 yards from the principal structure, but. we hope to take about twenty exercitants as soon as builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and decorators have done their work.
Fr. C. Doyle is equipping and furnishing the domestic chapel as a memorial to Fr. Willie, who worked so tirelessly for the establishment of workingmen's retreats in Ireland. A mantelpiece of this room has been removed, and thermostatically controlled electric heating is being installed. Lighting is to be by means of fluorescent tubes of the latest type.
With all due respects to the expert gardeners of the Province, we modestly assert that our garden is superb. Fr. Provincial was so impressed by the work done there that he presented us with a Fordson 8 H.P. van to bring the surplus produce to market. Under the personal supervision of Fr. Superior, our two professional gardeners took nine first prizes and four seconds with fourteen exhibits at the Drimnagh show. Twelve of their potatoes filled a bucket, and were sold for one shilling each. The garden extends over 2 of our 17 acres and will, please God, provide abundant fruit and vegetables.
From the beginning we have been overwhelmed with kindness: by our houses and by individual Fathers. Fr. Provincial has been a fairy-godmother to us all the time. As well as the van, he has given us a radio to keep us in touch with the outside world. We have bene fitted by the wise advice of Frs. Doyle and Kenny in buying equipment and supplies, while both of them, together with Fr. Rector of Belvedere and Fr. Superior of Gardiner Street, have given and lent furniture for our temporary chapel Fr. Scantlebury sacrificed two fine mahogany bookcases, while Frs. Doherty and D. Dargan travelled by rail and bus so that we might have the use of the Pioneer car for three weeks. Milltown sent a roll-top desk for Fr, Superior's use. To all who helped both houses and individuals we offer our warmest thanks, and we include in this acknowledgement the many others whom we have not mentioned by name.
Our man-power problem was acute until the Theologians came to the rescue. Two servants were engaged consecutively, but called off without beginning work. An appeal to Fr. Smyth at Milltown brought us Messrs. Doris and Kelly for a week of gruelling labour in the house. They scrubbed and waxed and carpentered without respite until Saturday when Mr. Kelly had to leave us. Mr. Hornedo of the Toledo Province came to replace him, and Mr. Barry arrived for work in the grounds. Thanks to their zeal and skill, the refectory, library and several bedrooms were made ready and we welcomed our first guest on Monday, 30th August. Under the influence of the sea air, Fr. Quinlan is regaining his strength after his long and severe illness.
If anyone has old furniture, books, bedclothes, pictures, or, in fact anything which he considers superfluous, we should be very glad to hear of it, as we are faced with the task of organizing accommodation for 60 men and are trying to keep the financial load as light as possible in these times of high cost. The maintenance of the house depends on alms and whatever the garden may bring. What may look like junk to an established house may be very useful to us, starting from bare essentials. Most of all, we want the prayers of the brethren for the success of the whole venture, which is judged to be a great act of trust in the Providence of God.
Our postal address is : Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin.

Irish Province News 50th Year No 3 and 4 1975

Obituary :

Fr Seán McCarron (1907-1975)

Fr Kevin O'Donnell writes:
“I went to Tullabeg in September 1925, a few days after Seán McCarron. We were together from that date until the end of our Tertianship in 1940, moving on from the Noviceship to the Juniorate, then to Philosophy, to Clongowes, to Milltown Park and finally to Rathfarnham.
Father Paddy Kenny was in constant attendance during our years of formation, being Socius and Minister during our noviceship and coming with us to Rathfarnham. He was appointed Minister in Clongowes at the same time as we were sent there as scholastics. We had, therefore, the benefit of the guidance and example of an outstanding Jesuit - a practical and deeply spiritual man.
Seán would be astonished if he heard anyone attempting to draw a comparison between himself and ‘PK’, and I don't intend to try it. His long and constant association with ‘PK’ undoubtedly influenced Seán.
Even in the Noviceship, Seán's qualities of leadership and practical common sense were recognised. At ‘outdoor works’, when Seán was in charge of a group, we all knew whom to obey, Seán was aware of his gifts - he was self-confident, sure of his judgement and, on occasion, forthright in urging his point. This self confidence stood to him in later life in counselling and directing the very large number of people - clerical and lay - who sought his advice.
In addition to a very practical mind and his gift of leadership, Seán had a deep and genuine spirituality, zealous and generous in giving the Spiritual Exercises, and a great worker on a Mission.
He gave devoted and distinguished service to the Society which he joined fifty years ago. God grant him his reward”.

Fr Dan Dargan writes about Seán as Director of the Pioneers :
“In 1942 Fr Seán McCarron was appointed assistant to the Director of the Pioneer Association, Fr Joe Flinn. The following year Fr Flinn died and Seán succeeded him as Central Director. He remained in that office until 1957 when he left Ireland to work on the Zambian mission.
For nine years I was his assistant, and during that time I grew to look on him as one of the most able men I have met in the Society. He was highly intelligent, practical and forceful, he commanded widespread respect throughout the country and became one of the best-known priests in Ireland. Himself possessing tremendous drive, he was demanding of others, both as to the quality and quantity of their work. In the Society some said that he was too demanding. Outside the Society I have known several people who were ready to work themselves to the bone for Fr McCarron and glad to be able to do it. Indeed a secret of his success in whatever he undertook was his ability to draw around him people of talent and dedication who would give of their best.
I was often struck by his handling of a thorny issue. He would study it, would get right to the kernel and would evaluate reasons for and against. Then, where others might hesitate, he would make a decision and would fearlessly execute it. He had a genius for organisation and administration, as he showed in his efficient re structuring of the Pioneer Association office, in his overall direction of the memorable Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Association in 1949, and in his conducting of Pioneer affairs. He was much sought after as a spiritual adviser, especially during his years at Manresa Retreat House. I have heard people speak of the valuable direction he gave them with his commonsense approach and generous kindness to them.
Until recently it fell to the lot of few Jesuits to be assigned to more than one totally new work in the course of their lives. Within ten years Seán McCarron was given three such assignments: he was appointed founder of Manresa Retreat House, first superior of Loyola, and was sent to Zambia for the express purpose of building and setting up the Charles Lwanga College. One reason for these appointments was his great initiative, to which any house where he was in charge bears witness. In the Pioneer Association, before his coming on the scene, it was the official viewpoint that a special magazine for the Association would not be a practical proposition. In 1948 Seán blew this theory to bits when he founded and launched the Pioneer magazine, which quickly built up a good circulation. After the Second World War, as soon as motor cars began to appear freely on the roads, Seán procured a car for his work of promoting the Association - an action which at the time was considered very progressive! (It may come as a surprise to younger Jesuits to learn that until the late 1940s the only cars permitted in the Province were the four official house cars allowed to our country houses, one each to Emo, Tullabeg, Clongowes and Mungret).
For him a favourite occasion was the annual Pioneer meeting in Dublin's Theatre Royal. This was quite a remarkable meeting, certainly the biggest annual rally of any group in Ireland. The theatre, which held three and a half thousand people, was always packed. No sooner had Seán risen and said a few words than you could see that he held his audience in the palm of his hand. He would begin in a relaxed, humorous vein, often referring jocosely to his personal proportions - at that time he weighed 18 stone - and he would have his listeners chuckling away merrily. Then he would grow serious, would speak with impassioned eloquence, often lifting his listeners to heights of enthusiasm. On many occasions he hit out hard at drink abuses, including breaches of the licensing laws. He was sometimes criticised by members of the Province for this, but he was convinced that he was justified in making strong protests against abuses which produced such damaging effects on the moral and social life of our people.
Those of us who worked with him often marvelled at his powers of persuasion in bringing people around to accept his viewpoint. On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the Association, he pro posed to archbishop McQuaid his intended programme involving a huge parade through the centre of Dublin and an open-air meet ing in Croke Park. The archbishop was anything but encouraging. Undaunted Seán explained to the archbishop the spiritual motivation of the Pioneer Association, and said that the rally would afford a unique opportunity to put this motivation before the general public. The archbishop withdrew his disapproval and gave his sanction to Seán's plans.
Almost on the eve of a national Pioneer pilgrimage to Knock in the Marian Year (1954), the men in the GNR company in the Drogheda area became involved in a dispute with the management, and decided that until they got satisfaction they would not operate any trains on Sundays. Realising the disappointment this would bring to people in Meath and Louth, Seán went up to Drogheda, met the men and appealed to them to run the trains for the Pioneer pilgrimage. To do so, he told them, would not adversely prejudice their case, but rather would win admiration from the public. The men were impressed, responded to his appeal, and - the Pioneers got to Knock!
It came as a surprise to many outside the Society to learn after his death that he experienced bad health in many forms for many years. He himself always made light of this, would even joke about it, but throughout his ill-health and suffering he showed remark able courage, never giving way to self-pity and showing a deep spirit of faith. He knew that the end might come suddenly at any time, and so it did, early in the morning of the 16th July, 1975, May his great soul enjoy happiness with God whom he served so cheerfully and courageously”.

Mary Purcell has a 3-page illustrated article on Seán in the Pioneer (September 1975).

Fr Charlie O'Connor writes about Seán in Zambia :
“I have a very clear picture of Seán in Zambia. I think he was in his element there. He had a job to do and he was complete boss in that job - and I think Seán needed to be completely in charge. He made a great job of the building of Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College: it was quite a showpiece - who in Africa had ever thought before of including a fountain in a campus?
The word I find coming to mind for the McCarron of those days (1956-'63) is genial. There was great affability towards workers and foremen - but the affable face could set in serious lines when problems arose. The firms he dealt with had great respect for him - I suppose because he was so straight and so clear about what he wanted.
Another picture comes to mind: he lived on his own in one of the teachers' houses he had erected. You'd go in and find him in a room littered with plans on the floor, table, bed, plans everywhere.
Another picture: You'd meet him making his way very purposefully towards one of the sites, his huge wide-brimmed hat on his head - that was quite a characteristic feature of Seán in those days - in shirt and trousers - and with a rolled plan under his arm.
I'm certain Zambia was a very happy episode in his life - and perhaps revealed more than other periods his great charm and affability. Before that I had thought of him as autocratic and not very warm.

Born: 19 April 1921, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1939, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1953, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1980
Died: 13 November 1995, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong

Transcribed HIB to HK : 03 December 1966; HK to HIB ; 15 September 1992

by 1948 at Hong Kong - Regency

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Fr. Richard McCarthy, S.J.
R.I.P.

Father Richard McCarthy, S.J., of Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, died in hospital on 13 November 1995.

Born in Ireland 74 years ago, Father McCarthy spent the greater part of his life in Hong Kong. On his arrival in the territory in 1947, he was sent to Canton for two years of language studies, followed by a year of teaching in Wah Yan’s old premises on Robinson Road.

He returned to Ireland for his theological studies and was ordained priest in 1953.

After coming back to Hong Kong in 1955, he began a life of classroom teaching which ended only with his death forty years later.

Father McCarthy was an outstanding teacher. His first love was mathematics, but he also taught English and religious studies.

Many generations of Wah Yan students remember his clarity, his energy and the demanding standards he set them. He was interested in drama and debate and year by year prepared Wah Yan boys for the school speech festivals and inter-school drama competitions.

For nearly twenty years he was closely associated with the Saint Joseph’s College Sunday School, offering Mass for the children and their parents every Sunday. A widely-read man with a retentive memory, his homilies were greatly appreciated. He prided himself on never exceeding five minutes, a feat he achieved only through painstaking preparation.

Father McCarthy had many friends among his colleagues on the teaching staff of Hong Kong Wah Yan College and among his students, past and present. His involvement with the Saint Joseph’s Sunday School was a source of great happiness to him, and parents and children responded warmly with their friendship.

This was evidenced by the many who attended the funeral Mass presided over by Cardinal Wu, in Saint Joseph’s Church on 18 November and by all they did to ensure that it should be a fitting tribute to one whom they held in such high regard.

May he rest in peace!
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 24 November 1995

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 86 : July 1996 & Interfuse No 92 : August 1996
Obituary
Fr Richard McCarthy (1921-1995)

2nd April 1921: Born in Limerick
1933 - 1939: Education at St. Michael's Limerick
7th Sept. 1939: Entered Noviceship, at Emo
8th Sept. 1941; First Vows at Emo
1941 - 1944: Rathfarnham Castle - BA Degree, UCD.
1944 - 1947: Tullabeg: Studying Philosophy
1947 - 1950: Hong Kong: Language study/teaching at Wah Yan
1950 - 1954: Milltown Park: Studying theology
31st July 1953: Ordained at Milltown Park
1954 - 1955: Rathfarnham Castle - Tertianship
1955 - 1961: Wah Yan College, Kowloon - Teaching
1961 - 1995: Wah Yan College, Hong Kong - Teaching and assisting in St. Joseph's Church, With the establishment of the Chinese Province in 1991, he asked to be ascribed to his Province of origin, but remained in Hong Kong, applied to the Chinese Province.
13th Nov. 1995: Died in Hong Kong

Even though Fr. McCarthy had been ill on and off over the last few months, his death was still quite a shock. Away back in 1968 he had had a by-pass operation, which was very successful and gave him many extra years of life - and a vigorous active life. Fr. MCarthy came from a big family, 11 brothers and sisters, and always remained very attached to them. After entering the Society in 1939, he followed the usual routine: noviceship, juniorate, during which he took a bachelor of arts degree - he was particularly gifted at maths and English. Then he went to Tullabeg where he studied philosophy for three years. During these years in the juniorate and in Tullabeg he developed many other interests: dramatics - he was an excellent actor and director - and opera, especially Gilbert & Sullivan, Fr. McCarthy had a lovely, rich, sonorous voice.

In 1947 he was sent to Guangzhou (Canton) for two years to study Cantonese. He became very fluent in it, though later he did not use it much. In 1949 he returned to Hong Kong where he taught for one year in Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. From 1950 to 1954 he studied theology in Milltown Park and was ordained a priest in 1953. For him, being a priest was something he valued very much and he was always conscious of the privilege of saying Mass daily. In 1954-55 he spent a year in tertianship and returned to Hong Kong in 1955.

From 1955 to 1995, forty years, he was teaching, first in Wah Yan College, Kowloon, and later in Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. “A simple, ordinary life”, you might say, but so precious in God's eyes, fulfilling Christ's words: “As long as you did it to one of these my least ones, you did it to Me”
.
In 1962 Fr. McCarthy was asked by St. Joseph's Church in Garden Road to help out by saying the Sunday Mass at 9.00am for the children and their parents, and they loved him - proof of which is the large crowd that attended his funeral. The children loved his sermons and the adults his counselling and advice. I have often seen him in Wah Yan College seated on a bench on the bottom corridor, talking to the parents, listening to them and advising them. They also rang him up frequently to ask for advice.

Fr. McCarthy was an excellent teacher: clear, simple and direct - strict at times, but at the end of the term you were very clear on its meaning. He taught many subjects: English, Maths, Ethics, Religion and Colloquial. He taught Maths in Form 3 for many years and was an outstanding teacher.
He was an inspiring and helpful preacher. He was very proud of his five-minute sermons. Although I tried several times to get him to over the five minutes, he always refused. “Five minutes is enough to get across one point - that's enough”.

He was an excellent community man, humorous, fond of joking, very easy to talk to, fond of a glass of whisky after dinner, liked to watch TV and good films. He had a great memory and could recite reams of poetry and Shakespeare, even some he had learned as a child!

One of his special gifts was his love of children, both in St. Joseph's Church and the Form 1 and Form 2 students in Wah Yan, Hong Kong.

In the last few months, Fr. McCarthy's health got worse. He found being in hospital a sore trial, hard to take. Yet even when he was suffering and depressed, he always thanked his visitors. He said he would like to go quickly, without causing trouble to too many people. And our Lord heard his prayer. Fr. McCarthy slipped away quietly after a heart attack in the early morning of 13th November.

We will miss Fr. McCarthy in our community, but for his sake we are happy that his sufferings are now over. We pray that he is now with the Lord, our Lady and the Saints and so many fellow Jesuits, and we pray that we may join him one day.

Fr. Sean Coghlan Homily, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong

Born: 03 October 1915, Sherkin Island, County Cork
Entered: 04 October 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1952, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died 18 June 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Della Strada, Crescent College Comprehensive, Dooradoyle, Limerick community at the time of death.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/remembering-tom-mccarthy-sj/

Remembering Tom McCarthy SJ
Fr. Tom McCathy SJ was born in Co. Cork in 1915 and he entered the Society at Emo in 1937. He studied Arts at UCD before his philosophy and theology, and was ordained in Milltown Park in 1949. He taught in Clongowes Wood College for 8 years before going to St. Ignatius, Galway as Minister. Over the years, he also taught in the Crescent College and Gonzaga College, gave the Spiritual Exercises, and worked with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Limerick. He went to Cherryfield Lodge in 2004 and despite deteriorating health, he enjoyed being out in the garden. He died peacefully on Wednesday, 18 June 2008, aged 92 years.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 137 : Autumn 2008

Obituary

Fr Thomas (Tom) McCarthy (1915-2008)

3rd October 1915: Born in Sherkin, Co. Cork
Early education at Sacred Heart College, Cork
4th October 1935: Entered the Society at Emo
5th October 1937: First Vows at Emo
1937 - 1940: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1940 - 1944: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1944 - 1946: Clongowes Wood College - Regency
1946 - 1950: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
31st July 1949: Ordained at Milltown Park
1950 - 1951: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1951 - 1959: Clongowes Wood College - Teacher
2nd February 1952: Final Vows at Clongowes Wood College
1959 - 1961: St. Ignatius, Galway - Minister
1961 - 1963: Crescent, Limerick - Teacher, Games Manager
1963 - 1965: Gonzaga College - Teacher
1965 - 2004: Limerick -
1965 - 1977: Crescent College
1977 - 1978: Dooradoyle - Vice-Superior; Teacher
1978 - 1982: Superior
1982 - 1983: Sabbatical
1983 - 1997: Dooradoyle - Directed Spiritual Exercises
1997 - 1999: Parish Visitation
1999 - 2004: Parish Visitation; St. Vincent de Paul Society
2004 - 2008: Cherryfield Lodge - Praying for Church and Society
18th June 2008: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Liam O'Connell writes:
Sherkin Island:
Tom McCarthy was born on the 3rd October 1915, on Sherkin Island, off the coast of Cork, and he had a strong love of his family and his native place all his life. His parents had seven children, Patrick, James, John, Simon, William, Mary and then the youngest, Tom. One day when Tom was 9 years old, his father went away for the day. Tom took this chance to take out his father's boat, hoisted the sail and manoeuvred his way over and back around an inland lake, and he handled the boat very well. What he did not know until much later was that his father had returned early from his business, and from a distance he saw Tom sailing the boat. His father was very impressed by Tom's skill and was proud of him.

On May 21st, 1927 when 11-year-old Tom and his father were out fishing from a boat when Charles Lindberg passed overhead while flying from the USA to Paris, on one of the early translantic flights. Tom explained that at first they thought they heard a ship's engine, and then they thought they saw a large bird flying towards them, before then they realised that it was an aeroplane. Lindberg afterwards wrote about this: "The first indication of my approach to the European Coast was a small fishing boat which I first noticed a few miles ahead and slightly to the south of my course. There were several of these fishing boats grouped within a few miles of each other.

There is another story from Tom's childhood, which gives a hint of what is everlasting. One Christmas Eve, Tom and his mother had gone shopping to the mainland, to the town of Baltimore. During the day a storm blew up, and they were marooned in Baltimore, and feared that they would miss Christmas back in Sherkin with their family, because the seas were too dangerous. Late in the evening the captain of the ferry decided to set sail, and they all arrive home safely. 80 years later Tom still recalled the delight of going home with his mother and being reunited with his family.

The sea was one of Tom's great loves. Another was a life long love affair with language. He loved to find the right word for a situation. He delighted in words like 'insouciance' or
apposite' or 'flout - used correctly of course. This craft with words went back a long way. One day a schools inspector at his national school asked the students to spell three words: Furze, Yacht and Arctic. Tom got the prize for being the only person to get all three spellings correct. All his life until fairly recently he was a great reader, especially of biography and history, and books about sailing, and he loved good writing.

In 1978 when Tom retired from teaching, I suspect that it was not because he lacked energy, but, perhaps, because of the terrible things his young scholars did to language, and that this began to wear him down.

Jesuits
As a boy Tom moved from Sherkin Island to the mainland to stay with an uncle and aunt, to attend school in Baltimore, and then he moved on to the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Cork city as a boarder. After school he joined the Jesuits in October 1935. He formed great friendships with his contemporaries, especially with Michael Reidy and Eddie Diffley. In later years in community Tom was a most kind and encouraging presence, with a great sense of humour, and a lovely ability to laugh at himself. Sometimes his encouragement took the form of long homilies that kept us late for dinner on cold winter days. But no one could deny that these came from a kind spirit and a sincere zeal for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tom's work as a Jesuit brought him as Minister to Galway, and he taught Irish in Gonzaga College, and Latin and Irish in Clongowes. When he came to Limerick in the 1961 Tom taught these subjects again, and he also took on the job of Games Master. During the holidays he gave retreats, and he did Summer supply in a parish in New York. This also helped him to keep in touch with his brothers and sisters over there, and their families.

Old Crescent, Vincent de Paul
He was a Munster Schools Rugby Selector, and a Patron of Old Crescent Rugby Club. Devotion to Old Crescent was a big part of his life. It went very deep and in pride of place in his room was a picture of him blessing the new pavilion at Rosbrien. He enjoyed his visits to the clubhouse, where he was made feel so welcome, and where his pipe smoking was graciously tolerated.

Tom's other great interest was the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and the Conference of past students of Crescent, that works in St. Joseph's hospital. On Tuesdays after dinner, Tom first enjoyed a good smoke of his pipe, a mixture of Balkan Sobrany and Maltan tobacco, and then he was collected by some kind Brother, to go to St. Joseph's hospital, where they organise entertainment during the winter months. During the summer months they held outings to scenic locations around Limerick. The Brothers of this Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, and the patients of St. Joseph's were strong and constant friends to Tom. In recent years Tom said Mass at the Oratory at the Crescent Shopping Centre, and again made very good friends here. Retirement

After teaching, Tom worked with the parish priests in Southill on Parish visitation, and he travelled there on his Honda 50. He enjoyed this contact and admired the good people of Holy Family Parish. In later years, and in another part of the city, much closer to the city centre, Tom was driving by one day, when he came upon an altercation. He stopped the car and walked into the middle of the furore, and said something like “Desist from this inappropriate and unseemly behaviour”. The assailants could not believe what they were seeing and hearing; they scattered before this vision of a frail but valiant 82 year old.

Golf
Tom was a beautiful golfer with a neat and tidy swing, and he loved the cut and thrust of competition. Just before ordination in July 1949, he had a golf lesson from Christy Greene in Milltown, and discovered the secret of golf. By the end of the lesson every shot was perfect, and he could not wait to try out his new swing in a full round. However he had wait, first because of a Retreat and then Ordination and First Mass and then Mass in Sherkin Island. Eventually, two weeks later he got back to a golf course, in Killarney with his brothers. But alas! He used to chuckle as he explained that the secret of golf had escaped again. Tom had the distinction in Limerick Golf Club of winning a stroke competition, the Mungret Cup, despite taking 10 shots at one hole. Later he won the Holmes Cup with a partner, but Tom would never allow his partner, to say that 'we? won the cup, as Tom disparagingly refused to acknowledge the other's contribution.

Cherryfield
In recent years Tom's independent Island Man spirit meant that he did not want to accept help in coping with old age. However that most persistent of women, the Jesuit Health Officer, Mary Rickard, cajoled Tom to stay at the Jesuit Nursing Home in Cherryfield from time to time on short visits. At first he went reluctantly. Tom even went missing during some of Mary's visits to Limerick, but then as he grew weaker, he enjoyed the extraordinary care and goodness of the staff there, and he came to love Cherryfield, and in turn was loved and cherished by the Cherryfield Staff.

When Tom was Superior of the Jesuit Community at Dooradoyle, there was a frugality about the living conditions at Della Strada. However this was frugality with a purpose, as the community made a large contribution towards the cost of a new Jesuit community house in Kitwe in Zambia. Today this house serves as a home for Jesuits working in the University and in a Spirituality Centre. Nowadays. We use the phrase "Live simply so that others may simply live, but Tom anticipated this worldview of sharing. It came from a spirituality of the Body of Christ, which values solidarity and communion between people, and where we are all our brothers and sisters keepers.

When he was well into his 60's Tom was sent on a sabbatical year to train as a Spiritual Director and Retreat Giver. His letters from the training course to his community in Dooradoyle were masterpieces, as Tom poked fun at himself and his mistakes. But these letters were also profound, and gave an insight into Tom's willingness to unlearn old ways and to learn new skills, and to retain what was central to the message of Jesus Christ, and the Jesuit way of life. These letters showed that Tom was both daring and humble in the face of change. We had a sense that he walked with his God at his side, and in the middle of every difficulty God was his shield and his staff.

We pray that the love he learned from his father and mother, this love story with God which began at Tom's baptism, this love he kept alive all his live, will be enjoyed by Tom forever. Go dté tú slán ar shlí na firinne. Mile buíochas duit. Go dtreorai na haingil isteach sna flaithis thú.

Born: 17 January 1857, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 23 January 1880, Milltown Park
Final Vows: 15 August 1893, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 01 June 1926, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner St, Dublin

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
His Master of Novices was Charles McKenna at Milltown.
1886 He was now at Milltown as Cook, and he also served as Cook in Cork, Limerick, Clongowes, Galway and Tullabeg.
1925 He was sent to Gardiner St and not long afterwards he suffered a stroke. He recovered from this sufficiently to be able to walk in the garden with the aid of a stick. His second stroke was more severe and he survived only a couple of days, and died 01 June 1926.
He was at least six feet tall and was apparently a powerful man.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 4 1926
Obituary
Brother William McCartney
Br McCartney . died at Gardiner Street on June 1st, 1926

He entered the Society in 1880, and two years later was appointed cook at Milltown Park. For the next forty years he was cook in one or other of our Irish houses. In his case “cook” was no mere honorary title. He spent his working day in the kitchen, and while there his coat was always off. And he had a very clear idea why he worked so hard. It may be news to many that he was known to his intimate friends as “Propter Te”. During the greater part of these forty years the words were constantly on his lips-he had learned them during a Retreat. When his work was well-nigh overwhelming - such as four villas in Galway - during the war, one after another in quick succession, he never shirked : “Propter Te”. When difficulties gathered round him he stood his ground, and faced them like a man It can be said with truth of him, “he died in harness.” Retreats were started in Rathfarnham in 1922. It meant double work for him, and he had no help except a lad to wash the dishes. He was advised to ask for assistance.
But no, he would do the best he could “Propter Te”. It was too much for him. In course of time he began to feel out of sorts, the old energy was ebbing fast, and he was sent to the doctor, who put him in his own motor and drove him straight to hospital. The heart had given way, and Br McCartney was in well nigh a dying condition. He He lingered on for two years, and IS now with that generous Father Who rewards the cup of water given for His sake. He won't forget those forty years of hard, continuous work ever and always generously done for him. Propter Te.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother William McCartney 1857-1926
“Propter te” was the motto and guiding principle of Br William McCartney, who died at Gardiner Street on June 1st 1926.

Having entered the Society in 1880, he spent the next 40 years of his life as cook in one or other of our houses. During all those years the words “Propter te” were ever on his lips, so that he became known to his intimate friends as “Propter te”.

When the Retreats stared at Rathfarnham, his work doubled, yet he never asked for help. Finally his health broke down and his heart became affected. He lingered for two years before passing to Him who had heard so oft those words “Propter te”.

Born: 01 February 1865, Tipperary Town, County Tipperary
Entered: 01 February 1883, Milltown Park, Dublin and Loyola House, Dromore, County Down
Ordained: 01 August 1897, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1900
Died: 16 July 1938, Mount Saint Evin’s Hospital, Fitzroy, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the Xavier College, (Kostka Hall) Kew, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death.

Transcribed : HIB to ASL 05/04/1931

Transcribed : HIB to ASL 05/04/1931

by 1899 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
Came to Australia 1889 for Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick McCurtin was one of the best prefects of studies the Australian province has ever seen, and perhaps the best all round educationist. He was a most dynamic and active presence in both New South Wales and Victoria, and made a deep impression on all colleagues, but especially non-Jesuits. The Teachers' Guild of NSW benefitted by his services as member, councillor and president during the years, 1912-21. He was appreciated for his influence, wit and keen insight into all matters under discussion. He endeared himself to people by his unfailing courtesy and solicitude for the welfare of everyone. From 1914-16 he was the Catholic representative on the Bursary Endowment Board of NSW, a strong voice, with “breadth of view and clear outlook”, seeking equality for Catholic schools. McCurtin was also active during the school holidays giving retreats. McCurtin's early education was at Rockwell College before entering the Jesuits at Milltown Park, Dublin, 1 February 1883, After philosophy in 1888, he was sent to Xavier College, Melbourne, until 1894, teaching senior classes and assisting the prefect of studies. He returned to Ireland for theology, and was then sent to Belvedere College, 1897-98, before his tertianship at Tronchiennes. He returned to Belvedere in 1899 and was prefect of studies for 1901 before he left for Australia again, arriving at St Patrick's College as prefect of studies in 1901. When sending McCurtin to Australia, the Irish provincial, James Murphy, wrote to the mission superior, John Ryan, that he should be grateful to receive “an invaluable man, most holy and edifying, earnest, active and unsparing, methodical and practical”.
From 1903-10 he was prefect of studies at Xavier College before his appointment as rector of St Aloysius' College, 1910-16. It was during these years that college rectors expressed considerable concern about the insufficient quality of Jesuit teachers, especially for the senior classes. Many fathers were considered too old or unwell. McCurtin was particularly concerned that St Aloysius College was given poor quality teaching staff by a succession of mission superiors, hence its reputation for inefficiency. He believed that superiors did not believe in the future of the college. He was concerned about the lack of professionalism of Jesuits in education, and the lagging response of Jesuits to progressive changes in educational theory and practice. Furthermore, there was not money for secular teachers, and Catholic teachers were hard to find. Despite his concerns, St Aloysius' College was registered as a first class school in New South Wales and ranked among the best schools. The public examination results were good and the spirit among the boys most pleasing.
The question of poor teaching staff at St Aloysius' College led to the dramatic resignation of McCurtin as rector in 1916, when the mission superior transferred Dominic Connell, “one of our best masters”, to become parish priest at Norwood, SA. At the time there were very few competent teachers on the staff, and finances were not good, which made the employment of lay teachers difficult. McCurtin believed that the image of the school would suffer. Jesuit superiors, including the General, did not appreciate this resignation. After a further period as prefect of studies at Xavier College, and Riverview, 1917-21, he returned to Ireland, where he later became superior of the Apostolic School at Mungret and rector of the Crescent College, Limerick, 1923-31. Wishing to end his days in Australia he returned to do good work as headmaster at both Burke Hall and Kostka Hall. He died in St Evin’s Hospital after sustaining a heart attack. McCurtin was a striking figure-a small, slight, alert, active, dapper person. He was fond of flowers and beautiful things, was orderly and methodical, artistic with exquisite handwriting, and humorous, with great social charm. His Jesuit brethren found him to be a colleague with very definite opinions strongly held and, on occasion, vigorously expressed, but he was also a tolerant and kind character with a keen sense of humour. Because he was what he was, he found it difficult working with immediate superiors who did not possess his own qualities. As prefect of studies at Riverview, 1918-21, he experienced much frustration, anxiety and illness because of the disorderliness and apparent lack of enthusiasm for academic excellence. He showed special interest in the Old Boys of all the colleges in which he served. While in Ireland he kept up continual correspondence, especially with Xavier College and St Aloysius College. Former students praised him for his fatherly care, his spirit of broadmindedness and tolerance, and other good qualities that made him a universal favorite. They spoke of him as a dynamic personality, builder and developer, and a polished gentleman. During his educational work, Patrick McCurtin was continually involved with educational issues, both for the development of Jesuit pedagogy and Catholic schooling in Australia. Australia was fortunate to have had the services of McCurtin's considerable administrative ability and clear vision. He was totally professional in his approach to education, an attitude not always appreciated by his superiors. Together with James O'Dwyer, to whom he dedicated a marble altar in the Burke Hall chapel, he improved the attitude of Australian Jesuits towards academic achievement, while his contact with educational organisations and State committees of education gave the Jesuits wider influence in the community.

Note from Dominic Connell Entry
He was sent mid year to Manresa Norwood to replace Henry Cock. This resulted in a major drama when the Rector of St Aloysius, Patrick McCurtin, resigned in protest, claiming that Dominic was his only good Jesuit teacher

Note from John Forster Entry
He returned to Australia and St Aloysius Sydney, and he was appointed Rector there in 1916 following the resignation of Patrick McCurtin

Note from John Williams Entry
John Williams (RIP 1981) had a sad childhood. His Irish mother and Welsh father died leaving five small children, three boys and two girls. He was looked after by a relative of his, Father Patrick McCurtin, and was a boarder at Mungret.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 4 1926
College of the Sacred Heart Limerick : On May 16th, Fr McCurtin's appointment as Rector was announced. On the same day, his predecessor, Fr L. Potter, took up his new duties as Superior of the Apostolic School. During his seven years' rectorship the Church was considerably extended, a new organ gallery erected, and a new organ installed. A beautiful new Shrine in honor of the Sacred Heart was added, and a marble flooring to the Sanctuary laid down.

Irish Province News 13th Year No 4 1938
Obituary :
Father Patrick McCurtin
1865 Born 1st February in Tipperary town
1883 Milltown. Novice
1884 Dromore, Novice (Noviceship changed to Dromore)
1885-87 Milltown, Philosophy
1888-93 Kew (Australia) Doc., etc
1894-96 Milltown. Theol
1897 Belvedere. Doc. Cons. dom
1898 Tronchiennes. Tertian
1899 Belvedere. Doc.. Cons. dom
1900 Belvedere. Praef. Stud. Cons. dom
1901-02 Melbourne. St. Patrick's. Praef. Stud.. Cons. dom
1903-09 Kew. Doc. Cons. dom
1910-16 Sydney, Milson's Point, Rector, Doc. Oper
1917-19 Kew, Praef. Stud. Doc. an. 25, Cons. dom
1918-20 Riverview, Sydney, Preef. Stud. Cons. dom
1921 Clongowes, Doc. Praes. acad. sen., etc
1922 Rathfarnham. Miss. Excurr
1923-25 Mungret, Superior Apostol., Lect. Phil., Cons. dom
1926-31 Crescent, Rector. Doc. an. 37 mag., etc
1932 Australia, Loyola, Soc. Mag. Nov
1933-36 Kew, Min. Burke Hall, Doc. an. 42 mag. Cons. dom
1937-38 Kew, Min. Kostka Hall, Doc. an. 42 mag. Cons. dom

He went to Australia for the third time in the autumn 1931. Died Saturday, 16th July, 1938

Outside studies, etc., Father McCurtin spent only twelve years of his Jesuit life in Ireland. The rest, thirty-three years, was passed in Australia where he held with distinction many important posts including the Rectorship of Milson's Point for six years. He died when in charge of the newly established preparatory school Kostka Hall. He holds the distinguished record of forty-four years teaching in one or other of our Colleges.

◆ The Aloysian, Sydney, 1923

An Appreciation

Father Patrick J McCurtin SJ

In 1911 we schoolboys of St. Aloysius' saw a pile of luggage heaped at the back of the Masters' house. · On the following day someone had a letter from a boy at Xavier, where Father McCurtin had previously taught, saying that the school name of our new Rector was Fr McCurtin. That was our first introduction. We met him lter, and it is not too much to say that we found him quite unlike the priest we had pictured in imagination.

He was short in build, and dressed then, as he always was, immaculately. I think he was the only one of the staff who wore a silk hat; he fitted a “bell-topper” so well that we would almost have doubted his identity were he crowned only with felt, and minus cuffs and stick. I believe he abandoned some of these distinguishing marks in later years. He was thin and spare. A man of intense enthusiasm and energy such as he possessed could not well be otherwise. We did not know that even then his health was not good; his consistent vitality gave indication of a robust constitution. We always thought him a much younger man than he was; his appearance belied his age. Brisk walker, brisk thinker, brisk and sure in judgment-everything: about him told of the high-tensioned mechanism that controlled him, or, rather, that he had learned to hold in subjection. Strachey's description of Arnold fitted the Rector admirably: “His outward appearance was the index of his inward character; everything about him denoted energy, earnestness and the best intentions”. His eyes read a person at a glance. I cannot remember any boy trying to deceive him or treat him in any other way than siti cerely and earnestly. We felt that it wouldn't pay: or, perhaps, a keen boyish instinct convinced us that he deserved the best treatment we could give.

When Father McCurtin came to Aloysius we felt that progress was assured ; we were impelled by the influence of a great personality to co-operate in that progress. Few lagged behind; success and an increase in attendance came at an incredible pace.

He taught English and Religious Know ledge during my time. His methods were very direct. He was accustomed to give his views - favourable or otherwise on the suitability of a text-book, and, sometimes, on the mythical Board of Examiners who set the book. This method of critical analysis soon showed its influence on the boys, who began to look for faults and virtues in a book, and gradually ceased to read as a task or merely from the motive of idle curiosity. His speech as President, of the Teachers' Guild of NSW recalls much of what he said to his boys in 1912 and 1913. In 1915 he was able to say that the Representatives of the Registered and State Schools had met the Board of Examiners and secured a certain amount of success. In typically sarcastic language the long-experienced teacher had a gibe at the methods of these theorists in education : Usually, the teacher has to gaze at the examiner and the law-giver from a respect fui distance, and strive to gauge his be nevolence through the thunderous cloud of his majesty. But last year the very gods came down from a remote Olympus and mixed with mortals. Thus a better under standing has arisen between the University authorities and the members of the teach ing profession”.

Another feature of the Rector's teaching was to encourage individual effort.. He could gauge a boy's likes and dislikes; he directed each one wisely along the road adapted for him by Nature. Take the modern school curriculum as an example of crushing out individuality. The day is full of half-hours devoted to a dozen subjects; and the boy must try to get a superficial knowledge of all these or be plucked in the examinations These public exami nations have been so magnified in impor ance that they are regarded by a natic of shopkeepers as the criterion of a boy or a college's efficiency. Yet, how many! the successful candidates have ever bee introduced into the portals of the hall { learning; how many have ever been taugl to study for the love of study or knowledg or without constraint from a master's las or a possible examination failure hangin over their heads like a threatening swor of Damocles. The best proof of the inad: quacy of our examination system is ti current belief that a boy'is educated whe he leaves school. The truth is that by the he should have learned how to begin 1 study seriously. Father McCurtin ha something to say about the crammin system in his 1915 address to the Teacher Guild:

“There is, indeed, one problem which is a spectre of the future, but is right here with us. It is really one part of a problein, though. very important part. We have a syllabus for a schools, for all candidates. One may introduce slight variations here and there for some pupil but the freedom possible is not great when it comes to practice. Whether it would be wise not to cast varying minds and varying taste, and aptitudes into one mould, I shall not discuss. ... Ordinarily, it is safer to propher after an event, but I do hazard the forecast that the matter will some day clamour for attention at the hands of our educators in New South Wales”

Father McCurtin was not lacking in el couragement for every honest effort. Ei couragement is becoming out of date i modern times, in proportion to the growt I of self-interest and the cult of selfishness. A pat on the back for an honest attempt may change the whole trend of life for a honest boy. But surprisingly few teachers and employers notice the good points in an effort; they concentrate on condemning the deficiencies which are evident to them after years of training and experience. Father McCurtin could wield a weapon of the most cutting sarcasm when he wished; but after the lash had fallen beavily he would always bring out some balm of encouragement for a good point that had lain hidden under the defects. He had a hand always ready to assist the less capable boy; a lash (nearly always verbal) to urge on the lazy; and a rapier. of sarcasm to deflate the swollen pride of the unwarrantably venturesome. But he never completely deflated the boyish balloon; he discharged the hot-air and tied it firmly to mother-earth lest it rise too quickly and immaturely. I was once told of an incident concerning a school essay; it illustrates this trait of his teaching, A certain student whose literary attempts had never shows any more than the evi dences of unpleasant tasks, and from whom the Rector expected better results, deter mined to take a rise out of the master. He compiled a plan, vrote an essay in rough, amended it, and finally handed in a ten page manuscript that was considerably above the average for a schoolboy. He took the precautiou to leave it unsigned. On the Tuesday following the Rector placed the pile of essays on the desk; and promptly, as was his wont, rejected half of them as worthless. He commented on the remainder, reserving the ten-page effusion for special comment. The laudatory com .ments were directed at a boy who found · no opportunity to disclaim ownership until the end of a long review. When the real author was discovered the Rector changed his tactics, and re-examined the essay. Be ginning with the plan, following paragraph after paragraph, analysing construction of sentences, criticising phraseology, concep tions and presentation, the unfortunate author was quickly convinced that little more than the title was unassailable. I have heard that boy say many a time tirat that essay and that day's criticism started him to think seriously of writing. Some years later that same boy handed over the manuscript of a lengthy book to the same master, and begged of him to dis sect and reject, feeling confident that what Father McCurtin left intact would be av cepted by the world at large. He did dissect with an incredible precision, insiglit and minuteness, and sent a covering letter, which I was allowed to read, and from which I am granted permission to reproduce the opening sentences. He wrote: “My dear --; I have just finished the last line of your book, and wish to send you my warmest congratulations at once. The thing I do wish especially to write is: God bless you... I feel as proud as Punch of you."

His educational efforts were not confined within the walls of Aloysius'. For nine years - 1912 to 1921- he was an influential member of the Teachers Guild of New South Wales. The Hon Secretary of the Guild gives the following information con cerning his activities in educational matters :

“Father McCurtin joined the Guild somewhere about 1912. In 1913, when Rector of St Aloy sius' College, he opened a discussion on the revised syllabus for Secondary Schools in consequence of which important resolutions were passed and forwarded to the Board of Examiners. He was elected Vice-President in 1913, and was President for the year 1914-15; and thereafter was on the Council till he went abroad. Always a keen debater and vigorous uphoider of the I rights of the non-State seliools, he was deputed to speak on behalf of the Headmasters' Association at the meeting held at the University in 1921, when the matter of the compulsory registration of teachers was advocated. It was his telling speech that defeated the measure as being one for which the time was not yet ripe in this State, and as being likely to bring the schools more and more under Government control.

He represented the Catholic schools on the Bursary Board from March, 1910, until February, 1917, when, on being removed to Melboume, he resigned his position. He severed his connection with the Guild on his departure for Europe in 1921”.

An appreciation of his services in the cause of education in Australia appeared in “The Australian Teacher” (April, 23). Since the notice represented the views of his associates in educational matters who were members of every religion, it may be taken for granted that the eulogism is un biassed and deserved.

“The Guild has suffered a distinct loss in the departure of Father McCurtin. His shrewd and logical criticism was always helpful, and facili tated the solution of many problems. He is at present engaged in missionary work in Ireland”.

Far be it from my intention to criticise the wisdom of Father McCurtin's transfer to Ireland. It can be said with impunity, however, that Australia suffered an almost irreparable loss when he left our shores. Our educational efforts, which are for the most part in the tentative and experimen tal stage as they must be in a young country-needed. the advice and ripe di rection of such a man. We can hardly spare men of the Father McCurtin capabilities and experience, who can speak with authority and suggest directions when the politically driven ship of national education is grating on the rocks of disaster.

He has now a responsible position in Ireland as Spiritual Director to the ecclesiastical students at Mungret. He is eminently suited for any position where the training of young men is concerned. From him they may learn wisdom that has heen gained by long and varied experience; from contact with him they may grow like him. For his personality is such that it irradiates manliness and culture, just as the flowering wistaria vine perfumes and be decks with a rich splendour the battered shed wherein such mundane creatures as cows and chickens sleep.
Father MeCurtin has left his impress upon hundreds of Australian boys, now grown into respectable citizens of a young Commonwealth. They are in every walk of life; in the Church, medicine, law and business; distinguished in war and in peace. They are his best biography. He left an indelible mark on all people and organisations associated with him.

We can say truthfully of him: Australia is a better country because he once lived in it; it is poorer than it would have been had he remained in it.

EOB

◆ The Aloysian, Sydney, 1933

Golden Jubilarian

Father Patrick J McCurtin SJ

The courteous patience of the Rev Editor of the School Magazine should have been incentive sufficient to make me begin and finish this article. But as usual I am running late, and probably, delaying the issue of the magazine. My greatest difficulty, I find, is to make a literary sketch of Father McCurtin. In a sketch the lines must be few and definite, but complete. The task for a draughtsman would be easier than for the writer, because Father McCurtin's spare frame is more angular and more linear than that of any other Jesuit. (And that is a bold statement about an Order where the litheness of the athlete has been a consistent character istic, as befitted “runners of God” on a world-wide course.) Nevertheless, the spare frame of this good Jesuit is charged with such energy that only a sculptor, using all the dimensions, might portray it fittingly. And this sculptor would need to be proficient in the art of making marble eyes that would mirror a great soul; for Father McCurtin is gifted with eyes that see and understand all things, eyes that can coax or threaten, sympathise or smile, despite the firm-set mouth. In stature he is small, so small that the unexpected demeanour of strength, which he manifests, overwhelms boys completely. His self-sufficiency, general proficiency, and equanimity cannot fail in arousing spontaneous hero-worship. One naturally expects six-foot giants to manifest strength, because they seem to be built for it; but when the capacity for government is manifested in a small man, one sits up and takes notice. The small man is more picturesque; thus was Bonaparte.

I write of the Father McCurtin whom I knew twenty years ago; since then I have often met him, but I have always avoided seeing him as the years have changed him. A few months ago I dined with Father McCurtin at Burke Hall, Melbourne, after he had put to bed several baby boys who seemned not at all in awe of him. Though time had brought me closer to his own level of knowledge I could, or would, not discard the mantle of pupil in the presence of the master. It was not mere imagination, nor might it be explained modernly in the terms of an inferiority complex. For here is the proof: he and I played billiards doggedly, unremittingly, interminably for almost two hours, neither one of us manifesting any skill in the game, and we might have continued until doomsday had not an urgent call put an end to the game. I detest billiards at any time and in any place; but I detest the game with an added zest when it is played with so interesting a man as Father McCurtin.

I suppose I should not allow the preceding paragraph to go to the Editor; it is quite uninteresting, I know. Moreover, such writing is bad-form in these days of Oxford drawls, languid-self interest and regulated behaviour. It is bad form to register the human interest of a pupil's affection for an old master. Nowadays such is quite rare; masters are compelled to become machine-like purveyors of information that is weighed out and apportioned according to the requirements of a nationalised syllabus. (A foretaste of the Soviet, of which the nation is unconscious!) Overworked pupils must study only their text-books, not their masters. It is only an exceptional master who can rise above the system, and only a philosopher or incipient Bolshevik pupil who can follow suit. But twenty-five years ago we took our time, and when I come to think of it I believe that those pupils did not turn out so badly after all for many of them went to Anzac, whence some never returned. I am at a disadvantage when meeting the masters of to-day, for I meet them on terms of equality, and a pupil is the best judge of the master as a patient is the best judge of the physician. So, if pupils a quarter of a century hence remember their masters as we of prior generations remember ours, the present system, or more correctly, its exponents, will be honorably and affectionately esteemed. How long ago, how anciently, does that sentence indicate! Yet, to-day Father McCurtin seems as young, or as old, as he did that quarter of a century ago.

Three days ago I was at Bourke in the far-west of New South Wales, and I was thinking of Father McCurtin, or rather thinking about the necessity of writing this article. No superior would ever have sent Father McCurtin to Bourke; he simply would not have fitted into the west; but there he was surely enough, enthroned in the affectionate remembrances and conversation, and evident in the wide-outlook and zeal of two Irish priests, whom he had taught and fashioned at Mungret. The McCurtin impression is, I believe, as widely circulated and as indelibly impressed on worthy men as is the King's head on the coinage of the realm. In such fruits of his labours he may, and should, take much satisfaction; good, wholesome pride that his work has been worth while and permanent, helping to maintain the Kingdom of God in more than one country of the world.

Though I fully believe that this article has too much of the first personal pronoun in it, and is much too flattering in tone to afford any satisfaction to its subject, I am determined to publish it for more than one good reason. First of all, this tone is the fashion. Every man who can seems now to be writing his autobiography, and not one of these is justified. Second, the lack of opportunity for Father McCurtin to enter a defence against my remarks gives me a doubtful victory over him, for which I have waited for many years. I have had many masters, but he was the only one whom I determined to master. A vain ambition, no doubt, but really not so foolish as it would first appear. An unimaginative master may work his pupils as wax and succeed in leaving his excellent impression upon them, after which they will assuredly grow into respectable citizens. Give a sheep dog to a childless, wealthy woman and she will nurse it and domesticate it until it has not more of dog left in it than an imbecile pomeranian. Give the same dog to a sheepman; he will put it to work, beat it into energetic life, impose tasks that would convulse pomeranians and embarrass men, and threaten to discard it should it prove a failure. Similarly with the imaginative school master. (Those who were pupils of Father McCurtin will recognise that the dog metaphor is not at all strained; more than one of us were so often referred to as “Puppies” that we readily answered to the name.) So, let the master train the puppy pupil in the basic principles of education; then give him the field and ask a dog's work of him.

Throw to the pupil slabs of Milton or chunks of Dryden. If he cannot comprehend, tell him he is lacking in ordinary intelligence, for all small boys of his time knew these things at the age of two. Then if the pupil has left a spark of self-respect he will beg, borrow or buy the works of Milton or Dryden and read therein so as to rise to the heights of intelligence and knowledge required of a boy of ten or twelve. I should be sorry if this badinage obscured the useful lesson which is contained in the foregoing sentences. That lesson is that by so provocative a form of teaching the boy of initiative will be allowed to discover himself, after having searched for and found and read some of the better works of literature. He will begin to read for the love of reading, not because he is forced to cram in set text-books. Father Mc Curtin may not have adopted such methods in teaching; he might be violently opposed to them and regard my philosophising as erroneous; but, at all events, that is the impression I have of his teaching. And as a pupil I found it encouraging, and as a grown man I look back on it gratefully. Someone may ask what good has it done me; or what have I done because of it. Again, I am forced to introduce the first personal pronoun into the argument; but I do so, I believe, so that it may encourage both pupils and teachers. I distinctly remember determining as a boy to write an essay that would be difficult for even Father McCurtin to criticise adversely. I spent much labour on it, three full days, and presented it unsigned. It was adversely criticised: but it taught me that I had some facility for writing and aroused an ambition to continue. I still have that essay, preserved as affectionately as a mother keeps some relic of her first child's infancy. Now, I have several volumes to my name, and al though they may be regarded in various ways by the discerning and the less discerning public, I am honest in asserting that had it not been for the provocative teachings of Father McCurtin I should never have written a line. Australian writers are few; the Australian is timorous of self-expression with the pen; perhaps, the pupil is dried up by forced study when young; and set text books have made literature as unattractive as Arnold's Latin grammar.

The article on Father McCurtin, which the Editor asked me to write, has not been written, although my ruminations will occupy much space in the magazine. However, it is unneces sary to write an article so as to arouse affectionate memories among his past pupils. Let me tell them that in this year he celebrates fifty years of mem bership in the Society of Jesus, and all will pray that God may let him live to celebrate another jubilee. We need such men as he is; when he left Aus tralia in 1920 there were many who resented his going, who felt that he was more needed in Australia than in Ire land. He returned to us again in 1931, as fresh as ever. He is now in charge of Burke Hall in Melbourne.

Here are some outstanding dates and events in his career. They were sent by the Editor to guide me in writing a biographical article. As they will probably be of more interest to readers than what I have written, I append them. They represent the multifarious activi ties of a long and useful life; con sequently, they speak for themselves.

In 1883, on February 1, he entered the Society. From 1886-8 he studied philosophy at Milltown Park, Dublin, From 1889-95 he was teaching at Xavier, in Melbourne, and in 1891 was Prefect of Studies there. From 1895-8 he studied Theology at Milltown Park, where he was ordained to the Priesthood in 1897. In 1998 he taught at Belvedere, Dublin, and in the following year he was in Belgium for his Third Year. The beginning of the century saw him at teaching work again at Belvedere, 1902-3 were spent at St Patrick's, Mel bourne, and 1903-5 witnessed valuable work at Xavier. Then came his splendid career at St Aloysius' College as Rector (1910-16), during which he resurrected the Old Boys Union and almost trebled the enrolment of pupils. 1914-16 were marked by his efficient services as Catholic representative on the Bursary Board of NSW, when he not only. succeeded in winning due rights for all Catholic Secondary Schools, but also gained such general esteem from his fellow members that they marked his departure from their midst with evident regret. 1917 was spent at Xavier, and 1918-19 at Riverview. In 1920 he re turned to Ireland, where he was occupied in preaching retreats and for a period was Superior of the celebrated Apostolic School at Mungret. From 1926-31 he was Rector of the Sacred Heart College, Limerick, where he rebuilt the Community House and School and decorated the public church. In 1931 he returned to Australia, and in 1932 was appointed to the charge of Burke Hall, Melbourne, where he still flourishes in excellent health.

Ad multos annos, .

ERIS M O'BRIEN

◆ The Aloysian, Sydney, 1938

Obituary

Father Patrick J McCurtin SJ

The following account is taken from the “Advocate”, Melbourne.

An educationalist of high standing in the Jesuit Order, Rev Patrick McCurtin, who did outstanding work in the colleges of his Order in Ireland and Australia, died on Saturday morning in Mt St Evin's Hospital, after an illness of three weeks. His death is a heavy loss to the Society of Jesus, and to educational circles, in which, for more than fifty years, he was a distinguished figure. Of a genial and kindly disposition, his pupils idolised him, and there was deep and poignant sorrow at Kostka Hall, Brighton Beach, when the news of his death was made known.

Born in Tipperary, Ireland, Fr Mc Curtin, who was 73 years, studied for the priesthood in the Jesuit College at Milltown Park, Dublin. As a scholastic, he began teaching at Xavier College, Kew, and in 1886 he was prefect of studies there. His fine work met with well merited recognition, and he was appointed Rector of St Aloysius' Coll ege, Sydney. Later, he was attached to Riverview College, Sydney, as prefect of studies. In 1921, Fr McCurtin returned to Ireland, and in 1922 he was made Rector of the Crescent College, Limerick - a position he filled with eminent success. Returning to Australia in 1930, he was appointed headmaster of Burke Hall, a preparatory school affiliated with Xavier. He did much to place this school on a sound basis. When a second preparatory school in connection with Xavier College was established at Brighton Beach in 1937, the headmastership was conferred upon Fr McCurtin, who held this position up till his death.

Archbishop's Tribute

His Grace Rev Dr Mannix, paid the following graceful tribute to Fr McCurtin:

The prayers of the priests and people are most earnestly requested for the eternal repose of the soul of Fr Mc Curtin. On the day before his death, when I saw him for the last time, he had just received the sad news of the death of his brother in Ireland. He told me that he had been closely attached to his brother, but he took the sad news with resignation and with confidence that everything was right with his brother, who, as he said, had always been a faithful Catholic. Naturally, the news coming to him when he himself was almost exhausted, must have made a deep impression upon him, and perhaps hastened his own death. The two brothers had been closely attached during life, and in death they are not divided. Fr McCurtin is lost to us all: Priests and people have come here in large numbers to testify the esteem in which he was held, and to offer their sympathy to the Jesuit Fathers, who have lost one of the brightest ornaments of their Order in Australia.

The passing of Fr McCurtin naturally brings to our minds that long line - uninterrupted line, I might say - of Irish Jesuits who have come here to work and to labour in Australia. They were great men, many of them, and good men, all of them. They have done in Australia a marvellous work for Christian learning and culture, for re ligion and for God. Now another of them has gone to his reward. Some indeed, of the old ones amongst them are still with us, thanks be to God, and long may they be spared to do and continue the work in which they are engaged. But Fr McCurtin's work is over. He was not the least of the Jesuit Fathers. He came, I believe, from that part of Ireland which gave us an other great Jesuit Father, whose name is remembered in benediction - Fr James O'Dwyer. There was much resemblance between the two, and they have left the stamp and zeal of their own lives and their example and teaching upon the minds and hearts of many of those who are prominent in Catholic life in Melbourne and Australia. Fr McCurtin's work, like that of Fr O'Dwyer's, will remain, His mortal days are ended, but the stamp and seal put on many lives will remain to bear fruit and fructify in Australia, I hope, in the years that are to come.

One of the greatest consolations that the Jesuit Fathers have, looking back upon the great work done by their Order in Australia, is that now young Australian Jesuits are coming to step into the places that are being left vacant, one by one, by the great old pioneers, the Irish Jesuit Fathers, who came to this land. Fr McCurtin had great gifts, and he used them all. Perhaps the one great gift that God gave him was that of being a teacher, not merely a teacher in the ordinary sense, but one who built up the character of the boys committed to his care. I was myself closely associated with him while he was at Burke Hall, and I could not fail to be deeply impressed by the manifest impression that he made upon the boys who were sent to the college. He had the gentlest ways and was always bright and cheerful, and he seemed to radiate happiness wherever he went. While he was gentle and kind, still he was always the master. Side by side with his great gentleness of character was a real robust manliness, and the staunchest of principles that never deserted him. He was a great favourite with the boys, and seemed almost to be one of them, and it was quite evident that he was always seeking to mould their characters and preparing them to be, what I hope they will be, a credit to their Jesuit teachers and to the Church to which they belong. All his life was spent in that work, and his only thought was to serve the Master by moulding the character of the young.

He has been an outstanding success in Australia, as he was in Ireland, and the Jesuit Fathers will find it hard to replace him. We all miss him. We have lost a great friend and a great priest. We can only hand him over to the tender mercies of the God Whom he served so long and so well. In spite of his saintly character, human nature is weak, and maybe there are still some stains upon his soul. We pray to-day, and will pray for many days, that if there be any stain remaining it may be wiped out in the mercy of His Redeemer, Whom he served so faithfully and so affectionately, and Whose living Image he tried to impress upon so many of the young people of Australia. May God have mercy upon his soul and upon the souls of all the faithful departed, and may eternal Light shine upon him.

An Old Aloysian’s Tribute

23 Salisbury Road,
Rose Bay. ii.
23rd July, 1938.

Dear Father Hehir,
Although personally unknown to you, I am writing as the oldest member of the St Aloysius' Old Boys' Union to express the. deep regret I feel with regard to the death of Father McCurtin; and to express my sympathy with the Jesuit Order in his loss.

He endeared himself to everyone that he came in contact with while at the college, and there will be many who will feel his loss deeply.

Yours faithfully,

Arthur Barlow

◆ Mungret Annual, 1937

Obituary

Father Patrick McCurtin SJ

On the 16th July, 1938, Father McCurtin died at Mount St Evin's Hospital, Melboume. Though he had reached the three score years and ten, yet the news of his death came as a shock. His life was so regular, his days so methodically arranged and the triumph of his strong will over ill-health so consistent, that even at 73 years of age one did not regard Father McCurtin as old.

Born in 1865, in the shadow of the Galtee mountains, in the town of Tipperary, he received his early education in Rockwell College. In 1883 he began his novitiate in Milltown Park and completed it next year in Dromore, Philosophy followed at Milltown Park, and in 1888 we find him at Xavier College, beginning a connection with Australia that was to last for thirty-three years. He returned once more to Milltown for. theology, and was ordained in 1896. Tertianship and two years at Belvedere followed, and once more he took up the threads of the work he had begun so fruit fully in Australia. From 1901 till his death, in 1938, with the exception of twelve years in Ireland, Father McCurtin devoted him self to the service of education in Australia,

Father McCurtin's connection with Mungret was brief, 1923-26, but his work there was enduring. His long experience in Australia, his knowledge of the needs of the priesthood gleaned from his own experience in giving retreats and his knowledge of the educational system of that country, were all brought to bear upon the office entrusted to him. No detail that helped towards the advancement of culture, no practice that helped to the building up of character and the acquiring of solid virtue in the young aspirants to the priesthood, was neglected. To build the supernatural on a good natural foundation was his ideal, and, to achieve this, he spared no pains.

No sketch of Father McCurtin's life that did not take into account his work for the church in Australia, would do him justice. As master, as prefect of studies, or as recior, he worked in St Patrick's, Xavier, Riverview, and St Aloysius. All these colleges owe much to the meticulous care. and the sure grasp of essentials that Father McCurtin brought to bear upon their studies.

Nor were his educational activities restricted to these colleges. His expert knowledge and wide grasp of the secondary school system was put at the service of the State when a scheme was being drafted for school registration. In like manner, he helped the various convents and drew up for them a course of studies that facilitated registration when this became obligatory.

The last years of Father McCurtin's life must have been his happiest. He was successively Head Master of Burke Hall and Kotska. Hall. Here he renewed his youth with the generous youth of Australia and formed the young lads as he had formed their fathers and perhaps their grand fathers - years before at Xavier. Just when Father McCurtin seemed set for a century, the call came. The work of “the good and faithful servant” was completed and he entered on his reward.

His Grace, Archbishop Mannix, paid a warm and grateful tribute to Father McCurtin at his Solemn Requiem at Hawthorn:

“Father McCurtin had great gifts and he used them all. Perhaps the one great gift that God gave him was that of being a teacher, not merely a teacher in the ordinary sense, but one who built up the character of the boys committed to his care. I was myself closely associated with him while he was in Burke Hall, and I could not fail to be deeply impressed by the manifest impression that he made upon the boys that were sent to the college. He had the gentlest ways and was always bright and cheerful, and he seemed to radiate happiness wherever he went. All his life was spent in that work and his only thought was to serve the Master by moulding the character of the young”.

May he rest in peace.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Patrick McCurtin (1865-1938)

Was born in the town of Tipperary. He was admitted to the Society in 1883 and ordained at Milltown Park in 1895. Apart from his studies in Ireland, Father McCurtin spent only twelve years of his religious life in this country. He spent his scholastic years in Australia and returned there in 1901 where he was to spend twenty years. He returned to Ireland in 1921 and came as rector to the Crescent in 1926. During his term of office he did much for the progress of the school and greatly improved the church. On the separation of the Australian mission from the Irish Province of the Society in 1931, he elected to finish his days where so much of his best years had been spent. He died in Melbourne 16 July, 1938.

Born: 16 April 1913, Dalkey, County Dublin
Entered: 12 November 1932, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1945, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1948, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 09 July 2006, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 133 : Special Issue September 2007
Obituary
Fr John (Jack) McDonald (1913-2006)

16th April 1913: Born in Dublin
Early education in Belvedere College
12th November 1932: Entered the Society at Emo
13th November 1934: First Vows at Emo
1934 - 1937: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1937 - 1940: Tullabeg -Studied Philosophy
1940 - 1942: Belvedere - Regency, HDip in Ed
1942 - 1946: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
31st July 1945: Ordained at Milltown Park
1946 - 1947: Tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle
1947 - 1950: Tullabeg - Minister; Prefect of the Church; President of B.V.M. Sodality
2nd February 1948: Final Vows at Tullabeg
1950 - 1961: Rathfarnham -
1950 - 1955: Minister; Assistant Teacher
1955 - 1961: Rector; Treasurer
1961 - 1962: Crescent College - Treasurer; Ministered in the Church
1962 - 1964: Gardiner St. - Minister; Prefect of the Church
1964 - 2006: Milltown Park -
1964 - 1965: Treasurer, Sub-Minister; Milltown Institute Treasurer
1965 - 1987: Bursar
1987 - 1988: Cherryfield Lodge - Bursar; Assistant Bursar, Milltown Park
1988 - 2001: Assistant Bursar, Milltown Park
2001 - 2006: Cherryfield Lodge - Praying for the Church and the Society
9th July 2006: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin.

From the homily preached by Fr. Michael Hurley:
“Well Done, Well Done”, Good and Faithful Servant. Enter into the Joy of Your Lord' (Mt 25: 14-17, 19-23)

We're all here this morning, you will agree, to praise and thank. God for the life and work of Fr. Jack McDonald, for the blessing he has been in our lives; we're here too to ask forgiveness from God and from Jack himself for our failure to appreciate him sufficiently, to love him as much as he deserved; and we're here to pray that he may rest in peace and use his influence in the heavenly places to get us a replacement for himself and also many others of his stature to carry on the work of the Irish Jesuit Province, the work to which he devoted himself so wholeheartedly, for so long.

My name is Michael Hurley. But why am I the one to be giving the homily this morning, trying to put into words some of the thoughts in our minds, the feelings in our hearts? I'm no contemporary of Jack's: I'm only 83: he was 93: he was ten years senior to me. But I am a fellow Jesuit and I lived amicably here in Milltown Park with Jack for many years. However the main reason, I think, why it has fallen to me to give the homily this morning is this: some years ago Jack approached me and asked a favour: his nephew, Arthur, knowing he didn't have long more to live, was putting all his affairs in order and had asked to see a priest: would I oblige? Of course, I would and did and did so very gladly. In asking me Jack was doing me an honour; it was a gesture of trust. as unexpected as it was undeserved, and in giving the homily this morning I am once again saying thanks to Jack and also to the family: on the occasion of Arthur's funeral I was privileged to get a glimpse of the veneration in which Jack was held and how devoted all were to him.

For our Gospel reading this morning I chose the parable of the talents (Mt 25: 14-17, 19-23) because those great, glorious words I wanted as my text occur in it not just once but twice and I can think of no words more appropriate for the occasion. 'Well Done, Well Done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord'. These were surely the words which the choirs of angels and the whole court of heaven were singing on Sunday morning when Jack made his entry. As we'll be reminded once again at the end of Mass, the funeral liturgy explicitly invites us to imagine the angels and saints leading and escorting and welcoming Jack into paradise, into the holy city, to the bosom of Abraham, to meet our Lord and his mother, to sit down at table with them at the banquet feast which is heaven.

But who else was in that welcoming party? Surely his patron Saint John but Jack was such an intensely private person that we can't be sure whether this is the aggressive John the Baptist or the amiable John the Evangelist. Also present will have been all those who have gone before him to prepare a place for him: his father, John J. founder of the now well-known law firm, his mother, Maud Flannery of Ballaghadreen; Jack's eight sisters and brothers, four of each, especially Joe who followed him to the Jesuit noviceship; all the fifteen who entered Emo with him in 1932 (except Joe Mallin who was home from Hong Kong recently to take part in the 1916 celebrations); all the ten who were ordained with him in this chapel in 1945, all the fellow residents of Cherryfield who have gone before him, not least perhaps Joe Gill who was ordained with him in 1945.

Jack entered Emo in November 1932, the year of the eucharistic congress. His novice master was Fr John Coyne who subsequently exerted an enormous influence on the life of the Province. After Rathfarnham from where the studied Arts in UCD and Tullabeg where he studied philosophy he went to Belvedere to teach from 1940-42 and one of the first tributes which we have to Jack's characteristic personal kindness comes from these years.

The tribute occurs in an autobiographical sketch written by one of the boys he taught who is still alive, and Fr John Guiney has kindly shared a copy of this document with me. Jack is here referred to as “a special friend”, with “a heart of solid gold”; mention is made of his “courtesy and superb manners” and of “the myriad of good deeds that he performed”. Other such tributes would follow in the course of Jack's life.

After ordination and tertianship, Jack became involved in administration and this was to continue for the rest of his active life. In 1947 he went to Tullabeg as Minister, as second in command and in charge of all practical matters in the house. After three years in Tullabeg he went to Rathfarnham - for five years as Minister and then for six as Rector. The Crescent in Limerick came next, but only for one year in which he was Treasurer; then Gardiner Street for two years where he was Minister, and finally, in 1964. Milltown Park where he acted as Bursar until his retirement to Cherryfield in 1999.

Administration can be difficult. Ever since the disobedience of Adam those subject to authority resist it. Administration can be particularly difficult in a period of rapid social change, when attitudes all round are changing but without as yet the sanction of law. Law is slow to catch up with life even in non-controversial matters and this time-lag can be very troublesome for those in positions of responsibility. Jack could not escape from this dilemma. Here in Ireland we had no experience of the horror and turmoil of the second world war, but neither did we experience much of the changes and experimentation to which it led in church as well as in society. Some changes did take place here (Zambia, Gonzaga, Manresa), but, in general, the winds of change were not altogether welcome and one sign of this can possibly be seen in the fact that for almost quarter of a century from 1935 until well after the war, until 1959, the important position of Socius to the Provincial, Assistant Provincial, was held by the same person. The Vatican Council and the Jesuit Congregations eventually helped but before these took place it was extremely difficult to be a superior of any sort, specially if you were a perfectionist as Jack was. So Jack's years in administration cannot have been easy. But he enjoyed figures and was an excellent bursar and bookkeeper, fully deserving of a Well Done Well Done.

He also enjoyed gardening -- the greenhouse in our quadrangle is a monument to his interest in gardening -- and fishing in Mayo in the summer time, and, of course. family visits. His reputation for personal kindness continued to grow. Br John Adams recalls with much appreciation and thanks how in 1961 when he himself was away in London on tertianship and his father in Limerick was dying, Jack was wonderfully kind to his mother.

Those who make the Spiritual Exercises hear Christ in the meditation on the Kingdom addressing them in these words: “It is my will to conquer the whole world and all my enemies. Therefore whoever wishes to join me in this enterprise must be willing to labour with me, that by following me in suffering, he may follow me in glory”. Jack made the Exercises and that meditation. He heard that call and answered it with great generosity, wishing indeed with God's help to distinguish himself in the service of Christ his Lord and King.

So the angelic chorus which sang Jack into heaven on Sunday were simply indicating the fulfilment of the promise made to him by Christ the King: Jack having followed him in labours and in suffering as a Jesuit for seventy four years would now follow him in glory; would now share his joy, his peace: “Well Done, Well Done, good and faithful servant. Come take possession of the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”. (Mt 25:34).

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 2002

Farewell Companions : Dermot S Harte

Fr John J McDonald SJ

He was a Scholastic during my early schooldays. He was a gentle and shy person and is, I believe, the only one of the masters who still graces our presence. He is no longer a young man and has lived in retirement for many years.

A member of a family of distinguished Belvederians, he had three brothers, two of whom entered the family law firm. I didn't really know his third brother, Fr Joe McDonald SJ - also a Jesuit - who served for most of his working life as a Missionary in Zambia. Joe died in Dublin some years ago. His only sister, Sheila, was a Dominican Nun and she was one of the most vibrant, genuine, sincere, kind, and loving people that I ever had the extraordinary pleasure of knowing.

Jack follows quietly in the footsteps of Christ spreading the Light of Christ wherever he goes and beneath that quiet exterior there beats a heart of solid gold. It will probably never be known how many people he helped to cope with various traumas that beset them, and he would be most embarrassed if anyone were to remind him of the myriad of good deeds which he performed. He is a welcome friend and advisor to many people and is able by his words, deeds and example to lift even the lowliest Spirit

I visit him whenever I can and it is so apparent that the courtesy and superb manners that he displays and which are the very hallmarks of a gentleman, are still alive and well. Jack will be with us, God willing, for a long time to come and will continue to remain a Special Friend of mine and of my family. Thank you for everything, old friend. I salute you.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 2006

Obituary
Father Jack McDonald SJ (OB 1932)

A Tribute : A Man for Others

It was with a heart filled with sadness that I learned of the “going home” of Fr John J McDonald SJ. He was in the ninety-fourth year of his life and in the fifty-first year of his ministry. Jack had been in declining health for a number of years but he continued to remain bright and cheerful.

It is a long time ago since a young Scholastic entered the Classroom of his, and my, old school, Belvedere, and announced “My name is Mr McDonald and I am your Latin teacher”. He was, I believe, the last surviving teacher from our schooldays.

A gentle and shy person, he was born in 1913 into a family of distinguished Belvederians, one of a large family. A brother, Fr Joe, was also a Jesuit. Joe died in Dublin some years ago.

Throughout the many years that I knew him he epitomised all that was good in this now “creaky” world following quietly, as he did, in the footsteps of Christ and spreading the Light of Christ wherever he went, for beneath that quiet exterior there beat a heart of solid gold. It will probably never be known how many people he helped to cope with the various traumas that beset them and he would be most embarrassed if someone were to remind him. A welcome friend and advisor to many people he was always able by his words, deeds and example to lift the lowliest spirit.

The College Motto “A Man for Others” might well have been composed with Jack in mind.

Over the last years I visited him in Cherryfield Lodge whenever I was able and the courtesy and superb manners, which are the hallmarks of a gentleman, were always fresh and well.

And so we take our earthly leave of this saintly friend as he begins his sojourn in Heaven; a man whose memory will forever be crystal clear in our minds. Each one of us has his or her special memories of this extraordinary priest that will remain with us all the days of our lives.

He will be greatly missed by all who were privileged to call him “friend”.
For you, I know, will walk the streets of Paradise, head high.

DH

John ] McDonald SJ
Born April 16th 1913
Ordained July 31st 1945
Died July 9th 2006

Born: 07 June 1878, Bohola, Swinford, Co Mayo
Entered: 07 June 1914, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1925, Sacred heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 15 September 1948, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly, Co Offaly community at the time of death

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 24th Year No 1 1949
Obituary
Br. James McDonnell (1878-1914-1948)
Brother McDonnell died in St. Vincent's Hospital very suddenly in the early afternoon of Wednesday, 15th September. He had been some weeks in hospital with prostate trouble, and had had a minor operation on 14th September. He felt well and was in good spirits the next day, but at 1.45 p.m., without warning or struggle, he rendered up his soul to God. He was anointed immediately by the hospital chaplain. The funeral took place to Glasnevin 17th September, after the 10 o'clock Mass, celebrated by his Rector, Fr. Michael Connolly, St. Stanislaus College, Tullamore. The prayers at the grave-side were recited by Fr. Provincial.
Brother James was born at Bohola, Swinford, Co. Mayo, on 7th June, 1878 and was a late vocation, not entering the noviceship till he was well on in the thirties. In fact he received his gown on his 36th birthday, 7th June, 1914. It was the brother of the late Bro. James O'Grady, John Canon O'Grady, P.P. of Bohola who brought him to Dublin and introduced him to the then Provincial, Fr. T. V. Nolan with a view to his admission to the Society.
After leaving school Br. McDonnell worked on his father's farm, but about 1909 went to the United States and was employed in Butler's Chain Stores for two years at the end of which he became a Manager of one of the Stores. While in America he started a correspondence course in Commercial Art, which he continued after his return to Ireland, intending to make of this branch of art a life career. However, Providence had other designs for him. On the last night of a fortnight's mission held in the parish, Canon O'Grady arranged for him to drive the missioner to the station the following morning, and it was as the result of the conversation he had with the priest in question during the drive to the station that James McDonnell decided to join a religious Order.
On the completion of his noviceship Bro. McDonnell was sent to Belvedere College where he remained two years. The following four he spent at Clongowes, and in 1923 he began his long association with Mungret College (1923-25 and 1931-39) where for ten years and more he had charge of the boys' refectory. It was largely due to his kindly ways and neighbourly charity shown John Dillon, a farmer who lived nearby, during his serious illness that the College was left a valuable property which rounded off our farm near the Apostolic School, during the Rectorship of Fr. Edward Dillon. From 1925 to 1929 Bro. James worked at the Crescent College, where he made his final profession on 2nd February, 1925. He was in charge of the domestic staff of Belvedere College during the years 1929 and 1930 and it was at this time he contracted pneumonia from which he barely recovered, thanks to expert nursing in the Mater Hospital. The ten years preceding his death Bro. McDonnell spent in Tullabeg, engaged chiefly in secretariate and printing work in connection with the Ricci Mission Unit and in light work in the garden where he was helper to Bro. Pill. This period of his life was overclouded with ill-health and nervous exhaustion against which he struggled bravely.
Bro. James was a saintly man, very unworldly and mortified, of imperturbable patience, he was like many patient people, of strong and resolute character. Gentle to a fault, affable and sweet of temperament he won the affection and confidence of all who came in contact with him. He was deeply attached to his family relations and took the greatest interest in their spiritual and temporal welfare, and was in turn held in the deepest affection by them. Few of those who lived with Bro. James in the Society were aware of his taste for music and painting. He could play the violin quite well, and he devoted many of his leisure hours as a younger man to the painting of religious pictures. Cultured and refined by temperament and upbringing, he was before all else a model of the virtues which befit the Jesuit Brother : union with God, love of the brethren, self-effacement, anxiety to help the Society to the best of his powers, fidelity and trustworthiness, on which Superiors could ever rely. R.I.P.”

Born: 01 February 1848, George (O'Connell) Street, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 14 September 1867, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1877, Leuven, Belgium
Final Vows: 02 February 1887
Died: 07 November 1928, Milltown Park, Dublin

Educated at Crescent College SJ

by 1870 at Amiens, France (CAMP) studying
by 1871 at Leuven, Belgium (BELG) Studying
by 1877 at Leuven, Belgium (BELG) Studying
by 1886 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
After his Noviceship he was sent to St Acheul (Amiens) for Juniorate, and then to Louvain for Philosophy.
He was then sent to Tullabeg for Regency and returned to Louvain for Theology in 1875.
1885 He was sent to Belgium for Tertianship.
He spent seven years at Tullabeg as a Prefect or Teacher. He also spent six years in Belvedere, six years at Mungret and four at Crescent. He was also an Operarius for four years at Milltown and seven years in Galway.
He died at Milltown 07 November 1928.
His life was somewhat uneventful and hidden, though nonetheless meritorious. Teaching or Prefecting the youngest boys in the various Colleges won admiration from many. Given that he was a very highly strung man, this kind of work was quietly heroic.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 4th Year No 2 1929

Obituary :
Fr John McDonnell
John McDonnell was born in Limerick February 1st 1848, and began his noviceship at Milltown September 14th 1867. There were 24 novices in those days at Milltown, amongst them Frs. T. and P. Finlay. R. Kane, Weafer, Waters etc, He made his juniorate at S. Acheul, his philosophy at Louvain, and then went to Tullabeg as prefect. There he remained until 1875, in which year he returned to Louvain for theology. His tertianship was made in Belgium in 1885. As prefect or master Fr, McDonnell spent 7 years in Tullabeg, 6 in Belvedere, 6 in Mungret, 5 in Clongowes and 4 at the Crescent, in all 28 years. He was operarius for 4 years at Milltown and 7 in Galway. His happy death took place in Dublin on the 27 November 1928.If Fr. McDonnell's life was uneventful and hidden it was certainly meritorious. Teaching or prefecting, for 28 years, the smallest boys in the various Colleges where he was stationed is a feat that wins our admiration, and was an abundant source of merit to himself. When it is added that nature had given Fr McDonnell a set of highly strung nerves, his life for these years must have bordered on the heroic. RIP.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father John McDonnell (1848-1928)

A native of Limerick and one of the first pupils of Crescent College, entered the Society in 1867. He made his higher studies at St Acheul and Louvain where he was ordained in 1878. He spent two periods as master in the Crescent, 1887-88 and 1895-98. His teaching career throughout the Irish Jesuit colleges amounted to twenty-eight years. He spent some twelve years in church work at Milltown Park and Galway. He died at Milltown Park on 27 June, 1928.

Born: 03 April 1891, Belfast, County Antrim
Entered: 07 September 1909, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1923, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1931, Clongowes Wood College SJ, County Kildare
Died: 13 August 1966, Warrenpoint, County Down

Part of the Clongowes Wood College, Naas, County Kildare community at the time of death.

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Had studied for a BA in Arts at UCD before entry.

by 1914 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1915 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
1925-1926 Tertianshiup at Exaeten

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Loose leaf note in CatChrn : Entitled “Left Stonyhurst for Castle Brown”
23 Oct 1815

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 42nd Year No 1 1967

Obituary :

Fr Patrick McGlade SJ (1891-1965)

Father Patrick McGlade was born in Belfast on April 3rd, 1891. He spent some years at St. Malachy's College, Belfast, before going to Clongowes where he spent five years as a boy. He entered the Society on September 7th, 1909. He studied as a Junior in Milltown Park. His philosophy was divided between Valkenburg (1913-14) and Stoneyhurst (1914-16). He returned to Clongowes for his regency from 1916-1921-filling the posts of Gallery Prefect and Lower Line Prefect the latter from 1917-21. He then went to Milltown Park for his theology and was ordained on July 31st, 1923. Tertianship was in Holland. The remainder of his life is divided as follows :
Clongowes : Prefect of Studies 1926-27, Prefect of Lower Line 1927-31. Crescent : Teaching 1931-33. Emo Park : Retreat Staff. 1933-34. Clongowes : Teaching 1934-62.

I am glad to pay tribute to Father McGlade as a Line Prefect. As a young priest he was an extremely effective Lower Line Prefect in Clongowes, able to maintain the confident control which they need and like over boys of fifteen or sixteen, This was done without excessive severity, because his aim was not to produce a cowed, regimented, submissiveness, which might have made life easy for him. Discipline was never an end in itself he had some thing to give. Notably he engendered enthusiasm for photography, good literature and music. Silence in the library was insisted upon because he rightly judged that many boys relished that quiet refuge from the harassments of mob life. He took pains to develop taste in music, not merely to pander to immature standards; his dramatic scratching of the key across a low-grade gramophone record left an indelible impression on my mind as well as on the particular song. At this period he taught English - as he did for many years afterwards and managed to convey to a rather restless group some appreciation of the beauty, and power, of words. His own sermons and “declamations” were delivered in an immensely impressive, softly booming tone, and with an exquisite choice of words. They were invariably enjoyed.
What about games? He created, or directed, keenness for high standards in rugby, cricket, tennis, hurling and hockey, etc.; this without ever, to my knowledge, kicking a ball or handling a racket or bat. One felt, in spite of this, that he was thoroughly, un questionably competent. His performance as a rugby referee was accurate and stylish. But he commanded from an eminence; no one expected him to come down into the melee, indeed they would have been embarrassed if he had; he was riot to be jostled, Here again one learnt by experience that games vigorously and skilfully played were the most enjoyable.
There was a certain fascination about him, partly because at times he seemed aloof and formidable, indeed occasionally unpredictable. He was colourful, with a touch of the unorthodox about him; something of a character. I think he commanded almost universal respect. This he may not have realised, for he had a nick-name which he abhorred; it clearly embarrassed and irritated him; in fact it had no hostile or contemptuous under currents at all; it sprang simply from his very dark and determined jowl. For a while he was more commonly known only as “Paul” ; this is fixed in my mind by the memory of the death of the crease horse, “Paulina”, who was named after him, and collapsed so dramatically from excitement on the day that Col. Russell landed his plane on the cricket crease, about 1929.
But of course what gave him his exceptional influence was his ability to feel, and show, genuine personal interest in the boys and their groups. He had on those occasions a quizzical and humorous approach, which, coming from such a majestic figure, gave him the advantage of tactical surprise. But he never presumed or demanded intimacy or confidences, nor did he ever betray them. I am inclined to think, now, that he never knew how much people liked him. He was probably far more diffident about his personal relations than any boy ever suspected. He was an artist working in a rather difficult temperamental and emotional medium, always a hair's breadth away from disaster. He lived interiorly under strain; externally he presented an impregnable front. One sensed that he really delighted to see someone developing their own personality; he did not want to impose uniformity, nor did he want to know what everyone was doing all the time, above all he did not presume to think that if you were not enjoying yourself in the way he had organised for you, you could not be enjoying yourself at all; he did not intrude. He welcomed the signs of coming maturity, neither resenting the departure of childish charm nor expecting adult solemnity. God be thanked for his vital influence.
MICHAEL SWEETMAN

Born: 1 February 1872, Aglish, County Waterford
Entered: 22 August 1896, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 28 July 1907, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1915, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 11 May 1946, Milltown Park, Dublin

by 1899 in Vals France (LUGD) studying
by 1913 at Linz Austria (ASR) making Tertianship
by 1919 at Hastings, Sussex, England (LUGD) studying

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Had studied for 5 years at St Patrick's College Maynooth before Entry

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 1st Year No 3 1926

The Irish Sodality : This Sodality is directed by Fr Michael McGrath. It grew out of the first week-end retreat in Irish at Milltown Park in 1916. After the retreat, steps were taken with a view to the formation of an Irish-speaking Sodality for men. Success attended the effort, and the first meeting was held in Gardiner Street on Friday in Passion Week. The Sodality soon numbered 400 members. In 1917 a second Irish-speaking Sodality, exclusively for women, was established. In a short time it was found advisable to amalgamate the two branches. The Sodality is now in a flourishing condition, and has every prospect of a bright future before it. In addition to the Sodality, there is an annual “open” retreat given in Gardiner Street to Irish speakers. The first of these retreats was given in 1923 by Fr Coghlan, he also gave the second the following year. The third was given by Father Saul.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 3 1946

Obituary :

Fr. Michael McGrath (1872-1896-1946)

Fr. Michael McGrath was born at Aglish, Co. Waterford, on February 1st, 1872. Educated at Mount Melleray, then at St. John's College, Waterford, and lastly at Maynooth, he entered the Society at Tullabeg on August 22nd, 1896, and later went to Vals for philosophy. He taught in the Crescent 1901-5. He was ordained with Fr. William Doyle and Fr. John Sullivan in Milltown Park by Archbishop Walsh in 1907. He made his tertianship at Freienberg in Austria, and then taught for five years at Belvedere. A course of Canon Law under Pére Choupin at Ore Place, Hastings, completed his long formation, and the rest of his life was spent at Milltown Park, where he was Professor of Canon Law from 1920 to 1932, Lecturer in History of Philosophy from 1924 to 1930, Professor of Patrology, Christian Archaeology, Liturgy and Ascetics from 1932 to 1946. The Irish language always remained Fr. McGrath's favourite study. He established the Irish Sodality of the Blessed Virgin at Gardiner Street in 1916, and continued to direct it until 1935. His edition of Amhlaoibh Ua Suilleabháin's Irish Diary for the Irish Texts Society (1936-8) will be a lasting testimonial to his mastery of Irish and English. He was, at the time of his death, engaged on the preparation of many other Irish works, some of which were nearing completion. Among these were an Irish translation of the New Testament (apart from the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles) with a detailed commentary, the Irish Missal of O'Hickey brought up to date, the Life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, and the Lives of Distinguished Celtic Scholars. During his long years in Milltown his encouragement and advice were highly appreciated by many a theologian, and his hard. work and cheerfulness were a model to all.

