Born: 31 December 1827, County Carlow
Entered: 08 March 1855, Amiens France - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 1857, Laval, France
Final vows: 01 November 1866
Died: 19 April 1908, St Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia

by 1864 in St Joseph’s Macau (CAST) teaching Superior of Seminary by 1868
Early Australian Missioner 1871

Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Australia Mission : 1872-1879

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
His early studies were under a private tutor at home and he spent one year at Carlow College. he then went to Maynooth, and was one of the students examined in the Commission of Enquiry of 1853 (cf Report, Maynooth Commission, Part II pp 297-299). On the occasion of his Ordination to the Diaconate he Entered the Society.

He made his Noviceship and further Studies at Laval, and was Ordained there 1857.
1858-1863 He was sent to teach at Clongowes.
1863-1865 He was sent as Operarius to Galway.
1865-1872 He was sent as Superior to St Joseph’s Seminary Macau, in China.
1872 He was appointed Superior of the Australian Mission, and also Rector of St Patrick’s Melbourne. He was founder and first Rector of Xavier College, Kew, and later Superior of the Parishes of Hawthorn and Kew.
The last years of his life were at St Ignatius, Richmond, and he died there 19 April 1908 His funeral was attended by a large number of clergy and local people and Archbishop Thomas Carr presided and preached. During his career he preached many Missions and retreats for Priests and Nuns. He was a profound Theologian, and Archbishop Thomas Carr appointed him one of his examiners of young priests arriving from the College. It was said that the Archbishop frequently consulted him on ecclesiastical matters.
On the Feast of St Ignatius 1908 a touching tribute was paid to him in the form of a new pulpit at St Ignatius, Richmond.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 "
He had been studying at Maynooth in Ireland almost up to Ordination when he entered the Society in 1855.

As there was no Noviciate in Ireland, he entered in France, and was later Ordained at Laval in 1857.

