Rathfarnham

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Rathfarnham

  • UF Ráth Fearnáin

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Rathfarnham

496 Name results for Rathfarnham

4 results directly related Exclude narrower terms

Byrne, Patrick C, 1911-, former Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA ADMN/7/21
  • Person
  • 04 November, 1911-

Born: 04 November, 1911, Drumcondra, Dublin, County Dublin
Entered: 03 September 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois

Left Society of Jesus: 23 November 1933 (from Rathfarnham Castle)

Early education at O’Connell’s Schools

Cahill, John, 1911-, former Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA ADMN/7/24
  • Person
  • 01 March 1911-

Born: 01 March 1911, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly

Left Society of Jesus: 19 June 1931 (from Rathfarnham Castle)

Early education at CBS Synge Street

Barber, Leslie, 1920-2012, former Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA ADMN/7/252
  • Person
  • 06 June 1920-04 June 2012

Born: 06 June 1920, Drumcondra, Dublin, County Dublin
Entered: 21 September 1939, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1953, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1956, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 04 June 2012, Melbourne, New South Wales, Australia

Left Society of Jesus: 01 April 1974

by 1969 at St Agnes San Francisco CA, USA (CAL) working
by 1970 at Hawthorn Melbourne, Australia (ASL)

Interfuse No 149 : Autumn 2012

THE MEMORY OF LESLIE BARBER

Pat Nolan

Earlier this year, when I visited with Leslie in Melbourne, he asked me to speak at his funeral Mass. Alas, I could not be there, so a friend, John Little, who spoke the eulogy, included this personal testimony for me. I loved Leslie. Words defy a description of how much I shall miss him.

Leslie Barber had a long, sustained and positive influence on my life and on the life of my dear wife Carmel. Carmel and I would sometimes say, “Leslie saved our marriage!” To be precise, this is not meant to convey that our marriage was in deep trouble when we first met dear Leslie in 1971. What Leslie did was to show us, and many others, how to be a more mature married couple in the Ireland of the 1970s. I have since described Leslie's intervention as “introducing us to our feelings”.

Suppression of feelings was part and parcel of that Ireland of almost two generations ago. Leslie, as the Jesuit Retreat Director at Milltown Park in Dublin, ran week-end -retreat/seminars for young married couples which he titled "Hope-Ins" (the name influenced, no doubt, by his sojourn in California in the late 1960s). In these sessions he set out to legitimise our feelings for us, to get us in touch with our own stories in an honest, transparent fashion and then, when we felt the time was right and we were comfortable, to share the appropriate parts of our stories with others. He introduced us to the concept of the growth of trust in a group and how that would both facilitate our sharing while at the same time, and through this process, enable us to take ownership of our psychological history, our current state and, subsequently, our futures. For these reasons the primary sentiment I have towards Leslie is one of profound gratitude for such an everlasting gift. Thank you, Leslie!

Leslie Barber was a free spirit, which is why I loved him. He had a reverence for and an appreciation of the word in all of its purity and in the many manifestations of its utterance; poetry, cadence, metaphor and rhythm in relation to words were really important to him. He loved the sounds of words and never tired of repeating that love. He deeply mourned the apparent “passing of the King James Bible”. For Leslie, the word of God was primarily transmitted through sound and then through cadence and metaphor. In that sense, to present Leslie Barber as counter-cultural is an under-statement.

We have a saying in Ireland to describe someone as, “having a way with words”. Leslie Barber personified that saying. Words for him were like precious jewels and he did not wish to waste any of them; he was always careful and most deliberate in his choice of words. To describe Leslie as a free spirit is also to suggest that he was something of a “one-off”; and he was. He certainly did not fit any particular mould or type. Inevitably, this can have painful consequences and Leslie was no stranger to those. The Jesuit Order, as a significantly effective worldwide faith institution operating at a number of levels in promoting the Kingdom of God, may be noted for embracing many diverse opinions within its ranks. It accommodated Leslie Barber, and had the privilege of his presence, for thirty-three years. Some of those years were painful for him, notably those leading up to his departure. Given his 'free character traits and his way of using words; it was only a matter of time before Leslie clashed with authority, which he managed to do on more than one continent!

Leslie left the Jesuits in 1972, a year after we met (there is no known connection between these two events!). In the few years immediately after his exit from the Order I witnessed him at his best.

The manner in which he dealt with such a fundamental change in the Fection of his life was just outstandingly courageous. He performed the most menial and the humblest of tasks in order to make a living. In adversity Leslie showed his true mettle. Of course, dear Patricia became the anchor of his life at this time and they married in 1974. They were an extraordinary couple. I am privileged to have had them as close friends for many years, especially since they went to Australia 2003.

Patricia has been a loving and devoted wife to Leslie over all hose years, meeting his every need with such great tenderness and Commitment. Theirs is a wonderful love story which mirrored all of those excellent qualities of a married relationship which Leslie spoke about to us young married couples at Milltown Park in Dublin all those years ago.

There is a sense in which I don't want to, and cannot, say good bye to Leslie. There is something permanent about his influence on me; a depth to it that I struggle to identify with words. It is as if when I strip away all the foibles, the mannerisms, the human failings and the unusual characteristics, with Leslie I am left with this beautiful shining gem of integrity, of honesty, a transparent naivety, an attractive vulnerability, a certain stillness and silence at his core that was - maybe – the image, the likeness of God?
Requiescat in Pace

Interfuse No 149 : Autumn 2012

AN APPRECIATION OF LESLIE BARBER

Colm Brophy

In 1966, as juniors, Leslie gave us a triduum. He began one talk on a drowsy afternoon - when we were more interested in eating food and playing football than what he might say – with an explosive quote from T.S. Eliot. He chopped it out with his inimitable diction: “After cake and tea and ices, let us force the moment to its crisis”. He followed this with a riveting story of lust, sensuality and frustrated feelings which made us sit up and take note like no one else had ever done.

Later, in 1972, Leslie led weekend retreats for teenagers in Tabor House with help from us theologians. He was ahead of his time. Before the term “emotional intelligence” was invented, before “mindfulness” was in vogue, before the senses' in Ignatian spirituality had blossomed, before the twentieth century had melted the heart into the head, he challenged “reason' as the only god of theology and the secular world. He threw the cultural revolution of the sixties onto our religious doorstep. His Tabor encounter groups were not in fact called retreats. He sharpened our spirits by not allowing us to fall into dead religious language. In preparing us (theologians) to facilitate our small encounter groups of five or six teenagers, he insisted again and again that the only question we were to ask in the group was, “what are you feeling RIGHT NOW?” Untrained and uncertain, we were quickly out of our depth with the powerful dynamic of such a question.

Leslie had the wonderful gift of awakening people from the dead. May he rest in peace and may he awake.

Carey, James, 1903-, former Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA ADMN/7/26
  • Person
  • 11 December 1903-

Born: 11 December 1903, Mullinahone, County Tipperary
Entered: 26 September 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly

Left Society of Jesus: 19 June 1928 (from Rathfarnham Castle)

Danaher, Kevin DA, 1913-1930, former Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA ADMN/7/48
  • Person
  • 30 January 1913-14 March 2002

Born: 30 January 1913, Sunvale, Rathkeale, County Limerick / Drumcondra, Dub;in, County Dublin
Entered: 03 September 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 14 March 2002, Dublin, County Dublin

Left Society of Jesus: 03 July 1934 (from Rathfarnham Castle)

Early education at Athea NS and Mungret College SJ

https://www.dib.ie/biography/o-danachair-caoimhin-danaher-kevin-a2392

DICTIONARY OF IRISH BIOGRAPHY

Ó Danachair, Caoimhín (Danaher, Kevin)

Contributed by
Lysaght, Patricia

Ó Danachair, Caoimhín (Danaher, Kevin) (1913–2002), university lecturer and folklorist, was born 30 January 1913 in Athea (Áth an tSléibhe), Co. Limerick, the second eldest of four sons of William Danaher, a primary school principal, and his wife Margaret (née Ryan) of Martinstown, Co. Limerick, also a primary school teacher. Educated at Athea national school, Mungret College, Limerick, and at UCD, he graduated BA in 1936, and received a Higher Diploma in Education the following year. As an Alexander von Humboldt Scholar (1937–9), he studied comparative folklore and ethnology at the Universities of Berlin and Leipzig. He was awarded a first class honours MA (NUI) in archaeology in 1945, and a D.Litt. (NUI) in 1974.

He joined the Irish Folklore Commission in January 1940, and then in May the Irish Defence Forces, with whom he remained for the duration of World War II, becoming an instructor in the artillery school in Kildare and rising to the rank of captain. Rejoining the Irish Folklore Commission in 1946, he was sent to Scandinavia to receive training in major folklore and folklife institutions, including the Nordiska Museet (Nordic Museum) and Institutet för Folklivsforskning (The Institute for Folklife Research), Stockholm, Landsmålarkivet (The Dialect Archive), Uppsala, the University of Lund, Norsk Folkeminnesamling (Norwegian Folklore Archive), Oslo, and Dansk Folkemindesamling (Danish Folklore Archive) in København. He met some of the leading folklore and folklife Scandinavian scholars of the day, including C. W. von Sydow (Lund), Sigurd Erixon, Andreas Lindblom and Albert Eskeröd (Stockholm), Dag Strömbäck and Åke Campbell (Uppsala), Albert Sandklef (Varberg), Knut Liestøl and Reidar Th. Christiansen (Oslo) and Hans Ellekilde (København).

His principal responsibility in the Irish Folklore Commission was the development of the ethnological dimension of the commission's work, but until the late 1940s, when outdoor disc-cutting equipment became available, he also made disc recordings of traditional storytellers, singers and musician, in the commission's office at 82 St Stephen's Green, Dublin, including the only recording ever made of the music of the outstanding piper Johnny Doran (qv) (available in The bunch of keys, 1988).

In 1948 Ó Danachair recorded the last native Manx speakers on the Isle of Man, on behalf of the Irish Folklore Commission, redeeming a promise made by Éamon de Valera (qv) when, as taoiseach, he visited the island in 1947. When the transcriptions, translations, and the digitally re-mastered recordings of this unique collection were published as Skeealyn Vannin/Stories of Man, by Eiraght Ashoonagh Vhannin/Manx National Heritage in 2004, a plaque presented by Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh/The Manx Gaelic Society, was unveiled in the then department of Irish folklore at UCD, in the presence of the speaker of the house of keys, members of Tynwald, the Manx Gaelic Society, and the family of Caoimhín Ó Danachair, to commemorate Ó Danachair's 1948 achievement.

Ó Danachair was visiting professor in Irish Studies at Uppsala University in 1952–3. He served on the National Monuments Advisory Council, and was folklife consultant to the Shannon Free Airport Development Company when Bunratty Folk Park, Co. Clare, was set up in 1964. He was a member of the RSAI, an assistant editor (1971–85) of Béaloideas, the journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society, and co-patron of the society (1988–2002).

Internationally, he was a member of the European Ethnological Atlas Working Group, the International Commission for Ethnological Food Research, the International Society for Folk Narrative Research, the Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore, and the Society for Folklife Studies of Britain and Ireland, of which he was vice-president (1979–80) and president (1981–3). He was keenly interested in military history, editing for eleven years the Irish Sword (1960–1971), and serving as president of the Military History Society (1978–87). With the historian J. G. Simms (qv), he edited The Danish force in Ireland, 1690–1691 (1962) for the Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Ó Danachair was a gifted teacher. In 1971, when the Irish Folklore Commission became the Department of Irish Folklore at UCD, Ó Danachair was appointed a statutory lecturer in Irish Folklore. The extent and range of his scholarly publications are evident from Patricia Lysaght's bibliography of his published work in the Festschrift published in his honour in 1982 (see Gailey and Ó hÓgáin), and in Ó Danachair's own publication: A bibliography of Irish ethnology and folk tradition (1978).

In 1951 he married Anna Mary Ryan, a secondary school teacher, of Galbally, Co. Limerick; they had two sons, Dónall (b. 1953), and John Louis (b. 1956). His wife was the eldest of three sons and four daughters of Timothy Ryan, creamery manager, Garryspellane, and of Deborah Ryan (née Scanlan), Galbally, principal teacher of Lowtown Girls’ national school, Co. Limerick.

Caoimhín Ó Danachair died 14 March 2002 in Dublin and is buried in St Fintan's cemetery, Sutton, Dublin.

Sources
Patricia Lysaght, ‘Kevin Danaher (Caoimhín Ó Danachair), 1913–2002’, Folklore, cxiii, no. 2 (2002), 261–4; Patricia Lysaght, ‘Caoimhín Ó Danachair (Kevin Danaher) 1913–2002’, Béaloideas, lxx (2002), 219–26; Patricia Lysaght, ‘Caoimhín Ó Danachair and his published work’, Alan Gailey, Dáithí Ó hÓgáin (ed.), Gold under the furze. Studies in folk tradition. Presented to Caoimhín Ó Danachair (1982), 12–26; Sinsear. The Folklore Journal, iv (1982–83); The bunch of keys. The complete recordings of Johnny Doran (Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann/The Folklore of Ireland Council, Dublin, 1988)

Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

  • IE IJA FM/RATH
  • Corporate body
  • 1911-1986

In 1913, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) purchased the 16th century-built Rathfarnham Castle from a Dublin building company, Bailey and Gibson. Initially, the plan was for a noviciate for Jesuit novices and in time, for working men’s retreats to be established at the Castle. However, by September 1913, this had changed to a house of studies for those Jesuits attending university. This decision was made following the change of regulations to the National University requiring students to attend lectures whereas previously they could be prepared for examinations elsewhere. The Jesuit Juniors as they were known would live at the Castle and cycle to lectures at University College Dublin, then located at Earlsfort Terrace in the centre of Dublin.

The Jesuits engaged the architect, Charles B. Powell to modify the Castle in the summer of 1913. Blessed John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933) was Rector of Rathfarnham Castle for the years 1919-1924. Sullivan was a convert and the son of Sir Edward Sullivan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (1883-1885). Sullivan’s rectorship was significant for the building of the retreat house in 1922, (working men’s retreats at the weekends and boy’s during the week). Some Jesuits on mission staff lived there. It became a home for tertian fathers (those Jesuits taking a renewal course following ordination) in 1940. The Castle continued to function as a Juniorate until 1975 and for retreats until 1986 when the Jesuits sold Rathfarnham Castle. The following year, it was purchased for the nation by the Office of Public Works.

Superior:
James Brennan SJ, 30 July 1913-15 January 1919;
Charles Doyle SJ, 16 January 1919-26 July 1919;
John Sullivan, 26 July 1919-19 May 1924;
John Keane SJ, 20 May 1924-1 August 1930;
Thomas V Nolan SJ, 2 August 1930-23 June 1936;
Patrick Kennedy SJ, 24 June 1936-28 July 1942;
Hugh Kelly SJ, 29 July 1942-28 July 1948;
Patrick Kenny SJ, 29 July 1948-13 March 1955;
John McDonald SJ, 14 March 1955-28 June 1961;
Fergal McGrath SJ, 29 June 1961-30 July 1967;
Patrick Doyle SJ, 31 July 1967-30 June 1971;
Eric Guiry SJ, 1 July 1971-30 July 1974;
Matthew Meade SJ, 31 July 1974-31 August 1982;
Richard Brenan SJ, 1 September 1982-1985.

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

  • IE IJA J/10
  • Person
  • 17 February 1892-18 May 1983

Born: 17 February 1892, Clifton, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England
Entered: 30 September 1912, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1924, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1929, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 18 May 1983, Our Lady's Hospice, Dublin

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

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Gwynn, Aubrey Osborn
by Noreen Giffney

Gwynn, Aubrey Osborn (1892–1983), Jesuit priest and academic, was born 17 February 1892 at Clifton, Bristol, England, the second son among six children (four boys and two girls) of Stephen Lucius Gwynn (qv), writer and MP, and his wife and first cousin, Mary Louise Gwynn, daughter of Rev. James Gwynn of Dublin and Bath. Born into an esteemed Church of Ireland family, he was the great-grandson of William Smith O'Brien (qv), the grandson of Rev. Dr John Gwynn (qv), regius professor of divinity at TCD (1888–1907), and the nephew of Edward John Gwynn (qv), provost of TCD (1927–37). On his mother's conversion to Roman catholicism (1902), Aubrey, his brother Denis Gwynn (qv), and their siblings were received into the catholic church at Farm Street, London, and brought up as catholics. Due to the nature of his father's work, much of Aubrey's early life was divided between London and Dublin.

Educated at the Jesuit Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare (1903–8), Gwynn spent a year of private study in Munich before becoming the first student to sign the register at the newly chartered UCD, where he later gained first-class honours (BA, 1912; MA 1915) in classics. When Fr William Delany (qv) admitted him to the Jesuit noviceship in Tullabeg, Rahan (1912), Gwynn intended to join the Chinese mission and work in Hong Kong, but under the guidance of Delany's successor, Dr T. V. Nolan, he entered academic life. After studying for a year at Rathfarnham, he went in 1916 on a travelling studentship to Oxford (Campion Hall), where he was awarded the Cromer essay prize (1917) and graduated B. Litt. (1919). He taught classics and German for two years at Clongowes (1917–19) before spending two years studying philosophy at the Jesuit College, Louvain (1919–21), and a further four years studying theology at Milltown Park, Dublin. He was ordained at Milltown Park on 24 July 1924 and trained for a final year in Exaten, the Netherlands (1926), then took his final vows in Dublin on 2 February 1929.

Initially employed (1927) as an assistant lecturer in ancient history at UCD, Gwynn replaced Daniel A. Binchy (qv) as lecturer in medieval history on the latter's appointment as Irish Free State minister in Berlin. When John Marcus O'Sullivan (qv) resumed his duties as professor of history in 1932, he was so impressed with the young lecturer's abilities that he had his position made permanent. Sixteen years later, in 1948, Gwynn was appointed first professor of medieval history. Actively involved in the administration of UCD, he was a member of the governing body, dean of the faculty of arts (1952–6), and a member of the NUI senate. He also served as president of the RIA (1958–61).

A pioneering scholar, Gwynn wrote or edited numerous contributions to ancient, medieval, and modern history, on such subjects as Roman education, Archbishop Richard Fitzralph (qv) of Armagh, and Irish emigrants in the West Indies. His many articles, numbering over one hundred, as well as his reviews, which he often initialled P. D. (‘Poor Devil’), were published in various journals, including the Journal of Hellenic Studies, Analecta Hibernica, and the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. As a member of the Irish Manuscripts Commission (1943–74) he revived the study and publication of the Calendar of Papal Letters. He was exonerated after being accused, by Regina Zukasiewicz, of stealing her deceased husband's manuscripts (1956). Despite being plagued by bouts of depression, he gained international recognition and an array of awards, among them offers of honorary doctorates from QUB (1964), and TCD (1965) – the second of which he declined. However, Gwynn was not impressed with his honorifics asserting that the only qualifications he required were SJ – alluding to his membership of the Society of Jesus.

Gwynn lived mostly with the Jesuit community at 35 Lower Leeson Street (1927–62), where he was superior of residence (1932–45). A keen supporter of the Missionary Sisters of St Columba and St Joseph's Young Priests’ Society, he helped to establish the latter's civil service branch (1930), advised on the preparing of their constitution (1945), and was editor of their quarterly magazine, St Joseph's Sheaf (1927–49). After he retired from UCD in 1961 he moved to Milltown (1962), where he lectured for two years on church history and tended to the library (1962–6). He remained active, despite failing eyesight, until a fractured femur left him in St Vincent's Hospital; he then moved to Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, where he died 18 May 1983. He was buried two days later, following funeral mass at the Jesuit church, Gardiner Street.

Aubrey Gwynn's private papers, Jesuit archives; file of correspondence between Robert Dudley Edwards and Aubrey Gwynn (1950–68), UCD Archives, LA 22/782–3; F. X. Martin, ‘The historical writings of Reverend Professor Aubrey Gwynn, S. J.’, Medieval studies presented to Aubrey Gwynn, S. J., ed. J. A. Watt, J. B. Morrall, and F. X. Martin (1961), 502–9; Geoffrey Hand, ‘Professor Aubrey Gwynn’, Hibernia (1962), 10; University College Dublin. Report of the president for the session 1961–62 (1962), 72–4; Burke, IFR (1976), 532–3; Geoffrey Hand, ‘Father Aubrey Gwynn, S. J.’, Ir. Times, 21 May 1983, 8; Irish Province News, xx, no. 11 (1983), 348–50, 367–9; Report of the president, University College Dublin 1982–83 (1983), 154; R. D. Edwards, ‘Professor Aubrey Gwynn, S. J.’, Anal. Hib., xxxi (1984), xi; F. X. Martin, ‘Aubrey Osborn Gwynn, 1892–1983’, Royal Irish Academy Annual Report, 1983–4 (1984), 2–6; Clara Cullen, ‘Historical writings of Aubrey Gwynn: addendum’, Aubrey Gwynn, S. J., The Irish church in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, ed. Gerard O'Brien (1992), xiii–xiv; Geoffrey Hand, ‘Aubrey Gwynn: the person’, Studies, lxxxi (1992), 375–84; Fergus O'Donoghue, ‘Aubrey Gwynn: the Jesuit’, Studies, lxxxi (1992); 393–8; Katherine Walsh, ‘Aubrey Gwynn: the scholar’, Studies, lxxxi (1992), 385–92

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 17th Year No 1 1942

Recent articles by Fr. Aubrey Gwynn in the “Irish Ecclesiastical Record” were the subject of a very flattering notice in the 4 October issue of the 'Times Literary Supplement'. They referred to valuable contributions made by him to the history of the Dublin diocese in the 11th century, and in particular to interesting discoveries about Bishop Patrick of Dublin, whom he proves to have been a monk at Worcester under St. Wulfstain and author of the medieval scholastic poems in one of the Cotton MSS.

Irish Province News 58th Year No 3 1983

Milltown Park
Fr Aubrey Gwynn (†)
Aubrey Gwynn went to his Maker at 6.45 on the morning of 18th May: requiescat in pace! The Province will hardly see his like again. From his childhood days in London at the turn of the century, he could remember great events like the funeral of Queen Victoria, and the celebrations on the relief of Mafeking. Yet right to the end he took an interest in everybody and everything; he was in no way out of touch or out of sympathy with the times; he and the scholastics greatly enjoyed each other's company. Again, he was both a consummate scholar and a zealous, devout priest. In his late eighties he was still contributing learned articles to Seanchas Ardmhacha, and was rarely, if ever, missing from his accustomed spot at community Mass. In his earlier years he had been closely associated with St Joseph's Young Priests Society and the Columban Sisters, and both these bodies have contributed appreciations which are printed below. It is also perhaps worth recalling how well Aubrey succeeded in being on excellent terms with staff at Maynooth College and with members of the Hierarchy. At the funeral, Maynooth was represented by Mons. Patrick J. Corish and Dublin archdiocese by Bishop James Kavanagh: Cardinal 0 Fiaich regretted being unable to attend, owing to the death of his own brother (Dr Patrick Fee).
Aubrey is remembered with great affection by the Milltown Park community (here we are gathering into one many golden opinions) as a Simeon like figure, who redeemed the dignity of old age, never grumbled, complained or criticised, was so full of gratitude for his Jesuit vocation; who forty years ago treated scholastics as adults; the last of the generation of giants. He will continue to be remembered for his patient faith, his independence of spirit, tolerance of change, good humour, conviviality at table, debonair gentlemanliness, desire for life and determination to live, helpfulness and encouragement, graciousness, faithfulness and dedication, simplicity and humility.
One member of the community writes as follows: “Every day for ten years Aubrey concelebrated the Community Mass: at 10 am on Sundays, at 5.30 pm on weekdays in term, at 12.15 pm on weekdays in vacation and on Sundays. This showed an impressive willingness to adapt to different hours - a strength of faith which enabled him really to enjoy such varied styles of worship.
His loyalty to ‘The College’ (UCD, represented at the funeral by Mons. Feichin O'Doherty) showed me that an institution can be served with discrimination, with neither cynical detachment nor bland adoration.
His warm interest in each of us in the community was enormously encouraging - so different from the intrusive questioning by those who want to pigeon hole me for some future use, and different from the inattention of those who seem afraid to make human contact with me even for the length of a meal.
Another member expresses his appreciation in the following words: “I will remember Aubrey as a big man, a man who spanned the centuries and felt at home in many of them including much of our own. I will remember him as a grateful man, grateful to God and to us at Milltown. I will remember him as a lovable man who aged with grace and dignity. Finally I will remember Aubrey the priest, who celebrated the daily Eucharist with us faithfully and with determined step.
A fellow-historian and friend of Aubrey's, Katherine Walsh, who dedicated to him her recent work on Archbishop Richard FitzRalph, wrote from Vienna to the Rector as follows: “Kind friends contacted me by telephone and telegram to break the sad news of the death of Fr Aubrey Gwynn, May I offer through you my deepest sympathy to the community of Milltown Park, also to the Irish Jesuit Province, of which he was for so long a distinguished and respected ornament at home and abroad. My personal sense of loss is great - it was not merely FitzRalph that bound me to him. His personal and scholarly qualities were such that I valued his friendship, advice and encouragement very much. Also my husband Alfred learned to share my very deep affection for him and wishes to be associated in this word of appreciation. Our subsequent visits to Ireland will be the poorer without the pleasure of his great company. Requiescat in pace”.
Mr Brendan Daly of Waterford, who was National President of St Joseph's Young Priests Society from 1975 to 1982, sent the following appreciation: “For over forty years, Fr Aubrey Gwynn played a very important part in the formation and development of St Joseph's Young Priests Society. Space will allow for only a brief mention of the highlights of these activities. From 1927 1949 he was the Honorary Editor of ‘Saint Joseph's sheaf’, the Society's quarterly magazine. During most of this same period, he was also a member of a the Society's governing Council. In 1930 helped to establish the Civil Service Branch, and was its chaplain until 1936. He was also actively involved in the formation of other vocational branches. He advised on the preparation of the Society's 1945 Constitution.
Fr Gwynn gave of himself quietly but building up a Lay Society that its identity, purpose and motivation in the Eucharist and membership of the Mystical Body of Christ. He encouraged greater lay participation in the Apostolate of the Church, and imbued members with those ideals that were subsequently to be voiced in the decrees of the Second Vatican Council. He was a true priest of Jesus Christ who helped many lay people to live their own royal . priesthood. He has helped St Joseph's Young Priests Society to build up a rich heritage - a heritage which it values and shares with many, many others'.
The Vicar-General of the Missionary Sisters of St Columban, Sr Ita McElwain, sent the following tribute: Fr Aubrey Gwynn had a long and happy association with the Missionary Sisters of St Columban. This came about through his relationship with Mother Mary Patrick, formerly Lady Frances Moloney, who was a friend and contemporary of his mother. Mother M. Patrick knew Aubrey from his childhood and followed his career with interest. He, in turn, had a lifelong regard for her, and greatly admired her spirit and courage when, at the age of fifty, she joined the little band of women who were destined to become the first members of the Columban Sisters.
“Fr Gwynn was a regular visitor to the Motherhouse at Cahiracon, Co Clare. On at least two occasions he gave retreats to the sisters there, as well as an occasional triduum of prayer to the to student sisters at the house of studies located at Merrion square at that time. The house at Merrion square was cquired in 1942 when Mother M Patrick was superior-general of the he Columban Sisters and Fr Gwynn superior of the Jesuit house at Leeson Street. Father offered to provide a weekly Mass for the sisters, and this continued He advised on the preparation of the for many years. He came whenever he could and took a keen interest in the sisters studies and in the sisters fully in themselves when they were missioned finds overseas. Especially worthy of note was his invaluable help and support to the sisters doing medical studies: this was at a time when it was quite a departure for sisters to undertake the study of medicine and surgery. Fr Gwynn is remembered by us as a devoted priest and renowned scholar; a loyal friend whose invaluable advice and experience were greatly appreciated by a comparatively young and struggling congregation; a very open-hearted and good-humoured man who kept in close touch with us through all the years of our existence. May his great soul rest in peace”.
The following is the text of Aubrey's last letter to the Columban Sisters: 2nd Dec. 1982.
Dear Sister Maura.
Very many thanks to you all at Magheramore for the splendid bird that was duly delivered here yesterday evening as on so many other happy occasions. And my special greetings to those of your community who may remember me from the old days in Merrion square and Fitzwilliam square. I shall be 91 years old next February, and am beginning to feel that I am an old man.
For the past 21 years I have been very happy here, where everyone young and old about here is very kind. And I am ever more grateful for the many blessings I have received during my 91 years. Blessings on you all at Magheramore, and may Mother Patrick, who was my mother's friend, rest in реаcе.
Yours in Xt, / Aubrey Gwynn, S.J.'
The appreciation by Professor Geoffrey Hand appeared in the columns of the Irish Times on Saturday, 21st May.

Obituary & ◆ The Clongownian, 1983

Fr Aubrey Gwynn (1892-1912-1983)

By the death of Fr Aubrey Gwynn the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus has lost one of its most distinguished and well-loved members.
He was born on the 7th February, 1892, at Clifton, Bristol, where his father, Stephen Gwynn, man of letters, historian, poet and member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, was at that time tutoring in a private crammer's. The Gwynn family were descended from Welsh settlers in Ulster during the 17th century, and were noted for the number of them who entered the ministry of the Church of Ireland. They also had a long and distinguished connection with Trinity College. Stephen's father, Rev John Gwynn, was Regius Professor of Divinity 1888-1917, and author of the great edition of the Book of Armagh, whilst his brother, Edward John Gwynn, was Provost of Trinity 1927-37. But the later generation of Gwynns had a strong infusion of Celtic blood, for Stephen Gwynn's mother was the elder daughter of William Smith O'Brien.
In 1896 the Gwynn family settled in London, where Aubrey attended a private preparatory school. He used to relate how amongst the small pupils was one Harold Macmillan – later British Prime Minister - who in some way made himself obnoxious and was sent to Coventry by his schoolfellows. The head master complained to their parents, with dire results for Aubrey, since at that time his father relied largely for income on his work as reader for the firm of Macmillan. In 1902 Mrs Mary Louise Gwynn was received into the Catholic Church and was followed by her children. Two years later Stephen Gwynn decided to return to Ireland and Aubrey was sent to Clongowes. He was accompanied by his elder brother, Lucius, a promising scholar who died at the age of twenty-nine after a long struggle against tuberculosis, and his younger brother, Denis, later a distinguished biographer and Professor of Modern Irish History in University College, Cork. Whilst at Clongowes, Aubrey already displayed his brilliance. He spent two years in Rhetoric class, winning in the first year the medal for first place in Senior Grade Latin, and in the second year the corresponding medal for Greek.
On leaving Clongowes, Aubrey had a year's private study in Munich and then entered University College, Dublin, becoming a member of Winton House, the predecessor of University Hall, He took his BA degree in 1912 and entered the noviceship at Tullabeg. After the noviceship he studied at Rathfarnham for a year, preparing for the MA and travelling studentship. The two years of the studentship were spent at Oxford, ending with the B. Litt. degree and Cromer Greek prize. Then followed two years teaching classics at Clongowes, philosophy at Louvain, theology at Mill town Park, ordination in 1924 and tertianship at Exaten, Holland, 1925-26.
Father Gwynn's first entrance into the life of University College was in 1927, when he was appointed lecturer in Ancient History. From then on, he was the recipient of one distinction after another. He became lecturer in Medieval History in 1930, professor of Medieval History in 1948, Dean of the Faculty of Arts 1951-56, member at various periods of the Governing Body of University College and of the Senate of the National University, President of the Royal Irish Academy 1958-61. In 1964 he was awarded the honorary degree of D. Litt. by Queen's University, Belfast.
As lecturer and professor Father Gwynn won universal praise. On his retirement in 1962, he was made the recipient of a Festschrift, a volume of essays on medieval subjects, edited by three of his colleagues, J. A. Wal . B. Morrall and F. X. Martin, OSA. The contributions by some twenty scholars from Irish, British, continental and American universities, were evidence of Father Gwynn's reputation outside Ireland. In the Foreword Professor Michael Tierney, president of University College, Dublin, emphasised the esteem in which Father Gwynn was held in his own country.
The essays gathered in this book are a well-deserved tribute to a man who has been a leader in historical work and in general scholarship for more than thirty years ... His unanimous election as President of the Royal Irish Academy was already evident of the position he held in the Irish world of learning... for a quarter of a century he has been the leader and teacher of a band of young scholars, and his pupils have achieved fame outside Ireland in countries where his own reputation had preceded them.'
Reviewing this volume in the Irish Times, another tribute was paid to Fr Gwynn by Professor F. S. Lyons, (later Provost of Trinity College) :
“Perhaps we are still too close to assess the full impact of Fr Gwynn on medieval studies in Ireland. But even now we can recognise that it has been very great. Great not only by virtue of his talents which, rather casually maybe, we have tended to take for granted, great not only because of the extent and quality of his published work, but great precisely through the influence he must have exer ted as a teacher”.
In addition to his constant work as lecturer or professor, Fr Gwynn displayed throughout his life an extra ordinary activity as a writer. Three of his major books are considered to be standard works of their kind, Roman Education from Cicero to Quintilian, Oxford, 1920, The English Austin Friars in the time of Wyclif Oxford, 1940. The Medieval Province of Armagh 1470-1545, Dundalk, 1946. He also collaborated with District Justice Dermot F Gleeson in producing the monumental History of the Diocese of Killaloe, Dublin, 1962. But, in addition, a flood of articles poured out from his pen, or rather typewriter. In the volume above referred to, Rey Professor Martin has listed over fifty of these articles, which are not articles in the ordinary sense, but learned monographs on ancient, medieval and modern topics. And this does not include the book reviews which he contributed steadily over the years to Studies and other learned journals. In this connection, a piece of Province folklore is worth preserving. Formerly book reviews in Studies were signed only with the writer's initials. Fr Gwynn felt that the initials AG were appearing with monotonous frequency, and alternated them with P.D. Asked what these letters signified, he smilingly replied ‘Poor devil'.
Although Fr Gwynn played such an active part in the life of University College, this did not mean that he he was in any way remote from the life of the Province. On the contrary, he was a most loyal and devoted member of it. He was a good community man, always in good humour, interested in the doings of others and ready to put his talents at their disposal. During his long stay in Leeson Street (he was Superior, 1932-'45), he did much to advise, encourage and help our Juniors who were passing through University College. For a considerable period he acted as editor of St Joseph's Sheaf, the organ of St Joseph's Young Priests Society, and enticed to write articles for it, thus giving them a useful introduction to the apostolate of writing. His loyalty to the Society in general was manifested by his constant study of its history, and many his articles dealt with the apostolate of Jesuits in various ages, especially on the foreign missions. Fr Gwynn had a special interest in the missions, and had close links both with our own missionaries and with others throughout the country, notably the Columban Fathers and Sisters.
On his retirement from University College, Fr Gwynn moved to Milltown Park. He lectured for two years on Church History and acted as librarian, 1962-6, but it became clear that he was no longer able for such tasks, and the rest of his retirement was devoted mainly to the revision of his articles on the medieval Irish Church, with the purpose of publishing them in book form. This again proved too much for his failing powers, and his final years were spent as a semi-invalid, consoled by the kindly care of the Milltown community, who came to regard him as a venerable father figure. His ninetieth birthday was signalised with a concelebrated Mass and a supper at which he received an enthusiastic ovation. He was reasonably active to the last until a fall resulted in a broken femur, the effects of which he was unable to recover. After some was weeks in St Vincent's Hospital, he was moved to Our Lady's Hospice, where he died peacefully on 18th May. His funeral at Gardiner Street was the occasion of a remarkable ecumenical event. It was presided over by BishopJames Kavanagh, representing His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, and some of the burial prayers were recited by Right Rev.George Simms, former Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and of Armagh, whose wife is a cousin of Fr Gwynn.
Fr Aubrey used to relate an incident which occurred when he was studying at Oxford. When the time came to submit part of his thesis to his supervisor, he followed the old Jesuit custom of inscribing the letters AMDG at the top of each sheet. The manuscript was returned to of him addressed to Rev A M D Gwynn, The writer unconsciously hinted at a truth. The familiar letters may not have been Fr Aubrey's initials, but they were most certainly the inspiration of his life.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 30 : December 1983

PORTRAIT FROM THE PAST : FATHER AUBREY GWYNN

Sister Sheila Lucey

A Columban Sister working in the Philippines pays tribute to the life and work of Father Aubrey

I first met Father Aubrey Gwynn in August in 1945, when I was assigned, straight after my profession, to our house of studies at 56 Merrion Square. Even then he had become a kind of Guardian Spirit to our young student sisters - some were studying medicine, others nursing, and I and a companion were taking up arts.

It was through Mother Mary Patrick that our sisters had come to know Father Gwynn. It seems that she had been a friend of his mother's. So, when the Columban Sisters came to Merrion Square in the early 40's a friendship started .which was to last throughout Fr Gwynn's long life.

His special concern was for the young student sisters. It was he who started the tradition of an eight o'clock Mass on Sunday morning, for the Merrion Square community, so that the students could have a longer sleep. He made it clear that there was to be no getting up earlier to study! When he couldn't come himself, he arranged for one or other of his brethren in Leeson St, to say the Mass, In later years, in the late 40's and early 50’s, he came for daily Mass.

Invariably he came for Midnight Mass at Christmas, in his very best attire, a beautifully-cut long clerical dress-coat. That was always a big occasion, and he seemed to enjoy every moment of it. Indeed, he was part of so many community celebrations in those years.

I remember how well he cooperated with all our clandestine preparations for Sister Mary Veronica's Silver Jubilee.

Right from the beginning, I found him a fascinating and stimulating personality, and a warm friend. He took a keen interest in each of us and in our studies. At the end of my first year I was asked to switch from German, as a degree subject, to history, which it was considered would be more useful on the missions. Certainly he made a difficult change easier for me. For two years I was his student. He initiated me into realms of history which were new to me, so I found his lectures valuabie, though I learned more from him outside the lecture-room than inside. Each vacation he arrived over to our house with an armful of books for me to read during the break, and he didn't limit himself to history - he also brought along some critical works on the English writers I was studying.

But it was after I finished my basic degree, and was sent on for graduate studies, that I really got to know Fr. Gwynn. At that time, he was coming for daily Mass, and at least a few times each week I was asked to see him in the parlour while he was having his breakfast, Those breakfast sessions stretched out longer and longer! He was so much of a medievalist that he could enter into all aspects of my MA thesis, on The Ancren Riwle (a medieval rule for anchoresses, which was also a treatise on the spirituality of that kind of life).

Later, when I got into my doctoral thesis, he got even more involved. This was right into his field, because the topic (English Prose Written by Irishmen in the Seventeenth Century) turned out to be as much historical as literary. It couldn't be otherwise in such a century, so full of religious and political controversy. From Professor Hogan I had imbibed a life-long appreciation of seventeenth century Eniglish literature. Now under Fr Gwynn's unobtrusive prodding I discovered for the first time that I had a glimmering of and historical sense after all!

Working on those seventeenth century writings, many of them anonymous, or written under pseudonyms, one had to be something of a literary sleuth. To satisfy" Fri Gwynn the evidence had to be exact and complete. He was a scrupulously honest scholar, and he expected those he worked with to be the same.

I certainly owe it to Fr Gwynn that I was able to persevere with my research and complete my PhD thesis. Theoretically Professor J.J. Hogan was my adviser, but he was an extremely busy person in those years. Besides he wasn't, familiar with the writings I had got into. In practice, Fr. Gwynn was my adviser and strong support throughout the years when I worked on my PhD thesis.

Indeed, many growing points of my life I seem to owe to Fr Gwynn. He it was who first launched me into print. While I was still a student he got me to review a book for Studies, a distinct honour in those days. (in fact, Fr Burke-Savage, the editor, asked that I used a nom de plume because “he didn't want all the nuns in Ireland to be wanting to get into the pages of Studies”. Shades of women's lib!). This was how I earned my first cheque for writing, and no later cheque ever made me feel so proud, (Strictly speaking my payment should have been the book, but Fr Gwynn purchased this for the Leeson St. house).

Another growing-edge of the mind happened when I'r Gwynn persuaded my superiors to allow me to go to Oxford and to the. British Museum in London, so that I could research by topic more thoroughly. Many of the writings. by Irishmen of the seventeenth century survive as very rare books, some indeed as single copies. The British Museum has some of them, others are in Oxford and Cambridge.

Father got quite a thrill out of sending me off on my Grand Tour, and he went to great pains to ensure that my visit would be a success. I went armed with letters of introduction to David Rogers of the British Museum, Fr. Basil Fitzgibbon of farm St.,and the library authorities in Oxford, He wrote beforehand to the Holy Child Sisters in Cherwell Edge, Oxford, where he knew some of the Sisters - his own sister had been a member of the congregation - and enjoyed their hospitality while I was in Oxford.

Of course, I fell in love with Oxford, as he intended me to, and he listened with happy amusement, as I shared my excitement with him on my return. This happened more than thirty years ago, in November December, 1950, yet it is still vivid in my memory. There was I, a young inexperienced person, given a welcome into the fellowship of scholars, and accepted as one of themselves. Ah, the daring and courage of youth!

Thinking back over all this, I believe I have hit on something very basic to. Fr. Gwynn's character, and very important: he helped people to grow. His own standards were high, and he helped others to live up to their highest potential, to a potential they weren't aware of until he pointed it out.

He was, too, a man of great patience and kindness. I'm sure a scholar of his calibre must have had to make many adjustments in trying to understand us young students. But his kindness bridged all distances. He had a genuine respect for others, and he paid: tribute to any gifts a person had, even if still in the bud!

It wasn't all an academic interchange. He had a puckish sense of humour, and those eyes could twinkle even over such daily dilemmas as “the problem of toast and butter: If I take more toast, I'll need another butter-roll, and if I take another butter-roll I'll need more toast to finish it!” At breakfast, one morning in our basement dining-room, I heard my gong ring upstairs. When I emerged at the top of the stairs, there was Fr. Gwynn, with a quizzical look on his face, saying: “How do you expect a fellow to eat his porridge without a spoon?” I had brought him in his breakfas. “You'd better stick to the History!”

Another time - I think it was when I was about to leave on my Oxbridge adventure - Fr Gwynn told me to kneel down for his blessing. Then, as I got up off my knees, he chuckled and told an anecdote about some Irish bishop, who was reputed to have said to his priests: “How did I get this cross on me belly? ... HARD WORRUK, YOUNG MEN, HARD WORRUK!” And he acted it out, standing tall and sticking out his chest.

He had a delightful sense of humour. I wish I could recall other incidents. I remember a letter he wrote shortly after he retired from UCD. He had been offered a chair of Philosophy (or History) in Milltown Park, he said, only to discover it was a sofa he had to share it with Fr. John Ryan!

It was while I was a student in Merrion Square that his father died. In fact, I answered his phone-call telling us the news. His father had been failing for some time - he lived to be a great age - and all the time Fr. Gwynn kept hoping that his father might be given the gift of faith before death. That did not happen I can recall the grief in his voice that morning over the phone. Later he described the funeral for us, saying how strange it felt to be an outsider at one's own father's funeral. As far as I remember, a dispensation had to be got from the Archbishop of Dublin, so that he could attend and, at the graveside, it was the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin who officiated and blessed the remains, while Stephen Gwynn's priest-son stood apart, on the fringe.

The faith; not given to his father, was very precious to him. In those years immediately after his retirement from UCD he got joy and great fulfilment from instructing some young. TCD students, converts to Catholicism. He referred to this in a number of letters written in those years.

It was in such things, and at such times, that the quality of his own spirituality shone through. It was never obtrusive. Yet, when he sensed that a person was anxious, or that obedience was hard, he knew how to say the right thing, or do just what was needed, tactfully, with gentleness and good hunour. He seemed to have a great, yet sensibly balanced, respect for obedience. But it was
his kindness and compassion, a compassion learned through his own suffering, that made him the person he was for others. There was always that the feeling that he too had been through it all.

He was a marvellous person to give anything to. He received as graciously as he gave, and never took a gift for granted. About two years ago I had a letter from him, thanking.me for the gift of a book on Philippine culture. Actually I hadn't been the person who sent it, but I had talked about him to someone who sent him the book as a result of our conversation - Fr. Miguel Bernad, SJ.

During all my years in the Philippines we corresponded a few times each year. Then, while I was in Ireland, from 1970 to 1979 I met him many times, mostly in Milltown Park, but once in the University club. On that last occasion we walked across St. Stephen's Green together - just imagine that!

There were times, too, when I went over to Milltown Park, only to learn that Fr, Gwynn wasn't well and couldn't see visitors. Then I knew that my old friend was deep into one of his bouts of severe depression, and I suffered with him. That finely-honed, brilliant mind, and yet the dark shadow of depression that hung over him so often ...

The last time I saw him, before I left for the Philippines in 1980, he was in great form, and he took some mischievous delight in my reaction to his beard. When I remarked that he looked the spit image of George Bernard Shaw, he said, “Sister Helen (he liked to call me by my old name), I would expect more originality from you!” Then he told me about all the other people who had made the same comparison, including a lorry-driver who had stopped beside him on the road and called out, “I thought Bernard Shaw was dead!” He was really enjoying his masquerade.

In his last letters to me, he told me about his latest and dearest research, the paper he was requested to write for the Royal Irish Academy, on the Mass in Ireland in the early Middle Ages. Much of it was based on a missal that had come to light in recent times. (Am I right?) He spoke of this paper with warmth and enthusiasm, as being the culmination of his life-work. I do hope that his failing eye-sight allowed him to finish this work, so dear to his heart.

I marvel at the courage of this man who, even at the age of ninety, was still using to the full those rare gifts God had given him, and sharing with us the fruits of his long years of reflection and study. I do not know now he died. I hope that his mental faculties were as sharp as ever. It would be poignantly sad if such a brilliant mind were dulled.

I thank God for the gift of this most dear friend, and for all that he has been to all the Columban Sisters.: His death is a personal loss for me. I miss him very deeply.

Carbery, John J, 1897-1918, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1009
  • Person
  • 13 April 1897-17 January 1918

Born: 13 April 1897, Rathculiheen, County Waterford
Entered: 31 August 1914, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly (HIB for Siculae Province - SIC)
Died: 17 January 1918, Beechgrove, Drogheda, County Louth

Part of the Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin community at the time of death.

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Eldest son of Mr J A Carbery, District Inspector, RIC Drogheda.
He obtained Exhibitions at the Christian Brothers School, Drogheda, and at Clongowes. He won the medal in Science at Middle and Senior Grade.

It was while moving from Tullabeg to Rathfarnham that he got a chill while cycling. He spent some time in St Vincent’s, Dublin, but was then removed to his parents residence in Drogheda about four weeks before his death. He died at Beechgrove, Drogheda 17 January 1918, and was buried at his own desire in Glasnevin.

◆ The Clongownian, 1918

Obituary

John Carbery SJ

We are glad to be able to publish the following affectionate tribute to the memory of Mr Carbery SJ, who died in January, 1918:

John J Carbery was just one year at Clongowes and he was practically without interest in the games. Yet I doubt if there were many boys in the College at the end of 1914 better known or better liked. He had the very best of those qualities which make for admiration and affection, the constituent elements, as he would have said, of popularity. Not merely was he a first-class mathematician and probably one of the best Chemistry pupils Clongowes ever taught, but he had a universality of interest in intellectual things rarely ound in a school boy. He had read widely in English, was more than moderately proficient in three or four languages, and was both practically and theoretically, in Nature study. Indeed he had one of the widest and most curious, as well as one of the soundest, intellects I have ever met. His gaiety and his good nature, more than willing, seeking to confer benefits at whatever self-sacrifice, secured him well-deserved affection. Clongowes loved him and he undeniably loved Clongowes. He left it to join the Jesuits, and to Tullabeg, he carried the same unique, and, therefore, somewhat inscrutable personality. He saw it through more or less alone as the saints did, and religious life had for him, with his delicate health and peculiar originality, more than the usual crosses. When he was leaving Tullabeg last August he undertook a long bicycle ride to see Clongowes once again. On the journey at first he was tired and lifeless, but as he approached Clongowes he was all excitement. He recalled walks between the avenue elms, days on the ice, journeys, pleasant or sad, on the long procession of cars up and down the back avenue. We could only stay an hour or so, yet he re-explored the house, the galleries, the bath, the infirmary, the library, First, Senior, the chapel. Once on the road again excitement and energy had vanished. A few days later he made his annual Retreat and within a fortnight of his Clongowes visit went to his bed, sick to death. A long illness prepared him for a mercifully, yet startingly, sudden death. He was not 21 when he died in his own home amongst his own family. Surely it is for them, for his brothers who have left us so short a time ago, for ourselves, for the unfulfilled promises of the riotous profusion of his spring time that we grieve. He himself is beyond sorrow.

MB

Conway, Vincent, 1909-1985, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/101
  • Person
  • 24 May 1909-11 May 1985

Born: 24 May 1909, County Meath
Entered: 10 September 1929, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 08 January 1944, Sydney, Australia
Final vows: 15 August 1948
Died: 11 May 1985, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
One of eight children, his early education was at the Salesian Agricultural College (Warrenstown), Drumree, County Meath, as it was thought that he would follow his father into farming. However, he changed to the De La Salle School, Navan, County Meath for the last two years of his education, and from there entered the Diocesan Seminary (St Finian’s) in Westmeath, and two years later Entered the Society at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg.

1931-1934 He went to Rathfarnham Castle and studied for three years at University College Dublin, but without taking a degree.
1934-1936 He returned to St Stanislaus College for Philosophy
1936-1937 He spent six months at Mungret College Limerick for Regency
1937-1940 He was sent to Australia and St Aloysius College, Milsons Point
1940-1943 He went to Canisius College Pymbe for Theology
1943-1944 He went to Ireland and Rathfarnham Castle to make Tertianship
1944-1968 and 1973-1985 He spent 36 years at St Aloysius College
1968-1973 He was sent to St Ignatius College Riverview teaching.

In the thirty six years he spent at St Aloysius, generations of Old Aloysians, especially those involved with sport, appreciated the interest he showed in them, the Sports Master of the 1950s, who constantly encouraged the boys to fair-play and sportsmanship, despite regular lack of success. His own patience and persevering optimism were an inspiration. He also taught Latin to young boys.
He was a fair man and boys knew where they stood with him. He was admired for his hard work preparing all the sporting fixtures and equipment, driving to and from Willoughby for cricket and football practices, and calling out the names for a decade of the rosary in the Chapel, setting up table-tennis tables at lunchtime, attending sportsmasters’ meetings, controlling tuckshop queues, rolling the College Oval cricket with the aid of the College horse when the groundsman was unwell, and as an editor of the “Aloysian” for many years.
In 1962 he became a reluctant Rector of St Aloysius, and performed his duties with the utmost dedication. He was praised for his occasional addressed, and for the way he successfully supervised the redevelopment of the College. He also taught Senior Religion. In later years he administered the Sacraments, looked after the maintenance of the buildings, coached boys, worked on the archives, managed the boys transport passes, collected the daily school mail, visited the sick and tended the garden.

He was a quiet, private, even shy man, but eminently reliable and thorough. His death marked the passing of an era for the College, as he was so well known and knew so many people. His compilation of lists of all students from 1879 to 1979 was a most valued record.

He was an indefatigable worker and especially good at carpentry. His colleagues remember his selflessness, his balanced self-control, his Irish humour, his faith and confidence i God, his complete loyalty to the Society and his prayerfulness.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 23rd Year No 1 1948

Fr. Peyton left for Australia on the “Mauretania” on 31st October in company with Fr. Conway, a member of the Viceprovince. Fr. Kevin Carroll, also a member of the Viceprovince, left Shannon Airport on 3rd November for New York, bound for San Francisco and Sydney. Mr. Monahan left Southampton on the “Queen Mary” on 20th November for New York; he took boat at San Francisco on 12th December for Sydney which he reached on 4th January. He will be doing his first year's philosophy at Loyola, Watsonia in the coming year.

Irish Province News 60th Year No 3 1985

Obituary

Fr Vincent Conway (1909-1929-1985) (Australia)

Born on 24th May 1909. 10th September 1929: entered SJ. 1929-31 Tullabeg, Emo, noviciate. 1931-34 Rathfarnham, juniorate. 1934-37 Tullabeg, philosophy. 1937-46
Australia. 1946-47 Rathfarnham, tertianship. 1947-85 Australia. Died on 11th May 1985.

Fr Vincent Murphy, Mission Procurator, and Fr Senan Timoney, Executive Socius, organised a requiem for Vin Conway in the domestic chapel in Gardiner street. Vin’s last surviving sister
was present, also nieces and nephews with their families: 35 relatives in all. Nine Jesuits concelebrated the Mass: Frs Seán Hughes (of Vin’s year), Séamus Mac Amhlaoibh, Frank Hennelly, Matty Meade, Martin Brennan, Jim Moloney; Senan Timoney, Vincent that Murphy and John O'Keeffe (Superior, SFX). Brs Keogh and Colgan were present. Afterwards we met the relatives and friends over a cup of coffee.
Vin was that little bit older than most of us when he entered Tullabeg in 1929. He had spent some years in an agricultural college before he opted for the Society. He was quiet, retiring and shy, but not bashful. He would never push himself to the front, would stay with the foot-sloggers, and was happy to be one of the crowd. Only with company, where he felt fully at home, would Vin relax and reveal his sound judgments on all sorts of subjects and his lovely contagious sense of humour, He had a wonderful laugh full of sniggers, snorts and incipient convulsions, so that it was well worth one's while to keep a good story for him.
Vin had a good head, but not the kind that would make a professor of literature or philosophy. His was more the head of a practical man and an administrator. His shyness was an asset, because when circumstances forced him to take responsibility he won respect and affection. He won respect because he was not a self-seeker, and affection because of his genuine loyalty and social graces. Australia brought him to the fore. Why Australia?..
Vin was one of ten Irish Juniors who discovered by accident that they were not members of the Irish province: I remember well the day a group of us came from the ball-alley, to be met by Michael McGrath. Michael always had the gift of finding news in the small print. He had browsed through the catalogue, and under the heading Ex aliis provinciis in hac degentes he found listed ten of our community of Juniors. Jokingly he congratulated the visiting Irish members of the Australian vice- province. It was considered a good joke and an obvious slip made by the editor of the catalogue. But no, it was not a slip. It would seem that for years Australia had been financing these and other) Juniors, but by an oversight - and what an oversight! – they had never been told that they were to belong to Australia.
Be that as it may, Vin was one of those transferred, and his was certainly a case of digitus Dei. Had Vin remained in Ireland, I doubt if his talents would have been uncovered. Anyway, he had a lovely way with people, and got on well with the Australians.
The boatman of Glendaloch used to tell of the daring of young Australian Juniors who dived into the upper lake from St Kevin's Bed. What they did not know, apparently, was that three other Juniors, not to be outdone, dived from a ledge some fifteen feet above St Kevin's Bed. Vin Conway was one of those three.
Vin's early years of study in the Society were hard. While in Rathfarnham he had a bout of sleeplessness, one which came to a climax in November 1933 when Fr Michael Browne was dying. At the time, Fr Browne was occupying the room later given to the Tertian Instructor. Vin was quartered in the little room (nearly all window) next door. His dying neighbour moaned and groaned for several nights and unnerved the sleepless Vin.
He carried his tensed nerves to Tullabeg, where he studied philosophy. There he was fortunate to have as Minister (1935-'7) Fr Jim Scally, who had a kind and understanding heart. He told Vin to forget classes, repetitions and circles, and sent him to the carpenter's shop to make shelves for the philosophers' library – big high shelves, standing ceiling-high. They are still to the good.
Outside the big window of Tullabeg community refectory there is a big long seat. It is in a sheltered nook outside what used to be called the philosophers' door. The angle-space is a sun-trap in the morning and was a gathering-place for philosophers at all times. It was in 1937 that Vin got the idea of putting that seat there. It was like Vin himself, sturdy and strong, without pretensions, and genuinely serviceable and useful.
Vin however really served his time in the building trade when he was given charge of the boats. There was a boat house on the canal and six clinker-type boats, the novices' bequest to the philosophers. Thursday after Thursday (villa-day) from October 10 April, Vin spent his day not just repairing but rebuilding boats. He went to Norton, the boatbuilder in Athlone, who generously shared all his professional skills with him. Some boats he stripped almost to the gunwale and rebuilt.
Vin studied theology in Australia, where he was ordained to the priesthood, After the war, however, it was in Rathfarnham that he did his tertianship. He had a special interest in preaching, and was keen to hear Fr Patrick O Mara, whose fame as a conductor of the First Friday Holy hour had travelled as far as Australia. After a very few minutes in the church he left. “Oh, I couldn't stick that! When he started with “Up there amongst the candles and the flowers” I felt I'd had enough.” He was honestly unimpressed with Fr O’Mara's style.
Fr Garahy's toast to the priests of Killaloe could very aptly be applied to Vin:
They have no time for honeyed words or sentimental gush;
they do not lightly make a foe, or into friendships rush,
Would you be numbered 'mongst their friends? Be straight, as steel be true.
They ask no more, they take no less, the priests of Killaloe.
On the day following the news of his death, Vin's sister received a letter from him, saying that he was in the best of form. He died peacefully in his sleep. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal agus go méadaí Dia a ghlóir.

The Australian province's Fortnightly Report had this to say (no. 377, 1st June 1985):
“The sudden and most unexpected death of Fr Vin Conway was a great shock to us all and a profound loss to the College St Aloysius', Milson's Point, Sydney]. Virtually all his priestly life was spent here, where he laboured with prodigious industry and constantly, in humble obscurity, never seeking recognition. With Fr John Casey, he was co-founder of the redeveloped college. Against seemingly insuperable odds he forged ahead in most difficult times, sustained and fortified by his deep faith. I cannot begin to describe how deeply the College is indebted to him. The large congregation at his funeral was ample witness to his wide esteem among the Old Boys whom he helped so much.”

Obituary

Fr Vincent Conway (1909-1929-1985) (Australia) : continued
(† 11th May 1985)

Giovanni Papini, in one of his several books of appreciation of the lives of great men, included an essay on 'Nobody' who, quite rightly, proved to be the most outstanding subject of all. He was the great unknown who invented the wheel, built the pyramids, designed and built the great mediaeval cathedrals of Europe: great achievers, like the “Unknown Solider”, “known only to God”. Every society has had them and the Least Society no less than any other,
Vincent Conway's achievements are not entirely unknown, and he was certainly one of those Jesuits of whom we may say his life was more subdued and hidden and its splendid achievement less advertised on earth, but certainly known to God as that of a “good and faithful servant”.
It has been said that Vin was born a simple farmer's son: he lived a simple farmer's son, and he died a simple farmer's son. That may be true enough so long as we recognise that the “simple Irish farmer” is mostly a man endowed with a very high degree of shrewdness. He was born one of eight children in County Meath between Navan and Kells, and he died just two weeks short of his 76th birthday.
As he began his secondary studies in the Salesian Agricultural College in his native county it may be assumed that it was first thought that he would follow in his father's footsteps as a farmer. The change for his last two years to the De La Salle School in Meath might suggest that a priestly vocation was looming on his horizon. This is confirmed by the fact that from there he entered the Diocesan Seminary in Westmeath.
After two years in the seminary he entered the Society at Tullabeg in 1929. He studied for three years at the National University of Ireland, but without taking out a degree. He returned to Tullabeg for four years philosophy and after six months regency at Mungret he was assigned to the Australian Vice-Province. He taught for four years at St Aloysius College, Milson's Point. Except for his four years theology at Pymble and Tertianship in Ireland, and five years teaching at Riverview, St Aloysius College was to be his home for nearly forty years.
It was there that he died on the night of May 11th. He was found in the morning slumped on the floor as if having fallen from his chair. The large attendance of Old Boys at his requiem was a tribute to their respect, admiration and affection for one who had served them so faithfully while they were students, and no less as members of the Old Aloysians. In Ireland, too, he was remembered at a requiem Mass at Gardiner street, at which a good number of his contemporaries concelebrated with other priests and at which there were thirty-five of his relatives.
Vin was a great man and indefatigable worker. His years at the Salesian Agricultural College had given him some training in carpentry, which he put to good use during his theology at Canisius College as “College Carpenter”. When, after the first “boom” year of ordinations, there were twenty-six priests in the house, and before the days of concelebration, many altars were required for daily masses, all more or less at the same time in the morning. Vin made the missal stands and all sorts of altar furnishings in wood. The designs were County Meath but everything was like himself, plain, strong and serviceable. He was never a man for frills, any more than he was a man to cut corners on the essentials.
When the College had been built, a short time before, the builders had provided mirrors above the wash basins in each room, but no shaving cabinets. It was Vin who undertook to make a cabinet to fit each mirror and he trained a few other scholastics to help in this work. There were over forty to be made and some modest celebration marked the completion of this very welcome service.
These were only some of his tasks. He was always ready to lend a hand at any job with perseverance and a ready smile, whether it was hard digging in the garden or field, or to learn an instrument to play in the orchestra. He would give a groan, more of modesty that he should be asked than of complaint, and take up the task with a will, Like all the men who came to us from Ireland, he was a dedicated apostle.
As Fr Cecil Smith points out, much of the the burden of carrying out John Casey's plan for the completion of St Aloysius College fell on Vin's shoulders. Cecil was closely associated with him in these years of his rectorship of the College, 1961-67. It is his tribute that follows:

Vin Conway's name was seldom seen in the Fortnightly Report. He was the original "quiet achiever". Because he avoided the limelight and his voice never rose above a conversational level and was more often below it, few knew him outside his much loved St Aloysius College.
Apart from a brief spell as Headmaster Riverview Junior School, most of his working life was spent at SAC. As Sportsmaster he delighted in coaching Rugby, especially the skills and schemes of the forward pack. Later, when he was appointed Rector to succeed Jack Casey, surprised and bewildered that Provincials could be so lacking in judgment. Coming into dinner that night he gave a very good impression of a stunned mullet. He knew what had been dumped in his lap: a programme to rebuild St Aloysius, initiated by Jack Casey, but far from activated.
An expensive excavation had been cut by Civil & Civic and there was no money available to pay for it. Jack, despite application to numerous financial institutions, had been unable to raise a loan. Provincial consultors were asking basic questions like, 'How do you expect to build a school costing millions when you have no money?', and such like.
Because he was convinced it was 'God's work', Vin bounded over all the fences using his almost ruthless determination and his skill at making people see his way, as his springs.
He had a remarkable memory for the names and faces of people he had met . Old Boys - hundreds of them - he greeted by name and could reel off the dates they were at school, and all gory details, No wonder they all loved him! He had a reputation for being tight-fisted with tight-fisted with money and with good reason - he was! He had to be in those early days at SAC where the pound had to be stretched; and stretch it he did. He just could not comprehend the affluence of today as anything but sinful.
Vin was a remarkable man, much underestimated by many. His selfless ness, his balanced self-control, his Irish humour, his faith and confidence in God, his complete loyalty to the Society,
his prayerfulness – so many qualities to make the man Peter Steele described as a good servant and a good Jesuit'.
May he enjoy his new job of oiling and painting the gates of heaven of
Cecil Smith, SJ

According to Irish province catalogues, Fr Conway's philosophy course lasted he was the usual three years, not four, Thanks to Jesuit life for mentioning his six month regency in Mungret, which because of its shortness escaped notice our 1938 catalogue. in More importantly, though: his assignment to Australia took place, not after that regency (c. Christmas 1937), but during (or before) the first year of his juniorate (c. 1931). The story of the accidental discovery by ten Irish juniors, including Vincent, of their assignment to Australia was recounted in IPN, July 1985, p. 181.

Cardiff, Lewis, 1911-1988, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1011
  • Person
  • 13 January 1911-03 June 1988

Born: 13 January 1911, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 10 February 1928, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 02 February 1945
Died: 03 June 1988, St Joseph’s, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at St Ignatius Richmond and the St Patrick’s College Melbourne. He then worked for a year as a clerk in the Victorian Railways and then entered at Loyola Greenwich in 1928.

After First Vows he was sent to Rathfarnham Castle Dublin, Ireland, where he graduated with a BSc in Mathematics and Physics and University College Dublin
He then wen to to Valkenburg, Netherlands for Philosophy
He returned to Australia for his Regency at St Aloysius College, Milsons Point teaching Science
He was sent to Dublin again and Milltown Park for Theology being Ordained there 13 May 1952
1945-1946 When he returned to Australia he was sent teaching at Xavier College Kew
1946-1948 He was sent to St Patrick’s College Melbourne. he did not think much of his own teaching qualities, but his students remembered him for his kind and gentle manner. He was possibly too much of a gentleman to be a successful teacher. he was thought to explain mathematics well.
1949-1957 He was Director of the Retreat House and Minister at Loyola Watsonia. It was a large community and so he was much in demand.
1958-1965 He was sent as Parish Priest at Toowong, Brisbane. There he cared for his people well and also acquired the land for the new Church at Achenflower. Here he also began to be associated with work supporting the Jesuit Mission in India.
1966-1975 He was Parish priest at Sevenhill and Clare where he showed great devotion to his people, especially the sick and aged.
1976 He returned to Melbourne and took on the work of promoting the Jesuit Missions in India. He saw his role as that of supporting his co-missionaries - though he would say that they did all the work, He was always writing letters of thanks to the generous benefactors.

People appreciated his spontaneity, his ready wit and humour and his down-to-earth advice, both spiritual and human. he showed great warmth and humanity, despite a certain jerkiness and shyness in manner. He was a most faithful priest. His life and energy flowed from a loving and affectionate heart, and a deep spirituality.

Carlile, Edward, 1894-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1015
  • Person
  • 23 January 1894-05 February 1972

Born: 23 January 1894, Drouin, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 23 February 1923, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 14 June 1932, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 15 August 1935
Died: 05 February 1972, Canisius College, Pymble, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
He was a convert from Anglicanism at the age of 25, as a result of the preaching of William Lockington, and was 28 years of age when he entered at Loyola Greenwich. He had asked to be admitted as a Brother, but the Mission Superior, William Lockington wanted him to be a scholastic. He had left school at age 14 to go into the bank, and so had little knowledge of Latin or a real aptitude for academic learning.

1925-1926 After First Vows he was sent for a year to Rathfarnham Castle Dublin for a Juniorate
1926-1933 He then moved to Milltown Park for Philosophy and Theology. He had not done a Regency, due to his age at Entry. He then went to St Beuno’s Wales for Tertianship.
These studies were very hard for him, and it is possible these years destroyed whatever prudence he had. he had a burning zeal to convert everyone to the “one true Church”. No one, from Anglican Archbishops to protestant schoolchildren was safe from this confrontation with the “truth”. He found it hard to confine his ministry to just one Parish. His apparent inability to marry zeal with prudence made him unfit for parish work, even though from many points of view he seemed admirably suited to this kind of ministry.
1935-1939 His priestly ministry was exercised in the Parishes of Hawthorn and Lavender Bay, but he had to be taken off the work due to some difficulties he created.
1939-1942 He was sent to teach at St Ignatius Riverview
1942 His teaching at Riverview did not work out well for him, so he went to Canisius College Pymble, and remained there for the rest of his life.

His life once he came to Canisius was limited enough, and he was the House Confessor. He had a very unique style, and therefore needed much guidance from his Superiors. In particular, he kept heading into the big city and attempting to proselytise, urging everyone to become Catholic. He was usually put on the earliest Mass, and attended or served as many as he could. The apparently miraculous cure of his arthritis was as well known as it was short lived! He was a very charitable man himself, and challenged many in this virtue. At Pymble, his Superiors required him always to have a companion, for his own and others in the neighbourhood’s protection. He frequently gave this companion the slip, and so volunteers were few!
He loved meeting people and made friends very easily. He had incredible resilience and his good nature was inexhaustible. In spite of a lifetime in which he was continually surprised to find himself at odds with the system, he was almost invariably in good humour. His unwillingness to speak unkindly of others was one of the most attractive feature of an extremely likeable man, whose exasperating actions almost always were funny enough to prevent anyone being annoyed with him for long.
His life was something of a tragico-comic one, with tragedy heavily on his side. The general view of his contemporaries was that perhaps he was not suited to the priesthood, as his zeal was exercised with limited discretion. His high form of adulation was describing one as a “character”, and he was most certainly one himself. The highest was that of “privce” though he only conferred that on Rolland Boylen, Lou Dando and Tom O’Donovan.
From his time as a Junior he had a very wide interpretation of presumed permission.When he came to Theology and learned about “common error”, he gained a new lease of life. He had asked a Superior to miss class one morning because he had a meeting with a prostitute who had accosted him in the street and who he was now endeavouring to convert. The rector refused, but Carlile invoked the natural law, and an appeal was made to the Provincial before he gave up his appointment.

However, he was a good man, very gentle and mostly well meaning, except with Superiors. He had a simple piety, loved devotions, novenas, indulgences, stories of miraculous cures, apparitions and prodigies. He loved to exercise any sacred functions as well as reciting public prayers. He had to be restrained from substituting for the priest assigned to litanies, if that man were not one of the first to arrive in the chapel.

One predominant memory of him was of great good humour.

Carroll, Kevin, 1911-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1022
  • Person
  • 02 February 1911-01 February 1972

Born: 02 February 1911, Rathmines, Dublin
Entered: 02 September 1929, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 08 January 1944, Sydney, Australia
Final Vows: 15 August 1950
Died: 01 February 1972, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia- Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
Early education was with the Christian Brothers before entering at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg.

1931-1934 After First Vows he went to Rathfarnham Castle and studied at University College Dublin, graduating BA Hons.
1934-1937 He was sent to Leuven for Philosophy
1937-1940 He went to Australia for Regency, teaching at Xavier College and Kostka Hall, Kew
1940-1944 He remained in Australia during the WWII years for Theology at Canisius College Pymble
1944-1945 After Ordination he spent a year at St Ignatius Riverview as Minister and Prefect of Discipline
1946-1947 He returned to Ireland and Rathfarnham Castle to make Tertianship.
1947-1950 He headed back to Australia and was sent as Minister to St Aloysius College, Milsons Point, and during the last of those years was Chaplain to the Medical Guild of St Luke
19511975-1956 He went home to Dublin in order to study the Pioneers Total Abstinence Association, and he then returned to Australia and the Provincial’s residence to promote this organisation.
1956- He lived at St Francis Xavier Lavender Bay for a year.
1957-1963 He was sent to St Ignatius Riverview, teaching Mathematics and being First Division Prefect.
1964-1966 He was sent to the Minor Seminary at Christchurch, New Zealand, as Minister, Prefect of Discipline and tones Master, and he taught Latin and Biology. During these years he continued his work for the “Pioneers”.
1966-1967 He came back to Australia and was sent to Toowong Parish
1967-1972 He was appointed Superior and Parish Priest at the Hawthorn Parish. he continued his work with the “Pioneers”, was Bursar, organised a Parish magazine, and he was Chaplain at Kilmaire Convent School. In 1970 he became Rector of the Alcoholism Foundation of Victoria, and in 1971 was president of the inter-church committee for alcoholism. For a time he was also a member of the Archdiocesan Senate, and secretary of the religious senate zone. He died suddenly after a heart attack.

He was a very able and intelligent man. He was bright, merry and kind and he had a great interest in people. He was also a good companion.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 21st Year No 4 1946
Fr. Kevin Carroll of the Australian Vice-Province reached Dublin early in the same month for tertianship in Rathfarnham.

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 1 1948
Fr. Peyton left for Australia on the “Mauretania” on 31st October in company with Fr. Conway, a member of the Viceprovince. Fr. Kevin Carroll, also a member of the Viceprovince, left Shannon Airport on 3rd November for New York, bound for San Francisco and Sydney. Mr. Monahan left Southampton on the “Queen Mary” on 20th November for New York; he took boat at San Francisco on 12th December for Sydney which he reached on 4th January. He will be doing his first year's philosophy at Loyola, Watsonia in the coming year.

Irish Province News 47th Year No 2 1972
We regret the news from Australia of the death of Fr Kevin Carroll at Melbourne. Fr Carroll was originally of the Irish Province but was among those transferred from the Noviciates or Juniorate to the New Australian Province in 1931. He was ordained in 1944; he returned to Ireland, 1951-52, to perfect himself in the methods of propagating the Pioneer Association and for some years after returning to Australia was engaged in that work. He served in New Zealand and 1966-7 was engaged in missionary work in Toowong; he was attached to Hawthorne Parish for the four years preceding his death, at the early age of 61, R.I.P.

Collier, Richard, 1870-1945, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1070
  • Person
  • 25 September 1870-14 March 1945

Born: 25 September 1870, Duleek, County Meath
Entered: 05 January 1898, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1909, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 14 March 1945, Milltown Park, Dublin

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 20th Year No 2 1945
Obituary
Br. Richard Collier (1870-1898-1945)

Brother Collier's happy death took place at Milltown Park on Wednesday night, March 14th, shortly before 9 p.n. He had received, a few hours previously, the last Sacraments. Though suffering from heart trouble and realising that the end was not far off he kept working gallantly, being occupied even on the day of his death, after the doctor had been with him, with details of bookbinding. Brother Collier was born at Duleek, Co. Meath, on September 25th, 1870, and entered the Society at the age of twenty eight on January 5th, 1898. Previous to his entry he had worked in Dublin in the meat. trade. His employer, Mr. Dowling, had two butcher's shops, and found Richard Collier so efficient and trustworthy that he handed over to him the complete management of the shop in Britain Street. Brother Collier made his noviceship in Tullabeg under Fr. James Murphy as Master of Novices, and was cook and dispenser for twelve years, first at Tullabeg and then at Milltown Park, 1903-'12, and again at Tullabeg. After a year spent at Belvedere College he went to Rathfarnham Castle in 1913 as mechanic. He was destined to spend almost thirty years in this house, chiefly in charge of farm and grounds. When declining health forced him to retire from strenuous outdoor work, he was transferred to Milltown Park in 1942, where he continued to labour with great fidelity in the bookbinding department as assistant to Bro. Rogers. On more than one occasion during these last years of his life his help was sought at Gardiner St., when he supplied for a Brother who was sick or absent on retreat. On such occasions he gave of his best, and displayed his love of hard work and his genial affability, characteristic qualities of his, coupled with a spirit of prayer, which he seems to have possessed to a notable degree. At the Castle the sign of Brother Collier's hand is everywhere visible in farm and garden. He entered the Castle with Fr. James Brennan, the first Rector, on the day it was opened as a house of Ours, August 18th, 1913. One of his last gifts to Rathfarnham was the wonderful dry track right round the grounds, which he completed before leaving for Milltown. In Milltown the spick and span condition of the books in both libraries will long be a reminder of his industry. R.I.P.

Comerford, Richard, 1911-1970, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1077
  • Person
  • 07 January 1911-14 September 1970

Born: 07 January 1911, Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 02 March 1927, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 08 January 1944, Sydney, Australia
Final Vows: 15 August 1946
Died: 14 September 1970, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at St Patrick’s College Melbourne before Entering at Loyola Greenwich.

1929-1932 After First Vows he was sent to Rathfarnham Castle Dublin for his Juniorate at University College Dublin. During his time there he had an accident, which though it did no lasting damage gave him quite a shock, and so he returned to Australia.
1932-1936 On return he was sent teaching to St Aloysius College Milsons Point where he also assisted the Prefect of Discipline.
1937-1939 He was sent for Philosophy to Canisius College Pymble and Loyola Watsonia
1939-1940 He returned to St Aloysius College for a year
1941-1944 He was sent for Theology to Canisius College. His Ordination group in 1944 was the first to be ordained in Sydney.
1944-1945 He made Tertianship at Loyola Watsonia
1946-1961 He returned to teaching in the Junior school at St Aloysius, also teaching Science in the Middle school. His greatest work was the annual production of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera in cooperation with Mr William Caspers. These operas were one of the great highlights of the College each year, and were most professionally produced. They were his crowning glory.
1961-1967 he was one of the casualties of the Visitor’s changes within the Province in 1961 and he was sent to St Ignatius College Norwood, where he taught Religion, English, Physics, Chemistry and elementary Science for some years, but ill health finally reduced him to working in the tuck shop.
1967 The Rector of St Aloysius, Vincent Conlon finally succeeded in gaining his return to the College, and when he did he taught Religion, Geography and elementary Science. It had been hoped that he might resume involvement in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, but his health di not allow that. In 1968 he looked after the bookshop.

