Showing 1009 results

Name
Sandford Road

Murray, Bernard A, 1917-2007, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/638
  • Person
  • 01 August 1917-25 August 2007

Born: 01 August 1917, Hillstreet, Drumsna, County Roscommon
Entered: 14 September 1936, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1952, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 25 August 2007, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 135 : Spring 2008

Obituary

Fr Bernard (Barney) Murray (1917-2007)

14 August 1917: Born in Hillstreet, Co. Roscommon
14th September 1936: Entered the Society at Emo
15th September 1938: First Vows at Emo
1938 - 1941: Rathfarnham -Studied Arts at UCD
1941 - 1944: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1944 - 1946: Mungret College, Limerick - Regency
1946 - 1950: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
31 July 1949: Ordained at Milltown Park, Dublin
1950 - 1951: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1951 - 1970: Belvedere College - Minister; Teacher (English, Religious Knowledge - Senior School)
2nd February 1952: Final Vows
1955 - 1962: Teacher in Prep. School
1962 - 1970: Assistant to Prefect of Prep School; Teacher (Religion, Maths and English)
1970 - 2007: St. Ignatius, Galway -
1970 - 1978: Teacher (Art); Ministered in Church
1978 - 1990: Parish Curate
1984 - 2004: Director of Nazareth Fund; St. Vincent de Paul and Legion of Mary
1990 - 1992: Chaplain to Scoil Iognáid
1992 - 2004: Asst. in Church; Asst. Chaplain in Univ. Hosp.
2004 - 2005: Asst. in Church; Director Nazareth Fund
2005 - 2007: Cherryfield - Prayed for Church and Society
25th August 2007: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Bruce Bradley writes:
Bernard Murray “Barney” as we often referred to him, but Bernard is the name he wished to be known by - was born on August 1, 1917, in Hillstreet, Co. Roscommon, where he spent his early years. While living in Co. Roscommon he attended Kilbride National School. When the family moved to Dublin he was at school with the Christian Brothers, Richmond St., and, as a boarder, at St Mel's, Longford, where he won an All-Ireland Colleges Football medal, of which he was very proud. In later life, he liked to narrate how the medal was lost in the Milltown fire and, long afterwards, he applied to Liam Mulvihill, general secretary of the GAA, and, to his delight, was given a replica. He entered the Society in Emo in September 1936 and was ordained in Milltown Park thirteen years later in 1949.

All his life he worked in, or was associated with, the schools. His regency was in Mungret, 1944-46, and, after tertianship, he was sent to Belvedere, where he was to spend almost twenty years. He taught in both the senior and junior schools and also functioned as minister and as assistant to Junior School prefect of studies, Eddie Murphy. The role of minister included supervision of the boys' dining room at lunchtime and Bernard kept a sharp eye on what happened there. Boys who were showing themselves less than enthused at the somewhat pedestrian fare, or who misbehaved, were apt to find themselves being brought to the phone for a pep talk with their parents at home. For those who were in Belvedere in those years, the friendship between Bernard and the much-respected Fr. Charlie Byrne, producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and considerably his senior, was noteworthy and they were often seen walking together in the city after school was over.

After such a long stint in Dublin, the move to Galway in 1970 was a big change but he responded by re-inventing himself as an art teacher, and staying there for the rest of his very long life, until ill-health forced him to move to Cherryfield in his closing years. It was obvious that he was happy in Galway, and someone who knew him said that he felt it was there that he really found himself. He took over Liam Greene's art classes in the lively years of transition at the 'Jes' under the headmastership of Seán O'Connor. It was a completely new world for Bernard but he quickly made himself at home and had the capacity to make others around him feel at home too. He took on the challenge of teaching art with enthusiasm and applied himself to it methodically. His colleagues enjoyed his friendship and were glad to work with him.

From the start he also worked in the church and, in 1978, he was appointed curate, a role he continued to exercise until 1992. He was particularly committed to house visitation, where his capacity to make contact and develop friendships stood him in excellent stead. He became a well-known figure in the parish, much-appreciated for always seeming to have time and an interesting word with the people he met. When he retired as curate he continued to work in the church and began to assist the chaplaincy team at University College Hospital. He continued this latter work for thirteen years. He is fondly remembered for this by patients and the team alike.

Gradually the boundaries of his parish widened and he took up supplying in a parish in California. It was there that he took up oil-painting in his spare time, a pastime he brought back to Galway. Liam Greene, who knew his work, has written of how observant he was and how aware of details. “The subject matter of his painting was often the same – the wild Pacific Ocean, with waves crashing on the rocks'. He would sometimes speak to Liam of 'the delicate moments when he tried to capture the light reflected on the breaking wave and the difficulty of doing so'. His love of the sea expressed itself in a different form in his commitment to regular swimming in Galway, even into old age.

He was chaplain to Scoil Iognáid for several years. He was director of the Nazareth Fund, which raised money to alleviate hardship for people who had known better times financially, and continued this work for twenty years. It continues to flourish. In his latest years, he began to come to Clongowes to supply for the 'incumbent of the People's Church, wholly equal to the demands of rising early, celebrating every day and preaching to the local people, many of whom he came to know, on Sundays. Towards the end he was troubled by increasing deafness and, in 2005, he suffered a stroke, which brought his hospital work to an end. Fr. Bernard Murray was very independent. He had been attending a cardiologist for a weakening heart in early 2005 and was transferred from hospital in Galway to Cherryfield Lodge on 4th March 2005. He made a full physical recovery from the stroke, but had dysphasia (could not be understood when trying to talk) which was very frustrating for him, but he remained very pleasant, gentle and mobile until 20th August, when he got weak and was confined to bed from then onwards. He died peacefully on August 25, 2007, full of good works and days.

For an Old Friend and Fellow Jesuit
That soothing phrase for "death" doth close apply
To dear old Barney Murray here today:
Just at 4.40 p.m., with quiet sigh,
He left us. He had simply "passed away”.

We'll miss his glowing cheeks and charming smile,
Though communication oral was his problem,
He, none the less, could most of us beguile
With 'buzz-buzz' noises Words? He'd simply gobble-em!

His life was colourful and his heart was large,
He painted many pictures in his day.
His “Fund” for poverty he made his special charge,
His paintings to his friends he gave away.

May God reward this “good and faithful servant”
In ways beyond the scope or need for speech.
We follow “Barney” with our prayers fervent,
Assured that he is not beyond our reach.

Thomas MacMahon SJ, Cherryfield Lodge, Sat. 25h August, 07, at 10.10 pm

Murray, Brendan P, 1934-2002, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/476
  • Person
  • 28 October 1934-14 March 2002

Born: 28 October 1934, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 06 September 1952, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1966, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1971, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 14 March 2002, Mater Hospital, Dublin

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

by 1986 at Regis Toronto, Canada (CAN S) on sabbatical

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 112 : Special Edition 2002

Obituary
Fr Brendan Murray (1934-2002)
28th Oct. 1934: Born in Dublin
Early education at St. Joseph's, Terenure and CBS, Synge Street.
6th Sept. 1952: Entered the Society at Emo
7th Sept. 1954: First Vows at Emo
1954 - 1957: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1957 - 1960: Tullabeg- Studied Philosophy
1960 - 1962: Mungret College - Regency
1962 - 1963: Clongowes - Regency; Clongowes Cert. in Education
1963 - 1967: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
28th July, 1966: Ordained at Milltown Park
1967 - 1968 Tertianship at Rathfamham
1968 - 1974: University Hall - Principal, Bursar
15" Aug. 1971: Final Vows at Clongowes
1974 - 1978 John Austin House - Chaplain, D.I.T. Kevin St; Bursar
1978 - 1985: Campion House - Chaplain, D.I.T. Kevin Street; Bursar, Co-ordinator, Communications
1985: Vice-Superior.
1985 - 1986: Toronto - Sabbatical year
1986 - 1991: Tullabeg - Superior; Minister; Pastoral Delegate
1991 - 1993: Gardiner Street - Vice-Superior, Minister; Pastoral Delegate
1993 - 1997: Superior; Editor, Messenger; National Secretary Apostleship of Prayer; Pastoral Delegate
1997 - 2002: Leeson Street - Superior; Editor, Messenger; National Secretary of Apostleship of Prayer 14th Mar.
2002: Died at Mater Hospital, Dublin.

Brendan was taken ill at the end of February, 2002. In St. Vincent's Hospital it was diagnosed that he had had a heart attack. He suffered a second heart attack in the hospital. His condition worsened a week later. He was taken to Mater Hospital, where they performed a double by-pass operation. The doctors gave his chances of recovery as 50/50. He was kept on a life support system, but did not respond. From the early hours of March 14th his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died peacefully in the morning of the same day, surrounded by members of his family.

Michael Drennan writes....
One could wonder what Brendan might have done, had he not joined the Jesuits. With his keen intelligence, great sense of humour and his ability to mimic, many avenues could have opened up for him. He might have outdone Gay Byrne, who also did the Leaving in 1952 at Synge Street CBS. Brendan could have attained fame in many fields, but his desire was not for earthly treasure. God's fidelity and commitment met a faithful response in a life that was a nice blend of the serious and the light-hearted. Brendan had a gentle hold on life. Yet, in his life he achieved much, left us a lot to cherish and be grateful for, as he had a depth and wisdom that was too good to be forgotten.

We gathered for his funeral on the Feast of St. Joseph, who is described as a “man of honour”. The same words might be used of Brendan. There was a deep sadness evident as we bade him farewell; he was taken so quickly that we had little opportunity to say goodbye.

The Gospel of the Emmaus journey seemed relevant as a way of giving a brief summary of Brendan's life. It is a good story. Brendan was a man of story having a great abundance of them; and he could tell them well. He had the capacity to embellish and make them richer, even giving the more elaborate version back to the person who had shared it with him, originally - unknowingly? In talks and retreats, he used stories to illustrate aspects of God's story from Scripture; many appeared in his well-written editorials in the Sacred Heart Messenger. A good story can have many levels of meaning.

It is a story of good companionship, which shortens a journey and leaves lasting memories. Brendan was a good companion to many people, especially, to his own family, whose loss was great; he kept in contact with them, wherever they were, sharing their joys and sorrows. In community he could brighten up a dull day with his witty interventions. He was a companion to many people whose lives he touched in ministry, whether that was in Kevin Street DIT, or to people who came to see him, or in talks or retreats he gave, or to those he worked with. Through the Sacred Heart Messenger, he reached many who felt they knew him through his writing.

He was a good companion because he had depth as well as humour. Discussions on theology, scripture, religious life, or art, engaged him. He loved fun, also, though some of his pranks did not work out as envisaged and recovery tactics were required on occasion. His sense of humour was endearing and had the lovely ability to laugh at himself. He told me the story not so long ago, about someone overhearing two people at another table in a restaurant talking about religious magazines. Finally they came to the Messenger; one said she loved the Messenger and she particularly liked Fr Murray whose photo was inside the front cover; he had a lovely smile, but then she added, “Of course, I don't believe a word of what he says”. A phone call to him was enough to raise one's heart and bring to the fore the lighter side of life.

The journey to Emmaus was made in the company of Jesus. Being a Jesuit, being in the Company of Jesus, walking the journey of life with Him was of central importance to Brendan. He was a good companion to all of us who walked with him. He contributed much, with most of his Jesuit life spent in leadership roles, often taking on difficult tasks and carrying them through. He was a dedicated worker, who had a bright, analytic, and perceptive mind, being a good judge of people and situations. While he could make the hard decision, he had a compassionate nature. He was loyal and faithful, with a generous heart, making his many talents available to others, whether it was taking on a new project, refurbishing a house, or closing one down. He had the flexibility to adapt to new situations and was at this best when under pressure. While he could get impatient at times, and sometimes he was not especially tolerant of lesser mortals, it tended to blow over quickly and it was soon forgotten.

In the Emmaus story, the opening of the word of God is significant. Brendan had a great love and appreciation for the word of God and opened it out to many. Most of his talks were based on Scripture, with a helpful story or two to lead into them. It was a living word for him; what he shared came from his own reflection and prayer and it spoke to many who heard him.

God's story of love, lived out in Jesus, met Brendan's story; he was generous in response. The gifts that God offered were those that Brendan, behind the mischievous smile and often subtle humour, wanted. Those latter years in the Messenger gave more scope to his creative side, to write, to edit, to design, and to help continue the updating of the magazine and its organisation. He relished the task and loved it, but he was good at it. The redoing and relocating so beautifully of the Evie Hone windows in Manresa also owed much to him. His attention to detail, ensuring that were placed where they would get maximum light, was carefully thought out. It could be said that in other areas, such as ordering a meal, he tended to be less creative and adventurous, there was a consistency there as he stayed with the tested and reliable. I suppose he could not be flexible on everything! Yet, there was something more than ordinary about him. He was forty-five when he learned to drive; he is the only person I know, who, on the successful completion of his driving test, came away with a Mass intention from his examiner!

He had the openness and freedom to walk with and accept the call of the Lord, letting the Lord enter his story in a new way. In that story there is a deepening of the call, as it moved towards the final part of it. He invited the Lord in, so that the Lord could reveal himself more intimately and break bread with him. Now the Lord has issued a new invitation; the journey is completed; the story has been told, the messenger's work is done, the banquet is ready. But we are to remember that story, interwoven with God's story; we are to live in its spirit, as we continue to walk on in faith.

We weep for his untimely passing, we will miss his gentle presence, but we are the richer for knowing him. His life is a good story, narrated by a very competent messenger. We pray that God will be merciful to him for any failings and give him the rewards of life that is eternal love, which is God's desire for him and for all of us. May he rest in peace.

-oOo-

Noel Barber wrote the following “Appreciation” for THE IRISH TIMES...
Fr. Brendan Murray, who died on March 14", aged 67, ploughed what many would consider infertile soil. For the past 10 years he edited a devotional religious magazine, The Sacred Heart Messenger. Many will be surprised, however, to learn that the circulation of The Messenger is well into six figures; surprised, too, to learn the range of its readership - from the very simple to the highly sophisticated. This magazine, an extraordinary survival, bears testimony to the fact that a religious monthly can still command a place in the market.

Its standard was high when he took over; the previous editors had adapted it to the needs and tastes of changing times without sacrificing its religious thrust. Building on the work of his predecessors, he brought to his task an exceptional attention to detail, an immense care with its artistic production, and a keen financial eye. His editorials, beautifully written with wit, verve and wisdom, touched a large and devoted readership; some have already expressed their sense of loss at the prospect of The Messenger without him.

He was born in Dublin on October 28th, 1934, to Frank Murray, a Civil Servant, and Lucy Dunne, one of nine children, of whom his brothers Frank and Declan and his sisters Colette Nolan, Maureen Flanagan and Carmel Murray survive him. He was educated by the Christian Brothers, Synge Street, and entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Emo Park, Portarlington, in 1952, He was an able and serious student, obtaining a good degree in Latin and Irish, and Licentiates in Philosophy and Theology. He had the capacity to become a specialist in any one of these disciplines. His character was a quixotic mix of high seriousness and earthy frivolity. There were few who could discuss better serious matters of literature, theology, philosophy - or art, in which he had a particular interest and a discriminating taste. On the other hand, he was a joker and prankster, a raconteur and mimic, who brightened many a dark afternoon for his fellow students. His stories grew in the telling in which his mentors, academic and religious, assumed a second existence.

After his Ordination in 1966, he held a variety of positions in all of which he used his considerable ability, charm and, when necessary, his formidable determination to achieve his purpose, be it in closing down a Retreat House, as Principal of a University Residence, as Chaplain to the Dublin Institute of Technology, or as a Superior of Jesuit Communities. He had outstanding pastoral skills as so many will testify: the priests who followed his retreats, the religious whom he counselled and people of all walks of life who came to receive his shrewd, kindly and practical advice. As a preacher and retreat giver he used his talents as a storyteller to great effect but his story telling was always at the service of a deep spirituality and sound common sense. These in turn reflected his warm, rich personality. In his case, the person was very much the message.

His friends were surprised that his fatal heart attack had not happened earlier. Despite his intelligence, wisdom, understanding of others and the advice of his brethren, his style of life was almost self-destructive. He worked impossibly long hours, took no exercise, rarely, if ever, had a holiday, and sustained himself on great quantities of nicotine and caffeine. He was a man of great goodness with an inexplicable disregard of himself. He will be greatly missed and it will take an exceptional person to fill his shoes.

Murray, Christopher F, 1912-2008, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/782
  • Person
  • 29 February 1912-09 January 2008

Born: 29 February 1912, Aughrim Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin
Entered: 26 May 1937, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Final Vows: 15 August 1947, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 09 January 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Transcribed HIB to ZAM: 30 July 1970; ZAM to HIB : 31 July 1982

by 1941 at Rome Italy (ROM) working at Curia

29th February 1912 Born in Dublin
Early education at CBS, St. Mary’s Place and Bolton Street Technical College
1929-1936 Worked at French Polishing
26th March 1937 Entered the Society at Emo
1st April 1939 First Vows at Emo
1939-1940 Milltown Park – Book binding and French Polishing
1940-1946 Roman Curia – Secretary
1946-1958 Crescent College, Limerick – sub-sacristan; in charge of staff and Infirmarian 15th August 1947 Final Vows at Crescent College
1958-1960 Loyola House – Provincial’s secretary
1960-1961 Manresa House – Secretary to Editor of Madonna
1961-1963 Curia Rome – Mission Secretariat
1963-1970 Zambia – Assistant Secretary : Bishop of Monze
1970 Transcribed to Zambia Province
1970-1979 Bursar – Canisius College & Community, Chikuni
1979-1984 Milltown Park – ‘Messenger’ Office administration
1982 Transcribed to Irish Province
1984-2008 St. Francis Xavier’s, Gardiner Street –
1984-1993 Bursar
1993-1995 Assistant Treasurer; House Chapel Sacristan.
1995-2002 House Chapel Sacristan
2002-2008 Cherryfield Lodge – Prayed for the Church and the Society
9th January 2008 Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin.

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Brother Christopher Murray, known to his fellow Jesuits as Christy, but always to his family as Kit, was born on 29 February 1912. He was always ready for a joke or wisecrack about the fact that he had a birthday only once every four years and so was still only in his 23rd year when he went to Cherryfield at the age of 90!. During that long life he was to live in close proximity to some of the great drama of the 20th century both in Ireland and in Europe. He was born about six weeks before the Titanic foundered in the Atlantic, and two years before World War 1 broke out. He was too young to join his elder brothers and sisters who walked a mile down North Circular Road from their Aughrim Street home to say the Rosary outside Mountjoy Jail as Kevin Barry was being hanged. As a boy he saw Michael Collins walk past the Christian Brothers' School beside the Black Church at the head of the funeral cortege of Arthur Griffith. A short week later he saw Collins' own funeral pass the same spot on its way to Glasnevin Cemetery.

He did his early schooling at the Christian Brothers School in St. Mary’s Place and got a two year scholarship to Bolton St. College of Technology but only stayed for one year. He worked for seven years apprenticed to a French polisher of furniture. He was an official in the Trade Unions. Those who knew him will not be surprised to know that he led at least two strikes! At the age of 27 he entered the novitiate (1937) having made what he said was a ‘mature decision’. Later his mother said she was surprised at the decision but he saw no problem once he made his mind up.

Shortly after he ended his novitiate, he was posted to Rome in 1940. While en route he had barely passed through Paris when it fell to the Germans. The day he arrived in Rome was the time Mussolini declared war. As long as he stayed in the house he was technically in the Vatican but if he walked out the front door he was in Italy! It was a difficult time since on arrival he was asked to type a letter in Latin. He had no idea of Latin and never typed in his life. However he soon mastered the necessary skills with his usual intelligence and determination. While he was in Rome the food shortages became desperately severe. The situation took such a toll on his health that he was on a milk diet for a whole year after the war ended. One thing that upset him very much afterwards was the suggestion that Pope Pius XII had abandoned the Jews to their fate during the war. He himself had run messages on behalf of the Holy Father to Jewish families in hiding around the city, bringing them food and other supplies. He rarely traveled twice by the same route lest he was under surveillance. Christy worked with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, the legendary "Vatican Pimpernel" who did so much for the Jews and whose life was portrayed by Gregory Peck in a major feature film. He did two stints at Rome 1940-46 in the secretariat of the English Assistant and 1961-63 at the Mission Secretariat.

Back in Ireland he did various jobs in the Crescent both in the Church and the community from 1946 to 1958, before being appointed secretary to the Provincial from 1958 to 1960. He also worked as secretary to the editor of The Madonna from Manresa House in 1960/61.

While in Rome he volunteered for the Zambian mission and for seven years (1963-70) he was secretary to Bishop Corboy, whom he had known as a novice. These were the heady years of post-independence. At the end of his life it was these years with Bishop Corboy that always came to his mind. He then was bursar at Canisius Secondary School from 1970 to 1979.

He returned to Ireland in 1979 and worked from Milltown Park in the Messenger Office up to 1984 from where he went to Gardiner Street where he spent his remaining years (1984-2002) before he went to the Nursing Unit of Cherryfield. His work always included looking after the finances and the sacristy.

Christy was gifted with a high IQ as was evident in his ease in dealing with figures and accounts. He was widely read and well informed. This led to his holding a very definite position on a variety of matters. In any discussion it was not long before this was made clear with the words ‘the facts of the matter are’. Naturally this ensured lively and occasionally heated discussions on a variety of topics. An inveterate walker, he must have known every street in Dublin. Until he was into his 90s he did a four mile walk every Wednesday up and down the North Circular Road to visit Stephanie, his youngest sister, still living in the family home. She herself categorized him as a "man of will". We, in John Austin House, noticed his pace slacken towards the end until at last he had to give it up.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/christy-murray-rip/

Christy Murray RIP
Please pray for Rev. Brother Christopher Murray, S.J. who died at Cherryfield Lodge on 9 January 2008, aged 95 years. May he rest in peace.

https://www.jesuit.ie/news/from-french-polisher-to-roman-secretary/

From French Polisher to Roman Secretary
An interview with Christy Murray on Nov, 10, 2005
First published in Interfuse
Interfuse: I was amazed when I found out that you were born in 1912 – on February 29! You are one of those special people.
Christy Murray: Yes. A birthday only every four years.
That’s why you have lived so long, probably! Sure you’re only 23 years old! 1912 – that was before the First World War. Have you any interesting memories from those early days?
I can’t really say I have. I didn’t start school until I was nine.
Was the school in Dublin?
Yes. I didn’t go to Junior School. I went to a med Miss Ryan on the Berkeley Road, and only spent a year there. Otherwise I got taught until I was nine at home. And then I went to the Christian Brothers in St. Mary’s Place near the Black Church.
How many years were you there?
All my school life – until I was 14 or 15. I did the exam for Bolton Street Tech and got a scholarship there. So I was there for a couple of years, catching up on some of the things I was short on in my education. I got a scholarship for two years, but I didn’t stay the two years. I went as an apprentice to a trade. I was a French polisher.
A French polisher! That’s very interesting.
I worked for seven or eight years at French polishing before I entered the Society.
So you were a late vocation?
Yes. I was 27 when I entered. One of the things I decided was that I must qualify in something before I enter religious life. It was a planned thing, you know, and then I was interviewed in Gardiner Street by the Provincial there. When I went to Emo I wanted to feel that, if I didn’t like what I met with there, I could go back to the trade. As well as being a qualified tradesman I was an official in the trade union.
Was Gardiner Street your church, or how did you come into contact with the Jesuits?
No, Berkeley Road was my parish church. But I went down to Gardiner Street to have an interview. Since I was thinking of entering the religious order there, I had to be interviewed by a Jesuit, so that’s what brought me to Gardiner Street.
And you met the Provincial. Who was the Provincial then?
I don’t remember. I thought at that time that it was the Superior of Gardiner Street who interviewed me.
You went to Emo in 1936, and finished your novitiate about 1939. What was your first assignment?
My first assignment was to Rome. I was sent directly to our head house in Rome. I was secretary to the Assistant General – the English assistant.
So, instead of polishing wood you were writing letters.
I had to learn to use a typewriter there. When I was sent out I hadn’t any experience of doing secretarial work. So in Rome they had to give me time to learn how to use a typewriter, and so on. I remember that well because I felt very awkward then, arriving. And, you see, I couldn’t come back from Rome because I arrived in Italy the day that country entered the war alongside Germany, so there was no question of coming back.
So you spent all the war years there. And when you went there the General was Fr. Ledochowski. He died during the war.
Yes. He died the second year I was there.
I see. And then you had Father Janssens.
That’s right.
It must have been interesting knowing both of those men. Any memories of those times?
Well, I can’t say I can remember clearly now, but the fact was that I found them both very encouraging. I was doing a type of work I had never done before and they were giving me time to get used to doing it. There were fifteen assistants – general assistants. When I arrived I didn’t know anything about typing or anything like that and they gave me time to learn it. It was a Canadian brother who taught me.
You were there till the end of the war. And then in 1946 you came back to Ireland. Had you been away all seven years without coming back?
There was no question of coming back. I was locked in Italy. I was one of the enemy, so I couldn’t travel. And, of course, there wasn’t any question of Mussolini giving permission to anybody but himself. It was a hard time, because we hadn’t enough to eat. We were living on Vatican territory. The Curia of the Jesuits was on Vatican land. When we stepped outside of the house we were in Italy, but when we were in the house we were in the Vatican. And therefore, the police couldn’t come into the house to arrest anyone. Once you stepped outside the hall door you were officially in Italy, but once you remained in the house you were a Vatican citizen.
What kind of work did you do in Ireland when you came back at the end of the war? Were you in Gardiner Street?
Yes. I was in Gardiner Street. Brother Priest was the sacristan there and I was his assistant.
Brother Priest?
That’s right. A funny name, but I found him very good. He helped me along.
You were assistant there. And did you stay in Gardiner Street for many years?
To tell you the truth, I forget.
You didn’t go to any other place? Were you in Gardiner Street for the rest of your days?
I forget the sequence, but I know I volunteered to go to Zambia.
Oh, so you went to Zambia?
Yes. It was the time that Father Corboy was made bishop. I knew him in his noviceship. Later he became Bishop Corboy. I volunteered to go because I had secretarial experience.
So you volunteered to work as secretary to Bishop Corboy.
That’s right. I spent fifteen years in Zambia with him.
And that was secretarial work, too.
Yes. I was in Rome at the time I volunteered to go to Zambia. I had a chat with the General at the time that Bishop Corboy was created bishop, and I had a chat with the General about going and joining him. He invited me to go and do the same kind of work as I had been doing.
You went back to Rome on a visit and when you were there you talked to the General about going with Bishop Corboy?
Yes. I was appointed to Rome at the time. I had been in Rome a number of years. It was my second time in Rome.
Oh, you went back a second time, after the war?
Yes. I was invited back.
That was after time as assistant sacristan in Gardiner Street?
That’s right.
That was a good few years afterwards because Bishop Corboy didn’t go until well into the 50s. You had quite a few years then in Zambia, did you?
I had fifteen years there. I got leave every five years – this is how I know. I just got leave once in five years…
Back to Dublin?
I was on my third leave back to Dublin when someone else was placed in my job.
I see. And were you then back in Gardiner Street again? You didn’t have any other assignment?
No, not that I remember.
So you’ve had a very varied career – Rome and Zambia and Ireland. And of course you came here to Cherryfield from Gardiner Street, so that was your last assignment there. And how do you find it here in Cherryfield?
The fact of the matter is that I was over 90 when I came here. Actually it was my 90th birthday the day I came in here. The 29th of February. I’ve been here over a year. I’m close to two years here.
And are you comfortable here?
In fact I’m surprised I’m so comfortable, because I had some experience of being in hospital, in care, before. I was in a ward with five or six others. Then I come here and I have my own room. This place is a great idea, I think. We’re really blessed to have this place. We’re one of the few Orders that has a good organised house for the aged.
The changes that have taken place in your time in the Society are tremendous. Especially, there were a lot more brothers when you entered.
Yes. Hadn’t got the same chances, you might say.
They had larger communities of brothers in the society.
Yes. There were a bigger number of brothers then than now. The brothers did a lot of work taking care of the houses and the farms. There were far more vocations then. In fact, it was nearly a fight to get into the Society then. Personally, I think I had an exceptionally happy time in all my years in the Society and in all the different jobs I was doing, and I got a fair amount of travel done.
Would you have a word of advice or a special message you’d like to give to the Province as you celebrate nearly 94 years?
I would like to say that they should keep the Brothers’ vocations in Ireland. They shouldn’t be sent to England. And even if they are few, they’ve a better chance of increasing their number by keeping them at home. I think that parents get preoccupied if they can’t visit them. I remember the impression I got from the first visit from my family in the novitiate in Emo. When I got talking to my mother – six people came to see me – she said that she expected to be bringing me back home, that I really wasn’t a person who was a likely Religious, and she thought she’d be taking me back home. She told me afterwards, “I didn’t expect you to be so happy; I thought you’d be coming back home, that you’d made a mistake”.
But you hadn’t made a mistake.
That’s the thing. I was thinking the opposite – that I was old enough to decide at that point in my life what my future was going to be, because I had already served my time at French polishing and as a trade union official.
You never felt like giving up. You were happy in your vocation.
I thought I was deciding when I was mature enough to decide. I felt that I had made it quite clear that I wasn’t making a mistake. I was surprised when she told me that.
That satisfaction with your vocation seems to have continued over the years.
Yes. When I was working in Rome, for example, everything went so well that I couldn’t believe it.
It’s great to be able to say in your nineties that you have no regrets about the way you chose.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Polisher before entry
Quite the reverse.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 15th Year No 2 1940

Milltown Park :
Rev. Fr. Assistant (P. A. Dugré) reached Dublin 21 December 1939, and stayed with until 30 January, when he left for Scotland via Belfast. He counted on reaching Rome on 1 March. He was accompanied from London by our Brother Christopher Murray who has taken up the duties of amanuensis in the Curia at 5 Borgo Santo Spirito.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 135 : Spring 2008

Obituary

Br Christopher (Christy) Murray (1912-2007)

Homily preached by Barney McGuckian at the Funeral Mass at St. Francis Xavier's, Gardiner St., on Jan. 11th, 2008
On a headstone in one of the catacombs of Rome, where Brother Christopher Murray spent a number of challenging years, there is an inscription which reads “He has completed his baptism”. This short statement reveals something of how the early Christians understood Baptism. For them it was not a simple rite of passage or a brief passing ceremony. It was the first step in a process that would only end with death. Just as in show business it takes a life-time to become an over-night success, so it takes a whole life time to become a fully baptized Christian. This completion came for our Brother Christy two days ago in the Nursing Home at Cherryfield Lodge. He was holding the hand of Rachel McNeill, and, evidently, was quite conscious right up until the end. I, exceptionally, was among the concelebrants at Mass in the chapel across the corridor. As we had been told that Christy was very low, we commended his soul to the Lord. We do so again today strengthened by the encouraging text from the book of Maccabees that it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, including even those “who make a pious end” that they may be released from their sins. cf II Maccabees 12:43-45.

Jesus Himself was baptised in the River Jordan at the beginning of his public life as we will hear at Mass on Sunday next. But this was only the first of many Baptisms that he would undergo. When Jesus referred to Baptism he seemed to become tense. “There is a baptism I must receive, and what a constraint I am under until it is completed” (Luke, 12:50). His complete Baptism came on Calvary when he finally gave up the ghost, after taking the vinegar, surely symbolic of everything distasteful in life and bowing his head in acceptance. (Cf John 19, 29-30). As his followers, who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, as St Paul puts it, we are all called to follow a similar path.

If Brother Christopher, known to his fellow Jesuits as Christy, but always to his family as Kit, had lived until February 296 of this year he would have been 96. He was always ready for a joke or wisecrack about the fact that he was still only in his 23 year while in Cherryfield. During that long life he was to live in close proximity to some of the great drama of the 20th century both in Ireland and in Europe. He was born about six weeks before the Titanic foundered in the Atlantic, and two years before World War 1 broke out. He was too young to join his elder brothers and sisters who walked a mile down North Circular Road from their Aughrim Street home to say the Rosary outside Mountjoy Jail as Kevin Barry was being hanged. As a boy he saw Michael Collins walk past the Christian Brothers' School beside the Black Church at the head of the funeral cortege of Arthur Griffith. A short week later he saw Collins' own funeral pass the same spot on its way to Glasnevin Cemetery. Shortly after he ended his novitiate, he was posted to Rome in 1940. While en route he had barely passed through Paris when it fell to the Germans. On arrival, he was in time to see Mussolini declare war. However, when in 1963 he went to join Bishop Corboy in the Diocese of Monze in Zambia, it was to the relative stability of the newly-won independence of the country. While there he was a most conscientious worker. As assistant secretary for education at Canisius Secondary School in Chikuni, he is still remembered as someone dedicated to his work, carrying it out meticulously to the last detail.

Christy won a scholarship to Bolton Street College of Technology on leaving primary school and became a French Polisher. Many of us still remember the beautiful finish of the doors in the Chapel at Emo, a testimony to the quality of his workmanship. Before entering the Jesuits he was active in the Trade Unions. Those who knew him will not be surprised to know that he led at least two strikes! After working for seven years at his trade he decided to embrace religious life. He may have been influenced in this by the example of two of his elder sisters who had joined the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and headed off for Australia and New Zealand respectively. One of them, Sister Lua is still alive at 98 in New Zealand.

Christy took his first vows on April 1st, 1939 at Emo. Realizing that he had “turned pro" that day he took the implications of what he had done with the utmost seriousness for the rest of his life. His commitment, particularly his obedience, was sorely tried very shortly afterwards. He had only arrived a few days in Rome when he was told to type an important letter in Latin. Not only did he not know the basics of Latin, he had never ever typed a word in any language in his life! The kindness of Fr, General Ledochowski, one of his great heroes, helped him survive this and other trials. While he was in Rome the food shortages became desperate. The situation took such a toll on his health that he was on a milk diet for a whole year after the war ended.

One thing that upset him very much afterwards was the suggestion that Pope Pius XII had abandoned the Jews to their fate during the war. He himself had run messages on behalf of the Holy Father to Jewish families in hiding around the city, bringing them food and other supplies. He rarely travelled twice by the same route lest he was under surveillance. Christy worked with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, the legendary “Vatican Pimpernel” who did so much for the Jews and whose life was portrayed by Gregory Peck in a major feature film. Another of his friends was Mrs Thomas Kiernan, wife of the Irish Ambassador to the Holy See, better known for her renderings of "If I were a blackbird" and “The three lovely lassies from Banyon" as Delia Murphy. Her relationship with non-Nazi German officers through the Irish Embassy, the only English-speaking Embassy in Rome after the U.S. entered the war, proved a life-saver for many endangered young Italians. Christy remembered her arriving at the Borgo Santo Spirito with the gift for the starving community of a much appreciated pig in the boot of the ambassadorial car,

Christy was gifted with a high IQ. This was evident in his ease in dealing with figures and accounts. He was widely read and well informed. This led to his holding a very definite position on a variety of matters. In any discussion it was not long before this was made clear with the pronouncement “the facts of the matter are”. Naturally, this ensured lively and occasionally heated discussions on a variety of topics. However once he entered the chapel he moved into a different mode. His recollection and silence here was very evident. Most of his life in religion was spent either in finances or in the sacristy of our churches. He is still remembered with great affection in Limerick, where he was sacristan for 12 years from 1946-58.

An inveterate walker, he must have known every street in Dublin. Until he was into his 90s he did a four mile walk every Wednesday up and down the North Circular Road to visit Stephanie, his youngest sister, still living in the family home. She herself categorized him as a “man of will”. We, in John Austin House, noticed his pace slacken towards the end until he had to give it up. Shortly afterwards, we heard that he had moved to Cherryfield. He was remarkably regular in both his religious observance and his physical exercise right up until he was confined to a wheel-chair in Cherryfield.

As a disciple of Ignatius of Loyola, Christy would have learned to begin his daily prayer with the same formula; that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed solely to the service and praise of the divine majesty. This is a prayer for holiness and one that is only fully answered at the hour of death. Indeed it could be described as a prayer for the fullness of baptism into Christ Jesus. We hope that it was fully answered for our brother Christy when the time came. Like Ignatius he was a man small in stature and, indeed, in death his features reminded me very much of the death-mask of our Holy Founder that has come down to us. As we pray today for the repose of Christy's soul there is nothing to prevent us also praying to him.

Murray, Dermot, 1939-2022, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/511
  • Person
  • 1939-2022

Born: 23 March 1939, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1956, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 25 June 1970, Milltown Park Chapel, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1978, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Died: 04 October 2022, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Clongowes Wood College SJ community at the time of death

FSS
Born : 23rd March 1939 Dublin City
Raised : Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Early Education at CBC Monkstown, Dublin
7th September 1956 Entered Society at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
8th September 1958 First Vows at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
1958-1961 Rathfarnham - Studying Science at UCD
1961-1962 Vals-près-le-Puy, France - Studying Philosophy at Séminaire des Missions
1962-1964 Chantilly. France - Studying Philosophy at Séminaire Missionaire
1964-1966 Crescent College SJ, Limerick : Regency : Teacher
1966-1967 Belvedere College SJ - Regency : Teacher; Studying H Dip in Education at UCD
1967-1971 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
25th June 1970 Ordained at Milltown Park Chapel, Dublin
1971-1973 St Ignatius College, Enfield - Studying Education at Institute of Education, University of London
1973-1974 Belvedere College SJ - Assistant Headmaster; Teacher; Province Task Force on Education
1974-1982 Gonzaga College SJ - Headmaster (from Oct 1974); Teacher
1977 Tullabeg - Tertianship
2nd February 1978 Final Vows at Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
1982-1992 Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, Dooradoyle - Headmaster; Teacher; Director of Pastoral Care
1992-1993 Paris, France - Sabbatical at Communauté St Louis de Gonzague
1993-1995 Loyola House - Delegate for Young Adults; Youth Director; National Ecclesiastical Assistant for CLC
1995-2005 Clongowes Wood College SJ- Rector; National Ecclesiastical Assistant for CLC; Chaplain Lower Line
2000 Headmaster; Pastoral Care Director; Teacher; Moderator of Academy; ARLB Centenary Record
2004 Cleveland, OH, USA - Sabbatical at Sabbatical at St Ignatius High School
2005-2006 Crescent Church, Limerick - Superior; Project Team at Sacred Heart Church; Pastoral Delegate; Young Adult Delegate
2006-2010 Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, Dooradoyle - Director of Spirituality Centre, Limerick; Ministry to Parents at Crescent College; Bursar
2010-2022 Clongowes Wood College SJ- Spiritual Director (Lower Line); Assists in Peoples’ Church; Directs Liturgical Music
2013 Assists in People’s Church
2016 Prays for the Church and Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ The Clongownian, 2004

Father Dermot Murray SJ : Headmaster 2000-2004

Fr Dermot Murray SJ has a rare distinction amongst his Jesuit colleagues - that of being Headmaster in three different schools. He was Headmaster in Gonzaga 1974-1982, in the Crescent College Comprehensive, Limerick 1982-1992, and in Clongowes 2000-2004. He was appointed initially in Clongowes as Rector in 1995, probably thinking that his days of serving as Headmaster were over. When Fr Bruce Bradley SJ went on a well-earned sabbatical year in 2000, the Provincial asked Dermot to step in as acting Headmaster for the academic year 2000-2001. Following Bruce's appointment to the office of Cardinal Desmond Connell, Dermot was appointed as Headmaster in Clongowes until his retirement in 2004.

The first time I ever came across Dermot was in 1978 when the late Vinny Murray and I were coaching a Junior Cup Team together. Dermot was coaching the Gonzaga team. As was his wont at the time, he expressed some opinions from the touchline about the referee (Vinny) and the fairness of some of his decisions. Those of us who remember Vinny know that he rarely lost his temper about anything but he was really quite incensed on this particular day. Suffice it to say that I was surprised by the ensuing verbal engagement. Some years later, when I had the honour of refereeing a junior match between Clongowes and the Crescent College, I discovered that Dermot had lost none of his directness when it came to advising young referees about how to do their job. (He did decline the offer to take the whistle and finish the job himself...).

I had just been appointed as Assistant Headmaster in May 2000 shortly before the announcement of his appointment as acting Headmaster was made. I had enjoyed working with Bruce during the previous months in my capacity as acting Assistant Headmaster and had found him very supportive, encouraging, and easy to deal with. What would it be like working with Dermot? I could not say that I knew him well at that time and I was apprehensive about the news initially. However, I soon learned that he was an excellent leader who made sound decisions. Being naturally inquisitive and a good listener, he learned about every detail of school-life quickly.

As I got to know him over the four years, I realised what a very complex person Dermot is. He always acts out of his faith and deep spiritual beliefs. He lives his Christianity by trying to be fair and just, caring to those who work with him and for him. He is a very human human being with a great understanding of human frailties and suffering. He accepts people as they are, warts and all; when one made a mistake, there were no recriminations, “Acknowledge the mistake, let's see if we can correct it and move on” seemed to be his motto.

He brought to Clongowes a great wealth of experience to deal with the many issues and a number of crises, large and small. Throughout it all there was a steady, firm hand, a dispenser of wise council, a man capable of being objective and detached when needed.

Dermot leaves Clongowes with a fine record of achievement. He built and maintained good relations with all staffs. I think especially of the two years of industrial relations difficulties with the ASTI when he managed to keep the College open and functioning, and ensured that good humour and good relations remained. He won genuine affection from those lucky enough to have got to know him well. He steered the College through some difficult times such as those following the illness of the Bursar, Tom Farrelly, and the shock following Eamonn Donoghue's death.

Early on, Dermot set out his aims to build a community of growth, service and faith. In the school he will probably be best remembered by the boys for establishing both Morning Prayer and school assemblies as a central feature of College life. He also introduced school assemblies, which are used to recognise achievements of all kinds by all members of the community. He brought a new perspective to bear on much of the life of the school through the assemblies by acknowledging achievements other than rugby and by raising the profile of such achievements in the College. He oversaw the change from a Board of Governors to a Board of Management, the setting up of a Parents' Council, the establishment of a new position of Director of Finance, the recruitment of a Director of Development and the revamping of the Development Office (now the Foundation Office), the drawing up of the Master Plan, the preparation for the launch of “Clongowes Towards 2020”. Many of these decisions made in the years under Dermot's direction will have far-reaching and beneficial effects on the life of the College.

However, I think that Dermot will be mainly very fondly remembered for his many kindnesses to us all; for his friendship, for his good humour for his decisiveness and sound decision making. Dermot was a good leader and a fair employer and we thank him sincerely for it. Personally, I have much to thank him for: for his friendship and his many kindnesses to me, for what I have learnt from him about my role and about life. I was lucky to have such a mentor in my early years in this position.

For his retirement, Dermot has chosen to spend the year mostly in another Jesuit school in Cleveland, Ohio to study pastoral care systems and perhaps to offer some advice on rugby refereeing...! We all hope that he enjoys his well-earned retirement, when he eventually when gets it! He leaves with our sincere gratitude and good wishes. We hope he has a wonderful retirement and the good health to enjoy it. We hope to see him back in Clongowes frequently.

Dermot: to paraphrase Shakespeare, you have done Clongowes some service and they know it.

Interfuse No 139 : Easter 2009

ANONYMOUS CLERICS

Dermot Murray

Some time ago, one of my Jesuit friends told me that he had to go to a pharmacist to get some medicine. As he had been at a liturgical function, he was still wearing his priestly collar. After serving him, the pharmacist said, You know, Father, you are the first priest I have seen for years.

This set me thinking. One of my lines of thought went like this: any product needs publicity before it will sell. In general, the better the publicity, the better the sales. Thus, for example, many people at least in this area will wear the Munster jersey or the Munster scarf or the Munster hat not just for the matches, but for ordinary wear around the town. In this way, a sense of communal solidarity is built up and the support of the Munster team builds up to an extraordinary degree. This support leads to a desire on the part of the players to play to the limits of their ability, not just for victory but also to repay their supporters for such wonderful support. In addition, every young man and many young women want to have the opportunity to be members of the team.

For a few weeks now, I have looked to see a priest in the streets of Limerick. I looked in vain. In a recent visit to Dublin, I wandered around the city for a couple of hours. Again I looked to see a priest wandering around in the streets of our capital city; again, I looked in vain. Even in Veritas, a bookshop in which one used to see priests and religious wandering around looking at the books on offer, there wasn't a priest or a nun to be seen.

I know one reason for this is the diminishing numbers of priests and religious. Perhaps a second reason might be a fear that, because of the child abuse issue and the negative publicity that appeared to attach itself to every priest, cleric and religious, they might receive a very unpleasant and unacceptable greeting if they wore their clerical clothes or religious habit. A third reason might be a reluctance to being approached by people for money and not knowing how to deal appropriately with the people involved. I pondered on all these issues as I went up by the Luas to Heuston, my Munster rugby tie carefully displayed.

For myself, a fourth reason for not wearing my clerical collar is that it can limit my freedom in what I say, where I go, what I do. For example, I find it hard to go into a pub in the evening time wearing my clerics. Indeed, sometimes I find it difficult to go down town in the evening time in my clerical garb. Even on a train I sometimes feel that I might be under siege. Yet it has to be said that, when I do go down town in my clerics, mostly in the morning or afternoon, I find that more people greet me than do when I am not wearing clerics. Of course, this might not be true in Dublin particularly if the issue of clerical abuse raises its ugly head again as it did some weeks ago. All in all, I say to myself, it might be more prudent not to wear one's clerics. So I keep displaying my Munster tie. But then, of course, one has to ask the question is prudence the determining value in this situation?

Another reason is that wearing clerical garb does separate one from the laity. The clothes one wears often put the person into a particular category. This applies not just to clerical garb but also to uniforms and to other external signs that one often sees around city and county - Gardai, ambulance crews, fire fighters and others. In Limerick on the day of a Heineken Cup match - or indeed in Cardiff or other cities - a Munster jersey distinguishes Munster supporters from supporters of other teams. The same applies to school sporting competitions in the various codes. And, of course, wearing ashes on Ash Wednesday does tell people something about ourselves, even if it is only for one day.

In the light of some of the reflections above, I decided that I would wear my clerics during Lent and I did - most of the time. Did I find it constraining? Yes, at times I did. Did I feel nervous now and again? Yes, I did. Did I have the impression sometimes that I was viewed as different, as somebody to be avoided? Yes, at times, I did. Did I sometimes get the feeling that these impressions were coming from my unease rather than the reality of the situation? Yes I did. Was I unhappy with my decision to wear my clerics during Lent? No, I wasn't. Nevertheless, it was with some relief that I left them aside at least for the time being. I have worn them since for a week at a time. It remains awkward - perhaps only in my own consciousness.

I wrote this essay while living in the Jesuit Community attached to a large High School in the United States and took the opportunity to discuss the matter in the community. The overall view was expressed as follows: “We wear our clerics when working in the school to show that we are different perhaps not in the quality of our teaching, or the expertise of our counselling, or the enthusiasm for our various athletic programmes. But we are different because we are Jesuits living in community together”.

It is worth noting that there has been a strong interest in vocations in this school for the past number of years – not just from present pupils nor even immediate past-pupils, but past pupils who have completed their College courses or other courses and who, during the last year in school had been invited to discuss, both individually and as a group, the possibility of such a vocation. Where interest was shown, this was followed up on a regular and supportive basis by the Province coordinator of vocations, a brother who, incidentally, attended the recent General Congregation at Fr. General's invitation.

I am well aware that many of us might say that it is by the work we do that we preach the Word of God. We have some very inspirational examples of such people in our Province. It may well be that those who do such work - and indeed the many who are not well known but who work very hard in their own apostolates - might be well known and in many cases loved through their work as individuals. But perhaps they are not well known, each as a Jesuit who lives in a Jesuit community. And, looking at those congregations who are attracting vocations, it seems that one motivation about their aspirants is the desire for a visible community element in their lives.

So, thinking about all this, talking to some of my friends about it and praying a bit as well, I wondered whether, as a Province, we should not look again at the way we present ourselves in public and in our ministries. It might not be comfortable; it certainly would not be popular. But it might help us to discern our way forward if our Province is to continue to exist. Of course, it would be simplistic indeed to suppose that wearing clerical dress would resolve the many problems that lead to a lack of vocations. But it may also be simplistic to suppose that not wearing clerical dress enables us to share the Word of God in a more effective way.

We the Jesuits in Ireland have been rightly criticised for the paucity of vocations to Jesuit life in our Province. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that people never see us. Even in a Jesuit school, Jesuits who form part of the teaching body or the administration of the institution, might not be known as Jesuits. And even if they are known as Jesuits, it may well be that this has no real meaning for the pupils for, after all, individual Jesuits, including myself, appear to live the exact same life-style as the lay-teachers. They teach, they wear the same clothes, they drive the same cars. They might even drink in the same pubs.

My question then is this: Is it time to affirm more publicly that we are different in some ways? Not better, no, but different and able to explain that difference with simplicity as Jesuits living in community. Could it be time for debate, time for discernment ?

Murray, Michael, 1886-1949, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/759
  • Person
  • 31 March 1886-27 November 1949

Born: 31 March 1886, Strokestown, County Roscommon
Entered: 01 February 1905, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 15 August 1919, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1923, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 27 November 1949, Loyola College, Watsonia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1908 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1909 at Kasteel Gemert, Netherlands (TOLO) studying
by 1910 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1910

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Michael Murray entered the Society at Tullabeg, 1 February 1905, studied philosophy at Stonyhurst and Gemert, 1908-10, did regency at Xavier College, Kew, 1910-16, and theology at Milltown Park, 1916-20. Tertianship was at Tullabeg, 1921-22. After ordination he taught at Clongowes, Mungret, and Belvedere for short periods, before returning to Australia in 1927.
While in Australia he worked in the parishes of Norwood, 1927-30, Sevenhill, 1930-32, Norwood, 1932-33, Richmond, 1933-40, Star of the Sea, Milsons Point, 1940-42, and Richmond, 1942-48. His final years, 1948-49, were at Loyola College, Watsonia.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 25th Year No 1 1950
Obituary
Fr. Michael Murray (1886-1905-1949) – Vice Province of Australia

Fr. Michael Murray, S.J., whose death in Australia occurred on 28th November, was born at Strokestown, Co. Roscommon in 1886. Educated at Clongowes Wood College, he spent a year studying engineering in the Technical College, Bristol, before entering the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus' College. Tullamore in 1905. He pursued his philosophical studies at Stonyhurst and at Gemert, Belgium, after which he went to Australia, where he taught for six years at Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne. He returned to Dublin for his theological course and was ordained priest at Milltown Park in 1919. He made his Tertianship at Tullabeg.
After a period in the Apostolic School, Mungret where he was engaged in training students to the priesthood, Fr. Murray joined the mission staff and conducted missions and retreats for three years in various parts of Ireland. In 1927 he returned to Australia and worked zealously for the remainder of his life as pastor in the Jesuit parish churches at Norwood, South Australia, at St. Aloysius', Sydney and St. Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne. It was in the latter church that Fr. Murray spent most of his years, from 1934 to 1940 and again from 1943 to 1949. Owing to declining health, he had to abandon active work during the past year. He was attached at the time of his death to St. Ignatius House of Higher Studies, Watsonia.
Those who knew Fr. Michael in the noviceship or later as a master in Clongowes or on the mission staff will retain the memory of his unassuming and affectionate disposition and quiet humour. R.I.P.

◆ The Clongownian, 1950

Obituary

Father Michael Murray SJ

Shortly after leaving Clongowes in 1903, Fr Murray entered the novitiate in Tullabeg, and passed on to the usual course of studies. As a scholastic he as a Master at Xavier College, Melbourne for six years, before returning to theology at Milltown Park, Dublin where he was ordained in 1919. After a few years in Ireland, he returned to Australia where he laboured all his life in parishes entrusted to the care of the Jesuits there.

His death occurred on November 27th, 1949. The Most Reverend Dr Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne, preaching at the Requiem Mass, spoke of two things which especially distinguished Fr Murray : his utter devotion to the sick, and his marvellous influence with men.

“His life”, His Grace concluded, “was almost wholly spent in the unobstrusive, hidden following of His Master, and it was a life of much labour and great service. His awakening surely was with Christ, and his repose was in peace”.

Murray, Patrick J, 1898-1964, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1809
  • Person
  • 06 January 1898-09 October 1964

Born: 06 January 1898, Headford, County Galway
Entered: 31 October 1920, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows 02 February 1933, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 09 October 1964, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Farmer before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 40th Year No 1 1965

Obituary :
Br Patrick Murray SJ (1898-1964)
Br. Patrick Murray was born in Headford, Co. Galway, on 6th January, 1898, and went to the local National School. When he finished there he worked for a number of years on his father's farm in Headford. At the age of twenty-two he decided to enter the noviceship at Tullabeg and he did his noviceship under Fr. G. Byrne. His career in the Society was for the most part spent in the trying and monotonous task of refectorian, From 1923 till 1935 he was at Milltown Park. He then went back to Tullabeg where he lived until 1950. He returned to Milltown and became connected with fund-raising at Gardiner Street and it was with this work that he spent the reminder of his life.
Fr. Peter Troddyn writes of him :
“I was associated with Br. Murray during the last ten years or so of his life, when he was working on the St. Francis Xavier Draw - when in fact it might be said that as its only full time worker he ‘was’ the St. Francis Xavier Draw. It was largely thanks to his constant application to a considerable amount of sheer drudgery that that enterprise was able to contribute very substantially to the building-fund of the St. Francis Xavier Hall, and to a lesser degree to those of Milltown Park and of the Catholic Workers' College. Latterly he would sometimes call it ‘my draw’, with a little touch of justifiable pride : so it truly was. It was Bishop James Corboy, then Rector of Milltown, for whom the Brother had a great respect and affection, who first suggested that he should take up this work, after the Milltown ‘Golden Circle’ had been absorbed by the SFX draw. For a number of years Brother worked long office hours at the draw office, but returned to Milltown each night. On his cross-city trips he inveigled many bus-conductors into becoming draw promoters and he used ‘innocently’ leave advertising handbills behind him to trap a few more clients: meanwhile he kept in touch with his friends of the Milltown Tuesday night whist drives, and saw to it that they were “in” the draw. He was always delighted when one of them won a prize, and made sure that the fact got the maximum of local publicity. He loved to play in the whist drives himself and those games, and a few with other Brothers, were practically his sole recreation. One of these, indeed, has given me a delightful account of what must have been his last game - after last summer's retreat in Clongowes - when Brother's droll humour made a memorable evening for his fellow-players,
Anyone who has any dealings with ‘the public’ over a counter will know how trying they can be, but Br. Murray was invariably patient and courteous to all those with whom he dealt - although he might say what he thought afterwards - as in the case of the wide-awake if semi-illiterate man who asked that we first pay him a £100 so that afterwards he could attract subscribers! The loyal band of voluntary helpers of the draw were extremely attached to the Brother as was shown by the large number of them who attended his funeral - and latterly, when his health was failing, did everything they could to lessen his work. One, indeed, Hubert Donohue, whom he called his right-hand man, was present, much moved, with Brother Ryan when he died. It might be thought that these last ten years of the Brother's work in the Society were very interesting: In fact they involved mostly steady application to such tedious tasks as addressing envelopes (on an ancient electric machine which had even more aches and pains than its often far from well operator); sorting address-plates, checking wrongly filled-in cards, and so on. It was mostly a lonely task, too, but Brother kept it up to the end, to the limits of his physical abilities. He was a man of simple loyalties - to his native County Galway, to his family, to many Superiors in the Society : he greatly appreciated in them even the smallest signs of under standing and affection. He was a shrewd judge of character, although of uncomplicated make-up himself, and he could be remarkably discerning in speaking of the vocation and training of a Brother in the Society. I am sure that for his own life as a Jesuit Brother he has won a very big prize in the Eternal Draw.

Murray, Patrick, 1877-1942, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/269
  • Person
  • 03 June 1877-01 February 1942

Born: 03 June 1877, Elphin, County Roscommon
Entered: 03 June 1917, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1928, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 01 February 1942, Clongowes Wood College, Naas, County Kildare

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Merchant before entry
◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 17th Year No 2 1942
Obituary :
Brother Patrick Murray

Brother Murray died at Clongowes on February 1st. He had only left the College infirmary three days previously in the best of form after a fortnight's rest treatment, and was to resume work on the following Tuesday. Passing the chapel on the way to lunch at 12 o’clock, he entered to pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. There while saying his prayers, he got a sudden heart attack. Fr. Rector administered Extreme Unction, and within five minutes, Brother Murray had passed peacefully away.
Though his sudden death caused such a shock to the Community the boys, and great numbers of people around the College, with whom he was a very popular figure, it was eminently the kind of death that he himself would have desired. For many years, he had been intricately associated with the chapels at Clongowes as sacristan. fact, it was almost impossible to go to any of the chapels without meeting Brother Murray there, and seeing him- and indeed hearing him - praying. His fervent ejaculations - often aloud when he thought no one was present - were an almost continual feature of his life. Whether he was working in the magazine where the boys keep their clothes, or in the sacristy, or driving the car, prayer was very seldom absent from his lips. He was indeed a men of prayer, and it was a fitting end that he should have died while praying before Our Lord in the Tabernacle.
Brother Murray in early life adopted the drapery business as his vocation. Having spent some years in Messrs. Pim & Co., Dublin he carried on a successful business of his own in Delvin, Co. Westmeath. After seven years of happy married life, his wife died. From that moment, he made up his mind to dispose of his business, and devote his life to the service of God. This resolution he put into effect a few years later when he entered Tullabeg on June 3rd, 1917 on his 40th birthday. He presented one of his motor cars to Tullabeg and a second - the Krit - to Clongowes. After five years, spent in Tullabeg and. Milltown, Brother Murray came to Clongowes where he remained for the last 17 years.
Three qualities endeared Brother Murray to all who knew him. His genial good humour, his readiness to do anything for everyone and his transparent piety. We shall miss him very much in Clongowes. His familiar figure, in the People's Church serving Mass after Mass, as he loved to do when occasion arose, doing a hundred and one jobs for the boys, rushing out to the laundry, or the garage, driving the car in his own inimitable and somewhat nerve-racking way, his hearty and utterly spontaneous laugh, his anxiety to give clothes and
boots to the poor, even his reading in the refectory - all seemed part and parcel of Clongowes life. But he has gone to the Master, Whom before all and above all, he loved and served, R.I.P.
On Tuesday, February 3rd, after Requiem Mass in the Boys chapel, in the presence of his three brothers, the Community, boys, and many people from the neighbourhood, the funeral procession led by the Community, followed by the whole school, and the public took place to the College Cemetery. The choir sang the Benedictus and Fr. Provincial said the last prayers. Very Rev. Frs. Fergal McGrath and P. Kenny were also present.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother Patrick Murray SJ 1877-1942
As he passed the chapel in Clongowes on his way to lunch on February 1st 1942, Br Patrick Murray dropped in for a short visit to Our Lord, and there in the presence of the Master he had loved and served so well, he died.

It was a fitting and beautiful end to a holy and cheerful life. Having been a successful draper in Delvin County Westmeath, Patrick Murray, on the death of his wife, sold all his goods and gave the proceeds to the poor. His two cars he gave to the Society, one to Tullabeg, and the other, known as the “Krit”, to Clongowes. He was truly liked by all, the boys, the people, the Community. He was ever easy to do all kinds of odd jobs, to drive the car, or best of all to him, serve at Mass. Many Jesuits will remember him for his reading in the refectory, a task he loved and in which he was inimitable.

Truly happy both naturally and supernaturally in his life, he is to be envied in the manner of his death.

Murray, Seán, 1922-2008, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/783
  • Person
  • 02 May 1922-21 July 2008

Born: 02 May 1922, Carrigaholt, County Clare
Entered: 07 September 1940, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1978, Mazabuka, Seminary, Choma, Zambia
Died 21 July 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Fr Seán was 49 years of age when he first came to Zambia in 1971. It was for him a new country, a new people and a new language. In the normal course of events, he would have come to Zambia thirty years earlier during regency time. As a scholastic, he spent his three years regency teaching, one year at the Crescent College in Limerick and two years at Clongowes Wood College.

He was born in Kilkee, Co Clare, a seaside resort, in 1922. His schooling was at the Christian Brothers in Limerick, at The Crescent College in Limerick and also at St Flannan's College in Ennis.

At the age of 18 he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park in 1940. After his first vows, he followed the normal course of studies: humanities, philosophy, regency and theology, being ordained at Milltown Park in 1954. Tertianship came at the end of his formation in 1956. He spent a short time in Emo as bursar, then for twelve years he was back in Limerick at the Sacred Heart Church as minister of the house and prefect of the church.

Fr Seán brought to his work as a priest a spirit of prayer, a warm personality, a spirit of hard work, a friendliness which people found easy to approach, a concern for people and a good sense of humour.

In 1971 there came a great change of life and of lifestyle for Fr Seán. He came out to Zambia. His first assignment was as secretary to the Bishop of the Diocese for six months. Then he went to Malawi to the Language Centre at Lilongwe to learn this new language called ciNyanja, followed by a few months in a parish in the Chipata diocese to practice what he had learned.

Returning to Zambia, he was posted to Nakambala to the Sugar Estate in Mazabuka where he spent the rest of his time in Zambia doing parochial work among the people on the Estate. These were workers who came from various parts of Zambia with their different languages. For this, the ciNyanja Fr Seán had learned, was ideal as it is a sort of lingua franca in Zambia, though its main location is the Eastern Province and Malawi.

Poor health took him back to Ireland for a long break but he returned to continue his work at Nakambala until 1986 when he had to return to Ireland for good. When he had recovered after a few years in Ireland he had hoped to come back again to Nakambala, as he wrote clearly to his Provincial, ‘I am keen to return to Nakambala’. But unfortunately, his health took a turn for the worse and he could not return.

For the next sixteen years until his death, Fr Seán soldiered on, working in the church, often in pain but he was always most welcoming to all who sought his services. The qualities – shall I call them virtues – which Fr Seán brought to his priestly life in the Crescent in Limerick, he brought also to Nakambala in Zambia and he also brought them back with him to Gardiner Street in Dublin. He died in Cherryfield Lodge infirmary in Dublin on 21st July 2008 at the ripe old age of eighty six years.

My fond memory of Fr Seán (known to his near contemporaries as Fr Max) is a Sunday evening in Mazabuka with two of his fellow Jesuits from other communities, meeting for a chat, a cuppa, a bar of chocolate, one of them lighting his pipe, and a game of canasta. May he rest in peace.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 137 : Autumn 2008

Obituary

Fr Seán (Max) Murray (1922-2008)

2nd May 1922: Born in Carrigaholt, Co. Clare
Early education at Crescent College, Limerick.
7th September 1940: Entered the Society at Emo
8th September 1942: First Vows at Emo
1942 - 1945: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1945 - 1948: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1948 - 1949: Crescent College, Limerick - Teacher
1949 - 1951: Clongowes - 1949-1950 Teacher
1950 - 1951: Prefect
1951 - 1955: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
29th July 1954: Ordained at Milltown Park
1955 - 1956: Emo - Treasurer
1956 - 1957: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1957 - 1958: Emo - Treasurer; Assistant Socius to Novice Director
1958 - 1971: Sacred Heart Church, Limerick - Minister; Prefect
1971 - 1980: Zambia - Parish Ministry
2nd May 1978: Final Vows at Mazabuka, Zambia
1980 - 1983: SFX, Gardiner Street - Minister; Assisted in Church
1983 - 1986: Zambia- Parish Ministry
1986 - 2007: SFX, Gardiner Street -
1986 - 1995: Assisted in the Church
1995 - 1997: Ministers in Church; Superior's Admonitor;
1997 - 1998: Vice-Superior; Assisted in the Church; Superior's Admonitor;Assisted in Cherryfield Lodge
1998 - 2007: Assisted in the Church
2007 - 2008: Cherryfield Lodge - Prayed for Church and Society
21st July 2008: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Homily preached at Funeral Mass by Barney McGuckian on July 24th, 2008 in St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner St., Dublin
“Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light” (Mt 11:25)

These final words of our Gospel passage must have proved challenging to the faith of Fr Seán Murray over the last years of his life. The Lord's yoke may be easy and the burden light but to those of us looking on that's not how it appeared in Seán's case. His ordinary daily round entailed much labour with the overburdening of chronic arthritis and diabetes. Here in Gardiner Street we were conscious of the painfully slow movements, the unappetizing, indeed, bizarre diet and the self administered injections. It was truly a way of the Cross entailing several falls leading to broken limbs and on one occasion serious facial injuries. When I saw him after one fall I could not but think of Isaiah's Suffering Servant. “He had no form or charm to attract us, no beauty to win our hearts; he was despised, the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with the suffering, one from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze”. Isaiah 53: 2-3.We were blessed to be in a position to entrust him to the tender care of the staff at Cherryfield Lodge.

None of these vicissitudes, however, could wipe away that benign smile which was so much a part of him since any of us ever knew him. I'm sure that same smile was there during his boyhood in Co Clare where he was born on 2 May, 1922 just as our tragic Civil War was about to break out. Seán did not let his sufferings get him down. In his case God certainly fitted the back for the burden. During his last years it struck me that he lived out a spiritual maxim attributed to St John of the Cross, the Carmelite saint, who in his early years like Sean, also received a Jesuit education. “Adjust your cross to yourself, not yourself to your cross”. In other words don't let difficult things get you down. Stay on top of them. Seán did. Growing old gracefully isn't too demanding when we enjoy on-going good health. To do so, as Seán did, in his situation, was an indication of no small degree of virtue.

I kept a diary during a visit to Zambia over thirty years ago in 1978. The entry for January 28th refers to a journey from Chivuna to Mazabuka with the late, kindly Fr Robert Kelly. It reads “Breakfast with Joe, Frank and Bob. Said goodbye to the Ferrybank Sisters and set out. Made it without mishap to the Holy Rosary's, after having a coke with Max Murray, a photo with Vinny Murphy's roses and a meeting with Dinny O'Connell en route though the Sugar Plantation to a great rally in the afternoon at Mazabuka”. Of the six Jesuits mentioned two are still happily with us, Frank O'Neill and Vinny Murphy. The other two have gone on the slí na firinne. I mention this because it was the first time in my life that I had met Sean. He was to become a great support and anam chara to me as he was to so many others during his priestly life. Members of the family may be puzzled by the name Max Murray. So was I. It was a nickname so commonly used that I did not know that his name was Seán. When he entered the novitiate in 1940, his co-novices called him Maximus, Latin for big and strong because of his towering presence as a formidable back at football. Others have told me that that is putting it too mildly. Apparently he was anything but gentle on a football field. The two remaining novices from his own year, Michael Hurley and Stephen Redmond are still happily with us. It was Michael who has just read the Gospel for us.

What may have been characteristic of his football persona was in no way reflected in his religious and priestly life. There, he shared in the gentleness and humility of the Sacred Heart to which he was greatly devoted. Some little prayer to the Sacred Heart often featured in the penance he prescribed in the Confessional, a place where many people were touched by his kindness. It would be no exaggeration to say that he was a man who was universally loved. This would be admitted even by those who considered him to be gentle to a fault. They thought that he would do anything to avoid conflict even where a little bit of it was required. He was strongly influenced by the idea of St Francis de Sales, known as the Gentle Doctor, that you catch more flies with a little pot of honey than a big barrel of vinegar. Only God alone knows the number of souls he influenced for their good.

One of the last things I did for him after a visit to our Nursing Home in Cherryfield was to bring back to Gardiner Street the stipends he had received for the Masses he had offered for the donors' intentions. This prompted the choice of the reading from the Book of Maccabees where there is a distinct emphasis on the importance of sacrifice and atonement for sin, both for the living and the dead. Sean never wavered in his love for his daily Mass and always started his day with it. He tended to do this at such an unearthly hour that his congregations tended to be small. However those who did join him could detect the sincerity behind the somewhat mournful cadence he adopted when on the altar.

He never asked for concessions on the grounds of his health and made himself available all day for priestly duties. He is remembered affectionately for this in all the placed he served; Limerick, Clongowes, Zambia and in more recent years here in Gardiner Street. He always had a concern for the poor and the under-dog expressed in the work he has done over the years as a most conscientious Spiritual Director of the parish Conference of St Vincent de Paul. In his personal life he showed a marked detachment from the goods of this world. I have been told by one of the community with a direct interest in the matter that clearing the personal belongings from his room will take about five minutes, it is so sparse. Sean was deeply committed to religious life with all that he signed up to when he took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience upwards of sixty year ago.

He was a delightful person to have in a community. He encouraged others and believed in praising them during their lifetime. He kept abreast of events, read widely in spirituality and current affairs, spoke kindly of others and always made an interesting contribution to conversation. His very hearty laugh did not leave him even in his debilitating illness. I remember especially one story that he enjoyed telling, even using the actual French words used. In one of the French-speaking Jesuit houses on the continent, where there was a large community, two of the priests had the same name, let's call them Duval. One had a reputation for well-authenticated holiness. The gifts of the second one seem to have lain in some other direction. During dinner one of the staff came into the refectory and called out that the Père Duval was wanted at reception. “Lequel?” (Which of them?). “Le Saint” (the Saint). “Oh, j'arrive” (I'm coming), said the truly holy man as he stood up. There is a touching simplicity about goodness, a more ordinary word for holiness, something that all of us recognise.

The Gospel read today provides us with an opportunity to eavesdrop on Jesus as He prays to His Father. It provides us with a window into the ongoing conversation between Father and Son that we have been invited to join in forever. “No one knows the Son but the Father and no one knows the Father but the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him”. Seán spent his life as a Jesuit praying that the Son would reveal the Father to him. Now that it has come to an end he can appreciate better than ever the wisdom of the words of St Bernard. “Life is for love and time is for searching for God”.

Just as the young man came to the refectory door to ask for one of those in that French-speaking house, so Someone came a couple of days ago on a similar errand to Seán's door. “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest." Eternal rest. Sean may have been surprised to hear himself numbered among the saints with an invitation to remain in their number forever. The rest of us would not.

Additional note: An t-athair Prionsias O Fionnagáin vouched for the authenticity of the anecdote about the two Jesuits with the same name. His source was Fr John Ryan. The “saint” in question was, in fact, Fr. Alphonse Petit, a celebrated Tertian Master in the South Belgian province, whose cause for canonisation is in process. Among his Tertians was Fr James Cullen, S.J.

Taken from an obit written in Zambia by Tom McGivern:
In 1971 there came change of life and of lifestyle for Fr. Seán. He came out to Africa, to Zambia. His first assignment was secretary to the Bishop of the Diocese for six months. Then off to Malawi to the Language Centre at Lilongwe to learn this new language called CiNyania, followed by a few months in a parish in the Chipata diocese to practice what he had learned. Returning to Zarnbia, he was posted to Nakambala to the Sugar Estate in Mazaabuka, where he spent the rest of his time in Zambia doing parochial work among the people on the Estate, workers who came from various parts of Zambia with their different languages. For this, the C:iNycl.nia he had learned, was ideal as it is a sort of lingua franca in Zambia though its location is the Eastern Province.

Poor health took him back to Ireland for a long break. But he returned to continue his work at Nakambala until 1986 when he had to return to Ireland for good. When he had recovered after a few years in 1942 he had hoped to come back again to Nakambala, as he wrote to his Provincial, “I am keen to return to Nakambala". But unfortunately, his health took a turn for the worse and he could not return. ..

For the next sixteen years until his death, Fr. Seán soldiered on working in the church, often in pain but welcoming all who sought his services. The qualities - shall I call them virtues? - which he brought to his priestly life in the Crescent in Limerick, hc brought to Nakambala and he brought back with him to Gardiner Street in Dublin. He died in Cherryfield Lodge in Dublin on 21st July 2008

My fond memory of Fr. Seán (known to his near contemporaries as Fr. Max) is a Sunday evening in Mazabuka with two of his fellow Jesuits (living in other houses) meeting for a chat, a cuppa, a bar of chocolate, one of them lighting his pipe, and a game of canasta. May he rest in peace.

Ready for the Call - July 2008
Our members dwindle as the days go by
And one by one the Father calls His sons.
Seán Murray was the very last to die -
We knew that he was one of our weaker ones.

“Oh world, O life. O time
on whose last steps we climb”
Why should we mourn our friends' decease
When our faith assures us they are in peace?

How will it be with me when my time has come,
Who should have been a true son of Ignatius?
With all my sins, shortcomings, I'll stand dumb
Before our God, forgiving and most gracious.

And may he join me to my better brothers;
I lived with them in this life, after all.
I know I am not worthy as those others,
Yet be I cleansed and ready for the call.

Thomas MacMahon

◆ The Clongownian, 2009

Obituary

Father Seán Murray SJ

Seán was 49 years of age when he first came to Zambia in 1971, a new country, a new people, and a new language. In the normal course of events, he would have come to Zambia thirty years earlier during regency time. He was born in Kilkee, County Clare, a seaside resort in Ireland, in 1922. At the age of 18, he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park in 1940. After his first vows, he followed the normal course of studies, humanities, philosophy, regency and theology and was ordained at Milltown Park in 1954, Tertianship completed his formation in 1956. (He was Third Line Prefect in Clongowes from 1949-51; Ed)

Seán brought to his work as a priest a spirit of prayer, a warm personality, a spirit of hard work, a friendliness, a concern for people and a good sense of humour, In 1971 there came a great change of life and of lifestyle for Seán. He came to Zambia. His first assignment was secretary to the Bishop of the Monze Diocese for six months. Then off to Malawi to the Language Centre at Lilongwe to learn Chinyanja, followed by a few months in a parish in the Chipata Diocese to practice what he had learned.

Returning to the Monze Diocese, he was posted to Nakambala where he spent the rest of his time in Zambia doing parochial work among the people on the Sugar Estate. He also served as superior of the Jesuit Community in Mazabuka for some of that time. Poor health took him back to Ireland in 1981 for a long break but he returned to continue his work in 1983 at Nakambala until 1986, when he had to return to Ireland for good.

May he rest in peace.

Courtesy of SJ Africa News

Naish, Vincent, 1852-1913, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1813
  • Person
  • 29 August 1852-12 June 1913

Born: 29 August 1852, County Limerick
Entered: 07 February 1870, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1889
Final Vows: 02 February 1891
Died: 12 June 1913, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada - Belgicae Province (BELG)

Part of the L’Imaculée Conception, De Lorimier, près Montréal, Canada community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to BELG : 1888

by 1880 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1884 at Oña Spain (CAST) studying
by 1885 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1888 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1890 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
In India for many years before Canada
1894 St Francis Xavier College, Chowringhee India (BELG) Rector
1896-1904 St Joseph’s, Darjeeling, India (BELG) Parish Priest
1904 St Francis Xavier, Liverpool
1905-1909 Holy Name Manchester ,

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Transcribed into BELG Province 1888, and went to India

◆ The Clongownian, 1914

Obituary

Father Vincent Naish SJ

Advices from Canada in the June of last year brought the unexpected announcement of the death of the above-named distinguished ecclesiastic. Although born and educated in Ireland, the greater part of Father Naish's life was passed in foreign lands. Belvedere and Tullabeg Colleges were accountable for his early education, and in the latter establishment he was fellow student with many men whose public life is familiar to our readers, and among his class-fellows was the late Mr Alfred Blake, of Cork, whose rather sudden death caused such a sensation in the Four Courts two days ago. Father Naish came from an ancient and distinguished stock well known in Co Limerick, of whom the late Lord Chancellor Naish was not the least distinguished member. Early in his career as a Jesuit, after teaching for some six years in Clongowes and Tullabeg, he volunteered for work on the foreign mission, and although Irish by sympathy and every tie, he was attached to the Belgian Province of the Order, and consequently his work lay principally in India, which is one of the mission fields of that province. For several years Father Naish was engaged in that missionary work, and directed with distinguished success the great Catholic College of Calcutta. Later on he was recalled to Europe, and was well known as a preacher of eminence all over the North of England. As a missionary in Canada he laboured among his own countrymen in almost every town of any note from Labrador to Vancouver. He was a man of remarkable presence and of most distinguished gifts, both as a scholar and a preacher, and his loss will be deeply felt by those to whom he gave the unstinted labour of his later and riper years. With his immediate relatives much sympathy is felt, and those with whom his name was familiar thirty years ago will feel a pang of regret as they breathe a prayer for the eternal rest of a friend of very noble and winning character.

“Freeman's Journal” June 19th, 1913.

-oOo-

Rev Vincent Naish SJ, a distinguished Churchman and scholar, passed away at Moncton, NB, shortly after six o'clock last night (June 12th), death ensuing after an illness of three days' duration, Ten days ago the deceased went down to that city in company with Rev Father Gagnieur SJ, to conduct a mission in St Bernard's Church. At the close of the spiritual exercises last Sunday he contracted a severe cold, which later develop into pneumonia. On Monday he was removed to the City Hospital for treatment, but yesterday his condition became such that no hopes could be held out for his recovery. He remained conscious to the end, and was attended in his last moments by Father Gagnieur, as well as by the priests of St Bernard's. During his sojourn in India he made exhaustive studies of the Buddhistic, Islamistic, and other Oriental religions, and became authority on these branches. But it was as a missionary that he excelled. A powerful speaker, lucid of argument, with an eloquent and easy flow of language, backed by a seemingly inexhaustible fund of knowledge of men and things, he had that quality which made him tower far above many engaged in mission work. A man of deep piety and religious conviction, he was an inspiration his fellow members of the Jesuit Order, as well as to all those with whom he came in contact in the course of his missionary labours. Since his arrival in Canada, some six years ago, Father Naish was engaged exclusively in missionary work, and in the course of his activities along this line he has been heard in Catholic pulpits of almost every Canadian city from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

“Montreal Gasette”, June 13th, 1913.

Nash, Robert, 1902-1989, Jesuit priest and writer

  • IE IJA J/300
  • Person
  • 23 April 1902-21 August 1989

Born: 23 April 1902, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 01 September 1919, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1931, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 21 August 1989, Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin

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

by 1927 in Australia - Regency at Xavier College, Kew
by 1933 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Nash, Robert
by Patrick Maume

Nash, Robert (1902–89), Jesuit priest and apologist, was born 23 April 1902 at Cork, third and only surviving child of Robert Nash (d. Southampton, 21 November 1901) and his wife Delia (née Kearney). He was brought up in Limerick by his mother and maternal uncle Joseph Kearney, a shop worker, and was educated at St Mary's convent school, St Munchin's day school, and Mount St Alphonsus College, Limerick, a minor seminary for the Redemptorist order. Nash was heavily influenced by his mother's fervent catholicism, which had been reinforced by her unhappy childhood and adult bereavement. He subsequently thought she was over-protective but that she did not exert any undue influence on his choice of vocation; he made the priesthood his life's ambition. After the Redemptorists decided that his health was too weak for the religious life, Nash approached the Jesuit order and entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tullabeg, near Tullamore, on 1 September 1919.

Nash took his vows as a Jesuit in 1921. After three years in the Jesuit training house at Milltown Park, Dublin, he was sent on the Australian mission, 1925–8, then returned to Milltown Park for four years’ theological study. He was ordained to the priesthood on 31 July 1931. He subsequently spent ten months’ tertianship at St Beuno's College in north Wales. His superiors retained him in Ireland out of consideration for his mother, who died in 1949. He soon became well known as a preacher and leader of retreats.

Nash's first article on spiritual matters appeared during his scholasticate, when his superior asked him to write up his trial sermon; he eventually published at least twenty-eight books, one of which (Is life worth while? (1949)) sold 100,000 copies, and more than 300 pamphlets. He had the gift of expressing himself in simple and direct language. Nash's world view was uncompromising: he preached a popularised version of Ignatian spirituality, with its emphasis on total commitment. Every moment was seen as participating in the fateful choice between heaven and hell; his compulsive writing reflected fear of wasting time. Even the mildest worldly pleasures came under suspicion as distractions from eternity or occasions of sin. This view lay behind his most notorious pamphlet, The devil at dances, which appeared during the clerically inspired campaign against unsupervised dance venues in the 1930s. Its opening description of a young woman at a dance hall, who notices that the attractive stranger with whom she is dancing has cloven hooves, was read literally by naive readers, producing widespread fear and scrupulosity. One of Nash's books was an annotated edition of St Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual exercises, which formed the basis for his extensive activities as a retreat master; his guides to prayer, such as The priest at his prie-dieu (1949), drew on Ignatian techniques of visualisation and were widely used in the formation of seminarians.

From 1951 to 1985 Nash wrote a weekly column on religious matters for the Sunday Press, the first of its kind in an Irish newspaper; in 1954–85 he also published daily ‘Phone calls’ (brief sixty-word reflections) in the Evening Press. During lengthy visits to Australia in 1956–7 and America in 1964 he provided the editor with a year's columns in advance – an indication of his professionalism, his fluency, and the extent to which he saw himself as preaching a timeless and unchanging message independent of day-to-day events. He calculated that he had written more than a million words for his column; in its latter years he was often accused of manipulating readers through fear of hellfire, but this discounts his utter conviction of the reality of the danger and his own duty to warn against it. He asked much of his readers, but no more than he demanded of himself; his life was so focused on its central objective that all other pursuits seemed trivial to him.

Nash's greatest popularity occurred during the 1950s, when readers could see themselves as part of a triumphant worldwide church battling uncompromisingly for the faith delivered to the saints. He was ill at ease with many developments after the second Vatican council; he acknowledged that the new relaxed approach was helpful in winning souls who might previously have been antagonised, but feared that excessive toleration of heterodoxies within the church and downplaying formal ritual might blind people to their spiritual needs. He never appeared on television: ‘the typewriter was the instrument I knew best so I stuck with it’ (Irish Times, 22 Aug. 1989). In 1980 Nash was a founder member of the third world aid group Action from Ireland (AfrI).

Nash retained a faithful, ageing readership until he ceased to write his column in 1985, declaring that it was time to say ‘What I have written I have written.’ He intended My last book (1983), a combination of autobiographical recollections and advice on prayer, to live up to its title (it concludes with meditations on death and heaven). He was lured back into print by admirers urging that if another book saved one soul it would be worth while; in 1986 he published My last phone call. Nash spent his last years in the Jesuit community at Gardiner Street, Dublin, where he continued to hear confessions until a year before his death. Early in 1989 deteriorating health led to his transfer to Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, where he died 21 August 1989.

The vast contemporary popularity of Nash's writings, whose structured and fervent certainties contrast with the colloquial soothings of later Irish religious columnists, says much about the enthusiasms and restrictions of late Tridentine Irish Catholicism. Nash lived to see the aspirations he embodied condemned, ridiculed, or forgotten by a generation with less restrictive lives, new horizons, and different aspirations; he himself was virtually forgotten within a few years of his death.

Robert Nash, My last book (1983); Evening Press, 22 Aug. 1989; Irish Press, 22 Aug. 1989; Ir. Times, 22 Aug. 1989; Irish Catholic, 24 Aug. 1989; Sunday Press, 27 Aug. 1989; Monsignor James Horan: memoirs 1911–1986, ed. Micheál MacGréil (1992)

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Robert Nash joined the Society in 1919, and after initial Jesuit studies came to Australia and Burke Hall in 1925 as prefect of discipline and teacher. He loved his time there and was sorry to be recalled for theology in 1928.
He was later famous for his popular books on prayer, such as “Priest at his Pre-Dieu”, “Nun at her Pre-Dieu”, which caused a good deal of frustration among the intellectual professors who could not get their learned works published. His many pamphlets led Nash to being in considerable demand as a missioner and retreat director.
He returned to Australia, 1962-64, trying to start the popular Irish Mission, but it did not work. Nash gave house retreats at Watsonia, and amongst his points on one occasion he encouraged the scholastics to imagine the number of mortal sins being committed that night within a mile of the college. This taxed the imagination of the scholastics somewhat as the area within a mile of the college was still largely bush and farms. He must have considered the few farmers to be a sinful lot! Robert Nash remained productive in writing and preaching until almost the end of his life.
He was not lacking in confidence!

Naughton, Anthony, 1900-1958, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/302
  • Person
  • 28 December 1900-25 June 1958

Born: 28 December 1900, Dromod, County Leitrim
Entered: 31 August 1918, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1931, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 25 June 1958, Mungret College, County Limerick

Studied for BA at UCD; Ordained at Milltown Park

Sent early from Regency to Theology due to failing eyesight

by 1933 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 33rd Year No 4 1958

Obituary :
Fr Anthony Naughton (1900-1958)

It is but eight years since our new cemetery was opened, under the shadow of the ancient abbey, and already eight priests are laid to rest there. Of the four of Mungret's Community - all taken from us swiftly and almost without warning - perhaps the last, Fr. Anthony Naughton, will be longest remembered and spoken of by Mungret boys, past and present, Apostolic and Lay, in every part of the world.
Fr. Tony was born in Dromod, Co, Leitrim on the 28th December, 1900. His birthday never passed, unnoticed, it became indeed part of the Christmas festivities. The year of birth, 1900, made it easy for even the poorest calculator to tell his age in any year of the century, and gave the philosophically inclined a chance of questioning which century he really belonged to! At the age of 18 he entered Tullabeg from the Apostolic School. After the noviceship and a year's “Home" Juniorate”, as was the custom, he took his B.A. degree in Rathfarnham in 1924. Three years Philosophy in Milltown brought him to 1927, and after one year's teaching in Belvedere, during which he obtained the Higher Diploma, he was allowed to start Theology, probably owing to some anxiety about his eyesight. He was ordained in Milltown in 1931, and after the final year's Theology made his Tertianship in St. Beuno's in North Wales.
The year 1933 began his connection of twenty-five years with Mungret College. At first, for four years, he was Vice-Superior of the Apostolic School, then on the teaching staff. For two periods, 1937-40 and 1945-9, he was Editor of the Mungret Annual and spared no effort to make it a success. The section on the Past received his most affectionate and accurate attention. Probably no one in our time had such a wide knowledge of Mungret boys, no one was ever more interested in their comings and goings, their sayings and doings. Poor as his eyesight was for many years, it was a joke among the Commurity that nothing could escape his systematic search of the morning - or evening - papers. Many an Editor of the Annual bad reason to be thankful to Fr. Tony for a choice bit of information that no one else could have, or might have troubled to have given him, and often a Superior was grateful to have his attention called to an Old Mungret name in the death column.
It is certain, as has often been said in these last weeks, that “Mungret will not be the same without him”. The Past returning to revisit the College will feel a sense of loss.
Here are a few comments in letters received by Fr. Rector : “I was greatly shocked to learn of the death of Fr. Naughton - you will all miss his familiar wit and good fellowship but he has gone to a far better land”. That from a boy who had left for the holidays only a few days before; and this, from a letter from a recent Past : “I was very deeply grieved to read of the death of poor Fr. Naughton - I shall always treasure the memory of his kindness to me during my days in the College - all, I am sure, will remember him for kindness and good humour”. Best tribute of all is from a Past priest, just become P.P. in an English parish : “I read with regret the report in the Universe of the death of Fr. Anthony Naughton. In company with many hundreds of Mungret men I feel I have suffered a personal loss. “Nobby”, as the boys of my time knew him, was a delightful personality, and was surely one of the best-loved teachers who ever “thundered” in the classrooms of Mungret. He was famous in my time for being audible, not only in his own classroom but in every other classroom at one and the same time. When I grew older and was ordained priest I came to appreciate and respect his saintly qualities. What a gentle and childlike man he really was underneath - Fr. Naughton must have been a delightful community man. I got a glimpse of this once when I called and was entertained to ļuncheon. Afterwards Fr. Naughton and some of the Scholastics and I went off for a swim. “I cherish the memory of that afternoon. Fr. Naughton was the life of the party with his anecdotes, reminiscences and friendly jibes at us all. I said Mass for him here on Sunday and was very glad to be able to ask my people to pray for him and speed his soul to heaven. May he rest in peace”.
The “thunders” of Fr. Naughton had no terrors for even the smallest boy; for all were quick to see the simplicity and kind heart beneath it all. “A wonderful teacher of History and Geography”, one letter says. Yes! he had a wide range, but that was his subject of preference. It was really amazing to see the confidence - boys of all ages and classes had in his ability to tip questions for the Intermediate and Leaving Certificate examinations. Fr. Naughton himself had no illusions about his supposed gift, and could often give the shrewdest opinion as to how a particular boy would do. In the weeks before the examination he would be questioned diligently by even Honour boys of classes not his own; but the final word would be left for the weaker boys an hour before the examination was due to start. Fr. Naughton would appear with his rolled up portable blackboard, full of tips; “and bring all interested into a classroom”. Everything was very short and snappy and to the point. Then half an hour before the examination all would be sent around the track to clear their heads and digest, and talk over the tips among themselves. It was now the time for the Honour boy, perhaps, to come along with his difficulty - the causes of this or the events leading up to that. There on the corridor without any preparation short and definite answers would be given with an exhortation, of course, to “have a good round of the track”. But the most astonishing thing of all was to see the rush for Fr. Naughton after the examination, all the questions “tipped”! Whatever about all this, and Fr, Tony would be the first to smile, it is certain that his results were often high class, and perhaps those of the Intermediate in his last year best of all.
Much could be said about that kindness, so often mentioned in the letters: kindness to those in difficulties; to those needing help most; to foreign students with no English at all. “No boy ever left Mungret with a grudge against Fr, Naughton. · The same kindly, and often quizzical, spirit was well known to the countryside around, chatting and advising on farming, building, health; working too for the poor through the College Vincent de Paul Society of which he was President for endless years.
Much could be written too of things more important than these, of Fr. Naughton as a Community man, rigid, we might say, punctuality for Community duties (expecting the same too from everyone), lively, and good-humouredly provoking at recreation, his interests always centring around Mungret. So the years went on until indeed he became a part of all that Mungret is.
Strange! his friends tell us that he had an idea that 1958 would bring a change of status - the Silver Jubilee year an ancient mansion in the midlands where he would have peace and quiet and perhaps rejuvenation! Yes, the change came a month before the 31st July suddenly. We would have liked to have him for many years - a “Department Pensioner” to enjoy his comments on men and boys and things, but the Lord has changed his status and called him to his “Mansion”. May he rest in peace.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Anthony Naughton 1900-1958
Fr Tony Naughton spent 1933-1958. 25 years in Mungret. He was part and parcel of the place and affectionately known as “Nobby” to generations of both lay boys and Apostolics.

He was born in Dromod County Leitrim in 1900.

From his early scholastic days he was afflicted with a weakness of the eyes, but in spite of this handicap, he managed to get through his studies, and to acquire a fund of information on all sorts of topics, and on all generations of the past.

He was editor of the “Mungret Annual” for a number of years and also acted as an Assistant in the Apostolic School, but it was as a teacher that he made his mark, in more sense than one, for he had a stentorian voice and could be heard far outside the ambit of his classroom. He had an uncanny knack of spotting questioned for the examinations which he imparted to his class in a short briefing before their ordeal.

He was completely devoted to the College and to the boys in all their activities. Their affection for him, which outlasted school, is sufficient testimony to his inner goodness and worth.

He died rather suddenly after he had retired from teaching, on June 25th 1958.

◆ Mungret Annual, 1959

Obituary

Father Anthony Naughton SJ

We regret to announce the death on June 25th of Father Anthony Naughton.

Father Naughton was born on December 29th, 1900, at Dromod, Co. Leitrim, After leaving Mungret in 1918 he entered the Society of Jesus. He was ordained in 1931. In the year 1933, he began his long connection with Mungret, which was to last for twenty-five years.

For the first four years he was Vice Superior of the Apostolic School, and then on the teaching staff. For two periods, 1937-'40 and 1945-49, he was Editor of the “Mungret Annual”, and spared no effort to make it a success. The section on the Past received his most affectionate and accurate attention,

Father Naughton had an amazing ability for tipping examination questions. Prior to an examination he used to be besieged on the corridor by boys looking for the latest hints.

For many years he was President of the St Vincent de Paul Society and taught the boys to be mindful of those who are forgotten by the world.

Probably no one in our time had such a wide knowledge of Mungret boys, nor was more interested in their comings and goings. He took a deep interest in their careers.