1857-1859 He came to Clongowes and taught Classics and Mathematics to the junior classes.
1859-1863 He was sent to Galway and divided these four years between the Parish and the School
1863-1872 He had always wanted to go on the Missions, and when the Portuguese Jesuits in Macau needed a man to teach English in the Seminary there he volunteered, arriving in 1863. There he found himself in a somewhat bizarre situation. The Seminary, with 100 boarders and 116 day boys had as it’s head a Portuguese prelate, Mgr Gouvea, who apparently had little capacity for his position. He and the three other Jesuits on the staff were supposed to be responsible for teaching and discipline, but in fact Gouvea confined them to teaching. The other Jesuits were Italian.
The community’s Superior was a Father Rondina, an enthusiast, his mind full of ambitious projects, but as Gouvea mentioned to his Mission Superior, he was so scatty that he would forget by midday what he had done in the morning and undo it. Rondina wanted to take over the administration of the Seminary, in spite of the fact that the two new men, Cahill and Virgili were sent in response to complaints of his chronic overwork. The other Jesuit - Mattos - was causing trouble by denouncing with some violence, what was practically the slave status of Chinese labourers in Macau - the colonial government was furious.
The two additions were most welcome and the Superior of the Mission wrote that he was delighted to get Cahill. The Feast of St Francis Xavier in 1864 brought letters from Father General Beckx to the priests in Macau. To Cahill, he wrote warmly that he had heard only good of him and hoped this would always be so - he should go on living by the Institute and doing God’s work.
He was not altogether won by the Mission. he wrote at the end of 1864 to the Irish Provincial, who had asked for news of the situation in Japan, and he recommended that the Irish Province should get in there quickly. Other Orders were taking over the cities in Japan, so why should the Irish Province not have a Mission there.
In the meantime, the situation in Macau became more troublesome. Gouvea refused to expel some boys for immorality - the Governor of the colony had interceded for them. Rondina, reporting this, added that Cahill was having stomach trouble, and that his gentleness, admired in an earlier letter, prevented him from maintaining discipline and made some of the boys avoid his subjects. This was a pity. Cahill was so devoted and good, and Gouvea and the assistant masters were rough and harsh with the boys. He was their Spiritual Director, but his work prevented him from being always accessible to them.
By the middle of 1866 Rome had decided that the Macau community needed a new Superior. It would have to be someone already there as no one else could be sent to Macau. The Superior of the Mission and his Consultors proposed Cahill - he was prudent and kind, perhaps not forceful enough - and the community, given to mutual complaints, needed someone strong. If the General, in appointing him, wrote him an encouraging letter, this might help him overcome his timidity. Beckx at first jobbed at appointing Cahill because of his experience, but later agreed that there was no one else, and he was a good man and peaceable. So, in August 1866 he appointed Cahill as Superior of the Seminary community.
Cahill met new problems and was not finding the mission satisfactory to his own missionary zeal - it was a settlement of hardly devout European Catholics. He raised again the question of the Jesuits returning to Japan when he heard of the canonisation of the Japanese martyrs, and asked General Beckx to remember him if the Society decided to found a Mission there.
Meanwhile, Cahill was finding the new Rector of the Seminary Antonio Carvalho - who had been friendly to the Society - becoming more difficult, and again confined the Jesuits to teaching only. Discipline was so bad that the Jesuits withdrew from their rooms in the Seminary and went to live in a house put at their disposal nearby.
Sometime later Cahill was reporting maniacal behaviour on Catvalho’s part - he forbade the Jesuits to hear the boys confessions and complained that to warn the boys against the Freemasons was to engage in politics. The Spanish and Portuguese in Macau were making outrageous accusations against Rondina because he encouraged girls to refuse their advances. The community wanted to withdraw altogether from working in the Seminary. Further dissensions developed with the Society on the outside watching and waiting. But the situation did not improve and Cahill wanted to leave the Mission. The situation became so impossible that the Jesuit presence there became impossible.
At one time during his stay Cahill was awarded a knighthood by the Emperor of Annam, for work he did for some Annamese fishermen unjustly imprisoned in Macau. He became so proficient in Chinese that he wrote a Chinese catechism for his people.
Cahill left for Manila, hoping to be sent from there to China, and indeed the Provincial in Portugal suggested using him in one of the off coast islands from which some missionaries had just been expelled. But the Irish Provincial wanted him to go to the new Irish Mission in Australia. Father General wrote to him in January 1872, praising his missionary zeal and thanking him for all he had done in Macau. he wrote that Melbourne’s needs were imperative and Cahill should get down there as soon as possible.
1872 In April of that year General Beckx asked the Irish provincial for three names of men suitable for appointment as Superior of the Australian Mission, Cahill’s name led all the rest, and in July he became Superior of the Mission. Two years later he was also Rector of St Patrick’s College Melbourne, and exchanged this post for the Rectorship of the newly formed Xavier College, remaining Superior of the Mission. At this time his students remembered him as a very earnest and able man, constantly called upon by the diocese to give occasional addresses. He was a methodical teacher of Classics and Mathematics.
He may have found Melbourne dull after Macau, or suffered a reaction after all the excitements there. In September 1875 Father general wrote complaining that he had not heard from him in two years, and six months later complained tat it was not two years and six months since he’d had a letter. Perhaps Macau had nothing to do with it, for the General also complained of one of the Mission Consultors - he had written only once in the past three years, and that was to say that there was nothing to write about.
Cahill remained Superior of the Mission until 1879, and Rector of Xavier until December of that year. During his time as Superior, in February 1875 he had preached at the opening of St Aloysius Church , Sevenhill, and in 1877 gave a two hour funeral oration on the first Australian Bishop, Dr Polding at a “Month’s Mind”.
1880-883 he did Parish work at Richmond
1883-1887 he taught for the university exams at St Patrick’s College Melbourne.
1887-1890 He worked at the Hawthorn Parish
1890-1894 He was appointed Superior and Parish Priest at Richmond.
18694-1896 He was appointed Superior and Parish Priest at Hawthorn
1896-1908 he was back at Richmond as Spiritual Father and a house Consultor.

Thomas Cahill was one of the “founding fathers” of the Australian Province, He was a fine preacher, a classicist, a linguist and a zealous pastor. He was also a respected theologian, called on to preach at Synods both in Sydney and Melbourne. He was one of the Diocesan examiners of the clergy and a Consultor of the Archbishop.

He was a man with a fine constitution, and did the work of a young man until within a few months of his death. However, suffering from heart trouble, there were long periods in his life when he was unable to leave his room. His life was given to his work, devoted to the confessional and the sick and those in trouble. he had a good memory for his former students and parishioners and was a good friend to many.

Note from Walmsley Smith Entry
Smith was baptised, 10 April 1904, by Thomas Cahill, the first rector of Xavier College.

Born: 27 April 1853, Portland, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 07 June 1872, Sevenhill, Australia - Austriaco-Hungaricae Province (ASR-HUN)
Ordained: 1885, St Beuno's, Wales
Final vows: 15 August 1887
Died: 02 February 1925, St Ignatius College, Manresa, Norwood, Adelaide, Australia

Transcribed ASR-HUN to HIB : 01 January 1901

Brother of Saint Mary MacKillop; Cousin Colin McKillop - RIP 1964, and Ken McKillop - RIP 1945

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
His sister with Father Tenison-Woods founded the “Sisters of St Joseph”, and they had a convent in the North Shore Parish. Their focus is on the education of poor children, and so tend to be situated in remote bush areas, where they had very little access to Church and Mass.