He was one of natures real gentlemen, a man of great courtesy who respected the dignity of each individual. He was also a most genuinely humble and self-effacing person. He was easily upset by student immaturity, but was much appreciated by those whom he taught and those who worked with him in opera productions. He had great creative talent, was a good teacher of English, spoke polished English and had a fine singing voice.

His practice of personal poverty was obvious to all, and he was most faithful to his ministerial duties as priest. He finally died of a stroke and heart complications. His funeral from the College Chapel was most moving. Four former Rectors were present as well as Archbishop O’Brien, his mother and three sisters, and many former parents. The Mass was sung by the students of the College, who also formed a guard of honour outside at the end of the ceremony.

All those who knew him held him in high esteem.

Cunningham, Patrick J, 1924-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/108
  • Person
  • 30 March 1924-15 June 1972

Born: 30 March 1924, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1942, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1957, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1960, Wah Yan College, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Died: 15 June 1972, Fujen Catholic University, Dalat, Vietnam (Kingsmead Hall, Singapore) - Hong Kong Vice-Province (Died in air crash)

Part of Kingsmead Hall community, Singapore at time of his death. Died in air crash

Transcribed : HIB to HK 03/12/1966
by 1952 at Hong Kong - Regency

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
His early education was at Belvedere College SJ, Dublin. he had a keen interest in things that moved : cars, ships, trains and planes, but above all he was interested in helping people.

His strength was his pastoral work, and particularly teaching catechistics, which he taught at the Swiss School, the Australian Army School and the International School.
He was a founder of the Road Safety Association in Hong Kong.
He also worked in Singapore where he focused on drug addiction.

he died in 1972 when the plane he was in blew up over South Vietnam.

Note from Paddy Finneran Entry
He came to Hong Kong as a young priest with Peter Dunne and 5 Scholastics - Liam Egan, Paddy Cunningham, Matt Brosnan, Tom O’Neill and Tony Farren. He spent two years at the Battery Path Language School learning Cantonese.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 2 1972

The tragic news of Fr Patrick Cunningham's death, together with 80 others, in the air-smash in Vietnam, reached us in the middle of June, first surmised, then confirmed. We hope to have further information later.
We offer sympathy to Fr Cunningham's brother, Frank, on the calamity.
Fr P. Cunningham's remains, after various delays, were conveyed to Dublin - Gardiner Street - 20th July. There was an Obsequial Mass concelebrated by Fr Provincial and twelve other participants on Friday 21st. R.I.P.

Irish Province News 47th Year No 4 1972

Obituary :

Fr Patrick Cunningham SJ (1924-1972)

A brief notice of the tragic death of Fr Cunningham in the middle of June and of his obsequies in Gardiner Street on July 20th was contained in the last issue of the Province News Editor.]
When we think of Fr Paddy Cunningham (PJ or Pat as his contemporaries knew him) we think of mechanical things and movement. We think of cars and aeroplanes, of launches and ships and of a man who was ever on the move. We think of a man ready at a moment's notice to address any audience on any topic what ever and in any part of the world. He would then return home and either delight or annoy his community with endless chatter about the people Pat had met and the things Pat had done. I once saw him rather obviously choose a place at recreation beside the late Fr Tommy Ryan and I heard Fr Ryan's opening remark : “Well, I suppose you're going to tell me about all your works and pomps!” Pat could be pompous at times especially when wearing one of those unnecessary uniforms he loved so well.
Never a scholar, he was a man, nonetheless, whose interests were limitless and he carried in his head an astonishing amount of factual information about all kinds of unlikely persons, places and things. He used to chuckle over a comment made by a superior who once told him that he would make an excellent railway porter with information about timetables, ticket prices and train stops at his finger-tips. But you could not be sure of the information at Pat's finger-tips. He never could say, “I don't know” or “I'll check that for you”. To any question he always made an immediate and definite reply and he would be right a surprising eighty per cent or so of the time. The trouble was you never knew which twenty per cent was not correct so you always had to verify Pat's statements.
On 7th September 1942 twenty three novices entered Emo, five of them from Belvedere and Patrick Joseph Cunningham was one of these. It was not long till he made his presence felt especially at Socius' Conferences where we looked forward to his shared reflections, observations and suggestions which were never dull and often sensational. Once he suggested that a novice should be appointed to collect the skin from on top of the hot milk - enough could be collected each morning, Pat assured us, to make a plastic egg-cup. That was Fr Brendan Brennan's first year as Socius and he never quite knew how to manage Brother Cunningham.
In Rathfarnham Pat was more at home ... not because it gave him an opportunity for study but because Dublin was the place where Pat was born and he knew Dublin street by street. Indeed if one believed him he knew everyone who lived in every street - at least everyone who mattered. He claimed connections at managerial level with many commercial firms and not only scholastics but fathers, too, were taken in by this. More than one man entered Dublin firms on Pat's recommendation hoping to get special terms by using his name only to discover that nobody in the firm knew a Patrick Cunningham. Tullabeg meant back to the country and Pat was essentially a city man and his three years there might have been trying ones for him were it not for the building of the swimming pool in which he was deeply involved. He also claimed a multitude of relations in the neighbourhood.
Then came his appointment to Hong Kong and his influence with people really blossomed. No one would rate him an expert at the Chinese language and yet he could somehow establish contact with Chinese people in almost any dialect. But he did not confine his apostolate to Chinese people. He had a universal love for mankind and a desire to help wherever help was needed. A characteristic he revealed in Emo was a generosity with his time and a readiness to go to the assistance of anybody and this characteristic he never lost. He was a man for others. He loved people and served them. Thus, as well as the boys in our schools, the groups he worked for or with in Hong Kong included Chinese hostesses from Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airforce personnel, Rotary Clubs, Road Safety Associations, to say nothing of the seamen of varied nationalities that he dealt with in his work for the Apostleship of the Sea.
The pattern in Singapore was the same as the following paragraphs from Father Liam Egan testify :
“In a little less than two years in Singapore Pat had won an astonishing number of friends and admirers. ... Pastoral work, and in particular, catechetical work proved to be his forte. To those of us who knew him well his success with children and especially with teenagers both boys and girls and of all nationalities was incredible.
He taught catechism in two convent schools, in the Swiss school, the Australian Army School, the International School and the children loved him. Not only did he teach them but he established an extraordinary rapport with them. He organised a weekly evening session in Kingsmead Hall for the “tough” teenagers of the American School and the International School. They attended in ever increasing numbers: they brought their friends : some of them brought their parents. They became enthusiastic about their religion, possibly for the first time in years”.
And then came the fatal air-disaster of 15th June and with it the end of life for Pat at the age of 48. He loved to be alive and he loved to be on the move and for one who was liable to turn up almost anywhere at almost any time it is hard to believe that he won't turn up again. An enquiry into the cause of the crash established that it was caused by a bomb placed on the plane in Bangkok and which exploded over Vietnam. The exceptionally large crowds that turned out for requiem Masses offered for him at Singapore and Hong Kong bear testimony to the love and esteem that so many had for him. He will be remembered by many for a long time. May he rest in peace.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1962

Belvederians On The Hong Kong Mission

Just before Easter, Fr Paddy Joy SJ gave a talk in the gym on the Irish Jesuit Mission in Hong Kong.

Father Pat Cunningham SJ
Father Cunningham is in charge of this Apostleship of the Sea, and flies the papal flag on the smartest launch on the harbour. He has vitalised this work, which had just got beyond its growing pains, and he is “on the job” in a way that has won wide attention. Last yeat, after attending the Sea Apostolate convention in Rome he toured most of the important ports in Europe and Asia. to see what is being done, and he will not be happy until he has made Hong Kong as good as the best for Catholic seamen. Twelve ships visit Hong Kong every day and none of them escapes his notice. Father McAsey and he dovetail their work excellently and between them they have gained the goodwill of ships of all flags.

Transport is one of Father Cunningham's surprising interests, and it has brought him into connection with our local traffic problems. He is known to many as a member of the Port Welfare Committee, but when a “Road Safety” committee was brought into being he was roped on to it and promptly made chairman. He has given lectures and addresses and interviews on the subject, and has won the special goodwill of the Police Traffic Department because of the practical help that he is giving in keeping blood off the roads.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1965

Sons of Xavier

Father Pat Cunningham (1942). For several years Father Pat Cunningham kept the flag of the Apostleship of the Sea flying very prominently in our harbour-which ac cording to our local statisticians was visited by over 27,000 ships last year in addition to its own 20,000 local craft. Now that he is engaged on land activities he is as a ubi quitous on shore as he ever was on land. In addition to being Assistant Prefect of Studies, and Prefect of Discipline as well as teacher, he has taken a very prominent part in the promotion of “road safety”. All his life he has been interested in everything that moves on wheels, and is greatly annoyed at the number of pedestrians that get in the way of vehicles on our roads. As those statisticians to whom I already referred tell us that there is a vehicle for every 200 feet on our roads and as those are more than 31 million people use those roads, it is not surprising that we have an abundance of accidents, with 20 killed every month and nearly 1000 injured. Father Cunningham is President of a Road Safety Association and in this capacity is heard frequently on the radio and in addresses to various organisations.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1972

Obituary

Father Patrick J Cunningham SJ (’42)

Father Paddy was killed in an air disaster over Vietnam. The cause of the disaster has not yet been made public. It was a fitting death for him and I am sure he would not have had it otherwise.

When he left school he entered the Society and very soon got a reputation for getting things done - no matter what the things were. For such a man the missions offered limitless scope and as soon as he could he went out on the Chinese mission and remained on it till his death. The most obliging of men nothing was too trivial, nothing too arduous for him to undertake. The following appreciation of him appeared in the “Evening Press”.

A Hong Kong meeting. between the then bosun of the Irish Larch and Father Paddy Cunningham, the Dublin born Jesuit who died tragically in Thursday's Vietnam air disaster, is recalled by the bosun, Joe Fay, in the following article:

“Thousands of seamen from all over the world, including many from behind the “Iron Curtain” will hear with deep regret the death of Fr Patrick Joseph Cunningham, a Dublin Jesuit, who was killed in an air crash in South Vietnam.

He wasn't only a good soldier of Jesus, but he was also a good sailor for him. To many mariners he was known as just plain Paddy and others referred to him as affectionately as the “Vatican Skipper” or “The Commodore Chief of the Vatican Navy”.

How well I remember my first meeting with Paddy. It was the day after we anchored off Hong Kong. Some of the crew and I were loading cargo from the Irish Larch into Chinese junks, It was somewhere near the middle of summer in 1963. At about 10.15 am, the deck boy came along to me on the after deck and said, ‘Bosun, there's a quare looking boat coming along side with sailors in funny looking uniforms’. At this time the sweat was running out of us and I was just about to tell him to go and get stuffed when he said, “Honest to the living Bosun, there
is a funny looking boat alongside”.

I looked over the side and saw a beautiful large motor launch with what looked like Chinese crew boys dressed in navy uniforms in the Vatican colours of yellow and white.. On the small bridge stood a tall well-muscled slim man well over six feet tall. He was wearing a dark grey uniform with a Roman collar. On the stern of the Launch the Vatican flag was flying and underneath, the name Stella Maris and below that the words Reg in the Vatican. I knew that this was the man I had heard referred to in many ports I had visited as the “Vatican Skipper”.

He came up the gangway looking at me and said: “Céad Míle Fáilte”. I felt a right mug and looking for a quick answer I said: “Sorry me ould flower, I only speak Dublinese”. He put his hand on my shoulder and said: ‘Don't worry I'm a Jackeen Myself’. I then asked him if I'd take him up to the officers' mess and he replied: ‘Let the gold braid wait. I can see them later, but I would like to have a little talk with the five-eights’. As it was only a few minutes to go for smoko (tea break) I blew the men up and we all went into the crew's messroom.

It must have been one of the longest tea breaks on record as it lasted about an hour and a half. His love and knowledge of Dublin was fantastic. He knew the Liberties and Dublin dockland like the back of his hand, We spoke about Biddy Slicker and her barrel organs. He knew a lot about the old Dublin boxing fraternity and names like Spike McCormack and Paddy Dowdell came as easy to him as if he had lived next door.

Next morning he came aboard and said Mass. I'm sure he helped to bring our native shores closer to all the crew. I am sure when you meet your maker, Paddy, he will give yon the job of chartering a steady course for many seamen in the years to come”.

Evening Press

Curran, Stephen, 1911-1960, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/109
  • Person
  • 02 January 1911-02 June 1960

Born: 02 January 1911, Lippa, Spiddal, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1931, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1945, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1948, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 02 June 1960, St Stephens Hospital, Glanmire, County Cork

Part of Mungret College community, Limerick at time of his death.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 35th Year No 3 1960
Obituary :
Fr Stephen Curran (1911-1960)
Stephen Curran was born near Spiddal, Co. Galway, on 2nd January, 1911. He was at school at St. Mary's College, Galway, but in 1927 he transferred to the Apostolic School, Mungret College, where he remained until he entered the Noviceship at Emo in 1931. In due course he moved from Emo to Rathfarnham Castle for his Juniorate (1933-36), during which he read for his degree in Celtic Studies at University College, Dublin. For the next three years we find him studying Philosophy at Tullabeg, In 1939 he was assigned to St. Ignatius College, Galway for his “Colleges”, and in 1942 he began Theology at Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1945. After Tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle, 1946-47, he spent the remaining years of his life in teaching at Mungret College, Limerick.
“A gentle scholar, poet and universal friend”. These words from a very appreciative letter of sympathy from the Mungret Union give a true impression of Fr. Curran.
Gentle he was all his life and in every way, notably in a certain delightful charm in his manner of speech and conversation, gentle too in his habitual judgments and outlook, in his dealings with others, and in his exceptional degree of modesty about his own very highly cultivated talents.
A true scholar also. He was blessed with the knowledge of Irish as his natural language, he had enriched this knowledge by a deep and lifelong study. He also had studied kindred Celtic languages. Added to this was a persistent study of Irish history, literature, poetry and art, ancient and modern. A few years ago he became interested in Spanish; this interest turned into serious study and he became proficient at the language and taught it successfully to the Philosophers. It is characteristic that at the same time he studied the history, literature and art of Spain, reading Cervantes, St. John of the Cross, modern drama, novels and biography, Added to this he cultivated Spanish boys in the school, listened to Spanish radio, got to know their newspapers and periodicals, and hoped to have an opportunity of visiting Spain.
This all indicates that he “saw life whole”; it also brings us to his predominant characteristic, his wholehearted and affectionate interest in people. This was evident in the whole bent of his conversation, especially in Irish. Another example is this : the Hungarian Rising inspired him with sympathy and admiration for that people. He studied their history and literature and mastered some of the fundamental mysteries of their so very different language; but his real happiness was when he visited the refugee camp and got in touch with the living Hungarian people. As well as this natural interest there was the urge of his apostolic priesthood. He envisaged translations of religious matter from Spanish into Irish, and had published at least one article, an Irish version of a poem on the Nativity. He worked in England for the last two or three summers and returned with great sympathy for the people. The outstanding example of this interest of his comes from his time in hospital in Cork; he got to know all the patients around him, and all about their families, occupations, ailments and personal histories. When visited by any of his Community he divided the time talking, with wholehearted interest, about the patients and about Mungret. Incidentally his genuine and obvious delight at seeing his brethren was a pleasure to witness, and his sense of gratitude, for what he truly thought quite undeserved attention, would almost overcome him. In a letter shortly before his death he said that so good had everyone been to him by prayer and every way that he expressly wished that to every prayer of petition for him should be added one of thanksgiving
After his Tertianship in Rathfarnham he came to Mungret, his own school, in 1947, and there he laboured until his last illness. The word is used deliberately. Fr. Curran laboured to the fast ounce of his strength. He taught Irish classes right through the school, every day and nearly all day. But the curriculum was merely basic. Irish for him was something loved and living, and he strove with all his inward and outward power to make it live for others. He was like one devoted, lighting little beacons in the darkness and little fires in a great cold. He seemed fully informed about every development in Irish, about writers of the day in prose or poetry, about books, periodicals and plays, and even about techniques in printing and publishing; in general, all received his happy approval, He spoke Irish to the boys, interested them in Club Leabhar na Sóisear, Inniu, An Gael Og, etc. With scarcely any recreational space or facilities he kept Cumann na Gaeilge going with conversation, debates, dramas, prize essays, and a lending library.
Indeed in his last illness he provided for the awarding of the Bonn Óir le haghaidh óráidíochta and the Corn le haghaidh comhrá. Once or twice a year he produced Irish plays. For these he himself planned the stage, painted the scenery, did all the coaching in speaking and acting, costurned the players and was an expert at make-up. One year he produced the opera Maritana, making his own translation very beautifully. On several occasions his players took part in the Féile Luimní, He really was the life and soul of Irish in the College, and we seriously fear that without him, whom all of us together cannot match, it may lapse into a mere class subject.
He whose home tongue was Irish and whose native earth was betwixt the hills and the sea in Cois Fhairrge must have found the inland plains dull and the English language flat. Be that as it may, an unwonted gaiety and joyousness took possession of him when on holidays in a gaeltacht beside the sea and his companionship was a delight. There he who ordinarily was so retiring became a leader, full of happy enterprise and initiative; there too his natural gifts as a homely raconteur shone.
His last illness began with what might have been an ordinary attack of flu. He soon showed symptoms of pleurisy and pneumonia and was brought to the Regional Hospital. They found grave disorder in the lung and recommended Surgeon Hickey, St. Stephen's Hospital, Cork. He made the journey by car on Shrove Tuesday. He had there a big exploratory operation and it was found that the lung and surrounding area was flooded with a great quantity of blood. It had come from a leak in the main artery very near the heart. This artery was in a very thin and worn condition. For nearly two weeks after this he was so low that those who visited him thought him dying. But he made a great recovery and became quite himself, saying Mass and spending some time out in the grounds. He knew he was building up for the crucial operation and he knew its nature, but he kept cheerful and optimistic, planning away for the future, always with the proviso, “If it be God's Will”. The operation consisted in grafting a patch on to the defective artery. Without this he could not live, but the chances of its success were small. It was said that the only other place it could be performed is in Texas. Nothing could exceed Mr. Hickey's devotedness and attention, and Fr. Stephen had full confidence in him and a tremendous admiration for him. The operation began at 1 p.m, and was not over till after 9 p.m. About 10 p.m. Fr. Stephen came to himself and spoke to the doctor, Mr. Hickey. Mr. Hickey said to Fr. Rector: "You may go home now Father and pray he may get through the night, if he does he should be all right". About an hour later he took a bad turn and at 12.25 on Thursday, 2nd June he died. He had been anointed and the chaplain was with him. Those who saw him after death remarked on the tranquillity and peacefulness of his appearance. He was buried in the Community cemetery on the Eve of Pentecost.
Ar dheasláimh Dé go raibh a anam ar feadh na síoraochta.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Stephen Curran 1911-1950
Fr Stephen Curran was a truly gentle and lovable soul. Born near Spiddal on January 2nd 1911, he never lost his tender love of his native language nor his native place. Next to God and the Society, this was his one love.

He worked unremittingly in his Alma Mater, Mungret, from his tertianship in Rathfarnham in 1947 until his death in 1960. Is devotion to his classes was his leading trait, and his energy was unflagging in promoting our native language, in producing plays and running debating societies, and in writing for various Irish periodicals.

His early tragic death at the age of 49 may be traced to the exemplary execution of his duties. The early habits and customs of the noviceship he carried out right to the end. If ever a man earned the right to hear those words “Well done good and faithful servant”, Stephen Curran surely did.

“Ár dheis-lamh Dé go raibh a anam”, as he himself would like to say.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1961

Obituary

Father Stephen Curran SJ

Few of us thought that when Father Curran went to hospital last February twelve months, that he would never return to the College alive.

Father Curran was born in Spiddal, Co Galway, on January 2nd, 1911. He went to school at St Mary's College, Galway. From this he transferred to the Apostolic School in Mungret in 1927. Here he remained until he entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1931. After the long studies of the Society he was ordained in 1945. After two years he came to Mungret where he spent the remaining years of his life.

Father Curran's name will always be associated with the Irish language, He spoke it with anyone he found willing to do so. He gave all his free time to working for the Irish Society in the College. His greatest love, perhaps, was centred on the Irish play he produced every year. For this he planned the stage, painted the scenery and did the make-up. In his last illness he made arrangements for the awarding of the “Bonn Oir le haghaidh oraidiochta” and the “Corn le haghaidh comhra”. The Editor of the Annual got a yearly reminder of the Irish Essay.

Many tributes were paid to Father Curran by past students. The Mungret Union spoke of him as “A gentie scholar, poet and universal friend”.

Another wrote of him as “A grand priest”.

Father Curran was an outstanding teacher, but those of us who were priviliged to live with him, will best remember his gentleness, kindness and charm of manner. Father Curran died in St Stephen's Hospital, Cork on June 2nd, 1960. May he rest in peace. RIP

Cunningham, Thomas P, 1906-1959, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1147
  • Person
  • 24 February 1906-03 September 1959

Born: 24 February 1906, Taieri, Otago, New Zealand
Entered: 04 March 1924, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 12 August 1934
Final Vows: 10 March 1942
Died: 03 September 1959, St Patrick’s Mission, Barrow (Utqiagvik), Alaska, USA - Oregonensis Province (ORE)

Transcribed HIB to CAL : 1929; CAL to ORE

by 1928 at Eegenhoven, Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
His grandfather was deported from Ireland to Australia for some act of patriotism. His secondary education was with the Christian Brothers at Dunedin, New Zealand before he Entered the Society in Australia at Loyola Greenwich, 1924.

1926-1927 He was sent to Rathfarnham Castle Dublin for a Juniorate
1927-1930 He was sent for Philosophy to Eegenhoven Belgium and Spokane Washington, USA. During his third year of Philosophy he was transcribed to the Oregon Province (ORE) having volunteered for the Alaska Mission. At Spokane he was known as a quiet and hardworking student with a fine mind, who never seemed to get tired. He was fiercely competitive at sports and the best soccer player among the scholastics.
1930-1931 He was sent to Kashunak School, Holy Cross, Alaska for Regency
1931-1934 He went to Montreal Quebec, Canada for Theology
1934-1935 He made Tertianship at Mont-Laurier Quebec, Canada
1935-1936 He began his missionary work at Nome Alaska
1936-1944 He was sent to work at Little Diomede Island Alaska. He became a US citizen 01 October 1941.
1944-1946 He was a Military Chaplain with the US Army, during which time he visited Australia and the Pacific region, which included New Caledonia, Manila, Honolulu, Guam and Japan. He even spent four months in Korea in 1946
1946-1947 After the war he returned to Little Diomede Island
1947-1950 He was sent to work with the Eskimos at King Island Alaska. Here he taught school at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as catechising, visiting the sick and sharing in village life. This included joining the local men hunting.
1950-1952 He became a Chaplain with the Air Force, spending much of his time teaching Arctic survival to servicemen.
1952-1953 He spent a year as a missionary at Kotzebue (Qikiqtaġruk) Alaska
1953 He moved further north in Alaska to Point Barrow (Nuvuk). Using this as a base, he went on long dog-sled journeys across the world’s last frontier, seeking Eskimo souls for Christ and working with white Catholics in Point Barrow (Nuvuk), construction workers, military personnel, people connected with the school, the hospital, the US Weather Bureau and the Civil Aeronautics Administration. He also ministered to the men working on the “Distant Early Warning” radar sites.

His life in Alaska was a saga of heroic deeds. he once saved a village from starving by personally conducting a hunt on the Arctic Ocean during very severe weather. His trained eye picked out the ice floe that was to be the home of scientists and airmen for eighteen months during the “International Geophysical Year” of 1957. This project was known as “Operation Ice Skate” and was completed under the guidance of Thomas Cunningham.

His “Parish” had been the 150,000 cold square miles of Alaska above the Arctic Circle. His parishioners were anyone he met. For a quarter of a century he laughed at Arctic dangers, survived pneumonia - which he caught while cruising the icy Bering Sea in a leaky sealskin boat. He leapt down an icy cliff and jumped to safety from ice cake to floating ice cake as Soviet officials sought to take him captive when his boat had been blown into Big Diomede Island (Gvozdev) during an Arctic storm. He mushed through winter blizzards that had kept even the Eskimos indoors, travelling on one missionary journey for 2,500 miles behind dogs.

His deeds in the Arctic became legendary and were told and retold wherever Eskimo or white men gathered along the Arctic coast or north of the glacier-packed Brooks Mountain range.

He learned the Eskimo language during his early Alaskan years, and spoke it with a fluency that amazed the natives. He was a scholar, who compiled an Eskimo dictionary of over 7,000 words and their English equivalents. He could look at an ice flow and tell the age of the ice, and accurately guess its depth and longevity. He knew more of the traditions, legends and anthropological lore of the Eskimo than anyone else in the north. He held a Major’s commission in the Air Force and had received a commendation-of-merit ribbon from the Secretary of the US Air Force.

He was a very cheerful person, very pro Irish and anti British, and a marvellous raconteur. He was small in stature, but very strong. He said he chose the Alaskan Mission because it was cold like his native place in New Zealand. He died in his Rectory cabin at Point Barrow (Nuvuk) from a heart attack. The US Air Force flew his body from there to Fairbanks, and he was buried there with full military honours and a 15-gun salute.

He was a remarkable Jesuit, described by a fellow missionary as “one of the most loved, versatile and dynamic missionaries ever to serve the Alaska Missions”. He was recorded in the “Congressional Records” as “a noble and gallant figure, a devoted servant of God and his fellow men”. Both “Time” and “Newsweek” magazines noted his passing.

cf “Memoirs of a Yukon Priest”Segundo Llorente SJ, Georgetown University Press, Washington DC 1990 - ISBN 10: 0878403615

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 6th Year No 2 1931
Alaska :
Mr Tom Cunningham has already been doing excellent work in Alaska. He will be most likely prefect and principal of a school next year.
Irish Province News 8th Year No 2 1933
Montreal
A great many of us remember Mr. Tom Cunningham, an Australian, who finished his juniorate at Rathfarnharn in 1927. He volunteered for the Alaskan mission, and at the end of philosophy was sent to the far north. He is now doing 2nd Year Theol. at the “Immaculate” Montreal. He sends an interesting letter :
It will be no time 'till I find myself back in Alaska for a life sentence, and the moment cannot come too quickly for me. It is true that life in Alaska is hard. You are lonely and cold, the food is of the crudest kind, the silence of the Arctic winter nearly drives you crazy, and you begin to wonder sometimes if you will ever see the sun again, or get a letter from home.
But it has its compensations. There is a sort of mysterious something about the Yukon that gets a grip on you, and makes you wish to be there rather than any place else. It must be the grace of God. I know that I wouldn't stay in Alaska one day if it were not for a supernatural motive.

Irish Province News 12th Year No 2 1937
ALASKA :
The following letter is from Father T. Cunningham who was a Junior at Rathfarnham in the year 1926-27. Shortly afterwards he joined the California Province in the hope of being sent to the Alaska mission. He now belongs to the Oregon Province, and when his theology at the Immaculate Conception, Montreal, was finished his hopes were realized, and he was sent to Alaska, the land his heart desired. Our regret is that limited space prevents our giving the entire letter, but the parts we are enabled to give are decidedly interesting. The letter is an answer to one received from a Jesuit friend.
“When your letter arrived the spirit was low. I don't mean low in the wrong sense of the word, but that lowness that comes from a long, miserable, cold winter, with always a couple more months to go, and a lowness that is increased by had grub, hard work and loneliness.
Much to my astonishment I was assigned on my return to Alaska to Nome. (Father Cunningham had spent some time in Alaska before his theology.) Nome has a reputation of wrecking havoc in the minds and bodies of the clergy. Of my predecessors one went completely mad, one froze to death, three lasted a year and then had to leave through ill health. I have been here since September, 1935, alone, and believe me it's no picnic. I have been to confession once since then when I went fifty miles out of my way to call on my neighbor in Kotzebue 200 miles north of here.
When I saw what I was up against I drew up a schedule to be followed as closely as possible here and when travelling. The day was divided from 5 a.rm. to 10.30 p.m. between prayer, study teaching catechism and manual labor, in such a way that I didn't have time to sit down and feel sorry for myself.
Outside of Nome the work was fine. My territory stretches as far north as the Noatak River, well within the Arctic Circle, and as far west as Cape Prince of Wales, the most westerly point on the Continent. I got over the whole district twice and my procedure was always the same, study of the various changes of dialect in each village, and teaching catechism to the children in the afternoon and to the adults at night. In between times, when I had the dishes washed, dogs fed, and the wood chopped against the next morning, I would do what I could towards easing the various bodily ailments to which the Eskimo is prone. I relied as often as not on the grace of God as on my own medical knowledge. Anyhow I produced some surprising results, and didn't kill anyone.
The winter was moderate. The coldest around here was 70 below zero, but only for a day or so. There was a seven weeks spell of minus 50 during March and April. The coldest I experienced when travelling was 58 below zero. That was too cold to travel but I didn't want to spend the night in the open. I came through the winter with only feet frozen twice, and frost-bitten hands and nose every other week, nothing serious, only inconvenient. It is really hard to describe the cold and the famous north Wind which makes it much worse.
Now we are enjoying what is rightly called Little Winter or that period of two months or so between the end and beginning of the Big Winter. We had five beautiful days early this month (July), but most of the time it's a cold damp atmosphere with an occasional frost and snow flurry. It did clear up enough to see the Midnight Sun on two occasions.
I have made satisfactory progress in the language, and can preach, hear confessions, teach catechism without much difficulty, and I hope to know it as well as possible in two more years. There are no books on the subject, and most of all I know I had to find out just by asking around.
The language has one big rule turn everything possible into a verb. Thus, “I didn't eat all day” is “I dayed without eating” - “Oubluzunga herrinanga”. They have no generic words, for the six kinds of foxes, they have six different words.
The method of counting is queer but logical. They count to twenty, as that is as far as the fingers and toes go. Then they multiply and add till they reach a hundred. 67 would be 20 by 3 plus 7.
Now, my status for next year. I have been billed to found a new mission on Little Diomede Island, in the Bering Sea, near Siberia. I shall be the first priest to winter there, and, as far as I know, the only white man. I go there in September (1936), and will have no communication with the mainland from October till the following July, when the ice begins to break up. Someone has to go there as it is a good place in case we can ever work on the Eskimos in Russia. The address will be : Ignalit - Diomede Island, via Nome. Alaska.
I would take it as a favour if you gave this letter to the Editor of the Province News, as I like to think that all my old Irish friends have not completely deserted me simply because I turned Eskimo.
We haven't enough men here. We cannot do half enough. I have at least six native villages to attend to outside Nome, and a fellow can be only in one place at a time, and dogs go only an average of six miles an hour, and that's good going. I was lucky to get all around twice.
Give my regards to all my old co-juniors,
Sincerely,
TOM CUNNINGHAM, SJ”

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948
Letter from Fr. Tom Cunningham, King Island, Alaska :
“... A plane flew over this island last week and dropped some mail - a most pleasant surprise. This mail had been accumulating at Nome since last September and it contained two 1947 copies of the Irish Province News. Though it is a long time since 1929, the names of the older members of the Province are still very fresh in the memory.
If you know of any budding missionaries who wish to come out here, tell them from me that they need only one quality above other missionary requirements, viz. the desire and the ability to learn the Eskimo language, which I am convinced is the hardest language imaginable. I don't know though - a few years ago I came across a tribe in Liberia, who were Eskimo in every respect except language. Their language was very simple and after less than a month's association with them, I could get along fairly well. If a future missionary can grasp a language, he has overcome the most difficult part of the Alaska Missions. The weather, travel, terrain, etc. can be handled easily.
If you don't mind, let me bring you up to date on my personal activities. I was on Diomede Island from 1936 to 1940, when I then went to tertianship. Back again on Diomede till 1942 when the war had upset everything. There were soldiers all over Alaska except on these remote islands. I worked with the army quite a lot as adviser on Arctic conditions and spent some time training Arctic Search and Rescue Crews on the Alaska Liberia Wing of the Ferrying Command. Thousands of planes went through Alaska to the European Front. Americans would fly them to Alaska and the Russian pilots would take over there.
In 1944 I was commissioned in the Chaplain's Corps and sent to the S. W. Pacific, being on Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, Manila and eventually Tokyo and Korea. I was released from the army and went to Lewis Washington in September, 1946 and arrived back at Nome two weeks later. I spent last winter between two Missions on the mainland and from January to June, I was on Diomede Island,
Last summer, Fr. Lafortune, the priest who built the Mission on this island died, and King Island was added to the territory which I already had. My Present Parish is composed of King Island and Diomede Island in the Baring Straits and Teller and the village of Igloo on the Mainland. The latter three are accessible during the winter, but once on the island you must stay put till the ice goes.
My plans now are to alternate between one winter here and one divided between Diomede, Teller and Igloo. The population here is 198, all Catholics. Diomede has 94 of whom 86 are Catholics. Teller has 35 Catholics out of 150 and Iglo has 48 people, all Catholics. The distances between are considerable : Teller to Igloo 50 miles, Teller to Diomede 98 miles and Teller to here 40 miles. Teller is a sort of Headquarters. There are two stores there. I built the Chapels at Diomede, Teller and Igloo. This island and its buildings, I have inherited so to speak; a fine Church, nice living quarters and the most fervent congregation I have ever come across. There are at least 25 Communions daily and over 100 on Sundays.
I have been assigned considerable territory as you see, but except for Igloo it's much the same language and I happen to be the only one who knows it. The language will be necessary for at least two more generations. Here I am the only White, so the White population always sees eye to eye in Religion, recreation, politics and is a staunch follower of De Valera.
I have a Radio and get good reception on an average of once a week, so I don't know much about the outside. The programme except for the excellent News broadcasts are poor. The only station I can hear is an Army station at Los Angeles. Even the news, the odd time I hear it, is not very reassuring.
Life here is tranquil. The island is about one mile and a half in circumference, rising abruptly out of the ice. The village is an in credibly steep rocky slope, at least a 60° incline. It is quite an art to manoeuvre around the village. The only way that I can make it when taking Holy Communion to the sick on dark mornings is to tie a rope. around one of the Church supports and hang on. The Eskimos pick out the darndest places to live.
The living is made entirely off the ice and it takes rugged characters to survive. The weather is not too severe. Our coldest day so far was 44 degrees below zero, with a wind of 45 miles per hour.
My day starts at 5 am. and goes on till 10.30 p.m. There are four Catechism classes per day for the children and one in the evening for adults. On Wednesday and Saturday, I hunt in the afternoons, as I. need to eat too. All hunting is done on moving ice and it is sometimes dangerous and always cold and miserable. I take care of my own cooking, washing and house-keeping, so I really have not time to feel sorry for myself. Still, the hardest chore for me is making altar-breads. The iron must be hot, but not too hot and not too cold, and the dough not too thick and not too thin. A sort of equation with four unknowns. All in all it's a busy and I hope, a useful life.
St. Patrick's Day is coming and I have a sermon all ready for Benediction on Wednesday night. Can't help thinking of the days at Eegenhoven when March 17th was the big day and the Belgians and the Englishmen envied us. I understand our old home was pretty well blown up. I wonder what happened to all the friends we had there.
While in Korea, I had hopes of going as far as Hong Kong but I didn't get beyond Shanghai and I was there for only one night. There was an Irish Sister from Roscommon in Seoul, Korea in charge of an Orphanage and every other American soldier was helping her with stuff for her fold. While in Tokyo I heard that Fr. M. Bodkin was chaplain on a British aircraft carrier but I just couldn't visit him.....”

Irish Province News 35th Year No 1 1960
Obituary :
Fr Thomas Cunningham (1906-1959)
(From the Oregon- Jesuit, October 1959)

The frozen frontier of the Alaska Mission lost its restless “Father Tom” on 3rd September, 1959, when Rev. Thomas Patrick Cunningham, S.J. died of a heart attack in his rectory cabin at Point Barrow, Alaska.
His parish had been the 150,000 cold square miles of Alaska that lie above the Arctic Circle. His parishioners were anyone he met.
For a quarter of a century Fr. Tom had laughed at Arctic dangers. He had survived pneumonia, caught while cruising the icy Bering Sea in a leaky sealskin boat. He had leaped down an icy cliff and jumped to safety from ice cake to floating ice cake, as Soviet officials sought to take him captive, when his boat had been blown in to Big Diomede Island during an Arctic storm. He had mushed safely through winter blizzards that had kept even the Eskimos indoors, travelling on one missionary journey 2,500 miles behind his dogs. His deeds in the Arctic had become legend and were told and retold wherever Eskimo or white man gathered along the Arctic coast or north of the glacier-packed Brooks mountain range. His death was as Fr. Tom would have chosen, a quiet going to eternal sleep as he began another exhausting day.
When Fr. Thomas P. Cunningham joined our philosophy classes at Mount St. Michael's, Spokane, WA., in 1929, we knew him as a quiet, hard-working student with a brilliant mind, who never seemed to get tired. He was fiercely competitive in sports and the best soccer player any of us had ever faced. He had grown up in New Zealand where, on 24th February, 1906, he had been born on a farm near Taieri. He talked little of himself, but in defending some political figure in Ireland, he once said that his grandfather had been deported by England to Australia for some act of Irish patriotism.
Fr. Cunningham travelled a roundabout route to his Alaska mission, High school was spent with the Christian Brothers at Dunedin, New Zealand. He entered the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus at Sydney, Australia, 24th March, 1924. He spent his Juniorate at Rathfarnham, Ireland, his philosophy years at Louvain, Belgium, and Mt. St. Michael's, Spokane. He taught school at Holy Cross, Alaska, 1930-31, before entering theology studies at Montreal, Canada. He was ordained 12th August, 1934, at Loyola College, Montreal, and made his tertianship at Mount Laurier, Quebec, Canada. In 1935 he began his missionary work at Nome, Alaska, and the following year went to Diomede Island for a three-year stay.
Giving a chronological account of Fr. Cunningham's work in Alaska tells so little of what he did. Except for his year out for tertianship, he was at Diomede Island from 1936-44. From 1944-46 he was chaplain with the U.S. army. After another year at Diomede Island, he spent three years as missioner to the Eskimos at King Island. From 1950-52 he was chaplain with the air-force, spending much of his time teaching Arctic survival to service-men. After a year as missionary to Kotzbue, he moved north to Point Barrow, Alaska's northernmost tip and, from there, went on long dog-sled missionary journeys across the world's last frontier, seeking Eskimo souls for Christ.

Many Acts of Heroism
Fr. Cunningham's life in Alaska was a saga of heroic deeds. He once saved a village from starving by personally conducting a hunt on the Arctic Ocean during very severe weather. His trained eye picked out the ice floe which was to be the home of scientists and airmen for 18 months during the Geophysical Year. The project, known as “Operation Ice Skate”, was completed under his guidance. He was first ashore on the ice island and last to leave when it broke up. He foretold that the ice island would break twice during their stay and guessed within a week of when each break-up would occur. No life was ever lost in any of the air-force or scientific operations which he supervised.

A Skilled Scientist
Fr. Cunningham learned the Eskimo language in his early Alaskan years and spoke it with a fluency that amazed the natives. He was a scholar who compiled an Eskimo dictionary of over 7,000 words and their English equivalents. He could look at an ice floe and tell the age of the ice and accurately guess its depth and longevity. He knew more of the traditions, legends and anthropological lore of the Eskimo than anyone else in the north. He held a Major's Commission in the Air Force Reserve and had received a commendation-of-merit from the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force.
Fr. Cunningham's body was flown by the U.S. Air Force from Point Barrow to Fairbanks and buried there on 8th September with full military honours and a fifteen-gun salute by the Air Force of Ladd Field. Bishop Francis D. Gleeson, S.J. said the Mass in the presence of twenty missionaries from all over Alaska and innumerable friends from the military, civilians and Fr. Tom's beloved Eskimos.
Erwin J. Toner, S.J.

Cush, Peter, 1916-1939, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1154
  • Person
  • 16 December 1916-22 June 1939

Born: 16 December 1916, Pomeroy, County Tyrone
Entered: 07 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 22 June 1939, Barnageary, Skerries, County Dublin

Part of the Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin community at the time of death

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 14th Year No 4 1939
Obituary

Mr Peter Cush
1916 Born
1935 Entered Emo, 7th September
1936 Emo. Novice
1937-38 Rathfarnham, Junior

Mr. Peter Cush was drowned at Barnageary, between Balbriggan and Skerries, on Thursday, 22nd of June, 1939. Mr, Cush's death was sad, not only because his robust health and strength gave promise of a long life of useful work in the Society, but also because it occurred on the second day of his Major Villa, a time set apart for rest and relaxation in preparation for the coming year. Mr Cush's companions did all they could to save him, even going into danger themselves, but the unusually high sea that was running made all their efforts useless.

Mr. Cush was born in Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone, in the year 1916. He was educated at the College, Armagh. On the 7th September 1935, he entered the noviceship at Emo. During his noviceship he was conspicuous for his simple and generous piety, and in particular for his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The patent sincerity and generosity of his soul gave promise of a holy and useful life as a Jesuit. He pronounced his Vows on the 8th September, 1937. In Rathfarnharn he settled down to his studies at the University, in which he succeeded very well. He had just finished his second year course in Latin, English and Greek when he met his sudden death. Solemn High Mass was offered for the repose of his soul in Pomeroy, by his uncle, Father Cush , representatives of Rathfarnham Castle assisted at the Mass. Father Provincial, and a great gathering of our Fathers and Scholastics, as well as Carmelite Scholastics who were Mr. Cush's colleagues in the University attended the Mass in the Ignatian Chapel, Gardiner Street. The following appeared in the papers :
“The parents and brothers of the late Mr. Cush, S,.J., of Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, wish to return sincere thanks to all those who sympathised with them in their recent sorrow, especially to those students who risked their lives to save him, and to the Jesuit Fathers for their kindness.” To those who lived with him, Mr. Cush was always associated with child-like simplicity and great innocence, and the fun and laughter that went with them. His death has taken from the Society one who, without doubt, would have been eminent for his apostolic zeal, and from his own community a cheerful, engaging and lovable companion. R.I.P. (J. KELLY, S.J.)

Dando, Aloysius, 1900-1967, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1162
  • Person
  • 20 April 1900-19 August 1967

Born: 20 April 1900, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 20 February 1921, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 14 June 1932, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1935
Died: 19 August 1967, St Joseph, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1927 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
Affectionately known as “Lou”. His early education was at Richmond and St Patrick’s College Melbourne, where he was a Prefect and a member of the First XVIII, though academics was not his forte.

1923-1926 After First Vows, he was sent to Rathfarnham Castle Dublin and University College Dublin
1926-1929 He was then sent to St Aloysius College Jersey, Channel Islands for Philosophy.
1929-1933 He was sent back to Ireland and Milltown Park for Theology
1933-1934 He made Tertianship at St Beuno’s Wales
1934-1936 He returned to Australia and was sent teaching at St Patrick’s College, where he was also Editor of the “Patrician”.
1936-1948 He began a long association with parish work beginning at St Ignatius Richmond
1948-1953 He was appointed Superior and Parish priest at St Ignatius Norwood. Here he remodelled and extended the Church of St Ignatius.
1953-1955 He went to St Francis Xavier Lavender Bay.
1955-1967 His final work was as National Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association which was based at the Provincial Residence, 130 Power Street, Hawthorn, Melbourne. This was a perfect appointment for him given his large personality and style. He travelled much in this work, even to New Guinea.

He was a very cheerful, generous, simple and popular man, good in any company and a great tonic for anyone who was a bit depressed. He endeared himself to many people, helping, consoling and guiding. His service to the Society was entire and unsparing. He was lavish in finance which didn’t please everyone. In his later years he was a much appreciated Villa Master for the Melbourne Scholastics at Barwon Heads, Victoria.

His suffering from heart disease in his later years - which eventually killed him - did not make any difference to his attitude to work or life. He died as he lived - full of joy.

Note from Edward Carlile Entry
His high form of adulation was describing one as a “character”, and he was most certainly one himself. The highest was that of “prince” though he only conferred that on Rolland Boylen, Lou Dando and Tom O’Donovan.

Note from Patrick Doherty Entry
He handed over the management of the Australian PTAA to Lou Dando, who drew other Jesuits into the task of spreading the word and the organisation.

Dennett, Francis, 1912-1992, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1180
  • Person
  • 17 February 1912-15 September 1992

Born: 17 February 1912, Shipley, Yorkshire, England
Entered: 25 February 1928, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 26 July 1942, Heythrop, Oxford, England
Final vows: 02 February 1945
Died: 15 September 1992, St Joseph. Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
Brother of Charles - RIP 1993

At age seven his family of two brothers and two sisters emigrated from England to Australia. His early education was at Footscray and Ascot Vale, and then at St Patrick’s College, Melbounre, where his father was a music teacher

He joined the Society in 1928 and after First Vows his studies took him to Ireland where he gained a BA at University College Dublin, then Philosophy at Chieri Italy and then England where he was Ordianed. General Ledochowski described Chieri as the most austere house in the Society, and Frank agreed but said it did not upset him as much as some other Australians.

1946-1953 He was sent to teach English, History, Economics and religion at St Ignatius College Riverview, and he was also in charge of debating and the Choir. His keen interest in History resulted in his publishing a textbook “Europe a History” which revealed his conviction that the Church had nothing to fear from a dispassionate examination of the facts of its history.
1954-1965 He taught English at St Patrick’s College Melbourne, and was also Prefect of Studies (1962-1965). He edited the “Patrician”, and his editorials were always full of wisdom, wit and grace.
1966-1967 He was sent teaching at St Ignatius Riverview
1968-1970 He was sent teaching St Ignatius College Athelstone, but his primary mission here was to look after his health.
1971-1973 He was sent to Canisius College Pymble, again paying attention to his health and caring for the grounds.
1974 He was appointed province Archivist and moved to the Provincial Residence in Melbourne

All during his long life he was a very faithful man and at peace with himself and the world round him doing the most humble of tasks. At the same time he was a scholar and well versed in Jesuit Spirituality, and this was demonstrated when he gave the Spiritual Exercises and in his writings, which were always clear, precise and informative. His memory for detail added richness to the narrative. For example, when writing on devotion to the Sacred Heart at a tie when it was becoming neglected he was able to capture it with a modern freshness of style and expression enkindling a greater devotion among younger Jesuits and understanding of this traditional Jesuit devotion. He also wrote “The Spiritual Exercises in Australia”, poems and historical articles. His eye for historical detail was meticulous and his knowledge and memory were prodigious.

He enjoyed the work as a Province Archivist, as it gave scope to his historical scholarship and precision. He was helpful to research scholars. His knowledge of the contents of the archives was also prodigious, as was his memory of the people and events of his own lifetime. With the assistance of Austin Ryan he compiled a short biography of every Jesuit who had lived and worked in Australia. His comments on each man were precise and accurate, frequently dispelling oral myths. His last major task was to catalogue the Archives so that others would be easily able to find material in the future.

It would be difficult to find anyone more regular in his life than Frank Dennett. He worked in the basement of the Provincial Residence seven days a week during three sessions, morning, afternoon and evening, broken only by an irregular outside visit to a bookshop,. He died at his desk.

He was a man with a strong sense of the frailty of the human condition and compassion for people. He bore his long illness with enormous courage and patience. He was a quiet retiring man, whose interests varied from the most serious intellectual subjects to sport. He was close to his family and corresponded fairly regularly with his siblings, especially his Jesuit brother Charles. His tasks as a Jesuit Teacher, Historian and Archivist, Cook and Administrator were accomplished with a great sense of obligation and responsibility, and each was performed as perfectly as possible. In his younger years the scholastics admired the way in which he sung the Easter ceremonies at Newman College Chapel, a task he performed most exactly and with obvious enjoyment. He had a fine singing voice.

He was a man who thought very little of himself and served the Society with great thoroughness.

Murphy, Edmond, 1913-1994, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/12
  • Person
  • 08 July 1913-20 January 1994

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

Dineen, Michael, 1883-1952, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/122
  • Person
  • 29 September 1883-31 July 1952

Born: 29 September 1883, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 29 June 1905, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 08 September 1918, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 31 July 1952, Mater Hospital, Dublin

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

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 27th Year No 4 1952
St. Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, Dublin :
Br. Dineen :
After a very short illness Br. Dineen died in the Mater hospital on St. Ignatius Day. On July 29th he was, as usual with his unfailing punctuality, at his post in the refectory at 10 p.m. On the 30th he was moved to the Mater hospital, where he received the Last Sacraments and died peacefully at 6 p.m. on the 31st. R.I.P.

Obituary :
Brother Michael Dineen

Br. Dineen's death on St. Ignatius' Day came rather unexpectedly. He had been ailing a few days previously at Gardiner Street. Early in July he had made the community retreat at Rathfarnham, and then spent a few days in his native city of Limerick. On his return he appeared to be in his usual good spirits, but on Tuesday, the 29th he had a sudden heart attack and was removed to the Mater Hospital where he received the Last Sacraments. It had not been previously known that he was suffering as well from diabetes in an advanced state, so that the insulin treatment he was given failed in its effect. He fell into a coma and, as the Angelus bell was ringing on the evening of the 31st he breathed his last.
Br. Dineen was born in Nicholas Street, Limerick on September 29th, 1883. Son of Patrick Dineen and Kate McDonnell, he was educated by the Christian Brothers. He served his full time as an apprentice to the bakery trade at Kiely's, Patrick Street and then worked as a baker at Tubridy's baking establishment, Limerick.
He entered the novitiate on June 29th, 1905 and had Fr. James Murphy as novice-master. After his first vows he remained on at Tullabeg as cook and dispenser till 1912 when he was transferred to Milltown Park. This office of cook he was to hold for an unbroken period of thirty three years in the various houses of the Province, from which fact we can judge of his high competence in the culinary art. He was cook and dispenser at Milltown from 1912 to 1913, in Rathfarnham from 1914 to 1918, in Belvedere College from 1919 to 1926, in Clongowes from 1927 to 1929, in Belvedere again from 1930 to 1933, in Tullabeg from 1934 to 1937, and finally at Mungret from 1938 to 1940.
After this record of service, not often surpassed in our Province, Br. Dineen's energy lessened, due to a decline in health of which, however, he never complained. At Milltown, to which he went when he ceased to be cook, he was occupied in the work of book-binding, under Br. Rogers, and helped also as infirmarian to the late Fr. Vincent Byrne. A familiar picture in those days was that of the good Brother wheeling Fr. Vincent in the grounds of the theologate and listening good humouredly to the nonagenarian as he declaimed with animation extracts from Shakespeare or perhaps Dante, in the original, or as he drew from the ready stores of a well-stocked memory.
From 1924 to 1944, when he was transferred to Gardiner Street, Br. Michael acted as assistant infirmarian in Clongowes. At Gardiner Street he appeared to take on a new lease of life and proved himself efficient and devoted to his tasks as dispenser and infirmarian. He also acted as collector at the church door on Sundays and Holidays and became a familiar figure to the crowds that thronged the Masses.
Br. Dineen never seems to have given a thought to his health and fought shy of doctors, with the result that he did not realise, nor did Superiors, how much his health had deteriorated with the lapse of years. When finally he was moved to hospital on his collapse, he gave great edification to all by the calm resignation with which he faced death. Ever interested in the Province and its activities at home and abroad, Br. Dineen served it himself faithfully and well.
May he rest in peace.

Doherty, Patrick, 1905-1957, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/123
  • Person
  • 26 November 1905-25 September 1957

Born: 26 November 1905, Manchester, Lancashire, England / Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1938, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1941, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 25 September 1957, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

Early education at O’Connell’s school Dublin and Mungret College SJ
Tertianship at Rathfarnham

by 1930 in Vals France (TOLO) studying
by 1952 in Australia

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick Doherty came to Australia in 1951 to give the priests of Melbourne archdiocese their annual retreat, and to use the retreat to introduce them to the Pioneers Total Abstinence Association. Archbishop Mannix seems at that time to have been keen to get the PTAA established. When he first approached Mannix it is reputed that the Archbishop said that the PTAA was a very good idea, and perhaps Doherty should start with his own brethren.
Doherty came to Australia with a considerable reputation as a successful leader of the PTAA, who had renewed and modernised it, and also as a sought-after retreat director. He was an excellent speaker, engaging and witty He seemed to connect well with the diocesan clergy. He was a man of vivacity and charm and was much liked. He lived at Richmond when he wasn't on the retreat circuit. When he was not giving priests' retreats, he spent quite some time travelling around Australia. visiting Jesuit ministries especially - setting up branches of the PTAA.
He spent part of that year giving retreats to other religious orders. By the time Doherty left Australia, the PTAA was established and reasonably well known in quite a few parts of Australia. He handed over the management of the Australian PTAA to Lou Dando, who drew other Jesuits into the task of spreading the word and the organisation.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 33rd Year No 1 1958

Obituary :

Fr Patrick Doherty

Not long after his ordination, Fr. Doherty confided to a friend: “When I stand at the altar during my Mass I am so overwhelmed by the thought of what is happening that I feel inclined almost to look down and see if my feet are touching the ground!”
This same spirit of faith developed with the years and reached its climax in his last illness. To visit him and pray with him was a spiritual tonic “as good as a retreat”. He was radiantly happy at the thought of the near approach of eternity. “I am interested in nothing only the growth of divine life in my soul. Never think it is hard to die. Often when giving retreats I used to wish I could only do myself what I was telling others to do. At the stage I have now reached God treats you as if you had done it”. Told of a doctor who had some remarkable successes with cancer patients, his comment was : “Thank God he didn't try his treatment on me!”
He described for the writer the plans for his funeral with the same ease as if he was speaking of someone else. Seeing this, I ventured, to hint that I had been asked to do his Obituary. He seized my hand : “Tell them I am the greatest proof of the mercy of God you ever came across”.
He was the edification of doctors and nurses who declared he was dying like a saint. “He is giving the most effective retreat [ ] gave” was the verdict of his Rector. Nor did his sense of humour ever forsake him. After a severe vomiting or a violent spasm of pain he would at once brighten up and show himself eager to continue a conversation. His poor body was wasted away till be weighed only four stone, but his mind was alert right up to the end. When his aged mother came to see him he twitted her : “Mother, what are you fretting for? Sure you'll probably be on the next old bus anyhow, and I'm only going on ahead to open the gate for you!” Later he wrote her a letter of more than three pages, to console her, “in my best handwriting”.
The effort called for something not far from heroism.
Indeed, he “opened the gate” for many a soul. Tributes flowed from all sides to the selfless devotion with which he gave himself to “talks” and the confessional during the many retreats he conducted. He continued this arduous apostolate when those of us who were near him realised that the work was draining every ounce of energy from him. But “he was too concerned for others to be interested in himself” - to quote from his review of The First Jesuit. The words are descriptive, not of our Father Ignatius only, but of this son of his who wrote them. The secret of his success was, in large measure, his gift of sympathy. He really entered into the trials and difficulties of others and suffered them as if they were his own.
That review evoked high encomiums from the censors and a strong recommendation that he should write more. His “Centre Survey” in the Pioneer magazine, where he had a field for poking fun, which never lost sight of the seriousness of his message, ranks with the very popular “Colum's Corner" in another magazine. Had God spared him he could have wielded a doughty pen in the service of souls.
Mention of The Pioneer reminds us that no account would be complete without at least an attempt to tell what he accomplished for the Association. For many years he was Spiritual Director of the Garda Branch. Before me lies a letter from a member, written in 1955, expressing the deep affection he won from the men, and their grief on learning that he had been transferred to other work. He led a group in pilgrimage to Fatima and “we will never forget the thousand and one things he did for us, and, above all, the cheerful manner in which they were done. It was with pardonable pride that we heard his name announced to give the Holy Hour for all the English-speaking pilgrims”.
In 1948 Fr. Doherty represented the Association at Lucerne and it was as a direct result of his presence and influence there that the Pioneer Movement began on the continent. Later he went to Melbourne where he organised the work, and the best comment on his efforts is that today there are eighty centres in Australia. During that year, too, he gave several retreats, including one to the Melbourne priests with many of whom he formed lasting friendships.
Another instance of his mischievous spirit recurs here. A Father had been asked to address his Garda Centre. A week or so before the address, he received a letter from Fr. Doherty, explaining that the men were keenly disappointed to learn that it was not he himself who was coming, and suggesting that perhaps a last-minute switch could be made! For quite a while that Father was completely taken in.
In many ways he always retained in his make-up some elements of the enfant terrible. A picture of him comes to mind in the early days of theology, in which, with many groans of mock grief, he bemoaned the fact that he was like a dog on & chain! He was a great favourite with the older Fathers and would often speak of his affection for them, His youthful ways endeared him to young people inside and outside the Society. No one escaped his sallies at recreation. He was quick at repartee and told a funny story well, obviously enjoying the telling. He had a keen sense of justice and would quickly flare up where he considered wrong was done, nor did he lack eloquence and vigour in defending a difference of opinion.
He would be the last man in the world to wish that these human. traits should be glossed over here.
Fr. Doherty has gone from us, having given “in his whole life and much more in death” an inspiring example of that “living faith and hope and love of those eternal good things which Christ Our Lord has merited and acquired for us”. No one who knew him but will be glad to meet him again. Our consolation is the hope that he is only gone on ahead to open the gate for us.
He was born in Manchester in 1905, went as a boy to O'Connell Schools and to Mungret; entered the Society in 1924 and followed the. usual curriculum University, Philosophy in France, Colleges in Belvedere, and Theology in Milltown. He was ordained by Bishop Wall in 1938; did Tertianship under Fr. Henry Keane at Rathfarnham, after which he taught in Belvedere till 1943 when he was appointed to the Pioneer Association. He died in Dublin on September 25th, 1957. May he rest in peace!

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick Doherty 1905-1957
“Nothing in his life became him like the leaving of it” could be aptly applied to Fr Patrick Doherty. It is no exaggeration to say that for many years past, no Jesuit of this Province died so happy and so edifying a death. One might almost envy him the joy, happiness and peace he radiated, while at the same time he was racked with pain, which even drugs had failed to stem. People came from far and near to see him and have a few last words with him. “Now I realise what I have so often spoken of in Retreats, the great happiness which God has reserved for us”. Of each member of his family, he asked what they most urgently needed from God, and he promised to get their request. Each one got his petition, and one of these certainly was a near miracle.

He was a great talker in the pulpit, at the conference table, on the stage and in the community. This gift he used to great advantage as Assistant Director of the Pioneer Association. At the request of Archbishop Mannix, he went to Australia to found the Pioneer Movement there. He was also a writer of no mean merit, as the columns of the Pioneer Magazine prove.

At the early age of 52, he died of rapid cancer on September 25th 1957.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1953

A College of the Church Universal : Australian Experiences

Father Patrick Doherty SJ

“It won’t be so cold as this in Melbourne!” exclaimed the priest who was escorting me to the London plane at Collinstown. The gentleman immediately in front of us wheeled round. “Who's going to Melbourne?” he asked in surprised tone. “I am”, I said eagerly; “are you coming too?” “I have just returned from there”, replied this young doctor, a past pupil of Crescent College; “I hope to go back again soon”. On the way to London he gave me his impressions of Australia. “Once you settle down”, he said, “you will grow to love the Australians”. As the following year unfolded itself, I found myself in full agreement with all his favourable opinions of the “Land of sunshine”. Little did I expect, however, on that evening of December 5th, 1950, that my adieu to Melbourne, some fifteen months later, would be one of the hardest farewells of my life.

Since my return many people have expressed surprise at my admiration for Australia. “They don't all like it”, I am told. Oddly enough, some of these criticisms can be traced to articles in cross-Channel newspapers. England is not always the most affectionate of mothers! Of Irishmen in Australia I met only two who judged harshly the land of their adoption. I met hundreds of Irishmen, and many of other European nationality, whose longing for the home land was strictly limited to a desire “to see the old country before I die”.

No one in Australia was more hospitable, helpful and encouraging to me than Fr. Jim English. I was sitting in his presbytery in Mordialloc, outside Melbourne, drinking his health - in Pepsi Cola of course - on his birthday, when the phone. rang. It was a call from his, home in Tipperary town, to wish him many happy returns. I called in to his people in Tipperary since my return, but I did not like to suggest that we put a call through to Melbourne. Two great pioneer priests who stood by me all the way were Father Eddie Durcan and his brother. Father Eddie still has the same Pioneer badge that he received as a boy in Mungret.

I had many delightful meetings with Mungret priests in the course of my travels. Although everyone of them, without exception, spoke affectionately of the College, I think they all preferred Australia!! When I went from Melbourne to Parkes, to give the retreat to the priests of Wilcania-Forbes, I got out at Tocumwal, New South Wales, first stop in the 800-mile flight, to stretch my limbs. Three priests, on their way to make the retreat, were awaiting the plane. Irishmen all, two of them were educated in Mungret. That night, shortly before the first lecture of the retreat, the last group arrived - another party of three - and they were Mungret men all! They had covered 400 miles by car since morning. First to emerge from the car was Dean Sexton, whose Vincentian nephew, Father Kevin Cronin of Strawberry Hill fame, and whose Jesuit nephew, Father Fergus Cronin of Hong Kong, I knew well. The Dean was very thrilled to learn that I had visited his late sister, in a Dublin hospital, shortly before her saintly death. After the Dean came Father Treacy, a fine man, built on generous lines, and hailing from County Galway. The third man was my old friend of Mungret days, Father John Boylan from “the wee County”. He is the same gentle, soft-spoken John, beloved of the people of his vast Bush parish. I began to realise that Mungret belongs very literally to the Church universal!

Among the audience at a retreat to the Melbourne priests, it took me some time to pick out Father Albert Gilhooly. After all, I had not laid eyes on this mature-looking parish priest, whose hair is beginning to recede from the temples, since he was a youngster in Junior Grade in 1924! Some time later I spent a wonderful week with Father Albert in his country parish of Trentham, Victoria, before his promotion to the Melbourne suburbs. We kept very late hours that week, re-living schooldays separated from the present by a gap of thirty years.

“They gave us a great character training”, Father Albert said of the Apostolic School directors. “Don't ever allow yourself to do things in order to be admired by others”, was one of Father Jerry Kelly's famous sayings that burned themselves into our minds. And Father Gilhooly is one of many who paid remark able tribute to the gentle and refining influence of the late Father Freddy Cuffe SJ.

Many of Mungret's past pupils are Jesuits in the Australian Province. First to greet me, when I reached the land of the sun, was Father Tom Barden, Rector of the Jesuit College in Perth. I reminded Father Tom of the day in Septem ber, 1922, when we both left Dublin, via Athenry, on a roundabout first journey to Mungret during the disturbed days of the Civil War. When, at long last, we had arrived at the gates of Mungret, we felt like travelled men who had seen a bit of life! For both of us it was but the first of many long and roundabout journeys. At the gates of St Louis College, Perth, stood the portly. figure of Father John Williams, Gone indeed are the ascetic lines and emaciated appearance that I had always associated with John! But the welcoming smile is more genial than ever and, when I had my farewell chat with him, just twelve months ago, I found myself talking to the same grand person whom I sat beside for the Junior Apostolics' photo in 1924 and whom, thank God, no passage of time could change.

In Richmond, Victoria, I spent a year under the same roof with Father Michael Morrison. Between army and Australian experiences, Mick has seen quite a lot of life in the past decade, and has been in close contact with death too. He was the first chaplain to enter Belsen concentration camp towards the end of the war. From Father Morrison's room in the Richmond presbytery, one can see the dome of the chapel of Xavier College. At Xavier, Father Michael O'Mahony is now a familiar - I had al most dared to say a “venerable”! figure, for he laboured there as a scholastic in the pre-war years and has been there ever since his return to Australia in 1946. With him is Father Dan Fitzpatrick who is quite an expert at teaching chemistry and does a good deal of preaching in his spare time. With these two men I had a glorious fortnight's holiday along the Victorian seaside shortly after my arrival in Australia. I shall always remember the unremitting feud that went on, day and night, be tween Father O'Mahony and the mosquitoes ! Another great Mungret. man, whom I saw, alas! only too rarely, was Father Con Finn who has made a great name in university circles in Adelaide.

I could chatter on endlessly about these and other Irishmen who came and saw and were conquered by Australia. I might as well end this ramble near its starting point - at Tilbury Docks, in fact. I was not long on board the SS Himalaya, on the way down the English Channel, when I was greeted by a very charming young priest - another Mungret man, Father Dan Boylan of Portlaoighse and Ballarat Cathedral. Father Dan was returning to base after a holiday at home. An ideal companion for a long sea journey, he painted a colourful and very impressive picture of Australia as he had known it for some twelve years. Yet not even the masterpiece of an artist could portray the full splendour of the masterpiece of Divine artistry which I was to see with my own eyes for fifteen wonderful months.

◆ Mungret Annual, 1958

Obituary

Father Patrick Doherty SJ

Fr Doherty whose death took place in Dublin on September 25th was born in Manchester. Educated at O'Connell Schools and Mungret College. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1924. After completing his studies in various houses of the Society, he was ordained in 1938.

After Ordination he taught in Belvedere College from 1940 till 1943. In that year he was appointed Assistant Director of the Pioneer Association, in which he was to do so much work. During the succeeding years he visited nearly every town in Ireland lecturing on, and enrolling members in, the Pioneer Association. He was for seven years Spiritual Director to the Pioneer Centre at the Garda Depot, where he made many close friends.

In 1948 he represented the Pioneer Association at the Temperance Congress in Lucerne. It was a direct result of his presence there that the First Pioneer Centres were established on the Continent. In 1951, at the Invitation of Archbishop Mannix he went to Australia. Here he spent a year organising Pioneer Centres in inany Dioceses. While there he also gave many Priests Retreats.

In 1955 he joined the Retreat staff at Rathfarnham Castle, and until shortly before his death was engaged in giving retreats around the country.

He had a strong spirit of Faith, and knew well he was going to die. However it was an event he looked forward to, and calmly discussed plans for his funeral with a friend beforehand. All through his life he possessed a strong sense of humour. Of him it might be truly said as was said of another Jesuit, that he was merry in God. RIP

Durnin, Desmond P, 1907-1982, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1239
  • Person
  • 13 March 1907-06 January 1982

Born: 13 March 1907, Clontarf, Dublin
Entered: 18 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1942
Died: 06 January 1982, Methodist Hospital, Epworth, Richmond, Victoria, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the Burke Hall, Kew, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death.

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Older brother of Dermot - RIP 1980

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at CBS Synge Street, Dublin before he Entered at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg, 1925.

1927-1929 After First Vows he went to Rathfarnham Castle for his Juniorate
1929-1932 He studied Philosophy at Milltown Park Dublin and Tullabeg
1932-1936 He was sent to Australia and Burke Hall at Xavier College Kew for Regency.
1936-1940 He returned to Ireland and Milltown Park for Theology
1940-1941 He made Tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle
1941-1942 While awaiting a passage to Australia he worked at the Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon, England
1942 He arrived in Australia on the Columbia Star and his next 40 years was spent Teaching and Prefecting junior boys.
1943-1950 He was back at Burke Hall and was Headmaster for six years
1950-1956 He was sent to St Ignatius College Riverview
1963-1966 He was twice at St Louis School Perth, having been there in 1949, and he was given responsibility for supervising the school that never was at Attadale. He furnished and set up Campion College Kew in its earliest days as a house for the university scholastics, mostly living at Burke Hall and teaching junior Religion.
In his later years he became a frequent visitor of the sick at Caritas Christi.

He was a great storyteller : The saga of the trip from England to Australia in 1942 avoiding German submarines; The calling of a gynaecologist Dr Quinlan when he had a heart attack; Many stories of how he uncovered crimes in the Boarding School. He loved an audience and there seemed always to be a time for a story. Being Minister at the house for Scholastics in studies was not quite his scene, but he was at times a source of entertainment for the younger men, and at other time a little frustrating. He was a humble, charitable and generous man. It was ironic that he, who had served the sick so well in a Catholic hospital was taken to the Methodist Epworth hospital in his final sickness, and it was there he died.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 57th Year No 2 1982

Obituary

Fr Desmond Durnin (1907-1925-1982)

Fr Desmond Durnin, an elder brother of Fr Dermot – who predeceased him by a year and a month – was born in Clontarf, Dublin, on 13th March 1907. He began his early education with the Sisters of Mercy before his family moved to England. He went to St Michael’s College, Leeds, and on his family’s return to Dublin, to O'Connell Schools, Des Durnin entered the Jesuit noviceship in Tullabeg (September 1925). He was a quiet, gentle person, always cheerful and unassuming. Noviceship completed, he did not attend university, but with a number of others did a “home juniorate” in Rathfarnham under Fr Hugh Kelly (1927-'9). Next stop was Milltown, for philosophy, but only for a year. In 1930 Tullabeg was opened for philosophy, as the novices by then had been shifted to Emo, so with the rest of his year Des returned to Tullabeg.
One memory of Des in Tullabeg dates 1930-31, perhaps October or November. The philosophers were playing soccer one day in the wet, so the football became wet and heavy. Des took a header at the flying ball, hurt himself badly and was in great pain. His cries could be heard all round the kitchen courtyard. The philosophers found this somewhat unnerving as it reminded them of someone else. Michael Hegarty, a "late vocation” and a wonderfully holy man after a rushed philosophy course in Heythrop had returned to Rathfarnham to take charge of an “Irish month” and had gone out of his mind. The Juniors took turns to watch his bedside in his delirium. Seán McCarron was one of the stalwarts who carried out this trying task. Michael died without recovering from his madness: Des Durnin recovered from his head injury.
His four-year regency Des spent in Australia, to which Vice Province he was henceforth to belong. While there he was Burke Hall Preparatory School at Kew, Melbourne. In 1936 he returned to Ireland for theology and ordination, completed tertianship in 1941 during the world war, and awaited his return passage to Australia. During the war years shipping was scarce and submarines were active in all waters. Eventually however he found transport and was back in Burke Hall in 1942.
The 1940s were difficult and trying years for schools. Teaching staff and domestic help were hard to find, and after a couple of years his health gave way under the strain. There followed two years in Perth and four in Riverview, where he was an assistant prefect of discipline. He was recalled to Melbourne (1957) to supervise the opening of Campion College, which had been purchased for the Juniors attending Melbourne University. Four years later he was back in Burke Hall, where he was on the teaching staff till three years before his death, when Providence stepped in.
He described his change of life-style in a letter to a friend (1979): “Last year I had two heart attacks, the second one rather serious, and I was in intensive care for ten days. I got as far as the pearly gates, but St Peter said that they were too busy at the time arranging for Popes to get into heaven and that I would have to wait. However, the doctor told me that he did not want me to go into the classroom any more.
'The Lord is good, and I spend a good deal of my time in a hospital just across the road from us - a terminal hospital [Caritas Christi Home] for the very sick and dying. So far this month a patient has died each day, so it gives me an opportunity of praying and consoling the dying. Last year I received eight people into the Church, and all but one have already been called 'home'. Fr Austin Kelly died there last year: I had visited him there for 4.5 years”.
It would be impossible to recall all the good things Fr Durnin did in his life assigned to time. As a teacher and headmaster in Burke Hall he was most devoted to his work, and few men would have equalled or excelled him in efficiency, kindness and charity. The boys of Burke Hall were fortunate to have such a self sacrificing priest to look after them. A week before he died he had a serious heart attack and was taken to Epworth hospital in Richmond. There he struggled on bravely for a week, but eventually he answered the Master’s call and died very peacefully on 6th January 1982, The Carmelites of Kew, who are neighbours of the Jesuits, wrote:
“...just before 3 pm ... the Magi came quietly along, and took him in their train to the true and eternal vision of the Lord of life.
“Dear Fr Durnin was so closely associated with our monastery while at Burke Hall and later at Campion College, which are both our immediate neighbours at the back of our property here. He was a most faithful and kind chaplain and friend. In his regard we feel how truly St Teresa spoke when she said that the loss of a good priest was certainly a loss for the Church on earth”. [Further light on Fr Desmond Durnin is expected when Jesuit life (Australia) arrives.]

Cryan, Martin, 1924-1978, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/124
  • Person
  • 02 March 1924-16 December 1978

Born: 02 March 1924, Tubercurry, County Sligo/Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 06 September 1941, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1955, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1959, Wah Yan College, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Died: 16 December 1978, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong - Hong Kongensis Province (HK)

Transcribed : HIB to HK 03/12/1966

by 1951 at Hong Kong - Regency

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Father Martin Cryan, S.J.
R.I.P.

Father Martin Cryan, SJ, of Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, died suddenly at Wah Yan on 16 December 1978, aged 54. The Hong Kong Jesuits have lost an inspiring and original thinker, a teacher of force and lucidity, a dedicated priest and a very good companion.

An outline of his life suggests placid academic devotion - Birth in Tubercurry, Co. Sligo, Ireland, in 1924: education at St. Ignatius’s Galway: Jesuit novitiate, 1941: Hong Kong, 1949-52, for study of Chinese and teaching in the Wah Yan Hong Kong afternoon school: Ireland, 1952-57, for theology and ordination: 1957, Hong Kong, teaching first in Wah Yan, Kowloon, and then in Wah Yan, Hong Kong, broken only by a year of special study of biology in the Ateneo. Manila, after which he concentrated chiefly on teaching biology.

Placidity was, however, the last thing his friends associated with Father Cryan. His life was one long adventure. He seized on every idea that caught his interest, Squeezed all that he could from it, and then thrust eagerly forward to put the idea into practice, without regard to hampering conventions. This made him an agreeably unpredictable companion. His last passion was for astronomy. Again and again he passed his nights in a sleeping-bag on a hillside so that he might see his well-loved stars at their brightest.

He will be much and lastingly missed.

He was buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Happy Valley, on 18 December, after Mass at St. Margaret’s. The Bishop led the concelebrating and officiated at the graveside.
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 22 December 1978

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
His early education was at Coláiste Iognáid in Galway.

After his Novitiate he studied at UCD, graduating with a BA in History, he then went on to study Philosophy at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg, and later Theology at Milltown Park.