Fr. Garahy has kindly contributed the following personal appreciation :
My acquaintance with Michael McGrath began at Mount Melleray in 1888. He had been there a year or two before my arrival. We soon formed a friendship which lasted during the year and a half I spent in that romantic retreat at the foot of Knockmealdown Mountain. I left Melleray at the end of the Christmas term for Mungret College. Michael McGrath remained on for another couple of years and then passed to St. John's College, Waterford. Later still he was sent to Maynooth, having won a free place in the National College. He had finished two years of his theology course when, with the leave of his bishop, he offered bimself as a candidate for the Society in 1896.
In Melleray Michael McGrath was of the quiet type, rather shy and retiring, but a sincere friend when one had succeeded in breaking through his reserve. He was a painstaking student, eager to absorb all the knowledge offered us boys in classics, the sciences and history. One advantage he had over the rest of us he had a fair acquaintance with the Gaelic. It was spoken freely in his native townland of Aglish, Co. Waterford. It was also the language of the little mountaineers who attended the National School at Melleray. I used to envy Michael McGrath when I heard him exchanging jokes in Irish with those youngsters on their way home from school. Irish was not taught in the College in those days, though we were living in the heart of an Irish speaking district. Melleray was not singular in that matter. The Gaelic revival did not come till several years later. When it did come Michael McGrath threw himself with all the ardour of his soul into the movement.
He and I met again in the Crescent after fourteen years. I was so taken with his enthusiasm for the language that I accepted his offer of instruction and within a few months found myself appointed to teach the first couple of O'Growney's booklets to & class of small boys in the Crescent. During the year I spent with him in Limerick he held the office of Prefect of Studies although still a scholastic. His whole hearted devotion to the duties of his office during that year was to be expected of the Michael McGrath I knew at Melleray—with his passion for study and his earnestness of character. What I did not expect and what was always a wonder to me was his unsparing self-sacrifice in helping the more backward boys to succeed in the examinations. What this cost him in time and in strain on his nerves only himself knew. We, his fellow masters, knew that he regularly sacrificed the couple of hours so badly needed after a hard day's work in the school room to this work of charity; and the wonder was how he escaped a nervous collapse.
At the end of the year he and I left Limerick for Milltown Park to begin our theological studies. The Gaelic revival was then in full swing. Milltown Park had caught the infection ever before our arrival, Fr, Lambert McKenna, Fr. J. F. X. O'Brien and Mr. Tomás Ó Nualláin were, I think, the pioneers of the movement in Milltown. It was natural that those of us who were anxious to master the difficulties of the spoken language should turn to Mr. McGrath for help. He had what we all lacked, a rich sonorous Déisi blas. I well remember his patience in helping us to acquire the correct sounds of the broad and slender vowels. Fr. B. Coghlan, one of our really great Irish scholars to-day, was an enthusiastic pupil, and so was Fr. Dominick Kelly, now for many years a distinguished professor in Newman College, Melbourne.
When Fr. McGrath returned to Milltown as a professor, I had already been transferred to the Mission staff. From that time forth I had few opportunities of meeting him. May he rest in peace”.
It is hoped to include an account of Fr. McGrath's Milltown career in the October issue.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Michael McGrath 1872-1946
Fr Michael McGrath, while yet a scholastic, was Prefect of Studies at Crescent from 1901-1905.

Born in Aglish County Waterford on February 1st 1872, he was educated at Mount Melleray. He passed on to Maynooth and from there entered the Society in 1896.

Having studied Canon Law for a period after his ordination, the rest of his life was spent in Milltown Park, as professor in various faculties, Canon Law, Patrology, Liturgy and Ascetics. Normally a most kindly and lovable man, he could be most vehement in argument. For example, as Professor of Ascetics, when lecturing on the vice of curiosity, especially in religious, he used to refer to a Father (unnamed) notorious for this fault, and would almost have a stroke, so vehement would be his effort to convey his scorn for such pettiness.

He was a great Irish scholar, with a vast enthusiasm for the revival of the language. He edited the Diary of Amhlaoimh O’Sullivan for the Irish Texts Society. At the time of his death he was engaged in a new translation of the Bible, an Irish Missal, a life of St Aloysius Gonzaga and the lives of distinguished Irish scholars. He founded the Irish Sodality in Gardiner Street in 1916, and he continued to direct it until 1935.

His retreats were famous, being based on John Oxenham “Bees in Amber”, and there was hardly a convert in Ireland that had not heard his opening words : “Yo every man there openeth, a high way and a low”.

He was a model of observance, kindly in advice both as professor and confessor, and many generations of Jesuits owe him a deep debt for his faithful and patient service in their formation. He died on May 11th 1946.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Michael McGrath (1872-1946)

Was born at Aglish, Co. Waterford and educated at Mount Mellary. He was accepted by the Bishop of Waterford for his diocese and commenced his ecclesiastical studies at St John's, Waterford. From Waterford he was transferred to Maynooth where he completed two years' theology. With the permission of his bishop he applied for admission to the Society and began his noviceship at Tullabeg in 1896. His higher studies were made at Vals, Milltown Park and in Austria. He was ordained in Dublin in 1907. Father McGrath spent six years regency at the Crescent and was the first scholastic since Father Tom Finlay to be entrusted with the onerous duties of prefect of studies. After the completion of his studies, Father McGrath was employed in teaching for five years at Belvedere College, when his superiors bade him once more return to his own studies: he was sent off for higher studies in Canon Law to prepare him for a professor's chair at Milltown Park. He held the chair of Canon Law from 1920-32 but remained a member of the theological faculty until his death. He was a native Gaelic speaker and deeply learned in the language.

Born: 02 July 1870, Nenagh, County Tipperary
Entered: 14 August 1895, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1908, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1913, St Mary’s, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia
Died: 09 February 1948, St Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province

Transcribed HIB to ASL 05/04/1931

by 1900 in Vals France (LUGD) studying
by 1911 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
Came to Australia 1911

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick McGrath was educated at the Crescent, Limerick, and worked for some years with Pim Brothers, drapers, in Dublin. He entered the Society at Tullabeg, 14 August 1895, and after the juniorate studied philosophy at Vals, did regency at the Crescent, Limerick, 1901-05, studied theology at Milltown Park, Dublin, 1905-08, and again taught at the Crescent, 1908-10, before tertianship at Tronchiennes, 1910.
He came to Australia on the ship Ormuz in August 1911, worked in the parishes of North Sydney and Richmond, and taught at St Aloysius' College, 1915-18, but his main work was
chiefly in the parishes. He was superior at Sevenhill, 1918-20, and Richmond, 1920-31. He also worked at Lavender Bay, 1932-43, as parish priest, then at Canisius College, Pymble, for a few years, before his final placement at the parish of Richmond, 1944-47. He was a consulter of the vice-province from 1939-44.
He had, according to Albert Power, “a deep sympathy, wide knowledge of human nature, practical common sense, and great kindliness, and large-hearted generosity. He was totally devoted to his people. He was, moreover, a man of shrewd business talent, and, at the same time, a man of vision and resolution”. He was remembered in the Richmond parish for building the spire on the church, and in Lavender Bay for the parish schools. His main recreations in later life were his violin and his pipe. He practised his violin every morning for a short time before breakfast. He finally died from heart disease combined with high blood pressure.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 7th Year No 3 1932

Richmond Parish
Father Patrick McGrath, S.J., who had been P.P. of Richmond for twelve years, also bade farewell to his parishioners at a public meeting. Amongst the crowd of distinguished people assembled to say good-bye was Mr. J. H. Scullin, ex-Prime Minister. He was the chief speaker on the occasion. He said that they had assembled to say good-bye to Father McGrath. They would much prefer to be welcoming him back again. There was no one in Richmond who had endeared himself more to his people than Father McGrath, who was part of the whole city and the forefront of the parish. He had left an indelible mark on the parish, and the completed church would ever be associated with his name. Not only did he leave monuments in bricks and stones, but he had won a lasting place in the affections of the people by his fine qualities of heart and mind, and his readiness to share the sorrows and joys of his parishioners. Father McGrath would never leave the parish. He had won the respect of all classes in the community.
There were several other speeches, and when Father McGrath had made a moving reply, he gave his blessing to the great crowd that had assembled to say farewell.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946

Extracts from a letter of Fr. Patrick McGrath, S. J., St. Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne, to Fr. Finucane, 10-9-945. Fr. McGrath is an old Crescent boy who while stationed at the Crescent 34 years ago volun teered for the (then) Australian Mission. :
“Your letter arrived just in time for the celebration of the Golden Jubilee. Besides the House celebration there was a Parish celebration in our Hall. I knew nothing about it till three days before. Since I came to Australia I have spent most of my time between Melbourne and Sydney as Parish Priest. I did some six years' teaching in St. Aloysius, Sydney, twelve year's Parish Priest there, and the rest of my time in Melbourne as assistant, but mostly as Parish Priest. I broke down in Sydney. The hilly land there was too much for my growing years, and after a rest of a few months in our Theologate at Pymble I was sent back here as a Curate and I was very glad of it. I certainly never regretted coming to Australia.
Our Parish here is a very large one, and on the whole a very Catholic one, made up almost entirely of working people, for the most part very sincere and practical Catholics and most generous and easy and pleasant to work with. The same may be said of our Parish in Lavender Bay, North. Sydney,
The church of St. Ignatius in this Parish is a magnificent one, pure Gothic, in a commanding position, with a spire 240 feet high, the most perfect and beautiful spire in Australia. The stone of the church is Blue Stone but the upper part of the spire is white.
Looking up the Irish Catalogue a few days ago I was surprised to find that I know so few there now. Here in Australia the Irish Jesuits are dying out. The Vice-province is going on well. It is fully equipped with everything, novitiate, scholasticate with Juniors and Philosophers, and a special house for Theology, and we have this year a tertianship with 14 Australian Tertians. We want more novices, but there is good hope that there will be an increase this year. Our colleges here are doing very well. Both in Sydney and Melbourne there is a day-school and a boarding-school. The buildings in both places are first class”.

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 2 1948

Obituary

Fr. Patrick McGrath (1870-1895-1948) – Vice Province of Australia

Perhaps the first thought of his friends, on hearing of the death of Fr. Patrick McGrath, was “we have lost, indeed, an Israelite, in whom there was no guile”. For though the call to religious life came to him much later than to his fellow-novices, the business career in the world, which he had mapped out for himself, left no trace on his soul, which remained childlike to the end.
Born in Nenagh, he received his secondary education at the Crescent College, Limerick. He went through the classes with the quiet, solid perseverance which characterised his whole life. He was then apprenticed to a Dublin draper (Messrs. Webb), and he persevered at the trade until his 25th year, when the ‘Leave all and follow Me’ won his unhesitating assent. He entered the noviciate, Tullabeg, in 1895. With him he brought no worldly relic, inimical to noviceship harmony, unless perhaps his fiddle, for fiddle it was, not a Stradivarius, no more than he was a Kreisler. A tribute to his character is the tolerance of his companions to the instrument, won by the geniality of the kindly strummer.
The noviceship routine was hard for one who had enjoyed the liberty of some seven or eight uncontrolled years. In fact, they had been controlled by his genuine spirit of Catholic piety, which ultimately made a religious of him, and which set him in the midst of the younger novices as an example of cheerful endeavour at tasks which often must have sorely tried him.
Hosiery was no preparation for Latin and Greek, which awaited him in the Juniorate. One of the relaxations was boating on the Grand Canal and adjoining rivers. Others took to the oars in relays. Mr. McGrath never relinquished his. If his hands were blistered at the start, the constancy would harden them - it did, and it carried him through those years, fitting him with the baggage needed for later years as a successful master.
In 1899 he set out for Vals. The country is a beautiful one - the Cevennes run into it. Long walks, which he loved, were alluring: often the way lay over mountain paths. Climbing was stiff, but not as stiff as the Metaphysics, which nonetheless he bravely faced, and it was amusing to see him frowning, in the library, over the hard nut difficulties to be cracked. His mind was not made for the abstract, but perseverance gave him a sufficient grasp of the principles which dogmatic theology, later, would require.
We next find him a master in his old school, the Crescent, where for five years, his good humour, his patience, and his sympathy made him an excellent teacher. After his theology and tertianship he returned again to the school. Not for long. The vision of Australia, crying out for workers of all kinds, appealed to him, and he set sail in 1911.
To an old fellow novice he wrote in 1945 : “I certainly never regretted coming to Australia, and since I have come I have never had any desire to go back, not that I have lost interest in Irish affairs, for I am always rejoiced when I hear that Ireland is going ahead”.
With the exception of six years teaching at St. Aloysius' College, Sydney, the rest of his work in Australia was in the parishes, either as curate, or, for a considerable time as P.P, partly in Melbourne and partly in Sydney. That he fulfilled the function happily is best told in his own words, written at the time of his Golden Jubilee, in 1945, to a friend. They are a good reflection of his simple, straightforward character : “The people organised a great celebration for my Golden Jubilee in our parochial ball. I knew nothing about it till three days befcre, when Fr. Lockington told me to be ready for it. The people kept it a secret from me, wishing in their kindness to give me a pleasant surprise, and they succeeded beyond measure.. I knew from my many years living and working amongst them that I was popular, but I had no idea that I was so popular until that night”. Fr. McGrath spent thirty-six years in Australia. It was indeed fitting that his Golden Jubilee should be celebrated where his untiring devotion reaped so many sheaves for the Master's golden harvest.
By a curious coincidence, Fr. Wilfred Ryan, S.J. (Superior of Norwood, S.A.), who entered the Society in the same year as Fr. McGrath happened to be in Melbourne at the time of his death and preached a touching and beautiful panegyric at the Requiem of his old comrade in arms. R.I.P.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Patrick McGrath (1870-1948)

Was born in Nenagh and received his education at Sacred Heart College. On leaving school he entered on a business career and was twenty-five years old when he felt called to enter the Society. He received his higher education at Vals and Milltown Park. He spent his regency in his old school from 1901 to 1902 and returned as a priest in 1908. He remained only two years when he was transferred to the Australian mission. His first six years in Australia were spent as master or prefect in the colleges. But the greater part of his religious life was spent in church work in which he became one of the most respected and loved priests in the land of his adoption. He died on 9 February, 1949 in Melbourne.

Born: 25 January 1841, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 23 September 1867, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1874, Laval, France
Final vows: 02 February 1887
Died: 23 May 1927, Loyola College, Greenwich, Sydney, Australia

by 1870 at Amiens France (CAMP) studying
by 1871 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) Studying
by 1875 at Laval France (FRA) studying
by 1878 at Holy Name Manchester - Holy Cross Bedminster (ANG) working
by 1878 at Holy Name Manchester - St Helen’s (ANG) working
by 1885 at Mariendaal, Osterbeek Netherlands (NER) making Tertianship
Went to Australia with John McInerney 1885

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
After his Novitiate he was sent for Philosophy and some Theology at Louvain, finishing his Theology at Laval, after which he was sent to Mariendaal, Holland for Tertianship.
1884 He was sent to Australia and he spent most of his years there at St Aloysius Sydney, and was Minister there for many years.
1919 His health gave way and he was moved to the Novitiate at Loyola, Greenwich, and remained there until he died 23 May 1927

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Thomas McGrath entered the Society as a priest, 23 September 1867. He completed his juniorate studies at St Acheul, France, 1869-70, and studied one year of theology at Laval, France, 1874. He taught at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg, Galway, Limerick and Mungret, during the years 1875-84, before tertianship at Mariendaal, Holland, 1884-85. Then he left for Australia, arriving in December 1885 .
For the rest of his apostolic life, McGrath spent his time at St Aloysius College, 1885-1919, teaching French and bookkeeping, as well as being a thoughtful minister for a number of years. As a teacher he was recognised by all as kind and considerate, though a strict disciplinarian.
At Milsons Point he was mainly involved with pastoral work at the Star of the Sea Church. Because of failing health, he retired to Loyola College, Greenwich, from 1919 until his death.
For many years he was confessor to the Jesuit novices and the Josephite novices at Mount Street, North Sydney, He was considered a likeable man by those who knew him. He was bearded, and in later life nearly blind and almost deaf. He continued saying a special Mass for priests with poor sight until the end, even though he practically had to be held at the altar by the novice servers.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Had spent several years at business in Dublin before entry. Had been St Stanislaus student

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 2nd Year No 4 1927
Obituary :
Fr Tom McGrath :

On 8th May Fr Tom McGrath the senior in age of, our Province, died at Loyola, Sydney.

He was born on the 25th January, 1841, in Dublin, and entered the Novitiate, Milltown, in 1867. He had a year's rhetoric in France, and made philosophy and theology at Louvain, with the exception of the last year, which was passed at Laval. 1875 found him Prefect in Tullabeg, and from that date to 1884. he did excellent work at Galway, Crescent, Mungret, and on the Mission in England. In 1884-85 he made his tertianship in Mariendaal, Holland, and immediately afterwards sailed for Australia. Until his health broke down he worked at St. Aloysius' College, First at Bourke Street, Sydney, and then at Milson's Point. He was for sixteen years Minister. In 1919 his health gave way, and he was moved to the Novitiate, where he remained until he died. On the evening of his death the Master of Novices selected as the subject of his points the life of the good old man. He dwelt on his patience under pain and humiliation, which were intense as the end drew near, on his great faith, on his charity--he was never heard to say an unkind word of anyone-on his respect for superiors, and on his exact observance of spiritual duties. The impression made on the youthful community was deep, for they knew that the Master's words were not a. mere formula, that the virtues he put before them found a living realisation in the holy life and death of Fr. Tom McGrath.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Thomas McGrath (1841-1927)

Was born in Dublin and admitted to the Society in 1867. He made his higher studies in France and Louvain and was ordained at Laval in 1875. For the next nine years he was prefect or master in Tullabeg, Galway, the Crescent and Mungret. He spent one year as master and worker in the Sacred Heart Church. Transferred to Australia in 1885, he continued his work in the colleges and in spite of delicate health carried out for many years the onerous duties of minister of the house.

Born: 1591, Burgess, Doon, County Tipperary
Entered: 1605, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1616, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 1638
Died: 01 November 1651, Limerick Residence, Limerick City, County Limerick

Alias Da Cruz

1606 Age 16 in Soc 1 year
1609 4 years in Society
1611 In Coimbra College studying Philosophy 12 years in Soc
1614 at Évora (LUS) 1st year Theology
1619 Teacher In Seminary
1622 Teacher Arts 3 years and Theology 3 years
1625 Tertianship at Lisbon
1628 Came to Mission; Superior in different residences over many years;
1637 Catalogue “Is good in everything, capable of teaching Theology and Philosophy
Was Rector of Irish College at Lisbon
1649 Cashel

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
McCrach or Magrah or Magrath or Da Cruz (Portugal)
Rector in Lisbon and Professor of Philosophy and Theology
1628 Came to Ireland; Superior in Cashel (1640 aged 70) and other Residences
A man of great virtue and learning; A good Preacher.
“Vir sane primarius et egregius concionator” (Mercure Verdier) (cf Foley’s Collectanea, Magrath)
William De L Cruce or Cross (alias Chroch)
1634 Professor of Theology at Lisbon
Became Bishop of Cashel (Irish Ecclesiastical Record August 1874)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1607-1613 Before First Vows he was sent to study Rhetoric at Lisbon and Philosophy at Coimbra. He then had one year Regency at a LUS College
1613-1616 Theology at Évora where he was Ordained c 1616
1616-1622 Taught Philosophy and Theology at Irish College Lisbon
1622-1625 Rector at Irish College Lisbon. he was the last Irish Rector during the Spanish domination, which did not allow foreigners to hold positions of authority in Portugal.
1625 After Tertianship he was sent to Ireland, but it is unclear if he got there before 1629
1629 He became Superior of the Limerick Residence in the 1630's. The General instructed the Mission Superior - Robert Nugent - to receive William’s Final Vows, but this was seemingly ignored, and it was not until 1638, eight years later that this happened. It probably had more to do with the Old-Irish/Anglo-Irish issue, rather than his ability and standing in the Society.
1640 became Superior of the Cashel Residence. He was a supporter of the Nuncio Rinuccini, and publicly defended the observance of the censures. In his 1649 Report to the General, the Visitor Mercure Verdier recommended that William be appointed a Consultor of the Mission.
On the approach of the Cromwellian forces he withdrew to Limerick where he died 01 November 1651

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MAG RATH, WILLIAM. This Professed Father had taught Theology for many years in Lisbon. He was Superior at Cashel, in 1649; and though nearly 70 years of age, was of a robust constitution, renowned for virtue and learning, and an admirable preacher.

Born: 10 April 1836, County Monaghan
Entered: 29 July 1865, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained - pre Entry
Final vows: 15 August 1875
Died: 13 April 1910, Mungret College SJ, Mungret, County Limerick

Master of Novices 1874-1882

by 1872 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1873 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) teaching
by 1874 at Drongen France (FRA) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Brother of Msgr John McKenna, Dromore, County Tyrone

He made his priestly studies at Maynooth, and became a distinguished member of the Dunboyne Establishment (the original postgrad house of Maynooth). Some of his fellow students there were Dr William Walshe, Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Edward T O’Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, and many other remarkable men.

After First Vows he was sent as a Teacher to Galway and then as a Teacher and Operarius at Limerick, as a form of Regency.
1872 He made further studies in Theology at St Beuno’s and became “Professor of the Shorts”.
1873-1874 He was sent to Drongen fr Tertianship.
1874-1882 He was appointed Master of Novices at Milltown.
1883 He was sent to Galway again as a Teacher.
1885 He spent time at Tullabeg caring for his health.
1891 At the opening of the Theologate at Milltown, he was appointed Professor of Logic and Moral Theology.
1908 He retired to Mungret in failing health. He attended the 1910 Provincial Congregation, and when he got back to Mungret he had a bad cold. This brought about his death with great speed, and he died there 13 April 1910.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Charles McKenna SJ 1836-1910
Fr Charles McKenna was already a priest of the Clogher Diocese when he entered the Society in 1865. His career at Maynooth had been brilliant, his fellow students in the Dunboyne being the Archbishop Walsh of Dublin and Bishop O’Dwyer of Limerick.

He became Professor of the Short Course at Milltown and from 1874 to 1882 was Master of Novices in the same house. When Milltown Park was inaugurated as a Collegium Maximum in 1891, he was appointed professor of Logic and Moral Theology.

In 1908 he retired to Mungret in ill health, and he died there two years later on April 13th, having given 45 years of solid and outstanding service to the Province.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1910

Obituary

Father Charles McKenna SJ

Within less than a year after the death of Walter Colgan, the Angel of Death has again visited Mungret, not now to call one of the boys, but one of the Fathers. Fr Charles McKenna, notwithstanding his advanced years, seemed to be in his usual health till about the 8th of April last when he had a weakness from which he appeared to recover, but which returned the same day. For some time he held his own, but finally we were grieved to hear that pneumonia had developed, and on the 13th he passed quietly away, having received the last sacraments. Fr McKenna was born in 1836 in Monaghan. Having entered Maynooth College he was ordained for the diocese of Clogher anal became a member of the Dunboyne Establishment. In 1865 he entered the Society of Jesus. Besides, holding other offices, he was for some years Professor of Moral Theology and Canon Law, and was much consulted for his opinion. His health becoming enfeebled, he was attached to this house about two years ago. Though his duties here did not relate directly to the school, his bright look and cheerful inanner were well known to all and will be missed for many a day. RIP

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Charles McKenna (1836-1910)

Was a secular priest of the Clogher diocese when he was admitted to the Society in 1865. After his noviceship, he came as master to the Crescent where he remained for four years. Father McKenna was a man of fine intellectual gifts and was in due course appointed to the chair of moral theology and canon law at Milltown Park, where he remained until the year before his death. He was a member of the Mungret community for the last few months of his life.

Born: 18 September 1929, Drumcondra, Dublin
Entered: 01 October 1947, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1962, Milltown Park , Dublin
Final Vows: 08 December 1976, John Austin House, Dublin
Died: 21 January 2020, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.

Early Education at O'Connell Schools, Dublin

1949-1952 Rathfarnham - Studying Arts at UCD
1952-1955 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1955-1956 Crescent College SJ, Limerick - Regency : Teacher
1956-1958 Clongowes Wood College SJ - Teacher; Studying CWC Cert in Education
1958-1962 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
1962-1963 Rathfarnham - Tertianship
1963-1964 Belvedere College SJ - Teacher; Chaplain Belvedere Newsboy’s Club
1964-1974 Rathfarnham - Teacher & Chaplain at Bolton St College of Technology, Dublin
1969 Sabbatical
1970 Province Social Survey
1974-2010 John Austin House - Teacher & Chaplain at Bolton Street College of Technology, Dublin
1987 Vice-Superior
1991 Bolton Trust - Development Director & Secretary; Sabbatical
1995 Vice-Superior
1997 Chair of Co-operative Development Society
2010-2014 Gardiner St - Chair of Co-operative Development Society; Vice-President of Bolton Trust; Writer
2014-2020 Milltown Park - Chair of Co-Op Development Society; Vice-President ‘The Bolton Trust’; Writer
2015 Researching Ecology
2018 Prays for the Church and the Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/bolton-trust-at-25/
Dermot McKenna, just turning 84, is celebrating the silver jubilee of the Bolton Trust. He traces his interest in cooperatives to Maggie Thatcher. In 1987 Dermot was a chaplain in Bolton Street College of Technology,… and teaching management and industrial psychology to engineers, showing how people can achieve a lot if they organise in small groups.
In the terrible recession of the 1980s (not as bad as the one we are suffering now) he and his colleagues saw their graduates snatched off to jobs in the offshore island by interviewers sent over by English companies.
“After all our labours, off they went to work for Maggie Thatcher. A group of us used to meet over lunch, and eventually came up with the idea of setting up a kind of co-op, a company limited by guarantee. 25 years ago we formed the Bolton Trust which started in Bolton Street and spread to the other DIT colleges. Its mission is to foster entrepreneurship and grow sustainable indigenous enterprises. A lot of teachers joined in, salaried by the DIT but giving their services freely to the Trust. A key figure in the development was Rea O’Neill, who has put enormous work into it and is highly regarded in all the colleges.
“The ESB gave us an old hotel down on the docks where we could bring in people and they could set up their own companies. At first we used that as our centre – about 20,000 square feet, which was rather small. In 1999 the Bolton Trust took over the East Wall Enterprise Centre from the IDA, renamed it the Docklands Innovation Park (DIP) and formed a long-term plan to upgrade the extensive facilities and create a hub for enterprise and innovation.”
The DIP is now home to some 40 established companies, and it “incubates” a further 40 start-ups every year. Its tenants employ some 350 people. It is central, connected by road and rail in all directions, with excellent online and phone services in its modern and secure offices. It is well described as a dynamic entrepreneurial environment. In its meeting rooms you sense a buzz of young, technically sophisticated people whose horizon is the globe.
The Bolton Trustees still remember with gratitude the support of Dermot McKenna throughout its life (he is still Vice-President), and the financial help of the Irish Jesuit Province at a time when the DIP was just a bright idea, a sign of hope. It is an example of two of the three dimensions which Fr General seeks in our ministries: the promotion of justice and collaboration with others.

https://www.jesuit.ie/news/dermot-mckenna-sj-animated-by-vatican-ii/

Dermot McKenna SJ: animated by Vatican II
It was Vatican II above all that gave Dermot McKenna SJ, who passed away on 21 January, aged 90, the freedom to live out his Jesuit life fruitfully, according to Gerry O’Hanlon who gave the homily at the requiem Mass on 24 January.
The council brought with it “a retrieval of the mystical, more emotionally charged, and experiential version of Ignatian spirituality, the opening to finding God in all things and an understanding of the faith that does justice”. It was all of this that allowed Dermot to “breathe in a way that wasn’t so easy beforehand, despite his idealism, his love of God”.
Fired by this new spirit in the Church, Dermot became engaged in technical education, especially in Bolton Street College of Technology. According to Gerry, Dermot threw himself into “direct analysis and dialogue around the world of work and all it demanded”, studying urban sociology and social psychology. Eventually he set up the Bolton Trust to help fund and support the cooperative movement in Ireland, his great passion in life.
Dermot passed away on 21 January 2020. You can read Gerry O’Hanlon’s homily notes here » Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

https://www.jesuit.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Dermot-McKenna-Homily-notes-GOH.pdf

REQUIEM MASS FOR DERMOT MCKENNA SJ 24 JANUARY 2020
Homily notes by Gerry O’Hanlon SJ
After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. When you were young, you used to get ready and go wherever you wanted to: but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go’
— John 21: 15-18
You can sense Simon Peter a bit impatient and uneasy as Jesus asks him three times, do you love me? Well, those of you who knew Dermot so well can imagine how blunt he might have been in his reply!
But as we gather to celebrate and give thanks for him, to mourn his passing, I think those words of love and of being young and old say a lot about someone we have all known, will miss so much, and of whom we have our own particular memories.
When you were young: I think first of his time as a young Jesuit, joining in 1947 – not so easy: a pre-Vatican II church that saw the modern world as its enemy, a Society of Jesus that had a tough, of its time, emotionally illiterate formation, a spirituality that focussed on an ascetic reading of the Spiritual Exercises, and a notion of obedience that often bypassed consultation and discernment. The camaraderie that existed among the foot soldiers was often accompanied by an anti-authority hostility and even anger.
And then the climate changed. The Church in the modern World of Vatican II, a retrieval of the mystical, more emotionally charged, and experiential version of Ignatian spirituality, the opening to finding God in all things and an understanding of the faith that does justice
– all this meant that Dermot could breathe in a way that wasn’t so easy beforehand, despite his idealism, his love of God. He found Paddy Doyle in Rathfarnham to be a kindred spirit in the 60s and 70s, and he became engaged in the main apostolate of his life, Bolton Street College of Technology, later to become the Dublin Institute of Technology, now part of a University.
It’s almost as if those changes in title – reflecting a struggle for parity of esteem on behalf of technical education, taken for granted in continental Europe but always somewhat second-class till then in Ireland – mirrored the kind of project Dermot and his colleagues were engaged in. In retrospect it seems to me that he – and they, including Brendan Duddy who is still with us today – were kind of unsung heroes, in first touch with the secularisation and secularism which we take for granted in Ireland today but which then was new, with a group of students who were often viewed as second best by wider society, and, as priests, in a role was really very un-clerical, demanding new responses.
Dermot and his colleagues had different ways of going at this challenge. Some preferred a more traditional, chaplain and pastoral/sacramental role, while others, Dermot among them, preferred a more direct analysis and dialogue around the world of work and all it demanded. Dermot studied in urban sociology, in social psychology, and with apprentices, students of professions, trades and crafts, taught and ran groups which took into account their experience of the world about them and tried to point to the values they might otherwise have missed. Above all, with the help of many staff members, and through his study of the Mondragon Cooperative project in the Basque Country in Spain, he eventually set up the Bolton Trust to help fund and support the cooperative movement in Ireland, his great passion in life – more of this later in the mass.
He was a great walker, hill walker, as well, and he often joined staff and families on walks on weekends. And so, over decades, this often hidden work, took shape: a real option for the poor, with Catholic Social Teaching at its core, but always in the humble guise of service, for believer and unbeliever alike, far from the critique of clericalism and entitlement which Pope Francis sees as such an obstacle to the gospel proclamation in these days.
And so at the banquet at the end – see Isaiah (25: 6-9) – this unsung work, these seeds scattered without apparent much fruit – need to be celebrated and told about.
And his family: his five brothers, Kieran, Padraic, Gearoid and Tome, all of whom are here today, as well as John who is in Canada and whom I got to know through Dermot, with Pat his wife, both of them wonderful people who would love to be with us today – would be part of this celebration, with their wives and children, and their children, as well as his cousin Angela. Dermot was a quiet and thoughtful presence in his family – well, they will admit themselves that it’s sometimes hard to get a word in edgeways when they’re all in full flow! – but he enjoyed the banter and slagging, often spoke about them, was proud of their achievements.

I had an email from John and Pat in Hamilton, Ontario, last night in which they wrote that they are with us in spirit today and that “Dermot was a special person and we all have great memories of him. We saw him in November and said our goodbyes to him then. His caregivers in the nursing home were caring and compassionate and gentle with him”.

1. When you are older.... like many of us, Dermot found it hard to transition into older age, to leave his beloved NC road for Gardiner Street and then later Milltown and here in Cherryfield. As he said, close enough to his death, how come the birds outside Cherryfield were so happy and free and he was locked into his chair? He knew then, and also earlier in life, through his own insecurities and weaknesses, that he needed God’s mercy, the experience of the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises. He could be grumpy, stubborn, blunt, not mincing his words. One of my last conversations with him, familiar to many of you I’m sure, began with me asking how are you, and he replying, awful! But then, before too long, even with some confusion and fading memory, he was smiling and there was even the old familiar laugh. His traditional faith would have helped him: he did love Jesus, he knew that if God is for us nothing can be against us (Romans, 8: 31-35, 37-39). He knew, with Rahner, that all life is a giving-back to God of what God freely gives to us and that death is the last big gift we give, of our own life, like a little child jumping from a high wall into the arms of his mother or father.
2. Life is changed, not ended –
   Our great hope of course is the resurrection, based on our faith in Jesus Christ. This is where the sophisticated Athenians walked away from Paul at the Areopagus, the Public Square – this was too much to believe! And yet Paul himself says we are the most foolish of people as Christians if there is no resurrection. There is a natural human longing for life and its continuance. And so we speak of heaven, sometimes in terms of eternal life, sometimes as the beatific vision, and sometimes – as I prefer – beatific life, a changed life, the fullness of life, in communion with God and all those we love. And so Dermot, we hope with a sure hope, has gone before us into this new life, with his virtues celebrated and his weaknesses healed, enjoying a table of good food and wine, getting more than the odd word in!
   Conclusion:
   It was a kind of running joke between Dermot and myself that when we ran into one another (we had first met when he trained the U-16s rugby team of which I was a member in 1964 in Belvedere!) he would greet me with something like, “Do I know you?”, with a twinkle in the eye and the smile and then laugh. And so it requires no great leap of my imagination to see that scene between Jesus and Peter now unfolding between Jesus and Dermot, as Jesus asks “Do I know you” and Dermot smiles, at rest, seeing, sensing the fullness of life that is before him.
   Amen.

Born: 16 July 1870, Clontarf, Dublin City
Entered: 13 September 1886, Dromore, County Down
Ordained: 30 July 1905
Final Vows: 2 February 1910, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 26 December 1956, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the St Ignatius, Lower Leeson St, Dublin community at the time of death

Editor of An Timire, 1912-19.

by 1897 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1898 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1909 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
McKenna, Lambert (Mac Cionnaith, Láimhbheartach)
by Vincent Morley

McKenna, Lambert (Mac Cionnaith, Láimhbheartach) (1870–1956), Irish-language scholar and catholic social thinker, was born 16 July 1870 in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, son of Andrew McKenna, accountant, and Mary McKenna (née Lambert). Having attended Belvedere College, Dublin, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1886 and studied at the order's novitiates in Dromore, Co. Down, and Tullabeg, King's Co. (Offaly), before graduating with a BA in Irish and classics from the Royal University (1893) and taking an MA (1895). After further study in scholastic philosophy and theology he was ordained in 1905 and subsequently taught at Belvedere College, Dublin, and Mungret College, Limerick.

Lambert McKenna's English–Irish phrase dictionary was published in 1911, but it was the classical bardic language rather than the modern vernacular that principally engaged his attention, and from 1916 onwards he published numerous editions of bardic poems in Studies and the Irish Monthly – a journal that he edited in 1922–31. McKenna's edition of Iomarbhágh na bhfileadh (the ‘bardic contention’) was published in 1918, and his editions of the poetry of Aonghas Fionn Ó Dálaigh (qv), Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh (qv), and Philip Bocht Ó hUiginn (qv) followed in 1919, 1922, and 1931 respectively. He spent four years compiling the state-sponsored Foclóir Béarla agus Gaedhilge (1935), but the dictionary's scope was largely confined to the colloquial language of the Gaeltacht and it failed to provide Irish equivalents of many modern terms and concepts. His Dioghluim dána (1938) and Aithdhioghluim dána (1939–40) were substantial anthologies of bardic poems by various authors.

McKenna was an advocate of the social principles of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum novarum. Lenten lectures that he delivered in Limerick in 1913 were published by the Irish Messenger in its ‘social action’ series of pamphlets under such titles as The church and labour and The church and working men. In The social teachings of James Connolly (1920), McKenna argued (p. 7) that James Connolly's (qv) voice was ‘ever the voice of Tone or Fintan Lalor, though his words are often the words of Marx’. During the 1920s he wrote in the pages of Studies about such recent events as the Russian revolution, the short-lived communist revolutions in Hungary and Bavaria, and the Mexican revolution. In 1925–6 he chaired a national conference on the use of Irish in the schools, convened by the Department of Education, and its recommendations on the increased use of the language as a medium of instruction were accepted by the minister, John Marcus O'Sullivan (qv).

McKenna retained his intellectual vigour at an advanced age, and three works that he edited were published by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies when he was in his 70s: Bardic syntactical tracts (1944) and two bardic duanairí (poem-books) – The book of Magauran (1947) and The book of O'Hara (1951). He was awarded the degree of D.Litt.Celt. honoris causa in 1947. McKenna spent the latter part of his life in the Jesuits' house of studies at Lower Leeson St., Dublin, and died in Dublin on 26 December 1956.

Ir. Independent, 25–7 Dec. 1956; Hayes, Sources: periodicals, iii, 499–500; Austen Morgan, James Connolly: a political biography (1988), 59; Beathaisnéis, ii (1990), 50–51

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 1 1925

Fr. Lambert McKenna is Chairman of a committee appointed by the Ministry of Education for the purpose of reporting on the National Programme of Primary Education. During the meetings of the Committee, very valuable evidence was given by Father T. Corcoran

Irish Province News 2nd Year No 2 1927

Towards the close of last year the School Inspection Committee sent, with the approval of the Free State Government, Fr Lambert McKenna on a visit to Great Britain and the Continent for the purpose of getting First-hand information on the working of various systems of Primary School Inspection. He spent two months at this task, Visiting England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Irish Province News 9th Year No 1 1934

Leeson St :
Monday, November 20th, was a red-letter day in the history of Leeson street, for it witnessed the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the House's foundation. In November, 1883. the Community came into being at 86 St Stephen's Green, where it remained until 1909, when the building was handed over to the newly constituted National University. The Community, however, survived intact and migrated to a nearby house in Lesson Street, where it renewed its youth in intimate relationship with the Dublin College of the University.
Its history falls this into two almost equal periods, different, indeed, in many ways, yet essentially one, since the energies of the Community during each period have been devoted to the same purpose, the furtherance of Catholic University Education in Ireland.
A precious link between the two eras is Father Tom Finlay, who was a member of the Community in 1883, and ever since has maintained his connection with it. His presence on Monday evening, restored to his old health after a severe illness was a source of particular pleasure to the whole gathering. It was also gratifying to see among the visitors Father Henry Browne, who had crossed from England at much personal inconvenience to take part in the celebration. Not only was Father Browne a valued member of the Community for over thirty years, but he acquired additional merit by putting on record, in collaboration with Father McKenna, in that bulky volume with the modest title " A Page of Irish History," the work achieved by the House during the first heroic age of its existence. It was a pleasure, too, to see hale and well among those present Father Joseph Darlington, guide, philosopher and friend to so many students during the two periods. Father George O'Neill, who for many years was a distinguished member of the Community, could not, alas. be expected to make the long journey from his newer field of fruitful labor in Werribee, Australia.
Father Superior, in an exceptionally happy speech, described the part played by the Community, especially in its earlier days of struggle, in the intellectual life of the country. The venerable Fathers who toiled so unselfishly in the old house in St. Stephens Green had exalted the prestige of the Society throughout Ireland. Father Finlay, in reply, recalled the names of the giants of those early days, Father Delany, Father Gerald Hopkins, Mr. Curtis and others. Father Darlington stressed the abiding influence of Newman, felt not merely in the schools of art and science, but in the famous Cecilia Street Medial School. Father Henry Browne spoke movingly of the faith, courage and vision displayed by the leaders of the Province in 1883, when they took on their shoulders such a heavy burden. It was a far cry from that day in 1883, when the Province had next to no resources, to our own day, when some sixty of our juniors are to be found, as a matter of course preparing for degrees in a National University. The progress of the Province during these fifty years excited feelings of
admiration and of profound gratitude , and much of that progress was perhaps due to the decision, valiantly taken in 1883 1883, which had raised the work of the Province to a higher plane.

Irish Province News 32nd Year No 2 1957
Obituary :
Fr Lambert McKenna (1870-1956)
Fr. Lambert McKenna died in St. Vincent's Nursing Home on 26th December, 1956, after a prolonged illness. He was born in Dublin on 16th July, 1870, and was educated at Belvedere College, of which to the end he was a very loyal son. In 1886 he entered the Novitiate, then at Dromore, Co. Down, and having taken his first vows, he studied for the Royal University at Tullabeg, Milltown Park and 86 St. Stephen's Green. He took his B.A. in classics and Irish in 1893. He taught for one year at Clongowes and having studied for another year at Milltown Park he took his M.A. in 1895. He taught the Juniors at Tullabeg for one year and went to Philosophy, first at Jersey and for the third year at Louvain. He taught for two years at Mungret before beginning his Theology at Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1905. From 1906 we find him for three years at Belvedere, first as Doc., then as Adj. Praef. stud, and finally as Praef, stud. In 1909 he went to Tronchiennes for Tertianship. From 1910 he taught for three years at Mungret and for one year at the Crescent, In 1914 he was stationed at 35 Lower Leeson St. as Director of the Leo Guild. He was Praef, stud, and Dir. Leo Guild at Rathfarnham from 1915-1918, being in addition during the last year Editor of the Irish Monthly. In 1919 and 1920 he taught at Belvedere, being Praef. stud. in the latter year. He was Adj, Ed, Studies at Leeson St. for two years. From 1923 to 1934 he was back at Rathfarnham teaching the Juniors, being Praef. stud. for two years and Ed. Irish Monthly for several years. In 1935 he was assigned to Leeson St., where he was to remain until his death.
Fr. McKenna was, even as a student, strongly influenced by the work of Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill in the newly founded Gaelic League, He combined an exact knowledge of Irish idiom and poetical diction with an eagerness to see as many Irish texts as possible published and annotated with critical notes. He made his name in 1911 by publishing a short, but excellent, “English-Irish Phrase Book”, which he had compiled himself from the works of the best contemporary writers of living Irish speech. In the same year, as editor of Timthire Chroidhe Naomhtha Íosa, he began to print a series of unpublished Irish bardic poems, which were later continued in the Irish Monthly and in Studies. His edition of the “Contention of the Bards” - a work which had been begun by his friend Tomás Ó Nulláin, but had been left incomplete - appeared in 1918; the poems of Aongus Ó Dálaigh in 1919; the poems of Philip Bocht Ó h-Uigion in 1931; Dioghluim Dána in 1938; Aithdioghluim Dána in 1939-40; poems from the Book of Magauran and Bardic Syntactical Tracts in 1944; poems from the Book of O'Hara in 1947. He was awarded the degree of M.Litt.Celt. in 1914, he was elected Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1932 and he was given the degree of D.Litt.Celt. (honoris causa) in 1947.
Fr. McKenna took an active part in organising the Irish College at Ballingeary in its early years, and he was in close touch with Pearse when he was headmaster of Scoil Éanna. The success of his phrase book, which passed through several editions, caused the Irish Government to appoint him as editor of a more ambitious Foclóir Béarla agus Gaedhilge, which was published in 1935. But this volume has less of Fr. McKenna's personal sense of idiom, and less also of his early enthusiasm for the spoken Irish language.
Apart from his life-long devotion to Irish studies, Fr. McKenna took a keen interest in what was - before 1914 in Ireland - the new study of Catholic social principles. He was Spiritual Director of the Leo Guild during the first World War and during the post-war years. He thus came into personal contact with many young Irish Catholic laymen, who shared his interests and who looked to him for guidance. About this time he published several pamphlets, of which his “Social Principles of James Connolly” was the most notable. In the early years of the Irish Free State he was appointed chairman of a commission, which in 1925 made a report on the first (1922) national programme of primary education and laid the foundations of the present scheme.
In 1924, he published “The Life and Work of Fr. James Cullen, S.J.” He strove to make the Irish Monthly, during his years as Editor, an organ of Irish Catholic social and educational thought. He was also active as adviser to more than one Dublin charity. Those who knew him well in his last years can testify that to the end of a long life he maintained an active interest in a surprisingly wide range of Catholic activities, and especially in every form of the lay apostolate. He was for many years keenly interested in the Legion of Mary, and Mr. Frank Duff was one of the group which stood around his grave at Glasnevin.
Those who lived in community with Fr, McKenna at any time, and very specially in his last years, will remember him as a priest who was also an admirable community man. He had a wonderful memory for anecdotes of Irish Jesuit life, many of them stretching back to days that lie now in a very distant past for most of us; and his gifts as raconteur and mimic made his conversation a constant pleasure for all who were present. He suffered much throughout life from his health, and his infirmities were a great trial to him in his last years, But he bore them all with a wry sense of humour, which won sympathy from all his brethren. Few members of the Province have done as much for practical social work in Ireland as well as for the promotion of Irish studies. Suaimhneas síorrai dé anam.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Lambert McKenna 1870-1956
Fr Lamber McKenna was a great Irish scholar. His Irish Phrase Dictionary and the Larger English-Irish Dictionary are monuments to his name.. He also edited numerous Irish texts for the Irish Texts Society, In his early years he took an active part in the Irish College at Ballingeary, and he was in close touch with Padraic Pearse as Headmaster at St Enda’s.

His other great interest was Social Studies. At a time such interests were not so popular as they are nowadays. He was Spiritual Director of the Leo Guild for years. His pamphlets on Social Questions were well appreciated in his day, and continued so, especially his “Social Principles of James Connolly”. He also published the Life of Fr James Cullen, the Founder of the Pioneers.

As a community man he was invaluable, and Leeson Street community, where he spent his last years, is still rich with his anecdotes of Irish Jesuit Life.

He retained to the end an amazing influence with a wide range of Catholic activities, especially those of the lay apostolate.

He died on December 26th 1956, a first class scholar, a thorough Jesuit, and an inveterate enemy of anything that was false or pretentious.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Lambert McKenna (1870-1956))
A native of Dublin and educated at Belvedere College, entered the Society in 1886. He pursued his higher studies in Dublin, Jersey and Louvain and was ordained at Milltown Park in 1905. His teaching career ended in 1920. He spent one year at Crescent College, 1912-13. Father McKenna's gifts did not include teaching ability although he was a brilliant classical student and had carried off high honours in the old Royal University. With the growth of the Gaelic League he became absorbed in the study of the Irish language, and by 1911 published his English-Irish Phrase Book. His name appears frequently in the list of learned editions of Irish works issued by the Irish Texts Society. For many years he published with translations a series of hitherto unprinted bardic poems. These may be read in the past numbers of the Irish Monthly (at present, dormant) and Studies. His scholarship in Irish studies was recognised by the degree of MLittCelt from the NUI (1914), the membership of the Royal Academy (1932) and the degree of DLittCelt (honoris causa) of the NUI (1947). Father McKenna took an active part in organising the Irish College in Ballingeary in its early years. His government-sponsored Foclóir Bearla agus Gaedhilge appeared in 1935.

Yet, Father McKenna's high attainments in Irish scholarship are not his only claim to remembrance. He was a pioneer in the study of Catholic social principles. From his pen came also a considerable number of pamphlets, most notable among which was his Social Principles of James Connolly. To the end of his long life he took an active interest in a wide range of works of the lay apostolate.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1957
Obituary
Father Lambert McKenna SJ
Fr Lambert McKenna died in St Vincent's Nursing Home on 26th December, after a prolonged illness. He was born in Dublin on 16th July, 1870, and was educated at Belvedere College, of which to the end he was a very loyal son. In 1886 he entered the Society of Jesus Novitiate, then at Dromore, Co Down. After taking his degree at the old Royal University he taught for a year, and took his MA in 1895. After finishing the Philosophy course be taught for two years at Mungret before beginning Theology at Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1905. From 1906 we find him for three years at Belvedere, first as teacher and then as Prefect of Studies. From 1910 to 1913 he taught again at Mungret and spent the year 1914 teaching at the Crescent, In 1914. he was stationed at 35 Lr Leeson Street, as Director of the Leo Guild. In 1919 and 1920 he taught at Belvedere, being Prefect of Studies again in the latter year. From 1923 to 1934 he was in Rathfarnham Castle teaching the students attending University College, and for most of that time editing “The Irish Monthly”. In 1935 he returned to Leeson Street, where he was to remain till his death.

Fr McKenna was even as a student strongly influenced by the work of Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill in the newly founded Gaelic League He combined an exact knowledge of Irish idiom and poetical diction with an eagerness to see as many Irish texts as possible published and annotated with critical notes. He made his name in 1911 by publishing a short but excellent “English-Irish Phrase Book”, which he had compiled himself from the works of the best contemporary writers of living Irish speech.

Fr. McKenna took an active part in organizing the Irish College at Ballingeary in its early days, and he was in close touch with Pearse when he was headmaster of Scoil Éanna. The success of his phrase book, which passed through several editions, caused the Government to appoint him, editor of a more ambitious “Foclóir Béarla agur Gaedhilge”, which was published in 1935. But this volume, according to the critics, has less of his: personal sense of idiom and less also of his early enthusiasm.

Apart from his life-long devotion to Irish studies, Fr. McKenna took a keen interest in what was-- before 1914 in Ireland - the new study of Catholic social principles. He was Spiritual Director of the Leo Guild during the first World War and during the post-war years. He thus came into contact with . many young Irish Catholic laymen, who shared his. interests and looked to him for guidance. About this time he published several pamphlets, of which his “Social Principles of James Connolly” was. the most notable. In the early years of the Irish. Free State he was appointed chairman of a Commission which in 1925 made a report on the first (1922) national programme of primary education and laid the foundations of the present scheme. He was also active as adviser to more than one Dublin charity and those who knew him well in his last years can testify that to the end of a long life he maintained an active interest in a surprisingly wide range of Catholic activities and especially in every form of the lay apostolate.

Born: 29 August 1908, Omagh, County Tyrone
Entered: 15 September 1926, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1943, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 25 November 1992, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.

Early education at Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh, County Tyrone

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 74 : Autumn 1993 & Interfuse No 82 : September 1995

Obituary
Fr Gerard McLaughlin (1908-1992)

29th August 1908: Born, Omagh, Co. Tyrone
Early Education: Christian Brothers' Schools
15th Sept. 1926; Entered the Novitiate, Tullabeg
1928 - 1931: Rathfarnham - studying Arts, UCD.
1931 - 1934: Tullabeg - studying Philosophy
1934 - 1937: Belvedere - Regency - Teacher and Rugby Trainer
1937 - 1941: Milltown Park - Studying Theology
31st July 1940: Ordained, Milltown Park
1941 - 1942: Tertianship, Rathfarnham
1942 - 1944: Belvedere - Teacher and Assistant Prefect of Studies
1944 - 1955: Crescent College, Limerick - Prefect of Studies
1955 - 1960: Belvedere - Prefect of Studies
1960 - 1969: Mungret College, Limerick - Teacher
1969 - 1973: Crescent College, Limerick - Teacher
1973 - 1976: Crescent College Comprehensive - Teacher
1976 - 1979: Crescent Church Limerick - Assistant Admin. Comprehensive College
1979 - 1991; Belvedere - Teacher, Chaplain at St. Joseph's Young Priests' Society
1991 - 1992: Milltown Park, Chaplain at St. Joseph's Young Priests' Society
25th Nov, 1992: Died, St. Vincent's Hospital

I remember two Gerry McLaughlins - the martinet who was Prefect of Studies in Belvedere from 1955 to 1960, the first five years I was in the Senior House, and the movingly gracious old man (though he was never really old) who shared the community with me there from 1979 until his slightly quixotic move a year before his death in 1991.

Belvederians of the 1950s had all heard of Fr Coyle, the Rupe as he had been known to generations. Those like me, who had not known him, were unsure how to interpret that nickname but thought we were probably glad not to have to test its precise connotations when we crossed the Yard from the Junior House in September 1955 and found a new man in occupation of the office.

He was small of stature (which seems almost de rigueur for Prefects of Studies and Headmasters in Belvederel). He had a characteristic way of turning at an angle of 45 degrees whenever he had to admonish the tall fellows and always avoided having to look up to them, delivering his comments past their noses and moving dismissively away as he did so. The features were sharp, the expression shrewd, the manner abrupt even at times waspish. He did not too readily let us see the other side of himself - the witty side, that enjoyed innocently vulgar jokes, the humane side that could make allowances and apply exceptions, the sensitive side that responded alertly to the needs and the feelings of the other person, the humble side that most rarely indulged in talk about himself and hardly ever referred to his own achievements.

In those early days, he ran what they call 'a tight ship' and we expected as much, having heard of his rather fearsome reputation in Limerick, whence he had come (bearing his nickname with him) and whose streets he was supposed to have patrolled on his bicycle in the evenings, to ensure the Crescent boys were all safely in doing their homework, a veritable one-man vigilante squad.

In the mornings, he was on the stairs to intercept the late arrival. (pupil and, I suspect, teacher alike!). Through the day- of so we thought - he patrolled corridors to encounter and 'deal with those who had not found favour inside their classrooms and been put outside. As he went, he carefully checked the exercises in the boxes, not just verifying that Mr So-and-So (or Fr So-and-So either - Gerry was no respecter of persons) had actually set homework the night before, as the schedule demanded, but also counting the copies and checking the total against the rolls for that day. Loose leaves stuck into the end of clapped out copy books were not allowed and the offending object would be marked with a large “x”, never to reappear under pain of awful retribution. (Then some genius got the bright idea of “x-ing” all the copies and Gerry and ourselves were back to square one...).

He wielded the biffer in the fashion of the time but he was not remotely a sadist and his Belvedere was not a place characterised by harsh physical punishment. The fear he inspired was caused more by the sense that the all-seeing eye would catch up with you wherever you were - creeping a minute late up the stairs, lurking in the angle of a doorway, dallying needlessly between classes in the Yard, somehow or other where you shouldn't be. Suddenly, he was sure to be there. The face was identified, the name entered in the notebook he always seem to have to hand and - after a brief moment when you thought he would make no more of it and were moving gratefully on the fatal word “detained” floated lightly on the air after you in its Northern intonation, like a verbal lasso, to stop you in your tracks.

We watched for the master-less classroom and would often take the class himself, invariably expounding what seemed his favourite subject, geography, if he could not do this but he had noted that an exercise was die to be set that day, he at least managed to send in something appropriate, picking it himself (even in Irish, which was risky for him as he did not speak the language).

As we got older, we saw a little more of his humanity and realised that he was actually shy. We saw for the first time that he saw the humour of things. There was a twinkle in his eye and an indulgent irony in the voice when he called out: “Practice today, Johnny O'Connor!” as the aforementioned passed him on the stairs, evidently having defaulted the time before. And then “Snitch” (never really a term of dislike on our lips) was gone, disappearing just as we were about to reach Rhetoric and thought we might get to know him for the first time.

The other Gerry McLaughlin was over 70 when I met him again in 1979. By then, I was a recently-ordained member of the staff, he was semi-retired. He never properly graduated beyond that status until he died. In time, classes got beyond him in the Senior School, then the groups he took in the Junior School dwindled to one to two. He knew his health was failing (emphysema and, as he said, with characteristic bluntness and, usually, his wry twinkle, “the waterworks”). He worried about this, didn't make too much of it but wanted you to know all the same!

He accepted his progressive relegation to the margins of the timetable with grace and good humour but never entirely resigned himself to being unemployed. Jim O'Connor, who was in charge of the Junior School in part of this period, remembered how touching it was to find Gerry McLaughlin constantly offering to take classes when another teacher was absent, although by then in his late seventies. He had not lost the quick bark we had known years before and the boys were still a little in awe of him. Perhaps he sensed this. Apples would appear from the gown pocket and be thrown in a sudden gesture to this boy and that, with some hurried comment they couldn't catch - and by the end of a term, one way or another every boy would have received his apple!

In community, he was touchingly anxious to be part of things. He faithfully carried his share of the early morning Mass supplies to Temple St Hospital and elsewhere. He rarely took to his bed. At table, he would try to “lead” conversation with snatches of what he had heard on the radio or the like, rather as we had all once done as novices, and, if one topic failed to take wing, he would gamely try another. He did his best to take an interest in what was going on. This came easily enough to him because he was naturally curious, but growing deafness (that scourge of the inquisitive!), to which of course he never admitted, did add a slight petulance in the very last years.

He never spoke much about himself or his childhood in Omagh, where he had been born in 1908 and educated by the Christian Brothers. Rumours of the family having been attacked in “pogroms” were current among us. They sometimes seemed to find an echo in an outburst of anti-British sentiment, but this was rare and we remained largely in the dark about his previous experiences and the make-up of his family.

In his very last year, he asked to be moved. This was almost certainly because he could no longer teach at all or see any remaining function for himself in the school and he did not wish to be merely on the shelf in the place where he had once been so active. He had spent some 52 years working in Jesuit schools. There had been three years in Belvedere as a scholastic (1934-7 - during this period, he trained a winning Junior Cup team one of the very few achievements of which he could be said to have boasted a little and of which he was clearly proud). He had come back again for two years after ordination, to teach and assist Fr Coyle, then – well and truly apprenticed! – he had gone to the Crescent as Prefect of Studies for eleven years (1844-55).

After performing a similar function in Belvedere for five years (and asking to be relieved of it, because of a policy difference with those in higher authority), he had gone back to Limerick, first to Mungret and then to the Crescent once more (both in the city and at the new site in Dooradoyle when the school became a Comprehensive), until 1979 and his final return to Dublin. Now his teaching years were over.

Gardiner St, which would have been near the scene of so many of his labours, had no rooms free so he went to the House of Studies at Milltown Park. (He was indignant at suggestions that he was living in Cherryfield Lodge, the Jesuit Province infirmary, which is beside, but not strictly part of, Milltown Park!) There, he continued the work he had taken on some years earlier in Belvedere (when no one else volunteered): chaplain to St Joseph's Young Priests' Society. He fulfilled other community functions too and took his turn on morning Mass-supplies. But the short-term spells in hospital, a feature of his later period in Belvedere, went on. He died peacefully on 25th November 1992, still “in harness” as he would have wished and truly “full of works and days”. May he rest in peace.
BB

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1993
Obituary
Father Gerard McLaughlin SJ
I remember two Gerry McLaughlins - the martinet who was Prefect of Studies in Belvedere from 1955 to 1960, the first five years I was in the Senior House, and the movingly gracious old man (though he was never really old) who shared the community with me there from 1979 until his slightly quixotic move a year before his death in 1991.

Belvederians of the 1950s had all heard of Fr Coyle, “the Rupe” as he had been known to generations. Those like me, (who had not known him), were unsure how to interpret that nickname but thought we were probably glad not to have to test its precise connotations when we crossed the Yard from the Junior House in September 1955 and found a new man in occupation of the office.

He was small of stature (which seems almost de rigueur for Prefects of Studies and Headmasters in Belvedere!). He had a characteristic way of turning at an angle of 45 degrees whenever he had to admonish the tall fellows and always avoided having to look up to them, delivering his comments past their noses and moving dismissively away as he did so. The features were sharp, the expression shrewd, the manner abrupt, even at times waspish. He did not too readily let us see the other side of himself - the witty side that enjoyed innocently vulgar jokes, the humane side that could make allowances and apply exceptions, the sensitive side that responded alertly to the needs and the feelings of the other person, the humble side that rarely indulged in talk about him- ; self and hardly ever referred to his own achievements.

In those early days, he ran what they call “a tight ship” and we expected as much, having heard of his rather fearsome reputation in Limerick, whence he had come (bearing his nickname with him) and whose streets he was supposed to have patrolled on his bicycle in the evenings, to ensure the Crescent boys were all safely in doing their homework, a veri table one-man vigilante squad.

In the monings, he was on the stairs to intercept the late arrival (pupil and, I suspect, teacher alike!). Through the day - or so we thought - he patrolled corridors to encounter and deal with those who had not found favour inside their classrooms and been put outside. As he went, he carefully checked the exercises in the boxes, not just verifying that Mr So and So (or So-and-So either - Gerry was no respecter of persons) had actually set homework the night before, as the schedule demanded, but also counting the copies and checking the total against the rolls for that day. Loose leaves stuck into the end of clapped out copybooks were not allowed and the offending object would be marked with a large “x”, never to reappear under pain of awful retribution. (Then some genius got the bright idea of “x-ing” all the copies and Gerry and ourselves were back to square one...)

He wielded the biffer in the fashion of the time but he was not remotely a sadist and his Belvedere was not a place characterised by harsh physical punishment. The fear he inspired was caused more by the sense that the all-seeing eye would catch up with you wherever you were - creeping a minute late up the stairs, lurking in the angle of a doorway, dallying Deedlessly between classes in the Yard, somehow or other where you shouldn't be. Suddenly, he was sure to be there. The face was identified, the name entered in the notebook he always seemed to have to hand and - after a brief moment when you thought he would make no more of it and were moving gratefully on - the fatal word “detained” floated lightly on the air after you in its Northern intonation, like a verbal lassoo, to stop you in your tracks.

He watched for the master-less classroom and would often take the class himself, invariably expounding what seemed his favourite subject, geography. If he could not do this but he had noted that an exercise was due to be set that day, he at least managed to send in something appropriate, picking it himself (even in Irish, which was risky for him as he did not speak the language).

As we got older, we saw a little more of his humanity and realised that he was actually shy. We saw for the first time that he saw the humour of things. There was a twinkle in his eye and an indulgent irony in the voice when he called out: “Practice today, Johnny O'Connor!” as the aforementioned passed him on the stairs, evidently having defaulted the time before. And then “snitch” (never really a term of dislike on our lips) was gone, disappearing just as we were about to reach Rhetoric and thought we might get to know him for the first time.

The other Gerry McLaughlin was over 70 when I met him again in 1979. By then, I was a recently ordained member of the staff, he was semi-retired. He never properly graduated beyond that status until he died. In time, classes got beyond him in the Senior School, then the groups he took in the Junior School dwindled to one or two. He knew his health was failing (emphysema and, as he said with characteristic bluntness and, usually, his wry twinkle, 'the waterworks'). He worried about this, didn't make too much of it but wanted you to know all the same!

He accepted his progressive relegation to the mar gins of the timetable with grace and good humour but never entirely resigned himself to being unemployed. Jim O'Connor, who was in charge of the Junior School in part of this period, remembered how touching it was to find Gerry McLaughlin constantly offering to take classes when another teacher was absent, although by then in his late seventies. He had not lost the quick bark we had known years before and the boys were still a little in awe of him. Perhaps he sensed this. Apples would appear from the gown pocket and be thrown in a sudden gesture to this boy and that, with some hurried comment they couldn't catch - and by the end of a term, one way or another every boy would have received his apple!

In community, he was touchingly anxious to be part of things. He faithfully carried his share of the early morning Mass supplied to Temple Street Hospital and elsewhere. He rarely took to his bed. At table, he would try to “lead” conversation with snatches of what he had heard on the radio or the like, rather as we had all once done as novices, and, if one topic failed to take wing, he would gamely try another. He did his best to take an interest in what was going on. This came easily enough to him because he was naturally curious, but growing deaf ness (that scourge of the inquisitive!), to which of course he never admitted, did add a slight petulance in the very last years.

He never spoke much about himself or his childhood in Omagh, where he had been born in 1908 and educated by the Christian Brothers. Rumours of the family having been attacked in pogroms were current among us. They sometimes seemed to find an echo in an outburst of anti-British sentiment, but this was rare and we remained largely in the dark about his previous experiences and the make-up of his family.

In his very last year, he asked to be moved. This was almost certainly because he could no longer teach at all or see any remaining function for himself in the school and he did not wish to be merely on the shelf in the place where he had once been so active, He had spent some 52 years working in Jesuit schools. There had been three years in Belvedere as a scholastic (1934-37 - during this period, he trained a winning Junior Cup team, one of the very few achievements of which he could be said to have boasted a little and of which he was clearly proud). He had come back again for two years after ordination, to teach and assist Fr Coyle, then - well and truly apprenticed! - he had gone to the Crescent as Prefect of Studies for eleven years (1944-55).

After performing a similar function in Belvedere for five years (and asking to be relieved of it, because of a policy difference with those in higher authority), he had gone back to Limerick, first to Mungret and then to the Crescent once more (both in the city and at the new site in Dooradoyle when the school became a Comprehensive), until 1979 and his final return to Dublin. Now his teaching years were over.

Gardiner St, which would have been near the scene of so many of his labours, had no rooms free so he went to the House of Studies at Milltown Park. (He was indignant at suggestions that he was living in Cherryfield Lodge, the Jesuit Province Park!), There, he continued the work he had taken on some years earlier in Belvedere (when no one else volunteered): chaplain to St Joseph's Young Priests' Society. He fulfilled other community functions too and took his turn on morning Mass-supplies. But the short-term spells in hospital, a feature of his later period in Belvedere, went on. He died peacefully on 25th November, 1992, still 'in harness' as he would have wished and truly 'ful of works and days'. May he rest in peace.

Born: 25 July 1705, Armagh, County Armagh
Entered: 22 October 1725, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: 30 October 1735, Salamanca, Spain
Died: 05 May 1753, Limerick Residence, Limerick City, County Limerick

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1738 Sent to Ireland and was fifteen Years at Limerick

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Constantine and Honora
1727-1728 After First Vows he was sent for Regency to teach Grammar at Valladolid
1728-1731 Sent to study Philosophy at Medina del Campo
1731-1732 Sent for further Regency to teach at Bilbao
1732-1735 Sent to Royal College Salamanca for Theology where he was Ordained 30 October 1735
1736-1737 Tertianship at Valladolid
1737-1738 Sent for to teach at León
1738 Sent to Ireland and Limerick, where after a few years he was stricken with rheumatism so that the more active ministry which he desired was denied him, and he died there 05 May 1753
Thomas Hennessy, the Mission Superior, described him as genuinely religious man who bore patiently his infirmities.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MAC-MAHON, JAMES, born in Ulster, on the 24th of July, 1705; and enrolled himself in the Society in the Province of Toledo, at the age of 20. He came to the Mission in 1738. The last 13 years of his life he spent at Limerick, in a very debilitated state of health. God was pleased to release him from his sufferings in 1753.

Born: 04 June 1931, Castletroy, Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1948, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 04 September 1962, Kaiserdom Sankt Bartholomäus (Frankfurter Dom), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Final Vows: 02 February1966, Chiesa del Gesù, Rome, Italy
Died: 09 October 2005, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

by 1962 at Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt (GER I) studying
by 1965 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying
by 1979 at Gonzaga Spokane WA, USA (ORE) teaching
by 1990 at San Salvador, El Salvador (CAM) working
by 1997 at Zomba, Malawi (ZAM-MAL) teaching
by 2001 at Cambridge, MA, USA (NEN) Sabbatical
by 2002 at Venice, CA, USA (CAL) working

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
James McPolin was born in Limerick and educated at the Jesuit Crescent College. In 1948 he entered the Society at Emo and followed the standard course of studies of the Irish province. After a year’s theological studies at Milltown Institute he transferred to Frankfurt a.M. for his final years of theology.

Jimmy as a scholastic always gave the impression of youth and energy. He was deeply interested in sports of all kinds and persuaded those of us studying philosophy with him to build a basket-ball court on which he tutored the ignorant among us in the rules of the game. He sailed through his Jesuit studies effortlessly and we were not surprised when he was sent to the Biblical Institute in Rome for a Doctorate in Sacred Scripture. Thus he lectured in Scripture for 23 years at the Milltown Institute, Dublin, alternating semesters for 3 years with the Biblicum in Rome. Subsequently he also taught scripture at Gonzaga University, Spokane, at the University of Central America (UCA, El Salvador) and at St. Peter’s Seminary in Zomba, Malawi. His textbook on St. John’s Gospel is still very popular with students of scripture.

He was elected as the representative of the Irish Province for the 32nd General Congregation of the Jesuits in Rome in 1975 and was deeply involved in drafting the document of that Congregation on the formation of our young men. He acted as the Irish Provincial’s delegate for formation for many years.

After serving as Dean of the Theology Faculty at Milltown Institute for four years he was appointed as President of the whole Institute. During this time he was transferred to a small community of scholastics living in poor quarters in the centre of Dublin city. During his seven years in that community he showed great concern for the difficulties of the poorer neighbours. His cycling to work every day to and from his office at Milltown, 6 km away, surprised many of his academic colleagues at the Institute.

In 1989 he moved to San Salvador in Central America where he worked as assistant priest in the Jesuit Parish, eventually becoming the Parish Priest. When he first arrived in San Salvador he was invited to visit the University community for a meal and spend the night with them because of the curfew. In fact there was some urgent business in the parish which prevented him from accepting the invitation. That was the night in which the six Jesuits in the University community together with their housekeep and her daughter were murdered by the army. Jimmy thus narrowly escaped sharing their fate.

On his return from San Salvador in 1996 he joined the small group of Jesuits who were teaching at St. Peter’s Seminary at Zomba, Malawi. He first studied the local Chi-Chewa language and then settled into teaching scripture for five semesters.

He had a very good relationship with the Malawian seminarians: he always greeted his class with the word “Wawa” which is a term of great respect in Chewa and which invariably elicited a loud response. He set himself up as coach of the football team and could be seen at half-time surrounded by a ring of players whom he harangued in a good natured way. He also endeared himself to the teaching staff by the jokingly provocative way he would express some outrageous opinion during meals at our ‘round table’ which would immediately spark a lively discussion.

His deep commitment to the Faith and Justice agenda proposed for Jesuits by GC 32 was very obvious in his homilies at the daily Liturgy – he would illustrate his point by telling stories from “a certain parish where I served”. He was referring to the San Antonio Abac parish in El Salvador where he served as parish priest and where one of his predecessors and several young people on retreat had been shot by the military a few years before.

When he returned to Ireland he joined the Belfast community for a year and contributed to their efforts in the reconciliation between opposing factions in Northern Ireland. This was followed by a year’s sabbatical at Cambridge, Mass. and then by three years in the parish at Venice, California where his fluency in Spanish was appreciated by the many hispanic parishioners.

A series of strokes starting in 2004 forced his return to the Irish nursing unit at Cherryfield and he died there on 9 October, 2005.

◆ Irish Jesuit Missions : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/remembering-james-mcpolin-sj/

In his homily at the funeral of James McPolin SJ, Michael O’Sullivan recalls a life dedicated to faith and justice in El Salvador, in Malawi and here in Ireland. He also remembers
Jimmy as a dedicated and innovative president of the Milltown Institute.
About two years ago Jimmy said to me that he felt most alive and of most use during the years he was in El Salvador (1989-96) – despite the awful suffering among the people and the deadly danger that shadowed his own life. He went there straight after his term as President of Milltown Institute (1983-89). He did so because of his commitment to and companionship with the God whose love makes the promotion of justice an absolute requirement.
Jimmy had hardly arrived in the country when six Jesuits, a woman (Elba Julia) and her daughter (Celina), were murdered by an army death squad at the Jesuit residence on the grounds of the University of San Salvador. The Jesuits were murdered because of their commitment to the faith that does justice; the women, who had taken refuge with the Jesuits after their home had been damaged by gunfire, were killed so as to leave no witnesses. Jimmy could have been among the dead that night, 16 November 1989, given that he had deferred accepting an invitation to stay with the Jesuit community at the University until he had spent more time among the ordinary people. (2) Afterwards his concern to see justice done in the case of his dead Jesuit companions and the two women was viewed by him as a way also of promoting justice for the people of the country. In a letter to members of his family in Ireland in 1990 he wrote: “The future of justice is obfuscated by the fact that the trial of the soldiers for the killings is being impeded by false evidence of the military and by the collusion of the American Embassy and Government.” (3)
You may be aware of the memorial bell on the Milltown avenue in front of the Irish School of Ecumenics building. It was put up in honour of those who were killed that night. One of the dead Jesuits, Amando Lopez, had studied theology at Milltown, and was ordained to the priesthood in this chapel. You can see him in the 1965 ordination photo on the corridor outside this chapel. Another of the dead Jesuits, Ignacio Ellacuria, had done part of his Jesuit formation in Dublin as an ordained priest. The memorial bell will also always be a reminder of the third president of the Institute and the values that took him to El Salvador at that time.
Jimmy also narrowly escaped death at a subsequent date when he found himself under the table while army bullets were sprayed around the room. He was the pastor of San Antonio Abad parish, where a predecessor, and several young people on retreat, had been slain by the army in 1979. I stayed with Jimmy and the Jesuit community at San Antonio Abad during part of my time in El Salvador in 1991 and 1992. One day he asked if I would like to see the new houses he was having built for the poor. We headed toward a four wheel drive vehicle. Remembering that Jimmy did not drive in Ireland, and knowing I did not feel like handling such a large vehicle there and then in San Salvador, I asked him who would be our driver. He told me he would drive. He proved to be a very able driver, having become such out of his desire to serve the poor more effectively.
To understand the development of Jimmy’s commitment to economically poor and politically persecuted people it is necessary to know that in 1974-75 the Jesuits worldwide committed themselves to the work of justice as integral to the service of faith and that Jimmy was one of two Jesuits elected by his Irish colleagues to represent them in Rome where that decision was taken. Then in 1980 I asked him as a leading scripture scholar to review a book that was generating a lot of interest at the time, namely, Jose Miranda’s Marx and the Bible. (4) He told me later that reviewing this book led to a quantum leap in his Jesuit commitment to what had been decided in Rome some years earlier. Viewed from the perspective of spirituality as an academic discipline it can be said that his quantum leap of faith was facilitated by the practice of an intense reading experience. Other kinds of practices would evoke, express and enhance his conversion.
In that year, 1980-81, some of us here at the Institute – students at the time – thought the Institute should take an initiative to stop the intended tour of apartheid South Africa by the Irish rugby team. We held an all night vigil at the premises of the IRFU and collaborated with others in organising and taking part in protest marches on the streets. Jimmy, who was the Dean of Theology at the time, was one of very few academic and administration staff to join us. He also went on a placement to Brixton, England, around that time to work with marginalised black people. This commitment to black people reappeared strongly after his years in El Salvador when he went to live and work in Malawi (1997-99). One of his former Malawian students told me that Jimmy was a friend of the poor and oppressed, and that he lived what he taught from the Bible. This was also true of him in Ireland.
During his years as President of Milltown Institute he accepted an invitation from Seamus Murphy, now a member of the Philosophy Faculty, to live in inner city Dublin as a member of the Jesuit community called after Luis Espinal. Espinal was a Catalan Jesuit who had been murdered in Bolivia for his commitment to the faith that does justice. The Espinal community, which had been brought into being in 1980, the year of Espinal’s martyrdom, by Seamus, Kevin O’Higgins, the former Dean of Philosophy, and myself, when we were students at Milltown, and which was joined almost immediately by John Moore, then a Professor and Head of Department at UCD, was committed to simple living, was a friend to the flat dwellers in the local Dublin Corporation estates, and was a meeting place for social action groups. Jimmy used to cycle to and from Milltown in those years. He also participated regularly in protests outside the U.S. embassy against U.S. foreign policy in Central America, protests in which some staff and students at the Institute took a prominent part.
In line with how he understood and lived his faith and scholarship a defining characteristic of his Presidency was the way he enabled the teaching of liberation and feminist theologies to progress in the Institute. He welcomed me on the staff in 1986 and I am grateful to him for the support he gave me to teach these theologies. Una Agnew, the first female head of a programme at the Institute, and now Head of the Dept. of Spirituality, remembers his commitment to improving the situation of women, while Dominique Horgan, now the Archivist, remembers how he initiated the Adult Religious Education programmes, of which she was the first Director. This commitment to adult religious education is also reflected in the fact that during his years as President he taught scripture at the People’s College, which was located near the Espinal community. He did so there in order to reach out to people who at that time would not come to places like Milltown because of their social class, feelings about the Catholic Church, or educational attainment. Jimmy was a great success with such groups.
After his years in Malawi, following his term as President of the Institute, and his years in El Salvador, Jimmy went to Belfast to be in solidarity with those struggling for peace and justice there. During that time he also wrote a series of very fine articles on scripture texts for readers of the Sacred Heart Messenger. Then, given his language skills, and feeling for Latino peoples, he went to California to be a pastor in a parish with a very large Latino population. While there he suffered a stroke, and had to return to Ireland. More strokes followed. He died on October 9th. May he rest in peace, and may we be inspired by the way he lived the Institute motto to bring scholarship to life. Amen. Alleluia!

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 128 : Special Issue June 2006

Obituary

James (Jimmy) McPolin (1931-2005)

4th June 1931: Born in Limerick
Early education at Crescent College, Limerick
7th September 1948: Entered the Society at Emo
8th September 1950: First Vows at Emo
1950 - 1953: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1953 - 1956: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1956 - 1959: Belvedere - Teacher (Regency)
1959 - 1960: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
1960 - 1963: Frankfurt am Main, Germany - Studied Theology
4th September 1962: Ordained at Frankfurt, Maine
1963 - 1964: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1964 - 1967: Biblical Institute, Rome -D.S.S.
2nd February 1966: Final Vows in Rome
1967 - 1976: Milltown Park -
1967 - 1970: Professor of Sacred Scripture / Rome in alternate semesters
1970 - 1976: Milltown Park - Professor of Sacred Scripture; Superior of Scholastics
1976 - 1977: Betagh House - Professor of Sacred Scripture at Milltown Park
1977 - 1978: Milltown Park - Professor of Sacred Scripture
1978 - 1979: Gonzaga Univ., Spokane, WA, USA - Professor of Sacred Scripture
1979 - 1983: Milltown Park - Professor of Sacred Scripture; Dean Theology Faculty
1983 - 1990: Espinal community -
1983 - 1990: President, Milltown Institute; Lecturer in Sacred Scripture, Writer
1987 - 1990: Superior
1990 - 1998: El Salvador - learning language and parish work
1998 - 1999: Malawi - Lecturer in Sacred Scripture at St. Peter's Seminary
1999 - 2000: Belfast- Ecumenical and Reconciliation Ministry
2000 - 2001: Sabbatical - Faber House, 42 Kirkland Street, Cambridge MA
2001 - 2004: Venice, California - Associate Pastor, St. Mark's Church
2004 - 2005: Gardiner Street - Residing in Cherryfield
9th Oct 2005: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Father Jimmy McPolin was admitted to Cherryfield Lodge on April 5th, 2004 for respite care following a stroke in the USA. While his mobility was poor at times he was self caring for the first six months. Then he was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital on four occasions, having suffered more strokes. His condition deteriorated over this time and in the last six months to a year he needed full nursing care. In that time his mental state also deteriorated. He was unable to converse and was unaware of his surroundings. However, he did appear to know some of the staff.

Michael O'Sullivan writes:
Jimmy was a fellow Limerick man and past pupil of the old Crescent College. I did not meet him, however, until I went to Milltown to study Philosophy in 1974. I found our first meeting painful. I was struggling to come to terms with life in the Milltown of that era after three years in the company of many women friends at UCD, and he, in his role as “Superior of Scholastics”, did not understand that. But he changed. He was an architect of the Formation document at GC 32 with its focus on “the integrated character of apostolic formation”. He also got in touch with his “inner child” and would express this, for example, by dressing up as Santa Claus at the Christmas staff party in Milltown Institute in an effort to lighten up what could be an over sombre atmosphere. His preference to dress in grey rather than the customary clerical black meant that on one occasion at least he was taken for a Protestant minister. This happened when he visited my mother, who did not know him at the time. When she answered the door to him and lie asked her if she was Mrs. O'Sullivan, she replied that, yes, she was, but that she was a Catholic!

In a conversation with Jimmy about two years before he died he said to me that he felt most alive and of most use during the period he was in El Salvador (1989-96) - despite the awful suffering among the people and the deadly danger that shadowed his own life. He went there after his term as President of Milltown Institute (1983-89). He did so because of his commitment to and companionship with the God whose love makes the promotion of justice an absolute requirement. Jimmy had hardly arrived in the country when six Jesuits, a woman (Elba Julia) and her daughter (Celina), were murdered by an army death squad at the Jesuit residence on the grounds of the University of San Salvador. The Jesuits were murdered because of their commitment to the faith that does justice; the women, who had taken refuge with the Jesuits after their home had been damaged by gunfire, were killed so as to leave no witnesses. Jimmy would have been among the massacred that night, 16 November 1989, had he not chosen to spend time among the ordinary people before accepting an invitation to stay with his Jesuit companions at the University. (Jimmy shared this with me in El Salvador in 1991. He had also said this to his family in Ireland, according to his niece, Gráinne) Afterwards his concern to see justice done in the case of these companions and the two women was viewed by him as a way to also promote justice for the people of the country. In a letter to members of his family in Ireland in 1990 he wrote: “The future of justice is obfuscated by the fact that the trial of the soldiers for the killings is being impeded by false evidence of the military and by the collusion of the American Embassy and Government”. (The source for this quote is his niece Gráinne who had also spoken with other members of his extended family.)

Jimmy also narrowly escaped death on another occasion when he found himself under the table while army bullets were sprayed around the room. He was the pastor of San Antonio Abad parish, where a predecessor, and several young people on retreat, had been slain by the army in 1979. I stayed with him and the Jesuit community at the parish during part of my time in El Salvador in 1991 and 1992. One day he asked if I would like to see the new houses he was having built for the poor. We headed toward a four wheel drive vehicle. Remembering that Jimmy did not drive in Ireland, and knowing I did not feel like handling such a large vehicle there and then in San Salvador, I asked who would be our driver. He told me that he would drive. He proved to be a very abie driver, having become such out of his desire to serve the poor more effectively.

To understand the development of Jimmy's commitment to economically poor and politically persecuted people it is necessary to remember that in 1974-75 we committed ourselves at a global level to the work of justice as an integral part of the service of faith and that Jimmy was one of the two delegates elected by his peers to go to the 32nd General Congregation where that decision was taken. Then in 1980 I asked him as a leading scripture scholar to review a book that was generating a lot of interest at the time, namely, Jose Miranda's Marx and the Bible. ((At that time I was co-editing a magazine on faith and justice issues.) He told me later that reviewing this book led to a quantum leap in his Jesuit commitment to Decree 4 of GC 32. Viewed from the perspective of spirituality as an academic discipline it can be said that his leap of faith was facilitated by the practice of an intense reading experience. Other kinds of practices would evoke, express and enhance his conversion.

In the academic year, 1980-81, some theology students at Milltown Institute were strongly of the view that the Institute should take an initiative to stop the intended tour of apartheid South Africa by the Irish rugby team. We held an all night vigil at the premises of the IRFU and collaborated with others in organising and taking part in protest marches on the streets. Jimmy, the Dean of Theology at the time, was one of the very few academic and administration staff who joined us. He also went on a placement to Brixton, England around that time to work with marginalised black people. This commitment to black people reappeared strongly after his years in El Salvador when he went to live and work in Malawi (1997-99). One of his former Malawian students told me that Jimmy was a friend of the poor and oppressed, and that he lived what he taught from the Bible. This was also true of him in Ireland.

During his years as President of Milltown Institute he accepted an invitation from Séamus Murphy to live in inner city Dublin as a member of the Jesuit community called after Luis Espinal. Espinal was a Catalan Jesuit who had been murdered in Bolivia for his commitment to the faith that does justice. The Espinal community, which had been brought into being in 1980, the year of Espinal's martyrdom, by Séamus, Kevin O'Higgins, and myself, when we were theology students at Milltown, and which was joined almost immediately by John Moore, then a Professor and Head of Department at UCD, was committed to simple living, was a friend to the flat dwellers in the local Dublin Corporation estates, and was a meeting place for social action groups. Jimmy used to cycle to and from Milltown in those years. He also participated regularly in protests outside the US embassy against US foreign policy in Central America, protests in which some staff and students at the Institute took a prominent part.

In line with how he understood and lived his faith and scholarship a defining characteristic of his Presidency was the way he enabled the teaching of liberation and feminist theologies to progress in the Institute. He welcomed me on the staff in 1986 and I am grateful to him for the support he gave me to teach these theologies. Una Agnew, the first female head of a programme at the Institute, and now Head of the Dept. of Spirituality, remembers his commitment to improving the situation of women, while Dominique Horgan, now the Archivist, remembers how he initiated the Adult Religious Education programmes, of which she was the first Director. This commitment to adult religious education is also reflected in the fact that during his years as President of the Milltown Institute he taught scripture at the People's College, which was located near the Espinal community. He did so there in order to reach out to people who at that time would not come to places like Milltown because of their social class, feelings about the Catholic Church, or educational attainment. Jimmy was a great success with such groups.

After his years in Malawi, following his term as President of the Institute, and his years in El Salvador, Jimmy went to Belfast to be in solidarity with those struggling for peace and justice there. During that time he also wrote a series of very fine articles on scripture texts for readers of the Sacred Heart Messenger. Then, given his language skills and feeling for Latino peoples, he went to California to serve in a parish with a very large Latino population. While there he suffered a stroke, and had to return to Ireland. More strokes followed. He died on October 9h. May he rest in peace, and may we be inspired by the way he lived the Institute motto to bring scholarship to life. Amen. Alleluia!

From the homily by Derek Cassidy at the Funeral Mass in Gardiner Street:
I have no doubt in my heart or mind that this virtuous soul, at whose invitation we gather today in faith and prayer, is residing easily and comfortably in the hands of our God. It is also unquestionable that Jimmy's illness looked like a disaster and we watched as the person we knew and loved was leaving us over these past twelve months or so, we were stunned and amazed how one who so loved God and who was such a devoted friend and servant of His was so afflicted: God certainly put Jimmy to the test.

But in his own words, writing in his well-received and celebrated tome on “JOHN”, Jimmy reflects for us “the suffering of Jesus is an expression of love, for the Good Shepherd is on His way to lay down His life for His friends out of love” - not like the hired shepherd who would run away from suffering.

Wisdom concludes that “they who trust in the Lord will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with The Lord in love; for grace and mercy await those He has chosen”. That is a verse that Jimmy took on as his leit motiv. He is one who trusted and who lived a faithful life, and now that Jimmy has gone home to the God who chose him, grace and mercy will embrace him. As he wrote in his book, “Jesus' death is a pass(ing) over to the Father, so that Death and Resurrection are inseparable; and the light of the Resurrection penetrates suffering and gives it meaning”.

St Paul confirms our Faith for us in the reading we have just heard. Because of the resurrection, death has no more power over us. We learn this message as we continually enter the waters of our Baptism and let the grace we received there be at work in our lives calling us ever more deeply into the Mystery of Life.

Writing in the introduction to his volume on John, Jimmy alerts us to the fact that the sign of the Fourth Evangelist is that of the Eagle, and reflects for us that this is because John had the MOST penetrating GAZE into the Mystery of God Made Man - of Jesus. We each have our own special memory of Jimmy. Mine centres around Jimmy's own gaze into my eyes - he had a way of looking into my eyes that invited trust and response in care. I often imagine to myself that this is a very Jesus-like gaze, as He (Jesus) looked at the Rich Young Man and loved him.

Born: 15 January 1915, Portroe, County Tipperary
Entered: 24 March 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Final Vows: 15 August 1945, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 13 January 1977, Manresa, Dollymount, Dublin

Brother of Michael McShera - Ent 05/04/1931; LEFT 04/02/1943

◆ Irish Province News 52nd Year No 2 1977 & ◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1977

Manresa
Brother Tony McShera’s heart attack and death during the weekly prayer-meeting on Thursday 13th January was a great shock to our community. He had been at the retreat house door to welcome the participants in his usual hearty manner, and he had just spoken during the meeting itself when the Lord called him. He could not have died in a more appropriate setting, at prayer and in the midst of his friends.

Obituary :

Br Anthony McShera (1915-1977)

Born January 15th at Portroe, Co. Tipperary, he was educated at the Christian Brothers School, Sexton St, Limerick, to the end of his first year Inter. Certificate. He entered the Noviceship on March 24th 1935 and pronounced his First Vows on March 28th 1937.
1937-1954: Cook: Belvedere, where he pronounced his Final Vows on August 15th 1945.
1954-1969: Cook, Milltown Park.
1969-1977: Cook: Manresa House, Dollymount. Died: January 13th 1977.

The long “innings” which he had as cook in each house speaks its own praise, both as regards his work, and as regards the satisfaction he gave to his communities.

