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Born: 1550, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 25 May 1581, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: c. 1577 Louvain, Belgium, - before Entry
Died: 19 February 1620, Irish College, Santiago de Compostela, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Uncle of James Butler - RIP 1639

2 yrs Theology in Rome, concentrating on Moral;
In the Roman College 1584; at Pont-à-Mousson as Minister and student confessor, Campaniae Province (CAMP) 1586-7- moved to Nancy 1587 due to danger of war;
First Rector of Salamanca;
famous Missioner in Ireland during “Tyrone war”;
Bruxelles et Castrensis Mission in 1590;
at Salamanca in 1603;
At Bilbao - Castellanae Province (CAST) - in 1614 - Prefect of Irish Mission;
Irish College Salamanca in 1619 and then died in Santiago 15 February 1620.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
First Rector of Salamanca ad great promoter of education; A Most celebrated man whose name was very dear to Irishmen, and with whom he possessed unbounded influence.
He was a famous Missioner in Ireland during the War of Tyrone
In 1617 he was in Castellanae Province (CAST).
Succeeded Fr Thomas White as rector of Salamanca 1592-1605
His name also appears incidentally in the State Papers, Public Record Office, London, 1592, 1594.
He is highly eulogised in a report of Irish Affairs addressed by Capt Hugh Mostian to Louis Mansoni, the Papal Nuncio for Ireland, towards the latter end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. (Oliver’s “Collectanea” from Stonyhurst MSS. Oliver also refers to several of Archer’s letters as still extant)
1606 Archer was constituted the first Prefect of the Irish Mission in the National College, Rome (Irish Ecclesiastical Record April 1872, July 1874 and a biography September 1874)

Note from Bl Dominic Collins Entry
After First Vows he was sent to Ireland as a companion to James Archer, who was a Chaplain to the Spanish invading force sent by Philip III of Spain. He was taken prisoner and rejected the overtures to reject his faith he was hanged (at Cork or Youghal).

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
He had studied at Louvain and was Ordained some time before March 1577. Before he entered the Society he was already a Master of Arts. When he returned to Ireland in 1577, he remained for at least he next eighteen months. He was at Kilmallock, 21 August 1578, when he assisted the Franciscan, Father Conrad Rourke, the eve of his death “in odium fidei”
After First Vows, Archer was deputed to revise his studies at the Roman College and Pont-à-Mousson. At the latter place he served also as Minister of the community and the student-boarders. It would seem that his Superiors were grooming him for professorial duties - However...
1590 By May he was serving as a military chaplain at Brussels
1592 He was sent to Spain to take charge of the newly founded Irish College, Salamanaca.
1596 He returned to Ireland to raise funds there for Salamanca College but his contacts with the Irish chieftains won for him the repute of a political intriguer and the hatred of the administration at Dublin. There can be no doubt that his sympathies lay with the Old Irish whose cause he saw was bound up with the survival of the Catholic Church in the country. He seems to have met Hugh O'Neill about the time of the battle of the Yellow Ford and was later at the camp of the Earl of Desmond. The MacCarthy Mor stated that Archer, by letter, solicited him to rise in rebellion.
1600-1602 He left Ireland for Rome, 20 July, but returned with the fleet of Juan Del Aguila, 23 September 1601 and remained until July 1602. Before his return to Spain he reported to the General on the state of Ireland.
1602-1612 Returned to Spain he held various posts in the Irish College, Salamanca, but seems also to have spent much time questing for the support of the Irish students. For a time he was stationed at Bilbao to win the support of new benefactors of the Irish colleges of the Peninsula.
His later years were spent at Santiago where he died, 19 February 1620

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Archer, James
by C. J. Woods

Archer, James (1550–1620), Jesuit priest and administrator, was born at Kilkenny and belonged, it can be deduced, to a patrician family prominent in that city. To prepare for an ecclesiastical career he went (c.1564) to the Spanish Netherlands, to Louvain, a hotbed of the new militant catholic theology and a strong influence on attempts at extending the counter-reformation to England. On his return to Ireland (1577) he was considered by the English authorities there to be a danger to the Elizabethan church settlement. Undoubtedly he had some sympathy with principals of the Desmond rebellion.

In 1581 Archer entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, continuing his studies there before moving (1585) to Pont-à-Mousson in the duchy of Lorraine, where there was a small seminary for Irish and Scottish students. Showing talent mainly as a confessor and administrator, he was sent (1587) to minister to the 1,200 Irish, English, and Scottish soldiers in the so-called Irish regiment, whom their commander, Sir William Stanley (qv), had persuaded to forsake the English service for the Spanish. The activities of Stanley and his entourage were an aggravating circumstance in the Spanish threat to Elizabeth I's England. Archer was said to have been involved in an alleged plot to murder the queen.

At the close of 1592 he went to Spain. After visiting the royal court at Madrid, he settled in Salamanca, the seat of Spain's foremost university, and took over the administration of the Irish college being founded there. In 1596 he returned to Ireland to seek money for the college and to explore the possibility of re-establishing a Jesuit mission. He was obliged to lie low in the countryside and eventually to join Hugh O'Neill (qv), whose rebellion had been raging since 1593. On all sides he acquired a legendary reputation. Summoned to Rome (1600) to give an account of his mission, he acted also as an envoy of O'Neill. In 1601 he was back in Spain, involved in planning the Spanish military expedition to Ireland as well as settling differences among the Irish at Salamanca. Archer was a member of the force numbering 4,432 men that headed for Kinsale in September. For the defeat of the expedition he blamed the commander, Juan del Águila (qv). Archer left Ireland for Spain in July 1602; his views about the failure of the enterprise were heeded at first, but when Águila was exonerated and peace was made with England (1603) his career as a negotiator for Spanish aid for Irish rebels was over. Although his Jesuit superior would not allow him to return to Ireland, rumours abounded there of his presence.

The rest of his life was given, as ‘prefect of the mission’, to the Irish seminaries in the Iberian peninsula. Once again Archer had to deal with differences among the Irish catholics: the Old English were accused by the Old Irish of unfairness towards them, and the Jesuits were accused by other clerics of self-preferment. Archer's work in Spain bore fruit in 1610 when the Spanish authorities built a new college for the Irish in Salamanca, the Colegio de los Nobles Irlandeses, to which the king gave his support. Archer spent his last years at Santiago de Compostela. It was at the Irish college there that he died on 15 February 1620.

Although he was a man of no more than moderate ability and an indifferent scholar, Archer had qualities that served to make him an important figure in the Irish counter-reformation: he was phlegmatic and a good administrator; he had some influence at the Spanish court and, thanks to his experience in Ireland in the 1590s, the confidence of both of the rival groups of Irish Catholics – Old English and Old Irish. Only a few letters of James Archer survive, and there is no known portrait or even a verbal description.

Thomas J. Morrissey, James Archer of Kilkenny, an Elizabethan Jesuit (1979)

Note from Bl Dominic Collins Entry
In February 1601 he made his first religious profession and seven months later was appointed by his superiors to join the Irish mission, as Fr James Archer (qv) had specifically asked for him, perhaps due to his previous military experience and also his Spanish contacts. Archer had been described by Sir George Carew (qv), president of Munster, as ‘a chief stirrer of the coals of war’ (Morrissey, Studies, 318) and was being constantly sought out by government agents. Collins's association with him was to prove dangerous. He sailed with the Spanish expedition to Ireland on 3 September 1601, one of the commanders being Don Juan del Aguila, to whom Collins had surrendered Lapena in 1598. The flotilla with which he travelled arrived late at Castlehaven due to bad weather. After the defeat of the Irish and Spanish forces at Kinsale, Collins finally met Archer in February 1602 at the castle of Gortnacloghy, near Castlehaven

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/jesuitica-jumping-jesuits/

JESUITICA: Jumping Jesuits

Travellers in the Beara Peninsula will remember the Priest’s Leap, a mountain cliff in the townland of Cummeenshrule, where (around 1600 AD) a priest on horseback escaped from pursuing soldiers by a miraculous leap, which landed him on a rock near Bantry. Was the lepper a Jesuit? One tradition claims him as James Archer SJ; another as Blessed (Brother) Dominic Collins. In view of some dating difficulties, one can only say: pie creditur – a common phrase in Latin hagiographies, meaning “It is piously believed…”!