In spite of an apparent gruffness, Father Naughton had a kindly heart. It has been said with truth that Mungret will not be the same without him. The Past returning to Mungret will feel a sense of loss. To his sister and brothers we offer our deep sympathy. RIP

Naughton, Conor I, 1907-1992, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/512
  • Person
  • 06 July 1907-30 January 1992

Born: 06 July 1907, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 01 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 07 February 1942, Manresa House, Roehampton, London, England
Died: 30 January 1992, Milford Nursing Home, Limerick

Part of the Sacred Heart, Limerick community at the time of death

Early education at Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

Chaplain in the Second World War.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 16th Year No 2 1941

General News :
The Irish Province has to date sent 4 chaplains to England for home or foreign service for the duration of the war. They are Frs. Richard Kennedy, Michael Morrison, Conor Naughton and Cyril Perrott. The first three were doing their 3rd year's probation under Fr. Henry Keane at the Castle, Rathfarnham, while Fr. Perrott was Minister at Mungret College. They left Dublin on the afternoon of 26th May for Belfast en route for London. Fr. Richard Clarke reported a few days later seeing them off safely from Victoria. Both he and Fr. Guilly, Senior Chaplain to British Forces in N. Ireland, had been most helpful and kind in getting them under way.

Irish Province News 17th Year No 1 1942

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

Irish Province News 52nd Year No 2 1977

Calcutta Province

Extract from a letter from a Jesuit of Calcutta Province, Darjeeling Region (Fr. Edward Hayden, St. Joseph's College, North Point, Darjeeling, Western Bengal)

I was one of the old “Intermediate” boys of the Christian Brothers, Carlow. I left off in 1910, 67 years ago, at the end of June. Yes, we learnt the Gaeilge. The Brothers - or some I met, one in particular, a Brother Doyle, was very keen on it. The others didn't teach it as it was only in the “Academy” that they began with languages: French, Gaeilge, Algebra, Euclid and of course English. (5th Book - Senior Elementary Class - was followed by the “Academy”). The Brothers had dropped Latin just before I joined the “Academy”. We were living at a distance of 5 Irish miles from Carlow, and I was delicate, so I often fell a victim of 'flu, which didn't help me to make progress in studies - made it very hard: but at that time the rule was “do or die”. There was only one excuse for not having home work done – you were dead! That was the training we had: it stood me in good stead through life; it is the one thing I am grateful for.
We had a number of Irishmen here, a handful: Fr Jos Shiel, Mayo, died in Patna. Fr James Comerford, Queen's County, died in Bihar. I met the Donnelly brothers, they were Dubliners. The one who died (Don) was Editor of the Sacred Heart Messenger. Many of his stories were about horse-racing - he must have read plenty of Nat Gould when he was a boy! (Nat wrote a number of horse-racing stories supposed to have been in Australia). There are three Irishmen in Ranchi: Frs Donnelly, Phelan and Lawlor. Fr Phelan has spent nearly his whole life in India. As a boy he was in North Point, and after his Senior Cambridge he joined the Society. At that time there was only the Missio Maior Bengalensis of the Belgian Province. The Mission took in half or more of north-east India - Patna, Ranchi and south of it, Assam, Bhutan and Sikkim - an area four or five times that of Ireland! Needless to say, there were parts of it which had no SJ within a hundred miles ...Down here in the Terai where I am “hibernating” out of the cold of Darjeeling, some forty-five years ago there was no priest. One or two of the professors of theology from Kurseong, some 40 miles away, used to visit this district at Christmas and Easter. It was very malarious. Catholics from Ranchi came here to work on the tea plantations. Then a Jesuit was sent to reside in it. Now the district has schools and Jesuits galore, also non-Jesuits. Great progress has been made. The Salesians took up Assam, the American SJs took over Patna. The Northern Belgians took over Ranchi and the Southern Belgians took Calcutta. (The Belgian Province grew till its numbers reached 1400. Then, about 1935, Belgian separated into Flemings - North - and Walloons - South). Ranchi was given to the North and Calcutta to the South. On the 15th August last year (1976) Calcutta was raised from being a Vice Province to be a full-blown Province. 100% of those joining the SJ now are sons of India. Madura in the south has been a Province for years. Nearly all the Europeans are dead: no more are allowed to come permanently unless for a very, very special reason, India has begun to send her sons to East Africa in recent years.
Fr Lawlor is Irish-born but somehow joined the Australian Province about the time it started a half-century or so ago.
Brother Carl Kruil is at present in charge of an ashram: a place for destitutes, in Siliguri. Silguri is a city which grew up in the last forty years around the terminus of the broad gauge railway and the narrow (two-foot) toy railway joining the plains with Darjeeling - one of the most wonderful lines in the world, rising from 300 feet above sea-level, 7,200 feet in about 50 miles and then dropping down to about 5,500 feet in another ten. Three times it loops the loop and three times climbs up by zig-zags. I seem to remember having met Fr Conor Naughton during the war. Quite a number of wartime chaplains came to Darjeeling. The mention of Siliguri set me off rambling. Br Krull remembers his visit to Limerick. (He stayed at the Crescent, 11th 13th June, 1969). He is a born mechanic. Anything in the line of machinery captivates him. He has to repair all the motors and oil engines – some places like this have small diesel generators which have to be seen to from time to time and all other kinds of machinery: cameras, typewriters etc. At present he comes here to do spot welding (electric welding of iron instead of bolts and nuts.
The PP, here is replacing an old simple shed with a corrugated iron roof by a very fine one with brick walls and asbestos-cement roof. Two years ago or so, the roof was lifted by a sudden whirlwind clean off the wooden pillars on which it rested. Since then he has been saying the Sunday Masses on the veranda of a primary school. In this school 235 children receive daily lessons and a small mid-day meal. The Sisters are those of St. Joseph of Cluny – all from South India. They are really heroines: no work is too difficult for them. They do all their own work and cook for us. Their Vice-Provincial is from somewhere in the centre of the “Emerald Gem”. They are growing in numbers and do great work, running a dispensary amongst other things. The church is very broad, approximately 90 by 60 feet. As no benches are used - people sit on the floor - it will hold nearly 450 people at a time. The altar is in one corner. :
Fr Robert Phelan (Ranchi Province) had a visit one night from dacoits (armed robbers), but with help managed to beat them off.
Ranchi had several of these raids last year. In nearly every case the dacoits managed to get some cash.
One night about two weeks ago a rogue elephant (one that is wild and roaming away from the herd) came to a small group of houses close by. A man heard the noise and came out. The elephant caught him by the leg and threw him on to a corn stack - fortunately. The corn stack of rice waiting to be thrashed was quite broad and flat on top! He was very little the worse for the experience. And that is the end of the news.
One more item: please ask the new Editor of the Irish Province News to let me have copies as (?) and send them by overland (surface mail). Even if they are three months coming, they will be news. God bless you and reward you handsomely.
Yours in our Lord,
Edward Hayden, SJ (born 15th October 1893, entered S.J. Ist February 1925, ordained 21st November 1933, took final vows on 2nd February 1936. Now conf. dom. et alumn. and script. hist. dom. at the above address).

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 82 : September 1995
Obituary
Fr Conor Naughton (1907-1992)

6th July 1907: Born, Galway
Education: St. Ignatius College, Galway
1st Sept. 1925: Entered Jesuit Novitiate, Tullabeg
2nd Sept. 1927: Took First Vows
1927 - 1930; Juniorate - Rathfarnham
1930 - 1933: Philosophy Studies - Tullabeg
1933 - 1936: Regency, Crescent College, Limerick
1936 - 1940: Theology Studies - Milltown Park
31st July 1939: Ordained - Milltown Park
1940 - 1941: Tertianship - Rathfarnham
1941 - 1946: Military Chaplain - England/India/Burma
1946 - 1992: Ministering in the Church - Sacred Heart,
31st Jan. 1992: Limerick Died in Milford Nursing House, Limerick

When Conor Naughton grew up in the Galway of the early part of the century, he knew a life quite different from that of today. His Connemara-born father ran a substantial business, the ownership of which by a Catholic was surely an innovation in that day. An uncle on his mother's side was a Westminster M.P. for the Irish Parliamentary party. A little later, there was the war of Independence and Conor knew a fellow school boy called William Joyce (to become Lord Haw Haw) who rather peculiarly consorted with the British Forces. There was great poverty in Galway then, and Conor, as a member of the St. Vincent De Paul Society visited houses of Calcutta-like destitution,

I once saw a photo of the school senior rugby team, which had won the Connaught Championship and which he captained. There was a marked quality of dedicated independence about the boy. Both that spirit of single-mindedness and his love of all kinds of sport were to serve him royally throughout life. From his entering the Society in 1925 to the year 1941 he did the normal training. It was the years 1941 to 46 when he was an army chaplain in England, India and Burma, that provided the most colourful period of his life. From these days he brought a fund of stories and reflections about that most difficult of experiences. Always when listening to him, one was aware of his total and most painstaking devotion to his apostolic work.

When Conor returned to Ireland in 1946 he went to work in the Sacred Heart Church: this was to be his mission until his death in 1992. He was minister here on two separate occasions.

In this long period he excelled as a confessor. Apart from his constant work at the altar, which made him very well known, he also was known to the students of the college and their families, and through his love of soccer he was recognised throughout Limerick. To the end of his life, the Sunday visit to the soccer match was his great relaxation. For a number of years he had been on the board of directors of Limerick soccer and on a famous occasion he was taken on a Spanish playing expedition by the team! A photograph of Conor from that time did indeed have a Spanish quality - reminding us of the city of the Spanish Arch. In this sporting city of Limerick Conor was accepted as a citizen and as an elder. In the subtle Irish way he became part of the culture and the landscape.

He was the priest up-in-the Crescent to whom everybody had been to confession: when you had a difficult tale to tell - in the times when tales were often so painful a part of life, he was there quietly to help you out and give you sure and gentle healing. They knew their man and his power was for them...

In community Conor was a quiet, alert and encouraging presence! Behind the unobtrusive and often humorous manner, there was a very dedicated and courageous man. Nothing could ever go far wrong when he was about. He could be absent minded at times, but he was never off-course. His spirit was honed down to the very essence of the faith for he had both a very precise and ascetical mind. His devotion was most practical. Not only was he the good confessor, but his prayers were available to everybody in trouble - to produce a good and useful outcome. His contribution to the faith of the city is Conor's unwritten memorial. People remembering their rocky journey through life wistfully and reverently recall his kind and reassuring help.

May his gentle soul rest in peace.
Dermot Cassidy

Naughton, John, 1835-1911, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/301
  • Person
  • 15 January 1835-09 June 1911

Born: 15 January 1835, County Limerick
Entered: 16 April 1864, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: - pre Entry
Final Vows: 15 August 1876
Died: 09 June 1911, Miss Quinn’s Hospital, Mountjoy Square, Dublin

Part of St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin at time of his death.

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He entered as a Priest, having been in the Limerick Diocese, and having been lent to All Hallows as professor of the Aspirants to various Foreign Missions.
He was a Novice under Luigi Sturzo at Milltown.

1866-1867 After First Vows he was sent to Louvain for further studies - Ad Grad.
1867-1871 He was sent to Galway as a Teacher of Rudiments and Mathematics, and also prefect of the Church. He was also Director of the Sacred Heart Confraternity and Operarius. For his last two years here he also was involved in the Missionary Band.
1871-1888 He was sent to Gardiner St as Operarius
1888-1890 He was sent to Milltown to direct Retreats and Missions.
1890-1894 He was sent back to Gardiner St as Operarius and Missions.
1894-1896 He was again sent to Milltown as part of the Missions group.
1896 He finally returned to Gardiner St again, and was President of the BVM Sodality for girls, being succeeded by William Butler and Martin Maher in this role. He remained in Gardiner St until his death 09/06/1911.
He was for many years one of the best Preachers at Gardiner St, and also a favourite Catechist on the Missions. Professional men especially liked his sermons, they were so well thought out, persuasive and elegant in expression, and full of quiet humour and funny stories. He was shy and retiring in style, very quiet, gentle and kind, fond of children, fishing and the sea.
For the last year of his life he was in failing health, and about 10 days before death he was moved to Miss Quinn’s Hospital, Mountjoy Square, where he died peacefully. Fathers Matthew Russell and Timothy O’Keeffe were with him at the time.

Note from John Bannon Entry :
On the evening of his death the Telegraph published an article on him headed “A Famous Irish Jesuit - Chaplain in American War” :
“The Community of the Jesuit Fathers in Gardiner St have lost within a comparatively short time some of their best known and most distinguished members. They had to deplore the deaths of Nicholas Walsh, John Naughton, John Hughes and Matthew Russell, four men of great eminence and distinction, each in his own sphere, who added lustre to their Order, and whose services to the Church and their country in their varied lines of apostolic activity cannot son be forgotten. And now another name as illustrious is added to the list. The Rev John Bannon....

Naughton, Michael, 1868-1933, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1819
  • Person
  • 09 February 1868-26 February 1933

Born: 09 February 1868, Athlone, County Westmeath
Entered: 07 September 1902, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Final Vows: 02 February 1913, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 26 February 1933, St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin

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

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 8th Year No 2 1933
Obituary :
Brother Michael Naughton
Death has been busy of late in Ireland and Australia. The latest to record is that of Brother Naughton which took place at St. Vincents' on Sunday, 26th February. Probably no one will fund fault with saying that if Father John Sullivan was a model for the priests of the Province, Brother Naughton was the same for the Brothers. He was a man wholly given up to his prayers, his work, to helping others.
All that will be attempted in this number is to give a summary of his life, and that is soon told. He was born in Athlone 9th February, 1868. Fourteen years of his early days were spent in America, and soon after his return to Ireland he went to Tullabeg, 7th September, 1902. Immediately after the novitiate, a portion of which was spent in Gardiner Street, he was sent to Milltown Park. There he remained until his death in 1933, and in Catalogue after Catalogue the invariable entry after his name was “Hortul, Excit, Ad Dom.” Cancer was the cause of his death. Brother Naughton will be missed not only in Milltown itself, but in the convents all round about, and by many an individual as well, for he was kindliness itself.

Irish Province News 8th Year No 3 1933
Obituary :
Brother Michael Naughton - continued
When as a young man he went to America where he worked as a gardener, he was able to assist his family at home, brought some of his brothers and sisters to America and set them up in a small business. He then returned to Ireland and became a Brother. Reflecting on the blessing of his vocation. he remarked . “It” (what he had done for others) “must have been acceptable to Almighty God”.
One had not to be long in Milltown before being struck by this retiring Brother. Going about his work in the garden, and meeting a Father or theologian he invariably saluted. Even slight acquaintance showed him to be a humble, kindly, religious man, devoted to his prayers and to his work.
His duties started by ringing the call bell, and going the rounds of the rooms. It was remarked, humorously but truly : He called us gently, he was unfailingly punctual with his slow knock, and monastic “Benedicamus Domino.”
Hearing in his last illness that a Father of our Province abroad was remembering him specially at Mass, he was deeply touched, and said with emotion “Oh, please tell him I am very, very thankful.”
Having learned that he had no chance of recovery, he asked a theologian to write a letter for him to a Father in a foreign Province who had done his theology in Milltown twenty-five years ago. He wanted to thank this Father for the last time for the help and kindness of years, “to me” (and then whisper to himself) “the nothing that I am”.
About the same time he asked, now that death was near, how he should prepare for his last confession. With the same child-like simplicity he used to ask about prayer - what is the best way to pray? Yet, one of the men who worked with him in the garden said “No one could speak of the efficacy of prayer like Brother Naughton. If a person could have Brother Naughton's outlook on life he had the right thing”. Referring gratefully to those who visited him, he said “So many come that I can hardly get time to say my prayers”. Considering the short time that visitors would stay with one so sick, this remark shows how constant his prayer must have been.
Father Hannon, our late Rector, remembers him chiefly as a most humble and devoted Brother, who used to impress profoundly the workmen who came under his influence. One
man, who had. worked under him as a boy, said : “I remember the day when Brother Naughton put his own coat round me to keep me from the cold”.

Neary, John J, 1889-1983, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/303
  • Person
  • 20 August 1889-24 October 1983

Born: 20 August 1889, Rathgar, Dublin
Entered: 05 October 1908, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 15 August 1922, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1927, Shiuhing, China
Died: 24 October 1983, Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin

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

by 1917 at St Aloysius, Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1927 first Hong Kong Missioner with George Byrne
by 1950 at St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales (ANG) Tertian Instructor

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
R.I.P.
Father Neary

Only a few septuagenarians and octogenarians in the Hong Kong public can have even faint memories of Father John Neary, who died in Ireland last week, aged 94. He has nevertheless his little niche in our history. He was one of the two Jesuits - Father George Byrne was the other - who came here on 2 December 1926, to start Jesuit work in Hong Kong. Their early decisions have influenced all later Jesuit work here.

He stayed here only five years. In 1931 his health broke down and he had to return to Ireland, where, as Master of Novices or as Instructor of Tertians, he played a large part in the formation of most of the Jesuits now in Hong Kong.

Memory of him lasted long even in this city of short memories. In my earlier years here, I was amazed to find a variety of people still asking for news about him many years after his departure. The late Father Andrew Granelli, P.I.M.E., spoke more and more of Father Neary as his own life neared its end. Their friendship had outlasted forty years of separation.

Father Neary never forgot Hong Kong. When I visited him two years ago he was already 92, but he was full of eager and probing questions about developments here. Streets and buildings and people were still fresh in his memory. He had shortly before been greatly cheered by a visit from Archbishop Tang, whom he remembered as a young Jesuit Student. His thoughts were with us to the end. He deserves a few inches of space in a Hong Kong Catholic Paper.
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 4 November 1983

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
Born in Dublin in 1889, his early education was at Mount Saint Mary’s in England.

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

He visited the Jesuits in Macau and Shiuhing as well as Shanghai. Their first project was Ricci Hall at Hong Kong University together with work at Canton Cathedral. he held Wah Yan in great esteem.

By 1931 he had health issues. He was sent back to Ireland where he had an outstanding period at Belvedere College SJ, and became Novice Master

Note from Paddy Finneran Entry
With the encouragement of Michael Murphy he then entered the Novitiate at St Mary’s, Emo under the newly appointed Novice Master John Neary.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 2nd Year No 2 1927

Fr Pigot attended the Pan-Pacific Science Congress in Tokyo as a delegate representing the Australian Commonwealth Government. He was Secretary to the Seismological Section, and read two important papers. On the journey home he spent some time in hospital in Shanghai, and later touched at Hong Kong where he met Frs. Byrne and Neary.

Irish Province News 59th Year No 1 1984

Obituary

Fr John Neary (1889-1908-1983)

In this age of questionnaires and surveys it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that we might at some time be pondering as to which Irish Jesuit could claim to be most mimicked. I'm pretty sure that one contestant, namely John Neary, would far outstrip the others. He would have a head-start for two reasons: first, his mannerisms were easy to copy even by those not particularly gifted at mimicry; and secondly he guided into the Irish Province of the Society a greater number of candidates than any other known Master of Novices. He held that formative position for eleven years and indeed had contact with novices for a further nine years while he was Spiritual Father in Emo.
Mimicry can be cruel, of course, but it can also be harmless, and in this case I think it was a measure of the affection which he generated. His tones, his manual and facial gestures, his some what quaint turns of phrase, were prime targets for his would be copiers; but there was never any hint of malice or ill-feeling in the imitation. I'm sure he cannot have avoided hearing the echo at odd times: and I'm equally sure that he would not have felt any resentment. He would probably have merely chuckled to himself.
My acquaintance with him (to which this account is naturally restricted; let others tell the rest of the story) was confined to the noviceship period, a brief month or so in the Tertianship, when he filled in for Fr Hugh Kelly and finally the last seven years of his life at Gardiner street and Our Lady's Hospice. Opinions differ as to his value as a Master of Novices. Others are better qualified to judge; I found him kindly and discerning. He could harden and raise his voice at times, he could give virtue', but it was always to those who could take it; it was never crushing or ridiculous, in the full sense. Incidentally, I never did discover whether the “honking” which preceded his appearance around the corner was necessary throat-clearing or an early warning signal – and likewise with the slipper-dragging routine (this certainly was no “pussyfooting”, by any count!).
Though he was a firm believer in de more he used to illustrate the good use of creatures by changing routine to fit in with exceptional weather. During both our years in Emo the lake froze hard (enough to allow horses with padded hooves to pull tree-trunks from one side of the lake to the other) and we were all herded out to learn to skate, willy-nilly. As everyone knows. he had a great interest in bee-keeping, too, but it was only the chosen few, the “discreets”, who were allowed to assist him and involve themselves in this speciality. His appreciation of the health-giving properties of honey (and, later on of half bananas!) was to last to the end of his days. A spoonful, given semi-secretly in his room, was considered an infallible cure for anything from the blues' to a heavy cold.
There was never any doubt about his zeal. Fr Tom Ryan wrote of him: “Zeal for conversion was always characteristic of him. During his theology in Milltown Park he had Protestant converts continually on hand”. Altogether he spent twenty years in Emo and was in Gardiner street for about the same length of time. There he continued, unobtrusively, this work of finding and instructing those who were interested in the faith. I think his special interest in converts and in ecumenism may have stemmed originally from his enormous devotion to Cardinal Newman and his writings. Many were the cuttings from newspapers and the Tablet concerning Newman that he left behind. (He had apparently one of those love-hate relationships with the Tablet - castigating it vigorously for its anti-Irish attitude, yet waiting breathlessly for the next issue. Indeed, one of the few naughty memories about him is the image of the hand appearing suddenly around the reading room door, casting deftly on to the table that missing copy of the Tablet. I think it must have been his greatest crime, the nearest thing to an inordinate attachment!).
He lived a frugal style of life and showed a practical sympathy with the poor, as evidenced by his devotion to an respect for the St Vincent de Paul Society. A little incident he related illustrates this fact, and, as å by-product, his type of humour (faintly wicked at times). On one occasion the conference members he directed were discussing the amount of assistance they should give to what is now called a “single parent” of several children from different stock. He told me that he dissuaded the brothers from providing the double-bed requested by the lady in question!
His greatest achievement of all was, without the slightest shadow of doubt, our mission to China. Fr Ryan wrote: “He may to a very great extent be said to have been the originator of the Irish Province mission to China. It is almost certain that it would not have been undertaken at the time it was, but for him”. Some time before he had to retire to Our Lady's Hospice I thought it would be worthwhile recording his memories of the start of that mission. So I interviewed him in his room, with the aid of a cheap tape-recorder and found him surprisingly co-operative. (He adapted to modern inventions, customs and changes extremely well). It was only afterwards that I discovered a similar account written by him for the 1933 Jesuit Year Book. A comparison of the two versions proved how accurate his memory was. Moreover, after his death I read some of the correspondence he had with Fr Fahy. This not only proved his great power of almost total recall about this period of his life but also revealed his humility while confirming what Fr Ryan wrote. Before that, even from his own account, I had not realised how much he had manoeuvred Fr Fahy into beginning the mission, and how much the Provincial was guided by him. He gave the impression, of course that he was only doing the bidding of his superior!
Although he spent less than five years in Hong Kong, his heart remained there for as long as it beat. As he said himself, he was always interested in the mission and listened avidly to the reports of those who came back home on visits. The ultimate proof of his intense interest was to be given at the very end of his life. During the last few months before he died there were long periods when he obviously thought he was in Hong Kong or that the conversation of his visitors referred to the colony as he knew it
In his notes on the history of the Jesuit Mission in Hong Kong, the late Fr Tom Ryan, one of the earliest superiors of that Mission, wrote at considerable length about Fr Neary and I think he is worth quoting yet again. Many of the qualities he spotted in “Pa Neary” will be easily recognised:
“Fr John Neary, a Dublin man. educated at Mount St Mary's in England, was ... absolutely matter-of fact and down to earth. He was of great precision of thought and speech, and even of movement. He had not much imagination, but he had an excellent sense of humour and had great natural kindness. As he suffered seriously from asthma, he never would have been sent to a foreign mission except for the great interest which he had in missionary work ... He had absolutely no ear for music and could distinguish ‘tones’ with difficulty, so the study for him was doubly hard, but he recognised the difficulty and practised the tones for hours on end every day, to the dismay at first of his teacher, since he compelled him to listen to him until he got them right. The result was that even though there was always something artificial in the way in which he spoke Chinese, his absolute accuracy was commented upon by all”.
He died as he had lived, unobtrusively - almost secretly. For two nights he appeared to be on the point of departure ... but, as usual, he refused to be hurried. His great faith and serene piety were marked by the fact that his lips were moving continuously in prayer. On the second night, before we left the bed side, his nephew, Fr Peter Lemass, recited the prayer for the dying composed by his beloved John Henry Newman. Early next morning, as though in a final demonstration of his sleight of hand, he slipped away in our absence. He could not quite fool the nuns, however. A large group of the community, including their provincial, had gathered around and they were praying with and for him as he breathed his last light breath. It was not, of course, the end for him, but, as more than one Jesuit which many came to see and admire; remarked, it was the end of an era for the Irish Province.
DC

Nerney, Denis S, 1886-1958, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/46
  • Person
  • 26 December 1886-15 August 1958

Born: 26 December 1886, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1906, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 24 August 1920, St Mary's College, Hastings, England
Final Vows: 02 February 1925, Chiesa del Gesù, Rome Italy
Died: 15 August 1958, Cork City, County Cork

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

Younger Brother of John - RIP 1962

by 1910 at Leuven, Belgium (BELG) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1912
by 1919 at St Mary’s, Kurseong, West Bengal, India (BELG) studying
by 1920 at Hastings, Sussex, England (LUGD) studying
by 1925 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying
by 1930 at Rome, Italy (ROM) teaching

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Denis Nerney entered the Society at Tullabeg in 1906, and after philosophy at Louvain, 1909-12, arrived in Australia for regency at Xavier College as a teacher and director of debating, 1913- 14. He was moved to Riverview in 1915, teaching, debating, organising the junior boats and was assistant prefect of discipline. After tertianship, Nerney spent the rest of his life teaching theology, firstly at the Gregorian University in Rome, and then at Milltown Park, Dublin.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 34th Year No 1 1959
Obituary :
Fr Denis Nerney (1886-1958)
Fr. Denis Nerney entered the Society in 1906, did his noviceship in Tullabeg and then remained there for one year's juniorate. At this period he already gave evidence of that intellectual interest and scientific precision which characterised his work of later years. He began investigating the history and archaeology of the district around Rahan in order to increase the interest of the weekly walks of the novices and juniors. This work he continued during his tertianship and it resulted in an unpretentious typescript volume which bears the title Notes on the History of the Tullabeg District. This interest in precise and accurate information later led him to compose a masterly account of the sequence of events on the morning of the Milltown Park fire.
In 1909 Fr. Nerney was sent to Louvain for Philosophy. There he came in contact with the early stages of the Thomistic revival which was to lead quite soon to the abandonment by a large part of the Society of many of the traditionally held Suarezian positions. In due course, Fr. Nerney himself was very influential in introducing this type of philosophy into the Irish Province when, with Fr. Canavan, he taught Philosophy at Milltown Park. As a theologian too Fr. Nerney was a convinced Thomist with traces of the influence of Cardinal Billot.
In 1912 Fr. Nerney was sent to Australia, where he taught for six years; two years at Xavier College and four at Riverview. During his period at Riverview he was in charge of the rowing club and the debating society; and for one year was editor of the college annual Alma Mater. He brought back from Australia a keen interest in all kinds of sports and athletics, including Rugby football, This last was in later years eclipsed by his interest in Gaelic games, but it was never completely ousted. He was even known to inform some over-enthusiastic followers of Rugby that he had expert knowledge of both the amateur and professional game and that he was, as far as he was aware, the only Jesuit of the Irish Province who was an officially-recognised referee for championship matches. He always maintained a lively interest in Australia and was particularly kind to Australian scholastics who came to Ireland for their studies.
In September 1915 the following sonnet appeared in Studies over the name D. S. Nerney, S.J.; possibly a juniorate composition, although we have now no way of ascertaining the precise date at which it was written:

OUT OF THE NIGHT
And seeing them labouring . . . about the fourth watch of the night He cometh to them walking on the sea. ...

Our life were surely but an idle thing
If there were naught beneath the arch of years
But life and death - a little space of tears
And foolish laughter-a poor winnowing
Snatched from the idle promise of the spring;
If all our hope a cry that no god hears,
And we of the dead past the last compeers
That time from out the blackest night shall bring.
While thus I thought and sorrowed for a space
Where darkness lay like death upon the sea,
A vision came: I knew Him by his face
Of glory: “Stretch thou forth thy hands to Me”,
He said; and Christ was in the place,
The final hope of immortality.

In 1918 Fr. Nerney left Australia in order to begin his theology, the very year in which his brother, Fr. John Nerney, was assigned to the Australian mission. However, he did not reach Europe that year but did his first year's theology in Kurseong, the missionary theologate of the Belgian Province. It was in this period that he formed an opinion which he afterwards expressed in his tract De Deo Uno concerning the extent to which man unaided by revelation does in fact attain to some degree of knowledge of the true God. His observations of what occurred in the pagan shrines of India convinced him that, at least, the ordinary people were not worshipping some vaguely apprehended attribute of God symbolised by their idol but that they were practising pure fetishism, by which they adored the idol itself as though possessed of divine powers.
In 1919 he went to continue his theology in the theologate of the Lyons Province which was then at Hastings. He was ordained there in 1920 and remained there for his third and fourth years' theology. After tertianship in Tullabeg under Fr. T. V. Nolan he was sent to Rome to do a biennium in Theology and in 1926 returned to Milltown as Minister of Philosophers and Professor of Logic and Psychology. The philosophers of those days all retain the most pleasant memories of the kindness and consideration which he always showed in his dealings with them.
In 1930 he was summoned to Rome to teach Dogmatic Theology in the Gregorian University; and he remained there for three years. He made many friends there and also among the staff and students of the Irish College, where he was a frequent visitor. He had been assigned the tract De Sacramentis and did much personal study on the difficult question of the history of the administration of the Sacrament of Penance. He noted with regret that there was no account available of the Penitentiaries of the Irish Church and he always felt that an important contribution would be made by anyone who would undertake research in that neglected field.
In 1933 he returned to Ireland on account of ill health. At this time a decision had been made to bring the Dogma course in Milltown into line with the practice of other Provinces by introducing a separate Apologetics course for the first year and consequently reducing the old four-year cycle of Dogma to a three-year cycle. So Fr. Nerney was assigned to teach De Ecclesia and Fr. Gannon, taken from the short course, to teach De Vera Religione; and Fr. Canavan was brought back from Tullabeg to teach the short course. In 1936 Fr. Nerney was changed to long course Dogma and he remained at that post until his sudden death in 1968. He also acted as Prefect of Studies from 1953 to 1956.
An estimate of Fr. Nerney must be based primarily on his achievements as a Professor of Theology, because this was the principal work which was assigned to him by the Society. Of the value of this work. there can be very little doubt. It is generally accepted that he rendered incalculable service to the faculty in Milltown and so to many hundreds of Jesuits of many Provinces. He was an excellent lecturer; precise and methodical with a masterly command of Latin. He is not known ever to have pronounced a single sentence in English and yet his class invariably followed him with ease and pleasure. His lectures were based on one of his four codices which he followed closely but not slavishly, with the result that, reading a page or so of typescript, one found an accurate summary of his entire lecture. He kept strictly to the scholastic method of presentation and always indicated the difficult points of his position by a series of penetrating objections.
He was much liked as an examiner. He indicated clearly the precise point of a thesis he wished the candidate to treat, listened patiently to his exposition, brought him back over his exposition in order to secure expansion or correction of points which were unsatisfactory and then urged fair but telling objections in strict scholastic form. He always received the candidate's answers without violent reaction, no matter how bad they were; he seemed to be unwilling to influence the other examiners against him, preferring to leave them to form their own judgment on the basis of the evidence he had elicited concerning the state of the candidate's knowledge.
His treatment of scripture texts was a model of method. He always indicated clearly the precise argument he was drawing from the text he had quoted. He may not have had a very great interest in the results of modern scripture scholarship but the positions he adopted were always clearly defined and capable of strong defence. In general, he did not show much interest in patristic theology, although on many points he was extremely well informed, e.g., the early history of the Sacrament of Penance. His favourite amongst the Fathers was St. Ambrose, possibly on account of the connection existing between him and the Celtic church. He was sometimes criticised for over-simplifying theology. This is a permanent difficulty facing a Professor of Theology, viz., how to present a complex problem to a class without plunging into a mass of detail out of all proportion to the importance of the topic in question. If he erred on the side of over-simplification, his error was inspired by consideration for his class and was by no means a confession of ignorance nor a proof of lack of diligence. But it would be a rash conclusion that he did so err. His estimate of what constituted an adequate treatment of a particular subject was based on long years of teaching experience and cannot easily be challenged.
He could perhaps be more justly criticised for giving too much attention to purely scholastic discussions of such topics as the mode of the Real Presence in the Blessed Eucharist or the question of Natura and Persona in the Hypostatic Union. But he held that there was no better way of judging the quality of a theologian than by testing his ability to handle such problems with accuracy and confidence. Fr. Nerney was sometimes accused of marking time, or rather wasting time, in class; and it is true that when he was a little ahead of his timetable he reduced his rate of progress but many of his class found the respite very welcome. Towards the end of his life there were periods in which, due to poor health, his physical and mental vigour were below normal. This happened more frequently than was generally realised. One final point cannot be omitted, viz., his fairness and charity towards those whose opinions he felt he could not share. This was certainly the result of a conscious effort on his part, because it was widely felt that in some matters outside the realm of theology he could be very vehement and not always completely free from prejudice.
Fr. Nerney had many interests outside theology. These included motor engineering and wireless telegraphy; but undoubtedly the greatest of these was things Irish, games, history and language. He took up the serious study of Irish during his period as Professor of Philosophy in Milltown Park. He was a gifted linguist, speaking French and Italian with fluency and accuracy, so it is little wonder that he attained a proficiency in Irish, which was very remarkable in a man who began rather late in life. He spoke Irish with a slightly exaggerated precision of pronunciation and idiom but with genuine fluency and a great wealth of vocabulary. He was particularly interested in turns of phrase which were current in his native County of Cork but he was very observant of variations of pronunciation and idiom occurring in Connacht and Donegal. He prided himself on being able to define the precise locality of the origin of the Irish, spoken by the various announcers on Radio Eireann. For many years he spent part of the summer vacation in one or other of the Gaeltachts. Although he spoke Irish on all possible occasions, he was always most willing to speak English with those who were unable to fall in with his known desire to speak Irish.
The esteem in which Fr. Nerney was held by the Irish Province can be gauged by the number of occasions on which he was elected by provincial congregations to represent the Province in Rome. Hence it was with the most sincere regret that we heard the news of his sad and completely unexpected death. The whole Province owes him a very deep debt of gratitude and extends its sympathy to the surviving members of his family, and particularly to his brother, Fr. John Nerney from whom he had been separated for nearly forty years.

Nerney, John, 1879-1962, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1821
  • Person
  • 8 March 1879-27 August 1962

Born: 8 March 1879, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1901, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1914, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1917, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 27 August 1962, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Older Brother of Denis - RIP 1958

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1905 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
John Nerney entered the Society at Tullabeg, 7 September 1901, and after his juniorate there, studied philosophy at Valkenburg, 1904-07. He taught at the Crescent, Limerick, 1907-09, and at Clongowes, 1909-11, before studying theology at Milltown Park, 1911-15. Tertianship followed at Tullabeg, 1915-16. He taught at Mungret for a few years before going to Australia in 1919.
He taught for a few years at Xavier College, before going to St Patrick's College, 1921-23, where he was editor of the Messenger and Madonna. He did parish work at Norwood, 1923-33, and went back to St Patrick's College, 1934-38, continuing his work with the Messenger, and doing spiritual work with the students. At the same time he directed sodalities, including the very popular men's Sodality in Melbourne. Later, he was stationed at Richmond, doing similar work, and at Loyola College, Watsonia, 1940-43 and 1946-59. He also gave retreats at this time. His last years were at the parish of Hawthorn.
For most of his life in the Society Nerney suffered from a form of anaemia which made work difficult, but he contrived to get through a great deal of work all the same, and lived to a good age. His chief interest was in spreading devotion to Our Lady, and one of his chief instruments in doing so was the professional men's Sodality which was centred on St Patrick's College. Nerney directed this Sodality for 25 years as a benevolent despot. He had a great capacity for making friends. He took a great interest in people and their problems. Those who lived with him saw another side of him, a man with very definite views. He had a keen mind and could discuss theological questions in a subtle way.
He was also a regular visitor to the prisons, visiting 'Old Boys', as he used to say He was spiritual father at Loyola College, Watsonia, for many years, and his domestic exhortations were awaited with some expectation. They were learned, well prepared, devotional, and yet idiosyncratic. Scholastics were able to mimic his style, much to the mirth of their colleagues. Novices were regularly so amused that they had to be removed from the chapel! He rarely attended meals in the early days, preferring to eat alone at second table. He always had a simple, special diet. He was also a collector of sheets! When he left his room for any reason, the minister was able to collect many sheets that had been stored. Yet, for all that, he was much loved and respected in the community.
At Hawthorn he took an interest in the midday Mass, regarding it as his own, and keen to build up numbers. He died unexpectedly of a coronary occlusion.

Nestor, John D, 1858-1942, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1822
  • Person
  • 03 August 1858-05 December 1942

Born: 03 August 1858, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1876, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1890
Final vows: 02 February 1896
Died: 05 December 1942, Los Angeles, CA, USA - Californiae Province (CAL)

Transcribed HIB to TAUR : 1877; TAUR to CAL : 1909

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Transcribed into TAUR Province 1877, and went with Joseph M Hickey and Laurence Boyle to California

Newport, Sylvan, 1900-1978, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1828
  • Person
  • 06 May 1900-24 January 1978

Born: 06 May 1900, Thebarton, South Australia
Entered: 08 October 1922, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1933, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1936
Died: 24 January 1978, St John of God, Richmond, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the Canisius College, Pymble, Sydney, Australia community at the time of death

Studied at The University of Adelaide before entry

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Before entering the Society he had been an accountant, and secretary to the Minister of Education in South Australia. Sylvanus Newport had also worked for the Dried Fruits Board.
He entered the Society 8 October 1922, and did all his priestly studies in Ireland. Arriving back in Australia as a priest in 1934, he was sent to Loyola College, Watsonia, and made his
tertianship that year. Shorty afterwards he became minister and procurator of the Vice-Province, using his gifts in finance to good advantage.
From early days Newport was handicapped with a diabetic condition as well as arthritis, which meant, according to him, that one cure militated against the other. His original cures were frequently the cause of mirth in others, who did not understand the diabetic condition.
Being minister during the war years, he was most frugal with money and goods. One day while shopping he exchanged bags of lawn clippings for a bag of sugar, and while walling up and down outside a shop a man mysteriously appeared and gave Newport a box of butter without a word being spoken. No one dared ask any questions. Thanks to his good relations with the local gasworks, the supply of coke for the stove and the boiler reached alarming heights. A scholastic writing about it estimated that if a bomb ever landed on Loyola College, the neighbouring suburb would be covered in coke. To balance the wear on the tyres of the house car, he would drive on the wrong side of the road when there was no traffic in sight. He had original ways in administration, but provided adequate supplies for all the young Jesuits during the war. Fearful of spreading his ailments, Newport forbade closeness wherever possible.
Despite his eccentricities he was a popular confessor with the novices and scholastics. The wisdom of his guidance was shared among those who visited him. His kindness and encouragement were especially appreciated. He never adapted to the Vatican II changes in the liturgy, and even in the parish said Mass with his back to the people.
After a renewal of the province in 1961 by a visitor, Newport was moved to the Norwood parish, and then to Canisius College, Pymble, where he became even more isolated from the
world. No one ever entered his room, and he was never happier. A visitor would be expected to speak to him at his door or at his window. The room contained many things that somehow supported him in his ill health. Fighting germs was a constant preoccupation, and he certainly held his diabetes at bay for decades. He did not join in community recreation or meals, preferring to make his own meagre meal of such delicacies as cabbage leaves, molasses, dates and dried fruits.
When he became ill, it was easy to administer to his needs and entrust him to specialist care at last. However, as his health continued to deteriorate, he was sent to hospital, and then to the hospice at Richmond where he died.
Newport led an ordered life, always busy, and well planned. He never wanted to cause any fuss, and was never happier than when left alone.

Nihill, Lawrence Arthur, 1726-1795, former Jesuit priest and Roman Catholic Bishop of Kilfenora and Kilmacduagh

  • IE IJA J/835
  • Person
  • 23 May 1726-29 June 1795

Born: 23 May 1726, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 31 July 1747, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: pre 1754
Died: 29 June 1795, Killaloe, County Clare

Son of Elinor Nihill née Hackett

Nihill or Nihell is a variant of O’Neill

1757-1759 Prefect of Boarders at Irish College Poitiers

There were three other Nihell’s SJ. One was the brother of the Bishop, and John and Edward who was born at Antigua, and entered the Society at Ghent in 1768 and 1769. Edward died a victim of charity attending negroes at Trinidad in 1826 (cf Foley’s Collectanea). His Nephew was Father McShee SJ.
Ferrar’s “Limerick” :
Of a very ancient and respectable family names O’Neill. He was a near relative of Baron Harrold, Colonel of the Regiment of Königsfelt, of Colonel Nihell, of Dillon’s Regiment at Fontenoy, and of Brigadier-General in Naples, and Colonel of the Regiment of Limerick. He was also a brother to Dr James Nihell, a medical writer, and a nephew of Sir John Higgins, first physician to the King of Spain.”
1770 He published a work on “Rational Self Love”.
1778 The Archbishop of Dublin tried to get him made Bishop of Limerick, while the Bishop of Cashel and his friends supported Thomas Butler (later Lord Cahir), another ex-Jesuit.
1784 He was made Bishop of Kilfenora
1787 He was completing and preparing for press his brother James’ “Life and Doctrines of Christ” and was engaged in writing a “History of the Redemption of Man”. (These MSS are in the Milltown Park Library).
J Roche, author of “Memoirs of an Octogenarian” says “Dr Nihell was a cousin of my father’s, at whose table I well recollect him as a most welcome guest, for he was distinguished as a Priest, a scholar and a gentleman. I was present at his consecration in Limerick in 1784, when Mr Kirwan OsF was Preacher, and Lord Dunboyne, Bishop of Cork, one of the assisting prelates. Kirwan preached on apostasy, and he and Dunboyne later apostasised!” (cf O’Renehan’s “Collections” p 370)
His tomb is in the old Cathedral of Kilfenora.
Brother of Bishop Nihell. The Nihill’s were related to the Harolds, Arthurs, Macghees, McNamaras, Butlers, Woulfes and Calcutts of Limerick and Clare (in pen)
After the Suppression he was PP of Rathkeale. As he was of decided literary tastes, he resigned his parish and lived in Limerick. He died there some time post 1780. (Father Denis Murphy’s Collections)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Laurence Nihell and Alice née Arthur
His early life in the Society is hard to determine. he is mentioned only once in the LUS Catalogue 1749, which tells nothing of his studies before Entry. It seems certain that after First Vows he was sent to Coimbra for studies.
1752 In the Spring of 1752 he wrote to Fr General for permission to study Mathematics and Theology before he should return to Ireland. The General in his reply, dated 30 May, informed him that the permission asked for would be granted only if Superiors decided that such studies were necessary
1754 It is also uncertain if he was Ordained when he arrived at the Irish College Poitiers 15 December 1754 - there is no record of him in the AQUIT Catalogues of 1754 and 1758. His name at Poitiers has survived only in the Procurator's books down to 1758 when he left the Society.
1758 LEFT the Society and returned to Ireland where he was incardinated in Limerick, and succeeded Fr David Burke as PP of Rathkeale in 1762.
1767 Moved to St Mary’s Limerick as senior Curate
1783 Ordained Bishop of Kilfenora, and he died 29 June 1795 and was buried in the chancel of the old Cathedral Church of his Diocese

Nolan, Gerard P, 1912-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/304
  • Person
  • 21 November 1912-08 June 1972

Born: 21 November 1912, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1931, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1944, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 03 February 1947, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 08 June 1972, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Brother of Tony Nolan - LEFT 1938

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 3 1972
Obituary :
Fr Gerard Nolan SJ (1912-1972)

Gerard Paul Nolan was born on 21st November, 1912, one of the younger members of a fairly large Dublin family. He and the other three boys were educated at Belvedere, and Tony preceded him into the Society, but left shortly before ordination. Two, at least, of his sisters became Loreto nuns.
He came to Emo in 1931 at a time when there were about 50 novices in the house, which had been opened the year before. Fr John Coyne was our master of novices, and Fr Robert Tyndall the socius. The regime then was exacting, but a fair and basically humane one. “Particular friendships” were conventionally taboo, but in fact deep friendships began in Emo and lasted through the forty years since. It did not take long to see that Gerry had a wide, dangerously wide, range of emotions and moods. He had an exhilarating taste for the fantastic and ludicrous, (I suppose we all remember him stalking the puzzled bullocks behind leafy branches during the Long Retreat). He also had a terrible capacity for distress, desperation and suffering.
During his period as a junior in Rathfarnham there began, I think, a certain feeling of frustration that dogged him, and mildly. exasperated his friends, for the rest of his life. He was a perfectionist, he felt that the Society demanded even more than he was capable of, strove to accommodate and yet always believed that he fell short. Being a complicated character he evoked uncertain attitudes in superiors. He often quoted one as asking the question “Is Nolan an angel or a devil?”
A further three years in the rarefied atmosphere of "the Bog" accentuated characteristics bred of an introspective temperament. Yet there were times of expansive freedom -- like the Villas in Roundstone. Times too when Gerry came into his own as an entertainer. No one, rather to Gerry's embarrassment, over forgot his performance as conductor of the fabulous McNamara's band that did the round one Christmas. He had an exquisite stage sense and vein of comedy which could bring the house down when he let himself go. But he was suspicious of his talent and repressed it. He thought that in later life he was appointed director to the Catholic Stage Guild partly as a result of his reputation among his contemporaries as an actor. He deprecated this. During these first eight years in the Society we were fortunate to have benign regimes in Emo, in Rathfarnham and in Tullabeg. Gerry would, perhaps, with his hyper-sensitive nature, have wilted under harsher or cruder treatment at that stage. I did not see him in action during his period in Belvedere as a scholastic or later as a priest. He was an effective teacher with a flair for unearthing and stimulating potential talent in his charges, and, more precious, a capacity to exert influence, not merely pedagogic, that persisted advantageously into adult years. He acted as director of fringe activities such as debating society and musical performances with éclat. After ordination in 1944 and tertianship in Rathfarnham came his second period in Belvedere. By all accounts it was the time when Gerry himself felt he was doing his best work; it gave him at once the opportunity to do well-regulated, exact work, and scope for his generous, enterprising temperament. The adventure of his climb along the foot board of the French train while it swept through the countryside near Paris was one of the episodes that enlivened this period.

Then came his transfer to Gardiner Street and his years as director of the Catholic Stage Guild, and the Theatre and Cinema Workers' Sodality. These were in a way difficult years when an instinctive and withal thoughtful generosity made him most appreciated, but without giving him any sense of achievement along the lines he thought he should be working.
While remaining in Gardiner Street Gerry took up teaching in Bolton Street in 1962. He was well informed in modern “apologetics” and theology and in literature, yet he had here again, to my mind, an excessive diffidence and so his work and its obligations weighed heavily on him. He had a great grasp of life's essential values, a tremendous flow of language; could tell or concoct a story well, and make an exploit out of the humdrum. But most of the time he thought he should be doing something else and doing it perfectly. This inhibited him from retreat giving, lecturing etc., and made even ordinary preaching a discomfort. He was extremely adverse to any theoretical criticism of established structures and over-suspicions of innovation in Church and State. He was a man, then, tumultuously inclined, who ultimately attained an enviable degree of calm and serenity. Always capable of the most lavish and tactful generosity, he had towards the end also become immune to the need for equally generous response. All his life he was the kind of man who would “give you the shirt off his back”, always he remained at his most resourceful in times of crisis. Perhaps, partly as a result of a great deal of suffering from arthritis and other ailments, he developed a spirit that seemed . emancipated from self-interest and requiring no reward. This - I am sure I can say without any improper breach of confidence - became clear to us who did the group course with him in Clongowes last year. He spoke of being “finished” in a cheerfully pessimistic way; he was in fact finished in another sense, he was completed to a rich maturity that came from a penetrating love of Christ and faith in Him and in His people. He had style in everything he did: in the deepest things he had the style of a fully christian man. We in Gardiner Street suddenly lost a loved companion and a stalwart of the community; many other hearts were wrenched at his going. May all his hopes be now fulfilled and may we come to share his life with him again. His obit. Occurred June 8th.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1972
Obituary
Father Gerard Nolan (’31)
Fr Nolan taught in Belvedere for two years as a scholastic and returned as a priest in ‘47 to teach until he moved to Gardiner St in ‘54. The rest of his life was spent doing church work. As the numbers at his funeral made clear he possessed the gift of making friends and of keeping them. During the last two years he had been suffering acutely from arthritis and God alone knows the suffering a visit to the parlour entailed yet he would not disappoint a friend. His death through sudden was a merciful release.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1973
Obituary
Father Gerard Paul Nolan (OB 1925-1931)

Gerry Nolan came to Belvedere, one of a family of several Belvederian brothers, at the age of twelve and after six years in the school entered the Jesuit noviceship at Emo Park: in 1931. His companions here fell into two groups : those who knew him vaguely as a reserved, quiet, polite boy not very prominent in games or studies, and the small number who even then saw something of the richness and depth of his character and his most remarkable artistic, musical and dramatic gifts. Among the latter were a privileged few who were fortunate to win the real friendship of a very affectionate but exceedingly diffident boy, Two in particular became his constant companions and it was not long before the trio was nick-named, by the insensitive schoolboy mob, “He, she and it”. Gerry was the “He” of the little band.

During his schooldays the great era of Gilbert and Sullivan operas began under the direction of Father Mortimer Glynn. Gerry came of a family which possessed very remarkable musical talents and Father Glynn's most exacting standards and constant struggle for perfection appealed to all the perfectionist in him. Thus began a quest for the highest in everything that was to lead to much inspiring work, but which also became a considerable handicap to him. If ever the saying, “Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien” was verified, it was in Gerry's case.

After the usual studies in the Society he returned to Belvedere in 1939 and spent two years as a scholastic here. Next came Theology and the Tertianship and 1946 saw him return for a further nine years of teaching.

These years brought him into contact with many boys and his capacity for friendship widened with the formal relations in class and many informal ones outside. La Fontaine's remark about schoolboys is only too true : “Cet age est sans pitié”. But their merciless characteristics are balanced by an extraordinary perception and recognition of real goodness. Here they had an outstanding example of that before them, and they could also divine his ceaseless industry on their behalf and the deep original sense of humour and the humourous devilment that balanced his diffidence and the moods of black depression that overcame him when he thought he was failing to achieve the impossibly high standards he set for himself. Once again however, these standards were a disadvantage. His Latin classes would have been more successful had he not overwhelmed indifferent pupils with a wealth of detailed erudition that would have stimulated university students. But in teaching English he did communicate to gifted boys his enthusiasm for the best and left a permanent mark upon them.

In 1952 he left Belvedere to become, at the request of the Archbishop, Dr McQuaid, chaplain of the Catholic Stage Guild. Again his diffidence was a handicap, but he made numerous friends and helped many people. To this work was later added that of the Theatre and Cinema Workers' Sodality. After some years in this apostolate he became, while still living in Gardiner St, chaplain and teacher of Religion in the Technical Institution in Bolton St.

The good he did in his life is known to God alone. By pure chance the writer has heard of one or two of his acts of heroic generosity and self-sacrifice. His closer friends are perhaps aware of more. But he did good by stealth and never let his left hand know what his right was doing or about to do. The very antithesis of that obnoxious modern phenomenon, the headline hunter, he was most Christian in this. At his funeral on 10th June, 1972, numerous people unknown to his everyday friends and unknown to each other, were overwhelmed with grief.

Obituaries are always difficult and unsatisfactory. A few bald and conventional paragraphs can never recall a bright and loving spirit. When one comes to a man like Gerry, an amalgam of Jimmy O'Dea and Jack Point, of St Vincent de Paul and St John of the Cross, the task is one of despair. But he was a very holy man, and like all saints, an original. May his noble soul rest in peace with God.

Nolan, Henry J, 1910-2006, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/620
  • Person
  • 06 April 1910-24 December 2006

Born: 06 April 1910, Hong Kong
Entered: 02 September 1929, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly / St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1943, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 03 February 1947, Chiesa del Gesú, Rome Italy
Died: 24 December 2006, Casa Di Cura Villa Cherubini, Florence, Italy

Part of the Via Silvia, Florence, Italy community at the time of death

Early education at Presentation Brothers College, Cork and Belvedere College SJ

by 1935 at St Aloysius, Jersey, Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1948 at Rome, Italy (ROM) - writing
by 1970 at Florence, Italy (ROM) working

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 133 : Special Issue September 2007

Obituary
Fr Henry Nolan (1910-2007) :

6th April 1910: Born in Hong Kong
Early education at Convent of Our Lady of Chartres and Victoria British School, Hong Kong; Presentation College, Cork and Belvedere College
2nd September 1929: Entered the Society at Tullabeg
3rd September 1931: First Vows at Emo
1931 - 1934: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1934 - 1937: Maison Saint Louis, Jersey - Studied Philosophy
1937 - 1940: Belvedere - Teacher (Regency); Studied for H Dip Ed
1940 - 1944: Milltown Park -Studied Theology
29th July 1943: Ordained at Milltown Park
1944 - 1945: Gardiner Street - worked in Church
1945 - 1946: Tertianship at Rathfarnham and Rome
3rd February 1947: Final Vows in Rome
1946 - 1962: Curia, Rome - English Section of Vatican Radio; living at the Curia and subsequently at the House of Writers, where he was Superior. He became ill in 1961 and returned to Dublin to recuperate following surgery.
1962 - 1965: Rathfarnham - Spiritual Director (SJ); Assistant Director of Retreat House; Editor of magazine “Madonna”.
1965 - 1968: Belvedere College - Rector
1968 - 1969: Emo - Minister; Socius to Master of Novices
1969 - 2006: Florence - Pastoral Care of English-speaking Community in Diocese; Spiritual Assistant to groups of Renewal in the Spirit
24 December 2006: Died in a Nursing Home in Florence.

Charles Davy writes:
When Henry Nolan was made an honorary citizen of Florence in an unforgettable ceremony at the city's magnificent Palaccio de Vecchio, some forty members of his extended family travelled out for the occasion. The strong bonds between him and his nephews and nieces and their families can be explained, at least in part, by family bereavements in childhood.

When he was ten his father died. He had been the chief interpreter (Chinese/English) of the Supreme Court in Hong Kong, His widowed mother took the decision to return with her eight children to Cork, the county of her origin, foregoing the offer of free education in England. So it was in Cork he spent his first years in Ireland.

When his oldest brother obtained a place in the Civil Service in Dublin, his mother, wanting to keep the family together, decided they would all move with him. Henry, along with his brothers, was sent to Belvedere. In those years before he went to Emo, tragedy twice struck his family. His younger brother, Desmond, died aged nine, and, not long afterwards, his mother also, following a fall on the stairs of their house. These trials created unshakeable bonds among the seven surviving children.

It was during his Tertianship in Rathfarnham that his life took a different turn with the request of Fr. General to the Provincial for someone to run the English speaking section of Vatican Radio. In the immediate aftermath of the war the Vatican wanted an Irishman rather than an American or an Englishman. Henry was chosen. He was to take up the post immediately without finishing his Tertianship. His first task was to procure an Irish passport! A challenging mission to head off to Rome knowing no Italian, nor anything about radio programmes.

The early months were difficult. He was given no time to go to Italian classes. He had to learn it on the job. Nor was it a consolation to have to attend regular private sessions on the Constitutions from one of the senior Curia fathers to make up for what he missed in Rathfarnham! With time he settled in and grew to love Rome. Ever afterwards he remained both proud and grateful for one aspect of his Vatican radio work: his close relationship with Pope Pius XII.

Whenever the Pope had to speak to an English speaking group, Henry was sent for to go through the text with him. He used say he was one of the few Jesuits to whom a Pope had apologised - for having come late for his appointment! His broadcasting in English of the new dogma of the Assumption in 1954 was an occasion of special joy for him. In those early years he came to know the former chief Rabbi of Rome who, at the end of the war, decided to become a Catholic. For his baptismal name he chose Eugenio, after Eugenio Pacelli! This was out of his esteem for Pius XII from whom he had received such help during the war. The chief Rabbi's conversion, however, had left him penniless. Henry got him to give talks on the psalms on Vatican radio and he was given a part time job in the Vatican library.

This happy period of his life ended in illness, indeed almost in death. He returned to Ireland in 1961 a sick man, but soon recovered his health. He was assigned first as Spiritual Father to the Juniors and then to Belvedere as Rector. This latter role as Rector proved difficult. He was unfamiliar with the Irish school scene and not robust enough to face into leadership of a community which numbered some strong personalities! A former member of that community told me of one incident in the community. One day a certain unwell member of the community was acting in a strange and dangerous manner on the roof. When Henry was told, he answered with, “Keep me informed!”

After three years, relief came with his appointment as Socius to the Novice Master (Joe Dargan) in Emo. For a man born in Hong Kong and who had lived in Rome, Emo must have been a step into another era with few outlets for talents that were yet to be uncovered. In these years, however, formality hid his truer self.

With the closure of Emo in 1968, life began anew with a new mission coming once again from Italy. This time it was from the archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Benelli, asking him to be chaplain to the English speaking community of Florence. Alluding to this moment in later years, he used say, “The Provincial told me I could go for a year, but I stayed for life!”

Florence was to be the soil in which he reaped a harvest working with Irish, English, American, but also English speaking immigrants from other countries. His warmth, goodness and sense of humour consoled many a person in hospital and prison. His work did not go unnoticed by several British Consuls in Florence. It was one such Consul who sought to have his ministry of compassion recognised by the city with the conferral of honorary citizenship of Florence - an honour that had been given to only a small group of distinguished statesmen and others.

Many English speaking immigrants finding themselves in trouble encountered in Henry a compassionate listener. In encountering all shades of human problems he believed in a God ever at work bringing good out of tragedy. When he preached in the Duomo on Sundays it was out of a familiarity with God that had grown in prayer. His work was not limited to his English speaking community. Among his wider pastoral work he was also Diocesan exorcist. In his ministry he received as well as gave. Late in life he had the courage to embrace the charismatic renewal and those spirit-filled groups opened him to a liveliness of the Spirit, bringing a new freedom and joy to his life.

In his last years he had to keep adapting to increasing physical limitations. A critical moment came some years back when he had to leave his community in Via Silvo Spaventa for the diocesan nursing home for retired priests. His Italian Superior and members of the community continued to support him with regular visits and phone calls, as did his many friends, his nephews and nieces and different Irish Provincials who kept in close contact.

Alleluia, was a word he often used to end a conversation, accompanied by a big smile. So much so, when the Cardinal Archbishop of Florence used meet him or ring him, he greeted him with an Alleluia! Back in 1991 I spent a weekend with him in Florence. I recall him telling me that the golden Jubilee of his ordination was coming up in two years time. Then he added, “Of course who knows if I'll be alive, but one way or the other I'll celebrate, either here or with the Lord”, using his finger to indicate above! Henry loved a party. On his visits to Dublin when he stayed in Loyola House there was rarely a day when he didn't have an invitation to visit friends. However, he was sufficiently present in the community to stir a little sibling rivalry in his fellow novice, Séan Hughes, with whom he had also studied in Jersey!

In January last I saw a film called Into Great Silence about a Carthusian monastery in France. At the end, an old blind monk speaks: “Dieu est infiniment bon.... God is infinitely good, and wants nothing but our good. I thank God for my blindness because I know it has been for my good. Why should I be fearful of death when it is this God I am going to meet?”

Henry had a similar sort of faith and he brought this confidence in God to those to whom he ministered in Florence for over thirty years. He had a strong sense that he was under the protection of the Mother of God. He loved to tell how she was present at every significant turning point of his life. Recalling in recent years the devastating experience of losing his mother he wrote, “In prayer, I am sure it was an inspiration, I deliberately asked Our Blessed lady to be my mother”. He liked to recount how that prayer had been heard. In 2001 he wrote to his friends: “I think I am one of the happiest people in the world. Why? Because I know, not just intellectually, but I really am convinced that the Lord loves me; and secondly, I know that I am loved by people like you”.

Nolan, Leo Patrick, 1908-1996, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1833
  • Person
  • 08 August 1908-20 September 1996

Born: 08 August 1908, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1938, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 30 July 1947, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951
Died: 20 September 1996, Boscombe, Hampshire, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1946 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1945-1948

Nolan, Patrick, 1874-1948, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/305
  • Person
  • 25 March 1874-08 March 1948

Born: 25 March 1874, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 23 September 1891, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 28 July 1907, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1909, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 08 March 1948, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin

Educated at belvedere College SJ

by 1895 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1903 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1908 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948 & ◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1948

Obituary

Fr. Patrick Nolan (1874-1891-1948)

Fr. Patrick Nolan, whose tragic death occurred on the 8th March as the result of an accident on Rathgar Road, was born in Dublin in 1874. Educated at Belvedere College, he entered the Society at Tullamore in 1891. He studied philosophy at Valkenburg, Holland and at St. Mary's College, Stonyhurst, and before proceeding to theology, taught at Belvedere and Clongowes for six years. He was ordained a priest at Milltown Park in 1907 and had among his Ordination companions, the late Fathers Willie Doyle and John Sullivan.
Fr. Nolan's life as a priest may be comprised under three main headings : teacher, preacher, confessor and Director of souls.
As a teacher for fifteen years (1910-1925) in St. Ignatius' College, Galway, his principal subject was History and Geography. Many of his old pupils can bear testimony to the skill with which he reconstructed ancient battlefields, mapped out the exact position of the opposing forces and made the dead pages of history live again. His interest in historical research, especially concerning Old Dublin, remained with him during his whole life and there were very few of the ancient streets and landmarks of his native city with which he was not familiar.
During his five years (1925-1930) on the Mission Staff, he was particularly conspicuous for his forceful and telling sermons and, but for a serious breakdown in health, would certainly have continued much longer at the arduous work of conducting Missions and Retreats.
But it is as a Confessor and Director of Souls, especially during his sixteen years (1930-1946) at Gardiner Street, that he will be best remembered. The many regrets expressed on his departure from Gardiner Street some eighteen months ago, and the many messages of sympathy that followed on his untimely death bear witness to the large and devoted clientele which he had established at St. Francis Xavier's. As a confessor, his ‘patient angling for souls’ was reflected in his patient angling for fish on the rare occasions when he found an opportunity to indulge in his favourite hobby. There were very few fish, great or small, in the box or in the lake, that he missed, for he always knew exactly when. to strike. As a Director of souls, too, he was singularly successful and knew the pitfalls to avoid, as well as he knew the rocks and shoals that might wreck an outrigger on Lough Corrib, of which, in his Galway days, he was reckoned one of the best navigators.
Above and beyond all his external work, however, Fr. Nolan was a man of deep religious fervour, known only to his intimate friends, He was never appointed Superior, but the fact that he was asked for by his brethren and appointed to undertake the office of ‘Master of the Villa’ for several consecutive years is sufficient indication of the esteem in which his affability was held by all. Charity and cheerfulness were the outward expression of his inward life, a great forbearance with others and toleration of their opinions and a very deep love of the Society. With such genuine traits of Christian and Religious Perfection, this contemporary of Fr. Willie Doyle and Fr. John Sullivan was well prepared to meet his death and hear from the lips of his Master : ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, as often as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it unto Me’. R.I.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick Nolan SJ 1874-1948
Father Patrick Nolan was an expert fisher of souls. From 1930 to 1946 as Confessor in Gardiner Street he plied his skill, and thanks to his zeal and patience he made many a kill of of inconsiderable size.

He was born in Dublin in 1874 and educated at Belvedere and entered the Society in 1891.

He taught for fifteen years in Galway, then spent 5 years on the Mission Staff, and then the rest of his life practically as an Operarius in Gardiner Street.

He met his death tragically, being killed in an accident on March 8th 1948. A truly zealous man with a kindly heart and amusing tongue which won him many friends.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Patrick Nolan (1874-1948)

Born in Dublin and educated at Belvedere College, entered the Society in 1891. He made his higher studies in Valkenburg and Milltown Park where he was ordained in 1907. With the exception of his last year, 1923-24, at the Crescent, as master in the colleges, Father Nolan's teaching career since his ordination was passed in Galway. Failing eyesight forced him to relinquish this work to which he brought enthusiasm and zeal. On leaving the Crescent, Father Nolan joined the mission staff for some five years when he was appointed to the church staff at Gardiner St, where he worked zealously for the next sixteen years (1930-46). He retired to Rathfarnham where he continued as a spiritual director to the end. He was killed in a street accident on 8 March, 1948.

Nolan, Thomas V, 1867-1941, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/307
  • Person
  • 23 September 1867-24 June 1941

Born: 23 September 1867, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 09 October 1887, Loyola House, Dromore, County Down
Ordained: 27 July 1902, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1905
Died: 24 June 1941, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner St, Dublin

Early education at St Stanislaus College SJ, Tullabeg

Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus, 22 October 1912-21 February 1922

2nd year Novitiate at Tullabeg;
by 1897 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1904 at Linz Austria (ASR) making Tertianship
PROVINCIAL 22/10/1912

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/jesuitica-answering-back-2/

JESUITICA: Answering back
Do Jesuits ever answer back? Our archives hold an exchange between Fr Bernard Page SJ, an army chaplain, and his Provincial, T.V.Nolan, who had passed on a complaint from an Irish officer that Fr Page was neglecting the care of his troops. Bernard replied: “Frankly, your note has greatly pained me. It appears to me hasty, unjust and unkind: hasty because you did not obtain full knowledge of the facts; unjust because you apparently condemn me unheard; unkind because you do not give me credit for doing my best.” After an emollient reply from the Provincial, Bernard softens: “You don’t know what long horseback rides, days and nights in rain and snow, little or no sleep and continual ‘iron rations’ can do to make one tired and not too good-tempered.”

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 16th Year No 4 1941

Obituary :

Father Thomas V Nolan

Fr. Nolan died at Gardiner Street in the early hours of the morning of the 24th June, 1941, as a, result of an attack of cardiac asthma.

Born on 23rd September, 1867, of a well-known Dublin family, the son of Edward Nolan and Mary Crosbie, he was educated at Tullabeg College, and, after a short period of University studies, entered the novitiate at Dromore, Co. Down, on 9th October, 1887. He pronounced his first Vows on Xmas Day two years later, at St. Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, whither the novitiate had in the meantime been transferred. Owing to a tired head, he was sent to the Colleges before beginning his philosophy, and spent 6 very successful years at Clongowes as classical master. He did his three years philosophy at Louvain and four of theology at Milltown Park. where he was ordained priest by the late Archbishop Dr. William Walsh, on 28th July, 1902. Third Probation he spent at Linz in Austria in company with the late Fr. Jerome O'Mahony and 18 other fellow-tertians, who included names like the later famous Innsbruck theologians Fathers Lercher and Stufler. Fr. Francis X. Widmann, the Rector and Instructor, gave them apparently the value of their money! Fr. Nolan often recalled the strenuous time he had there, and the feats of human endurance which the hospital experiment involved. On the completion of his training he was sent to Mungret, where he spent 4 years as Prefect of studies, during two of which he was Rector (1906-'8). In 1908 he became Rector of Clongowes and remained in that post till he was appointed Provincial in 1912. He continued to rule the destinies of the Province for the next 10 years amid the varied responsibilities consequent on the world-war and the post-war period. He found time as Provincial to act as President of the Classical Association of Ireland for 1917 and delivered his presidential address before that body oh Friday 26th January, 1917, in the Lecture Theatre of the Royal Dublin Society, taking' as his theme, “Aristotle and theSchoolmen” (cf Proceedings of the Cless. Assoc., 1916-17, pp. 17-46). During his Provincialate the purchase of Rathfarnham Castle was negotiated, and more adequate provision thus made for the scholastics of the Province to attend University lectures.
On the appointment of the tertian Instructor, Fr. Joseph Welsby to the office of English Assistant in Rome, Fr. Nolan was suddenly called upon to step into the breach after the Long Retreat in 1923 and carried the Tullabeg Tertians to the end of their year with conspicuous success and bon-homie. For the next 6 years he was operarius at Gardiner Street. It was during this period, in the autumn of 1920, that he was commissioned by the Holy See to enquire into the status of the Irish Franciscan Brothers of the Third Order Regular. He spent a full month (24th September-25th October) visiting their 14 houses in the dioceses of Meath, Achonry, and Tuam, without a break - a very strenuous work which included inspection of their schools and the meeting with clerical managers. Then there remained the task of revising their constitutions and drawing up his recommendations for the Sacred Congregation. As a result of his labours (to quote a prefactory notice in the Irish Catholic Directory, on the page dealing with the Franciscan Brothers ) : “Pius XI. graciously deigned to praise and recommend the Institute and confirm its constitutions by a Decree dated 12th May, 1930, thereby raising the Order to Pontifical Status.” The Brothers seem to have been extremely gratified by the results of their visitation. They certainly never lost an opportunity of extolling the charity and competence of their visitator, whose call at each of their houses they still hold in treasured remembrance. On hearing of his death this year they assured Fr. Provincial of the genuine sympathy they felt on the loss of their patron and had several Masses offered for repose of his soul. In 1930 Fr. Nolan was appointed Rector of Rathfarnham Castle and guided the destinies of the scholasticate and of the retreat house for six years.
The years of life still remaining to him were spent at Gardiner Street where in spite of failing health he continued to devote himself zealously to the works of the sacred ministry. The last months of his earthly sojourn were frequently punctuated with heart attacks of ever increasing violence, notably on St. Patrick's Day, which he bore with great courage and patience.
Fr. Nolan kept in touch with old Mungret and Clongowes boys for decades. He was always most ready to assist by counsel, influence and even material charity. where possible, those who had fallen from luck or become failures in life. His lifelong interests in the Kildare Archaeological Society, with which he made his first contacts as a young man in Clongowes, are well known, though apparently he never made any contribution to its journal nor claimed any particular competence in things archaeological. He attended regularly the meetings
of the society and was a very popular associate in the various outings undertaken by the members. On an historic occasion in the Protestant Church at Coolbanagher (near Emo) before a large gathering of archaeological enthusiasts who were viewing an ancient baptismal font, he was able to assure the audience in his suavest of manners that this relic of bygone days had only recently been filched from the grapery of St. Mary's shortly before the Jesuits acquired that property!
He was an assiduous retreat-giver. Among his papers appears an accurate list of retreats (5-8 day) given by him between 1904 and 1938. They number 90, The first on the list was given to the Patrician Brothers, Tullow, and the last to the Sisters of the Holy Child, Stamullen, 2-6 January, 1938. R.1.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Thomas V Nolan 1867-1941
“Thank God, now” was a phrase ever on the lips of Fr TV Nolan. He guided the destinies of the Province for ten years during the very critical period 1912-1922, taking in the First World War and the Struggle for Independence at home.

He was a classical scholar, being President of the Classical Association of Ireland for 1917, and he found time as Provincial to read his Presidential address on “Aristotle and the Schoolmen”. It was during his period as Provincial that Rathfarnham Castle was acquired and the retreat Movement started.

In 1928 he was appointed Apostolic Visitor to the Irish Franciscan Brothers of the Third Order regular. Their grateful memories of his are an eloquent tribute to the kindness and greatness of the man.

He died in Gardiner Street on June 24th 1941, an outstanding man who had left his imprint on the Province he ruled.

◆ The Clongownian, 1942

Obituary

Father Thomas V Nolan SJ

The Late Fr T V Nolan was for many years one of the most prominent members of: the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus - in fact, his personality was such that he could not help being prominent in whatever circumstances he might find himself. As a schoolboy in Tullabeg, whether it was in the classroom or on the playground, he was outstanding. Very soon, within less than a month, in fact, after leaving the noviceship, as constant headaches prevented him from following the usual course of studies, he was sent to Clongowes to teach, taking the Second Arts Class of the Royal University. Later, however, his work was chiefly confined to the Junior Grade Honours classes, which he taught with conspicuous success for many years. On leaving Clongowes he studied Philosophy in Louvain and Theology in Milltown Park. After ordination he went to Mungret - first as Prefect of Studies, and then as Rector.

In 1908 he was appointed Rector of Clongowes, and held the post until November, 1911, when he became Provincial. His long term of office (ten years) saw him engaged in many activities. He was prominently identified with the settlement in various parts of Ireland of the Belgian refugees, who came to Ireland in considerable numbers during the last war. He was a member of the Classical Society of Ireland, acting as its President during 1917, when he read a paper to the Society, entitled : “Aristotle and the School men”. He was also closely identified with the Kildare Archeological Society, of which he was Vice-President. He was also, when ever his duties did not call him away from Dublin, a very popular Confessor, especially with poorer boys who came to his confessional from all parts of Dublin.

Shortly after his term of office as Provincial was completed, he was appointed by the Holy See as Visitor to the Irish Franciscan Brothers of the Third Order. This entailed visiting all their houses, inspecting their schools, revising their constitution, and drawing up a recommendation for the Sacred Congregation. This he did to the complete satisfaction of the Brothers and of the Holy See.

Father Nolan's last position of authority was Rector of Rathfarnham College, which he himself had founded when Provincial. He held this position for six years (1930-6). When his term of office had expired, he returned to Gardiner Street and continued to devote himself zealously, as far as his failing health allowed, to the sacred ministry until death claimed him last June.

The following is an appreciation from the pen of one of his most distinguished Clongowes pupils :

The death of Father “Tom” Nolan, which came as a great personal loss to so many old Clongownians, was a particular grief for those who had studied under him as Master at Clongowes in those golden far off years from 1890 to 1896, when he taught First Preparatory and First Junior classes.

In all the fullness and variety of his manifold talents there were surely none greater than his gifts as a teacher of boys in those formative years of youth before the real taste for learning and scholarship had been developed, and when everything for success depended on the personal influence and inspiration of the teacher.

Father Tom Nolan had every gift and every grace that could attract and hold the affection, as well as the attention, of his pupils.

His splendid figure, easy dignity, and manly lucidity of thought and expression made the task of learning seem almost easy and pleasant for his class.

He had above all the teachers at Clongowes of his day the secret of making his class feel that he was one with themselves in the task to be accomplished; he was no passenger holding the rudder lines, but always a stout oar in the boat, at one with his crew.

Not one of those lucky ones who studied under him can ever forget the charm and easy firmness with which he steered their sometimes lagging steps along the rugged path of scholarship; he knew the secret of learning without labour, teaching without tears.

It was inevitable that a man of such gifts as his could not be allowed to remain long confined to the routine of class teaching, and unfortunately for the Clongownians of succeeding years Father Tom never returned to Clongowes again as a teacher after his ordination as a Priest in July, 1902, at Milltown Park,

It was fitting that his last year as a teacher should have produced the great First Junior Class of 1895-1896, which gained twelve exhibitions in a class of twenty boys ; those who were students in that class must still feel proud of having given the beloved master such a fine farewell. For Father Tom Nolan, however, was reserved a great career in the Society in which his early triumphs as a teacher may well have been obscured.

The wider sphere of direction and ad ministration, for which he had, if possible, even greater talents, took him to Mungret as Rector from 1905 to 1908, and from there back to Clongowes as Rector from 1908 to 1911, where his precious and inspiring presence as head of the College more than compensated for his loss as a teacher.

The final recognition of his powers came with his appointment as Provincial of the Society for that long and fateful period from 1911 to 1920, when the fullness and versatility of his gifts were more than ever displayed under the most critical conditions.

He had then reached the summit of his efforts for the Society, and could well look back on a splendid record of achievement, when, after six years as Rector in the serene atmosphere of Rathfarnham Castle, he joined the Community at Gardiner Street, where he died on the 24th June, 1941, at the ripe age of seventy-four years, mourned by the generation of Clongownians who had known and loved him for his great human qualities and infinite charm, but by none more deeply mourned than by those who had known his unforgettable comradeship as teacher and as a friend.

J M Fitzgerald.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1942

Obituary

Father Thomas V Nolan SJ

Although not a past student of the College, Father Thomas V Nolan, whose death took place last summer, was intimately associated with Mungret, where he was Rector and Prefect of Studies in the years 1905-1908. Mungret boys of those days will remember Father Nolan as a vigorous classical master, a fine cricketer, and a redoubtable opponent on the football field. During his period of Rectorship the National University of Ireland was established; and Father Nolan strongly urged the claim of Mungret, which had such a brilliant record of success in the Royal University examinations, to be made an affiliated College of the new University. To accommodate the growing number students, Father Nolan built the present Refectories, and added an additional storey to the original Agricultural College buildings. He became Rector of Clongowes Wood College in 1908, and in 1912 was appointed Provincial of the Irish Province of the Jesuits. Father Nolan was always keenly interested in the progress and wellbeing of Mungret; and to the end of his life despite his infirmities, he never lost his hearty good humour and, cordiality. He died peacefully at the residence of St Francis Xavier, Gardiner St., Dublin, on June 24th, 1941. RIP

Noonan, Seán, 1919-1995, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/513
  • Person
  • 20 January 1919-04 January 1995

Born: 20 January 1919, Mitchelstown, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1938, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1952, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1955, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Died: 04 January 1995, Mater Hospital, Dublin

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

by 1979 at Boston MA, USA (NEN) sabbatical

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 86 : July 1996

Obituary
Fr Seán Noonan (1919-1995)
20th Jan, 1919; Born in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork
Education: CBS Mitchelstown
7th Sept. 1938: Entered Society at Emo, Co. Laois
8th Sept. 1940: First Vows at Emo
1940 - 1943: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1943 - 1946: Philosophy at Tullabeg, Co. Offaly
1946 - 1948: Mungret College, Teacher
1948 - 1949: Belvedere College, Teacher
1949 - 1953: Theology at Milltown Park
31st July 1952: Ordained Priest at Milltown Park by Archbishop J.C. McQuaid
1953 - 1954: Tertianship at Rathfarnam
1954 - 1957: Manresa Retreat House, Retreats
1957 - 1958: Clongowes Wood College, Spiritual Father
1958 - 1960: Loyola House, Mission Staff
1960 - 1963; Belvedere College, Mission Staff
1963 - 1965: Emo, Mission Staff
1965 - 1969: Tullabeg, Mission Staff
1969 - 1977: Rathfarnham, Retreat Work
1977 - 1979: Mitchelstown Parish, Supply
1979 - 1980: Boston, Sabbatical
1980 - 1985: Rathfarnham, Assistant Director, Retreats, Spiritual Father
1985 - 1995: Gardiner Street, Assistant in Church, Chaplain
4th Jan. 1995: Died at the Mater Hospital, Dublin

Homily at Funeral Mass, Feast of the Epiphany 1995

Drawn
The Gospel story speaks about the Magi, the wise men who come from the east, and who make their way to Bethlehem. They are guided by the light of a star, and drawn to Jesus who is the light of the world. There is no other way to come to Jesus. We must be drawn to him. No one, Jesus said, can come to me, unless he is drawn by the Father. Somewhere, somewhere in our experience of the world, there is a star, a light drawing us to God, Somewhere in our experience of life, there is a sign, a sign of God's presence drawing us to Jesus.

Searching
The journey of the wise men leads them towards the light. But it leads them also through darkness and danger. Because theirs is the journey of life, a journey of risks and rewards. When they reach Jerusalem, the star disappears. They encounter the person of Herod and the reality of hatred. In the darkness, they are forced to search around to find the way forward. Jesus has a special affection for those who experience the anxiety of searching He sets a high value on those who are prepared to search for Him. To them he makes the promise: Seek and you will find.

Finding
The searching of the wise men is rewarded. The star reappears and leads them to Bethlehem, where they find the child Jesus and his mother Mary. They kneel in worship and offer themselves to him, through their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The sure sign that a person has found Jesus, and come to recognise him as the Son of God, is when love responds to love, when a grateful heart moves us to worship, when our worship of God moves us to give ourselves to others.

Mission
When the wise men find Jesus in Bethlehem, their search is ended, but their journey continues. They leave Bethlehem and return home by another way, to share what they have received, to bring the light of Christ to the lands of the East. To be a light shining in the darkness. This is the meaning of Jesus' life, This is the mission of the Church. This is the vocation of every Christian. Christ can only be the light of the world, if the Church is faithful to its calling, to bring the light of Christ to those who live in darkness, to bring the love of God to those who live in fear.

Rays of Light
This morning we have joined together in the Eucharist, to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, and to commend to God his servant, Fr. Sean Noonan. There is something very fitting about this, because in many ways the light of Christ, shone through the life and ministry of Fr. Seán. Those who knew him could recognise the RAYS of this light. All through his life, be bore a great love and affection for his family and friends. For the greater part of his priestly life, he dedicated himself to his ministry in countless missions and retreats and novenas.

He was always a friendly man, who brought warmth and colour into the lives of others, He was a generous man, who gave freely of what he had received. He was a man of God, who was drawn easily to prayer, and who drew others to prayer.

Companion of Jesus
And, very important for Seán, he was a Jesuit, a companion of Jesus, a son of Ignatius. In his preaching he often told people, that after St. Ignatius was ordained a priest, he spent the following year preparing for his first Mass by praying to Our Lady that she might be pleased to place him with her Son. Let us pray now that Mary will continue to intercede for Fr. Seán that God the Father will place him in the eternal and loving presence of his Son.

Brendan Murray SJ

Norton, John, 1821-1898, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/352
  • Person
  • 01 August 1821-23 March 1898

Born: 01 August 1821, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1838, Hodder, Stonyhurst, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 1855
Final Vows: 02 February 1862
Died: 23 March 1898, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

by 1854 at Laval France (FRA) studying Theology 3
by 1856 at College in Havana Cuba
by 1861 at Tournai Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early in his Scholastic career he was sent to Calcutta (cf ANG Catalogue 1847).
1851 He is in Belgium
1852 He begins four years of Theology at Laval.
1856-1858 He was sent to work in Cuba.
1858-1860 He was sent to Tullabeg teaching Grammar.
1860-1861 He was sent to teach Grammar at Belvedere.
1861-1862 Sent to Drongen for Tertianship.
1862-1869 he returned to teaching at Belvedere, except in 1866-1867 when he was an Operarius at Gardiner St.
1869-1885 He returned to work as an Operarius at Gardiner St. He was also Minister there for twelve years.
1885-1886 He was sent as Minister to Milltown.
1886-1888 He was sent to Galway, first as Operarius, then as Teacher and lastly as Minister.
1888-1890 He was sent as Spiritual Father to Belvedere.
1890 He returned to Gardiner St as Operarius, and remained there until his death 23 March 1898.

He was almost 77 when he died and had spent sixty years in the Society, and twenty-five of those at Gardiner Street.

Ó Brolcháin, Pádraic, 1909-1955, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/315
  • Person
  • 22 October 1909-08 January 1955

Born: 22 October 1909, Clontarf, Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1945, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 08 January 1955, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Part of Coláiste Iognáid community, Galway at time of his death.

Early education at O’Connell’s School

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 30th Year No 2 1955

Obituary :

Father Pádraic Ó Brolcháin

Fr. Pádraic Ó Brolcháin was born in Dublin on October 22nd, 1909. Educated at O'Connell Schools, he joined the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg on September 1st, 1928, and did his two years of noviceship under Fr. Martin Maher. There followed the usual University studies spent at Rathfarnham Castle and then philosophical studies in Tullabeg. From 1936 to 1938 Mr. Ó Brolcháin taught in Clongowes Wood College, and his third year of “Colleges” was spent at the Crescent. He was pleased in after years to have had the experience of teaching in both boarding and day schools as a scholastic. Many of the experiences of those Clongowes and Crescent days are to be found in an unpublished novel which he wrote later on, as a break during Theology which he studied at Milltown from 1939 to 1943. Ordained in 1942, he did his tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle and from there was appointed Vice-Superior of the Apostolic School at Mungret where he remained until his transfer to Galway in 1948. He was attached to the teaching staff there until his death which took place at St. Vincent's Private Nursing Home, Dublin, on the morning of January 8th last.
It is difficult to summarise a man's life under a single heading, but perhaps it was his courage that distinguished Fr. Ó Brolcháin. A man's organising ability, and Fr. Ó Brolcháin had plenty of it, will avail little if he has not the courage to overcome difficulties and for Fr. Pádraic, difficulties were obstacles to be overcome not yielded to - Plays, dancing, swimming, Tóstal and Connradh na Gaeilge activities - all having a connection with his manifold Gaelic activities for boys, presented each its own crop of difficulties, but it was typical of the man that he overcame them all in his own quiet, diplomatic way. That these spheres of activity all demanded self-sacrificing devotedness was apparent, but Fr. O Brolcháin would be the last to talk about the cost to himself.
To some who may have thought that he organised to an excessive degree, it may come as a surprise that on his own admission, he was not methodical by nature . . . he had taught himself to be so. It was not only in his extra curricular activities that he was systematic; his class-preparation was also meticulous.
Like so many busy men, Fr. Pádraic was most prodigal in giving his time to others and his “tar isteach” was always an invitation to take as much tinę as you wanted. He was always interested in new ideas, always willing to listen and, if he did not agree with you, he would tell you so and leave you none the less satisfied, for you felt you had had a sympathetic listener. In conversation one came to learn also of the Catholicity of his interests and of his literary tastes. His delight indeed, when he took a night off, was to read.
It was easy also to speak to him of things spiritual, for here was a well-ordered mind which had thought the Constitutions and Exercises over for itself. His great belief was in the necessity and supremacy of the interior law of charity and love. It was this interior law which made him such an obliging member of the community, ever ready to help out in any need.
His last year of life saw Fr. Pádraic no less active but he had not been feeling too well, and at the end of August underwent a severe operation whose chances of permanent success he knew to be slight. The month of November he spent in Galway where he was the same affable, approachable person welcomed back now by both boys and community. He could speak of his own sickness with such detachment that one imagined that a third party was being discussed. He left us at the beginning of December to go on pilgrimage to Lourdes and Loyola, but he was not destined to recover. On the morning of January 8th he gave his soul back to God.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Pardaig Ó Brolcháin SJ 1909-1955
Fr Padraig Ó Brolcháin was born in Dublin in 1909. His father was an intimate friend and collaborator of Arthur Griffith, and was by him put in charge of the educational policy on the foundation of the Irish Free State. Padraig was educated at O'Connells Schools and entered the Society in 1928.

He was a dedicated soul, dedicated to God, to the Society and to all things Irish. He was a man of tremendous enthusiasm, of great organising ability and of great courage and pertinacity in carrying out his ideas.He had a keen zest in the outdoor life, and the duty of it all was that he died so young, before all his plans and ideas reached full fruition.

He was an effective and zealous spiritual father to the boys in Mungret for some years after his tertianship, but bis best work was done in Galway, where his zeal and keenness on physical fitness found permanent expression is his swimming club for boys.

He touched everything, even writing, being a fairly steady contributor to the Timire and Madonna, and leaving behind him an unpublished novel on school-life in one of our Colleges.

Being informed that he had cancer, he accepted his fate with the same cheerfulness which he had gone through life. His last act was to go to Lourdes to seek a cure, if it were God’s will, but He called him home instead on January 8th 1955 at the early age of 46.

Ár dheis laimh Dé go faibh a anam!

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Pádraig Ó Brolcháin (1909-1955)

Was born in Dublin and educated in O'Connell's Schools. He spent one year of his regency at the Crescent, 1938-39. After the completion of his studies - he was ordained in 1942 at Milltown Park - Father O'Brolchain was appointed vice-superior of the Apostolic School, Mungret College. In 1948 he was transferred to Galway. His appointment to Galway was a source of deep pleasure for him, for it brought him to the heart of a Gaelic speaking area. Throughout his too short career in the Society, his enthusiasm for the Irish language, which he spoke from his tenderest years, was almost infectious. Yet, his enthusiasm was never aggressive. Urbanity was of the essence of the man. In Galway, his work for the language was self-sacrificing and cheerful. But as in the earlier days at Clongowes, the Crescent or Mungret, so in the later years at St. Ignatius', he was not merely their teacher, but guide, philosopher and friend for the boys with whom he came in contact.

Ó Cathain, Seán, 1905-1989, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/317
  • Person
  • 27 May 1905-26 December 1989

Born: 27 May 1905, Belfast, County Antrim
Entered: 31 August 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1938, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1941, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 26 December 1989, Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin

Part of the Sacred Heart community, Limerick at the time of death

Had studied Medicine for one year before entry

by 1930 at Berchmanskolleg, Pullach, Germany (GER S) studying

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 82 : September 1995

Obituary

Fr Seán Ó Catháin (1905-1989)

27th May 1905: Born in Belfast
31st Aug. 1923: Entered the Society of Jesus
1923 - 1925: Tullabeg, novitiate
1925 - 1929: Rathfarnham, juniorate: MA (UCD) in Celtic studies
1929 - 1931; Pullach bei München, Germany: philosophy
1931 - 1934: Galway, regency
1934 - 1939 Milltown Park
1934 - 1935: private study,
1935 - 1939 theology
1938: Ordained a priest
1939 - 1940: Rathfarnham, tertianship.
1940 - 1946: Leeson Street:
1940 - 1941 private study,
1941 - 1946 University Hall, vice principal, private study culminating in a PhD.
1946 - 1948: Clongowes, teaching
1948 - 1978; Leeson Street:
1949 - 1966 Lecturer at UCD's department of Education;
1966-1973 Professor of Education;
1950 - 1959 Inspector of studies in colleges of the Province.
1973 - 1978 writing.
1967 - 1973: Superior.
1978 - 1989: Limerick (Sacred Heart Residence): church work, librarian. In 1982 (also in October 1989) he suffered a stroke which impaired the memory function of his brain. After spending some time in St. John's Hospital, Limerick, he was removed to Our Lady's hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin
26th Dec. 1989: Died

The following additional details concerning Seán's academic career have been gleaned from the Report of the President, UCD, 1972-3 (section on retirements) and 1989-'90 (obituary section). Seán gained four diplomas, all with first-class honours (the middle two in Irish), from one or other of three Irish university colleges: pre-medical (UCC, 1923), BA (UCD, 1928), MA (UCD, 1929), HDip in Ed (UCG, 1932). For his PhD in Ed (UCD, 1941) his thesis was on 'The diffusion of Renaissance ideals of education in the schools of the Jesuit Order'. 'During these years (seemingly 1932-48) he acted as an Assistant Extern Examiner (through Irish) in Education for the National University of Ireland.

Seán Ó Catháin was the second son of Seán and Kathleen nee Dinneen. Seán senior was a native of Kilbeheny, near Mitchelstown, while Kathleen from Rathmore, Co. Kerry. It was in London at the turn of the century that Seán, who had succeeded in the examinations for the civil service, found himself posted for work at the department of customs and excise. Kathleen Dinneen had qualified as a primary teacher and found employment also in London. They were both the children of Irish speaking parents.

Sometime about 1904 Seán Ó Catháin was transferred to Belfast. Some day a curious enquirer may discover whether his transfer was by way of promotion or downright exile to dour Belfast, where there were fewer Gaelic Leaguers!

Here our own Seán was born, and baptised at the parish church of the Sacred Heart, Oldpark Road. In due course he was confirmed at St. Patrick's parish church, Donegall Street. After primary school he was sent to St. Malachy's college and had all but completed his secondary schooling when his father was once more transferred to a very different location of the customs and excise. This time it was to Cork, not far from his native place. It is almost certain that the transfer was scheduled for the late spring of 1921 - a very significant date. Britain was busily partitioning Ireland in the administrative sector in preparation for political partition and the opening of a new Six-county parliament on 22nd June 1921. In fact, the separation of the administrative files of government had been going quietly on even before the general election and victory of Sinn Féin in December 1918! All this underhand work was unknown or unsuspected, apparently, by the young republican politicians, the heirs of 1916!

Seán junior resumed his secondary schooling at the North Monastery CBS in June 1922. He entered the medical school at UCC, but in the event he was not destined to become a medical doctor.

