Born: 04 July 1844, Siracusa (Syracuse), Sicily, Italy
Entered: 23 December 1859, Naples Italy - Neapolitanae Province (NAP)
Ordained: 1875
Professed: 15 August 1877
Died 13 September 1888, St Ignatius College, Las Vegas NM, USA - Neapolitanae Province (NAP)

2nd year Novitiate at Milltown (HIB) under Luigi Sturzo following the expulsion of Jesuits from Naples and Sicily

Born: 23 October 1583. County Meath
Entered: 23 October 1604, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM) & Naples, Italy - Neapolitan Province (NAP)
Ordained: 1610, Naples, Italy
Final vows: 1624
Died: 17 July 1644, Drogheda, County Louth - Described as "Martyr"

Uncle of Nicholas Nettweville, RIP 1697 and Christopher Netterville, RIP 1651

Originally received into Society by Fr Bernard Olivier on 30 August 1604. Then received 23 October 1604 at Novitiate in Rome , and after 1st Probation 22 November 1604 went to Naples to continue Aged 22
1606-1611 In Naples College studying Logic, 3 years Philosophy and 3 Theology
1617 In Meath Age 35 Soc 13
1621 CAT In Meath Age 38 Soc 17 Mission 7. Strength middling. Good talent and judgement. Not very circumspect. Sanguineus and rather lazy. A Preacher
1625 At Irish College Lisbon
1622-1637 In Dublin district
Master of Arts, Minister 3 years, Irish Mission 12

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was Minister in Naples
1615 Came to Ireland from Sicily
1621 In Kildare
Dragged from his bed by the rebel Parliamentary soldiers at Drogheda 15 June 1649, cruelly beaten with clubs, causing his death four days layer aged 67. (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS, IER. Tanner’s “Martyr SJ” and Drew’s “Fasti SJ”)
A most meritorious Missioner (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1606-1612 After First Vows he studied at Naples where he was Ordained 1610, ad then he did for two further years of study at Naples.
1613-1614 Made Tertianship at the College of Massa.
1614-1615 He was sent to Ireland with John Shee, but illness kept him at Bordeaux until 1615
1615-1623 Arrived in Ireland and the Dublin Residence, exercising Ministry in the surrounding Counties of Kildare and Meath.
1623-1625 He set out for Spain bringing a group of Irish Seminarians for the Irish Colleges. On arrival he secured interviews with the Ambassador of England and the secretary of the Prince of Wales for whom negotiations were in progress to conclude a marriage agreement with one of the Spanish Infantas. In these interviews he received reassurances that religious persecution would cease in Ireland as soon as the royal match was made. In August of that same year he went to the Irish College, Lisbon, and during his stay there was accused by the Archbishop of Cashel/Dublin of failing in impartiality with regard to the admission of students from the four provinces of Ireland to the Irish Colleges of the Peninsula. One outcome was that he was called back to Ireland in the Spring of 1625
1625-1641 Returned to Ireland and Dublin until the City was controlled by the Puritans
1641 He was based in North Leinster. He was captured and put to death by Scots Covenanters under Munroe who made an incursion as far as North Westmeath in June and July 1644.
The correct Date of Death is 17 July 1644. Some Jesuit writers gave his year of death at 1649 to coincide with the massacre at Drogheda. It is probable that the Roman necrologist mistook Netterville for Robert Bathe, who died in Kilkenny 1649

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Robert Netterville SJ 1583-1649
Robert Netterville was born in Meath in 1583, brother of Viscount Netterville and uncle of Frs Nicholas and Christopher Netterville. He became a Jesuit in 1604 in Italy.