◆ James B Stephenson SJ The Irish Jesuits Vol 1I 1962

FATHER JAMES ARCHER SJ 1550-1625
Few men played a greater part than Father James Archer in the tremendous effort to smash the growing power of England in Ireland that marked the closing years. of the sixteenth century. Arriving in Ireland in 1596, he found the country already in the throes of war. The Tudors. had by this time realised that England could not be safe unless Ireland were subjugated. By the end of the sixteenth century, England had shaken off the last shackles of medieval restraints and had emerged as one or the strongest powers in Europe, The threats of Spain and the Pope had been warded off, and England was looked upon as the leader and head of Protestant Europe. It was at this time that she turned her face in real earnest towards Ireland.

The history of the Reformation in Ireland during the sixteenth century can be told briefly. The reform movements of Henry VIII and Edward, his son, were a complete failure. Neither of these kings had sufficient political control outside the Pale to enforce their authority, and even within the boundaries of the Pale the movement made little progress. During the reign of Mary the Catholic Church again flourished, though the confiscated monasteries were not restored. In 1558 Elizabeth succeeded to the throne of England,. Prior to her succession, she had never shown any remarkable zeal for religion. As queen, what she desired pre-eminently was peace and harmony. For the first years of her reign, her position in England was too insecure to permit her to embark on any intensive persecution of the Catholics, The clergy, however, were subject to a persecution that varied all through her reign; it was intensified or slackened according to the political circumstances of the moment. Up to 1578 religion did not play a vital part in opposing the anglicisation of Ireland. Gradually from that time on, it became more and more important, until finally in the reign of James I the Catholics, both Irish and Anglo-Irish, clung to their faith as the only part of the heritage that had been left. So too it was religion that at the beginning of the next century was to unite the two races, by inciting them both to oppose the alien creed. Later it was on the rock of her Faith, preserved and enlivened at this time, that the nationality of Ireland was founded.

Perhaps before we examine the work of Fr Archer, a word on the state of religion in Ireland during the sixteenth century may not be out of place. It is certain that it was not a very vital force in the lives of many of the people. They were Catholics More by custom than by conviction. Here is one account left by Dr Tanner, who had to leave the Society of Jesus owing to ill-health and who was later appointed Bishop of Cork: “He (Dr Tanner) is assured by grave men that during all this time not a hundred Irishmen in all Ireland have been infected with heresy, though not a few ... attend the profane rites of the heretics, and the demoralisation of the people is such that a pious Catholic is hardly to be found; and no wonder since the clergy are the most depraved or all. Moreover, there is so little instruction to be had in the Christian Faith that few can so much as repeat the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of the Faith, or the commandments, and still fewer understand them. Sermons are so uncommon that there are many that have never so much as heard one. The Sacraments are rarely administered. In fine so gross is the ignorance of the people that there are many who, passing all their lives in the grossest sin, have grown accustomed thereto”.

In general we may conclude that religion was dormant in Ireland at the end of the sixteenth century. The people indeed had the Faith and seemed eager for instructions and there is no evidence of anti clericalism as in England. On the contrary, the priests were generally loved and would always find a safe shelter among the people, who had seen so many of them give up their lives for the Faith. But unfortunately, many of the priests were not active. The morals of the people were often depraved. There was little scope for Catholic education. The monasteries for the most part had been dissolved. The external organisation of the Church was shattered, and the wars had increased the laxity and poverty of the people. But the light of Faith had been kept glowing by the zealous labours of the Friars and the heroic priests and bishops who had endured persecution and death to shield, their flocks. This then was the state of the country, political and religious, when in 1597 Fr James Archer landed in Waterford to inaugurate what was to become the first permanent mission of the Society of Jesus in Ireland.

James Archer was born in Kilkenny in 1550. He attended the school of the famous Dr Peter White or that town, where the young Archer seems to have been a distinguished scholar. Very little is known of his career for the next fifteen years. In 1577 he was at Louvain, but in the following year he was back again in Ireland. On the 25 May 1581 he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, and the next we hear of him is that in 1592 he was at Pont-à-Mousson with Fathers Richard Fleming, Richard de la Field and Christopher Hollywood, all Irish Jesuits. In the same year he was sent to Spain to collaborate with other Irish Jesuits in the foundation of the famous Irish college at Salamanca, which was instituted for the training of secular priests for the home mission. He remained there until 1596, when he was sent back to Ireland with Fr Henry Fitzsimon to re-open the Jesuit mission there which had lapsed for ten years.

Almost immediately after his arrival in Ireland, Fr Archer went northward to meet Hugh O'Neill, who was already in rebellion against Elizabeth. Archer looked upon the '”Nine Years War” as a crusade against the heretic queen. Therefore, during the few years that he was in Ireland, he strove to the utmost of his powers to unite the Irish under the leadership of Tyrone and to induce the Spaniards to send aid, His influence with the Irish chief's during these years was of paramount importance. He was looked upon by the English as one of their most dangerous enemies, and they laid several traps to ensnare him. If we were to rely on official contemporary documents alone, we should imagine that Archer was a traitorous intriguer and an enemy to all stability and good government. From other sources we can see that he was, first and foremost, a zealous missionary for the Faith.

In his first letter to his General in Rome, written on 10 August 1598, he gives an account of the precarious life he was leading even at this early stage. “The Government”, he says “hates me very much, hunts me very often in frequent raids, and has set a price on my head. This forces me to live in the woods and in hiding-places. I cannot even return to Spain, as merchants are afraid to receive me into their vessels, for they know well that there are spies in every port on the look-out for me”. Then he goes on to describe his missionary work: “I have already heard many thousand confessions, and have instructed an uncultivated and rude people. I brought back some to the Church and reconciled a noble person and his wife, and thus put a stop to dangerous dissentions which existed among members of both families who were leading men in the land, I administered the Sacraments in the camp, and it is marvellous to see the crowds that cone from the surrounding districts to hear Mass and go to Confession”.

In the beginning of the year 1598, the informer William Paule notified Lord Justice Loftus of the activities of Archer. He said that Jesuit lurked sometimes in Munster with Lord Roche and sometimes in Tipperary with Lord Mountgarrett. Paule urged Loftus to induce these Lords to betray Archer. Alternatively he suggested that the Protestant Bishop of Kilkenny should be ordered to capture him when he visited his friends in that town. Warning Loftus that Archer was wary, Paule informed him that the priest knew that his enemies were searching for him. Paule further suggested that he should have no scruple in killing Archer if he resisted arrest. Even at this early date, Fr Archer had attained to a position of outstanding influence with the Irish chieftains. He had already been universally accepted by them and an able adviser and true friend and had won the esteem and affection of the Irish people. He was equally hated and feared by their enemies.

In October 1598, Archer was mentioned in a despatch as “the chief stirrer of these coals (i.e., conspiracies) and promises to many the coming of forces from Spain”. He certainly did not spare himself in his effort to unite the Irish chiefs in their struggle against England, the common foe. In November 1598, he succeeded in inducing the Baron of Cahir to join the rebellion against Elizabeth. He hoped that by Easter 1599 “we, and such as be of our Catholic confederacy, shall be masters of all the cities, towns and forts in Ireland”. His reasons for the war throw a flood of light on his attitude to politics, and afford a convincing refutation of those who doubted his motives. They were first to restore the Catholic Church to its former position in Ireland; second, to repair the injuries done by the English to the Catholic nobility and gentry of Ireland; and finally to place a Catholic Prince on the throne of Ireland. Did Archer hope to set up Hugh O'Neill as High King of all Ireland or did he intend to make Ireland a vassal state of Spain? We do not know. The concepts of nationality, and a national state were only being moulded in the minds of men at this very time. It is even doubtful whether men like James Fitzmaurice or even Hugh O'Neill himself conceived it. Nationality in Ireland takes its origin from the religious persecutions of the seventeenth century; yet undoubtedly there existed in the sixteenth century some tendency towards local patriotism, especially as opposed to English tyranny. It is difficult to state definitely the motives and desires that agitated the mind of Archer during these years. One thing is certain that he considered freedom from English rule as essential to the spiritual welfare of Ireland.