He taught Biology at Wah Yan Colleges in Hong Kong and Kowloon, even though History and Theology were his interests.

he was interested in broad educational matters and was a founding member of the Educators’ Social Action Council (ESAC). In fact, at the time of his death, he was helping to compile a handbook for ESAC on Counselling Services in Hong Kong.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 56th Year No 3 1981

Obituary

Fr Martin Cryan (1924-1941-1978)

Mairt Cryan died suddenly at 6 pm on Saturday, 16th December 1978. He was in his room getting ready to concelebrate Mass with Donal Lawler, when he called Derek Reid and Dick McCarthy to tell them he was not feeling well. They contacted Ruttonjee hospital, run by the Columban sisters, but Mairt was dead by the time help arrived. He had never been to hospital, and had very rarely visited a doctor. True, he had seen Sr Aquinas only a week or so earlier about his hypertension.
He was considered one of the strongest and most robust of the “younger” men of the province. In recent years particularly, he took long walks at the weekends and in the early mornings, and not infrequently camped out on his own overnight. On his last home vacation in 1977, he camped out for a few weeks on the island of Crete, and walked, cycled and camped over much of his native West of Ireland. However, he did have some inkling of his high blood pressure, and privately often expressed a desire to die while still in fuil possession of his faculties, quickly and without troubling anyone, and relatively young.
Born at Tubbercurry, co. Sligo, he later moved with his family to Galway, where he studied at St Ignatius College. After joining the Society at Emo in 1941, he took a good degree in history at UCD before his philosophy at Tullabeg. In 1949 he went to Hongkong, and after studying Cantonese taught in the after- noon school at Wah Yan, Robinson road. Returning to Ireland for theology, he was ordained in Milltown Park in 1955. After tertianship he returned in 1957 to Hongkong and spent the rest of his life in the classrooms. The subject of his special study was biology, and for this he went for a year to the Ateneo, Manila, in the 1960s.
He gave enormous energy and devotion to his classroom teaching, demanding high standards and a strict discipline of his students, coupled with a real concern for their full development and warm encouragement for their growing interests whether in biology or in other school or “life” subjects. (V-PL) He had some unorthodox teaching methods. He was one of the first to research and introduce scientific multiple-choice testing methods in his own subject. Educational matters held a deep interest for him. He was a founder member and active contributor in the Educators' Social Action Council. He saw himself as a Jesuit priest educator. His colleagues did not always find him the easiest of men to deal with - he was sometimes exasperating in his ways - but they always nonetheless regarded him with esteem and affection.
Theology and history remained two of Mairt's particular interests, though he was well-read in many fields. He was a simple, humble, modest and private person, behind the external excitableness and occasional bluster: at heart, a very kind and gentle man. One of his community wrote about him for the daily press. The following is an excerpt from the appreciation:
“He had the command ing personality, tinged with agreeable eccentricity, that makes a schoolmaster vibrate in the memory of those he taught. He was interested in many things and pursued his interests with what may be described as intellectual and practical ferocity”.
An engaging eccentric, whose eccentricity was rarely difficult for others, he could be oblivious to the consequences of his noisy habits. He invariably saw things from an original angle, but always with absolute honesty. He was a shy man who liked people. He was first a priest and religious, next a teacher, and when he had fulfilled his obligations to these métiers, he had time to think over the problems of the world around him: he was extremely concerned about others, His witness to poverty was very clear, as anything he had was always old, well worn and practical. He was an excellent teacher, going to great pains to prepare his classes, and he had the art of being able to explain the most complicated matters with great clarity and force.
Harold Naylor

Fackler, Johan, 1907-1969, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1266
  • Person
  • 04 September 1907-12 May 1969

Born: 04 September 1907, Lamerdingen, Bavaria, Germany
Entered: 28 April 1927, Feldkirch, Vorarlburg, Austria - Germaniae Superiors Province (GER S)
Ordained: 28 August 1938
Final Vows: 15 August 1944
Died: 12 May 1969, Augsburg, Germany - Germaniae Superiors Province (GER S)

by 1932 came to Tullabeg (HIB) studying
by 1940 came to Belvedere (HIB) teaching
by 1941 at Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship
by 1942 at Milltown (HIB) working and studying 1941-1946
by 1947 at Mungret (HIB) teaching 1946-1948

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 21st Year No 4 1946

Mungret College, Limerick :
Fr Fackler on the request of the Bishop of Raphoe spent the month of September as Chaplain to the German children at Killybegs, Donegal. The month was a very busy one for him, but he feels that it was well worth while. His Lordship sent a letter of thanks and very high praise on Fr. Fackler's return.

Fahey, John, 1909-1988, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1268
  • Person
  • 17 June 1909-14 September 1988

Born: 17 June 1909, Running Creek, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 23 February 1927, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 30 June 1940, Heythrop, Oxford, England
Final vows: 15 August 1946
Died: 14 September 1988, Nazareth House, Camberwell, Melbourne - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death

Early education at St Patrick’s College, Melbourne
1929-1931 Juniorate at Rathfarnham Castle

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
Early education was at St Patrick’s College Melbourne before entering at Loyola Greenwich 1927. As one of seven children, he seemed to like the quiet and calm of the Society, as it matched his personality, which was quiet and calm and sprang from a deep quality of determination and self-command. He was a powerful athlete and had a keen intelligence.

1929-1932 He was sent to Rathfarnham Castle Dublin to study English Latin and French at University College Dublin, though he did not take a degree.
1932-1934 He was sent to Vals France for Philosophy
1935-1937 He returned to Australia and Xavier College Kew for Regency, teaching Latin, Economics and English, and was also Second Division Prefect and Assistant to the Prefect of Studies.
1937-1940 He was sent back to Europe for Theology at Posillipo Naples and Heythrop College England, being Ordained 30 June 1940
1942-1949 He returned to Australia to teach Theology at Canisius College Pymble to the Jesuit Scholastics, and he also made his Tertianship at Loyola Watsonia (1945) and he went from that for a year to St Aloysius College Sydney. In 1947 he was appointed Chaplain to the Campion Society (a Lay Catholic Action Group founded in Melbourne in 1929 just before the Great Depression and the rise of fascism)
As a Theology lecturer he was greatly appreciated because he spoke slowly and notes could be taken He was also in charge of tones, reading at table and the refectory sermons. he encouraged the initiative of scholastics, but he warned them against heresy! The Scholastics enjoyed his company because he was a good listener and entertaining. His calm and equable manner kept him above any contention or discord. He was recognised particularly for his simplicity of communication and a great shrewdness.
1950-1953 He was appointed to Newman College as a tutor in Philosophy and Experimental Psychology, but after some disagreement with the Provincial Austin Kelly, he was assigned to Belloc House. (1953-1985)
1985-1988 He lived at Xavier College Kew

It was at the Institute of Social Order, Belloc House, Kew that he performed his most memorable and important work as a writer and social scientist. There were times when Catholic Social Teaching was eagerly sought by the faithful, and so John, along with other Jesuit colleagues, James Muirhead and Bill Smith, reacted to an important need. They lectured, organised Summer Schools, and edited and wrote for two periodicals “Twentieth Century” and “Social Survey”. After Vatican II, at the invitation of the Bishops, he travelled New South Wales and Victoria giving lectures of the social apostolate. He was also involve with the “National Catholic Rural Movement”, and lectured at the Mercy Training College on Philosophy in general and Philosophy of Education in particular.

He was highly respected as an academic and a wise priest. He taught Catholic and Social Theology to the students at Genazzano Convent for some years. He had a highly analytical mind, and was noted for his ability to sum up an argument. He was at his most influential when one-on-one with people, especially over a cup of tea. He was good at listening and stimulating thought in others. He was a Socratic educator, heuristic, helping people reflect on ideas.

He could deal with a great variety of people. His happier encounters were with such people as the bread delivery man on a Saturday morning whom he engaged in intellectual discussions. He accepted everyone as they were, and was open to all. There was no notion of self promotion. He only wanted to share his insights, and he did that in a competent and self-effacing manner. In everything he undertook he was effective. he had a passion for truth and a hatred for those who misled others by “easy hopes or lies”. Without rancour, he devoted himself to giving positive and solid instruction to those who would listen. In community, his strong sense of humour and gift of laughter made him good company. He was a humble and spiritual man.

Fay, Henry J, 1912-1939, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1277
  • Person
  • 14 January 1912-20 September 1939

Born: 14 January 1912, Ranelagh, Dublin
Entered: 03 September 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 20 September 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

◆ Companions in Mission - Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Note from Gerald (Gerry) Brangan Entry
Gerald had difficulties with the study of humanities even though he was intelligent and endowed with excellent judgment and much common sense. So it was with some relief that he moved on to Tullabeg for philosophy. His years at Tullabeg were happy ones. He was encouraged and guided in his study of philosophy by his former school friend Henry Fay, himself a very talented and kind scholastic.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Clongowes student. Died in Theology

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 15th Year No 1 1940

Milltown Park :
On September 20th, Mr. Harry Fay died in St. Vincent’s Hospital. He had spent two years in Milltown although during his first year he had not followed lectures as he was even then suffering from heart trouble. Although frail in health, his vigour, even brilliance, of mind and his remarkable power of friendship made him more than ordinarily popular. We will miss him, but Heaven has the first claim on us all. RIP

Obituary :
Mr Henry Fay

1912 Born in Dublin, 14th January
1919-22 Catholic University School
1922-26 Belvedere College
1926 30 Clongowes
1930-32 Emo Park - Novice
1932-34 Rathfarnham - Juniorate
1934-37 Tullabeg - Philosophy
1937 38 Belvedere - Irish Monthly
1938-39 Milltown Park - Theology

When Harry Fay was struck down when only a Junior by a disease which wrecked his physique and promised to carry him off in as short time, many must have felt that here was a tragedy, the tragedy of promise that could never be fulfilled. But when Harry Fay died, those who knew him wondered more at all that he had done in his short days than at all might he have done. It is a trite phase to use of the young dead “consummatus in brevi tempora multa explevit - but of Harry Fay it was fully true. Scarcely ever can there have been a young man in the Province. or even in the Society, who had spent such full days and whose death affected so many. He was an invalid for most of his life with us. Deprived of the joy of games, walks, boats - things he loved - and confined very much to the house and to his room. Yet he was never outside the life of the house, never a hermit. Rather did the number of his friends seem to grow, until everyone was his particular friend, and a stranger to the house would be told “You must meet Harry Fay”, as if to know him were to give your allegiance. And to know him was to give your allegiance for he was that rare soul, one whose nature has been perfected and completed by religious life. He was a natural Jesuit, as it were, and his formal commission to the company seemed merely a recognition of that.
Harry Fay had a genius for friendship. Why had he such a capacity? How did he use the gift? When we answer these questions we shall find ourselves explaining his wide influence
on others. Rich gifts of character, temperament and mind combined in him in a rare balance - there were few men of nicer balance among us. He radiated sincerity. There no pose, no polite affectation, of interest, no selfishness to mar the genuine love of his fellows, to obstruct his keen desire to help them, or to raise barriers between him and others. The idlest observer keen that in every community where he lived he was the resort of all lame dogs. They came to him for consolation in depression, for assistance in their work, often enough for confirmation in their purpose in life. No claim for help was denied, to everyone in need he gave liberally of his time, his energy and his advice. It was often humorously said that no spiritual father was more consulted than he. lt is quite true that no spiritual father could have been more sincerely interested or more anxious to help. His own health, which would have depressed the spirits of a less valiant man, never interfered with his unobtrusive charity. He had the great gift of doing things for you as if he really liked you which is we think the real virtue of love. All who genuinely want to help others and who are willing to be inconvenienced and disappointed in the process will gain respect, not all will be taken into confidence completely conquered. Harry Fay made complete conquests. His power of sympathy was great, his mind keen and his balance superb. He had no touch of small-mindedness. His horizon was broad, it stretched out to Heaven and he strove always to see things in the clear light of heaven and to keep true proportion. How he succeeded his friends will know and all can judge from the admirable life he led when death was always near. His patience under suffering was new or that conscious patience which often irritates, it was an apparently careless patience that provoked astonishment. He seemed scarcely to advert to his suffering and there were times when one had to say to oneself - he is sulfuring - lest one should forget. In all his worst bouts of illness and in his last fatal illness one van scarcely recall a moment when cheerfulness lapsed or the invalid manner appeared.
Harry Fay was not alone a young imam of the richest character with extraordinary depths of holiness, he was also of the first order of intelligence.
The most superficial acquaintance with him was enough to show that he was talented, he had power of concentration, desire to know - he had intellect. Where others acquired
philosophy, Harry Fay was a philosopher. He had the “mens naturaliter” philosopher and he was mature in this that his life was informed by his philosophy - for him it was not a sterile discipline of the mind but a manner of living, of giving that reasonable service that God asked of him in his vocation.
It is no one's to search the secrets between God and his fellow. So it will suffice to say that we think that Harry Fay was very much a chosen soul and among chosen souls rare. The beautiful blend of nature and grace made him attractive, made him one to admire to love and if possible to imitate. Ignatius, the Captain of Our Company, is surrounded in heaven by a noble body, but surely marshalled there with the boy Saints, Aloysius, Berchmans, Stanislaus stands a new arrival - who loved the Society dearly, so dearly that he read and reread her early history so that he might know what hind of man Ignatius wished the Kings men to be, who shared with Stanislaus the frank sincere love of his fellows, with Aloysius his gallantry in every trial his spirit of sacrifice, his knightly bearing, with Berchmans his care of little things, his tender love of Our Lady, and surely the company triumphant saluted in their heavenly ranks as another worthy of their steel took his place.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1940

Obituary

Harry Fay SJ

Though Harry Fay was only with us for four years, from 1912, it was as a junior boy, yet we felt a closer connection than that might warrant, for were not all the Fays Belvederians? When he left School, where he had been one of the leaders of a brilliant intellectual group, Harry decided to be a Jesuit. The decision must have been a hard one, for it was clear to all that Harry was destined to a distinguished career. He was already “a charmer” in the exact opposite way to that in which the word is usually used. His charm consisted in a sincere and courageous mind, naturally active, disciplined and alive to beauty. He would infallibly gather round him a wide circle of friends, even disciples. The fact that spiritual beauty and knowledge meant more to him than anything else insured that his friends should be an élite, that his influence would be, through them, lasting and widespread. This God gave him almost, one might say, in return for what He took. For quite early in Harry's religious life it was clear he would never enjoy normal health. As his strength ebbed and his resistance deteriorated, he must often have wondered would he live to the priesthood. Actually he died in Milltown Park when only a fraction of his theological studies were over. But to that great disappointment he bowed with the same cheerfulness and resignation as he always met pain and disillusionment. He returned to us a little while ago to work on the Staff of the Irish Monthly, and though the effort proved beyond him, we can record how hard he strove and how earnestly he desired to do whatever was within his power. His death at the early age of twenty-eight robbed many of a much-loved friend, and many more of a wise, a sympathetic and a holy counsellor.

◆ The Clongownian, 1940

Obituary

Father Harry Fay SJ

Few who have passed through Clongowes have had such gifts of intellect and character as those which Harry Fay possessed. In his four years here he did brilliantly at his studies besides taking a prominent part in Line and House activities.

What his contemporaries will recall most of all was his extraordinary unselfishness, and his evident sincerity. These two qualities, combined with a rare power of sympathy, were to make many friends for him both here in Clongowes and afterwards in the Society of Jesus. His genius for friendship - and it certainly was genius - undoubtedly had its foundation in his capacity for unselfish interest in others. He was genuinely delighted to help others and this help was always free from the slightest suspicion of patronage or condescension. In Clongowes too his complete freedom from any pettiness of mind was remarkable, indeed, if anything really exasperated him at school, it was any exhibition of pettiness either on the part of a master or a boy.

His sincerity was also manifest in his piety which was so much part of him that it had none of that self-conscious affectation which irritates. This meant that he was able to do much good because he used the most effective means - example.

It was but natural - considering his name - that he should be very interested in art, literature (especially drama) and music. In these respects he had an advantage over his fellows, for from his earliest childhood he had been familiar with all that was best in music, and when he grew older he was to learn of the work his uncles, Willy and Frank, did for the theatre in Ireland. Throughout his life he had a great interest in and understanding of these subjects.

When in 1930 he entered the Society of Jesus one would have prophesied for him a distinguished career as a writer, professor or spiritual director but God had chosen a different path for him. He had barely completed his noviceship when he was struck down by the disease which was to bring him to his grave in the middle of his twenty-ninth year. For the next six years he was to call forth the admiration of all who met him by the cheerful and patient manner in which he bore the cross of his suffering. As usual he was completely unconscious of any heroism on his part, but we have only to consider that before he died he was to have to relinquish one by one his interests and ambitions in order to under stand what a series of sacrifices his illness entailed.

He had a first-class intellect and a lively interest in studies but he had to abandon all thought of going to the University. In his ecclesiastical studies he was making brilliant progress, but here again he had to give up all hope of doing them as thoroughly as he would have wished..

He was naturally very lively and active, yet for six years he had to give up all exercise. Also he was anxious to be able to work for and to take part in external activity for the salvation of souls - for was not that part of his vocation - and here he was an invalid for whom there could be no question of doing such work.

Yet despite these hardships and handicaps, the amount of work Harry did before he died was truly amazing, so much so that it was no wonder that, when people considered the depths of holiness which his six years of suffer ing had so clearly revealed as well as the good which he had done, they should say of him consummates in brevi explevit tempora multa, for it was literally true of Harry.

To his mother and father and his brother we extend our sincere sympathy on their sad loss. May he rest in peace.

Doyle, Charles, 1870-1949, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/129
  • Person
  • 26 October 1870-15 June 1949

Born: 26 October 1870, Dalkey, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1889, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 30 July 1905, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1908, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 15 June 1949, St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin

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

Brother of Fr Willie Doyle - RIP 1917

by 1893 at Exaeten College Limburg, Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1895 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1896 at Enghien Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1907 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Took First Vows at Milltown Park February 1892

◆ 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 24th Year No 4 1949

Obituary

Fr. Charles Doyle (1870-1889-1949)

He was born on 26th October, 1870 at ‘Melrose’ Dalkey, Co. Dublin, the son of Mr. Hugh Doyle, an official of the High Court of Justice in Ireland. Educated at Ratcliffe College, Leicester, by the Fathers of Charity, where he spent six years, he entered Tullabeg on 14th September, 1889. After two years' Juniorate at Milltown, he did philosophy at Exaten and Valkenburg, Holland for two years and for one year at Enghien in Belgium, and then was master for six years at Belvedere College. He studied theology at Milltown where he was ordained on 30th July, 1905. His third Probation he made at Tronchiennes. He was professed of the four solemn Vows at Belvedere on 2nd February, 1908. A brief record entered up by him in the Catalogus Primus of the year 1930 contains the following summary of the offices he held prior to his appointment as Procurator of the Province in 1925 : "Proc. dom. an. 9: Min. an. 5 ; Soc. mag. nov. an. 3 ; Rect. an. 10.'' He was Rector of the Crescent from 1912 to 1918, then for a short year Rector at Rathfarnham Castle in 1919, where he was succeeded by Fr. John Sullivan, and Rector of Belvedere College from 1919 to 1922.
During the last year of his life Fr. Doyle was subject to many infirmities and had to go to hospital frequently, but despite this he carried on manfully at his appointed tasks and observed common life with edifying fidelity: He died at St. Vincent's Hospital on 15th June, 1949.

An Appreciation :
From the above rather bald and barren collection of dates and places certain events stand out with arresting interest in the life of Fr. Charles Doyle : that he held most of the offices of trust in the Society, that in addition to having been Minister, and Socius to the Master of Novices, he was three times Rector and for nearly 25 years held the onerous post of Procurator of the Province, that he died in his 79th year within a few months of his Diamond Jubilee, a man who can deservedly be reckoned among the “bene meriti" of his generation in the Society.
It would be impossible in a short appreciation such as this to do justice to the many aspects of such a long and varied career. All we can hope to do is to give a few impressions that may serve to describe in outline :
(1) The brother of Fr. Willie.
(2) The Procurator of the Province.
(3) The Man of God

The Brother of Fr. Willie :
The reason, perhaps, why Fr. Charles Doyle's name will be best remembered by posterity is because he was the brother of a saint, or at least of a candidate for canonization. One might add that it is the only pretext he himself would have advanced as a claim for immortality: His veneration for his brother was a veritable hero-worship, the advancement of his cause a holy obsession from which his mind never deflected. There were only three pictures in his room, all of Fr. Willie, as the youth, the young priest, the missioner and chaplain.
Some may see therein an excessive family glorification, but who that has ever read "Merry in God” could not feel "proud' of having had such a brother. Fr. Doyle moreover had additional reasons for sustaining his devotion, for be alone could measure, by a mail-bag that brought letters from every corner of the globe, the universal veneration in which his saintly brother was held, and as a consequence there was none more confidant than he that God willing, the day would eventually come when Fr. Willie would be elevated to the altars of the Church.
Procurator of the Province :
Only one who has held the office of Procurator for a considerable time can appreciate the monotony of the task, the unavoidably material outlook it engenders in the mind, and the intimate contact into which it brings one with the Mammon of Iniquity. It requires much agility of mind and sublimation of the mental processes to convert every figure entered in a ledger and every letter tapped out on a typewriter into an act of the pure love of God. Fr. Doyle, however, appears to have acquired this gift and perhaps also to have discovered therein a clue to the secret of the countless aspirations made by his saintly brother. For twenty-five years he held the office of Procurator of the Province and may without exaggeration be described as the Procurator “par excellence”. Under his skilful guidance the book-keeping of the Province and in the Province was re-organised and standardised. His own books were a model of neatness, accuracy and meticulous care.
He was approachable at all times and patient with all comers, even when they broke into the middle of a long tot or disrupted the counting of a sheaf of notes. For all his manner betrayed, they might only have disturbed him in a cross-word puzzle or a game of patience. He had a keen sense of humour too and enjoyed the good-humoured banter that from time to time was levelled against the hapless holder of his office. He enjoyed the bon mot of the facetious father who said that book-keeping in the Society should be labelled “leger de main” and every holder of the office provided with a treatise on that particular form of craftmanship. No one chuckled more wholeheartedly than he at the alleged quotation from a certain Domestic Exhortation : “In olden days a subject, starting on a journey, meekly approached his superior on his knees with a request for a paternal embrace and a blessing ; now he brazenly beards the Bursar on his hind-legs with a demand for treasury notes and a voucher!”
As a " distraction” from the work of book-keeping he turned his attention to the task of censorship. For over twenty years the words “Censor Deputatus, Carolus Doyle”, were wont to meet the eye on most of the Province and Messenger Office publications. Not that this implied that he had read through everything that bore his sanctioning name on the title page, for presumably even a Censor Deputatus can appoint a deputy in his place. Such was certainly the case with “Carolus Doyle, Censor Deputatus” of many publications in the Irish language, his knowledge of which he could frankly confess was practically nil!
But book-keeping remained his paramount care. Three times within the last twelve months of his life he was compelled to go to hospital and on each occasion he insisted on bringing all the essential paraphernalia of his office with him. Perhaps, it may be urged, he acted unwisely in so doing and should have accepted the services of an “adjutant”, but error, if error there was, was one of judgement, that only served to emphasize his outstanding devotion to duty and his desire to carry out his “job in life” even to the end.
The Man of God :
But the dull routine of book-keeping did not damp his ardour for spiritual things or lessen his desire to take a share in the work of the Ministry. As a young priest and even well past middle age he was recognised as one of the outstanding preachers of the Province, distinct in delivery, sound of doctrine and above all with a telling way of driving home the truth, however unpalatable to his hearers. His Lenten lectures on “The Home” were said to have reached a financial peak, even for that famous annual feature in Gardiner St., though he himself would have been far from using such a measuring rod as a test of their success.
Every year, until his failing health compelled him to reduce the numbers, he gave from four to five retreats and only twelve months ago, in his seventy-eighth year, with sentence of death hanging over him, he conducted a priests retreat, which many a younger man would have hesitated to undertake. The “tableaux vivants”, which were a marked feature of his retreats did not win universal appreciation, but none could question the zeal and sincerity which inspired them.
Except for the purpose of giving retreats and making the annual audit of the accounts of the Province (”Praecursor Visitationis” was one of his soubriquets) he never wandered much abroad and agreed with Thomas A. Kempis “that they who do so seldom thereby become holy”. Indeed, his room was his castle and his only regular wanderings therefrom were for the purpose of making a lodgement in the bank or having a friendly interview with the Income Tax Commissioners.
For the rest, he was the “beau ideal” of Common Life. An early riser with an early Mass every morning, a man who never missed recreation or Litanies (and how grateful some tired father was when he recited them in his stead on a confession day), a man who always answered the first sound of the bell, leaving not only the letter but the figure unfinished, a man who sang his simple song on Christmas night but who also, despite every pretext, always went to bed in good time.
He was not without his idiosyncrasies, however (as what holy man is not?) and it was said of him, as of others who regulate their lives with clock-like precision, that he looked askance at those who, he suspectedwere ready to throw a spanner in the works of what they regarded as excessive routine rigidity. There were occasions too, when he could be exacting to a degree, as his companions knew to their cost. He was notoriously allergic to noise. His hearing was so acute that ever the winding of a watch or the striking of a match was said to reach his ears from overhead and woe betide the man who dropped his boots above him! No time was lost in admonishing the boot dropper, yet it was done in such a disarming fashion that no feud ensued - but the boots ceased dropping!
But, if he could be exacting at times, he was ever ready to make allowance for the foibles of others and never completely lost the human touch himself. His partiality for sweet things, even in old age, was such as would have given serious cause for alarm in the case of a school boy, and even a youngster might have envied the gusto with which he pursued the daily adventures of “Gussie Goose and Curley Wee”. “Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto”, might have been his motto, but “Merry in God” would be more appropriate and could be applied to him with the same aptitude as it was to his saintly brother. For beneath all his merriment lay an abiding sense of the Presence of God.
In that presence he closed his accounts with a smile on his face. If ever he had an overdraft in the Bank of Heaven, it has long ago been converted to a comfortable credit balance, and if his spiritual petty cash did not always balance, 'twas only a matter of pence which the great Auditor assuredly has long since overlooked. May his saintly life and simple merriment long continue to be an inspiration to all those. who are destined for the unenviable task of having care of the purse.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Charles Doyle 1870-1949
Fr Charles Doyle was born in Dublin on October 24th 1870. He entered the Society at Tullabeg in 1889. He made his Philosophical studies at Valkenburg, his Theology at Milltown Park, and his tertianship at Drongen in Belgium.

His life in the Society was spent in offices of administration, being Minister for five years, Rector for ten, and Procurator of the Province for the last twenty-five years of his life.

He was the elder brother of Fr Willie Doyle, whose life he wrote “Merry in God”, and for whose beatification her worked hard for many years.

He was an exemplary religious, an excellent member in community, and he was noted especially for his unfailing cheerfulness. In his personal life he practiced a constant severity or even austerity. Outside the Society he was well known for his Lenten Lectures delivered in Gardiner Street. As a Retreat giver he was much sought after.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1950

Obituary

Father Charles Doyle SJ

Father Charles Doyle died in St. Vincent's Nursing Home on 15th June, 1949, after a long illness patiently endured. He was born at “Melrose”, Dalkey, in 1870, and was the son of the late Mr. Hugh Doyle, an official of the High Court of Justice in Ireland. His early education was with the Fathers of Charity, Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire, where he spent six years. He had very kindly recollections of his school-days and he kept in touch with the Ratcliffe Father's up to his death last year. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1889, and passed through the various stages that the Order requires of its members - two years' novitiate in Tullabeg, two years' juniorate at Milltown Park, three years, philosophy at Valkenberg, Holland, and Enghien, Belgium, six years, teaching at Belvedere College, four years, theology at Miiltown Park, where he was ordained priest in 1905. He completed his religious training by doing his “Tertianship” or third year at Trouchiennes, Belgium.

He held responsible and important positions in the Order during his life as a priest. Immediately after his Tertiarship he was appointed Assistant Master of Novices at Tullabeg. He was Rector of Crescent College, Limerick, from 1912 to 1918, of Rathfarnham Castle in 1919, where he was succeeded by the late Father John Sullivan. He returned to Belvedere College as Rector for the next three years. From 1925 until his death twenty-four years later he was the Provincial Bursar, having charge of the accounts of the Irish Province.

Fr Charles Doyle was a brother of the late Father Willie Doyle, the well-known and saintly chaplain, who was killed in 1917 during the first world war, while administering to the soldiers on the battlefield. His admiration for his chaplain brother amounted almost to hero-worship. He laboured assiduously in collecting evidence of his brother's sanctity and he kept a list of all the favours obtained through his intercession. He was responsible for the publication of a life of Fr Willie called “Merry in God”, which was read all the world over. There were only three pictures in Father Doyle's bedroom, and they were all of Fr Willie at various stages of his career - as a young boy, as a young priest and as a chaplain.

As has already been stated, he was the Provincial Bursar for twenty-five years. But as well, at other stages of his career he was put in charge of the accounts and finances of a few of the Houses of the Irish Province. He had a great aptitude for this kind of work. Under his direction and advice the account books and all the book-keeping of the Irish Province was improved and reorganised. His own account books were perfect models of nreatness, accuracy and the greatest care. His interest in his work was very great, for instance, he had to go to hospital three times during the last year of his life. On all three occasions he insisted on bringing his account books with him. He certainly remained in harness and at his post up to the very end of his life.

He was above all a fervent religious and a man of the highest spirituality. He was a great model to all by his piety, his self-denial, his observance of rule and his observance of common life. He rose at 5.30 every day, said an early Mass and attended all the Community duties day after day with the greatest regularity. He avoided all exemptions even when his health was in a very precarious state. With all this he had a keen sense of humour, and enjoyed the good-humoured banter which is so often found in Community life. He was approachable at all times and most ready to oblige. Every year until his health gave away he spent his summer vacations in giving several retreats to priests and nuns. The retreats were greatly appreciated and are still well remembered by those who made them. About a year before his death he conducted a Priests Retreat in spite of his 78 years of age. He was also an eloquent preacher. His voice was pleasing and distinct, and as might be expected from such a man, his sermons were always most carefully prepared. On one occasion he gave a series of Lenten Lectures in Gardiner Street on the “Home”, and they drew great crowds from all parts of the city and country. These Lectures of his are regarded as among the best that were preached in Gardiner Street. And that says a great deal because the Lenten Lectures were given by some of the most distinguished preachers of Ireland and England,

He was an excellent teacher, but very strict. Some past Belvederians have still vivid recollections of his strictriess as a master. But his strict methods were tempered by kindness and justice, so that the boys had a great respect and veneration for him. As Rector of Belvedere he did much for the College. The number of students increased during his term of office, and as might be expected from his genius in the administration of temporal affairs the finances of the College greatly improved. The games also flourished under his jurisdiction. During the period he was Rector the Belvedere Team made some bold bids to win the Senior Cup, and they succeeded in winning the Junior Football Cup. Foundations were being laid for the excellent teams that Belvedere has put into the field ever since.

Father Doyle is survived by his brother Mr Robert Doyle, KC, former Recorder of Galway, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy. 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 Charles Doyle (1870-1949)

Born at Dalkey and educated in England, entered the Society in 1889. He pursued his higher studies in Valkenburg, Enghien and Milltown Park, Dublin where he was ordained in 1905. During his life, Father Doyle occupied many positions of trust. He came as master to the Crescent in 1911 and was appointed Rector of the College the following year. Father Doyle's rectorship at the Crescent was passed in difficult times: the college was badly in debt and, owing to the short supply of Jesuit masters, the task of main taining the school was onerous in the extreme. During his six years here, he was a strenuous worker in the classroom and the church. On leaving the Crescent, he was successively Rector of Rathfarnham Castle and Belvedere College. The last twenty-five years of his life were spent in the exacting work of bursar of the Irish Jesuit Province. During his last years, he published (anonymously) a biography of his celebrated brother, Father Willie Doyle.

Fitzgerald, Joseph, 1899-1973, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1301
  • Person
  • 21 May 1899-28 November 1973

Born: 21 May 1899, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 12 February 1918, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1937
Died: 28 November 1973, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1929 in Australia - Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at St Ignatius Richmond and CBC Parade, Victoria Parade, Melbourne before Entry at Loyola Greenwich.

1920-1921 He was sent to St Stanislaus College Tullabeg Ireland for his Juniorate
1921-1924 He was at Rathfarnham Castle studying at University College Dublin
1924-1927 He was sent to Milltown Park Dublin for Philosophy
1928-1931 He returned to Australia and Xavier College for Regency as Second Prefect
1931-1935 He was back in Ireland at Milltown Park for Theology
1935-1936 He was set to St Beuno’s Wales for Tertianship
1936-1939 He returned to Xavier College Kew as First prefect and teacher
1939-1966 He was sent to work at the the Hawthorn Parish, where a major work he did was establishing and organising the Sodality for men, which excelled at Parish visitations
1966-1971 He was sent to the Richmond Parish
1971-1973 He returned to Hawthorn.

He was full of enthusiasm, doing great work as a Prefect in the Colleges and as an organiser of Sodalities. His Men’s Sodality at hawthorn was very popular and did much in the way of Parish Visitation. Joseph was highly respected by the men of the Parish, and he left the care of women in the Parish to others.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 49th Year No 2 1974

Obituary :

Fr Joseph Fitzgerald (1899-1973) (Australia)

Fr Joe Fitzgerald was born in Richmond, Melbourne, on 21 May 1899, and entered the Society in 1918 at the old Loyola Novitiate in Sydney where he had Fr George Byrne as novice master in his first year, and Fr. John Corcoran in his second. In 1920 he went to Tullabeg for juniorate studies, and the following year to Rathfarnham from which he attended the University until 1924 when he went to Milltown Park for philosophy. In 1927 he returned to Australia, and taught in St Ignatius College, Riverview, and Xavier College, Melbourne, In 1931 he was back in Ireland again. for theology at Milltown Park where he was ordained priest by Bishop Wall in 1934. After tertianship in St Buenos, he returned to Australia in 1936, and after a few years in the colleges, he was assigned to Hawthorn parish, Melbourne, where he remained until 1967 when he was transferred to Richmond parish. In 1971 he returned to Hawthorn parish until his death on 28 November 1973.
Fr Joe who was well known to many of the older generation of the Province, was a most friendly and likeable person. He spent nearly all his priestly life in the parishes where his great organising ability and zeal for souls were amply displayed. For over thirty years, he was the director of the Men's Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, which was unique in Australia. Its members were all men, nearly 1,000 in number, and it was an inspiring spectacle to see over 90 per cent of that group attending Mass in Hawthorn every first Sunday of the month. A few years ago he had a severe heart attack, but he would not slacken his pace, and so, as he hoped and prayed, he died in harness ready to meet the Master he had served so zealously.

We add a few recollections of a contemporary in the Irish Province, a novice when Fr Ftizgerald originally arrived in Ireland at Tullabeg for his juniorate :
He was a fine vigorous young man well-proportioned and an appearance of maturity beyond his years a keen upholder of Fr Lockington's principles of bodily health and spiritual vigour.
During the Tullabeg period the Templemore “miracles” hit the height of their publicity and Mr Fitzgerald, borrowing for the occasion Fr Richard O'Reilly's bicycle, joined the pilgrim trek. Through some unkindness of fate, traffic congestion or other misadventure, he returned to base with a bicycle other than Fr O'Reilly's, and not so good. Condonation, we trust, was duly pleaded and indulged. RIP

Dunne, Peter G, 1917-1980, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/131
  • Person
  • 10 June 1917-31 August 1980

Born: 10 June 1917, Clonliffe Road, Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951, Holy Spirit Seminary, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
Died: 31 August 1980, St Ignatius, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin

◆ 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
He came to Hong Kong as a young priest with Peter Dunne and 5 Scholastics - Liam Egan, Paddy Cunningham, Matt Brosnan, Tom O’Neill and Tony Farren. He spent two years at the Battery Path Language School learning Cantonese.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 55th Year No 4 1980

Obituary

Fr Peter Dunne (1917-1935-1980)

Peter Dunne arrived at the noviciate, Emo Park, on 7th September 1935, slight of build, pink of complexion (the boys in Belvedere later called him “Pinkie”) and with a very thin crop of blond hair that fought a losing battle to survive the years of his studies. He told us, as one of the many stories against himself, that the doctor had said that his hair was only baby hair and there would be no aftercrop.
Peter was pious, coming, as he did from a family that made great sacrifices to let him go. His mother was a widow and his only sister was a Little Sister of the Assumption. Peter was an only son though his mother has quite a number of brothers. Peter's piety was entirely natural and was filled with an active cheerfulness that saw him in the middle of every novitiate project from weeding the lake to exploring the Caves of Killowen. He had a very urban background, yet he took readily to life in the country, and his interest in nature stood him in good stead during his time in the colleges'.
His arrival in Rathfarnham at the end of the novitiate was a real home coming for him, and his three years at UCD were made happy by the many occasions he had to visit doctor, dentist or cross the Liffey to his own territory at Clonliffe Road, Yet he found the university studies hard going, and it was only sheer determination and his own spiritual resources that got him through. Tullabeg was in many ways a rest for him. There was not the rush of concentrated studies or the physical exhaustion that came with the daily ride to the 'Acad' and back that pulled so many down physically. Besides a reasonably slow pace of philosophical studies, there were plays and 'skits' to be performed - and Peter was always somewhere around in the wings or backstage: there was fishing on the river and, above all, there was the Ricci Mission Unit that was so active in those years in Tullabeg. Peter made a great success of its activities, chiefly because he took the trouble to answer personally the many who sent stamps and tinfoil, thanking them and encouraging their work. One sack of stamps arrived from a regular donor, containing besides parcels of stamps a whole roast chicken-alas, too long on the way to be edible.
Though Peter did come to like country life, it was with great joy that he set out again for his beloved Dublin to spend two happy years (1943-45) teaching in Belvedere, only a stone's throw from his home in Clonliffe Road. College life was really his métier, and it was a pity that his later career took a different turning. He was at his best training the under-13s in Jones's Road or leading the Field Club to Bull island or Donabate. He had an infectious cheerfulness, and with him the smallest incident of the day could be turned into a saga worthy of Seán O’Casey or P G Wodehouse. He was very much a man's man, and more often than not his contacts were those he met in 'The Buildings in Foley Street, Gloucester Street, and the places where the families of the Belvedere Newsboys Club members lived.
Peter went to theology after only two years in the colleges, and here his interest in the poor again showed itself. He was put in charge of those who came regularly to Milltown for material help. He had a little but outside the door of the Minister's House with seats where he would serve meals to those who were down and out or in temporary difficulties. Some times they were in need of cash, and Peter was a shrewd judge of the genuine and the bogus, I well remember one irate lady who had asked particularly for financial help. Peter judged that a large plate of sandwiches would be better for her. Having thrown the plate on the ground, she went off down the avenue yelling loudly that she was leaving the Church because the priest would not give her the cash her condition required:
His assignment to Hong Kong must have been a difficult one for his family and for himself. Indeed, he showed nothing but cheerfulness and enthusiasm for the work before him. The Chinese language he found difficult, not being gifted with great facility in academic fields, but he quickly found his niche as minister of the Language School. His duties often took him to the city, and he came to know as many shopkeepers and hawkers as he had known in Dublin. It stunned his contemporaries, as it must have stunned himself, when he was appointed editor of a new project: a weekly magazine for youth in Chinese. Having neither a strong grasp of the language nor a style of life that could stand up to the rigours of meeting a magazine deadline every week, his health declined and he became a prey to anxiety.
One compatible job he did have at that time (the mid 1950s) was that of chaplain to the Hong Kong Volunteers. He really relished the opportunities it offered him, and his return from the annual camp was the occasion of endless uproarious stories of doings in the New Territories during the fortnight. He always had an ear for those in trouble, and I well remember the many cases of Irish soldiers in the British army who were referred to him. He would spend hours with them at the detention centre where they were imprisoned for fighting and other misdemeanours. There were young girls that had got into trouble whom he would visit at the "homes, and he always had a ready ear for the domestic staff when any of them bad problems, financial or otherwise.
He returned to Ireland to visit his ageing mother, and his indifferent health did not allow his return to Hong Kong. It did not however sever his connections with the East and the Chinese. He noted the needs of Chinese students living in Dublin, and gave much of his time to running a hostel for them - he called it Wah Yan House - in Dublin's Waterloo Road.
His motto could have been: “Do what you can and do it with all the strength that is in you”.
Three things impressed me particularly about Peter Dunne. The first was his obedience, which in the best sense of the word was “a blind obedience”. Secondly, his real humility, that made him think little of himself, and finally his great affection for the ordinary people with whom he always identified himself. My last memory of him was one Sunday after he had said Mass in a little country church near Cong. He came out to the churchyard, and going across to a group of young men leaning against the wall and chatting, greeted them with a bright “Goodmorrow, men. What's the fishing like in the lake these days?” He was all things to all men.

On his return from Hong Kong ,Peter spent the remaining 23 years of his life (1957-80) in Ireland as chaplain to the College of Technology, Kevin Street. Among his fellow-chaplains there down those years were Frs Laurence Kearns, Michael Morahan, Edmund O'Keefe and Brendan Murray.
In his early days at Kevin Street he took on a full work-load, teaching from 9 to 5 and even came back for more: from 7 to 9 pm. he attended to his bakery students. (At these late hours he used literally sit on one of the ovens!) This heavy burden of work was increased rather than diminished by the physical expansion of the College in the mid-1960s, when with the large new buildings, the student roll and staff numbers grew. When Peter first came to Kevin Street, it had only 30 whole-time teachers and less than a thousand students. Now (1980) it has about 200 whole-time teachers, and the students number over 2,000.
It is noteworthy that Peter’s heart attacks of c 1970 and 1972 followed this period of the College's growth and expansion, and were no mere coincidence. After these attacks, he had to adapt his life-style, take a less stressful pace of work, and even withdraw from class time-schedules. Instead, while undertaking full responsibility for teaching and chaplaincy work within the Bakery School, he had perforce to adopt a casual, by-the way approach to the students: loitering with intent' he called it, (Incidentally, for the last few years of his life the Bakery School, for both apprentices and student technicians, was running two shifts a day, 9 am-9 pm) Peter had an unusual gift, attested to constantly and appreciated by his Bakery School colleagues: that of being able to relate to the apprentice baker. The Bakers' Union, Dublin No. 1 Branch, sent a note of condolence on his death.
For a long time Peter ambitioned the setting up of a St Vincent de Paul Conference in Kevin Street: this in fact came about last Lent (1980). The “kids”, though not having time for meetings, offered two hours of their leisure time per week and did many a job of repair and renovation in the homes of the old, As regards his apostolic influence, being a fisherman, used to playing his fish for long hours, Peter was not out for a 'quick kill' or instant conversion: goo relations were more important. His philosophy, where students and staff were concerned, could be summed up in the ideal of the happy family.
The newly-elected President of the local Students' Union, at the grave side in Glasnevin, turned to a companion and said: “To me Peter Dunne was a unique priest”. A member of the Kevin Street staff said: “There are some people in this College that you wouldn't like to be seen talking to; there are some you wouldn't talk to, but everyone could talk to Fr Dunne”. May he rest in peace!

Dwyer, Peter, 1879-1945, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/133
  • Person
  • 22 July 1879-21 July 1945

Born: 22 July 1879, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan
Entered: 07 September 1898, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 27 July 1913, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1916, St Mary’s, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia
Died: 21 July 1945, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

by 1902 at Chieri Italy (TAUR) studying
by 1903 at Kasteel Gemert, Netherlands (TOLO) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1904
by 1927 at Prescot, Lancashire (ANG) working

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at St Macartan’s College, Monaghan, Ireland, before he Entered the Society at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg 1898

1900-1903 After First Vows he was sent to Chieri Italy and Kasteel Gemert Netherlands for Philosophy
1903-1904 He was sent to Clongowes Wood College for Regency, teaching Latin and English
1904-1908 He was sent to Australia and St Ignatius College Riverview to continue his Regency.
1908-1910 He finished a long Regency at St Patrick’s College Melbourne
1910-1914 He returned to Ireland and Milltown Park for Theology
1914-1915 He made Tertianship at Tullabeg.
1916-1917 He returned to Australia and St Aloysius College Sydney teaching
1917-1919 He was sent to work at the Hawthorn Parish
1919-1922 He was sent to work at the Richmond Parish
1923-1928 He returned to Ireland and was appointed assistant Director of the Retreat House for working men which had just opened.
1928--1932 he was sent teaching to Mungret College Limerick
1932 he was sent to St Stanislaus College Tullabeg to minister in the People’s Church. He was virtually an invalid for the rest of his life.

He was well known as an amateur radio expert. He was a kindly, amiable man, but inclined to be hypersensitive which created some problems for himself and others. He found it therefore hard to settle in one place for very long. He was also a man of deep and simple piety.

He had been sick for about 10 years and his last six months were very painful. he demonstrated a great deal of patience during this illness.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 20th Year No 4 1945
Obituary :
Fr. Peter Dwyer (1879-1898-1945)
Fr. Dwyer died on the evening of Saturday, July 21st, on the eve of his 66th birthday. To any one who had kept in touch with him his death could not have been unexpected. In the early part of this year the doctor who attended him said that he had not much more than six months to live. About ten years ago he had undergone a very critical operation and had been suffering more or less constantly since. Within the last few years he had had to go into hospital several times.
In May his sufferings became more intense and more constant. He bore them with patience and resignation and gave much edification to all who had to do with him. He dreaded a long drawn out agony and had prayers said that God would take him soon. The prayers were answered. In the early part of July he began to grow visibly weaker, and those who saw him at intervals of a few days noticed the change.
On Saturday, July 21st, he was evidently near death, and the doctor said he would not live through the night. At eight o'clock the Rector of Rathfarnham Castle anointed him and gave him Viaticum and said the prayers for the dying, and a few minutes later he died without any struggle, having been conscious almost to the last. His body was brought to St. Francis Xavier's Church, Gardiner Street, on Monday evening, and on the next morning Office and solemn Requiem Mass were celebrated for him. The Rector of Rathfarnham Castle was Celebrant of the Mass, and Fr. Provincial said the prayers at the graveside. As the Theologians were on retreat, we could not call on them to do the chanting, but a composite choir, under the direction of Fr. Kevin Smyth, sang very impressively.
Fr. Dwyer was born at Carrickmacross on July 22nd, 1879, and after receiving his secondary education at St. Macartan's College, Monaghan, he entered the Society on September 7th, 1898. He studied philosophy at Chieri and at Gemert, and was then sent to Australia where he taught in our colleges at Sydney and Melbourne. He was ordained at Milltown Park in 1913, and in 1917 returned to Australia, where he did parish work at Richmond and Hawthorn. In 1922, he returned to Ireland and was appointed assistant director of the Retreat House for workingmen which had just been opened. In 1928 he went to Mungret and in 1932 was sent to Tullabeg as operarius in the People's Church. About four years later he under went the operation already referred to, and remained more or less an invalid henceforth,
Fr. Dwyer was a very amiable character who made friends wherever he went. He was a man of deep and simple piety. The last years of his life were filled with suffering, which he bore with resignation and hope and fortitude. May he rest in peace.

Fynn, Anthony, 1899-1965, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1335
  • Person
  • 22 September 1899-02 February 1965

Born: 22 September 1899, Yea, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 01 February 1918, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1933, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 15 August 1936
Died 02 February 1965, St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL: 05 April 1931

WWII Chaplain

by 1924 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER I) studying
by 1928 in Australia - Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at McCristal’s, Mentone, and two separate periods at Xavier College Kew, where he won prizes in Physics, Trigonometry and Devating. He Entered the Society at Loyola Greenwich.

1920-1923 After First Vows he was sent to Ireland and Rathfarnham Castle to study at UCD, graduating BSc.
1923-1926 He was sent to Valkenburg Netherlands for Philosophy
1927-1930 He returned to Australia for Regency at Xavier College, where he was teaching, was a Prefect of Discipline and editor of the Xavierian.
1930-1934 He came back to Ireland for Theology at Milltown Park
1934-1935 He was sent to make Tertianship at Innsbruck Austria
1935-1938 He returned to Australia and was sent to Loyola Watsonia to teach Philosophy. There he taught Natural Theology, Cosmology, Psychology, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. He was also Prefect of tones, Choir master and Minister for short periods. He also directed “Question Box” on the radio’s Catholic Hour.

He was fluent in French and German and widely read. He was always refreshing to discuss issues with. He had no hesitation, making up his mind, and in no time he would sweep away doubts or illusions one might have about the subject being discussed. He had a very accurate mind and was somewhat intolerant of mis-statements.

It was said among Jesuits that because he was so gifted at Mathematics and Physics, he was really meant to work at the Riverview Observatory, however others filled in that space. his work as a teacher of Philosophy was not very appealing to him. Then in 1958 he was very pleased to succeed Noel Burke-Gaffney at the Riverview Observatory, and he remained there very happy until his death. In 1962, he supervised the installation of the American seismological network - at that time the most modern equipment available. His presence and scholarship were very much appreciated among the scientific community.

During WWII, when he was an Air Force Chaplain that he discovered the diabetes which was to cause his death. However, he worked so continuously and cheerfully that most were unaware of his sickness. He had a lively wit and some of his comments were memorable. During a meeting of a Provincial Congregation he observed the Professed Fathers approaching the refectory : “If that is the cream of the Society, I am glad to be in the skim milk!”

Golden, Jeremiah, 1910-1980, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1370
  • Person
  • 03 May 1910-11 May 1980

Born: 03 May 1910, County Galway
Entered: 04 February 1929, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1943
Died: 11 May 1980, St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, Australia- Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Jerry Golden began his early schooling in Galway and then in Cork until the age of twelve when his father came to other came to Sydney. His further education was with the Marist Brothers Darlinghurst and the Jesuits at Riverview. He entered the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich 4 February 1929. After taking vows he was sent to University College, Dublin, where he took a degree in history and economics with honours. He next studied philosophy in Jersey. Here, his French colleagues appreciated his ready humour.
During 1936-37 at the Institute Catholique, Paris, Golden spent nine months in a Paris hospital recovering from a leg injury that became gangrene This affected him deeply, and was
watershed of his life.
He returned to Ireland for his theological studies at Milltown Park, 1937-40. Tertianship was at Rathfarnham, Dublin, after which he returned to Australia.
Golden's first ministry was at St Mary's, North Sydney, 1943-48. Then he began a ministry as university chaplain, for which he became an icon. He was sent to Newman College in 1950 and remained there until 1966.
When he arrived at The University of Melbourne, most Catholic undergraduates went their own way, but the Newman Society of Victoria used to meet in the basement of the Central Catholic Library. This was a time of Catholic apologetics, of the defence of the Catholic faith.
At Newman College, Golden set about building up a sense of solidarity between the students at Newman College and the members of the Newman Society. A new era of student involvement in the life of the Church began. It was a movement both spiritual and intellectual and assumed the title of “the intellectual apostolate”. He acted as a catalyst among the students, stimulating discussion and encouraging greater Church involvement. Students began reflecting on the question of religious meaning, the ultimate orientation of their studies, and even questions about the nature of the university itself. The Newman Society was opposed to Bob Santamarias Movement, but the issues were never discussed. Student formation involved Summer Camps held at Point Lonsdale, when the university freshers were initiated into the spirit of the Newman Society, and of Winter Camps where the process was taken further. Topics discussed were major issues of Church, politics of the day and Life of the university. Golden's gift in this process was his presence and encouragement, and ability to enthuse students into organising themselves. He never gave a sustained talk. but was active in discussions.
During the academic year faculty groups developed, some 150 students being organised into discussion circles which would meet in the seminar rooms of the Kenny building. Lunch-hour lectures were held at the university, and a weekly Mass in the mathematics hall of the Old Arts Building was well attended in the early years. Much of Golden's own time was taken up individual counselling of students.
In this work his students experienced him as positive, affirming, optimistic and very intuitive. He was patient and a good listener, wise humorous, self-effacing, and apostolic. He was a welcoming man with an engaging smile, and always seemed relaxed. He was no revolutionary, but in practice was radical and risky as he sought to build leadership in others. He spoke openly about the distinction between lay and clerical spirituality, and gave students a glimpse of “the New Jerusalem”. He did not go out to the university as such, but encouraged students to join university activities as well as to engage social works. Students sold Catholic pamphlets outside the student union. By the 1960s society changed, and students began to lose their interest in searching together for eternal truth. It was an age of greater individualism, and Golden had more time to himself. Students were not coming to him in good numbers. Reflecting upon these days, Golden decided it was time to take a sabbatical in Cambridge 1966, where he experienced life in the chaplaincy. He later returned to Adelaide where he took up residence at Aquinas College and was chaplain to the Teachers’ College. From 1970 he returned to St Mary's, North Sydney, where he set up youth groups, and became well knows for his opposition to renovations to the church. He was traditional in his views church architecture. Then followed time in the parish of Avalon Beach, 1977-78, where he enjoyed the friendship of the local surfing community. During these years he spent short time in the parishes of Waterloo and Redfern. In 1979 he received appointment as chaplain to the Catholic College of Education at Castle Hill, NSW. There he became ill, was taken to hospital, and died quite suddenly. Golden was slightly gruff, good-humoured and sagacious. He was resilient. versatile and adaptable. Above all he was truly charismatic. This gave him a special influence with young people male and female. His enjoyment in playing tennis, golf and table tennis sustained his relationships with friends. He was a strong support to needy members of his family.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 55th Year No 3 1980

Obituary

Fr Jeremiah Golden (1910-1929-1980) (Australia)

(1931-34: junior, Rathfarnham; 1937-41: theologian, Milltown, 194 1-22, tertian, Rathfarnham).
Father Jeremiah Golden died unexpectedly on Sunday, 11th May. St Mary’s, North Sydney, was filled for the Requiem of Fr Jerry on Tuesday, 13th May. A large number of priests, Jesuit and diocesan, concelebrated with Fr Provincial, who gave the homily. Jerry exercised a considerable apostolate of spiritual direction among Sydney’s diocesan clergy. Many nuns and brothers were among the large congregation, and some of his friends from university chaplaincy days flew to Sydney from Melbourne and Adelaide for the Mass. Bishop William Murray of Wollongong, a close friend and tennis companion of Jerry, led the prayers at the graveside ...
A tribute from Archbishop Gleeson of Adelaide: “Together with (my Auxiliary) Bishop Kennedy, I offer to you and to all the members of the Society of Jesus our sincere sympathy on the death of Fr Jerry Golden SJ. We all remember him with deep affection and appreciation, not only for the work that he did at Aquinas University College and in the University itself, but also for his great pastoral concern and particularly for the way he made himself available for hearing confessions in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, I shall be offering holy Mass for the repose of his soul and for the welfare of the Society in the loss of one of its outstanding members”.
(Excerpts from the Australian Province's Fortnightly Reports).

Grech-Cumbo, John, 1892-1960, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1386
  • Person
  • 27 January 1892-29 March 1960

Born: 27 January 1892, Valletta, Malta
Entered: 23 June 1913, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly (HIB for Siculae Province - (SIC)
Ordained: 24 August 1924, Malta
Final vows: 02 February 1927
Died: 29 March 1960, St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, Bengal, India - Kolkata Province (CCU)

by 1916 at Rathfarnham (HIB) studying

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 35th Year No 3 1960
Obituary :
Fr John Grech-Cumbo (1891-1960)
Prayers are asked for the repose of the soul of Fr. John Grech Cumbo, who died at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, on 29th March, 1960, in his 69th year and his 47th in religion. In our Catalogues of 1914 and 1915, John Grech Cumbo (Prov. Sicula) appears as a novice in Tullabeg, having entered in June 1913. He was ordained in Malta in August 1925. In 1929 he went to India, where he laboured strenuously among the Santals for thirty-one years. May he rest in peace.

Egan, Éamon, 1923-1973, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/139
  • Person
  • 04 July 1923-11 August 1973

Born: 04 July 1923, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 06 September 1941, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1955, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1959, Leuven, Belgium
Died: 11 August 1973, New York NY, USA (in a drowning accident)

Part of Milltown Park community, Dublin at time of his death.
Died in boating accident in New York;

Educated at Belvedere College SJ

by 1959 at Louvain (BEL M) studying

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 48th Year No 4 1973
Loyola
The Province was well represented by Irish Jesuits at the memorial Mass held for Fr Eamon Egan at the parish where he had been on supply prior to his tragic death. Brian Grogan reports that the clergy and parishioners turned out in large numbers, and that the homily preached by the pastor emeritus was most eloquently delivered. Numerous tributes were paid to Fr Eamon, indicating the place he had gained in the hearts of many, though he had been with them only a brief while.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1974

Obituary :

Fr Eamon Egan (1923-1973)

Shortly before he left for the United States in July of this year Fr Egan said to a friend that now that he was fifty he must think about reorganising his life. A fortnight later he was dead. What he might have done in the years which he could reasonably have expected to lie before him is now, of course, a matter of futile speculation. The fact is that a freakish accident carried off some one who had already served his Province and, indeed, his fellow countrymen well; who was at the height of his powers and, to all appearances, seemed to have much more to give.
The circumstances of his death were almost grotesque, if for no other reason than that it is, at this moment, almost impossible to determine them precisely. What we know is that he was drowned by a freak storm off Rockaway Point, Jamaica Bay, New York Harbour. All the other occupants of the boat were rescued. What happened to Fr Egan is unsolved, but the most likely (and merciful) explanation is that he was knocked unconscious; for, though not a good swimmer, he could swim.

Eamon was the son of Robert Egan, the first news editor of The Irish Press. He was born in Dublin in 1923. He was sent to school at Scoil Mhuire, Marino where he attained a grasp of Irish which was eventually to bear fruit in a first class degree in UCD. He finished his secondary education at Belvedere. In 1941 he entered the noviciate at Emo Park. There then followed the usual sequence of studies : Rathfarnham, where he distinguished himself as a debater; Tullabeg, where he again distinguished himself in the, now defunct, disputations (circles and menstrua); teaching in Belvedere and Galway; theology in Milltown. He was ordained in 1955.

After his tertianship in Rathfarnham, Eamon was assigned to Tullabeg to teach rational psychology. However, it was decided that he should first acquire a doctorate, so he was sent to Louvain for two years, which ultimately extended to three. He returned to Tullabeg in 1961, his doctorate still unfinished, and began to teach philosophy.

In 1963 the Visitor closed Tullabeg as a house of philosophy and Eamon, joining the ranks of displaced persons, found himself in Milltown. In 1964 he was appointed to teach philosophy in Mungret. This was something which he took to with all his heart, the work and atmosphere being congenial. When the Institute of Philosophy and Theology was set up in Milltown he became a member of the staff and taught, with great success and flexibility, courses in the history of ancient and medieval philosophy and the philosophy of man (formerly rational pyschology).

While in Milltown he began to come more and more into contact with the outside world. He was invited to teach foundation courses in philosophy at Maynooth and did so with great success. He became the guiding figure in the Irish Philosophical Circle which included philosophers from Trinity College and Queen's, Belfast, when, in its early days, it was threatened with extinction. Thanks to Fr Eamon’s astute advice the Circle not only survived but emerged into tranquil waters as the Irish Philosophical Society of which, at his death, he was the chairman. In the enormously successful Milltown lectures he was one of the most popular lecturers and chairmen.

Among the subjects of these lectures he was assigned some facets of Père Teilhard de Chardin's much discussed thought. Eminently a perfectionist his own exacting standards impelled him to seek an intimate acquaintance with Père Teilhard's work. He shared the reserve of the Society generally towards his author's ideas but he was more sympathetic possibly more understanding, to them than most. With his exceptional sense of impartiality he was able to present them in such a way as to be recognised as a key exponent in the Teilhard debate.
More important, he came increasingly to be a spokesman on Marx to Marxist groups as an informed but not, again, un sympathetic critic. He was also a member of an ecumenic group that met once a month.

There were occasions when he appeared positively perverse but his endearing ingenuousness and honesty, pursuing truth quocum que duxit, and the humorous, to the observer, hesitancy that betrayed his sensitiveness won instant condonation for his ebullitions. It may be admitted he had not yet attained that equipoise that the years which alas were not to be would give. Dolor atque decus!

In spite of his intellectual ability and success as a lecturer Eamon Egan published very little. That is not unusual in the Irish Province, but in Fr Egan’s case it was due to a paralysing self depreciation. He was incredibly diffident. After delivering a brilliant lecture or course of lectures, which would have more than satisfied most other people, he would be genuinely dissatisfied, That is not to say that his lectures could not be unsatisfactory; at times they went over the heads of his listeners and at other times he tended to debate with himself in public, but in most cases his dissatisfaction was totally unfounded.

He was most scrupulous about giving his students the effort and time he believed they deserved. Indeed, his attitude to life in general verged on the scrupulous. He would reproach himself for laxity in circumstances where others might not be aware that there was any problem of conscience.

To those who have lived and worked closely with Fr Egan over the years his sudden death has been a shattering blow and his loss is likely to be more rather than less keenly felt a stime goes on. In varying degrees this loss will be felt within the Province, particularly among the younger members, and in the wider circle of those who had come in contact with him. Though in years he was middle-aged, in mind he was not only young but he had that elasticity which can compass the problems and aspirations of the present time. He was a man for this season. They are not numerous. His loss is therefore all the greater.

We add an appreciation from The Irish Times of August 22nd; we sincerely thank the editorial staff for their courtesy in allowing a reproduction :

“Many of us even outside his immediate family circle felt in expressibly bereaved as we met to render our last respects to Father Eamon Egan, who had died in a boating accident outside New York at the age of 50. At the Mass for him in St. Francis Xavier's Church, Gardiner Street, Dublin, which preceded the interment, a lovely service instinct with Christian hope and faith and love. Father Doyle, Rector of Milltown Park, where Father Egan taught philosophy, spoke for us all in recalling his gentleness and sensitivity, his kindness and integrity.
Eamon can, I think, have had no adequate idea of the affection and regard with which he was held by those who knew him. By some miracle, he had come through untouched by a pretension, all too common among clerics, however cloaked. Never gauche, he was diffident.

His thoughtfulness for others could sometimes become anxious, and occasionally fretful, concern, yet he was too firmly grounded in the Christian faith to allow that to govern his thought or conduct for long. For a man capable of identifying with so very many different sorts of people, his own life was in ways curiously patterned and predictable. He could at times seem conservative to a fault; basically, however, he was courageous and well balanced, refusing (just to take a few instances) to be over impressed by Lonergan, on the one hand, yet still very typically, on the other hand, showing himself warmly if critically appreciative of his controversial fellow-Jesuit, Teilhard de Chardin.

His characteristic attitude was open-hearted and generous, and he did good almost by stealth. Those of us privileged to know him loved his shy smile, his patience, his friendly humanity, his intellectual honesty, his refusal to impose a particular interpretation or conclusion on anyone, And may I say, as one not of his communion, how deeply I appreciated the naturalness with which he brought us, his friends, to God in occasional simple acts of wor ship. Prayer to him was like breathing.
In iothlainn Dé go gcastar sinn. Ba de bhunadh Bhaile Átha Cliath Éamon, ach bhí Gaeilge aige, agus i nGaeilge a labhraíodh sé le mo leithéidse i gcónaí nuair a bhímís i dteannta a chéile.

Ba bhall de Chumann na Sagart é. Canadh 'Ag Críost ag Síol' ag an Aifreann an lá a cuireadh é. Sin rud ba dheas leis."

Risteárd Ó Glaisne

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1974

Obituary

Father Éamonn Egan SJ

Fr Éamonn Egan, who died so tragically in New York harbour last Summer, was a man, to put it simply, that it is good to remember. Most writers of obituaries face the dilemma of trying to tell the truth and yet be kind to the one who has passed away. But with Éamonn Egan no such problem arises. For he was a very unusual man, pos sessing two qualities that rarely go together, an ice-clear mind and a tender heart. People admired his mind, so quick to see a problem, utterly fair in argument, always seeking the truth, but they loved the heart, so sensitive to the feelings of others, and identifying totally with them, especially in times of trial.

It was his power of clear thinking, articu lated so fluently, that made him a great teacher of philosophy both at Mungret and Milltown Park. He was the centre of the philosophy school in Mungret during the early 1960s and he won the unlimited admiration of the philosophers, not all of whom would have been satisfied with anything less than the best. I remember him often saying that the standard there was higher than at the Jesuit philosophy school in Tullabeg, where he had been a professor until its closure. It was never clear to me whether this remark was intended as a compliment to Mungret or a slight to Tullabeg! It is only fair to add that Eamonn never felt quite at home, teaching in the secondary school division of Mungret. He was a man destined for success, amongst minds more mature than is normal, or perhaps desirable, in the schoolboy world.

I once went on holiday with him, when we were both in Mungret. It was in one of those modest seaside boarding houses that flourished and indeed still flourish, in the west of Ireland. The hostess never adver tised, but the same families, very pleasant, but by no means unsophisticated, came there every year. In a matter of days; Eamonn was the most popular man in the house. This was, in part, due to his much admired talent for painting, but above all to his charm of manner, which was the outward expression of his natural feeling for people. He was so lacking in conceit, that when I pointed out his social success, he seemed both astonished and annoyed.

Those Mungret men now working as priests all over the world who had the privilege to be his students, will, I know, never forget him. I am certain that they are united in sympathy with his relatives and countless friends in Ireland, who still mourn such a tragic loss. May he rest in peace,

KF

Harper, Leslie, 1906-1969, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1410
  • Person
  • 26 September 1906-20 March 1969

Born: 26 September 1906, Paddington, Sydney, Australia
Entered: 18 February 1929, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 02 February 1945
Died: 20 March 1969, St Francis Xavier, Lavender Bay, North Sydney, Australia- Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Leslie Harper had only an elementary education, his family conducting a lucrative butchery. However, he went back to school, at St Aloysius' College and Riverview, to gain sufficient
education to enter the Society. He worked for some time as a photographers assistant. He passed the NSW Intermediate examination in 1928 at the age of 22.
Harper entered the noviciate at Loyola College, Greenwich, 18 February 1929, and went overseas for his studies, to Rathfarnham as a junior, Tullabeg, Jersey and Heythrop for philosophy, 1933-35. He returned to Australia for regency at Xavier College, 1935-36 and 1939, and at Burke Hall, 1937-38. Theology studies followed at Milltown Park and tertianship at Rathfarnham, 1939-44. He worked in the English parish of Preston for a year before he returned to Australia and the parish of Richmond in 1945. He was made superior and parish priest of Toowong, Qld, 1949-57, and then held a similar position in the parish of Richmond in the Melbourne archdiocese, 1957-64. He was a good parish priest - very paternal, kind and generous, well organised and enjoyed the authority and dignity of the position. While at Richmond he organised the building of the spire on the church.
He became unwell from heart disease, and joined the university scholastics at Campion College, Kew, as minister and assistant to the province bursar. He was much appreciated for his kindness and understanding and very positive in giving permissions, wide the phrase, “Oh, why not”. This attitude was in direct contrast to the rector who was more likely to deny requests. As his health deteriorated, he went to the parish of Lavender Bay, North Sydney, in 1968, when he died finally of a heart attack. Harper was not an intellectual, and always struggled with his Jesuit studies, but he was gifted in human relations. He loved being with Jesuits and was enjoyable company in recreation. He was most hospitable, and keenly felt any separation from his fellow Jesuits, especially when at Toowong. His cheerfulness and encouragement of others was much appreciated. He showed the zeal of a true pastor, knowing his people well, especially at Richmond.

Erraught, Michael, 1913-1971, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/142
  • Person
  • 17 May 1913-13 March 1971

Born: 17 May 1913, Tralee, County Kerry
Entered: 01 February 1934, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1945, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1948, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 13 March 1971, St Ignatius, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin

Entered 01 February 1931 - Left 01 May 1933 - Re-entered 01 February 1934;
Younger brother of Joe Erraught - RIP 1974
Early education at St Mary’s CBS Tralee, County Kerry
Studied BA at UCD
Tertianship at Rathfarnham

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 46th Year No 3 1971
Obituary :
Fr Michael Erraught SJ (1913-1971)

Fr Michael Erraught died in Dublin after an intermittent series of alarms patiently accepted. His health began to give cause for anxiety when he was engaged on the mission staff, attached to Tullabeg as a base.
His fine upstanding frame and the intensity of his application to work - agere quod agis made too many demands and the recurrence of a heart complaint at Tullamore, Galway and finally Leeson Street followed by tedious convalescences came to an issue on March 13th. Fr Joe, his brother, naturally would have desired to be near him more continuously in the last days but a mission in which he was engaged in the Crescent precluded more than a fugitive visit; Michael's strong family affection deprived of this solace was indulged partly by the devoted attention of their only sister, Mrs McSweeney, to whom and to Joe we offer sincerest sympathy.
Michael followed Joe to the novitiate after an interval of three years in 1931 and was deep into his second year when superiors thought his health because of his intensity, would benefit by a break. It was characteristic of him that when he was departing for home his words of farewell to his fellow novices were : “I'll be back”. So it was and in February 1934 he returned to repeat and complete the novitiate regime. After Emo Park, Rathfarnham and a degree; 1939 Tullabeg for philosophy, 1942 Clongowes for one year, 1943 Milltown, 1946 the priesthood. Clongowes again after the tertianship, 1953 Mungret where, having proved-if proof was necessary, his capacity, he became Prefect of Studies for five years; here among other tasks he largely innovated the laboratory and equipment for pursuing Intermediate and Leaving courses of chemistry and physics. He returned again to Clongowes in 1961 and thence to Tullabeg where from 1967-70 he engaged in mission and retreat work to the people.
It is apparent from the above that great part of his priestly work was transacted in the classroom. His aptitude was patent, his results in public examinations convincing. Classes were prepared with care, exercises corrected often in detail and boys realised that if industry was demanded it was not a one-way pact.
As a young priest his retreats were highly appreciated by the nuns and his devotion and patience as a confessor bought golden opinions; here again lectures were prepared fastidiously, every quotation checked and co-ordinated; his experience in this work was an augury of efficiency when finally he was drafted to this work as a whole-time occupation; on the mission staff he had the habit in his sermons of preparing verbatim his complete text.
He was particularly a community man not displaying or desiring to engage in visiting houses other than our own; at home and abroad, he had a nice sense of humour - he was devoted to his friends of whom naturally Fr Joe came first.
He may on occasion have been severe in his criticism of slovenly work but magnanimity asserted itself when the crisis had passed.
On the advent of ill-health he still endeavoured to fulfil his regular chores with whatever added sacrifices these entailed; his energy even in the last days at Leeson Street enabled him to complete the two booklets referred to in the last issue and his fortitude under trial, as it were, that he was being found out in that most sensitive trait of his make-up, was most admirable. May he rest in peace.

Hayes, John, 1909-1945, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/1423
  • Person
  • 15 February 1909-21 January 1945

Born: 15 February 1909, Ascot Terrace, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 01 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 07 February 1942, Mount St Mary’s College, Spinkhill, Derbyshire, England
Died: 21 January 1945, Katha (Yangon), Burma (Military Chaplain)

Second World War chaplain

Brother of Francis Hayes - LEFT 1932; Nephew of Francis Lyons - RIP 1933; Early education at Crescent College

Died as WWII Chaplain

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/education/fr-john-hayes-a-jesuit-at-war/

Fr John Hayes: a Jesuit at war
Limerickman Patrick McNamara has just published Their Name Liveth for Evermore, a book about the involvement of Limerick in the Second World War. Included is the story of Fr John Hayes SJ, a chaplain in the armed forces who died of typhus in Burma. John Hayes, the son of Michael and Agnes Hayes (nee Lyons), 21 Ascot Terrace, O’Connell Avenue, Limerick was born on 15th February 1909. His early education by the Jesuits at The Crescent College in the city was to be an introduction to the priestly life. He joined the Jesuits at St. Stanislaus College, Tullabeg where he started his novitiate in 1925. From 1934 until 1936 he taught as a scholastic at Belvedere College, Dublin. In 1936 he went on to study theology at Milltown Park, Dublin where he was ordained priest in July 1939. He was engaged in further studies until June 1941.
In July 1941, he was appointed as a chaplain to the British Army and writing back from Redcar, Yorkshire he expressed his feelings about his new appointment ‘completely at home and experiences no sense of strangeness’. In 1943 he was selected for overseas service and in May of that year, set sail for India. On arrival there, he was assigned to the 36th Division at Poona. In early 1944, the Division moved to the Arakan front, where it was committed to help stop the Japanese advance; the fighting was hard; this was John Hayes’ introduction to active service. He was to prove an outstanding chaplain who was both loved and respected by all with whom he came in contact with; he was a man of tireless energy and indomitable courage.
On the 31st August 1944, John, in a letter home, wrote:
The 36th Division is now fighting the Japs about 30 miles south of the ‘city’ of Mogaung, about 22 odd miles from Mandalay, to the north. Having left cool Assam (where I was able to help administer to many American troops who greatly edified by large numbers frequenting the Sacraments) we flew over the hills to Myitkyina and went by jeep-pulled train to the ruins of Mogaung, captured just before by our allies, chiefly Chinese. The fight started about 12 miles south of Mogaung (Hill 60) which was cleared by one of our brigades and continued (though not toughly) over 20 miles to the south, our men clearing the road and rail which run mostly together in the direction of Mandalay. We were ‘on the road to Mandalay’ for our sins!
I missed the first phase but fortunately was in for the second phase of the battle. I attached myself to a Scotch Regiment and gave them Mass, Confession and Communion standing by a stream. We were in a long narrow plain between hills. Our Chinese allies hold the hills: we advance along the road and rail southwards in the valley. Occasionally the heat is oppressive, but heavy rains and scanty overhead shelter are the great difficulties. Sickness: malaria, dysentery, bad feet, jungle sores are common. (I’m completely fit D.G.). Last Monday, the 28th of August, I buried a Catholic, Corporal Kelly; he lay dead 30 paces from the railway; 10 yards away a Jap sat, his back to Kelly, dead, with his hand resting on his knees. While the grave was being prepared the moaning of a dying Jap was heard 40 paces away. I baptised him conditionally; he died 15 minutes later. I was so thoroughly affected by his sufferings that I could hardly carry out the burial of Corporal Kelly for tears.
A Chinese interpreter is showing interest in the Catholic Faith. Our casualties were reasonably light. The Jap has displayed great heroism in spite of our dive-bombers, strafing and heavy guns (to which he has no reply in kind). He has stood his ground with sublime courage. I feel somehow that God will reward his enormous spirit of self-dedication. I find it an inspiration myself. The effect of actual work during action is terrific. One feels ready to sacrifice everything to save a single soul. So far God has given me the grace never to have felt fear on any occasion. No thanks to myself, for I know much better men who have felt fear. Largely, I think, a matter of natural complexion and texture of nerves. This monsoon-swept valley between low hills is beautifully and softly green with running streams, but it is a valley of death; many bodies lie decomposing; the villages are all smashed, the people homeless, and God is looking down, I think, with pity on it all …….
It was during the hard fighting to capture Myitkyina, that Fr. Hayes was to earn the soubriquet of ‘Battling Hayes’. After Myitkyina, the Division pushed on to the Irrawaddy. It was on the banks of the great river that Fr. Hayes was to die, not from battle wounds but from disease.
On 28th December 1944 he was evacuated to the casualty clearing station at Katha where he was diagnosed as suffering from typhus. His condition got progressively worse, pneumonia set in. Fr. Hayes must have sensed that the end was near; he requested the last rites on 6th January 1945. John died on 21st January 1945 on the banks of the Irrawaddy just two months before the 14th Army decisively defeated the Japanese at Meiktila, on the road to Mandalay and Rangoon.
John’s work as a chaplain is best described by an old Belvederian, Captain William Ward of the 36th Division, in a letter to the Rector of Belvedere after the death of John.
Dear Fr. Rector,
As an old Belvederian, I feel it my duty to give you the sad news of the death of an old member of the staff of Belvedere. I refer to the late Fr. John Hayes S.J. who died of typhus at Katha on the Irrawaddy in Central Burma on January 21st 1945. He was our chaplain here in the 16th Division and a more likeable man one would find it hard to meet. He was loved by one and all from our G.O.C., General Festing, who was a Catholic, to the most humble Indian.
He joined us at Poona in 1943 and came with the Division to the Arakan early last year and later flew in with us on our present operation. To one and all he was known as ‘Battling Hayes’, utterly devoid of any fear. It was only on the express order of General Festing that he took his batman to act as escort when on his rounds. No matter where one went, more especially in the height of battle, there one would find Fr. Hayes in his peculiar dress: Ghurkha hat, battledress blouse and blue rugger shorts. It was common to see him walking along a road known to be infested with the enemy, without any protection of any kind, happy in the thought that he was doing his job.
The highest praise I can pay Fr. Hayes, and this our present chaplain, Fr. Clancy from Clare, agrees with me, is that he reminded me very much of the late Fr. Willie Doyle. Nothing mattered; monsoon, rain, heat, disease, the enemy, his one thought was to be among his flock, doing all he could to help them. Nothing was too much trouble and the further forward a Unit was, the greater his delight in going forward to celebrate Mass. By his death all the Catholics of his Division and many of the Protestants, have lost a great friend and the finest chaplain one could wish to have ….
In a letter to John’s mother, General (later Field Marshal) Festing, wrote:
I would like on behalf of this Division and myself to express our very deepest sympathy to you in the loss of your son. We all were fond of Fr. Hayes who was an exemplification of all that a Catholic Priest and an Army Chaplain should be. He was a tireless worker, and if any man worked himself to death, it was he. Your son was an undoubted saint and he died fortified by the rites of Holy Church. May he rest in peace.
Fr. John Hayes was 36 years old when he died. He is buried in grave 7A. F. 24, Taukkyan War Cemetery, outside Yangon (formerly Rangoon) in Myanmar (Burma). He was the only Irish Jesuit chaplain to have died during the Second World War.
Their Name Liveth For Evermore by Patrick McNamara, is available from most book shops in Limerick city. The main centre is: Hamsoft Communication, Tait Buiness Centre, Limerick. Phone (061) 416688. Price €30.00 (hardback only) + P/P. ISBN 0-9554386-0-8.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Went to Juniorate without First Vows. Died in January 1945 from typhus while a Chaplain in the British Army in India

◆ 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 20th Year No 2 1945

Fr. John Hayes, Chaplain to the British Forces in Burma, died of typhus on January 21st, 1945.