Memory of James Rabbitte :
“In 1882 Donald McKillop came to Europe for studies. I met him around 1894 at Riverview. He was then Superior, having been appointed in 1890, of the Daly-River Mission - a Mission the Austrian Fathers had established for the conversion of the Aborigines in the northern territory. A considerable amount of money had been spent there, and they had schools for boys and girls, machinery for working timber etc. Donald had come south to recuperate his health and collect money for his Mission. He was accompanied by two native boys, educated in his schools. Unfortunately the money collected was lodged in a bank which closed while Donald was at Riverview.
He was a man of above average height, with a broad forehead and a flowing beard. years later his health was bad, and he died in Adelaide 02 February 1925.

◆ Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University online
McKillop, Donald (1853–1925)
by G. J. O'Kelly
G. J. O'Kelly, 'McKillop, Donald (1853–1925)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mckillop-donald-4111/text6573, published first in hardcopy 1974,

anthropologist; Catholic missionary; Catholic priest; Indigenous culture recorder; schoolteacher

Died : 2 February 1925, North Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Donald McKillop (1853-1925), Jesuit priest, was born on 27 April 1853 in Portland, Victoria, brother of Mary who founded the Josephite Sisters, the largest Australian congregation of nuns. He was educated at St Aloysius College, Sevenhill, South Australia, where he entered the Society of Jesus in June 1872 and did his noviceship and studies in rhetoric and philosophy until 1877. He then taught at the college until 1882 when he was sent for theological studies to Innsbruck in 1883, to north Wales in 1884-85 where he was ordained priest and to Roehampton for his Jesuit studies. With two Jesuit companions he returned to Adelaide on 14 October 1886, all three destined for the mission to the Aborigines in the Northern Territory. This mission, conducted in 1882-90 by the Austrian Jesuits from Sevenhill, involved nineteen Jesuits and had the largest number of Aborigines of any in the Northern Territory. Anthropologists such as W. E. H. Stanner and Ronald Berndt single it out for its insights and appreciation of Aboriginal culture.

The policy adopted on the mission stations followed the model of the Jesuit Reductions in eighteenth-century Paraguay, and McKillop became its most forthright exponent. In 1887-89 he was attached to the Rapid Creek station, near Palmerston, to work and study the Mulluk Mulluk dialect, the lingua franca of the Daly region. Late in 1889 he was sent by Fr Anton Strele to found a new station at Serpentine Lagoon on the Daly. With four companions he laboured for a year among the Madngella and other tribes who had never seen whites, but with little effect.

In December 1890 McKillop was made Superior of the whole mission which then had three stations and a residence in Darwin. He was responsible for the whole venture but the financial upkeep bore heavily on him since the assistance promised by the bishops did not materialise. Deeming the stations had failed, he closed them and in August 1891 concentrated his eleven Jesuits in one new station on the Daly. Despite some successes the policy of small, self-supporting agricultural townships did not attract the Aboriginals and most converts were inconstant. The station was struck by severe poverty and his begging tours in the south and east in 1892-93 were unsuccessful because of the depression and apathy.

The continuing decimation of the tribes made the Jesuits seriously doubt the survival of the Aboriginals. McKillop clung to his policies of preserving the native culture but outside factors crowded in to produce a tragic desperation as he foresaw the end of 'the daydream of my life'. In vivid prose he often lashed out in the press at 'blood-stained Australia', at the white and Chinese population and at the government, whom he castigated for pusillanimity in granting land and finance to missions in tribal territories. Worn-out and seriously ill he was ordered south in October 1897. Leadership of the mission then became mediocre and after floods in 1898-99 the station was closed.

McKillop's direction had been realistic but his criticism of official policy probably lost him co-operation from the government. In intermittent good health he worked in Jesuit parishes in Norwood, South Australia (1898-1901), in Victoria at Hawthorn (1902-03) and Richmond (1904-10), Sevenhill (1911-13) and Norwood from 1914 until he died on 2 February 1925 in North Adelaide. His 'Anthropological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Daly River, North Australia' had been published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 1892-93. The evidence of J. L. Parsons and Charles J. Dashwood to the select committee on the proposed Aborigines' bill of 1899 suggests that the failure of the Jesuit enterprise in the territory helped to confirm the negative character of government legislation on Aboriginals for the next decades.

Select Bibliography
V. L. Solomon, N. T. Times Almanac and Directory (Palmerston, 1886-90)
Roman Catholic Mission Reports, Parliamentary Papers (South Australia), 1886-89, 1891-94, 1896-99
R. M. Berndt, ‘Surviving influence of mission contact on the Daly River…’, Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft, 8 (1952)
G. J. O'Kelly, The Jesuit Mission Stations in the Northern Territory, 1882-1899 (B.A. Hons thesis, Monash University, 1967)
Australian Jesuit Provincial Archives (Hawthorn, Melbourne).