Father James Healy, now in Milltown Park, remembers him well. “Living with Brother ‘Mac’ in Milltown was a joy and a pleasure: the pleasure of eating well and the joy of knowing that his professional skill always provided plenty, wasted nothing and cost the minimum. As a scholastic I loved to watch him in the Servery, carrying and dis hing out vegetables for a Community of 80 or more; he had been up since 5.30; had given us porridge and dished out lovely hot bacon and eggs when the mob arrived in a rush for breakfast; he'd spent the whole morning preparing for this moment and for our dinner. He was proud to feed us, so quickly, so pleasantly. His joy was in our pleasure.
‘Mac’ had a wonderful way with the boys on the domestic staff. There was competition among them to get into the kitchen. Once there you served a strict apprenticeship, and you made a lifelong friend. Here was a master craftsman, respecting his tools and materials, rejoicing in his creations, expecting you to do likewise. Be clean. Be punctual. Be methodical. Learn your trade thoroughly. Join a union. I still meet Mac's protegés and they are all proud to be imitators of him, all extremely grateful to him for the formation he gave them.
Mac was still going strong when I returned to teach in Milltown. One year I noticed his room had been changed to a worse one. How come? The Minister had to change someone and knew that Mac would take it more charitably than the alternative victim.
He was never Tony to me not I Jim to him. Titles did not matter. We played golf together. Eugene Ward and Joe Conran invited Mac and myself to make a four for a golfing holiday in Newcastle, Co Down. It must have been one of the first mixed priest-brother villas. Somehow, Mac and I formed a new bond on that villa; the golf brig comes in a variety of species and ours seemed to be - opposed? - well, 'different from that of our companions. Of course the four of us were mad, fanatical. Only we laughed at different moments. Any Christian can share your sorrows. It takes a friend to smile together-– as we did, reminiscently, in later years when I occasionally met him in Manresa. The pleasures pass, the joy remains”.

Father J. C Kelly, S.J., of Milltown Park writes: “He told me, in his inimitable Limerick accent, that one day as a young fella’ he realised with blinding clarity that his vocation in life was to be a cook, He never wanted to do anything else. At the height of his powers in the late fifties in Belvedere, he was a superb cook: and his day began at five o'clock in the morning in the Dublin market buying fresh vegetables. He went to the market on his bike”.

His recreation was golf. Father Matt Meade recalls his dedication to his pastime of golf. Characteristically Brother McShera was wholehearted in his interest in his pastime, and keen to achieve and recall his successes on the Course - which were, indeed, very creditable, although far from rivalling his prowess at his real “vocation” inside the Society of Jesus: his excellence as a cook.

Born: 31 March 1909, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 12 November 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1943, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 24 June 1948, Collège Sainte Famille, Cairo, Egypt
Died: 14 February 1982, Milltown Park, Dublin

Transcribed : HIB to ZAM 03/12/1969; ZAM to HIB 1980

Chaplain in the Second World War with the Royal Air Force.

Early Education at Christian Brothers School, North Brunswick Street, Dublin

by 1951 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - third wave of Zambian Missioners

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Born in Dublin on 31 March 1909 Fr Joseph Augustine McSweeney grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and completed his secondary education with the Christian Brothers in Dublin. He worked for a short time before entering the Society in 1930. He followed the normal university studies, philosophy, regency and theology, being ordained in 1943. In 1945 he was assigned to be chaplain in the Royal Air Force where he served until 1949. He enjoyed his years in the armed forces, especially the opportunity they gave him of seeing the Holy Land and the Middle East. In later years, his recollection of those years seemed to bring him real joy. After a year in Belvedere he was missioned to Chikuni in Zambia. There he taught as a Jesuit priest for 17 years, from 1950 to 1967. Because of poor health, he then returned to Ireland. He celebrated his jubilee, 50 years as a Jesuit, in 1980. Two years afterwards, he died in Dublin in 1982.

A single quotation from one of his letters will best describe the type of dedicated man Joe McSweeney was: ‘I have the normal 28 periods a week, and as these are all in Forms 5 and 6, they involve much preparation and correction of homework. During this term, I have felt bound to give 4 more periods a week to teaching hymns to Forms 1,2,3 and 4, because the singing of hymns at Mass and Benediction has become very poor. This makes 32 periods. I give 7 hours a week attending at the Spiritual Father's room; this is the equivalent of another 10 periods a week; altogether 42 periods’.

Besides being a highly competent teacher, Fr McSweeney was a most devoted spiritual Father in Canisius. Throughout his 17 years he was always concerned about providing his students with both religious and moral training, never taking the easy way out. ‘Training in responsibility needs continual supervision’ was one of his beliefs with the result that he was present at all student Masses throughout the week, being available to them in the confessional, at all times promoting among them a habit of regular attendance at Mass and reception of the sacraments.

It was he who introduced and promoted religious groups like the Crusaders of the Blessed Sacrament, Apostleship of Prayer and the Sodality of Our Lady. His serious conscientiousness was evident in all that he did. The young students appreciated his gentleness and thoroughness. In the homily in Gardiner Street at his funeral, Fr Paul Brassil, the Zambian provincial, told of the past pupils' appreciation and gratitude for all that they had received from him. “An outstanding, successful teacher” was the description of Joe that those who worked with him in Chikuni gave him.

By no stretch of imagination could Fr Joe be termed a modern, well-integrated priest. He was just an old-fashioned, slightly nervous and tense priest, but he did dedicate himself fully to the improvement of his students. And they were his students, particularly the senior ones for whom he had a great sensitivity.

Towards the end of his teaching at Canisius, Fr Joe began to suffer from his nerves, finding it more and more difficult to cope with the normal tensions of a dedicated teacher's life. Of course he had always been a perfectionist. Even in his more relaxed days he had required at least a month's notice to prepare his choir for a sung Mass. It is quite easy to imagine the agony that the more casual attitudes of today can be to a perfectionist! But even when he felt the lack of special attention in the way of food more suitable to his needs, he retained his sense of humor: ‘I hope at 57 I am not going to be asked to approach the minister, plate in hand like Oliver Twist, toties quoties, for some more’.

In Joe's case, it is now clear that in this nervous person, God provided us with a great example of care and dedication and He no doubt even now rewards Fr McSweeney’s dedicated response to this vocation.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Clerk before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 57th Year No 2 1982
Obituary

Fr Joseph McSweeney (1909-1930-1982)

I have an early memory of Joe McSweeney in Emo noviceship coming out to recreation wearing a peaked tweed cap. The memory remains because the incident was unusual, yet it puts Joe in context. He was a late arrival to the noviceship (November, 1930) and a late - though not very late - vocation. Chronologically he was only a few years older than the rest of us schoolboys of the previous June, yet his experience of having had a job seemed to invest him with a maturity we didn't have.
Then as always, seriousness was his outstanding characteristic. He tackled the outdoor works, which were a real trial to him, with the determination of a man whose job depended on doing so much in a fixed time. One of the jobs the novices had to do with pick and shovel was to clear the overgrown paths of the vegetation which had spread unchecked for fourteen years. Joe applied the principle Age quod agis to every task and ministry he ever undertook, as few men have applied it.
When we moved to Rathfarnham for juniorate, Joe enjoyed the studies, and to my mind was a far happier person than he had been when using pick and shovel in Emo. Though serious, he had a good sense of humour, and responded positively to our jovial ragging with a laugh. As a junior he was put in charge of our Pioneer total abstinence branch, and when one night he grew weary of the jocose cases of conscience we were giving him, he just stood up, bowed, and with a laugh announced “The meeting is over, gentlemen” and ran.
In Tullabeg, as in Rathfarnham, he got real satisfaction in study - this time of philosophy. He never gave the impression that he ambitioned being an academic, yet in conversation he showed how thoroughly he had mastered the matter in hand, and what relish the mastering of it had given him. He played games, though he was not an athlete, and took part in everything that was going on in the scholastic community. We knew him as a very self-contained person whose prime relationship was with God. He was never late for “morning oblation”, nor did he “hit the floor” for any other faults that brought many of us to our knees in the refectory.
He was apprehensive of life in the colleges, but when the time came and he was posted to the Crescent, he dedicated himself entirely to his teaching. He showed his courage and generosity in undertaking to teach a beginners class Greek, though he had never studied it previously.
He was delighted to be sent to Milltown after a two-year regency. In those years the Second World War kept all the native scholastics within the shores of Ireland. Theology interested Joe as much as, if not more than, philosophy, and it afforded him scope for his interest in argument and discussion. Here as always he was the unobtrusive obliging one you could always rely on to do the job you could coax no one else to do.
His post-tertianship status - chaplain to the RAF - came as a great shock to most of us, his contemporaries. We thought Joe’s academic outlook and innate reserve and shyness would make a chaplain’s life a very trying one for him. He didn't seem to view it that way at all. In his simple direct approach, he took it as God's will for him, and God would see him through. So quite undaunted he donned the officer's uniform. He enjoyed his years in the armed forces, especially the opportunity they gave him of seeing the Holy Land and the Middle East. In recent years his recollection of those years seemed to bring him real joy.
My knowledge of Joe’s success as a teacher in Zambia (1950-'70) comes from those who shared the burden of the day with him there. That serious conscientiousness was as evident there as it had been elsewhere. The young Zambians appreciated and valued his gentleness and thoroughness more than their less studious Irish contemporaries seem to have done. Paul Brassil, the Zambian Provincial, in his homily at Joe's funeral Mass in Gardiner street, told us of his past pupils’ appreciation of and gratitude for all that they had received from him. An outstanding successful teacher, was the description of Joe that those who worked with him in Chikuni gave us. Yet Joe himself seemed unaware of his success and equally unconcerned about it. He rarely initiated conversation about either his teaching or his week-end parish ministry. It was part of what God's providence had brought about through him. That seemed to be the view of the truly humble, obedient, unassuming Joe.
He returned to Ireland (1970) a semi invalid, taught in Mungret for two years, but discovered that his energy was unequal to the task; moved to Rathfarnham to do secretarial work, thence to Monkstown (1974) and finally to Milltown Park (1975). Those of us who had known him as a younger man, and accompanied him in his last years in Milltown, were saddened to see how ill health had affected him so seriously. In recent years, when he felt well, he could still enjoy an argument or discussion as much as ever. However, his nervous debility dictated for him a routine pattern of living that seemed almost compulsive.
For example, he went out every afternoon and had a cup of tea: in Bewley's restaurant, if he got as far as the city centre; or in a Ranelagh tea-room if he could go no farther.
He was up at six every morning, said his prayers and offered Mass. This daily act of worship had come to be the occasion of considerable anxiety to him. He concelebrated with us frequently, but we were aware of the strain that so doing caused him. Meals were a big part of the compulsive routine that he seemed forced to follow. He found it difficult to follow the letter of the law that the doctor laid down for him, but frequently spoke of the kindness and consideration of the kitchen and refectory staff in helping him to do so. The staff in turn, despite Joe's ill-timed visits to the kitchen, his ever recurring questions and requests, saw and appreciated the gentleness and courtesy that his illness had obscured but not destroyed. They had a real affection for him.

Here is an excerpt from Fr Tom O'Brien's tribute in the newsletter of the Zambian Vice-Province (Jesuits in Zambia: News): A single quotation from one of his letters will best describe the type of dedicated man Joe McSweeney was:
I have the normal 28 periods per week, and as these are all in Forms 5 and 6, they involve much preparation and correction of homework. During this term I have felt bound to give 4 more periods a week to teaching hymns to Forms 1, 2, 3 and 4, because the singing of hymns at Mass and Benediction has become very poor. This makes 32 periods. I give 7 hours a week attending at the Spiritual Father's room: this is the equivalent of another 10 periods per week; altogether, 42 periods.
Besides being a highly competent teacher, Fr McSweeney was a most devoted Spiritual Father in Canisius (Secondary School, Chikuni). Through out his twenty years [in Zambia) he was
always concerned about providing his students with both religious and moral training, never taking the easy way out. ‘Training in responsibility needs continual supervision' was one of his beliefs; with the result that he was present at all student Masses throughout the week; was available to the students in the confessional at all times; and promoted among them a habit of regular attendance at Mass and reception of the Sacraments of confession and communion, It was Fr McSweeney who introduced and promoted religious groups like Crusaders of the Blessed Sacrament, Apostleship of Prayer and the Sodality of Our Lady, giving to this apostolic work his meager spare time.
By no stretch of imagination could Fr McSweeney be termed a modern, well integrated priest. He was just an old fashioned, slightly nervous and tense priest, who dedicated himself to the improvement of his students, for whom he had a great sensitivity, particularly for the senior ones. In reaction to some derogatory remarks made by his fellow Jesuit teachers in regard to the boy-girl mores of Chikuni, Fr McSweeney once had this to say: “If such fathers had more pastoral experience, they would have more respect; and respect is very important in affecting our words and actions towards others”. In fact it was his conviction that his students at Canisius were superior in this regard to their peers in other countries.
Towards the end of his teaching at Canisius, Fr Joe began to suffer from his nerves, finding it more and more difficult to cope with the normal tensions of a dedicated teacher's life. Of course he had always been a perfectionist; even in his more relaxed days he had required at least a month's notice to prepare his choir for a sung Mass. It is quite easy to imagine the agony that the more casual attitudes of today can present to a perfectionist?
However, even when he felt the lack of special attention in the way of food more suitable to his needs, he retained his sense of humour: “I hope that at 57 I am not going to be asked to approach the Minister plate in hand like Oliver Twist toties quoties for some more”.
In Joe’s case it is clear that in this nervous person God provided us with a great example of care and dedication, and no doubt rewards even now such a response to this vocation. We praise and thank Him, and ask Him to look mercifully on the soul of our fellow-worker. [He died on 14th February 1982.]

Born: 11 June 1861, Toomebridge, Creagh, County Antrim
Entered: 23 September 1891, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 19 June 1887
Final Vows: 15 August 1906, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 02 July 1950, Crescent College, Limerick

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 25th Year No 4 1950

Obituary

Fr. Patrick McWilliams (1861-1891-1950)

Father Patrick McWilliams was born on the 11th of June, 1861, at Creagh, Toomebridge. The third youngest of eight children, be went to his father's school for his primary education before proceeding to the seminary at Armagh. After a short period in the seminary he went to Maynooth in 1883 and, in 1887, was ordained there for the Archdiocese of Armagh. He entered the Society on the 23rd of September, 1891. He was sent to the Crescent in 1895, where, with the exception of one year (1901-02), when he was stationed in Tullabeg, he remained until his death.
In his early years at the Crescent he was a member of the Mission Staff. For a few years his name figured on the roll of the College Staff. From 1912-48 he was the Spiritual Director of the Ladies Sodality of the Children of Mary. From the beginning of his stay in the Crescent he was an operarius, and he carried out that role in full, without fail and to the end. His career in the Crescent was characterised not by spasmodic incident but by rigorous attention. to duty. For generations of Limerick people he was the model priest : serene of temperament, a patient listener, with admirable judgment, ever ready to help others, the trusted director of souls. Many people came long distances to consult him on some intricate problem. And yet, he who was the gifted confidant of so many adults, had also the unusual and well-remembered talent for hearing the confessions of little children. It has been said often since his death that “all Limerick must have made their first confession to Father McWilliams”.
Until the end he was unfailingly exact in his attention to his duties as confessor and preacher as well as to all the duties of community life. Until the end his well prepared sermons were delivered with a verve and resonance that made them heard even by the men standing at the back of the church. He grew old gracefully : he ever retained his handsome mien and upright carriage. He grew old gracefully, without angularity of character, without laying the burden of his duties on the shoulders of others, without complaint. And he died as he had lived - serene and without fuss.

Appreciation :
Nearly all his priestly life, was spent in the rather obscure work of preacher and confessor in a provincial town. But what a life! He became one of the landmarks of Limerick, known and revered and referenced by man, woman and child in the city. Thousands sought his solace in the confessional and parlours. He was a tower of strength to the weak. He poured consolation into the hearts of the depressed. He was ever ready to help the poor and the needy and to restore peace to the harassed soul. It is no exaggeration to say that there was hardly ever a priest in Limerick who wielded such influence and always for the greater glory of God. His thoroughness, his sincerity, his all embracing charity quarried for him a way to the hearts of all.
His sermons were models of lucidity and phraseology, always carefully prepared and always delivered with grace and dignity. He never preached a bad sermon in his life and of the thousands of sermons he preached one of the most eloquent was the one he preached a few weeks before his last illness - to be exact 25th March - a sermon that excited the admiration of many of his audience and - let us say - the envy of some members of the community who heard it. He did not, however, strive after effect. He had a message to deliver - the Master's Message - and he delivered it to his hearers in a way that pleased as well as instructed. The words of the poet may very well be applied to him:
“His preaching much but more his practice wrought
A burning sermon of the truths he taught
In manner simple, grave, sincere,
In doctrine incorrupt; in language plain
As well becomes a messenger of grace to sinful man”.
He united doctrine with exhortation and thus appealed to mind and heart. He strove to make his hearers not merely wise, but good. Conscious of his mission he was anxious that his audience should feel conscious, too, that life was no sluggard's paradise into which they had wandered by chance, but a battlefield from which there is no escape.
He was a very good moral theologian - of sound and ripe judgment and quick to grasp all sides of the question. When he had charge of the Cases of Conscience his summing up at the end was often a master piece of clarity and erudition.
His knowledge of people was phenomenal. He seemed to have contacts in the most remote villages of the country. Enquiries respecting him came from the most remote places. Priests and religious had the greatest confidence in him.. And no wonder! He was a true shepherd and no mercenary. He drew all towards Heaven by gentleness and good example,
Always kind and gentle when gentleness and kindness were demanded, he could be very severe on occasions and it must be said he did not suffer fools gladly. If he had to speak he spoke fearlessly and boldly. He didn't believe in doing things by halves. He was forthright in word and action. He had ever the calm and coolness of the truly courageous man. He did not shun the hives because the bees had stings. His devotion to duty was beyond all praise. Wherever he was supposed to be, whether in the pulpit or Box or at the Altar there he was to be found. He did not choose, Beau Brummell fashion, to be always late and therefore he never deserved the sharp admonition from an Abercorn. His work was perhaps of the humdrum type, but what more beautiful, what more satisfying than the calm and resolute determination of the priest to feed the flock entrusted to his care. No wonder his passing called forth such profound grief and sorrow in the city. The Church was packed with mourners for the Requiem Mass. His Lordship the Bishop presided and about fifty priests attended in the Choir. He has bequeathed to us all his example as a legacy. The consciousness of duty well-performed and the public voice of praise that honours virtue: all that was his
The virtues of those whose faces we shall see no more appear greater and more sacred when viewed through the medium of the grave. Irving it is who says the grave buries every error, covers every defect, extinguishes every resentment. It may be truly said of Fr. McWilliams that, "taken all in all, we shall not see his like again," Full of years and merit, mourned by all who knew him, he has passed on. God rest his soul.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick McWilliams SJ 1861-1950
The name of Fr Patrick McWilliams wil ever be associated with Limerick and the Crescent.

Born at Toomebridge in 1861, he entered the Society as a priest in 1891, For the whole of his long life, one year excepted, he worked as Operarius in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Limerick. He was known as a confessor and guide far and wide to both priests and layfolk. At the same time he was alo a favourite for children’s confessions. When he died on March 29th 1850, it was said of him “that all Limerick must have made their first Confession to Fr McWilliams”.

Shrewd, kindly, a keen and accurate judge of character, the Province lost in him one of its model priests and rare spiritual guides.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Patrick McWilliams (1861-1950)

Was born on the 11th June, 1861, at Creagh, Toomebridge. He received his early education at his father's school and in St Patrick's College, Armagh. He was ordained, for the archdiocese of Armagh, in 1887 at Maynooth where he had done his higher studies. Four years later, on 23 September, he entered the Society. He joined the Crescent community in 1895 and, with the exception of one year, 1901-02, when he was stationed at Tullabeg, he remained in Limerick until his death. From the beginning of his assignment to Limerick up to the end, he laboured as confessor and preacher in the Sacred Heart Church. In his early years, however, at the Crescent, he was engaged also as a master in the school. Within the Society, Father McWilliams was one of the most revered Jesuits of his time. Throughout his long life he enjoyed the absolute trust of his superiors and the respect and affection of those privileged to live with him. He never became a superior in the Irish Province, not that he lacked the qualities necessary for government, but simply because he felt that in the position assigned him from the beginning he could labour most for the glory of God. It was an open secret some decades before his death that he had been appointed rector of one of the Society's houses in Ireland, but the letters patent of the General from Rome were never promulgated.

For generations of Limerick people, he was the model priest: serene of temperament, a patient listener, with admirable judgment, ever ready to help others, the trusted director of souls.

Born: 18 August 1911, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1931, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1944, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1968, Sacred Heart, Monze, Zambia
Died: 14 April 1980, Mater Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya - Zambia Province (ZAM)

Part of the Chivuna, Monze, Zambia community at the time of death.

Older brother of Paddy Meagher - RIP 2005
Cousin of John P Leonard - RIP 2006

Mission Superior Lusaka Superior of the Poloniae Minoris Jesuit Mission to Lusaka Mission : (POL Mi) 11 August 1955
Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Chikuni Mission: 01 January 1957

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 03 December 1969

by 1951 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - third wave of Zambian Missioners
Mission Superior Lusaka (POL Mi) 11 August 1955
Mission Superior Chikuni (HIB) 01 January 1957

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
‘Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them’ (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night). These words in some way could be applied to Fr Louis (nobody called him 'Daniel'). In human qualities Fr Louis was very ordinary. He saw himself as a great 'chancer' (his own word), meaning that he was willing to try his hand at anything, though not highly gifted for anything in particular. In fact, he found the studies in the Society extremely difficult but he realized that they were a preparation for the works of the Society like preaching and retreat giving. His tremendous determination and great sense of mission carried him through these difficulties so that at the end of his training he was better equipped to carry on apostolic works than many others more talented than he was. He had ‘greatness thrust upon him’ as he was appointed superior of the Irish Jesuits in Zambia a few years after arriving there.

He had come to Zambia in 1950, one of the original nine Irish Jesuits appointed to come to Chikuni Mission. The appointment came as a shock to Louis but he faced up to the situation as he had faced up to all the difficulties in his life. He was also appointed Vicar General of the Monze diocese where he was so highly appreciated by all.

After school at St Finians and Belvedere, he entered the Society at Emo in 1931. For regency he taught at Clongowes Wood College and then proceeded to Milltown Park where he was ordained in 1944. Afterwards he went to the Crescent, Limerick, to teach there until he came to Zambia in 1950.

In the early 60s, he began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis which crippled him increasingly until his death. It was in this that Louis ‘achieved greatness’ in the way he bore his illness for nearly 20 years. He could laugh and talk as if he had not a care in the world. He was an 'Easter person' who by word and deed reflected the good news of the victory of the Cross and of the joyfulness of the Resurrection. It is possible to resign oneself to suffering but it is a very different thing to bring sunshine into the lives of others at the same time. This calls for great faith, hope and charity. Louis retained a warm and appreciative interest in everyone to such a degree that all considered themselves to hold a special place in his heart.
He had a happy interest in the life of the secondary school at Chivuna and helped the community there through his visiting, his counselling, his concern for each one's welfare, for their academic achievements as well as their prowess in sports.

Finally when arthritis made him almost unable to walk, he made the journey to Nairobi in Kenya to see if anything could be done for his feet. While there in hospital, he was anxious to get back to Chivuna for the opening of the school term. However, cardio-respiratory failure was the final cause of his death there at the age of 68.
His remains were flown to Zambia and he was buried at Chikuni on 14 April 1980. The most noticeable thing about Louis' funeral was the manner in which the ordinary Tonga people seemed very clearly to take over the burying of their priest. It would have been unthinkable to bury Louis elsewhere, he who had lived and worked among them for 30 years

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 55th Year No 3 1980
Obituary
Fr D Louis Meagher (1911-1931-1980)
(The following piece, by Fr Socius, Zambia, is copied from the VPZ Newsletter:)
Normally I would ask someone else to write an obituary. But in this case I wish to do it myself; partly, I suppose, because my friendship with him goes as far back as 1948, when I was a schoolboy at the Crescent in Limerick.
Fr Louis died in the Mater hospital, Nairobi, on 14 April, 1980, having said Mass on the same day. Cardio-respiratory failure was the final cause of his death at the age of sixty-eight.
Requiem Mass was celebrated for the repose of his soul in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Family, Nairobi, with a cardinal and about 50 priests concelebrating. His remains were flown home to Zambia, and he was buried at Chikuni on 19 April. Though both Bishop Corboy and Bishop Munhandu conducted the funeral services, with nearly 50 fellow-priests concelebrating, I would say that the most noticeable fact of Louis’s funeral was the manner in which the ordinary Tonga people seemed very clearly to take over the burying of their own priest. It would have been unthinkable to bury Fr Louis elsewhere.
Ordained in 1944, Fr Louis taught for a while in the Crescent College and then came to Zambia in 1950, working principally in the Chikuni area till he was appointed Superior of the Jesuits of the Chikuni Mission in 1955. In the early 1960s he began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, which crippled him increasingly till his death. His work as Vicar-General of the Monze diocese was highly appreciated by all. In recent years, as chaplain to St. Joseph's secondary school, Chivuna, Louis was the friend and inspiration to all.
At a special requiem Mass at St Ignatius, Lusaka, I was asked to preach the homily, in which I tried to highlight three outstanding characteristics of Louis - in an attempt to learn the meaning of his life. I would like to repeat these briefly:
His undiminished interest in other people: You would excuse interest diminishing through age or sickness; but in him there was none of these. Louis retained a warm and appreciated interest in everyone, to such a degree that they all considered themselves to hold a special place in his heart. And of course this deep interest enabled Louis to converse with absolutely anyone - on any subject under the sun.
His humility and freedom from conceit: In human qualities Fr Louis was very ordinary. He saw himself as a great “chancer” (his own word), meaning that he was willing to try his hand at anything, though not highly gifted for anything in particular. He would never have considered himself outstanding - a gifted preacher, an intellectual, a specialist, a famous Jesuit (!) or a holy priest. In God’s own wisdom it was the way he bore his illness for nearly 20 years that made Louis extraordinary. To listen to him talk and laugh you could easily imagine he hadn't a worry in the world, though he was largely crippled with rheumatoid arthritis. Such inspiring acceptance indicated a very deep spirituality.
“Let there be sunshine in my world together with you” are the words of a popular song today. And they apply very much to Fr Louis. It is possible for people who suffer seriously over a long period of time to find solace in the mystery of the Cross; but often such people communicate a faith which stays at the Cross. Louis however was definitely an “Easter person”, who by both word and deed reflected the good news of the victory of the Cross and the joyfulness of the Resurrection. It is possible to resign oneself to suffering, but very difficult to bring sunshine also into the world of others; this calls for great faith, hope and charity.
I think it was Louis’s remarkable ability to proclaim charismatically “Praise the Lord” with his crippled body that was his outstanding gift to us all.
In his obituary notice on Louis Meagher, Fr Tom O'Brien has rightly emphasised Louis' courage and cheerfulness in his sickness and often painful suffering during the last twenty years of his life. I would like to add that this courage and determination was something which was built into Louis's character during his years of formation and his early work in the Society before bad health came upon him.
Louis found extremely difficult not only the studies in the Society but also the preparation for many of the works such as preaching and the giving of retreats. Study for him was always a real grind, but he had tremendous determination and a great sense of mission and this carried him through, so that at the end of his training he was better equipped to carry on the apostolic works of the Society than many others who were endowed with greater intelligence and other natural gifts.
There was however one gift with which Louis was endowed to an extraordinary degree, and that was a very attractive and cheerful personality. This natural charm enabled him to make friends with people of every, age and sex. It was quite an experience to see Louis meeting strangers (sometimes unfriendly strangers) and in no time
they were at ease and enjoying his company.
When Louis came to Zambia he needed all his courage and determination. A few years after his arrival he found himself saddled with the job of religious superior of the Irish Jesuits here and that of vicar-general of their section of the archdiocese of Lusaka. These were difficult times for Louis due to lack of finance and other circumstances beyond his control. The appointment came as a great shock to Louis. I can well remember that for once he looked really down in the mouth. However he faced up to the situation as he had faced up to all the difficulties in his years as a scholastic. To a large extent he concealed all his worries and anxieties and he surprised us all by his ability to lead and to govern during those difficult years.
I would like to single out one special virtue which was very evident to me in his administration of the Mission. I was closely associated with him as a consultor for most of those years, and I can honestly say that I don't think that he was ever influenced by self-interest in any of the decisions he made. His likes and dislikes of other people (and like any normal person he had his likes and dislikes) never influenced his decisions. When he made mistakes they could never be attributed to selfish motives.
When sickness and pain came upon Louis it was no surprise to me that he bore it with courage and unselfish cheerfulness to the end. Louis was only continuing to live his life as he had always lived it.

With Louis Meagher’s death, the communities at Civuna have lost a great friend and a loyal support. The mission at large will miss him for his great enthusiasm and inspiration; but as Christ said to the Apostles, one feels that it is better that he should go to his Father because now he will help us all the more and his spirit will continue to inspire us.
“I only want to complete the work the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the good news about the grace of God”. In Louis’ last days in a Nairobi hospital he still had one great wish, namely to return to Civuna and continue his apostolate. That was not to be; but the tributes at his burial at Chikuni were a sign that not only at Civuna but in the diocese as a whole, his life and work made a lasting impact on the people. About 50 priests concelebrated Mass with our bishop, James Corboy, and the bishop of the neighbouring diocese of Livingstone, brothers, sisters and the ordinary people in great numbers.
Louis could have called a halt twenty years ago when he first developed arthritis and the doctors declared that he had only a few months to live. But that wasn’t Louis Meagher. He fought against his illness every day since then, never giving in and never complaining, but took all the medical attention he could get, including the hip operation. Finally, when the arthritis made him almost unable to walk, he made his journey to Nairobi to see if anything could be done for his feet.
As a community man he was always cheerful and available. He was interested in everything that was going on in the parish; the numbers at Mass in each centre, the leaders, the catechists, development work and the youth. He had a deep impact on the life of the Secondary school and helped to form both staff and pupils into a happy community through his visiting, his counselling, his interest in each one's welfare, the academic achievements of the girls and in sport. Probably one of the best tributes to his time in Civuna is the formation of the new diocesan congregation of sisters, the Sisters of the Holy Spirit, who celebrated their 10th anniversary on Pentecost weekend (24th-25th May). They now have 12 sisters, all past pupils of the school; four are teaching here and others are still in training for their future ministries. They always came to him for advice and help, and the encouragement they received is evident in the very pleasant family spirit which they have developed: each one's personality and talents are able to be brought together for the good of all.
I think if there is one single lesson that Louis's life teaches it is this, . to use whatever talents the Lord has given us, perfect them through developing them for the sake of others, until we all attain maturity, contributing to the completed growth of Christ. It is no coincidence that Louis took to the Charismatic Renewal in the Church as a fish takes to water, and in spite of his ill-health, attended the local and national conferences and inspired many people by his presence. The Spirit of the risen Lord was certainly evident in him, but it was a light shining from the daily cross of physical suffering. May he enjoy a rich reward for his life of faith and service to others and may he always inspire us to go and do the same.

Born: 27 September 1889, Raheen, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1906, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 15 August 1921, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1924
Died: 28 January 1955, St John’s Hospital, Limerick

Part of the Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare community at the time of death and was on a break at Crescent College, Limerick at the time of death

by 1911 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1913 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 30th Year No 2 1955

Obituary :

Father Michael Meaney

Fr. Michael Meaney died on January 29th, 1955, in St. John's Hospital in his native Limerick, and was buried from the Crescent, where he had been at school and where he had later laboured, in Church and College, for many years. He had gone to Limerick for a short rest, hoping to find relief from a skin affection, but almost at once he took ill, and after a few weeks died. His funeral, one of the largest seen at the Crescent Church, was a remarkable tribute to a man who had spent all his working life in the class-room or the school corridor.
His career in the Society was uneventful. He entered the Noviceship at Tullabeg in 1906, and did his philosophy at Stonyhurst and Louvain. As a scholastic he taught in Mungret and Clongowes, and after his Tertianship he became First Prefect in Mungret for a year, during which he made his solemn profession. Two years as Prefect of Studies in Clongowes followed, and one in the same post in Mungret. In 1928 he went to the Crescent and soon became a full-time worker in the Church, as well as teacher. In 1943 he was transferred to Clongowes where he remained until his death.
Fr. Meaney was exceptionally gifted both as a preacher and teacher, especially the latter. His own standards were high, and he exacted a high standard of work and achievement from his classes. Many boys found his insistence on hard work and accuracy a surprise, and then, for a while, a trial, before they recognised it, as almost all did in the end, as a blessing. He could be severe in his earlier years (and as Prefect of Studies he was probably too severe) and at times it required from him a considerable effort to suffer fools gladly : but, whatever his success in this, he never, even at his mellowest, could abide slovenly work or idleness. This salutary intolerance, added to his energy and extra ordinary clarity of mind, made him the phenomenally successful teacher that he was, and won for him the respect, and, in his later years, the affection of his boys. “I had studied Latin for three years before I came to Fr. Meaney's class”, said one who left school in recent years. “After three weeks with him I began to know what it was about, within four I was becoming good at it, and in less than three months I realised that here was a subject that would never cause me trouble”. Such boys learned more than Latin and English from Fr. Meaney and their mastery of difficulties with him was a lesson for life.
He was a happy, cheerful teacher, too. Although an exceptionally gifted man, he never felt any temptation to think, as he passed from class to class among the boys, that his talents were being left to rust in such work and that he was a martyr, damnatus ad bestias. Such temptations are not unknown but he found his happiness in using all his gifts splendidly in God's service in the colleges.
His literary gifts were seen to advantage in his retreats and sermons. And here also his high standards were evident. Every sermon was perfectly prepared, perfectly learned, and delivered with confidence and conviction. Some felt that occasional sermons suited him best and that his composition and style were above the ordinary congregation : this opinion could perhaps be defended, and it is certainly true that he was characteristically impatient of the criterion of “what the people like”. The best work of the Society was inspired, he thought, by a very different standard. And yet the people did appreciate his sermons greatly and admired him a preacher.
As a confessor he had much success with scrupulous penitents, and his clear, objective, sympathetic direction won him many friends who frequently returned to seek his help and advice outside confession. This, perhaps, is why he seemed to have more and closer friends among lay people than within the Society. They sought him out, but for himself he was a man of such self-reliance and strength of mind that he seldom felt the need of help from others. Yet he was an excellent community man and a splendid companion, especially on the golf-course. Here again his high standards were seen he played an excellent game and abhorred all that was slip-shod. He had no time for those who look on golf merely as an excuse for fresh air and exercise, and who are free and easy about the rules!
In the last years of his life he was called on to endure much more than most people suspected; for he never complained or spoke about himself. Very frequently he went to class after a night of sleepless suffering, and no one was ever the wiser, and his work continued at the same high level. At times it became clear that it would be dangerous for him to teach, and then it needed all the persuasion of Minister and doctor to induce him to take a rest from work. And after each recovery he worked on, sustained by his indefatigable spirit and simple piety, especially his devotion to the Rosary. It was thought he meditated daily on Our Lord's warning of the night when no man can work. But he dreaded too the evening of life when he might not be able to continue his service in the class-room. So, when God called him to his reward after a short illness, his friends saw in this a great mercy. And if any man had earned his rest, he had. May he rest in peace.

◆ The Clongownian, 1955

Obituary

Father Michael Meaney SJ

On January 29th Father Michael Meaney died in Limerick, where he bad gone for a short rest and change of air. By his death we lost one of the most remarkable teachers ever to stand in a Clongowes class-room, or indeed anywhere else.

His teaching career began in Mungret, and in 1915 he came as a scholastic to Clongowes, where he remained until 1919. He returned as Prefect of Studies for the years 1925-1927, and his third period here lasted from 1943 until his death,

Those who knew Father Meaney in his younger years will remember him as a teacher of extraordinary ability, but they will recall too a man who could be severe, and at times very severe. And if it is true that the large majority of those who studied under his ferule were most' grateful to him at examination times and in later life, even they in their mature years might be surprised at the great affection he inspired in his boys during the later period of his life. It was not that the passing years had taught him to suffer fools gladly - at all times that required on his part a heroic effort; it was not that he had lost his salutary intolerance of slip-shod work or any form of idleness; but his interests and affections had developed and broadened until they embraced completely the whole boy, and went far be yond the embryonic latinist or English scholar. Everything that concerned his pupils became of importance to him ; his ready laugh was heard more frequently on the galleries as well as in the class-room, and one had but to listen to him discuss the progress of some slower scholar, or meet him, blue with cold, returning from a Rugby match and hear his detailed commentary on the play afterwards, to realise how broad and deep his sympathies and affections were.

His success as a teacher was exceptional, and exceptional too the range of subjects he taught throughout the years. In one of his first classes in Clongowes a boy won the Medal for French in Junior Grade, in one of his last, another took first place in Latin and a scholarship in the University En rance; and in the intervening years he had taught English, History, Geography and Mathematics with like success. And this success was not limited to his cleverer pupils, who invariably acquitted themselves brilliantly; whole classes achieved extraord inarily high marks and occasionally classes whose ability was notoriously mediocre sur prised themselves and most others after a year or two with him. Nor was this suc cess confined to examinations : one had but to meet his boys to see that they had learned from him a real appreciation of the subjects he taught. But he imparted too something more important than this appreciation - the self-confidence that comes from difficulties faced and conquered and the sense of achievement and satisfaction that inevitably follows hard, honest work.

With his powerful mind, sharp and analytic, he had no time for catchwords and cant; and his vigorous character could not abide slovenliness or slip-shod work, or accept promise as a substitute for perform ance. “Catchwords and cant, slovenliness and sloppy work”_-how his slightly rasp ing voice would declaim the litany of what lie thought were the besetting evils of modern Irish life! And if any teacher sent out his boys well-armoured to meet them, it was he.

Towards the end of his life his health steadily grew worse. The broad athletic frame was as strong as ever, but the attacks of asthma from which he suffered becaine more frequent and painful. In class he was frequently seized with bouts of coughing that went on until it seemed that he must collapse. Physical effort became most difficult and the journey by stairs and galleries to the class-rooms and back was for him a via dolorosa that he steadfastly refused to shorten. “Poor Father Meaney!” a boy would say, as he came upon him, breathless and with bowed head, pausing to rest before the effort of the stairs that lead to the Serpentine.

Poor Father Meaney it is sad to think that the brave, hearty laugh is stilled, difficult to realise that his full, clear, accurate mind, so long at the service of his boys, is at rest. And how he merited that rest, and the contemplation of the Truth he loved and served so faithfully!

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Michael Meaney (1889-1955)

Born at Raheen, Ballysheedy, Co Limerick and educated at Sacred Heart College, entered the Society in 1906. He pursued his higher studies in England, Louvain and Milltown Park. On the completion of his studies, he was appointed prefect at Mungret College and the following year prefect of studies at Clongowes. In 1928 he was appointed to Crescent College where he remained fifteen years. During his stay in Limerick, Crescent College was in the process of renewing, with ever increasing success, its prestige of the olden days. Father Meaney contributed to this success in no small way by his devotion to duty as an efficient teacher. At the same time, he earned for himself the reputation of a priest unselfishly devoted to the administration of the sacraments and preaching. By the early 1940's, he had begun to suffer much from asthma and was transferred to Clongowes. At Clongowes his teaching hours had to be shortened but during those years he continued to get brilliant results from his classes, especially in Latin. He died in Limerick after a brief illness during the vacation, on 29 January, 1955.

Born: 04 September 1914, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 09 September 1932, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1946, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Holy Spirit Seminary, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Died: 25 April 1973, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

Part of the Mungret College, Limerick community at the time of death

Educated at Mungret College SJ

by 1939 in Vals France (LUGD) studying

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948

Frs. Casey G., Grogan and Sullivan leave England for Hong Kong on 2nd July on the ‘Canton’. On the following day Fr. Kevin O'Dwyer hopes to sail with Fr. Albert Cooney from San Francisco on the ‘General Gordon’ for the same destination.
The following will be going to Hong Kong in August : Frs. Joseph Mallin and Merritt, Messrs. James Kelly, McGaley, Michael McLoughlin and Geoffrey Murphy.

Irish Province News 48th Year No 2 1973

Obituary :
Fr William Benedict Merritt (1914-1973)
Fr Willie Merritt was born in Limerick Sept. 4th 1914. After schooling with the Christian Brothers at Sexton St, he concluded his secondary course at Mungret and entered the noviceship in 1932, was ordained at Milltown Park 1946 and died in Galway while on a short visit to his younger brother during the Easter break on April 25th, 1973. For his years in the Society he had a very full life. As a junior at Rathfarnham his success at UCD led to his being allotted another year during which he secured an MA in History and the Higher Diploma in Education. He likewise had a bent for Mathematics and had musical talent, vocal and instrumental, which committed him to directing the choirs, coaching troupes of carol singers at later as a priest officiating at Missa Cantata and High Mass.
He made his Philosophy at Vals and after two years of Colleges at Belvedere he began his Theology at Milltown Park 1943; Ordination 1946; Tertianship 1947. In 1949 he was assigned to the Hong Kong Mission where he was engaged in the strenuous work of the Colleges. During this period he prepared and produced a text-book in History which is still esteemed and used in the schools of the colony.
Ill health now intervened and he was compelled to return to Ireland seriously indisposed. After some months of anxious convalescence he was again able to resume work and with congenial occupation soon became fully active.
He was appointed to assist Fr Martin in the Mission offices which was being set up in Gardiner St. in 1953. He worked very hard and for long hours at the new chores. Much of the method in the office, the setting up of the card index system, the schemes for collecting funds, were devised by Fr “Gully”. He was never happier than when he was organising a Sale of Work or a Garden Fete. In 1957 Fr Gully was asked to help Fr Dargan the Province Procurator, and went to live at Loyola. Later he became Bursar and Minister at CIR and taught Trade Union History there. His last status was back to Mungret in 1968 where he again acted as Bursar, answering to a variety of other calls likewise.
During the latter years Fr Merritt’s health again began to cause anxiety; he suffered several heart attacks from which he rallied and recovered but which compelled him to acquiesce to a quieter tempo than what had been his wont, in following a team, verbi gratia.
During the few days in Galway in April be suffered an attack which was followed in a few hours by a repetition from which he didn't survive.
The Requiem Mass in Mungret in April 27th was concelebrated by 36 priests among whom Fr Provincial was the principal con celebrant. There was a large attendance of personal friends from Limerick. His two younger brothers, Denis and Michael were the chief mourners together with his Aunt, Mrs Clohessey, who had been his second mother since his own mother had died during Willie's Juniorate and his father had died before he entered.
Those who new him will remember him with affection; his loss will be severely felt. If we could summarise his life briefly we would say that he loved the Society, that he was kind and good humoured towards all who came his way, and that he was a devoted priest. He was always good company and even though he had his leg pulled on innumerable occasions he never bore resentment. He was known affectionately as “Gully” and it is a measure of the affection with which he was regarded that even when he was “in foreign parts” it was sufficient (and habitual), to refer to him as Gully.
As he realised the condition of his health he was fearful that he would be compelled to abandon his work. He was a man of prayer and his daily Mass was a source of strength and consolation to him; he was a community man essentially, in whose company gaiety and a bantering good-humour spontaneously generated. He had his foibles, one of which particularly, his meticulous accuracy in his professional work of accountancy, was a source, on occasion, of annoyance but overall of fun at least in later narration.
This meticulousness was not captious or officious; it came from scrupulosity which affected his whole life and which at times caused him much mental distress.
He had a great love for his native city; he was catholic in his interest in games and the fortunes of the city soccer team he followed with zest.
He was buried as he would desire at Mungret which he loved. As I stood at the grave-side listening to the final prayers being recited by Fr Provincial I couldn't help feeling he had gone to the Lord with full hands. RIP

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1974

Obituary

Father William B Merritt SJ

Fr Willie was a Limerickman. He was born in Limerick and he is buried in Mungret. He was the eldest of three children, all boys and all three completed their school days at Mungret College.

In his younger years three influences played a part in his vocation to the Society of Jesus, family life, his participation as an altarboy in St John's Cathedral and his training in self-discipline and habits of study begun under the direction of the Christian Brothers. Mungret and later the Society of Jesus reaped where others had sown.

He entered the Society of Jesus in September 1932 and after two years novitiate, where he is still affectionately remembered as an enthusiastic “outdoor works” man he spent four years in Rathfarnham where he attended lectures in UCD. After finishing his course in UCD he left for France in September 1938 with a BA and an honours MA under his already ample belt. His philosophical studies in Vals were cut short by world war two and he finished his philosophy at St Stanislaus College, Tullamore. He then went on to teach with success at Belvedere and at that time trained some of the best junior cup teams of those years. His interest in and enthusiasm for rugby and soccer remained with him all his life; the fortunes or misfortunes of Limerick AFC were clearly read on his Monday morning face for he was the most honest and transparent of men, totally unlike the caricature of the wily Jesuit of fiction!

His ordination to the priesthood in July 1946 brought out in him that more serious side of his character which impelled him to seek “perfection” in all things. He could never be satisfied with “second-rate work” of any kind in himself or in others. He gave the next ten years of his life to the missions, working as a teacher in our college in Hong Kong. His history notes - which were clear, succinct and easily learned were published there in book form. Teachers also profited from them and a reputation for good history teaching often rested on the envied possession of Bill's notes!

Without his realising it, he made very great demands on himself. Eventually the strain of his work and the pressures of the political situation in Hong Kong under mined his health. He returned to Ireland in the early 1950s far from well, He never fully recovered his health frorn that time. Despite that, he held various posts in the Order, in St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, the Provincial's Residence, and the College of Industrial Relations, before he finally returned to Mungret College in 1967. Like the Master, whom he sought to follow, he did all things well and as a bonus was a good “community man” to boot! Serious by nature with a deep sense of responsibility which sometimes weighed upon him, he achieved a balance by his sense of humour, his deep faith and unostentatious acts of piety (he was a regular visitor to Our Lady's Shrine at Knock) and his interest in people and in sport. He loved Mungret and there is no denying that the decision to close his old school saddened his last years. May his generous soul rest in peace.

EK

Born: 20 September 1880, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1899, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 20 September 1914
Final Vows: 02 February 1917
Died: 11 August 1966, London, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1916 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship

Born: 26 January 1836, County Tipperary
Entered: 27 January 1858, Beaumont, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained; 1867
Final vows: 15 August 1872
Died: 18 April 1894, Collège du Sacre-Coeur, Charleroi, Belgium

by 1866 at Laval France (FRA) studying Theology 2
by 1867 at Vals France (TOLO studying
by 1868 at St Bueno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1870 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1875 at St Wilfred’s Preston (ANG) working
by 1876 at St George’s Bristol (ANG) working
by 1890 at Charleroi Belgium (BELG) teaching

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He was a Teacher at Prefect at Clongowes and Tullabeg at different periods.
He studied Theology at Laval and Vals.
1869 He was sent as Minister to Galway.
He made his Tertianship at Drongen.
He worked on the Missionary Staff for a while and was based in Limerick.
1875-1876 He was working in the ANG parish at Bristol.
He then returned to Limerick where he excelled as a Confessor.
He was transferred variously to Milltown, Tullabeg and later to Dromore.
1888 He went to Belgium, and died there at the College in Charleroi 18 April 1894

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Thomas Molloy (1836-1894)

Of Co. Tipperary, entered the Society in 1858. After his ordination, he was appointed to the mission staff and was a member of the Crescent community, as missioner, from 1872 to 1874. He returned to Limerick as member of the church staff and was prefect of the church from 1877 to 1882. He was sent on loan to the Belgian's Province's College of Charleroi in 1888 as assistant prefect and English master. Here, it may be remarked that other Irish Jesuits at the period held the same position in the same school. Father Molloy remained in Belgium until his death on 18 April, 1894.

Born: 11 August 1841, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 15 June 1870, Sevenhill, Australia - Austriaco-Hungaricae Province (ASR-HUN)
Final Vows: 25 March 1881
Died: 25 July 1925, St Aloysius, Sevenhill, Adelaide, Australia

Transcribed : ASR-HUN to HIB 01 January 1901

Edmund Moloney, a half brother of Thomas Carroll - RIP 1938 - and Francis - RIP 1929

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He had joined the Austrian Mission at Sevenhill, and spent the best part of the rest of his life there until his death there 25/07/1925.
He was refectorian at Sevenhill.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Edmund Maloney, a half brother of Thomas Carroll, entered the Society at Sevenhill, 15 June 1870. After taking vows he remained at Sevenhill until 1877 as assistant tailor, refectorian and cook. In 1877 he was at Georgetown as cook and houseman, and in 1878, he performed similar duties at Manoora. From 1879-84 he was back at Sevenhill as assistant cook and doing housework. He returned to Manoora, 1884-86, was at Norwood in 1887, Kooringa in 1888, and in 1889 he was again at Sevenhill, where he spent the rest of his life, with the exception of 1907, when he was at Norwood.
Moloney was an active, zealous man with a powerful physique and equable temperament.

Born: 14 April 1931, Magherafelt, County Derry
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1963, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1968, Chiesa del Gesù, Roma, Italia
Died: 26 January 2017, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.

Early Education at NS Magherafelt, Co Derry, Northern Ireland; Clongowes Wood College SJ

1952-1954 Rathfarnham - Studying Arts at UCD
1954-1957 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1957-1960 Crescent College SJ - Regency : Teacher
1960-1964 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
1964-1965 Paray-le-Monial, France - Tertianship at Maison La Colombière
1965-1967 Bellarmino, Rome, Italy - Studying Theology at Gregorian University
1967-1968 Trier, Germany - Diploma Course in Liturgy at German Liturgical Institute
1968-1984 Milltown Park - Teacher of Theological Dogma & Liturgy
1977 President of Milltown Institute
1983 Sabbatical
1984-1989 Nairobi, Kenya - Professor of Theology at Hekima College School of Theology
1989-2017 Milltown Park - Professor of Systematic Theology at Milltown Institute
1993 Director of Lonergan Centre
1996 Visiting Professor at Hekima College School of Theology
2001 Professor Emeritus of Theology at Milltown Institute; Director of Lonergan Centre; Writer
2015 Director of Lonergan Centre; Writer

by 1965 at Paray-le-Monial, France (GAL M) making Tertianship
by 1966 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying
by 1968 at Trier, Germany (GER S) studying
by 1985 at Nairobi, Kenya (AOR) teaching - Hekima

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/fine-scholar-outstanding-lecturer/

‘Fine scholar, outstanding lecturer’
Jesuits, family and friends of the late Ray Moloney SJ packed into Milltown Chapel for his funeral mass celebrated by Bill Matthews SJ. Ray died on 26 January, aged 85. He was born in Belfast in 1931 and raised in Magherafelt, Co. Derry. At the age of 12 he went to Clongowes Wood College SJ and joined the Jesuits in 1950. Most of his life revolved around the Milltown Institute where he taught theology and liturgy. He spent five years on the missions in Kenya where he learnt Swahili so he could travel and celebrate Mass with the local people. He was the respected author of many theological books, and well known for his theology of the Eucharist.
Homilist Brian Grogan SJ noted that Ray’s writings on the Eucharist offered fleeting glimpses into his soul. Ray summarised his book Rediscovering the Eucharist not in terms of sacrifice, or obligation, or the Real Presence, but in terms of friendship. “In the Eucharist we already anticipate something of what our friendship with Christ will be when it comes to its full flowering in heaven. In the long run that friendship is all that matters,” he wrote.
Referring to his long academic ministry, Brian said that Ray was a “fine scholar and outstanding teacher.” This view was echoed widely by many of his former students who posted on the Irish Jesuits Facebook page. “Fond memories of learning theology from Ray Moloney. A scholar and a gentleman”, wrote Thomas Giblin. And US Jesuit James Pribek commented, “He combined fine scholarship with genuine humility and benevolence. In a group, he was usually on the edge, taking everything in and smiling. He radiated peace. May God be good to him”.
In his wide-ranging homily Brian spoke also about Ray’s life as a Jesuit, noting that his ministry in the intellectual apostolate was underpinned by a deep faith, committed prayer life and love of God. He said he lived an ascetic, almost monastic life, and a fitting symbol for that life was his breviary. “Ray leaned into the contrary wind and lived an orderly and predictable day. Some clerics, I have heard, sailed with the prevailing wind and eased up on the divine office, but not he... At the end his well-worn breviary was the only book beside his bed.”
Brian acknowledged that Ray held firmly to what some would call a more conservative theological position and was slow to relinquish beliefs that were dear to him. “But agree with him or not, he commanded your respect. He knew where he stood, and had a steely quality characteristic of his Northern Ireland roots.” He was also prepared to change and develop, something attested to in a few words from Provincial Leonard Moloney just before the final commendation. He said he had been speaking to Ray not too long before his death and Ray told him that his prayer had changed in recent times and was now much more affective than rational.
Speaking at the end of the Mass, Ray’s niece also told a revealing story about the man her family knew and loved. She remembered with fondness his visits to her home as a child and how he would let her put her feet on his shoes as he danced her round the room.
Brian concluded his homily with the following words: “In a little while we will say: ‘We shall become like God, for we shall see him as he is.’ Like Aquinas when asked by God ‘What do you want?’, Ray would have responded, ‘Teipsum, Domine. Yourself, Lord.’ ... Ray now sees God. He is enlightened, entranced, immortalised and divinised. Our Eucharist today is a thanksgiving for all that God has accomplished in our brother and friend, Ray Moloney”.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Born: 21 May 1829, Newcastle, County Limerick
Entered: 05 October 1852, Amiens France - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 1865, Rome, Italy
Final vows: 02 February 1872
Died: 15 September 1899, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia

by 1855 in Montauban, France (TOLO) studying and teaching
by 1861 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying Philosophy
by 1864 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying Theology 2
by 1865 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying Theology 3
Early Australian Missioner 1866
by 1871 at Roehampton, London (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1877 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) Min
by 1878 at St Ignatius, London (ANG) working
by 1883 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) teaching Philosophy

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
After First Vows he was sent to Clongowes for Regency. By 1858 he was First Prefect, and was the man responsible for introducing Cricket, much to the disappointment of some of the older members.
He was then sent to Stonyhurst for Philosophy and St Beuno’s for Theology, making his third and fourth years in Rome, where he was Ordained 1865.
1866 He accompanied Joseph Mulhall to Melbourne, and he was appointed Prefect of Studies at St Patrick’s Melbourne. In addition to this work, he Preached and gave Lectures in many parts of Australia.
1870 He was sent back to Europe and made Tertianship at St Beuno’s.
1871 He was sent to Crescent in Limerick, and for some years we Prefect of Studies there and then Operarius and Teacher. He worked very hard and attracted great crowds to hear his Preaching.
1876 He was sent to St Beuno’s to teach Church History and also be Minister for a while. He was then sent to the London Residence, where he was engaged in Preaching, and was greatly admired there.
1881 He became Prefect of Philosophers at Stonyhurst and was much liked by the Scholastics.
1885 he was appointed dean of Residence at UCD.
1886 He was sent to Gardiner St as Operarius.
1888 He went back to Australia, and was associated with the Richmond and Hawthorn Missions. he died at Hawthorn 15 September 1899, and the Melbourne Mission lost one of its most able and energetic men. For many years he suffered greatly from eczema. His final illness however arose from a heart complaint. He had an operation which at first seemed successful but in fact advanced the problem, so that the news of his death surprised everyone in Melbourne.
He was a ready speaker and thought very impressive. His Retreats to the boys at Clongowes and Tullabeg were not easily forgotten.

He distinguished himself very much on one memorable occasion - the opening of Armagh Cathedral. One of the Preachers of the day disappointed and Isaac Moore was summoned by the Provincial. Ever after the Primate Dr Daniel McGettigan was wont to refer to his great courage, and the splendid manner in which he acquitted himself, notwithstanding the shortness of notice. He used to say “I can never forget it to Father Moore”.

Some of his Lectures he gave on Catholic Socialism, which he delivered in Melbourne were published in “Argus” and in a special form at the expense of the Parishioner’s Committee.

He was a brilliant conversationalist, and was much sought after in London, Melbourne and Dublin.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Isaac Moore entered the Society at St Acheul, Amiens, France, 5 October 1852, and then spent some years teaching and prefecting at Clongowes Wood College in Ireland. Philosophy studies followed, 1860-1862 at Stonyhurst, and Theology at the Roman College, 1864-1866.
In 1867 he arrived in Melbourne and St Patrick’s College, where he was Prefect of Studies. In 1860 he was recalled to Ireland and completed his Tertianship at Roehampton, England, 1870-1871. He taught and was Prefect of Studies at Crescent College Limerick, 1871-1876, and lectured in Church History at St Beuno’s, 1876-1879.
For the next three years he was engaged in pastoral work in London, attached to the Jesuit Church at Farm Street. From 1881-1885 he was prefect of Philosophers, also teaching modern languages and political economy at Stonyhurst. From 1885-1886 he was Minister at University College Dublin, and was Prefect of schools. The following three years were spent in pastoral work at Gardiner Street.
Late in life he returned to Australia, and spent one year as Prefect of Studies at St Patrick’s College, and then for the rest of his life he was involved in parish work at Richmond and Hawthorn. He was a man of wide learning and famous in his day as a preacher. He lectured also on “Catholic Socialism” and similar subjects. His retreats to boys were reported to be remarkably good. As First Prefect in Clongowes, he was said to have introduced cricket.

Note from David McKiniry Entry
As McKiniry had not yet undertaken tertianship or taken final vows, his appointment in Australia was going to be short lived, and he left for Ireland on 11 September 1870 with Isaac Moore. He did tertianship at Roehampton 1871-72 and transferred to the New Orleans province.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Isaac Moore 1829-1899
Fr Moore was born in Limerick on May 21st 1829. Even in his boyhood, his remarkable talents attracted attention. When only nineteen years of age he was elected President of the Catholic Young Men’s Association.

His priestly career was widely varied. He was appointed Prefect of Studies at St Patrick’s Melbourne in 1866. On his recall to Ireland he was assigned to the Crescent where he was in turn, Master, Prefect of Studies, Minister, Missioner and Operarius.

He was sent on loan to the English Province where he was Professor of Church History at St Beuno’s College, and later a popular preacher at Farm Street London. Having acted for some time as Prefect of Studies at Stonyhurst, he was recalled to Ireland as Dean of Residence of University College.

In 1888 he returned to Melbourne, where he laboured as lecturer and preacher till his death on September 15th 1899.

Fr Moore made his name on one very memorable occasion – the opening of Armagh Cathedral. The preacher already appointed was unable to attend. Fr Moore was summoned by the Provincial, and at very short notice undertook the task. The Primate, Dr McGettigan, ever after was wont to refer to his great courage and the splendid manner in which he acquitted himself. He used say “I can never forget it to Fr Moore”.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Isaac Moore (1829-1899)

Was born in Limerick and received into the Society at St Acheul in 1852. He made his higher studies in England and Rome where he was ordained in 1865. Even in his boyhood, his remarkable gifts had begun to attract attention. Thus, at the age of nineteen and three years before he entered the Society he was elected President of the Catholic Young Men's Society. His priestly career was widely varied: He was appointed prefect of studies at St. Patrick's, Melbourne in 1866. On his recall to Ireland, he was assigned to the Crescent, where from 1871 to 1876, he was in turn, master, prefect of studies, minister of the house, missioner or attached to the church staff. In 1876 he was sent on loan to the English Province where he was first professor of Church History in the English Jesuit theologate. From his professor's chair he was summoned to the residence at Farm St., London, where he confirmed his reputation as a preacher of rare merit at the Jesuit church. Later he was appointed prefect of studies at the English Province's house of philosophy. He was recalled to Dublin in 1882 to become dean of residence at University College, Dublin. In 1888, he returned once more to Melbourne where he was engaged in mission work and public lectures on Catholic apologetics until his death.

Born: 17 August 1932, Ballina, County Mayo
Entered: 07 September 1951, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1967, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 18 November 2016, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the St Ignatius, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

by 1966 at Salamanca, Spain (LEG) making Tertianship
by 1978 at Wilmette IL, USA (CHG) studying
by 1984 at Palo Alto CA, USA (CAL) studying
by 1985 at Barrington IL, USA (CHG) studying
by 1987 at Menlo Park CA, USA (CAL) working
by 1992 at Chicago IL, USA (CHG) working

Early Education at NS Ballina, Co Mayo; Mungret College SJ

1954-1955 Rathfarnham - Studying at UCD
1955-1958 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1958-1961 Crescent - Regency : Teacher
1961-1965 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
1965-1966 Salamanca, Spain - Tertianship at Collegio de San Estanislao
1966-1968 Belvedere - Teacher; Assistant Gamesmaster; Spiritual Father (3rd & 4th Years); “Newsboys Club”
1968-1969 Clongowes - Teacher; Lower Line Prefect; Studying CWC Cert in Education
1969-1974 Belvedere - Teacher; Assistant Gamesmaster; Spiritual Father; Career Guidance (5th & 6th Years)
1974-1976 Leeson St - Principal at University Hall, Hatch St, Dublin
1976-1977 University Hall - Community Minister
1977-1983 Chicago, IL, USA - Studies at Loyola University; St Joseph’s Parish, Wilmette, IL, USA
1982 Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Glenview, IL, USA
1983-1984 Palo Alto, CA, USA - Doctoral Studies at Palo Alto University; St Thomas Aquinas Church
1984-1986 Chicago, IL, USA - Studies at Loyola University; Parish work; Counsellor at St Anne’s Rectory, Barrington
1986-1991 Palo Alto, CA, USA - Post Graduate Training at Palo Alto University; St Raymond Catholic Church; Menlo Park
1988 Research in Family Therapy MRI at Palo Alto University
1987 Our Lady of the Rosary Rectory, Palo Alto
1991-1994 Chicago, IL, USA - Visiting Professor in Psychology at Loyola University; St William’s Church
1992 St Philip the Apostle Rectory, Northfield
1994-2016 Leeson St - Sabbatical (94-95); Lecturer in Education at Trinity College Dublin; Family Apostolate; Writer
1998 Vice-Superior
2002 Principal University Hall, Hatch St, Dublin
2003 Family Therapist
2015 Prays for the Church and the Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/a-man-for-others/

A man for others
friends, and fellow Jesuits bade him a final farewell at his funeral Mass in Milltown Chapel on Monday 21 November.
Jim had a wide circle of friends associated with the various ventures he undertook as a Jesuit. They were active on Facebook when news of his death broke. Despite some bad health and a twice broken leg, Jim was quite an athlete. He had a passion for rugby, which he taught with gusto to many students down the years in various Jesuit schools. Ivan Morris, one of his former pupils, posted a photo of the rugby team Jim coached, a long time ago. He wrote: “55 years ago these old geezers were quite a decent rugby team! Sadly, our trainer Fr. Jim Moran passed away yesterday. We all owe him a lot. He instilled in us the ability to focus on our goals, gave us just about the right amount of confidence and enough back bone to last a lifetime.”
Similar sentiments have been echoed by many since his death. Preaching at his funeral Mass, his life-long friend Fr John Looby SJ recalled two stories that summed up Jim’s determination and desire to win, even though he would have roundly protested that ‘it wasn’t about the winning’. One concerned the handball games they used to play as novices. John said that although he himself was the better handball player, Jim worked out a strategy and a war of attrition that always resulted in Jim being the victor.
He recalled another occasion when Jim went off to Chicago to study and offered his rugby training services to a Jesuit school there, telling them of his winning accomplishments back in Ireland. His offer however was politely declined and he was told the school was already proficient at winning rugby games. So Jim took himself off to a neighbouring Jewish school where the same offer was gratefully accepted. Some time later his rugby team took on the Jesuit school that had spurned him and won.
Jim had a number of careers in his lifetime – teacher, coach, psychologist, family therapist, and finally lecturer in Trinity College Dublin. Wherever he went he made friends. “He never forgot his friends and I was to learn that his friends never forgot him,” said John, noting that this was especially true of his Jesuit brothers. John learnt in later years that Jim’s father had died before Jim was born, and his stepfather was instrumental in cultivating the talent he had for making lasting friendships. “Providentially his stepfather was a strong influence, setting an example that Jim copied for the remainder of his life. He was given great freedom and he confidently went out to meet new people and allow them into his life.”
The Gospel read at the Mass was that of the Good Samaritan, a fitting one for Jim who was, according to John and indeed all those who knew him well, “a man for others”. He was always quick to offer any help he could to those who crossed his path. Be it the mother in difficulty with her teenage son or the former student who needed some good advice. The music at the funeral was the work of the well known composer and musician Willie Hughes who played and sang in gratitude for the influence Jim had been on his life.
When he returned to Dublin from America in the ’90s, Jim was part of the Leeson St community. They had a large garden at the back-end of the large Georgian house, and Jim spent years lovingly and patiently transforming it. He planted trees and stunning rose bushes, and made arbours and boundaries out of bushes and flowers. It was a labour of love that to this day gives endless pleasure to those who visit the community house in the centre of Dublin.
John concluded by noting that Jim was a person who never saw events in life as mere chance but rather as due to “the providence of a loving God whom he loved and trusted in all his life”.
He served Him well. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 2017

Obituary

Father Jim Moran SJ

An Appreciation by Peter Thompson

dozen of us from the Rhetoric year of 1972, welcomed in by the open door of Belvedere House, manned by the great Mick Hickey, from the year of 1973and, like Ollie Campbell, one of our great Rugby players of that era, a man who had owed the nurturing of his sporting talents to the recently-deceased Jim Moran, in honour and memory of whom we had come to celebrate Mass in the Boys' Chapel. Mick had come a long way, literally, for the occasion, a testimony to Jim, certainly, for he now lives in Delaware, the beautiful peninsular State on the eastern shores of the United States.

I hadn't been in Belvedere at all since leaving the college over 40 years previously. In the Chapel, noticed immediately the absence of confession boxes, a sign (I hope) that the Sacrament of Reconciliation has moved on from its days as “Penance” to a more enlightened interpretation of what it means to feel oneself whole again after a period of mental and emotional stress.

Also different, and a most welcome difference it was too, was Leonard Moloney's model of celebration of the Mass, we old boys gathered around in a semi-circle before a simple altar table, with the Holy Communion administered in both Kinds, after a gentle invitation from Leonard that, if any of us felt awkward about receiving, We come forward anyway for a blessing.
This was an inclusiveness I was delighted to experience, after many years of alienation from the Church, and I for one was grateful indeed for it, for its sensitivity. It expressed for me also that ritual, much criticised today, has at its best a capacity to act as a means, a fuselage, a hull by which eternal truths of love are conveyed from one generation, one time as it were, to the next.
Another sensitivity was shown by the great Ollie, my childhood friend from north county Dublin, who, gentleman that he is and always has been, had gently touched my left elbow earlier in the quadrangle and asked me discreetly if I would do one of the Readings from Scripture - St Paul to the Ephesians, 1 think it was. I deeply appreciated that invitation, which I was happy to accept.

The name Jim Moran may not mean all that much to today's young Belvederians, if anything, but in a darker, much more formal time he was a beacon of warmth to his pupils and schoolboy rugby players, whom he coached to victory in the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup in 1972. It is fitting, in a serendipitous way, that in this year's edition of The Belvederian the present generation of pupils are celebrating yet another victory in that intensely competitive of sporting challenges for Leinster schools.

Jim had had earlier success in the Crescent College (now Comprehensive) in Limerick in 1961 where, as a scholastic, he coached its Junior team to success in the Munster Schools Junior Cup. After Belvedere, both Clongowes and UCD were also to benefit from his striking ability to relate to, and inspire, young people to sporting and perhaps also personal excellence. Jim was the sort of james who became jim, if my readers follow me. From the rural west of Ireland of the now so-remote 1950s, he was bereft of that bourgeois stiffness and aloofness with which, rightly or wrongly, our college was associated in the minds of many Dubliners in the past. He would have strongly approved of the wonderful example which Belvedere has shown to other private schools in recent years by the reservation of 10% of its pupil numbers to boys whose parents, for financial reasons, would never have dreamt of having one of their sons enter the portals of James Joyce's alma mater.

When last I met him, at the most recent 1972 re-union held in Portmarnock in 2012, I, trying my best with the best of intentions, invited him to have tea with me someday in the Shelbourne Hotel, around the corner from where he was then living at the Jesuit house in Lower Leeson St. to my dismay, but not, on reflection, to my surprise, he refused, saying he could not accept the offer, however sincerely made, of such a “luxury” as tea in Dublin's premier hotel. He was instructing me still, teaching again the values which I would like to think we all have in common, however we may express them now.

After Mass, the company - minus Leonard - moved on to the congeniality of the Dergvale Hotel in Gardiner Place, a very different hostelry from the Shelbourne, but a favourite watering hole of us early Seventies OBs, where I found myself in animated conversation with the said Mick Hickey about, of all things, Dublin Gaelic football, of which his distinguished medical brother David, with three Senior All Ireland Medals to his credit, was a great exemplar.

Now maybe Mick was pulling one of my legs, or indeed both of them, but he told me that David had developed a totally new strategy in Gaelic football, which is now used also, I believe, in Rugby. As a corner right forward, he would kick the ball, not towards the net, but into the right corner of the opposition, then race ahead, before the opposing defence had cottoned on. to the move, collect the ball, Garryowen-style, and lope it back into the goal mouth for a fellow teammate to collect and pummel into the net. David, apparently, developed this following on from an idea by his coach, the late Kevin Heffernan.

Mick and I were joined by another distinguished sportsman of our generation, Neil Murphy, formerly President of the Irish Sailing Association and helmsman of a Puppeteer at Howth Yacht Club. In discussing the emollient effects of the Mass we had all just experienced, Neil made a telling remark which has stayed, and will continue to stay with me. “Age gives you perspective”, he said, which I think is a piece of wisdom, deeper, much deeper than it might seem at first glance, which I wish to share particularly with the young Belvederians of today.

The mention of another great football coach brings me back of course to Jim. He lived long enough, as a man for others, always, to live in an age when, in some quarters today, that ideal, that nobility of spirit and of behaviour seems almost reviled. Yet he achieved so much, in obscurity, by practising it. I hope up there on the Fields of Elysium he will forgive me this notoriety I pen in his memory. In the best sense, he was Old School, all right

Born: 19 March 1714, Ballykeefe, County Limerick
Entered: 03 September 1734, Bordeaux, France - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)
Ordained: 1743, Poitiers, France
Final Vows: 04 June 1752
Died: 15 July 1785, Dublin City, County Dublin - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)

Taught Humanities 6 years
1736-1738 & 1740-1741 Taught Grammar
1738-1747 Prefect of Boarders, Teaching Rhetoric, Studying Theology at Irish College Poitiers - Minister 1745-1747
1755 At least from this date in Ireland
1761 In Ireland towards end of 1761 (notice sent by Fr Corcoran & notice on an old stone, on which IHS at Limerick and Morony family
“Wonder if 1739-1740 dates are correct as original MS has 1640-1641 & 1639-1640, and the writer is very orderly”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1746-1785 A Writer and a celebrated Preacher in Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Dublin
Taught Humanities, and was Procurator at Poitiers.
1746 & 1756 In Limerick
In his book, printed in 1796, he is said to have been “lately living in Dublin.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied at Bordeaux before Ent 03 September 1734 Bordeaux
1736-1739 After First Vows he was sent on Regency teaching to Tulle and as Prefect at the Irish College Poitiers.
1739-1741 Sent on two further years of Regency at Agen and Luçon
1741-1746 Sent for Theology at Grand Collège Poitiers and he was Ordained there in 1743
1746-1747 Sent to Ireland and spent a year at Clonmel
1747-1773 Sent to Limerick where most of his working life was spent. At Limerick he proved himself not only a successful schoolmaster but enjoyed a high reputation as a Preacher throughout Munster. According to the census of 1766 he conducted his school at Jail Lane, near Athlunkard St.
1773 At the Suppression of the Society, 1773, he closed his school and went to live in Dublin. He was one of the signatories of 7 February, 1774, Accepting the brief of the Suppression. He died in Dublin 15 July 1785
Such was the esteem in which his memory was held as a preacher that eleven years after his death, two volumes of his sermons were published by the aid of the generous subscriptions of his many admirers

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Joseph Moroney SJ 1714-1785
Fr Joseph Moroney was born on March 19th 1714 at Ballykeefe, Mungret, Limerick. He joined the Jesuits at Bordeaux in 1734.

Twelve years later he was sent to Ireland, where he became famous as a preacher, in Limerick, Waterford and Munster in general, but mainly in Limerick. According to a census, he conducted a school at Gaol Lane, Limerick, but on the Suppression of the Society, the school ceased to function in 1783.

He published his sermons in two volumes. They are plain instructions without any evidence of great genius or eloquence, but then he is not the only great orator who reads rather poorly in print.

Fr Moroney ended his days in Dublin where he died in 1785.

◆ MacErlean Cat Miss HIB SJ 1670-1770
Loose Note :
Joseph Morony
Those marked with * were working in Dublin when on 07 February 1774 they subscribed their submission to the Brief of Suppression
John Ward was unavoidably absent and subscribed later
Michael Fitzgerald, John St Leger and Paul Power were stationed at Waterford
Nicholas Barron and Joseph Morony were stationed at Cork
Edward Keating was then PP in Wexford

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MORONY, JOSEPH,was born at Limerick, on the 19th of March 1714, and joined the Society at Bordeaux, on the 4th of September, 1734. Twelve years later he came to the Mission, and was placed in his native city. On the 28th of June, 1752, he was numbered with the Professed Fathers. F. Joseph Morony became celebrated as a Preacher in Limerick, Waterford, and several parts of the Province of Munster, and left 2 Vols. of discourses printed in Dublin 12mo, 1796. The 1st Vol. contains 260pp : the 2nd 309 pp. A good judge informs me they were solid instructions in a plain stile, but without any evidence of great genius or eloquence. 1 think he died in Dublin.

Born: 19 March 1714, Ballykeefe, County Limerick
Entered: 03 September 1734, Bordeaux, France - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)
Ordained: 1743, Poitiers, France
Final Vows: 04 June 1752
Died: 15 July 1785, Dublin - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)

Taught Humanities 6 years
1736-1738 & 1740-1741 Taught Grammar
1738-1747 Prefect of Boarders, Teaching Rhetoric, Studying Theology at Irish College Poitiers - Minister 1745-1747
1755 At least from this date in Ireland
1761 In Ireland towards end of 1761 (notice sent by Fr Corcoran & notice on an old stone, on which IHS at Limerick and Morony family
“Wonder if 1739-1740 dates are correct as original MS has 1640-1641 & 1639-1640, and the writer is very orderly”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1746-1785 A Writer and a celebrated Preacher in Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Dublin
Taught Humanities, and was Procurator at Poitiers.
1746 & 1756 In Limerick
In his book, printed in 1796, he is said to have been “lately living in Dublin.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied at Bordeaux before Ent 03 September 1734 Bordeaux
1736-1739 After First Vows he was sent on Regency teaching to Tulle and as Prefect at the Irish College Poitiers.
1739-1741 Sent on two further years of Regency at Agen and Luçon
1741-1746 Sent for Theology at Grand Collège Poitiers and he was Ordained there in 1743
1746-1747 Sent to Ireland and spent a year at Clonmel
1747-1773 Sent to Limerick where most of his working life was spent. At Limerick he proved himself not only a successful schoolmaster but enjoyed a high reputation as a Preacher throughout Munster. According to the census of 1766 he conducted his school at Jail Lane, near Athlunkard St.
1773 At the Suppression of the Society, 1773, he closed his school and went to live in Dublin. He was one of the signatories of 7 February, 1774, Accepting the brief of the Suppression. He died in Dublin 15 July 1785
Such was the esteem in which his memory was held as a preacher that eleven years after his death, two volumes of his sermons were published by the aid of the generous subscriptions of his many admirers

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Joseph Moroney SJ 1714-1785
Fr Joseph Moroney was born on March 19th 1714 at Ballykeefe, Mungret, Limerick. He joined the Jesuits at Bordeaux in 1734.

Twelve years later he was sent to Ireland, where he became famous as a preacher, in Limerick, Waterford and Munster in general, but mainly in Limerick. According to a census, he conducted a school at Gaol Lane, Limerick, but on the Suppression of the Society, the school ceased to function in 1783.

He published his sermons in two volumes. They are plain instructions without any evidence of great genius or eloquence, but then he is not the only great orator who reads rather poorly in print.

Fr Moroney ended his days in Dublin where he died in 1785.

◆ MacErlean Cat Miss HIB SJ 1670-1770
Loose Note :
Joseph Morony
Those marked with * were working in Dublin when on 07 February 1774 they subscribed their submission to the Brief of Suppression
John Ward was unavoidably absent and subscribed later
Michael Fitzgerald, John St Leger and Paul Power were stationed at Waterford
Nicholas Barron and Joseph Morony were stationed at Cork
Edward Keating was then PP in Wexford

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MORONY, JOSEPH,was born at Limerick, on the 19th of March 1714, and joined the Society at Bordeaux, on the 4th of September, 1734. Twelve years later he came to the Mission, and was placed in his native city. On the 28th of June, 1752, he was numbered with the Professed Fathers. F. Joseph Morony became celebrated as a Preacher in Limerick, Waterford, and several parts of the Province of Munster, and left 2 Vols. of discourses printed in Dublin 12mo, 1796. The 1st Vol. contains 260pp : the 2nd 309 pp. A good judge informs me they were solid instructions in a plain stile, but without any evidence of great genius or eloquence. 1 think he died in Dublin.

◆ Fr Joseph McDonnell SJ Past and Present Notes :
16th February 1811 At the advance ages of 73, Father Betagh, PP of the St Michael Rosemary Lane Parish Dublin, Vicar General of the Dublin Archdiocese died. His death was looked upon as almost a national calamity. Shops and businesses were closed on the day of his funeral. His name and qualities were on the lips of everyone. He was an ex-Jesuit, the link between the Old and New Society in Ireland.

Among his many works was the foundation of two schools for boys : one a Classical school in Sall’s Court, the other a Night School in Skinner’s Row. One pupil received particular care - Peter Kenney - as he believed there might be great things to come from him in the future. “I have not long to be with you, but never fear, I’m rearing up a cock that will crow louder and sweeter for yopu than I ever did” he told his parishioners. Peter Kenney was to be “founder” of the restored Society in Ireland.

There were seventeen Jesuits in Ireland at the Suppression : John Ward, Clement Kelly, Edward Keating, John St Leger, Nicholas Barron, John Austin, Peter Berrill, James Moroney, Michael Cawood, Michael Fitzgerald, John Fullam, Paul Power, John Barron, Joseph O’Halloran, James Mulcaile, Richard O’Callaghan and Thomas Betagh. These men believed in the future restoration, and they husbanded their resources and succeeded in handing down to their successors a considerable sum of money, which had been saved by them.

A letter from the Acting General Father Thaddeus Brezozowski, dated St Petersburg 14/06/1806 was addressed to the only two survivors, Betagh and O’Callaghan. He thanked them for their work and their union with those in Russia, and suggested that the restoration was close at hand.

A letter from Nicholas Sewell, dated Stonyhurst 07/07/1809 to Betagh gives details of Irishmen being sent to Sicily for studies : Bartholomew Esmonde, Paul Ferley, Charles Aylmer, Robert St Leger, Edmund Cogan and James Butler. Peter Kenney and Matthew Gahan had preceded them. These were the foundation stones of the Restored Society.

Returning to Ireland, Kenney, Gahan and John Ryan took residence at No3 George’s Hill. Two years later, with the monies saved for them, Kenney bought Clongowes as a College for boys and a House of Studies for Jesuits. From a diary fragment of Aylmer, we learn that Kenney was Superior of the Irish Mission and Prefect of Studies, Aylmer was Minister, Claude Jautard, a survivor of the old Society in France was Spiritual Father, Butler was Professor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology, Ferley was professor of Logic and Metaphysics, Esmonde was Superior of Scholastics and they were joined by St Leger and William Dinan. Gahan was described as a Missioner at Francis St Dublin and Confessor to the Poor Clares and irish Sisters of Charity at Harold’s Cross and Summerhill. Ryan was a Missioner in St Paul’s, Arran Quay, Dublin. Among the Scholastics, Brothers and Masters were : Brothers Fraser, Levins, Connor, Bracken, Sherlock, Moran, Mullen and McGlade.

Trouble was not long coming. Protestants were upset that the Jesuits were in Ireland and sent a petition was sent to Parliament, suggesting that the Vow of Obedience to the Pope meant they could not have an Oath of Allegiance to the King. In addition, the expulsion of Jesuits from all of Europe had been a good thing. Kenney’s influence and diplomatic skills resulted in gaining support from Protestants in the locality of Clongowes, and a counter petition was presented by the Duke of Leinster on behalf of the Jesuits. This moment passed, but anto Jesuit feelings were mounting, such as in the Orange faction, and they managed to get an enquiry into the Jesuits and Peter Kenney and they appeared before the Irish Chief Secretary and Provy Council. Peter Kenney’s persuasive and oratorical skills won the day and the enquiry group said they were satisfied and impressed.

Over the years the Mission grew into a Province with Joseph Lentaigne as first Provincial in 1860. In 1885 the first outward undertaking was the setting up of an Irish Mission to Australia by Lentaigne and William Kelly, and this Mission grew exponentially from very humble beginnings.

Later the performance of the Jesuits in managing UCD with little or no money, and then outperforming what were known as the “Queen’s Colleges” forced the issue of injustice against Catholics in Ireland in the matter of University education. It is William Delaney who headed up the effort and create the National University of Ireland under endowment from the Government.from the Government.

Born: 16 January 1898, Wexford Town
Entered: 05 September 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1935, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 29 June 1938, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 10 June 1965, St John’s Hospital, Limerick

Part of the Crescent College, Limerick community at the time of death

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1927 in Vals France (LUGD) studying
by 1937 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 41st Year No 1 1966
Obituary :
Fr James Albert Morris SJ (1898-1965)
Early in the morning of 10th June 1965 Fr. Morris died rather unexpectedly at St. John's Hospital, Limerick. R.I.P. He had been removed to hospital only the day before. For some weeks he had been suffering from a series of colds and headaches but they were not considered serious until a few days before his death. In fact he taught his Religious Knowledge class up to the previous weekend. However, he never seemed quite the same since he got a fall from his bicycle in August 1964, when he was doing a supply at Wexford. The doctors could not find anything seriously wrong with him, but, very unlike his usual way, he often complained of his health later.
James Albert Morris was born in Wexford on 16th June, 1898. He received some of his primary education from the Loreto Nuns, Mullingar. To the end he remained a great friend of the Loreto Nuns, especially, of course, those in their local Wexford Convent. Indeed, he was disappointed when he came to Limerick in 1962 to find that there was not a Loreto Convent in the locality. For him they ran the best girls' schools. And so very many of them knew him! If one went to give a retreat at a Loreto Convent some nun would always be sure to ask : “How is Fr. Albert?” The Wexford people and priests, nuns, his old pupils, and all in the Society knew him by no other name but Albert. In the Society one often heard of “the two Alberts” - Albert Morris and Albert Cooney, co-novices, together in many houses, and close friends and faithful correspondents during all their years in religion.
From 1913 to 1916 he was a boy in Clongowes. On leaving, thinking of going to U.C.D., he spent a short time at Terenure College, and later with Dom Sweetman, O.S.B., at Gorey. It would seem that he was trying to decide about his vocation during these years. He entered our noviceship at Tullabeg on 5th September, 1923. For his first year Fr. Michael Browne was his Master of Novices. Albert, and he remained so to the end, was nervous when he had to appear in public before Ours, even later to the extent of finding it distressing to say Litanies or give Benediction. There is a story told, characteristic of master and of novice, when Albert had to preach in the refectory. He probably had prepared a sermon that was too short for supper, and when he found himself nearing the end of it, he made many pauses during which he turned round several times to the novices serving at table as if to say : “Why don't you finish up?” Fr. Michael Browne noticed it, realised what was happening, had one of his customary choking fits of laughter and the poor novice had to fill in the time till the end of the meal.
Having finished his noviceship under Fr. Martin Maher and taken his vows he spent a year as a junior at Rathfarnham before going to Vals, France, the House of Philosophy, for the combined Provinces of Toulouse and Champagne. For the rest of his life even in the shortest conversation he used to throw in a French phrase. On his return to Ireland he taught at Belvedere from 1928 to 1932. Then to Milltown Park, where he was ordained on 31st July 1935. Tertianship followed at St. Beuno's, Wales.
His first assignment as a priest was as Sub-Moderator, 1937-39, at the Apostolic School, Mungret. Here he took his last vows on 29th June 1938. We find him back in Belvedere on the teaching staff from 1939 to 1943. Then began the work in which he was engaged almost for the rest of his life,
In 1943 he went to Tullabeg as Assistant Director of the Ricci Mission Unit, later to be known as Irish Jesuit Missions, for our work in what is now Zambia had begun years after the Hong Kong Mission. The stamp bureau was the chief work here and aided by generations of philosophers and his co-assistant director, the late Fr. William Allen, of the Australian Province, he gave most enthusiastic and painstaking service. Nuns and teachers everywhere in Ireland, receptionists in hotels, clerical workers in shops and factories were his clients and he carried on an enormous correspondence. He opened all the parcels of stamps for it was not infrequent that in the middle would be found a box of sweets or some other present for Fr. Albert. He was always a pleasant community man and he was pleased whenever he could come in to recreation to share his stamp bureau presents with his fellow Jesuits.
He remained in Tullabeg until at his own request, he was moved to Emo in 1959, still working for Irish Jesuit Missions. Among the changes that the Visitor, Fr. J. MacMahon, made in 1962 at the Status was the assigning of Fr. Albert to the Crescent, Limerick. Here he combined his interest in foreign mission work and later taught Religious Knowledge in the junior school.
On 12th June His Lordship the Bishop, Dr. H. Murphy, presided at the Office and Requiem Mass in the Sacred Heart Church, Even though it was a Saturday, there was a large attendance of priests present, including the Administrator of Wexford, Very Rev. Fr. T. Murphy, and a companion. Fr. Albert had spent his summers for many years supplying in Wexford and often at Sunshine House, Balbriggan. He was laid to rest in the community cemetery at Mungret. May God reward him and may our missionaries abroad never forget him in their prayers.

Born: 05 October 1908, Listowel, Co Kerry / Ballysimon, County Limerick
Entered: 01 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 07 February 1942, Manresa House, Roehampton, London, England
Died: 07 April 1973, Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin

Part of the Belvedere College SJ, Dublin community at the time of death

Early education at Mungret College SJ.