Irish Province News 20th Year No 2 1945

Obituary

Fr. John Hayes (1909-1925-1945)

Fr. John Hayes died on the Feast of St. Agnes, Sunday morning, January 21st, 1945, as Senior Catholic Chaplain to the British Forces on the Burma Front.
Born at Limerick on February 15th, 1909, he was educated at the Crescent, and entered the Novitiate at Tullabeg on September 1st, 1925. Two years later he commenced his four years' Juniorate at Rathfarnham whence, in 1930, he returned to Tullabeg as one of the first group to do philosophy there. During these years of study he gave good promise as a writer, and had published a number of articles dealing with life and activity in the Mission Fields of the Church.
From Tullabeg he went to Belvedere for his three years teaching, 1933-36. In his final year there his love of the Missions found outlet through the Mission Society of which he was a zealous and capable Director.
At the end of three years' Theology at Milltown he was ordained by the Most Rev. Dr. Wall on July 31st, 1939. In September, 1940, Fr. Hayes was again at Rathfarnham for his Tertianship, which ended with his appointment in July, 1941, as a Chaplain to the British Army. He reported duty on September 1st, and by the following month wrote of himself as being “completely at home” in his new life . During the next year and a half he was stationed in various parts of England. On February 7th, 1942, he took his final vows at St. Mary's, Spinkhill. Early in the year 1943 he was selected for overseas service. At the end of a long sea voyage he found himself in India, where, as Chaplain to the 36th Division he did valiant work for many months prior to departure for the Burma front.
During practically the whole of 1944 Fr, Hayes was with his men in the jungle-fighting in Burma. It was a tough assignment, but the asceticism which for so long had moulded his character stood every test and strain. In their Chaplain the men saw a strong, fearless man of God fired by an intense passion to win all he could for Christ. Affectionately, they dubbed him “Battling Hayes”. Hardship and privation found him always cheerful. Weariness and fatigue seemed strangers to him. If he felt any fear of wounds or death he never gave sign of it. His courageous conduct through the long months of fierce jungle fighting was an inspiration to every officer and man who witnessed it. General Festing, under whom Fr. Hayes served, resisted every effort to have him transferred from his divisional command. The General being a Catholic, appreciated the sources of his Padre's tireless energy and indomitable courage. Writing of him after his death General Festing stated that “Fr. Hayes was an exemplification of all that a Catholic Priest and an army chaplain should be. He was a tireless worker, and if any man worked himself to death, it was he. He was an undoubted saint”.
On December 28th, 1944. Fr. Hayes was evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station at Katha in Central Burma. His complaint was diagnosed as typhus. About the 6th of January, though the disease was taking its normal course, Fr. Hayes requested and received the last Sacraments. From that time until he was unable to swallow, he received Viaticum, every day. Pneumonia set in, and Fr. Hayes' condition became progressively worse. For about a week he was unable to speak to anyone, but he retained the use of his mental faculties up to the end. During his last night Fr. Hickson, a fellow chaplain who ministered to him during his prolonged battle with death, sat at his bedside until Mass time the following, Sunday, morning. Fr. Hickson's Mass was offered for his dying friend who passed away peacefully just as the Mass was finished.
A coffin was hard to come by, but thanks to the Providence of God one was secured, and vested in chaplain's Mass vestments the remains of “Battling Hayes” were laid to rest the same day, after an evening Requiem Mass, in the Catholic section of the public cemetery at Katha on the Irrawaddy river about 120 miles north from Mandalay. May he rest in peace.

LETTERS ABOUT FR. JOHN HAYES :

In the last letter Fr. Hayes wrote to his people, received before the news of his death, he mentions that he had baptised a dying Japanese and made his first Hindoo convert.
The last message Fr. Provincial received from him, greetings for Christmas, was dated November 28th,

A letter from THE SISTER IN CHARGE OF THE HOSPITAL, written on January 12th, says he is still seriously ill, but expresses the hope that there will be more cheerful news soon. She adds : “I shall write every week until he is able to do so himself”.

Mrs. Hayes, Fr. John's mother, received the following letter from the COMMANDING OFFICER of the 30th Division : January 24th.
“Dear Mrs. Hayes, I would like on behalf of this Division and myself to express our very deepest sympathy to you in the loss of your son. We all were very fond of Fr. Hayes who was an exemplification of all that a Catholic Priest and an Army Chaplain should be. He was a tireless worker, and if any man worked himself to death, it was he. Your son was an undoubted saint and he died fortified by the rites of Holy Church. May he rest in peace. Yours sincerely, FRANCIS FESTING, MAJ. GEN.”

MGR. J. COGHLAN, Principal Catholic Chaplain, writing from London on January 29th to Fr. Provincial, says :
“I very much regret to have to inform you that your father J. Hayes died of typhus in India, on January 21st. R.I.P. Father Hayes was a grand priest and a splendid chaplain. He did magnificent work in every post he was given, and was held in the highest esteem by all ranks with whom he came in contact. I can ill afford to lose the services of such a good priest, and we can only say: 'God's Will be done.' I send you and the Society my deepest sympathy. You have lost a great priest, and I have lost a great chaplain. I should be glad to think that you would convey to his relatives my deep sympathy in their loss”.

In a later communication Mgr. Coghlan sent the following details furnished by the REV. JOSEPH GARDNER, Senior Chaplain, South East Asia, on January 28th. :
“Fr. Hayes was anointed at his own request in the early days of the illness, and received Viaticum daily as long as he was able to swallow. After pneumonia set in, he was again anointed and finally died quietly and peacefully on Sunday morning, January 21st, just at the moment of the conclusion of the Mass that Fr. Hickson was offering for him. He was buried, coffined and in his vestments, in the Catholic section of the cemetery at Katha, R.I.P.”

FR. A. CLANCY, O.F., H.Q. 36 Division, to Fr. Provincial, 29-1-45 :
“Fr. John Hayes became ill with typhus a few days before the beginning of the New Year, and was removed to the Casualty Clearing Station to which I was at the time attached. He went steadily down hill, but we hoped that his strong constitution would carry him through. As time went by it became evident there was no hope for him, and he died on Sunday morning, January 21st. Fr. Hickson, my successor at the hospital, was with him constantly till the end, and gave him the last Sacraments. He received Holy Communion until a few mornings before he died as long as he was able to swallow.
His death was a great shock to the Division where he was universally popular and especially to the three priests who were associated with him here. I myself feel a deep sense of personal loss, as we joined the Army from Ireland almost at the same time. We were both in Northern Command, travelled out to India together, and had been near one another since I joined the 36th Division six months ago.
He was an ideal chaplain and a worthy son of St. Ignatius. He was completely forgetful of personal risks when the spiritual welfare of the men was concerned. In this respect he always reminded me of Fr. Willie Doyle. When he heard of Fr. Hayes death General Festing said to me that he had killed himself for his men, and this remark is literally true.
May I offer you on my own behalf and for the other chaplains of, this Division our deepest sympathy on the loss the Irish Jesuit Province has sustained?”

FR. C. NAUGHTON, 29-1 -45 :
“I got quite a shock this morning on reading of the death of the Rev. John Hayes from typhus. R.I.P. I heard earlier in the week that we had a chaplain casualty, as a padre was suddenly posted off to the forward area to replace him. I never dreamed that it was the Rev. John. By all accounts Fr. Hayes was a second Willie Doyle. He seemed not to know what fear was, and was always in the thick of things. He will be greatly missed by his Division, as he was tremendously popular. About three months ago a young soldier after returning from Burma wished to be received into the Church. On being asked why he desired to change his religion, he replied : ‘Sir, we have a R.C. padre who has greatly impressed me. A man who exposes himself to so much danger to save souls must have the true religion?’ Fr. Hayes was his divisional chaplain, I am writing to our S.C.F. to find out as much accurate news as possible about him. May be rest in peace.

FR. C. PERROTT, 5-2-45 :
“You have heard no doubt by this time of the death of Fr. John Hayes, R.I.P. I am very sorry that up to the present I have no news to give you beyond the bare fact. His death came as a great shock to me, I can assure you, and upset me very much. I had heard from Fr. Nevin that Fr. Hayes had gone down sick with typhus at the beginning of January or the end of December, and then got no news till I received a note from the same source last Friday announcing his death. I wrote at once to Fr. Nevin asking him to give me all the details and particulars he could about it. I have heard many people out here speak very highly of Fr. Hayes and of the tremendous work he was doing. His death will be a great loss to us, - but he will get a great reward for his zeal and enthusiasm”.

FR. C. PERROTT, 5-3-45: The cemetery in which he is buried is only a temporary one, and later on the remains will be moved into a central one, and due notice of its location will be sent you. All his personal effects will come through, after some very considerable delay, through the usual official channels”.

FR, GEORGE HICKSON, C.F., to Fr. Provincial, 15-2-45 :
“Fr. Hayes took ill with typhus on December 28th, 1944, and was evacuated to the 22 C.C.S. Typhus is a pretty terrible disease. It is heartbreaking to watch a patient suffering with it grow progressively worse. This is what happened to John. I gave him at his own request all the Sacraments and the Papal Blessing. That was about January 8th. He received Holy Viaticum daily as long as he could swallow. We had hopes of his recovery till the 18th, then pneumonia set in, and I gave him Extreme Unction again. He was conscious, in our opinion, right up to the end, although for the last week or so he was unable to speak. He was quite reconciled to death, which he did not dread in the least. I think he offered himself in reparation for the sins of the world, and almost gave the impression that he desired death for this end. was greatly influenced by the life of Fr. W. Doyle. He passed away very peacefully at 8.55 on the morning of Sunday, January 21st, 1945, just as I was concluding a Mass which I offered for him. He was with me in the 36th Division for the whole year in which we have been in action. He was loyal and devoted to his work, and, I think, worried himself over perfecting every detail. Everyone who knew him said that he was not of this world, and non-Catholic officers were unanimous in their good opinion of him. I buried him in his vestments, and I am glad to say that I was able to secure a coffin. He lies in the public cemetery at Katha, which is on the River Irrawaddy about 120 miles north of Mandalay. We erected a nice cross and railings around his grave. In his life and in his death he was an example and an ornament to the priesthood”.

FR. E. J. WARNER, S.J., of the Chaplains' Department of the War Office sent to Fr. Provincial, 22-3-45, a short letter addressed to Mgr. Coghlan by the REY. M. J. O'CARROLL, S.C.F., now in England. The latter was Senior Chaplain in India when Fr. Hayes went out there :
“Fr. Hayes was an exceptionally fine Chaplain. Would you, please, convey to his next-of-kin and to his Religious Superior an expression of my deep sympathy ? At the next Chaplains' Conference Mass will be offered up for the repose of his soul. R.I.P.”

From an OLD BELVEDERIAN, attached to the 36th Division, to the Rector of Belvedere :
Dear Fr. Rector, As an old Belvederian I feel it my duty to give you the sad news of the death of an old member of the staff of Belvedere. I refer to the late Fr. John Hayes, S.J. Fr. Hayes died of typhus at Katha on the Irrawaddy in Central Burma on January 21st, 1945. He was our chaplain here in the 36th Division, and a more likeable man one would find it hard to meet. He was loved by all, from our G.O.C. General Festing, who is a Catholic, to the most humble Indian. He joined us in Poona in 1943, and came with the Division to the Arakan early last year, and later flew in with us on our present operation. To one and all he was known as Battling Hayes, utterly devoid of any fear. It was only on the express order of General Festing that he took his batman to act as escort when on his rounds. No matter where one went, more especially in the height of battle, there one would find Fr. Hayes, in his peculiar dress : Ghurka bat, battle-dress blouse and blue rugger shorts. It was common to see him walking along a road known to be infested with the enemy, without any protection of any kind, happy in the thought that he was doing his job. The highest praise I can pay Fr. Hayes, and in this our present chaplain, Fr. Clancy from Clare, agrees with me, is that he reminded me very much of the late Fr. Willie Doyle. Nothing mattered : monsoon, rain, heat, disease, the enemy. His one thought was to be among his flock, doing all he could to help them. Nothing was too much trouble, and the further forward a Unit was, the greater his delight in going forward to celebrate Mass. By his death all the Catholics of this Division, and many of the Protestants, have lost a great friend and the finest chaplain one could wish to have. I hope you will be good enough to pass this sad news to Fr. Provincial. I believe his address is Gardiner Street, but, as I am not sure, I thought it better to inform you. No doubt either Fr. Hayes' mother, who was next-of-kin, or Fr. Provincial will be informed in due course by the War Office. Another Belvederian whom I may meet again one day is Fr. Tom Ryan, whose voice I often hear on the Chunking radio, giving talks on English literature. My very best respects to any who knew me in Belvedere, and your good self. I am, dear Fr. Rector, your's very sincerely, W. A. WARD, CAPT. (1923-1931).

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Hayes SJ 1909-1945
Father John Hayes was born in Limerick in 1909 and was regarded by his contemporaries as a saint and mystic.

As a philosopher he kept the minimum of furniture in his room, a bed which he seldom slept in, and an orange box which served as a wash stand and general work-table. The rest was put out in the corridor. Superiors had to check his austerity. While these signs of singularity disappeared in later life, he maintained and extraordinary communion with God, and a single-mindedness of dedication, which as a priest was turned into a burning thirst for souls.

He got his chance in the Second World War. He became a Chaplain and was stationed in Burma in the thick of the jungle-warfare. To the troops he was known as “Battling Hayes”. He was tireless in whi work and seemed consumed with a burning passion to save souls for Christ. General Festing was his close friend and admirer.

On December 28th he retured to hospital, not too ill, but his complaint turned out to be typhus, and he died on January 21st, 1945, young in years but ripe in merit. A coffin was hard to come by, but the difficulty was overcome, and vested in his chaplain’s robes, he was laid to rest at Katha, in the Irawaddy rover, 120 miles from Mandalay.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1945

Obituary

Father John Hayes SJ

Those who knew Fr. John Hayes, who worked as a scholastic in Belvedere from 1934 to 1936, . Were not surprised to hear of the holy and heroic manner of his death last January, as Senior Catholic Chaplain to the British Forces on the Burma Front.

“Fr, Hayes”, wrote Major General Festing, in whose Division he served, “was an exemplification of all that a Catholic Priest and an Army Chaplain should be. He was a tireless worker, and if any man worked himself to death, it was he”. He “was an undoubted saint”.

And here is a letter to Fr. Rector from Captain William A Ward, of the 36th Division:

“Dear Fr. Rector, As an old Belvederian I feel it my duty to give you the sad news of the death of an old member of the staff of Belvedere. I refer to the late Fr John Hayes SJ Fr. Hayes died of typhus at Katha on the Irrawaddy in Central Burma on January 21st, 1945. He was our chaplain here in the 36th Division, and a more likeable man one would find it hard to meet. He was loved by all, from our GOC - General Festing, who is a Catholic, to the most humble Indian. He joined us in Poona in 1943, and came with the Division to the Arakan early last year, and later flew in with us on our present operation. To one and all he was known as ‘Battling Hayes”, utterly devoid of any fear. It was only on the express order of General Festing that he took his batman to act as escort when on his rounds. No matter where one went, more especially in the height of battle, there one would find Fr Hayes, in his peculiar dress; Ghurka hat, battle dress blouse and blue rugger shorts. It was common to see him walking along a road known to be infested with the enemy, without any protection of any kind, happy in the thought that he was doing his job. The highest praise I can pay Fr. Hayes, and in this our present chaplain, Fr Clancy from Clare, agrees with me, is that he reminded me very much of the late Fr Willie Doyle. Nothing mattered : monsoon, rain, heat, disease, the enemy: his one thought was to be among his flock, doing all he could to help them. Nothing was too much trouble, and the further forward a Unit was, the greater his delight in going forward to celebrate Mass. By his death all the Catholics of this Division, and many of the Protestants, have lost a great friend and the finest chaplain one could wish to have. My very best respects to any who knew me in Belvedere, and your good self.
I am, dear Fr Rector, yours very sincerely,

W A Ward, Capt (1923-1931).

Fahy, John, 1874-1958, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/143
  • Person
  • 05 February 1874-25 January 1958

Born: 05 February 1874, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1891, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 10 August 1909, Valkenburg, Netherlands
Final Vows: 02 February 1911, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 25 January 1958, St Ignatius College, Manresa, Norwood, Adelaide, Australia

Transcribed : HIB to ASL 05 April 1931

Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus : 22 February 1922-1931.
John Keane was Vice Provincial for [six] months while Fr Fahy was in Rome from Sep. 1923 – [Feb.] 1924.
Vice Provincial - Australian Vice-Province 05 April 1931

by 1904 at Valkenburg, Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1906 at Leuven, Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1913 at Linz Austria (ASL) making Tertianship
Provincial 25 February 1922
Vice-Provincial Australia 05 April 1931

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Note from Thomas Maher Jr Entry
He died at the residence of his sister in Thurles 12 February 1924. During his illness the local clergy were most attentive, visiting him daily as his end drew near. He was also frequently visited by the Provincial John Fahy.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
Early education was at Coláiste Iognáid Galway before Entering at S Stanislaus College Tullabeg 1891.

He studied in Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium and was Ordained 1909.
1912-1913 He made Tertianship at Linz Austria
1914-1919 He was at Belvedere College, Dublin as Prefect of Studies [then Rector]
1919-1920 He was appointed Rector of Mungret College Limerick
1922-1931 He was appointed Provincial of the Irish Province
1931-1947 He was appointed first Vice-Provincial of Australia, after which he became Master of Novices and then Tertian Instructor (1941-1947)
1947-1958 He was sent to St Ignatius College Norwood as a curate, and he died there.

He was held in such high esteem that he attended four General Congregations of the Society of Jesus, the last of which was in 1957, and this was a record in the Society.

He was one of the most remarkable men to have worked in Australia. During his Provincialate in the Irish Province he built the Rathfarnham Castle Retreat House and Juniorate, and the Irish Mission to Hong Kong was established. In Australia he built Loyola College Watsonia during the depression years, and later Canisius College Pymble.

He was a typical administrator with strength to complete his vision. He did not find decision making difficult. He was also a shy, reserved man, with whom it could be difficult to make light conversation. Some found him forbidding and lacking personal warmth. But, he was a solidly spiritual man and very understanding of one’s problems once rthe ice was broken. He probably found it hard to simply be an ordinary Jesuit in community once he left high office, but he did try to be genial and affable. It was probab;y also difficult for ordinary Jesuits to relate to him in any other way than that of his being a Superior.

Note from Jeremiah Sullivan Entry
The province liked him more than either his predecessor, William Lockington, or his successor, John Fahy

◆ 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 John Neary Entry
In 1926 Fr John Fahy appointed him and George Byrne to respond to the request from Bishop Valtora of Hong Kong for Jesuit help.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 7th Year No 2 1932
Australia :
Fr J. Fahy, late Irish Provincial, and first Provincial of the new Vice-province of Australia, tells us about impressions made on him by the people of his new home
“I have been in this country about a month, and ever since my arrival I have been really amazed at several things. One of them is the amazing progress and power of the Catholic Church in Australia. We had heard in the Old Land, and had frequently read about your doings, about your love for the Faith, your devotion to your pastors,but really the sight of what you are doing far surpasses anything that we read in our newspapers.
Another thing that surprises me is the readiness of many to help the next man, that I am told, is a characteristic of the Australian people.
Not many days ago I was leaving Sydney and I had a letter to post. It was raining fairly heavily, and as I was going to the station by car. I thought I would stop and risk getting wet while rushing into the Post Office. I had just pulled up at the herb when a man rushed out from a near by doorway, and, though he did hot know who I was, and no doubt did not care, said “ Don't come out into the rain, I will post your letter for you.” That, I think, is typical of the prompt readiness with which the average Australian desires to help his fellows.

Irish Province News 20th Year No 2 1945

Australia :
Fr. John Fahy, Provincial of Ireland 1922-23), was appointed Tertian Instructor of the Vice-Province of Australia, this year, and began work on February 15th. The Long Retreat, made by fourteen Fathers, commenced soon afterwards.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 4 1946

GENERAL CONGREGATION :

Letters :

Fr. John Fahy, to Fr. Vice-Provincial, 10-9-46 :
“Your three Electors are flourishing, notwithstanding a fierce sirocco which has been burning the Romans ever since our arrival. All the Electors have now arrived, with the exception of four : Lithuania, Romania, Croatia and one German. To-morrow we begin our quattriduum, all - I think - feeling confident of Divine Help and Guidance. Rome is filled with men and women, all come for General Chapters, so we live in an election atmosphere”.

Province News 33rd Year No 2 1958

Obituary :

Fr John Fahy (1874-1958)

Fr. Fahy was born and brought up in Galway. He got his early education at St. Ignatius' College and entered the Society in, 1891.
In 1893 he went to the Juniorate at Milltown Park. In the following year, when I went there, I began to appreciate more and more his unselfish kindness and readiness to help, and his clearness and accuracy of mind. In some ways he was exceedingly simple. For instance, in the autumn of 1895, Fr. Sutton, who had just taken over the command of Milltown Park, summoned a meeting of Theologians and Juniors, proclaimed a severe code of laws, and invited questions. The theologians proceeded to ask a number of very ingenious questions, each tending to confuse the issues more and more, and to make our obligations less and less clear. The one person (apart from Fr. Sutton) to whom it would not appear that this result was intentional was John Fahy. He stood up and said : “Father, in order to be perfectly clear, is it this, or this, or that?” And, of course, it was that; all the clouds were swept away, and John was quite unconscious of the furious glances directed at him!
Towards the end of 1895, the Juniors were transferred to Tullabeg, and Mr. Fahy went with them to teach Mathematics and Physics. He remained with them until 1898, when he was sent to teach the same subjects at Clongowes. In 1901 he returned to Tullabeg as “Min. Schol. Jun”, and Prefect of Studies of the Juniorate.
In 1903 he went to Valkenburg in Holland, then the house of Philosophy of the German Province; Bismarck's ban on the Society was still in force in Germany. In 1905 he went to Louvain for Theology, was ordained in 1908, finished his course the following year, and went to Linz for his Tertianship in 1909-10. He left everywhere a high reputation both for character and scholarship. On his return to Ireland in 1910, the Provincial, Fr. William Delany, wanted to make him Master of Novices. This caused him much alarm, and he persuaded Fr. Delany to look elsewhere. He was sent to Belvedere, first as Prefect of Studies, then as Minister and in 1913 as Rector. His time in Belvedere, ending in 1919, was a period of steady advance in the fortunes of the College.
One day during the rising in Easter week, 1916, some of the front windows of Belvedere were shattered by a volley from a company of soldiers in Great George's Street. Fortunately the community were at lunch, and the refectory was at the back of the house. Fr. Fahy opened the hall door, walked down to the soldiers and explained to them the mistake they were making. He also pointed out some other houses, such as the Loreto Convent, from which they need not fear any sniping. He also, during those days, drove a number of food vans, whose ordinary drivers shrank from coming into the zone of fire.
In 1919 he was appointed Moderator of the Mungret Apostolic School, and in the following year he became Rector of the College. In 1922 Fr. General appointed Visitors to all the Provinces of the Society, and Fr. W. Power, Visitor to Ireland, appointed Fr. Fahy Provincial.
His Provincialate (1922-31) was a period of considerable advance for the Province and of much promise for the future, a promise which, God be thanked, is being realised. In the early days of his generation, foreign missions were for us little more than a fairy tale, true, no doubt, but remote from experience. Fr. Fahy, when the prospect of the Hong Kong mission appeared, succeeded in conveying his own enthusiasm to the Province. In choosing a Superior he looked for and found a man of courage and enterprise who was ready to go ahead and take risks. A few years later the question of taking on a district in China itself arose at a Provincial Congregation. China was being overrun by the Japanese at the time, and there was much confusion. of opinion. When everyone else had spoken, Fr Fahy stood up in his turn. He made no attempt to press his point, but very simply stated the case as he saw it. He got a practically unanimous vote. The same thing happened when the question arose of making the Australian mission independent of the Irish Province. Nobody, Australian or Irish, seemed to know what to think. Once more when, Fr. Fahy had spoken the vote was unanimous. I think it was on that occasion that Fr. Thomas Finlay remarked : “That's the greatest Provincial I have known”.
When the Australian mission became first a Vice-Province and then a Province, Fr. Fahy was its first Superior. Under his guidance it made remarkable progress, which it has continued to make under his successors; in fact, in spite of the very satisfactory increase in the numbers of the Province, it is difficult to find men to fill all the openings that present themselves.
He conducted a Visitation of the Philippines which, I have heard, bore excellent fruit.
In recent years he had been acting as a curate, and it is said that the children in the streets used run to greet him; which shows that his generous and kindly heart had succeeded in conquering his reticence. The feeling of his brethren towards him was shown by their electing him, at the age of eighty-three, to represent them at the General Congregation.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Fahy SJ 1874-1958
The name of Fr John Fahy is revered not only in the Irish and Australian Provinces, but throughout the Society in general.This reputation he acquied from his participation in Genereal Congregations. It was remarkable how in any discussion, Fr Fahy would sum up the matter in dispute in a few clipped, concise words, and give a solution, which always won approval and carried the day.

He was born in Galway in 1874, and educated at St Ignatius, entering the Society in 1891. The greater part of his studies were done abroad.

When Fr William Power was made Visitor to the Province in 1922, he appointed Fr Fahy provincial. His term of office lasted until 1931, and during that time great expansion took place. We acquired our foreign Mission in Hong Kong, the retreat House at Rathfarnham was built, Emo Park was bought and a great increase in the number of novices took place. Fr Tom Finlay said of him “that was the greatest Provincial he had ever known”.

When Australia became a Vice-Province in 1931, Fr Fahy went out there as Superior. The rest of his life he devoted to Australia, as Superior, Master of Novices, Master of Tertians.

In 1937 he was appointed Visitor to the Philippines.

At the age of 83, he was chosen by his brethren in Australia to represent them at the General Congregation.

After such a life of outstanding work for God and the Society, he died on January 25th 1928. He was a man of great judgement, of vision, of courage and constancy in carrying out what he had planned.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1958

Obituary

Father John Fahy SJ

Fr John Fahy who has died in Australia was successively during the years 1910 to 1919, Prefect of Studies, Minister, and from 1913, Rector of Belvedere, His time here. in these various offices was a period of steady advance in the fortunes of the house.

We are told that one day during the rising in Easter Week, 1916, some of the windows of Belvedere facing George's Street were shattered by a yolley from a company of soldiers. The Community were at lunch in the back of the house and so, fortunately, no one was hurt. Fr Fahy opened the hall door, advanced towards the soldiers and explained to them the mistake they were making. He also pointed out some other houses, such as the Loreto Convent, from which they need not fear Sniping. During those troubled times he frequently drove a number of food vans, whose ordinary drivers shrank from entering the firing zones.

In 1922 he was appointed Provincial of the Irish Province. He held this office until 1931. During those years he made many important decisions, chief among which were the foundation of the Mission in Hong Kong, the decision to make the Australian Mission independent of the Isish Province. In matters such as these he was clear headed and decisive. It was as a result of such an occasion that Fr Tom Finlay declared about Fr. Fahy: “That's the greatest Provincial I have known”.

When the Australian Mission became first a Vice Province and then a Province, Fr. Fahy was its first Superior. Under his guidance it made the remarkable progress, which it has continued to make over the years; in fact, in spite of the satisfactory increase in numbers of the Province, it is difficult to find men to fill all the openings that present themselves.

In recent years he had been acting as a Curate and it is said that the children in the streets used to run out to greet him when he appeared; which goes to show that his kindness of heart had at last conquered his characteristic reticence. At the age of eighty-three the seal was placed on his life of service to the Society of Jesus, when his brethren showed their confidence in him by electing him to represent them at the General Congregation.

Hehir, Noel, 1898-1947, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1438
  • Person
  • 20 December 1898-10 June 1947

Born: 20 December 1898, Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 11 March 1917, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1929, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1939
Died: 10 June 1947, Holy Name Seminary, Christchurch, New Zealand - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Younger brother of Thomas (Tom) - RIP 1955

by 1923 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Noel Hehir was a meticulous scholar with a profound respect for humane learning. He was educated by the Christian Brothers and at Xavier College. He entered the Society 11 March 1917, studied in Dublin, gaining first class honors in Greek and Latin. He studied philosophy in Louvain, spent a year teaching at Clongowes, and read theology at Milltown Park, Dublin, where he showed a special taste for Greek petrology. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1929. He also gained an MA in classics during this time, specialising in the history of Roman colonisation.
After tertianship at St Beuno's, Wales, Hehir's first appointment was minister of juniors at Loyola, Greenwich and Watsonia, 1931-36. He directed the first group of Australian scholastics who did their humanities studies at home, either internally or at the university. He had very high ideals about the meaning of education, and was very strict in applying the Ratio Studiorum. He strongly fostered intellectual life, giving the scholastics an appreciation of current Catholic culture. To this end he built up the college library with Catholic literature, and kept the scholastics in contact with the literary side of Catholic Action.
Hehir spent 1937 as prefect of studies at Xavier College before serving two years as rector of St Aloysius' College. He was appointed rector of Riverview, 1940-45. He spent one year,
1946, as a lecturer of fundamental theology at Canisius College, Pymble, as well as lecturer in scholastic philosophy at St John's and Sancta Sophia Colleges, University of Sydney, before his last appointment as rector of the Holy Name Seminar Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1947. He died of cancer that year after a brief illness .
Other Jesuits described Hehir as a good religious, a classical scholar, hard on himself and others, and setting an example of Jesuit life as he had experienced it in Ireland and Belgium. His early death was a disappointment to many He was a highly respected lecturer, teacher, preacher and retreat-giver, as well as administrator and educator. The headmaster of Shore, L.C. Robson, in a tribute in the “Sydney Morning Herald” wrote of the respect and affection of the Headmasters Conference for him. He admired Hehir's scholarship and wise counsel, and the influence of his personal character and outlook on education, shown through his spiritual quality and resoluteness in standing for his conviction, but not less by his tolerance and breadth of sympathy. They enjoyed Hehir's company and conversation.
It was while he was rector of the two Sydney colleges that Hehir made his mark in education. He was a very active and influential member of educational organisations. He was instrumental in reviving the Classical Society of NSW, and was its president for two years, being a powerful advocate of the importance of the classics in secondary education. He was prominent on the Catholic Secondary Teachers Association, the NSW Teachers' Guild, and the Headmasters Conference. His colleagues appreciated his geniality and simplicity, his power of sympathy and his utter unselfishness.
During his short stay at St Aloysius' College, Hehir was totally involved in the life of the college, especially by teaching and coaching sport. He purchased property at East Willoughby
for the college sporting ground. As headmaster he was involved with every aspect of the boys education. He taught senior classes and coached junior boys' sport. Some found him over severe in his discipline procedures and even unjust. He had no secretary, and the administration of the college was generally done late at night. Yet this did not interfere with his strict religious regime. Prayer was very important for him.
Six years at Riverview made it possible for Hehir to have an influence on the college. He was probably the most scholarly-minded rector since Patrick Keating, and combined intellectual gifts with practical wisdom. He coached cricket and football, taught English and arithmetic to the lower grades, and tutored boys privately outside class. The number of day boys at the college increased during these years and he wiped out the college debt in 1943-a remarkable achievement.
In educational discourses he stressed the importance of character training and good discipline He warned students to beware of self-indulgence, and the need to practice self-sacrifice. Hehir wanted education to extend to the wider population, not just to the upper social classes. For this reason he introduced technical and rural subjects into the curriculum at Riverview. He believed that “happiness is an essential means for all truly effective education”.
Hehir was a scholar who thought deeply about how to make important Christian values and Jesuit ideals relevant. Non-Jesuits praised him for being a good companion, for his charm, goodness and learning. Some Jesuits found him less friendly and even austere, but nevertheless respected his spirit, intellect and hard work. They praised him for his personal charm, his amazing industry, and great readiness to be of service to anyone at any time. Many priests and religious appreciated him for the zeal and asceticism that he showed in his retreats. Hehir was a sound educationalist who expressed his ideas clearly and forcefully His style of leadership was fundamentally one of example-he expected people to do as he did. Ultimately, his gifts of nature and grace were considerable, and his influence during his short life was substantial.

Note from Tom Hehir Entry
He was devoted to his younger brother, Noel, and after his death, Tom seemed to lose his own grip on life.

Note from Johnny Meagher Entry
As Vice-Provincial he clashed with the Rector of Riverview, Noel Hehir, over his expulsion of members of the Meagher clan. Meagher overruled Hehir, an action Hehir never forgot. When the latter was dying he did not want to see Meagher.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 7th Year No 2 1932

Australia :

Fr. N. Hehir and Br. V. Moran (scholastic novice) sailed for Australia towards the end of last year. An interesting experience was waiting for them at Naples, which we tell in Fr. Hehir's own words “We found ourselves booked to take part in a remarkable ceremony at Naples. A printed programme announced that I was to say Mass in the Gesù coram Cardinali. Fortunately the boat was late. The Provincial said the Mass. On arriving, the two of us were led down the Church (in white soutanes) in the middle of a stirring sermon delivered by the Cardinal Archbishop. Then came a sermon by one of the two scholastics who were being farewelled. Then an embarrassing ceremony - a Neapolitan tradition - apparently followed. All the clergy, led by the Cardinal, kissed the feet of the four missionaries. Lunch followed in the novitiate. Finally we were raced back to catch our boat just before sailing hour.

Irish Province News 22nd Year No 3 1947

Obituary :
Fr. Noel Hehir (1898-1917-1947)
Fr. Hehir was born in Melbourne and received his secondary education at Xavier College, Kew. He entered the Society in 1917 and made his noviceship in Loyola, Greenwich. He then proceeded to Ireland, where he took his M.A. degree in Classics at the National University. He pursued his philosophical studies at Louvain, and then returned to Ireland, where he taught at Clongowes Wood College, Theological studies followed at Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1929, and then tertianship in St. Beuno's. Returning to Australia after tertianship, his first appointment was that of Master of Juniors attending Melbourne University from “Loyola”, Watsonia. From there he went to Sydney to be Rector of St. Aloysius' College 1938 and 1939, after a year at St. Ignatius'. From 1940 to 1945 he was Rector of Riverview. For many years Fr. Hehir was Director of Retreats in New South Wales and Queensland. Last year he lectured in philosophy to students of Sancta Sophia College and St. John's College, within the University of Sydney.
Fr. Hehir possessed outstanding scholastic attainments, and, besides the sphere of education, was prominent in contributing papers to conferences, schools, etc. He was at one stage president of the Teachers' Guild of New South Wales and the Classical Association. For a period he was a member of the standing committee of the Headmasters' Conference of Australia, and was a leading member of various educational bodies.
Last year Fr. Hehir was professor of dogma in Pymble. Early this year he was appointed Rector of the newly-established National Minor Seminary (Holy Name Seminary) at Riccarton, Christchurch, New Zealand, which the Hierarchy decided to confide to the Society, and which was opened by His Excellency the Apostolic Delegate, Dr. Panico, on February 2nd.
Fr. Hehir died in New Zealand on June 11th. . The following tribute was paid to Fr. Hehir in a letter to the secular press by Mr. L. C. Robson, Headmaster of Sydney Church of England Grammar School :
“It would be a pity if the death of the Very Rev. Noel Hehir, S.J., were to pass without a public record of his great services. . . He was a man of the most rare quality, and few have won as deep respect and affection. He is best known here as a former Rector of St. Aloysius' and as Rector from 1940 to 1945 of St. Ignatius' College, Riverview. Two years ago he was appointed to Canisius College, Pymble, and last year was translated to take charge of the new College, known as the Holy Name Seminary, then being founded at Riccarton,
Christchurch.
As a headmaster, he left his mark on each of his schools in New South Wales. However, by his high scholarship and wise counsel and above all, by his personal character and outlook, he influenced educational life far beyond the limits of the Order to which he belonged.
Those who were associated with him in the Teachers' Guild, in the Classical Association, in public committees, in the headmasters conference and in the general life of the Great Public Schools were profoundly impressed and influenced by his spiritual quality and by his resoluteness in standing for his convictions, but not less by his tolerance and breadth of sympathy. Withal, he was a most delightful and stimulating companion, whether at a meeting of a learned society or at a football match or boat race.
It is difficult to do justice to the influence of such a man upon his contemporaries. It is certain that his old boys and his educational colleagues will feel the most profound sense of loss.

Fr. T. Mulcahy Kindly contributed the following appreciation :
“Fr. Noel Hehir had the unusual privilege of being escorted to Ireland by his master of novices, Fr. George Byrne, who was returning home to assume the same responsible post here, The route travelled was also perhaps unusual because it included the U.S.A. On his arrival in Rathfarnham, Noel Hehir was welcomed with the customary invitation to have a swim in the lake. He always said afterwards that he thought he would never come up alive from that plunge, so great and so unexpected was the difference in temperature between the water of the lake and the warm waters of his native Australia.
But he did come to the top. It was a habit he had and which he developed assiduously. Whether it was a question of a new language to be learned, a new subject to be fathomed or a new position to be filled, he had a way of winning through - not just surviving, but coming out on top. In the acquisition of human wisdom, as in the science of the saints, Noel Hehir worked hard, and no one merited success more.
He had the gift of ‘fitting in’ easily. No Junior was more popular in Rathfarnham, no philosopher was more popular in Louvain, no chaplain to the Royal Hospital for Incurables, Donnybrook, showed more understanding of the temperaments of the patients. His Belgian contemporaries at Louvain will sorely miss him. With them his cheer fulness, his diligence and his love of metaphysics were proverbial. Indeed, speaking from a natural point of view, I suspect that, for one with such a flair for philosophy, it must have been a trial that the calls of obedience summoned Noel in after years to tasks other than the keeping of essence and existence in order.
Like most Australians he was good at games. One recalls in particular his prowess at tennis. He was also very fond of walking. In his company the present writer has explored the Dublin bills and tramped across the plains around Louvain discussing the years that were yet to be. And should the walks on occasions be not too far but only to join parties at Sruthan or Glendhu, Noel Hehir with accustomed self-sacrifice would always be the first to stack up the fire or ‘lay the table’.
It was a privilege to have known one who was so admirable in religious observance and so loyal a friend. He died when not so old, but he has accomplished much for God and Australia.
May he rest in peace”.

Fallon, John, 1875-1937, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/144
  • Person
  • 18 August 1875-17 September 1937

Born: 18 August 1875, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 11 November 1893, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 01 August 1909, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1911, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 17 September 1937, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

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

Educated at Belvedere College SJ

by 1898 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1899
by 1910 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1927 at Leeds, Yorkshire (ANG) working
by 1928 at Holywell, Wales (ANG) working

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
John Fallon entered the Society in November 1893. In the later part of 1899 he was sent to Australia where he taught at St Aloysius' College, 1900-02. In 1903 he was involved in a reorganisation of the Jesuit scholastics in Australia and was moved to Riverview. From there he went to Xavier, 1904-06, where he taught and assisted with the boarders.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 13th Year No 1 1938
Father John Fallon
1875 Born, 18th August, in Dublin, Educated at Belvedere
1893 Tullabeg, Novice, Entd. 11th Nov
1895 Tullabeg, Rhetoric
1897 Enghien, Philosophy
1899 Sydney (Australia), St. Aloysius, Bourke St., Doc., etc
1902 Sydney, House of Exercises. Ad. disp. P, Superioris, with 10 others
1903 Sydney, Riverview, Doc., care of boats
1904 Melbourne, Kew, Doc., etc
I906 Milltown, Theol. , Ordained, 1909
1909 Tronchiennes, Tertian
1910 Mungret, Doe., etc
1914 Crescent, Doc. Open., etc
1919 Rathfarnharn, Miss. Excurr, Conf. N.N
1921 Galway, Doc. Oper. Exam. and. N.N
1922 Mungret, Doc. an, 20 Mag. , Conf. NN. et alum
1925 England-Leeds, Liverpool, Prescot, Oper
I927 N. Wales, Holywell, Oper
1930 Milltown, Trod. exerc. spir
1931 Milltown, Trad. exerc. spir., Adj. dir. dom. exerc
1932 Gardiner St., Oper., Dir. School, S. F. Xavier
1935 Gardiner St., Oper., Dir. School, S. F. Xavier, Penny dinners
1937 Died at St. Vincent's, Dublin, Friday, I7th Sept.-R.I.P

As may be gathered from the above, Father Fallon's 44 years in the Society is an excellent example of the life of a Jesuit “Operarius”. There was nothing outstanding in it, nothing remarkable, Unless indeed the performance of all his duties faithfully and well, over such a long period is remarkable enough and Father Fallon did that.
He was naturally very reserved, and that fact had to be taken into account when dealing with him. He was straightforward and honest. In religious life he was very exact, very careful in dealing with others, never saying anything against charity, was always in the right place and time for every duty. To the Confessional he was most attentive, indeed it is quite certain that his attention was such that it hastened his death.
During his College career he had to deal chiefly with the lower classes. When he went to Gardiner Street he got charge of the choir, but the object of the appointment was to preserve order for Father Fallon was not a musician, the technical part was done by the Organist, He took a more active part in dealing with the Catechism class held in Gardiner Street every Sunday after last Mass. Besides appointing a number of excellent young men and girls to teach the classes, he gave an instruction every Sunday when their work was done.
He was also quite at home in dealing with St. Francis Xavier's National School, and gave the children frequent instructions. Finally, he effected many first-rate and far-reaching changes when managing the Penny Dinners.
In a word, Father Fallon's life was spent in dealing with the less attractive works of the Society. But he did these works well and is now, please God, reaping his reward.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1937

Obituary

Father John Fallon SJ

Less well known to Belvederians was a relative of the doctor’s, who was also Belvedere boy. Father John Fallon SJ, was born in 1875, and was eucated entirely at Belvedere till the year 1893, when he entered the Jesuit novicehip, but though he taught for many years in our southern colleges and laboured for still more on the mission staff, and since 1932 in Gardiner Street, strangely enough, he was never one of the Belvedere community, yet he retained a real affection for the school and a gratitude to its training, as the present writer can testify. His own exact and devoted life was a credit to his school. For some years before his death, as manager of the Gardiner Street Schools, he had an oppotunity to put at God's service his own talent for bringing young souls to God, and I leading children to piety and discipline by interest and affection.

◆ Mungret Annual, 1938

Obituary

Father John Fallon SJ

Father Fallon was born in Dublinin 1875, and was educated at Belvedere College. He entered the Society of Jesus in November, 1893. When he had completed his philosophical studies, he went to Australia and was appointed to the teaching staff of St Aloysius and St Ignatius, Sydney, and later on at Xavier, Melbourne. He returned to Ireland for his theological studies, and was ordained at Milltown Park in 1909. His priestly life was spent in teaching and in giving missions and retreats. During his period of residence in England he was attached to the church of the Society of Jesus in Leeds; and for three years was parish priest of Holywell, North Wales.

Father Failon was a member of the teaching staff in Mungret from 1910 to 1914; and in 1922 he returned to the College to take charge of the Study, a post which he filled for three years. Although Father Fallon was of a retiring disposition, the boys quickly came to know and appreciate his kindliness of heart. He would never tolerate any nonsense, but at the same time knew how to temper justice with mercy.

In 1932 Father Failon was attached to the Church of St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin. Early last year he contracted a serious malady, and after a short illness he died on September 17th, 1937. May he rest in peace.

LD

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father John Fallon (1875-1937)

A native of Dublin and educated at Belvedere College, entered the Society in 1893. His regency was spent in the Jesuit College in Australia. He made his higher studies in Belgium and Milltown Park where he was ordained in 1909. Of his eleven years as master in the colleges, five were spent in the Crescent, 1914-1919. The remaining years of his life were spent as missioner, retreat-giver, or church-worker at Gardiner St, Dublin.

Hession, Laurence, 1901-1978, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1444
  • Person
  • 24 July 1901-07 February 1978

Born: 24 July 1901, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Entered: 31 August 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1935, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 15 August 1938
Died: 07 February 1978, St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1930 in Australia - Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Laurence Hession received his secondary education at St Mary's, Chesterfield, and at Campion House, Osterley, England, for two years. He worked in the field of engineering before entering the Society at Tullabeg, Ireland, 31 August 1923. His juniorate was at Rathfarnham, philosophy and theology at Milltown Park, and regency at St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, 1929-32.
After tertianship at St Beuno's, Wales, he returned to St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, 1937-44, and again, 1951-55, teaching junior English, religion and mathematics. At one time he was minister, 1941-44. He taught at Sr Louis School, Claremont, WA, 1945-50, and was minister at Canisius College, Pymble, 1956-57. His longest stay in one place was as assistant director of the Riverview observatory, 1958-77.
Hession had a wry sense of humor, and a somewhat impatient nature. He was a misogynist until his latter years when he met caring women, and said the Latin Mass until the end in his own chapel. He was fascinated with some aspects of science and, at St Aloysius' College in the 1950s, made a simple but effective grand clock for the entrance hall to the junior school. In his earlier time at the College, one student, John Walker, recalled his appreciation of Hession for being kind, cheerful and a good sport, as well as introducing him to several literary authors he grew to love.
At Riverview he enjoyed kippers for breakfast and had two hates, the boys playing basketball on third yard, and Br Morsel dropping a “fly wheel” as he mended watches! As assistant director of the observatory, it was his job to take the daily readings from the machines. He would comment that Riverview was a delightful place apart from the students, and he did not seem to relish the advent of Fr Laurie Drake as observatory director.
He was a heavy smoker all his life and he enjoyed the evening libations. He finally died of lung cancer.

Note from John Carpenter Entry
When the Superior of the Mission - William Lockington - visited Lester House, Osterley, London, he impressed three seminarians, John Carpenter, Laurence Hessian and Hugo Quigley. All three joined the Austraian Province.

Note from Hugo Quigley Entry
He was enrolled at Osterly, the house for “late vocations” conducted by the English Jesuits to prepare students for entry into various seminaries. There, with John Carpenter and Laurence Hession, he answered the appeal of the then superior of the Australian Mission, William Lockington, for men willing to volunteer for the Society in Australia.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Was an electrician at Osterley England before Entry

Higgins, Jeremiah, 1892-1965, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1448
  • Person
  • 30 September 1892-23 January 1965

Born: 30 September 1892, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1910, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1924, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1928, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 23 January 1965, Mater Hospital, Dublin

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

by 1916 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
1918-1921 Rathfarnham - Studied for BA at UCD
by 1927 at Valkenburg, Limburg, Netherlands (GER I) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 40th Year No 2 1965
Fr Jerry Higgins SJ (1892-1965)
Fr. John Casey was for many years Spiritual Father to the philosophers in Tullabeg. He was level-headed and solidly sound, and in clear-cut statements gave carefully measured advice. To a philosopher about to begin his colleges he remarked : “I see you are assigned to the Crescent. I see you are the only scholastic there. I see too that Fr. Higgins is going there from Galway. Make a friend of Fr. Higgins. He is a man who will say little at recreation. But visit him in his room. You will find him kind and helpful. He is a friend worth having”.
Fr, Bat Coughlan was a rock of wisdom and learning, a confessor sought after by laymen and priests. “If ever I meet a case”, he once said, “that requires patience and kindness and understanding I know no one better to whom to send it than to Fr. Higgins, I am reluctant, however, to impose on him because I know how much such cases cost him in physical energy”.
These are unsolicited testimonies from two very different men, These were men who had lived with Fr. Higgins and had come to know his worth. Those who had not lived with him or who never broke through his quiet reserve found it difficult to keep in conversation with him. When one knew Fr. Higgins, conversation either flowed naturally or the silences were restful. One did not feel the need to talk, a friend was near. Fr. Higgins will be remembered with affection by all those who lived with him especially in Gardiner Street and more especially during the seven years when he was Minister. It was as Minister that he was forced to show to all, gifts that were well known to his intimate friends. His room as Minister was a “half-way house” for every member of the community, and he was everyone's friend. He was never fussed, one got the impression that the complicated and ever changing weekly lists of preachers, supplies and Masses worked automatically, Fr. Higgins had a charm that attracted every one to him, he was cultured and refined. He knew and loved a good book, he delighted in good pictures and appreciated good music. He read German, French, Italian and Irish classics in their original language, and he wrote perfect Latin with ease and his sermons in English were considered to be gems of literature - many have expressed the hope that they have been preserved and may perhaps be published. Fr. Higgins spent most of his life in the classroom. With his rich background of wide reading and his naturally well ordered mind and a manner, though quiet, demanded respect, he was a teacher well above average. Teaching, however, must have been a trial to him, because he was not the type that would force an unwilling horse to drink ! He was at his best when his listeners were sympathetic. Intellectual converts appreciated him. On every page of the Baptismal Register in Gardiner Street his name appears and often more than once, during his years there. He has an uncanny gift of finding the exact book that answered all the needs of the varied converts whom he instructed during his years in Gardiner Street. One would think that it was just by chance that he picked the right book-but far from it. His knowledge of the good books was wide and his judgment on a piece of writing was accurate and fair. He loved a good joke, and could tell one. He could sum up a person or a situation in a few words that said everything.
Fr. Higgins detested the sham and the artificial in every department, education, spiritual life, national life. His keen and balanced judgment saw through every facade. It was no light cross for him to bear with those who were satisfied with the second-best. Fr. Jerry was a delightful companion on a journey and he 'made' a villa. To the last years of his life he had the gift of joining in the general fun of men twenty or thirty years his junior. A game of cards where Jerry took a hand was sure to be an enjoyable game, if for no other reason than that he gave himself wholeheartedly to it. Order and neatness and regularity and painstaking care to detail marked everything he did. One would venture to say that nowhere in the Province are there Ministers' books written up-to date with a minimum of words and a maximum of information as one will find in Gardiner Street covering the years that Fr. Jerry was Minister there. As a confessor he had a big following of hard cases. “Go to Fr. Jeremiah” was a cant-phrase in the underworld of human weakness. The cardinals in the church missed him much when unable to be their Spiritual Director. The nurses in the Mater wept when he died. He is missed in Gardiner Street community, too. Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé.

Hogan, William, 1895-1964, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1457
  • Person
  • 08 April 1895-27 May 1964

Born: 08 April 1895, Castleisland, County Kerry
Entered: 07 September 1912, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1926, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1929, St Aloysius College, Milsons Point, Sydney, Australia
Died: 27 May 1964, Mater Hospital, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1917 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1928 at St Beuno’s, St Asaph, 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
William Hogan received his secondary education from the Cistercian College Roscrea monks at Roscrea, and amongst other things was reputed to have played on the wing for the first XV. He entered the Society at Tullabeg, 7 September 1912, and then went to Rathfarnharn Castle, Dublin, for his juniorate. Philosophy was studied at Jersey in the Channel Islands, 1916-17, and on his return to Ireland he went to teach at Belvedere College, Dublin, 1919-21. These were troubled times in Ireland, when feelings were strong and the atmosphere was tense. He had many friends amongst the organisers of the 1916 rebellion and afterwards. Superiors may have thought he was becoming too deeply involved in matters politic, for he was transferred to Mungret, to complete his magisterium, 1921-23. Theology was studied at Milltown Park, Dublin, 1923-27, where he acquired a reputation as a moral theologian amongst his contemporaries. He was ordained on 31 July 1926, and tertianship followed at St Beuno's, Wales.
Hogan sailed for Australia in 1928, arriving in Sydney in September. Then began his long association with St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point. Except for three years spent as minister at Xavier College, Kew, 1937-39, which he humorously referred to as “the years of captivity”, the rest of his life in Australia was spent in the service of St Aloysius' College.
Hogan belonged to the college, and spent over 32 years on the staff, a respected teacher and sometime minister and bursar. He organised the transport passes for the students. He loved mathematical calculations, and was a good mathematics teacher. He had a passion for rulers and measuring tapes, while his judgment on moral cases was second to none. He could hold a religion class of young boys with the clarity and cogency of his arguments. He was always kind and encouraging to his students.
He was a shy, retiring man with a sparkling sense of humour. His usually stern countenance could relax with an inimitable and infectious grin-the preface of some priceless remark. He was appointed sports master in 1929, and had many stories to tell of that eventful year - how the boys were almost decapitated by an unusually strong finishing tape; how he solved the problem of whether to play back or forward on a wet wicket. As a young man he taught Leaving Certificate modern history, and his students recalled the sidelights and biographical notes not to be found in textbooks. He was an avid reader with sound retentive powers. He was a meticulous minister, his books always carefully up to date, and the keys hung in well-labelled order. Everything was done with great precision.
He had a devotion to the Holy Souls, and kept a record of the date of the death of each Jesuit that he knew and each Old Boy that he had taught, so that he could pray for each on his
anniversary. He was remarkable for his personal and idiosyncratic practice of poverty. Towards the end he suffered a mild cerebral spasm and later a stroke from which he died. He was buried from the college he had served so well.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 39th Year No 4 1964

Obituary :
About the middle of March 1964, Fr. Hogan suffered what the doctor described as a mild cerebral spasm. Anxious not to cause any trouble and hoping that the disability would pass he kept silent about it. He tried to carry on the work of bursar, which he had so efficiently and faithfully done for many years but found that it was no longer possible. The doctor who was called to him (Dr. L'Estrange), ordered his immediate removal to hospital and he entered the Mater Miserecordiae Hospital on Saturday, 20th March. In a short time his speech improved greatly, he got back the power of his right arm and was able, with the aid of the nurses, to walk a little around the room each day. He still had difficulty marshalling his thoughts. He would begin a sentence and find that he could not finish it. When this occurred he gave a shrug of his shoulders, grinned and said “no good”.
About the middle of May, he suffered a renewed attack and the right arm had to be placed back in splints. When asked if he would like to be anointed he said yes, and this was done at once. He was able to receive Holy Communion up to a few days before his death. Then came a series. of attacks and it was obvious that the end was approaching. He suffered a severe one about 2.30 a.m. on Thursday, 25th May and lapsed into a coma. Fr. Rector went at once to the hospital, gave him absolution, anointed (he said “yes”, when asked if he wished it) He was able to receive until shortly before 5 a.m. on Saturday morning when the hospital rang again to say he was dying. Fr. Rector was with him to the end and gave him a final absolution as he left this world about seven o'clock as many of the community were about to offer Mass for him. He belonged to St. Aloysius, having spent over thirty-two years on the staff, so we felt that he would prefer to be buried from here. His remains were brought to the college chapel on Sunday night and next morning all the boys had an opportunity to offer the holy sacrifice for the repose of his soul. His funeral Mass was on the following day and His Eminence Cardinal Gilroy kindly came to preside at the Requiem offered by Fr. Rector. The boys formed an impressive guard of honour as the body was borne from the chapel. How embarrassed he would have been had he witnessed this last tribute to him! His weary bones rest at last with Fr. Tom Hehir in the Jesuit plot at Gore Hill.
It would take someone more competent than the writer to give a pen picture of Bill Hogan in a few sentences. Born in Co. Kerry in 1895, he received his secondary education from the Cistercian Monks at Roscrea and amongst other things was reputed to have played on the wing for the 1st XV. He entered the Society at Tullabeg and after satisfying the authorities there, as to his suitability, he went to Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, for his Juniorate. Philosophy was studied at Jersey in the Channel Islands and on his return to Ireland he went to teach at Belvedere College in Dublin. These were troubled times when feelings were strong and the atmosphere was electric. He had many personal friends amongst the organisers of 1916 and afterwards. Superiors may have thought he was becoming too deeply involved in matters politic for he was transferred to Limerick to complete his magisterium. Theology was studied at Milltown Park, Dublin, where he acquired a reputation as a moral theologian amongst his contemporaries. His stories of life in “Plug Street” then, were always worth hearing.
He was ordained on 31st July 1926. Tertianship completed at St. Bueno's, he sailed for Australia in 1928, arriving in Sydney in September. Thus began his long association with St. Aloysius. Except for the three years spent as Minister in Xavier College, Melbourne, which he humorously referred to as “the years of captivity” the rest of his life in Australia was spent in the service of S.A.C.
He was a shy, retiring man with a sparkling sense of humour. His usually stern countenance could relax with that inimitable and infectious grin - the preface of some priceless remark. He was appointed Sports master in 1929 and had many stories to tell of that eventful year - how the boy was almost decapitated by an unusually strong finishing tape how he solved the problem of whether to play back or forward on a wet wicket, etc.
As a younger man he taught Leaving Certificate modern history and many of his students can still recall the sidelights and biographical notes not to be found in textbooks. He was an avid reader with great retentive powers. When he left for the hospital his books were all up to date, everything in its place and carefully dated. He had a great devotion to the holy souls and kept a record of the date of the death of each Jesuit that he knew and each Old Boy that he had taught, so that he could pray for each on his anniversary.
If were there was a faithful servant of St. Aloysius College, he was one. and we pray that he is enjoying the reward of all faithful servants.

Hyland, James, 1899-1930, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1469
  • Person
  • 16 January 1899-18 June 1930

Born 16 January 1899, Keelogues Old, Ballyvary, County Mayo
Entered: 21 January 1919, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 18 June 1930, Crescent College, Limerick

1921-1924 Rathfarnham - studying for BSc at UCD
1924-1926 Milltown Park - studying Philosophy
1926-1927 Clongowes - Regency
1927-1928 Crescent - Regency

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 5th Year No 4 1930
Sacred Heart College Limerick :
Sad events :
June 18. This morning, the first of the holidays, our scholastic, Mr J Hyland, was found dead in his bed. Not receiving an answer to repeated knocks at the door, the houseman entered the room, and found the corpse lying on the bed.
June 19. In the evening the remains of Mr Hyland were brought down to the Church. The Community formed the procession, The Church was filled with sympathisers, Solemnity was added by the playing of the Dead March by our Church organist.
June 20. Solemn obsequies for the repose of Mr Hyland’s soul, followed by funeral to Mungret College cemetery. Fr. Provincial presided at Mass, and officiated at the graveside. The old boys of the College insisted on carrying the coffin.
Two deaths - one of the youngest member of the Community, the other of its oldest, well within a month, were a severe trial for the Crescent Fathers. It was a consolation to them during the rather sad time they passed through, to note the very wide and very sincere respect with which the Society is regarded in Limerick. At a full meeting of the Sodality BVM,
on the evening of Fr. Kelly's burial, the Rector thanked the public for the remarkable sympathy shown to the Community of the deaths of Mr Hyland and Fr. John Kelly.

Irish Province News 5th Year No 4 1930
Obituary :
Mr James Hyland
We owe the following to the kindness of Fr McCurtin, Mr Hyland’s Rector :
Mr Hyland died suddenly at Sacred Heart College, Limerick, about 6.30 on the morning of June 18th, 1930. The house-man had knocked at the door of his room a couple of times. Fearing that Mr Hyland would be late, at 8.15 he entered the room to find the corpse lying back on the bed, with the legs protruding over the side. The poor young man evidently started to rise at once his alarm went. He was to have served an early Mass, and then to have taken the acolytes on a picnic to Galway. The doctor, who was with us immediately, pronounced that Mr Hyland had died about two hours previously, of heart failure. The Coroner was summoned at once. He and the doctor decided that there was no need for an inquest.
Mr Hyland had been swimming and cycling the afternoon before his death. He had attended the College distribution of prizes in the evening, and, later still, had been to the procurator's room to get money for the excursion to Galway next day. As far as is known there was no warning that his heart was weak. In fact, he had said a few days before that he felt in very good form. The only illness he had during his time at the Crescent was an obstinate carbuncle on the back of his neck. For this he had been carefully treated, and was sent on holiday to Galway at Christmas, 1929, and again at Easter 1930.
A remarkable tribute was paid to Mr Hyland, and, indeed, to the Society, on the occasion of the obsequies. The clergy, both secular and regular, were present in great numbers at the High Mass in our Church. The Church was quite filled with sympathisers. Public bodies, such as the Limerick Corporation and the Labour Organization, sent in notes of condolence. The latter body also postponed an important public meeting out of sympathy with the Community. The boys of the College, whose vacation began the evening before Mr Hyland's death, were all present at,the Mass and the funeral, wearing the school colours draped in black. Fr. Provincial very kindly came from Dublin for the obsequies, and officiated at the graveside in the Mungret College cemetery. Mr Hyland’s aged mother, his brother and brother-in-law, were present during the last rites. One could not but sympathise with them in their great grief, and in the tragic frustration of their hopes to see him a priest.
Mr Hyland was horn at Ballyvary, Go. Mayo, 6 Jan. 1899. He spent a few years in the Apostolic School, Mungret, and entered the Society in 1919. After noviceship at Tullabeg, he did his juniorate at Rathfarnham, and secured the B. Sc. degree of the National University. Philosophy followed at Milltown, after which he spent one year at Clongowes, and then joined the Crescent College staff as Science Master and teacher of Irish. He was a devoted student of the national language, and spoke it fluently. He was also Prefect of the boys, who liked him greatly, and was very successful in his training of the acolytes for church ceremonies. More than once the Bishop of the Diocese praised his work in that respect, as well as his efficiency as Master of Ceremonies - a duty he was always ready to fulfil.
Mr Hyland was a very exact young Religious - punctual at all his duties, end very careful not to omit any religious exercise, He was specially devoted to the Mass, and had the habit of hearing as many Masses as his work would permit. Notwithstanding a shy and retiring disposition, his uprightness and unfailing kindness won for him the respect and even the affection of the boys. They loved to go on cycle rides or picnics with him, and it was touching to see the friendly way in which the little lads gathered round him during recreations. May God give this good young man an eternal rest.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1931

Obituary

James Hyland SJ

The sudden death of Rev J Hyland at the Sacred Heart College, Limerick, on June 18th, 1930, came as a shock to the members of his Order, and was a cause of general sorrow in the city of Limerick. During the early part of the recent year, Mr Hyland had not been in good health; but a period of rest in Galway College at Xmas and Easter seemed to have given him renewed vigour. On the day before his death he appeared in excellent health; but on the morning of June 18th he was found dead on his bed. Death was due to heart-failure.

Mr Hyland entered Mungret College, as an Apostolic student in August, 1916. When he had completed his classical course, he entered the Society of Jesus in January, 1919. He made his noviceship at St Stanislaus, Tullamore, Offaly, and then went to Rathfarnham Castle, Co. Dublin for his University studies. His intellectual bent was towards Mathematics and Science, and, at the close of his University career he secured the BSc degree. He studied Scholastic Philosophy at Milltown Park, Dublin, after which he was attached for one year to the staff at Clongowes Wood College. From there he was transferred to the Sacred Heart College, Limerick, three years ago, as Prefect of Discipline, teacher of Science and Irish. He was a diligent student of the national language - spoke and wrote it fluently. He was, also, an enthusiast for national games.

Remarkable tributes were paid to the deceased young Jesuit, not only by the number of clergy in attendance at the obsequies in the Church of the Sacred Heart, by the boys of the College and the laity in general, but several public bodies - such as the Limerick Corporation, the Workers Transport Union, the Limerick Golf Club, and the Committee of Technical Instruction
sent in votes of condolence to the community.

To Mr Hyland's family we offer our very sincere sympathies in their sorrow. RIP

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

James Hyland (1899-1919)

A scholastic, was born in Ballyvarry, Co Mayo and was eleven years in the Society. At the time of his unexpected death Mr Hyland had completed the usual Jesuit course (noviceship, university studies, philosophy and regency) preceding theology. He was a native speaker of the Irish language and was instrumental in refounding the Irish Society in the College.

◆ SHC - Sacred Heart College Limerick 1931

Obituary

James Hyland SJ

At the Sacred Heart College, on June 18 – the first morning of the summer holidays - Mr Hyland was found dead on his bed. He was to have served an early Mass, as he was to have taken the acolytes on their annual excursion. Evidently he had made an effort to rise quickly when his alarm sounded, but fell back and died, according to medical opinion, of heart failure. He had very well on the previous day, and had enjoyed a bathe and a cycle-ride.

Mr Hyland was born at Keelogues Old, near Castlebar, on Jan. 6, 1899. He entered the Apostolic School at Mungret in 1916, and three years later went to the noviceship of the Society of Jesus. Having finished his noviceship he was sent to Rathfarnham for his University studies, and at the close of his period there, he secured the degree of BSc at University College, Dublin. Then followed his philosophical studies at Milltown Park, Dublin, after which he was attached for one year to the teaching staff at Clongowes. He was transferred to the Sacred Heart College, in 1927, where he was Prefect of Discipline, and taught Science and Irish. He was an enthusiastic Gael, keenly interested in the language, which he spoke and wrote fluently, and was a lover of the national games. His Gaelic Club, which he worked most energetically, during the year before his death, gave splendid results in the debate meetings and concerts, which were conducted completely in Irish. He was a fervent religious, preparing carefully for his priesthood years, which he had hoped to spend in China, and had repeately asked his superiors to be allowed to go on the Chinese mission.

Remarkable tributes were paid to his memory, not only by the number of clergy in attendance at the obsequies in the Church of the Sacred Heart, by the boys of the college and the laity in general, but also by several public bodies, such as the Limerick Corporation, the Limerick Trades Council, the Limerick Golf Club, and the Committee of Technical Instruction, who sent votes of condolence to the community of the Sacred Heart College. A thoughtful action by the members of the Limerick Trades Council, in postponing an impor tant public meeting which was to have been held at the O'Connell Monument on the evening of June 18, was very much appreciated.

He was laid to rest in the cemetery of his old school at Mungret. M Kelly, the Captain of the School, placed a beautiful wreath “from the pupils of Rev J Hyland SJ" on the grave. His heart-broken mother - for she longed to see him a priest -was present at his funeral, but she soon followed him to Heaven, as she died a few months ago.

To his brother, sister and other relatives we offer our deepest sympathy in their double bereavement. RIP

Ffrench, Gregory, 1903-1985, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/147
  • Person
  • 22 December 1903-02 October 1985

Born: 22 December 1903, Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, Scotland
Entered: 31 August 1921, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1940, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 02 October 1985, St John’s Hospital, Limerick

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

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1924 at Lyon, France (LUGD) studying
by 1927 in Australia - Regency
by 1937 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
Gregory Ffrench entered the Society in 1921, and after novitiate in Tullabeg did juniorate at Fourvière where his health failed in the over-strict regime, and he returned to Rathfarnharn Caste, 1924-25. Now seriously affected by consumption he was sent to Australia where he worked at Burke Hall, 1925-26, and then moved to Riverview until 1928, where he was third division prefect. At Riverview Ffrench made a complete recovery and he returned to Ireland. His Irish colleagues described him as a quiet person, easy to talk to, a man of wide interests with a gentle sense of humor. He was a storehouse of knowledge, extremely well read, and had a very penetrating and accurate mind'. He was a tireless worker.
Amongst Ffrench's claim to fame in Australia was that he severely strapped a young boarder from the country who had been in Riverview only a couple of hours for walking on the front lawns of the College. Despite this, the young student, Charles Fraser, later joined the Society and gave most of his life to teaching at Riverview.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 60th Year No 4 1985

Obituary

Fr Gregory Ffrench (1903-1921-1985)

Born on 22nd December 1903. 31st August 1921: entered SJ. 1921-23 Tullabeg, noviciate. 1923-24 Lyon-Fourvière, juniorate. 1924-25 Rathfarnham, juniorate. 1925-28 Australia, regency: 1925-26 Melbourne, Burke Hall; 1926-28 Sydney, Riverview. 1928-31 Ireland, philosophy: 1928-30 Milltown; 1930-31 Tullabeg. 1931-35 Milltown, theology. 1935-36 St Beuno's, tertianship.
1936-38 Emo, socius for scholastic novices to novicemaster, 1938-39 Belvedere, editorial assistant, Irish Monthly and Messenger. 1939-42 Mungret, spiritual father of students; teaching. 1942-50 Clongowes, spiritual father of the boys; teaching, 1950-51 Crescent, teaching. 1951-62 Emo, retreats. 1962-85 Tullabeg, Eucharistic Crusade: assistant; 1970, regional director; 1973 director; also retreat work. 1985 Crescent. Died in St John's hospital, Limerick, on 2nd October 1985.

Entering the noviciate from Clongowes, Gregory Ffrench looked younger than his seventeen or so years, but his boyish appearance was deceptive. He was a mature young man with firmly held views which he was well able to defend. He was a quiet person - one never heard him raise his voice - but he could be quite decisive in his replies.
After his noviciate he was sent for a year's juniorate to Fourvière, Lyon, France. The over-strict regime there told on his delicate health, and after a year in Rathfarnham, seriously affected by tuberculosis, he was packed off to Australia. There he made a wonderful recovery, so that he was able to return to Ireland to complete his studies.
A quiet person, I said, easy to talk to, with a gentle sense of humour. Hence he made a very pleasant companion and a good “community man”, His spiritual life was in no way ostentatious, but it went very deep, and on occasion would flash forth in a phrase or a comment.
The last sentence of St John's Gospel is: “There were many other things that Jesus did; if all were written down, the world itself, I suppose, would not hold all the books that would have to be written”. In the same way I wonder how many books would have to be written to describe all the works that Fr Gregory Ffrench did in his day. It would be no exaggeration to say that from the day he entered the Society of Jesus, the amount of time he spent not thinking of things of God would hardly add up to one whole hour. As far as I could estimate, his mind was always set upon the work of spreading the Kingdom of God and the salvation of souls. For many years in all parts of the country I travelled and worked with him, setting up ‘pockets' of prayer at Crusader centres, giving retreats and missions, and organising various days: days of renewal, of Crusader work, of recollection, Never once in all that time did I find the slightest reason for saying that anything he did or proposed was unsatisfactory. To work with him was a great privilege, and a source of valuable experience. He was the easiest man in the world to get on with. His deep humility, I would say, was the foundation and source of all his wonderful qualities.
I don't think anyone could mention any virtue which Gregory did not possess. I imagine I could run through all the virtues like generosity, patience, tolerance, cheerfulness, prayerfulness, self-giving, and the rest, and find examples of these virtues manifested in his Christ-like living. I am inclined to think that he could also have been exercising virtues that neither I nor anyone else noticed. He was not in any way a show-off. For me he was the perfect example of what Christ asks of us when He says “Unless you become as little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Fr Ffrench was a storehouse of knowledge concerning almost everything that had to do with the spreading of the Word of God. He was extremely well-read, and his knowledge embraced every subject. He had a very penetrating accurate mind, and the conclusions he drew from his observations were nearly always correct. In his room, or on the road, or in school class-rooms, he was indefatigable in his work and in his service of those he judged would need his help.
He had wonderful sympathy for the hardships of the poor, and his practical way of helping them was remarkable - even to the extent of supplying them with foodstuffs from the manufacturers. The amount of help, both spiritual and material, which he gave to the people around Tullabeg is inestimable. In spite of being probably the busiest man in the Province, he could always find time to help people out of difficulties, even to the extent of taking out his car and driving them long distances, or otherwise arranging the solutions to their problems, even financial.
When at home he was constantly writing: typing guidelines for the Crusaders, articles for provincial newspapers, letters to persons in authority urging some reforms or calling attention to abuses. He had all the interests of the Irish province at heart.The story will never be told of all he did to keep Tullabeg going as a powerhouse of spirituality and as a viable retreat house. There are many who are now priests, or preparing for the priesthood, who owe their vocations to the interest Fr Ffrench took in them and the valuable help he gave them. In one family near Tullabeg, thanks entirely to his help, two boys are preparing for the priesthood.
He never seemed to tire or become in any way discouraged. The state of things never got him down': everything seemed to be simply a challenge to the work of saving souls, and he enjoyed the challenge. I never heard him complaining, but I frequently heard him rejoicing and praising God because of the work others were doing for Him.
For myself, when Fr Ffrench died, I felt that something which could never be replaced had gone out of my life that the whole world had lost something incredibly valuable. I asked myself: Who could take his place? ... and I have not yet found the answer.

Jenkins, Paul, 1924-1989, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1476
  • Person
  • 13 February 1924-31 October 1989

Born: 13 February 1924, Port Talbot, Denbigh, Wales
Entered: 07 September 1947, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 31 July 1957, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows 02 February 1965
Died: 31 October 1989, Convent of Infant Jesus, Idris Shah, Ipoh, Malaysia - Brittaniae Province (BRI)

by 1956 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1955-1958
by 1959 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship
By 1960 came to Kingsmead Hall, Singapore (HIB) working 1959-1967

Johnston, Henry A, 1888-1986, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1482
  • Person
  • 17 October 1888-04 September 1986

Born: 17 October 1888, Downpatrick, County Down
Entered: 12 November 1906, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 24 October 1920
Final Vows: 01 February 1924, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Died: 04 September 1986, St Joseph, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia

by 1915 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

Older brother of Thomas Johnston - RIP 1990

◆ Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University online :
Johnston, Henry Aloysius (1888–1986)
by J. Eddy
J. Eddy, 'Johnston, Henry Aloysius (1888–1986)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/johnston-henry-aloysius-12703/text22903, published first in hardcopy 2007

Catholic priest; Catholic theologian

Died : 4 September 1986, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Henry Aloysius Johnston (1888-1986), Jesuit priest and seminary rector, was born on 17 October 1888 at Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, son of Henry Johnston, clerk, and his wife Kate, née Woods. A younger brother also became a Jesuit. Henry was educated at Mungret College, Limerick, and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg College in 1906. He studied at the Royal (National after 1909) University of Ireland (BA, 1910; MA, 1912), gaining first-class honours in ancient classics in his masterate while also teaching at St Stanislaus College, Tullamore (1910-11). In 1912-14 he taught at Clongowes Wood College, Kildare. After reading philosophy at St Mary’s Hall, Stonyhurst, England (1914-16), he returned to Ireland to teach at Tullabeg (1916-18) and then studied theology at Milltown Park, where he was ordained priest on 24 October 1920. Back at Tullabeg, in 1922 he completed a doctorate in theology for the Gregorian University, Rome, although the degree was not conferred until 1963.

Responding to a call from Corpus Christi College, the recently established seminary at Werribee, in 1923 Johnston travelled to Victoria, and, after teaching at Xavier College, Melbourne, took up his appointment in 1925. Essentially a professor of philosophy, he also taught liturgy and music, and on occasion scripture and moral theology. In 1930 he became rector of the college, remaining so until 1947. Almost four hundred student priests came under his influence. Noted for his professional poise, practical equanimity and unshakeable self-confidence, he was a rigid, seemingly aloof disciplinarian: he treated all students alike and set an example of impeccable priestly behaviour. Industrious and orderly, without being pettifogging, he had a passion for detailed knowledge and accuracy.

The years at Werribee were the highlight of Johnston’s life in Australia, but his work extended beyond them. He taught (1949-53) at Canisius College, Pymble, Sydney, and then served as parish priest and superior (1954-56) at St Mary’s, North Sydney. In 1957 and again in 1961 he was tertian instructor at Sevenhill College, Clare, South Australia, and between those appointments taught Greek, Latin and history at Loyola College, Watsonia, Melbourne. From 1962 to 1966 he served as parish priest and superior at Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn. After further stints of teaching at Werribee (1967-70) and Watsonia (1970-73), he worked (1974) with the Marist Brothers at Campion College, Kew. He spent 1975-77 at the provincial’s residence, Hawthorn, before returning to St Mary’s (1978-82) as chaplain to the nearby Josephite Sisters.

