The Irish Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) approached Denis Redmond of Belmont Lodge in 1858 to act as their agent and trustee in purchasing Milltown Park from Mr Calvert Stronge, City Magistrate for £4,500. In 1860, the novitiate at Milltown Park was built and Fr Aloysius Sturzo SJ (1826-1908) arrived with sixteen Jesuits novices who had been expelled from Sicily by Garibaldi. Since that time, Milltown Park has operated as a novitiate (house of first formation), retreat house, house of philosophy and theology for the Society of Jesus in Ireland.
List of Supeiors/Rectors with date of appointment: Edmund O'Reilly, Vice-Superior, 1 September 1858; Daniel Jones, Vice-Superior, 23 August 1860; Joseph Lentaigne, Vice-Superior, 8 December 1863; Aloysius Sturzo, Vice-Rector, 8 September 1865; Aloysius Sturzo, Rector, 17 March 1866; Charles McKenna, Mag. Nov., 12 October 1874 Edmund O'Reilly, Rector, 29 September 1875; James Tuite, Rector, 18 January 1879; Robert Carbery, Rector, 10 Octobr 1880; Wiliam O'Farrell, Mag. Nov., 24 June 1882 Eugene Browne, Rector, 11 January 1884; Nicholas Walsh, Rector, 31 July 1889; William Sutton, Vice-Rector, 16 August 1895; William Sutton, Rector, 1 November 1897; William Henry, Vice-Rector, 4 August 1903; Peter Finlay, Rector, 24 August 1905 John Conmee, Rector, 27 December 1909 Albert Power, Vice-Rector, 19 June 1910 Albert Power, Rector, 22 October 1912 Martin Maher, Rector, 28 July 1918 John Hannon, Rector, 25 April 1924 Cyril Power, Rector, 22 October 1930 John R MacMahon, Rector, 3 August 1938 Patrick Kenny, Vice-Rector, 9 September 1941 Michael O'Grady, Rector, 6 June 1947 John R MacMahon, Rector, 27 April 1953 James Corboy, Rector, 1 June 1959 Patrick Joy, Vice-Rector, 24 April 1962 Brendan Barry, Rector, 6 August 1962 Cecil McGarry, Rector, 16 August 1965; John F Brennan, Rector, 25 July 1968;