In 1923 Seán senior was transferred to Dublin, In August Seán junior entered the novitiate at Tullabeg, and in due course made his first religious profession. In after years he often spoke of his privilege to have spent his first year as a novice under the direction of the saintly Fr. Michael Browne. He went to Rathfarnham Castle where he was to spend four years. At UCD he won scholarships; at home he was a live-wire in the Irish Society, and every Christmas distinguished himself as an actor in the Irish plays. He crowned his career at Rathfarnham with a first-class-honours MS in Celtic studies.

He was next appointed to the philosophate at Pullach, where he graduated DPh of the Gregorian university. Bilingual from infancy, it is not to be wondered at that he acquired an enviable mastery of the German language. Later he added Italian and French to his linguistic accomplishments.

Back in Ireland he was appointed to Galway for his regency, and it was during this period that Fr. Timothy Corcoran, professor of education at UCD, began to take an interest in Seán as a future successor in his own chair at Earlsfort terrace. These were happy years in a youthful, full and flourishing province, with only an occasional rumour of trouble trickling into Ireland from Hitler's Germany. But peace in Europe was already openly threatened when Seán was ordained priest in 1938. By the summer of 1940 he had completed his fourth year of theology and made his tertianship.

He was now appointed to Leeson Street for private study. Here under the watchful eye of Fr. Corcoran he began his studies in education that would lead to another doctorate. By an odd turn of events his prospects of eventually succeeding to the Chair of Education diminished considerably before the year was over. Fr. Corcoran's health had not been robust of late but he battled on - not only conducting his own lectures but also supplying for his assistant, Mr. W J Williams, who had recently suffered a stroke. It was anticipated that Williams, who was within a very few years of retirement, would resign, but when Fr. Corcoran himself was obliged on medical grounds to resign in September 1942, Williams declared he was going forward for Fr. Corcoran's chair. Meantime the Provincial and consultors (at the urging of members of the Hierarchy) put forward the name of Fr. Fergal McGrath as candidate. (No complaint was ever heard from Fr. Seán.) However, as soon as Fr. McGrath learned of Williams' intention, he immediately withdrew his name - and Williams secured the professorship. He had to retire in 1948. Since 1942 Fr. Seán was stationed as vice-warden at Hatch Street, where he continued work on his doctoral thesis. At the end of this study he spent the years 1946-48 as a master at Clongowes, and 1950-59 - with his characteristic thoroughness - Seán carried out the duties of inspector of our province's schools.

In 1948, when the chair of education was once more vacant, Fr. Seán allowed his name to go forward, and found overwhelming support in the electoral body. However, for the next eighteen years he enjoyed the title (and salary) of lecturer only and not professor. It was an open secret that the late Professor Michael Tierney had used all his considerable influence to downgrade the chair of education. Tierney's hostility dated from the time (1920's and 1930's) when his political views attracted strong opposition in The Catholic Bulletin, on the editorial board of which Fr. Timothy Corcoran's word was law.

In 1966 came belated acknowledgement of Fr. Seán's ability and worth when he was accorded the rank of professor. However, I always felt that the seven years during which he held the professorship were wearying if not even distasteful to a man of his sensitivity. It is enough to recall here that in 1968 student unrest in France spilled out all over Europe and across the Atlantic, and in the universities civilised behaviour, good manners and respect for any authority were the first casualties.

During his later years as professor, when he was also superior at Leeson Street, Seán's health was not robust. He suffered much from sleeplessness, yet during the thirteen years I lived with him he never missed an appointment and was exemplary for punctuality. A product of the old school, that is, brought up in the province to value the necessity of co-operation whether in teaching, church work, parochial missions etc, he lived in no ivory tower of academia. He was interested in everybody and everything connected with the Irish province, and that meant all our fathers, scholastics and brothers, and the works they were engaged in. He had an authentic apostolic bent, as could be deduced from his active interest in the work of two societies, one named after St. Vincent de Paul and the other called St. Joseph's Young Priests. He was an excellent community man, incapable of pulling a long face at table or recreation: he simply radiated a sense of fun. It was a delight to hear him enter the lists with Fr. Frank Shaw, My own impression was that if they had chosen the law for their profession, both would have gained celebrity as advocates.

As superior, Seán tended to be over-scrupulous, but against this he was particularly caring for the sick and generously sympathetic in times of bereavement. Like Fr's Fergal McGrath († 1988) and Redmond Roche († 1983) he acquired an almost legendary reputation for attendance at funerals. 1973 seemed to be the end of his active life; early that autumn he resigned from the chair of education and two months earlier had been replaced as superior of Leeson Street. The next five years he spent in quiet study and in a ministry within his capacity.

An unexpected challenge awaited him in 1978. The Provincial was faced with diminishing manpower, and one of our churches, the Crescent, rather urgently needed an operarius. The difficult proposal was made to Seán, a Dubliner of long standing, and now in his seventies. Generously, as was the custom of this province, he answered the call of duty and courageously entered on a new and unaccustomed way of life. In Limerick, while his fragile health remained, he gave of his best; but the last years must have been frustrating for a man of his once boundless nervous energy. In 1989 he seemed to rally somewhat, and twice at least attended funerals in Gardiner Street, but his years were telling against him. At length he had to go into St. John's hospital, Limerick, whence he was taken back to Dublin to spend the short time that remained to him at Our Lady's hospice, Harold's Cross. There, on St. Stephen's Day, God called him home.

Tá an tAthair Seán imithe uainn ar shlí na firinne, agus tá uaigneas orainn dá dheasca sin go bhfeicimid arís sna Flaithis é; ach idir an dá linn guímis go bhfaigh a anam dilis suaimhneas síoraí, go raibh sé faoi bhrat Mhuire i radharc na Trionóide.

Proinsias Ó Fionnagáin

Ó Duibhir, Seán T, 1921-2007, Jesuit priest and Irish language editor

  • IE IJA J/583
  • Person
  • 21 April 1921-23 October 2007

Born: 21 April 1921, Caledonian Place, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1939, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1953, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 23 October 2007, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

Editor of An Timire, 1949-71.

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

Ó Dúláine, Connla P, 1930-2021, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/457
  • Person
  • 02 May 1930 - 10 January 2021

Born: 02 May 1930, Clontarf, Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1948, St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1962, Milltown Park, Dublin
FInal Vows: 02 February 1965, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 10 January 2021, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid community at the time of death

Son of Éamonn Ó Dubhsláine and Eibhlín Nic Mhaicín. Studied at UCD
Ordained at Milltown Park

Born: 2nd May 1930, Dublin City
Raised: Clontarf, Dublin
Early Education at Scoil Cholmcille, Marlborough Street, Dublin; Belvedere College SJ
7th September 1948 Entered Society at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
8th September 1950 First Vows at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
1950-1953 Rathfarnham - Studying Arts at UCD
1953-1956 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1956-1959 Crescent College SJ - Regency : Teacher
1959-1963 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
31st July 1962 Ordained at Milltown Park Chapel, Dublin
1963-1964 Rathfarnham - Tertianship
1964-2021 Coláiste Iognáid, Galway - Teacher; Studying H Dip in Education at UCG; Gamesmaster
2nd February 1965 Final Vows at Coláiste Iognáid SJ, Galway
1974 Vice Principal at Garmscoil Éinne, Cill Ronáin, Arainn, Co na Gaillimhe (Aran Vocational School)
1988 Lives at Trí Coinnle, Cill Mhuirbhígh, Inis Mór, Árainn, Co na Gaillimhe
1995 Seirbhís Eaglasta agus Gaeltachta, Oileáin Árann
1997 Church Service and Work in Connemara Gaeltacht; Director
1999 Berkeley, CA, USA - Sabbatical at JSTB (till Dec 2000)
2001 Áras Ronán; Inis Mór, Árainn, Co Na Gaillimhe : Gaeltacht Apostolate; Writer; Co-operating with FÁS; Editor of “An Timire”; Intercom
2010 Gaeltacht Apostolate, Inis Mór, Arainn; Writer
2016 Gaeltacht Apostolate; Writer at Cherryfield Lodge
2017 Prays for the Church and Society at Cherryfield Lodge

Obituary
Connla Ó Dúlaine 2 May 1930 – 10 January 2021

In reading this sketch of the life of a remarkable man, the reader may like to keep in mind a question: If he hadn’t joined the Jesuits, what might he have done?!

An Mac Leinn
Connla was born on 2 May 1930 in Dublin and raised in Clontarf. His early education was at Scoil Cholmcille, Marlborough Street, Dublin, then Belvedere College SJ from 1941-48. On the 7th September 1948 he entered the Society at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois and took first vows two years later.
From 1950-1953 he lived in Rathfarnham Castle, studying Arts at UCD. From 1953-1956 he studied Philosophy in Tullabeg. His regency, 1956-1959, was spent at Crescent College, Limerick, after which he went to Milltown Park for four years of Theology. On 31st July 1962 he was ordained in Milltown Park Chapel, Dublin and from 1963-1964 was at Rathfarnham, making Tertianship.
From 1964 till his death he was attached to the Jesuit Community at Coláiste Iognáid, Galway. He was firstly a teacher and Games-master, and received his H Dip in Education at UCG in 1966. He taught Religion, French and Irish. He could speak German and Spanish and make his way through Greek and Latin. On 2nd February 1965 he made his final Vows at Coláiste Iognáid SJ, Galway.

An Muinteoir
I first made Connla’s acquaintance when I was a regent in Colaiste Iognaid 1962-65, and a friendship was established which survived, not without stresses, till his death at the age of 91.
A vivid memory: for reasons known only to his Superior and to God, he was Games Master: I was his Assistant, and when the School Sports were looming he assigned me the task of seeing to the practical details of the day, while he would prepare an artistic brochure, listing events and entrants. On the day I had an early lunch and was busy on the field with a small army of volunteers, but with a few minutes to go before the first event, there was no sign of Connla. I went off to search him out and found him in his room, absorbed in the works of Pearse and searching for a suitable quotation to adorn the Sports Brochure. We started late!
He had the capacity to become absorbed in the particular, sometimes at the expense of the general. This generated a certain level of frustration in the practically-minded. ‘Where’s Connla?’ was a recurring question. Driving with him was not an experience for the faint of heart: I recall coming back from a match with him: he was giving tongue on some matter of great importance, with his foot on the accelerator to match his passion. In the distance I could see the lights of a level crossing and begged him to slow down but he didn’t hear me: we came to a shuddering halt a few yards short of the barrier, and once the train had passed he was off again on a rhetorical flight. Another incident is recounted: driving on Inis Mor late at night with a companion, he suddenly turned off the headlights and proceeded in the dark. He explained that there was a car just coming down the hill from Dun Eochaill, and since Connla’s dip lights didn’t work he had turned off his headlights so as not to blind the other driver. Divine providence took over and all ended well.
A past pupil of his in the 1960s tells below of Connla bringing a group of students to see a film directed by Fellini, a man unafraid to use unusual techniques to bring audiences out of the closed circuits of their minds. Just before the film began, Connla stood up to explain to the audience what Fellini was trying to do, while his students melted away in embarrassment! Another story tells how he bought a piano in Prospect Hill in Galway, loaded it onto a horse and cart and drove slowly through the town, accompanied by a few students. As it came through the city Connla sat at the piano and played, to the delight of onlookers.

An tOileanach
In 1974 when Colaiste Iognaid ceased to be as an A-school, where all teaching had been through Irish, he asked to retire, and obtained the post of Vice Principal at Gairmscoil Éinne, Cill Ronáin, Arainn, Co na Gaillimhe (Aran Vocational School). From 1988 he lived at Trí Coinnle, Cill Mhuirbhígh, Inis Mór. From 1995 he undertook Seirbhís Eaglasta (Church Services) on the island and in the Gaeltacht: this work was deeply appreciated by the Archdiocese of Tuam. He was appointed Director of FAS (Foilseacháin Ábhair Spioradálta), Director of Oiliúint Bhaile (Home Schooling) and editor of An Timire, to which he was a regular contributor from 1954 onwards, with more than 60 articles to his name in all. His command of his native tongue was excellent, and his writing bright and imaginative.
Connla brought a world vision to all his work and lived an energetic life, very much associated with Galway, the Connemara Gaeltacht, the Aran Islands and the apostolate of the Irish language. He had wide-ranging interests, loved books and good conversation. He was blessed to the end with a fine memory, and his eyes would sparkle as he regaled listeners with stories from the past – mainly positive memories, it must be noted. He was larger than life, and he liked fun and laughter.
He cared deeply about other people, especially about those who were not well off. Shortly after he got the new house in Kilmurvey, a member of his community went from Galway to help him paint some rooms and put putty on the window frames. Connla couldn’t decide on colours, so his helper was idle and asked him one evening if he had a television. He said he had had one, but there was a lady nearby who was lonely and unwell, so he had given her his TV. When a drama group from Cois-Fharraige came to the island to stage a play, Connla put them all up in his house, about 20 of them: they slept on the floor or wherever they could find a space. Feile na nGael!
From 1999 till December 2000 he enjoyed a Sabbatical at JSTB, Berkeley, CA, USA, after which he returned to live in Áras Ronán, Inis Mór, Árainn. Having retired from teaching, he continued his Gaeltacht Apostolate, was a writer for Intercom, collaborated with FÁS and continued as Editor of An Timire. They were happy years. He became one of the island’s most colourful characters and his love of all things Irish found full expression. His hospitality was legendary, but the unwary visitor could be shocked by the state of the interior, especially the kitchen and the mysteries lurking within the fridge.

Fear Fise is Cultuir
His room in Cherryfield was an archaeologist’s dream: a profusion of books, papers, snacks, letters, bric-a-brac. He couldn’t refuse a new book. Two months before he died, I asked him would he like to have a copy of O Mianain’s Focloir Bearla-Gaeilge which had just been published. I got an enthusiastic Yes, and brought it to the door of a Cherryfield where Covid restrictions were in place. It arrived safely in his room, but he hadn’t the energy to take it out of its packaging and now I have it myself--a precious memento of Connla’s high mental acumen and deep love of the Irish language.
As a Gaelgeoir he suffered the lifelong frustration of finding that many of those around him did not share his passion and enthusiasm for Irish. In his earlier years this could lead to edgy exchanges, but later his endurance grew into mellowness, and I always found him willing to shift into English as my need required.
He spoke his mind, was strong and forthright in his interchanges, but—to my memory-- in ways that were tinged with humour. He didn’t store up resentment. At Mass one morning in Cherryfield when the celebrant’s volume was low, he called out from the back of the Chapel, ‘Can’t hear you!’ ‘There’s something wrong with the mic’ said the celebrant. ‘Something wrong with you!’ retorted Connla, to general merriment. Thoreau’s remark comes to mind: ‘If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away’. There were surely people who were bruised by his robust style, but he didn’t intend to hurt, and was sometimes puzzled at reactions to his exuberant initiatives.
Connla lived a very full and varied life. Full of energy, he had a world vision, and was never limited by local circumstances. He was a man of inspiration and spontaneity, unafraid to lead or to do whatever he thought of at each moment.
Bhi an-shuim ag Connla sa litriocht, sa cheol, i dteangacha eagsula, i scannain – go hairithe on Fhrainc agus on Iodail: bhi suim aige i ngach rud! Thug se daltai ar fud na tire ina ghluaistean bheag, agus thug se iad go Paras sa bhFrainc. Bhi se i gconai ag iarraidh fis nua a chur os comhair daoine, agus ni raibh teorann ar bith lena smaointe fein. Mhair se blianta fada leis fein, in a aonair, ach choinnigh se i gconai a shuim iontach i gcursai an tsaoil. Sagart ab ea e, agus fuinneamh agus saol Iosa a bhi i gconai i gceist aige.
Poet Mary Oliver has the line: ‘I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.’ Connla didn’t just ‘visit’ the world; he inhabited it fully and helped to co-create it. With Mary Oliver he would have added: ‘When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement… taking the world into my arms.’ A large part of his vision was the belief that the fullness and joy of life could be lived and expressed through the medium of the Irish language and Irish culture. When he moved to Inis Mor, where he spent more than 40 years, he still tried to bring a world-wide vision to his students, and succeeded very well.
Connla was open to all cultures: he loved opera from the Met, film, art. A past pupil tells that when teaching Irish in Second Year he brought in a tape recorder and the class listened and analysed the poetry of Ezra Pound reading his own poems in English. Connla loved culture in all its forms and felt very strongly that all culture and modern life could be appreciated and explored through the medium of Irish and Gaelic culture. He lived for the future and was not embedded in the past.

Leirmheas iar-scolaire
Féach cuid a scríobh Bernie Ó Conaill, iar-phríomhoide i gColáiste Iognáid is iar-scoláire de chuid Chonnla:
Fear mór a bhi i gConnla Ó Duláine SJ riamh, fear mór ar gach uile bhealach, mórchríoch le glór álainn, tuiscint leathan aige ar chultúr is ar ealáion an domhain, agus ar shaíocht, ar stair is ar chultúr na hÉireann ar fad. Cairde aige i ngach cuid den tír.

Ba Gael láidir dúthrachtach é le léargas caitliceach ar an saol, a d’fhág oscailte é don domhain agus cultúr nua a bhí ag oscailt sa tír ag an am. Mhúin Connla go dúthrachtach ó thaobh cúrsaí agus curacalam sa rang ach bhí tionchar neamhgnách speisialta aige taobh amuigh den seomra ranga.

Bhí léargas agus fís ag Connla faoi chúrsaí cultúrtha. Roinn sé an suim a bhí aige sa cheol, sna scannáin agus cúrsaí polaitíochta go fiail lena chuid ranganna. Ba mhaith a chuaigh Bob Dylan i bhfeidhm ar mo rang féin nuair a chuir Connla faoi dhraíocht muid le ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’. Ní féidir liom an t-amhrán céanna a chlos inniu gan cuimhneamh ar Chonnla ag tabhairt an draíocht isteach agus leadrán an lá scoile a bhaint dínn.

Ba fhear speisialta é Connla agus a bhealach féin aige le deighleáil leis an saol. Chuaigh sé ag dráma sa Taibhdhearc oíche amháin agus ní shásódh tada ina dhiadh sin é ach triail a bhaint as an mbialann Síneach nua sa mbaile mór. D’ith sé béile blasta agus bhí go maith go ndeachaigh sé chun íoc as an mbeatha. Chuardaigh sé a phócaí ,wallet, chuile áit beo ach ní raibh scriút aige. Thug bean an tí faoi deara mí-chompord an tsagairt. ‘Are you alright, Father?’ a d’fhiafraigh sí . ‘ I wonder would you mind taking these stamps in payment for that lovely meal?’ a d’fhreagair Connla uirthi.
B’shoin Connla!

Ní raibh fhios ag a chuid scoláirí cá dtreoródh sé iad, bíodh sé le Truffaut, Dylan nó le ceol an Riadaigh. Bhí sé Gaelach go smior ach oscailte don saol nua a bhí ag teacht chun cinn sa tír.
Thug sé slua beag againn chuig an scannan Satyricon ag Fellini lá sna laethanta saoire. Bhí an gnáth slua codlatach tagtha isteach sa Town Hall tráthnóna Luan; corrdhuine ag caitheamh agus an pictiúrlann beag leath lán. Gan choinne ar bith sheas an t-Íosánach suas agus thug sé cur síos ar shaothar Fellini. D’fheicfeá cloigne a chuid scoláirí ag imeacht síos sna suíocháin le teann náire.

Ní dhearna Connla dhá leath dhá dhícheall riamh. Bhí sé dílis mar shagart, mar Íosánach, mar chara agus mar mhúinteoir. D’oscail sé súile a chuid scoláirí agus speáin sé an domhan mór dóibh. Chloisfeá an racht mór gáirí aige i bhfad uait.
B’shoin Connla.

Cherryfield
In 2016 he retired to Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin, to pray for the Society and the Church, but he kept contact with his sisters, the wider family and a host of friends. Very much at peace with himself, he relaxed after supper on Sunday evening, January 10, 2021, and very peacefully went to God, after 58 years of priestly service. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin on 13 January. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, only a tiny number of his wide range of friends could attend his funeral.
The years in Cherryfield were hard for a free spirit such as his. He loved to be unfettered and unrestricted, but he bore his confinement bravely, and his coffee table after Mass in Cherryfield was always well-attended and conversation never dull. To relieve the monotony of his days we at Leeson St used invite him to celebrate feast-days with us. He blossomed in fresh company, told his stories to a new audience, and on the journey home always expressed an immense gratitude for being remembered.
The Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, conveyed his deepest sympathy on Connla’s death. He wrote: ‘Many years ago I visited Connla in hospital, and given how seriously ill he was, I never expected that he would be discharged. But happily he was, and went on to provide sterling service to his beloved people of Inis Mor. We regarded him as one of our own and a true and loyal friend.’
He is survived by his four sisters who stayed close to him over the years and brought him much-appreciated comfort in the final stage of his long life.
A frequent visitor to Cherryfield wrote the following tribute:
‘Connla is a person I will never forget. There is so much to say about him even after a short acquaintance. To me he epitomised everything that is wonderful about a long life and particularly a long Jesuit life well lived. He was kind, funny, erudite, hospitable and full of life. He was generous with his time and I and others learned so much just sitting at his feet. I wish I had met him earlier in both of our lives: to have known him at all was a gift beyond price.’

Ta laoch ar lar. Connla is sadly missed in Cherryfield, but he believed deeply in eternal life, and now that he is at table with the God of Surprises I imagine that the conversation is hilarious. Blessed are those who mourn, we are told, for they shall laugh. Connla brought many a smile to those around him in this life, and now his merriment rings out among those who like himself are gathered to enjoy the great festival.
Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal!
Brian Grogan SJ

Ó Laoghaire, Diarmuid M, 1915-2001, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/639
  • Person
  • 01 August 1915-21 July 2001

Born: 01 August 1915, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 21 July 2001, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

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

by 1944 at St Mary’s College, Aberystwyth, Wales (ANG) studying
Editor of An Timire, 1971-1997.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Ó Laoghaire, Diarmuid
by Brian Mac Cuarta

Ó Laoghaire, Diarmuid (1915–2001), writer and lecturer on Celtic spirituality, and Irish-language enthusiast, was born 1 August 1915 in Dublin, one of three children of Michael O'Leary from Doneraile, Co. Cork, and Mary O'Leary (née Flood), from Co. Meath; his father was manager of McBirney's department store on Aston Quay, Dublin. Brought up in Glasnevin and educated at Holy Faith convent school and Belvedere College (where he acquired a lifelong interest in cricket), he joined the Jesuits on leaving school in 1933.

Under the influence of his Irish teacher at Belvedere, the layman Tadhg Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid's interest in the language developed. He took Celtic studies at UCD, gaining an MA (1939) for a thesis on ‘Eochair-sgiath an Aifrinn’, a text on the mass by the seventeenth-century priest Geoffrey Keating (qv). He was awarded the NUI travelling studentship in Celtic studies. Because of the war, the British Museum manuscripts had been moved to Aberystwyth, Wales; at the suggestion of Robin Flower (qv), it was there that Ó Laoghaire pursued further research. Ordained in 1948, in the 1950s he was responsible for the Jesuit students in Rathfarnham Castle, while engaged in research, writing, and work with the Irish-language community. Prefect of studies at Belvedere (1960–62), he taught Irish at Gonzaga (1962–77), and thereafter was a member of the Jesuit community, Milltown Park. He was awarded an NUI Ph.D. from UCD in 1967 for a thesis on the lives of the saints, in Irish, in the medieval period. This research led to scholarly publications in Celtica, xxi (1990), 487–522, and a critical edition of ‘The Liber Flavus Fergusiorum infancy narrative’ (M. McNamara et al., Apocrypha Hiberniae (Turnhout, 2001), 142–245).

As well as speaking immaculate Irish, and fluent in French and Breton, he was well known throughout Wales, for he talked regularly on Welsh radio, and appeared on Welsh television. He translated a collection of short stories from the best modern Welsh authors into Irish (Glór ár nGaolta: Rogha scéalta na linne seo ón mBreatnais (1992)). For his abilities in Welsh he was made a member of the Gorsedd of bards in the Eisteddfod, the Welsh cultural festival; he preached in Welsh on occasions. His wide knowledge both of the spiritual texts and of the history and contemporary situation of the Celtic languages made him a respected authority on the Christian heritage of the Celtic world. On this topic he lectured in Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Dublin, and elsewhere. His Milltown Institute colleagues honoured him with a Festschrift (Mac Conmara agus Ní Thiarnaigh (eag.), Cothú an Dúchais (1997)), which included contributions from scholars in Wales, France, and Ireland. His academic, linguistic, and cultural interests were deeply integrated into his personal faith and his sense of mission as member of an apostolic order.

He was dedicated to exploring and fostering the link between Christian faith and Gaelic culture. Along with his more strictly scholarly interests, he devoted much time and energy to supporting and enriching the faith of the Irish-speaking community. This project was greatly energised by the change from Latin to the vernacular in the liturgy of the catholic church after the second Vatican council (1962–5). He rendered long and faithful service to a wide variety of groups, including Cumann na Sagart, Conradh na Gaeilge, An tOireachtas, Pobal an Aifrinn, An Chuallacht, Scoil Ghaelach Bhrí Chualann, and especially An Réalt, the Irish-language section of the Legion of Mary. In recognition of his services to Irish-language groups he was awarded Gradam an Phiarsaigh (the Pearse award) in 1992.

As editor of FÁS (Foilseacháin Ábhair Spioradálta, publisher of religious material in Irish), and through translations and other writings, Ó Laoghaire was one of those who ensured that a relatively varied spiritual and liturgical literature is available in Irish. Long a contributor, he was editor of An Timire (1972–97), the Irish-language devotional magazine founded by the Jesuits in 1911. A major contribution to the study of popular spirituality was his collection of prayers from the Gaelic oral tradition of Ireland and Scotland, Ár bPaidreacha Dúchais (1975), a book which has run into four editions. He died 21 July 2001 in Dublin. A catalogued bibliography of his books and pamphlets is in Milltown Park Library, Dublin.

R. Ó Glaisne, ‘Diarmuid Ó Laoghaire’, M. Mac Conmara agus E. Ní Thiarnaigh (eag.), Cothú an Dúchais (1997), 11–51

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 51st Year No 4 1976

Gonzaga
Many will have seen on the front page of the Universe (August 13th) the large photo of Fr D Ó Laoghaire swathed in the green robes of a Welsh Bard: he had recently been honoured by initiation into the Gorsedd of Bards during the National Eisteddfod of Wales at Cardigan, which he was also at tending as official delegate of the Oireachtas. An article by Nodlaig McCarthy in The Irish Times (August 24th) describes the event and expresses surprise that while “the fact that the honour was given in the 800th anniversary year to an Irish Catholic (sic) Jesuit aroused considerable media interest on the other side ... the only picture to appear in an Irish daily paper after the event was one of the Welsh rugby player, Gareth Edwards, who was also honoured on this occasion”. Fr Ó Laoghaire set off on August 28th to attend the Oireachtas Festival at Cois Fharraige, Connemara.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 112 : Special Edition 2002

Obituary

Fr Diarmuid Ó Laoghaire (1915-2001)

1st Aug. 1915: Born in Dublin
Early education in Holy Faith, Glasnevin, and Belvedere College.
7th Sept. 1933: Entered the Society at Emo
8th Sept. 1935: First Vows at Emo
1935 - 1939: Rathfarnham - Arts (Celtic Studies) at UCD
1939 - 1942: Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1942 - 1945: Alberystwyth - Doctorate in Celtic Studies (Ph.D. UCD 1967)
1945 - 1949: Milltown Park - Studying Theology
28th July 1948: Ordained at Milltown Park
1949 - 1950: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1950 - 1960: Rathfarnham Castle - Minister of Juniors.
2nd Feb. 1951: Final Vows at Milltown Park
1960 - 1962: Belvedere College - Prefect of Studies.
1962 - 1977: Gonzaga College - Teacher; Writer; studying Celtic Literature and Spirituality
1977 - 2001: Milltown Park - Visiting Lecturer at Institute; Editor An Timire; Studying Celtic Literature and Spirituality
1997 - 2001: Cherryfield Lodge - Studying Celtic Literature & Spirituality; Praying for Church and the Society
21st July 2001: Died in St. Vincent's Private Hospital, Dublin.

In 1997, Fr. Diarmuid's mobility was decreasing, and, as he needed assistance to walk, he took up residence in Cherryfield, where, even though wheelchair-bound, he was able to continue his many works dealing with Celtic literature and Spirituality. For as long as possible, he went to Milltown weekly for lunch. He passed away peacefully as he approached his 86th birthday.

Stephen Redmond writes....
I first got to know Diarmuid when I went to Milltown for Theology in 1947, in our “pilgrimage” to seven altars of repose on Holy Thursday in the pre-liturgical reform tradition, and as a guest at his first (or second?) Mass in the Holy Faith Convent in Finglas, and at the reception in his uncle's rambling “period house” nearby.

Many years later, we met again in Gonzaga, where he gently and devotedly represented an cultúr Gaelach (something far more than grammar and a few texts) to the boys. And, to their bafflement and delight, he revealed himself as a star batsman in “the English game”. I suspect that he counted the runs as Gaeilge.

Behind the gentleness and civility there was a passion for an Gaeleachas; he saw it as, in large measure, a vehicle, an expression of the faith. I think that, while he may have had reservations about the post-Vatican 2 liturgy, he was happy that it allowed him to celebrate Mass in the language of Ó Rathaille, Ó Clery, Keating, Ó Donnell, and Ó Brolcháin. He lived just long enough to see some resurgence of Gaeleachas in the religious celebrations for the millennium.

In 1966, Nelson's Pillar was very professionally and 'neatly' blown up. It was thought that Breton nationalists were involved. The Gonzaga community enjoyably indulged the rumour that Diarmuid knew them, or knew of them, from his pan-Celtic interests. Was it possible that our quiet scholar had such revolutionary contacts? For a while we looked at him as, I imagine, English Jesuits looked at Henry Garnet at the time of the Gunpowder Plot.

In 1968, I provided a mild sensation myself, by getting a song with an Irish lyric (Gleann na Smól) as far as the final of the National Song Contest. I like to think that Diarmuid was pleased that such a song came from a confrere of his. Did I show the text to him? My memory stickers. I do recall bringing him subsequent efforts produced with much page-flipping of Dinneen's Dictionary, since my Irish was not that good. He would shake his head sadly over this word or that ("Sorry, obsolete since the 17th century!"), or unpedantically concede me poetic licence.

He had a great sense of humour, at times directed against himself. For instance, the story about his visit to the doctor prior to his joining the Society, when the doctor asked him euphemistically had he passed water recently, and he replied that he had just passed over the canal. No great lover of British influence in Ireland, he must have enjoyed the irony of being a one-night guest of his Britannic Majesty's police in an Oxford air-raid shelter during the war, when he couldn't get into Campion Hall.

His most influential publication was his remarkable anthology, Ár bPaidreacha Dúchais. His introduction to this is a striking testimony to his Gaeleachas-articulated faith; one might call it a spiritual testament. When I asked his permission regarding publication by Veritas of my translations of fifty Dúchas prayers (Prayers of Two Peoples), he was graciousness itself. My last conversation with him was on the phone in connection with my hope that Veritas would publish sixty more of the prayers in translation. If they do, the book will be dedicated i gcuimhne dil chara agus sár-saoi an Ghaelachais.

Let me conclude by quoting one of his past pupils, Simon White, in a letter of condolence to Paul Andrews:

“My grasp of Irish was not good. I was aware of his efforts to help me....I never remember him being cross with me and he always displayed kindness....I count myself very privileged to have been able to share, as an altar boy, many early morning Masses alone with him. This was very special. He was one of nature's purest gentlemen. He had such a kind smiling way about him. Finding you were on the roster to serve his Mass guaranteed you a happy week.

He spoke Irish to all the other boys who could banter with him, and they enjoyed it...I was eternally grateful that he always spoke to me in English and made me feel at ease. His humour was, like himself, gentle and as sharp as steel....basically he was a lovely, lovely, man...I have never been able to satisfactorily unravel the meaning of the expression, Go neirí an bóthar leat. But I think it is a fond farewell one can wish him with confidence - that the road leads somewhere very special”.

-oOo-

Brian Mac Cuarta wrote in An Timire.... : Translation by Brian Grogan

Diarmuid O Laoghaire SJ died on July 21. He was a writer and lecturer on Irish spirituality, and active in the world of Irish for almost seventy years. Born in Dublin, he received his primary education in the Holy Faith School in Glasnevin and then in Scoil Phadraig, Drumcondra. He admits that he had no interest in or respect for Irish before his sixth year in Belvedere. He had an abiding memory of a moment in fifth class in Scoil Phadraig, when his teacher, Mr O Sithigh, son of the renowned footballer John Joe Sheehy, tired of young Diarmuid’s indifference, said jokingly, “O'Leary, you'll be the Professor of Irish in Trinity College some day if you're not careful!”

Everything changed when he met with a Belvedere teacher named Tadhg Ó Murchadha, who awoke in his heart a love for Irish language and culture which lasted till the day he died. Influenced by his teacher he founded a Cumann Gaelach in Belvedere. He entered the Jesuits in 1933 and was awarded an MA in Celtic Studies in UCD in 1939. His thesis emerged from a text on the Mass by Séathrún Céitinn (c1580-c1644), and won him an NUI Travelling Scholarship. Because of the Second World War the British Museum’s Celtic manuscripts were moved to the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, and on the advice of Robin Flower Diarmuid went there to study the lives of medieval saints written in Irish. He won his PhD in UCD in 1967. Many were his scholarly writings, and Celtic scholars from far and near knew and appreciated him.

He always said that Fr Donnchadh Ó Floinn influenced his thought deeply. Fr Donnchadh gave priority to faith over language but acknowledged the depth of faith in the minds of Irish speakers. This insight encouraged Diarmuid and gave focus to his life and work.

Diarmuid was one of a very few who were proficient in Irish, Welsh and Breton. He regularly attended the Welsh Eisteddfodd (Assembly), and was honored with the award of Draoi (Druid). He was interviewed often on Welsh TV. He lectured on Irish spirituality in Milltown Institute in Dublin and was Editor of An Timire from 1977-1998, and of FÁS - Foilseacháin Ábhar Spioradálta: in this post he edited many spiritual books. He gathered many popular prayers into Ar bPaidreacha Dúchais, which went into four editions. The devotion of our ancestors to the Mass is revealed in his pamphlet Our Mass Our Life.

Diarmuid was a member of the group who helped to advance Irish liturgy after the Second Vatican Council (1965). He played an active part in the life of Irish speakers as a member of organizations which included Cumann na Sagart, Conradh na Gaeilge, An Réalt, Cuallacht Mhuire, Pobal an Aifrinn. He regularly served on the Oireachtas, on the Irish-speaking pilgrimage to Knock, and on other Gaelic events. In his latter years he used go on vacation to Gort a'Choirce, in Donegal.

In1997 when he could no longer walk without help, he had to go to Cherryfield Lodge, where he continued to work until his sight failed him. It was heart-breaking for a man so at home in books to be able to read no longer, but he bore this loss gracefully and patiently. In his final year he tried to write a small prayer: It was illegible, but illustrates how he was thinking: ‘The prayer of a good Christian on their death-bed’.

-oOo-

Brian also wrote for the Irish Times of August 8th, 2001....

Writer and lecturer on Celtic spirituality and Irish language enthusiast, Father Diarmuid Ó Laoghaire died on July 21s aged 85. Born in Dublin on August 15, 1915, he was one of three children of Michael O'Leary, from Doneraile, Co. Cork, and his wife Mary (née Flood), from Co. Meath; his father was manager of McBimney's department store in Dublin, Brought up in Glasnevin, he was educated at Holy Faith Convent School and Belvedere Coilege, where he played cricket and acquired a life-long interest in the game.

Under the influence of his Irish teacher at Belvedere, Tadhg Ó Murchadha, his interest in the language developed. He took Celtic Studies at UCD, gaining an MA in 1939 for his thesis on a religious text by the 17th century author, Geoffery Keating, research which has been incorporated into the standard biography of Keating. He was awarded the NUI Travelling Studentship in Celtic Studies and subsequently pursued further research at Aberystwyth, where the British Library manuscripts had been moved because of the war.

He joined the Jesuits in 1933 and was ordained in 1948. During the 1950s he was responsible for the Jesuit students in Rathfarnham Castle, while still engaged in research, writing, and work with the Irish-language community. He was prefect of studies at Belvedere from 1960-62, and taught Irish at Gonzaga from 1962-77. Thereafter he was a member of the Jesuit community, Milltown Park. He was awarded a PhD from UCD in 1967 for a thesis in Irish on the lives of the saints in the medieval period, a topic which exposed him to the Irish contribution to Christianity in Europe at that time.

As well as speaking Irish, he was fluent in French and Breton, and was well known throughout Wales, where he talked regularly on radio, and appeared on television. He also preached in Welsh on occasions. He translated a collection of short stories from some of the best modern Welsh authors into Irish. For his contributions in Welsh he was made a member of Gorsedd, or bard, in the Eisteddfod, an honour which is bestowed on merit. As a lecturer both in Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Dublin, and in many other settings, he shared his gifts with others. His Milltown Institute colleagues honoured him with a Festschrift, Cothú an Dúchais (1997), which included contributions from scholars in Wales, France and Ireland.

A gentle, gracious and convivial man, Father Ó Laoghaire preferred to speak in Irish, but changed without demur to English as the company required. He could be droll, enjoying a story told against himself, together with his friend and confrère Father Séamus MacAmhlaoibh he used travel the country to Irish-language gatherings. He was dedicated to exploring and fostering the link between religious faith and Gaelic culture. Along with his more strictly scholarly interests, he devoted much time and energy to supporting and enriching the faith of the Irish-speaking community. This project was greatly energised by the change from Latin to the vernacular in the liturgy of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

He gave long service to a wide variety of groups, including Cumann na Sagart, Conradh na Gaeilge, An tOireachtas , Pobal an Aifrinn, An Chuallacht, Scoil Ghaelach Bhrí Chualann, and especially An Réalt, the Irish-language section of the Legion of Mary. In recognition of his services to Irish language groups he was awarded Gradam an Phiarsaigh in 1992. As editor of Foilseacháin Ábhair Spioradálta and through translations and other writings, he was one of those who ensured that a relatively varied spiritual and liturgical literature of Catholic provenance is available in Irish.

Long time a contributor to An Timire (the Irish-language devotional magazine founded by the Jesuits in 1911), he was also editor from 1972-1997. His collection of prayers from the Gaelic oral tradition of Ireland and Scotland, Ár bPaidreacha Dúchais (1975), was a major contribution to the study of popular spirituality. The book has run into four editions. His last scholarly publication, a critical edition of an apocryphal life of Mary from an Irish 15th century text, will be published in Belgium in the Corpus Christianorum series.

Ó Peicín, Diarmuid T, 1916-2008, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/611
  • Person
  • 16 October 1916-04 March 2008

Born: 16 October 1916, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1934, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1953, Sacred Heart College SJ (Crescent), Limerick
Died: 04 March 2008, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Dermot Peakin - by 1985 Diarmuid Ó Peicín;

by 1967 at Handsworth, Birmingham (ANG) working
by 1968 at Erdington, Birmingham (ANG) working
by 1970 at Walthamstow, London (ANG) working
by 1971 at London, England (ANG) working
by 1975 at Dockhead, London (ANG) working
by 1976 at Redcross, London (ANG) working
by 1977 at London W2 (ANG) working
by 1978 at Rotherhithe London (ANG) working

Ó Riordan, Colm, 1919-1992, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/534
  • Person
  • 31 May 1919-02 December 1992

Born: 31 May 1919, Oranmore, County Galway
Entered 07 September 1936, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 02 December 1992, Heathrow Airport, London, England in transit to Jesuit Residence, Kitwe, Zambia.

by 1952 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - fourth wave of Zambian Missioners

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
In a letter written in January 1953 by Fr Colm (as he was known and not by his other names) to his Provincial, he wrote ‘Since July, new schools have been finished at Pemba, Haamapande, Siggubu, Ntambo, Lumbo, and Ntanga; new teachers' houses at Pemba, Ntambo, Sikabenga, Njola, Civuna, Fumbo, Ntanga and Nyanga’. He was Manager of
Schools since 1952 having learned ciTonga after he arrived in 1951. So much in so short a time!

Colm was born in Galway in the west of Ireland on 31 May of 1919. He was fluent at the Irish language which influenced the other languages in which he was proficient. After juniorate, philosophy, regency in Clongowes Wood College and theology, he was ordained priest in Milltown Park, Dublin in 1949. After tertianship, he came to Zambia in August 1951.

Education was his field of work for the forty years he lived and worked in Zambia. As Manager of Schools, he built both new schools and teachers' houses as exampled above. He became education secretary in Chikuni, Civuna and Monze up to 1960 and was responsible for building the church at Monze town. In the early days, he traveled by bicycle, motor bike and landrover setting up, visiting and inspecting schools.

Someone compared Fr Colm to that Irish 6th century Saint Columba (after whom Colm took his name). ‘He (Columba) was able, ardent and sometimes harsh but mellowed with age. The description is also apt for Colm. He was extremely able. As an educationist and administrator he was highly capable and was driven by a generous zeal for the Lord's work. Like other outstanding people there was also a negative side to his very positive character, at times he would appear moody or even harsh. But this was only a passing phase; like his patron Columba, he mellowed with age’.

His work in education continued in Lusaka from 1960 to 1976. He worked in the Catholic Secretariat as Education Secretary General 1960 to 1964 and combined this with the job of Secretary General 1964 to 1976. He was convinced of the value of education and the apostolate of education was his first preference. Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College was launched by him and he was responsible for the establishing and developing of lay missionary teachers (LMA T) so sorely needed in the early days of independence. He came to be widely known as a good organiser and administrator, a chairman who could be relied upon to give satisfaction, get work done and produce results.

In 1970 he was nominated by the President of Zambia to be chairman of a high level commission to review salaries, salary structures and conditions of service for the Public Service, including police and defence forces on a nationwide basis. However, he had not left his building skills behind in Monze for he planned and executed the Catholic Secretariat Building – Unity House on Freedom Way, as well as the residence at St. Ignatius Church in Lusaka.

His work became widely known and he was invited to cooperate in the setting up of a Bishops' Secretariat in Lesotho which occupied him from 1977 to 1978. He retired to Kitwe to be engaged mainly in pastoral work.

He was very loyal to his friends and devoted to others, ready to put himself out to help them. In the midst of all his education work, he was first and foremost a priest, very conscientious to his call to grow in the love and service of the Lord and bringing others to Him, helping others to seek and find God in their lives by his preaching, Mass, sacraments, retreats and counselling.

As the years went by, his health became quite a serious problem especially heart and circulation difficulties. He was in Ireland for treatment but his mind was made up to return to Zambia since he had become a Zambian citizen in 1966. At Heathrow airport on his way back, he collapsed and died on the 2 December 1992.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - MICHAEL O'Riordan

O'Beirne, Gerard, 1905-1986, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/309
  • Person
  • 05 December 1905-13 May 1986

Born: 05 December 1905, Drumsna, County Leitrim
Entered: 14 November 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 24 June 1937, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1943, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 13 May 1986, Clongowes Wood College, Naas, County Kildare

by 1929 at San Ignacio, Sarrià, Barcelona, Spain (ARA) studying
by 1939 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 61st Year No 3 1986
Obituary
Fr Gerard O’Beirne (1905-1923-1986)
5th December 1905: born. 14th November 1923: entered SJ. 1923-25 Tullabeg, noviciatę. 1925-28 Rathfarnham, juniorate (BA; 2nd-class honours in Greek and Latin). 1928-31 philosophy: 1928-30 Sarriá (Spain), 1930-31 Heythrop. 1931-34 Clongowes, regency, 1934-38 Milltown, theology (24th June 1937: ordained priest). 1938-39 St Beuno's, tertianship.
1939-52 Clongowes, assistant prefect of studies and teaching. 1952-60 Crescent: 1952-55 teaching, assistant prefect of studies; 1955-60 prefect of studies.
1960-69 Emo, giving missions and retreats.
1969-86 Clongowes, ministering in public church (1980-86, prefect of it); teaching (mainly Latin) until 1984. 13th May 1986: died.

All through his 63 years in the Society, Fr Gerry O'Beirne spoke with affection of his boyhood days on the banks of the upper Shannon, his family, his school-days at St Mel's College, Longford (the diocesan college of Ardagh and Clonmacnois), and his fellow-novices at Tullabeg. Fr Michael Browne, his novicemaster, was forever in his mind the ideal Jesuit: his words of wisdom and his advice left a deep impression on Gerry.
As a student he enjoyed his years at University College, Dublin, because with his retentive memory Latin and Greek came easy to him. His memory served him well throughout life: names sprang to his lips with ease. Friends, once acknowledged, he never forgot, not even when studying in Barcelona or later at Heythrop and St Beuno's. All the good things stood out in his memory, especially the tertianship year, when he experienced real Jesuit community life and the companionship which appealed so much to him.
For the rest of his life, apart from his nine years on the mission staff, he was a teacher. These mission years incidentally he found somewhat hard, I think because he came on that scene a little late in life. Teaching, on the other hand, suited him well. His eight years spent in the Crescent were happy, and he was the first to give credit to the many members of the community who helped him without his asking for help. He appreciated their spontaneous solidarity and support.
In 1969 he returned to Clongowes after an absence of seventeen years, and devoted what were to be the last seven- teen years of his life to teaching and especially to ministering in the public church. As regards the classroom, with his prodigious memory he could remember every boy who at any time sat at his feet. Many of his pupils remained friends of his for life. No one ever doubted him to be an extremely hard worker; the boys also realised this. During the summer rest periods he went on supply to various parishes in France. These supplies brought him pleasure and relaxation.
To his fellow-Jesuits Gerry was quite a character. His life was enshrined in anecdotes. How often we heard him preface his remarks with a phrase like 'Oh, he was a great friend of mine'. That simple phrase somehow revealed his humanity, his warmth and his loyalty. That same humanity served him well in dealing with people, especially diocesan clergy. Towards the end of his life, he found very hard his inability to walk as in the days of yore, and to come to terms with the eighth decade of his life; but above all he missed community talk, which meant a great deal to him.
For those who lived with him for long periods his devotion to morning meditation was striking. His spiritual life was simple and faithful. In a peculiar way he was a little afraid of death, and yet, as one of the Clongowes community said on the day of his funeral, the gospel phrase, “Well done, good and faithful servant”, suited Gerry to perfection. His last hours, full of peace, and his model death were a marvellous blessing for him and those who witnessed them. May the good Lord take care of him.

The second world war started on 1st September 1939, and on the same day I arrived in Clongowes, where I spent a week before school opened. That is when I met Fr Gerry O'Beirne. There was nothing much to do, and he often brought me out shooting with a :22. We set up tins on a convenient wall and shot them off it. The rifle wasn't very accurate; but it was typical of him to take the stranger under his wing. The next summer I met him in Kilkee with the Clongowes community on villa. The war years were quite limiting in many respects, but we cycled all over the county, pausing occasionally for meals packed by my mother and supplemented by tins of salmon, packets of biscuits and tins of peaches. We never brought a tin-opener, so the tins were opened by a mixture of rage and ingenuity.
We had him for Greek in I Grammar and I was terrified of him, probably because I never did any work and had every reason to be frightened. He strode around the classroom, up and down between the desks, providing an appalling hazard for anyone who was trying to read a novel. Before class he could be seen through the window walking and reading a textbook; on the stroke of the bell he would burst into the classroom with his gown and wings flying; the prayer was said; the books were opened; he cleared his throat and the performance began. He wasn't acting: he was being himself. On more than one occasion he burst into flames when the pipe which he thought he had extinguished smouldered into life in the pocket of his gown.
Outside the classroom he was interested in every school activity. He loved talking to the boys of Rhetoric and Poetry, and he was always surrounded by a group of disciples who listened to him with a mixture of awe and amusement as he expounded his political theories to audiences that were far more receptive - and tolerant – than his brethren. We knew what he thought of Churchill and Roosevelt, and I suppose we baited him occasionally, albeit very very carefully. The Higher Line debating society was one of his charges, and the motions were debated well in
advance; woe betide anyone who proposed a line of argument that was not in accordance with the party line; it was his party and so there was freedom of speech ... to agree.
When he had to take walks with the on playdays, he left a trail of stragglers scattered all over Kildare while he led a band of intellectuals, whose muscles were unaccustomed to such exercise, towards ever-receding horizons. When he reached what he was a reasonable goal, he would ask anyone who had kept up with him, “Has anyone any money?” No boys were allowed into shops, so he did the purchasing for the group, and distributed his load of sweets and biscuits and lemonade with a complete disregard for proportion in which the contributors had subscribed. He was against communism except in practice.
He was immensely strong and loved violent exercise. He organised a campaign of planting potatoes beside the Higher Line pavilion to provide food for the poor. Once again the less athletically-inclined disciples found themselves wielding spades and mattocks. Almost any ruse was used to slow down the rate of work and give sore muscles a rest. On one occasion he was challenged by the House shot-putter,who was also a Leinster champion, to a trial of strength. He would surely have won the encounter had not his challenger used a seven-pound shot while Gerry hurled the twelve-pounder truly impossible distances.
He planted thousands of saplings around the grounds, and constantly complained that he was denied the ration of chicken-wire that would have protected the young trees from the hares which abounded. As a result, every one of his 'striplings was eaten alive . . . the fate worse than death.
Schoolboys are fascinated by a man who is out of the ordinary, and in the Clongowes of the day, amid the proverbial caution and conformism of the other Jesuits, he was refreshing and outspoken. One of my clearest memories of those days was the way in which his confessional was besieged by the more criminally-inclined elements of boys that small world.
I lived with him in the Society and we became very close friends. Indeed, he inspired incredible loyalty among his real friends; it was all right for them to joke about him and quote his sayings: but let no one else do so or dare to mock him. When he was prefect of studies in the Crescent, there were hilarious meetings in his room when a gang of us tried to catch up with his paperwork for the Department, while he presided in state, puffing his pipe and discoursing on the the iniquities of whichever politician or gombeen-man, religious or secular, was being particularly iniquitous at the moment. Wherever he was, there was controversy, discussion, argument, denunciation, and life. He was a wonderful man.
I can see him now, standing at the vesting-press every morning for half an hour before Mass: he told me once, “It is the only way that I can be sure I make a meditation'. I remember also an occasion after a particularly pious “domestic exhortation” on prayer, when he muttered to me on his way out of the chapel: “I don't know what all the fuss is about; I say the Our Father’.” He was a wonderful man.
His sayings were innumerable and inimitable. Beware of imitations: they lack the genuine flavour ...
That man is digging his own epitaph ….
“I'll teach him to keep a civil tongue in his cheek , .. We'll certainly spill the beans for those fellows...”
He was immensely kind; he was totally dedicated to whatever work he was given; he was extraordinarily successful as a teacher, as a prefect of studies, as a missioner. He was unswervingly loyal to his friends. He was a most devoted priest. He was a wonderful man.

◆ The Clongownian, 1986
Obituary

Father Gerard O’Beirne SJ
Of Father O'Beirne's sixty-one years as a Jesuit, thirty-three were spent teaching in Clongowes. His love for Latin and Greek was deep and genuine. His prodigious memory helped him to remember every boy he ever taught in class: many of these he remained friendly with for life. Clongowes was his home and certainly his wish was to rest one day beside his old friends - Frs Cyril Power, Charles O'Conor, Tom O'Donnell, Jim Casey and Br Willie Glanville.

Those who were at school in the forties will recall vividly his work on the farm, his contribution to the war effort. Those who walked with him on Play Days during that same period will recall his lively conversation on all subjects; for his tastes were catholic indeed. While those who played golf with him, saw another side to his character, a side both human and loyal.

The trees beneath the Red House and the trees to the south-east of the cricket pavilion are a testimony to his vision as a young man. Having been blessed with brains to burn, Fr O'Beirne had a soft spot in his heart for boys with talent. Many saw him as direct, forceful, with strong views. Yet the boys took his remarks in their stride because they knew that he was an excellent teacher and an extremely hard worker, and had their interests at heart.

It would be true to say that Fr Gerry O'Beirne was considered a character. His life was enshrined in anecdotes. After all he was very human and had a heart of gold. His spiritual life was simple, straight forward and faithful. This aspect of his life was known mainly to his Jesuit Community. During the ten years spent on the Jesuit mission staff, giving retreats and missions up and down Ireland, he was helped by a strong voice with clear diction, sound judgment, and a very sympathetic approach to people and their problems. Towards the end of his life he devoted his time to the People's Church at Clongowes and, as one might expect, preached with vigour, never mincing his words and spoke with utter conviction on matters that he felt deeply about.

Being robust and energetic all his life, the last few years with deteriorating health were a great strain for him. Even the tiny white car had to remain idly parked for long periods outside the main hall door. He died so quietly, peacefully and so resigned that he earned his spiritual journey to the Lord. Many depart from a school like Clongowes and in time are forgotten. Fr O'Beirne's name, I feel certain, will be mentioned for along time to come, especially by his family whom he loved and also by many past Clongownians.

May the Lord bring him safely home.

KH SJ

O'Brien, Daniel E, 1865-1915, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/310
  • Person
  • 31 July 1865-03 July 1915

Born: 31 July 1865, Borrisokane, County Tipperary
Entered: 26 October 1882, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 02 August 1896, St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 September 1902
Died: 03 July 1915, St Ignatius College, Manresa, Norwood, Adelaide, Australia

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1893 at Cannes France (FRA) for health
by 1898 in Collège Sainte Famille, Cairo, Egypt (LUGD) working
by 1900 at Castres France (TOLO) making Tertianship
Came to Australia 1900

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early education was at Tullabeg.

1897 After Ordination he was in delicate health and so he was sent to Cairo for some years.
He later did Tertianship at Castres.
1901 He was in Australia and stationed at Riverview.
He spent most of his time at the Parish in Norwood, where he was Superior in 1905 for five years, and again in 1913. He died in Office somewhat suddenly 03 July 1915.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Daniel O'Brien entered the Society at Milltown Park, 26 October 1882, was a junior and philosopher there, and then did regency at Clongowes, 1888-92. Ill health, presumably consumption, caused him to spent time in Cairo and Cannes, and he completed theology at Milltown Park, 1893-97. Tertianship was at Castres, Toulouse province, 1899-1900.
He was sent to Australia in 1900, and after a few years living at Riverview, went to the parish of Norwood where he lived for the rest of his life. He was superior and parish priest twice, 1905-10 and 1913-15. He was still superior when he died.

◆ The Clongownian, 1916

Obituary

Father Daniel O’Brien SJ

The news of the death of the Very Rev D E O'Brien SJ, Superior of the Jesuits at Norwood, early on Saturday morning, July 3rd, 1915, came as a great shock not only to the people of that extensive parish, but to the Catholic community generally. Few priests were better known or more be loved than Fr Dan O'Brien of Norwood, and the crowded congregation at the Requiem Office and Mass at Norwood on Monday morning and the large attendance at the funeral, were evidence of the sincere sorrow felt at his too early demise. It had been known to his friends for a long time that Fr O'Brien suffered from heart disease and asthma, and that his death might occur suddenly, though he was usually active and able to attend to his duties. He took to his bed only on the Thursday. On Friday night the symptoms became alarming, and he expired in the early hours of Saturday morning, at “Manresa”, the Jesuit house at Norwood.

The late Fr. O'Brien was born in Tipperary in 1865. He studied at Tullabeg College, Ireland, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1882. He taught in Clongowes College, and spent some time in the South of France. After finishing his philosophy and theology studies at Milltown Park, Dublin, he was ordained in 1897, and was for some years chaplain to troops in Cairo. He afterwards came to Australia and, with the exception of a short time he spent in the eastern States, he spent all his time in Norwood, where he laboured for upwards of 14 years. During that time he held the position of Superior, with the exception of the term during which Fr Roney SJ acted in that capacity. He was practically the priest in charge at Norwood during the whole of that time. His kindly, genial, and charitable disposition endeared him to all, and his death is very keenly felt.

“Southern Cross” (Adelaide), July gtb, 1915.

O'Brien, Desmond, 1936-2007, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/685
  • Person
  • 22 September 1936-17 July 2007

Born: 22 September 1936, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1954, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 20 July 1968, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 17 July 2007, Mater Hospital, Dublin - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

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

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 15 August 1973

by 1963 at Chivuna, Monze, N Rhodesia - studying language Regency
by 1971 at Swansea, Wales (ANG) studying

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Des O’Brien was born on 22 September 1936 in Dublin. He did his early schooling with the Christian Brothers in Monkstown obtaining his leaving certificate in 1954. That same year, he began his life as a Jesuit in Emo Park. After his novitiate, he did his juniorate at Rathfarnham Castle, obtaining a BA degree in Arts from UCD Dublin in 1959. Philosophy studies followed at Milltown Park from which Des obtained a licentiate in 1962.

For his regency he was sent to the then Northern Rhodesia. He studied Chitonga for a year at Chikuni and other mission stations. In 1963 he taught at Canisius College and the following year at Munali Secondary School in Lusaka. Completing his regency, he returned to Milltown Park for theology studies and was ordained on 10 July 1968. Tertianship in Dublin followed and in 1970 he went to Swansea University in the UK and obtained a diploma in social policy and administration.

Returning to Zambia in 1971, Des was appointed parish priest in Monze where he served until 1975. Among his many pastoral activities he began a strong youth club called the Red Arrows which was well known for its football success. He was then appointed chaplain of the lay apostolate for the Monze Diocese, living in Kizito Pastoral Centre from 1976 to 1980 and then at Charles Lwanga Jesuit community from 1980-84. He initiated renewal programs for the laity and traveled throughout the diocese giving workshops. During this time he also became involved with the charismatic renewal and provided steady and balanced leadership.

Des had a sabbatical in the United States in 1981, working on spiritual direction. On his return he was appointed national chaplain of the YCS and took his national team around the country in a minibus offering workshops in all the dioceses. As rector of Xavier House, he was able to provide care for the older members of the community and offer support for the novice director without interfering in his work. The late Paul Lungu often commented on how much he depended on Des’ support in his work with the novices.

The Episcopal Conference asked him to be national secretary for the laity while the Provincial appointed him as delegate of formation. He moved to Matero for a year but then went to Luwisha House which was more central for his work. In 1998 he was made superior of Luwisha House. He was a great man in community with his ready wit and happy demeanour. He was an excellent mimic and often had his companions rolling around in laughter with a few well chosen words and a little gesture. Since his job as delegate and superior took up more and more of his time, he withdrew from his position with the laity. As a delegate for formation, the young men found in him a great listener. However he could be challenging, but he was always fair and supportive. During his years in Lusaka Des offered regular courses on prayer and spiritual direction to the novice groups at Kalemba Hall as well as to the sisters’ formation program at Kalundu Centre. He was a fine teacher, entertaining yet substantial in the material he offered. Many Church personnel came to him for counselling and direction.

In 2000 Des moved back to Monze and took over Kizito Pastoral Centre, offering retreats and seminars as well as renewing the physical structure of the plant. The Bishop asked him to take care of the young priests of the diocese with regular meetings and direction. He was the chairperson of the organising committees for the celebration of the Centenary of the Jesuit arrival in the Monze Diocese. He kept the different committees working together. However towards the time of the big celebration at Chikuni he was quite ill with constant bronchial problems. He did not want to take his home leave until after the big event. When he finally went home it was found that he had inoperable cancer in his left lung. He underwent chemo- and radio-therapy but he weakened with time and eventually lost his voice. He was accepting of his condition and at peace with it. In an email in May he wrote: ’The picture is not bright but, thank God, I am very deeply at peace (even joyful!) I have no doubt that this is all the fruit of the many prayers being offered for me. I am ready for anything and in the meantime enjoying all the leisure I have’.

He tells how a woman from the parish in St Francis Xavier, Gardiner St., came up to him after a Sunday Mass in which he concelebrated, grabbed his hand and said: ’Thanks, Father, for the words’. Des was surprised and said to her, ’but I didn’t say anything, my voice is too weak’. The lady whispered in response, ‘Being up there silent on the altar with us every day is a powerful homily’. He entered the fullness of life on 17 July 2007.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 133 : Special Issue September 2007

Obituary

Fr Desmond Francis (Des) O’Brien (1936-2007) : Zambia-Malawi Province

Jim McGloin writes:
Des O'Brien was born on 22 September 1936 in Dublin. He did his early schooling with the Christian Brothers in Monkstown obtaining his leaving certificate in 1954. That same year, he began his life as a Jesuit in Emo Park. After his novitiate, he did his juniorate at Rathfarnham castle, obtaining a BA degree in arts from University College Dublin in 1959. Philosophy studies followed at Tullabeg from which Des obtained a licentiate in 1962.

For his regency Des was sent to then Northern Rhodesia. He studied Chitonga for a year at Chikuni and other mission stations. In 1963 he taught at Canisius College and the following year at Munali Secondary School in Lusaka. Completing his regency, he returned to Milltown Park for theology studies and was ordained a priest on 10 July 1968. Tertianship in Dublin followed his fourth year of theology. In 1970 he went to Swansea in the UK and studied at the University College there obtaining a diploma in social policy and administration.

Returning to Zambia in 1971, Des was appointed parish priest in Monze where he served until 1975. Among his many pastoral activities at the parish, he began a strong youth club called the Red Arrows which was well known for its football success. After his fruitful time in the parish, Des was appointed the chaplain of the lay apostolate for the Diocese of Monze, living in Kizito Pastoral Centre from 1976 to 1980 and then at the Charles Lwanga Jesuit Community from 1980 to 1984. As chaplain, Des initiated many different formation and renewal programmes for the laity and traveled throughout the diocese giving workshops. During this time, he also became involved with the charismatic renewal and provided steady and balanced leadership in the renewal.

Des had a sabbatical in the United States in 1984, working in the area of spiritual direction. On his return to Zambia he was appointed national chaplain of the YCS, living at Luwisha House. In 1986 he was appointed rector of Xavier House while continuing his work with YCS. Des was a dynamic powerhouse in dealing with young people. He would take his YCS national team around the country in the minibus, offering workshops in all the dioceses of the country. As rector of Xavier House, he was able to provide care for the older members of the community and offer support to the novice director without interfering in his work. The late Paul Lungu often commented on how much he depended on Des's support in carrying out his work with the novices.

In 1992 Des completed his term as rector and started winding up as chaplain of YCS. The Episcopal Conference asked him to serve as national secretary for the laity and the Provincial had appointed him delegate of formation. He moved to Matero and lived there for a year, later moving to Luwisha House which was more central for his work. In 1998 he was appointed superior of Luwisha House. Always doing the work assigned to him diligently, Des threw himself into the work of the lay apostolate and the work of formation. However, he found that he could not do both adequately; he withdrew from the work with the laity to spend more time as delegate of formation.

From the men in formation who experienced Des as their delegate, you often hear that he was a great listener, that he could be tough and challenging, but that he was always fair and supportive. He managed to blend a concern for the well being of the individual and a concern for the well being of the Society, both of which were important for the delegate's job.

During his years in Lusaka, Des also offered regular courses, mostly on prayer and spiritual direction, to the novice groups at Kalemba Hall and to the sisters' formation programme at Kalundu Centre. He was a fine teacher, entertaining yet substantial in the material he offered. During those years many sisters, priests and lay people came to him for counseling and spiritual direction. His welcoming attitude and compassionate listening provided many with new strength and direction.

In 2000 Des moved back to the Diocese of Monze where he had begun his apostolic work and took over as director of Kizito Pastoral Centre. Once again he took on the work with great enthusiasm, offering retreats and seminars, renewing the physical structure and adding new facilities to the centre. The Bishop of Monze found in him a wise counselor and would often seek advice from him. The Bishop also asked him to take care of the young priests of the diocese (the under-fives), offering them spiritual direction, regular meetings as a group and other care. Des was also chairperson of the organizing committees for the celebration of the centenary of the Jesuit arrival in the Monze Diocese. In his usual well-organized and efficient manner, Des kept the different committees at their tasks and was able to organization a wonderful celebration of the centenary. Towards the time of the big celebration at Chikuni, however, Des was quite ill with constant bronchial problems. He did not want to move up his home leave until after the celebrations.

Although Des worked hard and was very efficient, he also gave time and enjoyed his community. He was welcoming and hospitable. He spent time with the members of the community at prayer, meals and recreation. He had a way of engaging and a sense of humour that were much appreciated. He also an ability to mimic others in their way of talking and acting that was never hurtful, but very true to life. Father General in a letter written to Des for his golden jubilee in 2004 said, “They (his fellow Jesuits) better than I can witness to the inner life that you nourished in prayer, for you could not have lived and served as you have done without a close relationship with Jesus”. Des did have a close relationship with Jesus, nourished by prayer and the Eucharist, a relationship he deeply desired and was willing to share with others.

When Des did finally go on his home leave in September 2005, it was discovered that his health problems stemmed not from bronchial infection but from an inoperable malignant growth in the upper part of his left lung. He underwent chemo and later radiotherapy to reduce the tumour. The treatment left him weakened and caused him to lose most of his vocal functions, but he was accepting of his condition and at peace with it.

In an e-mail in May, Des wrote: “The picture is not too bright but, thank God, I am very deeply at peace (even joyful!). I have no doubt that this is all the fruit of the many prayers being offered for me. I am ready for anything and in the meantime enjoying all the leisure I have”.

He also reflected on his life as a priest with limited ability to function as a priest in a recent issue of Interfuse (Summer 2007, No.132), in which he expressed the frustration he had in not being able to exercise his priesthood in the active way he had been used to. He relates this incident:

“One Sunday morning, having concelebrated a parish Mass, I walked down the aisle with my companion to the end of the Church to greet the congregation as is the custom. As we shook hands and greeted people, an elderly lady made a beeline for me and grabbing my hand, said, ‘Thanks, Father, for those words”. Surprised by this comment, I replied, ‘But I didn't say anything, my voice is too weak’. Learning over, she whispered in my ear, ‘Being up there silent on the altar with us every day is a powerful homily’.”

Des was very consoled by this. He had made a pilgrimage to Lourdes in September 2006 seeking healing but there was no physical change in his condition. However, he wrote: “I was much more at peace and much more accepting of what had happened to me. I am still substantially at peace as I pray daily, 'O God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change”.

Des then reflected in his article, “These few simple words connected me in an extraordinary way with the deeper mystery underlying my present circumstances which I had begun to sense but was resisting, how to be a priest without any normal or visible ministry”. That deeper Mystery guided Des throughout his life, in his active priestly ministry and finally in his silent priestly ministry. Des entered the fullness of that Mystery on 17 July 2007.

From a homily delivered by Clive Dillon-Malone on 25th July, 2007, at St. Ignatius Church, Lusaka:
There's a popular saying that "good goods appear in small packages". Well, this is certainly true of Fr. Des O'Brien, He was small in stature but, like our founder, St. Ignatius, or St. Paul - who were also short in stature - Des was tall in spiritual riches.

Des was always conscious of his height. He once told me how embarrassed he was in having to go into the children's section of shoe shops as the shoes in the adult's section were all too large for him! The late Fr. Bill Lane was a very good friend of Des and they used to joke one another about their height as Bill was also quite short. There was an occasion when, on his 50+ birthday, Des approached Bill in a jovial mood and said proudly, “I'm 50 today”. Bill replied: “Is that in centimetres or in inches?” On another occasion for a concelebrated Mass, Bill took an impish delight in handing Des an alb which was about six feet long! However, Des learned to joke about his height and he was quite capable to giving back as much as he got in good humour. He always had a great sense of humour and a gift for turning the simplest of happenings into amusing incidents. His ability to mimic others contributed to this and he was always good fun in a group.

Des was born in 1936 and he entered the Jesuits in 1954 at the age of 18. After two years of novitiate at Emo in Portarlington, he went to University College Dublin where he spent three years doing a pass B.A. degree from 1956-1959. I mention "pass degree" because, although Des was always a very hard worker, he was not intellectually gifted in the way that so many of his fellow Jesuits in his year were, who were taking honours degrees. Although he never showed any sign of resenting others, his lack of high-powered academic potential accompanied by his small stature left him with an inferiority complex against which he struggled throughout his life. After his university degree, he spent three years in Tullabeg in Ireland from 1959-1962 studying philosophy which he also found difficult. But it was when he came to Zambia in 1962 that his real talents began to emerge and, from then on, he continued to grow in self-confidence and in pastoral achievements.

Des had a great way of relating with children and he would laugh and joke with them at his ease. When he began learning ciTonga in Chivuna on his arrival in Zambia, he quickly became proficient at speaking the language on account of his relating with children. Although they would make fun of mistakes he would make, he learned from them and he could laugh at himself. During vacations, he would enjoy joining Fr. Joe McDonald down in the valley in Fumbo where he increased his ability to speak ciTonga.

In 1963, he moved into Canisius College where he taught for a year and where his ability to relate with young people shone, and where, he was in charge of the medical needs of the pupils. He told me once an amusing incident. When a transfusion group came to Canisius to collect blood, the boys were very scared of giving blood. In order to put them at ease, he told them to come and watch as he gave blood. There were all crowded around the window looking in, but just after giving blood, he fainted. The boys just ran!

In 1964, he moved to Lusaka where he taught for a year at Munali Secondary School before returning to Ireland where he studied theology for four years from 1965-1969 at Milltown Park. He was ordained a priest in 1968. After finishing theology, he went to the University of Swansea in Wales where he obtained a diploma in social policy and administration. The topic of his dissertation was, “The Primary School Leaver Crisis in Zambia”.

On returning to Zambia in 1971, he was appointed as parish priest in Monze, a ministry which he continued for five years, and during which his ability to converse fluently in ciTonga grew. Then from 1976 to 1980, while living at Kizito Pastoral Centre, he was appointed as Director of the Lay Apostolate in the diocese of Monze, and was also involved with the on-going formation of Zambian priests there. A further item that needs to be mentioned is that Des played an important role in the charismatic renewal in Zambia. He had set in motion the Charismatic Movement in the diocese of Monze, at Musaka Secondary School in Choma, and later in Lusaka.

From Kizito, he moved to Charles Lwanga Teacher Trainer College, where he remained for four years from 1980 to 1984. He had already become diocesan lay apostolate chaplain in 1976 and he continued with this work while at Charles Lwanga. He then went on sabbatical for a year in 1984 to Berkeley in California and, on his return, he resided at Luwisha House for a year during which time he was appointed as National Chaplain to Zambian Young Christian Students (ZYCS), a position he held from 1985 to 1993.

After his sabbatical, Des told me of a rather frustrating experience he had. Before going on sabbatical, he had burnt all of his retreat notes so that he might have a clean start with new material when he returned. Just after returning, however, he was asked to give a retreat which he accepted - but then, he suddenly remembered that he had destroyed all his notes and hadn't yet produced new ones! Needless to say, he regretted his earlier action.

By this time, Des' many talents relating to pastoral concerns, spirituality, managerial skills, and ability to assume authoritative positions were noted. In 1986, he was appointed Rector of our Novitiate, a position he held until 1992, and which he fulfilled with great success. He then moved to Matero for a year where he acted as Secretary for the Laity Section of the Zambian Episcopal Conference (ZEC). He held this position for three years until 1995.

In 1993, he moved from Matero to Luwisha House where he remained for seven years during which time he was also appointed Delegate for Formation of Jesuit scholastics. This is not only a very important position to have but a very difficult one as well - as the current Delegate for Formation, Fr. Charles Chilinda, will tell you. Des came to this position at a time when much suspicion and distrust had developed among young scholastics from a previous era, and it took a lot of skill and prudence to do away with built up resentment and bitterness, and restore a feeling of trust and confidence. He managed to do this very successfully. Indeed, it was noted that departures from the Society diminished during this period. He also did a lot to open up more flexible opportunities for different kinds of studies which was much appreciated.

Des was appointed as Superior of the Luwisha House community from 1998 to 2000. After that, he was appointed as Director and Superior of Kizito Pastoral Centre outside Monze where he remained until 2005. While there, he was not only totally dedicated to the development of spirituality programmes but he did immense work in planning and overseeing renovation and building extensions. In this respect, he was very talented in getting funding for different projects. He was also noted for his care and concern for his workers, and more particularly for those affected by HIV and AIDS for whom he obtained ARVs. During this time, Bishop Patriarca gave him the task of visiting his priests throughout the year which he did willingly, although he found it quite burdensome.

Des had become well known as a capable spiritual director and retreat giver over the years and he gave spirituality courses each year for many years at Kalundu Study Centre in Lusaka. The material of these courses was later published in book form under the title, “Lord, Teach us to Pray”. He gave courses in spirituality for many years in Kalemba Hall to religious in formation.

Des had always made himself available when asked to do anything. He found it very difficult to say 'no' to any request. However, he later admitted that he had to learn to say 'no' at times, as he was burning himself out. He was very conscientious and he put great preparation into anything he was asked to do. The negative outcome of this was that he ended up becoming so tense at times that he became sick just before an event.

Des had smoked a lot during his early years and he was aware of lung problems which he had developed. However, although he knew that he should have paid more attention to seeking medical diagnosis and treatment earlier, he left it too late. In September 2005, he went into hospital in Ireland where his condition was diagnosed as “malignant growth in the upper part of the left lung” and “inoperable cancer” for which chemo and radiation treatment were administered. For almost two years, Des underwent this treatment which was very painful and weakening. His response to his suffering was acknowledged by all in Ireland as truly admirable. He never lost his sense of humour and expressed his readiness to die once it became clear that this was inevitable within a relatively short period of time. I had visited him on a number of occasions while in Ireland in 2005 and, like so many others, I was truly edified by his positive resignation to the possibility of an early death. He soon lost his hair and wore a head cap for heat. He also became quite bloated as a result of medication. Up the end, he was determined to keep as active as possible but his energy was becoming less and less, and his ability to speak was seriously affected.

He was finally moved into the Mater Hospital for more on-the spot observation with the intention of moving him to a hospice for the terminally ill. He died more quickly than expected on the 17th July, 2007.

I've been told that Des loved looking after pigeons or doves when he was a young boy. Is it too fanciful to suggest that the Holy Spirit might have been among them in choosing Des even at this early stage for the Lord's work! May the Lord now welcome him home and reward him for his priestly ministry, and for the manner in which he has touched so many lives with his love and service. Amen.

Interfuse No 134 : Christmas 2007

IN MEMORY OF FR DESMOND O’BRIEN

An obituary from Zambia was published in Interfuse, September 2007

As an exact contemporary of Des O'Brien, standing humbly and powerlessly at the door of Gardiner St church, as his coffin was being carried out, it seemed to me that an era had passed away. It was a very different situation from that when first we met in 1954. I have vivid memories of him, while we handed in our belongings to the Socius, smiling greatly as a half-smoked cigarette was being abandoned. From then on he was part of our lives, and was diligent and cheerful, in a period that Fr Bill Johnston describes as “remote, strict, austere”. I would add the word “demanding”. Some time in his 2nd year, Donal O'Sullivan told him that he would give him vows and this assured him.

Later, he proved bright enough, but without a strong line of interest or the personal freedom to be an academic. He liked the study of history, and in class he and Paul Cullen became very friendly with a then corpulent young lady, later to acquire fame, Maeve Binchy. I wonder has she forgotten them! He liked greatly being “bird man”, and learned much about these creatures.

I don't think philosophy was his line of country. He looked after the altar boys and was very kind to them. Amidst a busy life, he may have remembered these now and again, especially the young Cantwell who died. He liked working with young people and the marginalized. (His achievements in Africa have been noted elsewhere).

His humour and liveliness were always in our background - which was something we took for granted. He enlivened many a scene for us. He was witty, a great mimic at least of certain people, and had wonderful acting ability. But he was also very shrewd and sharp. I recall several observations he made to me about myself, and they were correct. Similar remarks made to at least one other caused me some strain, though they were beneficial to the other. His judgement was good, and he had a sharp eye for traits in others that I never averted to.

He was always very true to himself. He could readily banter and give as good as he got. Sometimes some minor plans of his did not work out, but he could laugh at his misfortune. He could be serious and demanding with others, and behind the scenes smile at it all.

He developed an open, liberal train of thought, and some years ago swept me off my feet with his progressive thinking. How deep this was I don't know - it wasn't tested in any discussion. But then, people's attitudes come very much from their reading - from the people they rely on -, from their background and inclinations.

Some years ago, I said to him, “You never come to see us”, and he answered, “You never invited me”. Perhaps we are not as welcoming, as we should! We may feel too much that people like to be left alone.

I don't know what personal difficulties he had to cope with, as he tried to discover his deepest self. However there was a firm, unwavering core to his priestly commitment. His life could simply and profoundly be summed up by saying, “He served the Lord”. He was committed to Jesus, which was very evident in his final illness.

Since his return sick to Ireland, I met him fairly frequently. He was very friendly and we were at great ease - with a mutual looking up to each other. I admired his missionary experience and his ability to give. Whenever I said - many times - to him, “You've a severe blow to face up to”, he agreed, and added that he was ready for all. He added: “I never complained, and I'm not going to do so now”. Physically he resisted his cancer as long as he could, but eventually had to yield and nobly went away.

It is good for the rest of us that he has departed - to hopefully help prepare a place for us. It will be hard to find his leithéid arís.

James Kelly

O'Brien, Francis X, 1881-1974, Jesuit priest and chaplain

  • IE IJA J/1851
  • Person
  • 01 December 1881-24 February 1974

Born: 01 December 1881, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1899, Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1915, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 17 March 1918, Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 24 February 1974, Little Sisters of the Poor, Drummoyne, Sydney - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the St Francis Xavier, Lavender Bay, North Sydney, Australia community at the time of death.

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

by 1906 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1905
by 1918 Military Chaplain: No 5 POW Cam,p APO, S20, BEF France
by 1919 Military Chaplain: 30 general Hospital, APC 4, BEF France

Brother: Ó Briain, Liam (1888–1974), republican, scholar of Romance languages, and Irish-language enthusiast.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/blog/damien-burke/jesuits-and-the-influenza-1918-19/

Jesuits and the influenza, 1918-19
Damien Burke
The influenza pandemic that raged worldwide in 1918-19 (misnamed the Spanish flu, as during the First World War, neutral Spain reported on the influenza) killed approximately 100 million people.

The influenza was widely referenced by Irish Jesuit chaplains in the First World War. Fr FX O’Brien comments from France in September 1918 that: “I suppose you had your share of influenza that swept over Ireland recently. Here even still, we get traces of it”.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
FX, as he was affectionately known, was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers and entered the Jesuits, 7 September 1899, at Tullabeg. He obtained first class honours in Latin and second class honors in Greek during his juniorate and later studied physics at the Dublin College of Science.
As a regent he was sent to Riverview, 1906-12, where he taught senior classes. worked in the boarding house and was editor of “Our Alma Mater”. He had a choir from 1909-12. After theology at Milltown Park and tertianship at Tullabeg, 1912-17, he became a military chaplain, 1917-19 serving the No. 5 German Prisoners of War Company, as well as the 30th General Hospital, BEF France. He arrived back in Australia in 1920 to spend a few years teaching at Riverview.
From 1922-31 FX was rector of St Aloysius' College, and usually prefect of studies as well, taught, directed the Sodality and a choir. Some Jesuits claimed he was too hesitant and undecided be a rector, and not much of a preacher or public speaker.
However, in 1931 he was appointed rector of Xavier College for three years, and then worked in the parish of Richmond for a further two. From there he went as superior to the Toowong Parish in Brisbane and returned to St Aloysius' College from 1940-49, being rector again, 1944-48.
He spent one year at the preparatory school to Riverview, Campion Hall, before returning to parish responsibilities at St Aloysius' College, 1950-55 . He worked from the church of
the Star of the Sea. His final placement was the North Sydney parish. During that time he cared for patients mainly at the Mater Hospital, where he spent his day visiting everybody,
whatever their religious persuasion. He was much loved because of his infectious good will, friendliness, and interest in people. In his earlier days he was much in demand for weddings and baptisms, but in his latter days funerals predominated.
FX was a bright, cheerful, breezy person, wonderful at malting friends, and had a prodigious memory. He made most impression on individuals and families, and he was a good community man. As rector of St Aloysius' College, he left no buildings, there were no departures from tradition and yet he was one of the most loved Jesuits ever experienced at the college. He revived the Old Boys Union, almost moribund for many years. He was president of the Registered Schools Association in 1927, one of the founders and first president of the Associated Secondary Schools of NSW, and was a member of the Catholic Education Council and the Catholic Schools Association. At the time of his death he was the doyen of the province.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 49th Year No 2 1974

Obituary :

Fr F X O’Brien (1881-1974)

When Fr F X O'Brien died in the Retired Priests' Home in Sydney on February 24, the Australian Province lost its oldest and one of its best-known members.
Fr O'Brien (better known as FX) was born in Dublin on 1 December 1881, received his early education from the Christian Brothers at O’Connell Schools, and entered the Society at Tullabeg on 7 September 1899. Endowed with a phenomenal memory for people and events, right up to the end of his long life, he frequently recalled those testing years in Tullabeg under the direction of that redoubtable novice master, Fr James Murphy. Grateful to survive the two years, he passed on to juniorate studies, and later to philosophy in Stonyhurst. In 1906, he was sent to Australia as a missionary (he always insisted on this term), spent six years teaching in Riverview College, Sydney, and then returned to Ireland for theology in Milltown Park, where he was ordained priest on 3 July 1915. In 1916 he went to Tullabeg for tertianship, but when the Long Retreat was over, he went to France as military chaplain, where he remained till the war ended in 1918. He then returned to Tullabeg to complete his tertianship and in 1919 returned to Australia. The years that followed were mostly spent in the colleges. He was Rector of St Aloysius, Sydney, Rector of Xavier College, Melbourne, Parish Priest of Toowong, Brisbane, and Rector of St Aloysius College for another term. For the last twelve years of his life, he lived at St Mary’s Presbytery, North Sydney, where he was a most zealous and devoted chaplain to the Mater Hospital nearby. Up to a year ago when he was ninety-one, he was in excellent health, then he had to undergo a prostate operation after which he never recovered his old vigour. He declined steadily, and was placed under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor in the Retired Priests Home where he died peacefully in his ninety-third year on February 24.
Although a man of sturdy and independent character, Fr O’Brien had a graciousness, affability and friendliness of manner that won him a host of friends. While he loved Australia and its people, he retained a deep attachment to the old country, and was a most faithful member of Irish societies in Sydney. He was a most obedient, humble and loyal Jesuit, deeply attached to the spirit and traditions of what some now call the Old Society.bewildered at the change of direction it has taken in recent years, and saddened by the large number of defections among its priest members. To our traditional spiritual practices, morning meditation, Rosary, etc he was faithful to the end of his life. In Community life, he was always pleasant, jovial, and gracious. There is no doubt that dur ing his long life he served his Master with a loyalty, love and devotion truly worthy of imitation.
The large crowd of over a 1,000 people which filled St Mary's Church for his Requiem Mass on February 27, which included the newly-consecrated Irish bishop, Bishop Cremin an old Mungret boy), the Australian Provincial, Fr Patrick O’Sullivan, and about fifty priests, was an eloquent tribute to the esteem and affection in which he was held. It was fitting that the funeral on its way to the cemetery should make a detour so as to pass by the Mater Hospital where as chaplain over the years he had helped so many to meet their Maker, and where doctors, Sisters, nurses, and even patients stood in silent tribute to a much loved and devoted pastor.
We offer sympathy to Fr O”Brien's brother, Mr Liam O’Brien, emeritus Professor of French, UCG, for whom the bereavement is the heavier in that he had planned to visit Fr F X in Sydney during the coming summer.

O'Brien, Henry, 1907-1976, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/312
  • Person
  • 23 May 1907-07 March 1976

Born: 23 May 1907, Rathmines, Dublin
Entered: 20 September 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 24 June 1937, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 08 September 1942, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong
Died: 07 March 1976, St Francis Xavier Church, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Older Brother of John (Jack) O’Brien - Ent 01/09/1927; LEFT 18 June 1935

by 1929 at Eegenhoven, Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1932 fifth wave Hong Kong Missioners - Regency
by 1939 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1960 at St Francis Xavier, Phoenix AZ (CAL) working

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Father Harry O’Brien, S.J.
R.I.P.

Prefect of Studies at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, before and after World War II and at St. Louis Gonzaga, Macau, during the war, died at Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A., on 7 March 1976, aged 68.

Note from Timothy Doody Entry
Another passage in this book also describes Mr. Doody busy amid shelling and bombing. During a lull in his billeting work he found a new apostolate. Two priests were sheltered in the M.E.P. Procure on Battery Path. Mr. Doody took up his position outside the Procure and boldly enquired of all who passed if they were Catholics, and, if they were, did they wish to go to confession. The results were almost startling. The most unexpected persons turned out to be Catholics, from bright young things to old China hands, and after the first start of surprise at the question in the open street in staid, pleasure-loving Hong Kong, they generally took the turn indicated by Mr. Doody and found Father Grogan of Father Fitzgerald of Father O’Brien ready to meet them inside.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 21st Year No 4 1946

Leeson St :
We were very glad to have several members of the Hong Kong mission with us for some time: Frs. P. Joy, T. Fitzgerald, and H. O'Brien, while Fr. George Byrne has joined us as one of the community.

Irish Province News 22nd Year No 1 1947

Departures for Mission Fields in 1946 :
4th January : Frs. P. J. O'Brien and Walsh, to North Rhodesia
25th January: Frs. C. Egan, Foley, Garland, Howatson, Morahan, Sheridan, Turner, to Hong Kong
25th July: Fr. Dermot Donnelly, to Calcutta Mission
5th August: Frs, J. Collins, T. FitzGerald, Gallagher, D. Lawler, Moran, J. O'Mara, Pelly, Toner, to Hong Kong Mid-August (from Cairo, where he was demobilised from the Army): Fr. Cronin, to Hong Kong
6th November: Frs. Harris, Jer. McCarthy, H. O'Brien, to Hong Kong

Irish Province News 51st Year No 3 1976

Obituary :

Fr Harry O’Brien (1924-1976)

Harry O’Brien had the misfortune of spending most of his life too far away from those who knew him best. He went to Hong Kong as a scholastic, was not very successful at learning Chinese, but held posts which for a scholastic of those days were of high importance. He was prefect of studies, gamesmaster, editor of a monthly called The Rock, and in whatever spare time he had he gave instruction. Many of those he instructed are today well known Catholics in Hong Kong.
This work was really too much for him, and going back to Ireland for theology, he acknowledged that he was very tired. He was ordained in Dublin, and did his tertianship in St Beuno’s in north Wales. Even at that time, he was in pain from the incipient arthritis which was later to cripple him - and open the door to a new life in a new land,
After tertianship, Harry returned to Hong Kong, and was again appointed prefect of studies at our big day-school in Hong Kong, Wah Yan College. (This is the name given by the founder of the school, a Catholic layman, who chose part of the name of his native village and part of his own Chinese name for the school, which he later handed over to Ours.) This time Harry worked for about three years in Wah Yan.
Then came the Pacific war and the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, 8th December, 1941. During the fortnight's siege of the colony, the Jesuits who were then in Hong Kong helped to find food and shelter for the thousands of homeless who crossed from the mainland of Kowloon at the approach of the Japanese army. This was dangerous work, because the island of Hong Kong was shelled from about eight in the morning until light failed. The nights were mostly quiet. On one occasion Harry had to bring families from the dangerous houses at sea-level facing the harbour and the Japanese guns, to the quieter, safer heights of the Peak, a fashionable district about 1800 feet above the sea, and at the time considered a “good” address. He risked his life, because the road to the Peak was a carpet of bursting shells. When the British surrendered, on Christmas day, 1941, English, Americans, and those whom the Japanese called “enemy aliens” were imprisoned until the end of the war.
The city emptied. Chinese returned to their villages, Portuguese, Indians, Irish and a few Chinese took refuge in Macau, the small Portuguese enclave on the China coast about forty miles west of Hong Kong. The Portuguese organised centres for the refugees from Hong Kong: large houses, a few small hotels and some Vacant government offices. In these centres the refugees found shelter, a minimum of food-mostly rice. But there was no school, and these young people from Hong Kong had nothing to do all day but roam the streets, and at night, sit at the doors and look at the moon.
The Portuguese governor of Macau and the British consul first got the idea of a school for the refugees, and they approached Fr Paddy Joy, then Superior of the Mission. The Portuguese government agreed to give a house, books, and a small salary to the staff. Harry was made prefect of studies and superior of the Jesuit community of five. He called the school Gonzaga College, or Luís Gonzaga College, as it is still known by its past pupils. Scholarly by nature and discipline, Harry directed this school through the turmoil of the war years, with an authority which inspired respect, and a kindness which made him loved. During these years in Macau, Gonzaga College had in all about 200 students. Of this number, eight are now doctors, seven are professors in American and Canadian universities: one is a lecturer in marine biology in the University of Hawaii, and three are architects: which is not a bad record for any school.
But these three years of war broke Harry - physically. He returned to Hong Kong again as prefect of studies in Wah Yan College. He was in constant pain, and arthritis was crippling him. But none knew of his pain - except his “doctor”, as he used to call the chiropractor whom he visited daily. He wasn't getting better, so the Superior of the Mission, Fr Tom Ryan, did the big thing and the wise thing. He sent him to the famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The doctors there said that Harry could not return to Hong Kong or to the humid Irish climate. Fr Ryan arranged for him to go to the dry, desert climate of Arizona, and there in the small oasis of Phoenix, Harry worked for twenty six years.
In Phoenįx, Arizona, the Jesuits of the California Province have a large day-school (Brophy), much like Belvedere. Harry taught there for a while. But it was in the parish church of St Francis Xavier that he did the work by which he will be remembered. He had that rare and precious gift of putting everyone at their ease. Maybe this was due to his obvious holiness, or to his kindness, or to his sense of humour, or to a combination of all three. Whatever it was, the people of Phoenix - a shrewd and candid cross-section of America-loved and respected him. They showed this when he died. But they also showed it in a very practical way when he celebrated his golden jubilee in the Society two years ago, in 1974. The parishioners gave him a cheque for US $14,000. Part of this was used to remodel the kitchen of the presbytery, and on the wall is a brass plate which reads: “On the occasion of the 50th year in the Society of Jesus of Father Henry ‘Harry’ O'Brien, this room was remodelled”.
He got on equally well with the community. He was spiritual father, an authority on canon law and marriage cases, and a wise and kind confessor. After the evening visit to the blessed Sacrament, he would slip into the confessional near the domestic chapel.
He was never prominent in conversation, and whether right or wrong in his opinion, he was too clear-headed to be unjust. He spoke seldom, but when he did speak, he was worth listening to. He had a quiet, well-honed wit. But it wasn't barbed: it never hurt.
The stained-glass windows in the church of St Francis Xavier, Phoenix, were designed by Harry. Few of his contemporaries - in Ireland anyhow - knew that he was an artist of quality, with a nice feeling for colour and proportion, and more than an amateur knowledge of technique, especially of oil-painting. One of his portraits of a former superior of the parish - hangs in the community library. But he never took painting seriously. He told this writer that he didn't know enough about painting to be really good, and know too much to be really bad. For him, it was a supremely relaxing hobby, and nothing more.
Harry never returned to Hong Kong. He was invited, but he felt that he had not the strength for the journey, or the courage to face anew so much that was old. He was in poor health for months, and last September, 1975, cancer of one lung was discovered. The treatment - deep-ray therapy - was painful and unavailing. Harry died on 7th March, 1976.
Fifty priests from the diocese concelebrated the requiem Mass. Bishop McCarthy was represented by his vicar-general, and him self came later to pay his respects. Harry rested for a day in the church to which he had given his best years, the coffin bathed in the desert light from the windows which he designed. He was a holy priest, a loyal Jesuit, and a good friend. May he rest in peace.