Incisive of mind and tenacious of purpose, Johnston was a formidable Irish gentleman, scholar and cleric. A passion for knowledge and accuracy also informed his work as a polemicist, a writer of apologetic tracts, and a radio personality. His somewhat steely smile and halo of tightly curled white hair gave him a special aura. He maintained an iceberg calm and relentless logic at all times. Yet, although he appeared reserved, even cold, he could be counted on for sympathetic advice. He had a respect for individuality, if within strictly defined boundaries. His popular publications included Plain Talks on the Catholic Religion (1936), A Critic Looks at the Catholic Church (1944) and A Seed That Grew (1956), a history of North Sydney parish. Father Henry Johnston died on 4 September 1986 at Kew and was buried in Boroondara cemetery.

Select Bibliography
Corpus Christi, no 1, 1962, p 46, no 2, 1967, p 163, no 3, 1974, p 25
Jesuit Life, no 22, 1986, p 27
private information and personal knowledge.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Henry Johnston was a most remarkable man. It was not that he had any single great achievement his achievements were doing everything he undertook well. He possessed the characteristics of many Northern Irishmen and had an acute, incisive mind and a remarkable tenacity of purpose that showed itself in every undertaking, whether it was the mastery of some subject of study, the conduct of a parish, or a game of tennis or golf.
He said that as a young man he had developed a stomach ulcer. It is hard for those who knew him well to believe that any ulcer would have the temerity to attack his innermost regions but in any case, his physician prescribed a rigid diet of food that he obediently and equally rigidly observed for the rest of his many years. His breakfast of a poached egg and a cup of milk was never changed and seemed almost symbolic of his life. He invariably had an afternoon rest and retired at night at 10.00 pm and nothing, absolutely nothing, was allowed to interfere with this practice.
He was a man who was nearly always logically right, but was often psychologically wrong. He did not show much compassion or feelings for people or situations. He would inform unenlightened celebrants of the Eucharist of the number of rubrics they had broken during their celebration. Then was surprised when they expressed their disapproval of his criticism. This he could not understand - he thought that they would want to be enlightened.
Johnston accepted every challenge with zest and proceeded to meet it. He regretted not learning to play the piano because he believed he would have been good at it! Every moment was spent in profitable work. When his abstemious meal was finished and there was still someone reading in the refectory he practised his shorthand, taking down what was read, writing with his finger on the table. Even at the community recreation he was continually checking conversation by referring to a dictionary or encyclopaedia, or some other reference book, even if it was only the railway timetable. He had a passion for knowledge and accuracy.
Through the years he had passing interests. At Werribee he was an avid ornithologist, so cats, because of their known proclivities in this area, were a discouraged species. But this could scarcely be believed by the scholastics who had observed - some would say suffered from -his feline preferences when he was at Pymble and Watsonia. No one ever knew Henry Johnston to be flustered or to lose his calm in any situation. He was a great polemicist, not only in his written defences of the faith, but also on the Catholic Evidence platforms in Melbourne and Sydney. He argued with an iceberg calm and relentless logic, and mostly with a rather deadly smile. He pushed the sale of his books and pamphlets with the persistence of a second hand car salesman because he knew they were good for the buyer. He had a Pauline respect for the goods he passed on.
Johnston entered the Jesuits, 12 November 1906, and was ordained, 24 October 1920. He was later sent to Australia, and from 1925, spent 27 years at the regional seminary at Werribee, seventeen as rector, 1930-47. These years probably mark the highlight of his life. He taught, at various times, most theological subjects. He had an MA in classics from the National University of Ireland, and a doctorate in theology from the Roman Gregorian University that he used to good purpose in writing “Plain Talks on the Catholic Religion” and “A Critic Looks at the Catholic Church”. His last unpublished work was a refutation of the validity of Anglican Orders.
Johnston's impact on priests ordained for the dioceses of Victoria and beyond was incalculable. In his years at Werribee, nearly 400 priests came within the sphere of his influence, about 100 of whom predeceased him. Johnston had a great respect for the priests of Corpus Christi. He followed their progress with interest and never failed to write a congratulatory and encouraging letter to every student on the occasion of a priestly silver jubilee.
One of his great strengths as rector was that he had no favourites among the students. They stood in awe of him. Undemonstrative to a marked degree, he appeared to be reserved and distant even cold. But if one brought a personal problem to him one was assured of a sympathetic hearing and sound advice. He is recorded as saying that he found it very hard to say “no” to people. There were those who thought he should have found it easier with the passage of time because he had had so much practice at it. T
he spirituality he fostered among the students was based on their becoming men of God. In his prayer life, his disciplined commitment to both his priesthood and religious vocation, and his devotion to the Mass and to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he clearly showed the seminarians the way. Johnston made himself an authority on many subjects. One such discipline was the Sacred Liturgy. He took his usual pains to master the subject and did all in his power to instil into the students a practical knowledge of, and a reverence for, the liturgy. He embraced the post-conciliar liturgy with equal enthusiasm. His faith in the Church and his transparent obedience had no limits.
He held high office among the Jesuits for many years, as rector of Canisius College, Pymble, 1949-53, and Loyola College, Watsonia, 1958-60, as well as parish priest of North Sydney, 1954-56, and Hawthorn, 1962-66. He also gave talks on the Catholic Hour in Melbourne, and was frequently requested to give spiritual retreats. In later years he taught theology at Werribee, 1967-73, and from 1978-82 he was chaplain to St Joseph's Convent, Mount St, North Sydney. His Final residence was a hostel, St Raphael's, Kew. Johnston succeeded John Fahy as tertian instructor in 1957, and was heavily involved in retreat giving and spiritual direction. Over 56 years, he preached 306 retreats to every sort of person, from school children to bishops. His spirituality was traditional, centred on Jesus Christ, acknowledging the need to surrender oneself to God, but also strong on the need for the discipline of human passions. He was intellectual, logical and precise in his directions, without sentimentality or affection.
He believed that joy in the spiritual life was not gained without humility and effort. Perfection in all human activities enabled God to be generous, but imperfections 'might be the beginning of the path to hell for a religious.
He Liked to emphasis the military metaphor in spirituality. The spiritual quest required a “state of war” with oneself He taught that the good Jesuit needed detachment (indifferences, obedience, humility and charity : “I must strip myself of everything and know myself in my nothingness”. 'We naturally love notice, praise, esteem. We must convince Ours that this is not wise or good”. The cross appeared to be all important in Johnston's spirituality.
He did not believe that human friendship was important if Christ was a friend, and that the necessity of human friendships could be exaggerated. In his own life he was experienced as remote and austere, but the depth of his learning and the breadth of his experience with people gave him the ability to give logical and sensible solutions to problems both spiritual and human. The apparent correctness of his advice appeared to make up for his lack of human warmth, at least with non-Jesuits.
The virtues of fear and love were both presented in his talks, but they were presented in such a cold manner that fear became the predominant message He taught that the good Jesuit was one who was interested in prayer, obedience, hard work, and reverence towards others. The preaching of joy in life, or the idea of malting allowances for human weakness did not appear in Johnston’s dictionary. Other Jesuits respected him, but they could not accept his joyless spirituality and lack of human approachability. He was not believed to be a model for younger Jesuits. lt would be hard to meet his like again and no one would be in more complete agreement with this than Johnston himself.
He was remarkable priest, an outstanding spiritual director, a dedicated religious, who encouraged and inspired by his example, a noted scholar, and a leading apologist.

Note from George Collopy Entry
When Henry Johnston had to attend a conference in Rome, he was appointed Acting Parish Priest at St Mary’s, Sydney, and he was later confirmed as Parish Priest.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 61st Year No 4 1986

Obituary

Fr Henry Johnston (1888-1906-1986) (Australia)

Fr Johnston's requiem Mass was Melbourne. Archbishop Little presided, bishops along with Jesuit and diocesan priests, many of them former students of Fr Johnston's. Under the headline, “One of our best-known priests”, Fr William Daniel, Superior of the Jesuit Curia of the Australian Province, paid a fine tribute to Fr Johnston in this statement to the press:

As a Jesuit in Australia, Fr Johnston filled many offices, but is best remembered for his 27 years as a professor in the seminary at Werribee, Victoria.
Born in Downpatrick, Ireland, he was of two brothers to become Jesuits. Both men had considerable talents and that characteristic Northern Ireland acuteness of mind and tenacity of purpose.
Henry Johnston, SJ was in his time a great polemicist. He debated matters of faith on the Catholic Evidence Guild platforms in Sydney and Melbourne. During the 1930s and 1940s he conducted the Question Box and gave talks on the Catholic Radio Hour in Melbourne. He published pamphlets in abundance, but his only books were “Plain talks on the Catholic religion” (a book unequalled in time for clarity and the exactness of its teaching), "A critic looks at the Catholic and Catholic Church”, and a history of the parish of North Sydney.
No one ever knew Fr Johnston to be ruffled or angered by controversy. He approached every undertaking, whether it was a debate or a game of tennis or golf, with an iceberg calm and the application of logic. Urbanity marked his words and actions. Uncharity was as alien to him as a display of emotion or yielding of position.
He professed sacred scripture, philosophy and moral theology, and indeed everything else as need arose. He and the concelebrants included seven
was rector in several Jesuit houses of celebrated in St Patrick's cathedral, study, parish priest in two large parishes, and instructor of tertians ... Fr Johnston retained an extraordinarily youthful intellect, and accepted every new task as an enjoyable challenge, whether it was in sacred studies,liturgical music, or golf. He was not happy until he had mastered each new skill. He carried on his labours, writing and lecturing, right up until his last few days, when he suffered impairment of sight and eventually its loss.
It is no exaggeration to say that Fr Henry Johnston is a legend among the clergy of Victoria, so many of whom he helped to form. His achievements and foibles are still spoken of at many a clergy gathering. His life was one of dedicated service and scholarship. His last years of acceptance of his failing one faculties were borne with the same calm had marked the course of his long life.

Under the heading, “Fr Johnston: men tor to hundreds of priests, laity”, another Australian newspaper article describes Fr Johnston:
The late Jesuit Fr Henry Johnston its influenced at least four hundred priests and countless lay people - non-Catholic - during his eighty years in the Society of Jesus and 66 years as a priest.
Dean F M Chamberlin, homilist at the requiem Mass, said that in 1923 Fr Johnston came to Australia, where he exercised a remarkable influence for two-thirds of the present century.
On his arrival he taught English and Latin at Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne. He had already won example. bachelor's and master's degrees with first-class honours in Ancient Classics at the National University of Ireland, followed by a doctorate in sacred theology at the Gregorian University, Rome.
In 1925 he took up an appointment to the professorial staff of the regional seminary at Corpus Christi College, Werribee, and was to remain there for a period of 24 years, 18 of them as period of 24 years, 18 of them as rector for three successive terms. In the early 1940s, when the professor of moral theology and later the professor of sacred scripture both fell ill, he calmly and successfully professed both these courses for a period of four to five years. Later he was to return to Werribee 1967 through 1969, to profess natural theology, rational psychology, sacred scripture and biblical history. By the time he left Werribee for a second time, he was in his 82nd year. .
Fr Johnston's finest and happiest years were spent among diocesan priests and seminarians. It was for this reason that the Jesuit fathers asked that someone from among the diocesan clergy should act as homilist at his requiem.
Students stood in considerable awe of this markedly undemonstrative, reserved and distant man, but came to know that they could always expect a sympathetic hearing and sound advice when they confided their problems to him. He is recorded as saying that he found it very difficult to say “no” to people. There were those who thought he should have found it easier with the passage of time, he gained so much practice at it!
That our futures were in our own hands was underlined by his parting words at the end of the scholastic year. “No one”, he used to say, “is expected back”. His repeated exhortation was that each of us should strive to become a homo Dei. If we have failed to scale the heights, it was through no failure on his part to present them both by word and example.
By his prayer life, by his disciplined commitment to both his priesthood and his religious vocation, and by his devotion to the Mass and to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he clearly showed us the way. His clarity of thought and inexorable logic were frightening to the student whom he left foundering in his wake - as the homilist had reason to recall more than 45 years later.
He made the utmost use of time and brought his self-discipline to bear on studies, so that his intense application gave him knowledge of subjects in which he lacked formal training. Although he had no musical training, he made himself self an authority on Gregorian chant, and was professor of sacred music during his years at the seminary.
Likewise he made himself an authority on sacred liturgy. He took his usual pains to master the subject, and did all in his power to instil into the students a practical knowledge of and a reverence for the liturgy. He embraced the postconciliar liturgy with equal enthusiasm. His faith in the Church and his transparent obedience had no limits.
He showed the same tenacity in the pursuit of his hobbies - if indeed they can be called hobbies - whether of astronomy or of golf, which latter he took up when in his sixties. He studied the instruction manuals written by the experts and practised the shots - some say for as long as twelve months - before playing a formal round. Came the day, and to the amazement of his playing companions, he parred the first three holes, On receiving their congratulations, he drily observed: Well, that's what you're supposed to do, isn't it? Said the homilist: I can hear him saying it.
He was parish priest and superior at St Mary's, North Sydney, in the mid-1950s, and was appointed parish priest of the Immaculate Conception parish, Hawthorn, Melbourne, in 1962, when he was in his 74th year, and brought to the administration of that parish in the subsequent five years a zeal and enthusiasm which would have done credit to a man half his age. He was an outstanding example of a dedicated pastor.
After that he had various responsibilities within the Society of Jesus, and served as chaplain to the Marist Brothers noviciate at Macedon, and later still to the Sisters of St Joseph, Mount Street, North Sydney, relinquishing this latter post in his 95th year.
Over a period of years he suffered the disability of failing eyesight, which must have been a severe trial to a man of his academic and literary bent.

Johnston, James, 1916-1949, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1483
  • Person
  • 23 November 1916-11 February 1949

Born: 23 November 1916, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1936, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948,Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 11 February 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
(Killed in the Fire at Milltown Park 11 February 1949)

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 24th Year No 2 1949

The Fire at Milltown Park :
Early in the morning of Friday, February 11th, fire broke out in the tailor's shop over the Refectory. The alarm was given and the Fire Brigade summoned. At first the progress of the fire was slow, but after a short time it became terribly rapid, and some of the Community were rescued barely in time. Fr. Johnston, Fourth Year Theologian, lost his life. He had remained to dress himself completely, as he was due to say Mass at the Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Anne's, and was asphyxiated by the fumes before he could escape - one may say, a martyr of Duty. Fr. Gannon got severely burned, and Mr. Reidy suffered injury to his spine as the result of a fall ; both are doing well and will, it is hoped, be none the worse in the end. The Fire Brigade was able to prevent the fire from spreading beyond the building where it had broken out.

Milltown Park, Dublin :
The morning of Friday, February 11th was a tragic morning here in Milltown Park. The two top stories of the Theologians House (built in 1908 by Fr. Finlay) were burnt out. Fr. James Johnston, a 4th Year Theologian lost his life, Fr. Gannon was severely burnt on his hands and face, and Mr. Reidy dislocated some of the vertebrae of his spine, jumping from a ledge underneath his window.
At 5.30 Br. Kavanagh discovered a fire in the Tailor's Room. He summoned Fr. Smyth, acting Minister, who telephoned for a fire brigade, while a few scholasctics endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to extinguish the fire with Minimaxes and water. Br. Kavanagh carried. Fr. W. Gwynn (aged 84) to safety, and Fr. Smyth warned the occupants. of the Theologians House to make for the fire escape.
By this time the stairs end of the Theologians' House was burning fiercely; the fumes and heat in the corridors were unbearable, and it is due to the Mercy of God that so many were able to get to the fire escape before they were overcome with suffocation. In the meantime, the first of the fire brigades had arrived and Frs. Power, Hannigan, Gannon and a couple of scholastics were rescued. The firemen then concentrated on saving the New House which was by this time filling with smoke.
A roll-call shortly after 6 o'clock confirmed that Fr. Johnston was missing, but by this time the whole of the doomed wing was ablaze. Coincidentally with the celebration of the Community Mass at 7.15 the six fire brigades got the conflagration under control.
Offers of assistance and accommodation began to pour in from all sides and within a couple of days ran into thousands.
The Scholastics were transferred to the Retreat House, Rathfarnham, where they stayed for four days. They will always remember the kindness and hospitality shown by the Rector, the Community and the Retreat House staff of Rathfarnham.
On Tuesday 15th the Scholastics returned to Milltown, where a field kitchen, presented by the Army, had been installed. They occupied the Retreat House and many of the rooms had to accommodate two occupants, as the Minister's House also had to be vacated owing to damage and water.
On Friday 18th, the ‘octave' of the fire’, lectures were resumed, and routine was gradually established.
Fr. Gannon recovered rapidly and hopes to be back in Milltown soon. Mr. Reidy is also on his feet again, and he too hopes to be out of hospital in the near future, though he will be partially encased in plaster of paris for a considerable time.
The majority of the occupants of the Theologians' House lost all their personal effects, notes, etc. Fr. Gannon, however, being at the end of the corridor, and having his door closed, will salvage all his books and notes.

Gardiner Street :
On February 13th the remains of Fr. J. Johnston, who had perished in the fire at Milltown Park, were brought to the church, where they were met by a great and most sympathetic crowd. On February 14th the Office and Solemn Requiem Mass were held, which were attended by 200 priests and a vast gathering of lay-people. His Grace, the Arch bishop presided; there were present also Bishop Dunne, Mgr. Dargan, Mgr. Moloney, Canon McArdle, Canon T. Ryan, Canon O'Callaghan. An Taoiseach, Mr. Costello had a prie-dieu out in front. Very Rev. Fr. L. O'Grady, Rector of Milltown Park, was the celebrant of the High Mass. Mr. H. Dargan was M.C. The very large congregation was a striking manifestation of sympathy to tbe family of Fr. Johnston and to the Society for the sad accident. Many lesser expressions of sympathy were given to the Fathers here.

Obituary

Fr. James Johnston (1916-1936-1949)

Father James Johnson was born in Dublin on November 23rd, 1916. He was educated at O'Connell School and is remembered by his teachers and contemporaries there as a quiet, unassuming student of considerable ability. Jim Johnston was one whose gifts of mind and character were fully appreciated by relatively few of his classmates. Shy and reserved he had a natural distaste for superficial prominence of any kind, but those who knew him intimately saw clearly his fine qualities and found in him a devotedly sincere friend,
In September, 1936 he entered the noviceship at Emo, and on September 15th, 1938 pronounced his first vows. In the Juniorate he studied Latin and History as subjects for his degree which he secured with honours in September, 1941. The same month he began philosophy at Tullabeg. After one year of teaching at Clongowes where he obtained his Teaching Certificate with distinction, he began theology in Milltown Park, being ordained on July 28th, 1948.
Jim Johnston combined great intellectual gifts with remarkable versatility and efficiency in practical hobbies. At times his shyness prevented him from revealing his true ability, and he rarely, I think, did himself justice in formal public appearances. A notable exception to this was the examination for Diocesan faculties when his clear answering won special praise from the examiners. His contemporaries know how thoroughly he could master a subject, and bow clearly and simply he could discuss and explain difficult-points without ever sacrificing depth or accuracy. This was especially true of Moral Theology, and many will remember with gratitude the help he gave them in this and in other subjects.
At Clongowes he was a soundly successful teacher, and his classes liked and respected him for he rarely had to resort to sending boys out, never lost patience, and accepted lack of response with that attractive dry humour which never failed him. His achievements as a student and teacher are all the more remarkable in view of the fact that early in his studies he began to suffer from headaches and tiredness, and his power of work could never quite measure up to his natural taste for study. Yet he never complained that he was not feeling well, but carried on with a quiet determination that at times must have amounted to heroism.
His competence in practical matters was remarkable. In Rathfarnham and in Clongowes later he was in charge of Meteorology, and this office meant more to him than a routine recording of thermometer and rain-gauge reading, for he also mastered the theory of the science. But gardening was his favourite hobby and in Tullabeg and Milltown Park he devoted almost every free day to working in the grounds. He worked with meticulous care and visitors who admired the neatly laid out flower-beds and skilfully blended colours paid tribute, un knowingly, to the patient work of Jim Johnston. An adept at electricity he installed the stage lighting for the Christmas plays each year in each of the scholasticates. His versatility extended to photography at which he was quite an expert, and indeed he never dabbled in any thing, for the same quiet efficiency characterised everything he did.
It is not surprising that such versatility was duly recognised by others and that he was constantly asked by fellow-scholastics to do various jobs great and small. With a ready and unfailing charity he always obliged and never showed the slightest reluctance nor even gave the impression that his time was being encroached upon though such must have been the case.
Anyone who knew him intimately during his fourth year at Milltown was impressed by his deep appreciation of the priesthood, and several have remarked that with his ordination he had acquired a new confidence and assurance. Supply work appealed greatly to him and he was always particularly glad when given an opportunity of hearing confessions.
Fr. Johnston's qualities of intellect and character, his practical efficiency and unassuming charity made him loved and respected, and gave assured promise of a zealous and fruitful apostolate, and the sound success of any work appointed him by Superiors. On February 11th, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, he was to have said Mass at 7 o'clock in Mount St. Anne's. Shortly after 7 o'clock that morning many members of his community were offering Mass for the repose of his soul. His death came as a great shock to them and to all the Province. May be rest in peace.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 51 : Special Issue – Dublin Millenium 1988

THE MILLTOWN FIRE

Denis Nerney

The late Fr Nerney, writing in December 1949, describes the calamity which many of our older readers will remember vividly. The photographs are from the Francis M. Browne S.J. Collection.

On the morning of Friday, 11th February, 1949, there was a serious fire at Milltown Park in which one young priest, Father James Johnston, lost his life, two were gravely injured and many others suffered from burns and shock.

The fire was discovered at 5.40 a.m., twenty minutes before the time for rising, in the north-east corner of the Finlay House. A pantry on the ground floor was on fire and the room above it was full of smoke. Those living nearby were aroused immediately; the Fire Brigade was summoned and the alert was given in the various houses.

When Fr Smyth, Acting Minister, had telephoned for the Brigade, he ran up the stairs to make sure that everyone was ready. Finding the lower corridor already on the alert, he proceeded to the top corridor, opening every door. Up to the time when he had nearly reached the south end, just before 5.49, there was no impression of an imminent emergency. There was no fire or smoke about and all seemed normal in the corridor. But at that moment (i.e. some seconds before 5.49) there was a muffled explosion down in the stairs, a great wave of fire and smoke rose to the roof and began to flow into the corridors of the Finlay House and into the Rector's House. The roof of the Finlay House went into flames, the lights went out and within one minute the north ends of the corridors and the passages into the Rector's House were burning fiercely, while the whole place was engulfed in thick smoke and fumes. Immediately Fr Smyth ordered everyone to go straight to our fire ladder at the south-west end. His call was so piercing that it was heard in the corridor below, in the Rector's House and even outside in the grounds. The difficult manoeuvre of getting away by the ladder in darkness, thick smoke and intense heat was carried out with great order and speed. Those whose rooms adjoined the fire ladder kept shouting directions in the corridors until nearly overcome; they were among the last down the escape.

At approximately 5.50, ten minutes, therefore, after the fire was discovered and one minute after the explosion - the upper storeys of both Houses were so choked with fire and smoke and fumes that they became quite impassable. Such was the precipitate course of events that a number were trapped in their rooms. Five were rescued by ladders and two jumped from outside ledges. A roll was called immediately to make sure that all were safe. When Fr Johnston did not answer, a search was made for him and stones were thrown at his window. One attempt to reach his room had to be turned back as the roof and upper corridor were in flames; and not even the firemen could get into that part of the building until about 7.30. All that is known with certainty is that he attempted some time after 5.50 to reach our escape - a matter of half a dozen paces - and was overcome on the way. His next-door neighbour had actually made the same attempt about 5.50, was forced back into his room and had to be rescued by the firemen through his window. Nothing in the desperate ordeal of the fire affected the community so profoundly as the tragic death of this young priest.

Such was the suddenness of the final conflagration that the firemen were amazed that many more had not lost their lives. They explained that our fire was of the “flash-over” type, an unusual and treacherous kind of fire which is propagated by the secret spread of smoulder inside floors, stairs, partitions and lofts until a critical temperature is reached and the smoulder bursts into flames
3, simultaneously or in rapid succession at different points. The probability is that a concealed smoulder fire had been working its way during the night from the north-east corner of the Finlay House, up the stairs, and that it had reached at least half-way across the roof loft by 5.48; further, that it had penetrated both floors, possibly over their whole length. As a result, the fire was beyond the control of our fire appliances when it was discovered; and at 5.48, when there was as yet no visible sign of an emergency in the corridors, the Finlay House was riddled with smoulder. The rising temperature reached its flash point a few seconds later; and immediately, one may say without exaggeration, the Finlay House exploded, allowing no one in it much more than a minute, many less and some no time at all, to escape by our ladder.

The material damage was considerable. In the Finlay House 32 rooms and in the Rector's House 10 rooms were burnt out or rendered uninhabitable. All the rooms off the stairs and in the top storey of the Finlay House were utterly consumed with everything in them. The soaking contents of a few rooms in the lower corridor were saved. The refectory beneath was partly on fire, and water was cascading through the ceiling and floor into the kitchen and domestic offices below it for 24 hours. In addition, therefore, to the loss of 42 living rooms with most of the contents (furniture, clothes, books) the entire domestic economy of Milltown Park, which catered both for the community and the House of Retreats, was destroyed; and for a week there was nothing to be had except a cup of tea made on a primus stove.

The community had no choice in the circumstances but to scatter to other houses for food and shelter. A small number who were able to stay on in the Retreat House, said Mass and had their meals at local Convents, with the Sisters of Charity at Mount Saint Anne's and Donnybrook and with the Dominican Sisters at Muckross Park. The immense hospitality and kindness of these Convents and of our own Houses must be recorded here. We had offers of accommodation for our homeless from Maynooth, Clonliffe, the Holy Ghost Fathers and the Marist Fathers, as well as from private families. His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin called twice and gave . us £1,000 for reconstruction. Others to visit us were Dr Dunne, Bishop of Nara; Dr Kissane, President of Maynooth; the Taoiseach, Mr Costello; Dr O'Higgins, Minister for Defence; as well as very many other friends of the community and neighbours. On its own initiative the Army sent us a camp kitchen and a company of soldiers to install it. With its help our domestic economy was re-established and the community was able to return home.

Within a few weeks, in spite of restricted space and an improvised economy, the work of the theologate and the retreats was resumed. Two members of the community who had suffered very grave injuries in the fire, made a full recovery at St Vincent’s, the hospital refusing all remuneration for surgical and other expenses. One storey of the Finlay House has been dismantled; the rest is a ruin; while part of the Rector's House is in no better condition. In the meantime, we are looking forward to the construction of a new House of Studies at Milltown Park.

Keane, Henry, 1876-1956, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1495
  • Person
  • 01 August 1876-16 April 1956

Born: 01 August 1876, Halifax, Yorkshire, England
Entered: 07 September 1893, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 24 September 1911
Final vows: 02 February 1914
Died: 16 April 1956, St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1913 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship
by 1940 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) - Tertian Director 1939-1942

Finn, Daniel J, 1886-1936, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/150
  • Person
  • 24 March 1886-01 November 1936

Born: 24 March 1886, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 06 September 1902, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 24 January 1919, Zakopane, Poland
Final Vows: 02 February 1924, St Ignatius College Riverview, Sydney, Australia
Died: 01 November 1936, London, England

Part of the Holy Spirit Seminary community, Aberdeen, Hong Kong at time of his death.

by 1910 at Oxford, England (ANG) studying
by 1914 at Innsbruck, Austria (ASR-HUN) studying
by 1919 at Zakopane, Poland (GALI) working
by 1920 at Petworth, Sussex (ANG) health
by 1928 second batch Hong Kong Missioners

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His early education was at Presentation Brothers College Cork. While still underage he won first place in Ireland in the Preparatory Grade, 1896, against over 2.600 competitors, securing 90% all round in his subjects. He was presented with a large gold medal and chaired through the College by his school fellows. Two years later he came second in the Junior Grade, winning four first composition prizes in Latin, French, German and Italian. He obtained a First Class Exhibition in his Middle and Senior Grades, while still underage, and in the Middle Grade, a gold medal for first place in three modern languages. During these years he also showed special devotion to Our Lady, and was noted for a certain gravity and cheerfulness of disposition, which he never lost.

He Entered the Society under Michael Browne in 1902 at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg
1904-1907 He remained at Tullabeg for his Juniorate.
1907-1909 He was sent to Rathfarnham Castle and University College Dublin gaining a BA in Archaeology.
1909-1910 He taught the Juniors at Tullabeg and went to St John’s College Oxford, where he gained a Diploma in Archaeology, and working under Sir Percy Gardner.
1910-1913 He was sent to Clongowes for regency, teaching Bookkeeping, Latin and Greek. His lectures to the community at this time on the great works of painting and sculpture were much appreciated.
1913-1917 He was sent to Innsbruck for Philosophy, and while there he learned Hungarian and some Slavic languages. His first sermon was in Irish on St Brigid, and while there he continued his interest in art and archaeology. Then because of the Italian entry into the war he was banished from the Tyrol and went to Kollegium Kalksberg close to Vienna, and he began Theology there in private, and gaining a sound knowledge of Hebrew.
1917-1920 He joined the Polish Theologate at Dzieddzice in Prussian Silesia. As a result of a severe cold here he contracted TB and was sent to the Jesuit residence at Zakopane, a famous health resort. He was Ordained there on 24 January 1919, in order to have consolation of dying a Priest. However, he was able to return to Ireland at the end of June that year, after spending the winder of 1919-1920 at Petworth Sussex in England.
1920-1922 He was sent to Australia and completed his Theology studies there and made Tertianship at Loyola Greenwich, whilst at the same time teaching the Juniors.
1922-1926 He was sent to St Ignatius College Riverview as a Teacher and Prefect of Studies. Here he was remembered for swimming in the baths, rowing on the river in the Gladstone skiff of a four, or throwing himself into a production of the Passion Play. Meanwhile, he taught one boy Japanese. During his time in Riverview he volunteered for the Japanese Mission, but he was diverted by Superiors to the Hong Kong Mission.
1926-1928 He resided in Hong Kong, engaged with the language and was employed at the University as a lecturer in pedagogy
1928-1931 He was in Canton in charge of the studied at Bishop Fourquet’s Sacred Heart School. There he also began the study of Chinese archaeology. He also translated several volumes of “Researches into Chinese Superstition” written by Fr Henri Doré SJ.
1931 He returned to Hong Kong he was appointed Spiritual Director of the Seminarians, Professor of Church History, and also a Lecturer in Geography at the University. In addition he found time for the research for which he would be chiefly remembered - his archaeological research in Lamma Island and other regions around Hong Kong which greatly enhanced the reputation of the Church in the Far East.
He represented the University and the Government at an International Congress in Manila and Oslo in 1936. His paper at Oslo was entitles “Crucial Doubts about the Most Important Finds in the Hong Kong Region”. At this same time he also managed to have published thirteen articles in the Hong Kong “Naturalist” entitled “Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island 1932-1936”
1936 he left Dublin for the British Museum on October 05, to continue his reading and discussion of the prehistoric specimens he had brought home with him. He was engaged in this work up to the 10th when he developed a carbuncle which indicated a general blood infection. He was transferred to hospital on the 16th, where despite expert treatment he failed to respond and he died.

He carried his learning lightly, and he laughed amusedly at the pedantic and ponderous. He was extremely humble, unassuming and simple, though a man of intense intellectual concentration and power for work. He was gifted with a strong robust character that knew no temporising or equivocation. His literary gifts were of a high order, as appeared from the little that was left in the way of letters written during his first years in China. He was an extraordinarily fine linguist, speaking Chinese, Irish, Latin, Greek, French, German, Polish and Japanese.

His early death saddened both his Jesuit and scientific colleagues.

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Father Daniel Finn, S.J.
(1886-1936)
By Thomas. F. Ryan SJ

The news of Father Finn’s death came as a shock to all who knew him even by name, and it was a painful blow to those who knew him personally. He was one of those rare characters that are equally conspicuous for qualities of heart and of head, and among all who came in contact with him his genial disposition will be as well remembered as his brilliant intellect. His death is a loss to science and especially to Hong Kong, and it is particularly tragic that he should have died abroad while on a scientific mission, representing both the Government and the University of Hong Kong.

It is close on forty years since I first met Father Finn, and I can still remember the first occasion on which I heard his name. It was at the first distribution of prizes which I attended at school. As a new boy and a very diminutive member of the lowest class, I listened with awe to the Headmaster’s account of the successes of the year, and I can recall his attitude and the tone of his voice as he told how one Daniel Finn found himself in a very enviable dilemma after his first public examination - he had to choose which of two gold medals he would accept. He had qualified for two, one for being first in Ireland in whole examination, and the other for being first in modern languages, but even in those amazing nineties when gold medals were awarded so liberally, no student in this examination could receive more than one. I forget which he chose, but I remember that the Headmaster fully approved of it - as headmasters always do on such occasions.

It was not long before the “Daniel” of the Headmaster’s speech gave place to “Dan.” Three years is a considerable gap between school-boy ages and to me Dan Finn was one of the Olympians, but he was a very cheerful divinity and was as much a hero to the smaller boys as if he were a proud athlete who never passed an examination. He never changed much in appearance from what he was as a boy. He was of the same build then as later, short and sturdy, with the same quizzical look about his eyes, and the same pucker of the lips, and the same odd angle of the head when he was hesitating about something. He grew careless about his clothes as the years went on, but as a boy in Cork forty years ago he was neatness itself, and the wide white collar above the Norfolk coat of those days was always spotless. He took no active part in games, but his best friend was a prominent athlete, and at school football-matches he was constantly to be seen on the touchline, leaning on the shoulder of some companion, and talking incessantly.

He had many family sorrows during his school-days, but they left no scars, and his good-humoured disposition never varied. His success in studies was phenomenal. It was commonly said of him in our school-days that he got first in every examination for which he sat. I am sure that this was an exaggeration, but it cannot have been very far from the truth. He was the only boy I remember whose photograph was hung in the school immediately after he left it. It was put over the fireplace in my classroom, and as we sat around the fire before class or during recess, remarks were often made about him.
“Where is he now?” someone asked one day.
“He is gone to be a Jesuit,” someone else answered.
That was the first time that I heard of anyone I knew becoming a Jesuit.

After a few years he began his University studies in Dublin, and before long the name of Rev. D. Finn, S.J., began to head the lists of examination results. As a boy he had taken up modern languages - French, German and Italian - for no other reason than that the school which we both attended cultivated them particularly. At the University he took up classics, and it was classics that formed the basis of the wide culture that was afterwards his. His entrance into classical studies was almost sensational, for after six months study of Greek he won a scholarship and first place in Greek and Latin in the University entrance examination. First with first-class honours in every examination, and every scholarship within reach, would be a correct summing up of this university career.

Recording examination successes is a monotonous thing, and in the case of Father Finn the less said about examinations the better if a proper estimate of him is to be given. He hated examinations. The humdrum work which they demanded was nauseating to him, and it was fortunate that preparation for them demanded such little effort on his part. He was always at his best when off the beaten track. I remember once meeting him in a country place when he was resting after a bout of examinations. He had a geologist’s hammer in his hand and was off to a railway cutting to look for fossils. The byways of the classics soon interested him. He stopped his first reading of Homer to make a model of a trireme, and a very ingenious model it was, with the oars made to scale and of a much more reasonable length than some antiquarians suggested. A year later he had developed a new theory for completing the friezes of the Parthenon, and he beguiled a number of people into adopting statuesque poses and allowing themselves to be photographed to demonstrate his theory. I have a vivid recollection of the sheepish look of a village shoe-maker who found himself dressed in a trousers and a long red curtain, standing on one leg and holding his arms at unnatural angles.

Whenever he seemed on the point of demanding a return to modern clothes and village dignity, Father Finn used tactfully to interject a remark about his splendid muscles, and so secure a continuance of the pose for another photograph.

On being awarded a Travelling Studentship from the University in Ireland, Father Finn went to Oxford, and from his time his classical studies were carried on more and more in museums rather than from books. His reading indeed was then as at all times, enormous, but he was by nature an explorer in unusual spheres and henceforth his reading was mainly a background for his explorations. In Oxford he devoted himself to the writing of a thesis on the colouring of Greek sculpture. It won him the highest praise, and one of the professors excused himself from the usual examination on the plea that the reading of the thesis showed that the writer know more about it than he did. When he returned to Ireland the first thing that he did was to look up the Greek professor in Dublin who had whetted his interest in archaeology and suggest to him that they should start some excavations on the hill of Tara.

A few years teaching classics in a secondary school followed. These were undistinguished years, for preparing boys for examinations was emphatically not Father Finn’s strong point. But he interested some of his cleverer pupils in all kinds of strange branches of study, and years later many men acknowledged their indebtedness to him for an interest in intellectual pursuits which they would otherwise never have had.

When it was time for him to go abroad to do further studies I received a letter from him. I was then in Italy and he wanted to know if it would be good for him to go to study in Rome, as was suggested. His idea was that an alternation of lectures in philosophy and visits to museums would be better than whole-time philosophical studies. But before my reply reached him it was decided that residence in a German-speaking house would be most useful for his future studies in the classics. So he was sent to Innsbruck, in the Tyrol. This decision, with which he was delighted, was to prove a fateful one for him.

In the December before the war broke out I was passing through Austria and met him in Innsbruck. I was bewildered by the number of new interests that engrossed him. Munich was near enough for an occasional visit to its museums and picture-galleries, but now the social movements in Germany and Austria had begun to attract him, and Austrian folk-lore was tugging at his attention too. He had always been a student of art, and his special leaning was towards Gothic architecture and Gothic sculpture, and he found time to give considerable time to it in Innsbruck. There was a problem here, too, to attract him, and I was not many hours in the town before he had me standing beside the Emperor Maximilan’s tomb while he expounded his theories about the identity of the famous figures surrounding it.

In the following summer the war broke out and Fr. Finn, from being among friends, became a stranger in a hostile land. Though the Austrians treated the alien residents with all that courtesy in which they excel, yet war is war and conditions were hard. At first things were not so bad, he was allowed to continue his studies, and all that was demanded was that he should report regularly to the police authorities. Then he had to do hospital work; then supplies began to run low - then his health gave out. The remaining years were difficult ones. An effort to get permission for him to leave the country did not succeed. But within the possibilities of wartime conditions he was treated with every consideration. He was moved from place to place, to countries that have since changed their names, and after some time in Lower Austria, in Hungary and in Czechoslovakia he was sent finally to Poland, where he could continue his studies. He was fond of Poland, and spoke more of it than of any of the other countries in which he lived. He learned the Polish language and a certain amount of Russian. It was in Poland that he was ordained to the priesthood.

After the war he returned to Ireland sadly broken in health. He had developed tuberculosis, and the only hope of saving his life was to go to a drier climate. He went to Australia and there he made a rapid recovery. To anyone who knew him in Hong Kong it would seem fantastic to suggest that he was a delicate man, but it is true that his health was never the same after the period of semi-starvation which he had gone through in the last years of the war, and it was only by adopting a special diet that he could keep going. The diet was not an attractive one, but he certainly kept going.

In Australia he became Prefect of Studies in Riverview College, near Sydney, and there as usual he continued his interest in all kinds of side issues. It was one of these latter that eventually brought him to the East. There were some Japanese pupils in this College, and in order to be able to help them in their studies Father Finn began to study Japanese - a language more or less never worried him. Inevitably he soon became interested in Japanese antiquities, and before long he was in communication with some fellow-Jesuits in Japan.

There is a Jesuit University in Tokyo, directed by German Fathers, and when they found that a man of Father Finn’s standing was interested in things Japanese, they declared at once that the place for him was Tokyo, and they made demarches to get him there. After some negotiations everything was arranged, and he left Australia on a boat that was to bring him to Japan. That was in the beginning of 1927.

Then happened one of those things that people say happen only to Jesuits. When the ship was on the high seas and Father Finn was immersed in his Japanese studies, a wireless message came to him, telling him that he was not to go to Japan after all, but that he was to get off at Hong Kong and go no further. It had happened that between the time that arrangements were made for him to go to Tokyo and the end of the Australian school year, when it would be possible for him to start, it had been decided that some Irish Jesuits were to come to Hong Kong, and it was felt that this colony had first claim on the services of Father Finn. So, a little bewildered by the unexpected change that blew all his plans sky-high, Father Finn landed in Hong Kong in February, 1927. He was then forty-one years old.

It happened that during his years in Australia his position as Prefect of Studies in a large college had brought him a good deal into educational circles and aroused his interest in pedagogical matters. As interest for him found expression in deep study, he set to work to master the theory of education. In a few years whatever he had to say on matters connected with education was listened to with respect, and when he was leaving Sydney there was public expression of regret that New South Wales was losing a leading authority on education. Hong Kong at that time was looking for a substitute for Professor Forster, to take his place as Professor of Education in the University while he was on leave, and the result was that Father Finn was only a few days in the Colony when he was asked to take the position, So his connection with the Hong Kong University began.

Always a conscientious worker, Father Finn took the greatest care to do his work in the University in a way that was worthy of his position, and this was little short of heroic on his part, for, having come to China, his one desire was to go as deeply and as quickly as possible into the new field of antiquities that was open to him. He found time to begin the study of Chinese, however, but it was not until his temporary occupancy of the professorship was at an end that he was able to devote himself with all the intensity that he desired to his new studies. But he was not long free, and his next move was to Canton, where he taught, and later directed, the studies in the Sacred Heart College. Here his colleagues had an opportunity of seeing the way in which he worked, for, while most of his day was given to work in the classroom, he managed at the same time to give from five to seven hours each day to the study of Chinese. He made rapid strides in the language and, though he never acquired a good pronunciation, he learned to speak fluently Cantonese and some other local dialects and to read Chinese with such ease as is rarely acquired by a foreigner.

From that time forward Chinese antiquities occupied every moment that was free from his regular duties. When he spent some time in Shanghai, part of it was given to translating some of the Recherches sur les Superstitions en Chine, by P. Doré, S.J., and in whatever house he lived in Hong Kong his room soon took on the appearance of a museum. There was never any such thing as leisure time in his programme-study of one kind or another filled every available moment. He worked with great rapidity. He got to the “inside” of a book in a very short time, and every book that he read was a work of reference to him ever after, for at a moment’s notice he seemed to be able to trace any passage or any illustration in any book that he had read. In the few years that he had it was remarkable how much ground he covered in Chinese antiquities. On this subject his reading extended to practically every work of note in English, German and French, and to a considerable number of books also in Chinese and Japanese-for he had worked hard at Japanese when he realized that it was necessary for his antiquarian studies. His appointment as Lecturer in Geography in the Hong Kong University revealed another side of his interests, for it was only when his name came up in connection with the position that it was realised how fully abreast he was of modern methods of geographical study, and how detailed, in particular, was his knowledge of the geography of China.

His interest was gradually converging on archaeological research in Hong Kong when an accidental circumstance threw him right into the midst of it. He was living in the Seminary at Aberdeen, and one morning, about five years ago, he crossed the creek in the early morning to go to say Mass in the Convent of the Canossian Sisters in the village. As he climbed up from the sampan he saw a pile of sand being unloaded from a junk by the shore. His eye caught a fragment of an arrow-head in the sand. He picked it out, put it in his pocket and went on. But on his return an hour later he stopped to examine the sand, and found that it came from an archaeologist's gold mine, for within a short time he found several other interesting stone fragments and a few pieces of bronze. He questioned the men who were still engaged in unloading it, and found that it came from Lamma Island out in the bay. Further inquiries revealed that the work was being done under Government authority, and the sand was being removed rapidly by shiploads. To him this was vandalism and tragedy combined. He knew already from the work of Professor Shellshear and Mr. Schofield how important were the archaeological remains to be found around Hong Kong, and how illuminating they might be in their relation to many of the unsolved problems of pre-history, and here he found valuable evidence of the past being used to build walls and make drains. He had to act at once if he was to do his part for science and Hong Kong, he got through preliminaries as quickly as possible and within a week he was excavating on Lamma Island.

The results exceeded all expectations. To the uninitiated the stones and bits of earthenware which he handled so reverently were a disappointing result after hours of digging in the glaring sun, but to him and to others that were able to read their message, they were keys to unlock new storehouses of knowledge of the past. He now began to communicate his discoveries to scholars in other lands, and their interest was manifest. The Government of Hong Kong was alive to the importance of this new field of research and it gave a grant towards the expense connected with it. Henceforth Father Finn’s big interest in life was the archaeology of Hong Kong.

It would seem as if all his previous life was a preparation for these few years. Up to this time one might have said of him that he was taking too many things in his line of vision and that he would have done better if he had concentrated on some one branch of study. He had in him the capacity to do really great work in some one direction, but the multitude of his interests made him just a man of encyclopaedic knowledge when he might have been a specialist of eminence. But now all the jigsaw elements of his previous studies seemed to fall together and to make the essential background for his work in an almost unexplored branch of science. His classical training, his long study of classical archaeology, his scientific interests, his close study of history and geography, his knowledge of art-these were all essential to him now, but they could only be utilised because he possessed the archaeologist's flair that made him know what to seek and how to interpret, and gave his work in this field the character of genius. He enlarged the field of knowledge in this particular branch of archeology, even though, as he claimed, his work in it had hardly begun. His numerous articles in the Hong Kong Naturalist, ably illustrated by his esteemed friend Dr. Herklots, and the collection of objects excavated by him are all that remain as a record of his work. What he might have done if he had been spared for a few years more we can only surmise. It is the possibility of great achievement that makes his death so tragic.

And what of the man behind the student and the scholar? I have told of him as a well-liked boy even though of a class rarely conspicuous for popularity. As a man, among his Jesuit associates and with his few other friends, he was known and will always be remembered for his delightful disposition and perennial good humour. I am sure that no one who ever came into contact with Father Finn ever found in him a trace of conceit. The mere suggestion of it is ludicrous to anyone who knew him, and when any were led by ignorance of his own particular field of research to be critical of its utility, he was never provoked-even in their absence-to anything more than a good-humored sally. His wide interests embraced the work of all his companions. He knew what interested each one, and he was genuinely interested in it too. In everything he was always ready to help those who wanted his assistance, and much as he deplored the loss of a moment of time, he gave it unstintingly when the need of another claimed it. His thoughtfulness and sympathetic kindness made him a friend of all who knew him, and it is those who were associated with him most closely that will miss him most.

When writing of a priest-scholar it is often thought enough to add a paragraph at the end stating that, of course, this scholar was also a priest, and that he was all that a priest should be. To do so in the case of Father Finn would leave the picture of him very incomplete. His life was essentially that of a priest and religious devoted to science and scholarship rather than that of a scholar who happened to wear a Roman collar. The principles that moulded his life were visible in his attitude towards every duty assigned him and every branch of his study. If at any time, for any reason, he had been told to drop whatever work he was doing and turn to something completely new, he would have done it without question at a moment’s notice. Everyone who knew him realised that. From the moment he came to China he regarded himself as a missionary. His work was to spread the knowledge of God’s Truth, and he was ready to do it in any way that came within his scope. He did it abundantly by his example alone, and the testimonies about him since his death show that this influence of his example extended over a far wider field that he would ever have imagined.

In June, 1936, he left Hong Kong to attend an Archaeological Congress in Oslo. His report there on the work in Hong Kong attracted wide attention. Invitations poured in on him-to go to various centres of learning in Europe and America, to join in excavations in many lands. He was able to accept only a few, for he had already arranged to join in some research in the Malay Peninsula next spring. But he visited Sweden, Denmark and France, and then made a brief visit to his native Ireland. From there he went to London, to study in the British Museum. While in London he was attacked by some kind of blood poisoning-the result, he believed, of something he contracted in his archaeological work in Hong King, but who can tell? The doctors could not trace the source of the infection, but it proved fatal after a month’s illness.

When the news of his death came to Hong Kong it was felt as a personal sorrow by those whose sympathy he would have valued most. Poor boat-women on the sampans at Aberdeen wept when they were told it, and little children on Lamma Island were sad when they were told that he would not come back. It was the welcome of such as these that would have pleased him most if he returned; it is their regret at his death that most reveals to us his real worth. May he rest in peace.
The Irish Jesuit Directory and Year Book 1938

From Milan to Hong Kong 150 Years of Mission, by Gianni Criveller, Vox Amica Press, 2008.

Note from Thomas Ryan Entry
In 1941 he published “Jesuits under Fire”. He edited “Archaelogical Finds on Lamma Island”, the work of Daniel Finn.

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
He excelled at school in modern languages, being awarded Gold medals for French, German and Italian. He did a brilliant thesis on the colouring of statues by the ancient Greeks.
1913 He was sent to Innsbruck Austria for Philosophy. There he took up a keen interest and fascination in Austrian folklore.
1931 Chinese antiquaries absorbed him when he taught at the South China Regional Seminary in Aberdeen. He made a study of the deities and statues of the Aberdeen boat people, ad then he sent these to the Lateran Museum in Rome. In the 1930s he lectured also at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Geography.
1932 While teaching Theology and Scripture at Aberdeen he came across a fragment of an arrowhead in sand brought from the south western shores of Lamma Island. He traced the source and found stone fragments and bronze pieces along with pottery fragments. This led to his writings on the Pre-Han and Stone Age history of the South China coast, which at the time was new to the archaeological world. He was a pioneer in archaeology in Hong Kong

Note from Thomas Ryan Entry
In 1941 he published “Jesuits under Fire”. He edited “Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island”, the work of Daniel Finn.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 10th Year No 3 1935

Works by Father Dan Finn SJ :

  1. “Researches into Chinese Superstitions," by Rev. H. Doré, SJ (Shanghai - Translated into English by Father D. Finn, S.J.
  2. Vol IX : Taoist; Taoist Personnages, 1931 - pp xx + 227, 76 plates
  3. Vol X : Boards of heavenly Administration, 1933 - pp ix + 179, 39 plates (Both published at Tusewei Printing Press, Shanghai)
  4. A booklet : “Some Popular Indulgences Explained” - Messenger Office
  5. A series of articles on “Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island” - They appear in the Hong Kong Naturalist (Quarterly), From Vol. III, Parts 3 and 4, Dec. 1954, up to current issue.

Irish Province News 12th Year No 1 1937

Father Daniel Finn

Following so soon on the loss of Father Lyons, the unexpected death of Father Finn in a nursing home in London on Nov. 1st comes as a tragic blow to the Province and the Hong Kong Mission. Had he been allotted the normal span of life he would in all human probability have emerged a savant of the first order. He died just as he was winning a European reputation through his archaeological discoveries in China.
Born in Cork city, 24th March, 1886, he was educated at the Presentation College. When still under age he won 1st Place in Ireland in the Preparatory Grade, 1896, against over 2,600 competitors, securing 90 per cent all round in his subjects, and was awarded by his school a large gold medal, and was chaired through the College by his school-fellows. Two years later he came second in the Junior Grade, winning four first composition prizes in Latin, French, German and Italian. He got first-class exhibitions in Middle and Senior Grades, while still under age and, in the Middle Grade, a gold medal for first place in the three modem languages.
In these youthful days he had a wonderful and outspoken devotion to Our Blessed Lady and was noted for a certain gravity and cheerfulness of disposition which he never lost.
He began his noviceship in Tullabeg 6th September, 1902, remained there for two vicars' juniorate, during which he won 1st Place in the Classical Scholarship Examination (Royal University) and then went to College Green, where he began the study of Archaeology. After getting his B.A. degree he was sent for a year to Tullabeg to teach the juniors. In 1909-10 he studied Archaeology at Oxford, and secured a diploma in that subject. For the next three years he was a master at Clongowes. He could scarcely be pronounced a successful teacher on Intermediate lines and was given other classes. In them, with a number of other subjects, he taught book keeping with characteristic zest and humility. The delightful lectures he gave to the Community during these years reveal an astonishingly detailed acquaintance with all the great works of painting and sculpture.
He began his philosophy at Innsbruck in 1912, and during the three years acquired a certain fluency in Hungarian and in three at least of the Slav languages, keeping up his knowledge of Irish all the time. His first sermon in the refectory on St. Brigid was preached in his native tongue. His first loves, art and archaeology were by no means neglected.
in July 1915, in company with Father Halpin, and with the writer of the present lines, he alas banished from the Tirol by the War authorities, on Italy's entry into the struggle, and went to our College at Kalksberg near Vienna, where he began theology in private. While there he acquired a profound knowledge of Hebrew.
In 1917 he was able to join the Polish theologate at Dziedzice in Prussian Silesia. It was here, as a result of a severe cold he contracted consumption and was sent to the Jesuit Residence at Zakopane, a famous health resort. He was ordained on 24th February, 1919, in order to have the consolation of dying a priest.
However, he was able to return to Ireland at the end of June, and after spending the winter of 1919 at Petworth, when he continued his study of theology, he was sent to Australia. At Loyola he did his “third year”, and spent another year teaching the Juniors, getting completely rid of his delicacy. His chief work in Australia was done as Protect of Studies at Riverview 1922-26.
During that period he volunteered for the Japanese Mission and, after a splendid send-off from Riverview, set sail. A letter of his to Father Fahy best explains that he landed not at Yokohama but at Hong Kong.
For a year he resided at Hong Kong engaged on the language and employed at the University as lecturer in pedagogy. From 1928 to the summer of 1931 he was at Canton in charge of the studies of Bishop Fourquet's College. Just then things were looking bad, and there was a possibility of martyrdom. It was at Canton he began the study of Chinese archaeology. Returning to Hong Kong he was made spiritual director to the Seminarians, their professor in Church History, lecturer in geography at the University. Notwithstanding all this, he found time for that fine work for which he will be chiefly remembered - his archaeological researches on Lamma island and other regions around Hong Kong, by which he greatly enhanced the reputation of the Church in the Far East. He represented the University and the Government at the International Congress of Manila in 1935. and at Oslo in 1936. This latter was the occasion of his return to Europe, His paper read at Oslo was entitled - “Crucial Doubts about the Most Important Finds in the Hong Kong Region”. The full bearing of his discoveries he had not yet been able with certainty to divine, and herein lies the full tragedy of his untimely death. However, we have an enduring monument of his powers of research in the thirteen articles printed in the “Hong Kong Naturalist”, entitled “Archaeological Finds on Lamma Island”. They date from December, 1932, to 1936.
On October 5th Father Finn left Dublin for the British Museum to continue his reading and discussion of the prehistoric specimens he had brought home with him. He was engaged in this work up to the 10th when he was attacked by a carbuncle trouble which indicated a general blood infection. On the 16th he was transferred to SS. John and Elizabeth's Hospital, where, despite expert treatment, he failed to put up an effective resistance, and died at 10.10 am. on Sunday, 1st November, having received Holy Viaticum for the last time about an hour before his death. He was buried in Kensal Green cemetery on 3rd November.
Father Dan carried his learning lightly. He laughed amusedly at the pedantic and ponderous when he met them, he was extremely humble unassuming and simple, though a man of intense intellectual concentration and power of work. He was gifted with a strong, robust character which knew no temporising or equivocation. His literary gifts were of a high order, as appears from the little he has left in the way of letters written during his first years in China and preserved in the Province News of that period - in them are best mirrored his character and gifts of imagination and heart, his profound humility, his Ignatian spirit of obedience, his exquisite sensibility, his love of Christ and souls.
We owe the above appreciation and record of Father Finn's life to the great kindness of Father john Coyne, Socius to Father Provincial.

Irish Province News 12th Year No 2 1937

Father Dan Finn - Hong Kong Letters
News of Father Finn's death came as a very severe blow. It is unnecessary to say how much the Mission feels his loss. both as a member of the community and as a worker who had won for the Society very considerable honour by his industry and erudition.
Many letters have been received from all sections expressing their sympathy. The following is that received from the Vice Chancellor and Council of the University :
Dear Father Cooney,
There is no need for me to write to tell you how profoundly affected I am by Father Finn's death. Father Finn was a great scholar and his was an all-winning personality. His death is a
severe loss to this University, to this Colony, to China, and indeed to the rapidly disappearing world of scholarship and culture. What Father Finn’s death means to his fellow Jesuits in Hong Kong I can faintly imagine but am totally unable to express. The University Council will, at its next meeting, record a resolution. Meanwhile, on behalf not only of myself, but also of the University. will you please precept my sincerest sympathy.
Yours Sincerely,
W. W. HORNELL

Extract from the minutes of the seventh meeting of the Council held 6th November :
The Council learned, with great regret, of the death of the Rev. D. J. Finn SJ, the University lecturer in Geography, and passed the following resolution - “The Council wished to place on record its poignant regret at the death of the Rev. Father Finn of the Society of Jesus. The Council realises the devoted work which Father Finn did not only for the Colony of Hong Kong and its University but also for the world of scholarship, learning and culture, and is painfully conscious of the loss which his untimely death involves. The Council hereby instructs the Registrar to convey to the Superior and Procurator of the Jesuit Mission in Hong Kong its profound sympathy with the Mission in its heavy loss. The Council will be grateful if the Superior would convey to the members of Father Finn's family the assurance that the University shares with them the affliction of their bereavement.” The members indicated the adoption of the resolution by standing in silence.

On 7th November there was a Sung Office and Solemn Requiem Mass at the Seminary. The Bishop presided at the special invitation of the Italian Fathers, who said that they regarded Father Finn as “one of their own priests,” a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral on 26th November. Amongst those present were His Excellency, the Governor of Hong Kong, the Vice-Chancellor and Professors of the University, and many friends, both Catholic and non-Catholic. The newspapers gave a full account with the title “Tribute paid to Jesuit - Governor attends Requiem Mass for Father Finn” “Indicative of the high esteem in which Hong Kong held the late Rev. Daniel Finn, S.J., who died in Europe three weeks ago, was the big attendance of distinguished non Catholic mourners who attended the Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul in the Catholic Cathedral this morning. Among them was His Excellency the Governor, Sir Andrew Caldecott, who took his seat with Sir William Hornell, Vice-Chancellor of the University, near the impressive catafalque” etc.

Father Finn's last letter to Father Cooney, dated London, 10th October, ran :
“Here I am enjoying myself as usual. Most days at the British Museum from I0 am. to 5.30 pm. l have developed some boil trouble which I am getting a local doctor to overhaul. I suppose it will be nothing.”
At the Mass the Seminarians. from Aberdeen formed the choir. Father G. Bvrne preached a short panegyric.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Daniel Finn 1886-1936
Fr Daniel Finn, a native of Cork, entered the Society in 1902. With his University studies over, he went to the continent for his philosophical and theological studies.

In 1919 he returned to Ireland in poor health, and for this reason he was sent to Australia, where for seven years he was Prefect of Studies. He was on his way to Japan in 1926 when notified of his attachment to the Hong Kong Mission. Here he turned to what was really the big work of his life, for from his University days in Oxford he had excelled in Archaeology.

In spite of all his work, travels and successes, he never forgot the primary object of his life – God’s greater glory, and he always had a notable devotion to Our Lady.

He went, on his way to an Archaelogical Congress to in Oslo, when he fell ill in London, and he died there on the Feast of All Saints 1956, being only fifty years of age.

◆ Our Alma Mater, St Ignatius Riverview, Sydney, Australia, 1928

Letter from Father Finn

Dear Mr Editor,
Here I am living this past month under the comforting shadows of a pair of Gothic spires in the heart of a fascinating Chinese city - and I have been too lazy to stir out! I have settled down again to being a school-master-and a very uneventful schoolmaster at that.

It is over a year and a half since I left 'View and since then I have seen many a new sight in China - yet it is always China. There are the full-breasted waterways with their traffic of ill-assorted craft where the Western built steamer hustles about the little sampans or the statelier junks; then there is the setting of the rivers, amid vast fertile alluvial plains, or cutting through crowded. hills. But these rivers have come thousands of miles and they bring down timber, produce, refuse, the living and the dead. Even the very earth itself. On them live people in their hundreds of thousands, even millions, who never quit them; their boats are their homes. I have only to walk two short streets to reach the Canton Bund, and there I can see one of the most characteristic sights of all China. It is a long quay beside the water-way that runs be tween the City proper and its suburb - Ho-nam. How many miles long, I don't know, but it is a very long way to the Railway station at the one end and it is over a quarter of an hour to Shameen at the other end, and this latter we count as near, All that long stretch is lined thick at both sides with craft, mostly small things, a little bigger than a Lane Cove fisherman's boat, but covered over for about half the length by a tunnel-like cover of matting. Down towards Shameen, every day when the Hongkong steamer comes in, there is a sudden scattering of these like the disturbance of an ant's nest, when the big river-boat makes for her berth. At places these boats merely cater for the pleasures of the Cantonese, and on them you can have meals-music-opium perhaps, but far more interesting are the other boats that earn a hard-won livelihood as passenger or cargo boats.

On board you can see all the members of a family, from the grandfather and grandmother down; all of them work. You will see an old woman at an oar, and on her back is strapped one of the newest members of the family. whose neck seems to be made of rubber, to judge by the case with which he sleeps amid all sorts of movements to which his head bobs about. The younger limbs of the household who can crawl about or walk for themselves are usually clad in full costumes of sun-tanned skin with a little crust of dirt to deepen it. Perhaps a charm hangs about the neck, but almost certainly a gourd or a kind of wooden drum will be hanging about the waist, with perhaps a bell tied at the child's ankles; still more cautious parents have a light rope tying their valuable offspring to some post.on board; such methods help to lessen the inevitable risk of tumbling overboard. A further stage of boyhood hops in itself for a swim in the yellow brown water, but that is not yet and it needs no precautions. Domestic animals dogs, cats, hens, pigs, are equally carefully guarded against the useless process of getting into the water.

Life is lived in all its stages on board: sleep at night on a mat-spread floor and completely under a padded quilt; the meals of rice with scraps of fish and vegetables - all washed down with tea - are cooked in an ingenious kitchen-well on board, and often eaten under the oar-handles in very movement. But it was the rowing that interested me. Here, I said to myself, is the solution for 'View. They have a style - of course it is not for outrigged racing boats - but it is a “style”. They row facing the direction in which the boat is going--and only in difficult currents do they need a steersman aft; they row standing and they fling their weight on to the long oar or sweep when it is fairly deep; the oar handle is then as high as their heads. To secure their rhythmic swing of the body, there is a definite scheme of foot-work, resembling, too, that of the Chinese carpenter as he uses his long saw with a similar movement. Now, actually the youngsters of four, five and six have got that body swing and foot-work by imitating their father and mother in play before ever they can contribute to the driving force of the boat. Hence the lesson! Put your “Eight”
into the boat from say four years of age - let them pick up “style” while they are young! The Prefect of Studies would be happier later on.

The social life of these people reproduces the life on land. They have their floating shops, mostly for comforts or food things, cakes, fruit, cigarettes, and wonderful brews; they have their beggars afloat in their own tubs; they have religious rites for marriages and deaths with the same squealing music and the droning chants; they have magic decorations in red with the fascinating characters; they probably have the wise-acres, who will write letters for them or tell their fortunes. Even just as you see men and women on the road ways tugging huge loaded trucks (where we are accustomed to see only draught animals at work), so you will see the boat people towing from the bank their boats up some river. against a heavy current. I don't know whether they have schools afloat; usually the people know enough characters for ordinary purposes - but there is no place for a library. We hope later to get into closer touch with these people when we have our place at Aberdeen (Small Hong Kong); perhaps then, we shall have to rig up a floating church. Up in the Shanghai Mission, however, they get such Catholics to bring their boats in groups to certain churches situated convenient for them.

But what is the use of all this writing? One must leave half the scene untouched. The accompaniment of unending chatter, of warning shouts, of abuse at times, of bumping boats, of creaking oars, the yelling in emergencies, the monotonous two-note chant of the coolies loading or unloading cannot be produced in ink. The heat, the glistening perspiration, the strange smells - tobacco being one and joss sticks another - the streams of rickshaws moving along the Bund, the thick current of white or black clad pedestrians, the big buildings and their green, red or blue signs with gold characters; you cannot get all in the picture if you want the Canton Bund on paper.

Now you see how long it takes me to get finished once I start with one thing here in China. So I must jettison all the notes I wrote on the back of your letter. I then intended to make “a short article” (your words) on the Hongkong New Year (Chinese) Fair which comes about the end of January; if anybody wants to get something distinctive let him come himself and see its booths, its crowds, its varieties. or again, if I were to start on Zi-ka-wei Shanghai with its Ignatius Church and College, I should take pages to tell you of the Communion rails crowded daily and of the Corpus Christi procession, wonderful displays of Chinese Catholicity. No Sydney man would feel homesick in Shanghai - but of its European flavour I shall not waste space. Personally, I prefer the Chinese town with its three-century-old Church (which has been in one interval a pagoda), its quaint tea-house in a gold fish pond, its temple with a stream of men worshippers. But there I am again! I seem to discover bits of myself in different places - -a library in Zi-ka-wei, ruins in Macao, unbroken quiet in the rice fields of Tai Wan or the snug village of Wong Tung, art at Tsat-Shing-Ngam, sea and hill at Hongkong, mediaevalism at Wai Chan - and I love to rehandle the fragments. And yet - and yet - the Riverview fragment still gets mixed up with the others, and somehow blends with the scheme. If Riverview but helps with prayer, it will fit in perfectly.

Yours,

DJF.

◆ Our Alma Mater, St Ignatius Riverview, Sydney, Australia, 1936

Obituary

Father Daniel Finn

A cable announcing the death of Father Daniel J Finn SJ, on November 2nd, arrived as the Alma Mater was due to go to press. It is fitting that some account, how ever inadequate, should appear of a remarkable man and one to whom Riverview owes much,

Memories of a quarter of a century's friendship call up many varied scenes, some lived through together, others known from delightful letters and from reminiscences in later years - a Greek class in Clongowes (Ireland) clustered round Mr Finn's desk while he expounded the glories of Greek architecture and sculpture and coinage, as a change from reading Euripides and Thucydides; Mr Finn in his shirt sleeves arranging the Greek antiquities in the University museum in Dublin; revelling in the beauties of the mountain scenery and the historical associations of the Tyrol; teaching youthful Grafs and Freiherrs in Vienna; adventures in the midst of great battles on the Polish-Russian frontier during the war; at Riverview, swimming in the baths, on the river in the Gladstone skiff or in a four (Joe Alagna and other small boys of the time will remember coxing on these occasions); throwing himself heart and soul into the production of the Passion Play; then years later at Hong Kong, lecturing to Chinese students; with his gang of coolies excavating on Lammas Island; in his museum expatiating on the significance of the prehistoric pottery and arrow heads and rings he had discovered, or hunting in the glorious confusion of his room to find some notes on the ancient Chinese constellations.

Fr Finn was born in Cork just fifty years ago, After a brilliant career at Oxford, where he acquired a reputation in Greek archaeology, he taught for some years at Clongowes. In 1913 he went to Innsbruck to study philosophy and was interned in Austria, and later in Poland, during the war. For some time he taught at the College of Kalksburg, Vienna, then was sent to the college of Hieruf in Poland. This college was the chief building for many miles around, and, during the fierce battles that raged there, was used as headquarters by Russians, Austrians and Germans in alternation as the tide of war ebbed and flowed. Fr Finn was not ill-treated - that is not the Austrian way. He was not put in prison or in a concentration camp. Nevertheless, the privations he underwent, in common with the rest of the population, undermined his health so seriously that the doctors did not give him long to live. He went to the Carpathian mountains, where he studied theology and was ordained very soon, so that he might die as a priest. However, he was able to leave Austria in 1919, though quite broken in health.

He came to Australia in 1920, and in time his health was completely restored. During his five years as Prefect of Studies at Riverview (1922–1926) he got through an amazing amount of work. Many Old Boys will recall with gratitude now much their education owes to him. In addition to the ordinary routine of teaching and work as Prefect of Studies, he maintained a number of other activities. Each year saw a play excellently staged, due largely to his untiring exertions (as Mr. Harry Thomas testifies)—Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, and, culminating triumph, the Passion Play in 1925.

A boy wanted to learn Japanese. Father Finn agreed to teach him. That was the overt reason why he undertook the study of Japanese. The main reason was not known until later.

For some years Fr Finn had been interested in missionary work in Japan. From a close friend of his, a German Jesuit, who worked for years in Tokyo, he obtained detailed information about the tasks and prospects of Catholic missions in Japan. He was fired with the desire to devote his life to helping on the conversion of Japan. The difficulties of the work, about which he had no illusions, did not deter him. The first of these difficulties, the language, he tackled vigorously in the intervals of his work at Riverview. When he had mastered it sufficiently, he obtained leave from Father General to transfer himself to the Japanese mission and sailed for Tokyo at the end of 1926.

At Brisbane a cable from the General reached him to say that the Irish Jesuit Province had been commissioned by the Pope to undertake a Mission in Hong Kong, and that his services would be wel comed there. Father General realised, however, that it would be hard, after lab ouring for years to prepare himself for work in Japan, to abandon that work and start all over again on the extremely difficult Chinese language. Accordingly, Father Finn was left perfectiy free to go on to Japan if he thought well. He left the ship forthwith and took the next boat to Hong Kong.

On arrival at Hong Kong he was at once offered a temporary chair in the (State) University. Later on he was given a regular professorship there. He acquired a profound knowledge of Chinese, and in particular of ancient Chinese characters (incidentally, he already spoke Irish, Latin, Greek, French, German, Polish, Japanese). He has produced several learned volumes on Chinese religion and mythology. The branch of learning which owes most to him during these years is archaeology. His thorough training under expert archaeologists, his wide learning and real flair for the subject were given adequate scope. He carried out systematic excavations on Lammas Island, near Hong Kong. One day each week was spent on this island, directing the operations of some thirty coolies which the Government put at his disposal. He made many important discoveries, and seems to have opened up a whole new phase in the prehistory of Southern China.

In Hong Kong, Father Finn lived in the Seminary in which the Irish Jesuits educate for the priesthood Chirese students from all Southern China: He did his share in this work of training.
This year he went to Norway to attend an archaeological congress. Apparently he died while still in Europe, but no details have reached us so far. The results he achieved in the short space of not quite ten years in Hong Kong gave promise of a truly remarkable output had he been granted the normal span of life. Talents and labours and labours were devoted unstintingiy to the service of God. For that he has earned his reward, but the Chinese mission and the learned world are the losers by his early death. His learning was tempered by modesty, humour and charm, and friends in many parts of the world will mourn his loss.

D O’C SJ

◆ The Clongownian, 1937

Obituary

Father Daniel Finn SJ

The Irish Province of the Society of Jesus was deprived of one of its ablest members by the death of Father Finn on 1st November last. Although he was not at school at Clongowes, he spent three years here as a master (1910-13) and during that time the boys knew him as a man of extraordinarily varied interests with a particular flair for archæology and a deep enthusiasm for the study of Greek and Roman antiquities. He wrote several articles for “The Clongownian” in which he described the Clongowes Museurn and gave an exhaustive account of some classical coins in the collection.

At the National University he specialized in Classics, and won distinctions innumerable. Afterwards he went to Oxford to write a thesis on the colouring of Greek sculpture, a work that brought him the highest praise from the professors there. He began theology in Austria, but owing to the outbreak of the Great War he was transferred to Hungary and finally to Poland. Through this period, his genius in mastering languages enabled him to add Polish and Russian to his knowledge of French, German and Italian, in all of which he had been proficient since his schooldays. However, on his return to Ireland, it was found that he had contracted tuberculosis, and the only hope of saying his life was to go to a drier climate. Accordingly he went to Australia and spent some time in Riverview College as Prefect of Studies. But here he became interested in Japanese antiquities, and the staff of the Jesuit University of Tokyo hearing of him obtained permission to have him transferred to Japan. It was while he was on his way there that he got orders to change his destination for Hong Kong where the Irish Jesuits were just starting a mission.

In this seemingly fortuitous way he came to be living in a land teeming with relics of bygone ages. With the kind assistance of the Government, he carried out extensive excavations on Lamma Island close at hand, and made numerous valuable finds. His reports on the new field of discovery won world-wide attention at the Archælogical Congress held in Oslo last year, which he attended as the representative of the Government and University of Hong Kong. It was shortly after the Congress, when he was working in the British Museum that he began to suffer from some curious type of blood-poisoning of which he died within a month.

The fifty years of his life had been years of unceasing toil, not merely as a student and archæologist, but also in his later years as a priest and missionary. No more fitting tribute could be paid him than that at the Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul offered in Hong Kong, the congregation numbered people of all classes; HE the Governor, University officials, merchants, boat-women and little children: a truly representative gathering of many who esteemed him as a friend as well as a scholar. RIP

Keenoy, William P, 1911-1936, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1506
  • Person
  • 18 January 1911-04 September 1936

Born: 18 January 1911, Portarlington, County Laois
Entered: 06 November 1929, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 04 September 1936, Dublin

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

Early education at St Joseph’s CBS, Portarlington and Mungret College SJ

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 12th Year No 1 1937
Clongowes :
On the evening of Friday, September 4th, came the news of the happy death of one of our new Scholastics, Mr William Keenoy, S.J. His unexpected death came as a great shock to all as he had been operated on successfully for appendicitis on August 1st. On September 3rd peritonitis set in. He died shortly after a second operation. The younger members of the Community are deeply affected by his loss. RIP.

Obituary :
Mr. William Keenoy

We are grateful to Mr. O’Brolchain for the following appreciation :
Those who knew Mr. William Keenoy slightly found him affable and anxious to make friends. Strangers in the house he treated with a frank and winning courtesy. He made them feel at home, and put himself freely at their service. Those who knew him somewhat better were surprised to find in him unexpected reserves , but those who knew him best of all penetrated beyond these to the quick sympathy, and the rare genius for friendship.
His character was unusual in the qualities it combined , the liveliness of a schoolboy with a steadiness quite exceptional, keen interest in games with book-learned skill. A shrewd observer said that he was a Tom Sawyer or a Penrod in real life. He was only a novice then, fresh from school, and it was very true. To the end what is fine in the schoolboy remained with him, but more and more, steadiness and reliability of character rose up behind it. So, too, did he combine intellectual and physical interests. He was a proficient in football, hurling, tennis and handball. He liked to take long walks or long cycle rides when opportunity offered, or to swim long distances. But side by side with this went devotion to the things of the mind. Gifted with intellectual powers well beyond the average, he supplemented them with hard work, work too hard, for he weakened under the strain.
The facts of his life are soon told, He was born in Portarlington on January 18th, 1911, studied at the Christian Brothers school there with considerable brilliance, gaining a scholarship. He spent a few months at Mungret College, and began his Noviceship at Tullabeg, 6th November 1949. His two years in the Noviceship were very well spent. His boyish character matured and deepened, and he developed a steady personal piety - unostentatious and unaggressive. He did not criticise the ways of others or try to draw them to his mind, but neither was he easily drawn by others. In Rathfarnham he settled down to scholastic pursuits as to accustomed toil. His studies included Economics and this gave him an interest in social problems, and thereafter a constant ambition of his was to study such problems and help in their solution. He obtained his degree with distinction, but overstrained in doing so, and from this strain he suffered during all the two years of life that were left to him. In 1934 he began Philosophy in Tullabeg but had to be sent to teach after two years owing to the weakness of his health. By the status of July, 1936, he was sent to Clongowes and was taking up his duties there with all his old cheerful energy when an attack of appendicitis sent him to hospital. On Monday, August 31st, he was operated on. The operation seemed quite successful but then complications most unexpectedly set in. He became delirious. Another operation alas attempted and failed. On Friday, September 4th, he died and was buried in Glasnevin on the following Monday - the day the boys he was to teach returned to school. His death came as a great shock to all who knew him. That he was young made it tragic, that he was such as he was deepened the tragedy. His life had been more full of promise than is usual, exact in religious observance, steady in character, unusual in mental equipment, and possessed of a severely practical mind he seemed destined to do great work for God here, but God took him to do it elsewhere. Those who knew him well are grateful for his friendship. In many ways his life is an inspiration, perhaps most of all in its gaiety in the face of trouble. Unknown, probably to most of his acquaintances, he had many and increasing troubles in his life, but they never soured him, to the last his laughter was merry and frequent. One remembers him smiling his peculiarly attractive smile, and is encouraged to meet trouble with the gaiety with which he met it.