Chaplain in the Second World War.

by 1948 at Riverview, Sydney Australia (ASL) teaching
by 1962 at Holy Name Manchester (ANG) working

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Note from Lol Kearns Entry
“While driving in convoy on the first stage of our journey to Brussels, my driver ran the car into a tree north of Magdeburg and my head was banged into the glove compartment in the dashboard. I saw Fr Morrison again at CelIe as he bent over my stretcher and formed the opinion that I should never look the same again.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/into-journal-remembers-jesuit-chaplain/

INTO journal remembers Jesuit chaplain
Irish Jesuit and Second World War chaplain Fr Michael Morrison features in the Irish National Teachers Organisation’s InTouch magazine for the January/February 2019 issue.
Fr Morrison was born in Listowel in County Kerry, was educated by the Jesuits in secondary school, joined the Society and taught at Belvedere College SJ in Dublin. He enlisted as a chaplain with the British army, initially ministering in the Middle East and later transferring to the Derry Regiment of the Lancashire Fusiliers.
He arrived with British and Canadian forces to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Northern Germany in April 1945, which was the first camp to be liberated on the Western Front. At that time, there were 60,000 individuals within the camp with conditions described as ‘hell on earth’ – 13,000 people died from sickness and starvation in the weeks after liberation.
While at Bergen-Belsen, Fr Morrison administered the last rights, held Mass for people of different religions and conducted a joint service over a mass grave with, for example, the Jewish British army chaplain. In a letter home, he wrote: “What we met within the first few days is utterly beyond description”, and it was reported that he spoke very little about what he witnessed in later years. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Michael Morrison lived in his early years at Ballysimon on the outskirts of Limerick city. The Christian Brothers educated him at Sexton Street, and then he went to Mungret from 1922, where he excelled himself at hurling. In his last year at school he was a member of the junior team that won the O'Mara Cup.
He entered the Society at Tullabeg, 1 September 1925, and after his home juniorate at Rathfarnham, studied philosophy at Tullabeg. He did regency at Belvedere and Mungret, 1933-36, teaching mathematics and was involved with sport. He studied theology at Milltown Park, 1936-40, and was at Rathfarnham, 1940-41, for tertianship.
During the Second World War he was a military chaplain with the British Army in Egypt 1941-46, serving with the Eight Army and was present at the fall of Tunis. He was later at Belsen in 1945, working in Camp Number 1, the Horror Camp. Herded together in this camp were 50,000 people where typhus was raging When Morrison's unit entered the camp between 7.000 and 10,000 people were found dead in the huts and on the ground. The majority of the living were seriously ill. Many thousands died subsequently Morrison anointed about 300 people daily, helped by very few chaplains. He celebrated Mass on 22 April 1945, the first time at the camp. It was a moving experience for those able to attend.
After the war he went to Australia, teaching briefly at St Aloysius' College, and then at Riverview, 1947-48. He finally did parish work at Richmond, 1949-58.
After leaving Australia, he spent several years attached to the Jesuit Holy Name church in Manchester. He returned to Ireland later, and taught at Mungret, and then at Belvedere College as college bursar, 1963-73.
Morrison was a good listener, allowing others to speak. His quiet, matter-of-fact way of viewing things rendered him one of the most factually objective witnesses of the day-to~day circumstances of World War II. His health deteriorated in his latter years after a series of strokes. He was a man of strong principles, loyal to his duties, and, in his sickness, always unwilling to be a burden.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 16th Year No 2 1941
General News :
The Irish Province has to date sent 4 chaplains to England for home or foreign service for the duration of the war. They are Frs. Richard Kennedy, Michael Morrison, Conor Naughton and Cyril Perrott. The first three were doing their 3rd year's probation under Fr. Henry Keane at the Castle, Rathfarnham, while Fr. Perrott was Minister at Mungret College. They left Dublin on the afternoon of 26th May for Belfast en route for London. Fr. Richard Clarke reported a few days later seeing them off safely from Victoria. Both he and Fr. Guilly, Senior Chaplain to British Forces in N. Ireland, had been most helpful and kind in getting them under way.

Irish Province News 17th Year No 1 1942

Chaplains :
Our twelve chaplains are widely scattered, as appears from the following (incomplete) addresses : Frs. Burden, Catterick Camp, Yorks; Donnelly, Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk; Dowling, Peebles Scotland; Guinane, Aylesbury, Bucks; Hayes, Newark, Notts; Lennon, Clackmannanshire, Scotland; Morrison, Weymouth, Dorset; Murphy, Aldershot, Hants; Naughton, Chichester, Sussex; Perrott, Palmer's Green, London; Shields, Larkhill, Hants.
Fr. Maurice Dowling left Dublin for-Lisburn and active service on 29 December fully recovered from the effects of his accident 18 August.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 4 1946

Australia :
Frs. Fleming and Mansfield (who is a member of the Australian Vice-Province) were able to leave for Australia via America in July.
Frs. Lennon and Morrison are still awaiting travel facilities.

Irish Province News 48th Year No 3 1973

Obituary :

Fr Michael Morrison (1908-1973)

Fr. Michael Morrison was born in Listowel, Co. Kerry, in October 1908, but in his early years moved to Ballysimon on the outskirts of Limerick city; he was one of three children, another boy, Jim, and a sister, whom their mother, early bereaved of her husband, devotedly brought up.
In Limerick he attended the CBS, Sexton Street, primarily and in 1922 went to Mungret, where because of his skill and vigour in the hurling team he was the object of an amount of hero worship among those who found difficulty in earning a place on one team whereas he, by natural right, had a secure billet on both senior and junior teams. In his last year at school he was a stalwart member of the junior team that won the O'Mara Cup.
He entered the novitiate in 1925 and having negotiated many a “novices' jump” proceeded to Rathfarnham in 1927 where during the next three years he was occupied with the humanities. Through no fault of his he was drafted, to Tullabeg for philosophy in 1930 without having completed his university degree - he had spent a year in the home juniorate, because of pressure for accommodation for an overflowing community in Rathfarnham.
After philosophy he spent two years of regency at Belvedere where again his athletic skill in training teams was in requisition. Apart from this particular expertise he was a good teacher especially with mathematics at which he shone even as a boy. He spent a final year of college in his Mungret Alma Mater.
He began his course in Theology at Milltown in 1936, and was ordained in 1939. In 1941 Monsignor Coughlin, the principal chaplain in the British Army, made a strong appeal to the Irish Jesuits for priests to serve with the troops. Fr Michael was one of the first appointed. Soon he was in Egypt moving back and forth with the fortunes of the army in the desert. He was in the final breakthrough of the Eighth Army and was present at the Fall of Tunis where he met Fr Con Murphy, SJ, who had come the other way with the First Army.
Fr Michael did not cross over to Italy with the Eighth Army, but returned to England with his Units in preparation for the attack on the Northern flank of the German Army.
On the 12th April, 1945, the chief of staff of the First German Parachute Army made contact with the British Eighth Corps to ask for a local armistice. He explained that a terrible situation in the POW., and civilian internment camps had arisen at Belsen. Typhus was raging, and the Germans were unable to handle it. Would the Eighth Corps take over?
A truce was immediately arranged. A neutral area was set out around Belsen. The German SS camp staff were to stay on indefinitely. The Hungarian Guard was also to remain. A section of the Wehrmacht was to guard the area but was to be returned behind the German lines fully armed after six days.
Fr Morrison was with the 32nd Casualty Clearing Unit near Belsen at the time and it immediately moved to the camps. Then began for him a period of great trial and anguish. He was principally occupied in Camp Number 1 - known now to all the world as the Horror Camp. Herded together in this camp were fifty thousand people. Thirty-nine huts housed the men, forty-one, the women.
When Fr Morrison's unit entered the camp on April 17th, between seven and ten thousand people lay dead in the huts and on the ground, Of the living the majority were in periculo mortis, and many thousands were dying.
The first date for which statistics were available was April 30th, and on that day five hundred and forty eight people died. It was difficult to assess the number of Catholics, but at a guess it was in the region of 30 per cent. In February, 1945, there were 45 priests in the camp but only 10 were alive on April 17th, when Fr. Morrison arrived. Of these 10, only one, a Pole, Fr Kadjiocka, was able to give Fr Morrison any help. Soon afterwards several other chaplains arrived. The number Fr Michael anointed daily during this first period in the camp was about 300. He wrote in a report :

The joy and gratitude shown by the internees at receiving the sacraments more than compensated for the difficulties. (difficulties such an understatement!) of working in the huts. One was conscious too of being a member of a living unified Church and of the bond which held us together. In the camps were Poles, Hungarians, Czecks, Jugoslavs, Greeks, Rumanians, Ukranians, French, Belgians, Dutch, Italians, and all were able to partake of the same sacrament.
On Sunday, April 22nd. Mass was celebrated for the first. time in Belsen Camp. There was a torrential downpour that morning and it was suggested that Mass be postponed until some other day, but the congregation would not hear of it ... they were drenched through but that did not diminish the fervour and enthusiasm of their singing.

Fr Michael very seldom spoke of his trials at Belsen and it would be difficult for the boys in his latter days at Belvedere to appreciate that the bowed priest who moved about so haltingly with a stick, and was nevertheless, so ready to speak with everyone, had such a distressing experience in his life.
After demobilisation, Fr Morrison went, lent, to Australia where he taught in Riverview College and served in St. Ignatius' Church, Richmond.
Michael was by disposition inclined to let others talk, it could hardly be said of him, on any occasion that he “took over”. His quiet, matter-of-fact, way of viewing things rendered him possibly the most factually objective witness of the day-to-day circumstances of the war situation summarised above. In later years he was, as noted above, averse to alluding to it and memories of it probably deepened the loneliness that affected him when his health declined.
After his return from Australia he spent several years attached to our Holy Name church in Manchester and on his coming back to Ireland after a short term in Mungret he was assigned as Economus to Belvedere, an office he retained until his health gave way; He retained his interest in games and enjoyed a game of golf.
Sadness visited him in the way of family bereavement. After his mother his sister and brother predeceased him; he retained his interest in their families but with the incapacity induced by several strokes and the consciousness of waging a losing battle a strong philosophy was necessary to buoy him up. This he fortunately possessed and the circumstances of his final seizures was characteristic : on the morning of his death he mentioned casually at breakfast that he had had another slight stroke; superiors were immediately informed but in the meantime he began to make his way, alone, upstairs to his room. The exertion brought on another and fatal attack. He was anointed and brought to Jervis Street Hospital but efforts to revive him were unavailing; he was a man of strong principle withal boyish, loyal to his duties, unwilling to be a burden. May he rest in peace.
His obsequies were carried out at Gardiner Street, April 10th; apart from his immediate relatives and a large number of ours there was a big congregation of Belvederians present and past.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1973

Obituary

Father Michael Morrison SJ (died 7th April, 1973)

Father Michael Morrison came to Belvedere late in life and was, perhaps, not very well known to its present alumni because he was not on the teaching staff. Until he be came ill he was bursar of the college. He was born in Listowel, but he went later with his family to live in Ballysimon, Co Limerick. He attended Mungret College for his secondary schooling. He was a superbly good hurler and had the distinction of being on the Junior team and of being picked for a place on the Senior team at the same time.

Michael entered the Jesuit Novitiate in 1925. Then came his humanity studies at Rathfarnham and his philosophy course at Tullabeg. In 1933 he was appointed as a scholastic to Belvedere and had charge of the Junior Rugby team which reached the final in his second year, but failed to win it. After the match there was quite a controversy about an unusual decision of the referee!

He began his course in Theology at Milltown in 1936, and was ordained in 1939. In 1941 Monsignor Coughlin, the principal chaplain in the British Army, made a strong appeal to the Irish Jesuits for priests to serve with the troops. Father Michael was one of the first appointed. Soon he was in Egypt moving back and forth with the fortunes of the army in the desert. He was in the final breakthrough of the Eighth Army and was present at the fall of Tunis where he met Father Con Murphy SJ, who had come the other way with the First Army.

Father Michael did not cross over to Italy with the Eighth Army, but returned to England with his Units in preparation for the attack on the Northern flank of the German Army.

On the 12th April, 1945, the chief of staff of the First German Parachute Army made contact with the British Eighth Corps to ask: for a local armistice. He explained that a terrible situation in the POW, and civilian internment camps had arisen at Belsen. Typhus was raging, and the Germans were unable to handle it. Would the Eight Corps take over?

A truce was immediately arranged. A neutral area was set out around Belsen. The German SS camp staff were to stay on in definitely. The Hungarian Guard was also to remain. A section of the Wehrmacht was to guard the area but was to be returned behind the German lines fully armed after six days.

Father Morrison was with the 32nd Casualty Clearing Unit near Belsen at the time and it immediately moved to the camps. Then began for him a period of great trial and anguish. He was principally occupied in Camp Number 1 - known now to all the world as the Horror Camp. Herded together in this camp were fifty thousand people. Thirty-nine huts housed the men forty-one, the women.

When Father Morrison's unit entered the camp on April 17th, between seven and ten thousand people lay dead in the huts and on the ground. Of the living the majority were in periculo mortis, and many thousands were dying.

The first date for which statistics were available was April 30, and on that day five hundred and forty eight people died. It was difficult to assess the number of Catholics, but at a guess it was in the region of 30 per cent. In February 1945 there were 45 priests in the camp but only 10 were alive on April 17th, when Father Morrison arrived. Of these 10, only one, a Pole, Father Kadjiocka, was able to give Father Morrison any help. Soon afterwards several other chaplains arrived. The number Father Michael annointed daily during this first period in the camp was about 300. He wrote in a report:

“The joy and gratitude shown by the internees at receiving the sacraments more than compensated for the difficulties ('difficulties —such an understatement !) of working in the huts. One was con scious too of being a member of a living unified Church and of the bond which held us together. In the camps were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Jugoslaves, Greeks, Rumanians, Ukranians, French, Belgians, Dutch, Italians, and all were able to par take of the same sacrament.
On Sunday, April 22nd Mass was celebrated for the first time in Belsen Camp. There was a torrential downpour that morning and it was suggested that Mass be postponed until some other day, but the congregation would not hear of it ... they were drenched through but that did not diminish the fervour and enthus jasm of their singing”.

Father Michael very seldom spoke of his trials at Belsen and it would be difficult for the boys now at Belvedere to appreciate that the bowed priest who moved about so haltingly with a stick, and was nevertheless, so ready to speak with everyone, had such a distressing experience in his life.

After demobilization, Father Morrison went to Australia where he taught in Riverview College and served in St Ignatius Church, Richmond. He returned to Europe in 1958 and worked for some years Manchester before becoming Bursar at Belvedere.

May he rest in peace.

Born: 31 August 1874, Ardfinnan, County Tipperary
Entered: 07 September 1893, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 01 August 1909, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1912
Died: 12 May 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1896 at Valkenburg, Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1898 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1911 at St Mary’s College, Kent, England (FRA) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 29th Year No 3 1954
Obituary :
Father Charles Mulcahy
By the death of Father Mulcahy, the Province has lost an excellent Retreat-giver, a much sought guide for young men and one of the best language teachers known to our Colleges.
Born in 1874 at Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary, he received his early education at Rockwell College, where he fortunately found a master suitable to his bent for modern Languages, including Irish, a subject hardly known to the schools in those days. In 1890 he went to Clongowes. There he was a diligent and successful student. A contemporary describes his first impression as “of an elegant young man, strolling round the cycle-track with Mr. Wrafter and a couple of Higher liners”. A small detail, but not without its significance. Apart from tennis, he had no sportive interests.
He entered the noviceship in 1893, encouraged in his Jesuit vocation by a friend of his family, Father Healy, C.S.Sp., a former Head of Blackrock College. We may, perhaps, say that he was fortunate to have finished his noviceship at a time when the pedagogical outlook did not force every Junior into a University procrustean couch, for he was immediately sent to Philosophy; two years at Valkenburg and one year at Enghien, where the foreign diet gives a flavour to speech, not to be found at home. He returned for the long period of scholastic service common in those days; seven or eight years of unbroken teaching work. All past pupils pay tribute to the excellence of his teaching, and his power to create interest in literature.
After four years at Milltown, and Tertianship at Canterbury under Father de Maumigny, whose spirituality influenced him profoundly, he returned to Milltown, for a brief year as Sub-minister, and Master of Juniors. He taught at the Crescent, 1913 and 1914 when he was appointed Minister and Socius to the Master of Novices and Master of Novices 1918-1919 at Tullabeg. During this period he developed his great talent as choir master. Though not a singer himself, he was a good pianist, and more than one Province choir owed its efficiency to him.
In 1919 he went to Clongowes as Rector and Consultor of the Province. St. Paul is very emphatic on the diversity of gifts. Government, as both profane and religious history shows, is among the rarer talents. It does not appear to have been his particular gift. After three years he was back at the teaching work, first at Mungret, where he was in charge of the Studies, then at Clongowes, part of the time as Spiritual Father. Finally in 1940 he settled down in Milltown, at the work which gave the fullest scope to his talents : Retreat work and spiritual direction of an increasing number of men, who got to know his worth in the Retreats, and would constantly return to consult him.
A prominent Government official pays this tribute to him : “I remember well his first appearance in the chapel at Milltown Park and every time I saw him for a matter of 10 years emphasised the impression that he was essentially a man of God, a man who appeared to walk perpetually in the presence of God. He succeeded in communicating that to his hearers. He was for me the embodiment of Ignatian spirituality. There could be no doubt whatever that he had lived a long life endeavouring to carry out the precepts of the Society as perfectly as possible for him. He carried on, until his health broke down, a personal apostolate with scores of men, particularly I think young men, whom he met for the most part in connection with retreats at Milltown Park. He had a charming sense of humour which kept breaking through the seriousness of his character”.
Similar testimony comes from Mount Anville, for whose Community he worked for many years. They say that he gave the exercises a way that could be understood by the children. And the kindness and sympathy shown them enabled them to open their problems to him readily.
It has been said with truth that the measure of a man's achievement and greatness in any walk of life is the devotion and application to duty which it involves : judged by that criterion Father Mulcahy has left an example which all can envy but few emulate. “I have”, says one in a position to judge, “known him over many years and have treated with him in many different capacities : I have never yet known him to deviate by a hair's breadth from the path of duty or allow the claims of any personal interest to obtrude on those of his office. If indeed there is one of whom it can be said that he gave himself to his work without stint, that man was Father Mulcahy”.
From the noviceship days, he was a keen reader of ascetical books. He could tell one, straight off, the best books in French, German, Italian, English on any point in the spiritual life. Though highly appreciative of general literature, the book shelf in his room became, as the years went on, more and more narrowed down to spiritual books, showing that St. Paul's invitation was a living one for him : “I will shew unto you yet a more excellent way”. And the more excellent way was the “conversation in Heaven”, whose gates advancing years reminded him were ready to open wide : “they that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity”. Father Mulcahy had certainly done that for many years of self-sacrificing patience.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Charles Mulcahy 1874-1954
Fr Charles Mulcahy was born in Ardfinnan in 1874, and received his early education at Rockwell College and Clongowes.

Entering the Society in 1893, he did his studies abroad at Valkenburg and Enghien. His formation completed, he was appointed Socius to the novices in 1914, and in 1918 was made Master of Novices. The following year he went to Clongowes as Rector. Administration, however, does not seem to have been his strong point, so after three years of office he returned to the classroom, in Mungret and Clongowes.

He was a first class teacher of languages and music. From his noviceship days he was a keen reader of ascetical books, and could recommend straight off the best books in French, German, Italian or English on any point in the spiritual life.

In 1940 he returned to Milltown Park, where he gave himself to retreat work and spiritual direction, his real métier. His excellence in this line is eloquently attested by the constant stream of people of all classes who consulted him in the parlour. He had a special gift for directing young men. “They that instruct many unto justice, shall shine as stars for all eternity”. Fr Mulcahy had certainly done that right up to his death on May 12th 1954.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 27 : May 1983

PORTRAIT FROM THE PAST : CHARLES MULCAHY
Dr Leon Ó Broin
The noted Irish scholar and former. Secretary of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs has graciously contributed this vignette of Fr Mulcahy. The author's laconic title for the piece is “An Old Fraud”: you'll see why.

When you went up to the first floor of the Retreat House in Milltown Park you saw in an alcove before you the room. 15A.where Charlie Mulcahy received visitors. It was a large, high-ceilinged, rather cheerless room, with little in it beyond a table with a raft of books, a typewriter, an armchair, a plain chair, an iron bedstead and a priedieu.. It was there in August 1943 - forty: years ago - I spoke to him first, I had seen him a week or two earlier as he. entered the chapel downstairs to give the opening lecture of a week end retreat. He was 69, but did not look it... He was an “old fraud” he would tell you, for his features were those of a man in his middle years, and his light brown hair was strong and plentiful. His walk gave him away, however; though quick and purposeful he shuffled noticeably. His speech was rather like that, too, it was quick and abbreviated. He repeated himself, but that may have been the teacher's practice of stressing the salient points of a lesson.

I have good reason to remember the first lecture of his I heard, because in it he laid the basis for everything he taught me in the next ten years or so, namely the supreme importance of understanding where all of us stand before God, our essential creaturehood and its obligations, the absurdity of Independent Creature. scribbler I wrote down an outline of his lectures and sent it to him from home, with a note asking him to develop a point that seemed to affect me particularly. His speedy reply was not quite what I expected, but it was thoroughly ad rem. “What you want to help yourself”, he wrote, “is much less thinking, and as much praying as you can manage. You seem to enjoy writing your thoughts. That makes for clarity, but hardly for reality”. Reality for him, as I was - to observe, was to live perpetually in the presence of God. Who could not but notice this when he walked in the garden or along the corridor in the direction of the community chapel? He was a picture of quiet, adoring concentration.

He invited me to come to Milltown “to talk myself out” on this question of reality, and when we met I remember how insistent he was that, in the matter of assent to the truths of religions, I should understand the difference between what was merely notional and what was real. He added that I would benefit from reading Newman on the subject. That visit was the forerunner of many. We became good friends, and his interest extended to my work, my literary interests, my ageing parents, my wife and family. He told me a little about himself, very indirectly though. He had run the whole gamut of Jesuit responsibilities, teaching in various schools, being master of novices, rector in Clongowes and Provincial Consultor; now he was “retired”, his function being “to pray for the Society” (Orat pro Societate), which did not mean, I suspect, that he could not direct an occasional retreat, look after the spiritual interests of a religious community, and conduct a personal apostolate among. young men he had encountered on those enclosed week-ends. These he endearingly referred to as his “toughs” They came to see him for. advice and to hear their confessions, sometimes two or three of them in a row and my own chats had to end abruptly when he would explain ever so courteously, that he had another “tough” waiting for him outside. Among his “toughs” in earlier days, if you can call them such, had been the remarkable Father Willie Doyle; and he always spoke warmly of Father John Sullivan with whom he had lived in community.

A native of Arafinnan, Co. Tipperary, Charlie had gone to Rockwell college where he was fortunate to have a teacher who developed his bent for modern languages, including Irish, a subject hardly known to the schools in those days. In time, I gather, he became one of the best language teachers in Jesuit Colleges. He continued his study of Irish in the Balingeary Gaeltacht of which he had pleasant memories - “It had become in a way a sort of home to me”, where he was able to indulge his love of traditional music. He was a good, good pianist and had considerable success with choirs.

As a Jesuit novice he had spent three years studying philosophy in Valkenburg and Enghien, and did his Tertianship in Canterbury under Father de Maumigry whose spirituality influenced him profoundly. He worried over what was happening in Germany during the war, and has my wife praying for that country ever since. He read German, of course, as well as French and English, but more in depth than in breadth. I imagine his practice being to return the books he liked, in order to savour their quality anew. He had a real feeling for the French language; when I introduced a young friend, whom he found full of “thoughts and tastes”, he felt sure that a bookman like me would approve of trying to break him into a little French.

“France was the country of expression”, he believed, and “a country that possessed a Rene Bazin must have a sane outlook for a young Catholic”. One of the things at which he grieved was that, having read a lot of Bazin, his immediate interests meant that he would have to defer beginning on him again for some time.

He hinted on the important things that were pressing on his time. “I have a young Deacon here for a six-day retreat. He is to be ordained on Sunday next. Say a word of prayer to the Lord for him”. In another letter he said “I have one young man here in Retreat. The one is as occupying as a complete bunch of them. He is gloriously in earnest, God bless him. He has a lovely Cork accent”. So his reading of profane literature dwindled to practically nothing. When now he talked of it at all, it seemed it was some thing he had to make an effort to recall. His stock of books became smaller and smaller. Those he retained had, all of them, an ascetical character; they were what he needed for his own spiritual purposes, and those he proposed to lend to his “toughs” in the hope of promoting theirs. I notice in one of his letters - all of which I kept - that the volumes he lent me included: Meschler, Father Arthur Little, and Saint Francis de Sales, At other times it was books by the Jesuits, Coleridge and Goodier, and Saint Augustine. I would feel the uplift of certain chapters in Coleridge, he assured me, and then went on to ask if I did not think it queer how calmly we talk of an uplift? Why, it means entrance into a new world and not merely a World like what Columbus discovered?

Mentioning Augustine, he would say that there was no need to commend the great African Doctor. “You know my weakness for him. He always touches the soul in that human way of his”. From Francis de Sales he culled reams from his writings on the religious life and on pursuit of perfections and gave me a copy of his transcript. Saint Ignatius was never far away from his thought, of course; retreats and his direction of souls were strictly fashioned by the Spiritual Exercises, That, for instance, was where the obligations of the creature came from; and this, on the discernment of spirits. “Keep joy in prayer and all will be well. If you are spiritually: unhappy, then you may know the enemy is near..in The doubt increases; the soul begins to be restless; it loses its sweetness and spiritual joy. Ignatius says at once, without any reservations, that this alone is a sign that 'the light is untrue”.

He gave me once a Ballade of Distractions that a colleague of his in the Society had strung together. It had done him good, and he felt sure I, too, would find it useful. It's real prayer, is it not?. You remember St. Augustine: Lord, you were with me, but I was not with You. That was the theme of the Ballade it began : Here am I in the chapel in retreat, / Lord, at your hidden glory humbly staring, /my soul, that ought to find its joy complete, / the splending of Your Godhead to be sharing / Has found the effort just a little wearing. And off it's gone, the countryside to view./ Taking, alas, a most terrestrial airing / my thoughts are rambling though I'm here with you.

Going through his letters I find some fine things: In one he says “It was not in dialectics God saved his people”. In another “God will be generous as is His wont. I have not had such a good time of late”, (His health was beginning to break) “but that, too is a gift of God as St. Ignatius tells us”. In another still “I will make special mementoes in the Mass for the musicians (my children: Eimear and Noirin) till their troubles are over. Our Lady, the Great Mother, will guide their hands and their brains”, and, when their examinations were successfully passed, he told Eimear not to forget to thank his heavenly helpers. “How human”, he said, “is the Gospel scene with its pertinent question: ‘Where are the other nine?’” And, reminding me and my wife of an approaching feast, he assumed we had a picture of the Holy Family in the house, that the children would gather a few autumn leaves to adorn it, have a lamp burning before it, and pay some visits to it till the feast was over. That would leave an impression on their minds that would do them good.

The autumn leaves typified his passion for flowers. He planted them in profusion in a garden rockery round the beguiling figure of a petite Virgin and used reproductions of them as bookmarkers.

When my father's days were clearly numbered, his concern for him, my mother, and me was most touching. “You may be sure there were many Masses and many prayers offered for him. I offered Mass myself of course and remembered him in my prayers all the day. May God bless him when the hour comes for bringing him to a better home. It will be, I am sure, a relief rather than anything else. What a grand solemnity there is in the scene with Martha: I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me although he be dead shall live, and everyone that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever. There is no other consolation. May God bless and console yourself”. In his next letter he wrote that “the Lord has been good to the one He has called by shortening his waiting. May he rest in peace. I offered Mass for him this morning You may be sure of much spiritual help from Milltown, I did not get your message till close on 9 last evening. I hope you got my wire. I will offer Mass on Monday for the dead, yourself, and for the old lady who has been left to grieve, not too long in the Mercy of God one would hope, but God understands better than we. Is not our misunderstanding of what He does and why He does it pathetic and childlike? But you will be understanding it all better every day. May God bless you and console you”. He was very anxious about the dear old Granny, fearing that she might be unsettled; and, feeble though he was now, he went with the Rector one day to see her in her little flat. He continued to remember her in his Masses, putting her especially in God's care and guard.

The first sign that his own mortal end was not too far off appeared in his letters. They were suddenly shorter, disjointed, with words misspelt or omitted altogether. He tried to behave normally, insisting to the visitors that they should take the armchair, and, when that courtesy was refused, sitting bolt upright himself on the edge of it. He was an ascetic, of course, his only concession being a very occasional cigarette which he smoked from a holder, and which he laid aside when someone came to see him. But he could read no more, or read only without fully comprehending. It was utterly pathetic and yet somehow significant that, when the end came, all that this erstwhile lover of books had was his rosary beads and a crucifix. When speaking of the enduring patience of Christ he had said that a secret cross was a very precious thing, and that we shouldn't allow the strength of it to evaporate. It was a weakness to be always searching for a confidant, to be always blabbing out our grievances. In this matter he practised what he preached. He never spoke of his infirmities; even when he could hardly speak at all. When I last saw him he was lying awake but silent, his whole body covered in a white powder whose purpose was to mollify the burning irritation of his poor flesh.
God help us all at the end.

◆ The Clongownian, 1954

Obituary

Father Charles Mulcahy SJ

The death occurred on May 12th of Rev. Charles Mulcahy, S.J., Milltown Park, Dublin, a former Rector of Clongowes Wood College. He was aged 80, and from 1942 until failing health in recent year's compelled him to retire, he was on the staff of the Retreat House at Milltown Park, where he gave many retreats to priests and laymen.

He was a son of John Mulcahy, woollen manufacturer, of Ardindan, Co Tip perary, and was educated at Rockwell and Clongowes Wood Colleges. After a distinguished course in the Intermediate, in which he excelled in modern languages, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1893.

He studied philosophy at the German and French houses of the Order at Valkenburg, in Holland, and Enghien, in Belgium, and taught for eight years at Clongowes Wood before beginning his theological studies. A master of considerable ability, he excelled in the teaching of Irish, French, German and Italian, as well as Latin and English. He was ordained at Milltown Park in 1909, and completed his religious training under the well-known spiritual guide, Père René de Maulmigny, at St Mary's College, Canterbury, then conducted by the Fathers of the Paris Province of the Society.

Father Mulcahy was appointed Rector of Clongowes Wood College in 1919, having previously been Assistant Master of Novices, and later Master of Novices at Tullamore. He was Rector of Clongowes for three years, and afterwards Dean of Studies at Mungret College, Limerick. From 1927 to 1931, and again from 1933 to 1941, he taught at Clongowes, and for most of this time he was also Spiritual Director to the Community and boys.

Father Mulcahy was much in demand as. a director and counsellor of souls giving spiritual guidance to very many people in all walks of life, both by letter and in personal interviews in this work he was distinguished for his quiet kindly manner, and for the way in which he could bring his own wide spiritual reading to bear on the problems brought to him.

Father Mulcahy will be remembered gratefully by the many clients whom he helped in this way, as well as by those who at Clongowes and Mungret Colleges, benefited from the unusual teaching gifts which he developed by meticulous devotion to duty as well as by careful reading during the years he spent as a teacher of languages.

He is survived by his brother, Mr. William Mulcahy, Director of Ardinnan Woollen Mills.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Charles Mulcahy (1874-1957)

Born at Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary and educated at Rockwell College and Clongowes, entered the Society in 1893. He pursued his higher studies, at Valkenburg, Enghien and Milltown Park where he was ordained in 1908. He was master here from 1912 to 1914. Unfortunately for the Crescent, he was transferred to Tullabeg as assistant, and later to the important post itself of master of novices. From Tullabeg he was transferred as rector to Clongowes where he relinquished office in 1922. Father Mulcahy felt more at home in a classroom and until 1940 Mungret and then Clongowes benefitted by his matchless pedagogic gifts. He retired from teaching in 1940 and until his death was a member of the Milltown Park community. Here he gave splendid service as retreat director, while many religious communities in Dublin revered him for his ability as a spiritual director.

Born: 09 April 1871, Boyle, County Roscommon
Entered: 11 November 1893, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 1905, Milltown Park., Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1912, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 10 April 1948, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

First World War chaplain.

by 1898 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1907 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1916 at St Aloysius College, Glasgow (ANG) Military Chaplain
by 1917 Military Chaplain : 5th East Lancashire, Witley, Surrey
by 1918 Military Chaplain : Officers Mess Park Hall Camp, Oswestry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948
Obituary

Fr. Hugh Mulhall (1871-1893-1948)

Fr. Mulhall died on Saturday, April 10th after a few days illness. He had been visibly failing for some time before but had not been confined to bed. On Monday, April 5th, he got a heavy cold, which developed into congestion. He was anointed and received Holy Viaticum on Wednesday night and although he rallied a little next day, he was clearly dying on Friday. This was his seventy seventh birthday and he was very grateful to all the Fathers wbo celebrated Mass for him that morning. His sufferings were increasing but God mercifully put an end to them on Saturday afternoon. R.I.P.
Hugh Mulhall was born at Boyle on April 9th, 1871. His mother was a sister of The Mac Dermott, a fact which Fr. Mulhall never forgot and of which he liked to remind others. He was educated at the diocesan college of the Immaculate Conception, Summerhill, Sligo, from which he went to Maynooth where he spent about four years. All his life he was proud of being a ‘Maynooth man’ and he preserved a vivid memory of his contemporaries. He could tell after a lapse of nearly half a century which of them had got ‘a first of first’, which had ‘led his class’ which had come to high ecclesiastical dignity.
He entered the novitiate at Tullabeg on St. Stanislaus' Day, 1893. In due time, he pronounced his first vows and after a short Juniorate, he spent two years in the Colleges, one year at Galway and one at Clongowes. He was sent to Stonyhurst for his philosophy which he did in two years. He was on the teaching staff in Galway again in 1900. In 1903 he did his theology in Milltown and was ordained there in 1905. He went to Tronchiennes in 1907 for his tertianship under Pere Petit and was sent to the Crescent, Limerick to teach in 1908. As his methods of teaching were original but not calculated to secure success in the examinations, he was transferred to the Church staff. After a year spent at Tullabeg as missioner and operarius in the people's church, he was appointed a military chaplain in the First World War, in 1916. He never went to the Front but served as chaplain to hospitals and camps, at Stobhill, Glasgow, at Whitley, Surrey, and at Oswestry. The four or five years which he spent as chaplain were the most active and pleasant of his life and gave him a stock of memories and stories which he never forgot.
He must have been rather an unsoldierly figure and he was certainly unconventional in manner, but he soon came to show that he was a first-class chaplain. He had an extraordinary gift of interesting people in religion. He was very intelligent, quick and subtle of mind, unusually independent of notes and books. Like Macaulay, he could be said to carry his wealth in his breeches pocket and not in the bank. He had his considerable capital under his hand and could draw on it at once. He had a rare gift of being able to expound a question or situation in a lucid, orderly and winning way. He could show to a prejudiced hostile non-Catholic that even the most ‘advanced’ Catholic doctrines, such as the infallibility of the Pope or the Immaculate Conception, were sweetly reasonable and actually demanded by the general situation. He was devoted to the men and did great good among them. At the mess and in his general dealings with the officers, he produced a deep impression. A point of morals or a question of belief would be mentioned and the Padre would be asked for his opinion. His opinion was always received with respect, if not with approval, he could give the Catholic position clearly and cogently. He undoubtedly exercised a great influence.
In 1921 he was appointed to the Mission Staff. He suffered with increasing intensity from nervous troubles and after a period in a sanatorium in Scotland, he spent some years in Rainhill in the English Province doing retreat work. But his malady got worse and he was obliged to give up active work. In 1931 he came to Rathfarnham Castle where he remained until his death.
Fr. Muhall was emphatically a ‘character’, unusual and remark able in many respects. He attracted attention at once by his great unwieldy figure, with its indication of uncommon physical strength. Almost all his life, he enjoyed good health and never knew what a headache was. For a man with his leisure, he read extremely little, but he had a most tenacious memory and never forgot what he heard from others or learned from his own experience. He loved talking and could not sit in a tram or bus or train without entering at once into conversation with his neighbour. He had great skill in starting and keeping going a conversation. He would have been quite at home in the eighteenth century when conversation was the chief recreation of civilised men. But his conversation was always of a spiritual turn, and it was a proof of his special gift that he could interest anyone in religious matters. His great interest was the conversion of Protestants. He noted every conversion mentioned in the papers, he entered into correspondence with Protestants, he got prayers said for them.
Though he endured constant mental sufferings arising from scruples, fears, inhibitions and excessive sensibility, he was usually cheerful and patient, always ready to talk with a visitor, always bright at recreation. He told a story very well, had a very fine sense of humour. He was always most interested in news about our Fathers and Brothers. It need scarcely be mentioned that his eccentricities, due for the most part to the state of his mental health, did not make religion easier for himself or for others. He was a man of deep child like piety, the Sacred Heart and Our Lady being the chief objects of his devotion.
It is hard to imagine Rathfarnham without the massive figure who sat on the seat near the exit steps, impervious to east wind or rain, or who stumped up and down on the short side walk, leaning on his stick, or who sat for hours at a time at the window of the library, looking out but not at the landscape. He was looking into himself or into the past, for he was inordinately preoccupied with self, in the phrase of the old Greek philosopher, he made himself the measure of all things! It was difficult at times to resist a feeling of pity that such gifts as he undoubtedly possessed, came apparently to so little use. But God's estimate may be very different. We do not know the value that He attached to his suffering and patience. Fr. Mulhall never said a bitter or unkind word about another, he was always studiously mild in his criticism. One who knew him well for most of his life in the Society, described him as the most charitable man he had ever met. We trust that God has given him the peace of mind for which he prayed and sought so long. In pace in idipsum dormiam et requiescam. R.I.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Hugh Mulhall SJ 1871-1948
Many of the Province will recall the huge almost unwieldy figure of Fr Mulhall which moved round the Castle during their Juniorate days at Rathfarnham.

He was born in Boyle on April 9th 1871. Having spent about four years in Maynooth, he entered the Society in 1893. During the first World War he acted as chaplain, earning for himself a reputation among the troops for his kindly interest and a special aptitude fro explaining difficulties in religion in a lucid and simple manner.

The War over, he was appointed to the Mission Staff, but the malady from which he suffered for the rest of his life soon made its appearance, and he was forced to abandon active service. He suffered from extreme scruples. This affliction he bore with great patience and humility, never heard to murmur against his lot, but grateful to God who gave him so many good friends among his brethren who tried to help him in his sickness. This cross he bore for 17 years.

He died a happy death on April 10th 1948.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Hugo Mulhall (1871-1948)

Was born at Boyle, Co Roscommon and on the completion of his education at Summerhill College, Sligo, entered Maynooth College. He was received into the Society in 1893. He pursued his higher studies in England, and at Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1905, and, on finishing his tertianship in Belgium, arrived in the Crescent in 1908. Although a man of subtle intellectual gifts, he showed no aptitude for teaching and was soon transferred to church work at which he laboured conscientiously until 1914. After some experience on the mission staff, he volunteered as a military chaplain but never served outside England. After the first world war he returned to mission work in Ireland and was later back in England engaged in retreat work.

Born: 28 November 1575, Kilconnell, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1607, Tournai, Belgium - Belgicae province (BELG)
Ordained: pre Entry, Savoy, France
Died: 28 December 1633, Galway Residence, Galway City, County Galway

Alias O’Mulchiran

Parents Patrick O'Mulchiran and Catherine Ní Rachtican (Rhattigan or Raughtigan);
Studied in Ireland Taught Humanities in Limerick 1 year
Studied 7 years at Louvain and is an MA. Studied 4 years Theology at College of Savoy and is Bachelor of Theology
1622 onwards in Ireland

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Patrick and Katherine née Rachtican
He studied in Ireland, Humanities at Louvain, Lille (graduating MA), and Theology in Savoy
Received into the Society by BELG Provincial (cf Tournay Diary MSS de l’État, Brussels, n 1016, p 709)
1609 Came to Ireland; Esteemed and venerated in Connaught; A good Preacher

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Patrick and Catherine née Rachtican
Studied Humanities in Ireland, and taught it for a year at Limerick before he went to Louvain and then Lille for Philosophy (graduating MA) and then Theology in Savoy,where he was Ordained before Ent 07 September 1607 Tournai
1609 After First Vows he was sent to Ireland and the Galway Residence, arriving November 1609, and worked in Connaught until his death at the Galway Residence 28 November 1633

Born: 14 March 1853, Castleknock, County Dublin
Entered: 18 March 1882, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1894, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 14 December 1931, Milltown Park, Dublin

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Glazier and Painter before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 7th Year No 2 1932
Obituary :
Br Joseph Mulvany
Br. Joseph Mulvany was born near Castleknock on 14 March 1853. While he was a boy, his family moved into Dublin, and he went to school at Richmond St. During his school-days, he was an altar boy in Gardiner St. He began his noviceship at Milltown Park in 1882 and finished it two years later at the newly established house in Dromore, Co. Down. During his life of 49 years in the Society, he discharged, at one time or another, nearly every duty that falls to the lot of a lay-brother. For some years, when stationed at Belvedere, he is entered in the Catalogue “Adj Dir. assoc. S. S. Cor,”. Sacristan seems to have been his speciality, for he held that important position for no less than 38 years. For 26 years he was stationed at Milltown, 8 at Belvedere, 5 at University College, Stephen's Green, 4 at the Crescent, 3 at Clongowes, 2 at Gardiner St,, and 1 at Dromore.
Most people will remember Br. Mulvany as sacristan in Milltown. He did his work in the Chapel with a regularity and fidelity to routine that were characteristic of him. Towards the end of his time, when scholastics who were helping him decorated the altar in some novel way, he would murmur disapprovingly, “more in sorrow than in anger”. It was never
done before Gradually he was relieved entirely of any work, he was becoming so weak. He used to hobble about in the garden, sit in the little kiosk saying his beads. He must have said millions of heads, His fidelity to the spiritual duties used to impress those that lived with him.
For a few weeks before his death, he complained of being very weak, but with a will to live, about which he did not mind being joked, he kept up as much as possible. He was at dinner in the refectory three days before he died. Had he lived for a few months more he would have celebrated his Golden Jubilee in the Society. He died at Milltown on Monday 14 Dec. 1931.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother Joseph Mulvany 1853-1931
Br Joseph Mulvany was born at Castleknock on March 14th 1853. His family moved into the city, and so young Joseph was enabled to go to O’Connell’s Schools, and to become an altar boy in Gardiner Street. He entered the Society at Milltown in 1882, and completed his noviceship at Dromore County Down.

His work in the Society was mainly as Sacristan, at which he excelled, holding that post for upward of 38 years, the majority of them at Milltown Park. When he grew too feeble to work, he used hobble around the garden and sit in the kiosk telling his beads. He was never without them, and his litany of rosaries must have run into millions.

He died at Milltown on December 14th 1931 within a few months of his golden jubilee as a Jesuit.

Born: 08 January 1902, Kilmainham, Dublin
Entered: 07 March 1929, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 07 February 1942, Manresa House, Roehampton, London, England
Died: 14 January 1979, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin

Chaplain in the Second World War.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - National Teacher before entry

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 16th Year No 4 1941

General :
Seven more chaplains to the forces in England were appointed in July : Frs Burden, Donnelly, J Hayes, Lennon and C Murphy, who left on 1st September to report in Northern Ireland, and Fr Guinane who left on 9th September.
Fr. M. Dowling owing to the serious accident he unfortunately met when travelling by bus from Limerick to Dublin in August will not be able to report for active duty for some weeks to come. He is, as reported by Fr. Lennon of the Scottish Command in Midlothian expected in that area.
Of the chaplains who left us on 26th May last, at least three have been back already on leave. Fr. Hayes reports from Redcar Yorkshire that he is completely at home and experiences no sense of strangeness. Fr. Murphy is working' with the Second Lancashire Fusiliers and reports having met Fr. Shields when passing through Salisbury - the latter is very satisfied and is doing well. Fr. Burden reports from Catterick Camp, Yorks, that he is living with Fr. Burrows, S.J., and has a Church of his own, “so I am a sort of PP”.
Fr. Lennon was impressed very much by the kindness already shown him on all hands at Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh and in his Parish. He has found the officers in the different camps very kind and pleased that he had come. This brigade has been without a R.C. Chaplain for many months and has never yet had any R.C. Chaplain for any decent length of time. I am a brigade-chaplain like Fr Kennedy and Fr. Naughton down south. He says Mass on weekdays in a local Church served by our Fathers from Dalkeith but only open on Sundays. This is the first time the Catholics have had Mass in week-days

Irish Province News 17th Year No 1 1942

Chaplains :
Our twelve chaplains are widely scattered, as appears from the following (incomplete) addresses : Frs. Burden, Catterick Camp, Yorks; Donnelly, Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk; Dowling, Peebles Scotland; Guinane, Aylesbury, Bucks; Hayes, Newark, Notts; Lennon, Clackmannanshire, Scotland; Morrison, Weymouth, Dorset; Murphy, Aldershot, Hants; Naughton, Chichester, Sussex; Perrott, Palmer's Green, London; Shields, Larkhill, Hants.
Fr. Maurice Dowling left Dublin for-Lisburn and active service on 29 December fully recovered from the effects of his accident 18 August.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946

Frs. Guinane, Pelly and Perrott C. have been released from the Army. Fr. Guinane is now Minister at Mungret, Fr. Perrott is posted to Galway, and Fr. Pelly is awaiting travelling facilities to go to our Hong Kong Mission. Fr. Martin, a member also of the Mission, was to have been released from the Army on December 12th, but on the 11th be met with a serious accident in Belfast (see letter below). Fr. Provincial went to Belfast on Wednesday, January 9th, to visit him at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Fr. C. Murphy hopes to start on his homeward journey from Austria on January 14th and to be released from the Army by the end of January.

Irish Province News 54th Year No 2 1979

Obituary :

Fr Conal Kieran Murphy (1902-1979)

Born on January 8, 1902 Conal entered the Society on March 9, 1929 and was ordained priest on July 31, 1939.Final vows 7 February, 1942. He died on the 14th of January 1979.
He was educated at CBS Synge St and at St Mary’s College, Rathmines; trained as a Primary Teacher at St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and taught in St Peter’s National School, Phibsboro. After noviceship he completed his BA degree in 1932, did philosophy in Tullabeg, one years regency in Clongowes, theology in Milltown Park and Tertianship in Rathfarnham Castle.
After Tertianship he served as chaplain to the British Forces in England, Scotland, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, Syria, Egypt and finally Austria. After demobilization he taught in Crescent College Limerick 1946-51 then to Milltown Park where he was Director of the short-lived juriorate for Brother postulants and also Director of Missions and Retreats from 1951-67.
In 1967 he came to Manresa House as Adj Dir Exc Spir and Praef Spir NN.
That is the bare record. But what of the man? Conal K (he always used the “K” and liked to use it) was a friendly, quiet and most companionable man who loved a bit of gossip, especially if it had a political or educational flavour. He was interested in sketching and could pass a summer afternoon trying to get on paper his vision of the West Cork scenery. he was a vigorous walker but a problem for his companion; as his Master of Novices said, “he careens, dear and good brother” with the result that the companion found himself being forced into the ditch or on to the roadway.
Fidelity, loyalty, conscientiousness, honour are the words that spontaneously come to mind when thinking of Conal; superiors realised that he was literally “paratus ad omnia”; there was no demand on his time or services but would be met willingly and cheerfully. He was a voracious but selective reader and probably one of the best read men in the province in modern theology, dogmatic and moral. His great difficulty was in expressing what he knew and we lovingly recall his “what-you-may-call-it”: a phrase which took the place of nouns, common and proper, or verbs, adverbs, adjectives and indeed of most parts of speech. Unwary listeners sometimes found themselves utterly confused. However when he wrote out his thoughts he could and did write quite exceptional sermons and conferences. If he read the text, well and good.
Can I add much to the above jejune biography? Not very much, I fear, for Conal did not easily talk about himself, least of all about his war-time experiences. He had to be trapped into recalling even trivial reminiscences.
We who entered in September 1929 found him already there, our senior in the Society by some five to six months; our senior in age by some eight or nine years. He was helped somewhat in bridging the generation gap by the presence in the noviceship of another senior citizen, Fr Liam McElligott. Conal was our Beadle during the Long Retreat communicating by quite illegible notes which he either showed or handed to you. His years did not prevent him taking part, a rather ungainly part, in our football and drill. One of his rare disclosures about himself took place, I recall, when we were novices together. He admitted that at the fateful election of 1922, when he was in teacher training, he voted SEVERAL times AGAINST the Treaty.
Whatever were his political opinions in 1922, after 1942 he was a totally establishment man and British establishment at that. I think, however, that this was an expression of his sincere loyalty to his war time comrades rather than any political bias. Memories of his visits home on leave as chaplain are of the ceremony of opening a bottle of Jameson so that it could appear as for personal use to the Customs Officials, though its real destination was the officers mess. He had it in for the Arabs who stole his Mass kit; that was a sore memory.
Conal was invited to preach on Remembrance Day at the service in St Patrick’s Cathedral, an invitation which it gave him great joy to accept. In his sermon he made some references to the Christian ideals which inspired so many of his old comrades in the war. Subsequently, he heard with great satisfaction, I’m sure, that the Soviet Ambassador had formally complained about such references.
His loyalty to friends, in the Society, in the army and the many who met him in his retreat work especially members of the Diocesan clergy, the members of the Praesidium of the Legion of Mary to which he was devoted, the members of the Victualers section of St Joseph’s Young Priests Society was met with an answering affection and devotion. They will miss him. So too will his only sister Ursula to whom he was a most devoted brother. So, too, his brethren, young and old, in Manresa, did and do miss him.
May he be in the glory of his Lord to whom he gave loyal and dedicated service, and, one day, may we all be merry with him in Heaven.

Born: 20 August 1862, Rathmore, County Kerry
Entered: 02 February 1882, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 01 August 1897
Final Vows: 02 February 1899, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 20 February 1943, St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales

Came to Australia 1889 for Regency
by 1898 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1902 at St Aloysius, Galle, Sri Lanka Mission (BELG) teaching at Seminary
by 1923 at St Wilfred’s Preston England (ANG) working
by 1943 at St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales (ANG) health

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
A highly intelligent and interesting man, Denis Murphy began his career in the Society in 1882, and after initial Jesuit studies arrived at Riverview for regency in December 1888. He taught the public exam classes in Latin, Greek, French and mathematics, and was an assistant prefect of discipline until 1893. In the years 1893-94 he taught the lower classes at St Patrick's College before returning to Ireland for theology After tertianship he spent time in Ceylon and England.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 10th Year No 3 1935

Works by Father Denis J Murphy SJ :

1. “English Idioms and Pronunciation” - Written for Indian students of English. It gives in parallel columns incorrect and correct English idioms. A pamphlet of 25 pages, very helpful for schools in India
2. “Current Errors in English History” - Two booklets, of about 100 pages each, give true history of important events according to best historians, and show how false is the Protestant version.

Irish Province News 18th Year No 2 1943

Obituary :
Father Denis Murphy SJ (1862-1943)
Fr. Murphy's death occurred at St. Beuno's College, St. Asaph, North Wales, on the morning of 20th February. After spending some time in a Preston Nursing Home he had been transferred to St. Beuno's last summer and, the' unable to offer Mass since 2nd June, he kept up his former interests and maintained contact with Preston, the scene of his labours for the twenty years previous to his death, as well as with the Province. On the very morning of his death Fr. Socius received a letter from the Brother who was looking after him, reporting Fr Murphy's anxiety to give full information of the Masses he had been saying up to his illness and mentioning that he still retains his buoyancy and good spirits and begs to be kindly remembered to the Provincial and the community at Gardiner Street.
Born at Rathmore, Co. Kerry, in 1862, he entered the Society at Milltown Park, Dublin, on February 2nd, 1862, and spent five years as master in Melbourne before pursuing his theological studies. He was ordained priest by the late Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, in 1897, and after occupying the post of Prefect of Studies at St. Ignatius' College, Galway, for three years, volunteered for school work in Galle, Ceylon, then under the care of the Belgian Jesuits. Monsignor Van Reeth, S.J., Bishop of Galle, had come to Europe in 1901 in search of a Head for his recently established school for native boys. Father Murphy offered himself for the position. Under his tactful and talented management; the college, from being a collection of mere floorless huts, where boys were taught the elements of the three Rs, became a secondary school of distinction, St. Aloysius College, where pupils were prepared for the Senior School Certificate of Cambridge. After twenty years of unbroken service in the tropics Father Murphy was compelled through ill-health to return to Ireland in 1922. In the autumn of that year began his twenty years' association with the parish of St. Walburge's of Preston, where his priestly zeal and remarkable gentleness of disposition won him all hearts. The diamond jubilee of his entrance into religion was made the occasion last February, of remarkable popular rejoicings in Lancashire.
Fr. John Delaney has kindly set down the following details of Fr Murphy's work in Ceylon : “On his way home to Ireland from Australia for his theology, Mr Murphy's boat called at Colombo. While on shore he visited the Irish Oblate father who was then Parish Priest at St. Philip Neri’s the Garrison Church of the town. Chatting about Mission work on the Island, the Oblate father impressed so much on Mr. Murphy's mind the crying need of English speaking missionaries in such a place that he determined to apply to his Superiors for permission to return as a priest and work in Ceylon. He was strengthened all the more in his desire, as he found that the Society had two dioceses Galle in the South and Trincomali in the East of the Island, as well as the papal Seminary in the Hill Capital, Kandy, where the future clergy of India and Ceylon were being formed by the Jesuit Fathers.
During his tertianship he offered himself to the Provincial for Mission work in Ceylon, His generous offer was accepted, though Fr. Murphy heard no more about it for some time. On his return to Ireland he was appointed to Galway and asked to work up the school there. Many there are to-day who still remember and speak with admiration of the untiring zeal and the fine spirit of work he showed at St. Ignatius.
While Fr. Murphy was working in Galway the Belgian Jesuit Bishop, Dr. Joseph Van Reeth, who was in charge of the Galle Diocese Ceylon, came to Rome on his ad limina visit. While touring Europe in quest of subjects who would help him to found and work up a College in his diocese - a project very dear to his heart - he applied to the Irish Provincial, who remembering the Tertian's generous offer, placed the Bishop's request before him. Fr. Murphy packed up and set sail for the East, accompanied by as German Scholastic, who had joined the English Province for Mission work. That was in 1901. His work was to continue till 1921.
Fr. Murphy's activities in Ceylon can be placed under two heads : (1) the educational, or (2) the directly spiritual :
Arriving in Galle and taking charge of the Boys' School that had a roll of 82 pupils, he commenced his solid, persevering, self-sacrificing work that was to culminate in the great St. Aloysius' College of to-day - a fully equipped Secondary School with Elementary and Commercial Branches complete, side by side with an up-to-date Scientific Department containing a magnificent Laboratory that is regarded as one of the best in the Island.
Getting down to the very rudiments, Fr. Murphy began to lay the solid foundation of a thorough grasp of the English tongue for which the pupils of St. Aloysius' College became so renowned in later years. Parsing, analysis, rich vocabulary and correct idiom he hammered at continuously in season and out of season. People saw the wisdom of his plan and he himself was greatly encouraged when at the end of the first year he succeeded in getting his two Candidates through the Senior Local Cambridge Examination.
Then, he set about training his own pupils, first as monitors then as teachers, some of whom he sent to the Training College, gradually staffing the school with his own past pupils. During his regime he succeeded in capturing twice the much-coveted Government scholarship offered in open competition to all the Colleges of the Island. Before he returned to Ireland he had the satisfaction of seeing over 500 boys housed in a magnificent set of buildings the new St. Aloysius College-designed and completed on really oriental lines. His remarkable spirit of work had a contagious quality, too. His Old Boys testify even, to-day to that, and assert that with his great slogan "Certa Viriliter" emblazoned on the College Coat of Arms as their motto. Fr. Murphy really infused a genuine spirit of work into their lives. His directly spiritual work was equally successful. Starting off with a highly intensified spiritual life himself and remarkable for his spirit of prayer, love of poverty, penitential practises - rarely did he sleep on a bed - he gathered around him souls whose great desire was to be disciples of The Master. He was loved by the children for the wondrous charm of his simplicity. Converts reverenced him as their father. Children of Mary in the Convent and the College were anxious to place themselves under his spiritual direction. Members of religious congregations, many of whom hailed from Ireland, drew inspiration for their lives from his word and his example. His kindness, gentleness and discernment, his Christlike demeanour were an unfailing attraction for all.
For many years he crossed over regularly to Madras for the Annual Retreat of the Irish Presentation Nuns. Their first Convent in Madras was an offshoot of Rahan near Tullabeg. The former Rahan Parish Priest was a brother of the late Archbishop of Madras. These were the links between the two communities. From humble beginnings these Irish Presentation Nuns gradually developed their influence till to-day they are a power in the land through their schools, convents and colleges including the famous Training College of Madras, where the foundations of Catholic education of South China are so well laid.
The secret of Fr. Murphy's success lay in those supernatural qualities which his late Jesuit Superior in Galle discerned when he spoke of him as “a genuine religious and a very saintly man”. The same encomium as was paid twenty years after, when a late Provincial of England alluded to him as “the saint of St. Walburge's” R.I.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Denis Murphy SJ 1862-1943
On his way home from Australia, Mr Denis Murphy – as he was then called – called in at Colombo, and was much struck by the lack of priests there. He volunteered for the Mission of Ceylon. His offer was accepted in 1900 on the appeal of the Bishop of Galle for a man to run his recently established school for native boys. Under his management, the school, from being a mere collection of floorless huts became a secondary school of distinction, the present College of St Aloysius. For twenty years Fr Murphy worked in Ceylon.

Then through ill health he returned to Ireland, and he worked for another twenty years on the English Mission at Preston. He celebrated his Diamond Jubilee as a Jesuit in 1942, having been born at Rathmore in Kerry in 1862.

He died at St Beuno’s on February 20th 1943, leaving behind a permanent monument to his zeal in the College of St Aloysius, Ceylon.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1902

Letters from Our Past

Father Denis Murphy SJ

Ceylon.

A Jesuit. Father. well known to many .. of our students, and one who takes a great interest in the apostolic school, writes from Galle, Ceylon :

“Some six years ago this diocese had only six Catholic schools. Now there are thirty-six, each & source of numerous conversions and fonning the nucleus of a Chris tian community. The total number of children now attending the Catholic schools is about 2,500; six years ago it did not exceed 700,

We have, however, numerous difficulties to contend against. The Buddhists are encouraged and organised by European spiritualists, like Colonel Alcot and Miss Besant. Then there is the bitter opposition and bigotry of the. Protestants, who have plenty of money and have been in the field a hundred years before us. The Catholics are: poor, and find it difficult to support the priests or teachers. Above all, the workers are too few. Imagine thirty-six schools and forty-two churches and chapels, many of them thirty or sixty miles apart, worked by some eight priests ! Thus it happens that Catholic teachers and children are often months without seeing a priest. And it occurs again and again that schools decay and Catholics 'turn Protestant and Buddhist owing to the want of a priest to look after them.

But wherever a priest is the school fourishes and conversions multiply. Down at Matura, five years ago, there were two flourishing Wesleyan schools. Rev. Fr Standaert SJ, then opened his school of two boys in the church verandah, Now Fr. Standaert's school numbers one hundred and fifty children ; of the Wesleyan schools, one is fast dying, the other already dead.

The climate though hot, is wholesoine and invigorating, sea or land breezes nearly always blow; while our diet, dress, and houses are well adapted to a tropical climate. Hence, I feel the heat less than during an Australian summer”.

-oOo-

The same writer says in another letter :

“The Catholics, having endured a terrible persecution under Dutch Calvinists for 150 years up to the year 1800, are now fast multiplying. Their number at present is about a quarter of a million ; Trotestants are 60,000; the rest, Some 3,000,000, are Buddhists and Mohammedans. This (locese has over 7.coo Catholics scattered over an area as Targe as Munster. Two hundred converts are made yearly. In this diocese we have only twelve priests and need help Dadly. The Singhalese are a gentle loveable race, pos sessing an eastern refinement. Their modesty and humility seem to fit them admirably for the reception of Christianity. Here in Galle a higher Catholic school is sorely needed to keep our boys from Buddhist and Protestant schools. We teach from the alphabet to Senior Cambridge.

Some 'twelve months ago this (St Aloysius), school had a little over one hundred pupils, there are now over two hundred. About half are Catholics, the rest are Buddhists, Mohainmedans and Protestants. Gentle, good, ainiable boys they are. We are getting converts amongst them. About a dozen are now preparing for baptism. The scenery of Ceylon is beautiful, especially around old Kandy, the hill city of the kings, which I visited lately”.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1904

Letters from Our Past

Father Denis Murphy SJ

Ceylon.
“I was very glad to hear that you hope to be able soon to send help to Galle. The need is great, and the harvest is ripe. English-speaking priests are sorely needed in Ceylon and India. First, as English teachers in colleges. Second, as Preachers in churches Thirdly, because Continental priests don't well understand British character, ideas and methods, which of course permeate British Colonies. This is certainly an agreeable mission, with. many thousaud Pagans awaiting the light. Caste males no difficulty here; but is a terrible barrier in India, I am sorry I cannot write more, as I hear this eve ping the Singhalese chart of the Via Crucis in the native tongue, while our pious congregation, in many-coloured native costumes, gather in. Still we are only one in thirty-five of the population of Galle. There is great room for conversions. So pray for me with my littie Catholics and non-Catholics.

NOTE - Though Father Murphy is not a Past Student, we think his letter will interest many of our readers, es pecially those who remember him in Galway.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1905

Letters from Our Past

Father Denis Murphy SJ

A great friend of the Apostolic School, now a missioner in Ceylon, writes from St Aloysius College, Gaile

Ceylon
My dusky lads admire the Mungret photos and would like to be in such a grand college. In Ceylon, though the Protestants have built many fine Colleges, the Catholics have only one large College building - St Joseph's, Colombo, but we hope to have a fine college built in Galle very soon.

Of my 240 boys about half are Buddhists and Mohammedans, good little fellows, with the natural law writ clear and deep. Few leave us without Catholic principles and a desire to embrace the true faith, but parents oppose, and helpless boys must prudently yield now; later on we hope they will follow their convictions. We must rely for converts chiefly on the young, the old Buddhists being too corrupt in heart and mind.

Our rival colleges here are the Anglican, the Wesleyan with some 400 pupils, and the Buddhist College supported hy English Theosophists. The latter college was fast dying last year and nearly all its pupils were leaving for St Aloysius' College; but Colonel Olcott came, bought up a large building, bronght out a Cambridge MA, and now that Buddhist institution flourishes.

It is difficult to exaggerate the need of English-speaking priests in India and Ceylon. English education is now spreading rapidly. Every bishop has a college in his diocese and naturally requires as teachers those whose mother tongue is English. Amongst Europeans here, too, there is great need of priests of their own nationality,

So you see there is a splendid field of labour open to Mungret in these lands.

The bishop of Kandy and a Singhalese priest are just giving a mission here. The dialogues, in which the private lakes the rôle of a Buddhist or Protestant asking for information from the bishop, are very interesting and instructive for the people. The bishop, an Italian, learned this plan from the Jesuits in Rome,

-oOo-

The same writer, in another place, sends the following most interesting items :

The people of this country, until some three months since, were cursed by drunkenness, leading to countless murders. But a temperance movement, like Father Matthew's, has spread through the island in an extraordinary manner, and already public houses and law courts are empty; publicans and lawyers are in poverty. For a Buddhist people it is marvellous. They have watchers near every public house, and pledge-breakers are boy. cotted and macle to take on their backs stones or baskets of sand to the Buddhist temples.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1908

Letters from Our Past

Father Denis Murphy SJ

Ceylon - Rev D Murphy., writes from Galle:

We need English), or still better, Irish, aid very badly here, especially for college work. We have now a nice college of some 300 dusky lads and my poor self the only Paddy! We have white boys, chiefly of Dutch descent, called Burghers, and yellow boys - Singhalese and Portuguese - with many black boys of Tamil blood, The latter are industrious when made to be, and by nature very. gentle and obedient.

The Eastern memory is very good. The mind is acute but lacks reasoning power. All these qualities of mind and character are improving under European education.

Lying and theft seem a second nature to young and old here - quite shocking at first. But our boys quickly learn that “honesty is the best policy” in word and deed; so I find them now truthful and honest when they find both esteemed and rewarded; while the opposite bring punishment and disgrace. Amongst my 300 boys I have not had for many months a complaint of loss of books (stolen), which was quite a plague formerly. Our Catholic boys have much piety.

At games we do well. The college holds the champion ship for foothall over the Buddhist, Anglican, and Wesleyan colleges - past and present. The Aloysian club holds the foolball championship of Galle: Aided by four old boys the college played an excellent team of eleven English officers and men from HMS Sealark; and after a hard hour's game the match ended in a draw; and our English opponents acknowledged that Ceylon boys can play a splendid game. Of course all this makes our lads proud of their college, and fosters esprit de corps. The evenings are quite cool enough for Association; but Rugby cannot flourish in the tropics.

An English theosophist bas revived the Buddhist College here in Galle, which was almost dead four years since, having sent nearly all its pupils to us. Our boys though Buddhist grow with Catholic ideas and principles, If we could only gain the parents' permission many would become Catholics. We must wait and pray, con tent with those we do gain.

I like Ceylon climate better than Ireland's. We have no winter, nor is the heat too great; a fresh land or sea breeze constantly blows.

I hope some more will come to us from Mungret. The Easi has greatest need of English speakers.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1909

Letters from Our Past

Father Denis Murphy SJ

Ceylon - Rev D Murphy., writes from Galle:

Very glad missionary thoughts are turning Eastward, especially to India and Ceylon where English speakers are very badly needed. We must help in English countries French and Belgians, who want our aid in a most special way for education and English preaching English Protestant Missionaries swarm over Ceylon and India, but alas ! how few Catholic. May God send us some priests and nuns froin Ireland! I gave two retreats last Xmas in Madras to two large convents of Irish nuns, over thirty in each. Without them the various bible societies with Protestant Englislı nuns in abundance would have nearly all female education in their hands. South of Madras there is not one English speaking nun in India. Very sad !

We are more fortunate in Ceylon. We have the Good Shepherul Sisters from Ireland in Colombo and Kandy, and here in Galle we have a large convent of Belgian and Irish, with threë natiye sisters, all doing excellent work and famous for their Limerick lace. A beautiful convent by the sea bas been established at Matara, twenty seven miles from Galle.

Mr Piler is coming to us next month. You cannot imagine what a change one scholastic makes here or how much good he can du, surrounded and hard pressed as we are by Buddhists and Protestants. We have nine native teachers and a school of 300 fine lads, gentle, obedient; and industrious ; but only halt are Catholics We teach from alphabet to senior Cambridge and soon to London matriculation.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Denis Murphy (1862-1943)

Born at Rathmore, Co. Kerry, entered the Society in 1882 and was ordained in 1897 at Milltown Park. He had spent his regency at Australia before his theological studies. After his ordination he was appointed prefect of studies at St Ignatius', Galway and discharged the duties of his office with marked success for three years. He then volunteered for work with the Belgian Jesuits in Ceylon and for twenty years did splendid work in building up the College of St Aloysius at Galle. He was forced by ill-health to return to Europe in 1921 and was appointed to Sacred Heart College. Here he was engaged in teaching as well as being a member of the church staff. At the end of the year, however, feeling called to do mission work in England, he was sent at his own request to the Jesuit church at Preston where he laboured to the end. He remained a member of the Irish Province, although he had spent only four years of his long life in the actual work of his Province.

Born: 16 January 1833, Scarteen, County Cork
Entered: 26 October 1848, Dôle France - Lugdunensis Province (LUGD)
Ordained: 1862
Final vows: 02 February 1869
Died: 18 May 1896, University College, Dublin

by 1849 in Vals, France (LUGD) studying
by 1859 at Bonn, Germany (GER) studying Philosophy
by 1860 at Paderborn, Germany (GER) studying Theology
by 1861 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying Theology 3
by 1867 at Manresa, Spain (ARA) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
When he was five years old the family moved to Kanturk, where he had his early education before going to Clongowes.

1852-1858 After First Vows and some studies he was sent for Regency to Clongowes as a Teacher of all years.
1859 He studied his Second Year of Philosophy at Bonn.
1860-1863 He began his Theology at Paderborn, but after one year was transferred to St Beuno’s.
Returning to Ireland he taught Humanities and Rhetoric as well as Logic at Clongowes.
1867 he made Tertianship at Manresa, Spain
1868 He was sent to Tullabeg teaching Rhetoric.
1869-1874 He was sent to teach at Crescent Limerick.
1874-1882 he was attached to the Missionary Staff, and was Superior of that Staff for seven years.
1883-1888 He taught at UCD
1888 he was sent to Milltown to teach Canon Law.
1892-1896 He was back at UCD, mainly as a Writer. He died unexpectedly during the night of 17 May 1896 in his 64th year and 48th in Religious Life.

Ten years before he died he had been appointed by the Bishops of Ireland as promoter of the Causes of those who had died for their faith during the Penal Times. His last work as entitled “Our Martyrs” which was not published until after his death, though he had seen the last sheet through the press!
His other works include : “The Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell”; The History of Holy Cross Abbey”; “School History of Ireland”

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Murphy, Denis
by David Murphy

Murphy, Denis (1833–96), priest and historian, was born 12 January 1833 at Scarteen, near Newmarket, Co. Cork, the eldest son of Timothy Murphy and his wife Joanna (née O'Connell). He was educated at Mr Curran's school in Kanturk before attending Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. Entering the Society of Jesus on 26 October 1848, he made his noviceship at Dôle and then returned to Clongowes and taught history and literature (1852–8). He undertook further philosophical and theological studies in Bonn, Paderborn, and St. Beuno's in Wales and, returning to Ireland in 1863, taught rhetoric and logic at Clongowes (1863–7). In 1867 he made his tertianship at Manresa in Spain and later taught at St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, and the College of the Sacred Heart, Limerick. In 1874 he was attached to the society's missionary staff. He established a reputation as an excellent conductor of religious retreats and was appointed superior of the missionary staff in 1873. He began teaching French language and literature in 1883 at University College, St Stephen's Green, Dublin, and, in 1888, was appointed to teach moral theology, and later canon law, at Milltown Park. In 1892 he returned to his teaching duties at University College and also served as an examiner in Spanish for the RUI.

Best known for his historical researches and writings, Murphy was a prominent member of several learned societies including the Kildare Archaeological Society, the RSAI, and the RIA (1884), and contributed to their journals. His articles in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland include ‘Mungret Abbey’ (1894), ‘The castle of Roscommon’ (1891), ‘The ornamentation of the Lough Erne shrine’ (1892), and ‘The Irish Franciscans at Louvain’ (1893). His best known historical work is Cromwell in Ireland (1883), a scholarly and balanced account of the military campaign of 1649–51 written to refute the many myths associated with Oliver Cromwell (qv); new editions were published in 1885 and 1897. Murphy gave credit to Cromwell for his courage and military effectiveness, but condemned his religious bigotry and cruelty, and agreed with the 1st earl of Clarendon's saying ‘that he was a great, bad man’ (Cromwell in Ireland, p. ix). In 1893 Murphy translated into English and published Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh's (qv) manuscript life of Red Hugh O'Donnell (qv) with an extensive historical introduction and parallel bilingual text (The life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell (1893)). The translation, however, was severely criticised by some Irish scholars for its lack of precision. His widely used School history of Ireland (1894) gave a concise bird's eye view of Irish history from the arrival in Ireland in the 3rd century BC of Ceasair, granddaughter of Noah, ‘forty days before the deluge’, up to his own day.

At the request of the Irish bishops, in 1886 Murphy began researching a history of the martyrdom of Irish catholics since the reign of Henry VIII. He carried out extensive researches in the Vatican and other continental archives for over a decade, the result of which was the posthumously published Our martyrs: a record of those who suffered for the catholic faith under the penal laws in Ireland (1896) which he completed only days before his death. His edition of The annals of Clonmacnoise (1896), based on the translation of Conall Mageoghegan (qv), was also published posthumously.

He was elected to the RIA's committee of polite literature and antiquities (1891) and became vice-president of the RSAI (1894) and editor of the Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society. He received an honorary doctorate from the RUI in recognition of his historical research. A kindly and cheerful man, he enjoyed playing the bass violin to relax from his scholarly pursuits. He died suddenly 18 May 1896 in his rooms at University College, and was buried in the Jesuit plot in Glasnevin cemetery. There is a substantial collection of his papers in the Jesuit archives in Dublin which includes research notes for Our martyrs and lists of Irish manuscripts in archives in Rome and Spain.

Times, 25 May 1896; Irish Catholic, 23 May 1896; RSAI Jn. (1896); Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society, ii (1896), 81–3; Irish Monthly, xxiv (1896), 328–31; DNB; Boase, supp. iii; Cork Hist. Soc. Jn., xv (1909), 90–92; Beathaisnéis 1882–1982, i, 90; papers of Denis Murphy, Jesuit Archives, Dublin

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Denis Murphy 1833-1896
Fr Denis Murphy was born at Scarteen County Cork on the 16th January 1833. Having received his education at Clongowes, he entered the Society in 1848, making his novitiate in Dôle, France.

After his ordination and tertianship he taught in our Colleges, Clongowes, Crescent and Tullabeg. From 1874-1882 he was attached to the Mission Staff. From 1883-1896 he taught at University College, St Stephen’s Green, wit a break in between as Professor ar Milltown Park.

He had been appointed by the Bishops of Ireland as Promoter of the Causes of the Irish Martyrs. This led to his book “Our Irish Martyrs”. His other published works are “The Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell”, “The History of Holy Cross Abbey”, “Cromwell in Ireland” and “The Annals of Clonmacnoise”.

He died rather suddenly on May 17th 1896, being 64 years of age and 48 years a Jesuit.

◆ The Clongownian, 1896

Obituary

Father Denis Murphy SJ

Clongowes was still lamenting the loss of one of her most distinguished sons, Dr William J Fitzpatrick, when another, of those who have won fame for their Alma Mater in the world of letters was called away to his account. Born at Newmarket, County Cork, in 1833; Denis. Murphy went first to school at Kanturk; and then came to Clongowes, so young and so clever, that he is said to have finished the class of rhetoric at the earliest age recorded except in the case of Chief Baron Palles. Before his sixteenth birthday he had entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus, and after spending some years in England and on the Continent returned to Clongowes as professor of classics.

As a writer and a lecturer; Father Murphy soon made a name for himself; as an antiquary he stood in the foremost rank in this country, and in recognition of his great services to Irish literature and history, the Royal University conferred upon him the honorary degree of LLD.

Many noble tributes were paid to his memory by the Press, and we cannot do better than give our readers the notice which the “Independent” gave of his life and labours :-

The announcement of the death of the distinguished Jesuit, Father Denis Murphy, will come with tragic suddenness on his numerous friends in Ireland. Father Murphy had not been strong for some time past, but there was no premonition of the approach of his death. Last week he might have been met working among, as was his wont, the manuscript materials in the Royal Irish Academy. On Sunday, as usual, he performed his sacerdotal duties, and in the evening, apparently in the best of health, beguiled the time revising the final proofs of his “History of the Irish Martyrs”, which was promised from the printing press next month. On Monday morning he was found dead in his bed, evidently having passed quietly away in his sleep a few hours previously. By the death of the Rev Denis Murphy, Ireland is deprived of the services of an untiring, faithful-hearted son, who loved her with love “far brought from out the storied past”, used in the present and transfused for future times; and the Jesuits lose a useful member, whose work has added lustre to the Irish Province, for his name will be placed on the bead-roll with that of the Blessed Edmund Campion SJ, and those of the Bollandist Fathers.

Father Murphy was born in 1833; and shortly after the Famine Year joined the Society. He was educated: in England, Spain, and Germany, as well as at the Irish houses belonging to his Order. The little town of Newmarket, County Cork, where he was born, is famous as the birthplace of John Philpot Curran, and is hallowed by the memory that there too Thomas Davis spent much of his boyhood's years. It lies in the heart of one of the most historically interesting and romantic districts in that county which Sir Walter Scott estimated contained more romance than all Scotland. Not very far from Father Murphy's early home the brave MacAlistrum had fallen in fight against Murragh-au Theathaun, as the peasants still call the Cromwellian commander, and Phelix O’Sullivan, the vindicator of the Irish Catholics, had broken battle with the English in the Raven's Gleng, and crossed the Blackwater by dint of his long spears; in his historic march into Connaught. Such and similar surroundings possibly first formed the historic faculty which, in later years, developed and trained as it became, distinguished Father Murphy's career. Besides, lectures on side-lights of history, feuilletons and fugitive, magazine articles innumerable, he published several volumes of rare value as contributions to the history of Ireland, although dealing with periods and individual persons. His life of Hugh. O'Donnell deserves a place in every Irish home. It is a bilingual text, and side by side wish the Gaelic original of the pious Scribe O'Clery, we have an English translation copiously imitated. By this scholarly book probably Father Denis Murphy will “be best known to the future students of our country's history. The story of Red Hugh, the bright brand foretold of Fanult, is. a revelation of purity of motive and single-hearted. I purpose which teaches mighty lessons to all Irishmen, and its publication as such. apart from its historic value, was a most important event. Nothing in drama or epic of any age or country can exceed the pathos and tragedy contained in this simple record of facts which Father. Murphy was the first to render into the English tongue. Sir William Wilde used to lament that Cromwell's campaignings in Ireland were the most defective portion of modern Irish history. To remedy this Father Murphy set himself to work, and did so effectually in his book “Cromwell in Ireland”, which gives in detail an account of that memorable campaign which began in August, 1648, and ended in May, 1649. He follows Cromwell step by step in his progress through the country, and traces his march with a blood-red line upon the map. He is even at pains to rescue Cromwell's memory from some things set down in malice, but he musters facts enough to show him the great bad man Clarendon maintained he was. Among his other substantial works are his “History of Holy Cross Abbey”, “The Annals of Clonmacnoise”, and his compendium of Irish history, The work he was engaged on when death took him to his reward is entitled “Our Martyrs”, and is a detailed account of those who died for the Faith in the different religious persecutions in Ireland from the period which is styled the Reformation. This book was the carrying out of part of the work he under took a few years ago at the suggestion of the Irish bishops - viz, the promotion of the claims to canonization of those Irishmen and women who had suffered death for religion's sake. “The School History of Ireland”, which was published in 1893, fulfils a useful work, This little book, which was brought up to date from the earliest periods, contains on its last page a graceful allusion to Mr Parnell's honoured name, and the services he rendered Ireland, which is, perhaps, remarkable when we remember the position of the writer and how high party seeling ran at the year of the publication of the book. Besides faithfully discharging the duties of a missionary priest, and a teacher in several schools and colleges, Father Murphy managed to make time in his busy life to fill with credit to himself positions of responsibility in many learned societies. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Vice-President of the Royal Academy and a Council member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, and of the National Literary Society. He was editor of the “Kildare Archaeological Journal”, and took a particular interest in similar publications in Cork, Waterford, and Belfast. Such are Father Murphy's services as a historical researcher and a reliable interpreter of records difficult of access as to cause abiding regret that his books are so few. His place as an Irish scholar will not easily be filled ; his place as a thoughtful, ever faithful friend never can”.

His funeral was attended by a large number of clergymen and other citizens of Dublin, the coffin being covered with numerous beautiful wreaths. One in particular calls for our notice. The staff at the establishment of Father Murphy's printers (Messrs Sealy, Bryers, and Walker), subscribed for and forwarded a costly wreath to be laid on his coffin. The gift was accompanied by a large card bearing the imprint of an open book, the left hand page of which bore the following inscription :

IN MEMORIAM.
REV DENIS MURPHY SJ, LLD,
Died May 18th, 1896
Aged 63
RIP

A Tribute of great Respect
and Affection
From the Staff of his Printers,
Messrs SEALY, BRYERS, and WALKER,
Middle Abbey Street.

The other page contained the following :

The concluding sentences of a corrected proof found at his death-bedside addressed to the Printer -

“But he chose the better part, he finished his course, and kept the faith. As to the rest, there was laid up for him a crown of justice which the just Judge gave him, and will give to all that love His coming”.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959
Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Denis Murphy (1833-1896)

Was born at Scarteen, Newmarket, Co Cork. He was educated at Clongowes and, on being admitted to the Society, was sent to France for his noviceship. He pursued his higher studies at Bonn, and Paderborn, and was ordained at St Beuno's, in Wales in 1862. On his return to Ireland he was appointed to the teaching staff at Clongowes where he remained until 1867 when he set out for Spain to make his tertianship at Manresa. On his return from Spain, Father Murphy began his long association with the Crescent. From 1868 to 1874 he was a member of the teaching staff while he was also minister of the house, and in charge of the church choir. In 1874 he joined the mission staff then resident in Limerick and remained a member of it until 1883. During his years in Limerick, Father Murphy was held in the deepest respect and affection by all who knew him. He was known and appreciated as a man of versatile intellectual qualities. But this incident shows something of his very practical bent. During his years at the Crescent, it came to his notice that the widowed mother of two Crescent boys was having trouble with a leaking roof. She had seen better days and was in receipt of an annuity just enough to cover up the poverty of herself and children. She told Father Murphy that the estimates for repairs were beyond her resources short of going deeply into debt. Father Murphy, to calm her anxiety, went off to the builders, bought the wood at wholesale and with the help of the elder son of the widow, carried out the repairs on the roof with such skill that the next repairs became necessary only some forty years after Father Murphy's death.

In 1883, Father Murphy was transferred to University College, Dublin, where he was appointed to the post of bursar and librarian. His new post gave him enough spare time to work on his historical notes, the results of his researches during his scholastic days. For during his early years, he had travelled extensively in Europe to collect historical data on the persecutions for the Faith in Ireland. His researches brought him to the archives of cities so widely separated as Madrid, Lisbon, Douai, Louvain, Paris, Vienna and Prague. In his generation, Father Murphy was probably Ireland's most informed historian. After some five years at University College, Father Murphy was transferred to Milltown Park to take over the chair of moral theology. Fortunately, for Irish historical scholarship he was released from his post and returned to University College where he spent the last four years of his life. His monumental work entitled Our Martyrs was just finished in the press, but not yet published, the day before his death. For the last ten years of his life, he held from the Irish hierarchy the post of official Postulator of the Cause of the Irish Martyrs.

Born: 08 July 1913, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 04 October 1937, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows 02 February 1951, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 20 January 1994, Beechfield Manor, Dublin

Part of Belvedere College SJ community at time of death.

by 1979 at Coventry England (ANG) working.

◆ Interfuse No 82 : September 1995 & ◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1995

Obituary

Fr Edmond (Eddie) Murphy (1913-1994)

8th July 1913; Born in Limerick
Secondary studies: C.B.S., Sexton Street, Limerick. Taught at primary level for two and a half years.
4th Oct. 1937: Entered the Society at Emo
5th Oct. 1939: First Vows at Emo
1939 - 1941: Lived at Rathfarnham while studying Arts at UCD.
1941 - 1944: Philosophy at Tullabeg
1944 - 1945: Regency in Belvedere College
1945 - 1949: Theology at Milltown Park
28th July 1948: Ordained a priest in Milltown Park by Bishop J.C. McQuaid
1949 - 1950: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1950 - 1965: Belvedere College, Prefect of Studies, Junior School
1965 - 1967: Gonzaga College, Prefect of Studies
1967 - 1978: Belvedere College, Teacher
1978 - 1980: Coventry, England, working in a Parish
1980 - 1984: Belvedere College, Teacher
1984 - 1985: Loyola House, Province Secretary
1985 - 1994: Belvedere College
1985 - 1991: Writer and Confessor to the Boys
1991 - 1994: Praying for the Society and the Church
20th Jan. 1994: Died at Beechfield Nursing Home, Shankill, Co. Dublin

To the believing Christian the words of St. Paul (from our first reading) “Our homeland is in heaven” give meaning to the gift of life - to our passage through life - and, finally, to our passage from life. As we celebrate this Mass in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. Eddie Murphy, we rejoice in his passing from this world in spite of the sorrow that his death occasions in each of us. Such is the paradox of the Christian Faith - such is the gift of that Hope in which we live out our lives - and such are the thoughts which our love for him bring to our hearts this morning.

The life of Fr. Eddie Murphy can be traced in the footsteps of His Master and Teacher. From early childhood - and numerous are the instances recounted by his family! - by word and example he taught his younger brothers and sisters the path of rectitude and right living. After leaving school in his native Limerick, he became a Primary School Teacher, and at the age of 24, joined the Jesuits in 1937. He received the B.A. degree in English, Latin and Irish, and, apart from the period of formation, spent nearly all of his life in the classroom, most of it in Belvedere College.

He is remembered as a person with a deep love of the vocation of Teaching - with high and strict standards set and demanded - yet he is recalled as a person with a deep interest in the individual student, which extended far beyond the confines of the classroom. He is also fondly remembered for the help and advice given to many young teachers starting out on their career. For 15 years - from 1950 to 1965 - Eddie was a much respected Headmaster of the Junior School in Belvedere. He brought to his mastery of the classroom techniques a great love of music - he was an enthusiastic listener, player and even composer - witness his STRING QUARTET in E MINOR of 1982!

That, in a few short lines, is the resume of the life of this teacher, faithful both to that profession and to his Jesuit vocation. After his retirement from teaching, he spent two years in parochial work in Coventry (during which time he undertook the challenging task of translating into English the Memorial of one of the founding companions of the Society of Jesus, B1, Peter Fabre). Unfortunately, he did not live to see his work in print. He also wrote short lives of Jesuits Blessed and Saints. At the end of 1980 he returned to his beloved Belvedere to live out the last 15 years of his life.

Apart from two years spent under his guidance in regency in Gonzaga College in the 60's, it was during these last years that I knew him best. His urbane deportment and interest in all things intellectual failed to hide a quite delicious and often mischievous sense of humour, of which the brethren in the community have been recalling the most outrageous examples during these past two days.

Just over 5 years ago, Fr, Eddie suffered the first of many minor strokes, which gradually slowed him down, and eventually led him along a path which, known only to God, seemed such a mysterious vocation for one who had been gifted with such an outstanding interest in the things of the mind.

The words of Christ in St. John's Gospel in this Mass summarise very well the diptych which has been his life. When young and in his prime, Fr. Eddie enjoyed God's gifts to the full - and he shared the fruits of them with others........ but, in the evening of his life, he followed St. Peter: “when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will bind you and take you where you don't want to go”.

I think that it is in this latter living out of his vocation that Eddie made his greatest offering to God. It is not for us to pass judgement on the ways in which God deals with another, yet there were times when we were tempted to ask why the Lord did not call him home, as his bodily strength failed, as his contemporaries passed on and as he faded into silence. But we can always bear witness to the ways in which God speaks to us through others.....and it is in this faith-context that we can thank God for the gift of Eddie Murphy, the patient.

One of the pillars of the Foundation of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises is the unconditional and complete offering of ourselves to God - in such a way that, “as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honour to dishonour, a long life to a short life”. Over 50 years ago, Eddie made that offering when he pronounced his First Vows in the Society of Jesus, and how well was that young man's commitment honoured in these last years of life, unheralded and unsung in the eyes of the world, yet as precious and fruitful as any years spent in his active ministry. Of what use, the world may ask, was this life of helpless existence? Only to the eyes of Faith can the answer be apparent - for I deeply believe that Eddie was asked to “hang on”, as it were, so that God could show forth the strength of love and draw out from others the extraordinary outpouring of living care and concern of which Eddie was the recipient from those whose vocation it is to look after the sick and helpless. I can only record my unbounded admiration for the nursing and caring Staff who showed their love for an old and feeble man in such a deeply Christian way. As I welcome you here, I hope that, when you think of Fr. Eddie Murphy, you will do so with pride in your work and with a deep sense of gratitude to God for having given you the grace to love him so well! In shouldering his needs, you have shouldered the yoke of Christ - you have learned from Eddie as well - and you have been gentle and very loving in heart - and you brought him rest for body and soul. Thanks to you, he could find Christ's yoke easy and His burden light.

Eddie waited so long for the coming of Our Saviour to call him home - but now his old enfeebled body (St. Paul speaks of "these wretched bodies of ours") will be transfigured into a copy of Christ's glorious body.

Fr Eddie's passing reminds us of the gift of life and the mystery of death - of God's forgiveness and our hope in Him - of our need to count on His word and to wait for Him.

To those of you who have joined us this morning to say farewell to Eddie, we, his Family and his Brother-Jesuits, thank you for the gift of your friendship and love for him.......and we pray that God, who spoke to you through him, will reward you for your love of him, “in full measure, pressed down and overflowing”.