Another Jesuit writes of Harry as follows:
When I arrived in Phoenix in December 1959 Harry O’Brien was already a living legend. His white hair and his frail figure gave him the appearance of a much older man, especially to the children of the parish, all of whom knew him well.
Harry had only been ten years in Phoenix then, but that was a long time, a lot longer than most other people. He had come to an area that was open country. Brophy College Prep, the Jesuit High School, was out in the fields north of town. Its beautiful mission chapel was the parish church. The parish priests lived in a converted garage, cooled in the 100 degree summer heat by an electric fan. They served a parish with no northern boundary.
Yet such was the population explosion in Phoenix in those days that during Harry's first decade in Arizona, St Francis Xavier parish built a new million-dollar church, a parochial school with 1,000 pupils, a girls' high school with 500 girls, a convent and a rectory with accommodation for a dozen priests. The whole surrounding area for miles and miles became one of the best residential areas in Arizona.
Because so many of the people were newcomers, and because Fr O’Brien had preceded most of them, and because he looked venerable, he was revered as the old parish priest who was there longer than anyone could remember.
Harry deserved the reverence. He was a true spiritual father to the parish, constantly absorbed in every aspect of parish life. He was the earnest preacher and the patient listener, especially in the confessional. He visited the school every day walking from class to class asking a few questions and answering the many that were put to him. He organised and taught an enquiry class for adults, that ran a course of twenty weeks or so and was immediately followed by another. He handled most of the cases for the marriage tribunal, always a tedious and time-consuming chore. And he visited the old folks and the sick in their homes. A lot of his “spare” time was spent in the parlour.
This list of tasks may seem routine. But in St Francis Xavier parish they were not routine. Harry did them all, and for the most part alone. The list is probably not complete, but hopefully it portrays the picture of an indefatigable man, a man consumed with zeal for the interests of God and of his people.
Since he touched so many lives so intimately, it is not surprising that his death, although not totally unexpected, was followed by outpourings of sorrow and even of disbelief. It is a beautiful tribute to this great priest that grown men were not ashamed to weep openly as the church of St Francis Xavier was filled to capacity on two successive evenings, for the rosary and for the Mass of the Resurrection.

At the requiem Mass for Harry O’Brien, it was Fr John E Hopkins (Calif.), who has completed fourteen years in Phoenix, who delivered the homily. He mentioned the constant arthritic pain from which Harry suffered, and went on:
“In his 68 years Fr. O'Brien spent over 34 as a priest, 26 of those years with us. In 1974 when he celebrated his 50 years in the Order, he asked me to preach a sermon at the Brophy chapel on the priesthood, because it meant so much to him. We can recall, those of us who heard him preach, the razor-like sharpness of his mind, the clarity of his ideas and his scholarly approach to the subject at hand. His interest in the Church was whetted by the decrees of Vatican II, and he was an avid reader and promoter of all the new ideas which came from the Council, to make the faith more meaningful to the people of the Church he loved
Like Xavier, who taught little children the truths of the faith and baptised countless people, Fr Harry taught the children in our parochial school for many years, and this work was his joy. His work of teaching was not limited to youngsters but like Xavier he taught adults as well in our religious Inquiry Forum, and like Xavier baptised countless adults”.

There is much about Fr Harry's China days in Fr Thomas F Ryan’s book “Jesuits under fire”.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1976

Obituary

Father Henry O’Brien SJ (1924)

Fr Henry O'Brien died in Phoenix Arizona this year. Fr Albert Cooney SJ, who was with Fr Harry during the Japanese attack on Hong Kong in 1941, and also in Arizona, has this to say:

“Harry was worshipped in our church of St Francis Xavier in Phoenix, and 100 priests and the vicar general concelebrated the requiem mass”.

The following sermon was preached by Fr. John Hopkins SJ :

“True doctrine was in his mouth, and no dishonesty was found upon his lips; He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and turned many away from evil. For the lips of the priest are to keep knowledge, and instruction is to be sought from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts”. Malachy 2:6-7

Reverend Fathers, dear sisters, relatives and friends of Father Henry O'Brien:

We recall in a Jesuit Church each year at this time, some aspects of the life of St Francis Xavier because this is the time of the Novena of Grace. How frequently we are reminded of St Ignatius asking Xavier “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?”

I am sure, that, my friend and your friend, Harry, heard these words many times in his youth and decided to enter the Society of Jesus and become a priest in order to serve God. We, who have known him here in Phoenix, have come to appreciate the spirit that was instilled into him in his early years. I am quite certain that his mother's sister, who is also his Godmother, and with us here tonight, will remember these moments in his early life.

We know and believe that a priesthood filled with years of assistance to others in instruction, in kindness in the confessional, in caring for the sick and the dying, in baptizing, marrying and counselling people, is the ideal of every priest, but a priesthood filled with these things and also with constant arthritic pain is not what would be considered an ideal life, yet, we who knew him, knew that this was his lot . . , something he accepted from the hand of God for the good of souls.

The love for the Society of Jesus as part of the universal Church should be the love that inspires all Jesuit priests. Like Xavier who thirsted for souls, so should we, and this is the love that sent Father O'Brien around the world in search of souls.

He entered the Society in Ireland, made his philosophy studies in Louvain, France, taught as a young scholastic in Hong Kong, studied theology in Milltown Park, Ireland ... tertianship in Wales, then back to Hong Kong for priestly work as a teacher, headmaster and prisoner of the Japanese until he came to us here at St. Francis Xavier Church as a gentle, kind, considerate, prayerful model of priestly life.

As Xavier travelled for many years, so did he always with the Ignatian idea of what more can I do for God? As Xavier went from the Indies to Japan and desired to go to China, so did he travel along almost the same route, but instead of Japan, he landed in Hong Kong.

In his 68 years Father O'Brien spend over 34 as a priest, 26 of these years with us. When he celebrated his 50 years in the Order in 1974 he asked me to preach a sermon at the Brophy Chapel on the priesthood, because it meant so much to him. We can recall, those of us who heard him preach, the razor-like sharpness of his mind, the clarity of his ideas and the scholarly approach to the subject at hand. His interest in the Church was whetted by the decrees of Vatican II and he was an avid reader and promoter of all the new ideas which came from the Council to make the faith more meaningful to the people of the Church he loved.

Like Xavier who taught little children the truths of the faith and baptized countless people, Father Harry taught the children in our parochial school for many years, and this work was his joy. His work of teaching was not limited to youngsters but like Xavier he taught adults as well in our religious Inquiry Forum, and like Xavier baptized countless adults.

St Francis Xavier wrote to Ignatius with news of his progress and eagerly awaited news from Europe. He was a missionary, who had left home, but he was very happy with news from home.
When Xavier was alive there was no such thing as radio or TV sets such as we have now, so it was by letter that he was kept aware of what was going on in the Society. Father O'Brien kept up to date on news from home by radio, TV and newspapers ... because even though he was an American citizen, part of his interest was still in Ireland, and the politics of that country, the Northern Ireland conflict, and the way his country was treated by the English nation. He also had a loving concern for his brother and sister and their families in Dublin. They will miss him as we will here.

The people of the world who do not know God may spend themselves in seeking temporal goods which death snatches away from them. We know that the privilege of the priest is that his labor and the goods he gathers by this labor lasts for all eternity. The hundred-fold and everlasting were promised to the apostles and their successors. The fruit of the labors of a priest is entirely spiritual and lasts for all eternity.

We know that the fruits of the labor of Xavier lasted through 200 years of persecution in Japan. The faith he inspired in the lives of the people was handed down from generation to generation. It is still there. The love of Christ was kept alive. The work of the missionary is recorded in heaven.

We here at St Francis Xavier Parish will remember Xavier's love for souls each time we enter the Church ... and we will also be reminded of the artistic talent of Father O'Brien when we look at the stained glass windows designed by him. We, who knew him well, know what enjoyment he received from his work as an artist, as well as a priest.

As long as this Church stands his talent will be recognized ... and when the years take their toll of this building, the faith that inspired the people who were touched by his generosity and kindness will last as did the faith of Xavier's converts.

To paraphrase St. Paul: “Father O'Brien you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech”

May you rest in peace!

O'Brien, John, 1839-1915, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1855
  • Person
  • 01 January 1839-20 March 1915

Born: 01 January 1839, Clare Island, County Mayo
Entered: 30 December 1864, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1875
Died: 20 March 1915, St Ignatius, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He made his Novitiate under Luigi Sturzo and remained at Milltown as a cook for a while afterwards.
1868 He was sent to Tullabeg as cook, where he did excellent work under Father William Delany, who was 10 years Rector there.
He was then moved to Belvedere for a while, and after a short interval at Gardiner St, he went to UCD, where he worked for a long period. He died leaving a fine record of work at Leeson St 20 March 1915

It may not be out of place to mention that Edmund Hogan stated that the Italian Fathers told James Butler, of Clongowes fame, in 1805, that an Irish Jesuit Synnott was the last to leave off the Jesuit habit worn at the time of the Suppression in 1773 - “Go and tell His Holiness that it was an Irishman was the last member to put aside the habit”. So, Brother O’Brien was the last Brother to put aside the tall-hat in 1892 in obedience to the order of the Provincial Timothy Kenny.

Note from Michael O’Reilly Entry :
Towards the end of his life he was sent to Leeson St, and just before his death to Milltown, where he died 16 September 1915 - six months after John O’Brien.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - DOB 12 March 1840 Killaloe, Co Clare; Ent 04 January 1865; Cooper before entry

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Brother John O’Brien SJ 1840-1915
Br John O’Brien was born in Killaloe on March 12th 1840. He did his noviceship in Milltown Park under Fr Sturzo in 1865.

He was faithful and efficient as a cook in many of our houses, notably in Tullabeg, where Fr Delaney was Rector for 10 years. He was then moved to Belvedere and finally to University College, where he worked a for a long period. He died on March 20th 1915, leaving a fine record of useful and hidden labour.

It may not be out of place to record here a fact stated by Fr Hogan, that the Italian Fathers told Fr James Butler, of Clongowes fame, that an Irish Jesuit names Synott, was the last to leave off the Jesuit habit worn at the time of the Suppression 1773 : “Go and tell His Holiness that it was an Irishman was the last member to lay aside the habit”. So, Br O’Brien was that last Irish Brother to lay aside the tall-hat, in obedience to Fr Timothy Kenny, Provincial of Ireland from 1888 to 1894.

O'Brien, Kennedy P, 1956-2018, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/810
  • Person
  • 11 October 1956-07 January 2018

Born: 11 October 1956, Oughterard, County Galway
Entered: 04 October 1975, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Ordained: 20 June 1987, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Final Vows: 24 January 1996, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 07 January 2018, Gonzaga College SJ, Ranelagh, Dublin

by 1980 at Osterley, London (BRI) working
by 1981 at Manresa, Birmingham, England (BRI) studying)
BY 1988 at Cambridge MA, USA (NEN) studying

1977-1979 John Sullivan House, Monkstown - Studying Philosophy at Milltown Institute
1979-1980 Isleworth, London, UK - Residential Care work at Lillie Road Centre
1980-1982 Manresa House, Harbourne, Birmingham, UK - Studying Youth and Community Work at Westhill College
1982-1984 Coláiste Iognáid, Galway - Regency : Teacher
1984-1986 Luís Espinal - Studying Theology at Milltown Institute
1986-1987 Rutilio Grande - Studying Theology at Milltown Institute
1987-1988 Avon St, Cambridge, MA, USA - Studying Theology at Weston School of Theology
1988-1993 Coláiste Iognáid, Galway - Teacher; Chaplain; Subminister; Pastoral Care Co-ordinator; Studying H Dip in Education at UCG (88-89)
1989 President “An Club Rámhaoicht”
1993-1994 Belfast - Tertianship
1994-2001 Belvedere College SJ - Minister; Chaplain; Pastoral Care; Teacher; Social Integration Committee; Cherryfield Board
1995 Vocations Promotion Team
1996 Vice-Principal Junior School
1998 Pastoral Care Co-ordinator
2001-2018 Gonzaga College SJ - Minister; Teacher; College Spiritual Father

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/god-love-kennedys-mantra/

‘God is love’ – Kennedy’s mantra
The Funeral Mass of Kennedy O’Brien SJ took place at the Church of the Holy Name, Ranelagh, on Saturday 13 January before a packed congregation, with crowds outside in the cold. A native of Galway, Kennedy (aged 61) devoted his Jesuit life to teaching.
Mourners at the Mass included a large number of students from Gonzaga College SJ, where the Kennedy taught English and served as chaplain and retreat leader. The College choir provided the music, and a number of students removed the pall from the coffin. Irish Provincial, Leonard Moloney SJ, was the main celebrant.
At the end of a traumatic week for Gonzaga (with the deaths of both Kennedy and his fellow-Jesuit Joe Brennan, who had taught in the college for many years), Principal Mr Damon McCaul spoke at the Mass. “For me personally, he [Kennedy] was a friend, a confidant, a sounding board. What I really appreciated – and Kennedy was good at this – was being told when he thought things could be done better, or differently. In that, Kennedy was the embodiment of Magis [the Jesuit principle of more or greater]... a half job was never enough.”
With good humour, Mr McCaul reminded the congregation of Kennedy’s initial reluctance to come to Gonzaga. He taught in his alma mater, Coláiste Iognáid, in Galway and in Belvedere College in Dublin beforehand. However, he said of Kennedy: “He went where the need was greatest; he threw all of himself into Gonzaga, to such an extent that he loved it in spite of himself”. He then expressed his gratitude for the care and support the school had been given in recent days. Mr McCaul finished by asking the Gonzaga students to join him in reciting Kennedy’s favourite Gospel message, one he used to repeat at every College Mass: “God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him or her”. Kennedy had a wide range of hobbies and interests, including heraldry, gardening, rowing, cricket and the poetry of G M Hopkins. His popularity and regard as a priest was attested to by the number of weddings, baptisms and funerals at which he was asked to officiate. He was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery following the Funeral Mass.

O'Brien, Matthew, 1902-1988, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1857
  • Person
  • 15 May 1902-10 October 1988

Born: 15 May 1902, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 30 March 1919, Loyola Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1937
Died: 10 October 1988, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL 05 April 1931

by 1925 at Rome Italy (ROM) studying
by 1929 in Australia - Regency

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Matthew O'Brien was baptised at the Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn, 11 June 1902, by Peter O'Flynn. His secondary education was at the CBC College, South Melbourne, and Xavier College, Kew, 1913-18.
He entered the Jesuit noviciate at Loyola, Greenwich, Sydney, 30 March 1919, and after his first vows, went to Ireland in October 1921 to begin his juniorate studies at Rathfarnham, during which he studied classics at Dublin University. In his second year he won the classics prize. He became ill and he was unable to finish his degree, but he was sent to the Gregorian in Rome for philosophy and was awarded his doctorate in 1927. He completed his classics degree and was able to sit for exams in 1925, obtaining honours.
From 1927-31 he did regency at Xavier College, where he taught English, Latin and Greek at the intermediate level and was involved with boarding. He went back to Ireland and Milltown Park for theology; 1931-35, and was ordained, 31 July 1934. The next year he did his tertianship at St Beuno's. North Wales. and then returned to Australia to be Socius to the master of novices for the remainder of 1936.
Remaining at Loyola College, Watsonia, he became minister of Juniors, teaching Latin, Greek and ancient history until the end of 1940. From 1940-48 he was the headmaster of Kostka Hall Brighton, and from 1949-52, prefect of studies at St Patrick's College, East Melbourne.
He taught religion and Latin at St Ignatius' College, Norwood, 1953-57. The next year began his long association with St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, first as prefect of studies for
eleven years 1958-68, and then as a teacher. Throughout this long and varied career, a spirit of generous labor distinguished O'Brien, devoting all his energies to the task in hand with complete thoroughness.
He guided St Aloysius' College through the educational changes of the Wyndham System without any confusion or apparent difficulty, thanks largely to his own wisdom and organisational ability.
Humility always characterised him, together with a true community spirit and hospitality He was a friendly man, a good administrator, punctual, exact, and exhibited good order and neatness. He worked long into the night, frequency falling asleep at his desk where he remained until it was time to rise and say Mass the following morning. Former students recalled his memory with pride and gratitude.

O'Brien, Michael G, 1927-1997, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/537
  • Person
  • 29 September 1927-19 December 1997

Born: 29 September 1927, Kilrush, County Clare
Entered: 07 September 1945, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1959, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1963, Chiesa del Gesù, Rome, Italy
Died; 19 December 1997, St Joseph’s, Shankill, County Dublin

Part of the Sacred Heart, Limerick community at the time of death.

by 1962 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying
by 1964 at Heythrop College, Oxford (ANG) teaching
by 1979 at Mount Street, London England (ANG) working

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 97 : Special Edition Summer 1998

Obituary

Fr Michael G O’Brien (1927-1997)

29th Sept. 1927: Born in Kilrush, Co. Clare
Early education: Christian Brothers and Mungret College
7th Sept. 1945: Entered the Society at Emo
12th March 1948: First Vows at Emo
1947 - 1950: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1950 - 1953: Tullabeg, Studied Philosophy
1953 - 1956: Mungret College, Teaching
1956 - 1960: Milltown Park, Studied Theology
31st July 1959: Ordained Priest at Milltown Park
1960 - 1961: Rathfarnham, Tertianship
1961 - 1963: Gregorian University, studied Ethics
1963 - 1967: Heythrop College, Lecturing in Ethics
1967 - 1970: Milltown Park, Lecturing in Ethics/Moral Theology
1970 - 1974: Mungret College, Teaching
1974 - 1978: Tullabeg, Retreats/work in Church
1978 - 1993: London, Farm Street Church work
1993 - 1997: Limerick, Sacred Heart Church work.
19th Dec. 1997; Died aged 70.

Michael was first admitted to Cherryfield Lodge in March 1996 following surgery. He was again admitted to Cherryfield in January 1997 in a confused and restless state. He was assessed by Doctor Cooney at St. Vincent's Hospital and diagnosed as suffering from a severe from of dementia. He was transferred to Crinken Nursing Home in July 1997, where he died peacefully on 19th December 1997. May he rest in the peace of Christ.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephes 2, 10).

This text of St. Paul came to mind as I reflected on the strange contrast between Michael's early life as a professor of philosophy for seven short years (Heythrop 63 - 67 and Milltown Park 67 - 70) and the nineteen years of his later life as a dedicated Church-father first in Tullabeg (74 - 78) and later in Farm Street (78 - 93). His Jesuit superiors had judged him capable of teaching philosophy and presumably saw this as his life work as a Jesuit. But "we are God's workmanship" and God had other plans for Michael, After only seven years of faithful but stressful teaching, and after a dark-night of depression, God transformed him into the “Wounded Healer” who exercised such a fruitful ministry for four short years in Tullabeg and then for fifteen years in Farm Street. His apparent failure as a professor of philosophy must be seen as God's tempering of his chosen instrument: “Designer infinite - must Thou char the wood ere Thou canst limn with it?” In the dark hours of his depression Michael must have heard Christ's words to St. Paul addressed to him: “My grace is enough for you, for my power works best in weakness”, and with St. Paul he must have found the grace to reply: “gladly therefore will I rejoice in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest on me”.

There is convincing proof that Michael did have considerable academic ability. Joseph de Finance S.J. was the director of his doctoral studies in the Gregorianum (61 - 63). De Finance was the highly regarded Professor of ethics in the Gregorian University for twenty five years. In 1991 Michael presented to the Milltown library an autographed copy of his translation of de Finance's final work entitled: “An Ethical Enquiry”. This is a large volume of five hundred closely reasoned pages. In a prefatory note to the translation de Finance expresses “his deep gratitude to Fr. Michael O'Brien, SJ whose translation, faithful but not slavish, is marked by a concrete, figurative style which gives easier access to the ideas. Thus he has achieved his purpose which is and must be first of all service to the student”.

From this commendation of his director we can legitimately conclude that Michael was well equipped to teach the course of ethics assigned to him. If he proved less than successful as a teacher of ethics in Heythrop and Milltown the reason can be found in the academic turbulence that followed the conclusion of Vatican II. By now Thomistic Philosophy had lost its pride of place even in seminary schools and the “philosophia perennis” had lost its perennial vigour. In the academic supermarket it had passed its 'sell-by' date!

Michael as a product of an older tradition would have still seen philosophy (especially ethics) as the “Handmaid of Theology” - but the handmaid had become restive and even insubordinate since John 23rd had encouraged a more open dialogue with the modern world. Had Michael begun his teaching twenty or even ten years earlier I feel he might well have been a respected and successful professor.

The controversy that followed on Paul VI's Humanae Vitae with its forthright condemnation of contraception, must have made Michael's work as a regular preacher and confessor more difficult. Joseph Fuchs, Professor of Moral Theology in the Gregorian, and Jim Healy and others in Ireland had advocated a more liberal approach and felt that “legitimate dissent” was justified. Michael, on the other hand, regarded fidelity to the teaching of the Magisterium as the very touchstone of orthodoxy. He always remained a totally committed defender of the papal decisions. In his work as a preacher and confessor he must have helped wavering penitents to remain faithful to that decision even if he must also have had to share the pain of others who found the official teaching a burden too heavy to bear.

For the people of the midlands who came to him in the old church at Tullabeg as for the Londoners who came to him at Farm Street, Michael was a good shepherd and a wounded healer. Again and again they pay tribute to his gentleness, his unassuming friendly manner, and his being a good listener. He was like the Servant in the prophecy of Isaiah (50): “The Lord had given him the tongue of those who are taught that he might know how to sustain with a word him that is weary” and “had woken his ear to hear the cry of the broken-hearted”. Again like the servant he was open-hearted in his welcome for the prodigal son or daughter: “the bruised reed he would not break and the dimly burning wick he would not quench”.

To quote a few of the testimonies from grateful parishioners received by his rector after his death:
“Ten years ago my life was in a mess. Fr, O'Brien helped me to rebuild my life”. A lady from East Anglia told of his kindness to her husband who suffered from Alzheimer's for many years. A man spoke of his patient attention to his wife during her long illness and how she always felt the better of his visits. A teacher who used to prepare children for their First Communion recalled his lovely way with the children who used to look forward to his visits.

Michael was admitted to Cherryfield in January 1997 in a confused and restless state. I joined him on many walks by the Dodder or to Palmerstown or Marley Park. He showed little interest in what attracted my attention - the trees, the flowers, the ducks in the river. His interest was in the people we met, always ready to say a friendly word and get into conversation if possible. He wanted to help people. He had told me he used to spend his free days from Farm Street, in one or other of the London Parks. Though he was naturally rather shy and reserved he seemed to have developed an apostolate of friendly affability towards strangers, winning their confidence and lending them “a listening ear”. I feel sure that many of Michael's walks in the London Parks became “Emmaus Walks” when he “sustained with a word the weary or the lonely”.

I visited Michael often in his last months in St. Joseph's, Crinken. There was a profound pathos in the sensitive concern he still showed towards fellow patients only a little more in need of healing than himself. The severe form of dementia that had been diagnosed in the summer had progressively withdrawn him from normal human contact. Now Michael was finally “in the hands of God” - “the initiative was totally with God”, for he was, in the beautiful Irish expression, a “Duine le Dia” - a person plunged into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection but like the baptised infant unaware of his life hidden with Christ in God.

He was not able to share “the deeply spiritual experience to know oneself completely in His hands” that Fr. Arrupe spoke of. But in these last mysterious weeks of Michael's life the Divine Artist was putting the final touches to the masterwork which he had begun at Michael's baptism in the church in Kilrush seventy years before.

May he rest in peace.

Edward Fitzgerald, SJ

-oOo-

During his fifteen years on the church staff at Farm Street, Michael O'Brien was loved and respected by many people for his approachability and evident care of them, his prayerfulness and regularity in the church, and his humorous homely anecdotes which were a feature of his straightforward and direct sermons. He was prepared to put himself out for people, and they sensed it. Our non-Catholic doctor spoke warmly of the many visits Michael paid some years ago to his elderly mother in St. George's Hospital before she died. Michael was very regular in his habits and that meant people in need could easily contact him. Often in the church or its environs saying his Rosary. Regularly at the church door to greet people after every Sunday Mass or Holy Day of Obligation, but standing back very modestly when the Parish Priest was around. Michael had a deep affection for the poor. It was very hard for him not to give. He gave not only money (perhaps unwisely at times) but also his time and his attention, sometimes at risk to his own safety.

Throughout my years as Superior and Parish Priest I found Michael a great and dependable support, and a wise and good friend. Farm Street was a residence made into a small parish only in the 1960's. Few Catholics actually lived within the rather grand parish boundaries. Most of the congregation, regular or casual, came from outside, and many more were tourists staying in the twenty or so prestigious hotels in Mayfair. But Michael tried to make Farm Street as much a parish as possible, organising First Communions and confirmations, catechism classes, old people's functions, days of prayer and other devotions. Much of this was for the less affluent residents, such as the families of Indian or Philippino caretakers or hotel workers, quite a few of whom were Irish and warmed to him in a special way. But Michael was blinded as far as class or nation or prestige went. All were just people to be served with respect and devotion.

Michael means a lot to me personally because it can be said that he was instrumental in saving my life, or saving me from serious injury, by happening to be in a certain spot in place of me. I was taking my turn as “duty priest” (to be called to the door on request), but had just left for the church to prepare to say the mid-day Mass. So Michael was called to the door in my place. A deranged man stabbed him in the neck. He was saved from fatal injury by his old-fashioned clerical collar. My new-fangled strip of plastic wouldn't have done the job. Michael was obviously very shaken by the incident and had several weeks of convalescence after he came out of hospital. But he remained very matter-of-fact and modest about it all.

For all his gentleness, devotion to duty and sensitive concerns for others, there was a shadow side to Michael. He suffered from scruples, especially in sexual matters. He agonised about the confessional, while being meticulous about his duties there. I think it was because of this scrupulosity that he had to give up lecturing in Ethics some years before, which was the reason for his coming to us, a welcome acquisition to Farm Street. In my time as Parish Priest he suffered from debilitating bouts of scruplosity which led to a breakdown, hearing inner voices, having to be withdrawn for several months from pastoral work of any kind and only gradually and with great care being nursed back to assisting with Holy Communion, then to saying Mass, then even to being able to preach and hear confessions again. This must have been very humbling for a man to whom priestly ministry meant so much, Incidentally, I was very impressed with the care Phil Harnett showed at this time when he visited us in his capacity of Irish Provincial and very sensitively arranged for Michael's eventual return to Ireland, but without rush or fuss, sensibly planned and monitored, respecting Michael's dignity as a Jesuit, as a priest. Michael deserved no less for the many years he had given to Farm Street.

Anthony Nye, SJ

O'Brien, Oliver, 1920-1994, former Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA ADMN/7/303
  • Person
  • 30 June 1920-29 October 1994

Born: 30 June 1920, Derry, County Derry
Entered: 07 September 1939, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 29 July 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin
First Final Vows: 02 February 1957, Belvedere College SJ
Died: 29 October 1994, Calvary Hospital, Adelaide, Australia (priest of Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide)

Left Society of Jesus: 1993 for Adelaide Diocese

1966/1967 Corpus Christi, Australia
by 1985 working in Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, Australia

O'Brien, Patrick JT, 1910-1991, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/686
  • Person
  • 26 December 1910-21 March 1991

Born: 26 December 1910, Nenagh, County Tipperary
Entered: 14 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1943, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1953, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died 21 March 1991, Our Lady’s Hospice, Dublin - Zambiae Province (ZAM)

Part of the Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin community at the time of death

Part of the St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ZAM: 03 December 1969

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1938 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1946 at Lusaka, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - - First Zambian Missioners with Patrick Walsh
by 1947 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working

◆ Companions in MissionN1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Before Fr Paddy entered the Society at Emo inN1935, he had already attended university, was a graduate and a solicitor in the family firm. He was born in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, Ireland in 1910 and went to school at Clongowes Wood College. After his novitiate, since he was already a graduate, he went straight to philosophy in Jersey, the French-speaking philosophate in the Channel Islands. He stayed there two years but as World War 2 had broken out, he returned to Tullabeg, Ireland to finish his philosophy. After his theology at Milltown Park he was ordained in 1943.

After tertianship in 1945, he volunteered to come to Northern Rhodesia which he did with Fr. Paddy Walsh in 1946. He went to Chikuni to teach until he moved to Lusaka to St Ignatius as parish priest for nine years where he was also chaplain to the hospital and taught at both a primary and secondary school. He alternated with Mgr Wolnik as chaplain to St .Francis and Regiment Church.

He taught at Munali Secondary School and Hodgson Trade School and gave spiritual talks to the Dominican Sisters and the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood. For a year he was secretary to Archbishop Kozlowiecki. Then he went to the Southern Province as parish priest in Choma for three years and chaplain to the hospital, 1959 to 1961. He acted as education secretary at the Catholic Secretariat in Lusaka for six months in 1962, teaching again at Munali and Chalimbana where he was also chaplain to the two institutions. From 1969 to 1974 he was secretary to Archbishop Milingo, and from 1974 to 1988 he was secretary to the Papal Pro-Nuncio. All the occupations of parish priest, chaplain, teacher, secretary, fitted into his educational background.

He had an abiding sense of the presence and the majesty of God. He found God in simple daily devotions like the Rosary. He was also fascinated by the wonders of nature and the discoveries of science. In them he found material for prayer. All these things for him were reflections of the wisdom, the power and the love of the Creator. He was a great reader and liked to communicate what he had assimilated in retreats, in sermons and even in conversation. He was interested in people, keeping in touch with his many friends, and being ecumenically minded with people of other denominations.

He was always ready to ‘uphold his priestly ministry even when it cost’. In his early days in Lusaka, a young man involved in a fatal shooting came to Fr Paddy for advice and counselling. The young man gave himself up to the police and Fr Paddy was put into the witness box and asked to testify that the incriminating weapon, a rifle, had been handed to him by the accused. Fr Paddy refused to give evidence and was committed for contempt of court.

A newspaper reported:
“What is described as the most sensational murder trial ever to be held in Northern Rhodesia came to an abrupt end when the magistrate at Lusaka dismissed the case against Lawrence Sullivan, 24, who was charged with the murder of Mrs. Christina Margarita Fuller. The sensation was caused by the persistent refusal of a priest, Fr P J O'Brien, S.J. to take the oath as a witness. Fr. O'Brien maintained that there ‘there was a conflict of duties’ and, although warned by the magistrate of the risk he look, said he could not give evidence which might look like a breach of confidence. He insisted that it was for the public good that a man or woman who had done something seriously wrong should feel free to have recourse in confidence to their priest or minister of religion”.

A fall which seriously damaged his hip and other long standing health problems, brought him back to Ireland to the Jesuit Nursing Unit in Dublin in 1989. On 21 March 1991 at the age of 80, Fr Paddy died of a heart attack. He was a wonderful story teller!

Note from Maurice Dowling Entry
After the war, when the Jesuits in Northern Rhodesia were looking for men, two Irish Jesuits volunteered in 1946 (Fr Paddy Walsh and Fr Paddy O'Brien) to be followed by two more in 1947, Maurice and Fr Joe Gill. They came to Chikuni.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Solicitor before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946

Frs. O'Brien and Walsh left Dublin on January 4th on their long journey to North Rhodesia (Brokenhill Mission of the Polish Province Minor). They hope to leave by the "Empress of Scotland" for Durban very soon.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 2 1946

From Rhodesia.
Frs. O'Brien and Walsh reached Rhodesia on February 21st. They were given a great welcome by Mgr. Wolnik. He has his residence at Lusaka and is alone except for one priest, Fr. Stefaniszyn who did his theology at Milltown Park. Lusaka is the capital of Northern Rhodesia and is a small town of the size of Roundwood or Enniskerry.
Fr. O'Brien goes to Chikuni, which is a mission station with a training school for native teachers. Fr. Walsh is appointed to Broken Hill. where he will work with another father. ADDRESSES : Fr. Walsh, P.O. Box 87, Broken Hill, N. Rhodesia; Fr. O'Brien, Chikuni P.O., Chisekesi Siding. N. Rhodesia

Fr. P.J. T. O'Brien, Johannesburg, Africa, 10-2-46 :
“We docked in Durban on February 6th. The Oblate Fathers, who had come to the boat to meet ten Christian Brothers from Dublin, very kindly took us in, The trains were crowded with holiday-makers and demobilised soldiers. We reached Johannesburg on the 9th, and the Oblates again invited us to stay with them. We hope to catch the train for Livingstone to-morrow night. The voyage was quite pleasant, though things were a bit congested on board, as the ship was carrying a lot of troops : 2,000 Basutos and 800 coloured Cape soldiers got on at Suez.

Irish Province News 22nd Year No 1 1947

Departures for Mission Fields in 1946 :
4th January : Frs. P. J. O'Brien and Walsh, to North Rhodesia
25th January: Frs. C. Egan, Foley, Garland, Howatson, Morahan, Sheridan, Turner, to Hong Kong
25th July: Fr. Dermot Donnelly, to Calcutta Mission
5th August: Frs, J. Collins, T. FitzGerald, Gallagher, D. Lawler, Moran, J. O'Mara, Pelly, Toner, to Hong Kong Mid-August (from Cairo, where he was demobilised from the Army): Fr. Cronin, to Hong Kong
6th November: Frs. Harris, Jer. McCarthy, H. O'Brien, to Hong Kong

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 4 1948
Fr. P.J. O'Brien writes from Lusaka (N. Rhodesia), 16th September :
“Fr. Dowling's cable arrived a few days ago bringing the welcome news that he and Fr. Gill expect to sail for Cape Town on 12th October. May I again say how very grateful we all are for sending the two Fathers. They will be a great acquisition here, especially to the Secondary School. African Secondary Education is non-existent in this country, except for one Government school (and another for teachers). Hence the Department of African Education hopes for a lot from the new Catholic Secondary School. In fact it expects that the Jesuits will show what can and should be done in this line, and that we will give a lead to the whole country and to itself. It is very important, of course, that we should do so, and play a big part in Secondary Education, for it is the Africans who have received this who will form public opinion amongst their fellows and form it for or against the Church..
I had a three week's rest in Livingstone recently with the Irish Capuchins, who treated me with the greatest kindness and hospitality. I was very glad to meet their Provincial, Fr. James, who was out on visitation. Their Mission is to the south and west of us ; the Italian Franciscans are to the north, and the White fathers are in all parts to the east.”

◆ The Clongownian, 1947

Clongownians in Mission Fields

Father Paddy O’Brien SJ

“Chikuni” is one of several Mission Stations which are under the care of the Polish Jesuit Fathers. It covers an area almost as large as Ireland and is right in the “Bush”. The nearest thing that could be called a “town” is 90 miles away, with some hamlets in between. Scattered throughout it are 45 village schools, each of which is a little parish, and some 10,000 native converts. Here, at the centre, is a large church, a Convent of fotre Dame Sisters who have a day and boarding school for native girls, and our own African “Clongowes” with some 300 pupils.

To do all that is required we have four priests, one aged 84. Two do the parochial work in the church, the third travels through the outlying districts, to say Mass, administer the Sacraments and supervise the work of the native teachers in the village schools. This leaves the fourth - your humble servant to look after “Clongowes”, where, for lack of anyone else, he fills the offices of Prefect of Studies, Teacher, Minister, Procurator, Higher, Lower and Third Line Prefect, Spiritual Father and Infirmarian. For, alas, since 1939 only one priest has been able to reach Rhodesia from Poland. And the nearest priest is distant from Chikuni to the North 90 miles, to the East 230 miles - in both cases Polish Jesuits; to the South 150 miles and to the West 220 miles - in both cases Irish Capuchins. 250 miles to the South-east are the English Jesuits.

The Missionary, who expected to go about with a Crucifix in one hand and a Grammar of the Bantu languages in the other, is surprised to find the younger members of his flock studying the History of the Mongol Invasion of China, and explaining in examinations “the difference between Hieroglyphics and Cuneiform Writing and who used each”.

In school all the ordinary subjects are done and the boys are so anxious to learn that the severest punishment one can give them is to keep them away from Class or Study. Just recently a deputation came for permission to begin study at five o'clock in the morning.'

Most of the teaching is done through English and the boys spend much of their recreations searching through dictionaries for new words the longer the better. One of them spoke to me recently - with obvious pride - of the “tintinnabulation” of the bell.

The only other European on the school staff is a Notre Dame Sister, so that from early morning to late at night there is rarely a free moment in which to answer your own or other letters. Teachers and boys are coming to my office all day long about the usual school questions. Sometimes there is a queue waiting as I come back from the church after Mass in the morning. Often they are messengers from the Out-Schools, with a 40 mile walk ahead of them when they take back the answer, who must be attended to there and then. One person could be busily occupied with the numerous circulars from the Department of Education and the Returns to be sent in there - lists of pupils with the courses they are following lists of teachers - of whom there are 65, including those in out-schools - with their qualifications and years of service; lists of boys exempt from the Poll-Tax which all male Africans pay above a certain age, etc.

The boys suffer a good deal from tropical ulcers, mostly on the leg, which may be due in part to their varied diet, which consists almost entirely of mealies : any other food they look on as mere hors d'oeuvre. The dressing of these and the attending those who are down with a bout of malaria is part of the daily programme.

And here are a few of the hourly requests that come from the villagers living round about us and which have prevented me from completing the three-page description of Chikuni which I wrote at odd moments during the past six weeks :

“May I have a loan of your bicycle; some M and B for my pneumonia; a testimonial to a new employer ; a new shirt; a Certificate that I did a course in Carpentry an envelope to send a letter; some medicine to cure my uncle who has been bitten by a snake; some thread to stitch my clothes; an old newspaper to smoke; an empty tin to carry water; quinine for malaria; some paraffin oil; a three-halfpenny stamp; a piece of rubber for the valve of my bicycle; change of a shilling; and a “Holy Mary”, ie, a medal”. Or again : “Will you buy some dead - very dead - fish? send my tax to the District-Commissioner? cure the baby's sore eyes? order this book for me from South Africa or London? take my photograph; dress this wound; buy a baboon for three shillings come out with the lorry and bring to the church a dead man; write away for this medicine that I read about in the paper; lend me some money kill the insects in my house; make my “friend” stop trying to beat me; mend my clock; cut this part of my face here, for I am suffering in the veins of my ears?”

O'Brien, Patrick, 1876-1957, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/314
  • Person
  • 29 November 1876-15 April 1957

Born: 29 November 1876, Pallasgreen, County Limerick
Entered: 13 August 1892, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 01 August 1909, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1912, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 15 April 1957, Milltown Park, Dublin

by 1898 at St Aloysius, Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
Came to Australia for Regency 1901
by 1911 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Patrick O'Brien entered the Society in 1892, and for regency went to Xavier College in 1900 as hall prefect and teacher. In 1901 he moved to Riverview as assistant prefect of discipline, and worked with the senior students. For three years he edited the “Alma Mater”.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 32nd Year No 3 1957

Obituary :
Fr Patrick O'Brien (1876-1957)
After a brief illness Fr. O’Brien died at Milltown Park on Monday, 15th April, Though on his feet till the end, he had been feeling unwell, with a little chest and stomach trouble, for a week or so. This had not prevented him saying Mass each day, including Palm Sunday, the day before his death. Typical of his intense devotion to the Blessed Eucharist, and of his meticulous regard for the rubrics, was the earnestness with which he sought and found a way to say the Palm Sunday Mass without overtaxing his strength by the long Gospel. Years before, he recalled, when confessor to the late Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Byrne, he had been able to produce for the ailing prelate an opinion of the moralists by which a priest in bad health could say the Mass in question, by substituting a short Gospel for the Passion. The fact that the opinion had as it were been canonised by the Archbishop of the diocese did not seem enough to Fr. O’Brien, till he had traced it once more, in spite of increasing feebleness, to Ojetti and Lehmkuhl. Only then did he allow himself to make use of it for his own benefit, The next day, Monday, he felt too weak to say Mass, and sent for the brother infirmarian. A short while later, another attack of the digestive troubles which - had been a burden nearly all his life, overtaxed his heart, and he passed away quickly and peacefully. He received the last rites of the Church. He was nearly eighty-one years of age.
Fr. O’Brien was three months short of sixteen when he entered the noviceship at Tullabeg in 1892: he was born on 13th August, 1876, at Pallasgreen, Co. Limerick. His thin frail frame, especially as it appeared in later life, seemed to belie his origin in the Golden Vale, but there was a wiry energy in it which carried him through many years of indifferent health with a vigour and diligence which did honour to the rich pastures of his native heath. He had been a brilliant student at the Crescent College, and after his noviceship took up at once the task of teaching “Ours” which was to be the main occupation of his life. Having helped his fellow-Juniors with the Latin and Greek which were so signally mastered by the older members of the Province, he went on to Jersey for philosophy, and so took with him French as well as Classics on his career of teaching in Australia. Those were the days when ordination seemed to be the reward of a well-spent life, and so for six years, at Kew College, Melbourne and Riverview College, Sydney, he did his bit to set the Mission on its way to being an independent Vice-Province: He came back to Milltown for theology in 1906, and was ordained in 1909. His tertianship was in Belgium, at Tronchiennes, after which he returned to teaching Classics, for a year at Clongowes and a year once more in Tullabeg with the Juniors. He then came as Minister and Minister of Juniors to Rathfarnham, in 1913, when the Juniorate moved to within range of the University.
Fr. O’Brien returned to Milltown Park, where he was to spend the last forty three years of his life, in 1914. For four years he taught the Short Course of theology till, in 1918, he was asked to take on philosophy with the students whom the war had brought back from Stonyhurst. For the next seven years he was Minister of philosophers, and lectured in Ethics and Theodicy. In 1925, he took over the editing of the Ordo, which he continued with unflagging zeal and precision till his death. He was lecturing in psychology when, towards the end of 1929, he became director of the Retreat House, an office which he held for nine years, during which he did some of the most fruitful and far-reaching work of his life. When the late Fr. Hannon was appointed Visitor of the Irish Christian Brothers in 1938, the ever-versatile and pliable Fr. O’Brien took over the De Ecclesia tract in theology. He relinquished this office “de jure” in 1946, but except for a few brief periods, held it in fact almost continually till the summer before he died.
Methodical, precise, painstaking and utterly devoted to his duty: this is how students and retreatants saw Fr. O'Brien, and it is hard to praise too highly the self-sacrificing diligence with which he threw himself into each new task of his long and varied life. One of his pupils remembers him in the days of his youth : “His lesson was all animation. He threw all he had, gesture, expression, concentration, appeals, into the effort of getting his point across. And how delighted he was when he saw his point was grasped!” Right to the end, even in the new fields of positive knowledge to which De Ecclesia called him, after a life-time of scholastic speculation and preaching, he was labouring to master fully his new subject. Students who received from him the succinct, clarified, almost dehydrated product of his research, sometimes failed to appreciate the work that had gone into his lectures. But Fr. O’Brien was not content to repeat the text-books at second-hand. Take for instance the famous case of Pope Honorius. For his own satisfaction, as well as for the sake of scholarly integrity, he had read up the original Greek acts of the sixth General Council: he was the first to cut those pages of the Mansi edition which Milltown had acquired in 1936. He read in fact every work available to him on the treatise De Ecclesia, and if he seemed to demand almost too much precision from exam candidates, it was because he was not content with loose thought or slovenly expression on vital subjects. On the other hand, he was lavish with praise for students who had done well, and went out of his way to congratulate them on a good showing.
Some of his best work was done as Director of Retreats at Milltown. For nine years he carried the Retreat House almost single-handed, giving nearly all the priests' and laymen's retreats, even when priests' retreats lasted from Monday to Saturday, and began again the next Monday with a week-end retreat in between. Age did not wither him nor custom stale his infinite variety: he was for ever preparing new matter for the retreatants who clamoured for his services, and his clear, direct and inspiring lectures were matched by a rare quality of direction in the confessional. For many years after he had had to give up the retreats, priests and laymen returned to him year after year for confession. It is said that the praise of the Dublin priests had him named confessor to Archbishop Byrne, while one Irish bishop sent specially for him to prepare him for death. Many laymen felt they owed him so much that they could refuse him nothing, and Fr. O'Brien used their gratitude to establish many young people in business or professions, with a charity which never tired of being helpful. For the best part of twenty years, the Irish Province had the benefit of his expert services on the Ordo, and only the initiated will know the enormous extra labour which he readily undertook when nearly eighty, as the new papal decrees made radical changes in the saying of Mass and Breviary.
Though beset all his life by weak health, Fr. O'Brien was a whole-time, whole hearted worker, “as long as it was day”. In the last years of his life, when a short-handed Milltown depended so much on him, he had to husband his strength carefully. But it was always there when he was called upon; and he was a cheerful giver. He never lost his keen sense of humour, and many of his witty remarks have already passed into oral tradition. He was very gentle and kind, unassuming and retiring, a delightful conversationalist and a loyal friend, though an enemy of all that was pompous, superficial and finicky. His deep faith and warm piety were more conspicuous than ever in recent years, when he could nourish it with new developments in the theology of the Mass and Mystical Body. His many friends and indeed the whole Irish Province will hold the memory of this good worker in benediction.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Patrick O'Brien SJ 1876-1957
In the death of Fr Patrick O’Brien, the Province lost one of its most lovable, most quote characters and an inveterate worker up to his death.

For all his life as a Jesuit, he was a professor and teacher of Ours, of Juniors, Philosophers and Theologians. For well on nine years he carried on the Retreat House at Milltown single-handed and it was there he earned his reputation as a confessor which cause him to be appointed by the Archbishop of Dublin to be his own personal confessor, and to cause another Bishop to send for him to prepare him for death.

For twenty years he edited the Ordo for the Irish Province, and never was a work done so meticulously, so lovingly and with such professional pride. It was seldom indeed that one found an error in Fr O’Brien’s Ordo.

He was extremely witty and a master of the “mot just”. His lectures and conversation were rendered the more interesting and animated by his unique gestures of face and hands.

This for 65 years as a Jesuit did Fr O'Brien devote himself ceaselessly to his work for God. He died rich in good works on April 5th 1957.

O'Brien, Thomas PA, 1932-1992, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/687
  • Person
  • 16 June 1932-06 August 1992

Born: 16 June 1932, Cliftonville, Ennis Road, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1967, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 06 August 1992, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin - Zambiae Province (ZAM)

Transcribed HIB to ZAM: 03 December 1969

by 1959 at Chivuna, Monze, N Rhodesia - studying language Regency

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Fr Tom's death was very sudden. He was acting Mission Procurator in Dublin and had just picked up his sister from the airport. He drove back to the Mission Office. While speaking to her there, he just fell from his chair, with a massive heart attack, and so he died. That was on 6 August 1992.

Tom was born in Limerick in 1932, attended the Jesuit school of the Crescent and then entered the Society in 1950 in Emo. He pursued the normal course of studies of the Society and came out to Zambia for his regency where he taught, prefected and was games master at Canisius Secondary School and Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College.

He was ordained priest at Milltown Park, Dublin on 31st July 1964 and returned to Zambia after his tertianship. He was in the Southern Province from 1966 to 1970 as minister and bursar at Chikuni, minister and assistant Parish Priest in Monze and minister/teacher at Charles Lwanga TTC. The rest of his life in Zambia was spent in Lusaka. Chaplaincy and teaching occupied his time and he also helped in the parish at St Ignatius. He taught at Munali Secondary and Chongwe Secondary. For the Advanced Primary Course at Chalimbana, he taught Religious Education as well as being involved in student counselling. Students at Evelyn Hone College also saw him for spiritual direction. Counselling was what he wished to do with third level students and so he studied at Loyola University in Chicago, USA, for his Masters in Education.

From 1978 to 1983 he became socius/secretary to the provincial, a job which took him to all the Jesuit houses. He became rector of Luwisha House in 1983 and worked as chaplain at the Christian Centre at UNZA. While there, he had a serious heart attack and left for Ireland when he was well enough to travel. It was while he was acting mission procurator, that he had the massive heart attack. As he wished, he was active to the end.

There was a history of heart sickness in the family. Tom himself had minor strokes as well as a by-pass. He was well aware that he would probably die from a heart attack but forged ahead with his life even with this in mind. He was so busy in Dublin – meetings of the Irish Missionary Union, interviewing possible volunteer teachers, traveling for Missionary Exhibitions, fund raising, bringing missionary awareness to the pupils of the Jesuit schools in Ireland – these all kept him on the go. Added to these were family functions such as weddings, baptisms and funerals.

His great talent was his ability to relate to other people, to share friendship with them. He had his own close circle of friends in the Society, yet this never interfered with his sharing his friendship with others. He was approachable and warm-hearted, person-centered. Being with others meant more to Tom than efficiency in planning and execution. On one occasion, he had three appointments in different places at the same time! He looked for the best side of others, accepting them as they were. In his own communities he would give himself as freely and as warmly to the shy and withdrawn as to the stronger members.

A 20-year friend of Tom wrote about him after his death: “He loved life; he loved people. And he did so from a base that was hidden and silent because he dreaded that anyone would think him ‘pious’. But over the years, I became more and more aware of that hidden rock in Tom – his love of Christ. It came through in his homilies to the students and his love of the Jesuits. I think he was at his most fulfilled and contented as a Jesuit during his years at Luwisha. He loved his brothers. I find myself also thinking of the contradictions in him. He was confident and proud; but he was also humble. He was contented, so contented – but he was questioning, sometimes startlingly so. He was above all compassionate but his compassion didn't let you off the hook”.

Note from Jean Indeku Entry
In 1955 he came to Northern Rhodesia with Fr. Tom O’Brien and scholastics Michael Kelly and Michael Tyrrell. They were among the first batch of missionaries to come by air and the journey from London took almost five days via Marseilles – Malta – Wadi Halfa (now under the Aswan Dam) – Mersa Matruh (north Egypt) – Nairobi – Ndola – and finally to Lusaka.

O'Callaghan, Kevin, 1915-1998, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1866
  • Person
  • 05 March 1915-25 December 1998

Born: 05 March 1915, Cobh, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1934, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 12 September 1947, Stamford Hill, London
Final Vows: 02 February 1952
Died: 25 December 1998, London, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1946 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1945-1949

O'Callaghan, Sylvester, 1827-1883, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1868
  • Person
  • 10 May 1827-27 March 1883

Born: 10 May 1827, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 25 October 1848, Avignon, France - Lugdunensis Province (LUGD)
Ordained: 23 September 1859, Roman College, Rome, Italy
Final Vows: 15 August 1862
Died: 27 March 1883, Milltown Park, Dublin

Younger Brother of William O’Callaghan LEFT 3 October 1866 as Priest

by 1851 at Vals France (LUGD) studying
by 1859 in Roman College, Italy (ROM) studying Theology
by 1861 at Sankt Andrä Austria (ASR) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Brother of William O'Callaghan LEFT 1866 as Priest

1850-1857 Must have studied Rhetoric and Philosophy before Ent, as he was sent on Regency to Clongowes at the end of his Novitiate, and he remained there until 1857.
1857-1859 He began the “Long Theology” course at Nth Frederick St, and finished it at the Roman College, where he was Ordained there 23 September 1859 by Cardinal Patrizzi.
1860 He was sent to Austria for Tertianship.
1861-1866 He was sent to Clongowes and Tullabeg teaching.
1866-1874 He was sent to Milltown as Minister
1874-1880 He was appointed Socius to the Master of Novices
1880 He was appointed Spiritual Father at Milltown, and he died peacefully there 27 March 1883.
A most charitable man, never known to say an unkind word. He was very exact about little things and a perfect model for Novices. He suffered a lot from rheumatism, but he never complained.

O'Callaghan, Thomas, 1906-1978, former Jesuit priest

  • Person
  • 07 August 1906- June 1978

Born: 07 August 1906, Waterford, County Waterford / Merrion, Dublin, County Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1944, Mungret College SJ, Limerick

Left Society of Jesus: 13 December 1968

Early education at O’Connells School, Dublin

by 1968 at Sir William Collins, Edgeware London (ANG) working

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1978

Obituary

Father Tom O’Callaghan

After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. Tom was rarely still in life. He rarely spoke sotto voce. Pacing, pacing, up and down outside the rail in Donnybrook, chain-smoking cigarettes and matches; intense and often very individual instructions to the team at half time... Did Tom ever sit behind the wheel of a car? Little things like traffic jams and speed limits must have sent up his blood pressure if he did. An unbroken Arab horse and a wilderness would have suited him better.

Apart from being a trainer of distinction, Tom was thought to be an outstanding mathematician when we were boys. Whether the latter is true it is impossible to discover now. Boys like to invest their teachers with what they take to be Einsteinian qualities. He was certainly a very intelligent man but he was unable to take his degree. At different stages during his university studies, usually around examination time, he had to sit near the door of the refectory in Rathfarnham Castle. This was because he would suddenly, through nervousness, find himself unable to swallow, and have to run choking from the room. He could talk very interestingly on any subject, even though he might naturally gravitate to discussing rugby. He liked to consult encyclopaedias in the middle of an argument to show he was correct on a point of historical or literary fact.

Fr Tom had very many devoted friends among the Past, but, almost certainly, some who bore a grudge as well. He seemed to work off his frustrations in sarcasm against “enemies”, and, whom he took to be fools, he did not suffer gladly. The result was that those who were on the outside could not see how the devotion of the others arose. Happily the mystery of life is deep and complicated enough to encompass different types. Tom was either a stone in your shoe or a stone in your oyster; he could not be ignored.

For almost twenty years, 1946-1962, Fr Tom O'Callaghan SJ, was teacher, trainer, sometime assistant disciplinarian in Belvedere. He was moved by the Canonical Visitor to Crescent College Limerick. From what we hear, things were not the same there. He was approaching sixty years of age and his once dominant personality was losing its force. He did not have a reputation he could call on, as the pupils of Crescent had not heard of him before. In a few years he was teaching in a school in London and while there he met his future wife. At what stage he decided to leave the priesthood it is impossible to say.

When they returned to Dublin he took up teaching for a while in St. Conleth's. This did not last very long as his health was disintegrating. During a long and sporadic illness his wife took devoted care of him. He died in June of this year aged 72 years. RIP.

Every Christian life is a sad life. Every Christian life is a failure. A web of disappointments and of goals unachieved. We cannot say, and it is futile to guess, whether some things might have been better if some other things had been otherwise ... We do not know. That is all we can say. We offer our sympathy to his wife, Barbara, May the Lord look mercifully on all of us, and on the soul of Fr. Tom O'Callaghan, one-time Jesuit, sacerdos in aeter num.

BK, SJ

O'Collins, William P, 1890-1970, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1872
  • Person
  • 10 December 1890-20 November 1970

Born: 10 December 1890, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 24 September 1926, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 05 June 1914
Final vows: 15 August 1937
Died: 20 November 1970, St John of God Hospital, Ballarat Victoria, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the St Ignatius, Richmond, Melbourne community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
William O'Collins was educated at CBC Parade, and for the priesthood at St Patrick's College, Manly, and Propaganda College, Rome. He was ordained a priest of the Melbourne archdiocese, 9 June 1914, and served in the parishes of Essendon, Geelong, Seymour and South Melbourne, in addition to work as an army chaplain.
O'Collins entered the Society at Tullabeg, 24 September 1926, revised philosophy and theology at Milltown Park, 1927-29, and worked in the Gardiner Street parish, 1929-30
Tertianship was at the Piazza del Gesu, Rome, 1930-31.
He returned to Australia in ill health from consumption, and while officially attached to the parish of Richmond, 1931-34, spent much of this time in the diocese of Geraldton with his
brother the bishop,
From 1935-46 he was director of retreats at Loyola College, Watsonia, becoming the rector in 1939. Then he did parish work in Hawthorn, 1947-53, being superior in 1947. During this time he lectured in pastoral theology to the diocesan seminarians at Corpus Christi College, Werribee. He also organised an apologetics course for non-Catholics. His last residence was the parish of Richmond. 1954-70.
O'Collins was a devoted and methodical worker, assiduous in parish visitation and in the confessional. He died in hospital in Ballarat after a short illness

O'Connell, Alphonsus, 1910-1969, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/714
  • Person
  • 10 December 1910-27 July 1969

Born: 10 December 1910, Bohernagore, Ardpatrick, County Limerick
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 29 July 1943, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1946, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 27 July 1969, James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Abbotstown, Dublin

Part of the Belvedere College SJ, Dublin community at the time of death

Early education at Mungret College SJ

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 44th Year No 4 1969

Belvedere College
On July 26th we were saddened to hear of the death of Fr. Alf O'Connell. For the past few years he had been going down hill steadily but his death took us all by surprise. During the latter months he was able only with difficulty to get around the house, his arthritis and other complications getting steadily worse. Two days before he died it was thought imperative that he should have oxygen and he was transferred to Blanchardstown Hospital on Thursday 24th; he survived only two days, dying on the 26th. It is no exaggeration to say that his name was synonymous with Belvedere as far as the Old Boys were concerned and he thought nothing too much trouble whether it was fixing them up in jobs, arranging retreats for them or attending their social functions. He was an encyclopaedia on their doings and many an editor of The Belvederian got invaluable help from him in compiling notes on the past. Though it was in the midst of holidays a big representative gathering of the past managed to be present at his Requiem Mass and funeral. We shall miss him in the community and class room, R.I.P.

Obituary :

Fr Alphonsus O’Connell SJ (1910-1969)

Fr. “Alf” as he was familiarly known, was born December 10th, 1910 in Kilfinane, Co. Limerick. After his secondary education at Mungret he entered the Society in Tullabeg, September ist, 1928 and saw the end of Tullabeg as a novitiate and the start of Emo. After his degree in U.C.D. and philosophate in Tullabeg he spent three years teaching in Galway. On July 29th, 1943 he was ordained in Milltown and after Tertianship in Rathfarnham he spent the rest of his life in Belvedere.
An able and intelligent man, he had a wide range of interests which he pursued during the different stages of his career. At the university he studied Archaeology and contributed a section to a life of St. Carthage. He produced the boys' plays in Galway and during his long term at Belvedere he was always on call to make up the boys for the College opera. He contributed a number of poems to various magazines in his early life. For many years he was director and confessor at the Morning Star Hostel, assisted in the running of St. Stanislaus' Boys' Club and had many a tale of the Irish courses at Gibstown. In his youth he was a fine athlete excelling in hurling and rugby. In later life he suffered so much from arthritis one tended to overlook his former prowess. Up to practically the end of his life he was in charge of rugby and cricket teams in the school. He graced many a school pavilion, trudged up and down the touch-line, umpired even when he had to use his hunting stick. He was extremely popular with his opposite number in other schools, They admired his devotion and enthusiasm and many a time quoted him as an example.
He was a first-class teacher and went to great pains to make up his course, for, in his time, he taught many subjects, Whatever he did he did well. He boasted in his own quiet way of the different subjects he had taught.
He had an extremely retentive memory, looked simple but was as sharp as a knife. Always ready to help, he never refused an appeal. Teachers, games' masters, the past, the boys knew this and appreciated it. Year after year, he filled our Retreat Houses with the past and always had his red note-book available with a surplus of names. In fact the past were never quite sure whether Fr. Alf of "Jeff" as he was affectionately known to them, came to games to cheer them on or to seek retreatants. But they did know he was interested in them. Many a Belvederian owes his present position to Fr. Alf's unflagging interest. Editors of the Belvederian readily availed themselves of his wide knowledge of the Past.
He was a good Religious in an unostentatious way and showed his love of God in his love of others - kindly, generous and a good companion. A good community man, filled with a sense of humour, he told many a story against himself. He suffered much and few of us realised that, as he said, he was working on borrowed time. We feel that Fr. Alf who never refused a call to help will not forget us now that his physical pains and distress are over, May his soul rest in peace.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1970

Obituary

Father Alphonsus O’Connell SJ

Sunday, July 27th, was a clear, bright day at Cabra Oval. Our cricket season was going well and the morale of our players was high, We were enjoying ourselves.

Suddenly, the enjoyment, the bright skies and the high morale were all overshadowed in our minds. Fr O'Connell had died at 5 am on that morning and we had just heard the very sad news. Little was said; the feelings of shock, of loss and of sadness were clear. We had lost a great friend.

Fr O'Connell came to Belvedere College in August 1946. He had been to school in Mungret in Limerick and worked as a scholastic in St Ignatius College in Galway where he obtained his HDip. From the moment he came to Belvedere his life's interest centred mainly around Belvederians and Old Belvederians. It is an understatement to say that everyone connected with sport in Belvedere and many not directly involved in Belvederian activities knew and respected him. It is unnecessary to recall the devotion and enthusiasm of Fr O'Connell for his “seconds”, for these are already well known to us.

What is perhaps not so well known is the great human personality which was behind the kind and unassuming exterior which presented to the outside world. He was kind, humble and always cheerful. He was a simple man without a trace of vanity and although he had a very heavy work load at all times he seemed to have plenty of time to listen all who approached him for help with their problems.

Few of us who attended Belvedere Colege and particularly those of us who played on his cricket or rugby teams, will forget the fantastic kindness and interest he displayed in each student in his care. His anxiety to involve as many as possible in his organised activities was typified by his appointing the writer “permanent substitute linesman” on the Second A Rugby XV. His memory for faces and facts about Old Belvederians was extraordinary and his meticulous recordings in his multiplicity of notebooks of academic achievement, business promotions, weekend retreats, marriages or deaths were the subject of many a good joke.

Fr O'Connell was a natural priest, for such was his great humanity that although his deep, simple piety was evident, one forgot he was a priest. In religious discussion with members of the St Stanislaus Boys Club, of which he was holiday spiritual director for twelve years, he was tolerant and open-minded but quietly firm. From all of these boys he earned respect and affecticion as he did in his tremendous work with the “Morning Star”. He had the great gift of winning the loyalty and confidence of people whether they were students in Belveder the less fortunate members of Dublin society for whom his devotion and work was a splendid example.

His simple and ever cheerful manner made association with him a pleasure. The fund of jokes, very often stories against himself seemed limitless. How he enjoyed telling of his difficulty in confusing a student, so he could discipline him, when the particular student labelled a parallelogram J, E F and F; or by his calling a boy by his older brother’s Christian name and getting the reply “Yes Mutt?” His most relaxing and pleasing personality ensured that “Jeff” was popular and welcome person at all social events.

We will miss Fr O’Connell greatly - his optimism and very positive views on life and on the development of our club contributed greatly to the establishment of solid foundations for us and for all organisations with which he was associated. The best tribute to his memory is to carry on his work in the many fields where he laboured.

Ár dheis lámh Dé go raibh a anam.

Tim Sheehy

O'Connell, Charles, 1840-1912, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1873
  • Person
  • 24 December 1840-02 April 1912

Born: 24 December 1840, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 01 February 1871, Milltown Park
Ordained: - pre Entry, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, County Kildare
Final Vows: 02 February 1884
Died: 02 April 1912, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia

Early Australian Missioner 1879

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He was a cousin of Canon Hegarty PP of Glanmire.

Early education was at St Sulpice and Cork and then he went to Maynooth and was Ordained there. He was in the Cork Diocese then for a few years, including chaplain to a Convent before Entry.

Towards the end of his Novitiate he was sent to teach Mathematics at Clongowes, and remained there until 1877.
1877-1879 He was sent to Tullabeg to teach Mathematics.
1879 He was sent to Louvain for further Theological studies - Ad Grad. He was then sent to Australia in the company of Hubert Daly and John O’Flynn.
1880-1881 He was sent as Teacher to St Patrick’s Melbourne
1881-1884 He was sent as teacher to Xavier College, Kew.
1884-1896 He returned to Riverview, to teach Maths and as Assistant Prefect of Studies, and also taught Philosophy at St John’s College in Sydney University.
1896-1902 He was sent to St Aloysius, Burke St, teaching Philosophy.
1902-1911 He returned to Xavier College, Kew teaching and doing many other jobs, including Operarius.
1911 He was sent to Manresa, Hawthorn where he was House Confessor, Operarius, Rector’s Admonitor and President of the League of the Cross Sodality. He died there 03 April 1912.

William E Kelly, Superior at Hawthorn, says in a letter 09 April 1912 to Thomas Wheeler :
“Poor Father Charlie was on his way from his room to say the 8 o’clock Mass, when a few yards from his room he felt faint and had a chair brought to him. Thomas Claffey, who had just returned from saying Mass at the Convent gave him Extreme Unction. Thomas Gartlan and I arrived, and within twenty minutes he had died without a struggle. The evening before he had been seeing some sick people, and we have since learned complained of some heart pain. Up to the last he did his usual work, taking everything in his turn, two Masses on Sundays, sermons etc, as the rest of us. We shall miss him very much as he was a charming community man."

He was a very bright, friendly and genial man, a great favourite with all who knew him, of great intellectual gifts, especially in Mathematics and Philosophy.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Charles O'Connell appears to be the first Jesuit educator to outline a Jesuit system of education for Australia. He was a distinguished mathematician and philosopher, as well as a good musician. As prefect of studies at Xavier College, Kew, 1881-83, and at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, 1883-96, he outlined a detailed philosophy of education that showed a breadth and humanity that marked the basic environment of Jesuit schools. His comments on the public examination system were not reserved for the parents of students, but were to enlighten the wider community.
Very little is known about O'Connell’s early life and training, except that be trained at St Sulpice, Paris, and Maynooth, and worked as a priest in Cork. He entered the Society, 1 February 1871, from the diocesan clergy in Ireland, at the age of 31. After the noviciate he taught mathematics and German at Clongowes College, 1873-77, before revising his theology at Louvain, Belgium in 1879.
He arrived in Australia, 9 November 1879, and was appointed for a few years to St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, and to Xavier College, Kew. Most of his teaching days were preparing students for the university examinations in mathematics, physics and German. When he was in Sydney he also lectured in logic at Sr John's College, University of Sydney It was during these years that he met with a painful accident because of a gun bursting in his hand, depriving him of the free use of some of his fingers.
Apart from his obvious culture, O'Connell was an able administrator. His involvement in public debate on the education system followed the spirit of William Kelly and Joseph Dalton who had taken prominent roles in public comment. O’Connell promoted the cause of Catholic education, especially higher education, in its most appropriate forms. His exposition of Jesuit education was not only a testimony to his intellect, but also to his ability to apply theory to practice.
It was said of him that he was a very bright genial man, and liked by all who knew him. He was always kind and willing to help people in need, giving the impression that he was being favoured by the asking. His time was at the disposal of anyone, and he would return often with various solutions to a difficulty when the proposer had almost forgotten having approached him. He had a wide range of intellectual interests. While his preference seemed to be for mathematics, he was a good linguist as well, and had a fair knowledge of some of the less widely known European languages. He had a very logical mind, and was a keen critic. His company in the Jesuit community was appreciated. He collapsed while on his way to say Mass, working until the end.

◆ The Xaverian, Xavier College, Melbourne, Australia, 1911

Obituary

Father Charles O’Connell SJ

Father O’Connell died at Hawthorn on April 2nd of this year. He was born in Cork in 1840, and made his ecclesiastical. studies at the College of S Sulpice, Paris. After ordination he worked in his native city for a short time, till he entered the Society of Jesus in 1871. Soon after his arrival in Australia, he was transferred from St Patrick's College to Kew, in 1880, where he remained as Prefect of Studies till 1883. In that year he went to Riverview College, Sydney, which he left at the end of 1901 to return to Kew. During his stay in Sydney he taught logic in St John's College in the University. There, too, he met with a painful accident through a gun bursting in his hand, which deprived him of the free use of some of his fingers. He stayed at Xavier till 1908, when he was moved to Hawthorn, where he was occu pied in parish work tiil lis death. Fr O'Connell was a very generous and kindly man, always ready to help, and giving the impression that he was being favoured by the asking. His time was at the disposal of anyone, and he would return often with various solutions to a difficulty, when the proposer. had almost forgotten having asked him. He had a wide range of in tellectual interests. Whilst his chief liking seemed to be for mathematics, he was a good linguist as well, and had a fair knowledge of some of the less widely known European languages His writing was, unfortunately, restricted to occasional papers, which were of a quality that made one regret their small quantity. He had a very logical mind, and was a keen critic; and this keenness was a reason why he left so little that was permanent. His kindly and charitable characteristics were des cribed by Monsignor Phelan in generous. words that were much appreciated by many of his old pupils and friends, who were present at his Requiein. His end came suddenly, though he had been visibly failing in health for some time. He had left his room to say Mass in the church at Hawthorn, but fell on his way out, and died a few minutes after having received the Last Sacraments. May his soul rest in peace.

◆ Our Alma Mater, St Ignatius Riverview, Sydney, Australia, Golden Jubilee 1880-1930

Riverview in the ‘Eighties - A McDonnell (OR 1866-1888)

Father Charles O'Connell was a much younger man, and was the only Father then in the house who wore a full beard. He was Professor of Mathematics and was a mathematician of the highest merit. In his own words: “A mathematician lives in a word of his own, and does not care to come out of it”. It was not an uncommon thing to be sent on a message to his room at the infirmary, and to find him with the floor strewn with paper covered with calculations, and Fr O'Connell disguised as a Turk. That is to say, he would have a wet towel wound round his head. He was also the Lord High Executioner of the senior boys who neglected their mathematics. He was the terror of the lazy or careless student, but he had great powers of discrimination, and was quite gentle to those who failed through nervousness or dullness. He visited our class occasionally, and put the boys through their paces. I have seen him invite Hubert Mooney out to the blackboard to demonstrate some well-known proposition in Euclid. Hubert, although a sturdy chap, and not at all nervous, on most occasions, would be unable to do a thing. As he was the best mathematician in the class, and was known by Fr O'Connell to be such, this would annoy most teachers. Not so with Fr O'Connell, who knew that it was a case of “stage fright” and not laziness or perversity. He was a great enthusiast in sport, and took a keen interest in the comfort and welfare of the boys, generally.

O'Connell, Charles, 1870-1952, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/318
  • Person
  • 07 June 1870-12 August 1952

Born: 07 June 1870, Umballa, Haryana, Punjab, India
Entered: 03 April 1894, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 29 July 1906, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1908, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 12 August 1952, Crescent College, Limerick

Grew up in Clonmel, County Tipperary.

by 1897 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1898 at Enghien, Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1907 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Medical student before entry

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 27th Year No 4 1952

Obituary :
Father Charles O'Connell
Fr. O'Connell, who had been born in India on June 7th, 1870, spent his early years in Clonmel. He studied Medicine for some time before he entered the Society on April 3rd, 1894. Having completed his Philosophy at Enghien, Belgium, be joined the staff at Clongowes, where he taught French and Irish from 1899 to 1903. He studied Theology at Milltown Park and was ordained in 1906. After his Tertianship at Tronchiennes he was again appointed to Clongowes, where he taught until he was transferred to the Crescent, Limerick in 1917. Here he worked in the College and Church for 35 years. He had charge of the Children of Mary Sodality from 1931 to 1936. He died on the night of August 12th. He was at dinner and recreation on the previous day, but did not appear at Litanies, which was quite unusual. He was found dead by the servants on the following morning.
Naturally rather retiring, but with a nice sense of humour, Fr. O'Connell was a most agreeable community man, though a good listener rather than a great conversationalist. In the Church he was an effective preacher, but it is the memory of his continued and devoted service in the confessional that will long remain with the people of Limerick and of the neighbouring counties. He was a good linguist and was frequently sought by foreigners who wanted confession.
It was quite clear that for some time he was suffering, but he was never heard to make a complaint. A great lover of common life, he did not want to be a burden to anyone. A short time before his death he resolutely refused little dispensations kindly pressed on him by Superiors. He was a soldier to the last, ever true to the kindly name of “Captain”, given to him in his early religious life.
A few days before his death he expressed a wish to see the place where he would be buried. One of the community got a car and drove him out to Mungret. After saying a prayer for the repose of the soul of Fr. MacWilliams, the sole occupant of the new cemetery, he said : “There I shall be buried”. And there some four days later, he was laid beside that other great apostle of the confessional. May he rest in peace.

◆ The Clongownian, 1953
Obituary
Father Charles O'Connell SJ
Father Charles O'Connell died suddenly on the night of August 12th last. He was born in India on June 7th, 1870, but spent his early life in Clonmel. He had been studying for his degree in Medicine when he entered the Society in his twenty-fifth year. He spent four years in Clongowes as a scholastic and later returned to Clongowes after his ordination and tertianship. He was an able teacher of French and was a pioneer teacher of Irish among the Clongowes community. His tall soliderly bearing earned him the name of “The Captain” from the boys of the period.
When he was transferred to Sacred Heart College, The Crescent, Limerick, in the summer of 1917 he was to spend the last thirty-five years of his life there. For some few years he taught in the Crescent, but the work for which he will best be remembered was his devotion to the work of confessions and preaching. A fluent speaker of French and German, he had a good command of other European languages also and was thus often called on to hear the confessions of foreigners passing through Limerick. Father O'Connell was naturally shy but possessed a delicious sense of humour. He had a remarkably clear memory of the boys he taught during his periods as a master in the Colleges. His death was sudden but not unexpected. He was last seen reading his breviary and for the first time in thirty five years was missed from the Church corridor where he always said his beads. He passed, as he would have wished it, unobstrusively to the reward of the good and faithful servant. RIP

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959
Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community
Father Charles O'Connell (1870-1952)
Was born at Umbala, India but spent his early childhood in Clonmel. He was studying medicine when he entered the Society in 1894. On the completion of his higher studies at Enghien and Dublin, he was ordained in 1906. After his tertianship at Tronchiennes, Father O'Connell taught Irish and French at Clongowes until 1917. In that year he began his long association - thirty-five years - with the Crescent. Until the early 1930's, Father O'Connell continued to teach, but his classes were fewer as he was engaged in full time church work. The memory of his devotion to duty in the church during those years must long remain vivid for the many who sought his help and guidance. He was a good linguist and was frequently sought by foreigners who wanted confession.

O'Connell, Daniel Joseph, 1896-1982, Jesuit priest, astronomer and seismologist

  • IE IJA J/319
  • Person
  • 25 July 1896-14 October 1982

Born: 25 July 1896, Rugby, Warwickshire, England
Entered: 08 September 1913, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1928, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1932
Died: 14 October 1982, Borgo Santo Spirito, Rome, Italy

Transcribed : HIB to ASL 05 April 1931

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1921 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1924 in Australia - Regency

◆ Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University online :
O'Connell, Daniel Joseph Kelly (1896–1982)
by Nick Lomb
Nick Lomb, 'O'Connell, Daniel Joseph Kelly (1896–1982)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oconnell-daniel-joseph-kelly-15389/text26596, published first in hardcopy 2012

astronomer; Catholic priest; seismologist

Died : 14 October 1982, Rome, Italy

Daniel Joseph Kelly O’Connell (1896-1982), Jesuit priest, astronomer and seismologist, was born on 25 July 1896 at Rugby, England, one of four children of Irish-born Daniel O’Connell (d.1905), Inland Revenue officer, and his English wife Rosa Susannah Helena, née Kelly (d.1907). Soon after the death of his mother, Daniel was sent to Clongowes Wood College, Dublin. At 17 he joined the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg and in 1915 entered his juniorate at Rathfarnham Castle. He majored in experimental physics and mathematics at University College, Dublin (B.Sc., 1919; M.Sc., 1920; D.Sc., 1949, National University of Ireland). Subsequently he studied philosophy at St Ignatius’ College, Valkenburg, the Netherlands, where he began watching variable stars, especially eclipsing binaries that were to become the main focus of his astronomical research.

O’Connell planned to attend the University of Cambridge but, due to a lung condition, he was advised to leave Britain. In 1922 he arrived at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, Sydney; he did his regency, taught physics and the next year became assistant-director at the college’s observatory. He returned to Ireland in 1926 to complete his theological studies at Milltown Park, Dublin. Ordained on 31 July 1928, he undertook his tertianship at St Bueno’s College, Wales. In 1931 he travelled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, to study at the Harvard College Observatory with Harlow Shapley.

Back at Riverview Observatory in 1933, O’Connell became director in 1938. At the observatory his research included seismology and the measurement of time with various kinds of clocks, as well as astronomy in the field of variable stars using the newly developed technique of photographic photometry. In 1935 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the Royal Society of New South Wales; he served on the RSNSW council (1946-49) and as vice-president (1950-52), and became an honorary member in 1953. He was chairman from 1946 of the board of visitors of Sydney Observatory. One of the friendships he established while in Australia was with (Sir) Richard Woolley, director of Mount Stromlo Observatory. O’Connell presented radio talks, including a series of three titled ‘According to Hoyle’ on the Australian Broadcasting Commission station 2BL-2NC in March and April 1952.

That year O’Connell was called to Rome as director of the Vatican Observatory. On 26 July he left Australia, arriving in time for the Rome meeting of the International Astronomical Union. He continued his work on eclipsing binary stars, again using photoelectric photometry. A leading expert in the field, he was president (1955-61) of the commission on photometric double stars of the IAU. He published The Green Flash and Other Low Sun Phenomena (1958), which included colour photographs proving that the phenomenon, sometimes seen at sunrise or sunset, was real and not subjective.

At the Vatican Observatory O’Connell built up the staff and installed a 60/90-cm Schmidt telescope that became the observatory’s largest instrument. As objective prisms were available, the telescope was used for spectroscopy. With leading scientists he organised two study weeks—one on stellar populations in 1957 and another on nuclei of galaxies in 1970—and published the proceedings. He had personal friendships with three popes, especially Pope Pius XII. In 1970 he retired from his observatory post but continued as president (1968-72) of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

O’Connell died on 14 October 1982 at the headquarters of the Society of Jesus in Rome. He is remembered mainly for his work on eclipsing binary stars and the ‘O’Connell effect’ that relates to the rotation of the major axis of the elliptical orbit of a double star.

Select Bibliography
D. Strong, The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-1998 (1999)
Irish Astronomical Journal, vol 15, no 4, 1982, p 347
D. O’Connell personal file (Society of Jesus, Australian Province Archives, Melbourne)

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Daniel O'Connell's secondary education was at Clongowes College, Dublin. He entered the Society at Tullabeg, Ireland, 8 September 1913, and juniorate followed at Rathfarnham, 1915-20. He received his diploma in experimental physics and a Master of Science in mathematics at the University of Dublin, and later a doctorate in science from the Irish National University At this time he came under the influence of William O'Leary, the Irish Jesuit astronomer and seismologist, who at that time was director of Rathfarnham Castle Observatory in Dublin.
O’Connell then studied philosophy at Valkenburg, 1920-22, and did further tertiary studies in science, gaining first class honours in most subjects. It was while in Holland that he also pursued spare time astronomical studies under world famous Jesuit scientists like Michael Esch, expert on variable stars, Xavier Kugler, world authority on Assyriology and Babylonian astronomy; and Theodor Wulf world ranking physicist.
Regency followed as assistant director of the Riverview observatory, 1922-26, as well as physics master and second division prefect. At this time he undertook to advance the local study of solar radiation.
He went to theology at Milltown Park, Dublin 1926-29, and to tertianship at St Beuno's, Wales.
O'Connell studied from 1931-33 at Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was subsequently to have studied with the famous Sir Arthur Eddington. However, because of a lung condition, he returned to Australia, and then worked first as assistant director and later as director of the Riverview observatory 1933-52. Then he was appointed moderator of the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo, Rome, 1953-70. He lived in the Jesuit Curia, Rome, and from 1974 was due president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
During the years that O'Connell was at Harvard, the observatory was at the centre of major developments in astronomical research and especially those that were to lead within
the next few decades to the notion of the expanding universe of galaxies. He was thus associated with such eminent astronomers as Harlow Shapley, Cecilia Payne Gaposhkin, and others. His principal occupation at Harvard, and a pursuit which continued for the rest of his life, was the study of variable stars; but he also became known as a keen card player, especially bridge.
On his way back to Australia he visited Mount Wilson and Lick observatories in California, and then went to Japan, China, Java and the Philippines, where he visited leading observatories and advanced his practical studies.
While at the Riverview Observatory, working under William O'Leary, and in addition to his study of variable stars, he developed a keen interest in seismology and in the measurement of time with various types of clocks. This latter focus led him into a lifelong interest in the calendar and calendar reform, a study that served him well in later decades since he was asked to advise popes on both calendar reform and the cycle of ecclesiastical feasts.
In 1935 he initiated the “Riverview Observatory Publications” which enjoyed international reputation. Later, he founded the “Reprint Series” and the “Geophysical Papers” that became also well known. In the field of astronomy, O'Connell worked on eclipsing stars and Cepheid variables For the latter he used photo-electric equipment. About 15 ,000 plates on variable stars were on file at the observatory.
In the field of seismology the observatory's programme included the regional study of earthquake waves and the relationship between earthquake waves and the interior of the earth
During World War II, O'Connell collaborated with the United States government in the location of earthquakes in the Pacific zone in relation to war strategy. This work continued after the war. Each week a cabled report was sent to the United States from Riverview. The Imperial War Graves Commission also consulted him concerning possible earthquake damage to war cemetery sites in the Pacific area.
In his role as director of the Vatican Observatory, he began a career of unique service to the Church that spanned the reign of three popes, and saw immense developments in astronomical research from the initial concept of various stellar populations to an expanding universe containing active galactic nuclei and quasars. On a few occasions he organised study weeks of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, at which these subjects were discussed, e.g. Stellar Populations in 1957, and Nuclei of Galaxies in 1970. As a result of these study weeks, two books were published, both edited by O'Connell, and they became classics of astronomical literature. From 1955-61 he was president of the Commission on Double Stars of the International Astronomical Union.
Of his many contacts with popes he served, his relationship with Pius XII was especially close. He frequently advised the Pope, himself a very keen and diligent student of the natural sciences, on topics of current scientific research. In was under Pius XII that the major modern research tool of the Vatican Observatory, the Schmidt telescope, planned under his predecessors but completed under O'Connell, was inaugurated and blessed. Pius XII often visited the observatory, and on one occasion viewed the launching of the Russian Sputnik.
Paul VI viewed the landing of the first man on the Moon with O'Connell over a specially installed television, and he advised the Pope on the technical details of the mission.
In the pursuit of his scientific research, O'Connell became a close friend and collaborator of an international community of astronomers. As director of the Riverview Observatory he went to Europe in 1948 to attend the first post-war meeting of the International Astronomical Union held at Zurich, and on that occasion visited many European observatories. His visit to Utrecht was noteworthy, for there he established a lifelong friendship with Professor Marcel Minnaert who later encouraged him to issue the now famous book on the Green Flash, which, published in collaboration with Brother Karl Trench SJ, provides excellent documentation on optical effects that occur in the Earth's atmosphere when the sun is rising or setting.
However, O'Connell was best known in the international community of astronomers for his research on double stars. He discovered an effect, since known as the “O'Connell Effect”,
concerning the rotation of the line of the apsides (the major aids of the double star's ellipticalorbit). The discovery of this effect was typical of the scientific work of O'Connell. lt required a long period of painstaking observations and careful analyses over many years.
In addition to his membership in the academies and institutes already mentioned, O’Connell was a member of the National Research Council of Australia, and an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy He was also a member of the Royal Society of New South Wales, publishing three papers on earthquakes and the Galitzin seismograph. He served on council, 1946-49, and was vice-president, 1950-52. He became an honorary member of the Society in 1953.
O'Connell retired as director of the Vatican Observatory in 1970. He was president of the Pontifical Academy of Science, 1968-72. While he was an indefatigable worker and consequently very jealous of his time, he still treasured his friends immensely, and was always nurturing new friendships. Even during his last years, when he was largely bedridden, he developed new friendships among old and young alike. The students at Riverview remembered him for showing groups of boys the Moon, planets and the stars on clear nights and for his unfailing gracious word and cheery smile for staff and students.
Many were the nights that, under the then clear skies over Castel Gandolfo. O'Connell climbed the stairs to the telescope atop the papal palace passing die plaque inscribed “Deum Creatorurn Venite Adoremus. He was very intelligent, hardworking and always a gentleman genuine international Jesuit.

Note from Noel Burke-Gaffney entry
1950 He was appointed Director of the Observatory at Riverview after Daniel O’Connell was appointed to the Vatican Observatory

Note from William O’Leary Entry
He remained at Riverview until his death in 1939, directing the observatory until 1937 when Daniel O'Connell became director

Note from Edward Pigot Entry
His extremely high standards of scientific accuracy and integrity made it difficult for him to find an assistant he could work with, or who could work with him. George Downey, Robert McCarthy, and Wilfred Ryan, all failed to satisfy. However, when he met the young scholastic Daniel O'Connell he found a man after his own heart. When he found death approaching he was afraid, not of death, but because O’Connell was still only a theologian and not ready to take over the observatory. Happily, the Irish province was willing to release his other great friend, William O'Leary to fill the gap.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 23rd Year No 4 1948
Fr. Daniel O'Connell of the Vice-province visited Ireland after an absence of many years, early in September: He has had a very busy time since he left Australia : he did some astronomical work at Leyden before going to the Vatican Observatory where he spent 6 weeks ; he attended a Meeting at Zurich of the International Astronomical Union and then went on to Oslo for the Congress of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. He has been invited to lecture to the Irish Astronomical Society at Armagh and to be the guest of Dr. Lindsay, Director of the Armagh Observatory, who is a good friend of his since the Harvard days when they spent two years together at that Observatory. Fr. O'Connell is due to sail for the United States from Southampton on 6th November and will spend some months at Harvard Observatory before returning to Australia.

Irish Province News 24th Year No 1 1949
On 6th November Fr. Daniel O'Connell, of the Vice-province, who during his stay in Ireland gave evidence in Fr. Sullivan's cause, left Southampton for U.S.A. on 6th November.
Irish Province News 58th Year No 1 1983
Obituary
Fr Daniel O'Connell (1896-1913-1982) (Australia)

I met Dan O'Connell for the first time when I went to the noviciate, then in Tullabeg. I found him a quiet novice but a very pleasant companion. We both went to Rathfarnham and were together in our First Arts year (1916-17). He was a brilliant and highly intelligent man. He took a keen interest in Fr William O’Leary's seismograph, which stood in Rathfarnham grounds, and frequently inspected it with him.
We parted company in 1920, when he went to Valkenburg for philosophy while I followed the subject in Milltown. Two years later we were both posted to Australia. We did not travel there together but met in Riverview College, Sydney, where we spent our regency. In Riverview was the Irish Jesuit, Fr Edward Pigot, who had an astronomical observatory, in which Dan became keenly interested, Fr Pigot himself had erected this observatory and fitted it out with a strong telescope for watching the various stars at night. He was also an accomplished pianist and taught Dan the piano.
In 1926 Dan followed me to Milltown for theology. Together we were ordained there by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Edward J. Byrne. Later, whenever Fr Dan came back to Dublin, he stayed with Dr Byrne's successor, Dr John Charles McQuaid, who was a great friend of his, as they had been classmates in Clongowes. Twenty or so years after Fr Dan's return to Riverview, he was called to Rome to take charge of the Vatican observatory, and ended his days in Rome.

The summary notice, taken from L'Osservatore Romano (16th October 1982) and transmitted by Frs Joseph Costelloe and John P. Leonard of the General Curia, fills in some of the external details of Fr O’Connell’s life:
"Yesterday evening, Thursday, 14th October, Fr Daniel O’Connell, former Director of the Vatican Observatory and ex-President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, died after a long illness in the infirmary of the Jesuit General Curia in Rome.
Born in Rugby, Great Britain, in 1896, he had entered the Society of Jesus in Ireland in 1913. After completing his studies in physics and mathematics at the University College, Dublin, he spent two years of special studies at the Harvard College Observatory in Cam bridge, Massachusetts, between 1931 and 1933.
He then became Director of the Riverview College Observatory in Australia, where he remained until 1952, when he was appointed Director of the Vatican Observatory, which he directed until 1970. From 1968 until 1972, he was, by the appointment of Paul VI, President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
Known for his scientific labours, especially for his researches on double stars - an area in which he discovered a particular effect named after him - Fr O'Connell was a member of many international societies, including The National Research Council of Australia, The Royal Academy of Ireland, and The Royal Society of New South Wales”

Frs George V Coyne and Martin F McCarthy SJ, of the Vatican Observatory brought out a glossy four-page printed leaflet (of A4-size page) as a memorial to their fellow-astronomer and fellow-Jesuit. Five of the photographs therein show Fr O’Connell greeting in turn four recent Popes, including the present one. An interesting account is also given of his astronomical work. The editor of IPN has at his disposal at least one photocopy of this leaflet, which he will gladly send to any contemporary of Fr Dan’s or to any other interested person who might like to have it.
Fr Dan O’Connell contributed two articles to the New Catholic Encyclopedia: “Calendar reform” and “Vatican Observatory”. He featured in past numbers of The Clongownian: 1953, pp. 9-12, “Astronomer and seismologist”; 1968, pp. 42-3; 1974, p. 33 (copy of an autographed letter to him from Paul VI).

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 86 : July 1996

Obituary
Fr Daniel O’Connell (1896-1982)
Like William Keane, Daniel O'Connell was a brilliant student who devoted his life to the Lord's work in the Society. He was born at Rugby, England, on 25th July to an Irish father and English mother, At the age of 12 when his parents died, he went to Ireland and completed his secondary education at Clongowes College; in view of his examination results, I presume that he was Dux of his class, as William Keane had been. One of his masters was Henry Johnston, and one of his fellow students was John Charles McQuaid, later a famous Archbishop of Dublin. At the age of 17, he entered the novitiate of the Irish Province at Tullabeg on August 8th, 1913. A fellow novice described him as 'quiet but a very pleasant companion', qualities noted in him throughout his later life which were to win him many friends.

It may be remarked, incidentally, that although he was related to the Liberator' he was called Daniel after another member of the family.
University Studies
University studies were at the National University of Ireland where he did a brilliant scientific course with first class honours in experimental physics and mathematics, ending with a Master of Science. With other scholastics he would have commuted to the University from Rathfarnham Castle, Juniorate residence and later retreat house. In its grounds was a seismograph, erected by Fr. William O'Leary, who was later to take over from Fr. Pigot as Director of the Riverview Observatory. Daniel took a keen interest in this, a fact which was not lost on Fr. O'Leary who was later to choose him as their designate'. For Philosophy, Daniel was sent to Valkenburg in Holland where the German Provinces had their house of studies, having been driven out of Germany by Bismarck's Kulturkampf. Here he pursued part-time studies in astronomy under important German Jesuit scientists. Arrangements had been made for him to enter Cambridge University to study relativity under Sir Arthur Eddington but he experienced a breakdown in health, had lung trouble, and was sent to Australia to recuperate and do Regency. He taught at the observatory in 1923 under Fr. Pigot. The latter was also a fine pianist and taught Daniel the piano.

In 1926 Daniel returned to Ireland for theology, studied at Milltown Park and was ordained on July 31st, 1928 by the then Archbishop of Dublin. Tertianship was at St. Beuno's, Wales(1930-1931).

Further Studies
Destined now to become a professional astronomer, Daniel returned to Australia and the Observatory but the following year went to Harvard for further studies and research at its Observatory, then a great centre of research under Howard Sharpley and others. His principal occupation there was the study of variable stars which he continued throughout life and through which he made his name as an astronomer. In 1948 he was awarded a doctorate in science from the National University of Ireland for outstanding services to astronomy, but he also became interested in seismology and the measurement of time with various types of clocks. (These and other scientific details are taken from a brief memorial bulletin published by the Vatican Observatory after Daniel's death in 1982.)

Riverview Observatory (1933-1952)
After visiting other observatories, he returned to Riverview as Assistant Director of the Observatory, taking over from Fr. O'Leary in 1938 when the latter died on the Riverview golf course. (Fr. O'Leary is remembered at Riverview as the inventor of a Free Pendulum clock of superb accuracy which used to stand in the corridor outside the Rector's room in the old building.)

The Observatory received a small grant (£450 in 1939) from the Australian government. When Daniel took over and for a number of years afterwards it had the only fully equipped seismological station in Australia and its reports appeared in the local papers whenever a major earthquake occurred. Its astronomical work consisted mainly in the photographing of variable stars, a work which Daniel carried out himself in the hours of darkness when others were asleep. The increasing illumination of the skies above Sydney rendered this more and more difficult but he managed to make 20,000 plates over the years.

During his years at the Observatory Daniel became a highly respected figure in astronomical circles in Australia and elsewhere, becoming, for instance, a Fellow of the Royal astronomical Society among other memberships. But he was no remote scholar. He had a gift for popularizing science when this was needed and he was called on occasionally by the ABC for broadcasts. When Fred Hoyle (of Steady State fame) delivered a number of lectures on the BBC on “The Nature of the Universe” Daniel was asked to give three lectures on the ABC on the same topic. He called his lectures “According to Hoyle” and made it very clear that his distinguished counterpart was wrong in dismissing the Creator from the origin of things. Hoyle, who must be a very old man now, is said to be now more in favour of creation, impressed by the 'fine tuning' of the universe.