◆ Mungret Annual, 1939

Our Past

William Keenoy SJ

Rev William Keenoy SJ, (1929) died very unexpectedly last August after an operation for appendicitis. His untimely death is very much regretted by the inembers of the Society of Jesus in Ireland no less than by the large circle of friends he made in the school days at Mungret. A native of Portarlington, he received his primary and secondary education at the Chrisitan Brothers Schools. Prior to his entering the Society, he spent some months at Mungret, where, in a very short time he . came to be recognised as a student of great intellectual power.

Having completed his noviceship and taken his vows at St Mary's, Emo, he was sent to Dublin to study at the National University, where he read a brilliant course in Economics and Political Economy. But signs of serious ill-health soon manifested themselves, and after a few years of suffering, borne with edifying patience and resignation, he died a holy and peace fuldeath. May he rest in peace.

Kelly, James J, 1906-1996, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1512
  • Person
  • 24 December 1906-06 August 1996

Born: 24 December 1906, Feakle, County Clare
Entered: 27 September 1930, Milford OH, USA (CHG)
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 02 February 1943
Died: 06 August 1996, Chicago IL, USA - Chigagensis Province (CHG)

by 1938 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1937-1941
by 1942 at Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

Kelly, Joseph S, 1902-1979, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1514
  • Person
  • 05 February 1902-19 April 1979

Born: 05 February 1902, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 01 February 1922, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1936, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 15 August 1939
Died: 19 April 1979, Campion College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1928 at Chieri Italy (TAUR) studying
by 1930 in Australia - Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Stan Kelly was educated at Xavier College and was a gifted student who showed signs of dogged determination in the face of opposition. He entered the noviceship at Greenwich, 1 February 1922. His Jesuit studies were undertaken overseas, first in Dublin, where he earned a classics degree. Then he was sent to Chieri, Italy, for philosophy. The fluency of his Italian during these years never left him, and helped him in later years with the Italian migrants in Melbourne.
His regency was spent at St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, and he was in residence when the Harbour Bridge was opened, 19 March 1932. From Sydney he returned to Milltown Park, Dublin, for theology and was ordained, 31 July 1936. Kelly indicated that he did not enjoy his time in Dublin.
Upon his return to Australia he had a wide range of priestly ministry He lectured at the regional seminary at Werribee on two different occasions, 1938-42 and 1952-59. He lectured in dogma at the Jesuit theologate, Canisius College, 1945, and the following year was a chaplain to the Italians in Melbourne. He spent two years at St Leo's University College, Brisbane, 1963-65, school mastered at Riverview, 1943-44, and at St Aloysius' College, 1960-62, taught religion, Latin, English and social studies, and did parochial work in North Sydney and Richmond.
It was believed that Kelly enjoyed best his years teaching the Jesuit scholastics theology at Canisius College. During his seminary years he taught Latin, Greek, English, Italian, Mathematics, Church History, Psychology Ethics, and Dogmatic Theology.
He was a most meticulous person, well ordered and disciplined in his lecturing and preaching. He enjoyed a passionate love for John Chrysostom and translated his sermons. He was disappointed when he was unable to find a publisher.
With all his learning and his very precise mind, there was also a very simple piety, a deep devotion to So Joseph and a genuine readiness to help anyone in need. One virtue that he showed was his great obedience, especially to the Holy Father.
He had a great love for people and he loved visiting them, especially when he was involved in parochial ministry. He was also kind to the scholastics at Riverview - he would offer them cigarettes after recreation in his usual staccato-like voice “filtered or non-filtered”, packing cotton-wool or not at the end of the cigarette in the cigarette-making machine. Stories of encounters with Kelly usually produced much mirth. His “way of proceeding” was not always the most expected or usual.

Note from Walter Logue Entry
When teaching ethics to Jesuit scholastics, first at Watsonia, 1937-38, and then at Canisius College, Pymble, 1939-40, he was famed for his views on hunger striking. Stan Kelly sparked off the issue with an article in the December 1939 issue of The Canisian, in which he contended that hunger striking as an abstinence from necessary food, was intrinsically wrong. Logue contended that it had not been proved that abstinence from necessary food was intrinsically wrong. Kelly replied, but Logue was still unconvinced by the arguments proposed. It was suggested that this dispute contributed to Logue having a breakdown, disappearing one day and coming to himself confused, at Gosford.

Foley, Peter, 1891-1968, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/152
  • Person
  • 21 March 1891-25 July 1968

Born: 21 March 1891, Tullycrine, Kilrush, County Clare
Entered: 04 February 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1938, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 25 July 1968, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Train Driver before entry

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 43rd Year No 4 1968

St. Ignatius College, Galway
Our Community has seen sad days since the last issue of “Province News”. Fathers O'Connor, Hutchinson and Brennan had severe heart attacks which necessitated for each a long stay in hospital. Father Andrews, on his return from Spain, was very ill and went into hospital. And Father Butler is in hospital after an appendix operation.
The saddest news of all, however, was the death of two members of our community, Father P. O'Kelly and Brother Foley. Father Kelly's death was sudden and unexpected. On Monday, 22nd July, when he did not turn up for the 6.50 a.m. Mass, Brother Bonfield went to his room and found him dead in his chair. A note in the “History of the House”, in his own hand, dated the 22nd July, leads to the conclusion that he died in the early hours of that morning. On Sunday 21st he seemed to be in the best of form, had his usual swim (or swims), his usual trips on the bike, and in the evening took the Bona Mors Devotions. Little knowing that the prayers were for himself he said the usual three Hail Marys for the person in the congregation who was next to die. His death has left an unfillable gap in the Community. “We shall not see his like again”. But it was surely the death Father Paddy would have chosen for himself - a labourer in the Lord's vineyard, working on and on, right up to the eleventh hour. Messages of sympathy poured in from all sides, among them, one from His Lordship the Bishop, and one from the County Council. All day long, for two days, the doorbell kept ringing as Mass Cards were handed in and the pile grew steadily.
When Brother Foley's death came so soon after Father O'Kelly's funeral and the church bell tolled again, people showed deep sympathy for the community. Mass cards piled up again, a sign that, in spite of his enforced retirement, over the years, his old friends had not forgotten him.
Both funerals were large and impressive. The town's people were there in great numbers to pay their last tribute, and Fathers and Brothers from all over the Province came to be present at the last sad rites. Many of Father O'Kelly's and Brother Foley's relatives were at the Mass and at the graveside. Fr. G. Perrott (Rector at the time) came all the way from Achill to say the Requiem
Mass for Father O'Kelly and was present at both funerals. Fr. V. McLaughlin was Clebrant at the Mass for Brother Foley. Reciting the last prayers at the burial of Father O'Kelly was Rev. Father Provincial, Father Barry and at Brother Foley's burial the prayers were said by Father C. McGarry, Father Barry's successor as Provincial. Ar laimh dheis De go raibh a n-anama.

Irish Province News 44th Year No 1 1969

Obituary :

Br Peter Foley SJ (1891-1968)

When at 6.50 a.m. on the morning of July 25th, 1968, Brother Peter Foley closed his eyes in death after a fairly short heart attack, the Irish Province lost one of its most colourful and lovable members. Galway Community, already heavily stricken by the sudden passing three days before of Fr. Paddy O'Kelly, was left with a sense of loss difficult for those outside the Community to appreciate. Fr. Paddy and Br. Peter were irreplaceable.
Brother Foley was born in the family home in Tullycrine, Kilmihil, Co. Clare on the 21st March, 1891. He was in his 78th year when he died. Peter was the eldest of a family of twenty, a family blessed with wonderful Irish parents for whom Peter always had the greatest respect and deep love. In such a family, where “there was always a concertina in the corner” (to quote Br. Peter) the eldest had a very big hand in rearing those after him. From early on his parents found that with Peter in charge all would be looked after. If Peter ever took on a job he saw it through to the end cost what it may. This reliability was characteristic of him to the day of his death. Of course, heaven help those whom he found to be wanting in this matter!
As he grew up Peter proved to be an able scholar so much so that it was thought that teaching would be a suitable career for him. (He certainly would have had no discipline problems in class. When Br. Peter's eyes glinted there was no room for trifling!) However, that was not to be. Peter worked at home tending the cattle, looking after the delightful orchard which he planted, doing the “babysitting” when his parents were away and also, we must not forget, having a gay time! Yes! a gay time, for there was a sparkle in that gamey eye. To listen to Br. Peter talking of life as it was in Clare in the first decades of this century would surely bring home to one how much we have lost of the art of living. Without the organised and often empty entertainments of today people of those times made their own entertainments. Peter did not go unnoticed at these night-long dances and parties and his meticulous care of his dress earned the admiration of all and sundry.
Was it surprising that Peter's rather unexpected departure for Dublin caused alarm in many quarters? He was missed grievously at home and indeed elsewhere. How could it be otherwise when one reflects on his gaiety, dependability, and on the fact that there was nothing he would not do for those about him in need. On one occasion he sat non-stop for days on end by the bedside of a friend who was very seriously ill with whooping cough. A friend of Peter's quality is sorely missed.
Peter quickly took to Dublin although he found it hard to be so far from his own. Peter joined the D.U.T. Co. In his years as a Tram Driver he showed again all his good qualities. While working in Dublin he helped his younger brothers and sisters as handsomely as he could. They never forgot his goodness to them. In later, years and right up to his death they on their part showered kindnesses of all kinds upon him and on all the many friends he brought to see them in Tullycrine and in all the surrounding areas, Kilmihil, Kilrush, by the Shannon.
His good example in the D.U.T, Co, set many a fellow worker back on the right road. His advice was carefully listened to. For his friends in trouble he was able to pick the "”ight priest” and say the right word ... and lead all off to a good picture or a dance when ease of conscience had been restored. He showed his reliability and courage on Bloody Sunday when despite the chaos and fear in the city he drove his Howth Tram from the Pillar right on the appointed time and in the midst of all! It was not surprising that a priest in Confession during a Parish Retreat told him he should examine whether he had a vocation. The priest was a well-known retreat giver of the time, Fr. Halpin, S.J. Some time before that a Carmelite nun whom he visited in Ranelagh told Peter that he had a vocation to the Society of Jesus.
Peter never dallied - unlike so many of the rest of us. “When there is a job to be done, it must be done!”.., no excuses! He was interviewed by Fr. Provincial and was accepted. He bade his farewells very matter-of-factly, gave all his furniture to the French Sisters of Charity in Dollymount and entered the Tullabeg Novitiate. It was the fourth of February, 1925.
For a man of Br. Peter's make-up life in the noviceship of these days must have been rather excruciating! But no matter what hardship was there Peter was not the one to look back after he had put his hand to the plough. His novice master must have been perplexed at times by Peter's openness which was a very blunt kind of openness, for he believed very much that there was more room outside than inside! No bottling up! If something was on his mind and bothering him out it had to come! This meant a certain boiling over of the pot from time to time. Right to the end the pot had to boil over in this fashion. This was part of the rich colouring of Peter's make-up and life!
His Master of Novices and the Holy Spirit between them must have done a great job on Br. Peter. From childhood he had been a tremendous worker. He remained so all through his years in religion. Added to that he became a tremendously regular religious. Those who were stunned by the gay Peter becoming a Jesuit Brother would have been more stunned by the regularity of his life if they had known of it.
Right to the end Br. Peter was an early riser. Even when he was sick he was loath to stay in bed. By the time many others were beginning to wake up he had been up and said his third Rosary. He was tremendously devoted to his Beads and his example should cause us to hesitate to neglect this form of prayer. Modern trends in this line did not appeal to Br. Peter. His own fidelity to his religious duties made him a great example, a pace setter you might say, for the rest of us. He was very much our Community watchdog. A very helpful tonic he was too, for he believed firmly in “chastising those whom he loved”. He was very proud of the fact that he “never left the monastery”. His observation about “certain people!” - no names of course, whose business took them out were predictable : “That fella! sure he's never in!” Heaven help the unpunctual for punctuality was one of Peter's cardinal virtues. “I'm methodical!” he loved to say while he smilingly pointed to his head. “It's up there you need it. When I say a thing I do it!” Small wonder that there were sparks and red faces when he came across us lesser mortals who were unmethodical and forgot or were unable to do what we said.
In each of the houses he was stationed in the three main ones were Emo, Rathfarnham and Galway - the great qualities of Br. Peter were noted and appreciated by all. He did not know how to spare himself as far as work was concerned. His bighearted generosity was proverbial. All of his friends could write books on his devoted loyalty. He was no man for half measures in any sphere.
Over the years his main jobs were those of mechanic and driver in Emo, in charge of the staff, the turbines, the garden in Rathfarnham, mechanic, painter, gardener, general repairer and charge of Church collections in Galway. (In this latter very important sphere he showed his great observation of fashion trends and always had an admiring word for the people as they passed into Church. “You're like a spring chicken!” “How do you do it?” How the people loved that!) The Mungret Community of course had Br. Peter on loan for several months to do a big painting job for them.
In his dealing with the staff under him, with the poor and the needy, the lonely, many people experienced his very practical kindness and apostolic zeal. Only the Recording Angel could keep check on his quiet visits to the lonely, of the sacks of vegetables and potatoes he slipped to those in need. He timed matters well. He made sure there was nobody about to know of his ventures in this way.
Although in his later quiet years Br, Peter would say he only knew twelve people in Galway or that he was “unknown”, those who lived with him knew better. At Christmas in particular the letters came flowing in from all over Ireland, from England, from America, from his many brothers and sisters, their husbands and wives, his nephews and nieces, and the uncountable number of friends, Peter did not forget them. He was reliable and methodical about his letters just as he was about everything else. Whenever he could he gave presents too. His great joy in life was to make other people happy. Is it any wonder that he is now sorely missed?
The warm and boisterous greeting for the visitor is missed; the laughing chat over the cigarette, the kick that he got out of showing that although he never left the monastery he knew everything, his enjoyment of his brethren at supper and coffee and his amazing devotion to horses, to “Ireland's Own” to County Clare (but not alas! to Nenagh or to Tipp.) ... the sparkle, the shout, the gaiety, all is missed.
His death came suddenly in the end. He had been sick for years, He had two big operations, one in Rathfarnham, the other in Galway. After that he developed serious heart trouble and for years he suffered agony with a stone in the kidneys. When last March Mr. McDermott removed the stone we had hoped that he would be left with us for a few years longer. God's ways are not ours. Fr. Minister's anxious care of him, which he deeply appreciated and was never finished talking about, was unable to cope with what must have been the shock of Fr. O'Kelly's sudden passing, Br. Peter was dead three days after Fr. Paddy O'. He had gone to Fr. O'Kelly's funeral and he had stood looking thoughtfully at the coffin and grave. He must have known that he would not last longer himself.
He had great friends in life. In Heaven we can be sure that the great friends of his life were to welcome him : Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Solas na bhFlaitheas dá anam uasal.

Kennelly, Michael F, 1914-2011, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1525
  • Person
  • 22 May 1914-03 January 2011

Born: 22 May 1914, Kilbaha, County Clare
Entered: 09 June 1933, St Charles, Grand Couteau LA - Neo-Aurelianensis Province (NOR)
Ordained: 16 June 1946
Professed: 01 February 1970
Died: 03 January 2011, New Orleans LA, USA - Neo-Aurelianensis Province (NOR)

by 1948 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

Finucane, James, 1878-1957, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/153
  • Person
  • 25 December 1878-25 January 1957

Born: 25 December 1878, Carrigparson, Cahirconlish, County Limerick
Entered: 14 August 1895, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 28 July 1912, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1914, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 25 January 1957, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin community at the time of death

by 1900 in Vals France (LUGD) studying
by 1902 in Saint Stanislaus, Beirut, Syria (LUGD) studying Arabic
by 1903 in Collège Saint-François Xavier, Alexandria, Egypt (LUGD) Teacher
by 1912 at Hastings, Sussex, England (LUGD) studying

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946

Extracts from a letter of Fr. Patrick McGrath, S. J., St. Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne, to Fr. Finucune, 10-9-945. Fr. McGrath is an old Crescent boy who while stationed at the Crescent 34 years ago volunteered 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 32nd Year No 2 1957

Obituary :

Fr James Finucane (1878-1957)

Fr. Finucane was born at Carrigparson, Co. Limerick, and educated at the Crescent, entering the Society at Tullabeg in 1895. He studied Philosophy at Vals and then, as his health seemed precarious, he went to the drier climate of the Levant, continuing his studies at Beirut and teaching for two years in our college in Alexandria. Next came five years teaching in Mungret, at a period when higher studies were successfully undertaken there and many entered for university examinations. His first two years of Theology were passed at Milltown Park, and his third year at Ore Place, Hastings, then the theologate of the Paris Province. After his ordination in 1912 he went on at once to his Tertianship, and then spent eight years in Mungret as Prefect, Minister and Procurator of the farm. In 1922 he went to Clongowes where he taught and managed the farm until 1940. Then, after a few years teaching at the Crescent, he went to Leeson St, as Procurator, until his health declined so much that it was thought advisable to send him to Rathfarnham, where he could avoid to a large extent the labour of climbing stairs. He died in St. Vincent's Nursing Home, 96 Lower Leeson St., on 25th January.
It is probable that Fr. Finucane will be best remembered for his long association with Clongowes - and it is both as a farmer and a teacher of French that he will be remembered. The years there were happy years for him; he liked his work on the farm and his classes furnished him with a real interest: it might almost be said, indeed, that his classes were for him a delightful hobby, for though he taught several of them, he was not a full-time teacher. Old loyal workers who served under him on the farm in Clongowes remember him with admiration and affection : “He did not mind what a cow ate, but he hated to see good fodder between her feet”. And he knew good work when he saw it, and his praise was therefore the more appreciated, and he had high standards too : “Whatever he done, he done well!” An agricultural expert might perhaps criticise his policy and practice as being “undercapitalised” and say that production could have been increased: but what was done was indeed well done, and no beast went hungry. Clongowes was a land of sleek cattle and strong fences, and rich grass.
As a teacher he often obtained high places for his best boys in the public examinations, but he was most successful by the soundest criterion of all - his boys became fascinated with the study of French and every year some left his classes with an interest in the language and literature that was to be a source of genuine pleasure to them all their lives. It might be said that he did not take a whole class along with him, that a number of boys dropped out, and that his best boys did well because they worked for themselves. That is true; but the fact that he could lead them to this is a measure of his gifts as a master, gifts that will be always envied by lesser teachers.
Some people thought his interest in French literature, especially classical literature, strange in a man whose work and preoccupations were fundamentally agricultural, But it was a natural direct interest, utterly remote from sophistication and artificiality and jargon. The great authors wrote to be enjoyed, not to afford matter for pedantic lucubrations and university theses. He enjoyed them, and therefore his boys did also. And they enjoyed him, standing before a class, his arm gesturing vaguely like some weed moving gently in a placid stream while he talked of Le Cid or trumpeted nasally his delight in Monsieur Jourdain or Harpagon, Turning so naturally from the cares of ploughing or hay-making to Racine and Molière, he was to them the personification of l’honnete homme - in the seventeenth century sense.
His interest in his boys lasted long after they had left school, but it was an interest generally conditioned by their proficiency at French; that was a touch stone. Once, when he had left Clongowes, he was asked by a former Crescent teacher for news of a boy at the Crescent who was in one of his classes. “Mark my words”, he answered, “that boy will give trouble, he will bring sorrow to his parents! He never learns his irregular verbs!” If a boy did well on the Rugby field, it was often because he was “intelligent”, because he liked Molière; if a proficient student failed to get into the Sodality, there was something seriously wrong with the organisation of the Sodality.
A few days before he died he sent for a former pupil, a very prominent doctor from another hospital. “I am going very soon”, he said, “I have just sent for you to say good-bye”. And he shook hands. It was a symbolic hand-clasp and those who owe him so much would have longed to share it, to bid him a very grateful farewell. They will not forget him in their prayers.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father James Finucane SJ 1878-1957
Fr James Finucane was born in County Limerick and received his early education at the Crescent. From there he entered the Society in 1895.

For the benefit of his health, he was sent to Beirut as a scholastic, and it was here he acquired that love and mastery of the French language, for which he was renowned afterwards. He also had a great interest in the land, and for most of his life as a Jesuit, he was in charge of our farms, mainly at Mungret and Clongowes.

His association with Clongowes covered many years, and he will long be remembered by generations of old boys, especially for his powers as a French teacher.

After retiring from teaching he spent some time in Leeson Street and Rathfarnham, where he died on January 25th, 1957.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father James Finucane (1878-1957)

Of Carrigparson, Co. Limerick, was educated at the Crescent and entered the Society in 1895. He made his higher studies in France and Beirut, and during his sojourn in the east did part of his regency in the French Jesuit College of Alexandria. On his return to Ireland he continued his regency at Mungret College. He completed his theological studies in Hastings, where the French Jesuits were then in exile, and was ordained in 1912. Father Finucane spent the years 1913-22 as farm procurator in Mungret and occupied the same position in Clongowes until 1940. He came to his old school as master of French the same year and remained here until 1944 when he was appointed bursar at 35 Lower Leeson St.

Lachal, Louis, 1906-1991, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1549
  • Person
  • 11 May 1906-19 March 1991

Born: 11 May 1906, Northcote, Melbourne, Australia
Entered: 08 March 1925, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained 30 June 1940, Liverpool, England
Professed: 02 February 1979
Died: 19 March 1991, St Xavier’s, Bokaro Steel City, Hazaribag, Jharkhand, India - Ranchiensis Province (RAN)

Transcribed HIB to ASL 05-April 1931; ASL to RAN 12 March 1956

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :

Note from Francis Keogh Entry :
His death was keenly felt by those who served under him, especially at Sevenhill. Mr Lachal there wrote “He was the kindest of Superiors, a real father to the Novices, keeping a particularly keen eye on their health. I wish I had Father Rector’s ticket to heaven, Father Master once said to his Novices.’

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Lou Lachal received his early education at the local parish school and his secondary education at Xavier College, Kew, where his father had been before him. Though he excelled perhaps more in sports than in studies, he graduated in 1924 with honours in French and Latin in the final examinations.
In March 1925 he joined the Jesuits at Greenwich, Sydney, and in 1927 he went to Rathfarnham for his juniorate studies, gaining a BA from the National University of Ireland. Philosophy studies followed in France, and he did regency at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, from 1933. He was rowing master among other things, and received a reprimand from the general for allowing the boys to mix with non-Catholics in the rowing sheds!
Theology studies followed at Naples, Italy, but World War II broke out and he moved to Liverpool in 1940 with a letter of commendation to any bishop to ordain him. He was ordained in Liverpool, completed his theology at Heythrop, Oxford, and then spent a few months caring for the needs of working class people in the city of Glasgow, Scotland.
Towards the end of 1941 Lachal returned to Australia via the Panama Canal. He was once again sent to Riverview. Tertianship at Loyola College, Watsonia, followed in 1945, after which he taught for two years at St Patrick's College. He worked in the parish of Richmond in 1948. He enjoyed his time there, and they appreciated the tall, strong, modest, pipe-smoking priest who could he relied upon for service at any time of day or night.
Lachal was among the first Australian Jesuits assigned to the mission in the Hazarihag region of India in 1951. He was 45 years old at the time, and was to spend another 40 years in India. He found Hindi studies difficult, but could generally make himself understood. His good humor and friendliness did the rest. Soon after arrival in India he became involved with direct missionary work at Chandwa, then one of the two parishes in the district of Palamau.
Later, he became parish priest of the Chechai region, which stretched for 130 miles, and then at Mahuadanr, followed by Hazaribag, Chandwa, Bhurkunda and Bokaro Steel City
Wherever he worked, his constant aim was first to provide an adequate education system, followed by health and other development projects to uplift poor people.
One of his greatest triumphs was setting up the Christian Centre at Bokaro Steel City in the vanguard of the ecumenical movement, Lachal proposed the Christian Centre as his
solution to the problem of how to share one small piece of real estate allotted by the Steele Authority to no less than ten groups all claiming to be Christian.
He was a caring father to all Jesuits in the Hazaribag diocese and to religious and lay people all over the Daltonganj diocese. Many sought his wise advice, encouragement and
companionship. People meant much to Lachal. He was a great conversationalist with a quick wit. In addition, he wrote thousands of letters, especially to the mission's friends and
supporters in Australia, assuring them of his interest and concern.
Lachal, commonly known as 'Lou', was greatly loved, respected and trusted by everyone, Jesuits and lay friends alike. He had a strong, outgoing personality, a man of immense charm, wisdom and optimism. His life was characterised by his availability to people anywhere at any time. He was rarely seen alone, he always had people around him. He had a solid, simple spirituality with a great devotion to Our Lady. He was regularly seen saying the Rosary, or heard singing Marian hymns during Mass. He regularly said two public Masses a day, even when he could only travel by rickshaw. When asked what he had been doing, he jokingly said that he had been “witnessing”, a constant feature of his long and happy life.

Lentaigne, Victor, 1848-1922, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1569
  • Person
  • 27 October 1848-18 August 1922

Born: 27 October 1848, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 26 September 1865, Loyola College, Loyola, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: 1877, Leuven, Belgium
Final Vows: 02 February 1884
Died: 18 August 1922, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ & Jesuit College in Spain

Nephew of Joseph Lentaigne, First Provincial of HIB - RIP 1884

by 1869 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1871 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1876 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) Studying
by 1883 at at Hadzor Hall, (FRA) making Tertianship
by 1903 in Collège Saint-François Xavier, Alexandria, Egypt (LUGD) Military Chaplain and Teacher

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Son of Sir John Lentaigne (Lawyer and Privy Counsellor and one of the first Clongowes students) and Nephew of Joseph Lentaigne, First Provincial of HIB - RIP 1884

He did his early studies in Spain, and the Philosophy and Theology in Belgium, where he was Ordained 1877.
1900 He was sent to Alexandria, Egypt as a Military Chaplain, and when he returned he was appointed Spiritual Father at Belvedere.
After this he was sent as Spiritual Father and Missioner to Clongowes which he loved dearly and did a lot of good work.
Much to his own disappointment, he was move from Clongowes to Rathfarnham, and died unexpectedly a short time afterwards 18 August 1922.

He was a very indistinct Preacher, so did not make much impact from the pulpit. He as of a very sensitive nature, and a thorough gentleman to all classes of people.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 21st Year No 3 1946
FROM OTHER PROVINCES :
England :
Fr. Quigley, who is Senior Chaplain to the British Forces in Egypt, finds the names of other Jesuit chaplains in the Register at Alexandria, and among them Fr. David Gallery (1901), Fr. V. Lentaigne (1904-5) and Fr. Joseph Flynn (1907-14).

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Victor Lentaigne 1848-1922
Fr Victor Lentaigne was the son of Sir John Lentaigne, and a nephew of the first Provincial of then Irish Province. Born in Dublin on October 27th 1848, he made his early studies in Spain, his philosophy and theology in Belgium, where he was ordained in 1877.
He was sent as a Military Chaplain to Alexandria in 1900. On his return, he was Spiritual father in Belvedere, and later in Clongowes. He read all his sermons, and owing to indistinctness, failed to impress his flock as a preacher.
He was of a very sensitive nature, but a thorough gentleman with everybody, both poor and rich.
Being changed from Clongowes to Rathfarnham, he died very suddenly and was buried from Gardiner Street on August 18th 1922.

◆ The Clongownian, 1923

Obituary

Father Victor Lentaigne SJ

A French Doctor named Lentaigne escaped from France during the horrors of the French Revolution, and made his permanent home in Dublin, where he continued to practise his profession. He attended Wolfe Tone when the latter was dying, and saved him from execution by giving a certificate stating that the patient could not be moved without a causing his immediate death. One of his sons named Joseph joined the Jesuits. After having been for some years Prefect of Studies at Clongowes, he was sent to Australia, where he did very useful work, until his health at last broke down and he returned to Ireland, a victim of chronic asthma. His brother John, afterwards Sir John Lentaigne, became, as head of the Prison Board, nobly famous as a pioneer in the reclamation of criminals, and proved, by his success in very many cases, the soundness of his philanthropic principles. Two of his daughters became nuns, one a Carmelite in Firhouse Convent, while the other joined the Irish Sisters of Charity and became celebrated for her most able and most kind management of the Blind Asylum at Merrion. Of Sir John's sons, Joseph obtained a high Government position as Secretary to the Lord Chancellor. John became one of our most distinguished Dublin surgeons, and was knighted in recognition of his high merits; Victor, who, although not the youngest, survived all his brothers and sisters (except Benjamin, who now holds a leading legal position in Burmah), became a Jesuit.

Victor Lentaigne was born in Dublin on the 27th October, 1848. When I had been at Clongowes for about a year, Victor Lentaigne joined our ranks in the Third Line. That would have been in the autumn of 1860, or . some time in 1861. He was only at Clongowes for about twelve months when his father sent him to a Jesuit College in Spain.

While still in Spain he joined the Society, 26th August, 1865, and made his noviceship at Loyola, the ancestral home of St Ignatius. After his noviceship he was sent to Louvain in Belgium, where he studied philosophy for two years, and was sent to Stonyhurst for his third year's philosophy. In 1871 he was sent to Clongowes, where he remained until 1875. In 1871. I was also sent to Clongowes. It was the first time that we had met since we had been little boys together in dear old Clongowes, and I still cherish the memory of many happy walks and intimate chats which we had together in those old days. He was one of the simplest, gentlest, kindest and most sympathetic friends whom I have ever known, In 1875 he was sent back to Louvain for his theological studies, and on their termination in 1879, Father Victor Lentaigne came back again to our dear old Alma Mater, where I again was with him.

The winter of 1880 was a superb one for skating The field between the grand avenue and the Kapolis gate had been flooded, and there was superb surface of mirror-like ice all. over the wide expanse. Even to this hour I can see in fancy that great tall figure moving with the speed of a good motor-car, and yet with the grace and gentleness of the apparently, effortless flight of an eagle circling above in the thin air. Never have I seen man or woman skate with such combined ease and power as Fr Lentaigne.

In 1886, after a couple of years spent at Tullabeg, Father Lentaigne was again back at Clongowes. In 1888 he was sent to Galway as minister, but in 1893 he was again back in Clongowes. On the death of Father John Anderson SJ, Chaplain to the British Troops at Alexandria in 1900, Father Lentaigne was sent to take his place, and remained there until 1906, during which time a great admirer and friend of his, Father Patrick Kane SJ, held a similar position at Cairo, and they were able occasionally to meet. From Egypt he was recalled in 1906, and sent as minister to Belvedere College, but 1911 found him once more again in Clongowes. This time he was Spiritual Father to the Community. He had also the charge and care of the People's Chapel. All the people, but most especially the poor and sick, soon grew to feel for him the deepest veneration and the most affectionate gratitude. At last his health broke down completely. He be came utterly unable for work of any kind, A change was inevitable. In 1921 he was sent to Rathfarnham Castle - he had to bid his last good-bye to Clongowes. To him it was a sore wrench; he accepted it nobly and patiently, but it broke his heart. He died peacefully and happily on the 18th August, 1922.

Father Lentaigne was known as the calmest yet most masterful of Study Prefects. Seated in the high pulpit, his glance passed so quietly over the great silent Hall that it seemed as though he saw all the boys at once, until some : incautious idler suddenly felt the magnetism of a steadfast gaze fixed upon him, and looking up beheld the wide brow lowered in a frown of thunder; while from the indignant eyes beneath flashed forth an electric fire that shrivelled up the terrified culprit, who straightway cowered intently over his book or pen.

Father Lentaigne was a gentleman. This is one of the first remarks usually made by those who knew him well. It means very much more than the mere circumstance of gentle blood and good breeding. It means much more than the mere politeness of out ward manner, or social becomingness. In its full sense, which is the only true sense, it means that great broadmindedness of judgment, that generous kindliness of appreciation, that delicate sympathy for feeling, that refined considerateness for failing, or even for fault, which each and all are of the very essence of that noble character whose out ward evidences are in the word, manner, and action of high courtesy.

He loved Clongowes. He loved it with a love characteristic of the old Clongownians of long ago, a love proud, chivalrous, warm, with the tenderness and sympathy of a true home-love, a love that loved the old place itself, the old spot, the old Castle, the old Halls, the old rooms, the old playground, the old avenue, the old woods, but above all, the old schoolfellows, the old subjects and the old Masters; a love which, I trust, still exists in the minds and the hearts of the new old Clongownians who are called to face a graver, a more perilous, but it is to be hoped, a more glorious future than we of the older past. :

Father Victor Lentaigne was deeply religious, not in the sense which mere piety commonly has and is by many thought to have deserved the name, but in the old noble Christian sense of sterling holiness. God bless him, and may he rest in peace.

Robert Kane SJ

Gallery, David, 1849-1934, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/162
  • Person
  • 09 May 1849-20 August 1934

Born: 09 May 1849, Lurgan, County Armagh
Entered: 07 September 1870, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1885
Final vows: 02 February 1891
Died: 20 August 1934, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

by 1883 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1897 in France (LUGD) health
by 1901 in Collège Saint-François Xavier, Alexandria, Egypt (LUGD) Teacher
by 1916 at St Luigi, Birkirkara, Malta (SIC) teaching

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
His education before Entry was at St Patrick’s Seminary in Armagh for four years and then three at Maynooth. He Entered at Milltown Park.

1873-1879 After First Vows he was sent to teach at St Stanislaus College Tullabeg and Crescent College Limerick. His subjects were Mathematics, Zoology, Botany, French and Bookkeeping.
1880-1882 He was sent back to Milltown Park for Philosophy
1882-1886 He was sent to St Beuno's Wales for Theology
1886-1889 After Ordination he was sent to teach at Clongowes and Coláiste Iognáid.
1889-1890 He was sent to Tullabeg to make Tertianship and be Socius to the Novice Master.
1890-1891 He was sent as Prefect of Studies to Mungret College Limerick
1891-1896 He was appointed Rector of Coláiste Iognáid Galway.
1896-1901 At this time he appears to have had something of a breakdown and he lived at houses of the Society in Lyons, and also in Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt.
1901-1902 He was sent to Australia and St Ignatius College Riverview
1902-1905 He was sent to St Patrick’s College Melbourne
1905-1907 He was sent to the Norwood Parish
1907-1914 He returned to Ireland and was sent variously to Tullabeg, Milltown Park and Rathfarnham Castle.
1914-1916 He was sent to Clongowes and then was working at St Aloysius College, Malta during WWI
1916 When he returned to Ireland he was in poor health and was sent to Rathfarnham, where he remained until his death. He did what he could until 1931, but from then he was a confirmed invalid. It was said that his patience in suffering was most edifying.

David was kindness itself, approachable by all, especially the poor, and above all by children. He was calm, quiet, unflinching and steady in his life, and excitement of any kind was foreign to him.

He was a gifted man, a poet of no mean order, and a writer of very clear and simple prose.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 9th Year No 4 1934
Obituary :
Father David Gallery

Father David Gallery died at Rathfarnham Castle on Monday 20th August, after a very long illness. It is literally true to say that for more than three years before his death he never left his room, and was attended all the time, with the greatest devotion, by our own infrrmarians and by one or more of the Alexian Brothers. Frequently during these years it seemed as if the end were at hand, and he was prepared for death. But there was a fund of strength hidden away somewhere in his constitution, and he rallied, often to the intense surprise of those who were in constant attendance on him.

Father Gallery was born near Lurgan (Co. Armagh) on the 9th May, 1849, educated at the Diocesan Seminary for four years, and at Maynooth College for three. He entered the
Society at Milltown Park on the 7th September, 1870.
He began active life very soon, for it was not until after two years in Tullabeg and four at the Crescent that he got away to Philosophy at Milltown Park. (This was the first year, 1880, that philosophy was taught at Milltown. It consisted of the “first year” in which there were ten Irishmen, one Belgian, and one belonging to the English Province). Theology at St. Beuno’s immediately followed, and in 1866 Father Gallery was back in Clongowes, teaching. After two years in Clongowes and one in Galway, where he was Minister, Prefect of Studies, and had charge of the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, he went to Tullabeg for Tertianship. During that year he was Socius to the Master of Novices, In 1890 he was Prefect of Studies in Mungret, next year Vice-Rector of Galway, two years later Rector in the same place. When he had held that position for three years there was a bad breakdown in health that necessitated a long period of rest.
It came to an end in the first year of the new century, and we then find Father Gallery teaching in a Jesuit College in Alexandria belonging to the Lyons Province. He had as companion there Father Victor Lentaigne who, in addition to teaching was Military Chaplain. It was not very far from Alexandria to Australia, and thither he went, where he lived in different houses and did various kinds of work till 1907 when he was brought back to Ireland and stationed in Tullabeg. Light work there, in Milltown, and in Rathfarnham brought him to 1914 when he once more went to teach in Clongowes. At the end of the year he was sent to Malta where he did work for two years in the College of St. Aloysius, and then returned to Ireland. His status was Rathfarnham, where he remained to the end. Up to 1931 he did what work he could, and was certainly never idle, but from that year to his death he was a confirmed invalid. But his work for God was not yet done, for during the next three years he certainly edified all who went to see him by his splendid patience. “What on earth have I done for the Society?" he more than once said to Father Garahy, who during the short intervals between his missions and Retreats used to pay him very kind attention. “What have I done for the Society that I am now treated so well and with such great kindness.” And when the inifirmarians asked him if everything they brought him was to his liking - “" Everything to my liking,” was the answer, “everything is far too good for me”. In these and other holy sentiments he died as he had lived calmly, resignedly, and in the greatest peace.
Father Gallery was kindness itself, approachable by all, especially by the poor, and above all by children. It was no uncommon sight in the neighbourhood of Rathfarnham to see him surrounded by a crowd of little things, holding grave and serious converse with them. His words were not idle, they were meant to do good, but what most of all attracted his young
audience was the fact that the little sermon was often followed by a distribution of sweets.
Kind Father Gallery was, but the leading characteristic of his life was his calmness, his quiet, unflinching steadiness. Rush, excitement of any kind was foreign to himself, he could
not understand it in others : “Along the cool, sequestered vale of life, He kept the noiseless tenor of his way”.
He prayed steadily, worked steadily, was never for a moment idle. It is said to at when he was at Malta he filled his leisure hours by translating into English the two big volumes of the Life of Suarez. He was a poet of no mean order, wrote very clear simple prose, and there was no keener critic of English prose and verse than Father Gallery, a gift that remained until
the day he died. Though he contributed many articles to periodicals, and wrote some small works, the pity is that few if any, of his productions have survived him. The fact seems to be that Father Gallery gave all his thoughts to the sanctification of the passing hour, and to have consigned fame and the credit of a great name to the place they deservedly occupy in the minds of sane and God-fearing men.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 3 1946

FROM OTHER PROVINCES :

England :
Fr. Quigley, who is Senior Chaplain to the British Forces in Egypt, finds the names of other Jesuit chaplains in the Register at Alexandria, and among them Fr. David Gallery (1901), Fr. V. Lentaigne (1904-5) and Fr. Joseph Flynn (1907-14).

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father David Gallery (1849-1934)

A native of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, entered the Society in 1870. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Armagh and had been a student for three years at Maynooth College when he entered the religious life. Father Gallery came for his regency to the Crescent and spent six years here, 1874-1880. He was acting prefect of studies, 1878-80, and could thus claim some of the credit for the brilliant results of his school in the opening years of the Intermediate system. He was later prefect of studies in Mungret and rector of St Ignatius', Galway when he suffered a breakdown in health. He was later master in Jesuit colleges abroad in Alexandria, Australia and Malta. He was a member of the Rathfarnham community for the last fifteen years of his life.

MacLoughlin, Stanislaus, 1863-1956, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/1639
  • Person
  • 09 May 1863-28 May 1956

Born: 09 May 1863, Derry, County Derry
Entered: 07 September 1886, Dromore, County Down
Ordained: 31 July 1898
Final Vows: 15 August 1901
Died: 28 May 1956, Meath Hospital Dublin

Part of the Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin community at the time of death

First World War chaplain

by 1896 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1899 at Leuven, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1918 Military Chaplain : Kinmel Training Centre, 53rd SWB, Rhyl
by 1919 Military Chaplain : Stanislaus Heaton Camp, Manchester

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - JOHN MC LOUGHLIN - post Novitiate assumed the name Stanislaus

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 31st Year No 3 1956
Obituary :
Fr Stanislaus J McLoughlin
The death of Fr. Stanislaus MacLoughlin has taken from us one that was a legendary figure in the Province. His various activities, his unusual interests, his unpredictable reactions to difficult situations were a never-flagging source of wonder to his brethren. Moreover, the fact that seventy of his ninety-three years were spent in the Society made him a valuable source of information about Province traditions.
Born in 1863 in Derry, he entered the Noviceship in 1886 at Dromore, Co. Down, after spending some years teaching. All his companions of those days have died, except Fr. L. McKenna and Br. Mordaunt. The years before ordination he spent in Enghien, the Crescent and Milltown Park. He went to Tronchiennes for his tertianship and then was sent to Belvedere in 1899. From Belvedere he passed to the Crescent once again, where he was for most of the time till the First World War. Then he went to Galway, where he was Prefect of Studies, till he was sent as a chaplain to the British troops in North Wales, After the war he was appointed Minister in Belvedere and then was transferred to the Messenger Office. Most of the remaining years of his life were spent in University Hall, Milltown Park, or Rathfarnham Castle Retreat House.
There was nothing ordinary about Fr. Stan. One could not come in contact with him and easily forget him, for everything he did was stamped with his strong personality. He was forthright in his opinions, never hid his likes or dislikes, and was slow to revise a judgment once passed on a person or a work. His outstanding qualities and failings are those we usually associate with the Six Counties and his device could very well have been “not an inch”. He used to tell how as a young man before he became a Jesuit he was teaching in Belvedere and had as one of his pupils, James MacNeil, the future Governor General. James was ordered by the then Mr. McLoughlin to stay in after school, for some misdemeanour, but protested that he could not stay in as he had to catch the train to Maynooth. “If you leave this room, it will be over my dead body”, was the uncompromising answer of Mr. MacLoughlin. Time moderated this spirit, but never destroyed it.
Fr. MacLoughlin had a number of interests which we rarely find associated in the same person. Building, distilling, taming animals, breeding new varieties of birds, rearing fowl, all attracted him, Especially in his old age, when loss of strength and increasing deafness made it impossible for him to give retreats or hear confessions, he turned more and more to curious experiments with these creatures. Fate always seem to step in just as he was bringing his experiments to a successful conclusion and put him back at the place from which he commenced.
In most people's minds, Fr. Stan is associated with Belvedere College and indeed his connection with Belvedere goes back to 1885, the year before he entered the Society. But it was not until he returned from Wales in 1919 that he became intimately bound up with the school. He was not teaching, but was working in the Messenger Office most of the time so that his activities in the school were all works of supererogation. He took an active interest in the Newsboys' Club, the S. V, de Paul Conference, the Old Boys' Union and became an unofficial aide to Fr. J. M. O'Connor, then Games Master. With Fr. C. Molony he founded the Old Belvedere Rugby Club. Not only did he help to found the Club, but he searched the suburbs for a suitable playing pitch and when it was acquired he started, at the age of sixty-four, to build a pavilion for the members. The story of that pavilion is a saga with many amusing episodes, all of which underline the determination with which he carried through any work he undertook. He approved of the Club as he believed it sheltered youths at a critical age from the dangers they were likely to encounter elsewhere. Football as such did not interest him and he might be seen at important fixtures, at Lansdowne Road walking up and down behind the spectators and not paying any attention to the game. It was the players attracted him and he jealously scrutinised any changes in the rules of the Club which seemed to him a falling away from the ideal. He was always prepared to criticise and denounce what he considered dangerous innovations. Two incidents will show the affection and respect the members of the Club felt for him. On the occasion of his diamond jubilee they commissioned the artist, Sean O'Sullivan, to draw them a pen and ink sketch of Fr. Stan, which they promptly set up in a place of honour in the present Club pavilion. Again, after a general meeting, at which he had been particularly critical the whole meeting stood out of respect when he rose to leave. The stories that have collected round Fr. MacLoughlin's name are legion, but it should not be forgotten that many were made up by himself, for he had a fine sense of humour and a gift for telling an anecdote. Fr. MacLoughlin's gifts made him especially suited to influence adolescents. He had such a variety of out-of-the-way information and such an original way of looking at things that he appealed very much to boys who were beginning to feel restive under the established order of things and becoming critical of authority. Hence his great success as a retreat-giver in Milltown Park and Rathfarnham. His work for schoolboys is principally associated with Rathfarnham Retreat House, where for many years, he directed and advised Dublin schoolboys in their realisation of a vocation or the choice of a career. There must be many priests today in the Society and outside of it who have him to thank for his generous help and unfailing encouragement in following their vocation. May they remember him now in their prayers.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Stanislaus McLoughlin 1863-1956
Fr Stanislaus McLoughlin was a legendary figure in the Province. His various activities, his unusual hobbies, his unpredictable reactions to different situations, were an unflagging source of wonder to his brethren.
Born in Derry in 1863 he entered the noviceship at Dromore in 1886.
He was associated with the Crescent as a young Jesuit priest, and was responsible for the fine rugby pitch which that College now has in the centre of the city. He will always be remembered in connection with Belvedere, where the prime of his life as a Jesuit was spent. With Fr Charles Moloney he founded the Old Belvedere Rugby Club. Not only that, but he scoured the city looking for a suitable pitch, and having got it proceeded to build a pavilion on it.
He had a special gift for directing young men and boys. This was exercised at Belvedere and especially in his later years at Rathfarnham where he conducted retreats for young people.
He died on May 28th 1956, ninety-three years of age, seventy of which he lived in the Society.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1956

Obituary

Father Stanislaus MacLaughlin SJ

Rev Stanislaus J MacLaughlin SJ, Rathfarnham Castle, whose death has occurred, was a native of Derry, where he was born in 1863. Before entering the Society of Jesus at Dromore, near Belfast, he taught for some years as lay master at Belvedere College.

He studied philosophy at Enghien, Belgium, and before his theological studies at Milltown Park, he taught in the Sacred Heart College, the Crescent, Limerick, for five years.

He was ordained in 1898. His religious training was completed at Tronchiennes, Belgium, in the following year. From 1900 to 1918 he was attached to Belvedere College, the Sacred Heart College in Limerick, and St Ignatius College, Galway.

In St Ignatius he was for some time Prefect of Studies, and he ministered in the church attached to the College. In the years 1918 and 1919, he was a military chaplain and did garrison duty at Rhyl and Manchester,

He was master at Belvedere College in 1920 and 1922, and was attached to the “Messenger” office, Dublin, from 1924 to 1932. He was then appointed Assistant Director of the House of Retreats, Milltown Park. He also held that post from 1933 to 1935.

He acted again as Assistant Director of the House of Retreat from 1942 to 1944. From 1936 to 1941 he was acting President of University Hall, Hatch Street, Dublin. In 1945 he was transferred to Rathfarnham Castle, where he helped to organise and conduct retreats for men and boys.

Fr McLaughlin took a lively and practical interest in the Old Belvedere Rugby Club from the early days of its foundation, and he continued as a constant guide, father and patron to its members.

We have given above the facts of the life of Father Stan; but these things convey no accurate picture of the person we have known and the personality who is gone from among us. It would need a kind of symposium of the memories of his contemporaries, of the boys who knew him in class, and of Old Belvederians of many vintages who began the club with him in Ballymun; who feared his entry to the general meeting lest they had done something of which he disapproved, who enjoyed his philippics, and who loved the fine old man whose indomitable spirit was so admirable and whose active mind and active body outlasted in vigour all his contemporaries and shamed younger men.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father John McLoughlin (1863-1956)

A native of Derry, had been engaged for some time in the teaching profession before he entered the Society in 1886. Some years after he became a Jesuit, he adopted the name Stanislaus by which he was known henceforth. He made his higher studies at Enghien and Milltown Park. Father McLaughlin spent in all some sixteen years at the Crescent. He first came here as a scholastic in 1889-94; 1905-09; 1911-16 and 1921-23. Yet he became associated in the public mind more with Belvedere College where he worked devotedly for the Old Belvedere RFC. But his best claim to remembrance was his work in the retreat movement for boys. For many years he worked at Rathfarnham Castle Retreat House where his influence was great amongst Dublin youth seeking for guidance in the choice of a state in life.

Glanville, William, 1900-1984, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/165
  • Person
  • 23 November 1900-06 February 1984

Born: 23 November 1900, Rosses Point, County Sligo
Entered: 08 June 1919, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1931, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 06 February 1984, North Infirmary Hospital, Cork

Part of Clongowes Wood College SJ community, County Kildare at time of his death.
Grew up Carrigaholt, County Clare

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 59th Year No 3 1984
Obituary
Br William Glanville (1900-1919-1984)
Br Glanville's father was a lighthouse keeper who married twice. Of the first marriage there were two children, our Br William being one of these. The first wife was an O’Malley from Co Galway, whose brother was MP for East Galway - not that Br Glanville ever imparted this piece of information. He was born at Rosses Point outside Sligo. In the second family there were sixteen children, and apparently the second Mrs. Glanville was very kind to all the children, and remembered by Br Glanville with deep gratitude and affection.
They moved to Carrigaholt, west Clare, when he was very young, and it was from there that he entered the noviciate at Tullabeg in 1919 at the age of nineteen. Early in his Jesuit life he spent ten years at Rathfarnham Castle from the mid-twenties, when the Australian Jesuits were attending the university. He acted as cook in other houses until the early 'fifties, when he was assigned to Clongowes as sacristan, a position that suited him and which he really loved. He remained at Clongowes for the last thirty-one years of his life in the Society; thirty-one happy years for him and for Clongowes.
His sudden death, while not unexpected by the community, has nevertheless left them with a genuine sense of loss, because they liked him and respected him for his qualities and his admirable example as a Jesuit. To the Clongowes community he is naturally associated with the sacristy and floral decorations with his own peculiar touch fitting for the occasion. They still remember his footsteps in the early morning about 4.30 on his way to the People's church; they remember him day after day in his own corner in the domestic chapel quietly saying his prayers; they remember his quips and asides during the early dinner; but above all they remember his quiet, unassuming, gentle manner. He was a very shy man, and yet a man who thoroughly enjoyed life - after his own fashion.
He kept a few letters all his life including one from Br Kevin Bracken (brother of the famous Brendan Bracken) who wrote to him from Australia in 1923. Two letters he treasured were from Captains of the school who wrote thanking him for all his trouble in making the altar so beautiful for some celebrated occasion. His three remaining sisters who live in the United States were his regular confidantes about his health and Irish affairs of interest to them.
For a man so timid and shy it's amazing how many friends he made over the years. These friends wrote to him constantly; he visited them from time to time, and never forgot their birthdays. . He enjoyed meeting people on his weekly train journey, and would often on the following day recall with a chuckle remarks that had been passed. The ticket-collector, for example, on the Dublin-Cork train always presented him with tea - gratis. More than once this same man drove him to his home at Mallow, and arranged that on his days off his substitute would have tea ready for Br Glanville. Towards the very end he found the train trips hard, but was determined to keep on his feet as long as possible. On Friday, 2nd March, he selected Cork as his journey's end and took the train there. After arriving at Glanmire station, he was walking slowly towards the city centre when he collapsed on the side walk. A number of people came to his assistance, one of them being a nurse, who noticed that his heart had stopped, Some time later an undertaker arrived on the scene and managed to get the heart going again. An ambulance took him to the North Infirmary hospital (near the bells of Shandon). However, there in the coronary care, unit the staff were convinced that damage had already been done to the brain. The Daughters of Charity, who run the North Infirmary, were very kind and attentive. He never regained consciousness, and died peace fully about 7 pm on Tuesday, 6th March.
The large gathering at his requiem Mass at Clongowes on the Thursday was certainly a tribute to Br William, Practically all the Brothers of the Province arrived, and particularly notice able was the number of priests who con celebrated. Br Glanville would have loved it all. It was a beautifully fine day with good sunshine, and with their guard of honour the boys did him proud. It was a fitting finale to sixty-five years' service as a Jesuit in the Irish province. May the What does it mean to be a Jesuit? The Lord be good to him.

◆ The Clongownian, 1984

Obituary

Brother William Glanville SJ

On Friday, 3 May 1984 a phone call from a hospital in Cork gave the disturbing news that a Brother Glanville had collapsed on the street and was brought unconscious to the hospital. For some years back Brother availed himself of the free ticket for the old to take a trip every Friday north, south, east or west. As the mood or a very definite purpose took him such a call on the odd friend. In spite of very bad arthritis, in defiance of most inclement weather every week he boldly “sailed” out, and oniy on his return did we learn he had been in Limerick, Galway, Dundalk or Cork, having on some of these visits just time to take a sandwich before having to board the train for the return journey. What he really loved I think, was the movement of the train, the passing ever changing panorama of the countryside, and the chats with chance acquaintances on the journey. For though shy enough with his brethren, he was quite unin hibited with passing strangers, possessing, as he did, a rare and quiet sense of humour that he preserved till his death.

The collapse on the street ended in a few days with his death, never having regained consciousness. His passing from our midst was felt deeply by all the community, and lay staff. His attachment to his duties as sacristan to both churches was most edifying, remembering the real pain and struggle he had to get round at all. He's unfailing humour made his company a thing of pleasure. While he had been in Clongowes for many years, and had been always a devoted servant of his duties, profane and religious, he had shown the same qualities in the three or four other houses where he had been stationed. It was at his funeral here that his real popularity, and the deep appreciation for the man himself was seen by the presence of most of the Brothers of the province, and the very large number of priests, who concelebrated the funeral Mass. We, and they, felt we had lost for a time some one, whose absence would be felt, and whose company could not be easily filled. RIP

G O'B SJ

Glynn, Mortimer, 1891-1966, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/167
  • Person
  • 30 December 1891-11 August 1966

Born: 30 December 1891, Richmond Terrace, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 24 March 1914, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1924, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1928, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 11 August 1966, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of the Catholic Workers College, Ranelagh, Dublin community at the time of death

Educated at Mungret College SJ & Crescent College SJ

by 1917 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying

1926-1927 Tertianship at Tullabeg

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 41st Year No 4 1966
Obituary :

Fr Mortimer Glynn SJ (1883-1966)

Fr. Mortimer Glynn was educated at the Jesuit College, The Crescent, Limerick, Before entering the Jesuit Novitiate at Tullabeg in 1914, he had been a clerk in a Dublin insurance company. He was older at twenty-three than the average novice, yet he was a good “mixer”, congenial and blessed with a rich sense of humour. To his fellow-novices he seemed of frail health but on the football field or in the handball alley or leading a “company” on villa-day walks, he displayed amazing energy. His noviceship completed, he spent a short time at Rathfarnham Castle. He was in his twenty fifth year when he was sent directly to philosophy on Jersey Island, where the Paris Province had a house of studies. The First World War interrupted his third year and all the members of the Irish Province were recalled from the continent to the newly-established philosophate at Milltown Park. His three years “colleges” were spent at Mungret (1920-1923). Along with his duties as teacher in the classroom, he had charge of the boys' choir. As choir master, he was in his element, he possessed a good tenor voice and the gift of conveying to the boys the beauty of good singing. His theology was studied at Milltown Park and at the end of two years (profiting by a war privilege) he was ordained priest on the feast of St. Ignatius, 31st July 1925. His tertianship was spent at Tullabeg (1927). His next assignment was to Belvedere College. He was to spend twelve years at Belvedere and these years were probably the most remarkable in his life. He held a variety of offices and all with distinction. He was master in the junior house, choir master to the senior and junior houses, Minister for four years, Editor of The Belvederian and Spiritual Father to the community (1939). But it is as pioneer and producer of a very successful series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas that his name will be for ever linked with the history of music and theatricals in Belvedere College. Members of the community of this time will recall his uphill struggle to carry out his conviction that he could teach the boys a love of acting and an appreciation of the music of Gilbert and Sullivan. It certainly seemed unlikely that one so shy and retiring as Fr. Glynn, could succeed in ultimately making the college “opera-week” the talk of the town. Yet, that is what he achieved. Opera week became a social attraction; dignitaries of Church and State gladly accepted invitations; other schools in the city, envious of these triumphs sought to introduce the operas into their own schools. During opera week at Belvedere a peculiar atmosphere of joyful expectancy hung about the college and the Rector (Fr. P. Morris) often said, “if I wanted to reward a benefactor of the house, I would send him an invitation to opera week!” This was reported to Fr. Mortie, and he was intensely amused by the compliment. More than one professional producer came to learn from Fr. Glynn's arrangements of the stage with its enormous cast (for every mother wished her boy to be included in the conquests of this week). Another producer doubted that the cast was composed only of boys on the college roll, he asserted that past Belvederians supplemented the cast. Only when he was introduced to the cast enjoying a high tea in one of the parlours did he admit his error of judgment. Were we to try to analyse the source of Fr. Glynn's unquestionable success, we might mention a number of factors. He was an artist himself; could portray before the startled boys the various quips and gestures that suited a stage character; he could dance the required steps; he could sing any aria in the score; he could invent graceful movements which gave life and colour to the chorus; and he was so gentle and persuasive that the boys took courage and imitated what they had seen so wonderfully portrayed. Past Belvederians soon founded a Musical and Dramatic Society of their own and attributed their popularity and achievements to what they had learned from Fr. Glynn.
In 1940 Fr. Glynn's health showed signs of deterioration. A change of work, specially church work, appealed to him. He came to St. Francis Xavier's Church, Gardiner Street, and soon established himself as a kind confessor. He had charge of the youths' sodality and endeared himself to the boys and the leaders. He was settling down to this congenial work when he was appointed to a still more important work, Spiritual Father to the community of Rathfarnham Castle. Here he was to spend seven years (1941-48). He proved to be a wise counsellor and those young in heart found in him a sympathetic listener. He had experienced life in the world prior to entering the Society, and he often said that we all need imperatively is encouragement in serving our Good Master. He would be the last man to reveal his personal devotions or acts of piety. Yet, he couldn't hide from others his particular love of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. His furtive and frequent visits to the chapel were known to all who lived with him. In 1949 he returned to his alma mater, the Crescent, Limerick, where he was given the church work he loved. He had the direction of the Arch-Confraternity of the Bona Mors; and often preached on the blessings of dying in God's friendship. His former interests: in the stage and musical comedy were revived by contact with the Cecilian Musical Society, formed by past boys of the Crescent College. He became again the producer and met with the same phenomenal success. On one occasion over sixty of the past Belvederians travelled from Dublin to attend one of his productions. Little did they realise how sick a man he really was. First it was rheumatic fever; later he spent several months in hospital and was considered in danger of death. Tuberculosis was diagnosed and he was ordered to a sanatorium. He came to St. Mary's Chest Hospital, Phoenix Park, Dublin, in the summer of 1951 and for the next fifteen years he was an invalid. He refused to surrender. In St. Mary's Hospital he was fortunate to find as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kevin McArdle, who for many years was to do so much to lessen the hardship of his life by devoted personal friendship and consummate professional skill. Fr. Glynn showed incredible courage and determination. Doctors, nurses and visiting patients of the hospital were amazed at his hidden vitality. Sometimes Fr. Glynn improved so much that he was able to walk about the hospital and grounds. One might have thought he was permanently cured. In 1953 he was sent to Manresa Retreat House, where a former sports' pavilion was turned into a bungalow, admirably suited to his needs. Friends he had made in hospital and whose confidence he had won used come to see him. Occasionally, he was able to hear confessions in the retreat house. One official, attached to a golf club, said of him: “he was the gentlest priest I ever came across”. After eight years at Manresa, during which there were frequent visits to St. Mary's Hospital, a change of house was recommended by his doctor. He was appointed to the Catholic Workers' College. This house was to be his happy home for the last four years of his life. He endeared himself to everybody. For some months he was “up and doing”, then came spells of real sickness and exhaustion. He was so weak at times in these last years that people visiting him would not have been surprised to see him die. There were moments of complete helplessness when his breathing was extremely difficult and he was a pathetic sight to see. But no complaint was heard on his lips. The end came on Thursday, 11th August, in St. Vincent's Private Hospital. He had been suffering acute abdominal pains. An operation was thought advisable and Fr. Glynn was anxious that it should be tried. He rallied for some time after the operation but soon began to lose whatever strength he had gathered the previous days. He was well prepared to meet his Good Master (only Fr. Glynn could tell how often in his 75 years he had been fortified with the sacraments for the sick). It was his apostolate for nearly sixteen years to preach from a sick bed or from inside his room those strong Christian qualities : patience, courage in bearing pain, resignation to the will of his Creator, gentleness above all things. The last quality will always be associated with him by those who knew him well whether in the Society or outside it, the doctors, nurses, fellow-patients, penitents and the domestics of the hospitals and houses of Ours. “Well done! thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord!” could well have been Our Lord's greeting to the soul of Fr. Mortimer Glynn.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1967

Obituary

Father Mortimer Glynn SJ (OB 1908)

Fr Morty Glynn died after a severe illness on 11th August last. For the last fifteen years of so of his life he had been practically an invalid though, apart from relatively short periods in hospital, he continued to reside in various Jesuit houses. When he had entered the Society in 1914, older than the average at his age of twenty-three (he had been working as an insurance clerk), Fr Morty seemed to be of frail health but nevertheless capable of great energy. With his sense of humour he was an amusing companion. After the novitiate he studied in France for a time, then taught at Mungret College. He was ordained in 1925 and two years later was assigned to Belvedere.

Fr Glynn's twelve years in Belvedere College were quite remarkable. He held a variety of offices : master in the junior house, choir master to the senior and junior houses, minister for four years, editor of The Belvederian (1937), and Spiritual Father to the community. But it was as pioneer and producer of a very successful series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas that he will be best remembered. It seemed unlikely that so gentle and retiring a person as Fr Glynn could succeed in making the college “opera week” the talk of the town - yet that is what he did. The week became a great social attraction and seems to have led to the introduction of operas in other city schools. During the opera week there was a great atmosphere in Belvedere; invitation cards were much sought after. But the crowds came not merely for a social occasion; they were attracted principally by the high quality of the offering.

Fr Glynn was correct in his conviction that he could teach the boys in his casts a real love of acting and an appreciation of music. One measure of his success was the formation of the Old Belvedere Music and Dramatic Society formed by past pupils who attributed much of their success to what they had learned from him. Even professional producers came to learn from Fr Glynn's handling of the large opera casts. An artist himself, he could portray for the boys the actions of any character, dance the required steps, sing any song; his persuasive manner led the boys to imitation and thence to those wonderful productions which reached such a high standard for school performances.

In 1940 Fr Glynn's health showed signs of decline and over the next ten years he was in a succession of Jesuit houses in an effort to find some clime where he could continue to do good work. One place to which he was very happy to return was Crescent College, where he had been at school before coming to Belvedere. His former interest in the stage was revived by contact with the Cecilian Musical Society, formed from past pupils. Again he became a most successful producer. On one occasion over sixty Old Belvederians travelled from Dublin to attend one of his productions.

But by this time Fr Glynn was a really sick man. He spent some time, seriously ill, in hospital and in 1953 had recovered just sufficiently to take up residence in Manresa Retreat House. There many friends he had made in hospital came to see him. After eight years in Manresa he was stationed in the then Catholic Workers College, now known as the College of Industrial Relations. This house was to be a happy home for him during the last four years of his life. In those years he suffered greatly, and impressed greatly everybody who came in contact with him. They witnessed his great patience, courage and resignation; above all perhaps the gentleness that had characterised him all his life. It was in fact his apostolate during his later years to preach those virtues by example from his sick bed. The end came peacefully in hospital; Fr Morty was surely well prepared to meet his Master. God rest his soul.

McCaffrey, William, 1894-1936, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1689
  • Person
  • 23 April 1894-18 February 1936

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

Guinane, Gerard, 1900-1971, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/169
  • Person
  • 21 September 1900-26 June 1971

Born: 21 September 1900, Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 31 August 1917, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1933, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1936, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 26 June 1971, Crescent College, Limerick City

Second World War chaplain

by 1928 in Australia - Regency at St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney
by 1935 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
Gerard Guinane was only sixteen when he entered the Society at Tullabeg, and following early studies he was sent to Riverview in 1926. He taught in the school, was prefect of the study hall and, for a while, was assistant rowing master. He was very successful as a teacher and highly regarded by William Lockington. After ordination and tertianship, Guinane spent most of his life teaching, principally at Mungret and Limerick.

◆ 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 Yorks 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 46th Year No 3 1971

Obituary :

Fr Gerard Guinane SJ (1900-1971)

Fr Gerard Guinane was born in Clonmel on 21st September 1900, He was an only child. The family moved to Limerick in 1906 and at first resided at St. John's Villas. His father was manager of Cleeve's Confectionery Ltd.
He received his very early education with the Loreto nuns, Clonmel, and shortly after coming to Limerick, he entered Crescent College where he continued for the remainder of his schooldays. Gerard Guinane entered the Jesuit noviceship at St. Stanislaus College, Tullamore, on 31st August 1917 and on the completion of his noviceship spent a further year there as a junior, when he moved on to Rathfarnham Castle from which he attended University College, taking his degree in Celtic Studies with distinction in 1924. He next spent two years studying philosophy at Milltown Park, Dublin, on the completion of which he went to Australia for four years as teacher and prefect in the colleges of Holy Name, Brisbane, and Riverview, Sydney. On his return to Ireland he again went to Milltown Park to study theology for four years. He was ordained priest there in 1933. After tertianship in St. Beuno's College, North Wales, Fr Guinane came to Crescent College in 1935 for one year, and then moved to Mungret College where he was engaged as teacher and minister until 1941.
From 1941 to 1946 he served as military chaplain in the Second World War, mainly with the Royal Ulster Rifles. During this period of chaplaincy he frequently sacrificed the opportunity of leave home to undertake retreat work to religious communities and their schoolgirls and was much loved for this service, the more so that he was supplying for an urgent need where retreat givers were less available.
He then returned to Mungret College for a short period and finally came to Crescent College in the Autumn of 1946 where he spent the remaining years of his life - a period of twenty-five years. He died on Friday, 25th June 1971. To a large section of people, Fr. Guinane was chiefly known for his connection with rugby football. For his uncanny knowledge of the game, his skill as a trainer, his truly marvellous capacity in estimating the ability and temperament of the individual player, he was outstanding. In addition, he took a very keen personal interest in hundreds of players of the game at home and abroad, and was loved and respected by them all. In his early years as games master in. Crescent College, Fr Guinane trained teams that won the Munster Schools' Senior Cup three times within a half-dozen years. On those teams were included many players who subsequently became well-known personalities, such as rugby internationals Gordon Wood, Paddy Berkery, Paddy Lane (now vice-president of the N.F.A.), and film star Richard Harris, who utilised his rugby training most effectively in This Sporting Life.

In the administrative side of rugby, Fr. Guinane once again figured very prominently. He was president of the Munster Branch of the I.R.F.U., and served for some time as a member of the executive of the Irish Rugby Union. For many years he was a member and chairman) of the Munster Referees' Association. He was founder and later president of the Old Crescent Rugby Football Club, in which he took a very deep, dedicated and affectionate interest. But Fr. Guinane's interest and competence in sport were not confined to rugby football. As a scholastic in Riverview College he was given charge of the rowing, a heavy and responsible business involving the training of crews, the running of the annual college regatta and the presenting of an eight and two fours for the great Public Schools' Regatta, one of the sporting highlights of Sydney life. All this he carried through with energy and drive at a period when he was full-time teacher and prefect of the senior study hall. He also had more than a passing interest in almost every variety of sport and in his youth was regarded as an outstanding handball player. A highly important period in Fr Gerry's career was when he was selected as military chaplain in the Second World War and appointed to the Royal Ulster Rifles. A personal accident during training for D-Day invasion of Europe prevented him from taking part in the regiment's activities overseas. Nevertheless, the friends he made in the R.U.R. were very many and very close. This was particularly true of Lt. General Sir lan Harris, who retired as G.O.C. Northern Ireland in 1969 shortly before the recent troubles broke out there. Fr. Guinane was a regular guest at regimental dinners and was invited by the regiment to officiate as Catholic chaplain at the ceremonies when it merged with two other regiments to form the Royal Ulster Rangers. From time to time members of the Royal Ulster Rifles, when on business or on holiday in Southern Ireland, if they happened to pass through Limerick, made a point of calling on Fr Guinane, whom they regarded with singular esteem and affection, While serving as chaplain in England, he received the highest commendation for the immense amount of personal contact service he operated for the men in the forces, righting marriages, solving family troubles, befriending individuals who were down in their luck, in addition to performing his official duties, like saying Masses at three widely separated centres on a Sunday morning.
Another interesting sidelight on this period of his career was the way in which he succeeded (or manoeuvred) in accommodating Irish communities of nuns in England, by securing the necessary travel permits from the British Government for certain Irish Jesuits to give these nuns their annual retreats. There are other aspects of Fr Guinane's life which passed almost unnoticed by the outside world. One of these was his interest and skill in the retreat movement, especially for nuns, and his remarkable competence in the direction of those in religious life. Restricted opportunity limited his activity in this line considerably, but it is quite astonishing how much his direction and advice were sought by individual religious and by religious superiors. His sound commonsense, balanced judgment, broad outlook, wide experience, clear and unhesitating decisions, were instrumental in bringing mental peace and happiness to many who suffered from distress and uncertainty. And, occasionally, when a rugby fixture brought him far away from base, his companions afterwards would good-humouredly suffer delay, while Fr Guinane had gone to some hospital or convent to console or direct someone in trouble or distress. Closely allied to this aspect of Fr Guinane was his generosity to people in need or want, a trait which was sometimes indeed taken advantage of by clients who realised that he was “good” for a bit of assistance. He was often approached by those who had “just come out of jail” or “were going to England for work” or who had been “staunch supporters at rugby matches”, and in most cases, however tenuous the claims to his benefactions were, the petitioners “had their claims allowed” by the man who had indeed made a diagnosis of their real ailments, and a very clear assessment of the various subterfuges. He gave of his time and of the limited resources at his disposal without stint. Unselfishness was something that was really basic to his nature. He would stop at nothing to help a friend. Many of his friends were quite unaware that he sometimes went to an important international rugby match without an admission ticket - he had given he last one, his own, to someone whom he felt that he could not refuse. In community life also he was most obliging with his services and his time. He could always be depended on at short notice to take a sermon, or supply for a Mass or confessions even with considerable inconvenience to himself. Fr Guinane was widely known as a skilled diplomatist and a man of remarkable shrewdness. Yet, he always played his cards within the law, and could only win admiration and respect from those whom he had legitimately outwitted. One of his great friends - himself a man of no mean intelligence and perspicacity, who was locally renowned for his flair in making an apt and witty remark, described Fr. Gerry as “The Twentieth Century Fox”.

Fr Guinane fundamentally was an extrovert in quite an admirable way. His interest was in people people of all sorts and ages. He was happy with schoolboys, treated them with kindness and consideration, and knew how to bring out the best that was in them. He was perfectly at home with adult men of every creed and class, and by his sincerity, unselfishness and understanding and urbane manner won their respect, admiration and loyalty. With the Sisters in various religious communities, the ladies with whom he came in contact, in retreats, sodalities, hospitals and a multiplicity of other organisations, his same sterling characteristics had a wide and lasting influence and won for him a very deep regard, The exceptionally large number of people from all parts of the country who expressed their sympathy, and who travelled long distances to attend his final obsequies are a lasting tribute to the esteem and affection in which he was universally held. May he rest in peace.

McCartney, William, 1857-1926, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1694
  • Person
  • 17 January 1857-01 June 1926

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”.

Gill, Henry V, 1872-1945, Jesuit priest, scientist and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/17
  • Person
  • 08 July 1872-27 November 1945

Born: 08 July 1872, Cabra, Dublin City
Entered: 17 April 1890, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 29 July 1906, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1911, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 27 November 1945, St Vincent's Nursing Home, Dublin

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

Younger brother of Frederick Gill - LEFT 1928

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1896 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1908 at Oxford England (ANG) studying Science
by 1910 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1917 Military Chaplain : 2nd Royal Irish Rifles BEF France

◆ Jesuits in Ireland https://www.jesuit.ie/blog/damien-burke/a-sparrow-to-fall/

A sparrow to fall
Damien Burke
A BBC Northern Ireland documentary, Voices 16 – Somme (BBC 1 NI on Wednesday 29th June, 9pm) explores the events of 1916 through the testimony of the people who witnessed it and their families. Documentary makers and relatives of Jesuit chaplain Willie Doyle were shown his letters, postcards and personal possessions kept here at the Irish Jesuit Archives. In the 1920s, Alfred O’Rahilly used some of these letters in his biography of Fr Willie Doyle SJ. Afterwards they were given to Willie’s brother, Charles, and were stored for safekeeping in the basement of St Francis Xavier’s church, Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin in 1949. In 2011, they were accessioned into the archives. Fr Willie Doyle SJ was one of ten Irish Jesuits who served as chaplains at the battle of the Somme (1 July- 18 November 1916): seven with the British forces; three with the Australian. Their letters, diaries and photographs witness their presence to the horror of war.

Fr Henry Gill SJ, 2nd Royal Irish Rifles (11 July 1916):
Just a line to say I am still alive. We are of course, as always, “in it”...I have been in, and I feel I know more than I want about shells of all sizes and conditions. It is a horrible and squalid business. Trenches full of mud with bodies of dead Germans and British lying unburied all along. Please God it will end soon, and that we may be able to forgot it all as quickly as possible. Gill was tasked with writing to relatives of soldiers who had been killed. These letters followed a pattern, where the following were mentioned, even if false: a quick death, little suffering and recent reception to the sacraments. He only lived a few minutes after he was shot and can have suffered but little pain, He always went to Confession and Holy Communion before an attack, now you may therefore be at ease about him. The letter was written by Gill to Maggie Duffy of Belfast in September 1916. Her husband, John Duffy was killed at the battle of the Somme in July 1916. Your Husband lived a good life and died a Hero’s death, that will not make your sorrow less, but it will help you to bear it in resignation to God’s will, Who, does not even a allow a sparrow to fall without his Providence

https://www.jesuit.ie/blog/damien-burke/the-last-parting-jesuits-and-armistice/

The last parting: Jesuits and Armistice
At the end of the First World War, Irish Jesuits serving as chaplains had to deal with two main issues: their demobilisation and influenza. Some chaplains asked immediately to be demobbed back to Ireland; others wanted to continue as chaplains. Of the thirty-two Jesuits chaplains in the war, five had died, while sixteen were still serving.
Fr Henry Gill SJ, on leave on 10 November 1918 wrote:
In the mean time I had made arrangement for a trip of the greatest possible interest to myself. I was to be motored to Chaumout to get the train to Paris...and on the way I was to pay a visit to Domremy the birthplace of Joan of Arc. I looked forward to this visit with great pleasure. I had set out from Rouen, where the Saint was put to death, to begin my work at the front, and now after almost four years I was to visit her birthplace, and her Basilica, and to have the opportunity of making a pilgrimage to thank her for her protection during these years. For I had set out under her patronage. Fr Gill physically survived the war, but mentally, would suffer from what we call today post-traumatic stress, but in his time, was called nerves.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 3 1926
Fr Henry Gill has received a communication from the President of the French Republic thanking him for distinguished service during the late war.