For the rest of his life he was stationed at our Residence in Drogheda. When that city was besieged by Cromwell, Fr Robert was now an old man and confined to bed with his infirmities. But old age and infirmity did not save him from the fury of the Cromwellians. He was dragged from his bed and trailed along the ground, being violently knocked against each obstacle that presented itself on the way. Then he was beaten with clubs, and when many of his bones were broken he was cast on the highway. Catholics came during the night, bore him away and hid him somewhere. Four days after, having fought the good fight, he departed as we would expect to receive the martyr’s crown.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
NETTERVILLE, ROBERT. This venerable old man, rich in labors and merits, was dragged from his bed by the Parliamentary soldiers at Drogheda, on the 15th of June, 1619, and so unmercifully beaten with clubs, that he died four days later “Per domum raptatus, tum fustibus contusus, effractisque ad collum et humcros ossibus (15 Junii, 1649) relictus est semivivus, et quarto post die abiit è vita”.
Ex libro Collectancorum signato F. olim in Archiv, Coll. Angl. Romae. - See Tanner , Drews.

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

Chaplain in the Second World War.

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

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 16th Year No 4 1941

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

Irish Province News 17th Year No 1 1942

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

Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946

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

Irish Province News 54th Year No 2 1979

Obituary :

Fr Conal Kieran Murphy (1902-1979)

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

Born: 28 March 1828, Benada Abbey, County Sligo
Entered: 16 November 1850, Hodder, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 1857
Professed: 01 May 1868
Died: 12 January 1893, Loyola, Guipúzkoa, Spain - Angliae Province (ANG)

Younger Brother of Daniel RIP 1869 Milltown; Cousin of Nicholas Gannon - RIP 1882

Provincial of English Province 1876; Had been appointed Father General's English Assistant in 1892

Son of Daniel and Maria née MacDonnell (daughter of Miles of Carnacon, Co Mayo). Brother of Daniel RIP 1869 Milltown

◆ The Clongownian, 1899

Four Jesuits among our Past

The last number of “The Clongownian” contained some account of our Past in the Army, an account which, though extended, has proved by no means exhaustive. It is now proposed to give a similar record of four members of another societas militans, though their warfare is not of this world.

Elsewhere in this number will be found mention of Father James Jones, spoken of by Father William Bullen Morris, of the Oratory, his schoolfellow here fifty years ago. He was born at Benada Abbey, in Sligo, less than a year before the Emancipation Act. The Abbey was an Augustinian foundation of 1423, and was bestowed under James I on a zealous Protestant, Sir Roger Jones, of Ruthin, in Wales. The property, however, after many years, passed to a Catholic heir, the father of James Jones and of his brother Daniel, a Jesuit of the Irish province, who was Minister in Clongowes when James was one of the scholars, and who died just after his nomination as Provincial. Benada Abbey was made over in 1858 to the Irish Sisters of Charity, a congregation which two sisters of the donors had entered.

James Jones came to Clongowes in 1843 with his cousin, Nicholas Gannon, and spent six years in the College. In the earlier part of his course his classmate was Father Robert Carbery SJ, who has written elsewhere of him in the following terms :

“He was a fine, tall, rattling young fellow, full of life and fun, ready for every kind of venture. His doings at that time would read more like fiction than fact. But in all this there was not the slightest derogation from virtue. I remember, in after years, when he came home from Demerara, and we were talking over school days, he said to me that he often thought, with amazement and with gratitude to God, of the wonderful innocence and modesty in conversation of all our old companions at Clongowes. He left school in 1849, and spent about a year in Dublin. His friends were amazed when they heard of his departure in November, 1850, for St Acheul, where he began his novitiate. But at the same time they all agreed that he would make a splendid Jesuit”.

Novitiate over, Mr James Jones went to St Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, for rhetoric and philosophy, and there, in and out of the lecture-room, he was “a foremost, eager, and subtle disputant”. In 1855 he was in Sicily threatened with pulmonary disease, and in 1857 went to the still warmer climate of Guiana as a missioner; and the last of the four years spent there found him Vicar-General.