Riverview
While Daniel did not teach, he was an object lesson to the boys that science and religion could be reconciled. He was also a familiar and friendly priest, whose sermons they listened to in the chapel with more than usual attention. He could get down to their level. There were occasional guided tours of the Observatory - I had some myself when I was at Riverview as a scholastic 1947-1949. He was also a 'good community man'. The only thing that annoyed him was noise, and most particularly the lowing of Brother O'Brien's cows which disturbed his sleep by day after a night of observation. But he did not have recourse to the 'ultimate deterrent' of shooting one or two. He bore it cheerfully enough as he did the loneliness of much of his work. I think of him as a very dedicated, kindly person.

Vatican Observatory
In 1952 news came that Daniel had been appointed Director of the Vatican Observatory located at the papal summer residence at Castelgandolfo in the hills 16 miles from Rome. His appointment was a 'most strict secret', which he observed most faithfully, but it was leaked out over in Rome so he was embarrassed by people asking him if it were true. Due to illness and the necessity of taking up the appointment quickly, he had little time to say goodbye to his many friends in Australia. He left by ship on July 26th, 1952, bringing to an end almost a quarter of a century at Riverview and its Observatory, both of which remained very dear to him.

From 1952 until his retirement in 1970 he was Director at the Vatican Observatory. He was President of the Pontifical Academy of Science from 1968 to 1972. He served three Popes and had close personal relations with them. Over the years he published a number of books (e.g. The Green Flash, Stellar Populations, Nuclear Galaxies) and many papers. The Vatican Observatory gave him much greater scope than he would have had at Riverview. He could do better work and was in contact with a wider group of scientists. There were times when he lamented that he had never given a retreat, but his was a full-time ministry.

Retirement (1970 - 1982)
His health, never very robust, gave him increasing problems so he had ultimately to retire from the Observatory and come to live in Rome at our Curia. The Pope wanted him to stay in Rome and keep in touch with the Pontifical Academy. In August 1973 he was allowed to make a trip to Australia to attend a conference and make contact. Of course, he had always kept in touch and delighted to meet Australian Jesuits studying in Rome. I have very happy memories of meeting with him during the 32nd General Congregation. He had a great memory for the Australian brethren and even for the boys he had known at Riverview.

His health became worse and worse so that for the last two years he was practically bed-ridden. He died in the infirmary at the Curia on October 13th, 1982. The notice in the Osservatore Romano mentioned that he had bore his long illness with marvellous serenity and was comforted by the special blessing of the Holy Father, John Paul II. One can only say that the papal blessing was richly deserved - Daniel O'Connell had been a very faithful servant of the Church in the difficult field of science.
With similar talents and in different ways, William Keane and Daniel O'Connell made very significant contributions to the work of the Province and the Society. As they were men who shared their wisdom with others we may trust that they will shine like stars for all eternity (Book of Daniel, 12:3)
John Begley
Australian Province Taken from “Jesuit Life” Newsletter

◆ The Clongownian, 1953
Astronomer and Seismologist
Father Daniel O’Connell SJ
THE appointment of Father Daniel O'Connell SJ, director of Riverview Observatory, New South Wales, Australia, since 1938, as Director of the Vatican Observatory in Rome, climaxes a long and eminent career as astronomer and seismologist.
Father O'Connell enjoys world repute as a scientist and he has contributed much to the high reputation enjoyed by the famous Jesuit observatory at Riverview.
He holds the Doctorate of Science of the National University of Ireland and the Docotrate of Philosophy of the Gregorian University of Rome, and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He was born near Rugby, England, in 1896, of an Irish father, a civil servant and a native of County Limerick, and an English mother. He had two brothers and one sister, all of whom are still living. He went to Ireland as a boy of 12, following the death of his parents, completed his schooling at Clongowes Wood College, and entered the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg at the age of 17.
His family has a 600-years-old affinity with that of “The Liberator”. He was not, however, called after “The Liberator”. The Christian name, Daniel, was traditional in his family.

His first introduction to astronomy was a year's private study with the late Father W O'Leary SJ, a famous Irish Jesuit astronomer and seismologist, who at that stage was Director of the Rathfarnham Observatory from 1929 to 1938. He began by setting up some telescopes at Rathfarnham, largely as a hobby.

Father O'Connell completed his MSc degree at University College, Dublin, in 1920, after a brilliant course of study, specialising in Mathematics and Experimental Plıysics. He topped all his examinations, graduated with first-class honoura, and was awarded a travelling student ship in Mathematics. Whilst he was still an undergraduate he was in charge of the Rathfarnham station for several years after the departure of Father O'Leary.

He completed his philosophical studies at the Jesuit House at Valkenburg, in Holland, where he also pursued spare time astronomical studies under world famous Jesuit scientists like Father Michael Esch SJ, expert on variable stars; Father Franz Xavier Kugler SJ, world authority on Assyriology and Babylonian astronomy, and Father Theodor Wulfe SJ, world-ranking physicist.

Arrangements had been made for him to enter Cambridge University on a travelling scholarship where he would have studied relativity under Eddington, when he experienced a breakdown in health and was sent to Australia by his superiors to recuperate. Prior to this, he had never dreamt of going to Australia, had thought little about that country, and had few friends there.

An interesting and significant incident occurred whilst he was studying at Valkenburg. Seemingly for no apparent reason, Father Edward Pigot SJ, Founder of Riverview Observatory, appeared at the college one day during a visit to Europe. The young Jesuit student met the veteran and conversed with him. He was later invited to accompany him to the railway station to see him off. Just before he boarded his train, Father Pigot mentioned that his real reason for coming was to see the future Director of Riverview and to “look him over”. It was no surprise when he later sought him as his assistant.

Father O'Connell was appointed to St Ignatius College, Riverview as teacher of physics and assistant to the Director of the Observatory, Father Pigot. Father O'Connell is still happy to recall that another assignment in the early days was that of sports master at St Ignatius. In 1923 he was appointed assistant director of the observatory, and one of the first tasks he undertook in his new post was to advance the local study of solar radiation.

Father O'Connell returned to Dublin in 1926 to complete his theological studies and was ordained at Milltown Park by Archbishop Byrne in 1928. After two more years of theological studies he com pleted his tertianship in St Beuno's College, Wales.

During 1931 to 1933, Father O'Connell was a member of the staff of the Harvard University Observatory, renowned for its work on variable stars, where he completed post-graduate studies and research on variable stars and other aspects of astronomy. He published numerous papers in Harvard publications, and has since acknowledged that his work at Harvard was the foundation of his later contribution to astronomy.

During his stay in the United States Father O'Connell visited Mount Wilson and Lick Observatories in California before returning to Australia via Japan, China, Java and the Philippines, where he visited leading observatories and advanced his practical studies. The Lembang Observatory in Java was one that held special interest for him.

Father O'Connell resumed his work at Riverview Observatory at the end of 1933. In 1935 he initiated the “Riverview Observatory Publications”, which now enjoy an international reputation. Later he also founded the observatory's “Geophysical Papers” and “Reprint Series”, which are also known and used internationally. In 1948 Father O'Connell spent 10 months in Europe. He was the Australian delegate at the conference of the International Astronomical Union at Zurich and that of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics at Oslo. He spent six weeks at the Vatican Observatory and visited other leading observatories of Europe.

During World War II, Father O'Conneil, working at the Riverview Observatory collaborated with the United States Government in the location of earthquakes in the Pacific zone in relation to war strategy. This work was carried on in the post-war period and is still taking place. Each week a cabled report in code is sent to the United States from Riverview. He was also consulted by the Imperial War Graves Commission concerning possible earthquake damage to war cemetery sites in the Pacific area.

In 1948 Father O'Connell received his Doctorate of Science from the National University of Ireland in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science.

Father O'Connell is a member of leading Australian and overseas societies and other organisations, and has contributed numerous research papers and other writings to their publications and proceedings.

He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the international Astronomical Union, Fellow of the Royal Astromomical Society, Vice-President of the Royal Society of New South Wales, member of the National Research Council of Australia and the National Committee on Astronomy, Geophysics and Calendar reform; Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the Commonwealth Observatory, Mount Stromio; Australian representative on the Committee for Seismology of the Pacific Science Commission and member of many other scientific councils and committees in Australia. Father O'Connell resigned from 19.Boards and Committees..

Under Father O'Connell's direction, the Riverview Observatory has conducted a programme of continuous research that has been responsible for important discoveries. In the field of astronomy, eclipsing stars and cepheid variables have received special study. The photographic photometry of these stars has been one of the main aspects of the observatory's programme. Hundreds of new variable stars have been discovered, and much original research has been completed on known stars. About 15,000 plates are on file in the observatory.

Variable stars are those which are con stantly changing in brightness. Another star may move in front of them, they may expand or contract becoming hotter and brighter.

Knowledge of variable stars is highly important and basic to progress in modern astronomy. But for a knowledge of cepheid stars, for example, scientists would not have the faintest notion of the size of the universe,

One of Father O'Connell's latest activities was the use of photo-electric equipment in relation to variable stars.

Father O'Connell is reassured by the knowledge that this and other phases of the work at Riverview will continue and, naturally, it is his hope that necessary staff and equipment will be forthcoming. The fact that the direction will be in the hands of Father Burke-Gaffney gives Father O'Connell confidence in the future work and role of the observatory. Father O'Connell has taken some material on southern stars with him to Rome for completion.

In the field of seismology, the observatory's programme has included the regional study of earthquakes and the relation ship between earthquake waves and the interior of the earth.

The publications of Riverview Observatory are an important aspect of the work. They include four series - the “Seismological Bulletins”, which have appeared since 1909, the “Riverview Observatory Publications”, which began in 1935, the “Reprint” series, which date back to 1936, and the “Geophysical Papers”, which were founded in 1946. All of them are circulated and read all over the world.

The Riverview Observatory, which progressed under Father O'Connell, has never been anything but first-rate. It inherited this tradition from its founder and it was maintained by later directors. Complete accuracy has always been its aim, and all of its work has proved to be as careful and painstaking as human processes can ensure. Its equipment has always been the best available and its overhead has growii in dimension as well.

Father O'Connell left Sydney by slip for Rome on July 26 to take up his net post.

It distressed him that he was unable to make a personal farewell to many of his friends before he left Australia, due to the fact that he was confined to bed until the day before his ship sailed.
The Catholic Weekly (Sydney)

◆ The Clongownian, 1983
Obituary
Father Daniel Joseph Kelly O’Connell SJ
On October 14, 1982, the Jesuit order lost one of the best known of its modern scientists, the internationally acclaimed astronomer: Father Daniel J K O'Connell SJ. After several years of serious and confining sickness, Father O'Connell died peacefully among his Jesuit brothers at the order's headquarters in Rome, where he had settled after his retirement in 1970. In addition to directing the Vatican Observatory from 1952 to 1970, he was President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences from 1968 to 1972 and President of the Commission on Double Stars of the International Astronomical Union from 1955 to 1961. He served three popes and had close personal relationships with all of them.

Born in Rugby, England, in 1896, he entered the Jesuit order in Ireland in 1913. He received his diploma in experimental physics and a Master of Science degree in mathematics at University College Dublin, and later a Doctorate in Science from the National University of Ireland. He studied from 1931 to 1933 at the Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was subsequently to have studied with the famous Sir Arthur Eddington. However, because of a lung condition, Jesuit superiors, in order to provide him with a more favourable climate, assigned him to the Riverview College Observatory, Sydney, Australia, where he became director in 1938.

During the years that Father O'Connell was at Harvard, the observatory was at the centre of the major developments in astronomical research and especially those which were to lead within the next few decades to the notion of the expanding universe of galaxies. He was thus associated with such eminent astronomers as Harlow Shapley, Cecilia Payne Gaposhkin, and others. His principal occupation at Harvard, a pursuit which he continued for the rest of his life, was the study of variable stars; but he also became known as a keen card player, especially at bridge. In fact, a story is told of how two young graduate students were duped into an evening of bridge against Father O'Connell and the famous cosmologist Abbé Georges Lemaitre on the occasion of a visit which the latter paid to the Harvard College Observatory. The students, not knowing the true identity of their challengers except that they gave a distinct impression of being neophytes at bridge, since they were overheard explaining to one another in broken English and French the names of the cards, were a bit embarrassed to accept the challenge for fear of crushing opponents to whom they were expected to show at least respectful deference. After a long evening of play the students, soundly defeated and thoroughly deflated, approached the famous Harlow Shapley for an explanation. His only remark to them was that the game must have been both an honest and an intelligent one, at least on the part of the two older gentlemen, since both of them were on the one hand Catholic priests and on the other eminent scientists.

While at the Riverview College Observatory, in addition to his study of variable stars, Father O'Connell, under the tutelage of the famous Father Wm O'Leary SJ, developed a keen interest in seismology and in the measurement of time with various types of clocks. This latter pursuit led him into a life long interest in the calendar and calendar reform, a study which served him well in later decades, since he was asked to advise popes on calendar reform and the cycle of ecclesiastical feasts.

Called to be director of the Vatican Observatory in 1952, Father O'Connell began a career of unique service to the Church which spanned the reign of three popes and saw immense developments in astronomical research from the initial concept of various stellar populations to an expanding universe containing active galactic nuclei and quasars, In fact, during his directorship, once near the beginning and once at the end, Father O'Connell organized Study Weeks of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at which some of the world's most capable astronomers discussed the topics respectively of Stellar Populations (1957) and Nuclei of Galaxies (1970). As a result of these Study Weeks two books were published, both edited by Father O'Connell, which have become classics of astronomical literature.

Of his many contacts with the popes he served, his relationship with Pope Pius XII was an especially close one. He frequently advised the pope, himself a very keen and diligent student of the natural sciences, on topics of current scientific research. The International Astronomical Society held its triennial meeting in Rome in 1952, the same year that Father O'Connell came as director to the Vatican Observatory. At an audience and reception given by the Pope, the first opportunity was given to the pontiff to appreciate what a qualified representative the Church had in Father O'Connell as an interpreter of the Church's aspirations to the culture of science. It was under Pius XII that the major modern research tool of the Vatican Observatory, the Schmidt telescope, planned under his predecessors but completed under Father O'Connell, was inaugurated and blessed. Pope Pius XII often visited the observatory and, in fact, as a gesture of his interest, came to view through the Schmidt telescope with Father O'Connell on the night when the Space Age was born with the launching of the Russian Sputnik.

Pope John XXIII showed a special affection for Father O'Connell and the observatory staff and not infrequently paid visits to Father O'Connell's office, which was located directly above the Pope's private study. At the time of the landing of the first man on the moon, Father O'Connell had the privilege of viewing the event with Pope Paul VI over a specially installed television and he advised the Pope on the technical details of the mission.

In the pursuit of his scientific research, Father O'Connell was a close friend and collaborator of an international community of astronomers. As director of the Riverview College Observatory, he came to Europe in 1948 to attend the first postwar meeting of the International Astronomical Union held at Zurich, and on that occasion he visited many European observatories. His visit to Utrecht was noteworthy, for there he established a life long friendship with Professor Minnaert who later encouraged him to issue the now famous book on the Green Flash, which, published in collaboration with Brother Karl Treusch SJ, provides excellent documentation on optical effects which occur in the earth's atmosphere when the sun is rising or setting. However, Father O'Connell was best known in the inter national community of astronomers for his research on double stars. He discovered an effect - since known as the “O'Connell Effect”, concerning the rotation of the line of the apsides (the major axis of the double star's elliptical orbit). The discovery of this effect was typical of the scientific work of Father O'Connell. It required a long period of pains taking observations and careful analyses over many years.

In addition to his membership in the academies and institutes mentioned above, Father O'Connell was a member of the National Research Council of Australia, and an honorary member of both the Royal Society of New South Wales and of the Royal Irish Academy

While he was an indefatigable worker and consequently very jealous of his time, he still treasured immensely his friends and was, as a matter of fact, always nurturing new friend ships. Even during his last years, when he was largely bedridden, he developed new friend ships among old and young alike. There was never an international scientific conference attended by Vatican astronomers in the Rome area where the participants failed to request to pay a visit to Father O'Connell. Many were the nights that, under the then clear skies over Castle Gandolfo, Father O'Connell climbed the stairs to the telescope atop the papal palace passing the plaque inscribed thus: Deum Creatorem Venite Adoremus. In serving many, of high and low station alike, he was serving but One, the Creator of all that he observed. For that Daniel Joseph Kelly O'Connell, sj. has been called to his Father and we are happy for him.

George V Coyne SJ (Maryland) and Martin F McCarthy SJ (New England), Vatican Observatory.

O'Connell, Denis, 1923-2004, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/688
  • Person
  • 19 February 1923-18 October 2004

Born: 19 February 1923, Westport, County Mayo
Entered: 07 September 1942, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1956, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1959, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 18 October 2004, Crossna, County Roscommon - Nazareth House, Sligo - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid Galway community at the time of death.

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 03 December 1969

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Fr Denis O'Connell (known to all as 'Dinny') was born in Westport, Co Mayo. After primary school, he went to Clongowes Wood College, run by the Jesuits, until he finished his secondary education. The attraction to religious life was already there for he went to the Cistercians for a short time but turned back to the Jesuits he knew from school, and entered the novitiate at Emo Park in 1942. He followed the normal course of studies of university, philosophy, regency at Belvedere and on to theology at Milltown Park Dublin, where he was ordained priest on 31st July 1956.

He came out to Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) in 1958 and went to Chikuni to learn CiTonga, the language of the people. After a year at Charles Lwanga Teacher Training College he came to Monze (1962/63) where he worked in the parish. Pastoral work was to be his vocation for the rest of his life. A big step from here took him to the large urban parish of St Ignatius in Lusaka where he worked for six years (1964–1970). Nakambala on the Sugar Estate in Mazabuka held Dinny for eight years, again working with the people.

During that time he oversaw the building of Christ the King church, the second church on the estate along with St Paul's.
After thirty years of fruitful, patient work in Zambia, he returned to Ireland to continue his pastoral work, first in the archdiocese of Dublin for three years and then in the west at Clarinbridge and Lisdoonvarna in the diocese of Galway where he did pastoral work and chaplaincy. After nine years at this he went north to Sligo to Nazareth House as assistant hospital chaplain. He returned to Galway from Sligo on the 18 October 2004, staying with a priest friend at Crossna, Co Roscommon on the way, but died peacefully in his sleep while staying there.

These are the facts of Dinny's life, a pastoral priest at all times. What of the man himself? Outwardly he was a very laid-back person, easy going in the sense that very little disturbed him much. Always associated with him was his pipe and his hand basket in which he carried the essentials for his pastoral work as he moved around. The pipe brings to mind a story about him while he was on a sabbatical in the United States. A quiet evening smoke in the room where he was a guest activated the sprinklers in the ceiling and drenched the room.

As a pastoral worker and chaplain, he was most faithful to the work at hand, proceeding quietly and with no fuss, almost unnoticed. He had an easy way of talking to the elders, putting them at their ease, whether visiting their homes or attending at their bedside in hospital. He loved to walk on his own by the sea if it was nearby or along a river bank and for him this was also a time of prayer. He loved a good chat with friends once he had the pipe lit and glowing.

He was not adverse to recounting stories or events about himself. One that springs to mind is the time when he was traveling to Lusaka with a Jesuit colleague, a colleague who would quickly speak of spiritual matters. ‘Dinny’, the colleague said, ‘I admire you’. ‘Huh! why's that?’ said Dinny. ‘Well’ was the reply ‘you are a man of few talents but you use them to the best of your ability’. Dinny's talent was the quiet, unobtrusive ability to get his pastoral or chaplaincy work done and his easy manner with people.

Before he died, Dinny donated his body to the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway for medical research. After the evening service in St Ignatius Church, the body was taken away so that at the Mass for Dinny on the following morning in Dublin, his body was not present.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 123 : Special Issue February 2005

Obituary

Fr Denis (Dinny) O’Connell (1923-2004) : Zambia Malawi Province

Feb. 19th 1923: Born in Westport, Co. Mayo
Early education at CBS, Westport, and Clongowes Wood College
Sept. 7th 1942: Entered the Society at Emo Park
Sept. 8th 1944: First Vows
1944 - 1947: Rathfarnham - Studied Arts at UCD
1947 - 1950: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1950 - 1953: Belvedere College - Teacher
1953 - 1957: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
July 31st 1956: Ordained at Milltown Park
1957 - 1958: Rathfarnham - Tertianship
1958 - 1959: Chikuni - Studying local language; Spiritual Director
Feb. 2nd 1959: Final Vows at Chikuni Mission
1959 - 1960: Teacher Training College Chisekesi – Teacher; Spiritual Director
1960 - 1963: Sacred Heart, Monze - Prefect of Church
1963 - 1964: Sacred Heart, Monze - Mission Bursar; Prefect of Church
1964 - 1970: St. Ignatius Church Lusaka, - parish priest
Dec. 31st 1969: Transcribed to Zambia / Malawi Province
1970 - 1971: Chikuni, Canisius community - studying Chitonga
1971 - 1973: St. Mary's, Monze, - parish priest, minister
1973 - 1974: Chikuni, Canisius community - PP Fumbo
1974 - 1975: Ireland
1975 - 1980: Mazabuka, Nakambala- assistant PP
1980 - 1983: Mazabuka, Nakambala- superior, PP
1983 - 1984: Toronto-sabbatical
1984 - 1987: Kalomo - PP
1987 - 1988: Loyola House, Dublin - pastoral work
1988 - 1990: Arklow, Co Wicklow - pastoral work
1990 - 1991: Galway - pastoral work in Galway Archd.
1991 - 1993: Lisdoonvarna, Stella Maris Convent chaplain
1993 - 1999: Galway - assistant director of Mission Office.
1999 - 2003: Sligo, Nazareth House -asst. hosp. chaplain
2003 - 2004: Galway - Assist in church
Oct. 18th 2004: Died in Co. Roscommon

On October 9th Denis left Galway to visit friends in Sligo. He planned to be away for about a week. On Monday 18th he left a message for John O'Keeffe to say that he was with friends near Lough Key and that he planned to return to Galway on Wednesday 20th. On the evening of the 18th a message was received in Galway from the PP of Crossna, Co. Roscommon, to say that Denis did not come to tea as expected and that on going to his room he found him dead. He had gone to take a siesta.

Tom McGivern writes in the ZAM Province News Oct. 2004:

Dennis O'Connell (known to all as “Dinny”) was born in the west of Ireland, in Westport, County Mayo, on 19 February 1923. After primary school, he went to Clongowes Wood College run by the Jesuits, until he finished his secondary education. After school he tried a vocation with the Cistercians for a short time but turned back to the Jesuits whom he knew from school....He came out to Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) in 1958 to Chikuni where he studied Chitonga. After a year at Charles Lwanga Teachers' Training College, he went to Monze (1962-63) where he worked in the parish. Pastoral work was to be his vocation for the rest of his life. From Monze he took a big step to the large urban parish of St. Ignatius in Lusaka where he was parish priest for six years (1964-1970).

After Lusaka he moved again to the South where he worked for a while out of Chikuni and later in Monze. Then, for eight years (1975-1983) he worked at Nakambala in Mazabuka. During that time he oversaw the building of Christ the King church, the second church on the Sugar Estate after St. Paul's. His final years in Zambia were spent as parish priest in Kalomo (1984-1987). After thirty years of fruitful, patient work in Zambia, he returned to Ireland to continue his pastoral work. First he worked in the Archdiocese of Dublin for three years and then went to the West to the Diocese of Galway. There he did pastoral work and chaplaincy in Clarinbridge and Lisdoonvarna. After nine years at this he moved north to Sligo to Nazareth House as assistant hospital chaplain. In the latter part of last year he moved back to the Jesuit community in Galway where he was assisting in the church. Returning to Galway from a visit to Sligo on 18 October, he stayed with a priest friend at Crossna, County Roscommon. He died peacefully in his sleep while staying there.

These are the facts of Dinny's life. What of the man himself? Outwardly, he was a very laid-back person, easy going in the sense that very little disturbed him much. Always associated with him was his pipe and his hand basket in which he carried the essentials for his pastoral work as he moved around. The pipe brings to mind a story about him while he was on his sabbatical in the States. A quiet evening smoke in his room above the Downtown Chapel in Portland, Oregon, where he was a guest, activated the smoke detector in the ceiling and set off the sprinkler system, drenching the room.
As a pastoral worker and chaplain, he was most faithful to the work at hand, quietly, no fuss, almost unnoticed. He had an easy way of talking with elders, putting them at their ease, whether visiting their homes or attending their bedside in hospital. He loved to walk on his own by the sea or along a river bank. For him it was a time of prayer. He loved a good chat with friends once he had the pipe lit and glowing.

He was not adverse to recounting stories about himself. One that springs to mind was a time when he was traveling to Lusaka with a Jesuit companion, a companion who would quickly speak of spiritual matters. “Dinny”, the Jesuit said, “I admire you”. “Huh! Why's that?” asked Dinny. “Well”, was the reply. “You are a man of few talents, but you use them to the best of your ability!”
Dinny's talent was his easy, welcoming manner with people and his quiet, unobtrusive pastoral ability.

◆ The Clongownian, 2005

Obituary

Father Denis O’Connell SJ

On October 9th Denis left Galway to visit friends in Sligo. He planned to be away for about a week. On Monday 18th he left a message for John O'Keeffe to say that he was with friends near Lough Key and that he planned to return to Galway on Wednesday 20th. On the evening of the 18th a message was received in Galway from the PP of Crossna, Co Roscommon, to say that Denis did not come to tea as expected and that on going to his room he found him dead. He had gone to take a siesta.

Dennis O'Connell (known to all as “Dinny”) was born in the west of Ireland, in Westport, County Mayo, on 19 February 1923. After primary school, he went to Clongowes Wood College run by the Jesuits, until he finished his secondary education. After school he tried a vocation with the Cistercians for a short time but turned back to the Jesuits whom he knew from school. He came out to Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) in 1958 to Chikuni where he studied Chitonga. After a year at Charles Lwanga Teachers Training College, he went to Monze (1962-63). where he worked in the parish. Pastoral work was to be his vocation for the rest of his life. From Monze he took a big step to the large urban parish of St Ignatius in Lusaka where he was parish priest for six years (1964-1970).

After Lusaka he moved again to the South where he worked for a while out of Chikuni and later in Monze. Then, for eight years (1975-1983) he worked at Nakambala in Mazabuka. During that time he oversaw the building of Christ the King church, the second church on the Sugar Estate after St Paul's. His final years in Zambia were spent as parish priest in Kalomo (1984-1987). After thirty years of fruitful, patient work in Zambia, he returned to Ireland to continue his pastoral work. First he worked in the Archdiocese of Dublin for three years and then went to the West to the Diocese of Galway. There he did pastoral work and chaplaincy in Clarinbridge and Lisdoonvarna. After nine years at this he moved north to Sligo to Nazareth House as assistant hospital chaplain. In the latter part of last year he moved back to the Jesuit community in Galway where he was assisting in the church. Returning to Galway from a visit to Sligo on 18 October, he stayed with a priest friend at Crossna, County Roscommon. He died peacefully in his sleep while staying there.

These are the facts of Dinny's life. What of the man himself? Outwardly, he was a very laid-back person; easy going in the sense that very little disturbed him much. Always associated with him were his pipe and his hand basket in which he carried the essentials for his pastoral work as he moved around. The pipe brings to mind a story about him while he was on his sabbatical in the States. A quiet evening smoke in his room above the Downtown Chapel in Portland, Oregon, where he was a guest, activated the smoke detector in the ceiling and sec off the sprinkler system, drenching the room.

As a pastoral worker and chaplain, he was most faithful to the work at hand, quietly, no fuss, almost unnoticed. He had an easy way of talking with elders, putting them at their ease, whether visiting their homes or attending their bedside in hospital. He loved to walk on his own by the sea or along a riverbank. For him it was a time of prayer. He loved a good chat with friends once he had the pipe lit and glowing. Dinny's talent was · his easy, welcoming manner with people and his quiet, unobtrusive pastoral ability.

TMCG

O'Connell, Jeremiah, 1937-2020, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/450
  • Person
  • 02 July 1937-17 November 2020

Born: 02 July 1937, Shortcastle, Mallow, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1955, St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 10 July 1969, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 17 September 1975, Mukasa, Choma, Zambia
Died : 17 November 2020, John Chula House, Lusaka, Zambia - Zambiae-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Transcribed HIB to ZAM, 17 September 1975

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

1955-1957 St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
1957-1960 Rathfarnham Castle - Studying
1960-1962 St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg - studying Philosophy
1962-1963 Loyola, Spain - studying Philosophy
1963-1965 Chivuna, Monze, Zambia - Regency, studying language, then teaching at Canisius College, Chikuni
1965-1966 Belvedere - Regency, teaching
1966-1970 Milltown Park - studying Theology
1970-1974 Canisius College, Chikuni - teaching
1974-1975 Mpima Seminary, Kabwe, Zambia - teaching
1975-1989 Mukasa Secondary School, Choma, Zambia
1989-1992 Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia - Maintenance
1992-2004 St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia
2004-2005 Jesuit Community, Claver House, LeConte, Berkeley CA, USA - sabbatical
2005-2018 Mukasa Jesuit Community, Choma, Zambia
2018-2019 Lusaka House, Lusaka, Zambia
2019-2020 Luwisha House, Lusaka, Zambia - John Chula House

O'Connell, Patrick L, 1920-1997, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/533
  • Person
  • 07 September 1920-11 February 1997

Born: 07 September 1920, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1938, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 08 September 1951, Heythrop College, Oxford, England
Final Vows: 02 February 1956, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 11 February 1997, St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin

Part of the Manresa, Dollymount, Dublin community at the time of death.

by 1949 at Heythrop, Oxfordshire (ANG) studying
by 1963 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying
by 1972 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 92 : August 1996

Obituary

Fr Patrick (Paddy) O’Connell (1920-1997)

7th Sept. 1920: Born in Galway.
Early education: Presentation Brothers, Cork and Belvedere College
7th Sept. 1938: Entered the Society at Emo
1940 - 1944: Rathfarnham, studied Classics at UCD
1944 - 1947: Tullabeg, studied Philosophy
1947 - 1948: Belvedere College, Regency
1948 - 1952: Heythrop College, studied Theology
8th Sept. 1951: Ordained at Heythrop College
1952 - 1953: Rathfarnham, Tertianship
1953 - 1955: Gonzaga College, teaching
1955 - 1961: Milltown Park, teaching Dogma and Church History
1961 - 1963: Rome, Oriental Inst., Study : Oriental Church History
1963 - 1967; Milltown Park, Prof. Fundamental Theology
1967 - 1970: Rome, Gregorian - (Apr - Oct)
1970 - 1971: Sabbatical year
1971 - 1972: Milltown Park (Sem 1), Rome (Sem 2)
1973 - 1974: Rome: Dean, Faculty of Oriental Theology and Superior of the Community
1974 - 1984: Leeson St. - Editor of “Studies”
1984 - 1997: Manresa: Curate, St. Gabriel's Parish

Fr. Paddy O'Connell was born in Galway on the 7th September 1920. His father, who was from Kerry, was a school inspector. He began his schooling with the Presentation Brothers, Cork and finished in Belvedere College. In 1938 on his eighteenth birthday he joined the Jesuits. After two years noviceship in Emo, near Portarlington, his long years of study began. Four years at UCD obtaining an MA in Latin and Greek, three years philosophy in Rahan, Co. Offaly and four years theology in England where he was ordained in 1951. In the early sixties he obtained a doctorate in Theology in Rome.

Fr. Paddy was at home among books of all kinds, but they were not his only love. He was keen on sport and current affairs. He was very much himself in the company of young people; what interested them interested him. For a number of years while teaching theology in Milltown Park he was the rugby trainer of Presentation College, Bray. Apart from teaching in the Milltown Institute, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Theology, he also taught briefly in Belvedere and Gonzaga in Dublin and at the Oriental Institute in Rome where he was Rector in 1973-74. In the ten years before coming to St. Gabriel's he was editor of the Jesuit Review Studies. Up until recently he acted as censor of several Jesuit magazines. He learned to read quickly!

When Fr. Paddy was appointed to St. Gabriel's he lived for a while in Manresa before he had a house in the parish. However, he always remained a member of the Manresa community and had his dinner there a few days a week.

Of all the jobs he had as a priest the one that made him happiest was his time in St. Gabriel's. There is no giving without receiving. As he gave himself tirelessly to young and old, Fr. Paddy received encouragement and support for his life as a Jesuit priest. His Jesuit brothers wish to thank all of you in the parish who helped him find happiness in serving in the parish in his final twelve years.

His younger brother John was priest of the Dublin diocese and died ten years ago while parish priest of Brackenstown. Fr. Paddy is survived by his sisters, Nora in England and Maureen in Canada, and his many nieces and nephews and their families.

Ar dheis Dé ar a anam.

Charlie Davy

-oOo-

It is not a case of what can one say about Fr. O'Connell, rather one wonders what can one leave out when writing about him. He was such a “Complete Human Being” in every sense of the word and a wonderful Priest. He truly lived his vocation and gave 200% all of the time, never thinking of himself.

Academically he had reached great heights yet he was a very humble man. He loved his work in this parish and he loved the people and was always concerned for them. He took unto himself a lot of the worries and problems of those he served.

There was another side to Fr. O'Connnell. Yes he always had a smile and a greeting whenever he met you, he was most gracious. Then he would start joking and pulling the leg and all in good fun; he was the best of company. One of his favourite television programmes was Taggart, and when Taggart actor Mark McManus died, Fr. O'Connell celebrated a Mass for him. This was his way of saying “Thank You” for the hours of pleasure and relaxation he had received.

There are so many wonderful memories of Fr. O'Connell, but the one I will hold onto is seeing him on a sunny morning sitting on the concrete parapet under the portico outside the sacristy, the jacket open, a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other and delighted to chat to anyone who happened to come along.

We have lost a good friend and a wonderful character but as followers of Christ we must rejoice for him now and thank the good Lord for giving us the privilege of knowing him. He died on the feast of our Lady of Lourdes. May he rest in peace.

Focus 2000 Group

-oOo-

Fr. Paddy has been our much loved Spiritual Director almost since he came to the Parish more than 12 years ago. During all that time members of the branch and all parishioners who wished to attend, had the spiritual benefit of the Mass which he offered and a short talk before the monthly meetings he attended.

At the monthly meetings we had the benefit of his advice, encouragement and help in the recruitment of new members for whom he was always on the look-out, all of which has helped to ensure that our branch remains vibrant.

Over the years he arranged a number of Sunday "Afternoons of Prayer" at the Little Sisters of the Poor Church in Sybil Hill and in the Parish Church. His care for the problems of members, especially sick members, was much appreciated.

Ar dheis De go raibh a ainm dilis.

St. Joseph's Young Priest Society

-oOo-

For several years now Fr. O'Connell has been holding a Bible Class on Tuesday nights and all who attended feel so privileged to have participated.
The members of this group wish to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work and preparation he put into it each week and how much we have all learned. It was all very informal but he made all
the readings come to life for us.

Not only will we miss our Bible studies but we will miss the grand finale of each session when he celebrated Mass for us and then provided a couple of large pavlovas with the tea!

Bible Study Group

-oOo-

The people of Dollymount Grove are grieving the loss of a Neighbour and Friend as well as their priest. Fr. O'Connell was a familiar sight driving in and out, doing a wide U-turn to park in his usual spot, and God help anyone who got in the way! He was always ready to stop for à chat and knew everyone he met, down to their dislikes and failings, which he worked on to his advantage. But he also knew their good points and never missed an opportunity to offer praise and encouragement.

He was keen on gardening - especially watching other people - and was always quick to point out the weeds. He loved children and they returned his affection. He could not pass the boys playing football on the road without joining in, and indeed sadly he was seen out with then just a few short weeks ago.

Fr. O'Connell was welcomed in every house and brought consolation and comfort to the elderly and the lonely. He was new to parish work when he came to St. Gabriel's in 1983 and frequently became distressed after being with people in their last hours. He never lost this emotion and could empathise with those in grief and sorrow. But he did not dwell on sadness for long and used his ability and will to force a smile and lift a heart in even the darkest situations

Auaimhneas siorai ar a anam uasal.

Dollymount Grove

-oOo-

Fr. O'Connell was one of us yet he was also a man apart. His deep knowledge of theology was coupled with a childlike innocence of expression. He brought the comfort of Christ to many, particularly those he visited at home. His rare gift of heart-warming laughter brightened our days.

No trained journalist could have lowered barriers of reserve more quickly. He became both friend and pastor. When our family suffered a bereavement Fr. O'Connell suffered too. Yet he made us aware that death is a new beginning, that there is joy in Heaven, Fr. O'Connell was the epitome of Christianity. He was Christlike.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

A Personal Tribute

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1997

Obituary

Father Patrick O’Connell SJ (OB 1938)

Paddy O'Connell arrived in Belvedere in September 1938 [1936]. He had just finished his Inter Cert in another school, and joined us with the reputation of what we schoolboys called a “swot”. This meant that he would spend most of his time with his head in the books, and would consequently be somewhat anti-social. It was not long before we discovered how wrong we were. In no time he had got involved in all the extra-curricular activities, such as the Debating Society, the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Mission Society, and, of course, the rugby. He even made an abortive attempt to start a chess club. In about one month he must have learned the names of every boy in the school and he was so involved that one could have got the impression that he was a Belvederian of long standing. It was well known that he was a great reader and that he borrowed books from a number of city libraries. This fact tempted one of the boys to ask, “Paddy, is it true that you read four books before breakfast every morning?” With that O'Connell glint in the eye that we all came to know so well as time passed, he replied, “No. It is not true. I can only manage to read three”. I was told that on another occasion, when the same question was asked, Paddy replied, “Did you say read or write?” We all grew to like him as time passed, and when he pushed Gerry Victory into second place in his first house exam, we all believed that Paddy had achieved the impossible.

He was a lover of sport, and while rugby was new to him, he threw himself into the game with a gusto that was well-intentioned if some what lacking in finesse. He was a danger in the lineout, for as a schoolboy, he was a big boned second row forward, all elbows and knees, and one of his own team was just as likely to get a black eye as was one of the opponents. Coming off the field in Roscrea, I asked Seamus Henry, who was to captain the Senior team that won the Cup that year, what he thought of Paddy's performance in the lineout. He replied, briefly but tellingly, “Very effective, if somewhat unusual”. He carried his love of rugby right through his life and coached many school teams, even when much involved in the academic life later on. Although gifted in many ways, he had no musical ability, even if he had a great love for it. He never made the school opera, but displayed a knowledge of Gilbert and Sullivan lore that put us budding thespians to shame.

In September 1938, six Belvederians arrived in the Jesuit novitiate in Emo, with two or more of our year to follow at a later date. It was like Belvedere being moved to the midlands. At school, Paddy had distinguished himself in Fr Charlie Byrne's Latin and Greek classes. We were not surprised when the Master of Novices asked Paddy to help some of the other novices whose training in the classics had been some what limited. During our time in Emo, Paddy told me that he envied his brother, John, who was a student in Clonliffe College and who eventually became a priest in the Dublin dioceşes. John would have ample scope to do what Paddy called “specifically priestly work” in a parish, while he, as a Jesuit, might have limited opportunities to do so. During the last assignment of his life, his hopes of doing this type of pastoral work were granted.

As a Jesuit, he held many important positions. His love of books made him an automatic choice for the post of Librarian in Jesuit communities. He was the editor of the Jesuit quarterly, Studies, and lectured in Milltown Park and Heythrop College, the Irish and English Jesuit theologates. While resident in Dublin, between his many postings abroad, he was of immense help to the victims of alcoholism. His final assignment outside the country saw him occupy the position of Rector of the Oriental Institute in Rome.

His love of rugby brought him into contact with many schools, some run by Jesuits and some by other orders. While engaged in the study of theology at Heythrop before ordination, he did a little bit of coaching in his spare time, and even turned out and played with the local club, a thing that would not have been tolerated in Ireland at the time. But in spite of these contacts, he never lost his love for Belvedere. During the last decade of his life, when he was a curate in the parish of St Gabriel, Dollymount, he came in contact with many of his past pupils who lived in the area. They still regarded him as their old master and were grateful that he was always available to listen to their problems and rejoice in their successes. These were the happiest years of his life and the close proximity of his fellow Jesuits in Manresa House was a special bonus that added much to that happiness.

Paddy was always an optimist, and when I visited him in hospital three days before his death, he assured me that he would be back working in the parish in about two weeks. But that was not to be. His death came as a great shock to his many friends, and to the parishioners of St Gabriel's. One of them, Raymond O’Driscoll, penned a tribute to him in verse, two lines. of which I will quote, for they epitomise the Paddy we all knew so well, and now so sadly miss. May he rest in peace.

"For thirteen years he served us; his labours never ceased,
A humble man, a learned man, a dedicated priest.”

KAL SJ

O'Connell, Philip, 1827-1903, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1877
  • Person
  • 14 October 1827-06 July 1903

Born: 14 October 1827, County Cavan
Entered: 15 September 1864, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: - pre Entry
Final vows: 02 February 1877
Died: 06 July 1903, University College, Dublin

1866 2nd year Novitiate at Galway
by 1867 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He was a priest of the Diocese of Kilmore. When he had completed his studies he was appointed President of St Patrick’s College, Cavan. Under his leadership he raised the status of the College as one of great efficiency. he endeared himself to his students by his courteous and friendly manner, whilst at the same time modelling the virtues necessary for Ministry.
After years of service to his Diocese he entered the Society of Jesus.

After First Vows he was immediately appointed Rector at Galway, and later Rector at Crescent, Limerick.
As a Missioner, he became known and revered in many parishes in Ireland.
He continued to be held in high regard by the Priests of Kilmore, even after he entered the Society. When the Bishop Dr Finnegan died, as names of a possible successor were sought from the Priests of the Diocese, many voted for Philip O’Connell, eve though they knew he was precluded from Ecclesiastical Office by his membership of the Society of Jesus. He was mourned greatly by the Priests of Kilmore and the Society, many of those Kilmore Priests had been students of his at St Patrick’s.
(Text taken from an obituary which appeared in “The Nation”)

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Philip O’Connell (1827-1903)

Was a secular priest of Kilmore diocese when he entered the Society in 1864. After his ordination at Maynooth, he had been appointed to the staff of St Patrick's College, Cavan where he eventually became President. His obituary notice in “The Nation” states that “during his tenure of that office, he raised the College to a high state of efficiency”. His first association with the Crescent was from 1869 to 1870 when he was a member of the teaching staff. He returned to Limerick in 1872 as member of the mission staff and remained here until 1876. Appointed rector of the Crescent in 1882 he remained in office until 1885 when he resumed his mission work. During the years 1885 to 1896 he was stationed variously at Clongowes, Milltown Park and Tullabeg. He was appointed rector of St Ignatius', Galway in 1896 and remained there until 1900 when he returned for another year to work at Sacred Heart Church. He was a member of the community at University College and attached to University Church at the time of his death. Whether as missioner or retreat director, Father O'Connell was one of the most respected priests of his day. The obituary notice in “The Nation” says of him: “As a missioner, he was known and revered in many parishes of Ireland; and from many a peasant homestead will arise a prayer to God for the repose of his soul. Among his brother priests of the diocese of Kilmore, he was held in special veneration. This feeling found expression when, on the death of the late Dr. Finnegan, the names of those from whom the priests of the diocese judged his successor should be selected were submitted to the Holy See. Many of his old colleagues and friends voted for Father O'Connell, though it was known that his obligations precluded him from accepting ecclesiastical dignities”.

O'Connor, Charles E, 1920-2014, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/851
  • Person
  • 12 December 1920-03 February 2014

Born: 12 December 1920, Ballybunion, County Kerry
Entered: 07 September 1938, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1952, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1955, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 03 February 2014, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Transcribed HIB to ZAM 03 December 1969; ZAM to HIB : 31 July 1982

by 1955 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) Regency
by 1970 at Fulham, London (ANG) studying
by 1990 at Biblicum, Rome, Italy (DIR) Sabbatical

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 155 : Spring 2014

Obituary

Fr Charles E (Charlie) O’Connor (1920-2014)

Jim Corkery's homily at funeral Mass, 5 February 2014

It is a privilege for me, for Conall as the Rector of Charlie's community and for Tom Layden as his Provincial, to play a special role in this Eucharistic celebration today, to give thanks for Charlie's long and fruitful life. Such a privilege sometimes falls these days to Jesuits around our age in relation to someone we affectionately call an older Father; and with Charlie it has been, for us, a particular blessing to accompany him in later periods of his life: a blessing because he is so open, so trusting and willing to disclose himself, so human.... Charlie is (I don't say “was”) a Jesuit companion who lets you get to know him; and he wants to know you too. His legendary humanity, his openness to young people - particularly to the young Jesuits who lived in Hatch Street while he was there from 1993 to 2007 - stand out in my mind and make it unsurprising that, since his death two days ago, emails have come in from Joe Palmisano in the U.S. and José de Pablo in Brussels, to bid him farewell and to say how much they appreciated and loved him.

Charlie, “unphony” to the hilt, loved to see and to know people as they really are. In the words of the First Letter of John, chosen for today, we are told that we shall see God as he really is (1 Jn. 3:2). Charlie will relish that. A man of friendships, most assuredly of friendship with God nourished over the years through his praying of the Gospels – he “drank them in” - Charlie knew the Father through the Son; and if he came to the Father through the Son during his life, he did so fully two days ago when he left for the place that the Son had prepared for him (John 14:2). He will relish his encounter with God in Christ. Charlie, who loved to see others as they really are, will rejoice to overflowing on seeing God as he really is.

You see, as we live, so we pray! Charlie lived above all in friendships – you are all testimony to that here this morning. From his fourteen years in Zambia as a young priest through to the final years of his life, it was person-to-person encounter that meant the most to Charlie, Catherine knows this very deeply after four and a half decades of companionship with him, where together they laboured, and laughed, and simply were...in their shared companionship with the Lord. All of you, Charlie's friends and relatives, have been friends-with-him-in-the Lord. His theology - and he had a lively, curious, theological mind! - never allowed him to put God in one place and those he loved in another. He brought his friends to God and God to his friends.

All of you here today have our own special memories of Charlie; I encourage you to keep these alive. I hope – I know you will - recognize in what I say about his gift for friendship something of your own personal experience. Charlie had wide and varied friendships, but he was the same Charlie, the one, recognizable, unphony Charlie in them all. In the Hatch St. Jesuit community, where I arrived with him in 1993 and spent the next twelve years with him there, we 'made memories.' And a thing he particularly liked – perhaps more so in the latter years when he was getting older and I had a special responsibility of care for him - was to disappear sometimes from the house to a place of no distractions (often the Conrad Hotel across the road and never without a glass of wine, I admit!) and to talk without interruption about the things that really mattered to him. It was in such conversation that he opened himself up to me...and did a good job of prising me open too! As I said, he loved seeing people as they really are; and he will be overjoyed at seeing God as God really is!

So, we will miss this good man, with his humanity, his deep spirituality, his gift for befriending, his love of creation (just think of the garden in Wicklow, or the fire there in winter-time) and his mischievous laughter. He told me once that he had lived in my home-town, Limerick, for a while when he was young - and had hated it! I got him to admit, however, that while he didn't like Limerick, he certainly liked limericks. The words “there was a young fellow from...” would always send him into chortles of laughter, his ears cocked for the naughty finishing line!

Where is all that now, we may ask, as his life has ended and he has gone from us? It's only natural that, remembering his love of life, we wish him the fullness of life now. But we wonder how it is for him. From our scripture readings today - without at all being able to imagine what Charlie is experiencing now - we do know, as has been said, that he will “see God as he really is”. We can be sure that, as he nears the heavenly Jerusalem, he is where God dwells with his people and that every tear is wiped from his eyes, his sufferings are ended, and there is no more death or mourning (Apoc. 21: 1-4). We know that our hearts need not be troubled (John 14: 1) because Jesus, in whose footsteps Charlie (literally!) walked many times, has gone “to prepare a place for him” (John 14: 2)...and there he looks on Jesus as he really is. So, even though we cannot be with Charlie any longer, we can be consoled by these promises in the readings. The words of the funeral liturgy will shortly remind us that “the ties of friendship do not unravel with death”. This touches into something of the deeper meaning of our faith in the resurrection of the body and it assures us that Charlie's going to God does not mean that he is sundered from us.

To Catherine, in particular, I say: the care that Charlie had for you, and the care and devotion that you showed him to the end, do not unravel with death. The jewel of your friendship goes with him to God and, as he sees God's face, he does not lose sight of yours. So, while the loss of him is sad, you are not lost from him, nor he from you. No fragment of genuine love is ever lost. In that sense, we all remain, each in our own way – whether through Zambia, or the LRA, or the prayer group, or the Holy Land, or the ecumenical group, or spiritual direction - with Charlie, who is “with Christ” (Phil. 1:23). May he rest in peace! May he enjoy, may he delight in, seeing God as he really is! Amen.

O'Connor, Edward, 1905-1993, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/689
  • Person
  • 07 December 1905-08 September 1993

Born: 07 December 1905, County Waterford
Entered: 31 August 1923, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1935, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia
Died: 08 September 1993, John Chula House, Lusaka, Zambia - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 03 December 1969

Brother of Walter O'Connor - RIP 1967 (their father Peter had been an Olympic triple jump champion)

by 1937 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1939 at Rome, Italy (ROM) Assistant to President of Secretariat Marian Congregation

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Fr Ernest Mackey S.J. was a well known school retreat giver. The vocations of Fr Eddie O'Connor and a few years later of Walter, his brother, were influenced by him. The father of the two brothers was Peter O'Connor a local lawyer and former Olympic champion. The story has it that Peter, encountering Fr Mackey after Fr. Eddie had entered the Society, said
‘That man has taken one of my sons’. Fr Mackey's undaunted reply was, ‘And now, he is coming to take another (Walter)’.

Fr Eddie was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1905. After secondary school, he entered the Society in Tullabeg in 1923. The normal course of studies brought him to ordination at Milltown Park in 1935. He taught for a year in Mungret College and then moved out to Rome to work in Vatican Radio from 1938 to 1946, remaining there during World War 2.
He returned to Ireland and was on the retreat staff up to 1960.

He volunteered to come to Zambia and came in June of 1960, immediately setting about learning ciTonga. He worked mainly in the Southern Province where his brother Walter was. His work was pastoral, preaching, retreat work and parish work. However, he is very much associated with Namwala where he resided and administered for 17 years, 1963 to 1980.

His driving ability was not good, mainly because of failing eyesight. It is told that once when driving with his brother Walter, Walter suddenly shouted, ‘Look out for that cow’! ‘What cow’? says Fr Eddie. After that it was decided that he stop driving. How now to get around his far-flung parish? Easy. He got a horse and this worked extremely well. He became a familiar sight trotting near and far, in fact one of the local farmers used to refer to him as 'Galloping Jesus'.

Fr Eddie was deeply devoted as a pastoral priest ready to give time and attention to his people, the result being that his work was fruitful. After his stay in Namwala, he was chaplain to St Joseph's Secondary School in Chivuna as well as carrying on his pastoral work. In 1989 he moved to Monze where he did dedicated work as chaplain in the hospital there. He was dependable and always available when needed. He was a man of regular habits in his prayer life and daily routine.

In the middle of 1992, Fr Eddie weakened considerably and moved to John Chula House, the Jesuit infirmary in Lusaka. In September of the following year he suffered severe back burns while taking a bath that was too hot and was confined to bed. September 8 was a big day for four Jesuits whose Jubilee was being celebrated and Fr Eddie was one of these, celebrating his 70th year in the Society. Just as Mass was beginning in the novitiate chapel news came across from Chula House that Fr Eddie had passed away quietly. The eighty or so Jesuits, priests, brothers, scholastics and novices who had gathered for the Jubilee, moved over to the chapel of Chula where Fr Eddie had already been laid out in his priestly vestments.

For several, years Fr Eddie wrote the Monze Diocesan Newsletter. Over the years he produced articles for magazines on devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Pioneers. He wrote a pamphlet called ‘Spotlight on Matt Talbot’ which went into a number of printings.

Note from Bernard (Barney) Collins Entry
Barney moved to Namwala parish from 1968 to 1973 with Fr Clarke as his companion in the community to be joined later by Fr Eddie O’Connor (and his horse). From 1973 to 1977 he was parish priest at Chilalantambo and returned to Chikuni in 1977 to be assistant in the parish to Fr Jim Carroll.

Note from Walter O’Connor Entry
On July 21st 1967 he was operated on at St Anne's Hospital in Harare but when opened up, inoperable cancer was found. He died five days later on the 26 July in the company of his brother, Fr Eddie and fellow Jesuits.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - St John’s College (Seminary), Cnoc Eoin, Waterford before entry

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1947

Papal Relief during the War

Father Edward O’Connor SJ

This shall be a few of my own personal experiences of the relief given by His Holiness in Rome during the awful year of 1944. Early one morning in that year the Swiss Guard at the famous Bronze Door was amazed that a group of people calling themselves Russians wished to have an audience with the Holy Father. The priest with the group seeing the look of astonishment on the Guard's face hastened to produce an audience card. The card was in perfect order. The guard then asked the priest what they wanted and he answered : “Relief for poor pagans in dire distress”.

These thirty odd Russians who climbed up to the papal apartments had been taken prisoners and drafted into labour corps in Italy. When the chance offered they had deserted only to find themselves eventually in a Rome under military occupation. In whom could they trust in a city ridden with spies, to whom could they go for food in a city on the verge of starvation? There were hundreds of escaped prisoners of war in like condition-hungry, ill-clad, without a shelter. To aid them was to offend against military law but Christian charity imperiously dictated that they be helped, and helped they were by the aid of the Pope.

One day in the neighbourhood of St Peter's, a Russian Catholic priest that I was acquainted with stopped me to ask a favour. Shortly before I had heard that he was one of the Pope's almoners for Russians in hiding. This day I saw that he had shaved off his beard to be less easily recognisable. He wanted money urgently, he told me, for his Russians, but he had been refused admission to the Vatican to see Mgr Hugh O'Flaherty through whom the papal alms were passed on to him. Could I contact the Monsignor for him? I did, and it was not the only occasion that a Russian appealed to one to bring a message to Mungret's Mgr Hugh O'Flaherty !

A great number of these Russian refugees who had reached Rome, had deliberately avoided the allied refugee camps lest they be subjected to forcible repatriation. Hearing of the Jesuit Russian College they turned to it for help. The priests and students found Russia come to them. They took them in, fed them, clothed them, found them work with the Pope's generous aid, and at last, thanks to him, succeeded in opening a hostel of a kind for them in a bombed building (the only one they could find). One of them whom I was asked to befriend, as he had picked up some English, became a Catholic and is now going to be a priest in the United States. Think of it, he was a pure product i of the Soviet godless educational system, having been born only in the early twenties.

Up to 600 escaped British and American prisoners of war were in hiding in and about Rome in the fateful six months before the city changed hands. These prisoners were in desperate want and the Pope gave generously on their behalf. Slowly a highly secretive relief organisation for them was built up. Those engaged in this dangerous work had aliases. One of the heads of the Relief Society went by the name of “Golf”, in allusion to his ability to swing a club! After a time the secret police ferreted out his identity and prudently he lay low in the Vatican and appeared no more at Irish functions. “Golf” was Mgr O'Flaherty !

I had ample proof myself of Monsignor O'Flaherty's charity. The day the enemy pounced on the Jews and seized hundreds of them, an elderly German Jewess came to me in terror. She couldn't see Mgr O'Flaherty. Could I, as another Irishman, help her? She had had to flee from Germany owing to the persecution there. Part of her savings she had managed to place abroad but when Italy entered the war, she was left without a penny. For a time Mgr O'Flaherty managed to get her some of her money and when that failed, advanced her regularly some of his own earnings. The gratitude she felt towards him, the whole Jewish colony felt towards the Pope. At the Pope's wish, colleges and religious houses all over Rome gave shelter to Jews. This soon became a well-known fact that the Jews were the Pope's guests and so they were left unmolested. Earlier in the occupation when a gold tribute was imposed on them and they could not scrape enough together His Holiness completed the amount for them, but its paying did not long buy them immunity.

At the first solemn synagogue meeting in freed Rome, Chief Rabbi Tolli, publically expressed the thanks of the Jewish com munity to Pius XII and when he himself became a Catholic a few months later, he took Eugene for his baptismal name.

Great numbers of foreign residents and refugees in Italy were reduced. to great distress. Many who had settled down in the country to live on their savings had all their money blocked by the government and after the armiştice, they had good reason to fear arrest and deportation to Germany. A South African widow and her daughter, finding themselves in such circumstances fled from Florence to Rome and were re commended to me. They were Protestants and penniless and the nuns who took them in could not afford to maintain them free. On their behalf I interviewed the Swiss Legation, (charged to look after British interests), but it disclaimed all responsibility as the ladies had neglected to renew their British passports. Perhaps the Pope! Once more suppliant hands raised up to the Vicar of Christ!

So numerous were these appeals that His Holiness had a special office set up for the assistance of civilian foreigners, and put in charge of it Archbishop Riberi, once auditor of the Irish Nuntiature. To him I turned and not in vain. He provided money and food and clothing for them and for count less others. For the allies when they arrived, he and his office were rather an enigma. He was working apart from all the official relief agencies, mostly helping unfortunates whose loss of national rights or whose past political affiliations meant their exclusion from any official relief. Challenged about his work Archbishop Riberi replied with a disarming smile : “In the name of His Holiness, I help all those whom nobody else will help!”

The Allied bombing of the “Castelli” towns south of Rome and the evacuation policy subsequently enforced, created a serious refugee problem. Ten thousand people flocked into the Pope's villa and grounds at Castlegondolfo and some 60,000 took refuge in Rome itself, already not far from starvation point. Two big Papal relief agencies were founded to meet the situation: the Pontifical Aid Commission for Refugees, and the Vatican Food Office. Through them His Holiness succoured not only the refugees but the whole population of Rome.

One of the first gifts sent to His Holiness for medical relief was £500 from the Irish Red Cross. In token of gratitude the first clinic opened for refugee children (near St Peter's) was dedicated to Our Lady, Queen of Ireland, and was entrusted to the care of American Franciscan Sisters (whose Rev Mother, as it happened, was Irish-born).

With a population swollen to a million and a half by the refugees, and the transport of grain into the city gravely hindered by intensive Allied bombing of the roads, the municipal authorities found that they could not maintain even the miserable 31ozs of daily bread ration. They appealed to the Pope. Immediately he had all the Vatican vans and lorries switched over to this urgent work of charity. All that winter and spring of 1944 convoys of Vatican lorries flying the Papal colours faced out on the bomb-pasted roads to forage for food. Three drivers lost their lives and thirty lorries were damaged or destroyed in air attacks, but the work went on. All told, 5,000 tons of flour were brought in the equivalent of a month's ration of bread.

Through the efforts of the Pontifical Aid Commission the 11,000 poor refugees herded, in indescribable conditions in Cesano camp, outside Rome, were saved from death by famine. For Easter 1944, the Holy Father had a generous loaf of bread presented to them all in his name and on Holy Saturday he himself blessed the bread in the Vatican bakery before it was sent off.
In the last six months before the taking of Rome, the Vatican Food Office collected, stored and distributed monthly, close on 500 tons of rationed foodstuffs for religious and charitable institutions and hospitals. The “Circolo San Pietro," with the aid of Papal alms, ran twenty-six soup kitchens from which it supplied 10,750 meals between January and August, 1944.

A more serious youth problem for His Holiness was that of the “shoe-shine” boys. The majority of these were poor youngsters, deprived of a home and often of all support by the war, became hangers-on of the Allied armies as they advanced up Italy and followed them into Rome. More than 8,000 of them roamed the streets, hardened by their unnatural experiences and earning a livelihood as best they could and only too often dishonestly.

O'Connor, James, 1841-1921, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/320
  • Person
  • 01 March 1841-08 November 1921

Born: 01 March 1841, Nash, County Wexford
Entered: 07 September 1861, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1873
Final vows: 02 February 1881
Died: 08 November 1921, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia

by 1864 at Roehampton, London (ANG) studying
by 1871 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1872 at Roehampton, London (ANG) Studying
by 1873 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying
Came to Australia with Joseph Tuite, George Buckeridge and Scholastic John O’Neill 1886

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He spent the greater part of his religious life before going to Australia in the Clongowes and Tullabeg Colleges.
1872 He was Minister at Clongowes.
1878 He was Prefect of the Study Hall at Tullabeg, and Confessor at the Public Church.
1879 He made his Tertianship at Milltown.
1880-1885 He returned to Tullabeg and was Minister there for 1884-1885.
1885-1886 he was sent to Clongowes.
1886 He was sent to Australia, and sailed with Joseph Tuite, George Buckeridge and Scholastic John O’Neill.
From the time of his arrival in Riverview, he spent seven years at Riverview, and some years at St Patrick’s Melbourne.
1895 He was sent to Xavier College, Kew and remained there until his death 08 November 1921.

He was forty years in the HIB Colleges in Ireland and Australia, and he led a very uneventful life. He was never involved in Preaching.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
James O'Connor was educated at Clongowes Wood, 1858-61, and entered the Society, 7 September 1861. He studied philosophy at Stonyhurst and theology at St Beuno's. Tertianship was at Milltown Park, 1879-80.
He taught at St Stanislaus College, 1880-85, and at Clongowes, 1885-86, before arriving in Australia in 1886. He taught at Riverview, 1886-88 and 1891-93; St Patrick’s College, 1889-90 and Xavier College, 1894-1921. Here he was in charge of the farm, 1898-1913. He was also, at various times, hall prefect, prefect of discipline, and spiritual father. By 1921 he had been teaching for 40 years. His work in the schools fell into two parts. For many years he was in charge of the first class, teaching the small boys in their first year in the school. He was known as a land teacher. His attitude to the boys was more paternal than magisterial, and his class was very informal. He was a man of infinite patience, and enjoyed teaching boys the elements of learning. Backward learners had a special share of his attention. He loved cricket, played it himself as a youth, and enjoyed watching games.
The other side of his work for the school was his special contact with the boys as confessor. The boys showed genuine sadness when they learnt of his death, and were permitted to pay their last respect to O'Connor by viewing his body in his bedroom. O'Connor was little known except by the boys and his religious community He rarely left the college grounds, and he respected the privacy of his students in their daily life. Likewise. he was respected for his charm of manner, his humor and great kindliness. Otherwise, he led a very uneventful life and never preached.

◆ The Xaverian, Xavier College, Melbourne, Australia, 1921

Obituary
Father James O’Connor SJ
Father O'Connor died on Tuesday, November 8th, having spent nearly thirty years in the service of the school.

Father O'Connor was born in County Wexford, Ireland, on March 1st, 1841, He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Ireland, and entered the Society of Jesus on September 7th, 1861. His philosophical studies were made at Stonyhurst, and he then acted as Master and Prefect at Clongowes. His theology was done at St Beuno's College, North Wales, where he was ordained in 1884. He came to Australia in 1885, and was for a short time on the staff of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Hawthorn. Thence in 1886 he was transferred to Sydney, where he was on the staff of St Ignatius College, Riverview. Next he went to St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, whence he was transferred to Xavier in March, 1893, and remained there till his death.

His work in the school fails into two parts. For many years he was in charge of the first class, teaching the small boys in their first year in the school. For this task he was by character eminently fitted. His kindly nature showed itself in his sympathetic understanding of his young charges. His attitude to them was more paternal than magisterial, and there was about his class an informality which made small boys at home. He was moreover a man of infinite patience, and through all this years of service seemed never to grow weary of the labours involved in grounding boys in the elements of learning. Backward boys had a special share of his attention, and for many years he made it a practice during evening studies voluntarily to take shy small boys into his room, and there by private coaching, assist them to keep up with the class. And how his small friends loved him The boys of first class used to have the privilege of recreation during the third period of morning school, and it was his practice to accompany them down the grounds, set their games in motion, and while one side was batting you would be sure to see a crowd gathered about him, pouring out all the inconsequential chatter that he loved, asking hm every conceivable question and enjoying his slow, quiet banter. For some years failing sight made him unable to continue in full work, but an operation performed by Dr Edward Ryan was most successful, and till last year he continued to conduct an informal class for the very small boys of the school. Their transfer to Studley Hall robbed him of much of his interest in life, and one could not but remark how he began to fail when his active life amongst them came to an end.

The other side of his work for the school is what brought him most in contact with the boys, but it was work the effect of which is known only to God and those he served. For very many years he was confessor to a large proportion of the boys of the school. In this duty he was untiring, and in spite of failing health, he was never absent from his post till in the last few weeks of his life he was unable to leave his room. As we have said, the work which he did cannot be measured in our human scales, as it was done for no human reward. But we can realize that it was no small thing to have been for close on thirty years the confidant, guide and minister of grace to so many of the sons of the school. What the school thought of him could be gathered after his death. From the moment after Mass when it was announced that he was dead, the boys went spontaneously to his room, and all day at frequent intervals they thronged round the bedside to pray for the repose of his soul. And they came round him with words of reverence on their lips. There's was nothing morbid or emotional in the thoughts one heard expressed in so many different ways; the feeling of envy of one whose life had been so silent, and yet in the eyes of all so saintly, and whom all felt had surely gone to the rewards of the faithful servant. It was a beautiful tribute from Catholic boys to one whose great claim on them was that he had done amongst them the work of a Catholic priest.

We have said something of Fr O'Connor's work, but more than the work was the man. He was known to very few outside the boys and his religious brethren. By nature of a retiring disposition, he loved to efface himself. He rarely left the College grounds, and made it a practice perhaps because of the confidential position in which he stood, to mingle as little as possible with the boys in their daily life. But under this retiring nature there lay a very deep human sympathy and understanding. Though he stood aside, he was a close observer of life around him, and to those who knew him was ever ready with his humorous half-expressed appreciations of men and things. But his humour was typical of him, utterly kindly. Those who knew him for manly years can bear witness that unkindly criticism or wit more clever than charitable was foreign to him. Beyond necessary reports to responsible persons, he would not even criticise to others the school work of the smallest boy in his charge. It was this combination of kindliness and humour that made him such delightful company to those amongst whom his more intimate life was spent.

One other feature that many may not have known was his intense interest in the school. He had been a fine cricketer in his day. As a boy he was in the Clongowes XI., and he followed up the school sport, and especially cricket, with keen interest, and his judgment was shrewd and valuable. He loved to get into a quiet corner of the grounds, or in later years to stand on the balcony near his room and watch cricketers from small boys to members of the XI, and afterwards to discuss every feature of the play. For many years his love of the game showed it self in his care of the oval, where he took his daily exercise in weeding the outfield and working with a hoe on the turf.

So the years passed quietly. In September he celebrated the both anniversary of his entrance into the Society of Jesus, and was much gratified at receiving the Benediction of Rev Fr General together with the promise of 60 Masses in memory of his 60 years. He was visited on the occasion by His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Mannix, and His Grace the Archbishop of Hobart, Dr Barry. But for some time he had obviously been ailing, and a heart affection which had troubled him for some time, and a persistent cold, weakened him considerably. He gradually grew more feeble, and in October had to give up saying Mass. He was anointed at the end of the month, and quietly passed away at 2 am, on November 8tlı. That evening the body was removed to the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Hawthorn, Next morning a large gathering of priests, presided over by His Grace, the Archbishop, attended the Office and Requiem Mass. The boys, a number of the girls from Genazzano Convent, and a number of the faithful filled the church. The High Mass was sung by Fr Fleury SJ, with Prior Kindelan, OCC as deacon and Fr Wilfrid Ryan SJ, as sub-deacon. Absolution was Pronounced by His Grace, who then addressed those present, and in particular the boys, pointing out the lessons of this life of quiet work for God, and asking for prayers for Fr O'Connor's soul. The funeral they took place to Booroondara Cemetery, where all the boys assembled, and the last prayers were read by the Rector. May the kindly soul of Fr. James O'Connor rest in peace,

◆ Our Alma Mater, St Ignatius Riverview, Sydney, Australia, Golden Jubilee 1880-1930
Riverview in the ‘Eighties - A McDonnell (OR 1866-1888)

Fr O'Connor was the third Father who came to the College at the end of 1886. He was a very good, solid teacher. He was a very quiet, retiring man, and was mild and kindly in his dealings with the boys, all of whom were fond of him, and most of those who knew him could not do enough for him. He used to live at the infirmary. Of course some of his pupils used to kick over the traces at times, when Fr. O'Connor would threaten them with “ferrulas”, but the matter never progressed beyond a threat.

◆ The Clongownian, 1922
Obituary
Father James O'Connor SJ

Thirty-seven years ago Father O’Connor went to Australia; so that even his name: will be unknown to recent generations. But Clongownians and Tullabeg boys for many years previous to 1885 will remember him well. Father O'Connor was born at New Ross, County Wexford, in 1842. He entered Clongowes in 1858, and passed from there to the Jesuit Novitiate at Milltown Park, Dublin, in 1861. Here he came under the saintly and skilful direction of Father Daniel Jones, the Master of Novices, and Father Aloysius Sturzo, Socius to Father Jones. On the completion of his Novitiate, Father O'Connor was sent to Roehampton, England, to continue his studies of the Classics ; but one of his life-long troubles - severe head aches-ħad begun, and the next year we find him a Prefect in Clongowes. A year later he was transferred to Tullabeg, where he occupied various posts as Prefect and Master up to 1870, when he began Philosophy at Stonyhurst. Then followed Theology at Roehampton, and after ordination to the priesthood he became Minister at Clongowes. This post he held for three years; and as Fr Robert Carbery, the Rector during that time, broke down in health, a heavy weight of responsibility fell on Father O'Connor's shoulders. He was more than pleased when relieved from the burden in 1876, and transferred once more to Tullabeg, where he remained as Prefect, Master, and finally as Minister, till 1885, the year he went to Australia.

If we confined ourselves to a bare record of events, there is little that, to the outward eye, would be startling in the career of Father O'Connor during his thirty-seven years in Australia. When we have stated that he was Master of junior forms in St Patrick's College, Melbourne, in Riverview College, Sydney ; and, for the last twenty-eight years of his life in Xavier College, Melbourne, we have set down all that the world in general knows about Father James O'Connor. Dr Mannix, the Archbishop of Melbourne, standing beside the corpse of Father O'Connor, used these words : “His life might be called uneventful. He was a quiet, retiring, gentle soul, and nothing was heard of him outside the College he loved so well”.

His life was a long one; for he had reached his.eightieth year when God was pleased to call him on November 8th, 1921. Sixty of those years he had spent in the Society of Jesus. They were sixty years of suffering, for the most part, from violent headaches. More serious ailments came towards the close of his life; but all his sufferings were most patiently borne. We have rarely known of one who did ignore to conceal his illnesses.

Those who knew him intimately were wont to regret that poor health was a bar to the full exercise of his naturally fine mental ability. Yet in spite of such a handicap, Father O'Connor was a well-informed man, and very accurate - dangerously so, in fact, for any who were inclined to looseness of expression. When amongst strangers he was singularly reserved - indeed he shunned all but the company of his fellow-religious. Hence it is that many of his fine qualities were unsuspected. He had a rare sense of humour; his wit was keen but kindly and not caustic. Amongst the Jesuits who knew him long ago in Clongowes or in Tullabeg, as well as amongst those who lived with him in Australia, there will live many a good story connected with his name. His freshness of interest in all things affecting his pupils was remarkable - their studies, their games while at school, their success in their various under takings later on-ail claimed his attention. We insert here an excerpt from the Xaverian, the magazine issued by the school where Father O'Connor spent the last twenty-seven years of his life.

"One feature that many may not have known was his intense interest in the school. He had been a fine cricketer in his day. As a boy he was in the Clongowes XI, and he followed up the school sport, and especially cricket, with keen interest, and his judgment was shrewd and valuable. He loved to get into a quiet corner of the grounds, or in later years to stand on the balcony near his room and watch cricketers from small boys to members of the XI, and afterwards to discuss every feature of the play. For many years his love of the game showed itself in his care of the oval, where he took his daily exercise in weeding the outfield and working with a hoe on the turf. The other side of his work for the school is what brought him most in contact with the boys, but it was work the effect of which is known only to God and those he served. For very many years he was confessor to a large proportion of the boys of the school. In this duty he was untiring, and in spite of failing health he was never absent from his post till in the last few weeks of his life he was unable to leave his room. As we have said, the work which he did cannot be measured in our human scales, as it was done for no human reward. But we can realize that it was no small thing to have been for close on thirty years the confident, guide and minister of grace to so many of the sons of the school

O'Connor, John F, 1921-1971, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/804
  • Person
  • 15 July 1921-26 December 1971

Born: 15 July 1921, Ballyorgan, Kilfinane, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1940, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1956, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1959, St Stanislaus College Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died 26 December 1971, Tullamore County Hospital, Tullamore, County Offaly

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

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 2 1972

Obituary :

Fr John F O’Connor SJ (1921-1971)

It is hard to imagine that Fr. John O'Connor was a good athlete as a schoolboy. Those who remember him at Mungret where he spent four years, 1936 to 1940, will recall his display at football and hurling. He was born outside Kilfinnane, Co. Limerick, and though he seldom spoke about his family and home he had a deep attachment to both. Indeed in recent months his only worry about a possible cure for his arthritis at Phoenix, Arizona, was the separation from his 85-year-old mother. As he spent five years in a Sanatorium with TB after his second year philosophy it is difficult to judge his ability at his studies as a young Jesuit. There is no doubt about that ability however. Though not unduly argumentative he could follow and contribute to a good discussion on moral problems with avid interest. His reading was wide and embraced even novels which were selected with care and a critical eye. Fr John was blessed with a retentive memory,
Most of his studies as a scholastic were absolved as an invalid, but once he got the work at the Rathfarnham Castle retreat house as a priest, he really enjoyed himself. He had a strong love of the Society and could be considered a good Community man. He was certainly a fine priest and a good Jesuit. Good company was a joy to him and he was lucky with his friends in the Province to whom he was forever loyal.
As Bursar in Tullabeg again he found the work that suited him. He proved an excellent economist, methodical in his book-keeping and shrewd in his turn for business. Now he had the opportunity of doing priestly work in his own quiet way, without fanfare or trumpets. He was an excellent confessor, balanced, with sound judgment; liked by the Sisters of the seven convents he visited regularly; liked in the public church. That rare gift of objectivity he had in abundance. Some said he was occasionally negative in his approach to things. This might be true but who has not his reserves?
His unobtrusive dry sense of humour was a great blessing, because he actually kept going to the end when 98% would have thrown in the towel. He was rarely at a loss for a witty repartee, savoured on occasions with a little salt which his equable temperament saved from being resented. His sense of duty was heroic, accepting as he did the hard slogging up and down three flights of stairs so often entailed by calls to the parlour in consultations or to the church for confessions; again trying to open week-end offering envelopes was a penance with fingers stiff and unflexible.
Never one to complain about ill-health and the Lord knows there was plenty to grumble about--one lung, one kidney and a sure but certain deterioration in the arthritis, Fr O'Connor did suffer but even when asked about his health the subject was quietly changed. The last years at Tullabeg were placid and suited him. His memories of his days at Rathfarnham Castle retreat house were pleasant and the doings of the lay helpers and their families were a perpetual interest to him. Yes, he was curious but once the curiosity was satisfied he was content. It was a small weakness. Whoever sent him to Rome, after his kidney operation, with the Retreat House pilgrimage did a good day's work. That trip was an endless thrill and tiny events were often spoken of with a chuckle. Likewise his villas at Enniscrone were a great enjoyment as were the eight summers on supply at Littlehampton in Southern England.
The two and a half days at Tullamore County Hospital prior to his death were very typical of the man. Methodical as ever, everything was in order. All at Tullabeg could see that he was suffering for the five weeks before the end but little did they suspect it was active TB in the one lung that was at the root of the trouble.
He will be missed by the Tullabeg Community. We were glad of the ten years or so he was with us, of his indomitable courage, his unobtrusive co-operation. To die at fifty years of age is young in Jesuit eyes, but to live as he did and to die as he died around midnight on Christmas night was a lesson to us and we are grateful.

O'Connor, John Mary, 1879-1958, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/321
  • Person
  • 12 April 1879-25 June 1958

Born: 12 April 1879, Parnell Square, Dublin
Entered: 05 January 1898, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 27 July 1913, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1916, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 25 June 1958, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1902 at Pressburg Hungary (Bratlslava, Slovakia) (ASR) studying
by 1911 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying

◆ Irish Province News 33rd Year No 4 1958 & ◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1959

Obituary :
Fr John M O'Connor (1879-1958)
The death of Fr. John Mary O'Connor has taken from us one of the heroic-sized figures of the Province. He was one around whom a legend was bound to grow. His emphatic way of speaking, his oft-repeated “Do you follow?”, his delight in purple ink, his championing of unusual causes, his infinite capacity for interviewing were all peculiarities that lent themselves to many a tale. Born in 1879, the youngest son of his father, Fr. John seems to have been his father's chosen companion in his childhood. Those were the exciting years of the Home Rule Party with Parnell at its head and Mr. O'Connor as Lord Mayor of Dublin playing his part in the politics of the day. Hence would seem to spring Fr. O'Connor's life-long interest in debating which he put to good use in Clongowes, Belvedere and University Hall. His parents lived on Parnell Square, or Rutland Square as it was then called, and sent him to school to Belvedere which was so close to home. However, it was found difficult to control the activities of John outside school and he was transferred to Clongowes to encourage him to study. There he remained till he passed the First Arts examination of the old Royal University, so that he did study even if his out-of-class activities grey greater than ever.
When he finally left Clongowes, he wished to join the Society but found two obstacles confronting him, he was a ward in Chancery and he had lost an index-finger. Ways and means were discovered for surmounting both these impediments and he entered the noviceship in 1898. At the end of his noviceship and juniorate in Tullabeg, he went to Pressburg for philosophy and then began his magisterium in Clongowes. After a few years as Line Prefect, he was sent to Belvedere where he spent the remaining years of his teaching. He studied theology first in Louvain, where Fr. General was then attending the University, and later in Milltown Park where he was ordained in 1913. His tertianship was made in Tullabeg and after it he went in 1915 to Clongowes as Higher Line Prefect. In 1921, he returned to Belvedere as Prefect of Games, a post he held until 1930 when he was appointed for the first time as Head of University Hall. He was made Rector of Belvedere in 1936 and when he had finished his term of office in 1942, he returned to University Hall. During this second period in the Hall, a nervous breakdown slowly developed from which he was never to fully recover. He spent a short time in Milltown Park before returning to Belvedere in 1947 to which house he was attached till his death in June, 1958.
As will be noted, Fr. O'Connor's work was for the most part with boys and adolescents for both of whom he possessed traits of character which gave him a marked ascendancy over them. His interest in sport and gifts as a trainer appealed to the athletic and his supreme conviction of the importance of everything he was doing attracted to him adolescents uncertain of themselves. There was, of course, much more than this to his influence over young people. Probably his greatest single asset was his interest in everybody. He could not pass a long railway journey, he could not stay for a short time in a hotel without falling into conversation with his neighbour and getting to know him. This was far from the countryman's spirit of inquisitiveness but marked a very genuine interest in his fellowmen. When boys and University students met him, it was a revelation to many of them that a priest could take the interest in them that Fr, O'Connor obviously did. Hence sprang their devotion to him and their habit of making him the confidant of their ambitions and disappointments. When University College Rugby Club required a trainer, they paid him a remarkable tribute by turning to him in their need and asking him to undertake the difficult task. Mr. Sarsfield Hogan's eulogy of him at a recent meeting of the L.B.I.R.F.U. is a fair indication of the success he made of it. The students had many a story to tell about him but there was no mockery behind the stories, they told them about one for whom they had the highest regard. The gold chalice presented to him when he became Rector of Belvedere was a touching tribute from so notoriously impecunious a body of young men.
Fr. O'Connor was not a person who liked to take his ease - those who went on villa with him often found to their dismay that he fitted a minor mission into tho holiday. Safety first was never his motto, nor is it a Jesuit motto. He undertook many things, some of which were a great success, others the reverse, but the balance was very much in his favour.
Probably his years in Clongowes would appear to many as the least successful, for apart from founding one of the Debating Societies as a Scholastic, he was responsible for no permanent change there. However his influence with the boys was beyond denial and their devotion to him then and afterwards.
His association with Belvedere was very long and Belvedere has much to thank him for. As & scholastic he founded the Rhetoric Debating Society in 1908 and organised the Swimming Gala so well that it was the chief event of the season of the Leinster Swimming World, he was also instrumental in having the Sports Ground at Jones's Road purchased. When he returned as a priest in 1921 he revived the Debating Society, set the College in the front ranks of the Leinster schools for Rugby and Cricket and just before his appointment to University Hall founded a commercial school. Then as Rector be galvanised into new life the Union, founded the Musical Society and got the Old Boys' Rugby Club admitted to Senior ranks, as one of his helpers amongst the Past said at the time rather ruefully, “Being an O.B, is a full-time occupation. nowadays”. No Old Belvederian was allowed to hide his light under a bushel, and heaven and earth was canvassed for the beatification of Dom Columba Marmion. As regards the school itself, he revived the study of German, inaugurated the Philosophy year, the annual mothers' meeting and the interviewing by the Rector of all boys in the final school-year. Even on his return to Belvedere in broken health, he showed he had lost none of his interest in the College. School matches had to be played over again. in his room and changes in the school order of time brought to his notice.
Some think that Fr. O'Connor's finest work was done in University Hall. It was certainly a most difficult assignment. He had to deal with some sixty young men with no great spirit of reverence and very resentful of any attempt to drive them. Yet in a remarkably short space of time, he had established over them an ascendancy which none would have expected. He attributed his success to the prayers he had offered up in so many convents for his charges. On the natural level, the transformation was due to his energetic interest in every aspect of student life. He put before them an ideal to which they promptly responded. They should be leaders in every department of student life. They should be on the College teams, they should be prominent in the Debating Societies and Honours men in the different University faculties. When the students saw that he believed in what he preached and that University Hall was no place for idlers, they came to realise that he had the right scale of values and adopted it themselves. There resulted that high regard for the Hall which still holds in College circles and that brilliant series of results obtained by Hall students which is not likely to be ever surpassed. Fr. O'Connor left the Hall a house of which University College and the Province itself might well be proud. The work Fr. O'Connor himself preferred was that of guiding souls, He was in constant demand by young men and women who wished for advice on the question of vocation. Moreover he never missed an opportunity of giving a retreat. He had not a very attractive style as a lecturer but retreatants forgot that once they had been to confession to him and experienced his great patience and devotion. His sympathy was genuine and souls in, distress were sure of a kindly hearing. The many nuns at his funeral in Gardiner St. reminded us that his constant labours for them were sincerely appreciated. When his crippling illness made it impossible for him to continue his apostolate of the spoken word he turned to that of the written word. His correspondence directed to the four quarters of the globe was voluminous. Old boys of Belvedere and Clongowes, past students of University Hall, Jesuits who had lived with him and were now continents away, former servants, people he had met on holidays, nuns turned to him in their trouble and were sure of an answer to any petition for help. Those who doubt the value of all this letter-writing should have heard the appreciative comments of the people to whom he wrote. When he grew very ill and was no longer able to write, letters were received from his correspondents saying how much they missed hearing from him.
Fr. O'Connor was a very good “Community man”. He enjoyed the give and take of Community life and a Community was happier for his presence. He was guide, philosopher and friend to many generations of scholastics and put at their disposal his great experience as Games master and President of Debates. When he was present, recreations were seldom dull, often uproarious and, for most of us, great fun. As was said at the beginning of this article, Fr. O'Connor is a fit subject for a legend, but if it is to reflect the truth in any way it must pay tribute to his essential kindliness, essential zeal, and his fidelity to the motto of every Jesuit-Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
There was nothing small about him and his reward must surely be correspondingly great.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Mary O'Connor 1879-1958
Fr John Mary O’Connor was one of those Jesuits around whom legends grow. His emphatic way of speaking, his oft-repeated :do you follow me?”, his delight in purple ink, his championing of unusual causes, his infinite capacity for interviewing, were all peculiarities that lent themselves to many a tale.

Born in Dublin in 1879 at Parnell Square, his father was an active Irish Party man and Lord Mayor of Dublin in his day. John was educated at Belvedere and Clongowes. When he wished to enter the Society, he had two obstacles in his way, he was a Ward in Chancery, and he had lost an index finger.. He loved to tell the story of how his mother took him to the Pope, Leo XIII, and personally got a dispensation from the Second impediment.

The two outstanding purple patches in his life as a Jesuit, besides the purple ink, were his period as First prefect in Clongowes, and secondly his reign as Rector in Belvedere. He had a rare gift of direction of young men and boys, and his prowess in the athletic field lent him no small influence with them. Some think that Fr O’Connor’s finest work was done at University Hall as Principal. It is certainly a most difficult assignment, and the fact that so notoriously impecunious a body as University students presented him with a gold chalice on his appointment to Belvedere as Rector, is no small tribute to his power of striking enthusiasm out of young men with no great spirit of reverence, and resentful of any attempt to drive them.

Fr O’Connor undertook many projects, some of which were a great success, others the reverse, but the balance was much in his favour. Safety first was never his motto.
However, his favourite work was the direction of souls, and when ill health prevented him from active work, he took to the pen, and purple ink, with even more energy than usual.
He was an excellent community man. Recreation was never dull in his presence. In a word, there was nothing small about John Mary O’Connor, and for his good heart alone and his sympathy, he surely went straight to heaven when he died on June 25th 1958.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1948

Editorial

Father John Mary O'Connor SJ

This year was to have seen the celebration of the Jubilee of a figure well known and well loved by many generations of Belvederians, Fr John O'Connor. Unfortunately, sickness has precluded the possibility of any functions so far, but we may not let this number of the Magazine pass without some mention of all that Belvedere owes to him.

The narrow limits of the Editorial page do not allow us to say all that rises to the mind at the mention of Fr O'Connor, but the mere reference to the many spheres in which he has won the indebtedness of many generations of Belvederians will recall to those concerned a long vista of devoted work, unfailing interest and ever-ready help.

We must content ourselves with but a few of the host of activities to which he lent his aid. Unknown now within our walls is a Commercial School : Fr O'Connor started one and ran it for some years before he left us for University Hall. Back numbers of the Annual illustrate the grave and worthy students. As Rector he sped upon its way the Old Belvedere Musical and Dramatic Society. Many had grave doubts as to the practical possibility of such a step - he had none. His trust and confidence have been amply justified. As Rector, too, he urged on the emergence of the Old Belvedere Rugby Football Club into Senior Ranks. He looked after them, trained them, and the record of seven years of success is linked up with his name, and influence. To his originality and initiative as Rector is due the grandly successful reorganisation of the College Union on its present Vocational basis, which has resulted in the renewed vitality, Apostolic enterprise and social development of that Body.

In former days the College Rugby Teams were weak owing to the small numbers from which they might be drawn. Nowadays, the selectors are not so straitened, but even before the College Roll numbered its present hundreds Fr O'Connor, by training and tactics, had won the Senior Schools' Cup, and by setting this high standard he raised the level of the College achievement to the position it has held with varying success ever since; but he was not alone a first class Rugby coach, for he promoted all the College games, Cricket, Swimming and Tennis at which he himself was a fine exponent.

Finally, not a few must thank him for his encouragement to the Debating Societies. Always a strong believer in their advantages for later life, he once staged a full dress Debate in the Preparatory School, while he followed and guided the proceedings of the Senior Societies with unfailing attention.

And so we might go on, but space forbids. These few lines take no account of what is most important - his work and influence as a Priest of God - his Apostolic care and guidance in the ways of God of countless people, both within and without the College precincts, but that we may leave to Him who alone can assess its magnitude and lasting worth. Brief and inadequate as these lines are to fill the Portrait of the man we speak of, they may suffice to arouse a host of grateful and multitudinous memories in those who worked with him. and under him. Providence was surely kind in sending him back to us in Belvedere in the year of his Jubilee. He is with us again, not only to recall his long and busy years at Belvedere but to assist us with his counsel and his wisdom in the Spiritual Welfare of the boys. We can only hope that in due course he may come back and resume for many years the valued place that is his amongst us.

◆ The Clongownian, 1959

Obituary

Father John M O’Connor SJ

After two years at Belvedere John O'Connor entered Clongowes at the age of twelve, his advance in studies thereafter being solid rather than spectacular and he is remembered as making his mark in debate and for his prowess as a tennis player. He entered the novitiate early in 1898 and returned as a Scholastic to take over the Lower Line from 1904 to 1906. But it is as Prefect of the Higher Line (1915-1921), subsequent to his Ordination in 1913, that his name will be linked with the school in a notable way for the impress made by his personality on its way of life and on the many boys committed to his charge. Always a man of decided views, which found ready utterance, and lofty ideals anent the upbringing of youth, he set himself from the start to mould the upright and useful citizen of the future and the leader, even, of his community. To be sure his ideas, as is the lot of pioneers, did not win too ready acceptance above or below, but “John M” (to his familiars) was never the man then or after to be lightly swayed from his chosen line of country, and it may be conceded that tact did not always coruscate in his galaxy of virtues, The Saturday Declamation, carefully planned and never omitted, was his instrument of uplift, and how effective it could be was proven when, one evening just before tea, the entire indoor staff staged a lightning strike. Almost unprompted the boys buckled to and served at table, washed up afterwards and for most of the week cheerfully per formed every chore about the house even to the sweeping of the galleries and classrooms! “Correctness” was at a premium but did not preclude high spirits, as witness the famous Hunt incident (too long to be told) with its aftermath of comedy and high tragedy. But perhaps it is as Rugby coach that Father O'Connor is best remembered and that not only for skills he imparted but also for his fostering of self-reliance, keenness and true sportsmanship, all of which paid ample dividends. Under him, tennis enjoyed a boom as never before, largely as a social asset for after life, while at the same time cricket was fully accorded its traditional pride of place as the Clongowes summer game. Always he looked ahead and was never niggardly of advice to his Higher Liners about the problems that awaited them - he even once (or was it oftener?) devoted a Declamation on how to make a proposal of marriage, blending the ingredients of tenderness and firmness in just proportion! Little wonder, then, that so many of his boys kept in touch with him in after years, indeed his was a voluminous correspondence to almost the end.

In 1931 he became for six years Principal. of University Hostel, Dublin, to which exacting post he returned immediately after his Rectorship of Belvedere (1937-43) for a further three as Principal, and on both establishments he left an abiding mark all his own.

Earnestness was, I think, the keynote of his character and of all he undertook, and yet he could be, and often was, the best of company and his, too, was the gift of truly Jovian laughter. Even during the illness that overtook him in the closing years of his life he was prodigal of himself and of his time to the many Old Boys of his who sought him out, as did his brother Jesuits, either for his kindly counsel, the warmth of his handclasp, or just to while away an agreeable hour or two - so prodigal indeed that he was seldom known to terminate a session of his own accord and clocks night chime and bells ring unheeded by his visitors, so stimulating was his talk.

He died peacefully in Dublin, on the 25th of June, 1958, in his 80th year, and in the press of mourners about his graveside, “revolving many memories”, there were surely not a few who felt their world to be the poorer for the passing of a personality so vital and so kind. May he rest in peace.

MG

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 2002
Farewell Companions : Dermot S Harte
Fr John Mary O’Connor SJ

Amongst the Great Belvederians the name of John Mary O'Connor (”Mr. Belvedere”), must loom large! He was Rector during most of my schooldays and he became a cherished friend to me and to my family. Known as “Bloody Bill” to generations of boys who entered and exited the College portals, it was not unusual to see a wedding announcement that read, “The ceremony was conducted by Fr O'Connor SJ”.

A keen fly-fisherman, I revelled in his company on various lakes around Ireland where fish abounded and, occasionally, were known to have been caught. We fished Lough Conn one summer and the only trout that was caught on the day was caught by me. l really looked forward to a feast of nice plump brown trout. However, as I was returning to Dublin the following morning, I was directed to which house I was to deliver my catch. Even Haffner's sausages didn't quite make up for my loss, but like so many other events in life, I survived!

But he had one “vice” that really was a very small one! I am convinced that he really believed the quotation that “No Salvation exists outside Belvedere”. He would defend to the death the life of any Belvederian; he would find jobs for them where no jobs existed; he would extricate them from trouble when it was impossible to do so; he would bail them out in the event that they needed to be bailed; he would pacify their irate bank managers when this was necessary; he would marry them and bury them because he loved them all - and they in return loved him. He was an expert in pursuing with dogged determination any and all matters on their behalf if he were requested to do so, and was quite capable of harassing and hassling people until they did what he required. I often thought that his 'victims' might have done what he wanted simply to get him out of their hair! But he will always be remembered by generations as a dear, dear man.
In his always kindly mind he nominated various friends for various personal tasks but he did it with such style, diplomacy and grace that I don't suppose anyone ever said “No”.