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Donald MacKillop, brother of Saint Mary McKillop, was a student at St Aloysius' College, Sevenhill, 1867-71, and entered the Society there, 7 June 1872, the third Australian to do so. He also studied rhetoric and philosophy, and did his regency there as well. He left for Europe in 1882, and studied theology at Innsbruck, Mold and St Beuno's, being ordained in 1885. Tertianship followed at Roehampton, London.
He arrived back in Adelaide, 10 October 1886, and went to the Northern Territory Mission, first at Rapid Creek, 1886-89, where he worked and studied the Mulluk dialect, and then to the Daly River, 1889-90, when he was appointed superior of the mission.
This mission, founded by the Jesuits at Sevenhill, 1882-90, involved nineteen Jesuits and had the largest number of Aborigines in mission stations in the Northern Territory Anthropologists praised the Jesuits for their insights and appreciation of Aboriginal culture.
MacKillop completely reorganised the mission. He obtained a new grant of higher and more fertile land on the Daly. abandoned Rapid Creek and concentrated all the missionaries at the new station of St Joseph's or "new Uniya". He installed a pump for irrigation, obtained a sewing machine for making clothes, planted coconuts and vegetables, learned the Larrikiyah language and used it in the small school. Unfortunately, only one adult was baptised in the nine years of the mission at Rapid Creek. When the whole Northern Mission was closed, 78 adults and 197 infants had been baptised, in addition to 78 being baptised in danger of death. If success were measured in terms of baptisms only, then the value of the mission would have to be questioned. He was critical of government for not granting sufficient land and finance to missions in tribal territories.
MacKillop encountered hard times in 1892. He had few funds, was suffering from influenza, and there were food shortages. During June 1893, he went on a tour collecting money and publicising the mission, and returned to the Daly in July 1894 with £800 and a magic lantern. In time he acquired a herd of pigs and a steam engine for sawing and pumping. Tobacco and sugar cane were planted. Leather was made from goat and bullock hides. Despite all this work, the mission was closed in June 1899 after disastrous floods.
MacKillop had been a real pioneer in accumulating knowledge of the religion and customs of the Aborigines. The Jesuits shielded them from exploitation and cruel treatment. Conversions were very slow, yet the influence of the Jesuit missionaries was long remembered. MacKillop's “Anthropological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Daly River, North Australia” was published in the “Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 1892-93”.
During the last years of the mission, MacKillop became unwell and was replaced as superior, going to the Norwood parish, 1897-1901. He spent time in the parishes of Hawthorn, Richmond and Sevenhill. During his final years at Norwood, 1913-25, he was impaired in health, but was a consulter, 1914-21. He said Mass, heard confessions and preached from time to time.
At his death, he was remembered as a man of gifts and attainments, exceptional knowledge of scientific matters, an eloquent preacher, and devoted priest. It is coincidental that the first three Australian Jesuits, MacKillop and the two O'Brien's, John and Thomas, all died in 1925 within a few months of each other.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Donald McKillop SJ 1853-1925
Fr Donald McKillop was born in Western Australia on April 25th 1853. He entered the Austro-Australian Mission in 1872. His sister, with Fr Tennison-Woods founded the congregation known as “The Sisters of St Joseph”, which is widely spread in Australia.

In 1894 Fr Donald was Superior of the Daly River Mission, which had been founded by the Austrian Fathers for the conversion of the Aborigines in the Northern Territory. In 1893 he came south to recruit his health and to collect money for the Mission. He was accompanied by two native boys educated in his own schools. Unfortunately the money collected was lodged in a bank which failed while Fr Donald was at Riverview.

His health was never good and he died at Adelaide on February 2nd 1923.

Born: 30 December 1832, Münzkirchen, Austria
Entered: 06 September 1855, Baumgartenberg Austria (AUT)
Ordained: 1878
Final vows: 02 February 1873
Died: 16 July 1919, St Aloysius, Sevenhill, Adelaide, Australia

Had a brother Cajan who was a Jesuit brother (ASR)

Mission Superior 1882-1888 and 1890-1897

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He belonged originally to the Austrian Province, and when the Irish province took responsibility for Sevenhill and Adelaide for the Irish Mission, he elected to spend his days with the Irish.
He died at Sevenhill 16 July 1919. He was a perfect religious and very hardworking. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the Irish-Australian Mission.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Anthony Reshauer's father was a well-to-do baker, and Anthony was educated at the Jesuit school, Freinberg College, Linz. His brother, Cajetan, afterwards became a Jesuit brother.
Reshauer entered the Society 6 September 1855, at Baumgartenberg, and completed his juniorate at the same place, 1857-8. He studied philosophy at Posen, and theology at Innsbruck, Austria, 1864-68, concluding his course with the 'Grand Act'. He later became a professed father. His regency was undertaken at Kalksburg, teaching natural history, physics and mathematics. After theology he taught at Freinberg, Linz, 1868-70, followed by tertianship at St Andra. He returned to Freinberg, 1871-73.
He was sent to Adelaide, Australia, with Josef Peters in early 1874, and went to Sevenhill where he taught Latin, philosophy and theology. in 1876 he was named visitor of the mission, and the following year became superior of the mission from the Adelaide parish of Norwood. He also engaged in parish work, missions and retreats.
From 1880 to 1881 he went to Georgetown and became superior, 1882-88. He was also procurator and a consulter of the mission during this time. In 1885 he attended the episcopal
Plenary Council at Sydney as a theologian to the local bishop, Dr Reynolds. He returned to the parish of Norwood in 1888, and again became superior of the mission, 1890-97. His final years 1897-1919, were spent at Sevenhill. During these years he was extensively engaged in pastoral work.
At die time of the amalgamation of the Austrian and Irish Mission in 1901, Reshauer chose to remain in South Australia as a member of the Irish Mission. In his later years he became gradually more feeble. He was considered a man highly gifted intellectually in many areas, philosophy, theology, natural science, mathematics, and languages, which he combined with deep humility. He was kind and thoughtful of others. He did not relish high office, yet had his fair share of it. Until the end of his life he rose at 4.30 am and was first into the church to visit the Blessed Sacrament. He lived most abstemiously, but was very generous with others. His room contained only the bare essentials. His retreats were greatly liked, especially by priests. His contribution to the Church and Society in Australia was considerable.