We cannot but rejoice with and for Eddie - even in the midst of our sadness at this parting. But, when our sorrow has eased with the passage of time, may we be able to look back and recall what we shared together - and laugh at the fun-times - and in our laughter, may we give thanks.

As we celebrate this Eucharist, we reaffirm our Faith that “our homeland is in heaven”. As we pray for Eddie, we ask God to grant us the grace to be reunited with him in that heavenly home. As we say farewell, we say may you be with God, Eddie. And we say may God be-with-you, GOOD-BYE!

Michael Sheil

◆ The Gonzaga Record 1994

Obituary

Edmond Murphy SJ

Prefect of Studies 1965-7

If only to jog the memories of those past pupils who knew Fr Eddie I shall begin my small tribute by putting him into his proper context in Gonzaga history.

He came to Gonzaga in the August of 1965 to assume the role of Prefect of Studies (the title 'Headmaster' had not yet arrived) in succession to Fr Bill White who was kicked upstairs to be the Rector in place of Fr John Hughes. He came to us after fifteen very successful years as Prefect of Studies of the Junior School in Belvedere and, when he departed again in 1967, he was sucked back once more into the life of that college, where he remained a superb teacher of English and French until the years caught up on him. He was succeeded in Gonzaga by Fr Paul Andrews.
His two years among us were significant in many ways. Apart from his own substantial contribution to the academic life of the college, these were years when the lay staff included such notable personalities as Cathal O'Gara, Ray Kearns, John Wilson, Tom O'Dea and Edmundo Volpi, while among the Jesuits on active service in the classroom were Fr Joe Veale, Fr Joe Kavanagh, Fr Bill Lee, Fr Diarmuid O’Laoghaire, Fr John O'Leary, the two Fr Redmonds (Stephen and John), Fr Fred Cull, Fr (then ‘Mr') Michael Sheil, and myself.

His arrival in Gonzaga coincided with the erection of the great steel frame that was the skeleton of the present Boys' Chapel. 1966 was also the year when a large group of our senior boys marched in the 1916 Anniversary Schools' Procession to Croke Park, proudly carrying the tricolour and the school pennant, and the Proclamation was solemnly unveiled in the school theatre by Cathal Brugha, grandson of the 1916 leader, and read aloud by the captain, James O'Rourke. It was in this year too that Barry Bresnihan got his first call-up as centre-three-quarter against England at Twickenham.

Fr Eddie Murphy was a man of many parts. Limerick-born, he received his early education at the CBS in Sexton St, but did not enter the Society of Jesus immediately after his secondary schooling. Indeed, he had already attained the ripe age of 24 and had some two-and-a-half years' teaching in a national school behind him before he appeared on the steps of Emo Park to begin his noviceship. He then followed the normal course of Jesuit formation - two years' noviciate, three years attending UCD from Rathfarnham Castle and equipping himself with his BA and HDip in Ed, three years' philosophy in Tullabeg, a year's regency (i.e. teaching) in Belvedere, and four years' theology in Milltown Park, where he was ordained priest on 28 July 1948. Then began his long association with Belvedere, interrupted only by his short stint at Gonzaga.

A man of many parts, I said. Yes, a man who gave his full commitment to the task in hand and while with us he generously shared his gift for organisation, his pedagogical experience, his aptitude for making friends, his rich vein of humour, his understanding of youth, his wise counselling and encouragement, and all his other many talents. I have spoken to a number of past pupils who were in Gonzaga between 1965 and 1967 and I have found that they all remember him with affection, recognising a person who was efficient, helpful, kind and very fair. In his dealings with boys, especially seniors, there were no 'scenes’, no tirades. His own mature handling of situations seemed to call forth a reciprocal maturity. One past pupil reminded me of how he would visit a classroom and, having made whatever pronouncement the occasion required, he would move towards the door, but then, as if an afterthought, deliver himself of an exit line in the form of an apt quotation, not infrequently in Latin.

Thinking of Fr Eddie there comes naturally to my mind the passage from Goldsmith's The Deserted Village:

A man severe he was, and stern to view;
I knew him well, and every truant new;
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frowned;
Yet he was kind; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault.

Yes, he was, perhaps, a trifle ‘stern to view'. His fiery top contributed somewhat to this image, and I recall now the remark of a colleague who one day caught him in a pensive mood, in a pose that had him glaring at his fingernails “as if he were daring his fingers to answer back'. In memory's eye I see him with those same fingers poised menacingly over the keyboard of a piano, an instrument he always played fortissimo and, at times, agitato: I see him with his head thrust forward like a turtle's, his nose almost pressed against the sheet of music because of his short-sightedness. He was no mean musician and among his compositions is a String Quartet which had its premiere in Belvedere.

But then, I suppose, anyone who takes on the job of Prefect of Studies must make an effort to look a bit severe, and his pupils may see only one aspect of him. As one who shared his student days and had him as a friend and colleague in Gonzaga, I can assure all who served under him that Fr Eddie was a man of infinite wit, with a loud and infectious laugh, and he was a great swopper of stories - 'for many a joke had he'.

Yet he was kind; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore for learning was in fault.

Fr Eddie was a learned man with a deep love of learning. Most of his time in Belvedere he taught English and some French, but also spoke Irish fluently. In any language he was a purist and perfectionist and was steeped in semantics. As a former Classics teacher I like to think that this derived from his profound knowledge of Latin, and here I might add that among his works was a translation of the Memoriale of Br Peter Faber SJ commissioned by the Jesuit Resources Institute in the USA. For many a year he accompanied a group of Belvedere boys to Stratford-on-Avon, and so became known to many Gonzagians who shared this experience with the sister college.

While in Gonzaga he gave no evidence of athletic prowess; he was far more at home with dusty volumes than muddy fields. Yet I remember him as a faithful follower of this College's fortunes when the Cup matches got under way. One picture I relish of him was the occasion when he had been persuaded to take bat in hand for some cricket match - it may have been Staff versus Boys, I don't rightly remember. Anyway I see him now, caparisoned in minuscule pads, standing uncertainly at the wicket and peering suspiciously towards the other end as if there was a Curtly Ambrose lurking to deliver a lethal ball.

As he neared his four-score years his health collapsed and the dimming of an already weak sight must have been a great frustration to one for whom books and learning were such nourishment. His final period on earth was spent in a nursing home where he gradually loosened his grip on this world and began to breathe the airs of eternity. He passed away quietly on 20 January 1994, aged eighty-one.

May his gentle soul rest contentedly today in the happiness of God's home.

Edmund Keane SJ

Born: 01 April 1894, Ballybay, County Monaghan
Entered: 09 October 1914, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1926, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1930, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died :27 July 1971, Mungret College SJ, Limerick

Studied for BA at UCD

Editor of An Timire, 1930-31.

by 1918 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1929 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :

Note from Paddy Finneran Entry
With the encouragement of Michael Murphy he then entered the Novitiate at St Mary’s, Emo under the newly appointed Novice Master John Neary. Michael Murphy followed him to Emo as Spiritual Father, and then onward to Rathfarnham as his Prefect of Studies in the Juniorate.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 46th Year No 4 1971

Obituary :

Fr Michael Murphy SJ (1914-1971)

Fr Michael Murphy was born in Monaghan on April 1st, 1894 and received his secondary education at the diocesan seminary. He then went to Dublin to study engineering in the recently opened UCD. Money was not easily come by and Fr Michael would cycle from Monaghan to Dublin at the beginning of each term and back to Monaghan at the end. For good measure, he had to take his brother in tow as he had not got Fr Michael's reserves of strength. While he was the University, Fr Egan used to admire his steadying influence on the wilder members of the engineering faculty,
Before completing his course in UCD he entered the noviceship at Tullabeg in 1914 shortly after the beginning of World War I, In 1916 after taking his vows he remained on in Tullabeg in the home Junioriate before sitting for his final University examiniation in 1917. Then he went to Stonyhurst for philosophy only to return within a year to Ireland when the Conscription scare blew up and go to Milltown to finish philosophy. He taught in Clongowes from 1920 to 1923 and after theology returned to Clongowes for a year before going to tertianship in St Beuno's. After his tertianship he went to Belvedere as assistant to the editor of the Irish Messenger and the following year became a teacher in Belvedere. He was transferred in 1927 to Mungret as Prefect of studies, a position he held till he was sent in 1935 to Emo as Socius to the Master of novices, Two years later he went to Rathfarnham Castle as Minister of Juniors, remaining thus till 1941. He was next appointed as Prefect of Studies in the Crescent, and from 1941 to 1954 he occupied this position either in the Crescent or in Mungret with a one year break when he went to Belvedere to teach from 1945-46. When Fr. M. Erraught replaced him as Prefect of Studies in 1954 he remained on in Mungret teaching Mathematics till 1956 when he went to Emo Park as Procurator. When Emo was sold in 1969, Fr. Murphy, now an old man, returned to Mungret, his working days over. Two years later, he passed peacefully away in a nursing home close to Mungret College. He died July 27th.
Most of Fr. Murphy's life as a Jesuit was spent in the Colleges either as teacher or as Prefect of Studies. He taught in Belvedere, Clongowes and Mungret, and was Prefect of Studies in the Crescent and for two periods in Mungret. Moreover, he was Prefect of Studies of the Province from the institution of the post for many years.
There is no gain-saying his success as Prefect of Studies. He possessed the capacity for carrying out endlessly tedious chores on the progress of the boys in the school. He was not severe and administered very little corporal punishment, producing results by steady pressure on boys and masters. Mungret in particular had remarkably consistent success in the public examinations under his guidance.
On the occasion of his annual visit to the College as Province Prefect of Studies, the local Prefect of Studies found him understanding and helpful with little taste for dull uniformity. Scholastics were encouraged by him to improve their teaching techniques and prompt assistance given to help them become efficient masters.
In his dealings with the Juniors as their Minister in Rathfarnham he was not a success, but indeed it is hard to see how anyone could be a success if he carried out the instructions he was given. The attitude of those in charge of the Juniors had been one of trust, now it was obviously one of suspicion. Studies do not flourish in such an atmosphere. It was a great relief for Fr Murphy to leave Rathfarnham and go as Prefect of Studies to the Crescent in 1941. The problems he had to deal with in a school were familiar to him and he knew how to deal with them successfully.
Fr Murphy was a Northerner with the faults and virtues of the North. As they say up there he was very “true” and most reliable and conscientious. One could not imagine him shirking a job no matter how demanding or unattractive it was. He possessed a good sense of humour combined with the patience of Job which he practised in dealing with the bores of the Province who were sure of a sympathetic hearing from him. In his habits he was austere and allowed himself little indulgence. Smoking, drinking, novel-reading had no attraction for him and his one form of exercise was cycling.
For Mathematics he had an abiding passion. I do not think he taught any other subject during his many years in the Colleges, but even after his teaching days were over, he spent many a day happily with figures. He was a constant correspondent of Fr R Ingram after the computer was set up in UCD and many an hour of the computer was occupied in testing for him whether this or that formula would always give you a prime number..
The rising generation of Jesuits would describe him as pre Vatican II, the Society will flourish if its younger members give the ungrudging service Fr Murphy did. RIP

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1974

Obituary

Father Michael Murphy SJ

Michael Murphy was born in Monaghan on 1 April 1894 and received his secondary education at the diocesan seminary. He then went to Dublin to study engineering in the recently-opened UCD, cycling from Monaghan at the beginning of each week and back home again for the weekends. Before completing his course at UCD he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg. That was in 1914. He remained in Tullabeg after his first vows in 1916, and in 1917 sat his final university examination. He studied philosophy at Stoneyhurst in England and Milltown Park in Dublin. He was a scholastic in Clongowes from 1920 to 1923, returning that year to Milltown for theology.

His first connection with Mungret was in 1927 when he came as prefect of studies, which post he held until 1935, It is in this capacity (which he held also from the late 1940s until 1954) that he will be best remembered by Mungret past pupils. His little “black book” was the terror of all. It was the one thing he used to get the work done! Boys, under him would do anything rather than have their names entered in that dreaded book. As one Jesuit teacher remarked : “Fr Murphy would come into a ‘rowdy’ class and stand in front of it. While not looking at any particular individual, he was looking straight into each one-one could see all the past ‘sins’ of each boy coming up before the eyes of the offender. Then he would just walk out again”.

Fr Michael's greatest interest in the things of this world was undoubtedly in the area of mathematics. He taught maths in the colleges - whenever he got the chance! - and even after his teaching days, he continued his interest. He was a really enthusiastic teacher, and almost necessarily was thus a very good one.

In 1956 he moved to St Mary's, Emo, then the Jesuit novitiate. Here he had the onerous task of procurator, where his mathematical interests were somewhat concretised. He remained in St Mary's until it was closed down in 1968, when he returned to Mungret. He was now an elderly man, and was suffering quite some discomfort from a skin disease. For two further years he soldiered on, and towards the end of his life he experienced great difficulty in climbing stairways. Indeed, it was on the stairs in Mungret that early in 1970 he suffered a rather bad fall, and this accident was the beginning of the illness which ended his life in July 1971.

Only as recently as 1965 did the writer first meet Fr Michael Murphy. That was in St Mary's, Emo. For one further year, 1970-71, we both lived in Mungret. The man I knew was a very kind and considerate man; a man of obvious deep spirituality; a man who suffered in silence, without wearing that martyred expression. He was a man who was interested in others - the one question always on his lips being a simple, concerned, “Doing well?” Fr. Michael's quiet presence, despite his own personal suffering, was both an influence on the writer and an inspiration to him to endeavour to live out his Jesuit life in the same quiet, concerned, spiritual manner.

Mungret, where Fr Murphy laboured for the Lord, is soon to be very quiet : in that peace and serenity may Fr Michael enjoy the vision and peace of his Lord and Master.

Born: 21 September 1894, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 30 June 1916, ST Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1927, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 02 October 1968, St Camillus' Hospital, Shelbourne Road, Limerick

Part of the Mungret College, Co Limerick community at the time of death

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 44th Year No 1 1969
Obituary :
Br Thomas Murphy SJ (1894-1968)
On Wednesday, October 2nd at about 1.15 p.m. Brother Murphy passed peacefully to his reward. It was a happy and blessed ending to a happy and holy life, but his loss leaves us all poorer. We miss his cheerful, holy and ever helpful presence around the House.
He was a patient of the Regional Hospital, Limerick for some weeks till August when he was transferred to St. Camillus Hospital. In both hospitals the nursing staff were very fond of him. He never gave any trouble and was always good humoured. Thanks be to God he did not seem to have pain at any time. On Wednesday morning the 2nd October he failed rapidly. Fr. Rector returned to him immediately and received his last breath. He was fortified with all the rites of the Church.
The remains were removed to the Boys' Chapel on Thursday evening, The President and Secretary of the Union, other past pupils and teachers from the College were present. It was 2 memorable sight as the hearse and cars moved through the boys drawn up on either side of the avenue. On Friday morning the Chapel was packed to over-flowing with priests, brothers, boys, friends and neighbours. We had past pupils from Limerick, Tipperary and even Australia. It was a most impressive ceremony; sung lauds followed by Concelebrated Requiem Mass and a sermon by Fr. Kerr who was Rector here until July last. It is thought it was the biggest funeral ever seen here; ič is easy to believe it. In many ways it was a very joyous occasion because we all felt that Brother Murphy had gone home to God. His beloved flag was at half mast. In all, over fifty priests and brothers were present including Fr. Vice-Provincial (Fr. Provincial was in Rome his Secretary, Fr. Rectors of Belvedere, Crescent and Clongowes, and priests and brothers from Galway, Tullabeg, Clongowes, Crescent, Rathfarn ham, Milltown Park, Gonzaga, Gardiner St. and Belvedere.
The Brothers of his own Community saw him as “a humble and simple man” who had a great devotion to Our Lady and the Rosary, who was to be found either praying in the Domestic Chapel or going about his work.
May God rest his lovable soul. We all thought as much of him as he did of Mungret. Nobody who heard it will ever forget the beautiful tribute paid by Fr. Kerr when he addressed the congregation after the Gospel. We are very grateful to him for allowing us to reproduce it here :
“It is not customary to have a homily or panegyric preached at the funeral of an Irish Jesuit, but Fr. Rector suggested to me, that when a man has served one house for 48 years as Brother Murphy served Mungret it was only fitting that some tribute should be paid.
In 1962 the then General of the Society of Jesus sent a Visitator to the Irish Province. The Visitor, not knowing any of the men, asked each of us to write a brief account of what we had done in the Society. This is what Brother Murphy wrote: ‘From 1918-1919 I was in Belvedere on the house’ - one sentence ‘From 1919-1920 I was in the Crescent on the house’ - one sentence. ‘Since that time I have been in Mungret’. (And then reading on, one feels that the love and affection of the old man for this College took possession of his pen, for he continued) ‘There I was in charge of the water-supply. I looked after the wells and the pumping system. I attended and operated the electricity generator till the coming of the E.S.B. I attended to the maintenance of the house, the roofs, the chimneys and the heating system.
'All these, your reverence, thank God I was able to do’.
This was Brother Murphy's simple statement of his life's work, but it told little of the man who was one of the best known and best loved Jesuits of the Mungret Community. Each of the past, and I’m glad to see them represented here today - has his own favourite image of Brother Murphy. Some remember him as a young man flitting about the roof-tops, hanging in the most precarious positions, calling cheery greetings to the boys below. Others think of him covered with grime tending the electrical generators or servicing the bunkers. Still others see him as he strode across the Apostolics' field on his way to the pump-house at Cahir, with his little black dog at his heels; and none can forget his smile in the Boys' refectory as he slipped an extra serve to a hungry 3rd Clubber! But all of us remember him as he walked on the stone corridor at eventide telling his Beads or kneeling at the back of the Boys' Chapel during Benediction or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Which of us will ever forget the ritual with which he surrounded the hoisting of the college flag. He used it to honour a visitor, to celebrate a feast or to congratulate the Boys on a victory. That flag flies at half-mast today in his honour, but we can be certain that all the flags of Heaven are unfurled today as they welcome their faithful servant.
Every clerical student who passed through Mungret remembers one thing about Brother Murphy : his extraordinary reverence for the priesthood. Many a young man, wavering in his vocation, depressed and feeling lonely made his way to Brother Murphy to find comfort, solace, guidance and strength. Is it any wonder then that his Christmas mail from America, Australia, England, Africa and China was the wonder of the rest of the community.
How often do I remember being called to the parlour to entertain one of the Past either a priest, or layman with his family! When a brief period had elapsed and the visitor felt that he had fulfilled all the requirements of courtesy or etiquette by talking to Fr. Rector then came the moment of truth : ‘well, Father, what I really called for, was to see Brother Murphy!’
Each year as examination time and ordinations approached in Carlow, All Hallows, Thurles, St. Peters and the other major seminaries, the letters poured into Mungret asking for Brother Murphy's prayers, for all the boys revered him as a saint. The roof-tops were not the only heights he reached. He had attained the closest union with God and he had the ability to communicate his love of Him to others.
I find it difficult today to ask you to pray for Brother Murphy, for all of us know that he already enjoys the Vision of God. He always prayed for and he will continue to pray for all in Mungret, for its priests, its brothers, its scholastics, its students, its day-staff, its farm-staff and domestic staff. So I would ask you now to stand and join with me in the Prayers of the Faithful for the eternal and happy repose of his soul with the God he loved and served so well”.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1969

Obituary

Brother Tom Murphy SJ

Br Tom Murphy spent only one year in Belvedere, from 1918 to 1919. It was a year, however, he was never likely to forget for he was in charge of the household staff and found that many young men in trouble with the police demanded sanctuary as national heroes in the houses of religious. The rest of his life in the Society was spent in more peaceful surroundings, forty-eight of them in Mungret College. He was part of the Mungret scene and it will take many years to fill the void his going has created.

Born: 19 April 1929, Ranelagh, Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1954, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1972, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Died: 28 November 2016, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Clongowes Wood College SJ, Naas, County Kildare community at the time of death.

Transcribed HIB to ZAM: 03 December 1969; ZAM to HIB : 1989

by 1960 at Chivuna, Monze, N Rhodesia - studying language Regency

Early Education at CBS Synge Street; Bolton Street DIT

1956-1959 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1959-1961 Monze, Zambia - Regency : Bursar at Charles Lwanga Teachers’ Training College; Learning CiTonga
1961-1965 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
1965-1966 Rathfarnham - Tertianship
1966-1972 Mazabuka, Zambia - Parish work in BMV Assumption Parish & Nakambala Sugar Estate
1972-1987 Gardiner St - Director of Mission Office; + Province Vocations Task Force
1972 Transcribed to Zambian Province [ZAM] (02/02/1972)
1977 Assists in Church
1987-1988 Sabbatical
1988-1994 Crescent Church, Limerick - Superior ; Prefect of the Church; BVM & St Joseph Sodalities; Promoting Zambian Missions
1989 President “Cecilians Musical Society”
1989 Transcribed to Irish Province [HIB] (05/12/1989)
1994-1996 Gardiner St - Promotes Apostleship of Prayer and Messenger; Ministers in Church
1996-2016 Clongowes Wood College SJ - Treasurer and Administrator; Ministers in People’s Church; 2000 Assistant Chaplain in St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Dublin
2007 Assistant Guestmaster; Assistant Community Treasurer
2010 Ministers in People’s Church: Assistant Community Librarian
2014 Prays for the Church and the Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Note from Jean Indeku Entry
During this time his real solace, as he says himself, was the weekend supplies in Mazabuka where he was duly missioned together with Frs Tom O’Meara and Vinnie Murphy.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/rip-vincent-murphy-sj/

RIP: Vincent Murphy SJ
Irish Jesuit Fr Vincent Murphy passed away peacefully on the morning of Monday 28 November at Cherryfield Lodge, Milltown Park. A native of Ranelagh, Dublin, Fr Vincent qualified as a Quantity Surveyor and played for Shamrock Rovers FC prior to joining the Jesuits in September 1954. He was ordained ten years later, in 1964.
Vincent spent a number of years on mission work in Zambia, then returned to Dublin, where he was in charge of the Mission Office in Gardiner Street and was Chaplain in St. Vincent’s Hospital. In 1996, Vincent moved to Clongowes Community, and he remained there until 2014, when a stroke required that he move to Cherryfield.
His last few weeks were spent very peacefully, and he told his Rector that Cherryfield was a great preparation for heaven because of the care he was receiving there from the Staff who came to love him dearly.
Below is the homily given by Fr Michael Shiel SJ at the funeral Mass :
“This I know, that my redeemer lives, and, after my awaking, He will set me close to Him. And from my flesh I will look on God.”
As we gather to celebrate the long and full life of Vincent – rich in years and bearing much fruit – the above words are very appropriate to sum up the depth of faith of this follower of Ignatius Loyola and his ‘Friends in the Lord’. For if ever anyone was prepared to meet His Lord it was Vincent.
Some time last year, when I visited him in Cherryfield, he told me that his consultant had promised that he would live to see the new RWC Champions crowned. After the final, I asked him what his next deadline was. He said: “Now, I’m just waiting for Godot!” To which all I could say was: “Well, I hope you’ll have more luck than the other pair – Vladimir and Estragon!
Today we, as Christians, believe that he has. For we believe in the promise of Jesus just heard in the Gospel: “I am going to prepare a place for you, and I shall return to take you with me”.
Vincent was born in the year of the Great Depression. He went to school in Synge Street – and how proud he was of his Christian Brothers’ education there! He joined the Jesuits in 1954 as a late vocation, having qualified as a quantity surveyor in Bolton Street, DIT. Outside his professional life, he made his mark in (as he put it) the glory-days of Shamrock Rovers! His contemporaries in the Society used to recount how frustrated Vincent could become as they tried to find an approach to the beautiful game other than a Jack Charlton-like Garryowen-type hoof and follow!
The Irish Province’s mission to Zambia was still developing, and Vincent joined the growing band of Irish Jesuits for his regency there in 1959. After theology and ordination here in Milltown, and a final year of study in Rathfarnham, Vincent returned to Africa where he ministered in parish work before coming back again to Ireland to head up the Mission Office in Gardiner Street. His generous care of returning missionaries knew no limits and was greatly appreciated. He also helped out in the Church, and he was Vocations Director as well.
est of his apostolic life was spent in Dublin and Limerick, before he joined our Community in Clongowes just 20 years ago. He followed in the footsteps of Fr John Sullivan as he served in the People’s Church and then ministered as Chaplain in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. And lastly, as failing health brought him to Cherryfield Lodge, his final – and very important – mission was to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus, for his Companions who continue to carry on God’s work in many different fields.
Such, in very few lines, is the life of Fr Vincent Murphy SJ. He was unsung and unheralded in the world at large, but so too was he rewarding and fruitful in doing good and in enriching the lives of very many people and families to whom he brought the Good News of God’s saving power, as he lived it in his own life. God’s love was indeed inscribed with iron chisel (his faith) and engraving tool (his generosity) cut into the rock of people’s lives as they experienced his ministering zeal. Nowhere was this seen to greater effect than in his years as Hospital chaplain, where his patience and care for both the sick and the hospital staff bore much fruit and brought comfort and hope to those who were facing an uncertain future.
In later years, first of all in Clongowes Wood College and more recently in Cherryfield, God continued to give Vincent as a special gift to others, this time as someone in need of their love and care. It is only right, at a time like this, to pay tribute to the CWC Infirmary Nurses and Community Staff whose care allowed him bonus-years there.
For someone who, as I said at the start, was surely prepared to meet his Lord, Vincent seemed simply not to want to let go of his Cherryfield carer-friends, as I was to witness during the past week. It began for me as a simple overnight stay, and it ended as an extraordinary and privileged experience of seeing at first hand – behind-the-scenes, early mornings and late nights – the care of every single one of the staff, both nursing and support. It was fitting that the former dispenser of God’s caring love as a hospital chaplain should himself be the receiver of a quite extraordinary outpouring of care and love by the team in Cherryfield. On behalf of the CWC Community, and of the Irish Jesuits, I can only say a deep-down thanks to each and every one of you.
“I am going to prepare a place for you – and, after I have gone and prepared a place for you – I shall return to take you with me, so that, where I am, you may be too.”
It is our Christian faith which brings us to the Eucharist this morning – our Faith that Christ did indeed return to call His disciple home, when just two days ago, accompanied by George Fallon and myself, Vincent came to the end of his long and faith-filled journey. It was his dies natalis, his heavenly birthday, as the Roman martyrology called it, as his tent that we live in on earth was folded up, and he moved to the everlasting home, not made by human hands, in the heavens. Now, in his turn, Vincent has gone ahead of us to help prepare a place for us and he will be on hand to welcome each one of us to Our Father’s home.
So often in life we say good-bye. It comes from the ancient wish or prayer ‘May God be with you’. And today we say it to Vincent at this, his last Mass.
And so we pray: “May Christ enfold you in His Love, and bring you to eternal life; may God and Mary be with you.”
Be assured that we will pray for you, Vincent. May you also pray for us. And so we say farewell, and, until we meet again, good-bye.

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :

Note from Tommy Martin Entry
1974 He retired from this work of Missions Procurator and handed over to Vincent Murphy.

◆ The Clongownian, 2017

Obituary

Father Vincent Murphy SJ : A Special Gift to Others

A member of the community of Clongowes Wood College SJ, Fr. Vincent Murphy SJ, passed away peacefully last November (28th), in Cherryfield Lodge, Milltown Park; he will be sadly missed.

Vincent was a valued member of the Clongowes Community since his arrival here in 1996 as Treasurer and Administrator. In 2014 Vincent suffered a mild stroke and spent a weekend in Naas Hospital. He then transferred to Cherryfield Lodge where he lived very contentedly until around Hallowe'en when he began to decline. His last few weeks were spent very peacefully, and he told his Rector that Cherryfield was a great preparation for heaven because of the care he was receiving there from the staff who came to love him dearly.

Below is the homily given by Fr Michael Shiel SJ at Vincent's funeral Mass.

This I know, that my redeemer lives, and, after my awaking, He will set me close to Him. And from my flesh I will look on God. As we gather to celebrate the long and full life of Vincent - rich in years and bearing much fruit - the above words are very appropriate to sum up the depth of faith of this follower of Ignatius Loyola and his “Friends in the Lord”. For if ever anyone was prepared to meet His Lord it was Vincent. Some time last year, when I visited him in Cherryfield, he told me that his consultant had promised that he would live to see the new Rugby World Cup Champions crowned. After the final, I asked him what his next deadline was. He said: “Now, I'm just waiting for Godot!” To which all I could say was: “Well, I hope you'll have more luck than the other pair - Vladimir and Estragon!” Today we, as Christians, believe that he has. For we believe in the promise of Jesus just heard in the Gospel: “I am going to prepare a place for you, and I shall return to take you with me”.

Vincent was born in 1929 - the year of the Great Depression. He went to school in Synge Street - and how proud he was of his Christian Brothers' education there! He joined the Jesuits in 1954 as a late vocation, having qualified as a quantity Surveyor in Bolton Street, DIT. Outside his professional life, he made his mark in las he put it) the glory-days of Shamrock Rovers! His contemporaries in the Society used to recount how frustrated Vincent could become as they tried to find an approach to the beautiful game other than a Jack Charlton-like Garryowen-type hoof and follow!

The Irish Province's mission to Zambia was still developing, and Vincent joined the growing band of Irish Jesuits for his regency there in 1959. After theology and ordination here in Milltown, and a final year of study in Rathfarnham, Vincent returned to Africa where he ministered in parish work before coming back again to Ireland to head up the Mission Office in Gardiner Street. His generous care of returning missionaries knew no limits and was greatly appreciated. He also helped out in the Church, and he was Vocations Director as well. He was not destined to return to Zambia, although he retained strong affectionate links with Africa. The rest of his apostolic life was spent in Dublin and Limerick, before he joined our Community in Clongowes just 20 years ago. He followed in the footsteps of Fr John Sullivan as he served in the People's Church and then ministered as Chaplain in St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin. And lastly, as failing health brought him to Cherryfield Lodge, his final - and very important - mission was to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus, for his Companions who continue to carry on God's work in many different fields.

Such, in very few lines, is the life of Fr Vincent Murphy SJ. He was unsung and unheralded in the world at large, but so too was he rewarding and fruitful in doing good and in enriching the lives of very many people and families to whom he brought the Good News of God's saving power, as he lived it in his own life. God's love was indeed inscribed with iron chisel This faith) and engraving tool (his generosity) cut into the rock of people's lives as they experienced his ministering zeal. Nowhere was this seen to greater effect than in his years as hospital chaplain, where his patience and care for both the sick and the hospital staff bore much fruit and brought comfort and hope to those who were facing an uncertain future. In later years, first of all in Clongowes Wood College and more recently in Cherryfield, God continued to give Vincent as a special gift to others, this time as someone in need of their love and care, It is only right, at a time like this, to pay tribute to the Clongowes Infirmary Nurses and Community Staff whose care allowed him bonus-years there.

For someone whom, as | said at the start, was surely prepared to meet his Lord, Vincent seemed simply not to want to let go of his Cherryfield carer-friends, as I was to witness during the past week. It began for me as a simple overnight stay, and it ended as an extraordinary and privileged experience of seeing at first hand - behind-the-scenes, early mornings and late nights - the care of every single one of the staff, both nursing and support. It was fitting that the former dispenser of God's caring love as a hospital chaplain should himself be the receiver of a quite extraordinary outpouring of care and Love by the team in Cherryfield. On behalf of the Clongowes Community and of the Irish Jesuits, I can only say a deep-down thanks to each and every one of you.

“I am going to prepare a place for you - and, after I have gone and prepared a place for you - I shall return to take you with me, so that, where I am, you may be too”.

It is our Christian faith which brings us to the Eucharist this morning - our Faith that Christ did indeed return to call His disciple home, when just two days ago, accompanied by George Fallon and myself, Vincent came to the end of his long and faith-filled journey. It was his “dies natalis”, his heavenly birthday, as the Roman martyrology called it, as his tent that we live in on earth was folded up, and he moved to the everlasting home, not made by human hands, in the heavens. Now, in his turn, Vincent has gone ahead of us to help prepare a place for us and he will be on hand to welcome each one of us to Our Father's home.

So often in life we say good-bye. It comes from the ancient wish or prayer May God be with you and today we say it to Vincent at this, his last Mass. And so we pray:

May Christenfold you in His Love, and bring you to eternal life; may God and Mary be with you. Be assured that we will pray for you, Vincent. May you also pray for us.

And so we say farewell, and, until we meet again, good-bye.

Born: 29 February 1912, Aughrim Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin
Entered: 26 May 1937, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Final Vows: 15 August 1947, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 09 January 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier, Gardiner St, Dublin community at the time of death.

Transcribed HIB to ZAM: 30 July 1970; ZAM to HIB : 31 July 1982

by 1941 at Rome Italy (ROM) working at Curia

29th February 1912 Born in Dublin
Early education at CBS, St. Mary’s Place and Bolton Street Technical College
1929-1936 Worked at French Polishing
26th March 1937 Entered the Society at Emo
1st April 1939 First Vows at Emo
1939-1940 Milltown Park – Book binding and French Polishing
1940-1946 Roman Curia – Secretary
1946-1958 Crescent College, Limerick – sub-sacristan; in charge of staff and Infirmarian 15th August 1947 Final Vows at Crescent College
1958-1960 Loyola House – Provincial’s secretary
1960-1961 Manresa House – Secretary to Editor of Madonna
1961-1963 Curia Rome – Mission Secretariat
1963-1970 Zambia – Assistant Secretary : Bishop of Monze
1970 Transcribed to Zambia Province
1970-1979 Bursar – Canisius College & Community, Chikuni
1979-1984 Milltown Park – ‘Messenger’ Office administration
1982 Transcribed to Irish Province
1984-2008 St. Francis Xavier’s, Gardiner Street –
1984-1993 Bursar
1993-1995 Assistant Treasurer; House Chapel Sacristan.
1995-2002 House Chapel Sacristan
2002-2008 Cherryfield Lodge – Prayed for the Church and the Society
9th January 2008 Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin.

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Brother Christopher Murray, known to his fellow Jesuits as Christy, but always to his family as Kit, was born on 29 February 1912. He was always ready for a joke or wisecrack about the fact that he had a birthday only once every four years and so was still only in his 23rd year when he went to Cherryfield at the age of 90!. During that long life he was to live in close proximity to some of the great drama of the 20th century both in Ireland and in Europe. He was born about six weeks before the Titanic foundered in the Atlantic, and two years before World War 1 broke out. He was too young to join his elder brothers and sisters who walked a mile down North Circular Road from their Aughrim Street home to say the Rosary outside Mountjoy Jail as Kevin Barry was being hanged. As a boy he saw Michael Collins walk past the Christian Brothers' School beside the Black Church at the head of the funeral cortege of Arthur Griffith. A short week later he saw Collins' own funeral pass the same spot on its way to Glasnevin Cemetery.

He did his early schooling at the Christian Brothers School in St. Mary’s Place and got a two year scholarship to Bolton St. College of Technology but only stayed for one year. He worked for seven years apprenticed to a French polisher of furniture. He was an official in the Trade Unions. Those who knew him will not be surprised to know that he led at least two strikes! At the age of 27 he entered the novitiate (1937) having made what he said was a ‘mature decision’. Later his mother said she was surprised at the decision but he saw no problem once he made his mind up.

Shortly after he ended his novitiate, he was posted to Rome in 1940. While en route he had barely passed through Paris when it fell to the Germans. The day he arrived in Rome was the time Mussolini declared war. As long as he stayed in the house he was technically in the Vatican but if he walked out the front door he was in Italy! It was a difficult time since on arrival he was asked to type a letter in Latin. He had no idea of Latin and never typed in his life. However he soon mastered the necessary skills with his usual intelligence and determination. While he was in Rome the food shortages became desperately severe. The situation took such a toll on his health that he was on a milk diet for a whole year after the war ended. One thing that upset him very much afterwards was the suggestion that Pope Pius XII had abandoned the Jews to their fate during the war. He himself had run messages on behalf of the Holy Father to Jewish families in hiding around the city, bringing them food and other supplies. He rarely traveled twice by the same route lest he was under surveillance. Christy worked with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, the legendary "Vatican Pimpernel" who did so much for the Jews and whose life was portrayed by Gregory Peck in a major feature film. He did two stints at Rome 1940-46 in the secretariat of the English Assistant and 1961-63 at the Mission Secretariat.

Back in Ireland he did various jobs in the Crescent both in the Church and the community from 1946 to 1958, before being appointed secretary to the Provincial from 1958 to 1960. He also worked as secretary to the editor of The Madonna from Manresa House in 1960/61.

While in Rome he volunteered for the Zambian mission and for seven years (1963-70) he was secretary to Bishop Corboy, whom he had known as a novice. These were the heady years of post-independence. At the end of his life it was these years with Bishop Corboy that always came to his mind. He then was bursar at Canisius Secondary School from 1970 to 1979.

He returned to Ireland in 1979 and worked from Milltown Park in the Messenger Office up to 1984 from where he went to Gardiner Street where he spent his remaining years (1984-2002) before he went to the Nursing Unit of Cherryfield. His work always included looking after the finances and the sacristy.

Christy was gifted with a high IQ as was evident in his ease in dealing with figures and accounts. He was widely read and well informed. This led to his holding a very definite position on a variety of matters. In any discussion it was not long before this was made clear with the words ‘the facts of the matter are’. Naturally this ensured lively and occasionally heated discussions on a variety of topics. An inveterate walker, he must have known every street in Dublin. Until he was into his 90s he did a four mile walk every Wednesday up and down the North Circular Road to visit Stephanie, his youngest sister, still living in the family home. She herself categorized him as a "man of will". We, in John Austin House, noticed his pace slacken towards the end until at last he had to give it up.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/christy-murray-rip/

Christy Murray RIP
Please pray for Rev. Brother Christopher Murray, S.J. who died at Cherryfield Lodge on 9 January 2008, aged 95 years. May he rest in peace.

https://www.jesuit.ie/news/from-french-polisher-to-roman-secretary/

From French Polisher to Roman Secretary
An interview with Christy Murray on Nov, 10, 2005
First published in Interfuse
Interfuse: I was amazed when I found out that you were born in 1912 – on February 29! You are one of those special people.
Christy Murray: Yes. A birthday only every four years.
That’s why you have lived so long, probably! Sure you’re only 23 years old! 1912 – that was before the First World War. Have you any interesting memories from those early days?
I can’t really say I have. I didn’t start school until I was nine.
Was the school in Dublin?
Yes. I didn’t go to Junior School. I went to a med Miss Ryan on the Berkeley Road, and only spent a year there. Otherwise I got taught until I was nine at home. And then I went to the Christian Brothers in St. Mary’s Place near the Black Church.
How many years were you there?
All my school life – until I was 14 or 15. I did the exam for Bolton Street Tech and got a scholarship there. So I was there for a couple of years, catching up on some of the things I was short on in my education. I got a scholarship for two years, but I didn’t stay the two years. I went as an apprentice to a trade. I was a French polisher.
A French polisher! That’s very interesting.
I worked for seven or eight years at French polishing before I entered the Society.
So you were a late vocation?
Yes. I was 27 when I entered. One of the things I decided was that I must qualify in something before I enter religious life. It was a planned thing, you know, and then I was interviewed in Gardiner Street by the Provincial there. When I went to Emo I wanted to feel that, if I didn’t like what I met with there, I could go back to the trade. As well as being a qualified tradesman I was an official in the trade union.
Was Gardiner Street your church, or how did you come into contact with the Jesuits?
No, Berkeley Road was my parish church. But I went down to Gardiner Street to have an interview. Since I was thinking of entering the religious order there, I had to be interviewed by a Jesuit, so that’s what brought me to Gardiner Street.
And you met the Provincial. Who was the Provincial then?
I don’t remember. I thought at that time that it was the Superior of Gardiner Street who interviewed me.
You went to Emo in 1936, and finished your novitiate about 1939. What was your first assignment?
My first assignment was to Rome. I was sent directly to our head house in Rome. I was secretary to the Assistant General – the English assistant.
So, instead of polishing wood you were writing letters.
I had to learn to use a typewriter there. When I was sent out I hadn’t any experience of doing secretarial work. So in Rome they had to give me time to learn how to use a typewriter, and so on. I remember that well because I felt very awkward then, arriving. And, you see, I couldn’t come back from Rome because I arrived in Italy the day that country entered the war alongside Germany, so there was no question of coming back.
So you spent all the war years there. And when you went there the General was Fr. Ledochowski. He died during the war.
Yes. He died the second year I was there.
I see. And then you had Father Janssens.
That’s right.
It must have been interesting knowing both of those men. Any memories of those times?
Well, I can’t say I can remember clearly now, but the fact was that I found them both very encouraging. I was doing a type of work I had never done before and they were giving me time to get used to doing it. There were fifteen assistants – general assistants. When I arrived I didn’t know anything about typing or anything like that and they gave me time to learn it. It was a Canadian brother who taught me.
You were there till the end of the war. And then in 1946 you came back to Ireland. Had you been away all seven years without coming back?
There was no question of coming back. I was locked in Italy. I was one of the enemy, so I couldn’t travel. And, of course, there wasn’t any question of Mussolini giving permission to anybody but himself. It was a hard time, because we hadn’t enough to eat. We were living on Vatican territory. The Curia of the Jesuits was on Vatican land. When we stepped outside of the house we were in Italy, but when we were in the house we were in the Vatican. And therefore, the police couldn’t come into the house to arrest anyone. Once you stepped outside the hall door you were officially in Italy, but once you remained in the house you were a Vatican citizen.
What kind of work did you do in Ireland when you came back at the end of the war? Were you in Gardiner Street?
Yes. I was in Gardiner Street. Brother Priest was the sacristan there and I was his assistant.
Brother Priest?
That’s right. A funny name, but I found him very good. He helped me along.
You were assistant there. And did you stay in Gardiner Street for many years?
To tell you the truth, I forget.
You didn’t go to any other place? Were you in Gardiner Street for the rest of your days?
I forget the sequence, but I know I volunteered to go to Zambia.
Oh, so you went to Zambia?
Yes. It was the time that Father Corboy was made bishop. I knew him in his noviceship. Later he became Bishop Corboy. I volunteered to go because I had secretarial experience.
So you volunteered to work as secretary to Bishop Corboy.
That’s right. I spent fifteen years in Zambia with him.
And that was secretarial work, too.
Yes. I was in Rome at the time I volunteered to go to Zambia. I had a chat with the General at the time that Bishop Corboy was created bishop, and I had a chat with the General about going and joining him. He invited me to go and do the same kind of work as I had been doing.
You went back to Rome on a visit and when you were there you talked to the General about going with Bishop Corboy?
Yes. I was appointed to Rome at the time. I had been in Rome a number of years. It was my second time in Rome.
Oh, you went back a second time, after the war?
Yes. I was invited back.
That was after time as assistant sacristan in Gardiner Street?
That’s right.
That was a good few years afterwards because Bishop Corboy didn’t go until well into the 50s. You had quite a few years then in Zambia, did you?
I had fifteen years there. I got leave every five years – this is how I know. I just got leave once in five years…
Back to Dublin?
I was on my third leave back to Dublin when someone else was placed in my job.
I see. And were you then back in Gardiner Street again? You didn’t have any other assignment?
No, not that I remember.
So you’ve had a very varied career – Rome and Zambia and Ireland. And of course you came here to Cherryfield from Gardiner Street, so that was your last assignment there. And how do you find it here in Cherryfield?
The fact of the matter is that I was over 90 when I came here. Actually it was my 90th birthday the day I came in here. The 29th of February. I’ve been here over a year. I’m close to two years here.
And are you comfortable here?
In fact I’m surprised I’m so comfortable, because I had some experience of being in hospital, in care, before. I was in a ward with five or six others. Then I come here and I have my own room. This place is a great idea, I think. We’re really blessed to have this place. We’re one of the few Orders that has a good organised house for the aged.
The changes that have taken place in your time in the Society are tremendous. Especially, there were a lot more brothers when you entered.
Yes. Hadn’t got the same chances, you might say.
They had larger communities of brothers in the society.
Yes. There were a bigger number of brothers then than now. The brothers did a lot of work taking care of the houses and the farms. There were far more vocations then. In fact, it was nearly a fight to get into the Society then. Personally, I think I had an exceptionally happy time in all my years in the Society and in all the different jobs I was doing, and I got a fair amount of travel done.
Would you have a word of advice or a special message you’d like to give to the Province as you celebrate nearly 94 years?
I would like to say that they should keep the Brothers’ vocations in Ireland. They shouldn’t be sent to England. And even if they are few, they’ve a better chance of increasing their number by keeping them at home. I think that parents get preoccupied if they can’t visit them. I remember the impression I got from the first visit from my family in the novitiate in Emo. When I got talking to my mother – six people came to see me – she said that she expected to be bringing me back home, that I really wasn’t a person who was a likely Religious, and she thought she’d be taking me back home. She told me afterwards, “I didn’t expect you to be so happy; I thought you’d be coming back home, that you’d made a mistake”.
But you hadn’t made a mistake.
That’s the thing. I was thinking the opposite – that I was old enough to decide at that point in my life what my future was going to be, because I had already served my time at French polishing and as a trade union official.
You never felt like giving up. You were happy in your vocation.
I thought I was deciding when I was mature enough to decide. I felt that I had made it quite clear that I wasn’t making a mistake. I was surprised when she told me that.
That satisfaction with your vocation seems to have continued over the years.
Yes. When I was working in Rome, for example, everything went so well that I couldn’t believe it.
It’s great to be able to say in your nineties that you have no regrets about the way you chose.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Polisher before entry
Quite the reverse.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 15th Year No 2 1940

Milltown Park :
Rev. Fr. Assistant (P. A. Dugré) reached Dublin 21 December 1939, and stayed with until 30 January, when he left for Scotland via Belfast. He counted on reaching Rome on 1 March. He was accompanied from London by our Brother Christopher Murray who has taken up the duties of amanuensis in the Curia at 5 Borgo Santo Spirito.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 135 : Spring 2008

Obituary

Br Christopher (Christy) Murray (1912-2007)

Homily preached by Barney McGuckian at the Funeral Mass at St. Francis Xavier's, Gardiner St., on Jan. 11th, 2008
On a headstone in one of the catacombs of Rome, where Brother Christopher Murray spent a number of challenging years, there is an inscription which reads “He has completed his baptism”. This short statement reveals something of how the early Christians understood Baptism. For them it was not a simple rite of passage or a brief passing ceremony. It was the first step in a process that would only end with death. Just as in show business it takes a life-time to become an over-night success, so it takes a whole life time to become a fully baptized Christian. This completion came for our Brother Christy two days ago in the Nursing Home at Cherryfield Lodge. He was holding the hand of Rachel McNeill, and, evidently, was quite conscious right up until the end. I, exceptionally, was among the concelebrants at Mass in the chapel across the corridor. As we had been told that Christy was very low, we commended his soul to the Lord. We do so again today strengthened by the encouraging text from the book of Maccabees that it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, including even those “who make a pious end” that they may be released from their sins. cf II Maccabees 12:43-45.

Jesus Himself was baptised in the River Jordan at the beginning of his public life as we will hear at Mass on Sunday next. But this was only the first of many Baptisms that he would undergo. When Jesus referred to Baptism he seemed to become tense. “There is a baptism I must receive, and what a constraint I am under until it is completed” (Luke, 12:50). His complete Baptism came on Calvary when he finally gave up the ghost, after taking the vinegar, surely symbolic of everything distasteful in life and bowing his head in acceptance. (Cf John 19, 29-30). As his followers, who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, as St Paul puts it, we are all called to follow a similar path.

If Brother Christopher, known to his fellow Jesuits as Christy, but always to his family as Kit, had lived until February 296 of this year he would have been 96. He was always ready for a joke or wisecrack about the fact that he was still only in his 23 year while in Cherryfield. During that long life he was to live in close proximity to some of the great drama of the 20th century both in Ireland and in Europe. He was born about six weeks before the Titanic foundered in the Atlantic, and two years before World War 1 broke out. He was too young to join his elder brothers and sisters who walked a mile down North Circular Road from their Aughrim Street home to say the Rosary outside Mountjoy Jail as Kevin Barry was being hanged. As a boy he saw Michael Collins walk past the Christian Brothers' School beside the Black Church at the head of the funeral cortege of Arthur Griffith. A short week later he saw Collins' own funeral pass the same spot on its way to Glasnevin Cemetery. Shortly after he ended his novitiate, he was posted to Rome in 1940. While en route he had barely passed through Paris when it fell to the Germans. On arrival, he was in time to see Mussolini declare war. However, when in 1963 he went to join Bishop Corboy in the Diocese of Monze in Zambia, it was to the relative stability of the newly-won independence of the country. While there he was a most conscientious worker. As assistant secretary for education at Canisius Secondary School in Chikuni, he is still remembered as someone dedicated to his work, carrying it out meticulously to the last detail.

Christy won a scholarship to Bolton Street College of Technology on leaving primary school and became a French Polisher. Many of us still remember the beautiful finish of the doors in the Chapel at Emo, a testimony to the quality of his workmanship. Before entering the Jesuits he was active in the Trade Unions. Those who knew him will not be surprised to know that he led at least two strikes! After working for seven years at his trade he decided to embrace religious life. He may have been influenced in this by the example of two of his elder sisters who had joined the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and headed off for Australia and New Zealand respectively. One of them, Sister Lua is still alive at 98 in New Zealand.

Christy took his first vows on April 1st, 1939 at Emo. Realizing that he had “turned pro" that day he took the implications of what he had done with the utmost seriousness for the rest of his life. His commitment, particularly his obedience, was sorely tried very shortly afterwards. He had only arrived a few days in Rome when he was told to type an important letter in Latin. Not only did he not know the basics of Latin, he had never ever typed a word in any language in his life! The kindness of Fr, General Ledochowski, one of his great heroes, helped him survive this and other trials. While he was in Rome the food shortages became desperate. The situation took such a toll on his health that he was on a milk diet for a whole year after the war ended.

One thing that upset him very much afterwards was the suggestion that Pope Pius XII had abandoned the Jews to their fate during the war. He himself had run messages on behalf of the Holy Father to Jewish families in hiding around the city, bringing them food and other supplies. He rarely travelled twice by the same route lest he was under surveillance. Christy worked with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, the legendary “Vatican Pimpernel” who did so much for the Jews and whose life was portrayed by Gregory Peck in a major feature film. Another of his friends was Mrs Thomas Kiernan, wife of the Irish Ambassador to the Holy See, better known for her renderings of "If I were a blackbird" and “The three lovely lassies from Banyon" as Delia Murphy. Her relationship with non-Nazi German officers through the Irish Embassy, the only English-speaking Embassy in Rome after the U.S. entered the war, proved a life-saver for many endangered young Italians. Christy remembered her arriving at the Borgo Santo Spirito with the gift for the starving community of a much appreciated pig in the boot of the ambassadorial car,

Christy was gifted with a high IQ. This was evident in his ease in dealing with figures and accounts. He was widely read and well informed. This led to his holding a very definite position on a variety of matters. In any discussion it was not long before this was made clear with the pronouncement “the facts of the matter are”. Naturally, this ensured lively and occasionally heated discussions on a variety of topics. However once he entered the chapel he moved into a different mode. His recollection and silence here was very evident. Most of his life in religion was spent either in finances or in the sacristy of our churches. He is still remembered with great affection in Limerick, where he was sacristan for 12 years from 1946-58.

An inveterate walker, he must have known every street in Dublin. Until he was into his 90s he did a four mile walk every Wednesday up and down the North Circular Road to visit Stephanie, his youngest sister, still living in the family home. She herself categorized him as a “man of will”. We, in John Austin House, noticed his pace slacken towards the end until he had to give it up. Shortly afterwards, we heard that he had moved to Cherryfield. He was remarkably regular in both his religious observance and his physical exercise right up until he was confined to a wheel-chair in Cherryfield.

As a disciple of Ignatius of Loyola, Christy would have learned to begin his daily prayer with the same formula; that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed solely to the service and praise of the divine majesty. This is a prayer for holiness and one that is only fully answered at the hour of death. Indeed it could be described as a prayer for the fullness of baptism into Christ Jesus. We hope that it was fully answered for our brother Christy when the time came. Like Ignatius he was a man small in stature and, indeed, in death his features reminded me very much of the death-mask of our Holy Founder that has come down to us. As we pray today for the repose of Christy's soul there is nothing to prevent us also praying to him.

Born: 23 March 1939, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1956, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 25 June 1970, Milltown Park Chapel, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1978, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Died: 04 October 2022, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Clongowes Wood College SJ community at the time of death

FSS
Born : 23rd March 1939 Dublin City
Raised : Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Early Education at CBC Monkstown, Dublin
7th September 1956 Entered Society at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
8th September 1958 First Vows at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
1958-1961 Rathfarnham - Studying Science at UCD
1961-1962 Vals-près-le-Puy, France - Studying Philosophy at Séminaire des Missions
1962-1964 Chantilly. France - Studying Philosophy at Séminaire Missionaire
1964-1966 Crescent College SJ, Limerick : Regency : Teacher
1966-1967 Belvedere College SJ - Regency : Teacher; Studying H Dip in Education at UCD
1967-1971 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
25th June 1970 Ordained at Milltown Park Chapel, Dublin
1971-1973 St Ignatius College, Enfield - Studying Education at Institute of Education, University of London
1973-1974 Belvedere College SJ - Assistant Headmaster; Teacher; Province Task Force on Education
1974-1982 Gonzaga College SJ - Headmaster (from Oct 1974); Teacher
1977 Tullabeg - Tertianship
2nd February 1978 Final Vows at Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
1982-1992 Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, Dooradoyle - Headmaster; Teacher; Director of Pastoral Care
1992-1993 Paris, France - Sabbatical at Communauté St Louis de Gonzague
1993-1995 Loyola House - Delegate for Young Adults; Youth Director; National Ecclesiastical Assistant for CLC
1995-2005 Clongowes Wood College SJ- Rector; National Ecclesiastical Assistant for CLC; Chaplain Lower Line
2000 Headmaster; Pastoral Care Director; Teacher; Moderator of Academy; ARLB Centenary Record
2004 Cleveland, OH, USA - Sabbatical at Sabbatical at St Ignatius High School
2005-2006 Crescent Church, Limerick - Superior; Project Team at Sacred Heart Church; Pastoral Delegate; Young Adult Delegate
2006-2010 Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, Dooradoyle - Director of Spirituality Centre, Limerick; Ministry to Parents at Crescent College; Bursar
2010-2022 Clongowes Wood College SJ- Spiritual Director (Lower Line); Assists in Peoples’ Church; Directs Liturgical Music
2013 Assists in People’s Church
2016 Prays for the Church and Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ The Clongownian, 2004

Father Dermot Murray SJ : Headmaster 2000-2004

Fr Dermot Murray SJ has a rare distinction amongst his Jesuit colleagues - that of being Headmaster in three different schools. He was Headmaster in Gonzaga 1974-1982, in the Crescent College Comprehensive, Limerick 1982-1992, and in Clongowes 2000-2004. He was appointed initially in Clongowes as Rector in 1995, probably thinking that his days of serving as Headmaster were over. When Fr Bruce Bradley SJ went on a well-earned sabbatical year in 2000, the Provincial asked Dermot to step in as acting Headmaster for the academic year 2000-2001. Following Bruce's appointment to the office of Cardinal Desmond Connell, Dermot was appointed as Headmaster in Clongowes until his retirement in 2004.

The first time I ever came across Dermot was in 1978 when the late Vinny Murray and I were coaching a Junior Cup Team together. Dermot was coaching the Gonzaga team. As was his wont at the time, he expressed some opinions from the touchline about the referee (Vinny) and the fairness of some of his decisions. Those of us who remember Vinny know that he rarely lost his temper about anything but he was really quite incensed on this particular day. Suffice it to say that I was surprised by the ensuing verbal engagement. Some years later, when I had the honour of refereeing a junior match between Clongowes and the Crescent College, I discovered that Dermot had lost none of his directness when it came to advising young referees about how to do their job. (He did decline the offer to take the whistle and finish the job himself...).

I had just been appointed as Assistant Headmaster in May 2000 shortly before the announcement of his appointment as acting Headmaster was made. I had enjoyed working with Bruce during the previous months in my capacity as acting Assistant Headmaster and had found him very supportive, encouraging, and easy to deal with. What would it be like working with Dermot? I could not say that I knew him well at that time and I was apprehensive about the news initially. However, I soon learned that he was an excellent leader who made sound decisions. Being naturally inquisitive and a good listener, he learned about every detail of school-life quickly.

As I got to know him over the four years, I realised what a very complex person Dermot is. He always acts out of his faith and deep spiritual beliefs. He lives his Christianity by trying to be fair and just, caring to those who work with him and for him. He is a very human human being with a great understanding of human frailties and suffering. He accepts people as they are, warts and all; when one made a mistake, there were no recriminations, “Acknowledge the mistake, let's see if we can correct it and move on” seemed to be his motto.

He brought to Clongowes a great wealth of experience to deal with the many issues and a number of crises, large and small. Throughout it all there was a steady, firm hand, a dispenser of wise council, a man capable of being objective and detached when needed.

Dermot leaves Clongowes with a fine record of achievement. He built and maintained good relations with all staffs. I think especially of the two years of industrial relations difficulties with the ASTI when he managed to keep the College open and functioning, and ensured that good humour and good relations remained. He won genuine affection from those lucky enough to have got to know him well. He steered the College through some difficult times such as those following the illness of the Bursar, Tom Farrelly, and the shock following Eamonn Donoghue's death.

Early on, Dermot set out his aims to build a community of growth, service and faith. In the school he will probably be best remembered by the boys for establishing both Morning Prayer and school assemblies as a central feature of College life. He also introduced school assemblies, which are used to recognise achievements of all kinds by all members of the community. He brought a new perspective to bear on much of the life of the school through the assemblies by acknowledging achievements other than rugby and by raising the profile of such achievements in the College. He oversaw the change from a Board of Governors to a Board of Management, the setting up of a Parents' Council, the establishment of a new position of Director of Finance, the recruitment of a Director of Development and the revamping of the Development Office (now the Foundation Office), the drawing up of the Master Plan, the preparation for the launch of “Clongowes Towards 2020”. Many of these decisions made in the years under Dermot's direction will have far-reaching and beneficial effects on the life of the College.

However, I think that Dermot will be mainly very fondly remembered for his many kindnesses to us all; for his friendship, for his good humour for his decisiveness and sound decision making. Dermot was a good leader and a fair employer and we thank him sincerely for it. Personally, I have much to thank him for: for his friendship and his many kindnesses to me, for what I have learnt from him about my role and about life. I was lucky to have such a mentor in my early years in this position.

For his retirement, Dermot has chosen to spend the year mostly in another Jesuit school in Cleveland, Ohio to study pastoral care systems and perhaps to offer some advice on rugby refereeing...! We all hope that he enjoys his well-earned retirement, when he eventually when gets it! He leaves with our sincere gratitude and good wishes. We hope he has a wonderful retirement and the good health to enjoy it. We hope to see him back in Clongowes frequently.

Dermot: to paraphrase Shakespeare, you have done Clongowes some service and they know it.

Interfuse No 139 : Easter 2009

ANONYMOUS CLERICS

Dermot Murray

Some time ago, one of my Jesuit friends told me that he had to go to a pharmacist to get some medicine. As he had been at a liturgical function, he was still wearing his priestly collar. After serving him, the pharmacist said, You know, Father, you are the first priest I have seen for years.

This set me thinking. One of my lines of thought went like this: any product needs publicity before it will sell. In general, the better the publicity, the better the sales. Thus, for example, many people at least in this area will wear the Munster jersey or the Munster scarf or the Munster hat not just for the matches, but for ordinary wear around the town. In this way, a sense of communal solidarity is built up and the support of the Munster team builds up to an extraordinary degree. This support leads to a desire on the part of the players to play to the limits of their ability, not just for victory but also to repay their supporters for such wonderful support. In addition, every young man and many young women want to have the opportunity to be members of the team.

For a few weeks now, I have looked to see a priest in the streets of Limerick. I looked in vain. In a recent visit to Dublin, I wandered around the city for a couple of hours. Again I looked to see a priest wandering around in the streets of our capital city; again, I looked in vain. Even in Veritas, a bookshop in which one used to see priests and religious wandering around looking at the books on offer, there wasn't a priest or a nun to be seen.

I know one reason for this is the diminishing numbers of priests and religious. Perhaps a second reason might be a fear that, because of the child abuse issue and the negative publicity that appeared to attach itself to every priest, cleric and religious, they might receive a very unpleasant and unacceptable greeting if they wore their clerical clothes or religious habit. A third reason might be a reluctance to being approached by people for money and not knowing how to deal appropriately with the people involved. I pondered on all these issues as I went up by the Luas to Heuston, my Munster rugby tie carefully displayed.

For myself, a fourth reason for not wearing my clerical collar is that it can limit my freedom in what I say, where I go, what I do. For example, I find it hard to go into a pub in the evening time wearing my clerics. Indeed, sometimes I find it difficult to go down town in the evening time in my clerical garb. Even on a train I sometimes feel that I might be under siege. Yet it has to be said that, when I do go down town in my clerics, mostly in the morning or afternoon, I find that more people greet me than do when I am not wearing clerics. Of course, this might not be true in Dublin particularly if the issue of clerical abuse raises its ugly head again as it did some weeks ago. All in all, I say to myself, it might be more prudent not to wear one's clerics. So I keep displaying my Munster tie. But then, of course, one has to ask the question is prudence the determining value in this situation?

Another reason is that wearing clerical garb does separate one from the laity. The clothes one wears often put the person into a particular category. This applies not just to clerical garb but also to uniforms and to other external signs that one often sees around city and county - Gardai, ambulance crews, fire fighters and others. In Limerick on the day of a Heineken Cup match - or indeed in Cardiff or other cities - a Munster jersey distinguishes Munster supporters from supporters of other teams. The same applies to school sporting competitions in the various codes. And, of course, wearing ashes on Ash Wednesday does tell people something about ourselves, even if it is only for one day.

In the light of some of the reflections above, I decided that I would wear my clerics during Lent and I did - most of the time. Did I find it constraining? Yes, at times I did. Did I feel nervous now and again? Yes, I did. Did I have the impression sometimes that I was viewed as different, as somebody to be avoided? Yes, at times, I did. Did I sometimes get the feeling that these impressions were coming from my unease rather than the reality of the situation? Yes I did. Was I unhappy with my decision to wear my clerics during Lent? No, I wasn't. Nevertheless, it was with some relief that I left them aside at least for the time being. I have worn them since for a week at a time. It remains awkward - perhaps only in my own consciousness.

I wrote this essay while living in the Jesuit Community attached to a large High School in the United States and took the opportunity to discuss the matter in the community. The overall view was expressed as follows: “We wear our clerics when working in the school to show that we are different perhaps not in the quality of our teaching, or the expertise of our counselling, or the enthusiasm for our various athletic programmes. But we are different because we are Jesuits living in community together”.

It is worth noting that there has been a strong interest in vocations in this school for the past number of years – not just from present pupils nor even immediate past-pupils, but past pupils who have completed their College courses or other courses and who, during the last year in school had been invited to discuss, both individually and as a group, the possibility of such a vocation. Where interest was shown, this was followed up on a regular and supportive basis by the Province coordinator of vocations, a brother who, incidentally, attended the recent General Congregation at Fr. General's invitation.

I am well aware that many of us might say that it is by the work we do that we preach the Word of God. We have some very inspirational examples of such people in our Province. It may well be that those who do such work - and indeed the many who are not well known but who work very hard in their own apostolates - might be well known and in many cases loved through their work as individuals. But perhaps they are not well known, each as a Jesuit who lives in a Jesuit community. And, looking at those congregations who are attracting vocations, it seems that one motivation about their aspirants is the desire for a visible community element in their lives.

So, thinking about all this, talking to some of my friends about it and praying a bit as well, I wondered whether, as a Province, we should not look again at the way we present ourselves in public and in our ministries. It might not be comfortable; it certainly would not be popular. But it might help us to discern our way forward if our Province is to continue to exist. Of course, it would be simplistic indeed to suppose that wearing clerical dress would resolve the many problems that lead to a lack of vocations. But it may also be simplistic to suppose that not wearing clerical dress enables us to share the Word of God in a more effective way.

We the Jesuits in Ireland have been rightly criticised for the paucity of vocations to Jesuit life in our Province. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that people never see us. Even in a Jesuit school, Jesuits who form part of the teaching body or the administration of the institution, might not be known as Jesuits. And even if they are known as Jesuits, it may well be that this has no real meaning for the pupils for, after all, individual Jesuits, including myself, appear to live the exact same life-style as the lay-teachers. They teach, they wear the same clothes, they drive the same cars. They might even drink in the same pubs.

My question then is this: Is it time to affirm more publicly that we are different in some ways? Not better, no, but different and able to explain that difference with simplicity as Jesuits living in community. Could it be time for debate, time for discernment ?

Born: 02 May 1922, Carrigaholt, County Clare
Entered: 07 September 1940, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1978, Mazabuka, Seminary, Choma, Zambia
Died 21 July 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Fr Seán was 49 years of age when he first came to Zambia in 1971. It was for him a new country, a new people and a new language. In the normal course of events, he would have come to Zambia thirty years earlier during regency time. As a scholastic, he spent his three years regency teaching, one year at the Crescent College in Limerick and two years at Clongowes Wood College.

He was born in Kilkee, Co Clare, a seaside resort, in 1922. His schooling was at the Christian Brothers in Limerick, at The Crescent College in Limerick and also at St Flannan's College in Ennis.

At the age of 18 he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park in 1940. After his first vows, he followed the normal course of studies: humanities, philosophy, regency and theology, being ordained at Milltown Park in 1954. Tertianship came at the end of his formation in 1956. He spent a short time in Emo as bursar, then for twelve years he was back in Limerick at the Sacred Heart Church as minister of the house and prefect of the church.

Fr Seán brought to his work as a priest a spirit of prayer, a warm personality, a spirit of hard work, a friendliness which people found easy to approach, a concern for people and a good sense of humour.

In 1971 there came a great change of life and of lifestyle for Fr Seán. He came out to Zambia. His first assignment was as secretary to the Bishop of the Diocese for six months. Then he went to Malawi to the Language Centre at Lilongwe to learn this new language called ciNyanja, followed by a few months in a parish in the Chipata diocese to practice what he had learned.

Returning to Zambia, he was posted to Nakambala to the Sugar Estate in Mazabuka where he spent the rest of his time in Zambia doing parochial work among the people on the Estate. These were workers who came from various parts of Zambia with their different languages. For this, the ciNyanja Fr Seán had learned, was ideal as it is a sort of lingua franca in Zambia, though its main location is the Eastern Province and Malawi.

Poor health took him back to Ireland for a long break but he returned to continue his work at Nakambala until 1986 when he had to return to Ireland for good. When he had recovered after a few years in Ireland he had hoped to come back again to Nakambala, as he wrote clearly to his Provincial, ‘I am keen to return to Nakambala’. But unfortunately, his health took a turn for the worse and he could not return.

For the next sixteen years until his death, Fr Seán soldiered on, working in the church, often in pain but he was always most welcoming to all who sought his services. The qualities – shall I call them virtues – which Fr Seán brought to his priestly life in the Crescent in Limerick, he brought also to Nakambala in Zambia and he also brought them back with him to Gardiner Street in Dublin. He died in Cherryfield Lodge infirmary in Dublin on 21st July 2008 at the ripe old age of eighty six years.

My fond memory of Fr Seán (known to his near contemporaries as Fr Max) is a Sunday evening in Mazabuka with two of his fellow Jesuits from other communities, meeting for a chat, a cuppa, a bar of chocolate, one of them lighting his pipe, and a game of canasta. May he rest in peace.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 137 : Autumn 2008

Obituary

Fr Seán (Max) Murray (1922-2008)

2nd May 1922: Born in Carrigaholt, Co. Clare
Early education at Crescent College, Limerick.
7th September 1940: Entered the Society at Emo
8th September 1942: First Vows at Emo
1942 - 1945: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1945 - 1948: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1948 - 1949: Crescent College, Limerick - Teacher
1949 - 1951: Clongowes - 1949-1950 Teacher
1950 - 1951: Prefect
1951 - 1955: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
29th July 1954: Ordained at Milltown Park
1955 - 1956: Emo - Treasurer
1956 - 1957: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1957 - 1958: Emo - Treasurer; Assistant Socius to Novice Director
1958 - 1971: Sacred Heart Church, Limerick - Minister; Prefect
1971 - 1980: Zambia - Parish Ministry
2nd May 1978: Final Vows at Mazabuka, Zambia
1980 - 1983: SFX, Gardiner Street - Minister; Assisted in Church
1983 - 1986: Zambia- Parish Ministry
1986 - 2007: SFX, Gardiner Street -
1986 - 1995: Assisted in the Church
1995 - 1997: Ministers in Church; Superior's Admonitor;
1997 - 1998: Vice-Superior; Assisted in the Church; Superior's Admonitor;Assisted in Cherryfield Lodge
1998 - 2007: Assisted in the Church
2007 - 2008: Cherryfield Lodge - Prayed for Church and Society
21st July 2008: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Homily preached at Funeral Mass by Barney McGuckian on July 24th, 2008 in St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner St., Dublin
“Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light” (Mt 11:25)

These final words of our Gospel passage must have proved challenging to the faith of Fr Seán Murray over the last years of his life. The Lord's yoke may be easy and the burden light but to those of us looking on that's not how it appeared in Seán's case. His ordinary daily round entailed much labour with the overburdening of chronic arthritis and diabetes. Here in Gardiner Street we were conscious of the painfully slow movements, the unappetizing, indeed, bizarre diet and the self administered injections. It was truly a way of the Cross entailing several falls leading to broken limbs and on one occasion serious facial injuries. When I saw him after one fall I could not but think of Isaiah's Suffering Servant. “He had no form or charm to attract us, no beauty to win our hearts; he was despised, the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with the suffering, one from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze”. Isaiah 53: 2-3.We were blessed to be in a position to entrust him to the tender care of the staff at Cherryfield Lodge.

None of these vicissitudes, however, could wipe away that benign smile which was so much a part of him since any of us ever knew him. I'm sure that same smile was there during his boyhood in Co Clare where he was born on 2 May, 1922 just as our tragic Civil War was about to break out. Seán did not let his sufferings get him down. In his case God certainly fitted the back for the burden. During his last years it struck me that he lived out a spiritual maxim attributed to St John of the Cross, the Carmelite saint, who in his early years like Sean, also received a Jesuit education. “Adjust your cross to yourself, not yourself to your cross”. In other words don't let difficult things get you down. Stay on top of them. Seán did. Growing old gracefully isn't too demanding when we enjoy on-going good health. To do so, as Seán did, in his situation, was an indication of no small degree of virtue.

I kept a diary during a visit to Zambia over thirty years ago in 1978. The entry for January 28th refers to a journey from Chivuna to Mazabuka with the late, kindly Fr Robert Kelly. It reads “Breakfast with Joe, Frank and Bob. Said goodbye to the Ferrybank Sisters and set out. Made it without mishap to the Holy Rosary's, after having a coke with Max Murray, a photo with Vinny Murphy's roses and a meeting with Dinny O'Connell en route though the Sugar Plantation to a great rally in the afternoon at Mazabuka”. Of the six Jesuits mentioned two are still happily with us, Frank O'Neill and Vinny Murphy. The other two have gone on the slí na firinne. I mention this because it was the first time in my life that I had met Sean. He was to become a great support and anam chara to me as he was to so many others during his priestly life. Members of the family may be puzzled by the name Max Murray. So was I. It was a nickname so commonly used that I did not know that his name was Seán. When he entered the novitiate in 1940, his co-novices called him Maximus, Latin for big and strong because of his towering presence as a formidable back at football. Others have told me that that is putting it too mildly. Apparently he was anything but gentle on a football field. The two remaining novices from his own year, Michael Hurley and Stephen Redmond are still happily with us. It was Michael who has just read the Gospel for us.

What may have been characteristic of his football persona was in no way reflected in his religious and priestly life. There, he shared in the gentleness and humility of the Sacred Heart to which he was greatly devoted. Some little prayer to the Sacred Heart often featured in the penance he prescribed in the Confessional, a place where many people were touched by his kindness. It would be no exaggeration to say that he was a man who was universally loved. This would be admitted even by those who considered him to be gentle to a fault. They thought that he would do anything to avoid conflict even where a little bit of it was required. He was strongly influenced by the idea of St Francis de Sales, known as the Gentle Doctor, that you catch more flies with a little pot of honey than a big barrel of vinegar. Only God alone knows the number of souls he influenced for their good.

One of the last things I did for him after a visit to our Nursing Home in Cherryfield was to bring back to Gardiner Street the stipends he had received for the Masses he had offered for the donors' intentions. This prompted the choice of the reading from the Book of Maccabees where there is a distinct emphasis on the importance of sacrifice and atonement for sin, both for the living and the dead. Sean never wavered in his love for his daily Mass and always started his day with it. He tended to do this at such an unearthly hour that his congregations tended to be small. However those who did join him could detect the sincerity behind the somewhat mournful cadence he adopted when on the altar.

He never asked for concessions on the grounds of his health and made himself available all day for priestly duties. He is remembered affectionately for this in all the placed he served; Limerick, Clongowes, Zambia and in more recent years here in Gardiner Street. He always had a concern for the poor and the under-dog expressed in the work he has done over the years as a most conscientious Spiritual Director of the parish Conference of St Vincent de Paul. In his personal life he showed a marked detachment from the goods of this world. I have been told by one of the community with a direct interest in the matter that clearing the personal belongings from his room will take about five minutes, it is so sparse. Sean was deeply committed to religious life with all that he signed up to when he took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience upwards of sixty year ago.

He was a delightful person to have in a community. He encouraged others and believed in praising them during their lifetime. He kept abreast of events, read widely in spirituality and current affairs, spoke kindly of others and always made an interesting contribution to conversation. His very hearty laugh did not leave him even in his debilitating illness. I remember especially one story that he enjoyed telling, even using the actual French words used. In one of the French-speaking Jesuit houses on the continent, where there was a large community, two of the priests had the same name, let's call them Duval. One had a reputation for well-authenticated holiness. The gifts of the second one seem to have lain in some other direction. During dinner one of the staff came into the refectory and called out that the Père Duval was wanted at reception. “Lequel?” (Which of them?). “Le Saint” (the Saint). “Oh, j'arrive” (I'm coming), said the truly holy man as he stood up. There is a touching simplicity about goodness, a more ordinary word for holiness, something that all of us recognise.

The Gospel read today provides us with an opportunity to eavesdrop on Jesus as He prays to His Father. It provides us with a window into the ongoing conversation between Father and Son that we have been invited to join in forever. “No one knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him”. Seán spent his life as a Jesuit praying that the Son would reveal the Father to him. Now that it has come to an end he can appreciate better than ever the wisdom of the words of St Bernard. “Life is for love and time is for searching for God”.

Just as the young man came to the refectory door to ask for one of those in that French-speaking house, so Someone came a couple of days ago on a similar errand to Seán's door. “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest." Eternal rest. Sean may have been surprised to hear himself numbered among the saints with an invitation to remain in their number forever. The rest of us would not.

Additional note: An t-athair Prionsias O Fionnagáin vouched for the authenticity of the anecdote about the two Jesuits with the same name. His source was Fr John Ryan. The “saint” in question was, in fact, Fr. Alphonse Petit, a celebrated Tertian Master in the South Belgian province, whose cause for canonisation is in process. Among his Tertians was Fr James Cullen, S.J.

Taken from an obit written in Zambia by Tom McGivern:
In 1971 there came change of life and of lifestyle for Fr. Seán. He came out to Africa, to Zambia. His first assignment was secretary to the Bishop of the Diocese for six months. Then off to Malawi to the Language Centre at Lilongwe to learn this new language called CiNyania, followed by a few months in a parish in the Chipata diocese to practice what he had learned. Returning to Zarnbia, he was posted to Nakambala to the Sugar Estate in Mazaabuka, where he spent the rest of his time in Zambia doing parochial work among the people on the Estate, workers who came from various parts of Zambia with their different languages. For this, the C:iNycl.nia he had learned, was ideal as it is a sort of lingua franca in Zambia though its location is the Eastern Province.

Poor health took him back to Ireland for a long break. But he returned to continue his work at Nakambala until 1986 when he had to return to Ireland for good. When he had recovered after a few years in 1942 he had hoped to come back again to Nakambala, as he wrote to his Provincial, “I am keen to return to Nakambala". But unfortunately, his health took a turn for the worse and he could not return. ..

For the next sixteen years until his death, Fr. Seán soldiered on working in the church, often in pain but welcoming all who sought his services. The qualities - shall I call them virtues? - which he brought to his priestly life in the Crescent in Limerick, hc brought to Nakambala and he brought back with him to Gardiner Street in Dublin. He died in Cherryfield Lodge in Dublin on 21st July 2008

My fond memory of Fr. Seán (known to his near contemporaries as Fr. Max) is a Sunday evening in Mazabuka with two of his fellow Jesuits (living in other houses) meeting for a chat, a cuppa, a bar of chocolate, one of them lighting his pipe, and a game of canasta. May he rest in peace.

Ready for the Call - July 2008
Our members dwindle as the days go by
And one by one the Father calls His sons.
Seán Murray was the very last to die -
We knew that he was one of our weaker ones.

“Oh world, O life. O time
on whose last steps we climb”
Why should we mourn our friends' decease
When our faith assures us they are in peace?

How will it be with me when my time has come,
Who should have been a true son of Ignatius?
With all my sins, shortcomings, I'll stand dumb
Before our God, forgiving and most gracious.

And may he join me to my better brothers;
I lived with them in this life, after all.
I know I am not worthy as those others,
Yet be I cleansed and ready for the call.

Thomas MacMahon

◆ The Clongownian, 2009

Obituary

Father Seán Murray SJ

Seán was 49 years of age when he first came to Zambia in 1971, a new country, a new people, and a new language. In the normal course of events, he would have come to Zambia thirty years earlier during regency time. He was born in Kilkee, County Clare, a seaside resort in Ireland, in 1922. At the age of 18, he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park in 1940. After his first vows, he followed the normal course of studies, humanities, philosophy, regency and theology and was ordained at Milltown Park in 1954, Tertianship completed his formation in 1956. (He was Third Line Prefect in Clongowes from 1949-51; Ed)

Seán brought to his work as a priest a spirit of prayer, a warm personality, a spirit of hard work, a friendliness, a concern for people and a good sense of humour, In 1971 there came a great change of life and of lifestyle for Seán. He came to Zambia. His first assignment was secretary to the Bishop of the Monze Diocese for six months. Then off to Malawi to the Language Centre at Lilongwe to learn Chinyanja, followed by a few months in a parish in the Chipata Diocese to practice what he had learned.

Returning to the Monze Diocese, he was posted to Nakambala where he spent the rest of his time in Zambia doing parochial work among the people on the Sugar Estate. He also served as superior of the Jesuit Community in Mazabuka for some of that time. Poor health took him back to Ireland in 1981 for a long break but he returned to continue his work in 1983 at Nakambala until 1986, when he had to return to Ireland for good.

May he rest in peace.

Courtesy of SJ Africa News

Born: 23 April 1902, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 01 September 1919, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1931, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 21 August 1989, Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death

by 1927 in Australia - Regency at Xavier College, Kew
by 1933 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Nash, Robert
by Patrick Maume

Nash, Robert (1902–89), Jesuit priest and apologist, was born 23 April 1902 at Cork, third and only surviving child of Robert Nash (d. Southampton, 21 November 1901) and his wife Delia (née Kearney). He was brought up in Limerick by his mother and maternal uncle Joseph Kearney, a shop worker, and was educated at St Mary's convent school, St Munchin's day school, and Mount St Alphonsus College, Limerick, a minor seminary for the Redemptorist order. Nash was heavily influenced by his mother's fervent catholicism, which had been reinforced by her unhappy childhood and adult bereavement. He subsequently thought she was over-protective but that she did not exert any undue influence on his choice of vocation; he made the priesthood his life's ambition. After the Redemptorists decided that his health was too weak for the religious life, Nash approached the Jesuit order and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tullabeg, near Tullamore, on 1 September 1919.

Nash took his vows as a Jesuit in 1921. After three years in the Jesuit training house at Milltown Park, Dublin, he was sent on the Australian mission, 1925–8, then returned to Milltown Park for four years’ theological study. He was ordained to the priesthood on 31 July 1931. He subsequently spent ten months’ tertianship at St Beuno's College in north Wales. His superiors retained him in Ireland out of consideration for his mother, who died in 1949. He soon became well known as a preacher and leader of retreats.

Nash's first article on spiritual matters appeared during his scholasticate, when his superior asked him to write up his trial sermon; he eventually published at least twenty-eight books, one of which (Is life worth while? (1949)) sold 100,000 copies, and more than 300 pamphlets. He had the gift of expressing himself in simple and direct language. Nash's world view was uncompromising: he preached a popularised version of Ignatian spirituality, with its emphasis on total commitment. Every moment was seen as participating in the fateful choice between heaven and hell; his compulsive writing reflected fear of wasting time. Even the mildest worldly pleasures came under suspicion as distractions from eternity or occasions of sin. This view lay behind his most notorious pamphlet, The devil at dances, which appeared during the clerically inspired campaign against unsupervised dance venues in the 1930s. Its opening description of a young woman at a dance hall, who notices that the attractive stranger with whom she is dancing has cloven hooves, was read literally by naive readers, producing widespread fear and scrupulosity. One of Nash's books was an annotated edition of St Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual exercises, which formed the basis for his extensive activities as a retreat master; his guides to prayer, such as The priest at his prie-dieu (1949), drew on Ignatian techniques of visualisation and were widely used in the formation of seminarians.

From 1951 to 1985 Nash wrote a weekly column on religious matters for the Sunday Press, the first of its kind in an Irish newspaper; in 1954–85 he also published daily ‘Phone calls’ (brief sixty-word reflections) in the Evening Press. During lengthy visits to Australia in 1956–7 and America in 1964 he provided the editor with a year's columns in advance – an indication of his professionalism, his fluency, and the extent to which he saw himself as preaching a timeless and unchanging message independent of day-to-day events. He calculated that he had written more than a million words for his column; in its latter years he was often accused of manipulating readers through fear of hellfire, but this discounts his utter conviction of the reality of the danger and his own duty to warn against it. He asked much of his readers, but no more than he demanded of himself; his life was so focused on its central objective that all other pursuits seemed trivial to him.

Nash's greatest popularity occurred during the 1950s, when readers could see themselves as part of a triumphant worldwide church battling uncompromisingly for the faith delivered to the saints. He was ill at ease with many developments after the second Vatican council; he acknowledged that the new relaxed approach was helpful in winning souls who might previously have been antagonised, but feared that excessive toleration of heterodoxies within the church and downplaying formal ritual might blind people to their spiritual needs. He never appeared on television: ‘the typewriter was the instrument I knew best so I stuck with it’ (Irish Times, 22 Aug. 1989). In 1980 Nash was a founder member of the third world aid group Action from Ireland (AfrI).

Nash retained a faithful, ageing readership until he ceased to write his column in 1985, declaring that it was time to say ‘What I have written I have written.’ He intended My last book (1983), a combination of autobiographical recollections and advice on prayer, to live up to its title (it concludes with meditations on death and heaven). He was lured back into print by admirers urging that if another book saved one soul it would be worth while; in 1986 he published My last phone call. Nash spent his last years in the Jesuit community at Gardiner Street, Dublin, where he continued to hear confessions until a year before his death. Early in 1989 deteriorating health led to his transfer to Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, where he died 21 August 1989.

The vast contemporary popularity of Nash's writings, whose structured and fervent certainties contrast with the colloquial soothings of later Irish religious columnists, says much about the enthusiasms and restrictions of late Tridentine Irish Catholicism. Nash lived to see the aspirations he embodied condemned, ridiculed, or forgotten by a generation with less restrictive lives, new horizons, and different aspirations; he himself was virtually forgotten within a few years of his death.

Robert Nash, My last book (1983); Evening Press, 22 Aug. 1989; Irish Press, 22 Aug. 1989; Ir. Times, 22 Aug. 1989; Irish Catholic, 24 Aug. 1989; Sunday Press, 27 Aug. 1989; Monsignor James Horan: memoirs 1911–1986, ed. Micheál MacGréil (1992)

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Robert Nash joined the Society in 1919, and after initial Jesuit studies came to Australia and Burke Hall in 1925 as prefect of discipline and teacher. He loved his time there and was sorry to be recalled for theology in 1928.
He was later famous for his popular books on prayer, such as “Priest at his Pre-Dieu”, “Nun at her Pre-Dieu”, which caused a good deal of frustration among the intellectual professors who could not get their learned works published. His many pamphlets led Nash to being in considerable demand as a missioner and retreat director.
He returned to Australia, 1962-64, trying to start the popular Irish Mission, but it did not work. Nash gave house retreats at Watsonia, and amongst his points on one occasion he encouraged the scholastics to imagine the number of mortal sins being committed that night within a mile of the college. This taxed the imagination of the scholastics somewhat as the area within a mile of the college was still largely bush and farms. He must have considered the few farmers to be a sinful lot! Robert Nash remained productive in writing and preaching until almost the end of his life.
He was not lacking in confidence!

Born: 06 July 1907, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 01 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 07 February 1942, Manresa House, Roehampton, London, England
Died: 30 January 1992, Milford Nursing Home, Limerick

Part of the Sacred Heart, Limerick community at the time of death

Early education at Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

Chaplain in the Second World War.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 16th Year No 2 1941

General News :
The Irish Province has to date sent 4 chaplains to England for home or foreign service for the duration of the war. They are Frs. Richard Kennedy, Michael Morrison, Conor Naughton and Cyril Perrott. The first three were doing their 3rd year's probation under Fr. Henry Keane at the Castle, Rathfarnham, while Fr. Perrott was Minister at Mungret College. They left Dublin on the afternoon of 26th May for Belfast en route for London. Fr. Richard Clarke reported a few days later seeing them off safely from Victoria. Both he and Fr. Guilly, Senior Chaplain to British Forces in N. Ireland, had been most helpful and kind in getting them under way.

Irish Province News 17th Year No 1 1942

Chaplains :
Our twelve chaplains are widely scattered, as appears from the following (incomplete) addresses : Frs. Burden, Catterick Camp, Yorks; Donnelly, Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk; Dowling, Peebles Scotland; Guinane, Aylesbury, Bucks; Hayes, Newark, Notts; Lennon, Clackmannanshire, Scotland; Morrison, Weymouth, Dorset; Murphy, Aldershot, Hants; Naughton, Chichester, Sussex; Perrott, Palmer's Green, London; Shields, Larkhill, Hants.
Fr. Maurice Dowling left Dublin for-Lisburn and active service on 29 December fully recovered from the effects of his accident 18 August.