In December 1598, Archer and his constant companion Bishop Creagh were accused of inciting the whole province of Munster to rebel. So great was his influence that his name had already come to the notice of Elizabeth, who charged him with “raising her subjects to rebellion”. Soon afterwards Elizabeth was again informed that the Irish priests, especially Archer “the Pope's Legate”, had assured the lords and chieftains who supported the queen or who remained neutral that after the war they would receive no better treatment from the English than the rebels. In this way they hoped to alienate her subjects from their allegiance. Rewards were offered for the capture of Archer, dead or alive. O'Neill's crushing victory at the Yellow Ford on the 15 August 1598 had shaken the loyalty of many supporters of the English. Archer's influence was more pernicious than ever. He was constantly on the move, visiting now one chieftain, now another. Several attempts were made to capture him, but all miscarried. Soon after his arrival in Ireland he had been arrested. He had managed to escape however and had determined never again to fall into the hands of his enemies. He can easily imagine the precarious position in which he was placed by the constant watch of spies, especially in areas where the Irish chieftains were not openly hostile to the Crown. But, through the goodwill and ever-watchful care of the Irish people, he escaped unscathed - though often at the last moment. His capture was looked upon by the Government as vitally important, his life being deemed of greater value to the Irish than those of the chieftains themselves. In 1600, in a report of Captain Hugh Mostian who had been won over by Archer from the English side, we read that “Archer by his sole authority as a private religious brought more comfort to the Irish than a great force of soldiers could do, and that the voice of the people gave him the title of Legate, At his nod the hearts of men are united and held together not only in the territory of Berehaven and all Munster, but in the greater part of the Kingdom ...”

In 1600 occurred a famous incident - the capture of the Earl of Ormonde by Owny O'More. The circumstances connected with the plot are fully described in the Calendar of Carew MSS. and elsewhere. Fr Archer happened to be staying with O'More when the latter captured Ormonde. There is no evidence to prove the charge that he was the instigator of the act. Naturally enough he was blamed by the English for having contrived the treachery and for refusing to liberate the Earl; although, according to them, some other Jesuits desired his release. He was also described as Ormande's “bed-fellow” and was said to have tried to convert him, which seems to be true. Several years later Ormonde was converted by two Irish Jesuits, Frs O'Kearney and Wale.

Early in 1600 Archer was summoned to Rome to give an account of the Irish Jesuit mission. It is strange that he should have been called away at such a critical juncture in the history of Ireland. Possibly the General in Rome did not fully realise what was at stake at the moment, or perhaps he night have thought that the final victory had already been won by the Irish. In a letter to the General, written by the Superior of the Mission, Fr Richard de la Field, an extremely cautious and conservative man, we read of Archer: “He has been a source of light and help in our work here. He has always lived with these Irish lords who are endeavouring to promote the interests of religion, and in consequence he is the object of an intense hatred of the Queen's officials and of the army. His presence here at the same time is very necessary for the advancement of the Catholic Faith in these calamitous times. It is important for us that he should be sent back as soon as possible. This letter is very valuable as coming from one who, at this time, was himself hesitating as to what side he should support in the conflict. It rightly stresses the spiritual nature of Archer's work, for it was that which predominated in all his other activity.

Of Archer's visit to Rome we know nothing. He was back again in Ireland in a few months, as his spies obligingly informed us. It was falsely reported to Cecil that Archer was returning from Rome armed with a Bull of Excommunication against all those who supported Elizabeth in the war. A few months later Cecil was again informed that Archer had landed in Ireland and was inciting the people to revolt. On his return he was again almost captured; but, as often before, he managed to escape his pursuers, Sir George Carew reported that Archer's arrival foreshadowed the advent of a Spanish fleet and the renewal of the war in Ireland. From an account given by his confrère, Brother Dominic Collins SJ, we learn that Archer actually did return to Ireland with Spanish help. His influence with the Irish soldiers was again evinced when, on the 29 May 1602, Carew informed Cecil that but for Archer many of them would have returned to their homes after the defeat at Kinsale or would have gone over to the side of the English. “Every day”', says Carew, “he devises letters and intelligences out of Spain, assuring them of succour, and once a week confirms new leagues and seals them with the Sacrament”. In another letter written by Carew we find the following amusing passage: “If Archer have the art of conjuring, I think he hath not been idle; but ere long I hope to conjure him. The country of Beare is full of witches; between them and Archer I do believe the devil hath been raised to serve their turn”. Even in defeat the English feared him. They seemed to have believed that he possessed superhuman powers, that he could walk on the sea and fly through the air. His name should have been not Archer but “Archdevil!” One can readily imagine the fate that awaited Archer, had he been captured. Shortly before this time he “was very near taken by a draught laid by the Lord Lieutenant, but happily escaped”.

In a report of Robert Atkinson, an informer and pervert, we got another account of Archer's activities. He says that he met Archer in Ireland when the latter was “chief commander of the Irish troops, horse and foot”. He also states that Archer commanded for his own guard as many men as he pleased, especially for “any bloody actions to be done upon the English Nation”. There is no evidence to show that Archer ever took part with the Irish soldiers in the actual fighting. Atkinson further states that Archer was commonly called the Pope's Legate and was Archprelate over all the clergy of the provinces of Munster, Leinster and the territory of the O'Neills. By others, he says, he was called Tyrone's Confessor, just as formerly he had been Confessor to the Archduke of Austria. For the rest we shall let Atkinson speak for himself: “Of all the priests that ever were, he is held for the most bloody and treacherous traitor, sure unto none in friendship that will not put his decrees in action by warrant of his Apostolic authority, as he calleth it, from time to time renewed by Bulls from Rome. He is grown to be so absolute that he holds the greatest Lords in such awe that none dare gainsay him”.

Even at the eleventh hour Archer's hopes did not give way. On the 14 June 1602 he was again supplicating for Spanish aid. For the next few weeks he remained with the Irish soldiers at Dunboy. Finally, on July 6th he left Ireland to induce the Spanish King to send another fleet to help a broken cause. He was more fortunate than his companion, Br Dominic Collins SJ, who was captured by the English and hanged in Cork on the 31 October 1602, being the third Jesuit to die for the faith in Ireland.

Fr Archer never again returned to Ireland. His life on the Continent we shall only review briefly. On the 6 May 1504 the General of the Jesuits appointed him Prefect of the Irish Mission in Spain. This appointment is clear proof that his Superiors held him in the highest esteem. They paid little attention to the lying reports that had been spread over England and Ireland in an effort, to blacken the reputation of one who was both a zealous priest and a great Irishman. In 1608, six years after his departure from Ireland, his name was still feared by the English. At this time he was accused of making preparations for another rebellion in Ireland. Chichester issued an order that spies be placed in various parts of the country to inform him of the arrival of Archer.

During all this time, Fr Archer was actively engaged in Spain as Prefect of the Irish Colleges. These Colleges were founded by Irish Jesuits. at Salamanca, Lisbon, Santiago and Seville for the training of Irish secular priests. In 1617 he was the oldest Irish Jesuit alive, being seventy-two years of age. He was still Superior of the Mission in Spain. The date of his death is uncertain, but it occurred before 1626. Thus ended the career of one of the most remarkable Jesuits who laboured on the Irish Mission during these years.

If we are to assess the value of Archer's work in Ireland or the magnitude of the task he set before himself, we must not leave out of account the circumstances in which he lived. Although Archer's aim was first and foremost spiritual, he saw clearly that political independence of England was utterly essential to the religious welfare of Ireland. The idea of toleration was not yet born in Europe.
Neither Catholic nor Protestant was ready to brook the existence of the other. Even in Ireland the word “Counter-Reformation” connoted not only a spiritual movement within and without the Catholic Church, but also an effort to compel the return of erring souls by force of arms. Moreover the political and religious state of Ireland itself must also be taken into account. For almost a century the country has been a prey to disunion and internal strife. Religion too was not a vital force in the lives of the people, Had the persecution been as severe as it had been in England, or in other words, had political circumstances been favourable, Ireland might have succumbed to the new doctrines, All these facts were well known to Fr Archer when he arrived in Ireland in 1596. Thus we can understand why he strove to unite the country under O'Neill and to procure aid from Spain and the Pope.