Born: 27 October 1849, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 22 April 1879, Sevenhill, Australia - Austriaco-Hungaricae Province (ASR-HUN)
Ordained: 1872, Rome, Italy - pre Entry
Final Vows: 15 August 1890, Australia
Died: 14 July 1922, Malvern, Melbourne, Australia

Part of the St Ignatius College, Manresa, Norwood, Adelaide, Australia community at the time of death.

Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Australia Mission : 30 September 1894; 11 February 1901-1908; 09 April 1913-1917

◆ Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University online :
Ryan, John (1849–1922)
by Daniel A. Madigan
Daniel A. Madigan, 'Ryan, John (1849–1922)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ryan-john-8314/text14581, published first in hardcopy 1988

Catholic priest

Died : 15 July 1922, Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

John Ryan (1849-1922), Jesuit priest, was born on 27 October 1849 at Limerick, Ireland, only child of Thomas Ryan and his wife Catherine, née Butler. He was educated at The Crescent, Limerick, and, having begun in 1869 his ecclesiastical studies at the Irish College, Rome, was ordained there on 1 November 1874. The training Ryan received there under Monsignor Tobias Kirby rooted him firmly in the tradition of Ireland's Cardinal Cullen and gave him much in common with Australia's Irish episcopacy. Early in 1872 he had been recruited for the diocese of Maitland, New South Wales, by Bishop Murray, but soon after his arrival there in August 1875, he was appointed president of the new St Charles' Seminary at Bathurst. To the delight of its founder, Bishop Matthew Quinn, he set about recreating his Roman Alma Mater in Bathurst. Ryan, who since 1873 had been considering joining the Society of Jesus, was accepted as a novice on 27 March 1879. He made his first vows on 27 April 1881.

By temperament and training Ryan had a concern for order and a talent for administration which proved a windfall for the Jesuit mission in Australia. Considerable expansion in the late 1870s, a shortage of capable manpower from Ireland and the financial burdens brought about by the depression of the 1890s all contributed to the poor state of the mission at the turn of the century. Quite soon after becoming a Jesuit, he was put in positions of authority and responsibility as rector of St Patrick's College, East Melbourne (1886-90), of St Ignatius' College, Riverview, Sydney (1890-97) and of Xavier College, Melbourne (1897-1900). He was often exasperated by the careless administration of his predecessors. During his two terms (1901-08, 1913-17) as superior of the Australian Jesuits his competent administration proved crucial to the survival of their enterprise.

At the same time Ryan continued to serve the Australian Catholic Church at large, which was also facing a period of consolidation. He shared Cardinal Moran's vision of a firmly established and organised Church in which the clergy were well trained and obedient to their bishops, and the laity were adequately cared for and regular in their religious practice—a similar transformation to that wrought by Cullen in Ireland after the famine. With Michael Watson, S.J., Ryan began a devotional magazine, the Australian Messenger of the Sacred Heart, in 1887. His help was enlisted by the Presentation Sisters and later by the Sisters of Mercy in attempts to amalgamate their disparate convents, which the bishops had founded rather haphazardly with sisters recruited ad hoc from Ireland. He was committed to the spiritual formation of the clergy and the religious, through an extensive retreat ministry, and of lay people through the fostering of sodalities and popular devotions. Although Ryan and Daniel Mannix held very different views, Ryan won the respect of the wily prelate in negotiations for the foundation of Newman College at the University of Melbourne. 'Ripe in years and ripe in work', said Mannix, he died at Malvern on 15 July 1922 and was buried in Boroondara cemetery, Kew.

Select Bibliography
U. M. L. Bygott, With Pen and Tongue (Melb, 1980)
Argus (Melbourne), 17 July 1922
Advocate (Melbourne), 20 July 1922
D. A. Madigan, John Ryan, S.J.—a Contribution to Australian Catholicism 1875-1922 (B.A. Hons thesis, Monash University, 1977), and for bibliography.