In later years he nominated me as his personal chauffeur when he was returning to Dublin from his yearly retreat that usually took place in some remote part of the country. But he gave much more than he asked and our journeys from even the remotest parts were carefully organised by him well in advance! He would arrange lunch here, and tea there, and I must have got to know scores of nuns in Ireland! When Our Lady's Hospital in Drogheda was damaged by fire he summoned me to drive him to Co Louth so that he could offer his sympathy and help to his close friend, Mother Mary Martin. These were spectacularly happy and memorable times and I enjoyed every second.

But there is a story told about him and Archbishop John Charles McQuaid that I am assured is absolutely true! It seems that he was dining with John Charles when a slight argument developed as to which Order - the Holy Ghosts or the Jesuits - was greater in the sight of God. With no resolution in sight it was decided that a telegram must be immediately sent to Heaven. This was done and the reply was eagerly awaited. Sometime within the hour a telegram was delivered from God! It read, “There is absolutely no difference between the Holy Ghosts and the Jesuits. Signed: Jesus Christ, SJ”. As is said in all the best US law dramas, “I rest my case!”

I visited this remarkable and dear friend when I was home on leave sometime towards the end of the Fifties. His health was declining and he was confined to his room. For a man of such inexhaustible energy this would not have been easy. He was weak but he was fairly happy and when I left him he gave me a small crucifix. In 1958 he was called 'home' and I have no doubt that he is still sorting out other people's problems whilst maintaining that Belvederians are the Chosen People!

Who knows, he may be right!

O'Connor, Joseph, 1898-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/324
  • Person
  • 22 October 1898-20 May 1972

Born: 22 October 1898, Saint Alphonsus Terrace, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 31 August 1916, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1931, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 20 May 1972, Coláiste Iognáid, Sea Road, Galway

Educated at Crescent College SJ

by 1923 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1933 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 3 1972

St Ignatius College, Galway

Father Joseph O'Connor died in the Regional Hospital on the morning of Saturday, 20th May from a coronary attack. He had been in hospital for about six weeks. He had been a member of this Community since 1941, when he came here as Minister. Fourteen priests took part in the Concelebrated Mass on the day of his burial, Fr O'Keefe (Rector) being First Concelebrant, assisted by Fr Provincial and Fr McGrath, PP, and a very large number followed the remains to the graveside. May he rest in peace.

Obituary :

Fr Joseph O’Connor SJ

Father Joe O'Connor who died in Galway on 20th May was born in Limerick, in October 1898, and was educated at St. Philomena's Preparatory School and the Crescent College, Limerick. On August 31st, 1916 he entered the Society at Tullabeg, and at the end of his Noviceship went to Rathfarnham Castle for his University studies. Having taken his degree, he studied Philosophy for three years at Stonyhurst, and then went to Mungret College, where he taught for three years. Going to Milltown Park for Theology, he was ordained there in 1931. The following year he did his Tertianship in St. Beuno's, N Wales. Returning to Ireland in 1933 he spent three years as Higher Line Prefect in Clongowes, and was then appointed Rector of Mungret College. From Mungret he came to Coláiste lognáid, Galway in 1941 where he remained until his death in 1972. There he began a busy career, occupying the positions of Minister, Procurator, Prefect of the Church, and Director of the Bona Mors Confraternity. He continued as Pro curator, Operarius in the Church, and Director of the Bona Mors till 2 or 3 years before his death, when ill health forced him to retire. In 1942, due to his contacts with the people and the need he saw for it, he began the Nazareth Benevolent Fund and continued as its organiser till the time of his death, The aim of this fund was to assist those whose financial status had been reduced and who needed help. Through Flag Days and Xmas Raffles he raised sufficient money to keep the Fund going. By personal contact he had the gift of singling out those who stood in most need, and helped them over long periods. Besides that, he was Spiritual Director of the Ignatian Branch of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, for years, and came to know the very poor of the City, and was always ready and generous in helping them. Those in distress found in him a “friend in need”, one always ready to lend them a helping hand.
As Operarius in the Church, he was dedicated to his work over a period of 28 years. He wrote all his sermons in a neat hand, and preached them in a gracious way all his own, occasionally stepping back quietly but in an authoritative manner to emphasise some point. He had a fair knowledge of Irish, and read the Long Acts and the long prayer before Mass quite fluently. In his active years he quite frequently cycled to Calvary and Merlin Park Hospitals to visit patients whom he knew. Once, after a long absence, (through illness) he found the front wheel of his bicycle missing, and this put an end to his cycling career. This was 4 years ago.
At no time was his health very robust, but the first sign of serious illness came in the Spring of 1968 when he had a black-out after supper and was rushed by ambulance to the Regional Hospital. After a fairly long stay there he went to Milford House, Limerick, to recuperate. He seems to have never fully recovered from that attack, as he had to go away for treatment, on many occasions, during the last few years, and in the last year or more, one could see that he was a sick man. Even in his last years he sometimes took over, for a brief period, the office of Procurator, and helped in the Church,
His chief characteristics were, quietness, kindness, and gentleness combined with remarkable efficiency in all that he undertook. He was very interested in people and his knowledge of the Galway people extensive and, sometimes, very surprising. In his walks through the city he often stopped for a chat with one after another on his way. As a result he had numerous friends, and was very popular. When he was ill members of the community were frequently stopped in the street to be asked “How is Father Joe”. To many who had known him since the days of their childhood his death was in the nature of a personal loss. This was shown by the large number of Mass Cards and letters of sympathy that came to the house when the news of his death spread through the town. (One of these letters of sympathy was from the Mayor and Corporation of Galway City). It was also shown by the large number of mourners who followed his remains to the graveside to pay their last tribute to one they had esteemed and loved over so many years. His funeral was attended by priests from all houses of the Province and from the parishes of Galway. May he rest in peace!

O'Connor, Kevin, 1921-1971, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1883
  • Person
  • 12 July 1921-06 January 1971

Born: 12 July 1921, Dolphin's Barn, Dublin
Entered: 09 April 1939, St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois
Final Vows: 15 August 1951, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 06 January 1971, Milltown Park, Dublin

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 46th Year No 2 1971
Obituary :
Br Kevin O’Connor SJ
The Province has had to suffer more than one shock from death during the past two months; none it would appear, was more severe or more sudden than the death on January 6th, from a heart attack, of Brother O'Connor, little more than two hours after the Requium Mass in Gonzaga chapel for the repose of Fr W Prendergast - a Mass for which Br O'Connor had made all the preparations in his capacity as sacristan at Milltown Park.
For almost 29 years Br O’Connor had devoted himself, heart and soul to the service of the Altar, and in addition gave in valuable service to the house which, with his adaptable nature, became from the beginning, his home. His external life was for $0 many years uneventful and most of his work so unobstrusive in the community that it is fitting that the final tribute should come from one who was with Brother Kevin in the Noviceship more than 30 years ago and who was with him in his last moments, joining with him in prayer. Br Frank Roe writes as follows:
“Br Kevin O’Connor entered the Noviceship on April 9th, 1939, aged 18.. having given up his job as apprentice in the body-building trade. His very young appearance made us think he was a boy of 14; straight away he settled into the routine of the noviceship, taking his part in all the duties of everyday life in a happy contented way. After his vows on September 18th, 1941, he was sent to Tullabeg to learn the tailoring trade under the grand old man John Ryan, remaining in Tullabeg until, with the status of 1942, he was listed for Milltown Park as sacristan and assistant tailor to Br Canty, thus beginning his 29 years in Milltown. Having been an altar-boy in his parish church, Dolphin's Barn, he soon became very efficient as a sacristan and excelled in exacting occasions as a guide and help to successive Masters of Ceremonies. Ordination was Brother Kevin's great day, his artistic sense evidencing itself with the flowers and general décor of the altar. Letters of ordination amply testify to their appreciation of his care. Another activity where his helpfulness was conspicuous was in providing clothes for members of the community who patronised his tailor's shop; their needs were almost invariably satisfactorily provided for.
The fire of February 1949 caused him a great shock resulting in a slight nervous indisposition which continued some time but which he finally threw off. When the Building Fund was being organised he took a keen interest in its success and was actively concerned in practically every venture to promote its object - Whist Drives, Garden Fêtes, Jumble Sales, etc. He was a great favourite with the committee members, a fact confirmed by the remarkably large attendance at his funeral.
He was, as we have seen, ever ready to oblige, inside or outside the house; his success lay in his simple straight-forward character, unpretentious, about his work, cheerful, even. His religious life was for him the centre whence everything emanated; it is difficult to realise his loss. R.I.P.”
Brother J Rogers who worked with Br O’Connor for longer than any other member of the Milltown Park Community adds some details to Br. Roe's account: he remarks in particular the keen interest which Br O’Connor took in the young boys who, under the old liturgical customs came to serve in the side chapels of Milltown Park every morning and the great pleasure it gave him to see some of the boys passing through noviciate or seminary on their way to the priesthood and apostolate. Two priests of the Irish Province began their first close contact with the altar in this way, one in Zambia, the other here in Ireland; and at least one of the Dublin diocesan priests also passed through Br. O'Connor's hands. Br. Rogers, infirmarian over so many years at Milltown adds that he never remembers Br. O'Connor as an invalid under any illness; On the day of his death he was dressed and ready for his daily cycle ride when he was stricken down by what must have been a massive heart attack which was soon ended in death,
Another section of the community have special reason to re member Br O’Connor with gratitude for his personal sympathy and many little acts of thoughtful kindness. If one of the older Fathers was tired or discouraged and unable even to say his daily Mass. Br Kevin was often there with a kind word of encouragement and an offer of most welcome help. If another had let his personal appearance become untidy or whose clothes were in obvious need of repair Br Kevin ceased at once to be sacristan and became the tailor from whose mysterious cupboard coats or trousers or Jesuit gowns would be brought and tried on in his best professional manner. If another knew of a family that was in need of sympathy and help, but was himself unable to go and visit the house, Br Kevin would either go himself or ask one of the Fathers who had experience in this form of pastoral work to go and attend a sick boy or a helpless invalid.
All those who knew this aspect of Br O’Connor's life noted his special gift for friendship with young children. His own character had, to the end, a childlike simplicity which helped him to under stand children and win their sympathies. He was also singularly devout and those who knew how deeply he was attached to old ways of prayer and what are now old-fashioned ceremonies, were edified to see how quick he was to see the advantages of a con celebrated Mass or what can be gained by an altar no longer in the old familiar place in the chapel.
If he complained from time to time of the confusion caused by some who were careless and thoughtless in their insistence on new ways who could blame him? No words of blame must have been spoken to him by our Lord when Br. Kevin was called so suddenly to face his judge who was also his redeemer, but rather words that must have been familiar to him in many a morning meditation: Well done, thou good and faithful servant", R.I.P.

O'Connor, Seán B, 1932-1997, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/577
  • Person
  • 26 May 1932-02 January 1997

Born: 26 May 1932, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1968, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 02 January 1997, Dublin

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death.

by 1971 at Loyola Chicago, USA (CHG) studying
by 1985 at University of Warwick, England (ANG) studying

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 92 : August 1996

Obituary

An t-Ath Seán B. Ó Conchúir (1932-1997)

26th May 1932: Born in Dublin
Early education; St. Mary's, Athlone and St. Ignatius, Galway
7th Sept. 1950: Entered the Society at Emo
8th Sept. 1952: First Vows at Emo
1952 - 1955: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1955 - 1958: Tullabeg, Studying Philosophy
1958 - 1959: Belvedere: Regency
1959 - 1961: St. Ignatius, Galway, Regency
1961 - 1965: Milltown Park, Studying Theology
31st July 1964: Ordained Priest at Milltown Park
1965 - 1966: Rathfarnham, Tertianship
1966 - 1968: St. Ignatius, Galway: Teacher and MA studies
1968 - 1970: St. Ignatius, Galway: Prefect of Studies
1970 - 1973: Chicago: Doctoral studies in Education
1973 - 1977: Crescent Residence: Director, Research Project at Shannon
1977 - 1978: Crescent Residence : Lecturer in Education at New University of Ulster
1978 - 1980: Galway: University of Ulster work and Pre school project in Irish, Connemara
1980 - 1984: Resident in Connemara: Irish Project work
1984 - 1986: Warwick University Studies
1986 - 1991: Galway: Studies in Lifestart, Gaeltacht Project
1991 - 1997: Carraroe: Director of Lifestart Project and Researcher

There’s a photo in the house of Seán’s sister Mairin, deceased, in Cork, showing four army officers. They are Seán’s grandfather, father and two brothers of his father. One of them, Uncle Patrick, was a member of Michael Collins’ ‘Twelve Apostles’. The four of them played their part in the War of Independence. Sean’s mother (Mary Harper before marriage) was a member of Cumann na mBan (Fellowship of Women) and while still a child was involved in the Easter Rebellion. Sean’s pedigree, therefore, was not so different from that of the Basque, Ignatius of Loyola; a pedigree that begot loyalty, magnanimity, a large and generous heart ready for great deeds and exploits. The Son of God chose someone of that caliber – Thomas the Zealot, and perhaps also two others – James and John, the Sons of Thunder. Would you not think that Jesus has a special feel for someone who is ready to risk their life for a cause? He himself was facing into such a future: ‘I give my life for my sheep.’

That is what I say of Seán O Conchuir of the Society of Jesus; he never slackened, when younger and also in his thirty-two years of priesthood. Always he was searching for what was ‘greater’ and ‘more perfect’ until his strength, health and his very life were spent ‘for the sheep’, and especially for the sheep in the flock of his Lord and Master. In all that work, his soldier-like qualities were patience, gentleness, love, humility and humor, a humor that he could turn on himself with a delightful explosive laugh.

Seán was committed to education (was it not so with Christ?) on every level –primary, secondary and university. He educated himself through diligent study: an MA in the sixties, a doctorate in the eighties. Curriculum development, use of statistics, evaluation of teaching programmes and progression, and of the work of students or trainee teachers; psychology and child-development—he gained a mastery and reputation in all these disciplines.

His achievement, whether in founding ‘Home Education’ and the ‘Life-start Foundation’ -- his most outstanding and effective projects--is all the more remarkable when one considers that he was struck down with rheumatic fever as a child, and was a weak boy who was wheeled along the Prom at Salthill, swathed in blankets. Thus he remained until his early teens, so he could not participate in football or rowing in Colaiste Iognaid. But he began to swim and this improved his health, as did life-saving, which was being taught by Jimmy Cranny and Des Kenny. At the end of secondary school he was strong enough to join the FCA and wear a soldier’s uniform in 1949, the year when the Republic was again proclaimed. In autumn of the following year he and Padraic Mac Donnchadha joined the Jesuit Order in Emo, Portarlington.

Seán was born in Dublin: his father, Ceannphor (Commandant) Sean Ó Conchúir, was ADC to President Sean de hIde.

The family spent a while in Athlone and the father then transferred to the Cead Cath (First Battalion), which was fully Irish, in Galway. Little Seán was sent to Scoil Fhursa, managed by Bean a’Bhreathnaigh. Scoil Fhursa and later Colaiste Iognaid planted in him a love and appreciation for Irish music, dancing and song, which lasted until the end of his life. If you heard him rendering ‘An Bhinsin Luachra’ or ‘Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor’ you would understand that love and appreciation.

The experience that Seán gained of the arts of music and acting through the Feis Cheoil, and later through the Colaiste Iognaid choir, was only an extension of his family’s gifts. There is a dynamism in the family always to celebrate life, especially through close association with nature and the practice of the arts – do you remember Seán performing a solo ballet in Tullabeg? You can see this love of life in the lives and families of his three sisters too – Mairin (the bright light of God be on her), Dairine and Grainne. A permanent feature of the home life of the O’Connors were the Sing Songs. Everyone had their own song or recitation. Any Jesuit who participated in these evenings in the O’Connor home in Galway between 1966 and 1972 will look back on them with appreciation and gratitude, and will especially remember the party-piece which Sean composed and rendered with a strong Claddagh accent. Seán’s creativity blossomed: he produced plays, composed prose pieces, and wrote poetry. One of his philosophy companions in Tullabeg baptized him as ‘The Bard’.

Frequently you would notice that Seán was absorbed in deep thought. He had a great gift of focusing entirely on a person (he was an excellent listener, full of respect for the speaker whether man, woman or child), or on an object or on scenery. To the end of his life every aspect of nature gave him joy, gladness and pleasure. Wild flowers by the roadside or the bare tops of the Beanna Beola or Snowdon would give wings to his heart. Seán steadily cultivated the spirit of the Contemplatio of the Exercises of Ignatius, especially in his final years in Connemara from 1980 onward. ‘To recognize God in all things… working on my behalf’. When I study his beautiful photos of Connemara and its flora, my heart shakes with wonder: he is a man spell-bound by the beauty of creation, a silent beauty which speaks to him of the eternal and mysterious beauty of God. And in his commitment to his calling as a wise man, a teacher and a priest, whose task was to break open and divide this bread of beauty, he spoke of it in images which would take the eye out of your head. He conveyed it to the children of ‘Home Education’ in the form of jigsaws, and in the form of poems for the grown-ups.

Lord, we live out of death;
therefore I say to the animals: ‘You who were tame and gentle
In the meadows yesterday,
You nourish what is beautiful and pure
In me today.’

And I say to the fish:
‘You who were free in the water a short while ago,
You now feed the freedom and agility of my body’.

And I say to the harvest:
'The music you played to the sun in autumn
I sense now as a poem
In the cold winter of life’.

And I say to Christ:
‘The pinnacle of goodness died in your body
But now you clothe the heavens
With white flowers’.

‘And you, Host of Christ on my lips
You are the wine of blood and the seed of flesh,
You are the honey of Easter, you are the sap of youthfulness
You are the flowering branch within me
Which does not wither.’

The beauty of that poem is awesome: it leaves me rooted to the spot. God reveals his secrets to children. I believe that in all his high learning and deep study Seán kept safe within himself the heart and pure mind of a child. It was this that gave him wonderful insight into the essential stages of a child’s development. This is why the programme ‘Home Education’ satisfies the need of children from Connemara to Ballymun, from Wexford to Derry, from Barcelona to Belfast’s Shankill.

Michael Hurley gave heartfelt witness to the reputation Seán had achieved within the various strata of the Six Counties: ‘He made it easier for us to encounter one another and forge bonds of friendship’. His close friends Dolores McGuinness and Aine Downey in Derry put it incisively: ‘There was never anyone like Sean who could move among people without causing them nervousness or fear. He was full of respect for everyone, and he listened to them with total attention.’

In his final days, on his bed of sickness and weakness, I was frequently at his side. The only syllable he could articulate was his heavy breathing, regular and low. But throughout that time he made a living prayer of his hands which were stretched out before him on the bed-clothes: thumbs joined and fingers clasped, as if he had the Body of Christ within his fingers, and Seán steadily gazing on it with the eyes of his soul, constantly focussed on it, endlessly adoring: ‘I adore you, O spirit of fruitfulness, O beautiful One of the heavenly rampart’-- a quotation from ‘Adoramus Te, Christe’ by Daibhi O Bruadair (1625 – 1698): Sean learnt it at the feet of Professor Gerard Murphy in UCD. It was he who opened up for Sean the enchanting treasury of Irish literature and folklore.

And with Gregorian chant as a lullaby, to the very end he made that mysterious sign of his priesthood and his life; offering – as a child shyly offers his little fists to its mother—his labours, sweat, joys, troubles, failures, retraining, petitions, despair, despondency, love, integrity and the achievements of the years.

May the two hands of the Child Jesus enfold you forever, Seán, while He merrily teaches you the beautiful ‘Home Education’ of his own hearth and household.

Translation Brian Grogan SJ

Interfuse No 98 : Autumn 1998

VISIONARY, YES, POLITICIAN, NO

Conall Ó Cuinn

I missed Seán O'Connor's funeral. But this article is not an obituary. It's a reflection about Seán's short time as headmaster of Coláiste Iognáid in Galway for just two academic years, 1968 and 1969, the period immediately following the Prague Spring and the Paris Student Revolution. It corresponded to my own 4th and 5th Form as a student there. I write as someone who was greatly influenced by Seán's vision for education, a catalytic factor in my joining the Society. I supported him in as much as any 4th or 5th Form student was capable of supporting a headmaster.

In Seán's time I was also privileged to be a member of the first elected school council, which, like the Sunningdale Parliament, was quickly dissolved from above after a very short life, I served as a prefect in 5th year, trying to implement what I understood as Seán's vision of pupils being creative participants in their own education. I was on the editorial team of the student newspaper whose last edition never reached the newsstands, having been confiscated by the authorities. We did manage to spirit a few copies away before the police came knocking at the door and Patrick Hume tells me there is a copy in the archives. Shortly after Paddy Tyrrell took over from Seán in 1970, I was appointed School Captain, and so had a lot of contact with staff.

In many ways, even at that time, I had “insider” knowledge of what was going on above and around me (sources remaining anonymous). However, I am aware now that I didn't really understand the complexity of what was happening politically, or how delicate and fragile the whole situation was. So naive was I, that I was greatly surprised when Seán finished as headmaster after only two years. As captain of the school, I had a lot to do with his successor, Paddy Tyrrell. Like for others enthused by Seán's vision, his removal and replacement appeared to me to be a Margaret Thatcher-style takeover intent on reversing the new social order (others would say social disorder).

I now understand better what a very difficult assignment Paddy Tyrrell had been given. Seán and he were contemporaries and friends during formation. I now appreciate how Paddy managed to preserve many of the positive elements of what we might call the O'Connor revolution. For example, neither corporal punishment nor the 11-plus type streaming into A and B classes were reintroduced. The new pupil oriented attitude continued. People remained more important than system. And further developments took place under Paddy's leadership.

Seán, like Padraig Pearse, was a great visionary, but a poor politician. Seán's studies on education had been about the Pearse educational experiment at Coláiste Eanna. Only later in both cases did their vision begin to flower into political reality. In the immediate, however, Seán failed to win over the four very difficult constituencies which he needed to engage in order to succeed. These consisted of the Jesuit Community, the Lay Staff, the Parents, and the boys (especially the senior classes).

Many of the senior boys used the elimination of corporal punishment as an excuse for license, which initially gave the school a certain chaotic appearance. In his first year, Seán had welcomed a large group of repeat, but disgruntled, 6th years back to school. In general, they proved to be a very disruptive force among the senior boys and Seán's first academic year ended with a riot on the school pitch during the taking of the school photo. This resulted in all 6th years being sent home a full week before schedule, an act just short of expulsion. While the 4th and 6th year battled it out before the assembled school, with Fr. Jack Hutchinson trying to appease both sides, the lay teachers were gathered in the corner of the field to discuss whether they should go on strike. It appeared that the educational revolution had degenerated into chaos.

Owing to the suddenness of Seán's reforms, teachers had suddenly found themselves, without any real training, invited to abandon more formal teaching methods in the junior forms. Classwork was to be organised around projects whereby the teacher's role was to serve the intellectual curiosity of the pupil by providing resources and advice about topics of the pupil's interest. With no corporal punishment as the usual backup control and with little or no focus on public examinations, some of the teachers quickly found themselves bewildered and longing for the good old days of law and order.

The Jesuit staff and community lived with two unresolved tensions. Jesuits in general were divided in their reception of the new orientations of GC31, and in Galway there was the additional division between the “Gaeilgeoirs” and the “Non-Gaeilgeoirs”. Skills of community dialogue were in their rudimentary stages. Communication still tended to move vertically between the individual and the Rector. Despite the many meetings, so difficult for those not used to them, much of the political communication was beamed from one group to the other via the Rector. Our subsequent growth in ability to dialogue can now be seen more clearly when we contrast the serene atmosphere of today's province meetings to those very first acrimonious meetings of the late 60's and early 70's.

Finally, the parents, despite the importation of some high level lecturers of Lonergan leanings from Milltown Park, found it difficult to form a vision beyond the newly introduced points system for entry to University, a system necessitated by the increased number seeking university places following the introduction of free secondary education and university grants. Many parents feared the project/pupil orientated method adopted for the 1st years would spread to all classes prompting visions of their off-spring failing to progress to third-level education. The parents, like the Jesuits, were divided into two camps. The “Jes” parents saw the school as a mini-Clongowes without the boarding fees, and the “Coláiste lognáid” parents wanted an all-Irish education. I believe this division of parental motivation is one reason why Coláiste lognáid in my time never won a football match because the pool of best players was always divided between Gaelic and Rugby which was played in a club independent of the school. With divisions like this it was difficult to work with the parents as a single group. In general, however, the parents were not convinced by what they saw as a Galway version of the Paris Revolution with its sit-ins and teach-ins which were already being picked up in the Irish universities. Our having a silhouette of Che Guevara, with a clenched fist, on the cover page of the banned magazine certainly would not have helped Seán with the parents had it been circulated!

Changing metaphors, Seán was seen as the Dubcec who had gone a step too far. The hot line to the Rector and to Eglinton Road was often engaged for long periods. Both Rector and Provincial were, as far as I understand, ideologically in tune with Seán. However, they could not ignore the persistence of representation from the unconvinced part of the Jesuit Community, and many of the lay-staff and parents. Enrolment was beginning to drop too. Seán's term would have to end prematurely, without time for the fruits to show themselves. The tanks rolled in. At least it seemed like that at the time.

It was not that Seán did not know how important it was to share his vision with the four constituencies. It seems to me, however, that he confused explanation with acceptance. He made great efforts to explain ... all those meetings after school, which went on late into the night. One man, I heard, who did not see the point of all these meetings, obediently attended but spent the time correcting his copy books. However, acceptance comes ultimately with understanding. Seán may not have realised that many of the players were not convinced enough to have a team that could pull together. In fact, the team pulled apart.

Seán himself had come back to Galway after many years of openness to new ideas, both in Dublin and in the US. A small number appreciated or understood all three strands of his vision: Gaelic, child-orientated education, and Vatican II reflected institutionally in the documents of GC31. Some accepted one, or even two of these strands. But with pressure to maintain the status quo, only a few could back Seán in all three strands. Those who were still uncomfortable on any of these three areas found themselves unable to throw themselves into the project. Intellectually, emotionally, or professionally many of the teachers were ill-equipped to deal with the changes. They reacted in different ways, some by withdrawing, some with belligerent opposition to that part which seemed to be “non-sense”, some with quiet passive resistance. Weakened by this, the rope was not strong enough to carry the experiment, unraveled, and eventually snapped.

Politically, Seán might have had a better chance of succeeding if he had taken more time to introduce his changes in a slower fashion. On the other hand, the changes were the result of an intellectual and spiritual paradigm shift: none of the individual changes he introduced would on their own have made any sense without the others, Seán had not had the backup benefits of today's Ignatian colloquium, a systematic way of engaging lay-teachers and parents, and even students, in our vision. (I regard myself as having been introduced to the Jesuit educational vision through “colloquy”). It was out of experiences such as the “Galway experiment”, that the need for such methods developed.

Finally, it seems to me that Seán did have the prophet's self immolating tendency, which we see in Pearse. Say what needs to be said, even if they don't understand. Do what needs to be done, even if they don't follow. Die on the pyre of truth, for the phoenix will rise from the ashes.

But the line between prophetic word/action and railroading is often difficult to distinguish, especially when viewed from the outside. There were 'in' and 'out' groups. Invitation and command were then often perceived, and intended, as synonyms. So there might not have been the freedom to really talk through apprehensions in order to include other wisdoms in the vision. Seán may have interpreted silence as consent, and genuine opposition as belligerence.

This article is one attempt to understand what was happening in Galway at that time. I hope it can be part of the healing process which Seán is now intimately involved with in his new position in the Communion of Saints. His vision was a major stepping stone in my own journey into the Society. It has touched many people and continues to grow and develop in them. As the woman said of her husband who had walked out on her some years previously, “he was doing the best he could”: all were doing the best they could under the circumstances.

There may still be some lessons to learn from this particular phase of the history of the Irish Province. We form one Body, where each person's contribution is vital, and no one can be left out without all suffering their absence. The spirit runs, but must carry the often, as yet, unfit body. Vision must patiently wait for the slow inertia-laden swing of tradition and habit. The body lives in and needs time.

The Galway experiment was about adapting to cultural change. Genuine dialogue and inculturation are an essential part of the quality of our apostolic living and working together, not just tools of the trade or means to an end. They are movements in the continuing act of incarnation, of the Word being made flesh, of t”he entire creation ..groaning in one great act of giving birth...all of us who possess the first fruits of the Spirit we too groan inwardly ... we too must be content to hope to be saved ... something we must wait for with patience” (Rm 8:22-25).

Seán, continue to pray for us, the pilgrim Society on earth as we continue to grow/groan “till fully grown into the Body of Christ”.

O'Connor, Sean P, 1920-2006, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/690
  • Person
  • 20 July 1920-04 September 2006

Born: 20 July 1920, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 04 October 1937, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1950, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1953, Canisius College, Chikuni, Zambia
Died: 04 September 2006, Loyola House, Nairobi, Kenya - Africa Orientalis Province (AOR)

Transcibed HIB to ZAM : 03 December 1969; ZAM to AOR 21 December 1982

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1953 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - fifth wave of Zambian Missioners
by 1962 at St Paul’s, Brokenhill, N Rhodesia (POL Mi) teaching
by 1968 at Katwata, Lusaka, Zambia (POL Mi) working

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
After secondary school, Fr Sean entered the novitiate at Emo in October 1937 and after vows he progressed through the normal course or studies, viz. university in Dublin, philosophy in Tullabeg, regency in one or our colleges, theology in Milltown Park, Dublin where he was ordained in 1950. His final year of tertianship was in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

The first large batch of nine Jesuits had gone to Africa in 1950 and the African mission was in the air. So in 1952, Fr Sean departed for Northern Rhodesia to Chikuni where he began to learn the local language, CiTonga. After a year there he then worked for some time in Chivuna and Fumbo mission stations.

In 1955 at the request of Archbishop Adam, Fr Sean went north to Kabwe to Mpima Minor Seminary to teach for eleven years. During this time he was very active both teaching and being chaplain at St. Paul's secondary school some miles away. For nine months he was parish priest in a church in Kabwe and even lived at St .Paul's for some time.

1967 saw him back in Lusaka as archdiocesan coordinator for the Lay Apostolate, a post he held for a year. He was also asked to work on radio and TV in the absence of Fr E Milingo who was studying in Nairobi. From 1968 to 1975 he gave religious instruction in nine Government schools in the Lusaka area. He was then appointed fulltime Communications Secretary for the Archdiocese. This entailed a great deal of work giving basic training in radio, TV and journalism. He helped to produce 26 Sunday morning services and many shorter programs. This was really his last job in Zambia.

He returned to Ireland on health grounds for a year and a half. While convalescing his active mind was constantly enquiring about different courses which he might follow. He went to Tanzania in 1977 where he worked in the minor Seminary in Tabora for six and a half years. He became Vocations Promotor for the East African province for about twenty years. He traveled all over East Africa visiting schools and families of those aspiring to religious life, giving retreats and workshops, directing young men into seminaries and religious life. He retired from this work in 2004 as his health was failing and he returned to Ireland but on rallying, he returned to Nairobi. He died in Nairobi on 5 September 2006 at the age of 86. This is a broad outline of a long active life.

What of the man himself? He was a good letter writer to superiors keeping in touch with them in Zambia and elsewhere. In one of his letters he wrote: ‘It's not the teaching that counts but giving students your time, interest and energy’. This Fr .Sean lived throughout his long life with his contact with young men in minor seminaries, in government schools, in Christian Life Groups and in his vocation promoting work. While in Zambia, he edited for eleven years a magazine called "The Sun" for young people, finding material, advertisers, photos, prizes and himself editing all these materials. He was also very active in the Christian Life Groups and the Pioneer TTA movement.

Early on, he became involved in refereeing when he was asked by his superior in Mpima if he would help the referees in their work in Kabwe. He became chairman of the local branch of referees and became so involved with this work that later he was honorary secretary of the Referee Board of Zambia. For many years in Zambia he both refereed and trained referees. In 1972, an article of his appeared in the Mirror newspaper ‘Know the Soccer Laws’ and in the same year a 26 page booklet also appeared entitled, ‘How to be a Football Referee’. This was very successful with 4000 copies printed which the Daily Mail called the “the perfect referee's ‘Bible'”. It cost 9 ngwe in that year! He was most influential in this field of work as it dealt with youth. So much so that in November of 2004, he was awarded a certificate:

‘The Football Association of Zambia in recognition of your contribution to Zambian Football bestows the award of:
OUTSTANDING REFEREE to FATHER SEAN O'CONNOR’.

Communications was another love of his life, speaking and writing, radio and TV – all of which took a lot of his time. He completed communication courses in Dublin, Wisconsin (US) and elsewhere. He encouraged the youth to write wherever he was, for he considered this the apostolate of the printed word.

As with so many people who are active, always looking ahead, people in a hurry, details were often forgotten which caused misunderstandings with fellow workers. Still, in his letters he was always at pains to clear up any such misunderstandings. In spite of such a hectic life, he was always ready to give retreats.

O'Connor, Walter Mary, 1910-1967, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/322
  • Person
  • 22 May 1910-26 July 1967

Born: 22 May 1910, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 03 February 1947, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 26 July 1967, St Anne's Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe

Part of the Jesuit Novitiate, Mazowe, Mashonaland Central, Zimbabwe community at the time of death

Brother of Eddie O'Connor - RIP 1993 (their father Peter had been an Olympic triple jump champion)

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1951 at Chikuni, Chisekesi, Northern Rhodesia (POL Mi) working - third wave of Zambian Missioners
by 1962 at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (ANG) Socius to Novice Master

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
He was born in 1910 at Waterford, Ireland, into a large family of nine children, son of Peter O'Connor, a local lawyer. Walter's elder brother Eddie had already entered the Society five years before that (1923) and Walter entered the Society in 1928. He was educated by the Christian Brothers and completed his secondary education at Clongowes Wood College. Ordained at Milltown Park in 1942, after tertianship he was appointed minister at Mungret College for a year and again as minister at Rathfarnham, the juniorate. He liked what was described as practical work and he was never short of ideas as to how this, that and the other might best be done – subjectively, and often opposed by others. Still his cheerfulness remained undiminished. He had a 'stick-to-it-attitude' in the projects he undertook. His zeal and enthusiasm were qualities that stayed with him all his life. While minister at Rathfarnham, he developed an apostolate in the promotion of the family rosary in Dublin. He collected and presented films and other aids for this apostolate.

As a scholastic at Clongowes during regency, he did much to build up the athletics, perhaps inspired by the fact that his father had been an Olympic triple-jump champion. His health was never very strong but his psychic energy was never low. He was passed by the doctors to travel to Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) as one of the nine Irish Jesuits who went there in 1950. As parish priest at Chikuni he entered into the new work with the same spirit that had always characterised him. A very familiar sight was Fr Walter on his heavy motor bike either coming or going on supply. He took a great interest in the condition of the lepers in the area and did much for them. His efforts to establish a leper settlement for them bore fruit after he had left the area.

Due to ill health, he returned to Ireland for three years during which he did retreat work and lectured about the Mission. This resulted in a number of benefactors who donated churches and other benefits to the mission.

He returned to Zambia in 1960 and moved to Harare (Zimbabwe) to assist the Master of Novices when the joint novitiate was set up. He gave retreats, established the Pioneers at Harare and developed a new apostolate for the consecration of families to the Sacred Heart. He was appointed Director of Vocations for the archdiocese of Harare and traveled a lot with Fr Regis Chigweduc on vocation promotion. Fr Regis paid tribute to Fr Walter at his funeral for his holiness and his work in promoting vocations; his zeal, energy and enthusiasm in everything.

On July 21st 1967 he was operated on at St Anne's Hospital in Harare but when opened up, inoperable cancer was found. He died five days later on the 26 July in the company of his brother, Fr Eddie and fellow Jesuits.

Tributes that came in after the funeral were many and sincere and they could be summed up by what a fellow Jesuit wrote about him, ‘He was always full of charity, cheerfulness and on fire with a zeal that consumed him; he was steeped in a spirit of prayer’.

Note from Eddie O’Connor Entry
Fr Ernest Mackey S.J. was a well known school retreat giver. The vocations of Fr Eddie 0'Connor and a few years later of Walter, his brother, were influenced by him. The father of the two brothers was Peter 0'Connor a local lawyer and former Olympic champion. The story has it that Peter, encountering Fr Mackey after Fr. Eddie had entered the Society, said
‘That man has taken one of my sons’. Fr Mackey's undaunted reply was, ‘And now, he is coming to take another (Walter)’.
His driving ability was not good, mainly because of failing eyesight. It is told that once when driving with his brother Walter, Walter suddenly shouted, ‘Look out for that cow’! ‘What cow’? says Fr Eddie. After that it was decided that he stop driving. How now to get around his far-flung parish? Easy. He got a horse and this worked extremely well. He became a familiar sight trotting near and far, in fact one of the local farmers used to refer to him as 'Galloping Jesus'.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 43rd Year No 1 1968
Obituary :
Fr Walter O’Connor SJ (1910-1967)
Fr. O'Connor died in St. Anne's Hospital at Salisbury on 26th July. He had gone to St. Anne's about ten days previously because he had been having grave trouble in swallowing and eating for some time and the doctors suspected an ulcer. When he was operated on, on the 21st July, cancer was discovered, and of an inoperable kind. He was then told that his days were numbered but in the next few days pneumonia developed. He was too weak to resist its virulence and his condition rapidly deteriorated. He died at 3.15 a.m. and was quite conscious till the moment of death and participated fully in the prayers that were being said by his brother, Fr. Edward, and by Frs. Ennis and Berrell of the English Mission.
After Fr. Walter's death numerous letters of sympathy were received by the members of his family and especially by his sister, Mother O'Connor, R.S.C.J. In these letters there is presented a portrait of Walter contributed to by those who knew him well. In one of the letters a Jesuit confrere has written “Fr. Walter was one of those rare people, in a worldly age, who was a professional man of God - whose main interest always was, not studies or writing or teaching or any of our other concerns but simply the Kingdom of God”. Another Jesuit has written of him, “I can truly say that I regarded him as one of the best Jesuits I ever knew, and I am, thank God, nearly fifty years in the Society. He was always full of charity, cheerfulness, on fire with a zeal that consumed him and steeped in a spirit of prayer. I always found that even a few minutes talk with him was a tonic, and invariably the conversation would very soon turn to something concerned with God's interests. I knew well, too, that he got plenty of ‘knocks’ some of them very hard. I could never discover any vestige of bitterness on these occasions”. From these excerpts and others, Walter O'Connor emerges as a man of God, a man of zeal, and like all zealous men he had to meet the problems of clash and conflict but never lost his own integrity which was protected by his spirit of charity.
Walter was born at Waterford in May 1910, the fourth of a family of nine children. He was educated by the Christian Brothers at Waterpark and completed his secondary education at Clongowes Wood College. He entered the Society in 1928 and followed the usual course. While teaching in Clongowes as a scholastic he did much to build up the athletics. After Tertianship he was minister in Mungret for a year after which he went to Rathfarnham as minister. He liked what is described as practical work and he was never short of ideas as to how this, that, and the other might best be done, Walter's ideas of the “best” ways were often more subjectively influenced than objectively and in this he found that others could hold different views. But his cheerfulness was not diminished. He was persistent and had what across the Atlantic is called “sticktuitiveness”. He was always interested in getting a “good bargain” and took delight in pointing out the technical and practical advantages of what he was able to come by as a bargain. Again, he found that others did not quite see things the same way and their ability to unveil the disadvantages was sometimes stimulated as a counter to Walter's enthusiasm. And he was an enthusiast. His persistence and enthusiasm produced advantages for his brethren and one of them was the first swimming pool in a house of formation in the Province, at Rathfarnham. While he was minister there he developed an apostolate in the promotion of the family rosary in Dublin. With his usual zeal and enthusiasm he collected and presented films and other aids to foster this apostolate and his energy in its promotion provoked others to develop the new ways of fostering exercises of religious devotions. His health was never very strong but his psychic energy level was never low.
In 1950 despite his weak health he was passed by the doctors for work in the new mission in Zambia. After his arrival he was made “parish priest” at Chikuni. He entered into the new work with the same spirit that had always characterized him and around Chikuni there appeared many shrines of Our Lady as the fruit of his ideas and zeal. He took a great interest in the condition of the lepers in that area and did much for them. His efforts to establish a special settlement for them bore fruit after he had left the area and the nucleus of it might be said to have been in the special outdoor Mass-shrine which Walter built and where he often said Mass for the lepers.
Walter as usual lived on his nervous energy and his health was again weakened. All his life in the Society this lack of good health was a harassment to him and the tempo and intensity of his personal life are hardly without some relationship to the physical disabilities he suffered. He returned to Ireland from the Missions because of this ill-health. From 1956 till 1959, when he again went back to Zambia, he taught in Bolton Street Technical School (as it was then named). It was the same Walter who again showed his zeal and enthusiasm in his work for the students there. In addition, he did retreat work and much lecturing on the Mission and its needs and through his efforts a number of benefactors were found to donate churches and other benefits to the Mission.
When he returned to the work in Zambia he was appointed to Kasiya to assist in the work of the Parish. Later he moved to Lusaka for work at Chilimbana and Munali where there is one of the largest and best secondary schools in the country (often classed as the rival of Canisius College!). Walter's health did not improve and when the joint novitiate was set up at Salisbury he was sent there to assist the Master of Novices in 1960. In addition to the work of socius he gave many retreats in Southern Rhodesia, including Long Retreats. He established the Pioneers at Sailisbury and developed a new apostolate of the consecration of families to the Sacred Heart. But the great work in which he was engaged at the time of his death was the fostering of vocations among the Africans. This work meant so much to him that in his dying hours many of his prayers were for its success. He was appointed Vocations Director for the archdiocese. He worked with Fr. Regis, an African priest, and they went all over the country on lecture tours, visiting practically all the mission schools. Walter used his previous knowledge and experience and collected films and other visual aids which he employed with benefit in the vocations work in the mission schools. Fr. Regis who accompanied him paid a warm tribute at the funeral to Walter's holiness, zeal, energy and enthusiasm in the work of promoting vocations. Fr. Wallace of the English Mission has written “Walter will have all the outlets for zeal he could ever have desired on earth, and much more. He had that something in his soul that found expression in his energy and urgent manner, he will certainly be another who will spend his Heaven on earth doing good. And what I said about his being nearer to us, I don't at all regard as a pious wish, but as solid fact to be perceived by faith”. Letters from Jesuits in Sailisbury testify that “Walter approached his operation with complete calm and a happiness to accept God's will whatever it might prove to be. He knew the operation would be a severe strain on his system which he might not survive; he did not want the family to be caused anxiety by knowing beforehand that he had to undergo this. His courage, his devoted acceptance of God's Will, and his energetic coping with the consequences of this in his own life are, as they have been before, most impressive and I am sure he will be deeply satisfied to have this last challenge and to be given the chance to go to God - one might say with full knowledge and consent, knowing what is happening and able to offer one's life to God with full deliberation and even timing”.
When Fr. O'Connor was dead four different obituary notices, as well as the official one, appeared in the daily newspaper. They were tributes to his memory from people who knew him well. This is a quotation from one of them, “In memory of a wonderful person, a good friend, and an inspiration to all who knew him. Remembered with love and affection by ... (the signatures follow”). One of his former Rectors has written “He was my Minister at ... and I have the happiest memories of him. We worked very well and harmoniously together. He was a great help and always cheerful. Everywhere he went he did good work in spite of delicate health. He was a splendid missioner. Nothing would have pleased him better than to work for his converts to the end”.
Walter O'Connor was buried at Chishawasha - “where many of our missionaries from the pioneer times are buried ... this is what Walter wanted” - after Requiem Mass in Salisbury Cathedral. The Mass was concelebrated by Fr. Eddie O'Connor, Fr, O'Loghlen, Fr. Ennis, Fr, McKeown and Fr. James Wallace. The Archbishop of Salisbury presided and performed the absolutions at the coffin. There was a very large congregation and among them all the novices from Silveira House. The prayers at the graveside were recited by Fr. Eddie O'Connor assisted by Fr. Meagher, Vicar General of Monze, who was representing the Bishop, Very Rev. Dr. James Corboy. In many of the letters from priests the quotation “Well done, good and faithful servant” was used as their theme. May he rest in peace.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 125 : Autumn 2005
MISSIONED TO ZAMBIA : WALTER M O’CONNOR
Taken from some 50 “portraits” submitted by Tom McGivern, who works in the Archives of the Province of Zambia Malawi.
Fr. Walter was born in Waterford in May, 1910, and was ordained in Milltown Park in May, 1942. The M in his name stands for Mary and he had a great devotion to Our Lady. He used to say that he would die in May as well, and would laughingly add, “If I am alive on June 1st, you'll know I'll be with you for another year!” His wish to die in May was not granted, for it was on the 26th July 1967 that he died in Harare, Zimbabwe, at the early age of 57. He was born into a large family of nine children, the son of Peter O'Connor, a local lawyer. He entered the Society in 1928 (His elder brother, Eddie, had already entered the Society five years before that in 1923). He was educated by the Christian Brothers and completed his secondary education at Clongowes Wood College. Ordained at Milltown Park in 1942, after Tertianship he was appointed Minister at Mungret College for a year and again as Minister at Rathfarnham, the Juniorate.

He liked what was described as practical work and he was never short of ideas as to how this, that or the other might best be done....subjectively, and often opposed by others. Still his cheerfulness remained undiminished. He had a 'stick-to-it iveness' which saw projects to the end. Zeal and enthusiasm were qualities that stayed with him all his life. While Minister at Rathfarnham, he developed an apostolate in the promotion of the family rosary in Dublin. He collected and presented films and other aids for this apostolate. As a scholastic at Clongowes during regency, he did much to build up the athletics, perhaps inspired by the fact that his father had been an Olympic triple jump champion. His health was never very strong but his psychic energy was never low. He was passed by the doctors to travel to Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) as one of he nine Irish Jesuits who went there in 1950. As parish priest at Chikuni he entered into the new work with the same spirit that had always characterized him. Fr Walter was a very familiar sight on his heavy motor bike, either coming or going on “supply”. He took a great interest in the condition of the lepers in the area, and did much for them. His efforts to establish a leper settlement for them bore fruit after he had left the area.

Due to ill health, he returned to Ireland for three years, but did retreat work and lectured about the mission, which resulted in a number of benefactors donating churches and other benefits. He returned to Zambia in 1960 and moved to Harare (Zimbabwe) to assist the Master of Novices when the joint novitiate was set up. He gave retreats, established the Pioneers at Harare, and developed a new apostolate of consecration of families to the Sacred Heart. He was appointed Director of Vocations for the archdiocese and travelled a lot with Fr. Regis Chigweduc on vocation promotion. Fr. Regis paid tribute to Fr. Walter at his funeral for his holiness, zeal, energy and enthusiasm in the work of promoting vocations. On July 21st 1967, he was operated on at St.Anne's hospital in Harare, and inoperable cancer was found. He died five days later on July the 26th in the company of his brother, Fr. Eddie, and fellow Jesuits.

Tributes that came in after the funeral were many and sincere. They could be summed up by what a fellow Jesuit wrote about him, “He was always full of charity, cheerfulness, on fire with zeal that consumed him, and steeped in a spirit of prayer”.

◆ The Clongownian, 1968
Obituary
Father Walter O’Connor SJ
Salisbury - Fr Walter O'Connor, who died on July 26th worked in Rhodesia from 1960.
He first came to Africa just after the Irish Jesuit Fathers had taken on responsibility for part of the huge Lusaka Mission. He was a most energetic parish priest at Chikuni, the oldest and largest of the mission-stations between Kafue and Livingstone.

In 1960 he was appointed assistant to the Novice Master at the Jesuit Novitiate which had been established near Salisbury two and a half years earlier, and remained in this work till his death. Many will know him rather on account of the Retreats, Days of Recollection and Conferences which he gave during this time, and his work for the Pioneer Association.

He was also Promoter of Vocations for the archdiocese

He suffered much from ill-health and had to undergo major surgery at least four times during his time in Africa. He was often in a state of physical pain, discomfort, or exhaustion, but his spirit burned bright and strong and generated the sort of force that moves mountains. If on occasion some found him too insistent, it was without resentment - it was so easy to be good humoured with him.

In everything he did he was very evidently a man of God, a man of prayer and a man who did his utmost for the spread of Christ's Kingdom. There was no indication that he found prayer easier or more consoling than the average person who prays, but he was outstandingly faithful to the practice of prayer and this surely bore fruit in the spiritual quality of his life and work.

He liked people and responded very easily in conversation, whether serious or gay. In the ordinary social intercourse of his life as a priest and above all with his colleagues there were sure to be cheerfulness and laughter around him. He could always be relied on for a smiling and happy response, and he did not at all mind a bit of banter about his activities.

This cheerful, wiry, energetic priest, with his quick manner, his determination and his patently spiritual outlook, will be remembered and not least by his chief colleague and the young religious who lived with him in the Novitiate.

He was buried in Chishawasha, a missionary among missionaries.

JW

O'Conor, Charles D, 1906-1981, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/323
  • Person
  • 25 March 1906-02 November 1981

Born: 25 March 1906, Lisnagry, County Limerick
Entered: 01 September 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1939, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1943, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 02 November 1981, Hazel Hall Nursing Home, Clane, County Kildare

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

Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus: 20 July 1959-1965

Early Education at CUS, Dublin and Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1938 at Petworth, Surrey (ANG) health

◆ Companions in Mission1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Note from Arthur J Clarke Entry
Arthur took as his model and ideal his Master of Juniors, Fr Charles O'Conor Don, whose motto, ‘faithful always and everywhere’, Arthur took as his own.

Note from Tommie O’Meara Entry
One summer on villa (summer holidays), the local parish priest was invited to dinner and was being introduced to the scholastics, one of whom was Charles O'Conor-Don (a descendant of the last High King of Ireland). He was introduced as ‘This is the O’Conor-Don’, when Tommie immediately pipes up ‘I'm the O’Meara Tom’.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 18th Year No 2 1943

The O’Conor Don, Owen Phelim O’Conor who died at Glenageary Dublin, on 1st March, was the last lineal descendant, from father to son of Roderick O’Conor, last High King of Ireland, who resigned in the 12th century. He was the second son of the late Right Hon. Charles Owen O'Conor and succeeded to the title on the death of his elder brother, Denis, in 1917. The new holder of the title is our Fr. Charles O’Conor, Minister of Juniors at Rathfarnham, the only son of the late Mr. Charles O’Conor K.M., Lucan House Dublin, and nephew of the late holder. He is the first bearer of an hereditary Irish title to be a priest, and not until his death will the title go to the son or grandson of a cousin of Owen Phelim O’Conor. This gentleman, Mr. Charles William O’Conor was once M.P. for Sligo and now lives in Herefordshire.

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 1 1948

Frs. G. Casey and C. O'Conor represented the Province at the Solem Requiem Mass celebrated at Kikeel Church, Co. Down on 22nd January for the late Fr. John Sloan, S.J., of Patna Mission (Chicago Province) who perished in the Dakota crash outside Karachi on the night of 27th December. Fr. O'Conor was the Celebrant. A brief account of his career appears below.

Irish Province News 34th Year No 4 1959

GENERAL
On 20th July Fr. Charles O'Conor, former Rector of Gonzaga College was appointed Provincial in succession to Fr. Michael A. O’Grady. The best wishes of the Province are with the Provincial in his new office, and to Fr. O'Grady the Province offers its gratitude for his services during his Provincialate. He will be remembered, beyond doubt, above all for his outstanding kindness, under standing and sympathy. His great and quite genuine charm of manner made personal contact between him and his subjects easy. They could always feel that their position was understood even if it could not always be improved. And these qualities extended themselves outside the Society and won for Fr. O’Grady and for the Province the goodwill, esteem and affection of everyone with whom he came into contact.
When he became Provincial in 1953 Fr. O’Grady was faced with a task which demanded gifts of this high order, The period of office of his predecessor, Fr. T, Byrne, had been one of expansion after the war. It was for Fr. O’Grady to consolidate. He found himself with a number of new enterprises-the Catholic Workers' College, the Mission in Rhodesia, Gonzaga College - which he had to see firmly established. This involved, among other things, a heavy building programme. It has been his great achievement that he courageously carried through this programme, though the toll on his health was at times very great. Besides the buildings at Gonzaga and the Workers' College, there were the preparatory school at Belvedere, the Pioneer Hall, the extension to Manresa and the renovation of Loyola, Eglinton Road, which was purchased as a Provincial Residence in his term of office. That, in spite of the expenditure involved, the Province is in a sound financial position is a tribute to Fr. O'Grady's generous use of his great personal gifts and to his inexhaustible patience and zeal.
Other activities recently undertaken which received his wholehearted en couragement were the Missions to Britain and to the Irish workers in Britain, the work of teaching Christian Doctrine in the Technical Schools, and the Child Educational Centre, which was started in his Provincialate and was finally established in its new premises in Northumberland Road last year.
He visited both China and Northern Rhodesia, and it was largely through his tireless negotiation that a satisfactory status for the Rhodesian Mission was worked out and the Mission of Chikuni created. He also saw the expansion of the Mission to the Chinese in Malaya. In both Missions he supported extensive building schemes of which the most ambitious were the new Wah Yan College, Queen's Road, Hong Kong and the Teacher Training College, Chikuni. And for all this the Province is grateful to Fr. O’Grady.

Irish Province News 57th Year No 1 1982

Clongowes
The Clongowes Community and boys suffered a grievous loss by the death of Fr Charles O'Conor. (See obituary notices, pp. 152 ff.] No one who reads this brief account of the man will wonder why we, his community, feel his passing so keenly, and share with all the people in the immediate and remoter vicinity a profound sense of loss.
Charles excelled in love of his neighbour. He could not offend in word or deed; he could not say or think present and a Jesuit Roman Catholic anything uncharitable; he was always priest was very well received. The Rector already to oblige; he was a humble man and Headmaster attended the annual who never gave the faintest impression of dinner of the Munster Branch of the being superior in any sense. He was Clongowes Union (28th November). always a pleasant companion and Like all other post-primary schools, gravitated towards the less popular, less Clongowes opened late (14th/15th attractive of his fellows. He was deeply September) on ministerial instructions. respected and beloved by all his fellow scholastics.
One could write of his tireless activity his great patience with himself, especially during the last few years when his memory was failing very and was causing him humiliating trouble in conversation, and that same patience with the poor arriving at our door, many of whom were humbugs with made-up hard-luck stories that went on With all inside and outside he showed the same restraint and respect: he himself all unawares won the greatest reverence from all the people around. Even the boys, thoughtless though they seem, regarded him with great affection and respect; and boys are seldom deceived in their judgments of their masters or superiors.

Obituary

Fr Charles O’Conor (1906-1924-1981)

The present writer first met Fr Charlie in Tullabeg noviciate on 1st September 1924, in the days when an entry-list of 26 first-year novices was looked upon as quite normal. He and his family had made a great sacrifice by his following a religious vocation, as he was the last direct descendant of the third-last High King of Ireland. Turlough O’Conor. For the tiine, however, he was just one of us novices and went through all the noviceship experiments like the rest of us. Tall and ascetic-looking, but of rather frail physique, he took little part in team games, but was exceptionally good at tennis and very popular with everyone.
After the noviceship he went with the rest of his year to Rathfarnham and attended University College, Dublin, gaining there a BA degree with honours. for the next two years (1929-'31), still in Rathfarnham, he went on to gain an HDE and (something quite exceptional in those days) an MA in History. His dissertation was on Charles O’Conor of Belanagare, a distinguished ancestor of his who lived in Penal times. As a result of the two extra years in Rathfarnham, when his contemporaries had moved on to philosophy, Charlie was out of step with them for the rest of his scholastic career. After philosophical studies in Tullabeg, instead of teaching prefecting in the colleges, he returned to Rathfarnham and spent two more years there, assisting the Minister of Juniors and doing some teaching in the juniorate.
His theological studies in Milltown Park (1936-41) were interrupted by ill- health. At the end of his first year it was discovered that he had contracted tuberculosis, so he was sent to Petworth, where the English Province maintained a sanatorium. Here within twelve months he made what seemed to be a satisfactory recovery. However, when he resumed theology in Ireland, doubt arose over the permanence of this recovery, so by special dispensation he was ordained a priest at the end of his second year. After theology he went to Rathfarnham (his third time there) as a tertian, and on his appointment as Minister of Juniors stayed on (1942-50). During this period also he was “Province Prefect of Studies” (inspector of colleges).
Since about 1945 Fr Charlie was “vice postulator” of the cause of Fr John Sullivan's beatification. He played a great part in drawing up the necessary documents for the Judicial Informative Process held in Dublin and in Kildare and Leighlin. The cause entailed an enormous amount of correspondence not only with Rome but also with a very large number of clients both at home and abroad, some seeking relics and others informing him of favours received through Fr Sullivan’s intercession.
[The next nine years of Fr Charles’s life - his Gonzaga period, 1950-59 - are dealt with separately, below. His Provincialate (1959-'65) presently lacks a chronicler! Fr Brendan Barry was his Socius and successor as Provincial: had he survived, we might have had a first hand account).
When Fr Charlie ceased to be Provincial in 1965, he came to Clongowes, where he spent the reinaining sixteen years of his life. He was made pastor of the people's church and was given charge of the garden and the pleasure grounds. For many years also he taught religion to one of the junior classes, to whom he became guide, philosopher and friend. He interviewed the boys regularly in his room, and in later life many of them returned to thank him for the help he gave them when they had succumbed to depression.
Besides his voluminous correspondence connected with Fr John Sullivan, he was also indefatigable in writing to Ours, especially to those working on the missions in Hong Kong, Zambia and Australia. Many an exile was completely dependent on him for news of what was happening here at home. As guestmaster he always gave them a hearty céad mile failte on their return from foreign parts.
Fr Charlie occupied one of the rooms near the hall door and so was in constant demand as confessor at unusual hours, He heard confessions also for long hours every week-end, on the eves of First Fridays and all the Church holydays. However, probably the greatest demand made on his time and patience was in listening to all sorts of down-and-outs who came regularly to him seeking help both spiritual and temporal. Frequently they arrived at mealtimes, but never did he show any resentment at the inconvenience they caused him. He took very literally the words of the Gospel: “As often as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to Me”. He was often asked also to bless invalids either in their own homes or in hospitals in Naas or Dublin or sometimes farther afield.
In the school itself he was in daily demand to superintend the swimming pool and showers. On half-days, especially when there were visiting teams Charlie was taken and put under to be catered for, this was a long and sedation. very wearisome chore in the steaming atmosphere of the baths, to the accompaniment of a constant din of high-pitched youthful screaming and shouting to their hearts' content. At the end of the exercise, he always insisted on doing the mopping-up personally, even though many volunteered to help.
A few years ago, his tuberculosis showed signs of returning, so he had to go to hospital in Dublin. Afterwards he spent some time recuperating in his home atmosphere at Clonalis, Co Roscommon. He began to suffer from two great disabilities: deafness and loss of memory. Though he was supplied with a hearing aid, it never worked very successfully. He was not mechanically-minded, and so found it difficult to adjust: for all practical purposes he discarded it completely.
With his loss of memory, another man might have retired completely into his shell, but not Fr Charlie. At times admittedly when talking to him, it could be embarrassing to have to hear and answer the same question two or three times in the course of a short conversation. As a result of these disabilities, he had to give up offering Mass and hearing confessions in the People's church, but these were the only concessions he did make. He managed to keep up all his other activities right up to the end.
On Sunday, 25th October 1981, at breakfast (7.30 am) he looked pale and sickly, and admitted to feeling unwell. He took merely a cup of tea and was led back to his room. The doctor was sent for and diagnosed a heart attack, but not one requiring immediate intensive care hospital. He saw Fr O’Conor's immediate need as rest, preparatory to transfer to hospital, and himself suggested the nearby nursing home, Hazel Hall in Clane. The consultant assented to this course, so there Fr Charlie was taken and put under sedation.
During his first few days in Hazel Hall he appeared very anaemic and listless; then by degrees he seemed to regain both his colour and his interest in everything: happenings at home, goings and comings. Various members of the community visited him daily, as did his sisters, four of whom survive.
On All Souls' day (2nd November) two of the community visited him and found him ever better than he had been on previous days. Within an hour or so, as afternoon tea was being brought to the rooms, word came back that Fr Charlie had suffered another heart attack, to which he succumbed. Next evening his remains were brought to Clongowes. Dr Patrick Lennon, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, received the coffin at the main door of the 1932 building. The senior boys carried it down the corridors, the others lining the way, to the high altar of the Boys' chapel, where his Lordship spoke the final prayers. Among the dignitaries present that evening were Dublin's Lord Mayor, Alexis FitzGerald, who had been one of Fr Charlie's pupils at Gonzaga, and the ex-Taoiseach, Mr Liam Cosgrave. Dr Dominic Conway, Bishop of Elphin (the O’Conor home diocese), presided next morning at the funeral Mass concelebrated by some seventy
priests. The then Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald, was represented by his aide-de-camp, and the Knights of Malta, attired in their robes, were well represented: Fr Charlie had been their chaplain. The coffin was then carried once more in by the senior boys to the hearse waiting on the main avenue, with the rest of the boys fining the route; then all proceeded to the community cemetery, where the final farewell was spoken by Fr Provincial. Tributes carne from far and near from all classes of people who felt his death as a real personal loss. May he rest in peace!

Fr O'Conor's Gonzaga period
In the spring of 1950 Charlie left Rathfarnham to take up residence in Milltown Park and to set up Gonzaga College in part of the newly-acquired Bewley property. He had been Province
Prefect of Studies for some years, but had never been on the teaching staff of any of our colleges. With the thoroughness and dedication that was characteristic of him, he set about this pioneering task leading to an ever-mysterious future whose outlines he could barely have glimpsed.
Those who were posted to Gonzaga in 1950 received more sympathy than envy from their friends. One of them told the present writer that the postal delivery of 31st July, which brought the unwelcome Status news brought also another letter - a line of welcome from Charlie with a their ten-shilling note enclosed. This kind personal consideration was a marked feature of his life.
The Rector of Milltown, in whose name the Bewley property had been bought, had entrusted the reconstruction of the house - the future school and residence - to a group of tradesmen who undertook to do it after working hours. By the opening date, 8th September, they hadn't finished the job. However, classrooms and toilets were ready. The brethren's rooms had each a bed, a table and a chair: community meals were in Miltown Park, Every night Charlie went down to meet the workmen and enjoy a smoke with them, despite the irritation their broken promises occasioned him.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Charles McQuaid, had requested a school at the south side of the city. While meeting this request, the Provincial, Fr “Luigi” O'Grady, had decided that the Province should try to offer a preparation for third-level education other than that given by the Leaving Certificate and Matriculation courses of those days. A return to the Ratio
Studiorum was invoked, but it wasn't obvious how this was to be applied to the realities of Irish secondary education in 1950, when parents paid all school fees and university entrance standards had to be met. Charlie had his own ideas of what a school might be, and while not being a theorist, he had his own quiet way of converting his ideas into reality. I think he saw the school as ancillary to the home. Hence parents were invited to all school occasions, even to a cup of coffee after a Confirmation in the opening year, when standing-room scarcely existed for parents and boys. He had a deep personal interest in each of the boys and held private “chats” with them in his office. Many of them have told the present writer that they received help from him that carried them through post-school years.Charlie’s involvement in the school’s life was total. He taught Religion and supervised the lunchroom and the changing-room for games. He was constantly thinking of the immediate and future needs of the school, and planned community each change with great care, relying on listed arguments pro and contra before his decision, then really trusting in the power of prayer for every undertaking. Here his devotion to our Lady and confidence in her intercession was remarkable. When the theologians vacated the second Bewley house, variously known as Sandford Grove, Winkelmann’s and St. Joseph's, Gonzaga fitted it up as a classroom block. Charlie gave great care and attention to every detail of the plans for this, as he did for the building of the hall and library block, and on this latter he was more efficient than any clerk of works could be. Before the building was handed over, the whole community was paration for third-level education other asked to do a tour of inspection to note any omissions or defects; the result was a long list of 113 minor items for the builder's consideration.
As a superior, he was a man of his time. He expected co-operation with his ideas, though he listened to ours. It was possible to disagree with him without having a row about the matter. He was thoughtful and considerate for each individual. His expectations of others were high, but he never asked anyone to do what he himself was not willing to attempt
He had a real interest in people, indeed in all people, from the poor man begging for a shilling to those friends of his own family who were in a very different social class. He had a real love for the poor, evidenced by the fact that on one Sunday afternoon no less then 37 came to Gonzaga begging for a little help'. He didn't readily speak about himself, but one day he did tell us of his delight at receiving a letter from a woman in England, asking for his mother's name. She wished her child to take that name in Confirmation, because Mrs O'Conor had given this woman's mother a weekly gift of tea and sugar and the only new clothes she had ever worn,
In the community Charlie was very friendly, even though his shyness tended to make him seem aloof at times. His life with God may have affected his easy approach to people. It was certainly the hub of his life, about which all else revolved. The sincerity of his faith was an inspiration. He won the respect and affection of a large proportion of the boys and their parents, and the years have not blunted their perception of his simplicity, sincerity and saintliness.

A former pupil's appreciation
Mr Charles Edward Lysaght, born in 1942, was educated at Gonzaga and is a barrister and writer. He is the author of Brendan Bracken (1979) and of the following tribute, which appeared in The Irish Times and is reprinted here with a few excisions.]
Fr Charles O’Conor, O’Conor Don, was in every sense a prince among men. As the descendant of the O’Conor High Kings, he was heir to an aristocratic tradition which far antedated the Protestant ascendancy and stretched back beyond the Norman invasion. His forebears in the Penal days had paid a heavy price in worldly terms to hold on to their Faith. It was wholly in character that Fr Charles, the only son among ten children, should not have counted the cost of devoting his life to the priestly vocation in the Society of Jesus.
As a Jesuit he has a fruitful life. Before his ordination he read History at University College, Dublin, and did important historical research for his Master's degree on the history of his family in the Penal days. In 1950 he founded Gonzaga College and quickly established it in a position of eminence in Dublin life ... He was a man of vision and he realised the importance of establishing in Dublin a first-class Catholic day-school.
Of course he had his foibles. His picturesque turn of phrase and well-bred mannerisms evoked occasional mirth among the boys. He could be rigid in some ways and may have lacked an understanding of human frailty in dealing with the wayward. He was very much the child of the old preconciliar Church, where the maintenance of standards was considered as important as the apparent dictates of human compassion.
It was a recognition of Fr O’Conor’s achievement as first rector of Gonzaga that he was appointed in 1959 to be Provincial of the Irish Province of the Jesuits. ... When his term as Provincial ended in 1965, he returned to Clongowes and sought to promote for canonisation the cause of Fr John Sullivan, the convert son of an Irish Lord Chancellor, who had taught him as a boy at the school. He also acted as chaplain to the Irish Association of the Order of Malta, which his father, Mr Charles O’Conor of Lucan House, had helped to found..
The memory which abides is of the man himself, a gaunt delicate figure, shy, reticent, earnest and somewhat tense, who walked very much alone in God’s path through life’s journey. There was about him a graciousness and elegance, epitomised by his handwriting and use of language, which adorned all he touched. It went to the very core of his being and was combined with a deep spirituality and true humility. In his last years he accepted with true Christian resignation his declining mental powers and the great cross of not being able to say Mass. To have been taught by him and to have known him was an inspiration in life, for through that experience one could not help but feel closer to one’s God.

◆ The Clongownian, 1982
Obituary
Father Charles O’Conor SJ
The Clongowes Community and boys suffered a grievous loss by the death of Fr Charles O'Conor on the 2nd November in Hazel Hall Nursing Home in Clane - just two miles from the College. He had suffered a heart attack on the Sunday morning eight days earlier which the doctor at first did not think was very serious. Indeed within a day or two Charles began to get his colour back and seemed definitely to be on the mend. However on Monday, 2nd November at 3.30 pm the nurse brought him a cup of tea, returned in ten minutes and found him dead. So his passing was swift and probably painless. Many of the younger generation may know little about Fr Charles or his career. So a brief outline of his life in the Society is called for.

Fr Charles O'Conor entered the novitiate at Tullabeg on the 1st September 1924 accompanied to that grim building by a bevy of young ladies, who, we learned afterwards, were some of his nine sisters - Charlie being the only son and heir to the title of the “O'Conor Don”. Having completed his two years noviceship he passed on to Rathfarnham, to the University, and there he spent four years and secured an MA in History. Then he returned to Tullabeg for his three years of Philosophy and he later spent the time of regency as assistant to the Master of Juniors.

In 1936 he began his theology in Milltown, but the following year he had to retire to the Jesuit sanatorium at Petworth in Sussex after a serious attack of TB. After a year in Petworth he returned to Milltown with his health improved; there he finished his theology, having been ordained after only two years of theology by special privilege. He finally completed his Tertianship and training in Rathfarnham Castle, and here he was to remain as master of Juniors, for eight years until 1950 when he was given the difficult and extremely demanding task of founding our now so successful Gonzaga College. Charles spent three more than busy years on this task and the next six years as Rector of the College.

In 1959 he was appointed Provincial of the Irish Province and at the end of this task, and at his own request, he came to Clongowes to take charge of the Peoples Church. Added to his other duties was that of vice-postulator for the cause of Fr John Sullivan. This well-loved task involved him in a very tiring, heavy and constant correspondence.

This, in brief, is the factual account of Charles's life, the part of it that all could see. But “qualis erat” really? Again we must be brief.

The Lord said that the love of God and the love of our neighbour is the summary of Christianity, nor can the two commandments be separated. He who has the one must have the other. We, humans, can in any case see, or at least be certain of the one ie, love of the neighbour. Charles had this virtue in excelsis. He could not offend in word or deed; he could not say or, I believe, think an uncharitable word; he was always ready to oblige; he was a humble man who never gave the faintest impression of being superior in any sense. He was always a pleasant companion and gravitated towards the less popular, less attractive of his fellows. He was deeply respected and beloved, I dare say, by all his fellow scholastics, and saying that I have said enough,

G O'B SJ

O'Dea, Paul P, 1894-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/326
  • Person
  • 30 June 1894-30 April 1972

Born: 30 June 1894, Kilfenora, County Clare
Entered: 07 September 1911, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1926, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1929, Chiesa del Gesù, Rome, Italy
Died: 30 April 1972, Milltown Park, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Studied for BA in Economics at UCD

by 1918 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying
by 1928 at St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1929 at Rome, Italy (ROM) studying

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 3 1972

Milltown Park
Father Paul O'Dea died peacefully in Milltown Park on the after noon of Sunday April 30th. He had lived here without a break for almost forty years and had been in the same room for thirty of them. Although he had been ailing for some time, he became very weak only two days before his death Nurses were called to attend him but the end came more swiftly than the community expected. He will be remembered particularly for his great patience and his hope in eternity. May he rest in peace.

Obituary :
Fr Paul O'Dea SJ (1894-1972)
A very long chapter in the history of Milltown Park ended with the death of Fr Paul O'Dea on the afternoon on Sunday, April 30th. For the past fifteen years or so his physical health had suffered and in the last few years he made no secret of the fact that he was weary of life and eagerly expecting a call to a better life. “Why does God not take me?” was a question he often asked. Latterly it became more and more plain that the end was drawing near. Yet, Fr Paul, with indomitable will-power, rose each morning to say his Mass (though he sometimes had to cling to the wall for support on his way to the chapel); and he was equally faithful in his attendance at each community duty. In the last twenty-four hours it was necessary to call in the help of a day nurse and a night nurse, but death came, in the end suddenly and most peacefully --- release from a life that had, for almost fifty years, been one of unbroken and faithful service to the house that for him was the centre of all his activities and of his prayers..
Paul O'Dea was born at Ennistymon on June 30th, 1894, the son of an old-world shopkeeper and farmer whose fine example and wise counsels made so deep an impression on the young boy that, seventy years later, he would constantly recall the lessons he had learned at home or when walking with his father through the streets of Ennis - for Paul's father moved from Ennistymon to Ennis when Paul was still a young boy.
It was from the Christian Brothers in Ennis that he learned what were to be the foundations on which he build so assiduously, in reading and in solitary thought, for many long years.
At the age of fifteen he was sent to Clongowes where he spent the two years, 1909-11. Of the novices who went with him to Tullabeg in 1911 Fr John Ryan is now the sole survivor. But the present writer can remember the grim determination of Br O'Dea's fervour, which was to be matched a few years later by an almost equally grim determination to break every rule of the Juniorate during his years in Rathfarnham Castle, 1913-17! Ill-health may have been in part the cause of these sudden swings from one extreme to another, but there was also the overpowering thirst for knowledge, especially for historical or geographical knowledge which took deep root in his mind during those early years.
Fr Paul never lost his sense of deep personal gratitude to the two men who saved him from the loss of what was, beyond all doubt, a true and lasting vocation to the Society. Those two men were the first Rector of Rathfarnham Castle, Fr James Brennan, and the Provincial Fr T V Nolan who took the place of Fr William Delaney in the autumn of 1912.
To tell the story of Fr Paul's slow but impressive intellectual development and of the devoted service he gave to Milltown Park as Professor of what was then known as the morning Dorma class, for so many years and as the immediate successor to Fr Peter Fin lay, in that chair, would require more space than is available in a number of Province News which has to find space for so many other losses to our Irish province. Let it be sufficient for the moment to say that with the death of Fr Paul O'Dea, Milltown Park has lost a singularly faithful and loyal son and those of us who survive him know that we also have lost a patient and kindly older brother in our religious life.

◆ The Clongownian, 1972

Obituary

Father Paul O'Dea SJ
Father Paul O'Dea passed a long life, as few men are permitted to do, wholly dedicated to a single activity: the acquisition and exposition of theological truth. The place and times in which he lived made such a career singularly uneventful and for all its competence can be briefly summarised.

When in 1909 he came to Clongowes he had been so well taught by the Christian Brothers in Ennis that he could more than hold his own in a brilliant class which included Fr Paul Healy SJ, Sir Gilbert Laithwaite, Tom Finlay and Ray O'Kelly. He entered the Jesuit Noviceship in 1911 and in 1913 went to the National University and took a first class honours degree in History. He then began his study of Philosophy in Stonyhurst but the conscription crisis brought him back to Milltown Park to complete his course there. In 1920 he came to Clongowes where he taught English and History to the senior classes. In the vacation of 1923 he helped to draw up the first certificate courses; he made use of the liberal choice of text and method which were all too soon to be superceded. In 1923 he came back to Milltown for four years study of Theology, at the end of which time it was settled that he should do Doctorate studies in Rome. The sudden death however of his old Professor Fr Peter Finlay cut short these courses and he was called back to take over his chair of Theology in Milltown. He spent the rest of his life in this office.

When he died he had been in Milltown for forty years without a break, He had always been a tireless walker and kept this exercise up into his old age. In these solitary walks he confessed that he often lost his way so preoccupied was he with his thoughts. As a confessor he was much sought after: here his personal holiness, his gentleness and his ever present desire to help were most evident.

The last years of his life were clouded by ill health which made concentration and lecturing impossible. He made no pretence that he was not longing for death and in the end it came happily. A few days before he died he had a heavy fall, he was confined to his room only for a short while but remained conscious to the end. An hour before his death he was able to recognise and greet his beloved sister - Mother de Lourdes who in a unique way shared his remarkable gifts.

To her we owe our most sincere sympathy.

O'Dempsey, Robert, 1858-1930, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1890
  • Person
  • 15 August 1858-01 March 1930

Born: 15 August 1858, Enniscorthy, County Wexford
Entered: 12 November 1883, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: - pre Entry
Final Vows: 15 August 1898, St Mary’s, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia
Died: 01 March 1930, St Aloysius College, Milson’s Point, Sydney, Australia

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

Came to Australia 1892

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Robert O'Dempsey was educated at Clongowes, 1871-77, and did ecclesiastical studies in Rome. He entered the Society as a priest at Milltown Park, 12 November 1883. He taught at Belvedere 1886-89, Clongowes, 1889-90, and Mungret, 1890-91, before a year of theology at Milltown.
O'Dempsey was sent to Australia in 1892, and taught for a few years at St Aloysius' College Bourke Street, at Xavier College, 1895-97, Riverview, 1897-98, and St Patrick's College, 1900-01.
He became engaged in parish ministry at Richmond, 1901-03, Hawthorn, 1903-12, Lavender Bay, 1912-22, as first parish priest, and Norwood, 1922-23, He was superior for that year. Later he went to St Aloysius' College, as spiritual father and director of sodalities.
O'Dempsey was a friend of the Sydney archbishop and Monsignor O'Haran. He had a remarkable knowledge of Latin and Greek, and was a notable cricketer. As a pastor he was most devoted, regularly visiting the sick and members of die parish, showing much gentleness and sympathy. He was recognised as a lovable priest.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 2 1926
Residence. SS. CORDIS, SYDNEY :
In 1878 Archbishop Vaughan handed over the Parish of North Shore to the Society. The church was exceedingly small, had very little church furniture and the Fathers were obliged to hire a Presbytery at 16s. a week. The Residence S.S. Cordis completed by Fr D Connell in 1923. The parish now numbers some 3,000 souls. It has two splendid primary schools, with an attendance of about 740 children. These schools. the Brothers' residence and the hall capable of holding 1,000 people, owe their existence to the energy of Fr Corish. In 1924 there were 45,000 Confessions heard, and about 50,000 Communions given. Attached to the church are two Sodalities, a Catholic club, a debating club, an athletic club a tennis club, and a branch of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Irish Province News 5th Year No 3 1930
Obituary :
Fr Robert O’Dempsey
On the 15th August 1858 Fr.O’Dempsey was born in Enniscorthy. He was educated at Clongowes, and entered the Society at Milltown as a priest, on the 12th Nov. 1883. The second year's novitiate was made at Dromore. From 1885 to 1891 he was prefect or master at either Clongowes, Belvedere or Mungret, then repeated theology at Milltown, and in 1892 went to Australia. For the next nine years his time was divided between the Colleges of St. Aloysius Kew, Riverview and St. Patrick's. 1901 brought a change, he became Operarius, spending two years at St. Ignatius, ten at Hawthorn, ten at Lavender Bay, one at Norwood, where he was Superior and Consultor of the Mission. 1923 saw him Spiritual Father at St. Aloysius' where he remained until his happy death on Saturday, March 1st 1930.
The following sketch of his work and character, by one who knew him well, will show what manner of man Fr O’Dempsey was :
“During the last years of his life Fr O'Dempsey was in charge of the Star of the Sea Church, Milson's Point, Sydney. He did not spare himself, even when old age and ill-health had wasted his body. 6.30 found him, every morning in his confessional. He said Mass at seven and returned to hear confessions until breakfast. He spent at least four hours every day visiting his district. Daily he taught catechism in the state school. Wednesday evening he gave to the St. Vincent de Paul. On all Thursdays he had evening devotions. On Saturdays confessions from 4-6 and 7-9. Sunday was a particularly heavy day. Mass and short sermon at seven, Sermon at ten, Sunday school at three, and devotions at 7.30. A hard week for an old man, and yet what struck one was his unchanging light-hearted and good humour. He had a fluent knowledge of Italian and heard a large number of confessions in that language .
He was an eloquent and forceful preacher, and, even to the end, spared no pains in preparing his sermons.
He was a wonderful man in a community. Never was he out of sorts in recreation, and his humour and great fund of stories made the hour after dinner a real relaxation. His deeply spiritual life and sound judgment fitted him perfectly for the position of Spiritual Father, which he held during his residence at St. Aloysius' College, to which the Star of the Sea is attached. He will be greatly missed.

◆ The Aloysian, Sydney, 1930

Obituary

Father Robert O’Dempsey SJ

The death on the 1st of March of this year of Rev Father O'Dempsey SJ, removed a very lovable priest, whose years of active ministry in several Australian States were many and distinguished. Father O'Dempsey was born in Wexford 72 years ago, and among the friends of his youth were his Grace the Archbishop, and Right Rev Monsignor O'Haran.

He made his secondary studies at the Jesuit College, Clongowes Wood, and later went to Rome for his ecclesiastical studies. On completion of studies in Rome, Father O'Dempsey returned to his native diocese, in whose service he did not remain long, for in 1883 we find his name in the roll of Jesuit novices at Milltown Park, near Dublin. Eight years later, Australia welcomed him.

Xavier and St. Patrick's Colleges, Mel bourne, were his earliest appointments. He was Superior at Norwood, South Australia, and for a period attached to the staff of Riverview College. He was the first.parish priest of Lavender Bay, and for the past eight years had been in charge of Star of the Sea Church, at Milson's Point.

In scholarship, Father O'Dempsey was remarkable for his knowledge of Latin and Greek and in the sporting field was known as a cricketer of outstanding merit.

But long after Father O'Dempsey's ability in learning or sport have been forgotten his devotion to duty will be remembered. Though advanced in years and suffering from bad health, he never failed to visit regularly the sick of the district under his care. Frequently, in the heat of summer, when stronger men would have found exertion make a de mand on their strength, Father O'Dempsey would be seen, on foot, on his round of visits. And those whom he visited speak feelingly of his gentleness and sympathy. A practical illustration of how he was appreciated was to be seen in the crowded congregation which filled the church at the Requiem Mass at Lavender Bay.

◆ The Clongownian, 1930

Obituary

Father Robert O’Dempsey SJ

We are indebted to an old Editor of “The Clongownian”, Fr Corr, for the following notice of Fr Robert O’Dempsey SJ, which appeared in the “Sydney Catholic Press”.

The death on March 1, at North Sydney, of the Rev Father R O'Dempsey SJ, has removed a very lovable Priest, whose years of active ministry. in several Australian States were many and distinguished. Father O'Dempsey was born in Wexford, 72 years ago, and among the friends of his youth were His Grace Archbishop Kelly and Right Rev Mgr O'Hagan. He made his secondary studies at the Jesuit College, Clongowes Wood, and thereafter proceeded to Rome for his ecclesiastical course. It took him but a short time after his return to the Ferns Diocese, for which he was ordained, to decide that his vocation lay in community life. He chose the Jesuit Order, which he entered in 1883. Eight years later Australia claimed him.

“Xavier and St Patrick's Colleges, Melbourne, were fortunate in securing his services as a teacher; he also occupied the position of Superior at Norwood, (South Australia), and later again did yeoman work at Riverview. He was the first Parish Priest of Lavender Bay, and for the past eight years had been in charge of the Star of the Sea Church, Milson's Point. In scholarship he was especially remarkable for his knowledge of Latin and Greek; and the sports field knew him as a very capable and enthusiastic cricketer. His knowledge of Gregorian Chant was considerable.

Jovial of disposition, he was, therefore, an agreeable companion in any community, and the Fathers will miss the brightness he shed around him. RIP

O'Dempsey, Robert, 1893-1972, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/745
  • Person
  • 23 July 1893-01 February 1972

Born: 23 July 1893, Parkton House, Enniscorthy, County Wexford
Entered: 19 September 1916, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1928, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1931, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 01 February 1972, Ballingarry, Mullingar, County Westmeath

Part of the Tullabeg, Co Offaly community at the time of death

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1930 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

Seems he Entered 07 September 1911 then left in 1912 and then reentered in 19 September 1916

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 47th Year No 2 1972

Obituary :

Fr Robert O’Dempsey SJ (1893-1972)

Father Robert O'Dempsey was one of a family who for generations, from their big house on the outskirts of Enniscorthy, had played a prominent part in the life of Wexford, giving a series of professional men, teachers and religious to the county-men and women of more than ordinary ability and a tradition of selfless service. As a boy at Clongowes Father Robert held his own in a Rhetoric, which included the genius of Father Paul Healy and Ray OʻKelly, and the outstanding abilities of Gilbert Laithwaite, Tom Finlay and Father Paul O'Dea. True, from the first his outlook was not merely serious but tense, and sometimes meticulous. Probably modern Psychologists may register a doubt of the idea of a religious vocation with a long tradition of long and detailed training for such a character. That Father Robert's first attempt to be thus dedicated, resulted in real nervous tension would seem to confirm such an attitude. He had to leave the Noviceship with no prospect of return. Rejecting the professional studies to which other members of the family had devoted themselves, he chose to become an apprentice in Todd Burns Drapery business, explaining later that he wanted constant contact with people to counteract his tendency to introspection. He wanted also a way of life he would not find it a wrench to abandon, should he be re-established for a fresh start. He was, after an interval, and went back to begin all over again the trial of the Noviceship and this time to succeed.
The years in Dublin were happy ones, and they enabled him later, to bring practical experience to his aid in renewing the Clongowes Social Study Club, which had fallen on evil days. Indeed throughout his life he held and fostered principles of social justice only gradually coming to be accepted. These early delays precluded the academic opportunities of his brilliant contemporaries; but an exceptionally strong interest in mathematics and mechanical things - he was something of an expert in his hobby of railway development - enabled him to teach with great success in Clongowes and Belvedere for many years. When in 1962 with the closing of Tullabeg he closed his text books for the last time, it gave him real pleasure to know that one of his last students could write from Chantilly that, though his new professor had a world reputation “he's not a patch on Father Bob O'Dempsey”.
One of the last generation of pre-motor car men, Father O'Dempsey had a taste for long walks, often solitary, and observation that distinguished such men as Lloyd Praeger; he was seldom happier than when on a long tramp, as one who climbed Mweelrea and Errigal with him can testify. On one of the Wexford Villas of the early twenties, he and six companions rode from Gorey to the foot of Mount Leinster and climbing it, from that eminence surveyed the county he loved. That the local paper next day described him as the Leader of the Party of which in fact he was the Junior wasn't surprising, but the other members all surviving may recollect his amusing and delighted disclaimer, which the local journalism rejected.
For such a man the routine of a College like Belvedere, with not a blade of grass in its field of vision, and endless drab streets for “Morning Supplies" was not an ideal setting; nonetheless for many years he took not only his full share of class work, but also helped with Debates and other activities, notably in the staging of the most memorable of the Operas, which Father Glynn and Father Byrne produced.
Father O'Dempsey kept a small carefully selected stock of tools, and was always ready to put his skill with them to helpful use. He had an independent mind with an abiding hate of fashionable cant or meaningless cliché. A loyal old Clongownian, he abhorred all that goes with the “Old Tie” tradition. A true Patriot, he detested the “stage” Irishman and all that smacked of Jingoism. In the days when Telefis Eireann - then known as Radio Baile Atha Cliath poured out a succession of sentimental ballads he liked to refer to the Corporation as Radio Bla Bla! He insisted on the 'O' in O‘Dempsey, and was indeed as far removed as it is possible to imagine from the “Eloquent Dempsey”. In short absolute sincerity was his abiding gift.
It was perhaps unfortunate that for an interval in his latter years at Belvedere, the assignment to Bolton Street Technical School was less congenial, provoking stresses which happily, were dissipated by his term of teaching mathematics to the Philosophers at Tullabeg until the dispersal of the faculty there. The concluding years in Tullabeg left him somewhat forlorn, this occupation gone. As time passed he gave up the long cycle rides and even reading be came a burden.
It is a pity he does not seem ever to have put together, much less put in print, his knowledge of the history of the Wexford Rising, which was more detailed and accurate than that of many professional Historians. (His Grandfather had in fact been “out” in the ‘98 Rising). He was neither romantic nor dramatic in his approach, indeed he was almost mathematical in his pre-occupation with facts and the objectivity with which he assessed them was remarkable.
It was sheer strength of character that enabled his long life to be a story of severe mental trials, valiantly encountered, and a noble service done for God and his fellow men.

◆ The Clongownian, 1972

Obituary

Father Robert O’Dempsey SJ

Robert O'Dempsey was born in 1893 at Parkton House, Enniscorthy. His father was a well known solicitor in that town, Robert was one of a large family, four brothers and seven sisters. His early education was with the Christian Brothers, Enniscorthy, for five years, and in 1907 he came to Clongowes, where his three elder brothers had preceded him. He showed considerable ability while at school, and won prizes in the Junior, Middle and Senior Grades of the Intermediate examinations.

On leaving Clongowes in 1911, Robert O'Dempsey entered the noviciate of the Society of Jesus, but broke down in health and was obliged to leave. He went into business in Messrs Todd Burns in Dublin, but always retained the hope of following his vocation to the priesthood, In 1916, his health being restored, his hope was realised, and he was again received into the Society of Jesus. He studied philosophy and theology at Milltown Park and was ordained in 1928. Before his ordination he taught for two years at Clongowes, and after it for thirteen years at the Crescent, Belvedere and Mungret. From 1943 to 1952 he was assistant to the editor of the “Irish Messenger of the Sacred Heart”. He then went to Tullabeg, where from 1953 to 1962 he taught mathematical physics and chemistry to the Jesuit students, and after that acted as bursar until his health broke down a few years before his death in 1972,

Father O'Dempsey's life was in one sense uneventful, but in another it was truly remarkable. From his youth, he was periodically affected by nervous trouble, but he courageously overcame it again and again, and thus led a full, active and useful life. When in the colleges, though not a particularly good teacher, he was most devoted and hard working, and was a great “general utility” man, ready to help in the organisation of debates, plays, concerts and games. The work he had to do in the Messenger office was largely routine and not particularly interesting, but he carried it out with great fidelity and accuracy. When appointed to teach maths physics and chemistry in Tullabeg, forty years had elapsed since as a boy, he had distinguished himself in these subjects, and he applied himself courageously to the task of renewing his acquaintance with them.

His Jesuit colleagues remember him as a loyal friend, always ready to help, and as an inspiring example of fortitude in the face of constant adversity.

O'Donnell, Godfrey, 1939-2020, Romanian Orthodox priest and former Jesuit priest

  • Person
  • 09 November 1939-14 February 2020

Born: 09 November 1939, Derry, County Derry
Entered: 06 September 1957, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 20 June 1971, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 19 October 1977, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Died: 14 February 2020, Swords, County Dublin (a Romanian Orthodox priest)

Left Society of Jesus: 1986

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1963 at Chantilly France (GAL S) studying
by 1973 at St Louis MO, USA (MIS) studying

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/funeral-held-of-pioneering-irish-romanian-orthodox-priest-fr-godfrey-o-donnell-1.4176696

The funeral Mass of Fr Godfrey O'Donnell (80) the only Irishman to be ordained a priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland, took place on Monday at St Columba's Church, Blakestown Way, in West Dublin. A total of 28 Romanian Orthodox priests from Europe and Ireland took part in the Mass.

From Derry, Fr O’Donnell died peacefully at his home in Swords last Friday. A Jesuit priest for 28 years, Fr Godfrey left the Catholic priesthood to marry Ruth in 1985, but had grown increasingly drawn to the Orthodox Church.

He was ordained a Romanian Orthodox priest in February 2004 by His Eminence the Metropolitan Iosif in a six-hour service at the chapel in Dublin's Belvedere College.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the other Orthodox churches, in Ireland, the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, and from the Romanian Embassy in Ireland.

As he explained at the 2004 ordination, “I had to make a choice to let go of my Catholic heritage and to embrace Orthodoxy. It has been a great gift this last four years. I have met so many extraordinary people, very gifted people, great Christians who have also had to give up a lot to come to a strange country like Ireland.”

In 2000, he was instrumental in establishing the first Romanian Orthodox parish in Dublin, based at Leeson Park. It followed contact in 1999 with Paris-based Metropolitan Iosif of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Western and Southern Europe.

Fr O’Donnell had been Orthodox representative to the Irish Council of Churches and the Irish Inter Church Meeting, and was chairman of the Dublin Council of Churches for a period. In 2008 he was elected President of the Irish Council of Churches.

In November 2013 he was awarded the accolade of ‘Stavrophore’ by the Romanian Orthodox Church. ‘Stavrophore’ is derived from the Greek stavrophoros, meaning ‘cross–bearer’. It is the highest award bestowed upon married priests in the Romanian Orthodox tradition.

It conferred on Fr O’Donnell the the right to wear a cross in recognition of his work to firmly establish the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland and of his long service to the Romanian Orthodox community.