Before concluding this article, it might not be out of place to discuss briefly how far Fr Archer influenced the wars of O'Neill, and, especially, the extent to which he influenced the Great Earl himself. One thing is certain, that Fr Archer was regarded by the English authorities as O'Neill's ambassador and representative not only at all the courts of the local Irish chieftains but in Spain and Rome. It is equally certain that he acted as intermediary between the Irish and Spanish several times, and even for years after the Irish collapse at Kinsale the English feared that he would again organise another Spanish expedition. Several years after that fatal day, the authorities had spies placed in all the Irish ports on the watch for Archer's return. Indeed many false alarms were given, and at one time the English actually believed that he had landed in Ireland. These precautions would not have been taken if the Government had not already experienced the powerful, stay that Fr Archer had over the people. How far were their fears justified? It is very probable that Hugh O'Neill did not realise what was at stake when he first launched his rebellion. In fact it seems that he would never have revolted and there been any alternative, What was he fighting for? An Irish Ireland, or a Catholic Ireland, or local independence? The problem has not yet been solved. But I think it is true to say that, whatever may have been his motive in starting the war, he never fully realised all that that war involved. Probably even he did not foresee that the struggle would take on a national aspect before its close; and it is far less likely that he realised that it would become part of a European campaign and would be looked upon by many nations on the Continent as just another element of the Catholic Counter Reformation. Moreover, if Hugh O'Neill did not realize all this, he would not have been able to combine all these forces in a vast movement against the common enemy. The problem could almost be stated thus: Was O'Neill the unconscious leader of a movement that was indeed begun by him, but whose consequences and ramifications he had not foreseen and perhaps did not even realise up to the last?

This question is difficult to answer. But I think some light is thrown on it by glancing at the part played by Fr Archer in these crucial years. Immediately after his arrival in Ireland, Fr Archer went direct to O'Neill, as we have seen. Coming from Spain, where he was well-known, he was suspected, probably rightly, of bringing a message from the Spanish Court. Soon after this he visited all the Irish chieftains, including O'Donnell, O'Sullivan Beare, Owny O'More, the Earl of Desmond, Florence MacCarthy, James Fitzthomas (who claimed to be the Earl of Desmond), Lords Barry, Roche and Mountgarrett, as well as the Mayors of the southern towns - including Cork, Waterford and Kinsale. The mention of these three towns is significant. They are on the coast nearest Spain. Why did Archer visit these chieftains? The answer is obvious. From the outset, he regarded the struggle as a Catholic crusade against England. Therefore his policy was to unite all the Irish under O’Neill and, if possible, secure help from Spain and Rome. His aim and purpose, as well as the means to achieve the end, were clear and decisive - unlike those of Hugh O'Neill. And it is well to remember here that O'Neill's environment, even if we allow for a period spent in England, was mainly the local life and tradition of a petty chieftain of Ireland with all the narrowness that it entailed. While Archer's background was not only Irish tradition modified by Anglo-Norman ancestry, but also an international education the best that Europe could offer, an almost first-hand realisation of what the Reformation meant to Europe, a partiality for things Spanish with a natural bias against England, and finally a full comprehension of the danger to the Catholic religion in Ireland in an English domination there. Unfortunately we have little reliable evidence to guide us. But from the information we have I think we can safely affirm that Fr Archer was responsible, at least partially, for the change of outlook that is so marked a feature in the development of O'Neill's character as the years went by. It is interesting to note that, in a report sent by the Bishops of Dublin and Meath to the King in June 1603, much of what I have said is corroborated. Having stated that O'Neill had revolted to defend his rights and privileges, they go on to assert that the Jesuits and other priests afterwards induced him to fight for the sake of the Catholic religion and to secure the aid of the Pope and King of Spain. In many other places in the official documents the Jesuits are blamed for spreading the revolt. We know now that, of the Jesuits of the time, only Fr Archer exerted any direct political influence on a wide scale. To him, therefore, we largely attribute the change that took place. Thus, as the English realised only too well, “to have Archer taken were a great service to both the realms (England and Ireland), he being a capital instrument for Spain and the poison of Ireland”.

Hated by the English, Fr Archer won the hearts of the Irish, both rich and poor. In all the references to him there is not one which in any way tarnishes his memory, except those that come from the hands of his political enemies. Had the Irish been victorious at Kinsale, James Archer would probably have been one of the most influential men in the country. But after the defeat of 1601, his position in Ireland was even more invidious than that of O'Neill's himself. The Great Earl could adapt himself to the new conditions and try to begin life all over again, but for Archer there were no alternatives but death or exile. He had been looked upon by the English as the symbol of the rebellion in Ireland, and in his person he crystallised the hopes and aspirations of the majority of the Irish people. He stands forth as one of the foremost champions of his time of the Catholic religion in Ireland. By the English he was believed to be the source of all the discontent in the country. He was the emissary of the King of Spain, the Pope's ambassador and a member of the Society of Jesus. For him there could be no forgiveness.

James Corboy SJ

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father James Archer SJ 1550-1626
Fr James Archer was known to the English as the Archdevil. So active was he o behalf of the Irish, and so adept at evading capture, that magical powers were attributed to him. He is the only Jesuit of those days of whom we have a personal description, due to the interest of his enemies in him. We read in the report of the spy that “Archer, the traitor, was small of stature and black of complexion, that his hair was spotted grey, that he had a white doublet, and that the rest of his apparels was of some colour suitable for disguise”. Indeed, we may say that we have a photograph of him for an engraving of him may be found in “The History of British Costume” : “He had black mantle, and the high-crowned hat of the times. He appeard in straight trouse”.

Born of one of the leading families of Kilkenny in 1550, Fr Archer was one of the most remarkable Jesuits who laboured on the Irish Mission. What Henry Fitzsimon was to the Pale, James Archer was to the native Irish. By his clear grasp of the political and religious situation, his tireless efforts to unite the country against the sworn enemy of her faith and culture and to enlist in her cause the support of Spain, Fr Archer deserves to be ranked with Hugh O’Neill and Red Hugh o’Donnell as one if the leading champions of national independence and of the Catholic religion in the Ireland of his day.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
ARCHER, JAMES. In p. 301, History of British Costume (Library of Entertaining knowledge), is a delineation of O’More, an Irish Chieftain, and Archer, a Jesuit retained by him, both copied from a map of the taking of the Earl of Ormond in 1600. The Rev. Father is dressed in a black mantle, and wears the high crowned hat of the time. I read in a Report or Memorial of Irish Aflairs, addressed by Captain Hugh Mostian to Lewis Mansoni, the Papal Nuncio for Ireland, towards the latter end of Q Elizabeth s reign, “Unus Pater Archerus major fuit illis (Hibernis) consolatio, quam potuit esse magnet militum copia. Testis sum illius praesentiam tantum profuisse, ut vix aliud tantum : ad ipsius enim Nutum uniuntur et tenentur, corda hominum non solum in teritorio Beerhaven et Provincifc Australis : sed et in majori parte totius Regni.” “Father Archer alone was a greater comfort to his Irish countrymen than even a considerable reinforcement of troops. I am a witness, that his presence was almost more serviceable to the cause than anything else : for at his nod the hearts of men were united and bound together, not only in the district of Beerhaven and Munster, but in the greater part of the whole kingdom”
A few of F. Archer s letters have been fortunately preserved. The first is dated from the Camp, 10th of August, 1598. He states the difficulty of all Epistolary communication the intense anxiety and diligence of the Government to apprehend him; insomuch, that he was obliged to live generally in the woods and secret places, “ita ut in sylvis et latebris ut plurimum degam”. Still he never ceased from exercising the functions of his ministry - he had received two thousand general Confessions - he had instructed and confirmed many in the Faith, and reconciled several to the Catholic Church - that there was every prospect of an abundant harvest of souls, if he had some fellow-labourers; and that the gentry in the North and South parts of the island were most desirous of a supply. It seems that he had been ordered to Ireland to procure assistance for the Irish Seminary at Salamanca, “in subsidium Seminarii Hybernorum”, and that he had succeeded in sending over several youths with funds for their education. In conclusion he says that he was intending to proceed by the first opportunity to Spain from the North of Ireland. Iter in Hispaniam cogito prima occasione ex Septentrionali parte. NB : I find by a letter of F. Richard Field, dated Dublin, 20th of July, 1600, that he as Superior of the Irish Mission, had made F. J. Archer the actual bearer of that very letter to Rome. He recommends to him Mr. Robert Lalour, qui se socium itineris adjunxit Patri Jacobo (Archer.)
The second letter is dated, Compostella, 26th of February, 1606. It proves his active industry in procuring donations for the purpose of educating his countrymen, as also his zeal for the conversion of souls. He had just reconciled to God and his Church three English merchants.
The third letter to F. George Duras, the Assistant for Germany, is dated Madrid, 4th of August, 1607. He was then living at Court, “Ego in aula versor”, and had been successful in collecting Subscriptions.
The fourth letter is to F. Duras, from Madrid, 29th September, 1607. and is only subscribed by F. Archer, who, from illness, “prae dolore pectoris”, was obliged to employ a Secretary. He recommends the erection of an Irish Novitiate in Belgium. After treating of the business of the Irish Mission, he mentions “the conversion of three Scotchmen at Madrid : one was so desperate a Puritan, as often to declare that not all the Doctors of the World should ever withdraw him from his sect and opinion. Truth, however, had conquered : from a lion he became a lamb, and has chosen the life of a Capuchin Friars. I have others in hand in the suit of the English Ambassador, whom I will endeavour to reform”. Further particulars of this Rev. Father I have not been able to collect.