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Taken from the “Advocate” 20 July 1922
“Born in Limerick 1849, Father Ryan studied at the Irish College Rome, and on the completion of his ecclesiastical studies he came to Australia. There he was appointed President of St Stanislaus College Bathurst before that was handed over to the Vincentians. In April 1879 he was admitted to the Society of Jesus. While Rector in St Patrick’s College Melbourne in 1886, he took charge of a flourishing Sodality there, which included among its members many of the prominent Catholic laymen of the day. During his Rectorate he also established the :Messenger of the Sacred Heart”, which he supervised for many years, which owes much of its success to his careful management.
In 1890 he was transferred to Riveview, and was Rector there until 1897. In June of 1897 he was appointed to take charge of Xavier College, Kew. His period of office there coincided with the difficult times of the land boom, but he triumphed ..... by his sound administration and careful financing.
From 1901-1907 and again 1913-1917 he was Superior of the Australian Mission, and he carried out this office with conspicuous success.
When he finished as Mission Superior he worked in Parishes at Sydney and Adelaide.
In failing health he returned to Melbourne, and he died at Malvern. His friendliness and unfailing kindness won him many friends, and he commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. His long experience and Theological attainments made his opinion of Church, education and general matters much sought for, and he was able to be of great service to the work of the Religious Orders and Church in Australia.
Dr Daniel Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne, presided at the Requiem in Richmond, and at the conclusion said ‘If Father Ryan had his own wish, no words would be uttered over his coffin but the words of the Liturgy. I am not going to violate the spirit of his desire. In Father Ryan we feel that we have all lost a wise counsellor and a trusted and faithful friend. He was well known to the people and Priests of Melbourne, and wherever he was known his character was revered and he was respected. He was not a man to seek popular applause or to attract attention, but, like his Master, he went about doing good unostentatiously and unselfishly, wholly devoted to the work to which his life was consecrated.
He was not an Australian by birth, yet I think that never have I come across any Australian who loved Australia more, or who had more hop in Australia’s future. He was not a Jesuit in the first years of his Ministry, yet I have never come across anyone more truly a Jesuit in heart, mind and soul, and more devoted to the interests of his Society. Were Archbishop Thomas Carr presiding here in my place, I can imagine the words of tender affection in which he would speak of his departed friend. Father Ryan and Archbishop Carr were closely united in their work for many years, and they were closely united in affection. I hope they have now met in a better land where there is no parting. Several times Father Ryan was raised by his own Superiors to the highest position in his Order here in Australia, and when the time came to lay down the burden of Office, he went back into the ranks, the humblest and most zealous of the Priests of the Society.
And so when the last call came for Father Ryan, there was no clinging to life. There was no desire to linger upon the stage when his part had been played. He felt that his work for his Master was done. .......... May we all, but especially the priests of the Society and Melbourne always revere his memory and profit by his example’.”