Irish Province News 6th Year No 3 1931
Rathfarnham :
Our Minister, Fr. Henry Gill, has had the honour of being elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946
Obituary :
Fr. Henry Gill (1872-1890-1945)
Fr. Henry Gill died very peacefully in St. Vincent's Nursing Home at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 27th, whilst Mass was being offered for his intentions by two or three of the Community, at Leeson Street, He had been ailing for the past six months with an internal trouble which was diagnosed as cancer of the liver, but he was mercifully spared any acute pain, and it was only in the last few days of his life that his heart began to show serious signs of weakness. Indeed he took an active interest in the routine of daily life throughout his illness, and three days before his death was still able to correct final page proofs of a small “Life of Saint Joseph” which he had written during the past year. At the foot of the last page of these proofs he wrote in a hand that was shaky, but still legible : “Saint Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death, pray for us”.
Fr. Gill was born at Roebuck House near Dublin on July 8th, 1872. He lived to be the eldest surviving son of the late H. J. Gill, formerly a member of the Irish Party and head of the well-known publishing firma of Messrs. M. H. Gill and Son, Ltd. His grandfather had been Lord Mayor of Dublin, and Fr. Gill was a staunchly loyal son of the city of Dublin throughout his long life. He was educated at first in a small day-school at No. 6 Harcourt Street, where Newman had formerly opened one of his Houses for resident students of the Catholic University. From this preparatory school Henry went to Clongowes, where he remained until the summer of 1889. He then spent some months as a student at old University College on St. Stephen's Green, and did not enter the novitiate until April of the following year. In later life he used to tell a humorous tale of the downcast young citizen of Dublin who journeyed by train and car to the Tullabeg of those far off days. His vocation, so he would argue, was a clear instance of the triumph of God's grace over every natural inclination! After two years in the Bog, Henry came back to the city and spent the next three years and a half at Milltown Park, where he was beadle of the Juniors and attended lectures at the old College in Mathematics and Science. Thence he went to Louvain for his Philosophy, 1895-8, where he was brought into contact with professors who were eager to explain traditional principles of philosophy in terms of modern science. On his return from Louvain Mr. Gill spent the next five years in the Colleges (Limerick, Galway and Clongowes), but gave little promise at this time of the distinctions that were to come to him in later life. He was indeed curiously unable to teach a straightforward class, even in his own favourite subjects, though he was later to display an exceptional gift for the exposition and quiet criticism of scientific principles. From 1903-7 he studied Theology in Milltown Park, and was ordained there by Archbishop Walsh on July 18th, 1906.
Fr. Gill was then granted permission by Fr. Conmee to study the Physical Sciences at Cambridge for the next two years. Professor J. J. Thompson was then organising the Cavendish Laboratories as a centre of world-famous scientific research, and Fr. Gill had the good fortune to be associated for a time with some of the men who were later to make history in the development of modern Physics. He never lost the memory of those happy days; and when his old Professor published his autobiography in 1936, Fr. Gill reviewed it in Studies under the well-chosen title : “Brave Days at Cambridge”. He was a student of Downing College, but resided in St. Edmund's House where he had the late Most Rev. Dr. McNulty, Bishop of Nottingham, as his friend and fellow-student. Fr. Gill's own interests were centred at this time on the problems of seismography, and he read a paper to the British Association in 1913 in which he put forward an ingenious theory to explain the distribution of earthquakes in time and space. He was also keenly interested in the development of Wireless Telegraphy - then in its initial stages - and was accustomed to give popular lectures in Dublin on this and kindred subjects. He attended many of the later annual meetings of the British Association, and was frequently invited to preach at some Catholic church during its sessions.
After his period at Cambridge Fr. Gill was sent to Tronchiennes in Belgium for his Tertianship. He was then stationed for three years in Belvedere, until he came to Rathfarnham Castle as its first Spiritual Father in 1913. A year later came the First Great War, and Fr. Gill. was one of the first to send in his name to Fr. Provincial as volunteering for work as Army Chaplain. His offer was accepted, and he spent the next four years in the trenches of Flanders, with no more interruption. than the customary short leaves from active service. Those who remember his visits to Rathfarnham during these intervals will recall the impression of a man who seemed strangely ill-assorted with military life. Yet the plain truth is that both officers and men of the regiment to which he was attached (Second Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles) were devoted to him, and the gallantry with which he responded to every claim on his services during those four grim years of trench warfare is attested by the double award of Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order. One officer who was with him throughout those four years and who was present at his funeral spoke with real emotion of his memories. “He seemed like a lost soul wherever you met him”, was his comment, “but he was always there when wanted, and was afraid of no man”. His unfailing sense of humour and his great gifts of companionship made him a special favourite with the officers mess. But, to the end of his days, he was in touch with some of the men who bad served under him, and their letters revealed the same genuine affection for their old ‘Padre’.
After the war Fr. Gill came to University Hall for five years, where he assisted Fr. George Roche and Fr. Wrafter in their work for the students of University College, and was also able to continue for a. time his former research-work. But his vitality had been much lessened by the long experience of the war-years, and he soon abandoned active research-work. . He went as Minister to Belvedere College in 1923. Here he spent the next seven years, and became a very loyal Belvederian. He was then transferred as Minister for one year to Rathfarnham Castle. The last change came in 1931, when he joined the Leeson Street Community as their Fr. Minister and later as Spiritual Father. For the last fourteen years of his life it is no exaggeration to say that Fr. Gill's kindly personality and the stimulus of his conversation made community life a joy to many of his brethren. He was also, for many years past, a regular contributor to Studies, The Irish Monthly and the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. His contributions to the latter were published in book form in two small volumes entitled “Jesuit Spirituality” (1935) and “Christianity in Daily Life” (1942), both of them full of his characteristic common sense. A selection of the many essays on scientific topics which he had contributed to Studies, Thought and the Irish Ecclesiastical Record was issued by Messers. Gill and Son in 1943 under the excellent title “Fact and Fiction in Modern Science”. It was at once most favourably received both in England and Ireland. In the United States the impression made was so remarkable that Fordham University. undertook to produce a special American edition of this work, which was issued some months before Fr. Gill's death. He also published in 1941 a short biography of the celebrated Jesuit physicist, Fr. Roger Boscovich, which was no more than a brief sketch of a more ambitious work which he had planned for some years past, but was unable to complete owing to his failing, health. May he rest in peace.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Henry Gill 1872-1945
Fr Henry Gill was born at Roebuck House Dublin on July 8th 1872, son of HJ Gill, former Irish Party Member of Parliament, and head of the publishing firm, Gill’s O’Connell Street Dublin.

Henry was educated at Belvedere College and entered the Society in 1890, after a short period as a student at ‘6 St Stephen’s Green. In the course of his studies he displayed remarkable talent in science, and consequently, after his ordination, he was sent to Cambridge for tow years to study under Sir J Thompson.

On the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered as a chaplain and served throughout the whole course. After the War he resided at University Hall for 5 years, and finally after various periods as Minister in various Houses, he settled down in Leeson Street for the rest of his life as Spiritual Father and writer.

He was a regular contributor to “Studies”, the “Irish Ecclesiastical Record” and the “Irish Monthly”. His published works include : “Jesuit Spirituality”, “Christianity in Daily Life”, “Fact and Fiction in Modern Science”. The latter book is still a favourite and enjoys a steady sale in the United States. He also published a biography of the celebrated Jesuit physicist Fr Boscovitch.

He died on November 27th 19456. He was a deeply religious man, with a remarkable sense of kindly humour, and his sayings at recreation and his stories are still recounted to the younger generation.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1946

Obituary

Father Henry Gill SJ

On Nov 27th, in St Vincent's Nursing Home, died very peacefully, Fr Henry Gill SJ. He was well known to many Belvederians and his passing means for them the loss of an esteemed friend.

From 1909-12 he was on the teaching staff here, and was also Director of the BVM Sodality. Then again from 1923-30 he was Minister, Director of the Sodality of the Holy Angels, and of the Conference of St Stanislaus. Those who were here during those years will well remember him for his kindly humour and deep spirituality.

A man of great gifts, and one who used them well and carefully, this quiet, unassuming man had a busy and an active life. After his earlier studies at Louvain, he studied at Cambridge from 1906-08, under Prof J J Thompson, at the Cavendish Laboratories.

Then came the Great War, and he was one of the first to volunteer as a chaplain. The war record of this quiet man will come as a revelation to many. He received, during these four years, the double award of DSO and MC, and his unfailing serise of humour and quiet gifts of companionship made him a special favourite with the men.

Still another side of his work was to be revealed in his later days - in his writings. He had been for many years quietly contributing to Studies, The Irish Monthly and The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. His contributions to the latter were published in book form in two small volumes entitled “Jesuit, Spirituality” (1935), and “Christianity in Daily Life” (1942), both of them full of his characteristic common sense. A selection of his many contributions on scientific subjects was issued in 1943 under the title, “Fact and Fiction in Modern Science”. Three days before his death, he corrected the final proofs of a small “Life of St. Joseph”. At the foot of the last page of these proofs he wrote in a hand that was shaky but still legible, - “St Joseph, patron of a Happy Death, pray for us”.

It was a fitting ending to a life which was to be crowned by a happy death. RIP

◆ The Clongownian, 1946

Obituary

Father Henry Gill SJ

Henry Gill was the second of the six sons of Mr H J Gill, JP, MA, head of the publishing firm of M H Gill & Son of Dublin. Katharine Tynan Hinkson wrote a delightful account of her friend Mrs Gill and of the family life at Roebuck House; it showed from what a good source was derived the charm which Fr Henry's many friends always found in him. All the boys went to Clongowes, and during the last two decades of the 19th century the name “Bottles” was in familiar and affectionate use; its origin, according to the legend, had something to do with the relation between a gill and a pottle, two antique measures of capacity which we were supposed to know something about.

Henry left Clongowes in 1889, and entered the novitiate at Tullabeg the following year, hating it but feeling he had to do it. Having to do it, he did it thoroughly, and after a very few years the stamp of the Society on him was unmistakeable. Fortunately, while it deepened the spiritual side of his character, it did not destroy or even diminish his exquisite sense of the comical, a source of continual surprise and delight to those he lived with.

After the usual round of studies and teaching, he was ordained at Milltown Park in 1906. During his studies he had shown particular aptitude for Physics, and as a Scholastic he read a paper (I think to the RDS), embodying the results of some ingenious research work. After his ordination he went to Cambridge, where he worked in the Cavendish Laboratory under J J Thomson and took his MA degree. It was the beginning of a new era in Physics, inaugurated chiefly by Thomson's theories and experiments. Fr Gill was profoundly interested, then and later, and his interest found expression in a number of articles in various journals. These articles formed the core of his book, “Fact and Fiction in Modern Science”, which appeared in 1943, and which was warmly received in England and America. An American edition was sponsored by Fordham University.

In 1913 he expounded to the British Association a new theory of the origin of earthquakes, which he supported by some very striking experiments. But in 1914, as soon as the war began, he offered his services as a chaplain, and served through the whole war. He was awarded the MC and the DSO, besides various foreign decorations; officers and men in the battalion to which he was attached testified to his heroic courage and devotion and his unfailing gaiety in the worst circumstances. I spoke to him once of this. He said: “Well, one made the offering of one's life at Mass in the morning, and then it didn't matter”. His deepest and most real interests were the eternal ones.

These interests found expression in his books, “Jesuit Spirituality”, “Christianity in Daily Life”, and “St Joseph”. This last was the theme of his meditation during the last two years of his life; indeed he finished it on his death-bed, and the invocation at the end, St Joseph, “patron. of a happy death, pray for us”,' was written by him just two days before he died, Death found him as cheerfully ready as life had always found him. May he rest in peace.

M F Egan SJ

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Henry Gill (1872-1945)

A native of Dublin and a member of the well-known publishing family, was educated at Clongowes and entered the Society in 1890. He pursued his higher studies at University College, Dublin, Louvain, and Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1906, and Cambridge University. He spent one year of his regency at the Crescent, 1898-1899. Father Gill showed little aptitude for teaching in spite of his splendid intellectual gifts. He volunteered for a chaplaincy in the first world war and was many times decorated and mentioned in despatches. He wrote much on scientific subjects for learned reviews and was the author of three widely read spiritual books: Jesuit Spirituality, Christianity in Daily Life, St. Joseph.

McDonough, Joseph P, 1905-1986, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1700
  • Person
  • 04 January 1905-15 July 1986

Born: 04 January 1905, Oughterard, County Galway
Entered: 28 September 1933, St Stanislaus, Guelph, ONT, Canada - Canada Superiors Province (CAN S)
Ordained: 30 June 1946
Final vows: 02 February 1949
Died: 15 July 1986, Phoenix AZ, USA - Canada Superiors Province (CAN S)

by 1948 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

McEvoy, Patrick, 1910-1982, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1706
  • Person
  • 05 February 1910-07 May 1982

Born: 05 February 1910, Brighton, Melbourne, Australia
Entered: 02 March 1926, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 24 June 1937, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows:15 August 1943
Died: 07 May 1982, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick McEvoy spent his boyhood in Croydon, Vic., and was educated at Xavier College. He was always intellectually advanced, and completed his secondary studies when only fifteen years of age. He entered the Society, 2 March 1926, Loyola College, Greenwich, a few weeks after his sixteenth birthday.
He pursued all his priestly studies in Ireland, at Rathfarnham, Tullabeg, and Milltown Park, and gained a BA in classics from the University of Dublin. He never did regency, and
was ordained, 24 June 1937. He returned to Australia in 1939, after tertianship in Wales, and remained on the philosophy faculty until the end of 1961, during which time he was prefect of studies from 1941-61. He was transferred to teach secondary school boys Latin at St Aloysius College, Sydney, 1962-82, and was prefect of studies, 1970-71.
McEvoy was never given the opportunity to undertake special postgraduate studies in philosophy, but that did not seem to worry him. He had a strong influence on many Jesuit
scholastics, especially those interested in philosophy He lectured in classically pure Latin for an hour without notes and with intense concentration and seriousness, in clear and logical fashion. He set high standards for himself and demanded the same of others. He was intolerant of weakness in people, and could not adequately deal with weaker students. He saw truth very clearly, and wondered why others could not he so enlightened. In examinations, however, he could be gentle, and was always courteous and respectful.
He was the most distinguished metaphysician in the province, drew up his own codex in rational psychology and natural theology, but otherwise, wrote little. He was not a neo-Scholastic, but rather belonged to the transcendental Thomist school of Pierre Scheuer and Joseph Maréchal from Louvain. Other professors did not always accept his views, and students were sometimes caught between these differing opinions, especially during oral examinations.
McEvoy was a complex character in many ways, very clever and competent, with childlike simplicity in many of his daily reflections on life. Whatever his task, whether as philosophy
professor, teacher of biology, destroyer of forests, teacher of Latin, or administrator of studies, he performed all with extraordinary perfection. Yet, while always sure about his work, he seemed to be unsure of himself. From being a “dapper young man” in his early days in the Society, he went to an extreme state of sartorial disrepair. When he took up biology, his room took on the air of a neglected slaughterhouse. At St Aloysius' College, his room took many months to clean up and paint and retouch the walls. He had lived in a slum. One of his major recreations was watching the wrestling on television on Saturday mornings while correcting Latin exercises.
A short time after giving a scholastic “contio” on the sacredness of the priestly state in which he was reported as saying that any form of manual labor was beneath the sacerdotal dignity, he plunged himself into such a degree of servile work as had not been seen in a Jesuit before. He became a truck driver and woodsman. He built up a wartime woodpile at Watsonia that seemed to rival the Great Wall of China!
As a scholastic himself he was an “enfant terrible” with superiors. They wondered if he was suitable for ordination. But as minister of philosophers he was a very stern disciplinarian.
Only a magnificent physique such as he had could have stood up to the battering to which he subjected it. Periods of intense study alternated with bouts of excessive physical labor. He smoked with all the avidity of a confirmed addict. A homemade cigarette world be waiting with matches to be snatched within seconds of the end of a lecture. On Long Table days, and other days, he enjoyed the opportunity of partaking in any liquid refreshment provided. He appeared to have an indestructible constitution.
For years he belted around the countryside on a heavy motorcycle whose mechanism and eccentricities he soon mastered with his usual competence, and which he controlled in the same unrelenting manner with which he tackled everything. When he was at St Aloysius College, every year he would travel from Sydney to Melbourne on his current rusty mount. He used to stop at Tarcutta, buy some meat pies and then sleep under a tree. On one occasion, making the journey by night, he was thrown off the machine. He lay unconscious on the ground for some time. When he recovered consciousness he remounted the cycle and continued riding. However, he soon discovered that in his semi-stunned state he was travelling in the opposite direction.
The change from philosophy professor to Latin teacher to secondary boys was considerable, but McEvoy proved himself most adaptable. He was respected and even liked by the small number of boys who met him in Latin classes. With staff he was reserved except at school celebrations, when he could prove that he had greater staying power than anyone else. He found it hard to relate to Jesuits, as he was very critical of their weaknesses. In recreation he would sit by himself, drink and read the paper. If greeted by a visitor, he would respond with a short burst of strained joviality and then, not being able to continue, relapse into silence. He never gave the appearance that he was interested in others unless they related to him in some way.
This was the complexity of McEvoy, talented in so many fields and yet remaining manqué. There was an intense shyness, perhaps even a totally unwarranted inferiority complex. He was not comfortable with his peers, but he enjoyed the company of the young, either scholastics or adolescent boys. With them he could be relaxed and at ease. He was not just a rationalist, he could meet people heart to heart. McEvoy, however, must remain an important figure in the Australian province. He was the real founder of the new Australian philosophate and a man of solid faith and unadorned spirituality - a man rough hewn perhaps by the unwisdom of other times, but never destroyed by it.

McGuire, Daniel J, 1918-1997, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1719
  • Person
  • 07 May 1918-27 June 1997

Born: 07 May 1918, Murroe, County Limerick
Entered: 14 August 1937, St Andrew on Hudson NY, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)
Ordained: 18 June 1950
Final vows: 15 August 1954
Died: 27 June 1997, Philadelphia PA, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)

by 1952 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

McInerney, Philip, 1913-1964, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1723
  • Person
  • 25 January 1913-21 February 1964

Born: 25 January 1913, Korumburra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 12 March 1929, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 08 January 1944, Sydney, Australia
Final Vows: 15 August 1946
Died: 21 February 1964, Mahuadanr Hospital, Jharkhand - Ranchiensis Province (RAN)

Part of the Mandar, Daltonganj, Ranchi, Jharkhand, Hazaribag, India community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931; ASL to RAN : 12 March 1956

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Philip Mclnerney was educated at CBC St Kilda and St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, and entered the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 12 March 1929. He studied humanities, gaining a BA from the National University in Dublin, 1931-34. Philosophy was at Innsbruck, 1934-37, and he did regency at Xavier College, 1937-40, being second division prefect. He was among the first group of Australian theologians ordained in Australia, 8 January 1944, studying at Canisius College, Pymble. Tertianship at Loyola College, Watsonia, followed.
After tertianship he was prefect of studies at St Patrick's College, 1946-48, and then headmaster at Xavier College, Kostka Hall, 1948-51. He was among the first group of Australian Jesuits to be sent to the Hazaribag Mission in India. He transferred to the Ranchi province on 12 March 1956.
He taught at St Xavier's, Hazarrbag, 1952, and after studying Hindi in 1953, he was vice-rector of St Xavier's, Ranchi, for a year, and superior of the Hazaribag-Palamau district. In 1955 he was the vice-provincial delegate of the same region and parish priest. From 1956-60 he was parish priest of the Catholic Ashram, Hazaribag, and from 1958, president of schools in villages, a regional consulter and president of cases in the district.
In 1961 he was parish priest of Daltonganj, an inaugural parish with four parochial schools. He looked after the station and visited Barwadih, and was still a regional consulter. His last
appointment was parish priest of Mahuadanr. He died in the Mahuadanr hospital.
He was considered to be a man of high principles, all of which he applied to himself. Because he naturally had a land disposition, he manifested a nice combination of steeliness and softness. When there was a conflict of emotions, compassion always won. He had great love for the sick and poor in India, visiting them whatever the time of day or state of the weather. Superiors would have appreciated his rigid spirit of obedience and his charming humility As a teacher of mathematics he was much admired, and he was able to get the best out of his students. His Jesuit colleagues valued his hard work, devotion to duty and encouragement to all when he was establishing the region.

McKillop, Colin J, 1892-1964, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1726
  • Person
  • 06 December 1892-29 February 1964

Born: 06 December 1892, Goulburn, Sydney, Australia
Entered: 07 September 1912, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1926, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1930, St Ignatius College Riverview, Sydney, Australia
Died: 29 February 1964, St Francis Xavier, Lavender Bay, North Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Younger brother of of Ken - RIP 1945 and Cousin of Donald - RIP 1925 and Saint Mary

by 1916 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1920 in Australia - Regency
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
Colin McKillop, brother of Ken and cousin of Donald and Saint Mary, was educated at Riverview where he rowed with a senior crew, played rugby in the first XV, and was an active member of the St Vincent de Paul Society. He was also a good swimmer, competing in Goulburn. He worked as a bank clerk in Goulburn for a time, and then entered the Society at Tullabeg, Ireland, 7 September 1912. He was a home junior at Rathfarnham, 1914-15, and studied philosophy at Stonyhurst and Milltown Park until 1918 when he returned to Xavier College, Melbourne. Here he was second prefect and Officer Commanding (OC) of the cadet corps. He spent a few more years of regency at Riverview until 1924 before returning to theology studies at Milltown Park, 1924-28. He was ordained after two years. Tertianship at St Beuno's followed immediately. McKillop returned to teaching at Riverview, 1929-38, and was minister and procurator. These were the difficult years of the Depression. Numbers of students fell to 120, and the college debt was substantial. He arranged loans and methods of paying the interest and part of the capital debt, with the result that in about ten years the college was financially safe and the number of boys increased once again. He also improved the interior of the college. He held similar jobs as bursar at Cassius College, Pymble, 1938-39, and at Xavier College, 1939-40. He returned to Pymble, 1941-50, with the same brief, as well as care of the farm and garden. He was also procurator of the vice-province from 1940 and cared for the temporal administration of the houses throughout Australia. He lived at the Lavender Bay parish, 1951-64, doing the same work until his death. He was large, stout man, and very shrewd in all business matters. He was an excellent procurator and administrator of finances, keeping a good eye on the stock market and investments. He was also considered a man of considerable intelligence and a good moral theologian. But he was also rather shy and diffident, and so not a good preacher, nor a man that many people knew well. His shyness disappeared in the presence of businessmen with whom he worked. They admired him, appreciated his rather uncanny business judgment, and liked to deal with him because he was not petty. The province owed much to McKillop for his assistance in building the holiday house at Gerroa, the place of much enjoyment to Jesuits and lay visitors alike. He was experienced as very land and extremely fair and just. He disliked anyone trying to deceive him, for he was himself a very straight and forthright man. He was on his way to help in the setting up of the new junior school at Riverview when he died very suddenly at Lavender Bay from a cerebral haemorrhage.

McNamara, James, 1907-1977, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1731
  • Person
  • 05 October 1907-27 July 1977

Born: 05 October 1907, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 17 February 1927, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1945
Died: 27 July 1977, St Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
James McNamara was a 'gentle giant' who spent much of his life centred on St Ignatius' parish, Richmond. He was baptised in the parish Church, and attended the local school before going to Xavier College for his secondary studies. It was in the parish that he made his first Holy Communion and was confirmed, and there he served as a priest and as pastor, and from there he was buried in 1977.
He entered the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 17 February 1927, and proceeded with the studies of humanities and philosophy in Ireland, with a degree from the National University. He returned to Australia and Riverview for regency as a prefect and rowing master. He went back to Ireland for theology and tertianship.
The greater part of his ministry after ordination was in the parishes of Toowong, Hawthorn and Richmond. In all these places he was experienced as a wise and land pastor. As parish priest he was a good Financier.
In spite of his size and muscular strength he was never a man of robust health. He suffered especially in the hot weather.
After some twelve years in ordinary punish work he was sent to teach in the seminary, both at Werribee and Christchurch, where he taught psychology cosmology and history of philosophy.

Moloney, William, 1880-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1750
  • Person
  • 27 May 1880-24 January 1972

Born: 27 May 1880, Cashel, County Tipperary
Entered: 7 September 1899, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1914, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 2 February 1917, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Died: 24 January 1972, Campion College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1902 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Bill Maloney was educated at Mungret College, where he was captain of the school, and he entered the Society at Tullabeg, 7 September 1899, after graduating in arts from the Royal University of Ireland. After noviceship at Tullabeg, 1899-1901, he studied philosophy at Stonyhurst, 1901-04, theology at Milltown Park, 1911-15, and tertianship at Tullabeg, 1915-16.
He was sent to Australia and St Patrick's College in 1916, and remained there all his working life until 1968, teaching mainly physics. He was also minister, 1918-45, procurator, 1946-68, consulter, 1918-45, and spiritual father and admonitor, 1946-68. He retired from teaching in 1964. When St Patrick's College closed in 1968, he went to Campion College until his death. His presence there was valued by the scholastics.
Moloney was doyen of the province at the time of his death, a genial and lovable priest, unassuming, humble, kind and charitable, of regular religious observance. He was a person of
powerful frame, an active, vigorous, outdoor man in his earlier years, a champion handballer and an enthusiastic fisherman. He was a good teacher, not only because of his efficiency, but also because of his patience, kindness, generosity and encouragement. He was particularly good with the weaker students. For some years he was director of the Sodality of Our Lady, and his talks were well remembered for simplicity and straightforwardness. He had a deep and practical piety, never forced nor strained nor extravagant, but based firmly on truth.
Moloney was also well liked as a retreat-giver, being not eloquent, but firm and practical and having a vein of quiet humour. He adapted to the post-Vatican Church by concelebrating Mass and wearing a tie. His adaptability was helpful to those who found the changes difficult.
To look for something spectacular in Moloney would be to look in vain. His life was dedicated to the unspectacular, to the routine of daily life. Quietly, with perseverance and patience, he went through the regular pattern of each day and each year. His was a life of fidelity, to his vocation, to the duties of the present moment, and to his fellow Jesuits. In attitude he was young. What he could not understand he did not criticise, even though he sometimes marvelled.

Moore, Joseph, 1914-1936, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1759
  • Person
  • 24 September 1914-24 September 1936

Born: 24 September 1914, Banagher, County Offaly
Entered: 30 September 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 24 September 1936, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 12th Year No 1 1937
Obituary :
Mr. Michael Joseph Moore
The following was kindly sent to us by Mr. Moore's old school fellow, Mr. John O'Meara :
On Thursday morning, September 24th, 1930, Mr. Joseph Moore celebrated a double birthday , the second his heavenly one. He was just twenty-two years of age, and had all the appearance of healthy strength. He had great mental vigour, and every thing seemed promising, but he had already matured for heaven.
He was born in Banagher, Offaly, 24th September, 1914. As a boy he was exceptionally studious, and exceptionally pious. He played few games, and even these rather inconsistently and indifferently well. This non-participation in games was no indication of moroseness, still less of softness. It resulted almost entirely from a desire to work hard and attain to the highest qualifications in his studies. If any other motive kept him from the playing fields of St. Joseph's College, Ballinasloe, it was the delight of bantering chat with kindred spirits on questions Irish and democratic. He was an independent and firm character with fixed ideas, though he was always open to persuasion. Those fixed ideas were mainly centred around, and resulted from, a love of his country and its inhabitants, especially the poorer ones. A list of his scholarships would almost appear too statistical for inclusion here. His secondary school course was extremely brilliant.
He entered the novitiate at Emo on September 30th, 1933, and very soon began to show how sterling and fine his character was. He set himself to the correction of any defects which he remarked in himself, or were remarked in him. with positively enjoyable zest. He was always light hearted and not infrequently rocked with uncontrollable laughter.
His career in Rathfarnham was unobtrusive and redolent of the humility and unworldliness which animated him. It was here especially that the more spiritual side of his character was evidenced. He was always cheerful and exemplary and always worked hard. But there was a sense of guilelessness, simplicity or other worldlines about him which should have told us that he was not to remain with us. The fatal disease was mysterious and rapid in its development , and he died in the most edifying sentiments of resignation, peace and devotedness. RIP

Another close friend, Mr. Kent, was good enough to contribute the following :
If I noticed one virtue more than another, unworldliness was the one which he possessed in no small degree. He was other-worldly and this even before he entered our Society. On looking back over the few years that I knew him, his simplicity of manner, his love of poverty and his deep love of Christ and His Blessed Mother only make me realise that the Master was at work on his soul, strengthening it and purifying it, so that in a short time he might reach his full stature in Christ, and answer the call that reached him faintly on the feast of Our Lady of Dolours, but clearly on that of Our Lady of Ransom, September 24th. By those who knew him well he is remembered as a man of high ideals a man of principle and high moral courage, cheerful to a very great degree, a most companionable and edifying brother.
To some it may appear that these appreciations are an outcome of the “de mortuis nil nisi bonoum” principle, and are somewhat coloured by the dictates of a sincere and holy friendship. They are not. All who knew Mr. Moore will recognise in them a true picture of the kind friend and brother who has been taken away from us.

Morris, Edmond, 1910-1971, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1772
  • Person
  • 08 October 1910-10 December 1971

Born: 08 October 1910, Bunbury, Western Australia
Entered: 01 March 1929, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 08 January 1944, Sydney, Australia
Final vows: 15 August 1946
Died: 10 December 1971, Loyola College, Watsonia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia- Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Edmond Morris, affectionately known as “Poss”, was educated at Xavier College, Melbourne, and entered the Jesuit noviciate at Loyola, Greenwich, NSW, 1 March 1929. He studied for his university exams and philosophy at Rathfarnharn and Tullabeg, Ireland, 1931-37, and theology at Canisius College, Pymble. He was ordained in 1943, and did tertianship at Watsonia in 1945.
Most of his working life was spent teaching religion and history at Xavier College, Melbourne, 1946-68. He found teaching religion very difficult, but obtained good results from his history students each year. He enjoyed teaching and was respected by students and peers alike for his dignity and humility. He was a very hard worker, and a devoted rowing master, much appreciated by all those who were associated with that sport. He was an entirely likeable character, genuinely sincere and open, showing complete concern for others. He suffered much from ill health, and spent the last years of his life at Loyola College, Watsonia, Vic., being its rector for one year, 1970. For many years he had been a diffident personality, but always remained gentle and approachable. Perhaps his total lack of guile and his earnestness made him the butt of constant banter. He really was an angler's dream; no matter how heavy the line, he always rose to the bait. There was the pained look, the vehement defence, and then the semi-reproachful smile.

Morris, James A, 1898-1965, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1773
  • Person
  • 16 January 1898-10 June 1965

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.

Mulhall, Hugh, 1871-1948, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/1782
  • Person
  • 09 April 1871-10 April 1948

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.

Hayes, Jeremiah, 1896-1976, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/180
  • Person
  • 08 February 1896-21 January 1976

Born: 08 February 1896, Davis Street, Tipperary Town, County Tipperary
Entered: 01 September 1913, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 29 July 1928, Oña, Burgos, Spain
Final Vows: 02 February 1931, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 21 January 1976, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

Editor of An Timire, 1931-36.

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1927 at Oña, Burgos, Castile y León, Spain (CAST) studying
by 1929 at Comillas, Santander, Spain (LEG) studying

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 51st Year No 2 1976

Rathfarnham Castle
The happy death of Fr Jerry Hayes took place on Wednesday, 21st January. Though he showed signs of failing for some six weeks and knew that the end was fast approaching, he was in full possession of his mental faculties up to about ten days before he quietly passed away at about 3 pm in the afternoon with Br Keogh’s finger on the ebbing pulse until its last beat. For Br Keogh it was the end of thirty-three years of devoted care and skilful nursing and a patience which never wavered. For Fr Hayes it was happy release from a whole life-time of suffering heroically borne. Br Joe Cleary, who took over with Br Keogh for about the last six years, rendered a service which Fr Hayes himself described as heroic. Despite his sufferings and his physical incapacity, Fr Hayes lived a full life of work and prayer and keen interest in the affairs of the Society and the Church and of the world, and of a very wide circle of intimate friends with whom he maintained regular contact either by correspondence or by timely visits to them in their homes or convents, We have no doubt that the great reward and eternal rest which he has merited will not be long deferred. Likewise, we considered it wise and fitting, that the necessary rest and well deserved reward of their labours should not be long deferred in the case of those who rendered Fr Hayes such long and faithful service. This we are glad to record Brs Keogh and Cleary have. since enjoyed in what Br Keogh has described as a little bit of heaven.
As one may easily imagine, Rathfarnham without Fr Jerry Hayes is even more empty than it was. Yet, we feel that he is still with us and will intercede for us in the many problems which our situation presents both in the present and in the future. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis!

Obituary :

Fr Jeremiah Hayes (1896-1976)

Jeremiah Hayes was born at Davis Street, Tipperary on 8th Feb, 1896, the eldest of a family of two brothers and two sisters. His early education, from 1902 to 1911, was with the Christian Brothers in his native town, and he came to Clongowes for the Middle and Senior Grades of the Intermediate system. As a boy, he showed that ability and industry which marked him in later life, winning prizes in all the four grades. In 1913 he entered the noviciate at Tullabeg.
Fr Jerry Hayes’s life falls naturally into two periods, his active years up to his ordination, and the long martyrdom of the ensuing forty-seven years, which he was to bear with such heroic courage. His life as a scholastic was not marked by any very outstanding event, but the few of his contemporaries who have outlived him recall that it was full of quiet and constant activity which seemed to foreshadow a most fruitful priestly life. He was a remarkably steady, conscientious worker, took a good honours degree at the end of his juniorate in 1919, and was one of the keenest students in the ensuing three years of philosophy at Milltown Park. The writer repeated philosophy with him during two of these years, and has a clear recollection of his diligence, thoroughness and sound grasp of the subject.
His three years of teaching in Belvedere were marked by the same characteristics of quiet diligence and devotion to the work in hand. He used to recall that it was during those years that he developed a taste which was afterwards to be a great source of consolation to him. He had always been fond of music - he had a pleasant tenor voice and read music well - but it was in Belvedere that one of his fellow-scholastics introduced him to classical music, for which he had previously had no understanding
At his own request - he had always had a love of foreign languages - he was sent for theology to Oña in Spain. Life there cannot have been too easy for him. The only member of his own Province with him was Fr John Hollis, of what was then the Australian mission, and they must have felt rather lost in the immense Spanish community. Having successfully completed three years of the higher course and been ordained in 1929, he completed his fourth year at the Pontifical University, Comillas, Santander. It was about this time that the symptoms appeared of the arthritis which was so soon to cripple him. He returned to Rathfarnham Castle, and there he passed the rest of his life as a semi-invalid.
Another, and better qualified fellow-Jesuit will speak of the ensuing years. The present writer will merely briefly record that he spent ten years under the same roof as Fr Jerry. The first four were 1929-33, at the very outset of his long trial, the last six were 1961-67, when the end was not so far off, During those very considerable periods, he displayed courage and resignation to God's will which, even at the time, were remarkable, but which, viewed in retrospect, are truly heroic. He had obviously, from the beginning, determined to accept generously the Cross laid upon him, to show no quarter to the demon of self-pity, and to live as perfect a religious life as was possible in his very helpless state,
He was helped in this task by his natural characteristic of methodical diligence. The day was conscientiously marked out, with time for his Mass, his office, his rosary and other prayers, his visits to the Blessed Sacrament, his correspondence, and the various small, but useful tasks which he managed to deal with, in particular the necessary, but thankless work of censorship for publication. It was notable that, unlike many other invalids, he seemed to be much more interested in the joys and sorrows of other people than in his own, and he was always delighted to get news about the doings of members of the Province or other friends of his.
He had, undoubtedly, some very great helps, the devotion of his infirmarians, the outings so willingly provided by the Juniors and friends, and, most of all, his ability to say Mass almost to the end. Yet, over the immense span of forty-seven years, there must have been many periods of depression, times when the problem of his almost helpless existence must have presented itself with cruel insistence, Fr Jerry Hayes was not naturally an extrovert. One did not hear him frequently expressing in words his resignation to God's will or the vivid faith which enabled him to fulfil his religious duties so faithfully under such dis heartening difficulties. But his life, as a whole, was more eloquent than any words, and will long be a source of inspiration and courage to those who were privileged to know him.

Br Edward Keogh writes:
A month after Fr Hayes's death, I am at a loss to set down something you would listen to and read. My trouble is, in talking about such a wonderful life as he led amongst us during all these years, to know where to begin. You would fancy that after thirty-three years I would have no difficulty in giving an account of what was my almost daily contact with him; but the problem is that there is so much I could say about that long period that my difficulty is to make a suitable selection of what I should say, and tell what struck us most about this wonderful man. What am I to say about the man, the priest, with whom I was privileged to be so closely associated during the long years of his trying illness?
Fr Hayes in my estimation was one of whom we can be proud, one of the real “greats”, to use a modern term. We can speak of him in the same way as we do of Fr John Sullivan, or Fr Michael Browne, or indeed many others whom we have all known. The Irish Province today can feel proud of the formation it has given men of the calibre of Fr Jeremiah Hayes. How one man during all those years could bear such a heavy cross will remain a mystery, and an inspiration to the whole Province, If I were asked to give an opinion of what kept Fr Hayes going, I would pick out one fact primarily: the fact that he was able to say Mass almost daily. Birrell I think it was who said “It is the Mass that matters”, and it was the Mass that enabled Fr Hayes to carry on his deeply spiritual life. Through the Mass he was able to exercise his apostolic work par excellence. After his Mass, he had his day ordered in such a way as to express that independence which every man so dearly cherishes and likes to have a little of in his life. He took a great interest in his tropical fish, his canary, and above all his daily routine of work and prayer. His little trips with Mr Shannon were so much enjoyed and even looked forward to: they helped him to see the outside world.
I could in fact, had I the skill, write a book on all the various little incidents of his life which keep crowding into one's mind during these days after his death. One quality he had was imperturbability. On one occasion we put him into the old St Vincent's hospital. Against our advice, he decided to leave hospital, in his wheelchair, by way of the front steps. Horror! The chair proved too much for the person who was charged with the task of getting it down the steps, and bump, bump, went the chair down the pavement. All poor Fr Hayes was able to do was to break into a broad grin. Everything was a story.
I should mention the devotion of what he liked to call his “charioteers”, the scholastics who so unselfishly brought him on outings or individual trips around the district.
I began caring for Fr Hayes about January 1943, and strangely enough, by God's providence, Br Cleary and I were with him until his last moments in January when he passed to his eternal reward. A realist to the end, he recognised the fact of the imminence of his death, and was entirely resigned to the Will of God in this regard. In a weak voice he asked me how much further he had to go. I answered him quietly that only God knows that. His actual passing was very peaceful, at five minutes to three in the afternoon of 21st January, 1976. Throughout his last hours he looked utterly tranquil, and it could be said of him, truly and literally, that he fell asleep in the Lord.

◆ The Clongownian, 1976

Obituary

Father Jeremiah Hayes SJ

Fr Jerry Hayes ended his long and extraordinary life peacefully in the afternoon of January 21st, a few weeks before his eightieth birthday, in the room in Rathfarnham Castle where he had lived for the past forty-seven years.

He was born in Tipperary in 1896, the eldest of a family of four. He went to school with the Brothers in the town till he was fifteen, when he came to Clongowes, His time here was marked by quiet success in his studies, for which he won a series of prizes. He was a. member of the Sodality when it was directed by Fr Sullivan and, as he liked to recall with some pride, a classmate of the late Archbishop John McQuaid and the Vatican astronomer, Fr Dan O'Connell SJ.

On leaving school he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tullabeg. The later years of formation took him to Rathfarnham Castle (where he did Celtic Studies in UCD), Milltown Park (philosophy), Belvedere (where he taught for three years), and, finally, Spain - first at Oña, where he was ordained in 1928, and then a finishing year at Comillas, He returned from Spain with the first symptoms of a rare form of arthritis which progressively and quickly crippled him almost completely. He was then thirty-three, and destined to spend the rest of his life as an invalid.

His active life, all of it spent in preparation, was already over.

There is scarcely one further incident of conventional interest or importance to record in Jerry Hayes' life. To compare his picture in The Clongownian of 1913, a schoolboy with the promise of his life before him, and the wizened, cruelly crippled old man whom I knew half a century later, is to be confronted with the deep mystery of God's designs. No one can have faced this more squarely than Fr Jerry himself. It needs little imagination to appreciate how enormously he must have suffered at the frustration of all he hoped to do. But of such inner struggles there was no outward sign. We knew him as a friendly, cheerful, well-balanced and, above all, self-contained man. This was extraordinary in view of what seemed his humiliating dependence on others for the smallest details of his existence. Yet his style was so unassuming that we almost took his faith and endurance and complete lack of self-pity for granted.

He took a keen interest in what his fellow-Jesuits and his many other friends were doing, and kept up a large correspondence. He and his “charioteers”, as he liked to call the young Jesuit university students who took him out in his wheelchair, were a familiar sight in Rathfarnham over the years, and he made many friends around the district. The students found him easier to approach - once they had overcome their initial awe - than most men of his relative seniority. Indeed, his contact with them on such a regular basis throughout his life was a factor contributing to his freshness of mind, which aged according to a law quite peculiar to itself. He was not only a remarkable example to us of what Christianity means (as was the unselfish devotion of Bro Keogh and Bro Cleary, his infirmarians), at the beginning of our careers, but also a valued friend.

The worth of Jerry Hayes’ life is beyond calculation.

Bruce Bradley SJ

Headon, Maurice F, 1912-1960, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/181
  • Person
  • 22 November 1912-06 August 1960

Born: 22 November 1912, Ballyporeen, County Tipperary
Entered: 03 September 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1944, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1948, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 06 August 1960, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Early education at Schoil Mhuire, Marino and O’Connell’s School;

Studied for BSc at UCD; Tertianship at Rathfarnham

by 1936 at Vals, France (TOLO) studying

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 35th Year No 4 1960
Obituary :
Fr Maurice Headon (1912-1960)
When the news came to Hong Kong that Fr. Maurice Headon would not be returning to the mission people were surprised. When the reason given was that he was in ill-health, there was a temptation to incredulity. It was harder still to believe when it was told that he was suffering from hardening of the arteries, that there was danger of gangrene setting in, that his leg might have to be amputated. He was in the Mater Hospital during last summer, cheerful, unconcerned, yet the doctors said he would never again be able to walk more than a hundred yards. It was all very puzzling. Last autumn he gave a retreat in Galway to the Women's Sodality and he seemed in very good health. One day last August a friend called to see him in Gardiner Street whither he had returned from the Mater. Fr. Headon seemed to be in very good health and spirits; the next day he was found dead in his room. He was never a man to fuss about himself. Unselfishness was outstanding in his life as it was outstanding in the days leading up to his death.
Maurice Headon was born in Ballyporeen in Co. Tipperary in 1912. He finished his secondary studies in O'Connell Schools, Dublin, and in September 1930 he entered the Novitiate, in Emo. It was the first year of the Novitiate in its new surroundings; the Philosophers had taken over Tullabeg. Mr. Headon studied Science in the University and took his degree in 1935. Philosophy in Vals followed and then came three years of teaching in Clongowes. In his first year there he was in charge of the meteorological station and took his Higher Diploma in Education. He was prefect of the Gym for his three years and left a memory among those he taught for his kindness and for the trouble he took to help on those who were weak in their studies; he even gave special classes to those who could not manage their mathematics.
He studied Theology in Milltown Park and was ordained there by the Archbishop of Dublin in the summer of 1944. Tertianship was in Rathfarnham under Fr. Neary, 1945-1946, and then he was sent to the Crescent where he taught Science for three years. Even in his first year he was a favourite with the boys; and it was remarkable how many continued to write to him all during his years in Hong Kong. Prefects of Studies always placed a high value on Fr. Headon's teaching, though his preference was for more directly apostolic work.
The Hong Kong mission was in great need of additional competent Science masters and in the summer of 1949 Fr. Headon left Ireland and his many friends for a few field of labour. He was then thirty-seven years old and the assignment was not an easy one. Fr. Headon on his arrival in the mission did not go to the Language School. He was needed in the Colleges and to Wah Yan, Hong Kong, and to a heavy round of teaching in the “Afternoon School” he now gave himself. For at least three of his teaching years in China he taught Science, but he also found time to begin a study of Chinese which he later used to great effect in preaching and hearing Confessions. Great praise is due to Fr. Headon for the extraordinary diligence with which he studied Chinese. At the end of his ten years in Hong Kong there were few Fathers on the mission who knew as many Chinese characters as he did and all those years he studied with the sole aim of being able to preach better and with a wider vocabulary.
In 1952 Fr. Headon began to work in Wah Yan, Kowloon, first in its temporary quarters in Nelson Street, later in the present fine building. In 1955 he was editor of the college magazine, The Shield, and for his last two years in Hong Kong he was Prefect of Studies in the same college, He kept up an interest in his pupils, even after they had left his care and he undertook the heroic labour of keeping in touch by letter with all the past students of Wah Yan who had gone abroad for further studies. The summer of 1959 saw him on his way back to Ireland after ten busy years to a well-deserved rest. He spent most of his time in St. Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, and it was there that death found him on Saturday, 6th August. He was forty-eight years old. Unobtrusiveness, perhaps, was the main characteristic of Fr. Headon's work inside the house and out. He rarely referred to either; he rarely made use of the personal pronoun “I”, so if we learned of his apostolate outside, it was from those who benefited from it. In Hong Kong, he was confessor to the Good Shepherd Sisters and their charges after their expulsion by the Communists from Shanghai. His sympathy, his patience and understanding, his personal charm and friendliness, and his readiness to help made him greatly loved by them all, and it was with intense regret they saw him leaving when his canonical period as confessor had ended.
His heart was in this direct apostolic work, so he jumped at the chance of a weekly supply in the parish church of St. Francis of Assisi. Here, again, his friendly spirit, his zeal and his understanding of human nature made him extremely popular. He preached every Sunday in Chinese at the public Masses, drew big crowds to his confessional and was ever at the beck and call of the parish priest who had the greatest esteem for him and the highest appreciation of what he was doing for his Catholic flock. The parish priest was shocked enough when he heard that he was losing Fr. Headon for a year at home; he was overwhelmed when he heard of his death. He is having a special Requiem Mass said for Fr. Headon; and he knows that he will have a packed church. The number of people who have come to the school to ask if it is really true that he is dead has revealed to us the breadth of his hidden apostolate and the number of Masses for his soul asked for shows their affection for him. . Here in the school the boys were boys were utterly shocked when news of his death arrived. He was a good teacher, and as Prefect of Studies had shown himself most approachable, and the boys knew that they would always get a fair and sympathetic hearing in his office. Those boys “in trouble” would present their appeal without any fear, and if they left his office, the “trouble” remaining withal, they recognised at least that they had got a fair hearing. His death will be a great loss to the community. Many, indeed, is the recreation he enlivened with his keen sense of humour and his love of argument. Philosophy, theology, the different methods of the apostolate, the school curriculum and the means of dealing with boys--these were all rich grain to his mental mill, and he enjoyed nothing better than a hammer and tongs discussion about them. After winning an argument, he might be reminded that he had defended the opposite opinion some months before just as vigorously, and he would break out into laughter and state that he “had read another book on the subject since” or that he “had changed his mind as we must march with the times”. Then he would be ready for another discussion on “changing your mind”!

De Hindeberg, Piaras, 1912-1982, Jesuit priest and Irish language writer

  • IE IJA J/183
  • Person
  • 01 December 1912-07 October 1982

Born: 01 December 1912, Portlaw, County Waterford
Entered: 03 September 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1946, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Sacred Heart Coillege SJ, Limerick
Died: 07 October 1982, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

Early education at Waterpark College, Waterford; Tertianship at Rathfarnham

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Waterpark student
by 1938 at St Aloysius, Jersey, Channel Islands (FRA) studying

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 58th Year No 1 1983
Obituary
Fr Piaras de Hindeberg (1912-1931-1982)

Piaras de Hindeberg's death occurred at about midday on Thursday, 7th October 1982, at Rathfarnham Castle, where he had lived for the last thirty years of his life. He was within two months of completing his seventieth year, and two years past the golden jubilee of his entry into the Society.
Piaras regularly joined a small group of the community for early tea at about 5.30 pm. This group missed him that Thursday. Br Andy Williams, the Minister, went up to his room at the top of the castle and on breaking in the door, found Piaras lying on his bed, fully dressed, his spectacles on, but obviously some hours dead – five, according to medical opinion.
This brief account of the circumstances of his death is revealing in itself.
They missed Piaras, whose company they always enjoyed so much. It was here he was most at home: here he showed his depth and wide range of knowledge, his sharpness of mind, his sense of humour and above all his charity. He was never cynical about the affairs of the Province, or critical about modern trends in the Society or the Church. He could see things in the context of the changed times in which we are living. They missed him. There are more people than we shall ever know of whom the same can be said.
Piaras passed away quietly, in the midst of his work, without being a cause of trouble to anyone - just as he would have wished it to happen. When I say that he died in the midst of his work, I have no doubt that it was this that brought on the attack from which he died. For the last two years or so he had been working against time as though he realised that he was living on borrowed time. There were some students in advanced studies in modern Irish who came to him by appointment in the late evening for sessions which went on into the late hours of night. In preparation for these sessions, he put in long hours of intensive work. One of these students was expected that evening and arrived at the time the announcements of his death were being prepared. It was he who prepared the announcement which was published in the press for the following day. Happily some of these students will be able to assess the value of Piaras's work of a lifetime. It would not be within my competence to evaluate what must contain a monumental collection of material of inestimable value. We must leave this task to the scholars in times ahead.
Unostentatiously but very solidly, Piaras was a man of prayer and religious fervour; his daily Mass, Rosary, pro longed visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the tattered breviary were the substance of his daily life. He believed in physical activity, and for one who sustained a deadly heart attack about nine years ago and suffered three heart arrests while in intensive care, it was unbelievable to see the strenuous exercises he would constantly undertake: brisk walking, work in the grounds with scythe or saw or even a sledge hammer. Always obliging, he would supply Mass at an early hour travelling by motor-bike or even on foot through snow and ice if no other transport were possible. He never failed to keep an appointment and never cared for himself no matter what difficulties he had to surmount.
The late Fr William Stephenson and Piaras de Hindeberg lived for about thirty years together. During all this time, Piaras never spoke a word to the Old man, an omission which the Old man felt very much. He just wasn't Piaras' cup of tea. But a time came when the Old man was no longer able to gather his own firewood and saw it up for the fire which he always had in his room. Piaras quickly saw the Old man's difficulty and, despite his own condition of health, for the last years of Father Stephenson's life, he gathered the fire wood, sawed it up into handy blocks, filled a large basket and day after day carried the load up the back stairs into the Old man's room and left the pile conveniently in the corner: in and out, day after day, and never a word spoken. For his part, Fr Stephenson sent out for a small bag of mints from time to time. He climbed up to Piaras's room, hung the bag of sweets on the door handle and left it there. 'He likes the sweets' the Old man used say to me. Love is shown in deeds.

Piaras was a man of high ideals. He had a clear vision of his calling both in the religious life and towards his kith and kin; his native land; its language, its culture and its people, and from these ideals he never swerved. It took courage and he had that courage, the courage that saints and martyrs are made of. He never curried favour. In him there was no personal pride or selfish ambition. He never gloried in his academic achievements and he had attained the highest. He did not expect others to emulate his standards. Towards others of different background and upbringing, he was tolerant and looked for nothing more in return. “I go my way and you go your way”. When I think of his dedication to the cause of the Irish language and how one might explain it, I am reminded of what was said by somebody when speaking about the miracles at Lourdes: to those who have the Faith, no explanation is necessary; to those who have not the Faith, no explanation is possible.
It was my privilege to have known Piaras from boyhood. We were classmates at Waterpark College, Waterford. There he was recognised as one of outstanding ability not only in Irish, which was bred in him and nurtured from infancy, but in the Classics and in all other subjects. Fr Ernest Mackey was quick to pick him out as a subject for the priesthood and for the Society, which he entered in 1930 and in which he lived out his life in complete fidelity to his religious vocation and to his hereditary culture and ideals.
Nothing could have been more fitting than the tribute paid to him on the occasion of his obsequies at Gardiner Street church. His religious brothers did Piaras royally. May I on behalf of his family thank you all most sincerely for this as they have requested me to do. A special word of thanks is due, I feel, to Fr Seán Ó Duibhir, chief celebrant, and to the choir under the baton of Brendan Comerford. Ar dheis Dé go raibh anam sár-uasal Phiarais.
Matthew Meade SJ

Heron, Charles, 1915-1959, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/184
  • Person
  • 29 January 1915-17 May 1959

Born: 29 January 1915, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 30 July 1947, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1950, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 17 May 1959, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 34th Year No 3 1959

Belvedere College
On Sunday, 17th May, Fr. Heron died very unexpectedly. He taught his classes as usual on the day before and said Mass early on that Sunday morning. About midday he complained of a slight chill and retired to bed. Later he refused tea and about 6 p.m. Brother Loftus visited him and found him dead. The Community and the boys were stunned by the tragic news and all who knew him here will fully endorse the tribute paid to him in the obituary notice which appears in this issue. On the following Tuesday the boys attended Requiem Mass said by Fr. Rector in the Boys Chapel. The senior classes attended the Solemn Requiem at Gardiner Street sung by Fr. Minister, with Fr. O'Callaghan deacon, Fr. Murray sub-deacon, and Fr. O'Sullivan M.O. The remainder of the boys joined the seniors at Glasnevin where they lined the walk from the Mortuary Chapel to the grave. Many messages of sympathy and tributes to Fr. Heron were received.

Obituary :
Fr Charles Heron (1915-1959)
Born in Dublin, 29th January, 1915. Educated Belvedere College. Noviceship: Emo 1933-35. Rathfarnham Castle: Degree of B.A. in English and French, 1938. Philosophy in Tullabeg. Theology: Milltown Park. Ordained 30th July, 1947 by His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. John Charles McQuaid. Tertianship: Rathfarnham Castle, 1948-49. Minister of Mungret College, Limerick, 1950-52. Belvedere 1952-59; Senior French Master, President of Senior Debating Society. Assistant Prefect of Studies in Belvedere, 1957-59.
Fr. Charlie Heron's very sudden death, on Whit Sunday, 17th May, 1959, was a profound shock not merely to his family and the Belvedere Community but to the whole Province. On Whit Sunday morning he admitted to having a slight chill and was persuaded to go to bed. Fr. Heron then telephoned his brother, Mr. Chris. Heron, to cancel an appointment. He said he felt a little off colour; that it was nothing; that he had felt a little dizzy. At two o'clock in the afternoon he refused to eat and apologised for the trouble he had caused. At six o'clock the Infirmarian, Br. Loftus, found that he had died quietly in his sleep.
Fr. Heron was above all a reliable man. If he were asked to do something one could be sure that it would be done and, if he were taking part in a joint enterprise, one could always presume with complete confidence that his part would be accomplished with faithful and even meticulous care. He was a most regular religious whose life was centred on his work. One's clearest memory of him, perhaps, is as seated in his chair with a mound of corrected exercises on one side, a heap on his knees and another pile of theme books waiting to be done. He was silent and very reserved. Those who knew him well, however, were well aware of his verbal wit and his great capacity for enjoying wit in others. He was an easy and a pleasant man to live with: perhaps because he had those rather old-fashioned and valuable things - exquisite manners.
Professionally Fr. Heron was beyond reproach. His knowledge of the French language was remarkable for its erudition and scientific accuracy. He had singular success with his classes and one of his pupils won first place in Ireland in French in the Leaving Certificate: an unusual prize to be won by a boy. He went to great pains to see that his pupils had a practical reading knowledge of French by keeping them supplied with a carefully-chosen and copious amount of reading matter. Belvedere will long be in his debt for the quite remarkable library of modern French literature which he managed to build up. When one realises that all these books were bought very cheaply when Fr. Heron was doing parish supplies in France almost every summer and that they were acquired at the cost of many weary and hot afternoons searching the book-barrows on the banks of the Seine one is more than grateful to him. His work in the Senior Debating Society was symbolically crowned with success when, a few weeks ago, he listened to the B.B.C. programme celebrating the victory of the University College Dublin team and the personal victory of one of his own ex-pupils (Mr. Owen Dudley-Edwards) in the inter-university debating competition against all comers from Britain and Ireland.
The many choir-masters under whom he sang will remember the remarkable range of Fr. Heron's fine bass voice. His contemporaries will recall with pleasure his performance as “Shadbolt” in Milltown Park, But his favourite music, typically enough, was Bach: be could easily be persuaded to listen to a gramophone record of the Branden burger Concertos or the partita for unaccompanied violin.
Very close bonds of mutual trust and confidence bound him to his family. Since his mother's death he was, by their own testimony, an immense moral strength to his brother and his two sisters. Their loss has been great. We too have lost an example of the best kind of Jesuit as well as the company of a delightful companion. May he rest in peace.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1959

Obituary

Father Charles Heron SJ

On Whit-Sunday afternoon, May 17, Father Charles Heron SJ, our friend, colleague and master lay down in bed to nurse a suspected chill and that afternoon, while the city and his friends were enjoying the glories of summer outside, he died. The shock of the staternent does not reflect the shock of the occurrence to all of us who lived with him for years, to those who were his pupils and to the numbers of his friends and contemporaries. He had been on our staff for eight years and had been a pillar among us. It seemed likely that a man of his powerful physique, his regular habits and his magnificent health would live to be legend among us. For he had the makings of a legend in him. He was admired for his tall athletic figure, his prowess as a golfer, his keen judgement of football, at which he had been so redoubtable a forward. He was respected for his steady sane approach to life, its problems and troubles, He was capable of inspiring awe by his utter devotion to the planned life whether in the class-room or among his brothers in religion. He seemed to be in full control of events and of himself, so that there were no real emergencies which had to be faced without preparation. His person, his room, his class-work, his thernes, his very organisation of debates or selling French magazines all bore the same characteristic unhurried care, advance rational thought, calm execution. Never was man better prepared by his temper and by the practice of his life for the death which came to him. It came suddenly, but for it, a lifetime had made Charles Heron very ready indeed. Even in his earliest pictures in the Belvederian, as in his latest, the steady eye looks out at the world, an eye with an jaward-slow sense of humour but the eye of a poised man who is confident of the goal whither he goes. This college feels and will continue to feel, his loss deeply. His confrères will miss his devoted regularity founded on the deepest religious principles and the most rooted natural traits. His pupils will miss his thorough and really magisterial work for them. None more apt could have taken and worn the cloak of the great Mr Fogarty. His friends of Old Belvedere for whom his character held few surprises, will feel they have lost a solid bulwark in all their difficulties. His family, will feel that the most profoundly affectionate, if undemonstrative, of family men is lost to them. We are united in our loss and in our appreciation of this fine man, religious and friend who bas been taken from us to his early crown and bappiness.

Charles Heron entered Belvedere in First of Grammar in 1924 and went through the full course here until 1932. His record was one of solid application rather than brilliance, though it must be noted, as the small cloud no bigger than a man's hand, that from the first he was a prizewinner in French. He was a member of Paddy Quinn's Cup winning Junior team in 1928-29 and in the next three years was on the cup-teams, once on the Junior team and again on the Senior team for two years. Someone, who knew not his Charles, wrote in the Belvederian of those years that he lacked determination. This is something that he simply never did lack. In his last year he was prefect and member of the Sodality of Our Lady. In September 1932 he entered Emo Park as a novíce of the Society. He followed the Jesuit course of formation in his usual unperturbed, devout methodical way. After his novitiate, Rathfarnham and University College, where he specialised in languages for three years; Tullamore, where he read philosophy for three years; teaching and prefecting in Mungret and Clongowes for three further years, Milltown Park for four years during which he was ordained priest in July 1946; tertianship in Rathfarnham, 1947 1948. The long course ended, he left to become Minister and Vice-Rector of Mungret, here he remained until he came to Belvedere in 1951. Though he was a man ever ready to do his duty where it lay yet it is quite certain that his return to Belvedere was a great joy to him. Here he felt he had his roots, here his interest was keen and he knew that the problems were familiar to him. Here he worked with closest application, here he lived his regular life of prayer, work and the recreation of his beloved golf or watching with appreciative eye' the boys at their games. Here he died quietly and regularly. Here he has left his monument in our hearts and in our memories. We will all be edified in our own lives by the memory of this tolerant, sane, devoted man who spent his life of quiet devotion to God in his chosen vocation of saving his own soul and the souls of others. These others we are. May he rest in peace.

O'Brien, Bernard, 1907-1982, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1849
  • Person
  • 09 December 1907-03 January 1982

Born: 09 December 1907, Christchurch, New Zealand
Entered: 04 February 1924, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained 24 August 1938, Leuven, Belgium
Final vows: 02 February 1942
Died: 03 January 1982, St John of God Hospital, Richmond, NSW - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the St Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death
Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931
by 1930 at Berchmanskolleg, Pullach, Germany (GER S) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Bernard O'Brien's father was a prominent Catholic in Christchurch, New Zealand, and an eminent surgeon. O'Brien went to Christ's College. The bishop excommunicated Bernard's father, but the two were later reconciled. Two sons entered the Jesuit noviciate; the younger only lasted a short time being declared “singulariter inaptus ad omnia”.
Bernard O'Brien entered the noviciate at Greenwich, Sydney, 4 February 1924, and went to Ireland for his juniorate, at Rathfarnam Castle, graduating from the National University with first class honours in the classics. He also graduated from Trinity College in London as a teacher of music. His philosophy studies were made at Pullach in Germany, and in Louvain, Belgium, 1929-31.
He came back to Australia for his regency in the province houses of studies, and then returned to Louvain for theology, 1935-39. Tertianship followed at Rathfarnham. After returning to Australia he taught at St Patrick's College for a while and from then on he spent his life in the Jesuit houses of studies or the seminaries conducted by the Society in Werribee and Christchurch, New Zealand, lecturing in philosophy, Theology, English and Greek. He spent 30 years in the seminary in his native city Christchurch, and was prefect of studies for seventeen years. He died at the St John of God Hospital, Richmond, NSW.
When he was appointed minister of juniors at Loyola College, Watsonia, he immediately discontinued the practice, customary in the Society, of having a “vis med and exam”. O'Brien thought it ungentlemanly The results were not altogether happy. He also assembled the scholastics into a production of “The Yeoman of the Guard” that he directed and for which he played the piano, As a master at St Patrick's College he produced a pantomime, a version of “Beauty and the Beast”. He also wrote an autobiography in 1970, “A New Zealand Jesuit”.
He was trained according to the code of gentlemanliness, honoor and decency He seemed to lack any meanness, dishonesty or coarseness. He was a gentleman to his fingertips. He even had an aristocratic bearing, a noble intellectual brow, a fine nose, and slightly protruding upper teeth. There was a dove-like simplicity about him, and he had a sense of enjoyment of pleasantries rather than of humour.
The word 'delicacy' fits well around everything in O'Brien's life. It was a word frequently on his lips. Delicacy was in his piano playing, his writing, his behaviour and his thoughts. There was a delicacy in his mind and even in the balance of his mind. Yet, despite this, when someone was in trouble, as happened to two people in heavy seas at Avoca, he and two other Jesuits attempted to save them. For his efforts he was awarded the Meritorious Award in Silver from The Surf Life Saving Association of Australia.

O'Brien, Matthew, 1902-1988, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1857
  • Person
  • 15 May 1902-10 October 1988

Born: 15 May 1902, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 30 March 1919, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1937
Died: 10 October 1988, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL 05 April 1931

by 1925 at Rome Italy (ROM) studying
by 1929 in Australia - Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Matthew O'Brien was baptised at the Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn, 11 June 1902, by Peter O'Flynn. His secondary education was at the CBC College, South Melbourne, and Xavier College, Kew, 1913-18.
He entered the Jesuit noviciate at Loyola, Greenwich, Sydney, 30 March 1919, and after his first vows, went to Ireland in October 1921 to begin his juniorate studies at Rathfarnham, during which he studied classics at Dublin University. In his second year he won the classics prize. He became ill and he was unable to finish his degree, but he was sent to the Gregorian in Rome for philosophy and was awarded his doctorate in 1927. He completed his classics degree and was able to sit for exams in 1925, obtaining honours.
From 1927-31 he did regency at Xavier College, where he taught English, Latin and Greek at the intermediate level and was involved with boarding. He went back to Ireland and Milltown Park for theology; 1931-35, and was ordained, 31 July 1934. The next year he did his tertianship at St Beuno's. North Wales. and then returned to Australia to be Socius to the master of novices for the remainder of 1936.
Remaining at Loyola College, Watsonia, he became minister of Juniors, teaching Latin, Greek and ancient history until the end of 1940. From 1940-48 he was the headmaster of Kostka Hall Brighton, and from 1949-52, prefect of studies at St Patrick's College, East Melbourne.
He taught religion and Latin at St Ignatius' College, Norwood, 1953-57. The next year began his long association with St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, first as prefect of studies for
eleven years 1958-68, and then as a teacher. Throughout this long and varied career, a spirit of generous labor distinguished O'Brien, devoting all his energies to the task in hand with complete thoroughness.
He guided St Aloysius' College through the educational changes of the Wyndham System without any confusion or apparent difficulty, thanks largely to his own wisdom and organisational ability.
Humility always characterised him, together with a true community spirit and hospitality He was a friendly man, a good administrator, punctual, exact, and exhibited good order and neatness. He worked long into the night, frequency falling asleep at his desk where he remained until it was time to rise and say Mass the following morning. Former students recalled his memory with pride and gratitude.

Hogan, William, 1912-1978, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/186
  • Person
  • 12 January 1912-16 August 1978

Born: 12 January 1912, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny
Entered: 13 September 1930, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1944, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 03 February 1947, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Died: 16 August 1978, Camberwell, Surrey, England

Part of Sacred Heart community, The Crescent, Limerick at the time of death. Buried Mungret cemetery, Mungret, Limerick.

Early Education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 53rd Year No 4 1978
Obituary :

Fr William Hogan (1912-1978)

The sudden death of Father Willie Hogan came as a great shock to all who knew him, and especially to his contemporaries and near contemporaries. To them he was more than a long experienced and successful missionary and retreat giver. There was always, for most of us, the remembrance of the joined and moving hands, the pleasant smile, the readiness for a laugh - and the awareness that Willie knew what his work was.
Father Willie Hogan was born in Ossory on January 12th 1912. He entered the noviceship in Emo on September 13th 1930. After taking his First Vows he went to Rathfarnham Castle to begin the normal course of studies. His Degree was in Classics. After finishing his Philosophy in Tullabeg he spent two years teaching: one in Clongowes and one in the Crescent, Limerick. During his Theology in Milltown Park he was ordained priest on July 31st 1944. His Tertianship was at Rathfarnham, 1945-1946.
On leaving the Tertianship in 1946 he began at once what was to be his life-work: he spent a year based at Emo on Mission and Retreat work. Tullabeg, however, was to be his permanent base. He was on the staff there for Mission and Retreat work from 1947 to 1971. This great work came to a quiet, apostolic conclusion when, in 1971 he went to the Crescent, where his work had many of the characteristics of the many past years: the pulpit, the confessional, the sermon at Mass, the visiting of parishioners. He remained at this work until his unexpected death while on supply work in England. He died on August 16th 1978.

Father Matthew Meade, his strict contemporary, had also the more intimate knowledge of Father Willie which came from working with him and directing his mission assignments for about twenty-four years. Father Meade has sent us an appraisal of Father Willie's work: the appraisal is all the more significant because it is free from all customary phrases, and is clearly the remembrance of the personal qualities of a long and faithful missionary.
Father Meade's tribute is followed by some words of appreciation of Father Willie’s work in the Crescent, 1971-1978 :
“Quite a representative body of the Province attended the burial obsequies of Father Hogan in the Sacred Heart Church, Limerick on Wednesday, August 23rd. In my opinion (and I knew him from the time he entered the Society until the time of his unexpected death) the few words spoken by Father Stephen Bates, principal celebrant of the Mass on that occasion, summed up very accurately the Bill Hogan whom I had known and studied with and worked with and whose mission assignments I had directed until he joined the Crescent Community: meticulous attention to detail, thoroughness in the carrying out of everything entrusted to him, absolute giving of himself completely to everything he did were the ‘Hall Mark’ of his whole life in the Society. These are excellent qualities and Father Hogan was blessed in being assigned to the apostolate of the Retreats and Missions staff straight after his Tertianship where he could use all these qualities to the best advantage and which he did for some twenty five years. There was no area of this apostolate which he did not take in his stride in Ireland, England and in USA. Bill was ‘Paratus ad omnia’ as our Novice Master, the late Father John Coyne, used say every Jesuit should be.
I do not think one would remember Father Hogan for his sense of humour. He took everything too seriously. But on this account he could at times be a source of hilarious humour. Few of his contemporaries can ever forget the laughs he gave us in Tullabeg when he acted in our Christmas plays. He was utterly uninhibited and our Rector Father Hugh Kelly, complimenting him on his performance on one of these occasions used a phrase which was a very accurate summing up of an act which brought down the house by saying to him: ‘Well, Mr. Hogan, you really outstripped yourself’. On the stage, as in all other things he put himself into his part with complete earnestness. This was sometimes dangerous for his opposite number as in ‘The Private Secretary’ when his part called for a show of anger with his Secretary. Bill worked himself up to such a state of anger that his secretary, Lol Kearns, had to jump out through a window to save himself from serious injury having been hunted and hammered all over the stage.
Many will also remember how his whole personality changed when he was assigned the position of ‘Father Instructor’ of the Tertian Brothers. So seriously did he take this appointment that at times in his exhortations, he was moved to tears.
All these incidents were typical of one who was scrupulously meticulous in everything to the last detail all through his life. Even during the last years of his life which he gave to so many activities in the Sacred Heart Church, Limerick, when his health was failing and his energies were ebbing, he could never adapt himself to his condition and to his years. He died as he had lived in harness and pulling his weight to the full, right up to the end. Very fitting was the tribute paid to him by the words so nicely spoken by Father Bates and by the large numbers of the faithful of Limerick and representatives from the Province as well as Limerick priests and the priest for whom Bill had been supplying when his sudden illness and unexpected death occurred. May he enjoy eternal rest and the rich reward of his total giving of himself to God's service in the Society of Jesus”.
Matthew Meade.

Fr Cassidy writes from the Crescent :
Fr W Hogan came to the Crescent in 1971 where he had served many years before as a scholastic. As a priest he took a most active and conscientious part in all the activities of the house and church. His work in the confessional and on the altar was of the highest order. His generously practical courtesy towards the members of the public will be remembered for a long time. Constantly he visited them in hospitals, and was forever thoughtful of those occasions that were important to them personally. Few could have managed The Sodality of Our Lady with greater thoroughness or understanding of the needs of the members. He even had time to look after the social side of things, organising from time to time little parties, and bringing people on trips, even abroad. As one Sodalist said “We usually wait till people are dead to appreciate them. This one we appreciated while he was alive”. Every Autumn found Fr Hogan engaged in the quite heavy task of organising and running Mission Week. Since this is an enterprise involving a remarkably varied schedule, great numbers of people and a very large money flow, it is quite a daunting job. Fr Bill, in spite of not too robust health waded through the work at great cost to himself, but always with the ultimate in courtesy to those with whom he worked. More even than his great efficiency, his friendly and gracious attitude to the people, marked his contribution to the annual event. After all, Mission Week is something of An Autumn Festival for a number of generous people in Limerick. Indeed in these days of monotonous canned entertainment it provides lots of variety, of the peoples own making. In addition it establishes links between the Church here and great numbers of people. Fr Bill, in being so totally acceptable to the people in what was so genuinely a community work, in the modern sense, showed an adaptability that was admirable.
From the point of view of the Jesuit community we can add that we have lost a truly great member. In addition to his work which was universally held in the highest esteem, there was his personal contribution to the community. He was for ever concerned with the welfare of the house, and was a most sociable, genial and sincere companion. Quietly forthright, he had an understanding of people which was a peace making faculty. We will remember him for his firm and gentle goodness.

◆ The Clongownian, 1979

Obituary

Father William Hogan SJ

William Hogan was born in Kilkenny on the 12th January 1912. He came to school in Clongowes in September 1925, and remained here for four years. When he left he entered the Jesuit Noviceship in Tullabeg, where he took his first vows as a Jesuit in September 1932. He then took a degree in Classics in UCD, and then studied Philosophy for three years in Tullabeg College. This was followed by two years teaching in the Colleges, one in Clongowes and the other in the Crescent College, Limerick. His Theological studies followed in Milltown Park, where he was ordained a priest in 1944. He then entered on his life work as a missioner and retreat giver.

Fr G O'Beirne SJ who worked with him on many missions has kindly written the following appreciation for the “Clongownian” :

Fr William Hogan died last August at a time when many on holidays could easily escape noticing his obituary in the papers. But it would be a pity should his contemporaries in Clongowes, both those who knew of his death and those who didn't, not learn of his subsequent career on leaving the college and entering the Society. For Fr William or Bill, as we called him, had a most fruitful truly apostolic career. The present writer met him first when he was a scholastic in the college here and I was immediately struck by his deep piety and great kindness, or charity, if you like. I was also slightly amused by his great, too great I would say, earnestness in carrying out all he was assigned to do.

But it was during our time on the mission staff that I really got to know William. We gave many missions together in England and Ireland. Many of them were hard, and exacting, and took place during dreadful weather. We had on the English missions to visit every family or individual on the list of Catholics, practising or lapsed in the parish. This took several hours every day, and was much of it very trying, and apparently unrewarding. I felt at times very depressed and disheartened; but I was always sustained by my companion's good humour and encouragement, the latter mainly by example. He was utterly meticulous in carrying out all the various tasks falling to our lot, and seldom complained of any of the really difficult circumstances connected with many missions anywhere.

What really impressed me in all the many missions we gave together was his great Faith, and truly apostolic zeal. The work was not something to be done, to be got through, even with exactitude. It was for him, as it was in reality, truly God's work, the literal continuation of the apostles task “go teach all Nations”, and I might sum up his holy and devoted life by saying that these words of our Lord were the motto of his life, but a motto not written over his mantelpiece, as I'm sure it is written over so many priests' mantelpieces, but very much inscribed by constant prayer and meditation on mind and heart.

Mulligan, John M, 1920-1986, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/187
  • Person
  • 18 April 1920-29 May 1986

Born: 18 April 1920, Swinford, County Mayo
Entered: 07 September 1943, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1981, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 29 May 1986, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Bray, County Wicklow

Part of Gonzaga College SJ community, Ranelagh, Dublin at time of his death.

Hutchinson, John W, 1917-1970, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/189
  • Person
  • 22 May 1917-24 January 1970

Born: 22 May 1917, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1953, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Died: 24 January 1970, Regional Hospital, Galway

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Sea Road, Galway community at the time of death

Irish Province News 45th Year No 2 1970

St. Ignatius College, Galway
On December 31st came the sad news of Father Cashman's death in Rathfarnham. He passed away quietly in the last hours of the old year. May he rest in peace. He came here from the Tertianship in August 1934 and after 33 years spent in Galway he left for Rathfarnham in September 1967. He was the most popular priest in the city, keeping in constant contact with the people and helping them in every need. He was well known for the helpful advice he gave and was loved by all for his friendliness and good will. He was the originator of the plan for the houses at Loyola Park, and saw the plan carried through. He took a keen interest in the Wheelchair Association and when men could not find employment he was the man to whom they came and the one who found jobs for them. In his early sixties he had a prolonged period of ill health, was in and out of hospital, but on his return from the U.S.A., after a few months spent with his brother, a Parish Priest, he seemed to have been given a new lease of life. At breakfast, on the morning after his return, he was so overwhelmed with the warm céad míle fáilte he got that in his own inimitable way he quoted two apt lines from the “Exile's return” : “I'd almost venture another flight, there's so much joy in returning”. The move to Rathfarnham was a hard blow to him. As he said in a letter to a Galway friend. "I loved the people back in the West". He accepted it quietly and settled down to his life of retirement. Fine tributes appeared in the Connaught Tribune and Cork Examiner, but the greatest tribute of all was the profound feeling of sorrow and of personal loss shown by such a multitude of friends in Gal way. The people of the West loved him, too. A life-long lover of his native language he spoke it fluently, taking his place at table with the school fathers, so as to have a chance of speaking it.