Born: 1606, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 07 January 1630, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: c. 1639, Roman College, Rome, Italy
Died: 15 August 1649, New Ross Residence, County Wexford

Entered at Rome, owned a pair of gloves, read Philosophy for 3 years, taught Grammar for 2 years. Early Irish College student.
1636 at College of Città di Castello (ROM)
1640 came from Rome to Ireland
1648-1649 Superior at New Ross

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1640 Came to Ireland from Rome
1648 Superior at New Ross
A learned man, he passed in London for an Italian Priest.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After First Vows at St Andrea, he completed his Philosophy course at the Roman College, and then spent a year of Regency at Città di Castello. He made his Theology studies at the Roman College and was Ordained priest c.1639.
1641 Returned to Ireland and was appointed to teach humanities and be Superior of the New Ross residence where he died, 15 August 1649.
(On Entry he may well be the “Edwardus Archerus Lagen”, the eighth on a list of twenty-two students of the Irish College, Rome, while it was under the super- vision of the Franciscans).

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
ARCHER, EDWARD. I find by his letter, dated London, 27th of November, 1640, that by favour of the Venetian Embassador, he had safely arrived in England. In the report of Pere Verdier, (the Visitor of the Irish Mission, S. J.) dated 24th June, 1649, I find F. Edward Archer was then Superior of his brethren at Ross Co. Wexford, and commendable for his religious merits. When, or where he died I have searched for in vain.

Born: 25 March 1721, County Waterford
Entered: 14 August 1763 - Tepotzotlán, Mexico (MEX)
Died: 08 October 1767, Vera Cruz, Mexico - Mexicanae Province (MEX)

Companion of the Director of Spiritual Exercises at St Andrea, Mexico before expulsion
Arrested 25/06/1767
35 Jesuits died at Vera Cruz, Mexico between 01/08/1767 and 12/12/1767

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
1767 At St Andrew’s College Mexico at the time of arrest of all Jesuits. While awaiting deportation at Vera Cruz he died.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother Thomas Arsdekin 1721-1767
Br Thomas Arsdekin, or Archdekin, was born in Waterford in 1721.

When 42 years of age, he joined the Society in Mexico, and was stationed at the College of St Andrew at the time of the arrest of the Jesuits in Mexico. While awaiting embarkation at the port of Vera Cruz, he died on October 8th, 1767.

Born: 16 March 1619, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 20 September 1642, Mechelen, Belgium - Flanders Province (FLAN)
Ordained: 28 March 1648, Louvain, Belgium
Final Vows: 09 December 1657
Died: 31 August 1693, College of Antwerp, Belgium - Flanders Province (FLAN)

Alias MacGiolla Cuddy

Son of Nicholas Archdekin and Anne Sherlog. Read Humanities in Ireland and Philosophy at Louvain
1649 in Tertianship at Mechelen
1650 Returned in Roman Cat age 34 having read 4 years of scholastic Theology
1671 Professor of Scripture at Antwerp (Louvain?) and was published - also taught Scripture, Humanities, Theology and Philosophy
Abbé Henegan says RIP 1690; Another account in suggests Ent 1649
Monument at Thomastown Kilkenny

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Nicholas and Ann née Sherlock
Studied Humanities at Antwerp and Lille under the Jesuits before Ent, and four years Theology in the Society. He knew Latin, Irish, English and Flemish.
1650 Teaching Humanities (HIB Catalogue 1650 - ARSI)
1653 Arrived at Professed House Antwerp, 26/03/1653, and Taught Humanities for six years and was a Professor of Philosophy, Moral Theology and Sacred Scripture, chiefly at Louvain and Antwerp, where he died. (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS; and for his writings de Backer “Biblioth. des Écrivains SJ”)
Writer; Professor of Theology and Sacred Scripture. (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Nicholas and Anne neé Sherlock
He studied humanities in Ireland and Antwerp and on the completion of his philosophy studies at Louvain, entered the Society at Mechelen.
Having studied theology at Louvain he was Ordained priest there 28 March 1648.
Recalled to Ireland, he taught Humanities at Kilkenny until the fall of that city to the Cromwellian forces.
On his return to Belgium he continued to teach Humanities.
1657-1690 Professor of the ecclesiastical sciences :
1657-1665 Philosophy Antwerp, Sacred Scripture and Hebrew at Antwerp
1665-1674 Sacred Scripture, Hebrew and Moral Theology at Louvain
1674-1690 Prefect of ecclesiastical studies, Scripture and Moral Theology at Antwerp
1690-1693 On his retirement he continued to live at the College of Antwerp where he died 31 August, 1693.
The writings of Richard Archdekin were read in probably every theologate of Europe.
His most famous work was the “Praecipuae Controversiae Fidei” which went into many editions in his lifetime. The 1686 edition contains biographical notices of Blessed Oliver Plunket and Archbishop Peter Talbot.
Notable too amongst his works is his treatise on miracles composed with special reference to favours received through the veneration of relics of St. Francis Xavier which were kept at Mechelen. This book is said to be the first known to be printed in Irish and English conjunctively.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online
Archdekin (Ardsdekin, MacGiolla Cuddy), Richard
by Terry Clavin

Archdekin (Ardsdekin, MacGiolla Cuddy), Richard (1619–93), Jesuit priest and scholar, was born 16 March 1619 in Kilkenny city, son of Nicholas Archdekin and his wife Ann (née Sherlock). After being educated at the classical school in Kilkenny, he travelled to Antwerp (1637) to study theology at the Jesuit college there before moving to Louvain (1640), where he studied philosophy. Already proficient in Irish, English, and Latin, he became fluent in Flemish. On 20 September 1642 he entered the Society of Jesus at Malines (Mechelen) before returning to Louvain (1644) to resume his study of philosophy. He was ordained a priest on 28 March 1648 and, after completing his tertianship, returned to Ireland in summer 1649 to join the Jesuit mission there. Presumably he would have been a member of the teaching staff of a college that the Jesuits intended to establish in Kilkenny, but these plans were dashed by the invasion of Ireland by a militantly anti-catholic English protestant army under the generalship of Oliver Cromwell (qv). Archdekin was soon obliged to flee to Galway, which held out until 1652, after which he managed to slip away and (after a period in hiding) eventually found a ship bound for the Continent. He landed in the Spanish Netherlands on 26 March 1653.

Thereafter he pursued a successful academic career on the Continent, being first appointed to teach humanities at Malines and Alost (Aalst). In 1657 he became professor of philosophy at the Jesuit college in Antwerp and continued as such until 1662, when he began teaching scripture and Hebrew. He moved (1665) to the Jesuit college at Louvain, where he taught scripture, Hebrew, and moral theology before serving as professor of scripture and moral theology at Antwerp from 1664 until his retirement in 1690.