Irish Province News 52nd Year No 2 1977

Calcutta Province

Extract from a letter from a Jesuit of Calcutta Province, Darjeeling Region (Fr. Edward Hayden, St. Joseph's College, North Point, Darjeeling, Western Bengal)

I was one of the old “Intermediate” boys of the Christian Brothers, Carlow. I left off in 1910, 67 years ago, at the end of June. Yes, we learnt the Gaeilge. The Brothers - or some I met, one in particular, a Brother Doyle, was very keen on it. The others didn't teach it as it was only in the “Academy” that they began with languages: French, Gaeilge, Algebra, Euclid and of course English. (5th Book - Senior Elementary Class - was followed by the “Academy”). The Brothers had dropped Latin just before I joined the “Academy”. We were living at a distance of 5 Irish miles from Carlow, and I was delicate, so I often fell a victim of 'flu, which didn't help me to make progress in studies - made it very hard: but at that time the rule was “do or die”. There was only one excuse for not having home work done – you were dead! That was the training we had: it stood me in good stead through life; it is the one thing I am grateful for.
We had a number of Irishmen here, a handful: Fr Jos Shiel, Mayo, died in Patna. Fr James Comerford, Queen's County, died in Bihar. I met the Donnelly brothers, they were Dubliners. The one who died (Don) was Editor of the Sacred Heart Messenger. Many of his stories were about horse-racing - he must have read plenty of Nat Gould when he was a boy! (Nat wrote a number of horse-racing stories supposed to have been in Australia). There are three Irishmen in Ranchi: Frs Donnelly, Phelan and Lawlor. Fr Phelan has spent nearly his whole life in India. As a boy he was in North Point, and after his Senior Cambridge he joined the Society. At that time there was only the Missio Maior Bengalensis of the Belgian Province. The Mission took in half or more of north-east India - Patna, Ranchi and south of it, Assam, Bhutan and Sikkim - an area four or five times that of Ireland! Needless to say, there were parts of it which had no SJ within a hundred miles ...Down here in the Terai where I am “hibernating” out of the cold of Darjeeling, some forty-five years ago there was no priest. One or two of the professors of theology from Kurseong, some 40 miles away, used to visit this district at Christmas and Easter. It was very malarious. Catholics from Ranchi came here to work on the tea plantations. Then a Jesuit was sent to reside in it. Now the district has schools and Jesuits galore, also non-Jesuits. Great progress has been made. The Salesians took up Assam, the American SJs took over Patna. The Northern Belgians took over Ranchi and the Southern Belgians took Calcutta. (The Belgian Province grew till its numbers reached 1400. Then, about 1935, Belgian separated into Flemings - North - and Walloons - South). Ranchi was given to the North and Calcutta to the South. On the 15th August last year (1976) Calcutta was raised from being a Vice Province to be a full-blown Province. 100% of those joining the SJ now are sons of India. Madura in the south has been a Province for years. Nearly all the Europeans are dead: no more are allowed to come permanently unless for a very, very special reason, India has begun to send her sons to East Africa in recent years.
Fr Lawlor is Irish-born but somehow joined the Australian Province about the time it started a half-century or so ago.
Brother Carl Kruil is at present in charge of an ashram: a place for destitutes, in Siliguri. Silguri is a city which grew up in the last forty years around the terminus of the broad gauge railway and the narrow (two-foot) toy railway joining the plains with Darjeeling - one of the most wonderful lines in the world, rising from 300 feet above sea-level, 7,200 feet in about 50 miles and then dropping down to about 5,500 feet in another ten. Three times it loops the loop and three times climbs up by zig-zags. I seem to remember having met Fr Conor Naughton during the war. Quite a number of wartime chaplains came to Darjeeling. The mention of Siliguri set me off rambling. Br Krull remembers his visit to Limerick. (He stayed at the Crescent, 11th 13th June, 1969). He is a born mechanic. Anything in the line of machinery captivates him. He has to repair all the motors and oil engines – some places like this have small diesel generators which have to be seen to from time to time and all other kinds of machinery: cameras, typewriters etc. At present he comes here to do spot welding (electric welding of iron instead of bolts and nuts.
The PP, here is replacing an old simple shed with a corrugated iron roof by a very fine one with brick walls and asbestos-cement roof. Two years ago or so, the roof was lifted by a sudden whirlwind clean off the wooden pillars on which it rested. Since then he has been saying the Sunday Masses on the veranda of a primary school. In this school 235 children receive daily lessons and a small mid-day meal. The Sisters are those of St. Joseph of Cluny – all from South India. They are really heroines: no work is too difficult for them. They do all their own work and cook for us. Their Vice-Provincial is from somewhere in the centre of the “Emerald Gem”. They are growing in numbers and do great work, running a dispensary amongst other things. The church is very broad, approximately 90 by 60 feet. As no benches are used - people sit on the floor - it will hold nearly 450 people at a time. The altar is in one corner. :
Fr Robert Phelan (Ranchi Province) had a visit one night from dacoits (armed robbers), but with help managed to beat them off.
Ranchi had several of these raids last year. In nearly every case the dacoits managed to get some cash.
One night about two weeks ago a rogue elephant (one that is wild and roaming away from the herd) came to a small group of houses close by. A man heard the noise and came out. The elephant caught him by the leg and threw him on to a corn stack - fortunately. The corn stack of rice waiting to be thrashed was quite broad and flat on top! He was very little the worse for the experience. And that is the end of the news.
One more item: please ask the new Editor of the Irish Province News to let me have copies as (?) and send them by overland (surface mail). Even if they are three months coming, they will be news. God bless you and reward you handsomely.
Yours in our Lord,
Edward Hayden, SJ (born 15th October 1893, entered S.J. Ist February 1925, ordained 21st November 1933, took final vows on 2nd February 1936. Now conf. dom. et alumn. and script. hist. dom. at the above address).

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 82 : September 1995
Obituary
Fr Conor Naughton (1907-1992)

6th July 1907: Born, Galway
Education: St. Ignatius College, Galway
1st Sept. 1925: Entered Jesuit Novitiate, Tullabeg
2nd Sept. 1927: Took First Vows
1927 - 1930; Juniorate - Rathfarnham
1930 - 1933: Philosophy Studies - Tullabeg
1933 - 1936: Regency, Crescent College, Limerick
1936 - 1940: Theology Studies - Milltown Park
31st July 1939: Ordained - Milltown Park
1940 - 1941: Tertianship - Rathfarnham
1941 - 1946: Military Chaplain - England/India/Burma
1946 - 1992: Ministering in the Church - Sacred Heart,
31st Jan. 1992: Limerick Died in Milford Nursing House, Limerick

When Conor Naughton grew up in the Galway of the early part of the century, he knew a life quite different from that of today. His Connemara-born father ran a substantial business, the ownership of which by a Catholic was surely an innovation in that day. An uncle on his mother's side was a Westminster M.P. for the Irish Parliamentary party. A little later, there was the war of Independence and Conor knew a fellow school boy called William Joyce (to become Lord Haw Haw) who rather peculiarly consorted with the British Forces. There was great poverty in Galway then, and Conor, as a member of the St. Vincent De Paul Society visited houses of Calcutta-like destitution,

I once saw a photo of the school senior rugby team, which had won the Connaught Championship and which he captained. There was a marked quality of dedicated independence about the boy. Both that spirit of single-mindedness and his love of all kinds of sport were to serve him royally throughout life. From his entering the Society in 1925 to the year 1941 he did the normal training. It was the years 1941 to 46 when he was an army chaplain in England, India and Burma, that provided the most colourful period of his life. From these days he brought a fund of stories and reflections about that most difficult of experiences. Always when listening to him, one was aware of his total and most painstaking devotion to his apostolic work.

When Conor returned to Ireland in 1946 he went to work in the Sacred Heart Church: this was to be his mission until his death in 1992. He was minister here on two separate occasions.

In this long period he excelled as a confessor. Apart from his constant work at the altar, which made him very well known, he also was known to the students of the college and their families, and through his love of soccer he was recognised throughout Limerick. To the end of his life, the Sunday visit to the soccer match was his great relaxation. For a number of years he had been on the board of directors of Limerick soccer and on a famous occasion he was taken on a Spanish playing expedition by the team! A photograph of Conor from that time did indeed have a Spanish quality - reminding us of the city of the Spanish Arch. In this sporting city of Limerick Conor was accepted as a citizen and as an elder. In the subtle Irish way he became part of the culture and the landscape.

He was the priest up-in-the Crescent to whom everybody had been to confession: when you had a difficult tale to tell - in the times when tales were often so painful a part of life, he was there quietly to help you out and give you sure and gentle healing. They knew their man and his power was for them...

In community Conor was a quiet, alert and encouraging presence! Behind the unobtrusive and often humorous manner, there was a very dedicated and courageous man. Nothing could ever go far wrong when he was about. He could be absent minded at times, but he was never off-course. His spirit was honed down to the very essence of the faith for he had both a very precise and ascetical mind. His devotion was most practical. Not only was he the good confessor, but his prayers were available to everybody in trouble - to produce a good and useful outcome. His contribution to the faith of the city is Conor's unwritten memorial. People remembering their rocky journey through life wistfully and reverently recall his kind and reassuring help.

May his gentle soul rest in peace.
Dermot Cassidy

Born: 8 March 1879, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1901, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1914, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1917, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 27 August 1962, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Older Brother of Denis - RIP 1958

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1905 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
John Nerney entered the Society at Tullabeg, 7 September 1901, and after his juniorate there, studied philosophy at Valkenburg, 1904-07. He taught at the Crescent, Limerick, 1907-09, and at Clongowes, 1909-11, before studying theology at Milltown Park, 1911-15. Tertianship followed at Tullabeg, 1915-16. He taught at Mungret for a few years before going to Australia in 1919.
He taught for a few years at Xavier College, before going to St Patrick's College, 1921-23, where he was editor of the Messenger and Madonna. He did parish work at Norwood, 1923-33, and went back to St Patrick's College, 1934-38, continuing his work with the Messenger, and doing spiritual work with the students. At the same time he directed sodalities, including the very popular men's Sodality in Melbourne. Later, he was stationed at Richmond, doing similar work, and at Loyola College, Watsonia, 1940-43 and 1946-59. He also gave retreats at this time. His last years were at the parish of Hawthorn.
For most of his life in the Society Nerney suffered from a form of anaemia which made work difficult, but he contrived to get through a great deal of work all the same, and lived to a good age. His chief interest was in spreading devotion to Our Lady, and one of his chief instruments in doing so was the professional men's Sodality which was centred on St Patrick's College. Nerney directed this Sodality for 25 years as a benevolent despot. He had a great capacity for making friends. He took a great interest in people and their problems. Those who lived with him saw another side of him, a man with very definite views. He had a keen mind and could discuss theological questions in a subtle way.
He was also a regular visitor to the prisons, visiting 'Old Boys', as he used to say He was spiritual father at Loyola College, Watsonia, for many years, and his domestic exhortations were awaited with some expectation. They were learned, well prepared, devotional, and yet idiosyncratic. Scholastics were able to mimic his style, much to the mirth of their colleagues. Novices were regularly so amused that they had to be removed from the chapel! He rarely attended meals in the early days, preferring to eat alone at second table. He always had a simple, special diet. He was also a collector of sheets! When he left his room for any reason, the minister was able to collect many sheets that had been stored. Yet, for all that, he was much loved and respected in the community.
At Hawthorn he took an interest in the midday Mass, regarding it as his own, and keen to build up numbers. He died unexpectedly of a coronary occlusion.

Born: 23 May 1726, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 31 July 1747, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: pre 1754
Died: 29 June 1795, Killaloe, County Clare

Son of Elinor Nihill née Hackett

Nihill or Nihell is a variant of O’Neill

1757-1759 Prefect of Boarders at Irish College Poitiers

There were three other Nihell’s SJ. One was the brother of the Bishop, and John and Edward who was born at Antigua, and entered the Society at Ghent in 1768 and 1769. Edward died a victim of charity attending negroes at Trinidad in 1826 (cf Foley’s Collectanea). His Nephew was Father McShee SJ.
Ferrar’s “Limerick” :
Of a very ancient and respectable family names O’Neill. He was a near relative of Baron Harrold, Colonel of the Regiment of Königsfelt, of Colonel Nihell, of Dillon’s Regiment at Fontenoy, and of Brigadier-General in Naples, and Colonel of the Regiment of Limerick. He was also a brother to Dr James Nihell, a medical writer, and a nephew of Sir John Higgins, first physician to the King of Spain.”
1770 He published a work on “Rational Self Love”.
1778 The Archbishop of Dublin tried to get him made Bishop of Limerick, while the Bishop of Cashel and his friends supported Thomas Butler (later Lord Cahir), another ex-Jesuit.
1784 He was made Bishop of Kilfenora
1787 He was completing and preparing for press his brother James’ “Life and Doctrines of Christ” and was engaged in writing a “History of the Redemption of Man”. (These MSS are in the Milltown Park Library).
J Roche, author of “Memoirs of an Octogenarian” says “Dr Nihell was a cousin of my father’s, at whose table I well recollect him as a most welcome guest, for he was distinguished as a Priest, a scholar and a gentleman. I was present at his consecration in Limerick in 1784, when Mr Kirwan OsF was Preacher, and Lord Dunboyne, Bishop of Cork, one of the assisting prelates. Kirwan preached on apostasy, and he and Dunboyne later apostasised!” (cf O’Renehan’s “Collections” p 370)
His tomb is in the old Cathedral of Kilfenora.
Brother of Bishop Nihell. The Nihill’s were related to the Harolds, Arthurs, Macghees, McNamaras, Butlers, Woulfes and Calcutts of Limerick and Clare (in pen)
After the Suppression he was PP of Rathkeale. As he was of decided literary tastes, he resigned his parish and lived in Limerick. He died there some time post 1780. (Father Denis Murphy’s Collections)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Laurence Nihell and Alice née Arthur
His early life in the Society is hard to determine. he is mentioned only once in the LUS Catalogue 1749, which tells nothing of his studies before Entry. It seems certain that after First Vows he was sent to Coimbra for studies.
1752 In the Spring of 1752 he wrote to Fr General for permission to study Mathematics and Theology before he should return to Ireland. The General in his reply, dated 30 May, informed him that the permission asked for would be granted only if Superiors decided that such studies were necessary
1754 It is also uncertain if he was Ordained when he arrived at the Irish College Poitiers 15 December 1754 - there is no record of him in the AQUIT Catalogues of 1754 and 1758. His name at Poitiers has survived only in the Procurator's books down to 1758 when he left the Society.
1758 LEFT the Society and returned to Ireland where he was incardinated in Limerick, and succeeded Fr David Burke as PP of Rathkeale in 1762.
1767 Moved to St Mary’s Limerick as senior Curate
1783 Ordained Bishop of Kilfenora, and he died 29 June 1795 and was buried in the chancel of the old Cathedral Church of his Diocese

Born: 25 March 1874, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 23 September 1891, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 28 July 1907, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1909, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 08 March 1948, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

Educated at belvedere College SJ

by 1895 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1903 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1908 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948 & ◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1948

Obituary

Fr. Patrick Nolan (1874-1891-1948)

Fr. Patrick Nolan, whose tragic death occurred on the 8th March as the result of an accident on Rathgar Road, was born in Dublin in 1874. Educated at Belvedere College, he entered the Society at Tullamore in 1891. He studied philosophy at Valkenburg, Holland and at St. Mary's College, Stonyhurst, and before proceeding to theology, taught at Belvedere and Clongowes for six years. He was ordained a priest at Milltown Park in 1907 and had among his Ordination companions, the late Fathers Willie Doyle and John Sullivan.
Fr. Nolan's life as a priest may be comprised under three main headings : teacher, preacher, confessor and Director of souls.
As a teacher for fifteen years (1910-1925) in St. Ignatius' College, Galway, his principal subject was History and Geography. Many of his old pupils can bear testimony to the skill with which he reconstructed ancient battlefields, mapped out the exact position of the opposing forces and made the dead pages of history live again. His interest in historical research, especially concerning Old Dublin, remained with him during his whole life and there were very few of the ancient streets and landmarks of his native city with which he was not familiar.
During his five years (1925-1930) on the Mission Staff, he was particularly conspicuous for his forceful and telling sermons and, but for a serious breakdown in health, would certainly have continued much longer at the arduous work of conducting Missions and Retreats.
But it is as a Confessor and Director of Souls, especially during his sixteen years (1930-1946) at Gardiner Street, that he will be best remembered. The many regrets expressed on his departure from Gardiner Street some eighteen months ago, and the many messages of sympathy that followed on his untimely death bear witness to the large and devoted clientele which he had established at St. Francis Xavier's. As a confessor, his ‘patient angling for souls’ was reflected in his patient angling for fish on the rare occasions when he found an opportunity to indulge in his favourite hobby. There were very few fish, great or small, in the box or in the lake, that he missed, for he always knew exactly when. to strike. As a Director of souls, too, he was singularly successful and knew the pitfalls to avoid, as well as he knew the rocks and shoals that might wreck an outrigger on Lough Corrib, of which, in his Galway days, he was reckoned one of the best navigators.
Above and beyond all his external work, however, Fr. Nolan was a man of deep religious fervour, known only to his intimate friends, He was never appointed Superior, but the fact that he was asked for by his brethren and appointed to undertake the office of ‘Master of the Villa’ for several consecutive years is sufficient indication of the esteem in which his affability was held by all. Charity and cheerfulness were the outward expression of his inward life, a great forbearance with others and toleration of their opinions and a very deep love of the Society. With such genuine traits of Christian and Religious Perfection, this contemporary of Fr. Willie Doyle and Fr. John Sullivan was well prepared to meet his death and hear from the lips of his Master : ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, as often as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it unto Me’. R.I.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick Nolan SJ 1874-1948
Father Patrick Nolan was an expert fisher of souls. From 1930 to 1946 as Confessor in Gardiner Street he plied his skill, and thanks to his zeal and patience he made many a kill of of inconsiderable size.

He was born in Dublin in 1874 and educated at Belvedere and entered the Society in 1891.

He taught for fifteen years in Galway, then spent 5 years on the Mission Staff, and then the rest of his life practically as an Operarius in Gardiner Street.

He met his death tragically, being killed in an accident on March 8th 1948. A truly zealous man with a kindly heart and amusing tongue which won him many friends.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Patrick Nolan (1874-1948)

Born in Dublin and educated at Belvedere College, entered the Society in 1891. He made his higher studies in Valkenburg and Milltown Park where he was ordained in 1907. With the exception of his last year, 1923-24, at the Crescent, as master in the colleges, Father Nolan's teaching career since his ordination was passed in Galway. Failing eyesight forced him to relinquish this work to which he brought enthusiasm and zeal. On leaving the Crescent, Father Nolan joined the mission staff for some five years when he was appointed to the church staff at Gardiner St, where he worked zealously for the next sixteen years (1930-46). He retired to Rathfarnham where he continued as a spiritual director to the end. He was killed in a street accident on 8 March, 1948.

Born: 23 September 1904, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 12 November 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1935, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 25 March 1967, Gonzaga College, Dublin

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 42nd Year No 3 1967
Obituary :

Br Patrick Nolan SJ (1905-1967)

Br. Patrick Nolan was born in Dublin on 23rd September 1905 He received his early education at the National School, Haddington Road, and then went on to the Christian Brothers at Westland Row. A young boy at the time of the 1916 Rising, he could give you a pretty full account of the doings around Mount Street Bridge, and the Haddington Road area in general. He came to have strong views on the political upheaval of those times, but it was always interesting to hear him relate his experiences of his childhood in Dublin. For five years, 1919-24, he was an apprentice in the business of Messrs P. Conway & Co., Exchequer Street, Dublin. He entered the Society on 1st May 1924 at Tullabeg. After his First Vows he remained on at Tullabeg as Manuductor from 1928-31. He was then sent as cook to Clongowes Wood where he had a long spell, from 1931-45. These included the war years which was a very trying time for anybody grappling with the problems of fuel and food, and hungry boys.
We next find him at the Crescent College, Limerick, where he was cook and dispenser from 1945-52. His next appointment took him to St. Ignatius' College, Galway, where he was cook, dispenser, and in charge of staff from 1952-60.
In 1960 he went to Gonzaga College, where was cook and in charge of staff until his death on 25th March 1967.
What most struck one about Br. Patrick was probably his versatility. He had a very enquiring mind and many interests. Dealing with the domestic staff can be a very frustrating experience. He had long years of it. It must be very disheartening to take a boy who knows nothing, train him as a cook for several years, then watch him move on to a higher paid job, and begin all over again with somebody else. This is a regular pattern in our houses. To his great credit Br. Patrick never tried to hold a domestic staff member by any argument of gratitude. He liked to see them move on to a job where they could afford to marry and settle down to a normal life.
In spite of the time-consuming nature of his job. Br. Patrick managed to cultivate side-lines. He got interested in music, and was quite capable of re-stringing a broken-down piano if need be. He had a real appreciation of classical music. Of late years he became interested in the repair of broken-down radios. He became quite an expert in this field. He often regretted the lack of technical training which forced on him a hit-and-miss method. But it is really remarkable how expert he became in the field. He was extremely intelligent and would have profited greatly from a wider education followed by technical training. One can only rejoice in the long overdue re-appraisal of the vocation of the Brothers which the Society has recently undertaken. In a rejuvenated Society with full education and proper technical training of the Brothers, one feels that Br. Nolan would have contributed outstanding service to the Society and the Church. On one issue he became rather unbalanced. He had no love for the “sons of Israel” and was inclined to see them as sinister figures behind most modern social movements. One learned to keep off the subject with him. But he could be a very pleasant companion, was a good religious, and under the most trying circumstances no community in which he worked ever saw the Minister put up a notice saying : “No dinner today”. Do we all take this simple daily routine of our meals too much for granted?
Br. Patrick had not been very well for some years. He suffered a good deal from nervous tension and exhaustion. But he learned to live with it, and carried on his full day's work. His death came as a great shock. And there is many a poor person outside the Society who will miss his cheerful arrival to fix up a radio or T.V. that has broken down. May he rest in peace.

Born: 22 October 1909, Clontarf, Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1945, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 08 January 1955, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of Coláiste Iognáid community, Galway at time of his death.

Early education at O’Connell’s School

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 30th Year No 2 1955

Obituary :

Father Pádraic Ó Brolcháin

Fr. Pádraic Ó Brolcháin was born in Dublin on October 22nd, 1909. Educated at O'Connell Schools, he joined the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg on September 1st, 1928, and did his two years of noviceship under Fr. Martin Maher. There followed the usual University studies spent at Rathfarnham Castle and then philosophical studies in Tullabeg. From 1936 to 1938 Mr. Ó Brolcháin taught in Clongowes Wood College, and his third year of “Colleges” was spent at the Crescent. He was pleased in after years to have had the experience of teaching in both boarding and day schools as a scholastic. Many of the experiences of those Clongowes and Crescent days are to be found in an unpublished novel which he wrote later on, as a break during Theology which he studied at Milltown from 1939 to 1943. Ordained in 1942, he did his tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle and from there was appointed Vice-Superior of the Apostolic School at Mungret where he remained until his transfer to Galway in 1948. He was attached to the teaching staff there until his death which took place at St. Vincent's Private Nursing Home, Dublin, on the morning of January 8th last.
It is difficult to summarise a man's life under a single heading, but perhaps it was his courage that distinguished Fr. Ó Brolcháin. A man's organising ability, and Fr. Ó Brolcháin had plenty of it, will avail little if he has not the courage to overcome difficulties and for Fr. Pádraic, difficulties were obstacles to be overcome not yielded to - Plays, dancing, swimming, Tóstal and Connradh na Gaeilge activities - all having a connection with his manifold Gaelic activities for boys, presented each its own crop of difficulties, but it was typical of the man that he overcame them all in his own quiet, diplomatic way. That these spheres of activity all demanded self-sacrificing devotedness was apparent, but Fr. O Brolcháin would be the last to talk about the cost to himself.
To some who may have thought that he organised to an excessive degree, it may come as a surprise that on his own admission, he was not methodical by nature . . . he had taught himself to be so. It was not only in his extra curricular activities that he was systematic; his class-preparation was also meticulous.
Like so many busy men, Fr. Pádraic was most prodigal in giving his time to others and his “tar isteach” was always an invitation to take as much tinę as you wanted. He was always interested in new ideas, always willing to listen and, if he did not agree with you, he would tell you so and leave you none the less satisfied, for you felt you had had a sympathetic listener. In conversation one came to learn also of the Catholicity of his interests and of his literary tastes. His delight indeed, when he took a night off, was to read.
It was easy also to speak to him of things spiritual, for here was a well-ordered mind which had thought the Constitutions and Exercises over for itself. His great belief was in the necessity and supremacy of the interior law of charity and love. It was this interior law which made him such an obliging member of the community, ever ready to help out in any need.
His last year of life saw Fr. Pádraic no less active but he had not been feeling too well, and at the end of August underwent a severe operation whose chances of permanent success he knew to be slight. The month of November he spent in Galway where he was the same affable, approachable person welcomed back now by both boys and community. He could speak of his own sickness with such detachment that one imagined that a third party was being discussed. He left us at the beginning of December to go on pilgrimage to Lourdes and Loyola, but he was not destined to recover. On the morning of January 8th he gave his soul back to God.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Pardaig Ó Brolcháin SJ 1909-1955
Fr Padraig Ó Brolcháin was born in Dublin in 1909. His father was an intimate friend and collaborator of Arthur Griffith, and was by him put in charge of the educational policy on the foundation of the Irish Free State. Padraig was educated at O'Connells Schools and entered the Society in 1928.

He was a dedicated soul, dedicated to God, to the Society and to all things Irish. He was a man of tremendous enthusiasm, of great organising ability and of great courage and pertinacity in carrying out his ideas.He had a keen zest in the outdoor life, and the duty of it all was that he died so young, before all his plans and ideas reached full fruition.

He was an effective and zealous spiritual father to the boys in Mungret for some years after his tertianship, but bis best work was done in Galway, where his zeal and keenness on physical fitness found permanent expression is his swimming club for boys.

He touched everything, even writing, being a fairly steady contributor to the Timire and Madonna, and leaving behind him an unpublished novel on school-life in one of our Colleges.

Being informed that he had cancer, he accepted his fate with the same cheerfulness which he had gone through life. His last act was to go to Lourdes to seek a cure, if it were God’s will, but He called him home instead on January 8th 1955 at the early age of 46.

Ár dheis laimh Dé go faibh a anam!

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Pádraig Ó Brolcháin (1909-1955)

Was born in Dublin and educated in O'Connell's Schools. He spent one year of his regency at the Crescent, 1938-39. After the completion of his studies - he was ordained in 1942 at Milltown Park - Father O'Brolchain was appointed vice-superior of the Apostolic School, Mungret College. In 1948 he was transferred to Galway. His appointment to Galway was a source of deep pleasure for him, for it brought him to the heart of a Gaelic speaking area. Throughout his too short career in the Society, his enthusiasm for the Irish language, which he spoke from his tenderest years, was almost infectious. Yet, his enthusiasm was never aggressive. Urbanity was of the essence of the man. In Galway, his work for the language was self-sacrificing and cheerful. But as in the earlier days at Clongowes, the Crescent or Mungret, so in the later years at St. Ignatius', he was not merely their teacher, but guide, philosopher and friend for the boys with whom he came in contact.

Born: 27 May 1905, Belfast, County Antrim
Entered: 31 August 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1938, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1941, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 26 December 1989, Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin

Part of the Sacred Heart community, Limerick at the time of death

Had studied Medicine for one year before entry

by 1930 at Berchmanskolleg, Pullach, Germany (GER S) studying

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 82 : September 1995

Obituary

Fr Seán Ó Catháin (1905-1989)

27th May 1905: Born in Belfast
31st Aug. 1923: Entered the Society of Jesus
1923 - 1925: Tullabeg, novitiate
1925 - 1929: Rathfarnham, juniorate: MA (UCD) in Celtic studies
1929 - 1931; Pullach bei München, Germany: philosophy
1931 - 1934: Galway, regency
1934 - 1939 Milltown Park
1934 - 1935: private study,
1935 - 1939 theology
1938: Ordained a priest
1939 - 1940: Rathfarnham, tertianship.
1940 - 1946: Leeson Street:
1940 - 1941 private study,
1941 - 1946 University Hall, vice principal, private study culminating in a PhD.
1946 - 1948: Clongowes, teaching
1948 - 1978; Leeson Street:
1949 - 1966 Lecturer at UCD's department of Education;
1966-1973 Professor of Education;
1950 - 1959 Inspector of studies in colleges of the Province.
1973 - 1978 writing.
1967 - 1973: Superior.
1978 - 1989: Limerick (Sacred Heart Residence): church work, librarian. In 1982 (also in October 1989) he suffered a stroke which impaired the memory function of his brain. After spending some time in St. John's Hospital, Limerick, he was removed to Our Lady's hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin
26th Dec. 1989: Died

The following additional details concerning Seán's academic career have been gleaned from the Report of the President, UCD, 1972-3 (section on retirements) and 1989-'90 (obituary section). Seán gained four diplomas, all with first-class honours (the middle two in Irish), from one or other of three Irish university colleges: pre-medical (UCC, 1923), BA (UCD, 1928), MA (UCD, 1929), HDip in Ed (UCG, 1932). For his PhD in Ed (UCD, 1941) his thesis was on 'The diffusion of Renaissance ideals of education in the schools of the Jesuit Order'. 'During these years (seemingly 1932-48) he acted as an Assistant Extern Examiner (through Irish) in Education for the National University of Ireland.

Seán Ó Catháin was the second son of Seán and Kathleen nee Dinneen. Seán senior was a native of Kilbeheny, near Mitchelstown, while Kathleen from Rathmore, Co. Kerry. It was in London at the turn of the century that Seán, who had succeeded in the examinations for the civil service, found himself posted for work at the department of customs and excise. Kathleen Dinneen had qualified as a primary teacher and found employment also in London. They were both the children of Irish speaking parents.

Sometime about 1904 Seán Ó Catháin was transferred to Belfast. Some day a curious enquirer may discover whether his transfer was by way of promotion or downright exile to dour Belfast, where there were fewer Gaelic Leaguers!

Here our own Seán was born, and baptised at the parish church of the Sacred Heart, Oldpark Road. In due course he was confirmed at St. Patrick's parish church, Donegall Street. After primary school he was sent to St. Malachy's college and had all but completed his secondary schooling when his father was once more transferred to a very different location of the customs and excise. This time it was to Cork, not far from his native place. It is almost certain that the transfer was scheduled for the late spring of 1921 - a very significant date. Britain was busily partitioning Ireland in the administrative sector in preparation for political partition and the opening of a new Six-county parliament on 22nd June 1921. In fact, the separation of the administrative files of government had been going quietly on even before the general election and victory of Sinn Féin in December 1918! All this underhand work was unknown or unsuspected, apparently, by the young republican politicians, the heirs of 1916!

Seán junior resumed his secondary schooling at the North Monastery CBS in June 1922. He entered the medical school at UCC, but in the event he was not destined to become a medical doctor.

In 1923 Seán senior was transferred to Dublin, In August Seán junior entered the novitiate at Tullabeg, and in due course made his first religious profession. In after years he often spoke of his privilege to have spent his first year as a novice under the direction of the saintly Fr. Michael Browne. He went to Rathfarnham Castle where he was to spend four years. At UCD he won scholarships; at home he was a live-wire in the Irish Society, and every Christmas distinguished himself as an actor in the Irish plays. He crowned his career at Rathfarnham with a first-class-honours MS in Celtic studies.

He was next appointed to the philosophate at Pullach, where he graduated DPh of the Gregorian university. Bilingual from infancy, it is not to be wondered at that he acquired an enviable mastery of the German language. Later he added Italian and French to his linguistic accomplishments.

Back in Ireland he was appointed to Galway for his regency, and it was during this period that Fr. Timothy Corcoran, professor of education at UCD, began to take an interest in Seán as a future successor in his own chair at Earlsfort terrace. These were happy years in a youthful, full and flourishing province, with only an occasional rumour of trouble trickling into Ireland from Hitler's Germany. But peace in Europe was already openly threatened when Seán was ordained priest in 1938. By the summer of 1940 he had completed his fourth year of theology and made his tertianship.

He was now appointed to Leeson Street for private study. Here under the watchful eye of Fr. Corcoran he began his studies in education that would lead to another doctorate. By an odd turn of events his prospects of eventually succeeding to the Chair of Education diminished considerably before the year was over. Fr. Corcoran's health had not been robust of late but he battled on - not only conducting his own lectures but also supplying for his assistant, Mr. W J Williams, who had recently suffered a stroke. It was anticipated that Williams, who was within a very few years of retirement, would resign, but when Fr. Corcoran himself was obliged on medical grounds to resign in September 1942, Williams declared he was going forward for Fr. Corcoran's chair. Meantime the Provincial and consultors (at the urging of members of the Hierarchy) put forward the name of Fr. Fergal McGrath as candidate. (No complaint was ever heard from Fr. Seán.) However, as soon as Fr. McGrath learned of Williams' intention, he immediately withdrew his name - and Williams secured the professorship. He had to retire in 1948. Since 1942 Fr. Seán was stationed as vice-warden at Hatch Street, where he continued work on his doctoral thesis. At the end of this study he spent the years 1946-48 as a master at Clongowes, and 1950-59 - with his characteristic thoroughness - Seán carried out the duties of inspector of our province's schools.

In 1948, when the chair of education was once more vacant, Fr. Seán allowed his name to go forward, and found overwhelming support in the electoral body. However, for the next eighteen years he enjoyed the title (and salary) of lecturer only and not professor. It was an open secret that the late Professor Michael Tierney had used all his considerable influence to downgrade the chair of education. Tierney's hostility dated from the time (1920's and 1930's) when his political views attracted strong opposition in The Catholic Bulletin, on the editorial board of which Fr. Timothy Corcoran's word was law.

In 1966 came belated acknowledgement of Fr. Seán's ability and worth when he was accorded the rank of professor. However, I always felt that the seven years during which he held the professorship were wearying if not even distasteful to a man of his sensitivity. It is enough to recall here that in 1968 student unrest in France spilled out all over Europe and across the Atlantic, and in the universities civilised behaviour, good manners and respect for any authority were the first casualties.

During his later years as professor, when he was also superior at Leeson Street, Seán's health was not robust. He suffered much from sleeplessness, yet during the thirteen years I lived with him he never missed an appointment and was exemplary for punctuality. A product of the old school, that is, brought up in the province to value the necessity of co-operation whether in teaching, church work, parochial missions etc, he lived in no ivory tower of academia. He was interested in everybody and everything connected with the Irish province, and that meant all our fathers, scholastics and brothers, and the works they were engaged in. He had an authentic apostolic bent, as could be deduced from his active interest in the work of two societies, one named after St. Vincent de Paul and the other called St. Joseph's Young Priests. He was an excellent community man, incapable of pulling a long face at table or recreation: he simply radiated a sense of fun. It was a delight to hear him enter the lists with Fr. Frank Shaw, My own impression was that if they had chosen the law for their profession, both would have gained celebrity as advocates.

As superior, Seán tended to be over-scrupulous, but against this he was particularly caring for the sick and generously sympathetic in times of bereavement. Like Fr's Fergal McGrath († 1988) and Redmond Roche († 1983) he acquired an almost legendary reputation for attendance at funerals. 1973 seemed to be the end of his active life; early that autumn he resigned from the chair of education and two months earlier had been replaced as superior of Leeson Street. The next five years he spent in quiet study and in a ministry within his capacity.

An unexpected challenge awaited him in 1978. The Provincial was faced with diminishing manpower, and one of our churches, the Crescent, rather urgently needed an operarius. The difficult proposal was made to Seán, a Dubliner of long standing, and now in his seventies. Generously, as was the custom of this province, he answered the call of duty and courageously entered on a new and unaccustomed way of life. In Limerick, while his fragile health remained, he gave of his best; but the last years must have been frustrating for a man of his once boundless nervous energy. In 1989 he seemed to rally somewhat, and twice at least attended funerals in Gardiner Street, but his years were telling against him. At length he had to go into St. John's hospital, Limerick, whence he was taken back to Dublin to spend the short time that remained to him at Our Lady's hospice, Harold's Cross. There, on St. Stephen's Day, God called him home.

Tá an tAthair Seán imithe uainn ar shlí na firinne, agus tá uaigneas orainn dá dheasca sin go bhfeicimid arís sna Flaithis é; ach idir an dá linn guímis go bhfaigh a anam dilis suaimhneas síoraí, go raibh sé faoi bhrat Mhuire i radharc na Trionóide.

Proinsias Ó Fionnagáin

Born: 21 April 1921, Caledonian Place, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1939, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1953, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 23 October 2007, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Editor of An Timire, 1949-71.

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.

Born: 16 October 1916, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1934, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1953, Sacred Heart College SJ (Crescent), Limerick
Died: 04 March 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin at the time of death

Dermot Peakin - by 1985 Diarmuid Ó Peicín;

by 1967 at Handsworth, Birmingham (ANG) working
by 1968 at Erdington, Birmingham (ANG) working
by 1970 at Walthamstow, London (ANG) working
by 1971 at London, England (ANG) working
by 1975 at Dockhead, London (ANG) working
by 1976 at Redcross, London (ANG) working
by 1977 at London W2 (ANG) working
by 1978 at Rotherhithe London (ANG) working

Born: 13 April 1818, County Tipperary
Entered: 22 November 1887, St Mary’s, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: - pre Entry
Final Vows: 15 August 1898, St Mary’s, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia
Died: 25 January 1900, St Mary’s, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia (HIB)

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He was a Missioner in Australia. It is likely that he was a Missioner up country near Burrows, but later on was Administrator at St Benedict’s in Sydney for many years. It is unclear where he studied Philosophy and Theology, or was Ordained, but it is likely to have been New South Wales while it was still a Crown Colony, and before it got a Parliament and Government of its own, as he was one of the few Priests who were pensioned by the retiring Imperial Government. He had an income of £250 a year up to the end of his life.

In 1887 he was admitted to the Society and was the oldest Novice. He made his Novitiate at the North Shore Residence, and remained there until his death 25 January 1900. He was a very edifying old man, full of zeal for instructing the people. He died as he had lived, in a holy and edifying manner, and he was buried in the Garis Hill Cemetery, near the Novitiate in Sydney.
He often preached at great length, and as he spoke rather fast, he was hard to understand. However, he was esteemed by all as a holy man. In the North Shore Residence, he was charged with the duty of ringing the bells for various duties, and remarkable for his punctuality.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Edward O'Brien was ordained to the secular priesthood, and was an early missioner in Australia. He arrived at Sydney from Carlow, 10 July 1852, and was sent by the archbishop Dr Polding, as the first resident priest of Braidwood, which had a resident population of about 212. He built the first parish school, which was opened, 29 January 1859, followed by St Bede's church, 1862. He also built churches at Reidsdale and Krawarree and rebuilt the church at Major's Creek which had been burnt down before he left the parish is 1869. O'Brien was then transferred to Cooma. He seems to have been administrator of St Benedict's parish, Sydney at sometime. He received a pension from the Colonial government, with an annual income of £150 a year.
On 22 November 1887, at the age of 70, he was admitted into the Society at the North Shore residence, and remained there until his death. He took final vows, 15 August 1898, two years before he died. In a photo of him in the 60s he appeared as a small man with a determined mouth, a high forehead, searching eyes light in colour, a finely chiseled nose and delicate features and small hands. He was an edifying old man, and full of zeal for the instruction of the people. He often preached at great length, and as he spoke quickly, the congregation found it hard to understand him. However, he was esteemed to be a holy man.
In the residence he was charged with the duty of ringing the bells for the various duties, and was remarkable for his punctuality He was rarely, if ever, a moment late in giving the signal. At one time he was dean of the Sydney diocese, and in his last years, spiritual father to the community.

Born: 29 September 1927, Kilrush, County Clare
Entered: 07 September 1945, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1959, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1963, Chiesa del Gesù, Rome, Italy
Died; 19 December 1997, St Joseph’s, Shankill, County Dublin

Part of the Sacred Heart, Limerick community at the time of death.

by 1962 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying
by 1964 at Heythrop College, Oxford (ANG) teaching
by 1979 at Mount Street, London England (ANG) working

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 97 : Special Edition Summer 1998

Obituary

Fr Michael G O’Brien (1927-1997)

29th Sept. 1927: Born in Kilrush, Co. Clare
Early education: Christian Brothers and Mungret College
7th Sept. 1945: Entered the Society at Emo
12th March 1948: First Vows at Emo
1947 - 1950: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1950 - 1953: Tullabeg, Studied Philosophy
1953 - 1956: Mungret College, Teaching
1956 - 1960: Milltown Park, Studied Theology
31st July 1959: Ordained Priest at Milltown Park
1960 - 1961: Rathfarnham, Tertianship
1961 - 1963: Gregorian University, studied Ethics
1963 - 1967: Heythrop College, Lecturing in Ethics
1967 - 1970: Milltown Park, Lecturing in Ethics/Moral Theology
1970 - 1974: Mungret College, Teaching
1974 - 1978: Tullabeg, Retreats/work in Church
1978 - 1993: London, Farm Street Church work
1993 - 1997: Limerick, Sacred Heart Church work.
19th Dec. 1997; Died aged 70.

Michael was first admitted to Cherryfield Lodge in March 1996 following surgery. He was again admitted to Cherryfield in January 1997 in a confused and restless state. He was assessed by Doctor Cooney at St. Vincent's Hospital and diagnosed as suffering from a severe from of dementia. He was transferred to Crinken Nursing Home in July 1997, where he died peacefully on 19th December 1997. May he rest in the peace of Christ.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephes 2, 10).

This text of St. Paul came to mind as I reflected on the strange contrast between Michael's early life as a professor of philosophy for seven short years (Heythrop 63 - 67 and Milltown Park 67 - 70) and the nineteen years of his later life as a dedicated Church-father first in Tullabeg (74 - 78) and later in Farm Street (78 - 93). His Jesuit superiors had judged him capable of teaching philosophy and presumably saw this as his life work as a Jesuit. But "we are God's workmanship" and God had other plans for Michael, After only seven years of faithful but stressful teaching, and after a dark-night of depression, God transformed him into the “Wounded Healer” who exercised such a fruitful ministry for four short years in Tullabeg and then for fifteen years in Farm Street. His apparent failure as a professor of philosophy must be seen as God's tempering of his chosen instrument: “Designer infinite - must Thou char the wood ere Thou canst limn with it?” In the dark hours of his depression Michael must have heard Christ's words to St. Paul addressed to him: “My grace is enough for you, for my power works best in weakness”, and with St. Paul he must have found the grace to reply: “gladly therefore will I rejoice in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest on me”.

There is convincing proof that Michael did have considerable academic ability. Joseph de Finance S.J. was the director of his doctoral studies in the Gregorianum (61 - 63). De Finance was the highly regarded Professor of ethics in the Gregorian University for twenty five years. In 1991 Michael presented to the Milltown library an autographed copy of his translation of de Finance's final work entitled: “An Ethical Enquiry”. This is a large volume of five hundred closely reasoned pages. In a prefatory note to the translation de Finance expresses “his deep gratitude to Fr. Michael O'Brien, SJ whose translation, faithful but not slavish, is marked by a concrete, figurative style which gives easier access to the ideas. Thus he has achieved his purpose which is and must be first of all service to the student”.

From this commendation of his director we can legitimately conclude that Michael was well equipped to teach the course of ethics assigned to him. If he proved less than successful as a teacher of ethics in Heythrop and Milltown the reason can be found in the academic turbulence that followed the conclusion of Vatican II. By now Thomistic Philosophy had lost its pride of place even in seminary schools and the “philosophia perennis” had lost its perennial vigour. In the academic supermarket it had passed its 'sell-by' date!

Michael as a product of an older tradition would have still seen philosophy (especially ethics) as the “Handmaid of Theology” - but the handmaid had become restive and even insubordinate since John 23rd had encouraged a more open dialogue with the modern world. Had Michael begun his teaching twenty or even ten years earlier I feel he might well have been a respected and successful professor.

The controversy that followed on Paul VI's Humanae Vitae with its forthright condemnation of contraception, must have made Michael's work as a regular preacher and confessor more difficult. Joseph Fuchs, Professor of Moral Theology in the Gregorian, and Jim Healy and others in Ireland had advocated a more liberal approach and felt that “legitimate dissent” was justified. Michael, on the other hand, regarded fidelity to the teaching of the Magisterium as the very touchstone of orthodoxy. He always remained a totally committed defender of the papal decisions. In his work as a preacher and confessor he must have helped wavering penitents to remain faithful to that decision even if he must also have had to share the pain of others who found the official teaching a burden too heavy to bear.

For the people of the midlands who came to him in the old church at Tullabeg as for the Londoners who came to him at Farm Street, Michael was a good shepherd and a wounded healer. Again and again they pay tribute to his gentleness, his unassuming friendly manner, and his being a good listener. He was like the Servant in the prophecy of Isaiah (50): “The Lord had given him the tongue of those who are taught that he might know how to sustain with a word him that is weary” and “had woken his ear to hear the cry of the broken-hearted”. Again like the servant he was open-hearted in his welcome for the prodigal son or daughter: “the bruised reed he would not break and the dimly burning wick he would not quench”.

To quote a few of the testimonies from grateful parishioners received by his rector after his death:
“Ten years ago my life was in a mess. Fr, O'Brien helped me to rebuild my life”. A lady from East Anglia told of his kindness to her husband who suffered from Alzheimer's for many years. A man spoke of his patient attention to his wife during her long illness and how she always felt the better of his visits. A teacher who used to prepare children for their First Communion recalled his lovely way with the children who used to look forward to his visits.

Michael was admitted to Cherryfield in January 1997 in a confused and restless state. I joined him on many walks by the Dodder or to Palmerstown or Marley Park. He showed little interest in what attracted my attention - the trees, the flowers, the ducks in the river. His interest was in the people we met, always ready to say a friendly word and get into conversation if possible. He wanted to help people. He had told me he used to spend his free days from Farm Street, in one or other of the London Parks. Though he was naturally rather shy and reserved he seemed to have developed an apostolate of friendly affability towards strangers, winning their confidence and lending them “a listening ear”. I feel sure that many of Michael's walks in the London Parks became “Emmaus Walks” when he “sustained with a word the weary or the lonely”.

I visited Michael often in his last months in St. Joseph's, Crinken. There was a profound pathos in the sensitive concern he still showed towards fellow patients only a little more in need of healing than himself. The severe form of dementia that had been diagnosed in the summer had progressively withdrawn him from normal human contact. Now Michael was finally “in the hands of God” - “the initiative was totally with God”, for he was, in the beautiful Irish expression, a “Duine le Dia” - a person plunged into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection but like the baptised infant unaware of his life hidden with Christ in God.

He was not able to share “the deeply spiritual experience to know oneself completely in His hands” that Fr. Arrupe spoke of. But in these last mysterious weeks of Michael's life the Divine Artist was putting the final touches to the masterwork which he had begun at Michael's baptism in the church in Kilrush seventy years before.

May he rest in peace.

Edward Fitzgerald, SJ

-oOo-

During his fifteen years on the church staff at Farm Street, Michael O'Brien was loved and respected by many people for his approachability and evident care of them, his prayerfulness and regularity in the church, and his humorous homely anecdotes which were a feature of his straightforward and direct sermons. He was prepared to put himself out for people, and they sensed it. Our non-Catholic doctor spoke warmly of the many visits Michael paid some years ago to his elderly mother in St. George's Hospital before she died. Michael was very regular in his habits and that meant people in need could easily contact him. Often in the church or its environs saying his Rosary. Regularly at the church door to greet people after every Sunday Mass or Holy Day of Obligation, but standing back very modestly when the Parish Priest was around. Michael had a deep affection for the poor. It was very hard for him not to give. He gave not only money (perhaps unwisely at times) but also his time and his attention, sometimes at risk to his own safety.

Throughout my years as Superior and Parish Priest I found Michael a great and dependable support, and a wise and good friend. Farm Street was a residence made into a small parish only in the 1960's. Few Catholics actually lived within the rather grand parish boundaries. Most of the congregation, regular or casual, came from outside, and many more were tourists staying in the twenty or so prestigious hotels in Mayfair. But Michael tried to make Farm Street as much a parish as possible, organising First Communions and confirmations, catechism classes, old people's functions, days of prayer and other devotions. Much of this was for the less affluent residents, such as the families of Indian or Philippino caretakers or hotel workers, quite a few of whom were Irish and warmed to him in a special way. But Michael was blinded as far as class or nation or prestige went. All were just people to be served with respect and devotion.

Michael means a lot to me personally because it can be said that he was instrumental in saving my life, or saving me from serious injury, by happening to be in a certain spot in place of me. I was taking my turn as “duty priest” (to be called to the door on request), but had just left for the church to prepare to say the mid-day Mass. So Michael was called to the door in my place. A deranged man stabbed him in the neck. He was saved from fatal injury by his old-fashioned clerical collar. My new-fangled strip of plastic wouldn't have done the job. Michael was obviously very shaken by the incident and had several weeks of convalescence after he came out of hospital. But he remained very matter-of-fact and modest about it all.

For all his gentleness, devotion to duty and sensitive concerns for others, there was a shadow side to Michael. He suffered from scruples, especially in sexual matters. He agonised about the confessional, while being meticulous about his duties there. I think it was because of this scrupulosity that he had to give up lecturing in Ethics some years before, which was the reason for his coming to us, a welcome acquisition to Farm Street. In my time as Parish Priest he suffered from debilitating bouts of scruplosity which led to a breakdown, hearing inner voices, having to be withdrawn for several months from pastoral work of any kind and only gradually and with great care being nursed back to assisting with Holy Communion, then to saying Mass, then even to being able to preach and hear confessions again. This must have been very humbling for a man to whom priestly ministry meant so much, Incidentally, I was very impressed with the care Phil Harnett showed at this time when he visited us in his capacity of Irish Provincial and very sensitively arranged for Michael's eventual return to Ireland, but without rush or fuss, sensibly planned and monitored, respecting Michael's dignity as a Jesuit, as a priest. Michael deserved no less for the many years he had given to Farm Street.

Anthony Nye, SJ

Born: 29 November 1876, Pallasgreen, County Limerick
Entered: 13 August 1892, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 01 August 1909, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1912, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 15 April 1957, Milltown Park, Dublin

by 1898 at St Aloysius, Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1901
by 1911 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick O'Brien entered the Society in 1892, and for regency went to Xavier College in 1900 as hall prefect and teacher. In 1901 he moved to Riverview as assistant prefect of discipline, and worked with the senior students. For three years he edited the “Alma Mater”.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 32nd Year No 3 1957

Obituary :
Fr Patrick O'Brien (1876-1957)
After a brief illness Fr. O’Brien died at Milltown Park on Monday, 15th April, Though on his feet till the end, he had been feeling unwell, with a little chest and stomach trouble, for a week or so. This had not prevented him saying Mass each day, including Palm Sunday, the day before his death. Typical of his intense devotion to the Blessed Eucharist, and of his meticulous regard for the rubrics, was the earnestness with which he sought and found a way to say the Palm Sunday Mass without overtaxing his strength by the long Gospel. Years before, he recalled, when confessor to the late Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Byrne, he had been able to produce for the ailing prelate an opinion of the moralists by which a priest in bad health could say the Mass in question, by substituting a short Gospel for the Passion. The fact that the opinion had as it were been canonised by the Archbishop of the diocese did not seem enough to Fr. O’Brien, till he had traced it once more, in spite of increasing feebleness, to Ojetti and Lehmkuhl. Only then did he allow himself to make use of it for his own benefit, The next day, Monday, he felt too weak to say Mass, and sent for the brother infirmarian. A short while later, another attack of the digestive troubles which - had been a burden nearly all his life, overtaxed his heart, and he passed away quickly and peacefully. He received the last rites of the Church. He was nearly eighty-one years of age.
Fr. O’Brien was three months short of sixteen when he entered the noviceship at Tullabeg in 1892: he was born on 13th August, 1876, at Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick. His thin frail frame, especially as it appeared in later life, seemed to belie his origin in the Golden Vale, but there was a wiry energy in it which carried him through many years of indifferent health with a vigour and diligence which did honour to the rich pastures of his native heath. He had been a brilliant student at the Crescent College, and after his noviceship took up at once the task of teaching “Ours” which was to be the main occupation of his life. Having helped his fellow-Juniors with the Latin and Greek which were so signally mastered by the older members of the Province, he went on to Jersey for philosophy, and so took with him French as well as Classics on his career of teaching in Australia. Those were the days when ordination seemed to be the reward of a well-spent life, and so for six years, at Kew College, Melbourne and Riverview College, Sydney, he did his bit to set the Mission on its way to being an independent Vice-Province: He came back to Milltown for theology in 1906, and was ordained in 1909. His tertianship was in Belgium, at Tronchiennes, after which he returned to teaching Classics, for a year at Clongowes and a year once more in Tullabeg with the Juniors. He then came as Minister and Minister of Juniors to Rathfarnham, in 1913, when the Juniorate moved to within range of the University.
Fr. O’Brien returned to Milltown Park, where he was to spend the last forty three years of his life, in 1914. For four years he taught the Short Course of theology till, in 1918, he was asked to take on philosophy with the students whom the war had brought back from Stonyhurst. For the next seven years he was Minister of philosophers, and lectured in Ethics and Theodicy. In 1925, he took over the editing of the Ordo, which he continued with unflagging zeal and precision till his death. He was lecturing in psychology when, towards the end of 1929, he became director of the Retreat House, an office which he held for nine years, during which he did some of the most fruitful and far-reaching work of his life. When the late Fr. Hannon was appointed Visitor of the Irish Christian Brothers in 1938, the ever-versatile and pliable Fr. O’Brien took over the De Ecclesia tract in theology. He relinquished this office “de jure” in 1946, but except for a few brief periods, held it in fact almost continually till the summer before he died.
Methodical, precise, painstaking and utterly devoted to his duty: this is how students and retreatants saw Fr. O'Brien, and it is hard to praise too highly the self-sacrificing diligence with which he threw himself into each new task of his long and varied life. One of his pupils remembers him in the days of his youth : “His lesson was all animation. He threw all he had, gesture, expression, concentration, appeals, into the effort of getting his point across. And how delighted he was when he saw his point was grasped!” Right to the end, even in the new fields of positive knowledge to which De Ecclesia called him, after a life-time of scholastic speculation and preaching, he was labouring to master fully his new subject. Students who received from him the succinct, clarified, almost dehydrated product of his research, sometimes failed to appreciate the work that had gone into his lectures. But Fr. O’Brien was not content to repeat the text-books at second-hand. Take for instance the famous case of Pope Honorius. For his own satisfaction, as well as for the sake of scholarly integrity, he had read up the original Greek acts of the sixth General Council: he was the first to cut those pages of the Mansi edition which Milltown had acquired in 1936. He read in fact every work available to him on the treatise De Ecclesia, and if he seemed to demand almost too much precision from exam candidates, it was because he was not content with loose thought or slovenly expression on vital subjects. On the other hand, he was lavish with praise for students who had done well, and went out of his way to congratulate them on a good showing.
Some of his best work was done as Director of Retreats at Milltown. For nine years he carried the Retreat House almost single-handed, giving nearly all the priests' and laymen's retreats, even when priests' retreats lasted from Monday to Saturday, and began again the next Monday with a week-end retreat in between. Age did not wither him nor custom stale his infinite variety: he was for ever preparing new matter for the retreatants who clamoured for his services, and his clear, direct and inspiring lectures were matched by a rare quality of direction in the confessional. For many years after he had had to give up the retreats, priests and laymen returned to him year after year for confession. It is said that the praise of the Dublin priests had him named confessor to Archbishop Byrne, while one Irish bishop sent specially for him to prepare him for death. Many laymen felt they owed him so much that they could refuse him nothing, and Fr. O'Brien used their gratitude to establish many young people in business or professions, with a charity which never tired of being helpful. For the best part of twenty years, the Irish Province had the benefit of his expert services on the Ordo, and only the initiated will know the enormous extra labour which he readily undertook when nearly eighty, as the new papal decrees made radical changes in the saying of Mass and Breviary.
Though beset all his life by weak health, Fr. O'Brien was a whole-time, whole hearted worker, “as long as it was day”. In the last years of his life, when a short-handed Milltown depended so much on him, he had to husband his strength carefully. But it was always there when he was called upon; and he was a cheerful giver. He never lost his keen sense of humour, and many of his witty remarks have already passed into oral tradition. He was very gentle and kind, unassuming and retiring, a delightful conversationalist and a loyal friend, though an enemy of all that was pompous, superficial and finicky. His deep faith and warm piety were more conspicuous than ever in recent years, when he could nourish it with new developments in the theology of the Mass and Mystical Body. His many friends and indeed the whole Irish Province will hold the memory of this good worker in benediction.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Patrick O'Brien SJ 1876-1957
In the death of Fr Patrick O’Brien, the Province lost one of its most lovable, most quote characters and an inveterate worker up to his death.

For all his life as a Jesuit, he was a professor and teacher of Ours, of Juniors, Philosophers and Theologians. For well on nine years he carried on the Retreat House at Milltown single-handed and it was there he earned his reputation as a confessor which cause him to be appointed by the Archbishop of Dublin to be his own personal confessor, and to cause another Bishop to send for him to prepare him for death.

For twenty years he edited the Ordo for the Irish Province, and never was a work done so meticulously, so lovingly and with such professional pride. It was seldom indeed that one found an error in Fr O’Brien’s Ordo.

He was extremely witty and a master of the “mot just”. His lectures and conversation were rendered the more interesting and animated by his unique gestures of face and hands.

This for 65 years as a Jesuit did Fr O'Brien devote himself ceaselessly to his work for God. He died rich in good works on April 5th 1957.

Born: 16 June 1932, Cliftonville, Ennis Road, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1967, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 06 August 1992, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin - Zambiae Province (ZAM)

Transcribed HIB to ZAM: 03 December 1969

by 1959 at Chivuna, Monze, N Rhodesia - studying language Regency

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Fr Tom's death was very sudden. He was acting Mission Procurator in Dublin and had just picked up his sister from the airport. He drove back to the Mission Office. While speaking to her there, he just fell from his chair, with a massive heart attack, and so he died. That was on 6 August 1992.

Tom was born in Limerick in 1932, attended the Jesuit school of the Crescent and then entered the Society in 1950 in Emo. He pursued the normal course of studies of the Society and came out to Zambia for his regency where he taught, prefected and was games master at Canisius Secondary School and Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College.

He was ordained priest at Milltown Park, Dublin on 31st July 1964 and returned to Zambia after his tertianship. He was in the Southern Province from 1966 to 1970 as minister and bursar at Chikuni, minister and assistant Parish Priest in Monze and minister/teacher at Charles Lwanga TTC. The rest of his life in Zambia was spent in Lusaka. Chaplaincy and teaching occupied his time and he also helped in the parish at St Ignatius. He taught at Munali Secondary and Chongwe Secondary. For the Advanced Primary Course at Chalimbana, he taught Religious Education as well as being involved in student counselling. Students at Evelyn Hone College also saw him for spiritual direction. Counselling was what he wished to do with third level students and so he studied at Loyola University in Chicago, USA, for his Masters in Education.

From 1978 to 1983 he became socius/secretary to the provincial, a job which took him to all the Jesuit houses. He became rector of Luwisha House in 1983 and worked as chaplain at the Christian Centre at UNZA. While there, he had a serious heart attack and left for Ireland when he was well enough to travel. It was while he was acting mission procurator, that he had the massive heart attack. As he wished, he was active to the end.

There was a history of heart sickness in the family. Tom himself had minor strokes as well as a by-pass. He was well aware that he would probably die from a heart attack but forged ahead with his life even with this in mind. He was so busy in Dublin – meetings of the Irish Missionary Union, interviewing possible volunteer teachers, traveling for Missionary Exhibitions, fund raising, bringing missionary awareness to the pupils of the Jesuit schools in Ireland – these all kept him on the go. Added to these were family functions such as weddings, baptisms and funerals.

His great talent was his ability to relate to other people, to share friendship with them. He had his own close circle of friends in the Society, yet this never interfered with his sharing his friendship with others. He was approachable and warm-hearted, person-centered. Being with others meant more to Tom than efficiency in planning and execution. On one occasion, he had three appointments in different places at the same time! He looked for the best side of others, accepting them as they were. In his own communities he would give himself as freely and as warmly to the shy and withdrawn as to the stronger members.

A 20-year friend of Tom wrote about him after his death: “He loved life; he loved people. And he did so from a base that was hidden and silent because he dreaded that anyone would think him ‘pious’. But over the years, I became more and more aware of that hidden rock in Tom – his love of Christ. It came through in his homilies to the students and his love of the Jesuits. I think he was at his most fulfilled and contented as a Jesuit during his years at Luwisha. He loved his brothers. I find myself also thinking of the contradictions in him. He was confident and proud; but he was also humble. He was contented, so contented – but he was questioning, sometimes startlingly so. He was above all compassionate but his compassion didn't let you off the hook”.

Note from Jean Indeku Entry
In 1955 he came to Northern Rhodesia with Fr. Tom O’Brien and scholastics Michael Kelly and Michael Tyrrell. They were among the first batch of missionaries to come by air and the journey from London took almost five days via Marseilles – Malta – Wadi Halfa (now under the Aswan Dam) – Mersa Matruh (north Egypt) – Nairobi – Ndola – and finally to Lusaka.

Born: 07 August 1906, Waterford, County Waterford / Merrion, Dublin, County Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1944, Mungret College SJ, Limerick

Left Society of Jesus: 13 December 1968

Early education at O’Connells School, Dublin

by 1968 at Sir William Collins, Edgeware London (ANG) working

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1978

Obituary

Father Tom O’Callaghan

After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. Tom was rarely still in life. He rarely spoke sotto voce. Pacing, pacing, up and down outside the rail in Donnybrook, chain-smoking cigarettes and matches; intense and often very individual instructions to the team at half time... Did Tom ever sit behind the wheel of a car? Little things like traffic jams and speed limits must have sent up his blood pressure if he did. An unbroken Arab horse and a wilderness would have suited him better.

Apart from being a trainer of distinction, Tom was thought to be an outstanding mathematician when we were boys. Whether the latter is true it is impossible to discover now. Boys like to invest their teachers with what they take to be Einsteinian qualities. He was certainly a very intelligent man but he was unable to take his degree. At different stages during his university studies, usually around examination time, he had to sit near the door of the refectory in Rathfarnham Castle. This was because he would suddenly, through nervousness, find himself unable to swallow, and have to run choking from the room. He could talk very interestingly on any subject, even though he might naturally gravitate to discussing rugby. He liked to consult encyclopaedias in the middle of an argument to show he was correct on a point of historical or literary fact.

Fr Tom had very many devoted friends among the Past, but, almost certainly, some who bore a grudge as well. He seemed to work off his frustrations in sarcasm against “enemies”, and, whom he took to be fools, he did not suffer gladly. The result was that those who were on the outside could not see how the devotion of the others arose. Happily the mystery of life is deep and complicated enough to encompass different types. Tom was either a stone in your shoe or a stone in your oyster; he could not be ignored.

For almost twenty years, 1946-1962, Fr Tom O'Callaghan SJ, was teacher, trainer, sometime assistant disciplinarian in Belvedere. He was moved by the Canonical Visitor to Crescent College Limerick. From what we hear, things were not the same there. He was approaching sixty years of age and his once dominant personality was losing its force. He did not have a reputation he could call on, as the pupils of Crescent had not heard of him before. In a few years he was teaching in a school in London and while there he met his future wife. At what stage he decided to leave the priesthood it is impossible to say.

When they returned to Dublin he took up teaching for a while in St. Conleth's. This did not last very long as his health was disintegrating. During a long and sporadic illness his wife took devoted care of him. He died in June of this year aged 72 years. RIP.

Every Christian life is a sad life. Every Christian life is a failure. A web of disappointments and of goals unachieved. We cannot say, and it is futile to guess, whether some things might have been better if some other things had been otherwise ... We do not know. That is all we can say. We offer our sympathy to his wife, Barbara, May the Lord look mercifully on all of us, and on the soul of Fr. Tom O'Callaghan, one-time Jesuit, sacerdos in aeter num.

BK, SJ

Born: 07 June 1870, Umballa, Haryana, Punjab, India
Entered: 03 April 1894, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 29 July 1906, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1908, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 12 August 1952, Crescent College, Limerick

Grew up in Clonmel, County Tipperary.

by 1897 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1898 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1907 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Medical student before entry

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 27th Year No 4 1952

Obituary :
Father Charles O'Connell
Fr. O'Connell, who had been born in India on June 7th, 1870, spent his early years in Clonmel. He studied Medicine for some time before he entered the Society on April 3rd, 1894. Having completed his Philosophy at Enghien, Belgium, be joined the staff at Clongowes, where he taught French and Irish from 1899 to 1903. He studied Theology at Milltown Park and was ordained in 1906. After his Tertianship at Tronchiennes he was again appointed to Clongowes, where he taught until he was transferred to the Crescent, Limerick in 1917. Here he worked in the College and Church for 35 years. He had charge of the Children of Mary Sodality from 1931 to 1936. He died on the night of August 12th. He was at dinner and recreation on the previous day, but did not appear at Litanies, which was quite unusual. He was found dead by the servants on the following morning.
Naturally rather retiring, but with a nice sense of humour, Fr. O'Connell was a most agreeable community man, though a good listener rather than a great conversationalist. In the Church he was an effective preacher, but it is the memory of his continued and devoted service in the confessional that will long remain with the people of Limerick and of the neighbouring counties. He was a good linguist and was frequently sought by foreigners who wanted confession.
It was quite clear that for some time he was suffering, but he was never heard to make a complaint. A great lover of common life, he did not want to be a burden to anyone. A short time before his death he resolutely refused little dispensations kindly pressed on him by Superiors. He was a soldier to the last, ever true to the kindly name of “Captain”, given to him in his early religious life.
A few days before his death he expressed a wish to see the place where he would be buried. One of the community got a car and drove him out to Mungret. After saying a prayer for the repose of the soul of Fr. MacWilliams, the sole occupant of the new cemetery, he said : “There I shall be buried”. And there some four days later, he was laid beside that other great apostle of the confessional. May he rest in peace.

◆ The Clongownian, 1953
Obituary
Father Charles O'Connell SJ
Father Charles O'Connell died suddenly on the night of August 12th last. He was born in India on June 7th, 1870, but spent his early life in Clonmel. He had been studying for his degree in Medicine when he entered the Society in his twenty-fifth year. He spent four years in Clongowes as a scholastic and later returned to Clongowes after his ordination and tertianship. He was an able teacher of French and was a pioneer teacher of Irish among the Clongowes community. His tall soliderly bearing earned him the name of “The Captain” from the boys of the period.
When he was transferred to Sacred Heart College, The Crescent, Limerick, in the summer of 1917 he was to spend the last thirty-five years of his life there. For some few years he taught in the Crescent, but the work for which he will best be remembered was his devotion to the work of confessions and preaching. A fluent speaker of French and German, he had a good command of other European languages also and was thus often called on to hear the confessions of foreigners passing through Limerick. Father O'Connell was naturally shy but possessed a delicious sense of humour. He had a remarkably clear memory of the boys he taught during his periods as a master in the Colleges. His death was sudden but not unexpected. He was last seen reading his breviary and for the first time in thirty five years was missed from the Church corridor where he always said his beads. He passed, as he would have wished it, unobstrusively to the reward of the good and faithful servant. RIP

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959
Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community
Father Charles O'Connell (1870-1952)
Was born at Umbala, India but spent his early childhood in Clonmel. He was studying medicine when he entered the Society in 1894. On the completion of his higher studies at Enghien and Dublin, he was ordained in 1906. After his tertianship at Tronchiennes, Father O'Connell taught Irish and French at Clongowes until 1917. In that year he began his long association - thirty-five years - with the Crescent. Until the early 1930's, Father O'Connell continued to teach, but his classes were fewer as he was engaged in full time church work. The memory of his devotion to duty in the church during those years must long remain vivid for the many who sought his help and guidance. He was a good linguist and was frequently sought by foreigners who wanted confession.

Born: 14 October 1827, County Cavan
Entered: 15 September 1864, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: - pre Entry
Final vows: 02 February 1877
Died: 06 July 1903, University College, Dublin

1866 2nd year Novitiate at Galway
by 1867 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He was a priest of the Diocese of Kilmore. When he had completed his studies he was appointed President of St Patrick’s College, Cavan. Under his leadership he raised the status of the College as one of great efficiency. he endeared himself to his students by his courteous and friendly manner, whilst at the same time modelling the virtues necessary for Ministry.
After years of service to his Diocese he entered the Society of Jesus.

After First Vows he was immediately appointed Rector at Galway, and later Rector at Crescent, Limerick.
As a Missioner, he became known and revered in many parishes in Ireland.
He continued to be held in high regard by the Priests of Kilmore, even after he entered the Society. When the Bishop Dr Finnegan died, as names of a possible successor were sought from the Priests of the Diocese, many voted for Philip O’Connell, eve though they knew he was precluded from Ecclesiastical Office by his membership of the Society of Jesus. He was mourned greatly by the Priests of Kilmore and the Society, many of those Kilmore Priests had been students of his at St Patrick’s.
(Text taken from an obituary which appeared in “The Nation”)

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Philip O’Connell (1827-1903)

Was a secular priest of Kilmore diocese when he entered the Society in 1864. After his ordination at Maynooth, he had been appointed to the staff of St Patrick's College, Cavan where he eventually became President. His obituary notice in “The Nation” states that “during his tenure of that office, he raised the College to a high state of efficiency”. His first association with the Crescent was from 1869 to 1870 when he was a member of the teaching staff. He returned to Limerick in 1872 as member of the mission staff and remained here until 1876. Appointed rector of the Crescent in 1882 he remained in office until 1885 when he resumed his mission work. During the years 1885 to 1896 he was stationed variously at Clongowes, Milltown Park and Tullabeg. He was appointed rector of St Ignatius', Galway in 1896 and remained there until 1900 when he returned for another year to work at Sacred Heart Church. He was a member of the community at University College and attached to University Church at the time of his death. Whether as missioner or retreat director, Father O'Connell was one of the most respected priests of his day. The obituary notice in “The Nation” says of him: “As a missioner, he was known and revered in many parishes of Ireland; and from many a peasant homestead will arise a prayer to God for the repose of his soul. Among his brother priests of the diocese of Kilmore, he was held in special veneration. This feeling found expression when, on the death of the late Dr. Finnegan, the names of those from whom the priests of the diocese judged his successor should be selected were submitted to the Holy See. Many of his old colleagues and friends voted for Father O'Connell, though it was known that his obligations precluded him from accepting ecclesiastical dignities”.

Born: 22 October 1898, Saint Alphonsus Terrace, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 31 August 1916, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1931, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 20 May 1972, Coláiste Iognáid, Sea Road, Galway

Educated at Crescent College SJ

by 1923 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1933 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 3 1972

St Ignatius College, Galway

Father Joseph O'Connor died in the Regional Hospital on the morning of Saturday, 20th May from a coronary attack. He had been in hospital for about six weeks. He had been a member of this Community since 1941, when he came here as Minister. Fourteen priests took part in the Concelebrated Mass on the day of his burial, Fr O'Keefe (Rector) being First Concelebrant, assisted by Fr Provincial and Fr McGrath, PP, and a very large number followed the remains to the graveside. May he rest in peace.

Obituary :

Fr Joseph O’Connor SJ

Father Joe O'Connor who died in Galway on 20th May was born in Limerick, in October 1898, and was educated at St. Philomena's Preparatory School and the Crescent College, Limerick. On August 31st, 1916 he entered the Society at Tullabeg, and at the end of his Noviceship went to Rathfarnham Castle for his University studies. Having taken his degree, he studied Philosophy for three years at Stonyhurst, and then went to Mungret College, where he taught for three years. Going to Milltown Park for Theology, he was ordained there in 1931. The following year he did his Tertianship in St. Beuno's, N Wales. Returning to Ireland in 1933 he spent three years as Higher Line Prefect in Clongowes, and was then appointed Rector of Mungret College. From Mungret he came to Coláiste lognáid, Galway in 1941 where he remained until his death in 1972. There he began a busy career, occupying the positions of Minister, Procurator, Prefect of the Church, and Director of the Bona Mors Confraternity. He continued as Pro curator, Operarius in the Church, and Director of the Bona Mors till 2 or 3 years before his death, when ill health forced him to retire. In 1942, due to his contacts with the people and the need he saw for it, he began the Nazareth Benevolent Fund and continued as its organiser till the time of his death, The aim of this fund was to assist those whose financial status had been reduced and who needed help. Through Flag Days and Xmas Raffles he raised sufficient money to keep the Fund going. By personal contact he had the gift of singling out those who stood in most need, and helped them over long periods. Besides that, he was Spiritual Director of the Ignatian Branch of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, for years, and came to know the very poor of the City, and was always ready and generous in helping them. Those in distress found in him a “friend in need”, one always ready to lend them a helping hand.
As Operarius in the Church, he was dedicated to his work over a period of 28 years. He wrote all his sermons in a neat hand, and preached them in a gracious way all his own, occasionally stepping back quietly but in an authoritative manner to emphasise some point. He had a fair knowledge of Irish, and read the Long Acts and the long prayer before Mass quite fluently. In his active years he quite frequently cycled to Calvary and Merlin Park Hospitals to visit patients whom he knew. Once, after a long absence, (through illness) he found the front wheel of his bicycle missing, and this put an end to his cycling career. This was 4 years ago.
At no time was his health very robust, but the first sign of serious illness came in the Spring of 1968 when he had a black-out after supper and was rushed by ambulance to the Regional Hospital. After a fairly long stay there he went to Milford House, Limerick, to recuperate. He seems to have never fully recovered from that attack, as he had to go away for treatment, on many occasions, during the last few years, and in the last year or more, one could see that he was a sick man. Even in his last years he sometimes took over, for a brief period, the office of Procurator, and helped in the Church,
His chief characteristics were, quietness, kindness, and gentleness combined with remarkable efficiency in all that he undertook. He was very interested in people and his knowledge of the Galway people extensive and, sometimes, very surprising. In his walks through the city he often stopped for a chat with one after another on his way. As a result he had numerous friends, and was very popular. When he was ill members of the community were frequently stopped in the street to be asked “How is Father Joe”. To many who had known him since the days of their childhood his death was in the nature of a personal loss. This was shown by the large number of Mass Cards and letters of sympathy that came to the house when the news of his death spread through the town. (One of these letters of sympathy was from the Mayor and Corporation of Galway City). It was also shown by the large number of mourners who followed his remains to the graveside to pay their last tribute to one they had esteemed and loved over so many years. His funeral was attended by priests from all houses of the Province and from the parishes of Galway. May he rest in peace!

Born: 26 May 1932, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1968, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 02 January 1997, Dublin

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death.

by 1971 at Loyola Chicago, USA (CHG) studying
by 1985 at University of Warwick, England (ANG) studying

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 92 : August 1996

Obituary

An t-Ath Seán B. Ó Conchúir (1932-1997)

26th May 1932: Born in Dublin
Early education; St. Mary's, Athlone and St. Ignatius, Galway
7th Sept. 1950: Entered the Society at Emo
8th Sept. 1952: First Vows at Emo
1952 - 1955: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1955 - 1958: Tullabeg, Studying Philosophy
1958 - 1959: Belvedere: Regency
1959 - 1961: St. Ignatius, Galway, Regency
1961 - 1965: Milltown Park, Studying Theology
31st July 1964: Ordained Priest at Milltown Park
1965 - 1966: Rathfarnham, Tertianship
1966 - 1968: St. Ignatius, Galway: Teacher and MA studies
1968 - 1970: St. Ignatius, Galway: Prefect of Studies
1970 - 1973: Chicago: Doctoral studies in Education
1973 - 1977: Crescent Residence: Director, Research Project at Shannon
1977 - 1978: Crescent Residence : Lecturer in Education at New University of Ulster
1978 - 1980: Galway: University of Ulster work and Pre school project in Irish, Connemara
1980 - 1984: Resident in Connemara: Irish Project work
1984 - 1986: Warwick University Studies
1986 - 1991: Galway: Studies in Lifestart, Gaeltacht Project
1991 - 1997: Carraroe: Director of Lifestart Project and Researcher

There’s a photo in the house of Seán’s sister Mairin, deceased, in Cork, showing four army officers. They are Seán’s grandfather, father and two brothers of his father. One of them, Uncle Patrick, was a member of Michael Collins’ ‘Twelve Apostles’. The four of them played their part in the War of Independence. Sean’s mother (Mary Harper before marriage) was a member of Cumann na mBan (Fellowship of Women) and while still a child was involved in the Easter Rebellion. Sean’s pedigree, therefore, was not so different from that of the Basque, Ignatius of Loyola; a pedigree that begot loyalty, magnanimity, a large and generous heart ready for great deeds and exploits. The Son of God chose someone of that caliber – Thomas the Zealot, and perhaps also two others – James and John, the Sons of Thunder. Would you not think that Jesus has a special feel for someone who is ready to risk their life for a cause? He himself was facing into such a future: ‘I give my life for my sheep.’

That is what I say of Seán O Conchuir of the Society of Jesus; he never slackened, when younger and also in his thirty-two years of priesthood. Always he was searching for what was ‘greater’ and ‘more perfect’ until his strength, health and his very life were spent ‘for the sheep’, and especially for the sheep in the flock of his Lord and Master. In all that work, his soldier-like qualities were patience, gentleness, love, humility and humor, a humor that he could turn on himself with a delightful explosive laugh.

Seán was committed to education (was it not so with Christ?) on every level –primary, secondary and university. He educated himself through diligent study: an MA in the sixties, a doctorate in the eighties. Curriculum development, use of statistics, evaluation of teaching programmes and progression, and of the work of students or trainee teachers; psychology and child-development—he gained a mastery and reputation in all these disciplines.

His achievement, whether in founding ‘Home Education’ and the ‘Life-start Foundation’ -- his most outstanding and effective projects--is all the more remarkable when one considers that he was struck down with rheumatic fever as a child, and was a weak boy who was wheeled along the Prom at Salthill, swathed in blankets. Thus he remained until his early teens, so he could not participate in football or rowing in Colaiste Iognaid. But he began to swim and this improved his health, as did life-saving, which was being taught by Jimmy Cranny and Des Kenny. At the end of secondary school he was strong enough to join the FCA and wear a soldier’s uniform in 1949, the year when the Republic was again proclaimed. In autumn of the following year he and Padraic Mac Donnchadha joined the Jesuit Order in Emo, Portarlington.

Seán was born in Dublin: his father, Ceannphor (Commandant) Sean Ó Conchúir, was ADC to President Sean de hIde.

The family spent a while in Athlone and the father then transferred to the Cead Cath (First Battalion), which was fully Irish, in Galway. Little Seán was sent to Scoil Fhursa, managed by Bean a’Bhreathnaigh. Scoil Fhursa and later Colaiste Iognaid planted in him a love and appreciation for Irish music, dancing and song, which lasted until the end of his life. If you heard him rendering ‘An Bhinsin Luachra’ or ‘Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor’ you would understand that love and appreciation.

The experience that Seán gained of the arts of music and acting through the Feis Cheoil, and later through the Colaiste Iognaid choir, was only an extension of his family’s gifts. There is a dynamism in the family always to celebrate life, especially through close association with nature and the practice of the arts – do you remember Seán performing a solo ballet in Tullabeg? You can see this love of life in the lives and families of his three sisters too – Mairin (the bright light of God be on her), Dairine and Grainne. A permanent feature of the home life of the O’Connors were the Sing Songs. Everyone had their own song or recitation. Any Jesuit who participated in these evenings in the O’Connor home in Galway between 1966 and 1972 will look back on them with appreciation and gratitude, and will especially remember the party-piece which Sean composed and rendered with a strong Claddagh accent. Seán’s creativity blossomed: he produced plays, composed prose pieces, and wrote poetry. One of his philosophy companions in Tullabeg baptized him as ‘The Bard’.

Frequently you would notice that Seán was absorbed in deep thought. He had a great gift of focusing entirely on a person (he was an excellent listener, full of respect for the speaker whether man, woman or child), or on an object or on scenery. To the end of his life every aspect of nature gave him joy, gladness and pleasure. Wild flowers by the roadside or the bare tops of the Beanna Beola or Snowdon would give wings to his heart. Seán steadily cultivated the spirit of the Contemplatio of the Exercises of Ignatius, especially in his final years in Connemara from 1980 onward. ‘To recognize God in all things… working on my behalf’. When I study his beautiful photos of Connemara and its flora, my heart shakes with wonder: he is a man spell-bound by the beauty of creation, a silent beauty which speaks to him of the eternal and mysterious beauty of God. And in his commitment to his calling as a wise man, a teacher and a priest, whose task was to break open and divide this bread of beauty, he spoke of it in images which would take the eye out of your head. He conveyed it to the children of ‘Home Education’ in the form of jigsaws, and in the form of poems for the grown-ups.

Lord, we live out of death;
therefore I say to the animals: ‘You who were tame and gentle
In the meadows yesterday,
You nourish what is beautiful and pure
In me today.’

And I say to the fish:
‘You who were free in the water a short while ago,
You now feed the freedom and agility of my body’.

And I say to the harvest:
'The music you played to the sun in autumn
I sense now as a poem
In the cold winter of life’.

And I say to Christ:
‘The pinnacle of goodness died in your body
But now you clothe the heavens
With white flowers’.

‘And you, Host of Christ on my lips
You are the wine of blood and the seed of flesh,
You are the honey of Easter, you are the sap of youthfulness
You are the flowering branch within me
Which does not wither.’

The beauty of that poem is awesome: it leaves me rooted to the spot. God reveals his secrets to children. I believe that in all his high learning and deep study Seán kept safe within himself the heart and pure mind of a child. It was this that gave him wonderful insight into the essential stages of a child’s development. This is why the programme ‘Home Education’ satisfies the need of children from Connemara to Ballymun, from Wexford to Derry, from Barcelona to Belfast’s Shankill.

Michael Hurley gave heartfelt witness to the reputation Seán had achieved within the various strata of the Six Counties: ‘He made it easier for us to encounter one another and forge bonds of friendship’. His close friends Dolores McGuinness and Aine Downey in Derry put it incisively: ‘There was never anyone like Sean who could move among people without causing them nervousness or fear. He was full of respect for everyone, and he listened to them with total attention.’

In his final days, on his bed of sickness and weakness, I was frequently at his side. The only syllable he could articulate was his heavy breathing, regular and low. But throughout that time he made a living prayer of his hands which were stretched out before him on the bed-clothes: thumbs joined and fingers clasped, as if he had the Body of Christ within his fingers, and Seán steadily gazing on it with the eyes of his soul, constantly focussed on it, endlessly adoring: ‘I adore you, O spirit of fruitfulness, O beautiful One of the heavenly rampart’-- a quotation from ‘Adoramus Te, Christe’ by Daibhi O Bruadair (1625 – 1698): Sean learnt it at the feet of Professor Gerard Murphy in UCD. It was he who opened up for Sean the enchanting treasury of Irish literature and folklore.

And with Gregorian chant as a lullaby, to the very end he made that mysterious sign of his priesthood and his life; offering – as a child shyly offers his little fists to its mother—his labours, sweat, joys, troubles, failures, retraining, petitions, despair, despondency, love, integrity and the achievements of the years.

May the two hands of the Child Jesus enfold you forever, Seán, while He merrily teaches you the beautiful ‘Home Education’ of his own hearth and household.

Translation Brian Grogan SJ

Interfuse No 98 : Autumn 1998

VISIONARY, YES, POLITICIAN, NO

Conall Ó Cuinn

I missed Seán O'Connor's funeral. But this article is not an obituary. It's a reflection about Seán's short time as headmaster of Coláiste Iognáid in Galway for just two academic years, 1968 and 1969, the period immediately following the Prague Spring and the Paris Student Revolution. It corresponded to my own 4th and 5th Form as a student there. I write as someone who was greatly influenced by Seán's vision for education, a catalytic factor in my joining the Society. I supported him in as much as any 4th or 5th Form student was capable of supporting a headmaster.

In Seán's time I was also privileged to be a member of the first elected school council, which, like the Sunningdale Parliament, was quickly dissolved from above after a very short life, I served as a prefect in 5th year, trying to implement what I understood as Seán's vision of pupils being creative participants in their own education. I was on the editorial team of the student newspaper whose last edition never reached the newsstands, having been confiscated by the authorities. We did manage to spirit a few copies away before the police came knocking at the door and Patrick Hume tells me there is a copy in the archives. Shortly after Paddy Tyrrell took over from Seán in 1970, I was appointed School Captain, and so had a lot of contact with staff.

In many ways, even at that time, I had “insider” knowledge of what was going on above and around me (sources remaining anonymous). However, I am aware now that I didn't really understand the complexity of what was happening politically, or how delicate and fragile the whole situation was. So naive was I, that I was greatly surprised when Seán finished as headmaster after only two years. As captain of the school, I had a lot to do with his successor, Paddy Tyrrell. Like for others enthused by Seán's vision, his removal and replacement appeared to me to be a Margaret Thatcher-style takeover intent on reversing the new social order (others would say social disorder).

I now understand better what a very difficult assignment Paddy Tyrrell had been given. Seán and he were contemporaries and friends during formation. I now appreciate how Paddy managed to preserve many of the positive elements of what we might call the O'Connor revolution. For example, neither corporal punishment nor the 11-plus type streaming into A and B classes were reintroduced. The new pupil oriented attitude continued. People remained more important than system. And further developments took place under Paddy's leadership.

Seán, like Padraig Pearse, was a great visionary, but a poor politician. Seán's studies on education had been about the Pearse educational experiment at Coláiste Eanna. Only later in both cases did their vision begin to flower into political reality. In the immediate, however, Seán failed to win over the four very difficult constituencies which he needed to engage in order to succeed. These consisted of the Jesuit Community, the Lay Staff, the Parents, and the boys (especially the senior classes).

Many of the senior boys used the elimination of corporal punishment as an excuse for license, which initially gave the school a certain chaotic appearance. In his first year, Seán had welcomed a large group of repeat, but disgruntled, 6th years back to school. In general, they proved to be a very disruptive force among the senior boys and Seán's first academic year ended with a riot on the school pitch during the taking of the school photo. This resulted in all 6th years being sent home a full week before schedule, an act just short of expulsion. While the 4th and 6th year battled it out before the assembled school, with Fr. Jack Hutchinson trying to appease both sides, the lay teachers were gathered in the corner of the field to discuss whether they should go on strike. It appeared that the educational revolution had degenerated into chaos.

Owing to the suddenness of Seán's reforms, teachers had suddenly found themselves, without any real training, invited to abandon more formal teaching methods in the junior forms. Classwork was to be organised around projects whereby the teacher's role was to serve the intellectual curiosity of the pupil by providing resources and advice about topics of the pupil's interest. With no corporal punishment as the usual backup control and with little or no focus on public examinations, some of the teachers quickly found themselves bewildered and longing for the good old days of law and order.

The Jesuit staff and community lived with two unresolved tensions. Jesuits in general were divided in their reception of the new orientations of GC31, and in Galway there was the additional division between the “Gaeilgeoirs” and the “Non-Gaeilgeoirs”. Skills of community dialogue were in their rudimentary stages. Communication still tended to move vertically between the individual and the Rector. Despite the many meetings, so difficult for those not used to them, much of the political communication was beamed from one group to the other via the Rector. Our subsequent growth in ability to dialogue can now be seen more clearly when we contrast the serene atmosphere of today's province meetings to those very first acrimonious meetings of the late 60's and early 70's.

Finally, the parents, despite the importation of some high level lecturers of Lonergan leanings from Milltown Park, found it difficult to form a vision beyond the newly introduced points system for entry to University, a system necessitated by the increased number seeking university places following the introduction of free secondary education and university grants. Many parents feared the project/pupil orientated method adopted for the 1st years would spread to all classes prompting visions of their off-spring failing to progress to third-level education. The parents, like the Jesuits, were divided into two camps. The “Jes” parents saw the school as a mini-Clongowes without the boarding fees, and the “Coláiste lognáid” parents wanted an all-Irish education. I believe this division of parental motivation is one reason why Coláiste lognáid in my time never won a football match because the pool of best players was always divided between Gaelic and Rugby which was played in a club independent of the school. With divisions like this it was difficult to work with the parents as a single group. In general, however, the parents were not convinced by what they saw as a Galway version of the Paris Revolution with its sit-ins and teach-ins which were already being picked up in the Irish universities. Our having a silhouette of Che Guevara, with a clenched fist, on the cover page of the banned magazine certainly would not have helped Seán with the parents had it been circulated!