The last week of January brought us new cause for grief. After a month in the Regional Hospital, Father Jack Hutchinson died of a heart-attack on Saturday evening, 24th January. On Monday there was a Concelebrated Requiem Mass, 15 priests taking part, including Fr. Provincial and Father Rector who was the chief Celebrant. His Lordship, the Bishop presided. During the Mass the choir rendered hymns in Irish. Fr. P. Meagher, Socius, read the Gospel and Father P. O'Higgins read the bidding prayers in Irish. The impressive funeral and the large number of “Ours” from all over the Province who followed his remains to the graveside were ample testimony of the esteem in which he was held by all who knew him.
Father Jack was here as a Scholastic, 1943-46, and as a priest from 1963 till his death. He suffered a severe heart attack at Easter 1968, and since then his health was never very good. During the last two years of his teaching career he was also Spiritual Father to the boys, and when he became Operarius in the Church, he continued on as Sp. Father to the boys in a number of classes. He paid frequent visits to the Regional Hospital, and it was while getting ready to visit a patient there on the evening of December 23rd that the heart trouble came, which led to his death, a month later. During that last month, his lovable personality and fund of humour contributed much to the happiness of his fellow patients. He was the life and soul of the ward, and the men grew very fond of him and missed him sorely when he died. He was the last of five from our former community to die within the short period of 18 months, and yet, accustomed as we had grown, in that time to death, we seemed to feel all the more keenly this fifth last good-bye. Ar láimh dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha :
Fr. Hutchinson's Sodality and the boys of the 6th year presented Rev. Fr. Rector with a chalice as their tribute to the memory of a priest whom they loved.

Obituary :

Fr Jack Hutchinson SJ (1917-1970)

The announcement of the death of Fr. Jack Hutchinson was received with great regret not only by the members of his own community who knew him well, but also by the Province at large in which he had many friends and was universally liked.
After completing his secondary education at O'Connell Schools Jack Hutchinson entered the Noviceship at Emo in September 1935. As those were years of large numbers in the novitiate, Jack had the advantage of a large circle of contemporaries as he made his studies through the various houses of formation. All his training was done in Ireland. He was a naturally good student and applied himself seriously and successfully to Arts, Philosophy and Theology. He enjoyed games and played them well, especially soccer, his first love. He was often out in the boats in Tullabeg and took part in dramatics.
After Tertianship in Rathfarnham, Jack was assigned to teaching, which was to be his main work to the end. For eleven years, Gonzaga knew him as a devoted and efficient teacher, one who ever had the best interests of the boys at heart. His aim was to cultivate an easy relationship with his pupils. Nothing was too much trouble and his pupils appreciated the work he did for them. Because of his anxious temperament, teaching took more out of Jack than it did out of others of more relaxed nature.
During the Summer of these years, he gave retreats. He agreed that he found this type of work difficult. He was fond of quoting a friend who maintained that his own retreats must do enormous good, because of the effort they caused him in the giving. This was a view with which Jack concurred. For years he went to Lourdes each summer, to work as a chaplain and there took up the study of French at which he soon became proficient.
In 1962, he was transferred to the teaching staff of Galway, an assignment for which he was very suitable. As a scholastic he had spent two years teaching in Coláiste Iognáid and his ability to teach through Irish made him a most valuable member of the staff. He was equally at home and effective teaching Irish, Latin and French. For a number of years, he produced school plays in Irish at home and at Drama Festivals. In this field he was very successful and was awarded many prizes. He was always a great lover of the Irish language and of all that goes with it. He held very strongly that schools in Ireland should be trying to give an education suit able to Irish boys. Later, Summer months found him providing an outlet for his zeal in doing supply work on Bofin Island and in English parishes.
Jack Hutchinson was a very easy man to live with, the community to which he was appointed meant everything to him. His broad charity and friendliness were at the centre of his dealings with each one. If ever his feelings were ruffled or if he felt that he had spoken a word out of place, it seemed to him the most natural thing in the world to apologise. He had a lively sense of humour and on villa or festive occasions, he was at his best with stories and jokes of a most kindly nature, Twenty years of teaching can make inroads on the health of any man and with a man of Fr. Hutchinson's devotion and concentration, the effect was bound to be serious. Many and many an evening, he just about dragged himself to his room after a heavy day. A serious heart attack came after he had acted as Chairman to a meeting of Jesuits at Milltown Park, His recovery slow and tedious he bore with great patience and it was a wonderful uplift to his morale when he was told that he would be returning to Galway and was to work in the church. His zeal was his undoing. When human need demanded he knew no bounds and so eventually, he had another heart attack. He slept well the day he died and woke 'to find the doctor and nurses about his bed. He thanked them all for their care of him and kindness to him. Those words of thanks, the last he spoke, were characteristic of the man. Fr. Jack Hutchinson was a man of integrity, a fine teacher, and a good priest. He died at the age of 52. His memory will live on with affection in the hearts of many.
Proof of the regard in which the boys held him was not slow in coming. During his time as Spiritual Father to the boys, he had instituted class masses regular days for mass for each class in the Boys' Chapel. These were intimate gatherings and proved very popular with the boys. He re-organised Cuallacht Mhuire on lines of his own and again he was proved right. And so it came about that within a fortnight of his death, quite spontaneously in an intimate ceremony Cuallacht Mhuire presented to the Rector an engraved chalice and Paten, dedicated to his memory.
Go ndéana' Dia Trócaire air.

O'Grady, Peter, 1907-1993, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1909
  • Person
  • 23 May 1907-16 June 1993

Born: 23 May 1907, Bocadh, County Laois
Entered: 14 November 1939, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly (HIB for Oregonensis Province - ORE)
Ordained: 01 April 1933
Final vows: 02 February 1950
Died: 16 June 1993, Spokane WA, USA - Oregonensis Province (ORE)

Did novitiate in Ireland 1939-1941
by 1942 at Milltown (HIB) studying 1941-1943
by 1947 at Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Alumnus of Irish College Salamanca

Kelly, Michael J, 1929-2021, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/191
  • Person
  • 19 May 1929-15 January 2021

Born: 19 May 1929, Tullamore, County Offaly
Entered: 07 September 1946, St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1961, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1964, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 15 January 2021, Coptic Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia - Zambiae-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Part of the St Ignatius, Lusaka community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ZAM 03 December 1969

Son of Michael Joseph Kelly and Agnes Sheehy. Studied at UCD.

Middle Brother of Bob Kelly (ZAM) - RIP 2005 and Joseph A Kelly - RIP 2008

Ordained at Milltown Park

1946-1948 St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
1948-1952 Rathfarnham Castle - Studying
1952-1955 St Stanislaus College Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1955-1958 Chikuni, Zambia - Regency, studying language then teaching at Canisius College
1958-1962 Milltown Park - studying Theology
1962-1963 Rathfarnham Castle - Tertianship
1963-1971 Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia - teaching; (1964-1970) Proncipal (1966-1969) Rector
1971-1973 Birmingham, England, - studying Child Psychology
1973-1974 Ireland
1974-1975 Jesuit House, Handsworth Park, Lusaka, Zambia -
1975-1976 Moreau House, Mazabuka, Zambia
1976-1978 UNZA Hostel, Lusaka, Zambia - Professor of Education at UNZA; Education Consultant;
1978-1986 Luwisha House, Lusaka, Zambia - Professor of Education at UNZA; Education Consultant; Writer re HIV AIDS; (1975-1979) Dean, School of Education; (1979-1983) Deputy Vice Chancellor
1986-1987 Rue de Grenelle, Paris, France - International Institute of Education, planning visitng fellow
1987-2011 Luwisha House, Lusaka, Zambia - Education Consultant; Writer re HIV AIDS;
2011-2012 Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin - recovering health
2012-2020 Luwisha House, Lusaka, Zambia - Professor of Education at UNZA; Education Consultant; Writer re HIV AIDS
2020-2021 St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia

◆ Irish Jesuit Missions
Fr. Michael Kelly Honorary Degree Conferring
Honorary Degree Conferring, RCSI, 6th June 2012
In accepting the honorary doctorate that RCSI has just now conferred on me I feel greatly honoured, greatly humbled and greatly privileged: honoured that RCSI should recognise in this way the limited contributions I have been able to make in advocating for more and better education for girls, a better deal for orphaned children and a more coherent response to HIV and AIDS; humbled that I should have been singled out from the great number of people world-wide who are dedicating themselves so wholeheartedly to efforts to stem the AIDS epidemic and who see girls’ education as central to this; and privileged that I can represent in some way so many thousands of wonderful people across the world whose lives have been darkened by the shadows of HIV or AIDS but who never lost heart.
Ladies and Gentlemen, forty-nine years ago the great Martin Luther King shared with the world his dream that, among other things, one day his four children would live in a nation where they would be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
Dr. King’s dream speech inspired his people and transformed the face of the United States to such an extent that less than four years ago the country elected its first ever black President, who could affirm: “Where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people, Yes We Can!”
Ladies and Gentlemen, Graduating Students, our vision for global health is also a dream, a dream which strongly reaffirms that the enjoyment of good health is a fundamental human right and that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment the actualisation of this right remains a possibility. In the words of Barack Obama, we here at this RCSI conferring ceremony can affirm with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of this great institution - yes, we can.
Yes, we can eliminate infant and child mortality, and ensure universal vaccination coverage against measles, polio and other diseases.
Yes, we can roll back the malaria which affects over 200 million people each year.
Yes, we can reduce and eventually eliminate the almost nine million new cases of tuberculosis that occur each year.
Yes, we can reach the global targets of zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS deaths and zero HIV-related discrimination.
Yes, we can even address the enormous challenges of neglected tropical diseases which currently affect more than 1,000 million people and thrive in the poorest, most marginalised communities.
Yes, we can ensure the access of all peoples - here and in all other parts of the world - to a level of health care that will help them lead a satisfying, full and productive human life.
Yes, we can do it and we are doing it.
Let me speak for a few moments about my own country, Zambia, where just three months ago a team of nine doctors successfully removed a fourteen-and-a-half kilo tumour from the back of a young man. Of course, the tumour should never have been allowed to grow to such size, but that it could be successfully removed speaks well for the medical services that a developing country can provide .
In recent years, Zambia has also seen considerable improvements in many of the markers for health care:
A significant reduction in child mortality;
• HIV infection rates falling steadily and substantially among young women and young men;
• About 90% of adults who are in need of anti-retroviral therapy receiving it, the result being fewer AIDS-related deaths;
• Among infants a dramatic reduction in deaths arising from the transmission of HIV from parent to child;
• More widespread use of anti-malarial drugs, an increase in the numbers sleeping under anti-mosquito impregnated bed-nets, and more widespread spraying of mosquitos.
Yes, we can do it and we are doing it. But we need to do it more quickly. We need to do it more
quickly for the sake of the millions whose lives are being blighted by preventable ill-health. We need to do it more quickly for the sake of our own human integrity since we have made promises that too often we honour more in the breach than in the fulfilment.
And for this we need more financial and material resources. We need more civic and political commitment. We need more human resources.
Believing, as RCSI does, that the person is at the centre of everything we do, we need a more enlightened priority system that ranks health, education, social services and job creation higher than bailing out questionable financial institutions, and certainly higher than squandering public resources on doomed investments and extravagant and even corrupt undertakings.
And that requires that every one of us here today pulls together to make this a better and more decent world. It requires that we become radically committed to eliminating scandalous inequalities in the access of people to health care. It means that we firmly believe that each one of us can make a difference for the better.
George Bernard Shaw once said: “Some look at things that are, and ask, why? I dream of things that never were and ask, why not?”
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Graduating Students, let this conferring day be memorable for the way it motivates each one of us to dream of something that never was - a peaceful, healthy and more just world - and ask “why not? Why can’t I do something to make it so? What am I doing to make this a better world? What more can I do to ensure peace and health and basic justice for all people?”
I thank you.
Michael J. Kelly, S.J. Lusaka, Zambia

24 October 2012
Irish Jesuit, Fr Michael Kelly SJ, was conferred with The Order of Distinguished Service by Zambian President Edgar Lungu, in State House, Lusaka on 24th October.

The honour was given to Fr Kelly in acknowledgment for his tireless commitment to ending HIV and AIDS in Zambia. He has worked for decades to educate people about the virus and to promote safe behaviour among youth and those most at risk in Zambia, sub-Saharan Africa, and abroad. He has been active in developing strategies for HIV prevention, and human rights, and has been a consultant to international organisations including UNESCO, UNICEF, the FAO, UNAIDS, Oxfam and Irish Aid.

Fr Kelly went to Zambia as a Jesuit missionary in 1955 and spent most of his working life there in education, as a teacher and administrator at secondary and university level. He felt from the outset that it was home and that he was welcomed there. He became a Zambian citizen in the 1960s, a decision he says he never regretted. In later years, he was deeply saddened by the numbers of people who were dying because of the country’s AIDS epidemic and vowed to address the problem, through the schools.

This is not the first honour that Fr Kelly has received due to his outstanding work. He was awarded an Honorary Degree by University College Dublin in 2006, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 2012. Since 2006, Irish Aid has honoured Father Michael’s achievements through the Annual Father Michael Kelly HIV/AIDS Event, timed to coincide with World AIDS Day (1st December)

A JESUIT’S WORK WITH HIV AND AIDS
Michael J. Kelly, S.J., was one of the first ten recipients of the new Presidential Distinguished Service Awards at Áras an Uachtaráin on 15th November 2012.
President Michael D. Higgins said the new Award allowed the State to formally honour exceptional individuals and to recognise the “sacrifice, support and commitment to Ireland of the wider Irish diaspora in all its diversity”.

Fr Michael J. Kelly writes below about his campaigning struggle against the global epidemic of HIV/Aids :
When AIDS exploded on the world in the 1980s, I was lecturing in education at the University of Zambia. It soon became obvious to me that I would have to take account of this new disease in my teaching, research and priestly work.
Deaths and funerals were becoming the order of the day. Across the country people were dying in large numbers, most of them parents with young families, leaving behind them children to be reared and educated by communities which were being overwhelmed by the great number of orphans. Teachers and education administrators were also falling sick and dying in large numbers.
I quickly saw that the courses I was teaching had to say something about this totally new situation. They had to speak about adjusting to the potential loss of teachers, about the great numbers of orphans that would be coming into the schools, about teaching children traumatised by the loss to a dehumanising sickness of greatly loved family members, about communities shattered and bewildered and impoverished by the sickness and deaths of their most productive members.
But the courses also had to suggest how the very process of education could help check the disease and what could be done to protect the education system itself against the disease’s destructive impacts. From then on, my work was guided by what I termed education’s “minimax” response to the pandemic: minimise the potential of HIV and AIDS to harm the education sector, maximise the potential of the education sector to control the disease and reduce its harmful effects.
This was a new approach at the time, so new that the University of Zambia has the distinction of being one of the first universities in the world to take account of HIV and AIDS in its teaching programmes. Increasingly, I began to study, write and give presentations about AIDS and education. It was not long until we began to speak about the potential of education to provide a “social vaccine” against the disease, an approach that UNAIDS, the highest world authority on the disease, still strongly advocates.
Gradually I found myself being drawn more and more into national and international discussions on the two-way interaction between AIDS and education, into advocacy and awareness-raising in regard to orphans, and eventually into a wide spectrum of AIDS-related areas, almost all of them with strong social justice implications – stigma, poverty, the subordinate status of women, human rights, the marginalisation of whole categories of people, unfair north-south trade and other practices, food security, environmental protection, global failure to deal honestly with several AIDS-related issues.
The outcome was a greatly extended engagement on my part with the pandemic and extensive commitments to activities across the world on its educational and other implications. As the demands became greater, it eventually became necessary for me to retire from the University of Zambia so that I could dedicate myself more wholeheartedly to the work of confronting HIV and AIDS nationally and globally. And it is to this work that I remain committed. AIDS is not yet over. People are still dying. AIDS continues to consume them. It also consumes me, not in body but in spirit, and challenges me with the great Jesuit questions: “What have I done for Christ who is suffering with HIV and AIDS? What more should I be doing so that there is less AIDS and more chance that people can live with greater human dignity in a world that comes closer to being the happy world God had planned it to be?”
In many ways the answers are simple. There is need for more honesty in dealing with central AIDS issues. There is need to avoid complacency and recognise how far the world is from seeing an end to the pandemic. There is need for an uncompromising stand on making social justice a reality for every child, woman and man. There is need for more resources for those affected by the pandemic and for research that will lead to its control.
To the extent that I can respond to any of these needs I must do so. The miracle of those living with HIV or AIDS demands this of me. For as long as one person remains with HIV or the disease deprives one child of a parent, I cannot stop. Until God calls me, or AIDS ends, I simply must keep going.

22 August 2015
August 22nd will be the 60th anniversary of my first arrival in Zambia in 1955. I was young and inexperienced then, but greatly excited at the prospect of sharing with others my life and whatever expertise I had and thereby communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ.
A spirit of céad míle fáilte
I am now old and somewhat decrepit, but blissfully happy that I can still share myself and the word of God with my Zambian sisters and brothers. I am deeply indebted to them for the sincerity with which they welcomed me into their lives and society. The spirit was always that of céad míle fáilte. I felt this right from the outset, though the feeling was deepened when I became a Zambian citizen in the mid- 1960s, a step that I never for a second regretted, though I recall the tears it caused to my mother!
I spent most of my working life in Zambia in education — teaching and administering — at secondary school and university levels. It is a great pleasure today to meet so many who had been “through my hands” at school or university and to see them successful in life, most of them happily married and parents of lovely families, some of them grandparents, and some of them priests or religious.
But there is also the sadness of knowing that many have died, especially that many died from AIDS. Very soon after the world became aware of this terrible scourge, I saw that it was a challenge that we would have to do something about through our schools, not only in Zambia but all over the world. This realisation drew me into thinking, teaching, writing and speaking about the give-and-take between AIDS and education, into speaking out on behalf of orphans, and eventually into a wide range of AIDS-related areas.
In my AIDS work I have met and been influenced by many remarkable people infected with the disease. I don’t think I could have continued were it not for them, above all the women and the children. I felt driven by their suffering and the way it had undercut their very humanity. But equally I felt driven by their resilience, their spirit, their determination, their courage, and their cheerfulness.
Brigitte Syamalevwe: fearless and powerful
Most uplifting of all was Brigitte Syamalevwe, a highly educated Zambian woman who was diagnosed with HIV in 1992. Instead of staying at home feeling sorry for herself, Brigitte travelled around, speaking fearlessly, feelingly, and powerfully about the epidemic and her situation. She refused to take life-saving anti-retroviral drugs when these were offered to her, saying she would do so only when the poor of Zambia, and particularly the women, could also have access to such treatment. Even at the very end, when I had paid for the drugs that could save her, she told her family not to collect them but to leave her in God’s hands. And so, overwhelmed by grief, weariness and illness, she died quietly and peacefully, letting her great spirit soar to the God whom she had loved and served so well.
Brigitte was an Easter witness in the darkness of HIV and AIDS. You just had to be inspired by her. She and people like her show the strength of the human spirit and give real promise that we can make this a better world.
Sixty glorious, happy, fulfilling, satisfying years
Coming back to myself and thinking about my 60 years in Zambia, I wouldn’t ask for a minute of them to have been any different for me. They have been 60 glorious, happy, fulfilling, satisfying years and I thank God for every second of them. Of course there were setbacks and difficulties, very especially the grief and anguish of seeing the way AIDS was ravaging the people. But the overwhelming picture is one of joy and gladness and an awareness that God is working all things together for good.
I ask you to join with me in praising and thanking God that it has been so.

June 2016
A MUSEUM PIECE OR A HERO?
Early in May a new state-of-the-art interactive-type museum, EPIC Ireland, was opened in the vaults of the docklands CHQ building in Dublin. The new museum focuses on the Irish abroad and the Irish diaspora, what they have done and what they are doing in various parts of the world.
The Museum Director has informed me, as a matter of courtesy, that they are featuring my story in the visitor experience and will continue to do so for the coming ten years. I have no idea what aspects of my ‘story’ are touched on, but it is reassuring to know that at last I have found my proper niche - as a museum piece!
Distinguished Visitor visits ‘her hero’
On May 25th, which was Africa Freedom Day, I was greatly honoured when the former Irish President Mary Robinson, called at Luwisha House to see me. She was in Lusaka for a few days to speak to a top- level meeting of the African Development Bank on ecological, clean power and climate-change issues. Noting that I was not present when she met some members of the Irish community shortly after her arrival in Lusaka, Mrs. Robinson asked the Irish Ambassador if she could come to see me as I was ‘her hero’ (https://www.jesuitmissions.ie/news/410-irish-men-behind-the-missions-fr-michael-j-kelly-sj). God save the mark!
To talk of many things
During her stay of about an hour she and I talked about many things – progress against HIV and AIDS, the empowerment of women, the problems faced by children, clean energy and solar power, population growth, and even family.
Unfortunately I had to acknowledge that so far we here at Luwisha House had done nothing about installing a solar power system, even though we are very suitably placed to do so, with the sun beaming down on us all day almost every day of the year.
But I was able to redress the balance a little by drawing attention to the work being done by the Jesuit Centre for Ecology and Development in Malawi (http://jcedmw.org/jced-as-a-new-project-of-the-jesuit- fathers/) and the development there of a cooking stove that is very economical in its use of charcoal, something that Mrs. Robinson said she had heard about.
It was indeed a great honour to receive this surprise visit from such an eminent and busy person. I greatly appreciated it.
Michael J. Kelly SJ, Luwisha House, Lusaka, Zambia. June 2016

20 July 2020
MICHAEL J. KELLY FEATURED ON STAMP
The pioneering work of Irish Jesuit, Michael J. Kelly SJ, as an educator and a campaigner for HIV/AIDS in his adopted home of Zambia, has been honoured on a postage stamp from An Post (https://www.anpost.com/AnPost/media/PDFs/The-Collecto_1st-Ed_2020_AW_FOR-WEB.pdf) which is part of a set to mark St. Patrick's Day.
The Irish Abroad series of five stamps, marks the contribution that emigrants from Ireland made to their respective communities overseas. Fr Kelly (1929-), who was born in Tullamore, shares the stamp with award-winning author Edna O’Brien (1930-) from Co. Clare, and also with Cork-born humanitarian worker Mary Elmes (1908-2002) who saved the lives of 200 Jewish children in France during the Holocaust.
In 1955 Fr Kelly left Ireland for Northern Rhodesia, which would become the Republic of Zambia in 1964. Over the next 60 years, he held a series of appointments across the country, which resulted in his nomination as Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zambia in 1980 and a promotion to Professor of Education in 1989.
He worked tirelessly to get rid of the stigma of HIV/AIDS through education and advocacy work across Zambia and further afield.
Very soon after the world became aware of this terrible scourge [HIV/AIDS], I saw that it was a challenge that we would have to do something about through our schools, not only in Zambia but all over the world. This realisation drew me into thinking, teaching, writing and speaking about the give-and-take between AIDS and education, into speaking out on behalf of orphans, and eventually into a wide range of AIDS-related areas.
In my AIDS work I have met and been influenced by many remarkable people infected with the disease. I don’t think I could have continued were it not for them, above all the women and the children. I felt driven by their suffering and the way it had undercut their very humanity. But equally I felt driven by their resilience, their spirit, their determination, their courage, and their cheerfulness.
In 2006, the Irish Government established the annual Father Michael Kelly Lecture on HIV and AIDS, which is now an annual event. In 2019 the theme was 'HIV & AIDS: Women, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights'. (https://globalhealth.ie/womens-sexual-and-reproductive-health- rights-leaving-no-one-behind/)Fr Kelly delivered a compelling video message to the audience about the need to educate women and girls in Zambia to protect themselves from HIV infection. (https://globalhealth.ie/womens-sexual-and-reproductive-health-rights-leaving-no-one-behind/)
Fr Kelly has been the recipient of many awards, in Ireland and abroad for his aid work. In recognition of his contribution to education in Zambia and worldwide HIV advocacy, the Association of Commonwealth Universities presented him with the Symons Award in September 2003. He has received several honorary degrees including Doctor of Science (2004), from the University of the West Indies, Doctor of Laws from NUI (2006) and an honorory doctorate from the Royal College of Surgeons (2012).
The Forum for Women Educationists in Africa (Zambia Chapter) awarded him the first ever Kabunda Kayongo Award for “immense contribution through research on girls’ education” (2006) and the First Lady of South Africa, Madame Thobeka Zuma, presented him with a Humanitarian Award for commitment to health and HIV and AIDS in the southern African region (2010).
He received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award from President Michael D. Higgins (https://www.jesuitmissions.ie/news/241-fr-michael-j-kelly-sj-receives-new-presidential-award) at Áras an Úachtaráin in November 2012, which honours the Irish diaspora in recognition of its sustained and distinguished service abroad. (https://www.jesuitmissions.ie/news/241-fr-michael-j-kelly-sj-receives-new-presidential-award)
Fr Kelly's is also one of over 320 emigrant stories that is featured at EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum (https://epicchq.com/)in the CHQ Building in Dublin.

O'Mahony, Michael, 1905-1981, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1924
  • Person
  • 22 November 1905-28 July 1981

Born: 22 November 1905, Mullinahone, County Tipperary
Entered: 01 September 1927, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 25 March 1943
Died: 28 July 1981, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Michael O’Mahoney must have come from a pious family, as his brother, John, became a priest and a sister became a nun. Michael attended the local National School until he was thirteen years old. Then he was educated by the Christian Brothers in Kilkenny, and by the Jesuits at Mungret College, Limerick, where he gained his matriculation. During the next three years he served his apprenticeship in a mixed business.
O’Mahoney entered the Society at Tullabeg, 1 September 1927. He completed a home juniorate at Rathfarnham Caste, Dublin, in English, Irish, Latin, French, mathematics, history and geography. His philosophy studies were also completed at Tullabeg. Immediately afterwards he was sent to Australia for regency, one year at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, and three and a half years at Xavier College, Kew. During those years he taught mathematics, history, and religion. He was also appointed rowing master and coach, and given charge of the junior debating society. He was master of ceremonies, division prefect and football coach.
These years were followed by theology studies at Milltown Park, Dublin, and he was ordained 31 July 1940. His tertianship followed immediately at Rathfarnham Castle. Instead of returning to Australia, O’Mahoney volunteered for service as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force during World War II. For the following three years he served on various RAF stations in England tending to the spiritual needs of the pilots.
From 1946-59 O’Mahoney once again took up teaching religion and mathematics at Xavier College, Kew. He was rowing coach from 1954-58, and in addition was a part time chaplain with the RAAF.
In 1959 he moved to St Ignatius' College, Norwood, where he taught religion and mathematics.
In 1971 he assumed a new role by joining the parish of Hawthorn. The following year he went to Sevenhill. and from 1973-80. was on the parish staff at Glenelg, SA. Over the last few years of his life, O’Mahoney did not enjoy good health. He joined the Xavier College community for his last years.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 56th Year No 4 1981

Obituary

Fr Michael O’Mahony (1905-1927-1981) (Australia)

Michael O'Mahony, a late vocation by 1927 standards, was naturally senior novice of the young men who entered that year at Tullabeg. It was only later that one could realise the sacrifice involved in his vocation, whether one considered his parents or Michael himself. If he had lived forty years later, he would certainly have become Ireland's agricultural representative-in-chief at Brussels, But from the earliest days of his noviceship we remarked his more than ordinary solid piety and charity. His sense of humour was rather limited, but he won the affection of all his fellows in spite of that. Early on in his noviceship he was appointed master of outdoor manual works: at these he himself worked like the strong man he was and directed efficiently the efforts of others.
It was a relief for him to be appointed to the “home course” in Rathfarnham, whence at the end of 1930 he began philosophy in Tullabeg. He must have found his studies there heavy going but he plodded on with a will. Michael’s attitude to ecclesiastical studies in general might be summed up thus: The Ten Commandments, The Creed and no nonsense.
If in the lecture-rooms his voice was muted, on the soccer field his physical presence was formidable. All who knew him in Tullabeg as “The Admiral” will recall his boating prowess on the Grand Canal. Even the stalwart Joe Kelly, with Australian experience, could rise to no higher rank than first mate. For his crew The Admiral chose only the heavy- weights. One day Brendan Brennan, his younger contemporary in Mungret and the noviceship, had the audacity to commandeer the Admiral’s boat and man it with less-talented oarsmen including the present writer. We had not got as far as the first lock when the wrathful Admiral and his hefty men in the second-best boat overtook us and passed us out ignominiously. Happily it was a sunny day, and our shirts and trousers were dry again when we reached Pollagh. We did not meet Michael there - he was well on his way to Shannon Harbour.
His final philosophy exam. provided a minor redletter day for his admirers. As the strong sternman arrived from his examination, a strip of shoddy carpet led to his room, while some discarded remnants of the previous Christmas bunting formed a crazy triumphal arch. We were not destined to meet Michael again until his return from Australia.
In theology, Michael was at last more at home in his books. He could compose a worthy sermon, but in spite of his fine manly physique he never succeeded in developing a strong preaching voice. This was no fault of his. I can recall vividly the doggedness with which he prepared a Missa cantata in his fourth year. I was his chosen teacher and could observe the humility of the man and his gratitude. It was the Missa cum jubilo that we were preparing for a feast of our Lady, and Michael must have felt it a point of honour to give of his best for the occasion. This perhaps was not surprising. In his uncomplicated way of piety, he was devoted to the Rosary and the Mother of God.
I never met him again until his last visit to Ireland, some ten or eleven years ago. He looked then a score of years younger than his actual age - so Australia must have been kind to him. In his earlier years, this kinsman of Charles Kickham would of himself have chosen to labour and die in Ireland. The boating experiences at Tullabeg apart, he was really the stuff of which a “soggarth aroon” is made. We can be sure that on his return to heaven he had full hands to show at the tribunal of Christ.
P Ó F

From The Xaverian, the magazine of Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, comes the following tribute:
Fr O'Mahony came from county Tipperary and was educated at Mungret College near Limerick. He entered the Society in 1927, did his early studies at Rathfarnham and Miltown, and came to Australia and to Xavier in 1934. He taught Mathematics in the Intermediate and Sub-Intermediate classes, and was a very good teacher - painstaking and efficient. He took care of the Junior Sodality and was Master of Ceremonies and Rowing Master. In 1937 he returned to Dublin, studied theology at Milltown and was ordained in 1940. After his tertianship year at Rathfarnham he went to England and worked in a parish near Leeds, later becoming a chaplain in the Royal Air Force.
Back in Xavier in 1947, he resumed his classes in Mathematics and the coaching of boat-crews. In 1959 he was transferred to Adelaide and taught at St Ignatius' College, Norwood. After a couple of years he took up parish work, first at Norwood and then at Glenelg. This work was very congenial to him. All through his years at Xavier he was out in some parish for Sunday Masses. He was very devoted to the sick and to those in troubled homes, and he was left many friends in Glenelg where he worked for seven years.
About two years ago he had a serious breakdown in health, and after a period in the Calvary hospital in Adelaide, came to Melbourne for a rest and a change. He returned to Adelaide for a short time, but eventually came back to Xavier. The memories of his former days at the School and the visits from his many friends helped him to regain his confidence and improve his health. Two days before he died he fell on the stairs. He was considerably shaken and never really recovered. After receiving Holy Communion on Tuesday morning, 28th July 1981, he died very peacefully. Requiem Masses were concelebrated on the next two days, and he was laid to rest among his fellow Jesuits in Kew cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Joy, Francis, 1903-1977, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/193
  • Person
  • 23 March 1903-13 December 1977

Born: 23 March 1903. Killorglin, County Kerry
Entered: 31 August 1920, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1938, Chiesa de Gesù, Rome, Italy
Died: 13 December 1977, Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin

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

Youngest brother of John C - RIP 1950, Patrick - RIP 1970

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ; Studied for BA in Classics at UCD

Father General's Assistant English Assistant

by 1936 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1937 at Rome, Italy (ROM) working with Propaganda for Faith Secretariat and then Substitute English Assistant
by 1938 at Rome Italy (ROM) Sub English Assistant

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 53rd Year No 2 1978
Obituary :
Fr Francis Joy (1903-1977)
On December 13th, 1977, Father Frank Joy died in Jervis Street Hospital. He had been brought there after collapsing in Dorset Street.
Born in Killorglin, Co, Kerry, on March 23rd 1903, he entered the Noviceship in Tullabeg on August 31st 1920. After the normal course of studies he was ordained priest in Milltown Park on July 31st 1934. His Tertianship was at St Beunos (1935-1936), and he pronounced his Final Vows in Rome, in the Church of the Holy Name, on February 2nd, 1938. They were received by the Vicar General.
Father Joy spent the years 1936-1946 in Rome in the varied works assigned to him. On his return to Ireland in 1946, after some time in Gardiner Street, and Belvedere, he was appointed Rector in Mungret College, in which office he remained from 1950 to 1956. After four years Superior in Manresa Retreat House, he was Rector in the Crescent, Limerick from 1960 to 1965, and then Rector in Clongowes from 1965 to 1968. father Joy spent some years at Retreat work in Leeson Street (1968-1970) and Milltown Park.
Father Joy went to Belvedere in 1971 and remained there in the Office of Bursar and Assistant Bursar until his death in 1976.
Father Frank Joy was very well known and liked in the Province, a thing which emphasises the friendliness and religious spirit that belonged to him. This is significant, for the successive works that were assigned to him were such as would - for the most part, - have drawn little attention to him from his fellow Jesuits in Ireland. Thus his early years in Rome were taken up with jobs that brought no attention to himself: e.g., he was, for a time, Editor of 'Lettres de Rome'. He was successively Rector or Superior of various houses over many years: and then as now a Rector of a College tended to be better known by parents and friends of the students than to other members of the Province outside his own Community. And it was, very fittingly, - in the rather hidden though important work of Bursar that he spent his last quiet years in Belvedere.

◆ The Clongownian, 1978

Obituary

Father Frank Joy SJ

Frank was the youngest of the six members of the Joy family of Killorglin who were educated in Clongowes. He spent four years here form 1916 to 1920. On leaving school he entered the Jesuit Noviceship at Tullabeg, where he had been preceded by his two elder brothers John and Paddy. At the end of his noviceship he went to UCD and took an honours degree in the classics. He then proceeded to Milltown Park to do his philosophical studies, after which he came back to Clongowes and taught classics between 1927 and 1931. His theological studies followed, again in Milltown Park, and he was ordained priest there on July 31st 1934, A spiritual year followed in St Bueno's College, North Wales, and at the end of that year he was summoned to Rome to work at the headquarters of the Jesuit Order, and remained there for nine years from 1939-46.

On his return to Ireland, he was engaged in retreat work in Gardiner Street and Belvedre College. In 1950 he went to Mungret College as Rector. From 1956-60 he was superior of Manresa the Jesuit Retreat House in North Dublin. In 1960 he went back to Limerick as Rector of the Crescent Church and College. In 1965 he returned to Clongowes as Rector, and held that office for three years. In 1968 he moved into Belvedere College, filling the responsible office of school bursar. And so, Frank spent most of his life in administration, and a very capable administrator he was. For the last few years his health had not been good. He went out for a walk in Dublin on December 13th 1977, and suffered a heart attack in the street. He was taken off to hospital and died that night. He was 74 years of age.

Orr, George, 1918-2006, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1955
  • Person
  • 30 October 1918-04 May 2006

Born: 30 October 1918, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1946, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 08 September 1955
Final Vows: 03 February 1958
Died: 04 May 2006, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1957 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

O'Shaughnessy, John, 1909-1962, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1957
  • Person
  • 15 August 1909-11 November 1962

Born: 15 August 1909, Ballygawley, County Tyrone
Entered: 14 September 1927, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1943
Died: 11 November 1962, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
John O'Shaughnessy was educated by the Marist Fathers at St Mary's College, Dundalk, and entered the Society 14 September 1927, at Tullamore. There he was described as energetic, strong and cheerful, but not much given to speculation and anxious to be always active.
After his vows he completed his juniorate at Rathfarnham, 1929, and in the course of his first year was involved in a motor accident. He received head injuries. It is possible that this affected him for the rest of his life. He studied philosophy at Tullabeg, 1930-33. lt was during this time that he was transferred to the Australian vice-province. Regency was completed at Riverview, 1934-37, and theology at Milltown Park, 1937-42. Tertianship followed at Rathfarnham.
Before returning to Australia, O'Shaughnessy was engaged in parish ministry at St Walburge's, Preston, UK, and he then taught at Riverview, 1945-48. He was minister at North Sydney, 1949 and 1954-57, and Lavender Bay 1950-53. For a few years he was the mission promoter for Sydney. Then followed yearly appointments to Hawthorn, Richmond, Glen Waverley, St Aloysius' College and Xavier College. He did not take to teaching easily, finding it taxed his concentration, but this only made him more painstaking in the preparation of his classes.
He was a lively, cheerful, generous, energetic and conscientious man. He was scrupulously careful in his work and perhaps became over-scrupulous towards the end of his life. He was a good worker. pleasant companion and exemplary religious. He had special interest in the Apostleship of Prayer, and worked hard at organising it, even among the community! He was devoted to the sick and appreciated for his kindness. He was a pastoral priest, and enjoyed doing Sunday supplies and giving retreats. lt was while he was giving one of these retreats that he took ill and died.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 38th Year No 1 1963
Obituary :
Fr John O’Shaughnessy SJ
Prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of Fr. John O'Shaughnessy whose happy death took place at Melbourne on 11th November 1962. Fr. O'Shaughnessy was a member of the Irish Province until his assignment to the newly-established Vice-Province of Australia in 1931, while he was still a Junior at Rathfarnham. He had entered the Society at Emo in 1927. At the time of his death he was a master at Xavier College, Melbourne, previous to which he had been engaged at parish work for several years. May he rest in peace.

Kavanagh, Joseph, 1913-1982, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/197
  • Person
  • 05 February 1913-27 May 1982

Born: 05 February 1913, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 11 September 1931, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1946, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 27 May 1982, County Wicklow (in a car accident)

Part of the Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin community at the time of death

Educated at Belvedere College SJ

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 57th Year No 3 1982
Gonzaga
A phone-call about midnight of 27th/28th May brought us the tragic news of the death of our colleague, Fr Joe Kavanagh, What exactly happened is not entirely clear, but it appears that Fr Joe was involved in a hit-and-run accident while travelling on his Honda motor-cycle at about 11 pm near the Glen of the Downs, co. Wicklow. He was buried from St Kevin’s church, Harrington street, where he had been a curate for the past two years, and he got a send-off that he must have appreciated from his lofty position. A very large number of concelebrants, both Jesuit and diocesan, joined Fr Rector in the requiem Mass; the music was provided by Our Lady's Choral Society, of which Joe had long been a zealous and active member; two Bishops presided, the Most Rev Joseph A Carroll and the Most Rev Donal Murray; and among the congregation were the Lord Mayor (an old pupil) and Mr John Wilson (government minister and an old teaching colleague). We miss Joe very much. Though working in a parish he was always very much a member of the Gonzaga community, in reality as well as in spirit. He joined us as often as his duties would allow and was always a welcome, refreshing, peaceable presence. May he rest in peace.

Obituary
Fr Joseph Kavanagh (1913-1931-1982)

In the last issue of the Province News the editor had a few interesting words to say about the commissioning of obituary notices. In asking me to present a pen- picture of Joe Kavanagh he didn't have to do any serious arm-twisting: I, am more than glad to be able to pay my tribute to a man who was my companion for many years and whom I, among many others, will sadly miss now that he is gone.
Let us start with the timetable, as it were, of Joe's life. He was at school in Belvedere, entered the noviceship in Emo in 1931. This was followed by Juniorate in Rathfarnham where he pursued a French course with considerable success: philosophy in Tullabeg from 1937-1940, and from these years arises a clear memory of Joe working out, with marvellous patience and good humour, a quartet from Gilbert and Sullivan that was somewhat beyond the vocal range of those whom he was directing. The regency years were spent at Mungret (1940-42) where he was obviously very happy and very successful, but the exigencies of the time demanded that he move to Clongowes for his third year, to get his Certificate in Education. From 1943 to 1947 he was in Milltown for theology, and from those days too I can picture him at the piano preparing a motley caste for a brief season of operetta, or playing at centre-forward on the soccer pitch where he was no mean performer, and many of his contemporaries will remember that deft flick of his that was productive both of goals and serrated shinbones.
After tertianship in Rathfarnham Joe spent a year in Clongowes, followed by three years in the Crescent and then, in 1952, he came to Gonzaga where he was to remain until 1971. After this long period of teaching the rest of his days were to be passed working for the "Diocese' - seven years in the Blackrock area, where he was chaplain to Obelisk Park and also taught in the Blackrock Technical school, three years in East Wall and his last two years as a curate in Harrington street.
When Joe's remains were brought to St Kevin's Church on the evening of 29th May, his parish priest, Fr Dermot O'Neill spoke a few words and described Joe as “a nice, quiet, unassuming, hard working priest”, and most would agree that that is a very fair description. He always had this air of quiet about him; perhaps “serenity” would be a better word, or even “unflappability”. In my mind’s eye I can see him, good humoured and unperturbed, surrounded by a mob of unruly schoolboys or refereeing an under-10 rugby match with tremendous aplomb. There was an occasion when, in the act of refereeing, Joe fell backwards over a stray mongrel that had wandered onto the pitch: except physically he wasn't the slightest bit upset. Teaching, I suspect, was always a little against the grain for Joe. but he applied himself to this task over many years with admirable patience and dedication, and must have passed on much of his own great enthusiasm for the French language: certainly many of his pupils remember him with great affection and while they may beat their breasts a little for the merry dance they sometimes led him in the classroom they recall with gratitude his quiet tolerance and inspiration.
There was a period when Gonzaga took its cricket seriously, and this was one game that Joe particularly enjoyed. I remember him playing in the Staff versus Boys matches, tying up the opposition with a mixture of slow googlies and chinamen; and at other times he could be seen umpiring at square leg or behind the wicket, always perched upon a shooting stick.
When at last his teaching days came to an end and he moved out into the “Diocese” he brought the same calmness and application to his new duties. I know that as a curate he undertook very seriously the job of visiting his parishioners. But all the time - from 1971 - that Joe was working as a curate he remained a member of the Gonzaga community and this he was both in fact and in spirit; for hardly a week passed that he didn't join his brethren there, and they will now miss his quiet presence, his informed conversation and his generally optimistic view of world affairs.
Joe seems to have suffered from some sort of a chronic ulcer. Certainly, over the years he was taking something for this ailment or observing a mild diet. And yet I always regarded him as a man of rude health, a man who not all that long ago put-putted his way on his motor bike all the way from Dublin to some place north of Rome where the machine “packed up”, unable any longer to match the vigour of its rider. It was on his motor-cycle, in his 69th year, that he met his sudden tragic death, (27th May 1982), the victim, apparently, of a hit and-run accident around 11 pm in the Glen of the Downs, though the exact circumstances may never be known. .
For his funeral Joe got a great send off. St Kevin's Church, Harrington' street, was packed for the requiem Mass concelebrated by a very large number of both Jesuit and diocesan priests and presided over by two bishops. But what must have given him, watching from above, especial satisfaction, was the fact that the Gardaí spontaneously provided a cycle escort to expedite the funeral cortège to Glasnevin (he had worked with them in the parish), and that the music was provided by Our Lady's Choral Society of which he had long been an active and zealous member. His love for music had always been conspicuous. He was always the choir master, the organist, the musical director of shows and entertainments from novice to tertian, and even after. Nothing he liked better than to be seated a a piano when he displayed the extraordinarily wide range of his musical interests, at one time fingering a Beethoven sonata, at another belting out something straight from Tin Pan Alley.
There can be no doubt but that now he is a member, perhaps even the director, of a celestial choir and that he will continue to make sweet music to the Lord for all eternity.

Irish Province News 58th Year No 2 1983

Gonzaga
Fr Joe Kavanagh
Further light has been thrown on the circumstances surrounding the accident that ended in the tragic death of Fr Joe Kavanagh at Glen o’ the Downs on the night of 27th May 1982. The following reconstruction is based on the evidence presented in Bray district court on 7th January, at the hearing of the prosecutions brought under the Road Traffic Act against the two motorists involved in Fr Kavanagh's death.

The first impact
A woman was driving south in this area around 11 pm. There was a heavy drizzle. Some distance behind her was another car driven by a Mr Fiach McDonagh of Wexford, who thus described the whole occurrence. As he came around a bend on to a straight stretch of road he saw sparks come from under the car in front of him. The car appeared to be on the correct side of the road at the time, then swerved over to the right-hand side of the road and carried on some distance ending up in a ditch. It wasn't until he came level with a helmet which he spotted lying on the road that he realised that an accident had taken place. He turned his car round towards Dublin and stopped on the Dublin-bound carriageway, with his light shining full on the motor-cyclist, who was positioned with his entire body lying on the hard shoulder except for his head, which was on the roadway. A car came from the direction of Dublin: he stopped it and asked the driver to get help. Then he spoke to the priest on the ground and told him he was sending for help.
The car that he had seen sparks come from had travelled weil over a hundred yards down the road. He noticed some body get out, walk around the car, look and get in again; then it slowly began to drive away.

The second and fatal impact
Ms McDonagh went back to his own car and saw at the same time a car travelling from the Wicklow direction, This car kept coming even when it was in full view of the car stopped in the middle of the road. At the last minute it swerved suddenly to the inside of the stopped car on to the hard shoulder. Here it struck the bike and the man on the ground, swerved to the right-hand side of the road and ended up in the ditch on the opposite side. The impact had flipped the priest right up in the air and over, reversing his position. Two men got out of the car, both as it transpired ambulance men. When they saw the priest on the ground they went back to their car, took out a first-aid kit to do whatever they could, but found no pulse.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1982

Obituary

Father Joseph Kavanagh SJ

When I joined the Gonzaga Community in 1961, the oriental-like inscrutability and rather dis tant manner of Father Kavanagh gave me a little indication of his real qualities. In fact he proved to be a delightful companion, whose gentle sense of humour, generosity and undemonstrative kindness greatly enhanced community life. In the school, while he did not attain sufficient command of a class to be an excellent teacher, he won the affec tion of the pupils capable of distinguishing quality of personality from pedagogical skill. Later, in parish work, his quiet and undemonstrative devo tion to his parishioners was most impressive and much appreciated. To this the attendence at his funeral bore eloquent testimony. As a friend - I had the good fortune to enjoy his friendship for 21 years - he was warmharted and generous and a kindly and wise counsellor.

There was about him a self confidence and magnanimity reflected in his judgements of others which were almost always positive and generous: never destructives, never petty. He was as patient with the shortcomings of others as he was of his own and always keenly aware of the qualities and strengths of others.
He was a good man, a sound religious and a loyal friend. May he rest in peace.

Perrott, Cyril, 1904-1952, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/1975
  • Person
  • 27 December 1904-24 April 1952

Born: 27 December 1904, Mayfield, Cork City
Entered: 31 October 1922, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1936, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1939, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 24 April 1952, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

Middle brother of Thomas - RIP 1964 and Gerard - RIP 1985
Chaplain in the Second World War.
by 1938 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ 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 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 27th Year No 3 1952
Coláiste Iognáid :
The deaths of Fr. Cyril Perrott and Brother G. Lynch, within a week of one another, on April 24th and May 1st, came as a great sorrow to us. Fr. Perrott's death, in particular, being quite unexpected. On April 22nd, he entered hospital for a duodenal operation, and, having come successfully through, as it appeared, he suddenly collapsed on the 23rd, and died the following morning. The Office and funeral, of which details appear elsewhere, were a remarkable tribute. Messages of sympathy and offerings for Mass poured into the house. The school was closed from the time we received news of his death until after the funeral. The boys gave a wreath, and each class an offering to have Mass said, whilst the entire school walked in the funeral.
Brother Lynch died in Dublin, after a long illness. His death was not unexpected, but he was sincerely mourned by the Community and the people of Galway to whom he had endeared himself by his quiet courtesy and unfailing good humour.

Obituary :
Father Cyril Perrott
Father Cyril Perrott was born in Cork on December 27th, 1904. He was one of six brothers, of whom two besides himself entered the Society, Father Tom Perrott, Norwood, South Australia, and Father Gerard Perrott, Clongowes Wood College. Their only sister is Mother Mary of St. Thomas, Convent of Mary Reparatrix, Merrion Square, Dublin. Cyril Perrott was educated in the Christian Brothers' School, Sullivan's Quay, and the Presentation College, Cork, and entered the novitiate at Tullabeg on October 31st, 1922. After his Juniorate at Rathfarnham and Philosophy at Milltown Park, he went to Mungret in 1930 as master and Prefect of Second Club. He was ordained in Milltown Park in 1936 by the late Archbishop Goodier, S.J., and, after Tertianship at St. Beuno's, returned to Mungret as Minister, which post he held until his appointment as military chaplain in May, 1941. During the next three years he worked in war camps in the vicinity of Palmer's Green, London, and Litchfield, Hampshire. He was sent Overseas in 1944, and saw active service in India and Burma, being attached to the South East Asia Command,
At the end of 1945, he was demobilised, and came to Galway to work in the Church and take charge of the Men's and Women's Sodalities and of the Boys and Girls' Clubs. From 1947 on, he relinquished the Men's Sodality and Boys' Club, but continued to take a great interest in both. He was also a member of the Committee of the Galway branch of the National Council for the Blind.
For a good many years he had been suffering from duodenal trouble, and during the past year it had become intensified, causing him considerable pain and loss of sleep. He was finally advised that a remedial operation was advisable, and would become absolutely necessary within a year or two. The operation was apparently successful, but on the afternoon of the following day his heart suddenly failed. He was anointed immediately by Fr. Mallin, who was at hand, and his brothers, Fr. Gerard Perrott and Mr. Robert Perrott were summoned. The surgeon and two other doctors made every effort to save his life, but he died early on the morning of April 24th. The sad news came as a terrible shock to the community and to the people of the city, many of whom were in tears when they heard it.
The funeral, which took place on April 26th, was a striking testimony to the esteem and affection in which Fr. Perrott was held. His Lordship, the Bishop of Galway, presided at the Requiem Mass, and almost all the parish priests, clergy and religious of the city and surroundings took part in the Office. The Mass was sung by Fr. Gerard Perrott, Fathers Cashman and Diffely being deacon and sub-deacon, and the cantors at the Office were Rev, J. Kelly, C.C., Rahoon and Rev. F. Heneghan, C.C., Salthill. Fr. Provincial, who had just left for Rhodesia, was represented by Fr. W. Dargan, Fathers M. O'Grady, Rector, Milltown Park; D. P. Kennedy, Rector, Belvedere College and O'Catháin, representing Leeson St., came from Dublin, and Fr. C. Naughton from Limerick.
The church was crowded with the laity, among them the Mayor, members of the Corporation, civic officials and representatives of every walk in life. The coffin was carried to the hearse by members of the Men's Sodality, and a guard of honour was provided by the Boys' Club, whilst large contingents from the Women's Sodality and Girls' Club were prominent in the procession to the burial place in the New Cemetery.
After the Mass, His Lordship, the Bishop, delivered a moving address, from which the following are a few passages :
“The life which we mourn today was at first spent in a period of quiet and tranquillity. In the long period in College which the Church prescribes for those who have aspired to the priesthood, Fr. Cyril Perrott went steadily through the preparation of prayer and study, and his life was spent in tranquillity among the young like himself. When war broke out, he joined that great and gallant company of chaplains who gave honour to the Catholic Church, and then he was called to serve under the terrible conditions of war, and saw human nature suffering under severe trials for body and soul. Then was seen the profit of his long years of prayer and study, and the soul which had been tempered by years of meditation and mortification proved its worth, and he was able to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to men fighting and dying, and to seal their wounded lips and their tortured souls with the peace of Jesus Christ.
We cannot calculate what inestimable good he was able to do, but the strain of these years, short though they were, was very great. It was greater probably than he himself acknowledged. For his is not the only case we have known of priests who have been undermined by the terrible privations of these years, and so, when the trial came, although be received the best medical attention, the strain had been too great, and death came. But it was death in the Lord, death accepted, death surrounded by all the consolations of the sacraments of the Church and the prayers of his brethren, and he went forth gladly: and bravely to meet the creator of his soul,
Today we offer our deep sympathy to his family and to the Company of Jesus to which he belonged. We join our prayers with theirs that God may give him the reward of the faithful servant. I am sure he has the prayers of the members of the Sodality which he taught, and also the prayers of the blind, in whose interest he was most zealous and attentive. He has rested in the Lord, for the works of his sacred priest hood follow him”.
When one attempts to pay a fitting tribute to the memory of Father Cyril Perrott, the first thing that stands out is that he was a splendid community man, one with whom it was a real happiness to live. He had a very pleasant, even temperament, and always appeared to be in good humour. This came partly from his natural cheerfulness. He could always see the amusing side of even the most difficult situation, enjoyed a joke, and a rarer gift - took a joke against himself with the greatest enjoyment, though his keen wit often enabled him to have the last word. But there was a deeper foundation for his calmness of temperament, and that was his admirable courage. It was related by those who were associated with him in his work as a chaplain in London that he showed the most remarkable indifference to danger during the air raids, and often would not even trouble to take shelter. This courage showed itself in the less violent, but no less trying difficulties of ordinary life. Anything he took charge of seemed to go smoothly, because he faced every situation calmly, and rarely had need to call on others to give him encouragement. Like most courageous men, he was also very unassuming. Though he had a fine war record, and was evidently a great success as an organiser, he never referred to his work as a chaplain except in the most passing way. It was the same with regard to his priestly work. He was most successful and universally popular, but he never spoke of his success except in a half-joking and deprecatory manner.
His great popularity with the laity was in large measure due to the the qualities already mentioned, but he owed it also to his tact and gift of never giving offence, to his untiring energy in helping anyone who appealed to him, and to the quiet efficiency with which he carried out his duties. It was God's Will that his life should be cut short at a comparatively early age, but the crowds who came to pray beside his remains, who thronged the church for his Requiem, and who walked in an immense procession to his grave, were a striking proof that in his short life he had won for himself the reputation that is the ambition of every good priest, of being not only a sincere friend, but also a source of consolation and inspiration. Over two hundred Mass cards were laid on his coffin, and he will long be remembered by the members of the Sodalities and the Boys and Girls' Clubs, who owe so much to his quiet, unceasing work during so many years.
To his brothers, Fathers Tom and Gerard Perrott, is offered the sincerest sympathy of the Province and especially of the community of St. Ignatius', Galway.

Perry, Bernard, 1911-1948, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1977
  • Person
  • 24 April 1911-13 October 1948

Born: 24 April 1911, Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Entered: 02 March 1928, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 08 January 1944, Sydney, Australia
Final Vows: 15 August 1947
Died: 13 October 1948, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia- Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Bernard Perry was educated at St Bede's Grammar School, Bradford, and St Patrick's College, East Melbourne. He entered fully into the life of the school, being among the first in his class each year, and he took part in football and athletics. He was also a member of the Sodality of Our Lady. He entered the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 2 March 1928, and then went abroad for his juniorate at Rathfarnham, 1930-33, gaining a science degree. Philosophy was at Jersey, 1933-36.
He was back in Australia for regency at St Aloysius' College, 1936-40, and was also prefect of discipline. Theology studies were taken at Canisius College, Pymble, 1941=44. Tertianship was at Loyola College, Watsonia, 1946, and then he returned to St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, for the last two years of his life.
From the time that he studied at Jersey he suffered from an ulcer that caused him much pain and distress. lt seems that doctors did not diagnose the trouble, and superiors believed that his problems were more nervous than physical. He was by nature a big, athletic, active man, and found it hardly possible to restrain his activity as the doctors prescribed. His superiors were no wiser. His life became a series of recoveries and relapses until at last the ulceration killed him. He was a generous man, unselfish and loving. He shunned any sign of sentimentality, or any trace of affected piety He was a great example of much patience amid prolonged suffering.

Keane, John J, 1867-1954, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/198
  • Person
  • 04 November 1867-05 August 1954

Born: 04 November 1867, Barraduff, County Kerry
Entered: 31 July 1885, Dromore, County Down
Ordained: 28 July 1901, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1904
Died: 05 August 1954, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1903 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 29th Year No 4 1954
Obituary :
Father John Keane
Father Keane was born in 1867 at Barraduff, Co. Kerry, Educated at St. Michael's, Listowel and Clongowes, he entered the Society at Dromore in 1885. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Milltown; taught classics in Clongowes for six years, did theology in Milltown, where he was ordained in 1901 and completed his tertianship in Tronchiennes. Then followed a memorable period as Master of Juniors in Tullabeg, a short time teaching in Belvedere before going to Milltown in 1913 to become in turn professor of theology and professor of scripture. In 1922 he was appointed Socius to the Provincial; in 1924 he became Rector of Rathfarnham; in 1930 he joined the staff of Gardiner Street where he remained until his death on August 6th, 1954.
His reputation for scholarship, especially in the scriptural, classical and literary spheres, has always been very high. Many who had him as professor of scripture in Milltown or Master of Juniors in Tullabeg or as rector in Rathfarnham can pay tribute to the width and the depth of his learning. Those who knew Fr. Keane intimately will easily imagine him interrupting this inadequate appreciation of his scholarship with a favourite expression of his own “Humbug”! He disliked others humbugging themselves and, perhaps, he instinctively feared that he might himself succumb to self-deception. At any rate, praise always embarrassed him. If anything, he saw, or imagined he saw, his own defects too clearly. Perhaps those who knew him in his prime will agree that this severe self-criticism may have prevented Fr. Keane from writing some work of note.
Yet he could praise himself! He allowed himself indulge his pride in facts that would not upset his humility. Mountain-climbing, walking or cycling were topics on which he would discourse at the slightest opportunity. A contemporary of his remarked recently : “In his young days, Fr. Keane would frighten you! Looking at a map he would say : X to Y, 5 miles - I'll walk that in an hour ; Y to Z, 10 miles - 2 hours more”. His extraordinary physical prowess lasted well on into his old age. When eighty years old, he climbed Croaghpatrick, said Mass, breakfasted very lightly and returned to Achill for the day's first full meal at 8 p.m. No one will say that he pampered himself! He must have been one of the last in the Province to have burned the midnight oil in the literal sense. When Fr. Keane was Master of Juniors in Tullabeg his lamp had to be filled with oil every day whereas the other members of the Community required to have their lamps attended to only once a week!
But the most typical memories of Fr. Keane are those that recall him as a “community man”. Even up to a few years ago he would promptly take over “Domi” to oblige a fellow priest. To be near him at recreation was a real pleasure and a lesson in charity. The “leg-pulling” for which he was noted was never offensive. If one side in a discussion seemed to be getting the upper hand, Fr. Keane would restore the balance by first praising the winning disputant and then by taking the feet from under him. Rarely did be show his hand in a serious discussion except on a religious or patriotic subject. It was no trouble to him to upset a would-be Sir Oracle. His love of fun was so genuine that, even in a bout of pain, he would unfailingly allow himself be distracted by any effort at a joke.
Of recent years he rarely left the house. Indeed, apart from his weekly outing to purchase the Sunday Times (for the cross-word primarily) about the only occasions he put on his hat - he never had much use for an overcoat - were when he attended meetings of the Hospital for Incurables of which he was a governor. His fidelity in attendance at these meetings was most edifying, and many sufferers were deep in his debt for the enthusiasm with which he supported their cause.
He always maintained a priestly dignity with a reserve that seemed sometimes akin to secretiveness. His discomfiture at any serious reference to his talents has been noted already. Remarkable also was his reticence about the very distinguished members of his family. He never complained about the labour of work in the confessional although, up to about two years ago, he occupied a very “exposed” box. Nor did he mention the onerous commissions which “doing Domi” sometimes entails. But he was quick to praise others, to encourage some promising preacher or laud the gifts of some new writer as likely to uphold the high traditions of the Society.
Fr. Keane was a brother of the Most Rev. Patrick Keane, Bishop of Sacramento, U.S.A.; of Very Rev. Wm. Keane, P.P., Valentia; and of Sir Michael Keane, Lt.-Governor of Assam, India, who all predeceased him.
A most irritating form of eczema which had troubled him for years became acute about a year ago. Fr. Keane was one of the few improved by illness. “He suffered agony in good humour”, said one of his Community. His manly spirituality, so unobtrusive during his active years, saved him from self-pity. Even when his mind became so befogged that, at times, he could not distinguish day from night, the intensity of his gratitude to his infirmarian (Br. Colgan) and to the nurses in hospital shone in his every reply to queries as to his welfare. He died in the morning of Thursday, August 5th. R.I.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Keane 1867-1954
The reputation of Fr John Keane for scholarship in the scriptural, classical and literary spheres was very high. He had a regard which almost amounted to adoration for his high intelligence and intellectual ability. as Master of Juniors in Tullabeg, he made an undying reputation for himself in the number of honours and scholarships obtained by the Juniors under him.

He was essentially, and before all, a kindly and deeply humble religious, remarkable always for his charity of tongue and deed. He was always ready to do “Domi” for a harrassed brother while stationed in Gardiner Street.

He was a man of extraordinary physique. When 80 years old he climbed Croagh Patrick, said Mass, climbed down and returned to Achill for his days first meal at 8 o’clock.

He was born in Kerry in 1867 of a distinguished ecclesiastical family, one of his brothers was a Bishop (Patrick Keane of Sacramento; also: Sir Michael Keane was Governor of Assam from 1932 to 1937; Fr William Keane P.P., Valentia Island).

Fr Keane died a peaceful and happy death on August 5th 1954 at the ripe age of 87.

◆ The Clongownian, 1955

Obituary

Father John Keane SJ

Father Keane was born in 1867 at Barraduff, Co Kerry. Educated at St Michael's, Listowel and at Clongowes, he entered the Society of Jesus at Dromore in 1885. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Milltown, and taught classics in Clongowes for six years. As a priest he was successively Master of Juniors in Tullabeg, a teacher in Belvedere, professor of theology and then of scripture in Milltown Park. In 1922 he was appointed Socius to the Provincial; in 1924. he became Rector of Rathfarnham; in 1930 he joined the staff of Gardiner Street, where he remained until his death on August 5th, 1954.

His reputation for scholarship, especially in the scriptural, classical and literary spheres, was always high. But he would interrupt any appreciation of his learning with a favourite expression “Humbug!” He disliked others humbugging themselves and, perhaps, he instinctively feared that he might succumb to self-deception. If anything, he saw, or imagined he saw, his own defects too clearly. Perhaps those who knew him in his prime will agree that this severe self criticism may have prevented Fr. Keane from writing some work of note.

His extraordinary physical prowess lasted well on into his old age. When eighty years old, he climbed Croaghpatrick, said Mass, breakfasted very lightly and returned to Achill for the day's first full meal at 8 pm. No one will say that he pampered himself! In the painful sickness that led to his death, his manly spirituality, so unobtrusive during his active years, saved him from self-pity. “He suffered agony in good humour”, said one of his community. Even when his mind became so befogged that he could not distinguish day from night, the intensity of his gratitude to the infirmarian and to the nurses in hospital shone in his every reply to queries as to his welfare. May he rest in peace.

Phillips, John A, 1904-1987, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1984
  • Person
  • 30 January 1904-18 September 1987

Born: 30 January 1904, Campbell Town, Tasmania
Entered: 10 March 1924, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained 07 September 1939, Heythrop, Oxford, England
Final vows: 15 August 1946
Died: 18 September 1987, Newman College, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1930 at Chieri Italy (TAUR) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
John Phillips received his early education in Tasmania before entering the Jesuit noviceship at Greenwich, Sydney, 10 March 1924. He did his university studies at University College,
Dublin, where his interest in history was enkindled. He then studied philosophy at Chieri, Turin, Italy.
Regency was at Riverview, where, with Gerald Lawlor, he produced a notebook called “Notes on European History”, designed to remedy deficiencies in the presentation of Catholic aspects of history. He is also credited for being the first Riverview debating master to admit that the GPS competition was the most important phase of the Debating Society. In this aim, Phillips was the first “team coach” of Riverview debating in the modern sense. It was during his term of office that the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition was established. In all three years of his leadership Riverview reached the final of the GPS competition and won two of them, 1935-36, and it also won the oratory competition.
It was during his theological studies at Heythrop College in England that his predilection for scriptural studies appeared. However, he was not able to return to Australia immediately after ordination because of the war. En route to Australia, a German torpedo hit his ship but it did not explode.
He began to teach scripture, but had no special training for it. He spent many years at Werribee and Glen Waverley. His grasp of biblical studies eventually became quite encyclopaedic, and he was rated highly among professional scholars.
In 1954 Phillips was asked to take over the Catholic Central Library after the death of William Hackett. Under his management it became more a bookshop than a lending library.
After his retirement from teaching, he gave his full attention to the library, working long hours into the night, catching the last tram home to the Jesuit Theological College. He became notorious for preparing his own meals, and eventually from malnutrition. His contemporaries had always respected his learning and zeal. As he aged, he mellowed, and a wide circle of friends genuinely mourned him.

Kearns, Laurence M, 1912-1986, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/199
  • Person
  • 27 June 1912-28 October 1986

Born: 27 June 1912, Cobh, County Cork
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Died: 28 October 1986, Jervis St Hospital Dublin

Part of St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin, and living at Our Lady of Consolation, Donnycarney, Dublin at time of his death.

Chaplain in the Second World War
by 1970 at Kitwe, Zambia - working in Educational TV

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Lol was born in Cobh, Co Cork on 27 June 1912. After school at Mungret College, he entered the Society at Tullabeg and did the second year noviceship at Emo. The normal studies of the Society brought him to his ordination on 13 May 1942.

Immediately after theology, Lol (as Fr Laurence was known in the Society) became chaplain in the British Army from 1943 to 1947 and served on the European continent. Towards the end of the war his unit was sent to free Belsen concentration camp, “That's how I saw hell on earth” he wrote. He also tells us about his bad car accident: “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. Even my mother did not recognise me at once. But a few months in Gloucester under the great “guinea-pig” surgeon, Emlyn Lewis, who grafted a hunk from my arm into my mouth, set me up again.’ After demobilisation, he made his tertianship 1947/48.

Minister, retreat giver, bursar was his lot at Manresa 1948-'54, '62-'65, '68-'69. He taught religion at Bolton Street Technical College, Dublin 1962-'65.

He attended courses at New York University and at the University of California on TV and film production. On returning to Ireland, he was given the job of minister again but felt rather disappointed at having no outlet for the newly acquired skills he was so eager to practice. The Ministry of Education in Zambia at that time was about to launch an Educational TV Unit in Kitwe, so Lol was sent to Zambia and served two tours in the Kitwe TV Unit, six years in all, 1969 to 1976.

These were happy days for Lol in spite of the hardships of living at a long distance from Jesuit companions, the uphill grind of accustoming himself to a new environment, and the conflict arising from his insistence on precision as contrasted with the easy-going ways of the Zambians he was to work with and train. Lol was a perfectionist who demanded exact standards from his students and apprentices. A stray bit of fluff or a human hair would draw from him a devastating diatribe on sloppy standards. The wear and tear of the consequent tension took its toll on Lol's good humour, so that fault-finding could become obsessive with him.

Naturally, as a priest, Lol was not content to confine himself to civil-service hours. He sought out apostolic openings, celebrating Mass at weekends for neglected congregations, acting as Spiritual Father to a novitiate of Sisters, giving lectures on medical ethics to nurses-in-training, all of which he could do through the medium of English. In addition he became sufficiently adept at ciBemba to celebrate Mass in the local vernacular.

In his last year in Zambia, Lol was responsible for the purchase of the first Jesuit residence in Kitwe on Nationalist Way. He had hoped to be employed by the Zambia Episcopal Conference in communications, but this was not to be. Shortly after returning to Ireland he was invited to inaugurate the communications department of the Catholic Secretariat in Lesotho. So for more than two years in Lesotho, in the face of lack of interest, if not actual apathy, he wore out his energies and enthusiasm. The same problems that he had faced in Zambia he found to be deeper, more ingrained and infinitely less tractable in Lesotho.

He returned to Ireland in 1978 where, at the age of 66, he took up more genial work – curate in Donnycarney. He died in Jervis Street Hospital in Dublin on 28 October 1986.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 4 1948

During the summer Frs. Jas. FitzGerald, Kearns and Scallan helped in the campaign organised by Dr. Heenan, Superior of the Mission House, Hampstead, to contact neglected or lapsed Catholics in Oxfordshire. Writing Fr. Provincial in August, the Superior pays a warm tribute to the zeal and devotion of our three missionaries :
“I hope”, he adds, “that the Fathers will have gained some useful experience in return for the great benefit which their apostolic labours conferred on the isolated Catholics of Oxfordshire. It made a great impression on the non-Catholic public that priests came from Ireland and even from America, looking for lost sheep. That fact was more eloquent than any sermon. The Catholic Church is the only hope for this country. Protestantism is dead...?”

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 benefitted 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 organising 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 62nd Year No 1 1987

Obituary

Fr Laurence Kearns (1912-1928-1986)

27th June 1912: born in Queenstown (now Cobh). 1925-28 schooled at Mungret College.
1st September 1928: entered SJ. 1928-30 Tullabeg and Emo, noviciate. 1930-33 Rathfarnham, juniorate: BA course at UCD. 1933-37 Tullabeg, philosophy (sick for much of his first year, which he repeated). 1937-39 Belvedere, teaching (H.Dip in Ed.). 1939-43 Milltown Park, theology (13th May 1942: ordained priest).
1943-47 chaplaincy in British army, described by himself in Interfuse, no. 41 (Feb. 1986), pp. 19-26. 1947-48 Rathfarnham, tertianship.
1948-54 Manresa: minister, retreat giver, bursar. 1954-62 Catholic Workers' College (now CIR): mostly teaching religion in Kevin Street Technical College. 1962-65 Manresa: minister, then bursar. 1965-68 Rathfarnham, spiritual father and librarian. 1968-69 Manresa, minister and retreat-giver.
1969-78 Africa: 1969-76 Kitwe, Zambia: educational television; 1976-8 Maseru, Lesotho: educational television.
1978-86 curate in Donnycarney parish, Dublin 5. 28th October 1986: died in Jervis Street Hospital.

It was sometime in 1968 or thereabouts that I met Lol in Manresa House while I was on leave from Zambia. He spoke to me of the study-course in communications which he had attended in USA, and of his disappointment on his return at being assigned the job of minister, with no outlet for the newly acquired skills he was so eager to practise. W e discussed possibilities, and having cleared the matter with the Provincial, the upshot was that I brought back with me to Zambia photostat copies of Lol's qualifications. I knew that the Permanent Secretary of the Minister of Education was recruiting personnel for the Educational TV Unit about to be launched in Kitwe, so I placed Lol's qualifications before this official. In due course Lol came to Zambia and served two tours in the Kitwe TV Unit, six years in all.
These were happy years for Lol in spite of the hardships of living at a long distance from Jesuit companions, the uphill grind of accustoming himself to a new environment, and the conflict arising from his insistence on precision and he easy-going ways of the Zambians he was to work with and train. Lol was a perfectionist who demanded exact standards of his students and apprentices. A stray bit of fluff or a human hair on a television-camera lens - a nugatory matter to a Zambian novice technician - would draw from him a devastating diatribe on sloppy standards. The wear and tear of the consequent tension took its toll of Lol's good humour, so that fault-finding could become obsessive with him.
Naturally as a priest Lol was not content to confine himself to civil-service hours. He sought out apostolic openings, celebrating Mass at weekends for neglected congregations, acting as spiritual father to a noviciate of sisters, giving lectures on medical ethics to nurses-in-training, all of which he could do through the medium of English. In addition he became sufficiently adept in Cibemba to celebrate Mass in the local at vernacular.
Lol was a man of great certainties, and his range extended far and wide - from godliness to golf. His expositions were models of clarity. He was at his best with a docile, appreciative audience. His affability and interest would however wane in the face of equally strongly-held counter-arguments.
Perhaps it was this perverse adult propensity towards confrontation that turned Lol off: whatever it was, the presence of a child would divert him from such barren tiresome things and would
claim all his attention. It became in time one of the ways to describe Fr Larry: “He had a marvellous way with children”, a phrase that was repeated over and over at his funeral in Donnycarney.
His funeral was a thronged affair, attended by many Jesuits and diocesan clergy, presided over by the Archbishop of Dublin and with Bishop Kavanagh as the main celebrant. At the final
blessing, Archbishop McNamara recalled that as a young priest in Killaloe diocese he had had a retreat from Fr Kearns, memories of which still remained with him. In his last year in
Zambia, Lol was responsible for the purchase of the first Jesuit residence in Kitwe, on Nationalist Way, since vacated in favour of a community of Holy Cross sisters. Coming to the end of his second tour in Government service, Lol had hoped to be employed in communications by the Zambian Episcopal Conference. As this hope remained unfulfilled, he returned to Ireland rather dispirited and disappointed. Shortly after returning he was gratified by being invited to inaugurate the communications department of the Catholic Secretariat in Lesotho. So for two more years, in the face of disinterest if not apathy, he wore out his energies and enthusiasm. Problems he had faced in Zambia he found to be deeper, more ingrained and infinitely less tractable in Lesotho. Eventually, and not without much soul-searching, he decided to return to Ireland, where, at the age of 66, he took up the more congenial work of a parish curate.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1964

A Portrait of Christ made on Television

Father Lol Kearns SJ

Father Laurence Kearns SJ (1925-28) has had many enthusiastic letters from people all over the country about the portrait of the Head of Christ which he drew during a television programme. We are happy to reproduce the portrait as well as the comments of “TJMS” in the “Irish Catholic” of March 5th, 1964. Father Larry's work was on exhibition in Gill's stand at the Dublin Spring Show and, for those who may be interested, full-size lithographic reproductions, framed in oak, may be obtained from The Committee, Manresa House, Doilymount, Dublin 3. Prayer-book size pictures are also available for a few pence.

-oOo-

Every night, right at tbe end of the Telefís Éireann programme, comes “Recollection”, a short talk given by a Priest or a Protestant clergy man. How many people stay tuned in to this late offering? And how many, I wonder, watch it with interest and derive from it spiritual solace or inspiration?

I suspect that the numbers, comparatively speaking, are poor, but if many of the “Recollections” had the same polish, imaginative presentation and effective message as those recently presented by Reverend Father Laurence Kearns SJ, the viewing audience would grow by leaps and bounds.

The idea of closing the nightly programme with a short talk given by a clergyman is one that was established in Independent TV and BBC TV before Telefís Éireann came into existence. Not unnaturally the type of programme produced in each system tended to be the same. A clergyman sits down facing the camera and delivers his talk straight at his unseen audience. The basic in each case is a radio approach. The talk could be put over even if the TV screen were blank.

In general, the visual of the clergymany gives the TV presentation just that little extra piece of interest - but that is all. Otherwise is it pure radio technique. And at first sight it would seem that there was little else in the way of presentation that could be designed. But Father Kearns proves otherwise.

He appeared for his “Recollection” in front of an easel with a piece of charcoal in his hand and explained that he was going to try the impossible and knew in advance that he would not be successful. And with our attention roused he then proceeded to draw a representation of the face of Christ on his board. As he drew each feature, so he brought Christ nearer to us and, talking quietly and gently sketching, he used a visual to rivet our attention and to bold us while his gentle voice conveyed to us some sound and appealing thoughts. Father Kearns proved that a little imagination can transform any routine “programme” into something really worthwhile.

Not every priest can sketch as well as Father Kearns, but in future everybody who appears in “Recollection” will realise that sitting before and preaching into the camera are not enough. Some thing more in the line of a visual is needed. Meanwhile, our thanks and congratulations to Father Kearns for the valuable “breakthrough” in the “Recoilection” programme.

TJMS in “The Irish Catholic”

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