He also wrote a number of works, and his first publication, A treatise of miracles (1667), was printed in both Irish and English. When writing in Irish he used the pseudonym MacGiolla Cuddy. In 1671 he published Vita et miraculorum sancti Patritii Hiberniae, which included a life of St Patrick (qv) and also elaborated on prophecies attributed to St Malachy (qv). The same year he published Praecipuae controversiae fidei, a practical guide for missionary priests in Ireland. It included material on theology, philosophy, the catholic rite, secular and ecclesiastical history, sermons, and religious instruction. In particular it incorporated many references to Irish affairs. The first edition of 1,000 copies was sold out within months and it went through eleven editions in his lifetime. The 1686 edition was retitled Theologia tripartite universa and expanded on the preexisting material to include lives of the martyred archbishop of Armagh, Oliver Plunkett (qv) and of Peter Talbot (qv), archbishop of Dublin. In 1700 an error was uncovered in his teaching on philosophical sin, and as a result the book was placed on the prohibited index. This error was corrected in subsequent editions. He died at Antwerp 31 August 1693 and was buried in the Jesuit graveyard there.

Webb; Crone; T. Wall, ‘Richard Archdekin's catechetical hour’, IER, no. 70 (Jan.–June 1948), 305–15; Boylan (1988 ed.); Dictionary of catholic biography (1962); ODNB

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Richard Archdekin 1618-1693
Richard Archdekin came of a distinguished Kilkenny family, being born in that city in 1618. He made his early studies at Antwerp and Lille, and finally entered the Society in 1642.

Form most of his life he lectured at Louvain and Antwerp in Philosophy, Moral Theology and Sacred Scripture. He was a voluminous writer. From his pen we have : “A Treatise on Miracles”, written in English and irish, the famous “Theologica Tripartita”, “The Life and Miracles of St Patrick”, “The Mirac les of St Francis Xavier”, and the most useful and influential of all his works, a translation of the Catechism of St Peter Canisius.

Hed died full of works and ripe in merit and age at Antwerp on August 31st 1693.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
ARCHDEACON, RICHARD, was born in Kilkenny in 1619. He was admitted into the Society of Jesus at Mechlin, at the age of 23, and in due time was enrolled among the professed Fathers of the Order. After teaching Humanities for six years, and Philosophy, Moral Divinity, and Scripture for a very long period, chiefly at Louvain and Antwerp, he died in the last mentioned city, about the year, 1690, according to Harris (p. 203, Writers of Ireland) We have from the pen of this Rev. Father:

1. “A Treatise on Miracles”, written in English and Irish, 8vo. Louvain, 1667. In the Annual Letters of Ireland of 1673, mention is made of a book, quem de S. Xaverii miraculis edidit Anglice P. Richardus Archdekin .
2. “Theologia Tripartita Universa”. 8vo. Louvain, 1671. During the Author s life this useful work was frequently reprinted.
3. “Vitae et Miraculorum S. Patricii Epitome”. 8vo. Louvain, 1671. I am un able to describe the book : but a copy at the sale of Mr. Bradish s Library, in the summer of 1829, was deposed of by Jones, Trinity Street, Dublin, for eight Guineas.

Born: 28 May 1743, Mexico
Entered: 18 March 1764, Tepotzolán, Sinaloa, Mexico - Mexican Province (MEX)
Ordained: 22 September 1770, Italy
Died: 07 April 1788, Magdalena Church, Bologna, Italy - Mexican Province (MEX)

Studied and novitiate at the College of Tepotzolán
Arrested 25th June 1767
Was a member of MEX on the day of the suppression

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
1767 Repeating some of his studies at the time of the arrest of all Jesuits. Deported to Italy, where he was Ordained.
A close relative of Br Thomas Arsdekin

35 Ushers quay, Dublin - Merchants and Traders Dublin, Watsons Almanack 1783.

Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin

Born: 02 May 1914 - Poland
Entered: 01 August 1929, Kalisz, Wielkopolskie województwo, Poland - Poloniae Maioris et Mazoviae Province (POL Ma)

Left Society of Jesus: 28 March 1941

by 1941 came to Milltown (HIB) studying

Born: 10 January 1927, Campsie, Omagh, County Tyrone
Entered: 14 September 1944, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1958, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1962, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 27 November 2018, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

by 1951 at Berchmanskolleg, Pullach, Germany (GER S) studying
by 1960 at Nth American Martyrs, Auriesville NY (NEB) making Tertianship
by 1964 at Selly Oak, Birmingham (ANG) studying

Born: 12 September 1896, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 29 September 1913, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1928, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1933, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 13 July 1985, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

by 1924 in Australia - Regency
by 1932 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
Edward Andrews came to Australia at the end of his philosophy studies in 1922 and was sent to Riverview. From 1923-25 he was third division prefect, taught in the classroom and assisted with cadets, He seemed to be a born teacher and he enjoyed his time in Sydney.
His subsequent work in Ireland included being prefect of studies in The Crescent and Galway, as well as being rector at The Crescent, finally teaching for 42 years in schools. Andrews was an outstanding Irish scholar, and a fine musician.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 60th Year No 4 1985

Obituary

Fr Edward Joseph Andrews (1896-1913-1985)

Born on 12th September 1896. 29th September 1913: entered SJ. 1913-35 Tullabeg. noviciate. 1915-19 Rathfarnham: 1915-16 home juniorate, 1916-19 studying at UCD. 1919-22 Milltown, philosophy. 1922-25 Australia, regency at Riverview, Sydney. 1925-29 Milltown, theology. 1929-31 Galway, teaching 1931-32 St Beuno's, tertianship.
1932-40 Crescent, prefect of studies. 1940-42 Rathfarnham, minister of juniors. 1942-56 Galway, prefect of studies. 1956-62 Crescent, rector. 1962-85 Galway: teaching till 1972 doc. an. 42); house confessor; 1963-98 spiritual father to community; 1971-85 church and parish confessor.

Edward Joseph Andrews was born in Dublin on 12th September 1896. He was educated at Belvedere and entered the noviciate at Tullabeg on 19th September 1913. During his juniorate in Rathfarnham he took his degree in modern languages, and then went on to philosophy in Milltown. His first experience of college work was in Australia, at Riverview college, where for three years he was Third Prefect. He also taught and was in charge of the junior cadets. He returned to Ireland for theology and was ordained at Milltown Park in 1927.
After tertianship at St Beuno's Fr Eddie went to the Crescent as prefect of studies. He is recalled as having been very active, dedicated and successful. The number of pupils in the school had gone down considerably in previous years: he was responsible for building it up noticeably, especially by giving great attention to the junior classes. He established friendly relations with the parents, and enlisted their aid in securing that sufficient time was given to homework.
In 1940 Fr Eddie was appointed Minister of Juniors, but after two years was transferred to Galway as prefect of studies, which position he was to hold for the next fourteen years. This was probably the happiest and most successful period of his life. His eight years at the Crescent had given him valuable experience, and he was still young enough to undertake his new assignment with enthusiasm. The level of the Irish language was at its highest during these years, largely due to his efforts, and, as previously in the Crescent, he was on intimate terms with both the boys and their parents.
In 1956 he was appointed Rector of the Crescent. He held this position for six years with considerable success, but one gathers that the expectations aroused by his previous success as prefect of studies were not completely fulfilled. It was thought that there were changes in the air which he did not understand, and that his mentality was too greatly influenced by his long sojourn in Galway. At this time also his health began to deteriorate, arthritis making itself clearly shown.
In 1962 Fr Eddie returned to Galway, and was destined to give service to school and church for over twenty more years. For the first few years he did some teaching, but later devoted himself to work in the church, which he was able to continue, though on an ever-diminishing scale, to the end of his life. He had in this period several heart attacks, and his arthritis become more and more crippling. During the last year or so he became almost a complete invalid, and at this time was the recipient of most kind care from Br William McGoldrick and Sr Mary of the Little Sisters of the Assumption.
Towards the end of this year there was a noted deterioration in his condition. On 1st July (a Friday) he had been feeling particularly unwell, and decided not to offer Mass. Later in the evening he felt better and offered Mass at 8 pm, after which Br McGoldrick assisted him to bed. About 1.30 am he rang the emergency bell for assistance, and it was seen that he was near the end. He received the sacrament of the sick, and the doctor was immediately summoned but came only in time to certify death.
Looking back over the long and full life of Fr Eddie Andrews, one sees three outstanding points. Firstly, there was his love of the Irish language. He devoted much time to its study, and made frequent visits to the Gaeltacht, often accompanied by groups of his pupils, to whom he communicated his own genuine enthusiasm. Then there was his great musical talent. He was a good pianist and cellist, had a fine tenor voice, and was the leader of the Milltown choir during philosophy and theology. He encouraged music amongst his pupils, and, during his long period as prefect of studies in Galway, staged, in collaboration with Fr Kieran Ward, a whole series of musical plays. Lastly, one recalls with affection his cheerful and courageous disposition, which remained unchanged during his later years when ill-health made life so difficult for him.
Suaimhneas Dé dá anam.