Survived by Ruth, burial took place on Monday afternoon at Dardistown cemetery in north Co Dublin.

https://dublin.anglican.org/news/2020/02/17/archbishop-pays-tribute-to-fr

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Fr Godfrey O’Donnell, Romanian Orthodox priest and ecumenist, who died at his home in Swords on Friday February 14.

In 2004 Fr Godfrey became the first Irish–born person to be ordained as a priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Derry man had been a Jesuit priest but left the priesthood in 1985. He felt increasingly drawn to the Orthodox Church and was instrumental in establishing the Romanian Orthodox parish in Dublin in 2000. His work for the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland was honoured in 2013 when he was awarded the accolade of Stavrophore, the highest award given to married priests in that tradition.

Known for his active ecumenism, he represented the Romanian Orthodox Church on both the of Dublin Council of Churches and the Irish Council of Churches. He was chair of Dublin Council of Churches and became the first representative of the Orthodox traditions to hold the role of president of the Irish Council of Churches from 2012 to 2014.

Paying tribute to Fr Godfrey, Archbishop Michael Jackson recalled a priest of tremendous vitality. “All of us who knew Godfrey recognised his faithfulness to God and rejoiced in his tireless and joyful presentation of the Romanian Orthodox tradition within Irish Christianity. He was always ready and willing to participate in the promotion of a better understanding of faiths and advocate for ecumenism through the Dublin Council of Churches. The sympathies and prayers of all of us in the United Dioceses lie with his wife, Ruth, and the Romanian Orthodox community,” he said

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_O%27Donnell

Fr. Godfrey O'Donnell (1939[1] – 14 February 2020) was a priest from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in the Romanian Orthodox Church.

From County Londonderry, O'Donnell, was a Jesuit priest for 28 years,[2] who left the order in 1985 to marry Ruth.[3]

Godfrey and his wife Ruth became involved in the Greek Rite church in Arbour Hill in Dublin, and joined the Romanian Orthodox church in 1999.

O'Donnell was asked by the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Joseph, based in Paris, to help secure a Romanian Orthodox priest for their community in Ireland.[3] In 2000 Godfrey was instrumental in the establishment of Romanian Orthodox services in Dublin, which began in the Chapel in Belvedere College in 2001.[4] In 2004 O'Donnell became the first Irish-born person to be ordained a Romanian Orthodox priest.[5] He was ordained in the Jesuit Chapel of Belvedere College, where Romanian Orthodox services were held each weekend.

Fr. O'Donnell ministered from The Romanian Orthodox Church based at Christ Church Leeson Park.

O'Donnell was elected President of the Irish Council of Churches in 2008. In 2013 O'Donnell was awarded the accolade of 'Stavrophore' by the Romanian Orthodox Church.[6]

O'Donnell served as head of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Ireland, and attended ecumenical and inter-faith, state services such as the National Day of Commemoration in this capacity.

He died at his home in Swords, Dublin, Ireland, on 14 February 2020, aged 80.[7][8]

O'Donnell, Kevin J, 1908-1991, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/538
  • Person
  • 28 January 1908-11 June 1991

Born: 28 January 1908, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 21 September 1925, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1938, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1941, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 11 June 1991, St Ignatius, Lower Leeson St, Dublin

Early education at Belvedere College SJ

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1991

Obituary

Father Kevin O’Donnell SJ

Kevin O'Donnell was born in Dublin 83 years ago. He was one of a family of fourteen, of whom Molly, Una, Maeve, Loyola and Desmond survive. He was educated in the Holy Faith, Glasnevin and then at Belvedere College. He entered the Jesuits in 1925 a year after his brother Tom, with whom he was ordained in 1938 and beside whom he was to be buried in Clongowes.

Kevin never lapsed into sterile anecdotage but, from what he said about his student days in the Society, they were happy. His stories about those days were amusing and frequently mischievous. Two come to my mind. He recounted that he found his father was more vulnerable in his office than elsewhere so, when he was short a shilling or a cigarette as a young scholastic, he would call into his father's office and found, as he said, that the visit was usually productive. Shortly after he moved from Milltown, which he liked, to Tullabeg, which he did not, he was accosted by the Rector, Stephen Bartley, who remarked that he was looking glum. “I am”, replied Kevin. “Why so?” asked the Rector. “I have not had a cigarette for a month”, Kevin complained. The Rector then gave him five and thereby won a friend for life. Kevin was incapable of forgetting a favour. It was one of his most endearing qualities.

He was not an academic but had a reputation for being a person of sound and shrewd judgement and an excellent companion. He had a beautiful singing voice and he often recalled the great privilege he had of singing at the Eucharistic Congress.

After he was ordained and had completed his studies he spent the thirteen years from 1940 to 1953 in Clongowes with one year in Mungret. In Clongowes he acquired a fearsome reputation as a disciplinarian. Many a middle-aged bottom tingles to this day at the mention of his name. Such was his reputation that when we were scholastics in the mid-1950s in Tullabeg, we received with muted enthusiasm the news that he was to be our Superior during the holidays. However, while clearly not a man to be trifled with, he was companionable, good-humoured, kind, but above all generous.

He was determined that we were to have a great holiday which was to be a loss-making venture: not a penny was to go back to Tullabeg. I treasure one image from those days. It was the custom that half way through the holiday a van would trundle from Tullabeg with provisions for the holiday-makers. Kevin was profoundly suspicious of the quality of provisions from such a source. He stood by majestically, as the van was unloaded, keeping a beady eye on its contents. When he spied rhubarb, he at once called out, “Take it back to Tullabeg, Fr Hanley, I do not eat weeds”.

Fearsome disciplinarian he may have been, but it was during his years in Clongowes that many of his very many friendships were formed. Not a few of those friendships had a common characteristic. Kevin extended his hand in friendship, when friendship was badly needed. In his friendships there was never a jot of self seeking. He was loyal and generous and evoked loyalty and generosity in others. But having given his friendship altruistically, he was always deeply appreciative of any favour his friends did him, never calling to mind what he did for them. He constantly expressed his admiration of the kindness and generosity of others while being almost dismissive of his own.

No reference to his time in Clongowes could omit the fact that he won quite a reputation as a rugby coach. His teams won the Junior Cup four times in eight years. The fact that Clongowes has not won the Schools' Junior Cup since he left puts this feat into perspective.

From 1953 to 1970 he gave missions and retreats in Ireland and England, with one spell as Minister in Loyola House. During these years he made the acquaintance of many diocesan priests of whom he retained the happiest of memories and for whom he had the highest regard. In 1970 he went to Galway as a Bursar and if he ever referred to his work there, characteristically he never failed to praise the Provincial Bursar, John Guiney, for his kindness and help during those years.

Had Kevin walked under a bus in 1975, we would have had much to say about the good religious, the zealouspriest, the excellent companion, the loyal friend and generous man. He did not walk under a bus but he did walk under the eye of the then Provincial, Fr Paddy Doyle, who sent him as Bursar and Minister to the house of scholastics in Monkstown. He was an unlikely choice for the position, a somewhat Edwardian figure of 67 among bejeaned and bearded young religious, whose formation and style of life differed so much from the formation that he himself had experienced. It was in fact a wise decision with great significance for Kevin and the scholastics who passed through Sullivan House during those fourteen years.

These were his golden years. It was not that Kevin changed. He did not become a trendy 67 year-old dressed in technicolour with a shaggy beard. He remained loyal to his Anthony Eden hat, his rolled umbrella and a sombre shade of black. Nor did the new style of religious formation captivate him. As he said himself, : some of the new ways he understood and approved of, some he understood and disapproved of, while others left him perplexed. In his early days in Monkstown, if the behaviour of the young religious puzzled him at times, he would say to himself that if John Moore and Des O'Grady, men whom he held in the highest esteem, approved, then he could go along with it.

That he developed an extraordinary relationship with the young scholastics is beyond doubt. One, no longer a young scholastic, put it to me, Kevin remained himself, he let us remain ourselves. We appreciated his friendship, his support, his kindness and the interest he took in us. We loved and revered him”. Kevin certainly : had the ability to see a person's strong points,
concentrate on these and then judge them on their strengths. In this way he was enormously supportive of those about him.

His influence on the young was immense, riot just because he was a kind and understanding elderly man but because he embodied, albeit in hiş oldfashioned way, the ideals to which the young students aspired. Etched in his life were the faith, priestly zeal and contentment in the religious life and these ideals were etched in a humane, joyful and totally unpretentious way.

Another of the students, now a priest, said simply, “Kevin was a holy, saintly man”. True, but it was a holiness in a somewhat worldly guise. Kevin liked a good time and good fun, he had a discerning palate, he was not innocent of an affluent style of life, he did not lack wealthy generous friends. The last photo taken of him a matter of weeks before his death shows him sitting in a magnificent chair, smiling beatifically, surrounded by beautiful furniture and, beside him on a rosewood table, a glass of wine. But where the service of God; the needs of the apostolate, the demands of charity or the requirements of religious life were concerned, he could cast aside easily the good things of time because he was attached absolutely to the things that are eternal. Possessions and the good things he so greatly enjoyed did not possess him. He had great freedom, but as we know, such freedom does not come cheaply. It is the fruit of prayer and self denial over many years in response to grace. No wonder he was such an influence on the young scholastics, no wonder he won their affection, devotion and reverence.

And so to the end. He came to Leeson Street two years ago. His presence was a blessing on us individually and collectively. To the end he lived in the present and looked to the future, was positive and enthusiastic about developments in the house, was a wise and supportive advisor and good fun. He declined rapidly over the past ten months. His hearing deteriorated to the point where he could not attend recreation, his sight" failed and he could no longer keep the books or even read, the painful disease of the hip greatly restricted his mobility, He bore all with remarkable serenity and peace without a touch of self-pity. His conversation was full of gratitude to God for the blessings of his life, for the good times he had and for the generosity and kindness of friends. He retained his humour, his gracious concern for others and his appreciation of the good things on offer. I had a day out with him a few weeks before he died when he was in a lot of pain and could move only with difficulty. We went out to Bray where he showed me the family house of which he had such happy memories, to Greystones where he spent much of the school holidays, and to the Vico where he loved to go from Sullivan House. His entertaining conversation exuded a sense of peace with himself and the world and a deep appreciation of his blessings and the goodness of others. At the end of the day, I suggested a place for dinner and backed my suggestion with lengthy references to the suitability of the carpark, the convenience of the diningroom and so on. Kevin listened and then looked at me and asked, “But what is the food like?" and his face cracked into a wide grin.

During the last months of his life Kevin was a walking illustration of a prayer from the Spiritual Exercises that he must have prayed so often during his life in the Society: “Take , Lord, into your possession my complete freedom of action, my memory, my understanding and my entire will, all that I have, all that I own; it is your gift to me, I now return it to You. It is all Your's, to be used simply as You wish. Give me Your love and Your grace; it is all I need”. . May the Lord richly bless him and console his family and friends in their loss.

Noel Barber SJ

◆ The Clongownian, 1992

Obituary
Father Kevin O’Donnell SJ
(Born in Dublin in 1908, educated at the Holy Faith, Glasnevin and then at Belvedere College. He entered the Jesuits in 1925 and was ordained in 1938. He spent from 1940 to
1953 at Clongowes and from 1953 to 1970 he gave missions and retreats in Ireland and England. In 1970 he was made Bursar in Galway and in 1975 he was moved to the House of scholastics in Monkstown as Bursar. He moved to Leeson Street in 1989 and he died in 1991.)

An Appreciation

Clongowes Wood College, September 1950, I became “one of my boys” - little did I suspect then it would be the beginning of a forty year association with Fr Kevin, as he became to the family.

During his time in Clongowes he was a frequent visitor, always welcome, to our dining table in Fitzwilliam Square being a family of boys an unexpected visitor never overextended the resources of the household

He became a truly great friend with a rare gift for giving one to whom he was talking the feeling that they were important to him and the subject matter invariably of great concern to him. This attribute was warmly regarded by those who knew him well. His move to Rathfarnham Castle facilitated his ability to visit his friends. We shared many merry evenings with a good dinner - a glass of “Paddy” and lively conversation. On festive occasions his recitations came to the fore – the one I recall best was “The Persian Kitten”.

His stays in Manresa, Monkstown and latterly Leeson Street, proved no barrier to his continuing friendships, being involved in nearly all of our Christenings, Marriages and Deaths. His advices to parents over the years were much respected. He played many games of Scrabble with considerable banter in which he gave at least as much as he received.

New Year, during his time in Leeson Street, was the time for the family Mass. Three generations participated - usually followed by an excellent evening usually now of reminiscences rather than current affairs - interspersed with periods of relaxation to classical music on the stereo.

In the fifties in Clongowes he was always fair and impartial in his dealings with boys. These talents brought at least two Junior Cup wins to the College. Latterly he disclosed in a family environment a warmth of caring concern for each and every one together with a great sense of humour.

Our quality of life is the poorer for his passing – May God smile with him.

PM

O'Donnell, Thomas J, 1906-1983, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/325
  • Person
  • 04 February 1906-30 March 1983

Born: 04 February 1906, Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1924, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1938, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1941, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin
Died: 30 March 1983, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Early education at Belvedere College SJ and Castleknock College, Dublin

by 1929 at San Ignacio, Sarrià, Barcelona, Spain (ARA) studying
by 1946 at St Xavier’s, Bombay (ARA) teaching
by 1954 at Rome, Italy (ROM) - writing
by 1963 at Rome, Italy (ROM) Vatican Radio

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 21st Year No 1 1946

Fr. Thomas O'Donnell left Liverpool on the Mauretania for Bombay on Saturday, October 20th, He arrived in Bombay on November 3rd. He writes :
“In the science faculty here (St. Xavier's College) one of the many departments is devoted to cinematography and sound. It has its own private cinema-theatre. I am lecturing on Roman History to a B.A. honours group, two lectures a week. I am taking charge of the College sodality, and am already booked for two sermons, one on St. Francis Xavier in the College, and the other on St. John Berchmans in our church here”.

Irish Province News 21st Year No 2 1946

IN ALIIS PROVINCIIS DEGENTES :

India :
Fr. T. O'Donnell gave the Lenten Sermons in St. Peter's Church. Bandra, Bombay, on “Christ Crucified in the World To-day."

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1984
Obituary
Father Tom O’Donnell SJ
Fr Tom O'Donnell SJ, whose voice we heard for many years from Radio Vatican, died on 30th March 1983. For two years on and off Tom had been unwell and had spent quite a while in hospital on two or three occasions. But, when on the last visit it was at length discovered he had a tumour on the liver and cancer in a lung, we knew that Tom's. time was limited, and thank God, we were right. For we feared he might have to suffer great pain before his death for a fairly long period. But, his time was indeed limited and he faded away to a quiet and painless death.

De mortuis nihil nisi bonum means that we should pass over in silence the faults and emphasise only the virtues of the dead; well for me, who knew Tom pretty intimately for 58 years, I am glad to be able to say with sincerity that his death was the moment of truth, the moment when Tom's great virtues caused his failings to disappear or rather appear as the petty faults what enhanced rather than diminished his really exceptional virtues.

The first of his virtues was his charity in word and deed. He spoke no uncharitable word. There was no bitterness in his make-up. He felt kindly to all his brethern, and was always ready to oblige. I would like to emphasise this last quality. He had it to a quite exceptional degree, ready to put himself to great trouble at any time to relieve someone of a burdensome task or procure something in town for : someone, the procuring of which involved strenuous leg work.

As a priest he taught for some years in Rathmines Technical School as well as sharing in the teaching of the Juniors in Rathfarnham. From there he was sent to teach at our High School in Bombay from where he had to return after two years with severe stomach ulcers, and enter St Vincent's hospital immediately to undergo a major operation, involving the loss of half his stomach. Following the sudden death of one of the Clongowes community, he was called upon to fill the vacancy for half a year. After this he went to Emo as minister for a year and thence to Milltown to profess Church History for eight years. If one were cynical, one could say that superiors were using his humility and sincere spirit of obedience to plug holes they found difficult to fill.

His next appointment was a novel one - for the majority of us, ancients - and indeed an exciting, if exacting task. ie, news editor and broadcaster in English at Vatican Radio, and finally beggar-in-chief in the USA and Australia to raise funds for a more powerful Vatican Radio. After fifteen years on this last task, his health again began to give trouble and he had to return home. After a year giving retreats in Manresa, he came to Ciongowes where he spent fifteen years doing once again a variety of tasks, none of great note till his death.

I said earlier on that Tom's faults - for he had a few - rather enhanced that detracted from the solid virtues of the man, He was somewhat vain - a fault innocent indeed but one that laid him open to much leg pulling by brethern, but he never resented or showed anger to the jokers and was all the more liked by them. Of pride, that really nasty vice, Tom bad not a particle. He had, I might say, a child-like reverence for those in authority in the Church and in the Society, a virtue so unIrish that it too gave many a good natured laugh to us, his friends, who were very Irish in this matter. Before finishing I must remind his friends and inform the rest that Tom was above all a man of deep faith and trust in God, and a fruit and proof of this was the great patience he showed in his many illnesses and operations, and never so much as in his last illness; and in each hospital he was respected and loved by his nurses for his patience, of course, but especially for his gratitude to them all for their services to him. Rest in peace.

◆ The Clongownian, 1983 & ◆ Irish Province News 58th Year No 3 1983
Obituary

Father Tom O’Donnell SJ

Fr Tom O'Donnell died on the 30th of March. For two years, on and off, he had been unwell and had spent quite an amount of time in hospital on two or three occasions, But, when on the last visit it was discovered that he had a tumour on the liver and cancer in a lung, we knew that Fr Tom's time was limited, mercifully-so as over a fairly long period we feared he might have to suffer great pain before his death. But his time was indeed limited and he faded away to a quiet and painless death.

“De mortibus nihil nisi bonum”, meaning that we should pass over in silence the faults and stress only the virtues of the dead. For me, as someone who knew Fr Tom pretty intimately over fifty-eight years, I am glad to be able to say with sincerity that his death was the moment of truth; the moment when his great virtues and qualities appeared.

The first of his virtues was his charity in word and deed. He spoke no uncharitable word. There was no bitterness in his make-up. He felt kindly to all his brethren and was always ready to oblige. He was obliging to a quite exceptional degree, ready to put himself to great trouble at any time to relieve some one of a burdensome task or procure 'some thing in Dublin for someone, the procuring of which involved a lot of leg work. Fr Tom was also an obedient man. If one scans briefly his career in the Jesuit Order, those of us who know what a trial it can be to have to change course even once, can realize what a humble and truly obedient soul Fr Tom was for he had to change direction often. As a priest he taught for some years in Rathmines technical school as well as sharing in the teaching of Jesuit students in Rathfarnham. From there he was sent to teach at our High School in Bombay from where he had to return after two years with severe stomach ulcers and enter Vincent's Hospital immediately to undergo a major operation, involving the loss of half his stomach. He came to Clongowes then where he spent the first half of the year as study prefect and the second half as prefect of studies in place of Fr Charles Barrett who had died suddenly at a cup match. From Clongowes he went to Emo as minister for a year and thence to Milltown to profess Church History for eight years. His next appointment was a novel and indeed an exciting, if exacting task. He was appointed news editor and broadcaster in English on Vatican radio and finally beggar-in-chief in the USA and Australia to raise funds for a more powerful Vatican radio transmitter. After 15 years at this last task, his health again began to give trouble and he had to return home. After a year giving retreats in Manresa House, in Dollymount, he came to Clongowes where he spent the next 15 years doing a variety of tasks, including editing the Clongownian.

Of Fr Tom's faults - for he had a few - it can be said that these rather enhanced than detracted from the solid virtues of the man. He was somewhat vain - a fault innocent indeed but one that laid him open to much leg pulling by his brethren. But he never resented or showed anger at the teasing and was consequently all the more liked. Of pride, that really nasty vice, Fr Tom had not a particle.

He had, I might say, a child-like reverence for those in authority in the Church and in the Society of Jesus - a virtue so unIrish that it too gave many a good natured laugh to his friends, who were very Irish in this matter.

Above all, Fr Tom was a man of deep faith and trust in God and a proof of this was the great patience he showed in his many illnesses and operations, and never so much as in his last illness where he displayed great patience and especially gratitude to all those who served him.

May he rest in peace.

Gerard O'Beirne SJ

O'Donoghue, Patrick, 1885-1949, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/327
  • Person
  • 09 May 1885-06 July 1949

Born: 09 May 1885, Mitchelstown, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1907, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1917, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1923, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 06 July 1949, Armagh, County Armagh

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

by 1915 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Had studied 2 years of Theology in Maynooth and received Minor orders before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 24th Year No 4 1949
Obituary
Fr. Patrick O’Donoghue (1885-1807-1949)
He was born at Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, on 9th May, 1885. He was educated at St. Colman's, Fermoy, and entered Maynooth in 1902 where he studied philosophy for two years and theology for two. During his Maynooth course he secured high prizes in Church History, Elocution and Irish generally leading his class in the last mentioned subject. He entered the Society on 7th September, 1907 and had as Master of Novices, Fr. James Murphy for his first six months novitiate (Fr. James died on 22nd March, 1908). In the conspectus vitae written by novices shortly after their entry, Bro. O'Donoghue, as he then was, set down as his preference the giving of missions and retreats : “I should rather like teaching, but my great ambition would be preaching, giving missions and especially giving retreats to religious, students, etc.” This youthful ambition was destined to be splendidly realised.
After four years teaching at Crescent and Mungret Colleges he spent a year at Stonyhurst revising his philosophy, then passed to Milltown Park for theology, being ordained there on 31st July, 1917. From 1918 to 1931 he was teaching again at the Crescent and also for a good portion of that time engaged in church work, where his talent as preacher and lecturer got ample scope. In 1931 he joined the mission staff and from that time onward was engaged in the work of missions and retreats. He was Superior of the mission staff from 1942 till his death.
On Monday, 4th July of this year Fr. O'Donoghue travelled to Armagh to conduct the first week's clergy. retreat. He gave the usual. talks to the priests on the Tuesday, ending with a discourse on death, which touched his hearers deeply. The next morning he was awaited in the chapel for the morning talk, but when the President of the College went to fetch him he found him dead in the bathroom where he had already shaved. Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated the next morning in the Cathedral, at which His Grace the Archbishop, Dr.
D'Alton, and the eighty priests on retreat attended. The Rector of Milltown and Fr. E. J. Coyne (who finished the priests' retreat) were also present.

An Appreciation :
From his earliest years in the Society Fr. O'Donoghue seemed to have his mind bent on becoming a useful preacher of the Catholic Faith. His assiduity in the preparation of his sermon matter was most remark able. Monsignor Benson used to say that, if he was to speak to a small country audience, he would give many hours to preparing his address. Father O'Donoghue was most diligent in collecting material for his sermons and retreats. He wrote out his sermons and meditations with great care. He was gifted with a deep resonant pleasing voice, which was a great asset to him in fulfilling his ambition. His broadcast talks one Lent on the Passion of Our Lord were listened to with rapt attention all over the country, and were highly praised by priests and laity alike. For some years in the latter part of his life, owing to acute heart trouble, he was forced to retire from an active and successful participation in the missions. He continued the work of organisation as Superior of the Mission Staff, until his death.
Fr. O'Donoghue - like Our Holy Father, St. Ignatius - took always a kindly and detailed interest in the doings of Ours it gave him the greatest joy to hear of their successful work. In his dealings with the members of his staff he was considerate and sympathetic, and was gifted with a saving sense of humour. He went to endless trouble in his correspondence, both with Parish Priests, to make the mission work smoothly, and with his fellow missioners to explain to them in detail the arrangements he had made, Like a good organiser, he left nothing to chance. When he was obliged to retire through ill health the Mission Staff suffered a great loss. Fr. O'Donoghue was most anxious to continue the work of giving priests' retreats. His zeal led him to make the journey to Armagh to give the Diocesan Retreat, and this was the occasion of his sudden and tragic death. He had done the work that the Lord had given him to do.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Patrick O’Donoghue (1885-1949)

Father Patrick (1885-1949), was a native of Mitchelstown and educated at St Colman's, Fermoy. He entered Maynooth College in 1903 and was a second year divine when he obtained his bishop's permission to leave the diocese and enter the Society. He spent one year of his regency at the Crescent, 1910-11. He was ordained in Dublin in 1917.

For a short time after his ordination, Father O'Donoghue was master in Mungret College and Clongowes and on finishing his tertianship in 1921 was assigned to Sacred Heart College. The next nine years were spent here during which time he gave excellent service in the classroom. But, above all, he profitted by the opportunities afforded him of preaching in the church. In 1930 he joined the mission staff and became widely known for his splendid ability in preaching. He was superior of the Mission Staff until his death. His death came suddenly on 5 July, 1949 when he was conducting the annual retreat for the clergy of the archdioceses of Armagh.

O'Donovan, Cornelius P, 1930-2020, former Jesuit priest, teacher

  • Person
  • 17 March 1930-11 November 2020,

Born: 17 March 1930, Glasnevin, Dublin, County Dublin
Entered: 08 October 1947, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1961, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 11 November 2020, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Left Society of Jesus: 10 December 1976

by 1954 at Berchmanskolleg, Pullach, Germany (GER S) studying
by 1963 at Sentmaringer Münster, Germany (GER I) making Tertianship
by 1966 at St Louis MO, USA (MAR) teaching
by 1974 at Regis Toronto, Canada (CAN S) sabbatical

https://lonergan.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Shane-Hogan-Conn-ODonovan-Eulogy.pdf

A eulogy for Cornelius Patrick O’Donovan (17 March 1930 - 11 November 2020)
Shane Hogan, former Headmaster, St.Ignatius College, Riverview
21 November 2020

We are here to celebrate the precious life of Cornelius Patrick O’Donovan’s, or ‘Conn’ as he was more affectionally known.

Conn was an immensely special person to a great number of people from vast walks of life. From a young Irish lad in a big catholic family to a dynamic Jesuit, his adventurous and influential life in Australia is one worth remembering and celebrating. I pray these words are befitting of Conn and the extraordinary legacy that lives on in his family and friends.

In 2003 I was given a book by Daven Day SJ when he was Provincial. Its title was Heroic Leadership. It was an attempt by the author, an ex-Jesuit, to explain why the Jesuits had survived for the past 450 years while empires and successful corporations have fallen by the way side in that time. He put it down to 4 characteristics that he believes have served the Jesuits over that time: self-awareness, heroic deeds, ingenuity, and love.

Does each of these principals not sum up and epitomise this beautiful man’s character and personality and explain how he had such an impact on each person’s life that he touched.

Conn was born on 17 March 1930 in Dublin. The keen-eyed among you will have noticed the significance of this date – it is surprising he was not called Patrick Cornelius! As the second born male, Irish tradition states that he would be named after his paternal
grandfather and father.

His father was the Land Commissioner Inspector at this time but was famously behind the barricades at the Dublin General Post Office, shoulder to shoulder with Collins, Clarke, Connelly and McDermott, in the Easter Rising of 1916. Conn was very proud of this fact.

Conn had his Secondary education at Roscrea College, Tipperary for one year, and spent the remainder at Colaiste Mhuire, Dublin – an Irish-speaking Christian Brothers School. He entered the Society of Jesus on 8 October 1947, joining the Jesuit Novitiate at Emo, near Portarlington, where he spent two years of spiritual formation. In the Novitiate he was encouraged to read widely and to develop an interest in music and the arts, a passion he maintained throughout his life.

Following his time in the Jesuit Novitiate he travelled to Rathfarnham Castle where he studied for four years at the University College Dublin. An exemplary student, Conn pursued a demanding course, taking four subjects in Science and Mathematics. While he certainly could have obtained an impressive degree in Science, Conn’s heart remained in the realm of the humanities, and at the end of his first year, he switched to a degree in Latin and Irish. He would, of course, obtain First Class Honours. From here, Conn travelled to Germany to study Philosophy and upon commencement, greatly impressed the demanding German Jesuit professors, who promptly marked him as someone set to become a specialist in Philosophy.

Conn spent the next two years teaching and perfecting his craft at Belvedere College, Dublin, where his interest and ability in sports came to the fore. He was an excellent teacher, popular with the students and possessed an effortless and kindly control in the classroom and on the playing field. He then moved to Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy for four years of Theological Studies. It was Milltown that had a decisive impact on Conn, in large part due to his association with Philip McShane, with whom he forged a personal and intellectual friendship, one that would influence not only the other, but a whole generation of students of Philosophy at the Milltown Institute. His interest in philosophy deepened and matured over these years and the expectations of his German philosophy professors were further realised. After his final year of formation - his tertianship - Conn attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he obtained a Doctorate in Philosophy which he promptly put to use at the Jesuit St. Louis University in Missouri.

Conn returned home to Ireland where he taught Philosophy for 10 years. As ever, he was popular with colleagues and students, being urbane and gracious as he was. With his Milltown friend, Philip McShane, the pair established a philosophy course grounded in the teachings of the Canadian Jesuit Philosopher, Bernard Lonergan. This decision, however, was not without controversy and painful conflict. The modernisation of religious life was under heavy scrutiny at the time of the change, following the second Vatican Council. Although unknown, many believe that this series of conflicts in the 1960s were what caused Conn to leave the Priesthood and the Jesuits. Conn and the Jesuits remained passionately and eternally in a “benign and mutually appreciative relationship”.

Conn met the love of his life, Paddy, sometime after leaving the Jesuits. Paddy was an Australian nurse whom Conn met while she was travelling through Ireland. Conn was besotted with Paddy. Anything that she wanted, Conn was prepared to deliver. The two
become inseparable and shared many crazy adventures. His immense love for Paddy endured until her passing in 2003. A beautiful send-off was held for Paddy at St Canisius in Potts Point, arranged by Conn’s dear friend, Steve Sinn.

Conn arrived on the doorsteps of St Aloysius College in January 1980. He was looking for a job, as were a number of others who have been part of Jesuit education in Australia for the past 40 years. The first time I met him, Conn was sitting outside Father Bruce’s office waiting to go in and get our classes for the year. At Aloysius, Conn was an immediately hit with staff and students (and Jesuits). He played staff football on a Friday afternoon for many years. I did not realise how old he was at this time, probably 50 or close to it, he was easily one of the best players on the field – a great goalkeeper. Off the field, Conn could also hold his own with a drink.

Conn was an exceptional Latin teacher, Latin being one of eight languages Conn had been taught or taught himself to speak. He was also an exceptional Year Coordinator, earning the love of his students whom he loved in return. One of the reasons for this mutual respect was due to the fact that Conn could not bring himself to use the strap as punishment. He opted instead for a slower, arguably more cruel method, to talk them to death! If this did not work, he would refer them to his assistant, Neil Mushan, to sort out matters more… directly.This discipline method did not work when Helen Ephrums became his new assistant, as she also loved the boys to death.

Conn’s time at Aloysius is wonderfully remembered in comedian Ahn Do’s popular novel, The Happiest Refugee, where Conn’s passion and commitment to fair play saw him rest Ahn late in a Basketball game when Ahn was desperately trying to get to 30 points to win a new pair of basketball boots. When Conn was informed of his accidental actions, he was reported to have said, “Jaysus! Why didn’t you tell me earlier you daft eediot! Ahn, next time out, you’re on!” I can hear him saying it! With his right hand on his forehead.

When I first knew Conn, he was living at St Ignatius’ College in the old Infirmary. After that, he resided at Pearl Beach and travelled each day to St Aloysius is his green Morris Minor. He also for a time lived in a plush flat in Bellevue Hill, however the only piece of property he owned in his life, was an old church in the country which he used as a holiday house. Finally, Conn moved to Riverview and lived in a cottage by First Field for many years, a very happy place with classical music always drifting in the air as you approached.

On his departure from St Aloysius in the mid ‘90s, Conn travelled home to Ireland for a number of years. Paddy had convinced him she wanted to go home to Ireland to live and do a cooking course in France. Ever supportive of her dreams and true to his enduring love, whatever Paddy wanted, Conn was always prepared to deliver. While in Ireland, Conn taught at the Jesuit Belvedere College, Dublin, but both he and Paddy soon realised that with the Celtic Tiger enveloping the nation, Ireland was not the place and home they thought it to be.

Conn returned to Australia, commencing at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview, where he would join a number of us who had left Aloysius to start anew. After Paddy died, I asked Conn to come and live at Riverview. With this, a new amazing stage in his life began: that of a Jesuit, mystic and gypsy. Conn did possibly his best and most influential work while at Riverview. As mentor and confidante to the Headmaster, as well as Latin teacher, Conn spent many an afternoon wasting his time on Jennie Hickey and I - who never completed her homework and was inattentive at times - as he tried to get us through the Year 7 syllabus … year after year.

Conn’s impact on the formation of young Ignatian men and on those he worked with can be summed up by the outpouring of emotional responses on social media on hearing the news of his passing. Among the many moving tributes, here are two such examples of the widespread and lasting influence of Conn’s character.

A wonderful person and a great and enthusiastic 4th XI soccer coach! Profound intellect, humility, insight, depth of faith, simplicity of life, ease of finding joy… Conn’s gift for critical, honest thinking and seeking after truth made a big impact on me and many. I am moved to gratitude for his life. May Conn rest in peace. – James O’Brien

A dear friend and teacher who helped educate the whole person - a wonderful teacher of Ancient Greek who, in the course of teaching the subject, taught you also a good deal of literature - particularly the Irish poets - Latin, Gaelic, German, Philosophy and Theology. A great football coach who insisted on character and fair, firm play. But more, just a caring shepherd of people on their way into broader life. My favourite lessons in Greek were when he would turn up with a poem of Seamus Heaney’s,

because the story of the Trojan wars was also the story of all human struggles. Requiescat in pace, Conn. – Dominic Kelly

At this point, can I especially thank, from all of Conn’s friends and family, the care and love shared by the dozen or so girlfriends who spoilt him and gave him a graceful entry to heaven over the past months and were true friends to the end, especially you Christine, you have been an angel by his side.

In the Book of Isiah there is the story of the passing of a close friend of Cicero and when his wife asks him why do you weep so?

“The earth is poorer” said Cicero. “It has lost a good man, and we cannot afford it”

The earth will be a poorer place without Conn, at a time when good men are hard to find. Conn touched each and every one of us and has left us with memories we will cherish forever. Conn loved his Irish heritage, and in particular Irish poets. Conn and Paddy attached this poem to a birthday card they sent me in 2002. When you read it, hear Conn’s words in your head and heart.

https://lonergan.org.au/conn-odonovan-2/

27 November 2020

In Memory of Cornelius Patrick O’Donovan (17 March 1930 – 11 November 2020)

Our colleague and friend, Conn O’Donovan, was a regular attendee, participant and presenter at our biennial Australian Lonergan Workshop. He had a particular expertise and interest in the philosophy of learning.

He will remembered as a passionate and compassionate man, a lover of his wife Paddy, a scholar and a teacher,. He will also be remembered for this love of music and Lindt 85% dark chocolate.

His funeral service can be viewed (until 20th May 2021) at: https://www.FuneralVideo.com.au/CorneliusODonovan. A hard copy of the eulogy by Shane Hogan, former headmaster at St.Ignatius College, Riverview is available to download here. This includes a little of life-story.

In Lonergan circles, he will be remembered an educator, a reformer of philosophy and theology courses and a translator and interpreter of one of Lonergan’s important contributions to theology.

Educator

Throughout his life, Conn was an educator at various institutions – Belvedere College, Dublin; St.Louis University, Missouri; and Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy.

Over the past 40 years, Conn taught at St.Aloysius College, Milson’s Point and St.Ignatius College, Riverview (in Sydney, Australia). He is particularly noted for his course on “Wonder about Wonder: an introduction to philosophy” which aimed to have students grasp their own native wonder.

Reformer

In the early 1960s, Conn worked closely with Phil McShane and others in reforming philosophy and theology courses at the Jesuit Milltown Institute, Dublin. In a 2003 article in the Journal of Macrodynamic Analysis reflecting on the first forty years of Phil McShane, Conn recalled the challenge and the difficulties they faced:

There was considerable discontent, and even cynicism, among those Jesuit students, whether Lonergan inspired or not, who looked on theology as something more than just a canonical prerequisite for ordination, or who had already achieved considerable success in some other field. Many of them simply went along with the system, mastering the matter presented and producing it, on request, at examination time; others registered a kind of protest by pursuing private interests as much as possible; those inspired by Lonergan tended increasingly to raise questions in class in a manner that challenged their professors’ authority, at times, unfortunately, with a crude appeal to the authority of Lonergan. We did not know then that we were living through the final years of a system that Lonergan later described as hopelessly antiquated but not yet demolished, that what was happening at Milltown was happening all over the world, and that the upheaval that was soon to come would affect much more than the traditional seminary courses in philosophy and theology.

Translator and interpreter

In the early 1970s, Conn undertook the long and arduous task of translating, from Latin into English, the first part of the first volume of Bernard Lonergan’s De Deo Trino. It was published in 1976 by Darton Longman & Todd as The Way to Nicea: The Dialectical Development of Trinitarian Theology and examined the dialectical process by which the dogma of the Trinity developed in the first four centuries. The Way to Nicea was the first translation of Lonergan’s Latin writings to be published.

Lonergan was always reluctant to have any of his Latin texts translated because he wrote them in Latin for a very specific audience, I.e., the students from 17 nations at the Gregorian, as well the Holy Office who had to approve all texts used at pontifical universities. He said that he would have written it “differently” in English or French.
Having read Conn’s translation of the first part of de Deo Trino he thought it excellent and agreed to have it published as The Way to Nicea.The book includes an important introduction by Conn in which he sets out to:

survey the content and indicate the structure of the whole two-volume work [De Deo Trino] of which the part translated constitutes one sixth,

Give an account of Lonergan’s academic courses on the Trinity, from 1945 to 1964, with some references to other work in progress at the time of these courses,

Give a brief history of Lonergan’s writings on the Trinity during his years in Rome culminating in the 1964 De Deo Trino,

Discuss the importance for Lonergan of trinitarian theology as the area in which (mainly) he worked out his method in theology

Comment on Lonergan’s enduring involvement with and contribution to trinitarian theology as a topic of the greatest importance within theology

Suggest some reasons why Lonergan has been so far unwilling to release for publication in translation any more than this one part of De Deo Trino and why he has released even as much as he has

Make a few comments on the tasks of translation itself.

O'Donovan, Edward, 1843-1875, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1892
  • Person
  • 17 March 1843-12 February 1875

Born: 17 March 1843, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 01 February 1865, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 12 February 1875, Milltown Park, Dublin

by 1869 At Home Sick
by 1870 at Aix-les-Bains France (LUGD) studying
by 1871 at Roehampton London (ANG) studying
by 1872 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He studied Rhetoric at Roehampton, Philosophy at Stonyhurst and in the South of France, but was sent home ultimately for health reasons, and died 12 February 1875 at Milltown Park.

O'Dowling, Barry, 1921-1999, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/608
  • Person
  • 31 October 1921-14 September 1999

Born: 31 October 1921, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1939, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1954, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, Della Strada, Dooradoyle, Limerick
Died: 14 September 1999, Toulouse, France

Working at St Thérèse en Corbières, Lagrasse, France at the time of death.

by 1971 at Paris, France (GAL) studying
by 1988 at Garancières, Île-de-France, France (GAL) working
by 1994 at Lagrasse, France (GAL) working

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 105 : Special Edition 2000

Obituary

Fr Barry O’Dowling (1921-1999)

1921, Oct 31: Born in Cork
Early education: Christian Brothers' College Cork and Mungret College
1939, Sept 7: Entered the Society at Emo
1941, Sept 6: First vows at Emo
1941 - 1944 Studied Arts at U.C.D.
1944 - 1947 Tullabeg, studying philosophy
1947 - 1951 Belvedere - Regency, H.Dip in Education
1951 - 1955 Milltown Park, studying philosophy
1954, July 29 Ordained priest at Milltown Park
1955 - 1956 Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1956 - 1958 St. Ignatius, Galway, Minister
1958 - 1970 Crescent College, Teacher
1970 - 1971 Paris, Studying Catechetics & French
1971 - 1987 Crescent College Comprehensive, Teacher
1987 - 1989 Versailles, Parish work
1989 - 1993 Clongowes, Teacher
1993 - 1999 France, Parish work

In his last year, Barry experienced health problems. During the spring and summer he received post-operative radiation treatment for cancer. In his last week he felt very weak and was taken to hospital in Toulouse where he died peacefully on Tuesday morning, September 14th.

Liam O'Connell preached at a special mass in Limerick after Barry's burial in France ...

When Fr. Barry O'Dowling died, the Bishop of Carcassone described him as a great priest and peacemaker, and as a most discrete person. Because of this discretion, because of Barry's efforts to be totally private, it is difficult to give an outline of his life. And yet it can help our prayer and thanksgiving, and I will attempt to do so.

Barry O'Dowling was born in Cork on October 31st 1921, one of four children, Ciaran, Deirdre, Barry and Aidan. He received his early education at C.B.C. and in Mungret College, which he attended with his brother Aidan. In 1939, at the start of the war, he joined the Jesuit noviceship at Emo, near Portlaoise. Fr. Sean O Duibhir and Fr, Bill McKenna who are on the altar with us today joined on the same day, and celebrated 60 years as Jesuits on 7th of this month. Barry followed the usual Jesuit course of studies, studying Arts at UCD, Philosophy at Tullabeg near Tullamore and Theology at Milltown Park. He had the usual break in his studies when he taught from 1947 until 1951 at Belvedere, and Fr. Hugh Duffy who is also with us today remembers how Barry was his water polo trainer at that time.

After ordination in 1954, Barry worked in St. Ignatius Galway as Minister, or Assistant Superior for two years, and then in 1958 began his long association with the Crescent, which lasted for 20 years until 1987. At a time when authority was strong, and arguments from authority were accepted in our homes, in our schools, and in our churches, Barry used a different approach in the teaching of Religion. He would introduce a question, and often not tell his students what his position was so that the questioning could go on. One student got his own back, after he was fed up with arguments with Marx and Feurbach and Camus. This student wrote in a student magazine that Fr. O'Dowling was considering joining the Catholic Church. But to this day his past pupils appreciate that they had the right to express their own views and to speak their minds, and they received approval and support for doing this. His colleagues on the teaching staff still remember the great theology lectures he organised for the staff in the late 1970's.

I will only refer to the other qualities Barry brought to the school:
As a teacher of English, Barry had a skill in teaching students to write well. This was achieved through the quality of his regular marking of students' English essays. Despite the right to free speech, there was an orderly atmosphere in the classroom, and speaking out of order could be met with an exclusion order - expressed in one word - “out”. While he did not like large groups, Barry had a great gift for conversation, wide ranging, long conversations, and some of these were fondly recalled over the last few days. Barry was an unlikely impressario, but in the 1960's he organised a theatre group from past pupils, and he once had to rearrange a production at the last minute, because the theatre owners did not approve of Tennessee Williams. He also organised youth discos, until they became too successful, and too large.

In 1987 when the time came to retire from Crescent, Barry feared that there might be speeches and presents, so he obtained permission to slip quietly away, the day before the end of term. This was not because he did not care. With his family or with his friends or with his God, while he cared deeply, he did not always want what was most important to him to be dealt with in public.

Starting in the 1960's, during school holidays Barry used to recharge his batteries in France, as often as he could. There he enjoyed the beauty of the French language, the energy and style of the church, and the friendship of French Jesuits, priests and other acquaintances. He needed this French dimension in his life, and it helped him to live fully and to breathe.

After retirement Barry worked for two years in a parish outside Paris, near Garancière. Then he returned to some teaching of English classes at Clongowes. He enjoyed his new life of teaching and gardening and reading, and could have been very happy at Clongowes till the Lord called him. But he never sold his French car, a sign that he still felt the pull of missionary work.

Then in 1993 at the age of 72 Barry accepted a new challenge, and went to work in Lagrasse in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The Bishop of Carcasonne found it difficult to get priests to work in this mountainy place. The region of the Corbieres has 22 villages in a large area, but only 2000 people living in them. Many of these isolated villages have long since lost their shops and post offices, and when the tourists go home, there are often as few as 10 or 20 people, mostly old people, left behind. Some people from northern Europe have settled in the area, and are finding it difficult to be accepted. Barry recently conducted a small survey among the people of this region, and he learned that their greatest problem was loneliness. Barry ministered to them, travelling 25,000 kilometres a year on tiny mountain roads, to help keep the small churches and their small communities alive.

At the Mass in Lagrasse last Sunday, the church was full of the people of the surrounding 21 villages, from Albieres, and Auriac and Davejan and Dernicueillette and Felines Termenes, and Laviers, and Lanet and Lanroqe de Fa and Maisons and Messac and Mouthournet and Montgaillard and Montjoi and Paliarac and Ribaute and Salza and St. Martin des Puits and St. Pierre des Champs and Termenes and Vignevielle and Villerouge Termenes and La Grasse. Tears were shed by the old inhabitants and by newcomers to the area, for the man who was willing to live in simplicity and in loneliness himself, as a man of the Gospel.

At the end of the Mass Madame Pla spoke about Barry, and I would love to have the text of what she said. She spoke of the Barry we see in the photograph that is displayed in the church, as he prepared to bless the vines from the top of a mountain. She spoke of the rocky hilly area, with tiny congregations, and how Barry was welcomed into that area by everybody, believers and non-believers. In an area where people were suspicious of each other and of outsiders, he was accepted and loved as everybody's priest.

Barry's death was sudden in the end, but he had been preparing for a long time. When his own mother died, he told the Jesuit Community at Dooradoyle, in an unusual moment of self-revelation, since my mother's death heaven and earth have been drawn closer together, this is an extraordinary time. When Charlie Davy's mother died, Barry told Charlie that he loved the part of the Mass where we remember the dead. In his recent homilies in Lagrasse Barry returned again and again to the faithfulness of God. During the summer in Toulouse, while he received radiation treatment, Barry read the books of the Jesuit theologian, Varillon, and discussed them with the Superior of the community. He was especially moved by the book entitled The Humility of God. On the Sunday before he died Barry asked his Jesuit colleague Père Daniel, to read the readings for the day, the 24th Sunday of the year, and then he asked for communion.

Today we pray that Barry enjoys eternal communion with God, and that after all the open ended discussions without answers, that Barry enjoys what eye has not seen and ear has not heard.

Liam O'Connell SJ

◆ The Clongownian, 2000

Obituary

Father Barry O’Dowling SJ
Fr Barry O'Dowling, who had spent much of his working life as a Jesuit teaching in Crescent College Comprehensive, came to Clongowes in 1989. By then he had retired from teaching and had just done a two-year stint in a parish near Versailles in France. As he had suffered a heart-attack, the solitary life of a curé in rural France was no longer appropriate. He taught English with us for four years on a part-time basis until he felt well enough to resume pastoral work in 1993. This time he went much further south to Lagrasse, a depopulated region of scattered mountain villages with a low level of religious practice, in which there were twenty-one churches in the parish. He served his people with fidelity and characteristic good humour, while living in poverty in a rambling, ramshackle presbytery beside the church in Lagrasse. His health had been declining for some time before he died on 14 September 1999, at the age of 77, in Toulouse, where he now lies buried. At a memorial Mass in Lagrasse the Sunday after, when the church was filled with parishioners from the different villages in his care, one of them, speaking for others, said: “Il nous a fait tant de bien”.

The local paper, Midi Libre, published the following touching appreciation a week after his death :

Nous apprenons avec tristesse le décès du Père Barry O'Dowling, hospitalisé mercredi dernier dans un établissement de soins à Toulouse. Curé de Lagrasse depuis plus de six ans, il avait en plus la charge du secteur paroissial du Termenès Orbieu.

Nous nous étions habitués à sa haute silhouette coiffée de son éternelle casquette, arpentant les rues du village. Très affable, un mot gentil à tous, il aimait se mettre à l'écoute des Lagrassiens ainsi que des personnes qu'il était appelé à rencontrer dans le secteur. Au village il connaissait tout le monde et chacun, pratiquant ou non, appréciait son ouverture d'esprit et sa tolérance. Les fidèles ont eu l'occasion d'apprécier ses homélies particulièrement profondes et tournées vers la vie quotidienne de ses paroissiens.

L'abbé Barry était Jésuite, et comme un grand nombre de ses collègues, il a pratiqué l'enseignement dans son pays d'Irlande qu'il aimait bien. Il ne manquait jamais les matchs France-Irlande. On lui posait quelquefois la question: “Vous soutenez évidemment l'Irlandé?' et il n'hésitait de répondre: Ah non! Que le meilleur gagne!” Après s'être dévoué à l'enseignement, il a voulu se mettre au service de la pastorale. C'est ainsi qu'il a servi à son arrivée en France, dans la région parisienne. Le tumulte de la ville ne lui convenait pas. Il a demandé à exercer dans la France profonde: “Donnez-moi le secteur le plus reculé de France”. Il faut croire qu'à Lagrasse il avait enfin trouvé le calme qu'il cherchait, puisqu'il avait souhaité rester dans ces Corbières sauvages tant qu'il pourrait exercer. Il a servi Dieu et l'Église jusqu'à l'extrême limite de ses forces.

Souhaitons à cet homme juste qu'il ait retrouvé la plénitude qu'il recherchait. Pour ses paroissiens, c'est le Père spirituel qui les a quittés et pour nous tous c'est un ami qui n'a fait que passer.

O'Dowling, William, 1847-1916, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/328
  • Person
  • 31 March 1847-28 June 1916

Born: 31 March 1847, Thomas Street, Dublin
Entered: 24 December 1870, Turnov Austria (AUT)
Ordained: 1878
Final vows: 25 March 1881
Died: 28 June 1916, St Ignatius College, Manresa, Norwood, Adelaide, Australia

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He made studies in Prague and was Ordained there.
1878 At the end of third year Theology, being Ordained, he sailed for Adelaide.
He worked in various missions in South Australia and finally died at Norwood, 28 June 1916.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
William O'Dowling entered the Austrian province of the Society at Tyrnau, 24 December 1870, with the specific intention of joining the South Australian Mission. He was a junior at St Andra, studied philosophy at Posen, 1874-76, theology at Innsbruck, 1876-79, and tertianship at Milltown Park. 1879.
He arrived at Sevenhill, 5 March 1880, and taught there for a few years. He also did pastoral work. He then went to Georgetown, 1883-85, Manoora, 1885-87, and Kooringa as superior in 1888. From 1897-1903 he worked in the parish of Norwood, and was minister and procurator He spent two periods at Sevenhill, 1903-04 and 1908-11, as well as a few years at North Sydney, 1904-08. Finally, he went to Norwood, 1911-16, working within the parish.
O'Dowling was a zealous, capable missioner, with great physical strength and endurance, and was a good pastor of souls.

O'Driscoll, Cornelius, 1933-2015, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/844
  • Person
  • 31 July 1933-27 January 2015

Born: 31 July 1933, Wexford / Ballyhale, County Kilkenny
Entered: 07 September 1954, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 29 July 1965, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 05 November 1977, Mukasa Seminary, Zambia
Died: 27 January 2015, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Grew up in Ballyhale, County Kilkenny.

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

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 15 August 1971

by 1960 at Chivuna, Monze, N Rhodesia - studying language Regency

Early Education at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny and Defence Forces (Cadetship and Commission)

31 July 1933: Born in Wexford.
Early School years in Ballyhale National School, Kilkenny
1945 - 1951: St Kieran's College, Kilkenny
1951 - 1954: Defence Forces - Cadetship and Commission
7th September 1954: Entered the Society at Emo
8th September 1956: First Vows at Emo
1956-1959 Tullabeg – Studied Philosophy
1959-1960 Zambia – Studied the language
1960-1962 Chikuni College – teaching, prefecting, games, helping in Parish
1962-1966 Milltown Park – Studied Theology
1966-1968 Zambia – Chikuni College, teaching
1968-1969 Mukasa Minor Seminary – Teaching; Prefecting; Games; Helping in Parish
1969-1971 Chikuni College – Teaching; Prefecting; Games; Helping in Parish
1971-1972 Tertianship: Liverpool/St. Bueno’s
1972-1976 Chisekesi, Zambia – Teacher; Prefecting; Games at Canisius College, Chikuni
1976-1978 Mukasa – Teaching; Prefecting; Games; Helping in Parish
1978-1981 Namwala; Chikuni; Chivuna, Assistant Parish Priest
1981-1985 SFX, Gardiner Street – Vocations and Church/Parish Work
1985-1988 Chikuni; Namwala – Teaching; Parish Work; Marriage Encounter
1988-1991 Namwala-Superior, Assistant P.P.
1991-1992 3M Course at St. Beuno’s, Wales
1992-1994 Namwala/Mukasa – Teaching; Parish Work; Marriage Encounter
1994-1995 Milltown Park – Directing Spiritual Exercises; Pastoral Work;
1995-2005 Galway – Church/Parish/Retreats
1997 Parish Priest; Librarian
2003 Prefect of the Church
2005-2006 Sabbatical (USA); Rome C.I.S. Course on Spiritual Exercises
2006-2010 John Austin House – Assistant Director Jesuit Mission Office; Assisted in Aughrim Street Parish
2008 Superior
2010-2015 St. Francis Xavier’s Church, Gardiner St. – Assisted in Mission Office; Spiritual Director, Legion of Mary
2015 Residing in Cherryfield Lodge, praying for the Church and the Society

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Note from Joseph B (Joe) Conway Entry
Two days before his death, Joe became semi-comatose and was moved to a nearby hospital run by the Sisters of St. John of God. While in this state, he spoke Tonga and also answered Fr O’Driscoll in Tonga who was with him the day before he died.

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/rip-fr-neil-odriscoll-sj/

RIP: Fr Neil O’Driscoll SJ
Fr Neil O’Driscoll died peacefully in St. Vincent’s Hospital on Tuesday 27th January, aged 81. The eldest of five children, he was born in Wexford but moved as a child to Kilkenny, the county that commanded his loyalty from then on. He was a fine figure of a man who never lost the military bearing that reflected his three years in the army, moving from cadetship to commission. Was it the example of the soldierly Ignatius Loyola that moved him to the next stage, entering the Jesuit noviciate at Emo? Or the fact that Neil, like his father, was born on St Ignatius’ feast, 31 July? As with Ignatius, what met the eye was impressive, but less important than the depth and gentleness that lit up his face when he smiled. He was a dear and delightful companion.
Of his fifty years of priesthood, he spent half in Zambia, first learning the language, then schoolmastering and parish work in Chikuni and Namwala. When Bishop James Corboy founded Mukasa Minor Seminary in Choma, Neil went there as Prefect and teacher, and had a great influence on the boys there. His ability to encourage vocations and his good-tempered approach to teaching and to discipline made him a valued member of staff. I don’t think it is just coincidence that among his pupils there were two who later became Bishops and many others who were priests in various dioceses.
Neil was 61 when he returned to Ireland for a new ministry of giving retreats and running St Ignatius’ parish in Galway – he was the last Jesuit Parish priest. It was a good time for him. He always spoke of Galway with special affection; he found a warm welcome there and made many close friends. Meeting Neil you sensed a man who was happy in his priestly vocation, right up to his last years in Cherryfield. And he was a man of strong loyalties: to his family, his county of Kilkenny, his Alma Mater St Kieran’s College, and to the Jesuits, his comrades and spiritual home for sixty years of his life. May the Lord reward him.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 159 : Spring 2015

Obituary

Fr Cornelius (Neil) O’Driscoll (1933-2015)

Neil O'Driscoll died peacefully in St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin on 27th January 2015, aged 81. Like his father, he was born on the feast of St. Ignatius, something that may have had a bearing on his decision to enter the Society. He was baptised as Cornelius, though his Jesuit colleagues will ever remember him as Neil. But there are more significant things they will surely remember about him; his bright reassuring smile; the twinkle in his eye; his personal concern for his fellow-Jesuits and their work; the warmth, kindness and sincerity of his friendship; his gentle manner; the patient resignation with which he bore adverse health conditions; the uncomplaining way in which time and again he readjusted the course of his life in answer to the demands of his deteriorating health; his deep spiritual life, never paraded openly, but obvious in his great devotion to the Mass, the Blessed Sacrament and the Rosary.

The human context for all of this was the characteristic that first met the eye: Neil's impressive, almost military, bearing and the measured way in which he would deal with an issue. The years he spent in the Irish Army Officer Cadet Corps before entering the Jesuit novitiate made a deep impression on him and in God's surprising ways equipped him for some of the roles he would fill in the Society. A very early one, while still a novice, was to take some of his fellow-novices for drill, marching them round in efforts to improve their carriage and bearing. This was at a time when Ireland was experiencing renascent Irish Republican Army (IRA) activity; so it is no surprise that when light aircraft were seen flying over Emo, the rumour went round that the Irish authorities were checking in case the Jesuit novitiate had become a hot-bed for training IRA recruits! Neither is it any surprise that Neil was affectionately known to so many fellow-Jesuits as “the Captain” - almost instinctively you wanted to salute him when you first met him!

Neil spent 27 years, or almost exactly one-third of his life in Zambia. He would certainly have remained longer if the problems with his health had not made it necessary for him to return permanently to Ireland in 1994. In 1959, he arrived in what was then Northern Rhodesia for his three years of regency, spent most of his first year learning Chitonga and the following two years teaching in Canisius College, the Jesuit secondary school at Chikuni, He returned to Ireland for theology and was ordained on 27th July 1965, along with two other stalwarts of the Zambia-Malawi Province, Frank Wafer and Frank Woda. Following his fourth year of Theology and then Tertianship, Neil returned to Zambia in 1967. There he found both national and church scenes greatly changed compared with the way they had been when he left in 1962: what had been Northern Rhodesia had become Zambia; the Diocese of Monze had been established, with James Corboy as its first bishop; and Mukasa, a Jesuit run minor seminary for Monze Diocese, had been opened in Choma.

Neil was always happy to be sent where there was a need. At the time of his return to Zambia the need was for dynamic teachers and exemplary role-models in the schools for which the Society was responsible. And so it was that he spent the next eleven years of his life teaching either in Canisius or Mukasa. His colleagues remember with great admiration the way he always gave himself totally to the job. Very cheerfully he would take on extra classes or deal creatively with double sized classes of 75 or more (necessitated by a shortage of teachers). And as might have been expected from such a fine figure of a man, he knew how to use his impressive presence to bring control out of what otherwise might have been bedlam.

In some ways these were Neil's best and most fulfilling years. He was totally engrossed in his work, never seemed to have a moment for himself, and clearly enjoyed almost every minute of the diverse demands of his teaching apostolate. Around this time he began to show the attractive personality trait that was to become his hallmark in later life - pausing in a reflective and somewhat ponderous manner when asked a question and then giving a characteristic "hmmm” before answering. But for Neil one great thing about these teaching years was that he was just too busy to be able to pay attention to the dark and nameless anxieties that were lurking under the surface of his personal life and that became such a heavy cross for him in later years.

As was not unusual at that time in schools in Zambia, Neil also had to provide back-up and support for his teaching colleagues and the school administration if there were any disturbances among the students. This was a challenge for him, often involving a situation where he did not feel comfortable or at ease. But invariably he provided courageous support and showed unswerving loyalty. The experience of such situations burned deeply into him, unsettling him in some ways, though in later life he could recall them with sardonic humour. Thus, in mid-March 1974, he was with Jerry O'Connell one Sunday evening in the Canisius Headmaster's office when they heard sounds of shouting and rioting that were getting ominously louder. Quickly, Jerry and Neil switched off the lights and remained low, letting the disorderly students pass by outside. All settled down that night, but ever after when he would meet Jerry, Neil would say in characteristic fashion, “Jerry, beware the ides, beware the ides of March”

The legacy that Neil brought with him into the Society as a cadet officer in the Irish Army stood him in good stead during the years of his assignment to Canisius. Under Tom McGivern, a cadet contingent, attached to the 2nd Battalion of the Zambian Army, had been established at the school in 1964 and flourished over the years. On his return to the school in 1967, Neil enthusiastically became involved with these Cadets - the records show him as “Lieutenant the Rev. N. O'Driscoll” for five years and then for a year as Contingent Commander until he withdrew gracefully from this position so that a Zambian could take charge.

In 1979 Neil moved from school to parish work, becoming assistant parish priest in Chivuna. He served in this position for two years before returning to Dublin to spend three years in Gardiner Street on vocations promotion and parish work. From there he moved back to Zambia, first to a teaching post for three years in Canisius, then to Namwala for five years as superior and assistant parish priest, and then once again back to teaching, this time in Mukasa for a year.

The background to these many adjustments and changes was Neil's uncertain health status. For a considerable period he suffered from the undetected condition of excess iron in the blood, something that necessitated regular replacement of his blood supply. It was this that eventually made it necessary for him to leave Zambia in 1994 and return permanently to Ireland, At the same time he had to withstand the almost unremitting onslaughts of what St. Ignatius called the "evil spirit”. This plagued the second half of his life with a great burden of nameless anxieties, apprehensions and uneasiness. Notwithstanding his fine presence, he disliked being in a position of responsibility as he felt it difficult to make important decisions. But for as long as he was able, he continued with his apostolic work despite the physical and psychological burdens that he was carrying. Unfailingly he also continued to show himself a warm-hearted and delightful companion.

That he never deviated from the steady paths of apostolic engagement and very agreeable companionship shows that spiritually as well as physically Neil was truly a man of God and a man of stature. This made a strong impression on his Jesuit colleagues as well as on the Zambian people. It is gratifying to be able to record that late in 2014, just some months before he died, former parishioners of his recalled with great appreciation the work that he and Frank O'Neill had done when they were running Namwala parish. Even today, more than twenty years after his departure from the country, the people of Zambia remember with affection and appreciation Neil's pastoral presence among them.

Neil was 61 when he returned to Ireland in 1994 to a new ministry of giving retreats and running the parish in Galway, This was a good time for him. He always spoke of Galway with special affection. Meeting him, you sensed a man who was happy in his priestly vocation, right up to his last years in Cherryfield. And he was a man of strong loyalties: to his family, his county of Kilkenny, his Alma Mater St Kieran's College, the people of Zambia, his fellow-Jesuits, and the Society that was spiritual home for sixty years of his life.

In his wonderful book Where To From Here? Brian Grogan envisages a person who has just died moving with Christ in a small boat into the unbelievably wonderful life that lies ahead and being welcomed on the other side at a crowded quay. Undoubtedly it was that way with Neil when, towards the end of January, he got into that boat and left us. And surely among those offering him a thunderous welcome when he arrived at the other side were the Jesuit colleagues with whom he had worked in Zambia and who had pre-deceased him in Cherryfield - John Fitzgerald, Dick Cremins, Paddy Kelly, Charlie O'Connor, John McCauley, Jim Dunne, Denis Flannery and, of course, Frank O'Neill – and the countless Zambian people to whom he was such an inspiration, guide and genuinely good person. Can't you see him characteristically raising his bushy eyebrows, smiling radiantly with his whole being, joy shining through his eyes, completely overwhelmed, unable to find a word, and a small sound coming from his lips -- "hmmm”? Neil, you were a great and wonderful companion and priest. We greatly took forward to the welcome you will have for us when the time comes for us also to get into the boat and cross with the Lord to where you are now.

Michael J Kelly

O'Dwyer, James, 1860-1925, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1896
  • Person
  • 24 September 1860-29 October 1925

Born: 24 September 1860, Barronstown, County Tipperary
Entered: 01 October 1880, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1895, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1899, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 29 October 1925, Burke Hall, Kew, Melbourne, Australia

Older brother of Thomas (Toddy) - RIP 1942

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1897 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
Came to Australia 1901

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early education was at Tullabeg. The distinguished William Delaney was Rector there at that time, and James proved himself distinguished while there, in the classroom and on the playground. he ended his days there as Captain of the College.

After his Novitiate he was immediately sent to Belvedere for Regency. A year later he went to Milltown for Philosophy. He returned to Regency, this time for six years at Clongowes, where he earned a reputation as a brilliant teacher.
He then went to Milltown again for Theology, was Ordained there in 1895 and then went to Drongen for Tertianship.
After Tertianship he returned to Clongowes teaching.
1901 He was sent to Australia and was immediately appointed Prefect of Studies at Riverview.
1904 He was sent to Xavier College Kew.
1906 He was sent to the Richmond Parish.
1908 He was appointed Rector of Cavier College Kew. and remained in that post until 1917. During his tenure Xavier took its place in the first rank of Australian schools.
1918 He was asked to play a leading role in the founding of Newman College.
He was then sent teaching at St Aloysius College Sydney, before becoming the first Superior at Studley Hall (later Burke Hall), a position he held until his death there 29/10/1925

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
When the Irish provincial, John Conmee, came to Australia in 1908, he was not happy with conditions at Xavier College. “It is from almost all aspects, a failure - enormous debt (£30,000), fails miserably and increasingly at exams, fails in all athletic contests ...”. He believed that the college needed an educational rector who would improve the college intellectually and spiritually and remove the debt. James O’Dwyer was appointed rector in May 1908.
He entered the Society at Milltown Park, 1 October 1880. His Jesuit training was at Milltown Park for both philosophy and theology, and tertianship was at Tronchiennes, Belgium. During regency he taught physics and mathematics at Belvedere College, 1883-86, and Latin, Greek, and mathematics at Clongowes College, 1886-92.
O’Dwyer first appointment in Australia was as prefect of studies at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, 1901-04, but it seems that, as he did not continue the policy of previous prefects
of studies, he did not win the approval of the rector, Thomas Gartlan. O’Dwyer certainly did not approve of student absenteeism for sporting functions without his approval. Both rector and prefect of studies were strong, determined men - O’Dwyer was transferred to Xavier College.
It was during his term as rector of Xavier College, 1908-18, that his best work in Australia was achieved. He became one of the few Jesuit educationalists in the history of the Australian Province. At Xavier College he improved the school numerically, financially and educationally. At a time when science was unpopular as a school subject, he elevated its status. He built the laboratory, introduced electric light, enlarged the cricket oval, improved the Rowing Club and laid down the tennis courts. He also re-introduced secular masters after an absence of fifteen years and began the St Vincent de Paul Society in 1909. He also taught English literature and history, and encouraged a professional attitude to the teaching of religious knowledge.
O’Dwyer was one of the strongest of the rectors of Xavier College with extraordinary energy and force of character. He was most outspoken on every issue, showing a wide vision of life and detailed his educational philosophy more clearly than his predecessors. He stressed that “the aim and ideal of our education is to turn out cultured Christian gentlemen”. This was the Jesuit ideal for three centuries, and it was best achieved by following centuries of tradition, while taking care to keep in touch with the improvements of the physical sciences. More than many rectors, O’Dwyer believed that Jesuit traditions and the British Public School image had much in common, and the Public Schools of Victoria were continuing this great tradition of turning out men of character much needed for the future of Australia.
In his many addresses to parents and students, O’Dwyer stressed that hard work and character formation were more important than success in examinations or gaining prizes. He wanted his students to rise above their environment. with minds trained in wisdom. True education for him involved the soul, the life of the spirit, which produced truth, reverence, modesty and holiness. Christ was presented as the moral motive for Christians, and the syllabus used in education ought to be the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. The importance of religious education was continually stressed.
At a time when religious rituals were exactly prescribed, such as the custom of daily Mass for boarders, O'Dwyer questioned whether this enforced practice did not turn the boys against religion. It took another 50 years before compulsory Mass ceased. He was also a champion of pedagogical excellence. He constantly mentioned the poor quality teaching among Jesuits in Australia, and asked Irish superiors to send good teachers, especially in mathematics and science. Very little change occurred. He wanted Jesuit scholastics to be trained in pedagogy for teaching, but superiors held to the old belief that Jesuit formation was sufficient for all Society ministries.
Apart from his work within the colleges, O’Dwyer was also influential within the wider community In Victoria he was the Catholic representative on the Board of Registration, and was sought after for sermons and lectures. He gave the Cathedral Hall Winter Lectures in Melbourne one year, and regularly spent his holidays giving retreats.
In addition, he was not slow to comment on the education system in Victoria, all the time advocating an academic environment that would assist students to progress easily to the university.
The strong leadership that O’Dwyer exercised showed him to be a man of great zeal and enthusiasm, inspiring confidence and trust in others. He was extremely loyal to colleagues, boys and the Church. He was not given to praising people to their face, choosing rather to express his appreciation of them to others. He wasted no time on compliments. He was never familiar and not easy to know well, but was admired for his personal strength of character.
O’Dwyer was very British in outlook and spoke eloquently about the importance of the Empire and patriotism. During the Great War, he proclaimed the privilege of lighting for the
rights of King and country Vice-royalty were always welcome at Xavier College during his term of office. He strongly supported the Public School spirit at the College, a spirit that, in England he believed, had produced the best leaders in the Empire.
After his term of office as rector of Xavier College, he was given charge of preparing for the opening of Newman College at The University of Melbourne, a task he performed with
distinction. He must also be credited for the real work in founding the preparatory school to Xavier College, Burke Hall, and was appointed its first headmaster, 1921-25 . He died in office much mourned by the Melbourne Catholic community for his dedicated service to the Church and education.
It took time to know O’Dwyer as a person. He was reserved to a degree, even shy, and though he would let you know what he thought, he scarcely ever let you know what he felt. He could appear largely unemotional and lacking the finer sensibilities, keeping these emotions and feelings to himself. He was a man of action, and was impatient of delays. Yet, at the same time, he had no time for censorious criticism. If he had a complaint against anyone, that person alone heard about it. He was strong, sincere, and straight. These qualities earned the respect of his colleagues, and they seemed to treat him the same way.

Note from Toddy O’Dwyer Entry
Brother, Sir Michael, assassinated by a fanatical Indian student, Udharn Singh, 13 March 1940, in Caxton Hall, London, for the massacre at Amritsar, 13 April 1919, while he was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. Over 379 protesters were killed and 1,200 wounded. The “Massacre” was officially condemned, and many Indians considered Michael a tyrant.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 1st Year No 1 1925
Studley Hall (Burke Hall) : The success of this school is mainly due to the late Father James O'Dwyer, who died on October 29th R.I.P.. His death is a big loss to Dudley and to the Mission, to which he rendered invaluable assistance.

Irish Province News 1st Year No 2 1926

Obituary :
Fr James O’Dwyer
Fr James O'Dwyer died on Thursday, 29th October, 1925. His loss was severely felt, not only by the Society in Australia, but by his brother priests and by all those who are engaged in the great work of education. The crowded congregation assembled in St. Patrick's Cathedral, where the solemn office and High Mass were celebrated on the Saturday after his death gave eloquent testimony of the high opinion in which he was held by the general public. Some of the leading Protestants of Melbourne took part in this tribute to his memory.

Fr. O'Dwyer was born in Co. Tipperary in 1860. At the age of sixteen he went to Tullabeg, then a flourishing College with Fr. Wm. Delany as Rector. Young O'Dwyer was equally distinguished in the class-room and on the play-ground, and ended his school days as Captain of the College. He entered the Society in 1880, and immediately after the Noviceship was sent to Belvedere as Master. After a year he returned to Milltown for Philosophy. At the end of the third year he was appointed to Clongowes, where, during six years, he earned the very highest reputation as a brilliant master. He made his Theology at Milltown, ordained in 18957 went to Tronchiennes for Tertianship, and when the year was over he again found himself a master at Clongowes. He remained there until 1901, when he sailed for Australia. He at once became Prefect of Studies at Riverview and held that office until 1904, when he was transferred to Kew. Two years later he had his first experience of Parish work at Richmond. It did not last long, for in 1908 he was appointed Rector of Kew. During his rectorship, which lasted until 1917, Kew took its place in the very first rank of Australian schools a position it still occupies. To play a leading part in the starting of Newman College in I9I89 was Fr. O'Dwyer's next work. For the two following years he was engaged in teaching at St Aloysius' College, Sydney, and then became the first Superior of Studley Hall. Except for one year, when ill health incapacitated him for active work, he held that position until 1925 when God called him to receive the reward of his great labours.
Fr. O'Dwyer was not only a great schoolman, but as a preacher and lecturer he held a very high place. He was also much sought after by religious Communities, and by the secular
clergy to conduct their retreats.
At the High Mass and Office at St. Patrick’s, on the Saturday after Fr. O'Dwyer's death, His Lordship, the Bishop of Sandhurst, the Right Rev. Dr. MacCarthy, presided.

Irish Province News 1st Year No 3 1926

At Kew, Dr, Mannix paid the following tribute to Fr James O’Dwyer “I was very sorry to hear of the death of my dear friend Fr O’Dwyer desire to-night to sympathize with the Jesuit Fathers, and to assure them that I should like to be allowed to share the loss they feel. Fr O'Dwyer was a man in a thousand. He was one of the greatest educational experts in Australia. The debt that Victoria owes to Fr O'Dwyer will never be paid - but his work still remains.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father James O’Dwyer 1860-1925
Born in Tipperary on September 24th 1860, James O’Dwyer went to Tullabeg at the age of sixteen. It was then a flourishing College with Fr Delaney as Rector. Young O’Dwyer was equally outstanding in classroom and on playing field, and ended his schooldays as Captain of Tullabeg. He entered the Society in 1880.

He made his name as a brilliant Master in Clongowes, where he spent six years as a scholastic. After his ordination in Milltown and his Tertianship, he returned to Clongowes until 1901 when he sailed for Australia. He at once became Prefect of Studies at Riverview.

In 1908 he was appointed Rector of Kew, a post he held until 1917. During his Rectorship, Kew took its place in the very first rank of Australian schools. He played a leading part in the starting of Newman College in 1918, and he became the first Rector of Studley Hall, a position he held until his death.

Fr O’Dwyer was not only a great schoolman, but as a preacher and lecturer he held a very high place. He was much sought after by the clergy for their retreats.

He died on October 28th 1925.

◆ The Xaverian, Xavier College, Melbourne, Australia, 1925

Obituary

Father James O’Dwyer SJ

Born, 24th September, 1860: died 29th October, 1925)

The Editor asks me for some notes on the more intimate side of Father James O'Dwyer, omitting, as he suggests, all reference to the positions of trust he filled, the important works he accomplished, the brilliant and intellecu tual quialiies of his sermons and public lectures and so on. I daresay the Editor fixed on me for this task because inore than any other I was in daily and close association with Father O'Dwyer during the whole ten years of his rector at at Xavier.

Few, if any of his fellow-workers had better opportunities than myself of kriowing him; and yet, I inust confess, it took timne to know him intimately. He was reserved to a degree, even shy, and though he would let you know what he thought, he scarcely ever let you know what he felt. The impression produced on me for some time - even for some years - was that he was largely unemotional and lacked the finer sensibilities. I look back now on that impression with surprise. As intimate association with him increased I saw that earlier impressions had to be corrected. He was, in fact, a man of deep feeling and of a sensitiveness that few, I think, suspected. But he was wonderfully silent about what he felt: as a rule, you had to find it out by casual indications or rare and unguarded admissions, For instance, it came to me as a surprise to learn some years after the occurrences that matters, concerning which I had regarded him at the time as “thick-skinned” and insensible, had caused him many a sleepless night,

If I were asked to me what seemed to me to be his most striking characteristic - a dangerous, and, perhaps, illusory thing to attempt - I would select his loyalty. Whether it was really his most prominent characteristic or not, at all events it was sufficiently noteworthy to call for attention, and, to me at least, it was always touching. He was extraordinarily loyal both to his colleagues and to the boys under his charge, while his loyalty to the Catholic Church was the overmastering passion of his life.

Looking back over ten years of close collaboration with him at Xavier, I can not recall a single occasion on which he expressed to myself a word of formal approval of my own work, I am inclined to think that somewhat similar was the experience of all my co-workers. He wasted no time on compliinents. You felt his approval rather by his decisions and you appreciated it all the more. But in speaking to you of his colleagues who were not present, his appreciation of their work was most heartening. He referred to them in the most enthusiastic terms. No one could be warmer in his recognition of their work. He was utterly sincere, straightforward, and manly. In his presence you might be reminded with a certain abruptness of some omission, or something that should be “done at once” - a favourite expression of his - or of something that should have been done long ago; but though he wasted no compliments on you, you could be absolutely certain that behind your back no one ever heard of anything but appreciation of your work. You knew it because that was his invariable practice regarding every one of his community. He wanted to get things done, to see things moving, and he was certainly impatient of delays; but he had no time for censorious criticism. If he had any fault to find, he kept it to himself or reserved it for the person corcerned. He was a strong, sincere, and loyal man, and the better you knew him the more you admired him.

Equally notable was his loyalty to the boys. He was enthusiastic about thenı; keenly alive to their fine points; and scrupulously careful about their reputations. He took, I fancy, a kind of sacramental view of their faults and never discussed them. You certainly heard him.say a good deal about the fine qualities of the boys, but never a word about their misdemeanours. No doubt, in the Study Hall at assembly he came down forcibly on publicly known breaches of college law - as boys of his time will remember - and even decreed vigorous correction at times; but no one resented that - not even the culprits themselves - though they must have found it unpleasant at the time, the boys felt it was all in the game, and the public spirit of the school was solidly behind the Rector. The boys really like a good lead, and they felt they got it from Father O'Dwyer.

I was after somewhat surprised to note how completely the boys understood him. Undoubtedly he was often abrupt and impetuous, and even seemed to me at times to be a trifling harsh in his manner; but if there was any apparent harshness, the boys never seemed to notice it in the least. They never held off from him; they were frank, straightforward, and trusting in their whole attitude towards their Rector. They understood him; they appreciated the interest he took in thern; they admired his manliness and his high principles; and they were proud of him as a leader. More, they felt he was a friend and loved and trusted him as such.

His loyalty to the Church was inspiring. It had the breadth, the depth, and the strength which became one who was at once a scholar and an enthusiast. To him the Catholic Church could never be regarded as something about which, in any circumstances, we may be shamefaced or apologetic. To him, the Faith was the one thing that really matters in this world, not only for the individual, but also for nations, empires, and civilizations. As he was a close and deep student of history, he was conpetent to appeal on behalf of the Church to the Nineteen Great Witnesses - the Nineteen Centuries which have rolled over the shifting destinies of the nations, and which, as they look down the long avenues of history strewn with the wreckage of human institutions, pass this solemn judgment: “One institution stands through all the changes; one in stitution was built by the hands of God and will not pass away; one institution outlasts the long-drawn ravings and the futile prophecies of hostile criticisin is generation succeeds generation”. Father O'Dwyer's loyalty was founded upon the deep and profound study of history and of philosophy and theology, and he gave to his convictions a depth and breadth which could only come from religion, backed up by culture.

A French writer has said that fame is the privilege of being known to those who know you not. Another defined popularity as the esteein of men who take us for something altogether different from what we really are. Fame or popularity of that kind may be treated with indifference or contempt. Far different fron that was the genuine esteem in which Father O'Dwyer was held by those who really knew him. The more intimately people knew and understood him, the more they esteemed him. He had the love and esteem of those who came in close contact with him, and understood his aims and his work. He was not a man who invited familiarity, From his aggressive pushfulness, his initiative, his energy and his impatience with shilly-shallying, he was a man with whom it might be said no one was really familiar. Even the people who were most friendly with him felt slightly restrained by something in him. Yet, as I have said before, the boys felt that he was their true and real friend and, feeling that, loved and trusted him. In Newman College, among the students, Father O'Dwyer was quite at home. He was as much at his ease with the University students as he had been with the Xavier College boys. Laer, when he was appointed head-master of the Xavier Preparatory School, some might have wondered how he would get on with the children, many of whom were practically babies fresh froin the nursery. Well, I think that in many ways the part of his life that he would have chosen, if asked, as the happiest time of his life, was while he was in charge of Studley Hall, Here he plotted and planned and kept things moving as he had done at the College and was the happiest of men in the midst of the young life of the Preparatory School. Here, as at Xavier, he won the trust of children - that hardest of all things to capture. It seems to me that no greater tribute could be paid to Father O'Dwyer's qualities than that given by the spontaneous trust in him alike by men, boys and little children.

Furthermore, no class of men or women were more loyal, more respectful, or more affectionate to Father O'Dwyer than those who served under him in the capacity of servants. He gained their respect and affection by his ready sympathy, by his appreciation of their work, and by the tactfulness and kindly courtesy of the true Christian gentleman.

Of that last and greatest loyalty of his life-his religious obedience I would not speak for very sacredness. Yet was it, I think, the beacon light of his life. In his own handwriting he wrote on the fly leaf of the Boys' Rules of Xavier College these beautiful words:

“True guidance in return for loving obedience (did they but know it) is the prime need of man” and...
“Great souls are always loyally submissive reverent to what is set over them; only small, mean souls are other wise”."
How truly was his own life an exemplification of those words,
May he rest in peace.

Eustace Boylan SJ

A LITTLE POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATION

The Editor of the “Xaverian” has ever felt that justice should be done to the Editor of the “Xaverian” for 1918 - the year that Father O'Dwyer ceased to be Rector of Xavier and this all the more because in righting the living he is but paying tribute to the humility of the dead. In December, 1918, when the changes of Rector had been officially announced and Father Jerernialı Sullivan succeeded Father James O'Dwyer as Rector of Xavier, the Editor drew up a simple, honest, sincere, plain and unflattering account of the stewardship of Father O'Dwyer and to it added in a poor broken way, a word of appreciation of his work and worth. Out of respect for his old Superior and never dreaming the upshot, he imprudently asked Father James to read the proof sheet and give his permission for its production. He did the former willingly enough, and expressed his gratitude but to the latter gave a refusal so decisive and so earnest that compliance had to be. Accordingly the “Xaverian” went out minus the precious manuscript. Then came the storm of criticism foreseen and predicted by the poor Editor as he argued and argued - but all to no effect - With Father O’Dwyer...... of the Leaving Classes who apprecraitopn, perhaps, more than as boys — the love of literature and grasp of religious truth which his teaching instilled.
Far deeper, however, than these benefits (great as they are) will be found, in the hearts of the boys, the grateful thought and remembrance of Father O'Dwyer's personal kindness to them. The memory of this will live on when many another golden text - be it of Science or Scripture - has been forgotten, and will teach the Xavier boy both how to live and how to die. Rumour runs that Father O'Dwyer leaves Xavier for higher - if not better things - for the Rectorship of Newman College. We know not. But, whether Rector of Newman College or of no College, “the School, both old and new, will not forget” his kinduess to it, nor fail to pray that he who blessed so much may, in ......

◆ Our Alma Mater, St Ignatius Riverview, Sydney, Australia, 1925

Obituary

Father James O’Dwyer

Within the last few weeks there passed to his eternal reward a great educationalist in the person of Fr J O'Dwyer, brother of our late rector, Fr T O'Dwyer, and formerly sometime prefect of studies in this College. He had been rector of Xavier College, Melbourne, and was the first rector of Newman College, Melbourne University. He was largely in strumental in putting that institution on its firm bass, and must be credited with what has been recently described by an independent observer, as its phenomenal success. “Here, as there, Fr O'Dwyer was always : tireless worker, with complete forgetfulness of self, and unbounded zeal for the work he had in hand. At the time of his decease he filled the post of headmaster of Studley Hall, the preparatory school of Xavier College, which establishment also has attained, under his wise rule, to immediate and conspicuous success. A crowded attendance of clergy and laity on the occasion of the requiem in S Patrick's Cathedral, gave testimony of widespread appreciation for his splendid. works, and general regret at his demise.
RIP

◆ The Clongownian, 1926

Obituary

Father James O’Dwyer SJ

James O’Dwyer SJ had had the most intimate connections with Clongowes, for after a brilliant school career at Tullabeg that had been made by Father Delany he came as a scholastic to teach Rhetoric here, numbering Father Rector among his pupils. He is one of the small band whose teaching has survived to be a tradition and a model. Intensely intellectual, he was full of an almost missionary zeal for imparting knowledge, and his method was quite as much inspiration as exposition. He was that rare thing, a practical enthusiast who was fully qualified and a master of his own work. Going as a priest to Australia, he continued his educational work in a wider field, was ten years Rector of Xavier College at a time when its career was one of rapidly growing success, and then for many years the first Superior of Studley Hall, its preparatory school. His charming and original character, with its strongly-felt ideals and strongly-expressed opinions, could not fail to make many friends and perhaps a few. enemies, a per sonality to be followed and opposed. He fought with conspicuous skill, vigour and success in the battle for Catholic Education in a Protestant country.

◆ The Clongownian, 1931

Appreciation

Father James O’Dwyer SJ

(OT 1876-1880 ; Master at Clongowes 1887-1892 and 1897-1901; first Rector of Newman College in the University of Melbourne, Rector of Xavier College and of Burke Hail, Melbourne).

By Fr George O'Neill SJ

“The Clongopwnian owes a debt of commemoration to the late Fr James O'Dwyer; but it is not easy to pay that debt satisfactorily. For, though Fr O'Dwyer died as recently as 1925, he is to Clongowes of to-day a man of a past generation; and “the generations” are still as “hungry” as when the poet so described them - “ever wearying of the old and wolfing down the new”. So long ago as 1901, Fr James was led by the call of duty very far away from Tullabeg and Clongowes, and, once he reached his new world he became absorbed in the task he set before him, and cut off with, perhaps, excessive completeness his links with the old country. A student at Tullabeg from 1876 to 1880, a master at Clongowes from 1887 to 1892 and again from 1897 to 1901, he will have left vivid memories of what he was as a schoolboy and a Jesuit among a fairly “old guard” of Clongownians and a much smaller remnant of the men of St Stanislaus. By such as these, at all events, whatever their numbers, we have no doubt that an appreciation of him, however imperfect, will be welcomed; while, perhaps, a chance perusal of it will catch the attention and even appeal to the soul of some younger readers, and as for the antipodes we have no doubt that when “The Clongownian” of 1931 'arrives out there, it will gain a living and warm reception for anything it has to say in reverent commemoration of Fr O'Dwyer a man in whom hundreds of Australians have recognised and still recognise one of the most successful educators of youth that have ever appeared in their country.

Fr O'Dwyer made himself, indeed, an Australian with the Australians. He was, none the less, a true son of Irish soil. Sprung from a family settled immemorially in the “Golden Vein” country, near Tipperary, he and his brothers grew up a large and gifted circle. One, by sheer force of ability rose to a place among the highest in the difficult field of Indian Government, and, as Sir Michael O'Dwyer, confronted its problems with energy and ability; another, now Fr Thomas O'Dwyer SJ, as Vice-Rector of St Patrick's College, Melbourne, Rector of Riverview College, Sydney, and in other capacities also served well the Society to which he and his brother James gave them selves in their early days.

Provincialism or narrow nationalism of any sort was no part of Fr James's mind or character. For that he was too much of an enlightened Catholic and too much of a man of culture. These characteristics were justly dwelt upon by the preacher at his funeral service, Fr Eustace Boylan SJ, who thus spoke :

“The most prominent characteristic of Fr O'Dwyer's life was a passionate loyalty to the Catholic Church. This gave unity to all his efforts in study, in teaching, and in preaching. He regarded the Church as the only thing that really mattered in the world - the great rock, marking out the true goal of human progress. His loyalty was founded on a deep study of history, philosophy and theology, which gave his mind a depth and breadth that could result only from religion backed up by culture. In the battle for progress and improvement, his one central idea was the progress of the Church to the greater glory of God”.

It is a panegyric such as might have been spoken concerning some canonised son of St Ignatius. And, while it was true in a generous measure of Fr James, he possessed, furthermore, the strength of will and character that could make his ideals active forces in all manner of surroundings, as well as the spirit of self-sacrifice that does not count the cost to self. As teacher, preacher, Rector, and much else - especially from the time of his ordination as priest in 1895 to his last illness in 1925 - he wore himself out by hard and incessant labour. His strenuousness, combined with his ability, “made him a prince of teachers”. There was no room for slovenliness or slackness in his conception of a well-ordered life, and those he train d had to “take it or leave it” on that understanding. Utterly straightforward himself, so un relentingly expected truth from others. Here came in the inevitable touch of human imperfection. His forcefulness in the moulding of his pupils, while it had, on the whole, a desirable result, was sometimes, felt to be a little exaggerated and oppressive. So too in his judgments of character and his views on things in general, though you could not call him narrow, yet there was certainly a tendency to be one-sided, to see things too absolutely in black and white. He was not readily indulgent to views and tendencies, or sympathetic in judging characters, that were unlike his own. In his later years, however, this inborn positiveness appeared tempered and softened. It must, at all times, have given him occasion for meritorious self-repression; for never did it interfere with his obedience as a religious, never with his exercises of charity, and seldom with his capacity for team-work in any good cause. You might find it hard to draw him into a hive of action; but, once you got him in, you could count infallibly on his loyal co-operation.

He might have gained, doubtless, something in breadth of view had he been favoured with a course of studies less locally confined. His long years at Tullabeg and at Milltown Park might possibly have narrowed, not expanded, a mindless bent on self-improvement than his was; but he was a keen learner, He ranged as widely in general studies and reading as opportunity permitted, and, like Coleridge's hermit, receptive of lights from every quarter:

“He loved to talk with mariners.
That come from a far countree”.

Just before entering the Jesuit novitiate he had been given a useful glimpse of many lands in a tour which he took with a school fellow under the capable guidance of Fr Conmee, and ever after he guarded as gold the reminiscences of those weeks, especially of his Italian experiences. After his ordination in 1895 he was sent for the customary ten months of recollection to Tronchiennes in Belgium, and there he valued and utilised his opportunities of exchanging ideas with men of many nationalities and temperaments.

Thus formed, he. could not fail to make his mark, or rather a deep impression, when, in 1901 he entered upon the business of his best years - his teaching and leadership among the Catholic schools of Australia. His capacity and adaptability were proved in University; secondary and primary scholastic business; and whether his work lay in the newly (and daringly) started Newman College of Melbourne University, or in Xavier Public School, or in its preparatory school, Burke Hall, he never failed to rise to the height of his task. That task - as he conceived it - was that of an educationalist and an apostle. Ready, apparently, for any work, he changed easily from readiness into enthusiasm. One of his colleagues wrote on the occasion of his death :

“One thing especially impressed me in his life, and that was the way in which he ever thoroughly settled down in every place to which he has been sent, and joyfully and whole-heartedly carried out any and every kind of work he has been given to do”.

The Council of Public Education, the Association of Registered Teachers of Victoria, the head-masters. of public schools and the heads of the University colleges of Melbourne placed on record their sense of regret at the death of Fr O'Dwyer and their deep appreciation of his value as a thinker and worker in educational matters. “The Council”, wrote one of these bodies, “deplored the death of one who had given so freely of his ability to further the cause of education”. Regrets were widely expressed that he had shortened so valuable a career by reckless expenditure of his strength and indifference to health and rest.

These personages and committees were in the main non-Catholic. They, as well as other non-Catholics, had been deeply impressed not only by the abilities but also by the moral and priestly qualities of their deceased colleague. Nevertheless it is rather to Catholic sources we must look for evidence as to the internal spirit that underlay Fr, James's unremitting activities. When we turn to such witnesses we may particularly notice the tributes they have paid to his practice of the gentler virtues - those that were least congruous to his natural temperament. It was not, for example, his zeal or his forcefulness that Fr Lockington SJ, selected for praise in his condolences on his death. He wrote :

“He has done rare work for the Church and the Society and will be greatly missed by all of us. The outstanding feature in his character - one in which he was a model for all of us - was his invariable charity towards everyone. He had at times men under him who must have tried him sorely, yet,-always the good word!”

Mother MacRory, religious of the Sacred Heart, sister of His Eminence Cardinal MacRory and Superior of Sancta Sophia College in the University of Sydney, gave this testimony :
·
“I am sure Christ, our Lord received with a benign countenance one who had so often and so beautifully spoken about Him. Dear Father James seened to have a special gift of inspiring personal love for Our Lord. He is a great loss; but he has done a great work, and it will endure”.

It was indeed true, as the last writer's words remind us, that, quite apart from his educational activities, whereby not merely had hundreds of his pupils been formed into excellent Christians but also a numerous élite had been led into the ways of perfection. Fr O'Dwyer's labours and success as a conductor of retreats, as a preacher and a confessor, would alone have entitled him to grateful and reverent memory. But on these aspects of his life-work we cannot now further dwell.