Changing metaphors, Seán was seen as the Dubcec who had gone a step too far. The hot line to the Rector and to Eglinton Road was often engaged for long periods. Both Rector and Provincial were, as far as I understand, ideologically in tune with Seán. However, they could not ignore the persistence of representation from the unconvinced part of the Jesuit Community, and many of the lay-staff and parents. Enrolment was beginning to drop too. Seán's term would have to end prematurely, without time for the fruits to show themselves. The tanks rolled in. At least it seemed like that at the time.

It was not that Seán did not know how important it was to share his vision with the four constituencies. It seems to me, however, that he confused explanation with acceptance. He made great efforts to explain ... all those meetings after school, which went on late into the night. One man, I heard, who did not see the point of all these meetings, obediently attended but spent the time correcting his copy books. However, acceptance comes ultimately with understanding. Seán may not have realised that many of the players were not convinced enough to have a team that could pull together. In fact, the team pulled apart.

Seán himself had come back to Galway after many years of openness to new ideas, both in Dublin and in the US. A small number appreciated or understood all three strands of his vision: Gaelic, child-orientated education, and Vatican II reflected institutionally in the documents of GC31. Some accepted one, or even two of these strands. But with pressure to maintain the status quo, only a few could back Seán in all three strands. Those who were still uncomfortable on any of these three areas found themselves unable to throw themselves into the project. Intellectually, emotionally, or professionally many of the teachers were ill-equipped to deal with the changes. They reacted in different ways, some by withdrawing, some with belligerent opposition to that part which seemed to be “non-sense”, some with quiet passive resistance. Weakened by this, the rope was not strong enough to carry the experiment, unraveled, and eventually snapped.

Politically, Seán might have had a better chance of succeeding if he had taken more time to introduce his changes in a slower fashion. On the other hand, the changes were the result of an intellectual and spiritual paradigm shift: none of the individual changes he introduced would on their own have made any sense without the others, Seán had not had the backup benefits of today's Ignatian colloquium, a systematic way of engaging lay-teachers and parents, and even students, in our vision. (I regard myself as having been introduced to the Jesuit educational vision through “colloquy”). It was out of experiences such as the “Galway experiment”, that the need for such methods developed.

Finally, it seems to me that Seán did have the prophet's self immolating tendency, which we see in Pearse. Say what needs to be said, even if they don't understand. Do what needs to be done, even if they don't follow. Die on the pyre of truth, for the phoenix will rise from the ashes.

But the line between prophetic word/action and railroading is often difficult to distinguish, especially when viewed from the outside. There were 'in' and 'out' groups. Invitation and command were then often perceived, and intended, as synonyms. So there might not have been the freedom to really talk through apprehensions in order to include other wisdoms in the vision. Seán may have interpreted silence as consent, and genuine opposition as belligerence.

This article is one attempt to understand what was happening in Galway at that time. I hope it can be part of the healing process which Seán is now intimately involved with in his new position in the Communion of Saints. His vision was a major stepping stone in my own journey into the Society. It has touched many people and continues to grow and develop in them. As the woman said of her husband who had walked out on her some years previously, “he was doing the best he could”: all were doing the best they could under the circumstances.

There may still be some lessons to learn from this particular phase of the history of the Irish Province. We form one Body, where each person's contribution is vital, and no one can be left out without all suffering their absence. The spirit runs, but must carry the often, as yet, unfit body. Vision must patiently wait for the slow inertia-laden swing of tradition and habit. The body lives in and needs time.

The Galway experiment was about adapting to cultural change. Genuine dialogue and inculturation are an essential part of the quality of our apostolic living and working together, not just tools of the trade or means to an end. They are movements in the continuing act of incarnation, of the Word being made flesh, of t”he entire creation ..groaning in one great act of giving birth...all of us who possess the first fruits of the Spirit we too groan inwardly ... we too must be content to hope to be saved ... something we must wait for with patience” (Rm 8:22-25).

Seán, continue to pray for us, the pilgrim Society on earth as we continue to grow/groan “till fully grown into the Body of Christ”.

Born: 14 May 1899, Kansas City, MO, USA
Entered: 27 August 1918, Florissant, MO, USA - Missouriana Province (MIS)
Ordained: 16 June 1931
Final vows: 02 February 1936
Died: 27 August 1968, Limerick City - Missouriana Province (MIS)

Died in HIB but member of MIS

Born: 23 July 1893, Parkton House, Enniscorthy, County Wexford
Entered: 19 September 1916, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1928, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1931, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 01 February 1972, Ballingarry, Mullingar, County Westmeath

Part of the Tullabeg, Co Offaly community at the time of death

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1930 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

Seems he Entered 07 September 1911 then left in 1912 and then reentered in 19 September 1916

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 2 1972

Obituary :

Fr Robert O’Dempsey SJ (1893-1972)

Father Robert O'Dempsey was one of a family who for generations, from their big house on the outskirts of Enniscorthy, had played a prominent part in the life of Wexford, giving a series of professional men, teachers and religious to the county-men and women of more than ordinary ability and a tradition of selfless service. As a boy at Clongowes Father Robert held his own in a Rhetoric, which included the genius of Father Paul Healy and Ray OʻKelly, and the outstanding abilities of Gilbert Laithwaite, Tom Finlay and Father Paul O'Dea. True, from the first his outlook was not merely serious but tense, and sometimes meticulous. Probably modern Psychologists may register a doubt of the idea of a religious vocation with a long tradition of long and detailed training for such a character. That Father Robert's first attempt to be thus dedicated, resulted in real nervous tension would seem to confirm such an attitude. He had to leave the Noviceship with no prospect of return. Rejecting the professional studies to which other members of the family had devoted themselves, he chose to become an apprentice in Todd Burns Drapery business, explaining later that he wanted constant contact with people to counteract his tendency to introspection. He wanted also a way of life he would not find it a wrench to abandon, should he be re-established for a fresh start. He was, after an interval, and went back to begin all over again the trial of the Noviceship and this time to succeed.
The years in Dublin were happy ones, and they enabled him later, to bring practical experience to his aid in renewing the Clongowes Social Study Club, which had fallen on evil days. Indeed throughout his life he held and fostered principles of social justice only gradually coming to be accepted. These early delays precluded the academic opportunities of his brilliant contemporaries; but an exceptionally strong interest in mathematics and mechanical things - he was something of an expert in his hobby of railway development - enabled him to teach with great success in Clongowes and Belvedere for many years. When in 1962 with the closing of Tullabeg he closed his text books for the last time, it gave him real pleasure to know that one of his last students could write from Chantilly that, though his new professor had a world reputation “he's not a patch on Father Bob O'Dempsey”.
One of the last generation of pre-motor car men, Father O'Dempsey had a taste for long walks, often solitary, and observation that distinguished such men as Lloyd Praeger; he was seldom happier than when on a long tramp, as one who climbed Mweelrea and Errigal with him can testify. On one of the Wexford Villas of the early twenties, he and six companions rode from Gorey to the foot of Mount Leinster and climbing it, from that eminence surveyed the county he loved. That the local paper next day described him as the Leader of the Party of which in fact he was the Junior wasn't surprising, but the other members all surviving may recollect his amusing and delighted disclaimer, which the local journalism rejected.
For such a man the routine of a College like Belvedere, with not a blade of grass in its field of vision, and endless drab streets for “Morning Supplies" was not an ideal setting; nonetheless for many years he took not only his full share of class work, but also helped with Debates and other activities, notably in the staging of the most memorable of the Operas, which Father Glynn and Father Byrne produced.
Father O'Dempsey kept a small carefully selected stock of tools, and was always ready to put his skill with them to helpful use. He had an independent mind with an abiding hate of fashionable cant or meaningless cliché. A loyal old Clongownian, he abhorred all that goes with the “Old Tie” tradition. A true Patriot, he detested the “stage” Irishman and all that smacked of Jingoism. In the days when Telefis Eireann - then known as Radio Baile Atha Cliath poured out a succession of sentimental ballads he liked to refer to the Corporation as Radio Bla Bla! He insisted on the 'O' in O‘Dempsey, and was indeed as far removed as it is possible to imagine from the “Eloquent Dempsey”. In short absolute sincerity was his abiding gift.
It was perhaps unfortunate that for an interval in his latter years at Belvedere, the assignment to Bolton Street Technical School was less congenial, provoking stresses which happily, were dissipated by his term of teaching mathematics to the Philosophers at Tullabeg until the dispersal of the faculty there. The concluding years in Tullabeg left him somewhat forlorn, this occupation gone. As time passed he gave up the long cycle rides and even reading be came a burden.
It is a pity he does not seem ever to have put together, much less put in print, his knowledge of the history of the Wexford Rising, which was more detailed and accurate than that of many professional Historians. (His Grandfather had in fact been “out” in the ‘98 Rising). He was neither romantic nor dramatic in his approach, indeed he was almost mathematical in his pre-occupation with facts and the objectivity with which he assessed them was remarkable.
It was sheer strength of character that enabled his long life to be a story of severe mental trials, valiantly encountered, and a noble service done for God and his fellow men.

◆ The Clongownian, 1972

Obituary

Father Robert O’Dempsey SJ

Robert O'Dempsey was born in 1893 at Parkton House, Enniscorthy. His father was a well known solicitor in that town, Robert was one of a large family, four brothers and seven sisters. His early education was with the Christian Brothers, Enniscorthy, for five years, and in 1907 he came to Clongowes, where his three elder brothers had preceded him. He showed considerable ability while at school, and won prizes in the Junior, Middle and Senior Grades of the Intermediate examinations.

On leaving Clongowes in 1911, Robert O'Dempsey entered the noviciate of the Society of Jesus, but broke down in health and was obliged to leave. He went into business in Messrs Todd Burns in Dublin, but always retained the hope of following his vocation to the priesthood, In 1916, his health being restored, his hope was realised, and he was again received into the Society of Jesus. He studied philosophy and theology at Milltown Park and was ordained in 1928. Before his ordination he taught for two years at Clongowes, and after it for thirteen years at the Crescent, Belvedere and Mungret. From 1943 to 1952 he was assistant to the editor of the “Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart”. He then went to Tullabeg, where from 1953 to 1962 he taught mathematical physics and chemistry to the Jesuit students, and after that acted as bursar until his health broke down a few years before his death in 1972,

Father O'Dempsey's life was in one sense uneventful, but in another it was truly remarkable. From his youth, he was periodically affected by nervous trouble, but he courageously overcame it again and again, and thus led a full, active and useful life. When in the colleges, though not a particularly good teacher, he was most devoted and hard working, and was a great “general utility” man, ready to help in the organisation of debates, plays, concerts and games. The work he had to do in the Messenger office was largely routine and not particularly interesting, but he carried it out with great fidelity and accuracy. When appointed to teach maths physics and chemistry in Tullabeg, forty years had elapsed since as a boy, he had distinguished himself in these subjects, and he applied himself courageously to the task of renewing his acquaintance with them.

His Jesuit colleagues remember him as a loyal friend, always ready to help, and as an inspiring example of fortitude in the face of constant adversity.

Born: 09 May 1885, Mitchelstown, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1907, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1917, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1923, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 06 July 1949, Armagh, County Armagh

Part of Milltown Park community, Dublin at time of his death.

by 1915 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Had studied 2 years of Theology in Maynooth and received Minor orders before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 24th Year No 4 1949
Obituary
Fr. Patrick O’Donoghue (1885-1807-1949)
He was born at Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, on 9th May, 1885. He was educated at St. Colman's, Fermoy, and entered Maynooth in 1902 where he studied philosophy for two years and theology for two. During his Maynooth course he secured high prizes in Church History, Elocution and Irish generally leading his class in the last mentioned subject. He entered the Society on 7th September, 1907 and had as Master of Novices, Fr. James Murphy for his first six months novitiate (Fr. James died on 22nd March, 1908). In the conspectus vitae written by novices shortly after their entry, Bro. O'Donoghue, as he then was, set down as his preference the giving of missions and retreats : “I should rather like teaching, but my great ambition would be preaching, giving missions and especially giving retreats to religious, students, etc.” This youthful ambition was destined to be splendidly realised.
After four years teaching at Crescent and Mungret Colleges he spent a year at Stonyhurst revising his philosophy, then passed to Milltown Park for theology, being ordained there on 31st July, 1917. From 1918 to 1931 he was teaching again at the Crescent and also for a good portion of that time engaged in church work, where his talent as preacher and lecturer got ample scope. In 1931 he joined the mission staff and from that time onward was engaged in the work of missions and retreats. He was Superior of the mission staff from 1942 till his death.
On Monday, 4th July of this year Fr. O'Donoghue travelled to Armagh to conduct the first week's clergy. retreat. He gave the usual. talks to the priests on the Tuesday, ending with a discourse on death, which touched his hearers deeply. The next morning he was awaited in the chapel for the morning talk, but when the President of the College went to fetch him he found him dead in the bathroom where he had already shaved. Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated the next morning in the Cathedral, at which His Grace the Archbishop, Dr.
D'Alton, and the eighty priests on retreat attended. The Rector of Milltown and Fr. E. J. Coyne (who finished the priests' retreat) were also present.

An Appreciation :
From his earliest years in the Society Fr. O'Donoghue seemed to have his mind bent on becoming a useful preacher of the Catholic Faith. His assiduity in the preparation of his sermon matter was most remark able. Monsignor Benson used to say that, if he was to speak to a small country audience, he would give many hours to preparing his address. Father O'Donoghue was most diligent in collecting material for his sermons and retreats. He wrote out his sermons and meditations with great care. He was gifted with a deep resonant pleasing voice, which was a great asset to him in fulfilling his ambition. His broadcast talks one Lent on the Passion of Our Lord were listened to with rapt attention all over the country, and were highly praised by priests and laity alike. For some years in the latter part of his life, owing to acute heart trouble, he was forced to retire from an active and successful participation in the missions. He continued the work of organisation as Superior of the Mission Staff, until his death.
Fr. O'Donoghue - like Our Holy Father, St. Ignatius - took always a kindly and detailed interest in the doings of Ours it gave him the greatest joy to hear of their successful work. In his dealings with the members of his staff he was considerate and sympathetic, and was gifted with a saving sense of humour. He went to endless trouble in his correspondence, both with Parish Priests, to make the mission work smoothly, and with his fellow missioners to explain to them in detail the arrangements he had made, Like a good organiser, he left nothing to chance. When he was obliged to retire through ill health the Mission Staff suffered a great loss. Fr. O'Donoghue was most anxious to continue the work of giving priests' retreats. His zeal led him to make the journey to Armagh to give the Diocesan Retreat, and this was the occasion of his sudden and tragic death. He had done the work that the Lord had given him to do.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Patrick O’Donoghue (1885-1949)

Father Patrick (1885-1949), was a native of Mitchelstown and educated at St Colman's, Fermoy. He entered Maynooth College in 1903 and was a second year divine when he obtained his bishop's permission to leave the diocese and enter the Society. He spent one year of his regency at the Crescent, 1910-11. He was ordained in Dublin in 1917.

For a short time after his ordination, Father O'Donoghue was master in Mungret College and Clongowes and on finishing his tertianship in 1921 was assigned to Sacred Heart College. The next nine years were spent here during which time he gave excellent service in the classroom. But, above all, he profitted by the opportunities afforded him of preaching in the church. In 1930 he joined the mission staff and became widely known for his splendid ability in preaching. He was superior of the Mission Staff until his death. His death came suddenly on 5 July, 1949 when he was conducting the annual retreat for the clergy of the archdioceses of Armagh.

Born: 31 October 1921, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1939, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, Della Strada, Dooradoyle, Limerick
Died: 14 September 1999, Toulouse, France

Working at St Thérèse en Corbières, Lagrasse, France at the time of death.

by 1971 at Paris, France (GAL) studying
by 1988 at Garancières, Île-de-France, France (GAL) working
by 1994 at Lagrasse, France (GAL) working

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 105 : Special Edition 2000

Obituary

Fr Barry O’Dowling (1921-1999)

1921, Oct 31: Born in Cork
Early education: Christian Brothers' College Cork and Mungret College
1939, Sept 7: Entered the Society at Emo
1941, Sept 6: First vows at Emo
1941 - 1944 Studied Arts at U.C.D.
1944 - 1947 Tullabeg, studying philosophy
1947 - 1951 Belvedere - Regency, H.Dip in Education
1951 - 1955 Milltown Park, studying philosophy
1954, July 29 Ordained priest at Milltown Park
1955 - 1956 Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1956 - 1958 St. Ignatius, Galway, Minister
1958 - 1970 Crescent College, Teacher
1970 - 1971 Paris, Studying Catechetics & French
1971 - 1987 Crescent College Comprehensive, Teacher
1987 - 1989 Versailles, Parish work
1989 - 1993 Clongowes, Teacher
1993 - 1999 France, Parish work

In his last year, Barry experienced health problems. During the spring and summer he received post-operative radiation treatment for cancer. In his last week he felt very weak and was taken to hospital in Toulouse where he died peacefully on Tuesday morning, September 14th.

Liam O'Connell preached at a special mass in Limerick after Barry's burial in France ...

When Fr. Barry O'Dowling died, the Bishop of Carcassone described him as a great priest and peacemaker, and as a most discrete person. Because of this discretion, because of Barry's efforts to be totally private, it is difficult to give an outline of his life. And yet it can help our prayer and thanksgiving, and I will attempt to do so.

Barry O'Dowling was born in Cork on October 31st 1921, one of four children, Ciaran, Deirdre, Barry and Aidan. He received his early education at C.B.C. and in Mungret College, which he attended with his brother Aidan. In 1939, at the start of the war, he joined the Jesuit noviceship at Emo, near Portlaoise. Fr. Sean O Duibhir and Fr, Bill McKenna who are on the altar with us today joined on the same day, and celebrated 60 years as Jesuits on 7th of this month. Barry followed the usual Jesuit course of studies, studying Arts at UCD, Philosophy at Tullabeg near Tullamore and Theology at Milltown Park. He had the usual break in his studies when he taught from 1947 until 1951 at Belvedere, and Fr. Hugh Duffy who is also with us today remembers how Barry was his water polo trainer at that time.

After ordination in 1954, Barry worked in St. Ignatius Galway as Minister, or Assistant Superior for two years, and then in 1958 began his long association with the Crescent, which lasted for 20 years until 1987. At a time when authority was strong, and arguments from authority were accepted in our homes, in our schools, and in our churches, Barry used a different approach in the teaching of Religion. He would introduce a question, and often not tell his students what his position was so that the questioning could go on. One student got his own back, after he was fed up with arguments with Marx and Feurbach and Camus. This student wrote in a student magazine that Fr. O'Dowling was considering joining the Catholic Church. But to this day his past pupils appreciate that they had the right to express their own views and to speak their minds, and they received approval and support for doing this. His colleagues on the teaching staff still remember the great theology lectures he organised for the staff in the late 1970's.

I will only refer to the other qualities Barry brought to the school:
As a teacher of English, Barry had a skill in teaching students to write well. This was achieved through the quality of his regular marking of students' English essays. Despite the right to free speech, there was an orderly atmosphere in the classroom, and speaking out of order could be met with an exclusion order - expressed in one word - “out”. While he did not like large groups, Barry had a great gift for conversation, wide ranging, long conversations, and some of these were fondly recalled over the last few days. Barry was an unlikely impressario, but in the 1960's he organised a theatre group from past pupils, and he once had to rearrange a production at the last minute, because the theatre owners did not approve of Tennessee Williams. He also organised youth discos, until they became too successful, and too large.

In 1987 when the time came to retire from Crescent, Barry feared that there might be speeches and presents, so he obtained permission to slip quietly away, the day before the end of term. This was not because he did not care. With his family or with his friends or with his God, while he cared deeply, he did not always want what was most important to him to be dealt with in public.

Starting in the 1960's, during school holidays Barry used to recharge his batteries in France, as often as he could. There he enjoyed the beauty of the French language, the energy and style of the church, and the friendship of French Jesuits, priests and other acquaintances. He needed this French dimension in his life, and it helped him to live fully and to breathe.

After retirement Barry worked for two years in a parish outside Paris, near Garancière. Then he returned to some teaching of English classes at Clongowes. He enjoyed his new life of teaching and gardening and reading, and could have been very happy at Clongowes till the Lord called him. But he never sold his French car, a sign that he still felt the pull of missionary work.

Then in 1993 at the age of 72 Barry accepted a new challenge, and went to work in Lagrasse in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The Bishop of Carcasonne found it difficult to get priests to work in this mountainy place. The region of the Corbieres has 22 villages in a large area, but only 2000 people living in them. Many of these isolated villages have long since lost their shops and post offices, and when the tourists go home, there are often as few as 10 or 20 people, mostly old people, left behind. Some people from northern Europe have settled in the area, and are finding it difficult to be accepted. Barry recently conducted a small survey among the people of this region, and he learned that their greatest problem was loneliness. Barry ministered to them, travelling 25,000 kilometres a year on tiny mountain roads, to help keep the small churches and their small communities alive.

At the Mass in Lagrasse last Sunday, the church was full of the people of the surrounding 21 villages, from Albieres, and Auriac and Davejan and Dernicueillette and Felines Termenes, and Laviers, and Lanet and Lanroqe de Fa and Maisons and Messac and Mouthournet and Montgaillard and Montjoi and Paliarac and Ribaute and Salza and St. Martin des Puits and St. Pierre des Champs and Termenes and Vignevielle and Villerouge Termenes and La Grasse. Tears were shed by the old inhabitants and by newcomers to the area, for the man who was willing to live in simplicity and in loneliness himself, as a man of the Gospel.

At the end of the Mass Madame Pla spoke about Barry, and I would love to have the text of what she said. She spoke of the Barry we see in the photograph that is displayed in the church, as he prepared to bless the vines from the top of a mountain. She spoke of the rocky hilly area, with tiny congregations, and how Barry was welcomed into that area by everybody, believers and non-believers. In an area where people were suspicious of each other and of outsiders, he was accepted and loved as everybody's priest.

Barry's death was sudden in the end, but he had been preparing for a long time. When his own mother died, he told the Jesuit Community at Dooradoyle, in an unusual moment of self-revelation, since my mother's death heaven and earth have been drawn closer together, this is an extraordinary time. When Charlie Davy's mother died, Barry told Charlie that he loved the part of the Mass where we remember the dead. In his recent homilies in Lagrasse Barry returned again and again to the faithfulness of God. During the summer in Toulouse, while he received radiation treatment, Barry read the books of the Jesuit theologian, Varillon, and discussed them with the Superior of the community. He was especially moved by the book entitled The Humility of God. On the Sunday before he died Barry asked his Jesuit colleague Père Daniel, to read the readings for the day, the 24th Sunday of the year, and then he asked for communion.

Today we pray that Barry enjoys eternal communion with God, and that after all the open ended discussions without answers, that Barry enjoys what eye has not seen and ear has not heard.

Liam O'Connell SJ

◆ The Clongownian, 2000

Obituary

Father Barry O’Dowling SJ
Fr Barry O'Dowling, who had spent much of his working life as a Jesuit teaching in Crescent College Comprehensive, came to Clongowes in 1989. By then he had retired from teaching and had just done a two-year stint in a parish near Versailles in France. As he had suffered a heart-attack, the solitary life of a curé in rural France was no longer appropriate. He taught English with us for four years on a part-time basis until he felt well enough to resume pastoral work in 1993. This time he went much further south to Lagrasse, a depopulated region of scattered mountain villages with a low level of religious practice, in which there were twenty-one churches in the parish. He served his people with fidelity and characteristic good humour, while living in poverty in a rambling, ramshackle presbytery beside the church in Lagrasse. His health had been declining for some time before he died on 14 September 1999, at the age of 77, in Toulouse, where he now lies buried. At a memorial Mass in Lagrasse the Sunday after, when the church was filled with parishioners from the different villages in his care, one of them, speaking for others, said: “Il nous a fait tant de bien”.

The local paper, Midi Libre, published the following touching appreciation a week after his death :

Nous apprenons avec tristesse le décès du Père Barry O'Dowling, hospitalisé mercredi dernier dans un établissement de soins à Toulouse. Curé de Lagrasse depuis plus de six ans, il avait en plus la charge du secteur paroissial du Termenès Orbieu.

Nous nous étions habitués à sa haute silhouette coiffée de son éternelle casquette, arpentant les rues du village. Très affable, un mot gentil à tous, il aimait se mettre à l'écoute des Lagrassiens ainsi que des personnes qu'il était appelé à rencontrer dans le secteur. Au village il connaissait tout le monde et chacun, pratiquant ou non, appréciait son ouverture d'esprit et sa tolérance. Les fidèles ont eu l'occasion d'apprécier ses homélies particulièrement profondes et tournées vers la vie quotidienne de ses paroissiens.

L'abbé Barry était Jésuite, et comme un grand nombre de ses collègues, il a pratiqué l'enseignement dans son pays d'Irlande qu'il aimait bien. Il ne manquait jamais les matchs France-Irlande. On lui posait quelquefois la question: “Vous soutenez évidemment l'Irlandé?' et il n'hésitait de répondre: Ah non! Que le meilleur gagne!” Après s'être dévoué à l'enseignement, il a voulu se mettre au service de la pastorale. C'est ainsi qu'il a servi à son arrivée en France, dans la région parisienne. Le tumulte de la ville ne lui convenait pas. Il a demandé à exercer dans la France profonde: “Donnez-moi le secteur le plus reculé de France”. Il faut croire qu'à Lagrasse il avait enfin trouvé le calme qu'il cherchait, puisqu'il avait souhaité rester dans ces Corbières sauvages tant qu'il pourrait exercer. Il a servi Dieu et l'Église jusqu'à l'extrême limite de ses forces.

Souhaitons à cet homme juste qu'il ait retrouvé la plénitude qu'il recherchait. Pour ses paroissiens, c'est le Père spirituel qui les a quittés et pour nous tous c'est un ami qui n'a fait que passer.

Born: 10 April 1898, Lahinch, County Clare
Entered: 31 August 1915, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1930, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 23 September 1974, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Brother of Bishop Dermot R O'Flanagan who Entered the Irish Province in 1917 and LEFT as a priest in 1932. He then went to Alaska in 1933 and was appointed first Bishop of Juneau, Alsaka 9th July 1951

by 1922 at Valkenburg, Netherlands (GER I) studying
by 1924 in Australia - Regency
by 1933 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Already with a BSc, Paul O'Flannagan arrived in Australia as a regent at Riverview, 1923, teaching, organising cadets and directing debating. In 1926-27 he was first division prefect, and looked after rowing before returning to Ireland for theology He later returned to Australia, working with Victor Turner, 1949-50, in the Australian Mission team.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948

Frs. Kennedy G., O'Flanagan and Saul leave for Australia on 9th July.

Irish Province News 49th Year No 4 1974

Obituary :
Fr Paul O'Flanagan (1898-1974)
The recollection evoked by the sad, sudden demise of Fr Paul O'Flanagan on September 23rd, of the severe heart seizure and consequent sickliness he had been visited by eight or nine years since, and before his advent to Gardiner Street, reconciled some what for his loss - his death might have been anticipated by years and yet during the years in Gardiner Street he undertook and fulfilled the chores thrust upon him with admirable regularity and efficiency. A comment, attributed to Fr P O'Mara in his latter days when age compelled him to seek Fr O’Flanagan's aid in running his Ladies' Sodality : “Don’t deprive me of my friends” was not totally whimsical ... Fr Paul did make a notable success of the succession
He was approachable, punctual, unassuming; popular with the house staff (competent critics), and among the Community and with externs a counsellor confidently consulted.
The obsequies took place on Wednesday, September 25th. Fr David Murtagh, CC, a nephew of Fr Paul’s was principal celebrant assisted by Fr Provincial and upwards of twenty others, Ours and externs, familiar friends. Fr Murtagh again later officiated at the graveside.
We offer sympathy to Mr Frank O'Flanagan and Mrs Murtagh, the surviving members of Fr Paul’s family....and their families.

We offer an appreciation by one long associate with the deceased :
I first met Fr Paul O'Flanagan a few months after his ordination; and I spoke to him for the last time about a day and a half before he died. We chatted for over an hour.
In the intervening years, time had lined his face and flecked his hair with grey. In my view, however, though greatly matured by the experiences of a very active life and a good deal of suffering in his latter years, I found him the very same Paul I had known in the far-off days. His conversation was refreshingly youthful, and he was as mentally alert as ever-optimistic, full of humour and boyish mischief. The idea that he was so soon to die never crossed my mind; I wonder, if it did his?
Paul was born in Lahinch in 1898, went to school in Belvedere College and entered the novitiate at Tullabeg in 1915. Having gained his BSc degree in University College, Dublin, and studied philosophy with the German Jesuits in Valkenburg, Holland, he was sent to Riverview College, Sydney, to teach. Returning to Milltown Park for theology, he was ordained in 1930.
Most of his life as a priest was spent on the mission-staff, and it was there I came to know him, both as a colleague and as a friend. In the work we did together, he appeared to me to have preserved his boyhood ideal of what a Jesuit should be, and I never detected any trace of - as it is now the fashion to call it! - “crisis of identity”! He was possessed of all the natural qualities that go to the making of a good Jesuit, holding the Society in high esteem and regarding it with affection. He was interested in its welfare and in that of our Province; as also in the success of his Jesuit friends. As a community man, he was unrivalled. He brought joy to all his work, and shared it with the members of the house to which he happened to be attached. His pleasures were simple a game of bridge, which he took seriously; a day's golf or a session of story-swopping. When in the mood, he was a delicious raconteur, notably about his adventures under the Southern Cross, about Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne or Archbishop Kelly of Sydney. His warmth of character won him many friends, both inside and outside the Society. Amongst the laity, he was the special friend of the men. On missions they would call him on the telephone, wishing to enjoy again his warm, human companionship. Some were past pupils, some school friends, and others, men to whom he had lent a helping, priestly hand.
Paul was an outstandingly good, even exemplary priest, and he distinguished himself over many years as an excellent missioner and retreat-master. All through his life he preserved his youthful, high ideal of the priesthood, and in his last years he edified us all by his incredible bravery, as he fought for health and life. I cannot speak for others, but I never heard a word of complaint or self pity escape his lips. Practising what he had preached so often, he took his suffering tanquam de manu Dei, as indeed he took every thing in life.
From glimpses I had of him on missions, I guess he must have helped thousands yearly, both by his advice and by example: But he never spoke of this work, his cases or of those who had come to him. In this he showed no sign of self-glorification or self seeking; certainly no trace of worldly ambition. He was always ready with prompt obedience, whatever the task or office assigned him. And, as already mentioned, in the allotted work he made himself happy, and by so doing, contributed greatly to the happiness of all concerned.
It would be an incomplete and phoney picture of Paul, if I did not refer - I hope, gently and with kindly intent?....to his likeable foible! He was pre-possessed about his BSc degree, and sometimes referred to himself as a “scientist”! However, he was open to a bit of leg-pulling on the subject, provided it came from the right quarter! He was proud of Bishop Dermot, his brother, and one might sometimes lead him on, to discourse on Dermot's successes. He was most vulnerable, however, on the subject of Australia. This was a favourite theme of his conversation, for, besides his years teaching in Riverview, he had done a two-year stint as a missioner there. Right to the end, he never lost his interest in the Aussies, more especially in their cricket. When a Test Match was in progress, he would listen assiduously to the ball-by-ball account on the radio, and was ever ready to explain the intricacies of the game and the prospects of an Australian victory to any interested party. Some of the boys who had been introduced to cricket by him, later won places on Test teams, and he could often be drawn on this subject. If I remember rightly, one of their number was the well-known and very successful player, Fingleton. It has been suggested to me that Sir Don Bradman was another; but there, I am open to correction!
Paul was ever one of Belvedere's most loyal past pupils. Even to the last days of his life, he was proud of the college and took keen interest in its successes in studies or at games; in Old Belvederians, the Newsboys' Club, as it formerly was, but more especially in the Old Belvedere Rugby Football Club. . If an acquaintance were to judge merely by Paul’s manner, he might conclude, that he never faced a crisis in his life. I am sure such a conclusion would be incorrect, since most of us do. But he never lost his cool in any circumstance that I saw, and appeared calm and unperturbed at all times - the completely unflappable man!
He showed little of his real self, either to the outside world or to his fellow Jesuits. I have, however, reason to believe, that underneath, he was possessed of a very strong, deep faith, and a great reverence for the things of God, Reserved and silent regarding his interior life with God, I strongly suspect him to have been as truly a pious man as he was a sincere and staunch friend.
As one who worked side by side with him on many occasions, I am happy to be able to bear witness, and pay tribute to his gracious charity, his kindness and thoughtfulness. He was generous in praising and encouraging others, and his memories of any mission concerned either its success, or the amusing incidents which cropped up from time to time. As we sat together thirty-six hours before his death, a smile often played about his lips, as he recounted the pleasant happenings of a mission in Mullingar Cathedral, in which he and I were engaged, just over thirty years back. That is my last memory and picture of him,
It is sometimes said, that every human life is like an Unfinished Symphony; to this statement, I am afraid, I cannot subscribe. Colleagues of mine who worked for God all the days of their lives, and aspired to union with Christ through his grace, seemed in their latter years, to be anything but the Unfinished Symphony. If I may say so, each life-work appeared perfectly rounded off, ending in a rising crescendo of faith, trust, joy, hope and expectation of life eternal. For these men we have prayed, that that crescendo would end in a paean of glory with the Risen Christ. In their number we, Paul’s friends and colleagues, would wish to include him by heartfelt and earnest prayer. I should like to think, that no one who ever met him would wish otherwise, and that without exception they would gladly join us as we pray: Solus na Soillse agus radharc na Tríonóide dá anam!

Born: 1600, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 08 January 1626, Bordeaux, France - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)
Ordained: 1633, Bordeaux, France
Final Vows: 15 August 1641, Waterford City, County Waterford
Died: 02 May 1666, Grand Collège, Poitiers, France - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)

Was already a “Jurista”. Had studied 2 years Philosophy and 2 Jurisprudence on Ent
1628 First Vows 09 January 1628
1628-1630 At Pau College AQUIT taught Grammar
1630-1636 At Bordeaux Collège studying Theology, teaching Grammar and Philosophy
1636-1637 Minister at La Rochelle
1637 In Ireland for 4 years
1647-1648 Taught Physics at Bordeaux
1648-1650 At Pau College teaching Philosophy
1650-1651 Minister and Consultor at Périgord Collège; 1651-1652 At Tulle Collège teaching Grammar; 1655-1656 At Poitiers (MIn & Cons)
1656-1657 Superior of Bayonne Mission
1657-1660 At Agen College Consultor and teaching Physics, also a Casuist there
1660-1666 At Poitiers Confessor and later infirmus (Verdier Rector at that time)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
(In Pen) First Vows 09 January 1628; RIP Poitiers 1665 (Sommervogel)
1659 He was probably Superior of the Mission as “Nathaniel Hart” (but this is also ascribed to Richard Shelton, who was Superior of Irish Mission)
He was a much esteemed Agent of the Confederation at the French Court; Prudent, and much liked by the Nuncio in Paris. He had been sent over by the Catholics of Ireland to beg assistance from the King in their distress, the kingdom presenting a scene of general conflagration and bloodshed, the Catholics fighting for freedom of conscience, and their lawful King against the Puritans (Letter of Robert Nugent 24 April 1642). When in Paris the petition of the twenty-five thousand Irish - driven by persecution to St Kitts - arrived. Father Hartegan offered himself as one of two Fathers to be sent for their spiritual relief - Letter of Father Hartegan 30 Marhc 1643 (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
Often mentioned by Nuncio to Ireland Rinuccini
Considered a religious and clever man.
A correspondent of Wadding. Several of his letters are in Carte’s “Ormond” and Mr Gilberty’s works on “Irish History”
He volunteered to help the Irish at St Kitts (cf Foley’s Collectanea).

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had already studied Philosophy and Jurisprudence and had graduated MA before Ent 08 January 1626 Bordeaux
1628-1630 After First Vows he was sent on Regency to Agen,
1630-1634 He was then sent to Bordeaux for Theology where he was Ordained 1633
1634-1636 Sent to Pau to teach Philosophy
1636-1637 Sent as Minister at La Rochelle
1637-1642 Sent to Ireland. No record of his work except that he made FV at Waterford 15 August 1641. It may be reasonable to surmise that he was known to the newly constituted “Confederation of Kilkenny”, as he was instructed to represent them the following year in France - the Mission Superior duly notified the General of this business.
1642-1646 Sent to France to take charge of what might be called the Embassy of Ireland in France on behalf of the Supreme Council of the Confederation of Kilkenny. He was at Beziers June 4, Lyon July 15 and settled in Paris as “Agent” August 8th until May 1646 when, having finished or resigned his mission he returned to Bordeaux. He along with Geoffrey Baron (nephew of Luke Wadding OFM) were formally appointed as agents at the French Court.
1646 After he resigned his post, he continued to live in Paris and then moved to Bordeaux. In the course of his court business, he had managed to earn the distrust of Queen Henrietta, wife of Charles I. Letters on the Queen and supposedly written by O’Hartegan were seized and published in London. They were considered a forgery, however they were also used as a favourite weapon of counter-diplomacy, and even the Supreme Council were not convinced that O’Hartegan had written them - the originals of which were never produced.
1648 Two years after his return to Bordeaux, The General Carafa asked the AQUIT Provincial to summon a Meeting of Consultors to choose a priest of their Province to conduct an extraordinary Visitation of the Irish Mission, and O’Hartegan was invited to take part in the consultation. The choice fell on Mercure Verdier, who possibly owed some of his grasp of the political-religious situation in Ireland to O’Hartegan.
He was never to return to Ireland and was sent to teach at various Colleges in AQUIT. he taught Philosophy at Bordeaux (1646-1648), at Pau (1648-1650) and Agen (1657-1660) . He conducted weight AQUIT business at Paris, and briefly was Superior at Bayonne.
1660 He was sent to Grand Collège Poitiers as Operarius, and he died there 02 May 1666

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
O'Hartegan, Matthew
by Aoife Duignan

O'Hartegan, Matthew (1600–66), Jesuit priest and confederate agent, was born in August 1600 in Limerick. Originally intending to pursue a lay career, he studied philosophy and jurisprudence, and was awarded an MA, but subsequently entered the Society of Jesus at Bordeaux on 8 January 1626. After a short period of regency at Agen, he began theological studies at Bordeaux in 1630. He was ordained in spring 1633, and thereafter became professor of philosophy at Pau. He was transferred as minister to the college of La Rochelle in 1636, and at the end of that year was assigned to the Irish mission. There are no records of his term in Ireland, except that he made his solemn profession at Waterford, on 15 August 1641. He acted on behalf of the Catholic Confederate Association in Paris in 1642, and he and Geoffrey Barron (qv) were officially appointed agents to the French court by the supreme council on 23 July 1643. His efforts to ensure the continued support of France and to procure aid involved him in contact with the papal nuncio in France, Grimaldi, Cardinal Mazarin, and Charles I's queen, Henrietta Maria.

In March 1645 the confederate supreme council expressed concern at a number of letters allegedly written by O'Hartegan, which criticised the influence on the council of Charles I's viceroy, James Butler (qv), marquess of Ormond. Although the council stated that it believed the letters to be forged, O'Hartegan's suitability to act for the association was increasingly called into question, with concerns over his ‘vanitye, and exaltation of himselfe’ and ‘disrespect and scandalous calumnyes by him’ (Gilbert, Ir. confed., iv, 205). He also alienated Henrietta Maria, who doubted the sincerity of his desire for peace.

In regular contact with GianBattista Rinuccini (qv) in Paris, he organised the nuncio's passage to Ireland. Rinuccini discussed the possibility of O'Hartegan's returning to his religious duties in October 1645; he ultimately finished or resigned his agency in Paris in May 1646 and returned to Bordeaux. Despite this, he retained an interest in developments in Ireland, and continued to voice his suspicions about the integrity of royal intentions. The general of the Society of Jesus, Father Caraffa, made a request to the provincial at Bordeaux 1648 to choose a priest for an examination of the Irish mission. O'Hartegan was deeply involved in this process, and the ultimate choice, Mercure Verdier, owed much of his familiarity with the complex politico-religious situation in Ireland to O'Hartegan. However, O'Hartegan was never again recalled to the Irish mission. He held a number of posts in his own province of Aquitaine, including professor of philosophy at Bordeaux (1646–8), and at Pau (1648–50). In the mid 1650s the general of the society expressed concern about the spiritual welfare of Irish inhabitants on the island of St Kitts, prompting O'Hartegan's offer to settle there; however, he does not appear to have gone to the West Indies. He held the professorship of philosophy at Agen 1657–60 and also conducted much weighty business for his province at Paris, briefly acting as superior at Bayonne. In 1660 he was assigned to the Grand College of Poitiers where he served as operarius until his death on 2 May 1666.

Francis Finnegan, ‘A biographical dictionary of Irish Jesuits in the time of the society's third mission, 1598–1773’, Milltown Park MSS, Irish Jesuit Archives, Dublin; G. Aiazzi (ed.), The embassy in Ireland of Monsignor G. B. Rinuccini, archbishop of Fermo, in the years 1645–9, trans. Annie Hutton (1873); Gilbert, Ir. confed., iii, 68–73, 107–9, 186, 233–4, 261; iv, xx–xv, 1, 36–38, 119, 203–6, 377–8; HMC, Report on Franciscan manuscripts preserved at the convent, Merchants' Quay, Dublin (1906), 150, 197, 201, 231; NHI, iii (1976), 598; L. McRedmond, To the greater glory: a history of the Irish Jesuits (1991), 67, 82; J. Lowe (ed.), Clanricarde letter book (1993), 149; Micheál Ó Siochrú, Confederate Ireland, 1642–1649: a constitutional and political analysis (1999), 51, 263

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Mathew O’Hartegan SJ 1600-1666
Fr Matthew O’Hartegan was born in St John’s Parish Limerick, and he entered the Society in 1626.

Together with Frs Michael Chamberlain and Thomas Maguire, he was appointed Chaplain to the Confederate Forces in Ireland in 1642.The same year he was sent by the Confederation of Kilkenny as accredited Irish Agent to the King of France. A great deal of controversy exists as to the success of his mission. At any rate, he was recalled in 1645.

The rest of his life was spent in the Province of Aquitaine, to which he belonged. He died at Poitiers about 1666.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
O’HARTEGAN , MATTHEW. A letter of F. Robert Nugent dated from Ireland, the 24th of April, 1642, shows, that F. Hartegan had just been sent over to France by the Catholic National Association, and the Bishops, to solicit the aid of his Most Christian Majesty. He states that Ireland presented a spectacle of general conflagration and bloodshed, and that the Catholics were fighting for freedom of conscience, for their legitimate King, and for their country, against the Puritans. F. Hartegan during the year he spent in this negotiation displayed much ardour; but his success was not equal to his expectations. This may have been owing to the extreme illness of Cardinal Richlieu. Another object was then taken up in Letter keeping with his religious profession. I learn from his own letter, dated Paris, the 30th of March, 1643, that Pere Jordan Forrestier, the Procurator of the Provinces of France, had placed in his hands on the 25th of March, the petition of 25,000 Irishmen, who by the persecution and iniquity of the times had been forced to expatriate themselves, and settle in St. Kitts, and the adjoining isles. Their petition had been brought over by the French Admiral Du Poenry, who backed their petition for two Irish Jesuits to be sent to them to administer the consolations of Religion to their destitute and afflicted countrymen. F. Hartegan offered himself for this Mission, and represented his vigour of constitution, his knowledge of the Irish, English, and French languages, and his vehement desire of labouring in this or any other similar Mission. Probably his wish was granted, for afterwards he disappears altogether.

Born: 16 October 1916, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 30 May 1976, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Brother of Criodán O'Higgins - LEFT 19 March 1950

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 51st Year No 3 1976

Gardiner Street
We end on a sad note. Fr Pearse O’Higgins died on the morning of Sunday, 30th May. His death was a terrible shock for the community and indeed for everyone living in the parish and in the Pioneer circle. Pearse will be a real loss to us here, not only for the wonderful work he did but above all for the extraordinary support his presence meant in the community. May the Lord be good to him!

Obituary :

Fr Pearse O’Higgins (1935-1976)

Though I spent thirteen years of formation with Pearse, we did not share the same roof since we endured tertianship together in 1949-50. In the intervening years, on those occasions on which I met him, he seemed to be unchanged and unchangeable. Large, deep-voiced, welcoming, and always, always equitable: with his unending supply of funny stories and his acute memory for situations and events in Emo, Rathfarnham and Tullabeg, he was always good company. There was a great solidity about Pearse, a great durable sanity: a blending of deep spirituality, good humour and common sense. With his political and linguistic back ground, one might have expected Pearse to hold extreme positions on all sorts of questions, but he was so open to reality and so capable of an accepting awareness of many views that his attitudes were sympathetic and moderate.
My memories of Pearse on the playing-fields of Emo and Tullabeg are comic. He wasn’t a born athlete and I think he disliked football but he togged out just to be with us and to lumber around in search of the ball which never seemed to be where Pearse was. I was quite astonished when I learned that in recent years he had become quite a good golfer. Now that I come to think of it, I remember seeing himself and the braces-wearing Dr Corboy playing havoc on the links in Balbriggan!
Golf courses and football pitches are not, to be sure, the serious arenas of life, but personalities are often revealed on them, Pearse remained as unaffected by his success in golf as by his clumsiness at football: both revealed that in-built stabilising quality which, to my mind, was Pearse's greatest human attribute. Maybe memory, like the sundial, records only the sunny hours of my friends : be that as it may, I can never recall Pearse being down or touchy or in bad form: Pearse was always ... just the large-bodied, good-natured, humorous man of God.

Here, surely, was a man in whom there was no guile. Above all his many virtues he stood out as a man of principle, and nothing could cause him to swerve from the path he thought fit to take. He never acted hastily-in word and deed he was slow-moving, but always got there'.
With his natural power of mimicry, which was always good for a laugh but which never gave offence, and his wonderful gift as a raconteur, a gift he used unsparingly, he was delightful company, At recreation, to get him going, it was sufficient to throw out a phrase like “Do you remember such-and-such?”, and he was off at once entertaining all within earshot - and his range was extensive! Some of his recollections, told always with unerring accuracy and detail, I must have heard fifty times over, but they never failed to raise a laugh,
He was a man of deep faith and fervent but never ostentatious prayer. This, united with his perennial good humour, won admiration and respect from all wherever he went or worked. His passing is a sore loss to all who had the pleasure of his companionship. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam caomh!

◆ The Clongownian, 1976

Obituary

Father Pearse O’Higgins SJ

Just as we go to Press, we learned the sad news of Fr Pearse O'Higgins's sudden death in St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, on Sunday, May 20th - Union Day. Fr Pearse had spent a number of years teaching and doing church work both in the Crescent, Limerick, and in St Ignatius College, Galway, where he had been Rector for some six years, before coming to Clongowes in 1965 to join the teaching staff. Though he spent only a year with us, in that short time he endeared himself both to his confrères and pupils. He had a genius for getting to know people, and was interested in all they did and in all belonging to them - and he never seemed to forget a name or a face. He will be sadly missed by all, but especially by the Pioneers, for whom he did so much throughout his lifetime in Limerick, Galway and in Dublin. Ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam

Born: 13 August 1919, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1938, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1953, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1956, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 23 April 1998, St Joseph’s, Shankill, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.

Brother of John O'Holohan - RIP 2018

Born: 27 May 1933, Arklow, County Wicklow
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 24 May 1964, Clongowes Wood College SJ, Naas, County Kildare
Final Vows: 02 February 1977, Loyola House, Eglinton Road, Dublin
Died: 17 December 2022, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street Community at the time of death

FSS
Born : 27th May 1933, Dublin City
Raised : Arklow, Co Wicklow
Early Education at CBS Callan, Co Kilkenny; Clongowes Wood College SJ
7th September 1950 Entered Society at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
8th September 1952 First Vows at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
1952-1955 Rathfarnham - Studying Arts at UCD
1955-1958 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1958-1960 Clongowes Wood College SJ - Regency : Teacher; Studying for CWC Cert in Education
1960-1961 Crescent College SJ - Regency : Teacher
1961-1965 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
24th May 1964 Ordained at Clongowes Wood College SJ, Naas, Co Kildare
1965-1966 Rathfarnham - Tertianship
1966-1968 St Mary’s, Emo - Socius to Novice Master; Minister; Teacher
1968-1972 Coláiste Iognáid, Galway - Rector; Teacher; BVM & S Ignatius Sodalities
1972-1974 Loyola House - Socius to Provincial; Province Consultor
1974-1986 Gonzaga College SJ - Minister; Bursar (House & College)
2nd February 1977 Final Vows at Loyola House, Eglinton Road, Dublin
1980 Assistant Provincial Treasurer; Curator Rocky Valley - Villa house
1981 Revisor Irish Province; Treasurer Gonzaga
1986 Sabbatical - half year (from 01/02/86)
1986-1995 Arrupe - Parish Curate in Church of the Virgin Mary, Ballymun
1989 Superior
1992 Socius to Novice Master
1995-2003 Iona, Portadown - Community Development; Reconciliation Ministry; Librarian
1996 Superior
2003-2005 Clongowes Wood College SJ - Minister; Treasurer; Guestmaster; Ministers in People’s Church
2004 Vice-Rector
2005-2013 John Sullivan, Mulvey - Superior; Directs Spiritual Exercises
2006 Director of Lay Retreat Association; Socius to Formation Director
2007 Formation Commission
2011 Minister
2013-20 Gardiner St - Assists in Church; Director of Lay Retreat Association
2014 + Superior’s Admonitor
2016 + Prefect of Health; off Director of Lay Retyreat Association
2018 Assists in Church; Superior’s Admonitor
2021 Superior’s Admonitor
2021 October - Prays for the Church and Society at Cherryfield Lodge

https://jesuit.ie/news/fergus-okeefe-sj-a-gentle-and-humble-presence/

Fergus O’Keefe SJ – A ‘gentle and humble presence’

Fr Fergus O’Keefe SJ died peacefully, aged 89, in Cherryfield Lodge nursing home, Ranelagh, Dublin on 17 December 2022. His Funeral Mass took place in St Francis Xavier’s Church, Gardiner Street, Dublin on 21 December 2022, followed by burial in Glasnevin Cemetery. At the end of this article you can read the homily at the Funeral Mass by Fr Gerry Clarke SJ.

Fergus was born on 27 May 1933 in Dublin City. Raised in Arklow, Co Wicklow, his early education was at CBS Callan, Co Kilkenny, followed by Clongowes Wood College SJ, Co Kildare.

He entered the Jesuit novitiate at St Mary’s, Emo, Co Laois in 1950 and took his First Vows there on 8 September 1952. His Jesuit formation included studying arts at UCD; philosophy at Tullabeg; regency in Clongowes Wood College SJ and Crescent College SJ; and theology at Milltown Park, Dublin.

Upon ordination at Clongowes Wood College SJ on 24 May 1964, Fergus served in a number of roles including Socius to the Novice Master; Rector and teacher at Coláiste Iognáid SJ in Galway; Socius to the Provincial; and minister and bursar at Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin. He took his Final Vows in the Society of Jesus on 2 February 1977.

He continued to experience variety in his Jesuit life from 1977 to 2003 including acting as assistant provincial treasurer; revisor of the Irish Province; Parish curate in Church of the Virgin Mary, Ballymun, Dublin; and working in community development and reconciliation ministry in Portadown, Northern Ireland.

From 2003 onwards, Fergus lived in three other Jesuit communities at Clongowes Wood College SJ; Mulvey Park in Dundrum, Dublin; and Gardiner Street Parish in Dublin. He assisted in church and ministered the sacraments, guided people in the Spiritual Exercises, and was Director of the Lay Retreat Association.

Fergus moved to Cherryfield Lodge nursing home in 2021 where he prayed for the Church and the Society of Jesus. He accepted the situation with his usual serenity and calm, never complaining as his health declined. He died peacefully surrounded by his family on 17 December 2022.

Homily at Funeral Mass by Gerry Clarke SJ

There are, I know, many Jesuits who stand in the queue to make the homily at Fr Fergus’s Funeral Mass. And speaking to them over the last few days has brought back to mind the many and various ministries and communities where Fergus has lived and where he has graced people with his gentle and humble presence.

I had the privilege of sharing community life with Fergus in three locations:

Iona Community in Portadown
John Sullivan House in Mulvey Park, Dundrum
St Francis Xavier’s Gardiner Street

I am consoled by the fact that no words can ever capture the richness of a person or of a person’s whole life. So this is my attempt to capture something of Fergus’s grace and gift as we gather to lay his mortal remains to rest.

Remembering Fergus brings us closer to the mystery of the Incarnation

Fergus has given us a gift as we approach Christmas because, remembering Fergus and his personality, brings us closer to the mystery of how God comes into the world: Christ’s Nativity

Always speak well of others

I never, ever heard Fr Fergus utter a bad word about another person. I’ll repeat that: “I never, ever heard Fergus utter a bad word about another person.” It was part of his character never to indulge his anger or frustration by spreading gossip about others. It was just not part of his DNA. And in not gossiping about others, he forced those who might have a tendency to gossip to refrain. Being around Fergus meant only ever speaking well of others. And if you can’t speak well of others, then don’t speak at all.

Pope Francis is a past master at this too. He simply goes silent. And this is what Jesus does before the authorities who, sitting on the throne of judgment would condemn him and sentence him to death.

Pope Francis, Fergus, Jesus refuse to condemn others.

Always place others before you

We all knew Fergus as a shy person. He shunned the limelight and stuck to the shadows, doing his duty with the utmost dedication. And duty has to be the hallmark of his life as a priest. Placing himself after others and always placing others before himself.

And this is another feature of Fergus that leads us into the mystery of the Incarnation. As we read from an early Christian hymn in St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians:

“he humbled himself and became obedient” (Philippians 2)

It was a feature of his life that Fergus took on what he was asked to take on, one thing after another. Sometimes when it involved quite a challenge to his own personality and character:

In his breviary I find on the inside page, written in Fergus’s unmistakable hand … each with a line drawn neatly through it:

Ballymun
Portadown
Clongowes
Mulvey Park
Gardiner Street (where there is no line yet drawn)

And then in his later years, Fergus was free and willing to proof-read texts for the Messenger and other Jesuit publications – dutifully, tirelessly and with great attention to detail. Sometimes he would present you with a really prickly problem in grammar, which you couldn’t solve and which he would have to slope off and solve in his own way!

One of the gifts of old age has to be a slowing down and a reflectiveness. Fergus embraced that generously. I remember him moving out of Mulvey Park, where, like the younger Jesuits in formation, he cooked and cleaned and kept house. But there was a moment when he realised that he wanted to and needed to move somewhere where there was a little more support and where he didn’t have to shop or prepare meals for 8! So, he moved to Gardiner Street. And when his sense of duty in the parish could no longer drive him strongly enough to celebrate daily Mass or hear confessions in the parish, Fergus, gracefully asked to be relieved of his responsibilities and step down from the daily rostering for masses and confessions.

This showed a freedom and knowledge of himself and a humility to accept the inevitable weakening of later life.

Conclusion

Fr Fergus, like his elder brother and Jesuit, Fr Ed O’Keefe had a great love for Blessed Fr John Sullivan. And it was Fergus who composed the prayers for the ceremony of beatification of Fr John which took place here at Gardiner Street on 13 May 2017. You’ll find those prayers on the wall display in the shrine at the back of the church. They remind us of Fergus’s own virtues and are, perhaps, his prayers for us today here:

We thank and praise God for every moment of this celebration; for everybody present here, especially those who are sick or unwell. May the Lord open our hearts to the needs of the poor that, like Fr John, we may be witnesses to the love of Christ Jesus, our Saviour and friend.

We pray for the leaders of our churches and for all those who serve the Christian community as pastors. We pray especially for Pope Francis, (for his representative here today, Cardinal Angelo Amato,) and for all the pastors leading us in prayer at this Mass. May they be strengthened in the gifts of leadership and service, humility and courage.

We pray for our young people facing decisions in life: that they may find in Blessed John the inspiration to be men and women for others, thoughtful, generous and kind.

Blessed Father John used to say “Be beginning. Be always beginning. The saints were always beginning.” We pray that the Lord will release us from the things that hold us down, the habits and ways in which our churches stifle growth and unity. May we “be always beginning”.

As we gather to pay tribute to Fergus, to thank God for his life and witness, we draw that line which he never drew through the final place on the list of his Jesuit life:

Gardiner Street

And we pray for him now, in the sure and certain hope that this humble, kind and self-effacing Christian, priest, brother, uncle and companion of Jesus is now beginning his new life with the Lord, meek and humble of heart.

May he rest in peace.

Born: 25 January 1840, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 03 September 1863, Milltown Park Dublin
Ordained: 1866
Final Vows: 02 February 1876
Died: 18 December 1923, Ms Quinn’s Hospital, Mounty Square, Dublin

Part of St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

by 1866 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He was a member of a prominent Limerick family. One of his brothers Francis was Mayor of Limerick (and MP for Limerick) during the troubled Land League days, and another was Rev Canon Joseph O’Keeffe PP of Rathfarnham.

His early studies were at Maynooth, where Cardinal Michael Logue was one of his classmates.
He completed his Theology at Louvain, and there had shown a natural attitude for Moral Theology, and this later made him a very good Spiritual Director.
After Ordination he was sent to Clongowes teaching, and then to Galway as an Operarius in the Church for seven years.
1879-1900 He was at Limerick, and was appointed Rector, and Minister, and was a strenuous worker in the Church.
1900 He was sent to Gardiner St where he worked until his health began to fail and confined him to his room. He died there 18 December 1923

Note from John Naughton Entry :
For the last year of his life he was in failing health, and about 10 days before death he was moved to Miss Quinn’s Hospital, Mountjoy Square, where he died peacefully. Fathers Matthew Russell and Timothy O’Keeffe were with him at the time.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Commnnity

Father Timothy O’Keeffe (1840-1923)

A member of an old Limerick family well known in the public life of the city, entered the Society in 1863. He had been a student at Maynooth when he felt that he was called to the religious life. He spent some twenty-one years at the Crescent from 1879 and was rector of the college from 1885 to 1891. After his term of office, he remained on the teaching staff and was in charge for many years of the women's Sodality of the Blessed Virgin. On leaving Limerick at the opening of the century, Father O'Keeffe was appointed to the Church of St Francis Xavier, Gardiner St, where he laboured until his death.

Born: 03 March 1918, County Waterford
Entered: 07 September 1936, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1954, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 04 September 2003, St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Zambia Mission : 27 November 1962
Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 03/12/1969

by 1951 at Paray-le-Monial France (LUGD) making Tertianship
by 1952 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - fourth wave of Zambian Missioners
Mission Superior Chikuni (HIB) 21 November 1962 - 1969

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Des (as he was known to his fellow Jesuits) died on 4 September 2003 at the age of 85, completely unexpectedly. His mother lived to be 101 and all thought that Des would follow suit. He had gone to the Mina Medical Centre with a touch of 'flu with another member of the community, and then he died.

He was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1918, attended school at Blackrock College and Ballyfin and then entered the Society at Emo Park in 1936. The usual course of studies, arts, philosophy, theology, brought him to ordination in 1949 at Milltown Park, Dublin. For his tertianship he went to Paray-le-Monial in France, 1950/1951.

The second batch of Irish Jesuits to come to the then Northern Rhodesia in 1951 included Des who came to Chikuni to be Assistant principal of the newly opened Canisius College, 1951-52. He then went north to learn CiBemba for a year and came to Lusaka to work in the Regiment church for a few months before moving to St. Ignatius (1953-l959), doing parish work at Chilanga and Kafue, and being chaplain to Munali Secondary School and Chalimbana Teacher Training College. He became judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese. He moved to Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College to teach for a few months in 1960. He returned to St .Ignatius as Superior and chaplain as above.

He was appointed Regular Superior of the Mission from 1962 to 1969, first residing in Choma and then in Mazabuka in Moreau house. As Des never gave a snap decision but one which was cautiously thought out, where he lived became known as ‘Tomorrow House’. He returned to Lusaka to St. Ignatius in 1970 where he spent the rest of his life. Parish priest there from 1970 to 1977, he then became full time chaplain to the University Teaching Hospital, a devoted priest to the sick and dying. This was from 1977 to 1991 where he also built a chapel in the hospital. Even after retiring as official chaplain, his devotion to the sick took him twice a week to other hospitals in Lusaka, Hill Top, Mina Medical Centre and Mine Hospital etc. At the same time parish work in St Ignatius: Masses, funerals, marriages, occupied his ever busy life right to the end.

Des was a very hospitable person, sincere and genuine in his relationships with others. He was sensitive to the needs of others and had a great serenity about him. He never became upset, was 'unflappable' as the homilist at his funeral described him. He ‘hastened slowly’ and was known to arrive for meals or any other function always 'slightly late'.

He had a marvellous memory for people and occasions, and could be relied upon to remember who was who, and recall when such an event took place. ‘Ask Des’ was always the solution when one was looking for information about the past. In fact after he died, letters, newspaper cuttings, records etc were found in his room, in short, ample material to gladden the heart of the archivist!

He would never be rushed. Once when he was having a cuppa in the sitting room at St Ignatius, someone came to the parish office to see him without an appointment. He continued with his tea even pouring a second cup and was reminded that someone was still waiting at the parish office. He is said to have remarked ‘I am not a fireman’! But, despite that, he was always kind and understanding to all who came to him. He was the perfect example of a gentleman in his graceful old age who had spent 52 years of dedicated priestly service in Zambia and especially Lusaka.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 123 : Special Issue February 2005

Obituary
Fr Desmond (Des) O’Loghlen (1918-2003) : Zambia-Malawi Province

3rd March, 1918: Born in Waterford, Ireland
7th Sept. 1936: Entered the Society at Emo
1944 - 1946: Crescent College, Limerick, teaching, regency
31st July, 1949: Ordained
1950 - 1951: Tertianship at Paray-le-Monial, France.
1951 - 1952: Chikuni, Canisius, assistant principal
1952 - 1953: Chingombe, Kabwe, Mpika, language study
2nd Feb 1954: Professed of four vows
1953 - 1959: Lusaka, St. Ignatius, pastoral work
1955 - 1959: Chaplain at Chalimbana
1956 - 1959: Chaplain at Munali
1959 - 1993: Judicial vicar for Archdiocese of Lusaka
1960: Chikuni, Charles Lwanga, teaching
1960 - 1962: Lusaka, St. Ignatius, Superior,
1962 - 1967: Choma, Regional Superior for Chikuni Mission
1967 - 1969: Mazabuka, Regional Superior for Mission
1970 - 1977: Lusaka, St. Ignatius, Parish Priest
1977 - 1992: St. Ignatius, Chaplain, University Teaching
1992 - 2003: St. Ignatius, Assistant PP, Hospital Chaplain
Sept. 4th 2003: Died in Lusaka, Zambia.

Des had been planning for home leave in 2004 and had gone to visit his brother, Dinnie, who was dying in Durban. On returning to Lusaka, he contracted a chest infection which, indeed, many had picked up. On September 4, he was driven to the clinic, although there was no sign of anything critical. However, his breathing suddenly became very acute and he was anointed. Shortly afterwards, he died.

Clive Dillon-Malone writes:
Des entered the Society after secondary school in 1936 when he was eighteen years old. He went through the ordinary formation of Jesuits: novitiate, juniorate at University College, Dublin, philosophy, regency in Limerick, theology, ordination in 1949, tertianship and final vows in 1954.

It was in the years 1950 and 1951 that the Irish Province of the Jesuits had been asked especially to help the Polish Jesuits in staffing their work in what was then Northern Rhodesia. The Irish Province responded generously and sent eight to ten men in each of these two years in order to lay a solid foundation for their work. Des was amongst the group that came in 1951.

He became Superior of Chikuni Mission in 1962, the year in which the late Bishop Corboy was ordained Bishop of Monze. While the greater part of Des's life was spent in the Archdiocese of Lusaka, he spent seven years as Superior of Chikuni Mission from 1962-1969 in the Diocese of Monze, residing in Choma from 1962-1967, and at the newly-built Moreau House in Mazabuka from 1967-1969. As a result Des, though in many ways a man of cautious bent, was closely associated with the energetic and far-sighted expansion of the early years of Bishop Corboy's tenure in Monze. During those years, many new parishes were established and Jesuits served in those of Mazabuka (1964), Chilalantambo (1967), Chirundu (1967), Nakambala (1967), and St Mary's Monze (1969). Charles Lwanga Teachers' Training College had opened in Chikuni in 1959, Mukasa Minor Seminary in Choma in 1966, and St. Kizito Catechist Training Centre in Monze in 1967. A Jesuit had also become Chaplain of St. Edmund's Secondary School in Mazabuka in 1964.

In Lusaka, the new residence at St. Ignatius was built in 1966. Des presided over a talented and generous group of Jesuits whose achievements he would have been the first to
recognise. He had the vision to encourage a number of younger Jesuits, who saw the need to do further studies, especially in anthropology, sociology, music and linguistics.

Des loved to recall stories of his travels in small aircraft using various remote airfields in different corners of East and Central Africa. He accompanied Fr. General Arrupe during his early visit to Zambia in 1965 and delighted in pioneering meetings with other Major Superiors, meetings which were the remote forerunners of the Jesuit Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (JESAM) and the establishing, years later, of the African Assistancy. It was at the end of his time as Superior in July 1969 that the famous meeting took place in Chikuni at which the Jesuits of Chikuni Mission agreed in a cliff-hanger of a vote to be part of the proposed new Vice-Province of Zambia (3rd December, 1969). Des was justly proud of his part in the setting up in 1969 of the Jesuit Novitiate at Xavier House in Lusaka, a novitiate which was soon to cater not only for Zambia and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), but also for the five countries of the East Africa Region as well as the Nigeria-Ghana Region.

In 1969, Des was assigned to St. Ignatius Parish in Lusaka where he spent the rest of his life. From 1970 -77, he was the parish priest; then followed his long stint as chaplain at the University Teaching Hospital which he finished in 1991. During his time in Lusaka, he was also the vicar for the archdiocese of Lusaka.

He was always a man of caution. No quick decisions, no hasty moves. He looked ahead and planned carefully. Everything he did was done well and conscientiously. If mistakes were made, they were very few. He would go to any lengths to help and would see a problem right through to the very end. Despite his more conservative bent, he remained open to change and could joke about the internet, e-mails and computers which he acknowledged to be out of his reach. His good humour and wit were even more pronounced in his later years.

Punctuality was not one of his greatest virtues. In fact, arriving late for everything seemed to Des to be itself a virtue in view of his appreciation of the value of time. And he adamantly refused to be rushed. There is a true story of how, one day when he was taking his afternoon tea in the recreation room, a member of the community came in and told him that some woman wanted to see him at the reception area of the parish offices. As always, he enquired if she had an appointment and, when the answer to that question was negative, he continued taking his tea. About ten minutes later, the same member of the community returned to the recreation room. Seeing Des still taking his tea, he gently said to him: “I hope, Des, that you understand that there is a woman waiting to see you at the parish reception area”. His comment was: “We're priests, not firemen”.

Des was always available and so anxious to help everyone with his advice and wisdom. Well versed in Canon Law, he had a way of cutting through the legal technicalities and focusing on the persons involved. He felt for people in a special way and his pastoral sensitivity ran through everything he did. His pastoral work spanned three generations, and he had a phenomenal memory for people and places. He would take delight in telling young married couples of having married their parents and having known their grandparents. He touched so many through baptisms, weddings, marriage counselling, funerals, the sacrament of reconciliation and the Eucharist. He was always on call in the parish and his phone was seldom silent.

But perhaps his endless concern for the sick and the dying is what stands out more than anything else in his life. As Chaplain at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Des will be remembered especially for his kindness to the sick and the dying and their families, as well as for his unfailing interest in the medical staff and their formation, especially the nurses and doctors. The Chaplaincy Centre with its Interdenominational Chapel which was the outcome of persistence and determination on his part is a lasting memorial to his far-sightedness in the face of many difficulties. When he retired from being official chaplain there after over twenty years, he continued to visit three smaller hospitals to cater to the needs of all patients without distinction right up to the end. He brought healing to so many on so many different levels. He was a living channel of God's loving care and concern for the suffering and the dying.

Des was a wonderful community member, always ready to share in whatever problems arose. He was a most pleasant, heartfelt and sincere person to live with, and always a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. He was kind, compassionate and gentle in all that he did. He might get angry with people at times for breaking appointments or coming late but it was a momentary frustration. He would always find a way of excusing those involved. He would get so sorry if he felt that he had hurt anyone and would go out of his way to put things right. He was incapable of becoming bitter or holding a grudge.

Des was a man of God and a man of the people. First thing every morning, he would be there in our small oratory with the Lord. Every evening last thing, he would be there in that same small oratory. But his contact with the Lord continued throughout the day in his contact with people. Des loved people and he loved the people of Zambia in particular. After coming to Zambia, he had become a Zambian citizen as a sign of his total commitment. It was his ardent wish to live and die here. He got his wish.

Born: 28 November 1869, Kilmallock, Co Limerick/Charleville, County Cork
Entered: 14 September 1888, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 02 August 1903, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1905
Died: 24 April 1930, University Hall, Hatch St, Dublin

Older brother of Francis O'Mahony - RIP 1893 a Novice

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Chaplain in the First World War.

by 1892 at Exaeten College, Limburg, Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1904 at Linz, Austria (AUS) making Tertianship
by 1917 Military Chaplain : 43rd General Hospital, Salonica, Greece
by 1918 Military Chaplain : SS Egypt, c/o GPO London
by 1919 Military Chaplain : PL of C, Haifa, Palestine, EEF

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Older brother of Francis O'Mahony - RIP 1893 a Novice

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 5th Year No 4 1930
Obituary :
Fr Jerome O'Mahony
Fr. O’Mahony was born in Charleville, Co. Cork, 28 Nov. 1869, educated at Tullabeg, and entered the noviceship at Tullabeg (which had just become the novitiate of the province) 14 Sept. 1888. Here he remained for three years, the last of them as Junior, and then went to Exaeten for philosophy. In 1892 he was sent to Clongowes, where he was prefect for two
years, then a year at Belvedere, followed by five years at Mungret, four as master and one as prefect. In all, regency for eight years. After three years theology at Milltown he travelled to Linz for the tertianship.
In 1904, he was back in Mungret as prefect, a year in Galway came next, and then Mungret once more, prefect for five years. The Crescent had him as Minister and master from 1911 to 1913. In the latter years he was transferred to Milltown, where he had charge of the Retreat House for three years.
The great war was raging in 1916 and Fr O'Mahony became a Military Chaplain. His first post was in Salonika, where he was stationed in the General Hospital. Next year he was Chaplain on board the SS Egypt, and in 1918 we find him at Haifa, Palestine.
The war over, he returned to the Crescent, where, for two years, he was again Minister and master. Then a year in Milltown in charge of the Retreat House, and another in Galway, “Doc. Oper”. In all, Fr O’Mahony put in 20 years teaching. The last change came in1923 when he joined the Leeson St staff as prefect of University Hall. There he remained for seven years, until his death on Thursday 24 April 1930.
Fr O'Mahony's was the second very sudden death that took place in the province during the year. In the morning he complained of being unwell, told the servant that he was not to be disturbed during the day and went to his room. As he did not appear at dinner people began to he anxious. One of the Fathers went to look for him, entered his room and found him lying on the bed, dead. He was at once anointed by Fr. Superior.
Fr O’Mahony's life was very like the lives of the vast majority of Jesuits all the world over. It was a life of steady, constant, hard work. Hidden work. Nothing striking about it to attract attention. It is one more example of the cog in the wheel, hidden in the body of the machine, working away unnoticed, but, at the same time, helping to keep the machine in motion and produce, it may be, very brilliant results. Such a life did Fr O’Mahony lead to the very end. In recent years we often heard about high class lectures, on practical moral questions of the present day, read in University Hall by distinguished men, clerical and lay ; and about the brilliant discussions that followed each of them, in which some of the leading men in Dublin took part. But we never heard a single word of Fr O’Mahony's connection with these brilliant gatherings. Yet this is what the “National Student” has to say on the subject : “Those who were present at these gatherings will remember how much of their success was due to the patient, persevering manner in which Fr. O’Mahony succeeded in inducing several of the speakers, not only to be present, but even - still more reluctantly - to contribute personally to a discussion that owed its value to its representative character. And the same quiet perseverance was often successful in bringing more than one distinguished lecturer to speak to the students in a smaller gathering at University Hall”. His life effort was, to a great extent, unnoticed by human eye, and what now matters to Fr O'Mahony - nothing at all. But that effort was constantly observed by another eye, from which nothing can be concealed, and that now matters, and for a very long time to come will matter a very great deal indeed. RIP.

◆ The Clongownian, 1930

Obituary
Father Jerome O’Mahony SJ

The tragically sudden death of Fr O'Mahony in University Hall, Dublin, on April the 24th, removed from active life one who was intimately connected with Clongownians of many generations. Jerome O'Mahony came to Clongowes from Tullabeg in the Amalgamation year, 1886, joining the class of Poetry. Passing Matriculation he spent his last year in the 1st Arts class. As a boy he took little part in games, but was very prominent on the social side, being an excellent musician. In his, earlier career as a Jesuit he spent a few years on the staff of Clongowes. After ordination he filled various parts in different homes in Ireland until the European War broke out when he joined up as a Chaplain and was attached to the 10th Irish Division - seeing service in many lands, mostly in the East. He was in India, Egypt, Palestine and the Balkans, and after the war he used to give very interesting lectures on his experiences. The seven last years of his life were spent in University Hall, Dublin, devoting his time and his energies to the welfare of the students. He was always' particularly interested in Clongownians, ever ready to help them in every possible way and various Editors of “The Clongownian” have been greatly indebted to him for items concerning “The Past”. The esteem in which he was held was shown by the large and representative gathering that attended his funeral, The students of University Hall walked in procession after the hearse across the city and carried the coffin into arid out of the church. May he rest in peace.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1930

Obituary

Father Jerome C O’Mahony SJ

Few men have had such a long connection with Mungret as had Fr O'Mahony.

He was a young man when he first joined the staff, about thirty-five years ago; and except for absences for studies for the priesthood he was Prefect of the boys till 1911. He spent some time then as Minister at the Crescent College, Limerick, and during the war went as a Chaplain. The greater part of his time as Chaplain was spent in the East.

He had an opportunity of seeing the Holy Land, and made good use of it. He came back with an interesting collection of pictures, and lectured to the boys in Mungret on the scenes he had visited.

Having spent some time as Director of Retreats at Milltown Park, Fr O'Mahony was given charge of the University Hall, Dublin, Here he spent the last seven years, and died on April 24th last.

There was no retirement from his duties, or prolonged illness before his death; and so, though his health was not the best. for some time, his death was quite sudden.

Fr O'Mahony was very active, during his time at University Hall, in arranging lectures and social functions for the students. He was a splendid organiser and his interest in students was very great.

He numbered among his friends many Mungret students. He was on the look-out for Mungret men, and was always anxious to be of service to them. Indeed, his kindly genial manner made him very easily approach able by everyone. He seemed to take pleasure in being asked to do a favour.

Fr O'Mahony was not himself educated this College, but he will be glad that the boys who knew him here have been asked to pray for him. The message of his death will recall many scenes and incidents in the Cricket fields or corridor or black walk, and prayer will be offered for a friend who has passed out of sight - that he may rest in peace

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Jerome O’Mahony (1869-1930)

Was born at Charleville, Co. Cork and educated at Tullabeg College. He left Tullabeg in 1886, the year it was closed as a college, and entered there when it had become the novitiate the autumn of the same year. He made his higher studies at Exaeten, Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1903, and Linz. He joined the Crescent community in 1911 when he was appointed minister and remained here for two years. From 1913 to 1916 he was in charge of the retreat house at Milltown Park. He became a military chaplain in 1916 and saw service at Salonika and the near east. In 1919 he returned as minister to the Crescent and stayed until 1921. The last seven years of his life were spent as Warden of University Hall, Dublin, where he died suddenly on 24 April, 1930.

Born: 13 March 1875, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 14 August 1892, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1908, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 08 December 1967, St Francis Xavier, Gardioner Street, Dublin
Died: 23 March 1969, Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death

Cousin of Joey O’Mara - RIP 1977

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Chaplain in the First World War.

by 1896 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
Came to Australia for Regency, 1898
by 1910 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1918 Military Chaplain : 58th CCS, BEF France
by 1919 Military Chaplain : 33rd CCS, BEF France

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick O'Mara began his long life in the Society in 1892 at the age of sixteen, entering the novitiate at Tullabeg. At the end of 1898 he arrived at Xavier College to teach mathematics to senior boys and was first division prefect, 1901-02. He wrote a book on arithmetic, but apparently no copies survive.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 1 1925
Of the various pamphlets issued, half a million copies were distributed during the past twelve months. Devotional booklets are in especial demand, particularly the “Holy Hour” books, by Fr. P. O’Mara, of which 63,ooo copies were sent out during the past year, and an equal number during the preceding year

Irish Province News 2nd Year No 4 1927
Messenger Office :
Of reprinted pamphlets by Ours, 370,000 copies have already been bought up. Fr P O’Mara’s “Holy Hour” book, “An Hour with Jesus” easily holds the record. It is in its 45th edition, and the companion book “Another Hour with Jesus” is in its 21st.

◆ Irish Province News 44th Year No 3 1969 & ◆ The Clongownian, 1969

Obituary :

Fr Patrick O’Mara SJ (1875-1969)

Father Patrick O'Mara was, by a large margin, the senior member of the Irish Province. Though six months younger than Father Eddie Dillon (still happily with us). he entered almost five years earlier. He had completed the long span of 77 years in the Society and was in full activity up to within a year of his death.
He was born in Limerick on March 18th, 1875. His father, Stephen O'Mara, M.P., was the founder of the well-known family business and was several times Mayor of Limerick and later a member of Seanad Eireann. Patrick was the eldest of a family of nine. One of his brothers, Stephen, was, like his father, several times Mayor of Limerick. Another, James, played a prominent part in the national movement, which has been chronicled in his biography by his daughter, Mrs. Lavelle. The third brother, Fonsie, was prominent in business life in Limerick and Dublin. He too played an active part in the national movement and in 1918 was elected as the first Sinn Fein mayor of Limerick, The distinguished singer, Joseph O'Mara, director of the O'Mara Opera Company and father of Father Joseph O'Mara, was an uncle of Fr. Patrick's, being the youngest brother of Stephen O'Mara, M.P.
Patrick O'Mara was educated for four years at the Christian Brothers College. Limerick, and for another four at Clongowes. He entered the noviceship at Tullabeg in 1892. Amongst his fellow-novices we find some names once familiar in the Province, Patrick O'Brien, Esmond White, Michael Egan and Thomas O'Dwyer. After a year's juniorate at Milltown Park, he went to Valkenburg for philosophy, and at the end of his three years course was appointed to Xavier College, Melbourne, in what was then the Australian mission.
He spent seven years at Xavier. from 1898 to 1905, both prefecting and teaching. Father O'Mara so long outlived his contemporaries that no detailed information is available about these early years. He was, however, evidently a keen and able teacher of mathematics, and published in 1903 a textbook entitled Reasoned Methods in Arithmetic and Algebra for Matriculation Candidates, which went into at least four editions.
In 1905 he returned to Ireland for theology at Milltown Park, and was ordained on 26th July 1908. After tertianship at Tronchiennes, he taught mathematics and physics at Mungret for three years, and was then appointed to the mission staff. Rathfarnham Castle had just been opened as a Juniorate (1913). and he was a member of the founding community, together with three fellow-missioners, Fathers William Doyle, Joseph Flinn and William Gleeson. The catalogues assign him to Tullabeg from 1914 to 1916, but those who were at Rathfarnham during those years think that he remained there during all his time as a missioner, This was the period of the First World War, and in 1917 Father O'Mara was appointed a military chaplain (there were twenty two Irish Jesuit chaplains that year) and saw service at the 58th and 33rd casualty clearing stations in France. He rendered particular service to Portuguese troops and was awarded a decoration, : Officer of the Military Order of Christ, by the Portuguese Government.
In 1919 Father O'Mara returned to Rathfarnham and there followed a long period of work as a missioner. Here again we are faced by the difficulty that he so long outlived his contemporaries that information about this period of his life is scanty. It is certain, however, that he was a most devoted and successful Missioner. He was an orator of the old style, somewhat theatrical in his delivery, but most appealing to the congregations of those days. He took immense pains in preparing his sermons, and it is recalled that on his first appointment to the mission band, he went to England for a course in voice production. He was indefatigable in the laborious work of visitation and hearing confessions, and he was blessed with a strong constitution which made him a most reliable confrère, always ready for the most difficult assignment.
When Father O'Mara returned from the war to Rathfarnham, Father John Sullivan had just been appointed Rector. Father O'Mara contributed to the biography of Father Sullivan an incident which occurred in the November of that year. On his way back from a mission, Father O'Mara's bag was stolen from the platform of the tram on which he was travelling. The loss was a grievous one, as the bag contained the manuscripts of his mission sermons and retreat notes. On arrival at Rathfarnham, he confided his trouble to Father Sullivan, who assured him that he would immediately go to the chapel and pray for the restoration of the notes. Father O'Mara, though it was late at night, started jotting down all that he could remember of his notes, which were the result of years of work. At 11.30 p.m. Father Sullivan came to his room to tell him that a telephone message had been received from the Augustinian Church in Thomas St. to say that the bag, unopened, had been left at the door of the monastery. Father O'Mara's account concluded : “I was convinced at the time that it was a direct answer to Father Sullivan's prayers. I have not changed this opinion”.
In 1928 Father O'Mara was appointed to the staff of Gardiner Street, and entered on the activity which is most closely associated with his name, being appointed Director of the Sodality of the Sacred Heart, which involved the giving of the Holy Hour. This activity was interrupted in 1931, when he was appointed Rector of the Crescent College, Limerick. Here he undertook several extensions and improvements in the church, and was responsible for the installing of a new organ. On his return to Gardiner Street in 1934, he was at first assistant director of the Pioneer Association, but in 1937 reassumed the directorship of the Sacred Heart Sodality and the Apostleship of Prayer, which he retained for the next thirty years, as well as that of the Ladies' Sodality of the Blessed Virgin. During all this time his most notable activity was the giving of the Holy Hour, which became almost legendary in Dublin and its outskirts. He took the utmost pains in its preparation, and carefully wrote out fresh matter for each occasion. Many of the prayers and devotions which he used were embodied in four booklets entitled Hours With Jesus, the first of which had a circulation of over a million copies, whilst the others ran into the hundred thousands. His style of preaching was inighly dramatic, perhaps excessively so for some tastes, but it certainly appealed to his crowded congregations. It was remarkable that even in quite recent times, when preaching has to some extent lost its former attraction, "Father O'Mara's Holy Hour" was always certain to fill the church to overflowing.
If the old age of everyone were like that of Father O'Mara, the science of geriatrics would be superfluous. Until he was into his nineties, his appearance never changed. His abundant black hair was only slightly touched with grey, and he could have been taken for a well-preserved man in the late sixties. He continued in active work almost to the end of his life, hearing confessions, directing his two sodalities at Gardiner Street. He also directed the past pupils' sodality attached to the Dominican convent, Sion Hill, Blackrock from 1938 to 1966, when his health forced him to relinquish it. This sodality is one of the oldest in Ireland having been founded in 1852.
When one attempts to give some idea of what kind of man Father O'Mara was, two characteristics stand out. Firstly, he was utterly devoted to his priestly work. His sermons and his famous Holy Hour were prepared with laborious care. He was a devoted and sympathetic confessor He was always ready to share in work which lay outside his own particular sphere. Thus, he took a keen interest in the annual Foreign Mission week in Gardiner Street, to which the members of his Ladies' Sodality gave valuable assistance. Secondly, he was deeply devoted to the Society and the Province. He took the keenest interest in all that was going on, and was generous in his encouragement of others, especially of younger men. Those who were asked to help him were the recipients of praise so lavish that it might have seemed mere flattery but that his genuine gratitude and goodwill were so apparent. He employed on some occasions an amusing little technique, praising some work done for him, a sermon or talk, but adding : “Still, I think it was only your second best”. This was not meant to discourage, but rather to emphasise the fact that his praise was not undiscriminating.
It was only in the last year of his life that his health began to fail, and only in his last months that increasing weakness made it necessary for him to leave Gardiner Street for Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross. He retained to the last the whimsical good humour that had characterised him all his life. Very shortly before his death, his confessor mentioned that a taxi was provided for him to visit Father O'Mara each week, and protested that he could very well come by bus. “But”, said Father O'Mara, “think of the prestige I get among the other patients by the fact that my confessor comes in a taxi”. His death occurred on March 23rd, and, as was to be expected, immense crowds gathered in Gardiner Street to express the reverence and gratitude they felt towards one who, for so many years, had spoken to them so movingly of the love of the Sacred Heart of their divine Lord. Requiescat in pace.

Born: 17 May 1909, Mallow, County Cork
Entered: 01 September 1926, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1943, Manresa House, Roehampton, London, England
Died: 19 November 1998, Sacred Heart, Limerick

Middle brother of Jack - RIP 1991; Tommy - RIP 1993

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Chaplain in the Second World War.

◆ Interfuse No 101 : Special Edition 1999 & ◆ The Clongownian, 1999

Obituary
Fr Michael (Mickey) O’Meara (1909-1988)

17th May 1909: Born in Mallow, Co. Cork
Early education: CB School, Cork, Patrician Bros School, Mallow, & Clongowes Wood College.
1st Sept. 1926: Entered the Society at Tullabeg.
2nd Sept. 1928: First vows at Tullabeg.
1928 - 1931: Rathfarnham, studying Arts at UCD
1931 - 1934: Tullabeg, studying philosophy.
1934 - 1937: Clongowes, Teacher and 3rd Line Prefect.
1937 - 1941: Milltown Park, studying theology.
31st July 1940: Ordained at Milltown Park,
1941 - 1942: Rathfarnham, Tertianship
1942 - 1946: British Army Chaplain in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Egypt, Palestine.
1946 - 1955: Clongowes, Minister
1955 - 1961: Rathfarnham, Chaplain to School of Commerce, Rathmines.
1961 - 1962: Mungret College, teacher.
1962 - 1964: Clongowes, H-Line Prefect.
1964 - 1973: Mungret: Minister till '69; Teacher.
1973 - 1998: Sacred Heart Church, Limerick, Minister, Prefect of Church, Dir. “Pioneers”. (off Minister in 1991)

Father O'Meara had been attending to his church duties when he collapsed and was found on the floor of the church. He was rushed by ambulance to hospital, but did not regain consciousness.

Fr. Michael O'Meara (known affectionately to us as Mickey) was born in Mallow in 1909, one of a large family of boys and girls. One of the boys joined the secular clergy, and three became Jesuits. Michael went to school first to the Christian Brothers in Cork, and he had interesting reminiscences about the dangers of travel to Cork during those difficult years of the Great War and the “Troubles” here at home. After a period with the Patrician Brothers in Mallow he finished his secondary education in Clongowes, where he distinguished himself especially in rugby. He was a member of that famous team which first won the cup for Clongowes (a victory not to be repeated until many decades later). He was justifiably proud of it, and I found a copy of the photo of the winning team in his room after his death. He had cherished it all those years.