Born: 25 November 1843, Portarlington, County Laois
Entered: 04 September 1863, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1880
Final vows: 25 March 1885
Died: 29 June 1900, Collège de la Sainte-Famille, Cairo, Egypt

by 1866 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1871 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1878 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying
by 1884 at Roehampton, London (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1901 in Collège Sainte Famille, Cairo, Egypt (LUGD) working

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early education was at Clongowes.

After First Vows he was sent to Tullabeg for some Regency, as Prefect of Discipline.
He then went to Stonyhurst for three years Philosophy after which he returned to Tullabeg. He spent eight years in total working at Tullabeg, and his friends began to joke him, calling him the “Perpetual Scholastic”! In those days, given the scarcity of men to run the Colleges, if you were good at your job, you risked being penalised by a long stay in the Colleges, before being sent to Theology. However, Patrick never complained, and his sole desire was to do the will of his Superiors.
He was eventually sent to St Beuno’s for four years of Theology, and after Ordination, he made Tertianship at Roehampton.

From Ordination to his death he spent his life teaching. He was an excellent Greek scholar, and a first class general teacher. Those who met him were impressed by his charm and he made many friends, and easily. He had a very dry sense of humour, and even when he was in pain himself, his humour never failed him. He was a very honest and straightforward man. He was thought of as a sound Theologian and a very prudent advisor, so his opinions in both Theology and ordinary life were highly respected.

For some years before his death he had been failing notably. So, for health reasons it was decided to send him to Egypt. He spent nine months in Cairo, acting as Chaplain to the English troops, he edified all by his patience with suffering, and by his piety.

The Rector of Collège de la Sainte-Famille, Cairo wrote to the HIB Provincial : “I say nothing of the sweet tender piety of Father Anderson, of his unalterable patience, of his conformity to the will of God. In death he was truly the same holy and humble religious who so edified us during his sojourn among us. Shortly before he died, he said to me ‘Now I know the folly of those who put off their conversion till the hour of death. I have now but one thought, and even that I can scarcely turn to the subject on which alone I should be fixed’, and he told those around him that he willingly gave up his life for the good of the Egyptian Mission and for the conversion of its people”.
He died at Collège de la Sainte-Famille, Cairo, Egypt 29 June 1900

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick Anderson 1843-1900
At the College of the Holy Family in Cairo on June 29th 1900, died Fr Patrick Anderson. A native of Portarlington, born on November 25th 1843, he was educated at Clongowes.

After his entry into the Society in 1863, the remarkable thing about his was that he spent eight years as a scholastic in the laborious work of the classroom, till at length his friends dubbed him jocosely the “perpetual scholastic”. Indeed, in those days when our numbers were comparatively few, and a great amount of work to be done, a good Master ran the risk of prolonged Colleges. But Mr Anderson, as he was then, never dreamt of making any remonstrations to Superiors, being happy to leave himself entirely at the disposal of obedience.

After taking his last vows in 1865, he spent the remainder of his life teaching and in the ministry. He was an excellent Greek scholar, a talent which he joined to the simple charm of manner and genial character, which won him many and fast friends. He was a man of very sound judgement, whether on matters of Theology or the affairs of daily life.

Towards the close of 1899, he was sent to Cairo, where it was thought the dry and warm climate might benefit his failing health. For nine months he acted as Chaplain to the English troops. However, his health continued to worsen and he died on June 29th 1900.

Shortly before his death he said to the Rector “Now I know the folly of those who put off their conversion till the hour of death, I have now but one thought, and even that I can scarcely turn to the subject on which alone I should wish to be fixed”. He told all those round him that he willingly gave up his life for the good of the Egyptian Mission and for the conversion of its people.

◆ The Clongownian, 1900

Obituary

Father Patrick Anderson SJ

Father Anderson, who was so well known to many Clongownians, died at Cairo on the 29th of June. He had been for some time in failing health, which was partly the reason why he had been sent abroad. Nevertheless, he rendered good service while at Cairo, especially in attending to the spiritual wants of his Catholic fellow-country men. Father Anderson was a boy at Clongowes in the early sixties, and entered the Novitiate at Milltown Park directly from Clongowes in 1863. A few years later he was appointed Master at Tullabeg, and with the exception of the years he spent abroad studying Philosophy and Theology, all his life was spent in working in Tullabeg and, Clongowes. Father Anderson will be particularly remembered by those who knew him for his kindly, genial character, and his readiness at all times to help others whenever his good sense, practical knowledge of the world, and sterling charity could be of any assistance to them. RIP

Anton Maria Anderledy was a Swiss Jesuit priest, who served as the twenty-third Superior General (Father General) of the Society of Jesus (1887-1892).

Founded in 1926 by Fr Edward Cahill SJ.

An Post is the state-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland. Previous to 1984, known as Department of Posts and Telegraphs (P&T, P+T and P⁊T), 1924-1984.

Dundalk (1896), Armagh (1900), Newry, (1903) and Warrenpoint (1905).

Allied Irish Banks Limited was formed in 1966 as a new company that acquired three Irish banks: Provincial Bank of Ireland, the Royal Bank of Ireland, and the Munster & Leinster Bank.

Born: 02 July 1854, Paimpol, Brittany, France
Entered: 03 March 1876, Angers France - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 1888
Final vows: 02 February 1892
Died 28 July 1916, Poitiers, Vienne, France - Franciae Province (FRA)

by 1885 came to Mungret (HIB) for Regency

Born: 05 October 1900, Slaney Street, Wexford
Entered: 07 October 1918, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1937
Died: 15 May 1964, Talbot Lodge, Kinsealy, Dublin

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

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 :
1927-1929 Sent to Australia, being assigned to St Ignatius College, Riverview as a teacher and Prefect of the Chapel.
1929-1931 Xavier College, Burke Hall as Prefect of Discipline and assistant Master of Ceremonies.
1931-1935 Returned to Milltown Park for Theology
1935-1936 Tertianship at St Beuno’s, Wales
1936-1938 He returned to Australia and St Aloysius College, Milsons Point as Minister and Director of the Crusaders of the Blessed Sacrament. He also edited the “Aloysian”.
1939-1946 He was appointed to Burke Hall teaching and Prefect of Discipline.
1947 Back in Ireland and spent the rest of his life as assistant Director of the “Ricci Mission unit”, helping with the periodical “Irish Jesuit Missions”.

He was a man noted for his wit and acting ability, but did not seem happy or successful as a classroom teacher.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 22nd Year No 2 1947
Clongowes :
Fr. W. Allen, of the Viceprovince of Australia, arrived in Dublin on 16th March, and is now teaching at Clongowes.
Irish Province News 39th Year No 4 1964
Obituary :
Fr William Allen SJ (1900-1964)