Note from John Francis O’Brien Entry :
1902 He succeeded Carl Dietel as Superior at Sevenhill. John Ryan Sr wrote “He is very kind and gentle and will look after the old men. He was Superior until 1906.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Among the outstanding Jesuits who established the Society in Australia during its early years was John Ryan, a former priest of the Bathurst diocese who joined the Jesuits on 22 April 1879 at the age of 30. He had been principal of St Stanislaus' College and St Charles Seminary and had studied for the priesthood at the Irish College, Rome.
In his earlier days he had been educated at the Crescent, Limerick, and studied for the secular priesthood at the Irish College, Rome, where he was ordained in 1872. and then returned to Ireland. In 1875, Dr Matthew Quinn, bishop of Bathurst, being in Ireland looking for priests persuaded Ryan to volunteer for Bathurst and to be principal of his projected college and seminary.
Ryan did his noviceship at Sevenhill, 1880-81and then taught at Riverview 1881-1883. After a year living in the parish of North Sydney preparing for his ad grad examinations, he returned to to Riverview teaching Latin, Greek and Italian. However his administrative and financial talents were quickly recognised and he was appointed rector of St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, 1885-90, where he was also prefect of studies and director of the Apostleship of Prayer and the Sodality of Our Lady He also founded the “Australian Messenger of the Sacred Heart, a periodical that continued until the 1970s, and the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary for gentlemen.
He was next appointed rector of Riverview1890-97where he taught for the public examinations and was a mission consultor. From there he went as rector to Xavier College, Kew 1897-1901, and was then appointed superior of the mission1901-08, living at Richmond. After five years working in the parish of Richmond he was appointed superior of the mission for a second time, 1913-17, and then returned to Richmond and parish duties for a second time.
His final residence was in the parish of Norwood where he worked during 1921-22. During his administrative years he also controlled the finances of the college or mission. Few men in the Society were given so many administrative responsibilities.
Ryan's leadership of St Ignatius' College Riverview which coincided with the 1890s Depression, was a time of academic achievement and sporting success. He founded the debating society in 1881. However, there were declining numbers and in 1890 a debt of£25,000 which lasted for many years.
The transfer of Ryan to Xavier College came at one of the most difficult periods in the history of the school. There were only 34 boarders and 40 day boys in June 1897, as well as a debt of £204,000, and an annual deficit of£2000. In a short time the debt was reduced and the number of students increased. He avoided the mistake that a smaller man might have made. He did not check development in the pursuit of economy The grounds were improved and a new pavilion was built. The college joined the Public Schools of Victoria at this time displacing St Patrick’s College. Ryan also launched a new school journal the Xavierian and began the Old Xaverians' Association.
In dealing with the boys, we are told that he was “firm but urbane”. He impressed all by the quiet strength of his manner and though he made a point of leaving details to his subordinates, when he saw fit to act he was determined and unswerving in his decisions. He kept contact with former students, and had a sound knowledge of their future careers.
As superior of the Irish Mission he negotiated due amalgamation of the Austrian and Irish missions, established the Jesuits in the parish of Toowong, Brisbane and founded Newman College, The University of Melbourne. In addition, he moved St Aloysius' College from Bourke Street, Sydney, to Milsons Point, and negotiated very complex and sensitive questions with the Cardinal-Archbishop of Sydney without making an enemy of Cardinal Moran, which showed great wisdom and tact.
Ryan never considered himself suitable for work in schools and asked to be relieved of his leadership position several times. He preferred parish work and enjoyed a fine reputation as a preacher. At these times he particularly worked as a canonist for various religious orders, especially the Sisters of Mercy. He gave retreats and missions as often as the demands of his position permitted.
His main skills were administrative and financial. He was an extremely meticulous person, and even considered himself “fussy” by insisting on correct procedures and religious discipline among the Jesuits. Ryan capably dealt with the financial problems in every house, and highlighted the problems of manpower and staffing. His work contributed significantly to the consolidation of the Irish Mission at the turn of the 20th century.
As a person he defended those in need and, while even severe with himself, was generally large-hearted with others. He was also a man of great faith and devotion. Finally, he had an eye to history, leaving excellent diaries and notes, encouraging Michael Watson to write a history of the mission. He, himself, wrote the narrative of the Richmond Mission. He was a priest of no mean stamina.

Note from Patrick Keating Entry
John Ryan, mission superior, did not lavish praise upon him. He believed him to be good at administration, but not with finances, not overly strict in discipline; firm and decisive, but easily influenced by anyone of strong mind, cool of temper, but not fatherly or sympathetic, somewhat superficial, cold and at times sarcastic, discouraging more than encouraging.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 6th Year No 1 1931

From 23 to 27 August, Riverview celebrated the Golden Jubilee of its foundation... The College was founded in 1880 by Fr. Joseph Dalton, He was “wisely daring enough” to purchase a fine property on Lane Cove from Judge Josephson, The property consisted of a cottage containing eight or nine rooms with substantial out offices, and 44 acres of land, at a cost of £4 500. 54 acres were soon added for £1 ,080, and an additional 20 acres later on completed the transaction. This little cottage was the Riverview College of 1880. The modesty of the start may be measured by the facts, that the founder of Riverview, and its first Rector, shared his own bed-room with three of his little pupils , and when the College played its first cricket out match, it could muster only ten boys to meet the opposing team. By the end of the year the number had increased to 15.
In addition to Fr. Dalton's, two other names are inseparably connected with the foundation of Riverview. The first is that of His Grace, Archbishop Vaughan, who invited the Jesuits to Sydney, formally opened the College and gave the Fathers every encouragement.
The second is the name of the great Australian pioneer, the Archpriest Therry. “One hundred years ago”, says one account : “Fr Therry was dreaming of a Jesuit College in Sydney... and when he went to his reward in 1865 he gave it a special place in his final testament”. Fr Lockington called Frs. Dalton and Therry the “co-founders” of Riverview, and added
that it was the wish of the latter to see Irish Jesuits established at Sydney.
An extract from the Catalogue of 1881 will interest many. It is the first time that Riverview is mentioned as a College in the Catalogue :
Collegium et Convictus S. Ignatius
R. P, Josephus Dalton, Sup a die 1 Dec 1879, Proc_ Oper
P. Thomas Gartlan, Min, etc
P. Joannes Ryan, Doc. 2 class. etc
Henricus O'Neill Praef. mor. etc
Domini Auxiliairii duo
Fr. Tom Gartlan is still amongst us, and, thank God, going strong. Soon a brick building (comprising study hall, class rooms and dormitories) wooden chapel, a wooden refectory, were added to the cottage, and in three years the numbers had swelled to 100, most of them day-boys.
The first stage in the history of Riverview was reached in 1889, when the fine block, that up to a recent date served as the College, was opened and blessed by Cardinal Moran.
The second stage was closed last August, when, amidst the enthusiastic cheering of a great gathering of Old Boys, the splendid building put up by Fr. Lockington was officially declared ready to receive the ever increasing crowd of boys that are flocking into Riverview. The College can now accommodate three times as many students as did the old block finished in 1889. Not the least striking part of the new building is the Great Assembly Hall erected by the Old Boys as a memorial to their school-fellows who died during the Great War.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Ryan 1849-1922
Born in Limerick on October 27th 1849, Fr John Ryan studied in the Irish College Rome, and on the completion of his theological studies, came to Australia. He was appointed President of St Stanislaus College Bathurst, before that institution was handed over to the Vincentian Fathers.