Our final quotation concerning him shall be a tribute paid to his memory by a man of letters, Mr T J Cleary, who thus refers to Fr James's co-operation with him in various services rendered to the cause of Catholic literature in Australia :

“Your very able brother was a kind and good friend to me while I was editor of ‘The Austral Light’. We edited together Archbishop Carr's Lectures and Replies, and the manner in which he smoothed over the harsh words exchanged was almost a revelation. When he had finished; the note of controversy had departed and the Lectures as now published leave no indication that they emanated from a controversy with Dr R . By his death, too, we lose the greatest gentleman among the clerics since Dr. Carr's death”.

Fr O'Dwyer's funeral at St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, on November 25th, 1925, presided over by the Bishop of Sandhurst, gave impressive testimony to the esteem in which he was held and the regret occasioned by his loss. Since then nothing has been done to perpetuate his name; but so he himself would have wished it. He had laboured for nearly forty-five years, indifferent to praises, testimonials or titles. His ambitions were fixed on successes and rewards that do not fade away with time, and much that he achieved will remain even on earth as of permanent value.

O'Dwyer, Patrick, 1880-1961, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1897
  • Person
  • 31 August 1880-06 September 1961

Born: 31 August 1880, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1900, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly and Manresa, Roehampton, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 27 July 1913, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1916
Died: 06 September 1961, St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales - Angliae Province (ANG)

Transcribed HIB to ANG : 1901

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Transcribed to ANG Province for Zambesi Mission 1901

2nd year Novitiate at Ent Roehampton London (ANG)
by 1910 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1910-1913
by 1915 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1962

Obituary

Father Patrick O’Dwyer SJ

We regret to chronicle the death of Fr Patrick O'Dwyer SJ who died at St. Buenos, Wales, on Sept 6th.

He was born in Dublin in 1880 and was educated at Mungret College. He began his noviceship in Tullabeg in 1900, but the following year was transferred to the English Province and continued his novitiate at Roehampton. He returned to Milltown Park for Theology and was ordained there in 1913. In 1915 he sailed for South Africa, where he worked in Dreifontein, St Aidan's College, Grahamstown, and Salisbury Cathedral. In 1928 he returned to England. The rest of his active life was spent on the Lancashire Missions. In 1956, however, failing health compelled him to retire to St Bueno's, where he died. RIP

O'Dwyer, Thomas, 1873-1942, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1898
  • Person
  • 08 September 1873-27 November 1942

Born: 08 September 1873, Barronstown, County Tipperary
Entered: 09 September 1892, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1908, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1911, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 27 November 1942, St Vincent's Hospital Fitzroy - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the St Patrick’s College Melbourne, Australia at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Younger brother of James O'Dwyer - RIP 1925
Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1896 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
Came to Australia for Regency1898
by 1910 at Linz Austria (ASR) making Tertianship

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Thomas O'Dwyer, brother of James, was educated at Clongowes, Ireland, 1887-92, and entered the Society, 7 September 1892, at Tullabeg. He was a junior at Milltown Park, 1894-95, studied philosophy at Valkenburg, 1895-98, did regency at Xavier College, 1898-1903, and at St Patrick's College, East Melbourne, 1903-05, studied theology at Milltown Park, and did tertianship at Linz, Austria. 1910-11.
O'Dwyer returned to Australia in 1911 and was sent to St Patrick's College, where he was prefect of studies from 1913, and rector for a year 1918-19, Then he was appointed rector of St Ignatius' College, Riverview, until 1923. He also taught and organised the senior debating. After a rest in 1924, he went to St Patrick's College, where he was prefect of studies from 1924-31, and rector from 1931-42. He was a consultor of the vice-province, 1935-42. He died suddenly in office very shortly after saying Mass one day.
“Toddy” as he was affectionately called, was a very well liked man, gentlemanly, straight and kind, a fine scholar, and a good teacher of history He was a founder and secretary of the Catholic Teachers' Association in Victoria, 1925-42. His gentle nature was much more suited to St Patrick's College than to Riverview. People liked and respected him as a priest of great simplicity and sincerity, kindness and charity. Above all he was most unobtrusive, yet a hard worker.
He was a deeply spiritual man, and spent hours visiting patients at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, and hearing confessions on Saturdays. Like his brother James, he was unable to
pay people compliments, but he was courteous in his praise of others. Unlike James who was compulsive and full of energy Tom was hesitant in beginning any new undertaking, but always gave a sympathetic hearing to plans for developments .
Being a sensitive man, he was deeply affected by the early death of his Jesuit brother James. Even more tragic was the assassination of his other brother, Sir Michael, by a fanatical Indian student, Udharn Singh, 13 March 1940, in Caxton Hall, London, for the massacre at Amritsar, 13 April 1919, while he was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. Over 379 protesters were killed and 1,200 wounded. The “Massacre” was officially condemned, and many Indians considered Michael a tyrant.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 18th Year No 1 1943
Obituary :
Father Thomas O’Dwyer SJ
Fr. O'Dwyer died as Rector of St. Patrick's College, Melbourne on 27th November. As appears from a cable sent his brother in Barronstown, Co. Tipperary, by William O'Dwyer, Flemington, he had celebrated Mass that morning (Friday), got a stroke after breakfast, received the Last Sacraments while perfectly conscious, and then died.
Born at Barronstown as the youngest of a large family of sons on the Feast of Our Lady's Nativity, 1873, he was educated at Clongowes, where his elder brother James was already a Jesuit master. He entered the Society at Tullabeg' on 7th September, 1892, and on the completion of his philosophy at Valkenburg began his career as teacher in Australia to which he was to devote some forty years of his life.
Returning for theology to Ireland, he was ordained priest in 1908, and after his tertianship at Linz in Austria he was for a year Minister in Clongowes. He resumed work as master in Australia the following year. With the exception of four years as Rector of Riverview College, Sydney, the remainder of his life was spent at St. Patrick's, Melbourne, 1919-'23, as teacher, prefect of studies, and since I931 Rector. He was brother of the late Sir Michael O'Dwyer, Governor of the Punjab, who met his death in London under tragic circumstances some years ago.
Fr. James, the famous educationist and Rector for many years of the Xavier College, Melbourne, pre-deceased him in 1925.

Irish Province News 18th Year No 2 1943
Australian Vice-Province

From a letter of Fr. George O'Neill, Werribee, Melbourne. dated 29th November, 1942 :
This Vice-Province never before got such a painful shock as it has received in the absolutely sudden death of Fr. Thomas O'Dwyer (Rector of St Patrick's College Melbourne) On last Thursday I was chatting with him and he seemed all right. This morning (Saturday) he was laid in earth amid deep and widespread mourning, the grief of his Community at St. Patrick's being specially notable. He had been doing all his work up to the last. It would appear, however, that two or three months ago. he had consulted a. doctor and had been warned that he was not quite safe in the matter of blood pressure. On Wednesday night he was phoned to by the Mercy Nuns at Nicholson St where he acted as daily chaplain, asking him to say Mass early for them as the Coadjutor Archbishop was to say Mass there at 7.l5 or 7.30. He agreed. and made the early start next morning. The time came for his breakfast in the Convent parlour while the Archbishop was finishing Mass, but when the lay-sister came in after a time she found Fr. O'Dwyer lying on the ground and vomiting. He tried to reassure her, but she ran to the Rev. Mother and they phoned for a doctor who came at once. He saw that the situation was serious and that the last Sacraments should be given. Then the Cathedral (not far off) was called up and presently the Adm. came along with the Holy Oils. The Archbishop, who had meantime finished his Mass, came on the scene and anointed Fr. O'Dwyer, having previously given him absolution for which he was still conscious. The Provincial (from Hawthorn) also arrived. Then an ambulance was got and took the dying man to St. Vincent's Hospital where he died at 9.30 am. We are accustomed here to funerals rapidly carried out, so it was not strange that all was over in the following forenoon. Some 100 priests were present , an immense crowd of boys and girls, and of the ordinary faithful, and the two archbishops. Dr. Mannix spoke some happy words with much feeling.

◆ The Clongownian, 1943

Obituary

Father Thomas O’Dwyer SJ

Fr Tom O’Dwyer was one of six brothers. who were all in either Tullabeg or Clongowes. Of these, the most closely connected with Clongowes, was Fr James, who was on the teaching staff here for several years after the amalgamation, holding a position in the esteem and affection of his boys that can. have been held by few indeed.

Fr Tom's connection with Clongowes after he became a Jesuit was confined to one year, 1910-11, when he was Minister. Most of his work, and great it was, was done in the colleges of the Society in Australia, where : he spent forty years. He was Rector of St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, for several years, and was twice Rector of St Patrick's College, Melbourne, holding that position when death came suddenly to him last November. He had just finished celebrating Mass in the Mercy Convent when he had a heart seizure. Fortunately. Archbishop Simonds was at hand to give him the last rites of the Church.

Archbishop Mannix presided at the Requiem in the Cathedral of Melbourne and delivered an eloquent and touching panegyric. “I am not surprised” he said, “to find such a huge gathering of priests and people in the Cathedral this morning. We all feel we have lost in him a personal friend, who with absolute sincerity could be depended upon whenever we needed help, sincerity or friendship. He was always natural and always simple. Everyone could approach him, and no one came near him without being the better for it. He gave great service to Australia as a teacher. He was one of those splendid outstanding Irish Jesuits who have made their mark very deeply in the Catholic history of Australia. We cannot spare one of them, and not least him who has gone from our midst. It will be no exaggeration to say that St Patrick's College will not be the same without him. The deep interest he took in the boys, the sympathy with which he watched their careers, and the gentle understanding with which he made allow ance for faults, especially characterised Fr O'Dwyer. I am sure that the boys of St Patrick's College will miss him very much.

They, and we have lost a great friend here, but we have gained one in a better place”.

May he rest in peace.

O'Farrell, Andrew, 1894-1961, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/330
  • Person
  • 09 June 1894-14 November 1961

Born: 09 June 1894, Foxrock, County Dublin
Entered: 07 October 1913, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1926, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1931, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway
Died: 14 November 1961, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

by 1917 at St Aloysius, Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1929 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan: Admissions 1859-1948 - Post Office Civil Servant before entry

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 37th Year No 1 1962
Obituary :
Fr Andrew O’Farrell (1894-1961)
Fr. Andrew O'Farrell was born in Dublin in 1894. He received his secondary education at Blackrock College and then entered the service of the Hibernian Bank. He worked for some years in the Head Office, College Green, and in after life maintained a close connection with officials whom he had known there, especially with the late Henry J. Campbell, who was his manager and later became General Manager. In 1913 he resigned from the Bank and entered the novitiate at Tullabeg.
At the end of his novitiate Fr. O'Farrell went for a year to Rathfarnham. Owing to his early entry into the Bank he had not matriculated and so did not go on for a degree, a regrettable decision in view of the great ability which he later showed. In 1915 he went to Jersey for philosophy, where his natural talent for languages at once showed itself. He rapidly acquired a thorough knowledge of French and a high degree of fluency in speaking it. He used to recall, with amused satisfaction, how the scholastic who taught him remarked : “Vous parlerez bien Français parceque vous êtes très bavard”. He also developed a great taste for French literature which lasted all his life. It is remarkable that all this progress was made in the short space of eighteen months, since in the spring of 1917, owing to the threat of conscription, all the Irish philosophers were recalled from England and the continent to Milltown Park.
Fr. O'Farrell finished his philosophy at Milltown and then did four years' teaching, the first at Clongowes, the remainder at Mungret. He returned to Milltown for theology and was ordained in 1926. After theology he did another year's teaching in Clongowes, then tertianship at St. Beuno's and in 1929 came to Galway, where the college had just been re-opened as an all-Irish school.
It was now that Fr. O'Farrell's abilities found full scope. He had always been a keen student of the Irish language, and so threw himself with enthusiasm into the work of the college and perfected his own knowledge of Irish by regular attendance at Irish courses in the Gaeltacht. In later years, though he no longer needed to attend courses, he visited every summer the Gaeltacht of Carraroe, where he became a familiar and beloved figure and usually supplied for or assisted the parish priest, In St. Ignatius Fr. O'Farrell also found the opportunity to make use of the facility in French which he had acquired in Jersey. He was a most successful teacher and on several occasions his pupils obtained first place in French in one or other of the certificate examinations. Though often hampered by ill-health, Fr. O'Farrell continued up to within a few days of his death to devote himself to the apostolate of the classroom. In the current Catalogue the words appear after his name: "doc. ann. 39". To those who have any conception of the value of Catholic education these brief words are a record of great and lasting achievement. At Fr. O'Farrell's funeral His Lordship the Bishop of Galway spoke with appreciation of his long and devoted life as a teacher and held it up to others as an inspiring example.
It was not only as a teacher that Fr. O'Farrell established himself in Galway but also as a priest. Though he was never one of the church staff, he did an immense amount of quiet work, visiting the sick, hearing Confessions and consoling those in trouble. He was most self-sacrificing in trying to help others and those who knew him intimately will agree that he nearly always had some task on hand, a job to be got, an interview to be arranged, information to be got, and that he was indefatigable in his efforts and often very successful, owing to the large number of influential friends whom he had, both in Galway and elsewhere. Mention must also be made of his work for the choir, which he directed from 1932 onwards. He was not a great musician, though an adept at sight-reading, and his interest in music was somewhat limited - he did not seem to care much, for instance, for orchestral music - but his taste in church music was sound and he insisted on accuracy of performance.
It has become somewhat of a commonplace to say of those who die that they will be greatly missed, but the statement can be sincerely made about Fr. O'Farrell. For over thirty years he was a familiar figure in Galway, usually on his bicycle, waving a salute to the many friends whom he passed, and almost always bound on some altruistic errand. He had an intimate knowledge of the life of the city and often manifested a humorous enjoyment of the complications that arise in any closely-knit community, but his comments were always tempered by charity, and indeed he would often express almost scrupulous regret if he thought he had gone too far in criticism. It is not only in Galway itself that his loss will be felt, but also in the remote and beautiful region in Iar-Connacht where he spent so many holidays. His goodness of heart, combined with his extraordinarily perfect grasp of the Irish language, won for him over many years the esteem and affection of the people of Carraroe and the surrounding countryside, and during his visits there, there was hardly a day but some messenger would come asking that “an t-Athair Ó Fearghaill” would come to some humble home to console the sick or to advise on some family problem. In his last moments it must have been one of Fr. O'Farrell's greatest consolations to think that those whom he had so befriended would often have on their lips and in their hearts the familiar prayer: “Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam!”

O'Farrell, Francis P, 1914-1992, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/540
  • Person
  • 25 June 1914-07 April 1992

Born: 25 June 1914, Bray, County Wicklow
Entered: 07 September 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1944, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 07 April 1992, Università Gregoriana, Rome, Italy

by 1948 at Rome, Italy (ROM) - studying

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 72 : Easter 1993

HOMILY : for Fr Frank O’Farrell

Peter Henrici

Tim Healy has provided this translation, from Inaugurazione dell'Anno Accademico 1992 1993 of the Gregorian University. The text is based on the funeral homily - given by Fr Peter Henrici SJ, dean of philosophy - for Fr Frank O'Farrell (1914-1992).

Early on the morning of 7th April the Lord called to Himself Father Frank O'Farrell after a long and painful illness borne with serenity and with the sense of humour which characterised him all his life.

Born on 25th June in Bray, near Dublin, Frank O'Farrell had four sisters (one a twin) and one brother, Patrick, a parish priest in the Dublin diocese, who died two years before him. After secondary school with the Jesuits in Belvedere College, Dublin, he entered the novitiate at St Mary's, Emo, on 7th September 1933. There followed three years studying literature at University College Dublin Che always delighted in quoting Shakespeare), three years of philosophy at St Stanislaus' College, Tullabeg, followed immediately by four years of theology at Milltown Park, Dublin. Then came a year's Tertianship at Namur, and a year and a half teaching ontology and natural theology at Tullabeg, where he was to return to teach rational psychology after his doctorate. His doctoral studies were at the Gregorian, from 1947 to 1949, culminating in a thesis on “The Objectivity of the Judgement according to St Thomas Aquinas”. As early as 1952 he was recalled to the Gregorian, first to teach the then obligatory course on The Texts of St Thomas, and in 1954 to succeed Fr Paolo Dezza in the chair of metaphysics - a post he held until he became emeritus and even later.

But this very regular academic curriculum tells us next to nothing of the person of Fr O'Farrell or of his work. True, he was a teacher by vocation - so much so that even as emeritus he was keen to continue teaching, first in Sardinia and then in Scotland. But, more than a teacher, he was a true master who did not merely pass on ideas but wished to introduce his students to the rigours of metaphysical thought and to a love of truth and of the great Masters. A master himself, he appreciated the value of the Masters, and held them in veneration: first St Thomas, then Heidegger, Aristotle and Kant. He would have liked (and in this he was not altogether wrong, though it would probably be impossible to put into practice) that the second cycle of philosophy be devoted solely to interpreting the great texts of the philosophical tradition. These texts he himself interpreted with analytic precision - and with a delightful disregard for historical research - in his seminars, starting in the 1950s at the German College and then at the Gregorian. The fruit of these seminars are numerous articles in Gregorianum and two volumes Per leggere le Critiche di Kant - a third volume on the Critique of Judgment is ready for publication. But before these volumes, his teaching-notes on Ontology should be mentioned. These went through many editions both in Latin and Italian, and they present a Thomistic metaphysics largely reinterpreted and updated in the line of J. Maréchal and A. Marc.

Like a good master, Fr O'Farrell also knew the Augustinian truth that the master does not have to teach directly, but that he is merely the admonitor of the Interior Master. Accordingly, in his lectures, the metaphysical truths were hidden under countless stories of Bartolomeo and of the dog Fido and his many relatives, and it greatly amused him that his notes on the blackboard were so unreadable. When warned that the students had difficulty understanding his lectures, his usual reply was: “It has to be that way - they can't understand anything at the start. But you'll see, towards Easter they'll begin to understand”.

Towards Easter we too began to understand something of this life, at once open and hidden. The life of someone who already in '63 had been close to death and who since then had to accept limits on his health, but in a way that no one would notice. A most regular life, punctuated by regular “calls from the Lord”, ie. trips to the country or the seaside - which in turn were often spiritual conversations - or by equally regular courses of spiritual exercises. A life whose depths were hidden, and - who knows - perhaps also its sufferings, under a sense of humour which could at times be Saucy. On one of the last pages of his teaching-notes on natural theology, which he had wanted to prepare for his lectures in Scotland, Fr O'Farrell quotes Victor White: “One may imagine those who have reached their last end in God, looking back and seeing their lives by comparison with eternity, their sufferings by comparison with the possession of God. They can only smile to think that their sufferings, whatever they were, ever seemed important”.

O'Ferrall, Michael, 1816-1877, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1901
  • Person
  • 14 February 1816-12 May 1877

Born: 14 February 1816, County Longford
Entered: 25 April 1835, Hodder, Stonyhurst, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: by 1851
Final vows: 15 August 1857
Died 12 May 1877, Milltown Park, Dublin

by 1844 in Nice (LUGD) studying philosophy
by 1847 in Rome Studying
by 1857 in Rome Italy (ROM) studying Theology
by 1865 in San Francisco College CA, USA (TAUR) teaching

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He received a great part of his early and Priestly education before Ent. he was received into the Society by Peter Kenney 25 April 1835.

1847 he was studying Theology at Rome, and he was considered a rival to the great Passaglia.
1851-1856 He was sent Teaching Classics at Belvedere, and was also a Professor and Examiner at the Catholic University.
1856-1857 He was sent to St Eusebia’s in Rome for Tertianship.
1857-1861 He was made Superior of the new Theologate at 28 Nth Frederick St, but as this house only lasted one year, he was made Rector of Belvedere in August 1858, and held that post until 1861.
1861-1864 he was sent to Gardiner St as Operarius.
1864 He was sent to Santa Clara to preside over the English Department at the College there.
1868 He was appointed Socius to the Visitor in California.
1869 He returned to Ireland and was sent to Gardiner St as Operarius. He remained at Gardiner St until within a few months before his death, when he moved to Milltown and died there 12 May 1877.
He was eminent in Theology, Literature and Science. He had a reputation as a poet, his most famous piece was entitled “The Triumph of the Just”. A man of extensive knowledge, he was held in high esteem by the learned.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Michael O’Ferrall SJ 1816-1877
Fr Michael O’Ferrall was born in Longford on Feb 14th 1816. He had received a great part of his education before he was received into the Society by Fr Peter Kenney in 1835.

He studied Theology in Rome in 1847 where he was considered a rival of the great Passaglia. He was Professor and examiner in the Catholic University, and then in 1857 he became Superior of the new Theologate at 28 Great Frederick Street. This house only lasted a year and he then became Rector of Belvedere until 1861.

He was sent to California in 1864 where he presided over the English Department at Santa Clara College. He then became Socius to the Visitor in California in 1868.

Returning to Ireland he was stationed at Gardiner Street until a few months before his death, which took place at Milltown Park on May 12th 1877.

He was eminent in Theology, Literature and Science and was a poet of no mean order, his finest piece being “The Triumph of the Just”.

O'Flanagan, Dermot, 1901-1972, Roman Catholic Bishop of Juneau and former Jesuit priest

  • Person
  • 1909 March 190101-31 December 1932

Born: 09 March 1901, Lahinch, County Clare
Entered: 04 October 1917, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 27 August 1929, Valkenburg, Netherlands
Died: 31 December 1932, La Mesa, CA, USA

Left Society of Jesus: 12 December 1932 (from Clongowes - Prefect)

Consecrated Bishop of Juneau, Alaska, USA 03 October 1951 to 19 June 1968

by 1927 at Valkenburg, Limburg, Netherlands (GER I) studying
by 1932 at Petworth Sussex (ANG) health

Irish Province News 48th Year No 1 1973

Obituary :

Bishop Dermot O’Flanagan (1901-1972)

Perigrinare Pro Christo
The phrase describes what through the ages has been the most distinctive feature of Irish Catholicism.

One bright June morning just fifty years ago eight young men manning, not an outrigger but a weathered fishing boat, dropped with the tide down Killary Fjord, not as yet seeking the ocean, but trailing a line for that most unsporting of fish - the mackerel, and making for a little beach at the foot of Mweelrea and the last swim and the last picnic of a good holiday, They came from all over the four provinces and half a dozen schools - ‘Rock, BCD, CBS, CWC, and Mungret, but they had been working together for two or three busy years and were a close-knit group - “A Band of Brothers”.

Very soon they would separate never to foregather again this side of the grave. On that June day in 1923, it is unlikely that any of them had a notion how wide their dispersal would be: Maurice Dowling to Zambia, Tom Perrot to Perth, D. Donnelly to Hong Kong and India, Tom Johnston to New Zealand and Quensland, Jim Brennan to Rhodesia, two would settle in Ireland but not before they had reached Capetown and Japan, one, Dermot Flanagan, would go further to the Arctic Circle in Alaska and to San Diego on the border of Mexico, His death then in California is mourned by old friends and companions in the four other Continents, for Bishop O'Flanagan was a friend and companion not likely to be forgotten, loyal, hard-working, cheerful, simple, enterprising, sanguine and unsefish.

What might be called the Belvedere Families have in successive generations played an important part in the school's life and work. Four, five or more boys, long-service pupils, follow one another in an unbroken line, and for a decade or more make their own special impression on school life, so that their contemporaries recognise those years as almost proprietory, belonging to them much as historians may write of the Tudor, Stuart or Georgian epochs. Such families were the Gaffneys, the Troddyns, the Quinns and not least the O'Flanagans - Cyril, Aiden, Louis, Paul, Dermot and Frank, following one another so that the school in their period never lacked one of the O'Flanagans to maintain tradition. It cannot have been without significance that this period covered the false dawn of Home Rule, the Anglo-Irish literary revival, the great strikes, the first World War, the 1916 Rising and its aftermath,

In 1917 Dermot entered the Irish Noviceship, taking his Vows in 1919. Ill health prevented him starting the usual studies and instead he joined the Clongowes Community; after an interval, however, he was to complete his Philosophy in Milltown Park, returning to Clongowes in 1923, to prefect and teach. His Theological studies were made at Valkenburg, where he was Ordained in 1929, Again ill health led to a postponement of Tertianship, and he returned to Clongowes as Higher Line Prefect. During a serious epidemic in the summer of 1933, he added to his work - first the duties of Minister, and then on the eve of the Intermediate Examinations those of Prefect of Studies. It was too much and the breakdown which might have been expected followed,
After a short rest in the “Sleeping Beauty” woods of Emo, a complete change of work and surroundings were decided on, and he volunteered for work in a parish in Alaska.

A couple of years later he became P.P, of Anchorage, where he built the parish church and remained until his consecration in 1951 as first Bishop of Juneau,

The Alaska to which he went was still to some degree that which European legend of the Gold Rush made popular. There were pioneering trips by dog sleigh to remote Eskimo country, but in Dermot's lifetime the territory became the 50th State of the United States, and its treasures in oil and meal hurried it along the road to modernization.

la 1969 in his 68th year he resigned his Bishopric, leaving the country which owed so much to half his lifetime of apostolic labour. In San Diego despite his failing health he continued to accomplish much pastoral work, until at last the ill health which had overshadowed all his manhood could no longer be resisted.

In San Diego seven Bishops including his Metropolitan Dr Tadhg Manning concelebrated his Requiem Mass. The remains were then flown to a similar Memorial Service in Anchorage, and fittingly laid to rest there in the Church, of which it may truly be said he was the Founder.

In that far off summer of 1923, Dermot and a companion cycled from Leenane through the Erriff Valley and climbed Croagh Patrick from the steep eastern side on a sweltering day

There was no one on the summit and after a brief visit to the little chapel, which, surprisingly, was open, they remained admir ing the view of the Islands of Clew Bay when they perceived three people, who had ascended by the pilgrims way; a woman on that torrid day dressed in a black skirt which almost touched the ground, was accomplished by her two sons, a very young man and a boy of 12. While they were in the chapel the Jesuits planned to photo the little group when they emerged, Soon they were joined by the young people but there was no sign of the mother. Perhaps thinking of the long way home to Louisbourg and the Delphi Valley, they questioned the younger boy. “Does your mother often stay long in the Church?” “Oh! Yes, often”. "Yes,, but what is she praying for?" "How would I know?" "Well, I know, I'm sure she is asking God for a vocation for the Priesthood for you.'
Almost in the shadow of Croagh Patrick lies the parish in which that boy worked in God's Service for many years, subse quently, while on the far side of the continent across the Atlantic which lay at his door, laboured the Priest and Bishop who had foreseen the younster's Vocation,

To Bishop Dermot's brothers and sister we offer our sincere sympathy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dermot_O%27Flanagan

Robert Dermot O'Flanagan (March 9, 1901 – December 31, 1972) was an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska from 1951 to 1968.

Biography
Early life
Robert O'Flanagan was born on March 9, 1901, in Lahinch, County Clare in Ireland. In 1908, he entered Belvedere College in Dublin.[1] After graduating in 1971, he entered St Stanislaus College, a Jesuit novitiate in Tullabeg, County Offaly. In 1920, the Jesuits sent O'Flanagan to the Netherlands to study at Ignatius College in Valkenburg.[2][3]

Priesthood
O'Flanagan was ordained to the priesthood for the Jesuit Order by Bishop Laurentius Schrijnen in Valkenburg on August 27, 1929.[4] Returning to Ireland, he taught at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare from 1930 to 1932.[1] In 1932, dissatisfied with the Jesuit Order, he decided to leave it. At a eucharistic conference in Dublin, O'Flanagan met Reverend Patrick J. O'Reilly, a missionary from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. After speaking with O'Reilly, he decided to go to Alaska on a three-month mission. [3]

Arriving in Juneau, Alaska, in January 1933, O'Flanagan was assigned by Bishop Joseph Crimont as a pastor of a parish in Seward, Alaska, to fill in for a priest on leave. Arriving in Seward, he received a warm welcome from both Catholic and non-Catholic residents. Their hospitality encouraged him to stay in Alaska permanently.[2] Later in 1933, O'Flanagan was assisting Reverend Dane, the pastor at Holy Family Parish in Anchorage. Dane wanted to take a medical leave and asked O'Flanagan to substitute at Holy Family. O'Flanagan would remain at Holy Family until 1951, eventually becoming pastor there. For 18 years, he would travel once a month to Seward, 120 miles from Anchorage, to minister to the parish there. [1][3]

In 1936, O'Flanagan headed a civic group to establish a new hospital in Anchorage. The existing hospital, built by Alaska Railroad in 1915 primarily for its employees, was reaching its limits due to the increased population of the city. After obtaining local funding, O'Flanagan persuaded the Catholic Sisters of Providence to staff and operate the new hospital for the general public. Providence Hospital opened on June 29, 1939.[3] O'Flanagan became a member of the operating committee for the first USO center in Anchorage. On November 30, 1943, O'Flanagan became a naturalized American citizen.[3]

Bishop of Juneau
On July 9, 1951, O'Flanagan was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Juneau by Pope Pius XII.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on October 3, 1951, from Bishop Francis Gleeson, with Bishops Charles White and Joseph Dougherty serving as co-consecrators.[4] O'Flanagan attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council in Rome between 1962 and 1965.

O'Flanagan's early resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Juneau due to poor health was accepted by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1968.[4] He soon left Juneau to live at a Catholic retirement home in La Mesa, California. Dermot O'Flanagan died in La Mesa on December 31, 1972.[3]

(1) Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.

(2) Bagoy, John. "Fr. Demont O'Flanagan and Holy Family Church". Holy Family Cathedral History. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009.

(3) “O'Flanagan, Father Robert Dermot | Alaska History”. www.alaskahistory.org. Retrieved 5 May 2022.

(4) "Bishop Robert Dermot O'Flanagan". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.

https://www.alaskahistory.org/biographies/oflanagan-father-robert-dermot/

O'Flanagan, Father Robert Dermot

1901-1972 | Catholic Priest of Holy Family Church, Anchorage (1933-1951), and Bishop of the Diocese of Juneau (1951-1968)

The Path to Priesthood
Robert Dermot O’Flanagan was born on March 9, 1901, at Castle D’Arcy, Lahinch, County Clare, Ireland. He always used only Dermot as a first name.

After early schooling at Belvedere College, Dublin, a preparatory school for boys in Ireland, from 1908-1917, Father O’Flanagan entered a Jesuit novitiate at Tullabeg, County Offaly, Ireland, remaining there for three years. He did his theological studies at St. Ignatius College, Valkenburg, Limburg, Holland, and was ordained as a Jesuit priest there in 1929. From 1930 to 1932, he taught at a Jesuit secondary school for boys, Clongowes Wood College, in County Kildare.1

The year 1932 was a turning point in Father O’Flanagan’s life. In June, he left the Society of Jesus Jesuits, but remained a priest. He attended a Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Among those attending was Father Patrick J. O’Reilly, S.J., a veteran missionary of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. As a result of hearing O’Reilly, Father O’Flanagan volunteered for service in Alaska. He was sent to America on the S.S. Manhattan, arriving in New York on December 15, 1932.

In January 1933, Father O’Flanagan arrived in Juneau. He was met by Joseph R. Crimont, S.J., Vicar Apostolic of Alaska, who assigned him a temporary mission, the parish of Seward. He was warmly welcomed by the people of Seward and wrote back to Bishop Crimont: “. . . people were falling over themselves trying to help me and make me feel welcome at home—the non-Catholics as much as the Catholics. It was worthwhile leaving Ireland for that alone.”2

After a short time in Seward, Father O’Flanagan was sent to Anchorage and appointed as pastor of Holy Family Parish in July 1933.3 He was sent to relieve the ailing pastor of Holy Family Parish, Father Godfrey Dane, for a “temporary stint,” but the appointment became permanent. O’Flanagan served as priest for both Anchorage and Seward for eighteen years. Once a month he would travel to Seward to care for the parishioners there, then return to his duties in Anchorage.

Father Louis L. Renner, S.J., in Alaskana Catholica: A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska (2005), said this of Father O’Flanagan: “It did not take Father O’Flanagan long to become a well-known figure in Anchorage. His reserve, soft-spoken words, and beguiling Irish ways opened doors and hearts to him and to his message. Frequently he visited the sick in the Railroad Hospital. On a winter day, a common sight was that of Father ‘O’ shoveling snow off the rectory porch or church sidewalks. He tended the church and rectory furnaces, and his dusty coveralls became him no less than did his black cassock.”4

Parishioners recalled Father O’Flanagan was the most remembered of all priests in early Anchorage. His first altar servers were John Bagoy and Gene Pastro. Bagoy said he was known for “his thick Irish brogue and his outgoing personality.”5 Bagoy said that the “ladies of the parish were worried about him not getting enough to eat or eating the right food.”6 His diet seemed to consist of coffee and sweet rolls. They devised a system whereby he ate dinner with various members of the church on successive nights.

Establishment of Providence Hospital (1939)
Father O’Flanagan participated in local activities. He broached the subject of a new community hospital in Anchorage to Bishop Joseph R. Crimont, S.J., Vicar Apostolic of Alaska, and to the Sisters of Providence. In the summer of 1936, O’Flanagan became the leading member of a group of individuals with an interest in health care who actively lobbied the Sisters of Providence to establish a Sisters’ hospital in Anchorage. In the spring and summer of 1937, prominent citizens of Anchorage joined Father O’Flanagan’s lobbying effort, including Austin E. “Cap” Lathrop and physicians I.S. Egan, Howard G. Romig, Joseph R. Romig, and August S. Walkowski.7

In 1915, the Alaska Engineering Commission had made Anchorage their construction headquarters for the Alaska Railroad and had funded several new facilities, including the railroad hospital. The two-story, fifty-bed hospital opened on December 1, 1916. The Alaska Railroad hospital was “a severely plain, white frame building, with a simple pitched roof, perched between A and B Streets on a steep slope overlooking Ship Creek.”8 Although the hospital initially provided satisfactory services, as the Anchorage community expanded, it failed to keep pace with the growing needs of local residents.9 Colonel Otto Ohlson, General Manager of the Alaska Railroad, as part of his attempts to reduce the railroad’s deficit, made it more difficult for the local community to use the railroad hospital. In 1934, he began negotiations with the Sisters of Providence about operating a hospital in Anchorage and taking over the railroad’s patients.10 On June 26, 1935, an editorial in the Anchorage Daily Times stated: “The Anchorage hospital is overflowing with patients. A much larger hospital with more conveniences is sorely needed.”11

There was widespread public support for the establishment of a Sisters of Providence hospital in Anchorage. In 1937, the Catholic Sisters of Providence accepted the responsibility of building a new hospital. The Ninth and L Street Providence Hospital was formally opened under Sister Stanislaus of Jesus, the first Superior for the Sisters of Providence, in Anchorage, on June 29, 1939.12 Through Father O’Flanagan’s efforts and those of others, Anchorage and its hospital were better prepared for an era of sustained growth that would transform the community into Alaska’s largest city and commercial center.

The former “L” Street Providence Hospital building still stands at its original location and is used by the Anchorage Department of Health and Human Services. With the city population increasing rapidly, and with the closure of the Alaska Railroad hospital, even the new hospital quickly proved inadequate. Forty-five acres of land for a much larger, modern hospital was acquired near Goose Lake in 1955. The new Providence Hospital was opened in October 1962.13

United Service Organization (USO)
Father O’Flanagan served on the first Committee of Management for Anchorage’s first United Service Organization (USO) headquarters, which was located in a large log cabin at the corner of 5th Avenue and G Street. Opened on September 1, 1941, the Anchorage USO was a welcome place for military service members and their guests, and offered recreational activities, entertainment, socializing, and educational and spiritual services. Through the efforts of the Anchorage civilian population, local military authorities, and the New York USO, a larger, better equipped building was completed in February 1942. The large log structure, capable of holding five hundred people, was on a site leased from the Anchorage Post of the American Legion.14 In addition to becoming firmly involved in Anchorage’s community life through good works, Father O’Flanagan became a U.S. citizen on November 30, 1943.15

Holy Family Church
When Father O’Flanagan arrived in Anchorage, the Holy Family Church was a small wooden structure with a rectory. Father O’Flanagan began raising funds for a new building but it was a slow process during the Great Depression. In the mid-1930s, there was already talk about replacing the small, wooden church. World War II halted O’Flanagan’s drive to build a new, more substantial structure, to accommodate the increasing numbers attending. After the war, a drive to build the church was renewed and construction proceeded slowly as funds were raised. In 1946, construction began on the present church, Holy Family Cathedral (formerly, Holy Family Church), located on the corner of 5th Avenue and H Street. On December 14, 1947, the unfinished basement was ready enough for O’Flanagain to accommodate over two hundred people for the first mass. The one-story church, ornamented with geometric lines, has a square two-story bell tower at the front corner. The church was designed by Seattle architect Augustine A. Porreca in the Romanesque Revival style. In October 1948, the white cement exterior of the building was completed. The parish was able to use the main church, but the interior was not completed until 1952. In 1968, Holy Family Church was recognized as an archdiocesan cathedral.16

Becomes First Bishop of Juneau (1951)
On June 28, 1951, Pope Pius XII established the Diocese of Juneau.17 The Catholic Church recognized that the expanding population of Alaska warranted creating a bishop’s post in the Territory. Father O’Flanagan was ordained and installed as the first bishop of the Diocese of Juneau. He was consecrated as bishop in Anchorage on October 4, 1951, and formally installed on October 7, 1951 in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He celebrated his first mass as bishop in Juneau on October 7, 1951.

Upon his departure from Anchorage, the Anchorage Daily Times editorialized: “His friendliness and humility won him an immediate spot in the hearts of all people. He extended his three-month visit until it ran into years. His flock prospered and grew under his leadership. The magnificent new Church of the Holy Family will ever be a monument in concrete to the inspiration and spiritual leadership he gave.”18

The new Diocese of Juneau was comprised of 70,800 square miles and included southcentral and southeastern Alaska. The remainder of Alaska continued to be administered as a Vicariate Apostolic in the newly created Archdiocese of Seattle. By 1961, the Diocese of Juneau consisted of eleven parishes, fifteen missions, four schools, and four hospitals. There were ten diocesan priests and five Jesuit missionaries to serve the estimated 20,000 Catholics. 19

Bishop O’Flanagan witnessed Governor Mike Stepovich’s swearing in at Fairbanks on June 8, 1957,20 and officiated at Representative Anthony J. “Tony” Dimond’s funeral in Anchorage on June 1, 1953.21 He visited many of the military installations throughout the state and accompanied various Catholic dignitaries on their tours of Alaska.

Bishop O’Flanagan traveled outside of Alaska to various Catholic gatherings. On July 15, 1959, he had an audience in Rome with Pope John XXIII.22 In September 1964 it was announced that he would attend the Vatican Ecumenical Council called by Pope Paul VI.23 In 1960, O’Flanagan gave the baccalaureate sermon at Carroll College in Montana and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by the college.24

In August 1968, O’Flanagan retired as bishop for reasons of health. He retired to a Catholic retirement home in La Mesa, California, where he died on December 31, 1972.25 He was buried in the Catholic plot of Anchorage’s Angelus Memorial Park Cemetery.

O'Flanagan, Paul, 1898-1974, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/331
  • Person
  • 10 April 1898-23 September 1974

Born: 10 April 1898, Lahinch, County Clare
Entered: 31 August 1915, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1930, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1934, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 23 September 1974, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Brother of Bishop Dermot R O'Flanagan who Entered the Irish Province in 1917 and LEFT as a priest in 1932. He then went to Alaska in 1933 and was appointed first Bishop of Juneau, Alsaka 9th July 1951

by 1922 at Valkenburg, Netherlands (GER I) studying
by 1924 in Australia - Regency
by 1933 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
Already with a BSc, Paul O'Flannagan arrived in Australia as a regent at Riverview, 1923, teaching, organising cadets and directing debating. In 1926-27 he was first division prefect, and looked after rowing before returning to Ireland for theology He later returned to Australia, working with Victor Turner, 1949-50, in the Australian Mission team.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 3 1948

Frs. Kennedy G., O'Flanagan and Saul leave for Australia on 9th July.

Irish Province News 49th Year No 4 1974

Obituary :
Fr Paul O'Flanagan (1898-1974)
The recollection evoked by the sad, sudden demise of Fr Paul O'Flanagan on September 23rd, of the severe heart seizure and consequent sickliness he had been visited by eight or nine years since, and before his advent to Gardiner Street, reconciled some what for his loss - his death might have been anticipated by years and yet during the years in Gardiner Street he undertook and fulfilled the chores thrust upon him with admirable regularity and efficiency. A comment, attributed to Fr P O'Mara in his latter days when age compelled him to seek Fr O’Flanagan's aid in running his Ladies' Sodality : “Don’t deprive me of my friends” was not totally whimsical ... Fr Paul did make a notable success of the succession
He was approachable, punctual, unassuming; popular with the house staff (competent critics), and among the Community and with externs a counsellor confidently consulted.
The obsequies took place on Wednesday, September 25th. Fr David Murtagh, CC, a nephew of Fr Paul’s was principal celebrant assisted by Fr Provincial and upwards of twenty others, Ours and externs, familiar friends. Fr Murtagh again later officiated at the graveside.
We offer sympathy to Mr Frank O'Flanagan and Mrs Murtagh, the surviving members of Fr Paul’s family....and their families.

We offer an appreciation by one long associate with the deceased :
I first met Fr Paul O'Flanagan a few months after his ordination; and I spoke to him for the last time about a day and a half before he died. We chatted for over an hour.
In the intervening years, time had lined his face and flecked his hair with grey. In my view, however, though greatly matured by the experiences of a very active life and a good deal of suffering in his latter years, I found him the very same Paul I had known in the far-off days. His conversation was refreshingly youthful, and he was as mentally alert as ever-optimistic, full of humour and boyish mischief. The idea that he was so soon to die never crossed my mind; I wonder, if it did his?
Paul was born in Lahinch in 1898, went to school in Belvedere College and entered the novitiate at Tullabeg in 1915. Having gained his BSc degree in University College, Dublin, and studied philosophy with the German Jesuits in Valkenburg, Holland, he was sent to Riverview College, Sydney, to teach. Returning to Milltown Park for theology, he was ordained in 1930.
Most of his life as a priest was spent on the mission-staff, and it was there I came to know him, both as a colleague and as a friend. In the work we did together, he appeared to me to have preserved his boyhood ideal of what a Jesuit should be, and I never detected any trace of - as it is now the fashion to call it! - “crisis of identity”! He was possessed of all the natural qualities that go to the making of a good Jesuit, holding the Society in high esteem and regarding it with affection. He was interested in its welfare and in that of our Province; as also in the success of his Jesuit friends. As a community man, he was unrivalled. He brought joy to all his work, and shared it with the members of the house to which he happened to be attached. His pleasures were simple a game of bridge, which he took seriously; a day's golf or a session of story-swopping. When in the mood, he was a delicious raconteur, notably about his adventures under the Southern Cross, about Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne or Archbishop Kelly of Sydney. His warmth of character won him many friends, both inside and outside the Society. Amongst the laity, he was the special friend of the men. On missions they would call him on the telephone, wishing to enjoy again his warm, human companionship. Some were past pupils, some school friends, and others, men to whom he had lent a helping, priestly hand.
Paul was an outstandingly good, even exemplary priest, and he distinguished himself over many years as an excellent missioner and retreat-master. All through his life he preserved his youthful, high ideal of the priesthood, and in his last years he edified us all by his incredible bravery, as he fought for health and life. I cannot speak for others, but I never heard a word of complaint or self pity escape his lips. Practising what he had preached so often, he took his suffering tanquam de manu Dei, as indeed he took every thing in life.
From glimpses I had of him on missions, I guess he must have helped thousands yearly, both by his advice and by example: But he never spoke of this work, his cases or of those who had come to him. In this he showed no sign of self-glorification or self seeking; certainly no trace of worldly ambition. He was always ready with prompt obedience, whatever the task or office assigned him. And, as already mentioned, in the allotted work he made himself happy, and by so doing, contributed greatly to the happiness of all concerned.
It would be an incomplete and phoney picture of Paul, if I did not refer - I hope, gently and with kindly intent?....to his likeable foible! He was pre-possessed about his BSc degree, and sometimes referred to himself as a “scientist”! However, he was open to a bit of leg-pulling on the subject, provided it came from the right quarter! He was proud of Bishop Dermot, his brother, and one might sometimes lead him on, to discourse on Dermot's successes. He was most vulnerable, however, on the subject of Australia. This was a favourite theme of his conversation, for, besides his years teaching in Riverview, he had done a two-year stint as a missioner there. Right to the end, he never lost his interest in the Aussies, more especially in their cricket. When a Test Match was in progress, he would listen assiduously to the ball-by-ball account on the radio, and was ever ready to explain the intricacies of the game and the prospects of an Australian victory to any interested party. Some of the boys who had been introduced to cricket by him, later won places on Test teams, and he could often be drawn on this subject. If I remember rightly, one of their number was the well-known and very successful player, Fingleton. It has been suggested to me that Sir Don Bradman was another; but there, I am open to correction!
Paul was ever one of Belvedere's most loyal past pupils. Even to the last days of his life, he was proud of the college and took keen interest in its successes in studies or at games; in Old Belvederians, the Newsboys' Club, as it formerly was, but more especially in the Old Belvedere Rugby Football Club. . If an acquaintance were to judge merely by Paul’s manner, he might conclude, that he never faced a crisis in his life. I am sure such a conclusion would be incorrect, since most of us do. But he never lost his cool in any circumstance that I saw, and appeared calm and unperturbed at all times - the completely unflappable man!
He showed little of his real self, either to the outside world or to his fellow Jesuits. I have, however, reason to believe, that underneath, he was possessed of a very strong, deep faith, and a great reverence for the things of God, Reserved and silent regarding his interior life with God, I strongly suspect him to have been as truly a pious man as he was a sincere and staunch friend.
As one who worked side by side with him on many occasions, I am happy to be able to bear witness, and pay tribute to his gracious charity, his kindness and thoughtfulness. He was generous in praising and encouraging others, and his memories of any mission concerned either its success, or the amusing incidents which cropped up from time to time. As we sat together thirty-six hours before his death, a smile often played about his lips, as he recounted the pleasant happenings of a mission in Mullingar Cathedral, in which he and I were engaged, just over thirty years back. That is my last memory and picture of him,
It is sometimes said, that every human life is like an Unfinished Symphony; to this statement, I am afraid, I cannot subscribe. Colleagues of mine who worked for God all the days of their lives, and aspired to union with Christ through his grace, seemed in their latter years, to be anything but the Unfinished Symphony. If I may say so, each life-work appeared perfectly rounded off, ending in a rising crescendo of faith, trust, joy, hope and expectation of life eternal. For these men we have prayed, that that crescendo would end in a paean of glory with the Risen Christ. In their number we, Paul’s friends and colleagues, would wish to include him by heartfelt and earnest prayer. I should like to think, that no one who ever met him would wish otherwise, and that without exception they would gladly join us as we pray: Solus na Soillse agus radharc na Tríonóide dá anam!

O'Flinn, Peter, 1822-1907, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1904
  • Person
  • 02 July 1822-03 November 1907

Born: 02 July 1822, County Down / California, USA
Entered: 15 January 1869, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1873
Final vows: 02 February 1884
Died: 03 November 1907, Manresa, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia

2nd year Novitiate at Stonyhurst England (ANG)
by 1871 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1872 at Roehampton London (ANG) Studying
by 1873 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1874 at St Ignatius San Francisco CA, USA (TAUR) working
Early Australian Missioner 1879

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
After First Vows and Ordination he was sent to California where he worked with great success as a Missioner.
Then Aloysius Sturzo recalled him and sent him to Australia, and he made his Tertianship in Australia.
The great work of his life was in Melbourne, where he died 01 November 1907

Tribute of His Grace Most Rev Dr Thomas Joseph Carr Bishop of Melbourne :
He said that after a long life spent in the service of God, the late Father O’Flinn now slept well. He had worked successfully at Hawthorn and Richmond, and his had been a blameless and unselfish life. His whole life had been a preparation for eternity, and they had every reason to believe that he was now happy with God.
He was past middle life when he entered religious life. Before coming to Australia, he had spent some time in San Francisco, and there to this day, many remember his blameless life. From his old parish in America, letters had been received by respected citizens enquiring as to the state of his health. That showed that his many good deeds had not been forgotten, ad that the memory of his charity had not died out.
In Australia they all knew that he had but one thought - the promotion of the honour and glory of God, and the salvation of souls. He never mixed in secular pursuits, but rightly confined himself to his ecclesiastical duties, and in them found his entire happiness. They might, therefore ask, why pray for him? Well one reason was because God’s ways were not like ours. His measure of human infirmities was not like ours. Though the Almighty only required human perfection, knowing the clay of which we were formed, still He would require satisfaction for every imperfection...........Martha said to Our Blessed Lord.. “I know that he shall rise on the last day”. That hope sustained us in life, enabling us to bear against the trials and temptations which beset our path through life. They would, therefore, remember Father O’Flinn in their pious prayers, calling to mind his good works, his wise advice, his kindness of heart, and his blameless life. They would pray that he might be speedily be admitted into the bliss of heaven.....

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Peter O'Flynn entered the Society at Milltown Park, 15 January 1869, as a secular priest, and from 1875-79 worked in the College of St Ignatius, San Francisco, doing pastoral work. He arrived Australia from America. 23 December 1879.
While in Australia he worked for a few years in the parish of Richmond, 1879-80, teaching at St Kilda House, Sydney, 1880-81, at St Patrick's, as a rural missionary, 1881-82, and at Richmond working in the Hawthorn district, 1882-83. For the rest of his life he lived and worked in the Hawthorn parish. He was superior twice, 1886-91, and 1895-99. He seems to have been minister at other times, and was in charge of various sodalities.
At one time he was a “persona non grata” to Archbishop Carr of Melbourne, for reasons that are not clear; but the archbishop preached the panegyric at his funeral in glowing terms, so he must have been forgiven. He recalled among other spiritual virtues, O’Flynn's good works, his wise
advice and kindness of heart

Note from Matthew O’Brien Entry
Matthew O'Brien was baptised at the Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn, 11 June 1902, by Peter O'Flynn.

O'Flynn, John P, 1850-1881, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1905
  • Person
  • 10 March 1850-10 March 1881

Born: 10 March 1850, Cork City, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1870, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 10 March 1881 St Mary's, Miller Street, Sydney, Australia

Part of the St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, Australia community at the time of death

by 1873 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) studying
by 1875 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
Early Australian Missioner 1879 - 2nd Scholastic to do Regency

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He studied Rhetoric at Roehampton and Philosophy at Tullabeg in 1877.
1878 He sailed for Regency in Australia, as had been recommended by doctors. His companions on that voyage were Herbert Daly and Charles O’Connell Sr. He taught at Riverview, Sydney, and died there of decline 31 March 1881.

Note from Charles O’Connell Sr Entry :
1879 He was sent to Louvain for further Theological studies - Ad Grad. He was then sent to Australia in the company of Hubert Daly and John O’Flynn.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
John O’Flynn entered the Society in Ireland, 7 September 1870, was a junior at Roehampton 1872-74, and studied philosophy at Stonyhurst. 1874-77.
He arrived in Australia on 9 November 1878, and taught mathematics to the junior classes and for the university examinations at St Kilda House, 1879-81. He had been sent to Australia because of illness and died of a haemorrhage at the North Shore residence.

O'Gorman, John, 1855-1883, Jesuit scholastic

  • IE IJA J/1907
  • Person
  • 24 April 1855-24 July 1883

Born: 24 April 1855, Charleville, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1877, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died; 24 July 1883, Woodstock College, MD, USA - Taurensis Province (TAUR)

by 1880 at Milltown Park (HIB) health reason

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Joined Missouri Province. Departed Ireland in the Summer of 1880

O'Grady, James J, 1858-1943, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/332
  • Person
  • 18 October 1858-15 December 1943

Born: 18 October 1858, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 05 January 1879, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1891, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 15 December 1943, Clongowes Wood College, Naas, County Kildare

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Had a brother a scholastic in the Missouri Mission

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 4th Year No 2 1929
Jubilee :
Br. O'Grady celebrated his Golden Jubilee in the Society on Jan. 10th. He spent 42 out of the 50 years in Clongowes, intimately connected with that important department on which, in great measure the material, and, to some extent, the spiritual progress of a Community depends. On the 10th a big crowd of his Brother friends assembled at Clongowes to wish him many more years of health, holiness and active service.

Irish Province News 19th Year No 2 1944
Obituary :
Brother James J O'Grady SJ (1858-1943)

On December 14th a very peaceful death brought to a fitting end the long and saintly life of Brother O'Grady. He was born in Dublin on the 18th October, 1858, and was educated by the Christian Brothers. After a short time in business he entered the Society at Milltown Park, January 5th, 1879. Immediately after his noviceship he was sent to Clongowes where, with the exception of three years (1895-6 and 1903-5) in St. Ignatius College, Galway, and one year (1896-7) in Tullabeg, he was to spend the rest of his life. He was cook and dispenser there until a couple of years before his death, and during that time it would be impossible to estimate his value to the College, whether as an exemplary religious or an efficient and painstaking official. Those who served under him, cooks and servants, had the highest esteem and regard for him. He was always most courteous and even-tempered in his dealings with them, and always most anxious to help them in every way, and many who afterwards got good positions in hotels and elsewhere owned that they owed their success to what they had learned from Br, O'Grady in Clongowes.
As a religious, Brother O'Grady was a model, being always most regular in his observance of rule, most hardworking and most charitable when speaking of others. Clongowes feels that it has in Br. O'Grady a most eloquent advocate before the throne of the Master whom he served so long and so loyally. R.I.P.

◆ The Clongownian, 1944

Obituary

Brother James O'Grady SJ
In “The Clongownian” of 1910, under “Choir Notes”, there is the following item, dated May 25th : “At 5.30 our less fortunate companions went to the study to discuss wall building with old Balbus or feast on Algebraical factors. We remained below to enjoy the fine menu provided by Br O'Grady. The table was very artistically decorated by Br Brady, who left nothing undone that could conduce to our comfort”.

There is something especially pathetic in this entry of thirty-three years ago, as both those mentioned have this year gone to their reward after lives spent in just those occupations that are mentioned in the entry.

With the exception of four years, Br O'Grady had been continuously in Clongowes from 1882 until his death last December. In spite, however, of that long connection of over sixty years, he was but little known to the boys of the school, though many, at least of the older generation, will remember him on the ice as a graceful and accomplished skater. His work was confined mostly to the kitchen and its environments where he laboured unostentatiously, but most efficiently, during all those years. With the preparation of how many “feeds” he must have been connected! How many enjoyed the good things that he prepared without, perhaps, giving a thought to the hand that had prepared them and the care that had been lavished upon them ! But it was not for the thanks of those who benefited by his work that Br O'Grady laboured. He was a true religious and worked for a Master Who never fails to reward His faithful servants. Clongowes and its interests will be better served by Br O'Grady in heaven even than they were when he lived and worked amongst us.

Br Brady's connection with Clongowes was very much shorter than that of Br O'Grady, but it brought him into closer con tact with the boys, as he was for many years in charge of the refectory. He took a deep interest in them and in everything connected with them, even their games, especially the Line Matches. He possessed a great sense of humour, and a joke was ever ready to his lips.

Many will remember how his answer to the question “What second-course to-day, Brother?” was invariably “Plums”, whether or not these dainties were to appear ! For many years before his death he suffered from deafness, but that did not affect his cheerfulness, nor did even the ill-health of his last few years which he bore with great patience and resignation to the will of God.
May they rest in peace.

O'Grady, James, 1848-1927, Jesuit brother

  • IE IJA J/1908
  • Person
  • 20 May 1848-02 July 1927

Born: 20 May 1848, Aclare, County Sligo
Entered: 30 July 1875, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 02 February 1888
Died: 02 July 1927, Milltown Park, Dublin

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Canon O'Grady, PP of Behola in Achonry, and Father O'Grady a Salesian of Warrenstown were his brothers.

He was a farm steward, 12 years at Clongowes, 12 years in Tullabeg and six years at Mungret. He was reputedly a very able man of business.
He died at Milltown 02 July 1927

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 2nd Year No 4 1927
Obituary :
Br James O’Grady :
After a strenuous life, Br. O'Grady went to his rest and reward last July.
Two of his brothers were priests, and, when he was thinking of entering the Society as a lay-brother, I was suggested to him by one of our Fathers that he was still young enough and had brains enough to study for the priesthood. But the life of a lay-brother had stronger attraction for him, and he began his noviceship at Milltown on the goth July, 1875. This story is told on the authority of his brother, the late Canon O'Grady. In the domestic order he filled nearly every office that a lay-brother could fill, Infirmarian, Sacristan, Refectorian, etc., but it was as farm-steward that his big work was done. He held that important post for thirty years, twelve in Clongowes, twelve in Tullabeg, and six. in Mungret. He threw himself with his whole heart into his duties, and with remarkable success. A shrewd business man in Dublin declared that one of the best judges of cattle in Ireland was the Jesuit, Br O'Grady. And it was said that the Clongowes brand on a. beast, when the brother was in the College, was bound to raise the price. About the year 1919 his health failed, and he had to undergo a severe operation. From that date his suffering was, at times, intense, but it never lessened his confidence in God, or the high spirits that characterized him. He continued to be the life and soul of the brothers' recreation, enjoying with a boy's delight every bit of fun that came in his way. When nearing eighty he often shouldered his spade or his fork and worked for hours in a way that would shame a younger man. Indeed it was said that over-exertion while hay-making brought on the stroke that killed him. His holy and peaceful death took place at Milltown Park on July 2nd 1927, in his eightieth year. He was born 20th May, 1848. RIP

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother James O’Grady 1848-1927
Br O’Grady was a well known and popular figure in the Province for many years. Born in May 1848, he entered the novitiate in 1875.

He filled many posts in the course of his useful life, but it was as farm steward at Clongowes that his big work was done. Thirty years in all he acted in that capacity, and he acquired a reputation for judging cattle second to none in Ireland.

About 1919 his health failed and he underwent a severe operation. From then onwards his suffering at time was intense. Nevertheless he carried on, the life and soul of the Brother’s recreation, with a cheery word for everyone, admirable in his handling of the house staff, and dear tot all the theologians in Milltown Park. He still maintained his interest in the farm and at eighty years of age, often shouldered his spade or fork and worked for hours. Indeed it was said that over exertion at haymaking brought on the stroke that killed him.

He died a holy death at Milltown Park on July 3rd 1927 in his eightieth year.

O'Grady, Michael A, 1911-1969, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/335
  • Person
  • 08 September 1911-07 June 1969

Born: 08 September 1911, Cappagh, Ballinasloe, County Galway
Entered: 01 September 1927, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1941, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1945, Miltown Park, Dublin
Died: 07 June 1969, College of Industrial Relations, Ranelagh, Dublin

Summerhill College, College Road, Knocknaganny, Sligo student

by 1946 at Heythrop, Oxfordshire (ANG) studying

Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus, 31 July 1953-19 July 1959.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Summerhill College, College Road, Knocknaganny, Sligo student

Irish Province News 34th Year No 4 1959

GENERAL
On 20th July Fr. Charles O'Conor, former Rector of Gonzaga College was appointed Provincial in succession to Fr. Michael A. O’Grady. The best wishes of the Province are with the Provincial in his new office, and to Fr. O'Grady the Province offers its gratitude for his services during his Provincialate. He will be remembered, beyond doubt, above all for his outstanding kindness, under standing and sympathy. His great and quite genuine charm of manner made personal contact between him and his subjects easy. They could always feel that their position was understood even if it could not always be improved. And these qualities extended themselves outside the Society and won for Fr. O’Grady and for the Province the goodwill, esteem and affection of everyone with whom he came into contact.
When he became Provincial in 1953 Fr. O’Grady was faced with a task which demanded gifts of this high order, The period of office of his predecessor, Fr. T, Byrne, had been one of expansion after the war. It was for Fr. O’Grady to consolidate. He found himself with a number of new enterprises-the Catholic Workers' College, the Mission in Rhodesia, Gonzaga College - which he had to see firmly established. This involved, among other things, a heavy building programme. It has been his great achievement that he courageously carried through this programme, though the toll on his health was at times very great. Besides the buildings at Gonzaga and the Workers' College, there were the preparatory school at Belvedere, the Pioneer Hall, the extension to Manresa and the renovation of Loyola, Eglinton Road, which was purchased as a Provincial Residence in his term of office. That, in spite of the expenditure involved, the Province is in a sound financial position is a tribute to Fr. O'Grady's generous use of his great personal gifts and to his inexhaustible patience and zeal.
Other activities recently undertaken which received his wholehearted encouragement were the Missions to Britain and to the Irish workers in Britain, the work of teaching Christian Doctrine in the Technical Schools, and the Child Educational Centre, which was started in his Provincialate and was finally established in its new premises in Northumberland Road last year.
He visited both China and Northern Rhodesia, and it was largely through his tireless negotiation that a satisfactory status for the Rhodesian Mission was worked out and the Mission of Chikuni created. He also saw the expansion of the Mission to the Chinese in Malaya. In both Missions he supported extensive building schemes of which the most ambitious were the new Wah Yan College, Queen's Road, Hong Kong and the Teacher Training College, Chikuni. And for all this the Province is grateful to Fr. O’Grady.

Obituary :

Fr Louis O’Grady SJ (1911-1969)

To comply with the desires expressed by the writer of the following appreciation we prelude with a few chronological facts of the life of Fr. M. A. O'Grady; something has been said of his death and obsequies in the notes from Gardiner St.
He was born September 8th, 1911, a fact registered in the mind of the present writer in that he completed his sixteenth year only a week after he entered the Noviceship in 1927.
After the Noviciate he did the usual arts course at U.C.D. from Rathfarnham, with distinction. He caused great alarm by having a severe haemorrhage which necessitated a blood-transfusion while at the Castle; it, the transfusion, was the source of considerable merriment when the community was assured that he was out of danger and his merry acceptance of the quizzing was a temptation to persist.
He did Philosophy in Tullabeg, 1932-5 and was on the staff at Clongowes 1935-38 and thence to Milltown where he was ordained, 1941.
After the Tertianship he proceeded with his dear friend Fr. Scozzari, later so tragically to die, of the Sicilian province, to Maynooth where both distinguished themselves in their doctorates.
Apart from his double term as Provincial, 1953-9 it may be said that Milltown claimed him until his appointment to the College of Industrial relations. He was rector of Milltown from 1947 till he assumed his higher offices. These are the bare bones to which we hope the following will add life.

An Appreciation
He had been baptised Michael Aloysius, but in the noviceship in an unusual fashion he acquired a new name or a new form of name : he was henceforth Luigi or Louis. The Luigi came first. It was no accidental re-christening, no casual re-naming. It was rather a singular and striking tribute in which his fellow novices saluted if not another Aloysius at least a fellow novice whose total dedication of himself was in the Gonzaga mode.
The phenomenon of the “saintly” novice must be as old as the religious life. More often than not the phenomenon is happily ephemeral : either the prig disappears or his priggishness does. Luigi was the exception. He never changed and the epithet prig is the one no person would ever use of him. I feel sure that no act of his was ever insincere.
The peculiar character and the specific colour were already there in the noviceship. Though Louis was always what one would describe as a normal, an ordinary man, from the beginning he was in some sense set a little apart from his fellows. While it could never have been said of him that he was illiberal in his views or intolerant in his actions, yet from the earliest times his fellows knew that behind the warm and friendly exterior there was a core of utter intransigence. One did not think of this as obstinacy (the obstinate man might change his mind); in Louis's case the matter of principle was already prejudged and decided : it was not open to reconsideration. Those who knew Louis well will remember the cloud which would suddenly transform his features and change the customary smile to a frown when in any cause a measure of either insincerity or uncharity appeared.
To my mind, when it strives to express what manner of man Louis was, the one complex which keeps coming to the front is the disproportion between his physical capacity and his spiritual potential. In a special and differing sense it could be said of him that “the spirit was willing and the flesh was weak”. In him the spirit was always willing more than the flesh could support. He would help everybody though no single body could sustain what everybody claimed. Of him one cliché is unavoidable, the one which says that he did not know how to say no.
About his own health Father Louis never liked to speak : it was. he said, a dull topic. In deference to that sentiment, I will allow myself only one sentence. Though I knew Louis very well and for a long time, it was only when (on more than one occasion) I shared a room with him on holiday that I realised how very ill he was at times, how much he suffered and how desperately hard the night could be before another day began.
Father Louis's genius could be described as an infinite capacity for making friends. There was something in him which invited confidence, the confidence of many both in high places in Church and State and of even more perhaps in lowly estate : he was equally at home at either level : he did not know how to look To comply with the desires expressed by the writer of the following appreciation we prelude with a few chronological facts of the life of Fr. M. A. O'Grady; something has been said of his death and obsequies in the notes from Gardiner St.
He was born September 8th, 1911, a fact registered in the mind of the present writer in that he completed his sixteenth year only a week after he entered the Noviceship in 1927.
After the Noviciate he did the usual arts course at U.C.D. from Rathfarnham, with distinction. He caused great alarm by having a severe haemorrhage which necessitated a blood-transfusion while at the Castle; it, the transfusion, was the source of considerable merriment when the community was assured that he was out of danger and his merry acceptance of the quizzing was a temptation to persist.
He did Philosophy in Tullabeg, 1932-5 and was on the staff at Clongowes 1935-38 and thence to Milltown where he was ordained, 1941.
After the Tertianship he proceeded with his dear friend Fr. Scozzari, later so tragically to die, of the Sicilian province, to Maynooth where both distinguished themselves in their doctorates.
Apart from his double term as Provincial, 1953-9 it may be said that Milltown claimed him until his appointment to the College of Industrial relations. He was rector of Milltown from 1947 till he assumed his higher offices. These are the bare bones to which we hope the following will add life.

An Appreciation
He had been baptised Michael Aloysius, but in the noviceship in an unusual fashion he acquired a new name or a new form of name : he was henceforth Luigi or Louis. The Luigi came first. It was no accidental re-christening, no casual re-naming. It was rather a singular and striking tribute in which his fellow novices saluted if not another Aloysius at least a fellow novice whose total dedication of himself was in the Gonzaga mode.
The phenomenon of the “saintly” novice must be as old as the religious life. More often than not the phenomenon is happily ephemeral : either the prig disappears or his priggishness does. Luigi was the exception. He never changed and the epithet prig is the one no person would ever use of him. I feel sure that no act of his was ever insincere.
The peculiar character and the specific colour were already there in the noviceship. Though Louis was always what one would describe as a normal, an ordinary man, from the beginning he was in some sense set a little apart from his fellows. While it could never have been said of him that he was illiberal in his views or intolerant in his actions, yet from the earliest times his fellows knew that behind the warm and friendly exterior there was a core of utter intransigence. One did not think of this as obstinacy (the obstinate man might change his mind); in Louis's case the matter of principle was already prejudged and decided : it was not open to reconsideration. Those who knew Louis well will remember the cloud which would suddenly transform his features and change the customary smile to a frown when in any cause a measure of either insincerity or uncharity appeared.
To my mind, when it strives to express what manner of man Louis was, the one complex which keeps coming to the front is the disproportion between his physical capacity and his spiritual potential. In a special and differing sense it could be said of him that “the spirit was willing and the flesh was weak”. In him the spirit was always willing more than the flesh could support. He would help everybody though no single body could sustain what everybody claimed. Of him one cliché is unavoidable, the one which says that he did not know how to say no.
About his own health Father Louis never liked to speak : it was. he said, a dull topic. In deference to that sentiment, I will allow myself only one sentence. Though I knew Louis very well and for a long time, it was only when (on more than one occasion) I shared a room with him on holiday that I realised how very ill he was at times, how much he suffered and how desperately hard the night could be before another day began.
Father Louis's genius could be described as an infinite capacity for making friends. There was something in him which invited confidence, the confidence of many both in high places in Church and State and of even more perhaps in lowly estate : he was equally at home at either level : he did not know how to look up or look down. Many of the friendships which he made began with an appeal to him for help. The truth was that men came to Louis not so much because they wanted the benefit of his judgment as because they needed the strengthening of his understanding and kindness.
As time went on the number of those who depended on him grew. Unfortunately his physical strength did not grow apace, and he began to be at times desperately tired. He spoke to me once about that well-known exhortation to moderation which takes the form : if you were dead, people would get along all right without you. Characteristically his comment given with a tired smile was : that argument is useless : the difficulty is that I am not dead.
He is dead now, God rest him, and what can we do who are saddened by his death other than thank God for the precious goodness which shone so brightly amongst us. Under God's grace the cost in effort and determination was great; in later years the cost included perhaps inevitably some small measure of irritability, At times he drove himself very hard with an intensity which few could emulate : there was never any doubt about the high grade of asceticism to which he attained : but of this few were aware. Surprisingly this achievement of his increased rather than diminished his humanity: it gave him a freedom of action beyond the ordinary, and allowed him to disregard convention for convention's sake.
Speaking of Louis's humanity it should be recorded that those who had always the first claim on his affection were the members of his own family, especially, in later years, his ageing mother but not less indeed his brothers and sisters.
Father Louis's life was totally at the service of the Society which (within or after the Church) had claim on his whole loyalty. Some who did not know him might think from what I have written that he was an invalid who from his sick-bed gave counsel to many. Not true this: in any case he was never that long in a sick bed. The Society made a full claim on him, as a teacher and administrator at the highest level both separately and together. His gifts of intellect were considerable and had he been chosen for a purely scholastic career he might have made a name for himself as a philosopher or a theologian. He was not good at languages and I know he found the use of Latin as a medium of teaching a burden. As a consequence the movement away from Latin in post-Vatican II days he welcomed; but of many other changes in the same time he felt less happy.
Father Louis, one may surmise, might have been happier had he been born a quarter of a century earlier or a quarter of a century later. By nature and taste he had always been in church affairs more liberal and progressive than otherwise. In the pre Vatican II world he might have been said to be left of centre. When the centre moved rapidly to the left, like many of his contemporaries, he was perplexed to some degree and to some extent unhappy.
When I was asked to write this notice of my friend, I hesitated, because I did not think that it would be easy to do justice to the subject of it. In many ways Father Louis O'Grady was a conventional religious, not differing that much from his fellows. As a teacher and an administrator he was possibly more competent than brilliant. The record in the books may not put him in the first dozen. That does not matter, because in the case of Louis O'Grady it is not what he did which counts but what he was. Father John Ryan has said somewhere that in Ireland there was never any need for a judicial process of canonisation : if a man, especially a religious, could pass the scrutiny of his fellowmen, especially his fellow-monks, it was enough. Most of his religious life Father Louis, as rector or provincial or superior, underwent that extra sifting which the monks reserve for those who sit in the chair of Moses; he passed that stringent test splendidly, and as far as I know nem. con.
The ability of the man, about whom I write, to make friends was a purely natural asset, with nothing about it which was either studied or artificial. But the synthesis of this natural gift with the purer and more intense flame of Christian charity was the work of a lifetime. No one could know Louis for long without realising how near to God he was at all times. And this was the source in him of that rare sensitive personal integrity which was with him in the noviceship and was with him to the end : and this too was the source in him of that expansive, universal, dynamic. fearless love for men which knew no limit of moderation or even of prudence.
The strain and the tension in this man's life could have but one ending, for the conflict was unequal. During the night of June 6:7 the persistently over-taxed energy finally ran out, and Louis was dead.
It is not easy to link with him the notion of rest and peace. Nevertheless one feels that the change from life to death (or from life through death to life) in Louis's case cannot have been great; perhaps now that he is dead, with more truth he can say what he could surely have said at any time in his life : I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me.

O'Grady, Peter, 1907-1993, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1909
  • Person
  • 23 May 1907-16 June 1993

Born: 23 May 1907, Bocadh, County Laois
Entered: 14 November 1939, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly (HIB for Oregonensis Province - ORE)
Ordained: 01 April 1933
Final vows: 02 February 1950
Died: 16 June 1993, Spokane WA, USA - Oregonensis Province (ORE)

Did novitiate in Ireland 1939-1941
by 1942 at Milltown (HIB) studying 1941-1943
by 1947 at Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

◆ Fr Francis Finegan : Admissions 1859-1948 - Alumnus of Irish College Salamanca

O'Higgins, Pearse, 1916-1976, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/334
  • Person
  • 16 October 1916-30 May 1976

Born: 16 October 1916, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951, Sacred Heart College SJ, Limerick
Died: 30 May 1976, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Brother of Criodán O'Higgins - LEFT 19 March 1950

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 51st Year No 3 1976

Gardiner Street
We end on a sad note. Fr Pearse O’Higgins died on the morning of Sunday, 30th May. His death was a terrible shock for the community and indeed for everyone living in the parish and in the Pioneer circle. Pearse will be a real loss to us here, not only for the wonderful work he did but above all for the extraordinary support his presence meant in the community. May the Lord be good to him!

Obituary :

Fr Pearse O’Higgins (1935-1976)

Though I spent thirteen years of formation with Pearse, we did not share the same roof since we endured tertianship together in 1949-50. In the intervening years, on those occasions on which I met him, he seemed to be unchanged and unchangeable. Large, deep-voiced, welcoming, and always, always equitable: with his unending supply of funny stories and his acute memory for situations and events in Emo, Rathfarnham and Tullabeg, he was always good company. There was a great solidity about Pearse, a great durable sanity: a blending of deep spirituality, good humour and common sense. With his political and linguistic back ground, one might have expected Pearse to hold extreme positions on all sorts of questions, but he was so open to reality and so capable of an accepting awareness of many views that his attitudes were sympathetic and moderate.
My memories of Pearse on the playing-fields of Emo and Tullabeg are comic. He wasn’t a born athlete and I think he disliked football but he togged out just to be with us and to lumber around in search of the ball which never seemed to be where Pearse was. I was quite astonished when I learned that in recent years he had become quite a good golfer. Now that I come to think of it, I remember seeing himself and the braces-wearing Dr Corboy playing havoc on the links in Balbriggan!
Golf courses and football pitches are not, to be sure, the serious arenas of life, but personalities are often revealed on them, Pearse remained as unaffected by his success in golf as by his clumsiness at football: both revealed that in-built stabilising quality which, to my mind, was Pearse's greatest human attribute. Maybe memory, like the sundial, records only the sunny hours of my friends : be that as it may, I can never recall Pearse being down or touchy or in bad form: Pearse was always ... just the large-bodied, good-natured, humorous man of God.

Here, surely, was a man in whom there was no guile. Above all his many virtues he stood out as a man of principle, and nothing could cause him to swerve from the path he thought fit to take. He never acted hastily-in word and deed he was slow-moving, but always got there'.
With his natural power of mimicry, which was always good for a laugh but which never gave offence, and his wonderful gift as a raconteur, a gift he used unsparingly, he was delightful company, At recreation, to get him going, it was sufficient to throw out a phrase like “Do you remember such-and-such?”, and he was off at once entertaining all within earshot - and his range was extensive! Some of his recollections, told always with unerring accuracy and detail, I must have heard fifty times over, but they never failed to raise a laugh,
He was a man of deep faith and fervent but never ostentatious prayer. This, united with his perennial good humour, won admiration and respect from all wherever he went or worked. His passing is a sore loss to all who had the pleasure of his companionship. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam caomh!

◆ The Clongownian, 1976

Obituary

Father Pearse O’Higgins SJ

Just as we go to Press, we learned the sad news of Fr Pearse O'Higgins's sudden death in St Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street, on Sunday, May 20th - Union Day. Fr Pearse had spent a number of years teaching and doing church work both in the Crescent, Limerick, and in St Ignatius College, Galway, where he had been Rector for some six years, before coming to Clongowes in 1965 to join the teaching staff. Though he spent only a year with us, in that short time he endeared himself both to his confrères and pupils. He had a genius for getting to know people, and was interested in all they did and in all belonging to them - and he never seemed to forget a name or a face. He will be sadly missed by all, but especially by the Pioneers, for whom he did so much throughout his lifetime in Limerick, Galway and in Dublin. Ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam

O'Holohan, Colum J, 1919-1998, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/609
  • Person
  • 13 August 1919-23 April 1998

Born: 13 August 1919, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1938, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1953, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1956, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 23 April 1998, St Joseph’s, Shankill, Dublin

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

Brother of John O'Holohan - RIP 2018

O'Holohan, John, 1923-2018, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/824
  • Person
  • 31 March 1923-19 April 2018

Born: 31 March 1923, Drumcondra, Dublin
Entered: 06 September 1941, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1955, Milltown Park , Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1959, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 19 April 2018, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Brother of Colm O’Holohan - RIP 1998

by 1958 at Gandia, Valencia, Spain (TARR) making Tertianship
by 1994 at Orlando FL, USA (NOR) working
by 2001 at Simpsonville SC, USA (NOR) working
by 2004 at Lancaster SC, USA (NOR) working

Early education at Loreto Convent Bray, CBS St. Canice's NCR; Belvedere College SJ

1943-1946 Rathfarnham - Studying Arts at UCD
1946-1949 Tullabeg - Studying Philosophy
1949-1952 Belvedere College SJ - Regency : Teacher; Studying H Dip in Education at UCD (49-50)
1952-1956 Milltown Park - Studying Theology
1956-1957 St Mary’s, Emo - Assistant Socius; Bursar; Teacher; Confessor;
1957-1958 Gandia, Valencia, Spain - Tertianship in Palacio del Santo Duque
1958-1960 Mungret College SJ - Teacher
1960-1965 Belvedere College SJ - Teacher; Directs Conf VdP; Editor of “Belvederian”
1965-1966 Chivuna Mission, Zambia - Studying CiTonga
1966-1978 Chisekesi, Zambia - Teacher ; Spiritual Father; St John Berchmans Sodality; Editor “Canisian” at Canisius College, Chikuni
1969 Transcribed to Zambia Province [ZAM] (03/12/1969)
1978-1981 Mazabuka, Zambia - Teacher and Spiritual Father at St Edmund’s Secondary School
1981-1982 Sabbatical
1982-1986 Zomba, Malawi - Acting Rector; Professor of Moral Theology; Directs Pastoral Ministry at St Peter’s Major Seminary
1986-1987 Luwisha House, Lusaka, Zambia - Teacher at Juniorate; Writer, Director National Apostleship of Prayer, Edits Newsletter
1987-1988 Spokane, WA, USA - Pastor at The Ministry Institute
1988-1992 DeLand, FL, USA - Assistant Pastor at St Peter's Catholic Church
1992-2000 Orlando, FL, USA - Assistant Pastor at Holy Family Catholic Church
1992 Transcribed to Irish Province [HIB] (24/11/1992)
2000-2003 Simpsonville, SC, USA - Associate Pastor at St Mary Magdalene Catholic Church
2003-2009 Lancaster, SC, USA - Pastor at St Catherine Catholic Church
2007 Pastor at St Joseph Parish, Chester, SC; Pastor at St Michael’s, Great Falls, SC
2009-2018 Gardiner St - Writer; Chaplain St Monica’s; Locum in Mater Hospital; People’s Church in Clongowes
2014 Prays for the Church and the Society at Cherryfield Lodge

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/remembering-john-oholohan-sj/

Remembering John O’Holohan SJ
Fr John O’Holohan SJ died peacefully at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin on 19 April 2018 aged 95 years. Prayers were said at Cherryfield Lodge on 22 April, and his funeral Mass took place at Milltown Park Chapel on 23 April, followed by burial at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
Born in 1923, John grew up in Drumcondra, Dublin and was educated at Belvedere College SJ in Dublin City. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois in 1941. He studied arts at UCD and philosophy at Tullabeg, County Offaly. He did his regency as a teacher in Belvedere while also studying for the Higher Diploma in Education at UCD. He was ordained in 1955 after further studies in theology at Milltown Park, Dublin. John continued to teach in Jesuit schools in Ireland and did his tertianship in Spain.
In 1965, John went to the missions in Zambia. There, he learned the Chitonga language, taught in schools, and ministered as Spiritual Father among other roles. He was transcribed to the Zambia Province in 1969. He continued to mission in Zambia except for a period as a key formator in St Peter’s Major Seminary in Malawi from 1982-1986. He was the national director of the Apostleship of Prayer in Zambia from 1986- 1987.
In his later years, John worked in pastoral ministry in the United States from 1987-2009. First in Washington state as pastor, then in Florida as assistant pastor, and later as associate pastor and pastor in South Carolina. In the meantime, he was transcribed to the Irish Province again. He returned to Ireland as a member of the Gardiner Street Community in Dublin where he was a writer among other positions. Notably, John celebrated his 90th birthday in 2013, and he finished the day by watching reports of the election of Pope Francis.
He moved to Cherryfield Lodge nursing home in 2014 where his family visited him very often, and he was most appreciative of the care he received there. John died peacefully on the evening of 19 April in the loving care of the staff at Cherryfield. He is deeply regretted by his sisters Dympna Cunningham and Nesta Tuomey, his brother-in-law Larry, his nephews, nieces and extended family, his Jesuit Community and by many friends in the United States.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

The Early Years – in appreciation of my brother John Terry O’Holohan SJ by Nesta Tuomey
As I often told you your influence on me when I was growing up gave me my strong faith in Jesus Christ and your loving chats about God and the saints so interesting and inspiring, they led me to know and want to love Him from an early age. When you took my sister and myself on walks in the Botanic Garden I particularly remember your stories about Wopsy, the little angel, who was always getting into trouble but when he saw the error of his ways he was penitent and tried to do better. He was the role model for me when I was as young as five or six and I loved hearing about him and all the adventures he had. When you were appointed to Belvedere College you would often bring the boys’ essays home with you and allow us to read them, even, at times, to allot marks in order of excellence. All very exciting and heady stuff for ones as young as we were then. Of course, you would put your own marks on the actual copies but it taught us literary appreciation and perception. I remember being intrigued by the letters A.M.D.G. written at the top of each copybook page. When I asked, you explained what the letters stood for – Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam which was the Latin motto for the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola and meant ‘To the greater glory of God’. We enthusiastically imitated the Belvedere boys and put A.M.D.G. at the top of our exercise copies until the Sacred Heart nuns at our school in Leeson Street gently bid us to desist.
Undoubtedly, you passed on to us your own fervour and love of St. Ignatius and when you were ordained you chose to spend your Tertianship at Valencia in Spain, despite the rigorous regime this would entail. When you returned to Ireland after a year away, you could speak Spanish and loved to tell us of St. Ignatius and how he came from a very wealthy family and what a proud aristocratic man he was. How when his leg was severely injured by a cannon ball at the Battle of Pamplona he courageously endured the agony of having it broken again and set without benefit of anaesthetic, rather than endure the mortification of walking for the rest of his life with a limp. During his long convalescence, as his leg slowly healed, he underwent a religious conversion. The only books available to him were the lives of the saints but, before long, he found them very much to his taste, and was inspired by the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who showed their burning love in their unconditional service of God. Giving up his great wealth, he resolved to live a life of poverty and sacrifice, doing everything to the greater glory of God, later founding the Society of Jesus. I read the books you gave me including the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and learned discernment and how to make the right decisions but that was not until I had reached a more mature age.
Back in my childhood I very much liked hearing of St. Ignatius’s life and generosity and how when St. Francis Xavier was very strict on new novices and inclined to send them away from the seminary St. Ignatius always gave them a second chance and took them in again by the back door. That was the saint for me, I decided, he was just like Jesus Christ compassionate and ready to forgive and I found myself very much drawn to the order you had chosen to join. From what you told me I was aware that at the age of seven you knew that you wanted to become a priest and it was through your influence on your pupils at Belvedere that a great many joined the Jesuits and were ordained priests. I was no saint myself and in those early years when I used to complain about having to set the Sunday lunch table while my older sister sat listening to you, you told us the story of Mary and Martha, pointing out that in listening to Jesus and letting her sister cook and set tables ‘Mary had chosen the better part’, as indeed she had. But I could never really like Mary or Martha and would have much preferred to be sitting comfortably listening to your stories myself, particularly, when you had such a wonderful way of engaging our interest. You often told us the Bible was the most exciting book ever written, certainly it was the most blood thirsty too. The stories of David and Jonathan’s great friendship and Saul’s jealousy came alive when you told them, making me long to read them for myself.
You were always very generous with your time and I particularly loved the way you would keep front seats for us at the Belvedere College operas. How we loved Gilbert and Sullivan and came to know all the songs. I can still see you young and vigorous, your soutane flying out behind you, as you came smiling towards us. There were our ‘Lemmo’ parties when you financed a bottle of fizzy lemonade and the luxury of Mikado biscuits with jam and marshmallow topping. You would play cards with us, simple games of ‘Snap’ or ‘Beggar My Neighbour’ and there would be a sweet as the winner’s prize. My mother used to laugh and say you could see no wrong in us, I suspect she would have liked us to be more like model children but was forced to put up with the reality.
On looking back, it was on our walks as children and later when you came to spend your leave from Africa with myself, my husband and children, becoming their friend as you had become mine, that our friendship blossomed and grew. I am so thankful you entered into our lives from the beginning enriching them by your affectionate presence, always stirring us gently to an awareness of Jesus and telling us how important it was to put him first in our lives. Somehow you always saw the best in us no matter what and by your unstinting friendship and wise counselling helped us to become more worthy, less selfish, less self- orientated. Undoubtedly, you helped and guided so many others while abroad on the missions in Africa and during your time spent in America as a Jesuit priest. By your ministry you have touched so many lives. At 86 you returned home to Ireland, having been pastor to three parishes in South Carolina, where you had a driver who brought you to the distant towns to say the weekend masses. You took on so much having always expressed the desire to ‘work while there was work to be done’, always of the mind that you would go anywhere a priest was needed; in your eighties even offering your services on an American troop ship. When the officer with a smile in his voice asked, ‘Do you mind my asking, Father, how old you are?’ you told him your age, adding ‘Well, even if I can’t go on board I can set up a confessional on the dock,’ adding the sobering observation, ‘Many of those young soldiers will never come back from Afghanistan and it may be the only time they will have an opportunity to confess before death.’
With your passing, I feel as though I have lost my best friend but believe and take consolation from the fact you have gone to a better place and you are now with Jesus whom you served so faithfully and for so long. With all my love and thanks until we meet again.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1966

First Impressions of Zambia : Father John O’Holohan SJ (OB 1941)

Lusaka - The Capital
The darkness was falling as we landed at Lusaka airport. I was surprised at the modern and efficient aspect of the streets and traffic arrangements. The people were the main interest. There was great variety of colours, black, brown, and white. The bulk of business seemed to be run by Europeans and Indians. Lusaka has a population of 118,800 of whom 13,800 are non-Africans. It seemed to me like a large country town in Ireland, but it, is growing steadily in population and popularity. I stayed at the parish church of St Ignatius which was built by Father Dermot Murphy (OB 1933), now Father Minister in Canisius College. The PP is Father Denis O'Connell SJ, who taught as a scholastic in Belvedere from 1950 to 1953. On Sunday I said the 10.00 am Mass and preached at four Masses.

I left Lusaka next day with Father Arthur Clarke SJ, the Rector of Canisius College, to drive south to the Chikuni Mission Headquarters. As we drove on in the brilliant sunshine between acres and acres of bush country which covers so much of central Africa, and glimpsed the round huts of the Africans between the trees, I realised that I was now really in the heart of Africa. From the moment I stepped onto African soil I noticed a change of atmosphere, the tempo of life seemed slower, outside the city the clock went back hundreds of years. The heart-throb of Africa beat slowly and steadily like drums at evening.

Chivuna Mission Station
The main road south is a very good one most of the way. Sometimes it degenerates into a narrow strip of tarmac so that it is necessary to shift onto the clay surface when passing cars. This can be quite dangerous, clouds of dust rendering visibility almost nil. About 27 miles on we passed over the great Kafue river where I saw my first hippos, ten of them were wallowing in the warm water near the bridge. After 50 miles more we stopped at Mazabuka to call to see to ever cheerful Father Tom O'Meara, SJ from Mallow. Our next brief stop was at the bishop's house in Monze, 120 miles from Lusaka. There we turned off the main road to drive west over the dirt road to Chivuna 27 miles in the bush. As the swift Africa twilight merged into darkness we reached the mission station situated on a slight elvation. The Superior, Father Bernard Collins SJ, gave us a hearty welcome. He knows Belvedere well; he taught there both as scholastic and a priest. In fact he taught me Greek for the Intermediate Cert in 1939 . Now I was coming back to sit in a desk before him in Central Africa and study Citonga, one of the thirty different Bantu dialects in use in Zambia. Of all the languages I have studied there is only one which bore any resemblance to Tonga, and that Hebrew. Fortunately the letters used are the same as in English, but the whole structure and syntax of the language is different. Most languages vary their tenses and cases, modulating their terminations; Tonga do the reverse, it changes its prefixes and makes the noun, adjective and verb undergo complicated changes to preserve this kind of agreement. Some words evoke memories of English, either by chance or because they are from the English. Some examples interesting words are: mutwe - head, bong - brains, impongo - goat, taata - father; baama - mother, muntu - man, bantu - me The Ave Maria begins: “Wabonwa Mari ozwide luse, Mwami nkwali kuli nduwe ..

Each day we rose at 5.00 am - 5.30 to 7.00 was spent in prayers and celebrating Mass. Classes began at 8.00 and ended at 10.00 am The rest of the day was spent most in private study varied by sessions with a African tutor. The usual course is one year - I was trying to do it in three months - was very painful, and I felt a new sympathy for my pupils in Latin and Greek in Belvedere.

Life in the Bush
When I was told I was going to spend three months in the bush I was prepared for very primitive conditions. At Chivuna I found a well-built house with running water, gauze over the windows and electricity from 6.00 to 9.30 p.m. nightly. The last convenience was due to the presence of a large educational settlement beside us. The Irish Sisters of Charity run very efficiently a large secondary and primary school for girls. They had a machine generating electricity and we shared its light. Beside the convent there is a clinic run by the Sisters which rivals seriously the reputation of any local medicine-men. Zambia is ful of strange contrasts; it is straddling two worlds. In the cities you are in the twentieth century; in the bush you seem to be almost in the stone age. Only a hundred yards from my room there were people living in a manner that was ancient when Caesar invaded Britain. They live in round huts made of bricks, mud or straw. Their staple food is maize seasoned with meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, according as fortune favours them.

One day at the building site near us I saw a devoted wife bringing dinner to her husband at midday: she had two dishes perched on her head and when she presented them to him she did so on her bended knees. There is no doubt who is the official master in the home. In the African tradition the woman is held to be inferior to the man, and virtually his slave. All this is changing now with the rapid improvement of living conditions and education in Zambia. When a girl is through a secondary school she is able to secure personal independence. Boy or girl finishing secondary school has great opportunities for good positions in the country. Even if a boy fails his exams he can still get a job.

Many European teachers have come out to Zambia on a contract to teach for two years. They are doing great work. Many more are needed. Zambia is about nine times the size of Ireland, but its population is less than four million. It is a wealthy country and is spending great sums on education. For five years all education, books, etc, are free. The great need is for teachers, The Government is pouring twenty million pounds into new schools, hospitals and administration centres, and building contractors are so overloaded that they cannot begin to meet the demand for private housing. The new buildings in Chivuna are being built by the Irish firm of Sisk. Signs of progress are everywhere. Africans driving ox carts are passed in a cloud of dust by Africans speeding by in Chevrolets. Near prirnitive huts you see fine modern bungalows springing up. At night I heard the drums beating in the darkness and distance; near the parish church I saw workmen sitting around a fire with a transistor blaring out the top ten. People come to the clinic for treatment for all sorts of ailments; some still consult local quacks and are much influenced by them. Sometimes the sick person comes to the doctor to try to have the medicine-man's failure remedied. One day a youth of 19 came in to the clinic, “I am bewitched”, he said. The Sister laughed at his fears, took his temperature; he seemed in perfect health. He insisted he was going to die. His friends came in and added helpfully “Yes, he is going to die, he is bewitched”. True enough later the healthy young man died. His friends came and took the body away. It is very hard to explain such things.

I have made many forays into the bush in a Landrover to bring people to hospital, sometimes it has been at night alone with a rather formidable looking African complete with club, as a guide. Always I have found them gentle and courteous. Up to very recent times the Tonga people were shamefully neglected. They are fast becoming the complete controllers of their own destinies. They are fortunate in having such a remarkable man as President Kaunda as their leader. He is a man of Christian principles, moderate and idealistic. He welcomes help from Europeans; the white missionary is welcome and respected. There is a great chance for the Catholic Church here.

Results 701 to 800 of 1009