Fr. Allen was born in Slaney Street, Wexford, on 5th October 1900. He went to school first at the Mercy Convent, and later, when the family moved to Dublin, to the Christian Brothers School, Synge Street.
It was at a mission given by Fr. Tom Murphy, S.J. in St. Kevin's, Harrington Street, that Fr. Allen decided to become a Jesuit. Fr. Murphy arranged for him to see Fr. Michael Browne, of whom he wrote long after: “I was at once impressed and captivated by the sanctity of the priest”.
Fr. Allen entered in Tullabeg on 7th October 1918. After the noviceship he spent a year in the Juniorate before going to Rathfarnham and U.C.D., where he took his B.A. degree in 1924. For the next three years he studied philosophy in Milltown Park. In 1927 he went to Australia for his teaching, first in Riverview, then in Burke Hall, the preparatory school for Xavier, Melbourne.
In 1931 he returned to Milltown for theology, and was ordained on 31st July 1934. In 1935 he went to St. Beuno's for his tertianship, and in 1936 returned to Australia, teaching at St. Aloysius College, Sydney. In January 1937 he became Minister there, teaching, and in charge of the Crusaders and the Holy Angels Sodality. After some years he was changed to Burke Hall, prefecting and teaching, and in charge of the Apostleship of Prayer.
Fr. Allen returned to Ireland at Easter 1947, and went to Clongowes where during the summer he worked in the people's church. His Sunday sermons were appreciated by the people. However, already he was experiencing the defective hearing and consequent anxiety about Confessions, which were to restrict his work in the coming years. On the Status he was changed to Tullabeg, engaged in the work of the Ricci Mission Unit, as the Stamp Bureau was then called. He remained at this post till the end of his life, nearly seventeen years later. His heart was in Tullabeg, and although he greatly missed the philosophers when they went abroad in 1962, he was grateful to have been left in the place he liked best.
Shortly before Easter of this year he became unwell. An operation was found necessary, and was successfully undergone early in April. Throughout, he was in good spirits, “won all our hearts”, as the surgeon put it. He was sincerely appreciative of the kindness shown him during his illness by Fr. Rector, the doctors, nurses, and by Ours who visited him and supported him by their prayers. A good recovery followed. While waiting for a room in the convalescent home at Talbot Lodge, he spent some days in Milltown Park which he greatly enjoyed. He then went to Talbot Lodge, where every day he was up and about, and able to go out. But on Friday, 15th May, he collapsed and died.
Fr. Allen came of a family of whom two became priests - an Oblate Father, and himself a Jesuit - three became Christian Brothers, and three sisters became nuns in the Convent of the Incarnate Word, Texas.
He was a man of deep faith and simple piety. As a small boy, he used to serve Mass in the Franciscan Friary in Wexford. All his life he remained devoted to the service of the altar, training acolytes in the colleges, and later, when the scholastics left Tullabeg, instructing the small boys from around to serve in the people's church. It was with such younger boys that his work had mostly brought him into touch. His kindly ways, his jokes, won them to him, though their collective exuberance sometimes eluded his control.
The boys valued his kindliness. Some of them, some of their parents, kept in touch with him since his earliest days in Australia. Through the Advocate, coming each week from friends in Melbourne, through the college magazines carefully preserved in his room, through the catalogues and the Australian Province News, he followed with interest the careers of boys he had known, and the work of our Fathers in Australia.
In community life, he was always kindly, and, when in good spirits, cheerful even to infectious hilarity over stories, jokes, verses, sometimes of a nursery rhyme variety.
He preserved to the end and mellowed in that simple piety of childhood, a piety reflected in an exact observance of rule. In times of depression in these latter years, he sometimes, though always without a trace of bitterness, contrasted the little he seemed to himself to have achieved in life, with the accomplishments of others busy in active apostolate. He was consoled by the assurance that a hidden, prayerful life like his own, could do as much for God and souls as any absorbing apostolate.
He had learned well the lessons of his noviceship in Tullabeg, particularly about fidelity to the spiritual duties of rule. His day began with morning oblation and closed with visit after night examen.
In the people's church, which he loved so well and where he usually: said Mass, he celebrated with a prayerful reverence by which he will be best remembered.

Born: 1597/8, Ireland
Entered: 1617/8, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Died: 26 June 1621, Oropesa, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)

Born: 21 January1705, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 16 April1729, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province(LUS)
Died: 01 March 1732, Coimbra Portugal - Lusitaniae Province(LUS)

Born: 20 June 1888, Le Val-d'Ajol, Grand Est, France
Entered: 09 October 1905, (HIB for Campaniae Province - CAMP)
Ordained: 29 August 1920
Final vows: 02 February 1924
Died: 07 November 1974, Mulhouse, Grand Est, France - Sinensis Province (CHN)

by 1954 came to Singapore (HIB) working - 1st group in Singapore with Patrick Joy

Born: 08 May 1885, Valetta, Malta
Entered: 07 December 1908, Roehampton, London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 25 April 1918
Final vows: 02 February 1926
Died: 23 June 1961, Stillorgan, Dublin - Angliae Province (ANG)

Member of ANG but died in HIB

by 1920 came to Milltown (HIB) studying
by 1925 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship

In 2004 APSO was merged into the Irish government’s Development Cooperation Ireland (DCI) office.

Born: 04 November 1919, Wijchmaal, Limburg, Belgium
Entered: 23 September 1937, Drongen, Belgium - Belgicae Province (BELG)
Ordained: 14 May 1950
Final vows: 02 February 1953
Died: 26 September 1982, St Francis Xavier, Lavender Bay, North Sydney, Australia - Belgicae Superiors Province (BEL S)

by 1952 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship
by 1959 came to Wah Yan Kowloon, Hong Kong (HIB) working 1958-1963

Berlin-Charlottenburg

Born: 28 September 1791, London, England
Entered: 07 October 1814, Hodder, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 01 July 1822, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth
Died: 06 October 1879, Manresa, Roehampton, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

Ordained at St Patrick’s College Maynooth, on a Saturday within the octave of Pentecost 1822, having studied Theology at Clongowes

Born: 03 November 1737, Ireland
Entered: 07 September 1756, Watten, Belgium - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: c1767
Died: 07 December 1802, Dublin - Angliae Province (ANG)

Alias Hacon; Alias Spencer

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Author of some works.

◆ The English Jesuits 1650-1829 Geoffrey Holt SJ : Catholic Record Society 1984
Son of William and Anne or Sarah Spencer
Educated St Omer 1746-1755
1755-1756 Douai
Entered 07/09/1756 Watten
1761Bruges College
1763/4-1767 Liège, Theology
Ordained c 17671767-1768 Ghent, Tertianship
1768 St Aloysius College (Southworth, Croft, Leigh)
1769-1774 St Chad’s College, Aston
1774-1798 London
1798-1802 Dublin

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
ADAMS, JAMES, began his Noviceship at Watten, 7th September, 1756. In the sequel he taught a course of Humanities with distinguished credit at St Omer. After pursuing the quiet tenor of his way as a Missionary for many years, he retired to Dublin in the early part of August, 1802, and died there on the 7th of December, the same year, aged 65. He was the author of the following works :

1. Early Rules for taking a Likeness. With plates, (from the French of Bonamici), 1 Vol. 8vo. pp. 59, London, 1792.
2. Oratio Acadcmica, Anglice et Latins conscripta. Octavo, pp. 21, London, 1793.
3. Euphonologia Linguae Anglicance, Latine et Gallice Scripta. (Inscribed to the Royal Societies of Berlin and London). 1 Vol. Svo. pp. 190, London, 1794. The author was honored with the thanks of the Royal Society, London.
4. Rule Britannia, or the Flattery of Free Subjects paraphrased and expounded. To which is added, An Academical Discourse in English and Latin, 8vo. pp. 60, London, 1798.
5. A Sermon preached at the Catholic Chapel of St. Patrick, Sutton Street, Soho Square, on Wednesday, the 7th of March, the Day of Public Fast. 8vo. pp. 34, London, 1798.
6. The Pronunciation of the English Language Vindicated. 1 vol. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1799.

Q. Was F. Adams the author of the following works mentioned in the catalogue of the British Museum :

1. The Elements of Reading, 12mo. London, 1791.
2. The Elements of Useful Knowledge. 12mo. London, 1793.
3. A View of Universal History. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1795.
   From a letter of his friend John Moir, dated Edinburgh, 11th Nov. 1801, as well as its answer, it is obvious that the Father had it in contemplation to publish his Tour through the Hebrides. He had been much disgusted with the Tour of that “ungrateful deprecating cynic, Dr. Johnson”.

Fr Claudio Acquaviva SJ served as the fifth Superior General (Father General) of the Society of Jesus (1581-1615).

Born: 01 May 1915, Bilbao, Spain
Entered: 11 September 1931, Loyola, Spain - Castallanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: 07 June 1944
Final vows: 02 February 1949
Died: 28 December 1998, Mandaluyong City, Manila, Philippines - Philippine Province (PHI)

by 1951 came to Aberdeen Hong Kong (HIB) working

87 East Main Street, Rochester, New York.