He entered Tullabeg in 1926 and followed the normal Jesuit course, doing his regency in Clongowes, and thus strengthening what was already a strong bond. In 1942, after his Tertianship in Rathfarnham, he became a British Army Chaplain. He went with his men to England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Egypt and Palestine, sharing with them in everything,

After this exciting period he returned to his beloved Clongowes as Minister in 1946, and as always, threw himself into the work. It was quite a shock to him when he was sent to Rathfarnham in 1955 to act as chaplain to Rathmines Technical School of Commerce. Distasteful though the change was, he once again took up the new work with enthusiasm, and endeared himself to many of the students. Interestingly, he had a great regard for a fellow chaplain, Fr. Brian Scallen; and they worked happily together until Michael was sent to Mungret in 1961. Here he taught for a year before being sent off once again to Clongowes, this time as Higher Line Prefect. Two years later he was back in Mungret, as Minister for five years until 73, when he received his final posting to the Crescent.

This last quarter of a century was the crowning of a long life of service. He was Minister for a number of years, his third spell at this job for which he had a natural aptitude and liking. His main efforts, however, were centered on our church and its associated apostolates: Devotion to the Sacred Heart, to Our Lady, direction of the Pioneer work ( he was for years in charge of the Munster area) manager of the church shop, and general contact with the people of Limerick and further afield. He had a happy and friendly disposition, which he had inherited from his parents and family background. He was always willing to listen to people, to have a friendly chat, to enthuse with them in their joys and successes, to sympathise with them in their difficulties. He prayed with them too, and they knew him as a man of prayer and child-like faith. He was responsible for the Saturday Fatima Devotions; for a prayer group that meets once a week in the back parlour; for the Rosary after our final morning Mass; and of course for the pioneers, as already mentioned. He was indefatigable in accompanying the various pilgrimages, - to Knock, Holy Cross Abbey, Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorjie; any time, any where, he was off to help them to make their pilgrimage a prayerful success.

Although he was a deeply spiritual man, he never gave the impression that he was a “holy Joe”. Instead he was happily interested in many very human activities. He was physically vigorous and nimble himself, and never lost his interest in sport and games. When he was an Army Chaplain his skill was in demand on army rugby teams, and later on he rarely missed any of the big national or international matches shown on TV. He came from a family that was keenly interested in horses, and he watched all the big classic races, both in Ireland and abroad. It was not merely a spectator sport for him. He was an excellent rider, and by the kindness of his brother there was always a horse ready for him and transport to collect him, so that he could participate in the local hunt. Many a story was told of his skill and daring, none more glamorous than that of his famous rescue of a "damsel in distress". Apparently she was thrown from her horse into a river in spate, and was being swept helplessly along. Our gallant Michael rode down the bank below her, jumped in, and managed to pull her to safety. This incident - and a famous remark made at the time - have become part of the O'Meara family folklore! Hunting and horse-riding around the Mallow home-country were a tonic relaxation for him in his intensely active life, and he kept it up until he was into his seventies.

One may mention finally his work in our church shop. This was a real apostolate for him, as he saw in it a way of spreading Catholic devotions and good literature. Apart from the work of organising the shop and ordering the supplies, he spent long hours every week in setting out the cards, the magazines and papers, the rosaries and various religious goods. To give some notion of the extent and scope of his efforts: he worked up the scale of the Irish Messenger to well over 1000 copies each month. For a man of his years his work programme was quite strenuous, as we in the Crescent are keenly aware, now that we have to pick up the pieces, so to speak, after his death. He was probably at this work when he collapsed suddenly and died in the church. He is mourned by many people in various places, but particularly by devoted friends who are loyal supporters of our Church of the Sacred Heart and of our community. May he rest in peace.

Tom MacMahon

Born: 11 July 1928, Castletownbere, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1948, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1962, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, St Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 06 April 2011, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 03 December 1969

by 1957 at Chivuna, N Rhodesia - Regency
by 1958 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia - Regency

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/fr-frank-oneill-r-i-p/

Fr Frank O’Neill, R.I.P.
Fr Frank O’Neill, who died on 6 April, grew up on a farm in Allihies, West Cork, in peaceful days when living was simple and you knew your neighbours. After school in Mungret he entered the Jesuits and volunteered for the Zambia mission. He loved the Tonga people – the gentlest he had ever met, he said; and he attained real fluency in their language. He was attuned to country people and worked mostly in parishes in the bush, living austerely, with no creature comforts. What made him a great missionary was that he was able to enter into the rhythm of the Africans. He revelled in their music and dance, and they loved him, a happy man, always positive and hopeful, with a deep trust in God’s Providence.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 145 : Summer 2011

Obituary

Fr Frank O’Neill (1928-2011) : Zambia-Malawi Province

11 July 1928: Born in Castletownbere, Co Cork.
Early education in Castletownbere National School and Apostolic School, Mungret,
7 September 1948: Entered the Society at Emo
8 September 1950: First Vows at Emo
1950 -1953: Rathfarnham - BA Degree, UCD
1953 - 1956: Studied Philosophy, Tullabeg
1956 - 1959: Regency, Chikuni Mission -learning language, teaching
1959 - 1963: Milltown Park, studying theology
31 July, 1962: Ordained at Miltown Park, Dublin
1963 - 1964: Tertianship at Rathfarnham

Zambia
1964 - 1966: Namwala pastoral work
1966 - 1968: Kasiya parish priest
1968 - 1982: Chivuna parish priest
1969: Transcribed to Zambia Province
5 November, 1977: Final vows in Chikuni
1982 - 1983: Sabbatical in Toronto
1983 - 1993: Namwala parish priest
1993 - 1998: Mazabuka, Nakumbala: superior, parish priest

1998 - 2007: Limerick, Sacred Heart Church, pastoral work.
2000: Superior
2007 - 2008: Della Strada, Asst. Chaplain, Dooradoyle Shopping Centre
2008 - 2009: Gardiner Street -- Chaplain, St. Monica's.
2009 - 2011: Residing in Cherryfield Lodge Nursing Home
6th April 2011: Died at Cherryfield

Frank settled in very well to Cherryfield and made a significant contribution to the liturgical music, which was much appreciated and enjoyed by all. His condition deteriorated over the last year and he died peacefully on 6th April 2011. May he rest in the Peace of Christ.

Obituary by Jim McGloin
Frank O'Neill was born on 11 July, 1928 to Michael and Margaret (O'Donovan) O'Neill in Eyeries village on the Beara Peninsula in County Cork. He did his early education in the area and then went to the Jesuit-run Mungret College near Limerick for his secondary schooling. In his youth he was called “Ollie”, short for Oliver. (My grandfather was from the same Eyeries village. Whenever I visited my cousins who still live there and who were his age-mates, they always asked me, “How is Father Ollie?” He told me that it was only when he entered the novitiate, the Jesuits started calling him by his other name, Francis, “Frank”.)

Frank entered the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park in 1948. After completing his philosophy studies in Dublin in 1956, Frank was sent to Northern Rhodesia for regency. During his three years here, he studied Chitonga and taught at Canisius College in Chikuni. He returned to Ireland for theology and was ordained in 1962. Following tertianship in 1964, he returned to Zambia and began his many years of pastoral service for the people of the Monze diocese.

As a side note, while Frank was doing theology, Arthur Cox, a famous Dublin solicitor, on retirement requested the Archbishop of Dublin to accept him for the priesthood. The Archbishop asked James Corboy, the rector of Milltown Park to take Cox, who was 71 years old and a widower, for his theological studies. Corboy reluctantly agreed and asked Frank to take charge of Cox. In his book, Arthur Cox 1891 1965, Eugene McCague writes, “That Arthur fitted so well into Milltown is a tribute to his own determination and resourcefulness, but is also thanks, in no small measure, to the friendship of one particular fellow scholastic, Frank O'Neill”. Frank, as Cox's “guardian angel” fulfilled (the role) “with great devotion and understanding”. (p 126). After his ordination in 1963, Cox followed Frank (and Bishop Corboy) to Zambia. He died tragically following a car accident on the Namwala road in 1965 and is buried in Chikuni.

Frank's first assignment was Namwala where he worked for two years; then Kasiya for another two years. In 1968 he was missioned to Chivuna where he served as parish priest for the next fourteen years. He took a year away from Zambia in 1982-1983, studying pastoral theology at Regis College in Toronto. He thoroughly enjoyed the year away, especially the stimulus of studying theology and the companionship of a larger Jesuit community.

When he returned, he was assigned to Namwala parish as the parish priest and superior of the community. He served the people of Namwala for the next ten years. His final posting in Zambia was in 1993 to Nakambala parish in Mazabuka. After all the years working in very rural parishes, with numerous outstations over rough roads, he found the work in Nakambala pleasant and less taxing. However, late in 1997 while driving outside Mazabuka, he ran off the road and hit into a tree. Although he was not injured in the accident, there was concern that dizziness or a blackout might have been the cause of the accident. He returned to Ireland for a rest and to have his health examined. He was given medication for high blood pressure which seemed to have been the cause of his other problems.

However, surprisingly he asked for permission to stay in Ireland and not return to Zambia. He complained of tiredness and a heaviness concerning the way some things were going in Zambia. Colm Brophy in a note expressed his own surprise; he wondered why Frank did not want to return since “he was deeply immersed in the pastoral scene, so much identified with ordinary people and is still so much talked about by Zambian priests, religious and lay people. They keep on asking when is he coming and would love to have him back”.

Frank was sent to work in the Crescent Church in Limerick. He quickly settled into the work of the Church saying Mass, hearing confessions, taking care of callers, directing a Legion of Mary group, offering days of recollection. He was happy that he had returned to Ireland while he was still in good health and able to do some work. In 2000 he was appointed the superior of the community in Limerick.

In 2006 the Church and community in Limerick were closed. Frank continued for a short time with a chaplaincy in Limerick and in 2007 he was sent to Gardiner Street in Dublin. With his health deteriorating, he was sent to the Irish Province Infirmary in 2008 where he died on 6 April 2011.

Frank will be remembered in Zambia for his zealous apostolic work among the rural Tonga of the Monze Diocese. His vibrancy, his optimism, his welcome smile were wonderful characteristics giving hope and support to many people over many years. May the Lord whom he served so faithfully welcome him into the eternal joy of his Kingdom.

From the funeral homily preached by Fr Paul Brassil:
Frank's life was marked by hard work, in difficult circumstances, little rest or comfort in the rural areas of Zambia. There were bad roads, poor housing, makeshift churches, basic food and the task of communicating the Gospel in another language. It was characteristic of Frank to take all this in a spirit of optimism and buoyancy. He was blessed with a cheerful and outgoing nature which helped him make friends wherever he went. It also helped him make little of the difficulties and frustrations which were inevitable. To my mind his lifetime of work in Zambia was nothing short of heroic.
After his first few years in Zambia be returned to Ireland to take up theological studies in Milltown. There he was asked by the rector, Fr. (later Bishop) James Corboy, to chaperon the distinguished solicitor and, as he was then, candidate for the priesthood, Arthur Cox. Frank revelled in his task and followed a very unorthodox regime of studies. Frank and Arthur struck up a close friendship, so that later when Frank returned to Zambia, Arthur, by then ordained, came out there, too, and joined Frank in the same out-station of Namwala. Unfortunately a short time after coming to Zambia both men were involved in a car accident which led to the untimely death of Arthur.

Despite this deep sorrow, Frank proceeded to engage with great enthusiasm in the basic work of evangelisation. He was among the first to put into practice the theology of the laity which was promoted by Vatican II. He spent a major portion of his time and energy in the zealous promotion of the laity. He saw this as the only way to insert the faith in a living and vibrant community. Much of his time was dedicated to the training of leaders and he built up a strong partnership with the leaders and catechists in various outstations. He shared in the tragedies of the people and in their difficulties, but never lost his positive outlook, and always had a word of encouragement in the darkest moments. His later years were affected by the scourge of HIV/Aids which ravaged the people he served .

Frank was a man of deep faith which survived difficulties and disappointments. This faith came from his own family background in West Cork, as well as from his grounding in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. He was blessed by a warm and sunny disposition and entertained his fellow-workers with Danny Boy on many a social occasion.

On his return to Ireland for medical reasons he worked in Limerick where he found the people just lovely. Later, as his health declined, he helped out in Gardiner Street. Then his last years were spent in the kind care of the staff in Cherryfield. When he arrives at the gates of heaven, he will surely be cheered up at all the simple folk he has guided to the knowledge and love of the Heavenly Father, who has revealed these things not to the wise and clever but to little children. We pray that he will hear the words of the Heavenly Father: “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest”. Frank has earned his rest.

Born: 20 May 1927, Dungarvan, County Waterford
Entered: 07 September 1944, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1958, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1961, Crescent College SJ, Limerick
Died: 12 February 2017, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Milltown Park, Dublin community at the time of death.
Early Education at St.Mary's College Mullingar, Co Westmeath; Clongowes Wood College SJ

1946-1949 Rathfarnham - Studying Arts at UCD
1949-1952 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1952-1955 Crescent College SJ, Limerick - Regency : Teacher; Studying for H Dip in Education
1955-1959 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
1959-1960 Rathfarnham - Tertianship
1960-1961 Crescent College SJ, Limerick - Teacher
1961-1962 Clongowes Wood College SJ - Lower Line Prefect; Teacher
1962-1973 Crescent College SJ, Limerick - Teacher; Pioneers
1973-1975 Gonzaga College SJ - Secretary to Headmaster
1974 Assistant Province Treasurer
1975-1979 Loyola House - Assistant Province Treasurer; Editor “Ordo”
1976 Editor of “Liturgical Calendar” & “Province News”
1979-1984 Leeson St - Subminister; Editor of “Liturgical Calendar” & “Province News”
1984-1989 Crescent Church, Limerick - Assists in Church; Editor of “Liturgical Calendar” & “Province News”
1989-1991 Tullabeg - Assists in Church; Editor of “Liturgical Calendar” & “Province News”
1991-2017 Milltown Park - Editor of “Liturgical Calendar”; Chaplain
1992 Chaplain Maryville Nursing Home, Donnybrook, Dublin
2011 Editor of “Liturgical Calendar”; Assists Co-ordination of Community Liturgy
2013 Editor of “Liturgical Calendar”
2014 Prays for the Church and the Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/life-quiet-faithfulness/

A life of quiet faithfulness
Jesuits, family and friends bid a final farewell to Hugh O’ Neill SJ, who died peacefully in Cherryfield Lodge in the early hours of Sunday morning, 12 February. He would have been 90 on 20 May this year. He was a native of Dugarvan, Co Waterford and as a Jesuit, taught in Crescent, Clongowes and Gonzaga colleges. He was a keen environmentalist and ahead of his time in that respect. In his later years he worked on the ‘Liturgical Calendar’ for the Irish Province and edited ‘Province News’.
Fr Bill Callan, rector of Milltown Park, gave the homily at his funeral mass place in Milltown Park Chapel, Ranelagh, on the Wednesday after his passing. Fr Hugh was remarkable for his courtesy he said, noting how many of the nurses and staff of Cherryfield Lodge referred to him as ‘a true gentle man’. He quoted Ella, the Polish nurse who spoke of her sadness at his death saying,“O Father, so sad: he was beautiful man, – so grateful. No matter how small the thing you do for him he always says ‘Thank you’.” This sentiment was echoed even by the Jesuits whom he taught. David Coghlan was in his class and remembered the high jinks he and his fellow students would get up to. No matter what their behaviour, Fr Hugh’s toughest form of discipline was the admonishment – “Better remain standing”.
The Provincial, Fr Leonard Moloney also remembered his school days being taught by Fr Hugh. He shared about the real impression he made on him and the boys when Fr Hugh inculcated in them a sense of caring for the environment, especially the trees that provided the paper they so took for granted. To this day, the Provincial said, he was always mindful not to be wasteful of paper.
An anecdote from Bill also underlined Fr Hugh’s sensitivity to the environment. “Hugh immensely enjoyed his walks, taking a bus to some remote destination at weekends and doing a circuit locally on weekdays. On these daily outings if he saw any offending litter strewn on the ground he had no hesitation in collecting it and bringing it home for disposal in the house bins. The sight of a Jesuit coming up Eglington Road and stooping to pick up litter as he went, is not seen all that often! However what might strike us as incongruous made perfect sense to Hugh: Such rubbish was a blot on the landscape and as he was passing why should he not be the one to put this to rights.”
But in the end, according to Bill, what stood out most regarding Fr Hugh and his life as a Jesuit priest was his faithful service to the God he believed in. The life he lived was sustained by quiet faithfulness, and the strong love he had for his country and his religion, he said. This was “the key to understanding Hugh’s life: His fidelity would not make sense if God did not exist.”
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Born: 18 February 1864, Athlone, County Roscommon
Entered: 14 August 1880, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1895
Final Vows: 02 February 1899, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 10 May 1907, Bruges, Belgium

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Came to Australia for Regency with priests James O’Connor, George Buckeridge and Joseph Tuite 1886
by 1898 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1904 at out of Community (TOLO) - health

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
After First Vows he studied Rhetoric and Philosophy at Milltown.
1886 He went with three Fathers for his Regency in Australia, where he taught with great success for five years.
When he returned he studied Theology at Milltown and was ordained after his Third Year.
He was then sent to Crescent.
Failing in health the doctors advised he go back to Australia. He broke down mentally on the voyage and returned eventually to Belgium, where he died 10 May 1907

Note from Oliver Daly Entry :
He was in Australia for about twenty years, including being Superior at Hawthorn, and he returned to Ireland in charge of Father John O’Neill who had become deranged.

Note from James O’Connor Entry :
1886 He was sent to Australia, and sailed with Joseph Tuite, George Buckeridge and Scholastic John O’Neill.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
]ohn O'Neill was sent to Australia in 1887, and in 1888 taught at Xavier College. In 1889 he moved to St Aloysius' College to teach mathematics and Latin to junior boys. It appears before the year was finished he moved to Riverview, serving for a time as second division prefect until the end of 1891, and then moved back to St Aloysius' College in 1892. He returned to Ireland, but was posted again to Riverview for 1903, but the thought of it was too much for him, and after a month left for Belgium where he cared for his health.

Born: 07 October 1907, Inch, Saint Lawrence, Caherconlish, Limerick
Entered: 01 September 1926, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1944
Died: 25 July 1987, Little Sisters of the Poor, Drummoyne, Sydney - Australiae Province (ASL)

Early education at Crescent College, Limerick
Transcribed HIB to ASL 05 April 1931

Part of the St Mary’s, Miller St, Sydney, Australia community at the time of death
◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Laurence O’Neill entered the Society 1 September 1907. Before coming to Australia, he was spiritual father to the Apostolic School at Mungret, Ireland, 1944-45. In Australia, O’Neill spent most of his life in parish work, at St Ignatius', Norwood, SA, 1952-55, 1957-59, 1969-75, Toowong, Brisbane, 1960-65, and Lavender Bay, 1978. In 1976 he was chaplain at Iona Presentation Convent, Perth. He spent short periods teaching at St Louis, Perth, 1946-51, St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, 1956, and Kostka Hall, 1966-68, but he was not a success because of his fiery temper and lack of control. In the latter years of his life, 1979-83, he lived retirement at the Cardinal Gilroy Village, Merrylands, then from 1984-86 at a retirement village at Bateau Bay, and in 1987 at the Little Sisters of the Poor, Drummoyne, Sydney.
O’Neill worked for youth, for the school and for the sick. He was at Norwood in 1952 as minister. There were usually storms when he was around. His special attention was the liturgy. He established the altar boys society which he faithfully directed. Somehow he rarely managed to avoid friction. He used to give his erring altar boys penals, a habit not always appreciated by the school authorities.
He was constant in his parish visitation, every afternoon on push bike. He was never a well man, and seemed always to be out of breath. He loved saying Mass, and took every opportunity to do so. He was an enthusiastic preacher on Sunday, but his diction was not very clear.
His special devotion was the Pioneers of Total Abstinence, and he frequently preached on the evils of alcohol.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 21st Year No 3 1946
FROM AUSTRALIA :
Fr. L. O'Neill, 25-7-46 :
“I have set sail at long last! We left Tilbury yesterday, 24th, calling to Southampton for a short time to-day. The passengers are Australians and New Zealanders returning to their native land, a very jolly crowd. There are two other priests on board, Oblate Fathers going to Freemantle from Dublin. We celebrated Holy Mass on board this morning. The weather is delightful, sea calm”.

Born: 23 February 1926, North Circular Road, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1944, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1959, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1962, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 19 November 2009, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death.
Buried Mungret, Limerick.

Educated at Crescent College SJ

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 142 : Spring 2010
Obituary

Fr Niall O’Neill (1926-2009)

23rd February 1926: Born in Limerick
Early education at Crescent College
7th September 1944: Entered the Society at Emo
8th September 1946: First Vows at Emo
1946 - 1950: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1950 - 1953: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1953 - 1956: Belvedere - Teacher
1956 - 1960: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
31st July 1959: Ordained at Milltown Park, Dublin
1960 - 1961: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1961 - 1962: Clongowes- Lower Line Prefect; Teacher
2nd February 1962: Final Vows
1962 - 1967: Crescent College, Limerick - Spiritual Director (pupils); Confessor; Teacher
1967 - 1973: Tullabeg - Missions / Retreat Staff
1973 - 1989: Sacred Heart Church, Limerick
1973 - 1984: Missions / Retreat staff
1984 - 1989: Missions / Retreat staff; Promoted the Apostleship of Prayer and the Messenger
1989 - 2000: Tory Island - Parish Curate
2000 - 2001: Gort an Choirce - LeitirCeanainn, Dun na nGall
2001 - 2006: Gallen Priory Nursing and Retirement Home, Ferbane - Residential Chaplain
2006 - 2009: Della Strada, Limerick - Prayed for Church and Society
19th November, 2009: Died in Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Liam O'Connell writes:
Niall O'Neill grew up on the North Circular Road, Limerick. His family was important to Niall, and he remained close to his brother and three sisters. His father, Dick, died in his 40's, and a photograph from the ordination day of Niall and his mother, whom the family called Mater, had pride of place in Niall's room. All of his family shared a devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, and a commitment to the care of the sick, and over the years their annual pilgrimages there also became a family reunion.

Niall took great pleasure in the achievements of his nieces and nephews, and they in turn were great at keeping in touch with him. He introduced them to music at an early age, buying guitars and a set of uileann pipes for them. They were most grateful to him for this, and many of them followed musical careers.

In 1944, during the World War, Niall left the Crescent and began his life as a Jesuit, when he went to Emo. Years later when Emo closed, Niall salvaged the bell from there, called the Challenger, and he used it to summon people to Mass on Tory Island. After studies in UCD and in Tullabeg, Niall taught as a scholastic in Belvedere where he also ran the Field Club, and he became a lifelong friend and supporter of the Belvedere Youth Club. In later years he went as chaplain with them on their annual seaside camp in County Meath.

During the years of study Niall belonged to a great group of Jesuit companions. These included Tom McGivern and Gerry Keane, who later worked in Zambia and Singapore, but they still remained his steadfast friends. Contemporaries enjoyed Niall's personal qualities, his rugged determination, his patriotism, his good humour, his talent as a musician, as a sportsman, as an actor, and as one of the authors of the pantomimes and reviews they produced regularly. In these they poked gentle fun at everybody and everything, and they maintained a sense of balance and good humour at a time of Spartan living conditions.

As a schoolboy Niall and a friend cycled from Limerick to Portlaoise on a bird watching expedition, to see the first collared doves in Ireland, and as a Jesuit this love of nature continued to enrich his life. Years later he attracted hundreds of 'twitchers' to Tory, by alerting the BBC to the presence on the island of a bird rarely seen in Europe. He amassed a specialised collection of Irish bird books, and even when in Cherryfield be sent for his binoculars so that he could continue to be close to the natural world.

After Tertianship Niall became Lower Liner Prefect at Clongowes. Then in 1962 he went to Limerick, to Crescent College as a teacher and Spiritual Father. In 1967 he joined the Retreat and Parish Mission staff. This new work brought him to every diocese in Ireland, giving parish missions that lasted up to two weeks at a time, and he worked closely with Seán Noonan and Kevin Laheen and Noel Holden. Niall had a great love of the lore of country places, and took many fine slide photographs of the places he visited.

For much of this time Niall continued to live in the Crescent, until he went in 1989 to live as the resident priest in Tory Island off the Donegal coast. He described this as the happiest period of his life, and he adapted his Munster Irish to Caighdeán Cuige Ulaidh. At this time he began to say the Divine Office and Mass in Irish, a practice he continued till the end. On Tory he also visited the sick, worked as a peacemaker, welcomed visitors, and brought encouragement and friendship to many, especially the housebound. He also had time to fish for his supper, and to wander in all weathers all over the island. In recent years he used to look at his collection of videos of life on Tory. These included pictures of the Ferry journey to Tory, programmes about Tory recorded from TG4, homemade videos that recorded the island way of life, and some great Atlantic storms.

We also have some beautiful photographs of Niall from Tory; processing outside the church with altar servers, with their vestments blowing in the wind; bounding over rocky outcrops with two beautiful dogs; ringing the bell for Mass, and smiling with delight as he greeted friends. In recent Niall used to receive a large post every day, and the Donegal postmarks on many of these letters were a sign of strong and lasting friendships formed on Tory.

In the year 2000 Niall had a stroke, and had to leave his beloved Tory. He always was a determined person, and entered into his rehabilitation programme with great resolve. He lived for a year in Cherryfield and then in Gort an Choirce, Letterkenny, before becoming Resident Chaplain, in Gallen Priory Nursing and Retirement Home, Ferbane, Co. Offaly. Gallen Priory is the site of a 5th century hermitage of Saint Canoc, on the River Brosna, and it is one of the oldest Christian sites in Ireland. Niall loved his time here, and became great friends with the sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny who lived there, and with the staff and the patients of the Priory. Again Niall was a constant friend the these people visited him often in Limerick for his last three years.

And every morning he spent two hours in his own little sanctuary, down by a bend in the River Brosna. Here he built a shaded seat at the base of an ivy clad tree, and trained the ivy so that it formed a canopy that gave shelter from the wind and rain. He prayed here, surrounded by a beauty that only comes slowly to those who know how to sit and wait. Here among the wildlife, including all the songbirds and otters and kingfishers, and other rare species he said his prayers. Ignatius of Loyola asks us to consider how God works and labours for us in all things created on the face of the earth. On this bend on the River Brosna, where the sky is constantly changing, Niall made time for God, and allowed God to touch his heart. Here he was like the person in Coleridge's poem:
“He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all...”
In 2006 Niall had to move again, because of ill health, this time back to Limerick, to Della Strada, Dooradoyle. He became a regular patient and visitor to Ward 2C in the Regional Hospital. Here he established a strong friendship with the nurses and doctors.

Niall was blessed by their professional and personal care, and by their friendship. Later Niall was to receive the same loving care at the Jesuit nursing home, at Cherryfield Lodge in Dublin.
Niall was stubborn and determined, and during national elections his trenchant views might not have been shared by many of his colleagues. But everybody who got to know him learned to have enormous respect for his integrity and his faithfulness to the Gospel, and they were grateful for the prayerful support we received from him. He had a public disagreement with another Jesuit colleague about Tory Island affairs, but in his final months Niall used this colleague's mortuary card as a bookmark and he became reconciled with him through in prayer.

People were struck by Niall's happiness. His faith and his Jesuit vocation brought him great joy, deep down contentment, the sort of joy that is bigger than any of life's difficulties. This was true especially in the last three years, when he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, which at first made speech difficult, and then impossible. However Niall never seemed to be wrapped up in himself. He was a great host to visitors to Della Strada, and even in illness he became their willing chauffeur. And whenever colleagues and friends faced a difficulty, they valued his prayers and his support.
During these three years of sickness, Niall spent much of this time praying, in the chapel with the curtains to the outside world drawn back, to let the world of nature in. God works and labours for us in all things created on the face of the earth. Every morning he put an apple on the ground outside the window of his room, to feed two blackbirds who became his companions. Then for much of the day he put a cushion on his lap, used his bad hand to steady a writing pad, and he proceeded to write long letters to his friends.

Niall O'Neill was closely connected to God, to God's creation and to his family and his Jesuit friends in the Lord. And that's not taken away by death. That faithful life and prayerful support is stronger than death, and we continue to be enriched by his faith and his hope and his love.

Born: 30 April 1811, London, England
Entered: 24 July 1851, Naples, Italy - Neapolitanae Province (NAP)
Ordained: 1838 - pre Entry
Final vows: 15 August 1862
Died: 10 November 1878, Milltown Park, Dublin

by 1853 Teaching at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG)

Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus : 08 December 1863-19 April 1870

Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Thomas, a merchant, and Brigid née O’Callaghan (one of five daughters of Edmund, of Killegorey Co Clare). One of his aunts married the Third Earl of Kenmare.

Born in London, but the family returned to Ireland when he was six years old.

Early education was at Clongowes and Maynooth and then on to the Roman College - where he made a public defence of universal Theology with applause and graduated DD. He was ordained there 1838.
1838-1851 He returned to Ireland and was appointed to the Chair of Theology, a position he held for thirteen years, and then he joined HIB 1851, received at Rome aged 40, and did his Noviceship in Naples.

1853-1856 Appointed professor of Dogmatic Theology at St Beuno’s, endearing himself to all who came to know him during his short stay.
1856 Sent to Ireland.
1862 He received his Final Vows unusually early due to his impending appointment as Provincial.
1863-1870 Appointed Provincial, succeeding Father Lentaigne who was the First provincial of HIB. On several occasions he was chosen by Prelates as their Theologian at various Provincial Synods, including the one at Oscott, England.
1874 Appointed first Rector of Milltown, whilst teaching at University, and also being Socius to the Provincial, and continued in these roles until his death 10 November 1878 At Milltown aged 67. He was universally loved and lamented. His funeral was attended by a large number of Ecclesiastics, Secular and Religious.
When the Catholic University was opened, he was appointed to the Chair of Theology, and the mutual sentiments of affection and esteem which existed between Newman, its First Rector, and Edmund remained undiminished until his death.. He was regarded by Newman and other high authorities as one of the first Theologians of the day.
He was remarkable for his devotion to the Church and the Society, a deep a solid piety, with exactness and fidelity in everything pertaining to the duties of the Priesthood, combined with great cheerfulness. His love of the poor was proverbial.
A brief memoir appears in the “Irish Monthly” Vol vi, 1878

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
One of his aunts married the Third Earl of Kenmare; Another entered the Visitation Convent Westbury; Another married Mr Bagot of Castle Bagot, and the last Married Mr Dease of Turbotstown. Their father - Edumnd’s grandfather - Edmund was mortally wounded in a duel, surviving for five days in time to repent and prepare for judgement.

He spent several years of his boyhood at Mount Catherine, near Limerick, and then in George’s (O’Connell) St Limerick. His very early education was by private tutor before going to Clongowes and Maynooth. While he was at the Roman College, the soon to be Cardinal Cullen was the President. When he became Cardinal at Armagh, he chose Edmund as his Theologian at the Synod of Thurles.

When Passaglia “broke off so miserably” in the middle of a brilliant career, Father General Beckx thought of summoning Edmund to Rome, to have him take the Chair of Theology at the Roman College. Although this did not happen, he was held in high regard as a Professor, and represented all the English speaking Provinces at a meeting held about Jesuit studies in Rome.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
O'Reilly, Edmund Joseph
by David Murphy

O'Reilly, Edmund Joseph (1811–78), Jesuit priest and theologian, was born 30 April 1811 in London, son of Thomas O'Reilly, merchant, and his wife Bridget, daughter of Edmund O'Callaghan and co-heiress to considerable estates in Co. Clare and Co. Limerick. He was brought to Ireland at the age of six and initially educated by a private tutor at the family estate at Mount Catherine, Co. Limerick, before attending Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. In 1826 he entered St Patrick's College, Maynooth, to begin studies for the priesthood but left three years later, doubting his vocation. He went to Rome in 1830 to continue his studies, however, and distinguished himself at the Roman College. While in Rome he lived at the Irish College where Paul Cullen (qv) was president, and the two men became firm friends. In 1835 he graduated DD, and was ordained priest for the diocese of Limerick in 1838. Returning to Ireland, he was appointed to the chair of dogmatic theology at Maynooth (1838–51). Renowned for his theological knowledge, he was in constant demand with members of the Irish hierarchy, acting as a counsellor on theological matters and points of sacred learning generally. In 1850 he was appointed as theologian to Cullen at the synod of Thurles; he later served as theological advisor to Bishop Brown of Shrewsbury at the synod of Oscott and to Bishop Thomas Furlong (1802–75) of Ferns at the synod of Maynooth. At one time he was considered by the general of the Society of Jesus, Fr Beckx, for the chair of theology at the Roman College.

In July 1851 he asked to be admitted to the Society of Jesus and completed his noviciate at Naples. After first profession, he was appointed as professor of theology at the Jesuit college of St Beuno's, north Wales, and in 1855 was appointed professor of theology at the Catholic University in Dublin, where he became a close associate of John Henry Newman (qv). In 1859 he founded the Jesuit house of studies at Milltown Park, Dublin, and was appointed its first rector, an appointment he held until his death. He took his final vows in August 1862 and was later appointed provincial of the Irish province of the Society of Jesus (1863–70). He died 10 November 1878 at Milltown Park, and was buried in the Jesuit plot in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin.

O'Reilly published numerous theological articles. Several appeared in the Irish Monthly in 1873–4; from 1875 he assisted Matthew Russell (qv) in editing this journal. In 1875 Newman quoted from some of his writings on temporal papal power in his response to Gladstone's Vaticanism: an answer to reproofs and replies. Newman also referred to O'Reilly in his Letter to the duke of Norfolk (London, 1875). A collection of O'Reilly's writings, edited by Russell, was published in 1892 as The relations of the church to society. A large collection of his papers in the Irish Jesuit archives, Dublin, includes correspondence and manuscript drafts of his theological and devotional writings.

Fr Edmund Joseph O'Reilly, SJ, files in Irish Jesuit archives, Dublin; Irish Monthly, Dec. 1878, 695–700: Boase; Matthew Russell (ed.), The relations of the church to society (1892); Crone; Burke, IFR (1976) 889; Patrick J. Corish, Maynooth College, 1795–1995 (1995); ODNB

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Edmund O’Reilly SJ 1811-1878
On November 19th 1878, aged 67, died Fr Edmund Joseph O’Reilly, who in the words of Cardinal Newman was “a great authority” and “one of the first Theologians of his day”.

He was born in London, of Irish parents, on April 10th 1811, and returned to Ireland with his parents when he was six years old, residing first at Mount Catherine, a few miles from Limerick, and then in the city, in the house in O’Connell Street opposite the present Provincial Bank. His maternal grandfather, Mr Edmund O’Sullivan of Killegory, was mortally wounded in a duel, but survived five days to repent and die a Christian death.

Young Edmund was educated at Clongowes and then went to Maynooth, and from there to Rome in 1830 where he crowned a brilliant theological course with the “public act de universa theologica”, and the doctors cap in Divinity. On his return in 1838, he was appointed to the chair of Theology in Maynooth, a post he discharged with great distinction for thirteen years.

In 1851 he joined the Society when already 40 years of age. After his novitiate, he was appointed to the chair of Theology at St Beuno’s, Wales.

He became Rector of Milltown Park and held the arduous office of Provincial from 1863-1870. When the Catholic University was established at Dublin, Fr O’Reilly was invited by Newman to take the chair of Theology. This began an affection and esteem between these two great men, which ended only at death.

It is difficult in such a short notice to convey the excellence of Fr O’Reilly’s character. In the words of a very close friend of his, we may say “I have never known a more perfect character or a more blameless life”.

He had a special devotion to the Office, and it was related of him that while a Professor at Maynooth, he used to recite it daily with Dr Dixon, later the saintly Primate of Armagh. His kindness to the poor was known to all.

He retained his faculties right to up the end. Three minutes before he died he raised the crucifix to his lips and kissed it twice with great fervour. His last breath was a prayer. “He has gone to his reward” wrote Cardinal Newman “and all who knew him must have followed on his journey with thoughts full of thanksgiving and gladness for what God made him”.

◆ The Clongownian, 1899

Four Jesuits among our Past

The last number of “The Clongownian” contained some account of our Past in the Army, an account which, though extended, has proved by no means exhaustive. It is now proposed to give a similar record of four members of another societas militans, though their warfare is not of this world.

First on this confined list of Old Clongownians who have · filled responsible offices in the Society of Jesus is the name of Edmund Joseph O'Reilly. In the records of the house at our disposal we find him mentioned among the scholars leaving in the summer of 1830. He was born in London in 1811, and came to the College in 1825, being a school-fellow of Father Frank Murphy SJ, whose death in Australia we recorded eighteen months ago. They were in the Philosophy class of 1829-30, and Father B Esmonde, then Rector, records in his diary, under date of June 29 in the latter year, that “of the four philosophers at present in the house, two (Fr Murphy and Edmd, O'Reilly) have expressed their desire to enter the Society, and are both registered. Both are excellent, virtuous, and talented youths”. The word registered has in this context a curious significance, linking our own days with penal times. The Emancipation Act, passed in the previous year, was not wholly “for the relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects”. Of its eighteen penal clauses, one provides that “Whereas Jesuits are resident within this kingdom, and it is expedient to make provision for the gradual suppression and final prohibition of the same therein, it is enacted that every Jesuit. . . shall within six months deliver to the Clerk of the Peace notice of his name, age, place of birth, the name of the Order, and of the immediate Superior of the Order, ... and in case he offend in the premnisses, he shall forfeit to His Majesty for every month he shall remain in the United Kingdom, the sum of fifty pounds”. And so the Rector of that day sent in, early in the autumn of 1829, the list of the community and of those likely to join, to Mr Medlicott, then Clerk of the County of Kildare. The subject of this notice. however, did not enter the Society for many years after the registration. He left Ireland for Rome in company with Francis Murphy and John Curtis on September 8, 1830, and joined the Irish College, then presided over by Dr Cullen, the future Cardinal. After a brilliant course in the Roman College of the Society he gained the degree of DD, by examination, and returned to Ireland, where soon he became Professor of Tbeology in Maynooth. There his reputation for holiness and piety rivalled his great name as a scholar and professor. After thirteen years in Maynooth, he entered the Society in 1851, and went through the noviceship, a trial of no ordinary difficulty for a man of his years, whose character and habits were already fully formed. After the period of probation, he professed theology at the Jesuit House of Studies at St Buenos, near St Asaph, and afterwards became Superior of Milltown Park. There he died on November 10, 1878, having been Provincial of Ireland from 1863 to 1870.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Edmund O’Reilly (1811-1878)

In the foregoing pages, only Jesuits who have been members of the Limerick community have been noticed in the biographical index. Yet, this centenary publication would not be complete if it did not assign a notice to two Irish Jesuits who were never members of the community. Father Edmund O'Reilly undoubtedly had much to do with the restoration of the Society in Limerick, while Father John Hannon, an Old Crescent boy, became the second Irish Father Assistant at Rome in the four centuries history of the Society.

Father Edmund O'Reilly (1811-1878), was born in London on 30 April, 1811. Edmund was a child of six when his father decided to return to Ireland and settle down at Mount Catherine House, Clonlara. As Mr. Power died shortly after he returned to the country, the upbringing of the boy devolved upon a mother who was deeply religious in spite of the social class from which she came. She was a daughter of Edmund O’Callaghan of Kilgorey, Co. Clare. Her father was mortally wounded in a duel but survived long enough to repent and die at peace with God. All the O'Callaghan daughters made enviable matches from a social point of view: Lord Kenmare, Bagot of Castle Bagot and Dease of Turbotstown.

Young Edmund was brought for his early education into the city and mother and son occupied a house in George Street opposite the Provincial Bank in the then George Street. His early lessons he learned from a private tutor but later he entered Clongowes. He was accepted for the diocese of Limerick by Bishop Ryan and sent first to Maynooth and later to Rome for his higher studies. At Rome, he resided at the Irish College but took his lectures at the Roman College (Gregorian University) where he graduated Doctor of Divinity after a public act in all theology. He had been ordained priest in 1838. On his return to Ireland, his bishop recommended him to enter the concursus for the chair of theology at Maynooth College and young Dr O'Reilly was successful not only in obtaining the chair but in holding it with distinction for the next thirteen years.

Dr O'Reilly was chosen by Cardinal Cullen to be his theologian at the first National Synod of Thurles in 1850. He acted in the same capacity at the Synods of Oscott and Maynooth. To the surprise of many, Dr. O'Reilly in 1851 asked to be admitted to the Society. He was sent to Naples for his noviceship and the first news he received from Ireland after his arrival there was the sad message of his good mother's death. Father O'Reilly (as he became known amongst his religious brethren who do not use titles even when well earned) fitted in immediately with his new surroundings, in spite of the fact that he was now in his forty-first year. His formation in the Society was limited to the essentials: his noviceship and tertianship.

On his return from Italy, Father O'Reilly was loaned as professor of theology to the English Province of the Society. Later in Ireland, he became the first rector of Milltown Park and in 1863 was appointed Provincial. This latter post he occupied for seven years. Father O'Reilly has always been regarded as one of the greatest Jesuits of the last century not only in Ireland but throughout the Society. His ability as a theologian was known to the General of the Society who had already taken steps to appoint him to the chair of dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University. Fortunately he was allowed to remain in Ireland. Father O'Reilly was acquainted with Cardinal (then Dr.) Newman before his entrance into the Society. The great oratoriau regarded highly the fine intellectual gifts and noble character of the future Jesuit, and the friend ship of both remained constant to the end.

Born: 01 March 1848, County Cavan
Entered: 30 July 1875, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: : 02 February 1888
Died: 16 September 1915, Milltown Park, Dublin

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
During the forty years of his Jesuit life he was Sacristan at Gardiner St and Crescent, where he showed great aptitude for this work.
Towards the end of his life he was sent to Leeson St, and just before his death to Milltown, where he died 16 September 1915 - six months after John O’Brien.

Born: 14 March 1847, Drogheda, County Louth
Entered: 15 March 1869, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1883
Final Vows: 23 February 1902
Died: 13 March 1902, Coláiste Iognáid, Sea Road, Galway

2nd year Novitiate at Roehampton London (ANG)
by 1871 at Roehampton, London (ANG) studying
by 1872 at Maria Laach College, Germany (GER) Studying
by 1873 at Leuven, Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1882 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying
by 1886 at Roehampton, London (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1888 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He had intended to become a Priest in the Diocese and so went to Maynooth, before he decided to join the Society.

After First Vows he was sent to Maria Laach for Philosophy.
1874-1881 He was sent for Regency to Tullabeg, teaching Science, for which he had a remarkable talent.
1881-1885 He was sent to St Beuno’s for Theology.
1885-1886 He was sent back teaching at Tullabeg.
1887-1888 Sent for Tertianship to Drongen.
1888-1890 He was sent to the Crescent.
1890 He was sent to Galway as a Missioner and where he remained until his death 13 March 1902

He was a man of remarkable and varied talents. He not only excelled in Maths and Science, but he was also a very accomplished Classical scholar. He was a gentle and friendly man, always obliging others, and at the same time energetic and self-sacrificing in his work.
He had to endure a long and painfulness before death. He had suffered from digestive problems, but seemed able to manage them. These became much more acute in August 1901, and by September he had been able to travel to Dublin for medical diagnosis, where it was found he had a bad and inoperable cancer. When he returned to Galway, he said to one of the Community “Well, I have just had a great piece of news. It seems I am going to Heaven fast!” He had always had a special devotion to the Queen of Sorrows, and he intensified this in the succeeding months. His end came peacefully, just as the bell was ringing for Lenten Devotions, 13 March 1902.

He was the first Jesuit to die at Coláiste Iognáid, Galway.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick O’Reilly SJ 1847-1902
Fr Patrick O’Reilly was born at Drogheda on March 14th 1847. He studied for the priesthood for some years at Maynooth before becoming a novice of the Society at Milltown Park in 1869.

He was a man of remarkable and varied talents. He was not only a mathematician and a a scientist but also a classical scholar. As teacher, confessor or preacher, he was most successful.

The way he met his end was characteristic of the man. Being informed that he had incurable cancer, he returned to St Ignatius Galway, where he was stationed, and said to one of the community : “I have just heard a great piece of news. It seems that I am going to Heaven fast”.

During the weary months of waiting for the end, he prayed constantly to the Holy Souls and to Our Lady of Dolours. The end came peacefully on March 13th 1902, just as the Church bell was ringing for the Lenten devotions.

He was the first member of the Society to die in St Ignatius Galway.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Patrick O’Reilly (1847-1902)

Was a native of Drogheda and had been studying at Maynooth some years when he was admitted to the Society in 1869. He made his higher studies at Maria Laach, in Germany and at St Beuno's in Wales, and was ordained in 1884. He spent three years as master at the Crescent and assistant in the church from 1888 to 1891. Though a gifted teacher, especially of science, his preference was for mission work to which he was later assigned. The later years of his short life were spent at St Ignatius, Galway.

Born: 31 December 1849, Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan
Entered: 19 April 1872, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1887, St Beuno’s, Wales
Final vows: 02 February 1891, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 21 January 1932, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly

Youngest brother of John (ANG) - RIP 1892, and Philip (ANG) - RIP 1926

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1873 at Laval, France (FRA) studying
by 1885 at St Aloysius, Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1888 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying
by 1890 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 7th Year No 2 1932
Obituary :
Fr Richard O'Reilly
On Thursday, 21 January, Fr. R, O'Reilly died at Tullabeg, in his 59th year in the Society, at the age of 82.

He first saw the light at Ballyjamesduff, Co, Cavan on the 31st December 1849, was educated. first at St. Mary's, Chesterfield, then went to Clongowes in 1868, where he joined the class I Grammar, taught by Fr. N. Walsh, and had as class fellow Fr. M. Devitt. He was elected captain of the House two years in succession. This unique honour was probably due to that popularity which won for him so many friends in after life.
He entered the novitiate at Milltown 19 April 1872, and at the end of the two years was sent to Roehampton. After spending some months there he joined Frs. M. Devitt and H. Lynch at Milltown in September. All three attended the courses of the old Catholic University for the year 1874-75.
Three years philosophy at Laval followed, and then began a course of teaching for 6 years in Ireland, The first of them was spent in Tullabeg the next three in Clongowes, and the last two at the Crescent. His subjects were Latin, Greek, French, Mathematics. For one year he had charge of the H. Line debate in Clongowes. Theology came next, one year in Jersey and three at St. Beuno's. A year was spent in Mungret as Minister and Procurator before going to his Teirtianship at Tronchiennes in 1889.
On returning to Ireland he began his long career as Minister, Procurator, Consulter, broken only by three years as Miss. Excurr., during which he was stationed in Galway.
In all he was Minister for 11 years, Procurator or sub-Proc. for 29, Consultor for 39, twenty-seven of them being in Tullabeg.
He lived in Tullabeg for 29 years, in Clongowes for 9, Mungret 5, Galway 3, Milltown 3, Crescent 2, and Belvedere 1 (1917-18). These, with 8 years abroad, brought him to within a few months of his Diamond Jubilee in the Society.
He had charge of the People's Sodality in Tullabeg for a Number of years, and his devotion to the work made the members really devoted to him. They almost looked on him as their Parish Priest. He spoke to them with great frankness when occasion demanded it, and told them of their faults, but this only increased their respect.
For years he never missed saying Mass in the People's Church daily, though in winter it was so cold that with difficulty he kept the blood circulating in hi s fingers so as to hold the chalice. The novices looked serving Mass in that Church for a week during winter as a severe penance yet Fr O'Reilly said Mass there, week in week out, for many a year,
With the priests too he was very popular. At all their social meetings he was ever a welcome guest, and was given the place of honour. When Dr. Mulvaney was consecrated Bishop, it was Fr. O'Reilly who was placed on the Bishop's right hand.
All this shows what manner of man Fr. O'Reilly was. Through life a quiet, steady worker, easy to get on with, yet, when his own opinions seemed right, they were defended with energy. His kindliness won for him hosts of friends at home and abroad. No man enjoyed a joke better and when he himself was the object of the fun every thing was taken in the best possible humour, a somewhat rare virtue. To the end he was an excellent religious, and his devotion to the obligations of Jesuit life resembled at times those of a novice.
Fr, O’Reilly was anointed on Saturday evening, 16 Jan., yet he was able to get up on Sunday, actually said Mass and heard two others. On Monday he offered the Holy Sacrifice for the last time, and on the following Thursday morning was found dead.
His Lordship Dr. Mulvaney, many priests and a great crowd of people attended the Requiem Mass and funeral

◆ The Clongownian, 1932

Obituary
Father Richard O’Reilly SJ

Many old Clongownians will have heard with regret of Father O'Reilly's death at Tullabeg, on 21st January, 1932. He was then already beginning the 83rd year of his age and had nearly completed the 60th year of his religious life. Born at Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, on 31st December, 1849, he was educated first at Mount St Mary's College, Chesterfield, from which he entered Clongowes on 31st October, 1868, and was placed in the class of I Grammar, of which the late Father Nicholas Walsh was then Master. Richard was then 18 years of age and considerably senior to most of his class-fellows, to whom he gave a good example of piety, industry and genial comradeship. His skill at games, especially on the cricket ground, where he excelled as a batsman, secured his election as Captain of the Higher Line XI in the summer of 1870, and his re-election to the same position in 1871. In the summer of this year an unpleasant incident occurred which occasioned some criticism of the Captain. An inter-collegiate cricket match had been arranged between Ciongowes and Tullabeg, and was to be played on the Clongowes ground. On the morning of the fixture, a scurrilous and insulting letter, anonymous, but purporting to come from the Tullabeg team, was delivered to the Clongowes Captain, who immediately showed it to the Rector Father Carbery, with the result that the latter sent an express messenger to Tullabeg cancelling the invitation previously issued to the XI of the latter College. This precipitate action caused much disappointment and bitterness, especially when it was ascertained that the Tullabeg XI had no cognisance whatever of the writer, and were looking forward to the match in the most friendly spirit. At the end of the Summer Term, 1871, Richard O'Reilly left Clongowes, having completed his course in the class of Rhetoric, of which Father James Dalton was Master. On 19th April, 1872, he entered the Jesuit Noviceship at Milltown Park. Two of his elder brothers had joined the Society before him - John in the English Province and Philip in the Irish, from which, in 1886, at his own request, he was transferred to England. Richard having completed his two years novitiate and one year of second Rhetoric at Milltown Park, was in 1875 sent to Laval for the usual three years course of Philosophy, and in 1878 to Tullabeg as master. In the following year he went to Clongowes as Master; taking Middle Grade for two years, and I Rhetoric for one year (1881-82), when he was also Presiderit of the Higher Line Debate.

After two years further teaching at the Crescent College, Limerick, he began his Theology at Jersey, in 1884, and passing to St Beuno's, N Wales, in 1885, where he was ordained in 1887. At the end of his fourth year theology, in 1888, he was appointed Minister and Procurator of Mungret College. He made his Tertianship in the following year at Tronchienne, and in 1890 was appointed Procurator and in charge of the farm at Tullabeg, where he remained in the same position for seven years. In 1897 he joined the Missionary Staff, and in 1900 he took charge of the farm in Clongowes for a period of six years. In 1906 he returned to Mungret as Minister and Procurator for four years. In 1910 he was again Procurator at Tullabeg, where, with the exception of one year as Minister in Belvedere College, he spent the rest of his life, either acting as Minister or in charge of the farm, and there he celebrated his Golden Jubilee in 1922.

Of the 60 years of his life in religion, he gave 29 to the service of Tullabeg and 9 to that of Clongowes. In the various offices which he held he displayed great activity, and showed an ardent interest not only in his own work but in the responsibilities and concerns of others inside and outside the Society. For over a year before his death his energy had begun to wane, heart trouble set in and at last congestion of the lungs supervened. He received the last Sacraments on January 20th and died peacefully in sleep on the morning of January 21st, 1932. RIP

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1932 : Golden Jubilee

Obituary

Father Richard O’Reilly SJ

The 21st of January saw the death of Father O'Reilly at the advanced age of 82. For some months his health had been precarious and people wondered whether he would survive until his Diamond Jubilee in the Society. That he did not live to see it and the Golden Jubilee of Mungret College is a cause of sincere regret to us.

Father O'Reilly was born at Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, on the 31st of December, 1849. After a year or two spent at Mt St Mary's College, Chesterfield, he went to Clongowes in 1868, where, before the end of his schooldays, he had the rare honour of being elected Captain of the House for two years in succession.

In 1872 he entered the Novitiate of the Society at Milltown Park, Dublin, and, at the end of two years, was sent to Roehampton. After some months spent there, he returned to Ireland to attend the courses of the Catholic University.

He spent three years at Laval, in France, studying philosophy and then taught for a year at Tullabeg, at that time a College of the Society. The next five years were spent teaching in Clongowes, and in the Crescent. Theology came next, one year in Jersey and three at St Bueno's, in Wales. In 1888, he came to Mungret as Minister and Procurator, before going to his Tertianship in Tronchiennes. He returned to Mungret in 1907, in his former capacity as Minister, and filled that office until 1910.

By far the greater part of the remainder of Father O'Reilly's life was spent at Tullabeg. He was given charge of the Sodality attached to the People's Church there, and won the respect of the people for miles around. His Sodalists were devoted to him and almost looked on him as their parish priest; and this in spite of the fact that when occasion demanded, he could be fearless in his rebukes.

His popularity with his fellow-priests was unbounded. Excellent at kindly repartee, they enjoyed a passage at arms with him, and his quick wit was nearly always successful in routing his opponents. When he himself was overthrown, a somewhat rare occurrence, he never showed signs other than those of an imperturbable self-possession and good humour. At social meetings he was ever a welcome guest, and was given the place of honour. When Dr Mulvaney was consecrated Bishop, it was Father O'Reilly that was placed on his right hand.

He knew everyone for miles around Tullabeg and was keenly interested in their doings. Those in trouble found him ever ready to come to their help with practical and sound advice. A quiet steady worker and excellent religious, his departure will be keenly felt by a wide circle of friends. He has taken with him some of that old-world courtesy and interest in things of the intellect, qualities all too rare in an age of staccato phrases and loose thinking. RIP

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Richard O’Reilly (1849-1932)

A native of Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan and educated at St Mary's, Chesterfield and Clongowes, entered the Society in 1872. He made his higher studies at the old Catholic University, Laval, Jersey and St. Beuno's, Wales. He spent two years of his regency here from 1882 to 1884. With the exception of three years on the mission staff, all of Father O'Reilly's priestly life was passed in the bursar's office and from 1902, with the exception of one year, his days were passed at Tullabeg where he worked many years in the church. In his school days he was elected captain of the house for two successive years-a distinction probably unique in the annals of that school.

Born: 26 July 1855, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 16 September 1890, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 19 June 1894, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, County Kildare
Final Vows: 15 August 1903
Died: 01 June 1938, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the Crescent College, Limerick community at the time of death

Early education at St Stanislaus College SJ, Tullabeg

Previously joined in 1874 at Milltown and left in 1876 rejoining 1890

by 1902 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Went to Louisiana Mission and LEFT without making Vows. READMITTED 16 September 1890

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 13th Year No 4 1938
Obituary :
Father William O’Reilly
1855 Born 26th July in Cork City
1890 Entd. 16th June, Tullabeg
1891 Tullabeg, Novice
1892-93 Milltown, Theol. (Ordained at Maynooth, 29 June 84)
1894-95 Clongowes, Doc
1896-97 Crescent, Doc. Oper. Praes. Cong. S.S. Heart, etc
1898-1900 Crescent, Min. Doc. Praef. Sod. B.V.M.. etc.. etc
1901 Tronchiennes Tertian
1902-03 Crescent, Min, Pries. Sod. S.S. Cordis Doc.. etc
1904 Crescent, Miss. Excurr. Oper
1905 Crescent, Min, Pries. Sod. S.S. Cordis Doc.. etc
1906-07 Galway, Miss. Excurr, Oper
1908 Tullabeg, Praef. Spir. Miss. Excurr., etc
1909-38 Crescent, During this period he was “Cons. dom” for 20 years, had charge of various Sodalities, and was “Dir Pioneers” from 1921 to the end. etc.

He died at St Vincent's, Dublin, on Wednesday, 1st June, 1938, within a few days of his 83rd year.

Father J. Gubbins, his Rector, has kindly sent us the following :
With the death of Father W. P. O'Reilly a well-known and revered figure has disappeared from the streets of Limerick. For thirty-nine years he worked at the Crescent. During five of these in addition to Church work, he taught in the College. One of his pupils, now labouring in the vineyard of the Lord, spoke to me of his kindness, his strict justice and impartiality to all, of the interest he afterwards took in their careers, of the encouragement he would give when difficulties arose. In this variety of work he laboured assiduously. His powers of organising were known and recognised throughout the country, Concerts, plays, lectures and excursions got up by him were always a success. He took great pains with his sermons and instructions. Where a helping hand could be given, a position secured, he left no stone unturned. The following extract from the “Limerick Leader” June, 1938 will illustrate his undaunted and untiring character:
It was through his good offices and influence the lives of Mr. Timothy Murphy and Mr. Edward Punch of Limerick, and Mr. John Egan of Ennis, were spared when these three were sentenced to death by the British military for their activities on behalf of Ireland during the period of the Anglo-Irish struggle. Father O'Reilly was a man of great influence, and he used it unsparingly and successfully in preventing three executions which would undoubtedly have been carried out were it not for his exertions. Father O'Reilly himself was anxious that credit for the saving of the lives in question should be given to Father Bernard Vaughan, with whom he was on terms of the closest friendship, and who was a cousin of Lord FitzAlan. the last British Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
He never wished for external show or display, and so, at his own request, his fifty years jubilee as a priest was quietly held on 19th June, 1934. He was prudent in advising, and his judgment always sound. This was the experience of Ours who sought his advice, of religious and of externs. For nineteen years he was extraordinary Confessor to the Good Shepherds. All there admit that they have lost a kind father, a good friend and counsellor.
He was an exemplary Religious, and a good community man, always charitable and obliging. Though never sick himself he was always most kind to the sick, and paid frequent visits to the hospitals.
On January 8th he fell sick, and two days later was removed to Milford House. Towards the end of March the doctors suggested an operation, and Father O'Reilly himself was anxious for it. His life long friend, Dr. Fogarty, Bishop of Killaloe, had the same operation, and was completely cured. On April 1st he went from Milford to St. Vincent's, Dublin. Prior to the operation he was treated for two months. On May 29th the operation took place and he died on June 1st. Throughout his long stay in the hospital he was most patient - this for, a man who had never been sick was most surprising. Though he suffered much he never complained. He spoke in praise of the attention he was getting, and was most grateful for a visit or any token of kindness. Both the Bishop of Killaloe and the Bishop of Limerick visited him at St. Vincent's and his gratitude was genuine and touching.
It is hard to realise that . such a kind man has gone from our midst , but he had laboured well for the Lord. and the Lord has called him to his reward.
The following note of sympathy from the Bishop of Killaloe expresses also the views of Father O'Reilly's Community :
“I write to offer my sincere and deepest sympathy on the loss of Father W. P. O'Reilly, my class-fellow and life long friend. He was a saintly and zealous priest, a true and loyal friend. I am offering Mass for the repose of his soul. R.I.P”

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father William Paul O’Reilly (1855-1938)

Was born in the city of Cork and had been a secular priest, having been ordained at Maynooth in 1884, when he entered the Society in 1891. He continued his studies at Milltown Park and taught for one year at Clongowes before his first arrival at the Crescent in 1896. He was a member of the teaching and church staffs for the next four years when he was sent to Belgium for his tertianship. He returned to the Crescent in 1902 and was minister of the house for the next three years. The three ensuing years were spent as member of the mission staff until he returned once more to remain at the Crescent until his last illness, 1909-38. Henceforth, Father O'Reilly's life was given up to the work of a busy church, preaching, the confessional and the direction of various sodalities. Up to the 1930's, while his physical endurance was still to be envied, he was able, besides fulfilling his duties in the church, to organise concerts, plays, lectures and Pioneer excursions. Where a helping hand could be given, he put himself out to oblige. His obituary notice in the “Limerick Leader” surely illustrates what a power in the land he was during the Black and Tan war: “It was through his good offices and influence the lives of Mr Timothy Murphy and Mr Edward Punch of Limerick and Mr John Egan of Ennis were spared when these three were sentenced to death by the British military for their activities on behalf of Ireland during the period of the Anglo-Irish struggle. Father O'Reilly was a man of influence and he used it unsparingly and successfully in preventing three executions which would undoubtedly have been carried out were it not for his exertions. Father O'Reilly himself was anxious that credit for saving the lives in question should be given to Father Bernard Vaughan with whom he was on terms of closest friendship, and who was a cousin of Lord Fitzalan, the last British Lord Lieutenant of Ireland”.

Full of years and merits, Father O'Reilly passed away, leaving a void in the hearts of many who profited by his priestly ministrations.

Born: 16 April 1897, Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 31 August 1914, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1927, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1930, St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 02 August 1954, Dublin

Part of Crescent College community, Limerick at time of his death.

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1923 in Australia - Regency at Xavier College, Kew and St Patrick’s College, Melbourne
by 1929 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Francis O'Riordan arrived at Xavier College for regency in 1923, but moved to St Patrick's College in 1924. He was also assistant prefect of studies.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 29th Year No 4 1954
Obituary:
Father Francis O’Riordan

Father O'Riordan was born in Clonmel on April 16th, 1897, son of the late Jeremiah O'Riordan, Senior Inspector of National Schools. He was educated at Clongowes and with seven school companions, entered the Noviceship at Tullabeg in August, 1914. After philosophy in Milltown Park, he went to Australia for his regency, and taught for three years at Kew College and St. Patrick's, Melbourne. He went to Milltown for theology and was ordained in 1927. He was at St. Beuno's for his Tertianship and then took up teaching at Belvedere where he remained until 1945. In this year signs of nervous trouble appeared and he was transferred to Clongowes, but as his health showed further deterioration, he was changed to the Crescent in the following year. The nervous breakdown, however, was not prevented and the remaining years of his life were spent under a mental cloud. A few months before he died, he was removed for a serious operation to a Dublin nursing home. This change seemed to improve him mentally very much and he appreciated the devoted attention he received. However, the expected improvement in his general health did not take place and he passed peacefully away on the morning of August 2nd, 1954, after receiving the last sacraments. His nurses spoke in admiration of the patience with which he endured discomfort and pain of the last weeks of his life and of the general air of peace and tranquility of soul.
Father O'Riordan was a great loss to the Colleges, for besides being an excellent teacher of elementary Mathematics he was in many respects an ideal Prefect of Junior boys. To maintain a high standard of discipline, he did not require to punish much as he exercised by his mere presence wonderful control. It was striking to note how the noise of the playground sank to a murmur when he appeared on the playground steps and just gazed around the quadrangle, or how the crookedest “crocodile” became a straight line when he “took the salute”. He liked these dramatic appearances and the boys liked them also. A very amusing photograph in the 1948 Belvederian entitled “The Courtmartial” which shows Fr. O'Riordan with hands in gown addressing a group of young culprits catches admirably the relations that existed between him and the boys.
Those who lived with him in the same Community will remember how he enlivened the after-dinner recreations by his exhortations to “relax”, his calculation of “boy-hours” and his production of a referee's whistle when he thought the rules of debate were being broken. May God be good to him.

◆ The Clongownian, 1955

Obituary

Father Francis O’Riordan SJ

In 1908 two very small boys came to Clongowes and were of course placed in the Third Line. The elder, Jack, was a bright eyed, bright-tongued little spark of a boy, very quick in class and no less quick on the football field, so that he was, despite his size, the popular hero of many a Line match. The younger was a very different character ; not shy but reticent, not unfriendly but obstinate, and sometimes “difficult”. He had a will of iron. During his last years he never went to “shop”, and no persuading could induce him to share one's supplies of “shop” or hamper, no matter how abundant these might happen to be. Yet he had no streak of meanness, and in later life would often come forward to help out a brother in need. He had very high and somewhat individual standards of conduct. I can still remember the cold contempt with which he tamed a rather loose talker at our refectory table. But he was no “goody-goody” and some of my happiest, recollections of Clongowes are walks with him and one or two companions under the great beeches of Straffan, walks all the pleasanter because stolen from the monotony of play-day. cricket in the Lower Line. In his last year in the Lower Line he suffered a tragic experience. His charming brother took ill, lingered a few days of torrid fever and delirium, and despite the devoted care of Miss Elison and the prayers of Fr. Sullivan with whom he had been a special favourite, died in the infirmary at Clongowes. Naturally, one saw little of Frank in those days of strain and anxiety for he was with his grief-stricken parents. But when he came back to us he was in some strange way changed. Characteristically, I think he never spoke of Jack, but the bond had been a close one and more than ever Frank walked alone.

In August 1914 he went to the noviceship in Tullabeg with six other Clongownians and five more aspirants. Henceforth he was one of “The Twelve” as they liked to nick-name themselves, feeling in a special way the bond of their Apostolic Call. The Jesuit noviceship is, or ought to be, always a hidden and monotonous life, and it was specially so in his time under the guidance of Fr Maher. Of those days only one incident remains in memory. It was with surprise but acquiescence that one heard the most brilliant and not the least spiritual of The Twelve pronounce : “If there is one of us who could be a saint, it is Brother O’Riordan!”

After the normal studies of a Jesuit, and three years' teaching in Melbourne, Fr O'Riordan was posted to Belvedere, where he may be said to have spent all his working life as a priest. A good teacher, it was as Prefect of Studies and Discipline in the Junior House that he made his mark and left a valuable legacy to the Province. One of a long and truly Irish and Catholic family, his own home training must have shown him the happy combination of discipline with affection. He had no trace of sentimentality. He had no favourites. He expected a great deal of even small boys, but he never drove or terrorised. Without any strain or nonsense, he established a tradition of good work and perfect manners in his small kingdom. It was noticeable that when his boys came to the big school and its easier ways, they did not degenerate. On the contrary, four or five years later it was no surprise to find Fr. Frank's prefects and captains guiding the school. He was like most great school masters, something of a figure of mystery to his boys. They stood in awe, not fear, of him, and they were proud of him, knowing he was proud of them and always ready to be their champion.

Above all things he was a most loyal superior to his staff, most of them young men beginning their teaching careers. He way always ready to guide and support them, and they knew and testified to the pains he took to help them to help their boys.

It is curiously difficult now to go back to the mentality of the early war years. The grim feeling of living on the edge of a volcano, the depression of the foot and mouth disease, and the gradual sacrifice of many of the ordinary amenities of life which had to be made with no wave of patriotic feeling to soften the blow all this hit Fr Frank hard.

He had always lived intensely and to some degree solitarily. To the ordinary strain of war time was added failing health. His chief, indeed almost his only recreation had been a game of golf, a social rather than an athletic pursuit. Now with the disappearance of cars that ceased. Problems of food and transport for his boys were real, and bit by bit the times oppressed him. It was only at the end of the war that this mental balance gave way, all the more completely and finally as he strove almost feverishly and even imprudently to resist any such assault. He spent some years in a mental home, able between more severe attacks to preserve a calm and patience by his private reading and his private prayers, but altogether withdrawn from his former friends and interests. Then mercifully a severe illness, not to be expected, supervened. He was taken to a nursing home for treatment and for some months displayed all his old dogged courage and patience. And there, with very devoted nursing, his mind seemed to recover its old peace and content. He expressed his deep gratitude for all that was done for him, and passed away, armed by all the rites of the Church, to a reward that must have been all the greater for its strange delay.

MB

Born: 22 May 1924, Kildimo, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1942, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1956, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1982, Hong Kong
Died: 17 December 2003, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong

Transcribed HIB to HK : 03 December 1966; HK to HIB : 15 September 1992

by 1951 at Hong Kong - Regency

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Father Patrick O’Rourke, SJ
R.I.P.

Father Patrick O’Rourke, SJ died rather suddenly but peacefully on 17 December 2003, aged 79 years.

He died, appropriately, in Wah Yan College Hong Kong, where he had lived and taught for 45 years, and in the college chapel, of which he was the prefect in recent years.

In many ways a quiet-spoken man of simple tastes, but coming from a farming background in his native Ireland, he was also shrewd and somewhat skeptical by nature, not suffering fools gladly. He lived very simply, his room was left almost bare.

He possessed a well-developed sense of humour and enjoyed having a good laugh and also causing a good laugh.

A keen sportsman in earlier days, he enjoyed football, playing left-wing and, like many of his students, was a keen fan of Manchester United and latterly played a useful game of tennis in the school yard.

In his 45 years of teaching in Wah Yan College, he certainly taught hundreds, perhaps thousands of boys, in successive generations.

Many of his students returned to their mother school for his funeral Mass on 21 December 2003, presided over by Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun SDB and Bishop John Tong Hon and followed by burial in the Catholic cemetery in Happy Valley.

Just as his patron, St. Patrick, was called by God from being a shepherd boy to bring the Gospel of Christ to the pagan Irish in the 5th century AD, his 20th century namesake, a farmer’s son from Limerick, was also called to devote his long life to offering a sound education and the same Gospel to the Chinese youth of this sophisticated city with its age-old culture and yearnings for the infinite.

May God richly reward this latter day “Mr. Chips” and bring him quickly to Heaven, if he is not already there.

May Father Patrick O’Rourke have many Hong Kong Jesuit successors to continue the Wah Yan tradition into the future. May his gentle soul rest in the peace of Christ!
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 11 January 2004

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
He first came to Hong Kong as a Regent in 1952 to study Cantonese at Cheung Chau. He then returned to Ireland for Theology

1958-1989 He returned to Hong Kong to teach English and religious Knowledge at Wah Yan College Hong Kong and lived there for over 40 years. During this time he also helped with pastoral work on weekends with Sunday Masses, and he was Chaplain to the Hong Kong Volunteers for 20 years.

He was known for his humour and was very popular with his fellow Jesuits.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 123 : Special Issue February 2005

Obituary

Fr Patrick (Paddy) O’Rourke (1924-2003)

May 22nd 1924: Born in Kildimo, Co. Limerick
Early education at Kildimo National School and Sacred Heart College, The Crescent, Co. Limerick
Sept. 7th 1942: Entered the Society at Emo
1944 - 1947: Studied Arts UCD
1947 - 1950: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1950 - 1952: Hong Kong - Language School
1952 - 1953: Wah Yan College - Regency
1953 - 1957: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
July 31st 1956: Ordained at Milltown Park
1958 - 1959: Tertianship at Rathfamham
1959 - 2003: Wah Yan , Hong Kong - Prefect of the church, Spiritual Director (SJ), Treasurer, Teacher.
Feb. 2nd 1982: Final Vows in Hong Kong
Dec.17th 2003: Died in Hong Kong.

Fr Paddy O'Rourke died in the chapel in his community at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. His death was completely unexpected. The cause of his death is believed to have been a heart attack. He had been in fair health right to the end. Another member of the community spoke to him on the phone an hour before he died.

Homily preached by Fr. Seán Coghlan on December 21st at a Vigil Mass, the night before his funeral:

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today, instead of speaking about Advent or the fast approaching feast of Christmas I want to share with you some thoughts about Fr. Paddy O'Rourke who died last Wednesday in this chapel and who will be buried from here tomorrow.

Wah Yan College moved from Robinson Road to this site on Mount Parrish in 1955. Fr. O'Rourke took up residence here in August or September 1958 and has lived here ever since. Before his ordination in Ireland he taught for one year in Robinson Road after two years of Cantonese studies in Battery Path. 48 years of Fr. O'Rourke's nearly 80 years of life were spent in Hong Kong, 46 of them in Wah Yan.

He will be remembered by generations of Wah Yan students. Many of you will remember him too. For the last few years of his life his health made it impossible for him to go out for Mass on Sundays. Instead, he looked after this chapel with great care. He was always standing down there at the back of the chapel or hearing Confessions and then he would come up to the altar to help the celebrant distribute Holy Communion.

Fr. O'Rourke taught for most of his life, and even after his retirement he assisted the teachers and students in a wide variety of extra curricular activities. He was Minister of the community for many years. That is, he looked after the material needs of his fellow Jesuits.

He knew where every pipe in the building was. He did the jobs that needed to be done. He was that essential person in a religious community who can be relied on to be around, keeping an eye on things.

Fr. O'Rourke was chaplain to the Hong Kong Regiment (”The Volunteers”). Until quite recently he would offer Sunday Mass and preach in St. Margaret's and St. Jude's Parishes and Christ the King Chapel. Fr. O'Rourke was a good footballer in his younger days and played tennis on Sunday afternoons on the court beside the chapel, just a few yards away from where we are now. His partners were Mr. Frank Yung, Mr. Anthony Ip and Fr. Derek Reid.

He was a simple man but shrewd and somewhat skeptical by nature. He did not get wildly enthusiastic about new ideas but was absolutely reliable in all his commitments. He lived very simply. His room was almost bare. It will be very easy to clean up. Some Jesuit rooms take much time and energy to clean up after the occupant has left us for the Lord. Remember Fr. O' Rourke was 45 years in the some room!

Fr. Deignan was speaking to Fr. O'Rourke's nephew on the phone last Thursday. His nephew said too that he was a very simple man. He was quite content to stay around the old home, wandering about the farm and cycling on the bicycle which is still there. Fr. O'Rourke was very interested in local history. On holidays in Ireland he would visit the local parish churches and look up the publicly available marriage and baptismal registers. He would go to the local government offices and study the title deeds to the local farms and properties. These records stretched back many years.

On one occasion I asked him to look up some details about my family. When I asked him about his findings he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “If I were you I wouldn't look too deeply into the matter, some of the dates are a bit difficult to reconcile”. Fr. O'Rourke was very humorous and enjoyed having a good laugh and causing a good laugh.

Fr. O'Rourke lived in the country. His home was nine or ten miles from the nearest town where there was a Jesuit school, He cycled to school and back home in all kinds of weather. That was hard at times.

When Fr. O' Rourke was in school, Ireland was going through difficult years. It had recently become independent. The economy, nationally and internationally, was bad. Farmers in particular faced difficult problems. But Ireland was a Catholic country. It had a tremendous missionary tradition. Young women and young men like Fr. O' Rourke became priests and nuns and went to bring God's light to many different parts of the would. Fr. O' Rourke was one of those who, despite very difficult economic conditions, received a good education. He was available for God's work.

Now life is very different in Ireland. The economy is booming. But Ireland has not adapted well to prosperity. There is a crisis in the religious life of the people. The number of practicing Catholics has dropped drastically. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life have diminished correspondingly. It has to be said, too, that the Church has not coped well with the crisis. It is a very different scene from the one Fr. O' Rourke was familiar with. I would ask you to pray that God will recall his people to a richer and more mature faith.

I think that Ireland is at one with the rest of the Western world in a certain tiredness and sickness. It seems to lack creativity and imagination in finding spiritual and humane answers to the challenges of a new world.

If one reads the financial and business pages of our newspapers and journals one finds that the experts are divided as to whether India or China will be the great economic force of the world in the not too distant future. Are the countries of the East emerging as the power houses of the world?

Prosperity and a spiritual outlook on life do not always go hand in hand. However, a general awakening and growth in one area of life may be accompanied by a growth in other areas. There is a hunger for spiritual meaning in many Eastern countries. Religious novitiates in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Korea have many candidates. In China there are many young men and women preparing for the priesthood and religious life.

Lay Christians are active and confident. Recently I met a young Hong Kong woman who has already spent seven years with a Catholic refugee service in South East Asia. She is now preparing to commit herself for life to the work. She is one among many lay people from Hong Kong and other parts of Asia who are “on mission” to the world. In God's loving plan the Western world brought his light to the world for many centuries. Could it not now be the tum of the Eastern world to bring spiritual values to a world which thirsts for meaning?

Fr. O'Rourke came from a farming community, fields stretching down to the River Shannon, the hills of Clare rising from the fields on the other side of the river. Now it may be the time for a young man or woman from the green fields of Korea or from one of the immense bustling cities of China to bring God's light to those who long for it.

-oOo-

Homily preached at the Requiem Mass for Fr. O'Rourke by Fr. Robert Ng Chi-fan:

My dear Wah Yan friends,

We have gathered here today to celebrate a Requiem Mass for Fr. Paddy O'Rourke who died last Wednesday. For most of you he was either a teacher, a colleague or a good friend.... Hong Kong people appreciate stability greatly. Fr. O' Rourke was a very stable person indeed! He believed that things shouldn't be changed if they were good, so he stayed in Wah Yan for 45 years and never left it. He lived in the same room for those 45 years and every morning had his breakfast at 6:45. Then he started his day's work. His main responsibility was teaching, especially teaching English. He had his own special way of teaching. For the first few minutes of each class he asked his students to repeat again and again words which could be easily mispelt. Then he would ask them to memorize some proverbs. Fr, O'Rourke was the teacher who helped me most to improve my English. If a student couldn't answer his questions he would poke him with his finger until the right answer came. But he didn't confine himself to helping the students in class. He trained them to take part in English debates and verse-speaking competitions. He continued to do so almost to the very end of his life. Shortly before he died he acted as judge in one of the competitions. It can truly be said that he worked humbly and simply until his death.

Many people can be good teachers but, as a Jesuit and priest, Fr. O'Rourke came to Hong Kong from Ireland to fulfil a further mission. He wanted people to know God. He liked teaching English but he liked teaching religion even more. He gave religious instruction and was spiritual director of a Catholic society. He was very happy when a student was baptized. His apostolate extended beyond the school. He was chaplain to the locally enlisted Hong Kong Regiment (”The Volunteers”) On Sundays he went for many years to St Margaret's Parish and Christ the King Chapel to offer Mass.

As a Jesuit and missionary he was a traditional type. He followed the rules carefully. He was obedient. He led a simple life and was generous in sharing with others. When I was a student I used to see poor people coming up to Wah Yan every Saturday to look for help. It was always Fr. O'Rourke who came downstairs to talk to them and give them some money. For many years he was the Minister of the Jesuit community and as Minister was very willing to share with those in need. In St. Mathew's Gospel Jesus speaks of the criteria for judgment on the Last Day. The criteria are almost exclusively concerned with helping those who need our help. Fr, O'Rourke will get high marks in this area.

Those who know Fr, O'Rourke were well aware of how much he liked football. He played football when he was young. In the 60's, the "Fathers' team" always beat the students' team. A few of the Fathers played for the Hong Kong Football Club. Fr. O'Rourke played on the left wing and the students found it very hard to block his very accurate centering of the ball. When football was mentioned, one could see a big smile on his face. Friends know that the Fathers liked football so they generously installed Cable TV for them. This gave Fr, O'Rourke the entertainment he loved. His favourite team was Manchester United, probably because there were always Irish players on the Manchester United team. The reason why I mention his love of football is to show that Fr. O'Rourke was not a rather remote, distant priest and missionary. On the contrary, he mixed with ordinary people and shared their likes and interests. He insisted, however that entertainment should be healthy. This reflects his character. He was an upright man, but a humorous one too.

Since Fr. O'Rourke loved games and sporting activities it would be appropriate and the truth to quote of him St. Paul's words. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing”. (2 Tim 4:7 & 8)

When Jesuits die, they wish to go to the Lord quickly. They envy those who manage not to delay on their way to Him! Fr. Corbally died while eating his breakfast, Fr. Doody while offering Mass. Last year Fr. McLoughlin died in his sleep. The Lord was merciful to Fr. O'Rourke. At noon on Wednesday 17th Fr. O' Rourke arranged with a colleague to have some Masses offered. Before 5:00 p.m. he died while praying in the chapel.

We chose to have Fr. O'Rourke's Requiem Mass in the school chapel because it has a special meaning for him and for us. He served Wah Yan for 45 years. This is the chapel he loved and looked after. Here he offered numerous Masses. Here he prayed for the students. I am sure he will be happy to say “good bye” to the teachers and students in this place. He must be happy to have two Bishops and many priests offering Mass for him, his student to preach about him, and so many teachers and students, past and present, to pray for him.

Those who spoke to him recently must feel a little sad at his passing. But for a Jesuit to die in the bosom of the Lord is a consoling thing. Let us unite in praying for him who offered his life to God by his work of education among the students of Wah Van. May he hear the words of to-days Gospel being addressed to him by Our Lord himself. “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt. 11:28)

Born: 25 April 1928, Kildare Town, County Kildare
Entered: 24/ March 1952, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Final Vows: 02 February 1963, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 26 December 2011, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the St Ignatius, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

by 1958 at Rome, Italy (ROM) working
by 1963 at Tullabeg making Tertianship

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 147 : Spring 2012

Obituary

Br Joseph (Joe) Osborne (1928-2011)

25 April 1928: Born in Co. Kildare.
Early education in CBS, Naas and Blackrock College, Dublin
1946 - 1952: Worked as jockey and horse trainer
28 March 1952: Entered the Society at Emo
29 March 1954: First Vows at Emo
1954 - 1957: Milltown Park - in charge of house and staff
1957 - 1958: Rome SJ Curia - Secretarial work
1958 - 1961: Crescent College, Limerick - Sacristan
1961 - 1966: SFX, Gardiner Street - In charge of staff
During 1962: Tullabeg - Tertianship
3rd February 1963: Final Vows St. Ignatius, Leeson Street
1966 - 1967: Galway - In charge of staff, Sacristan
1967 - 1968: Clongowes - In charge of staff
1968 - 1970: Manresa - In charge of staff; Sacristan
1970 - 1974: Crescent College, Limerick - In charge of staff: Infirmarian
1974 - 1980: John Austin House - Minister
1980 - 1982: St. Ignatius, Galway - Sacristan; Infirmarian
1982 - 1983: Belvedere College - CLC
1983 - 2011: Leeson Street - CLC
1991 - 2003: Subminister; Sacristan; CLC
2003 - 2010: Sacristan
2010 - 2011: Residing in Cherryfield
26 December 2011: Died Cherryfield

Br Osborne went to Cherryfield in 2010 when his health began to fail. He settled down well but broke his hip in a fall shortly before Christmas. He returned to Cherryfield for Christmas but got pneumonia and died on December 26th 2011, aged 83 years, in St Vincent's Hospital. May he rest in the Peace of Christ

Obituary : Paul Andrews
More than most Jesuits, Joe Osborne had to be seen in the context of his birthplace, Craddoxtown in County Kildare, where the rich soil builds the bones of great race-horses, especially hunters. Joe's father, also Joe, was a well-known and successful trainer who had won at Cheltenham, Punchestown, Naas, Leopardstown and elsewhere. As Gerry Cullen, Joe's brother-in-law put it, Joe Senior (schooled in Clongowes) was the one who must be obeyed. Joe's mother, Helen Cunningham, was a delightful lady whose brother, Professor John F. Cunningham, was a prominent gynaecologist. There were priests in her family. Joe's sister Vera married Liam Cosgrave, a former Taoiseach and good horseman.

Joe moved from primary and secondary school in Naas to Blackrock College for a couple of years, then returned to the horses. Bonnie Flanagan dedicated her book Stillorgan Again but Different to Joe. One photo shows him leading the field at Leopardstown. I quote from the “Any list of famous jockeys who rode in Leopardstown would be incomplete without the name of Joe Osborne, son of the trainer of that name, of Craddoxtown House, Co Kildare. Friend and colleague of such legendary figures as Pat Taaffe and Martin Moloney, Joe astonished the Jockey Club by his decision in 1951 to embark upon the religious life. He never rode again. Pat Taaffe said of him: 'Joe had more wins than I, but he gave it all up to enter the Jesuit Order”.

He joined the SJs at 24, having consulted his brother Paddy on the matter of what he felt was his vocation. He had made a brilliant success of his first career, but felt there was more to life than steering horses over the jumps in Punchestown. He told Paddy he was not content with his present life, and that he felt this deep call to something else. Paddy diplomatically wished him well in whichever career he chose. There were family connections with Jesuits and CWC, so the Jesuits were his choice.

He could have been a priest but preferred to become a brother. On his 70th birthday his friends put together an album on his life: “From Saddle to Sanctuary” which delighted Joe, and spoke eloquently of the affection in which he was held. You could see there the handsome young horseman, with a taste also for tennis, swimming, dancing and cards (he only played if money, not matches, were involved). In the Jesuits he gave up the saddle, but not dancing. Light-footed, with endless energy and a strong sense of rhythm, he was a superb ballroom dancer, and indulged this talent whenever the opportunity arose.

He worked in ten Jesuit Houses in Ireland, and for a short spell at our Generalate in Rome. His ministry included: Secretarial work, Charge of Staff, Infirmarian, Minister, Sacristan, CLC office work for 20 yrs. All ordinary jobs, and all done with great grace.

Brian Grogan, Joe's superior at the end, has his own treasured memories:

Visiting him in Cherryfield, I found a man lying on his back, with the TV on, rosary in his hands. I finally asked him would he like us to fix the Telly to the ceiling. What occupied his mind in his waking hours he did not say, Memories? There are the Secret Scriptures of each of us. I asked him once was he looking ahead to better things. “Begobs, yes, that's what matters!” “Joe, you'll be 7 lengths clear!” “That'll be great!” That was the beginning and end of our discussion on matters eternal! Later I discovered that Joe rarely if ever spoke about God; he lived his relationship with God, and felt that was enough.

His smile: It is there in the earliest photos, and shone out at the end. His habitually worried look would yield immediately to a great welcoming smile when you met him. There was a twinkle in his eyes. Perhaps there was little conversation but he communicated gratitude and joy that you had come along.

“He was the best of the best” – so said one of the Cherryfield staff. By which she meant his endless courtesy and appreciation of whatever was done for him. He was never demanding. Never a harsh word. 'A man of low maintenance was my term for him and he enjoyed it. As the nurse said: he did not have the illusion that he was living in the Four Seasons Hotel, he was grateful for whatever could be done for him. Now Ignatius considered ingratitude the greatest sin of all. Not to be grateful, he felt, was to miss the point of life completely. Why? Because life is a gift: people are gifts; all that is done for me is gift. Joe got full marks here, and I'm sure Ignatius must have embraced him with joy. No doubt Joe bad learnt this courtesy at home first!

Once Joe opened the door for a visitor and brought him to the parlour. The visitor remarked to the Jesuit whom he had come to see: “I have never been so graciously received as by that man! Who is he?' He had a deep sense of respect for others. He thought of them as better than himself. He saw around him “The image of God, multiplied but not monotonous” as GKC said of Francis of Assisi.

Joe would wish to apologise for any way in which he offended anyone. In tum we ask his forgiveness for any way in which we offended him. He was a loving and sensitive man. It appears that a well-intentioned but insensitive interaction with a Superior a number of years ago hurt him and diminished the joy of his later years. I know personally that Joe was a forgiving man. When he was in Vincent's, recuperating from his hip surgery two weeks ago, a nurse rang me to say that he would neither eat nor drink, nor do his physiotherapy. I went in and spoke to him on the merits of exercise if he was to get on his feet again. I obviously went on a trifle too strongly, as I discovered only later. The night before he died I asked his forgiveness for pushing him. “There's no need to worry about that now he said -- they were the last words I had with him."

His last years in Cherryfield were uneventful until a week before he died, when he broke a hip. He was discharged from hospital just before Christmas, developed pneumonia on the morning of 26h and became unconscious. He died peacefully on the evening of St Stephen's Day. A friend remembers: “I never heard him speak critically of anyone. His life seemed to be one of faith and hope and charity. He never discussed religion; he lived it. Joe, you have truly won the race that matters.'