In April 1879 he was admitted to the Society of Jesus. While Rector of St Patrick’s College Melbourne in 1886, he took charge of a flourishing Sodality there, which included among its members, many of the prominent Catholic laymen of the day. During his Rectorate he also established the “Messenger of the Sacred Heart”. He became successively, Rector of Riverview and Xavier Colleges. He was Superior of the Mission for two periods, 1901-1907 and 1913-1917. On relinquishing office he returned to parochial work at Richmond and Adelaide.

His geniality and unfailing kindness won him many warm friends, and he commanded great respect in all ranks of society. His long experience and theological attainments made his opinion on Church, educational and general matters much sought for, and he was of great service to the work of the Religious Orders and the Catholic Church in Australia.

Archbishop Mannix said of him in his funeral oration : “He was not a Jesuit in the first years of his ministry, yet I have never come across anyone more truly a Jesuit in heat, mind and soul, and more devoted to the interests of the Society”.

He died at Melbourne in July 1922.

◆ The Xaverian, Xavier College, Melbourne, Australia, 1922

Obituary

Father John Ryan SJ

Father John Ryan was a native of Ireland, having been born at Limerick in 1849. He made his studies for the priesthood at the Irish College, Rome, and after his ordination he came to Australia. He had experience in administration at St Stanislaus' College, Bathurst, of which he was appointed President before the college was handed over to the direction of the Vincentian Fathers. In April, 1879, he entered the Society of Jesus. In 1886 he became Rector of St Patrick's College, Melbourne, where he took charge of the sodality, which included amongst its members many of the prominent Catholic laymen of the city. There he founded the “Messenger”, a permanent apostolate that lives after him. In 1890 he went as Rector to St Ignatius' College, Riverview, Sydney, where he remained for seven years. In June, 1897, he was appointed Rector of Xavier College. He came at a time when his administrative ability was particularly called for. The Melbourne schools were all suffering as a result of the depression consequent on the land boom. Numbers had fallen with startling suddenness, and financial difficulties were grave. He brought the school through these difficult years with the greatest skill, and in a short time under his government, difficulties were overcome and the school began to grow again. But he avoided the mistake that a smaller man might have made. He did not check development in the pursuit of economy, Believing that the future of the school was assured, he did not hesitate to make ready for the coming years. Under his Rectorship the grounds were greatly improved. The new pavilion was built near its present site. The staff was also steadily strengthened. It was during his time that the step was taken of joining the Associated Public Schools of Victoria and finding that the school journal, “Our Annals”, had ceased to appear, he brought “The Xaverian" into existence and was practically Editor of the first number. He also promoted the foundation of the Old Xaverians Association and was present at the gathering which brought it into being. It is only in these later years that one can see how far-sighted he was and how thoroughly he appreciated the place the school was destined to hold. Īu all these efforts he had the constant help of Mr, now Fr Bernard Page SJ, who shared with him his wide views of the school's future. With the boys he was firm but urbane. While he lacked the dignified presence of his predecessor, the Rev Thomas Browne SJ, he impressed by the quiet strength of his manner, and though he made a point of leaving details to his subordinates, when he saw fit to act, he was determined and unswerving in his decisions. In 1901, after four years of fruitful work, he was appointed Superior of the Australian Jesuits, a post which he held till 1907, and which he again filled from 1913 to 1917. During these years he remained in very close touch with the school, and took the greatest interest in its general and athletic progress. He kept always a great interest in the boys who had passed under him, and had a most accurate knowledge of their careers.. When not engaged in government, he was occupied in the parishes of Richmond and Norwood, and had much to do as a canonist with the work of various Religious Orders. His health failed in Adelaide, and he was for some time seriously ill. When better he was transferred to Sydney, but while in Melbourne on the way to Sydney he again became seriously ill. He was placed in St Benedict's Hospital, Malvern, with the Sisters of Mercy, in whose work and organisation he had always been specially interested. There he sank gradually and died on July 15. A very large gathering attended the Office at St. Ignatius' Church, Richmond, the boys being represented by the school prefects. After the Requiem, His Grace the Archbishop spoke feelingly of the work Fr Ryan had done for the Church in Australia, and then gave the Final Absolution. Fr Ryan was buried in Booroondara Cemetery, Kew, May he rest in peace.