In 1861 he returned to Europe, fairly restored to health, and finished his studies. 1865 saw him Superior of the Jamaica mission, and in 1871 he became Professor of Theology at St Bueno's, where he was also three years Rector, till 1876, when he was appointed Provincial in England. At that epoch this office, never a light one, was a position of unusual responsibility, and he was not sorry when, in 1880, he returned to his twofold office at St Bueno's. He was Rector till 1885, and Professor till 1892, when he was elected to go to the twenty-fourth general congregation of the Society, the first ever held at Loyola, in Spain. There he was elected to the important position or Assistant of the Father General for the English-speaking provinces and missions. But before the congregation concluded his health rapidly grew worse, and he was unable to leave Loyola, where he died on January 12, 1893.

His writings were chiefly on theological subjects, the best known being his answer to Dr Littledale, of Liverpool, entitled “Dishonest Criticism, being a Chapter of Theology on Equivocation, and on doing Evil for a Good Cause”, a book declared by a non-Catholic critic to be the best of its kind since Newman's “Apologia”. He was a frequent contributor, too, to the Tablet and the Month on scholastic subjects. The present Rector of St. Bueno's, Father Rickaby, writes, in answer to our inquiries for a photograph of Father Jones, that he seems to have had a great aversion to the camera, and once, at a Synod at Wstminster, saved himself from the photographer by flight. One photograph, however, we learn of as having existed and as we write there is still some hope that it may be recovered. would be a deep pleasure to have a permanent memorial of a Clongownian 'beloved by all for his warm-hearted generosity, his genuine humility, and strong principles, tempered by considerate charity.

Born: 29 March 1817, Cobh, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1834, Hodder, Stonyhurst, England (ANG)
Ordained: by 1847
Final Vows: 02 February 1858
Died: 26 December 1858, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly

by 1844 in Rome Studying
by 1847 in St Paul’s Malta

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early education was at Clongowes - “Here he made such rapid strides at his books, that in a short time he had few equals in class” (Biographer). All through school he was noted for his remarkable talent, piety and good conduct. he Entered the Society in his 17th year, 07 September 1834.

After First Vows he was sent to teach Humanities and Mathematics, doing this for a number of years until his health broke down. A man of resolute character, this quality helped him deal with his illness. He was sent to Rome for a change of air, and hopefully to pursue his Priestly studies. He was advised to go for these to Sicily and later to Malta, after which he was Ordained. He then returned to Ireland and Tullabeg, both to teach and as Operaius at the new Church attached to the College. He was also Minister there for a while. he spent all his spare time on the Confessional, and eventually was appointed to concentrate solely on this work. Crowds came to him. He was kind and sympathetic in manner, and helped many troubled souls. The people looked on him as a kind of “Thaumaturgus” (miracle worker), and many are the stories related of him. Some years before his death his health failed him again, and he had to give up this work in the Confessional. He had a long and painful illness, though throughout he never complained. Worn out, he died 26 December 1858.
The crowds at his funeral were immense. His remains were first interred in the College grounds in a cemetery near the Church. Alfred Murphy had been a pupil of his at Tullabeg, and held him in such high esteem, that when he became Rector there, he had a special vault built on the Gospel side in the Church, and John was reinterred there.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Cunningham SJ 1817-1858
John Cunningham was born at the Cobh of Cork on March 29th 1817. At Clongowes “He made such rapid strides in his studies that he had few equals in class”. He entered the Society in 1834, being then 17 years old.

After his noviceship he was sent to teach Humanities and Mathematics. He continued at this for some years until his health broke down. To improve his health he was sent abroad to Rome, Sicily and Malta. Ordained a priest, he returned to Tullabeg as professor and operarius in the newly built church attached to the College. He spent all his spare time in the confessional, till he was finally assigned to this work alone. Crowds came to him from all sides.The people looked at him as a kind of “Thaumaturgus”, and many are the stories related of him.

His health failing, he had to spend work in the church. He had a long illness, crowned by a long and bitter agony. Worn out in body and mind, he expired on St Stephen’s Day 1856. The crowds of people at his funeral were immense. His remains were interred first in a cemetery in the College grounds. Later on, Fr Alfred Murphy, who had been a pupil of his, had a special vault built in the church on the Gospel side, whither his remains were re-interred.

He died with the reputation of a saint and miracle worker.