Letters, telegrams, memoranda and notes relating to Belgian refugees in Ireland. Irish Fr Provincial Thomas V. Nolan SJ was a member of the Distribution Committee ‘appointed by the Local Government Board to look after the welfare and distribution of the Belgian Refugees arriving in Dublin’. Most of the letters comprise offers to house refugees or concern schemes to aid them, both physically and spiritually. Includes:
– letter from Dr Bernard Coyne, Bishop of Elphin (1913-1926) to Lady Moloney seeking her assistance in the securement of a disused barracks in order to provide shelter for Belgian refugee families (21 Oct. 1914, 1p.);
– bills from drapers and household stores for items purchased for the refugees;
– letters relating to troubles between Protestants and the Catholic refugees in Portadown;
– letters to Fr Nolan from refugees and members of the Belgian Refugees Committee;
– lists of names and locations of refugees in Ireland and names and addresses of people who housed refugees.

On 17 October 1914, the Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus, Thomas V. Nolan, received a letter from the Local Government Board to go down to the North Wall at 7.30am on the 18th and meet the 100 Belgian refugees ‘and one hundred each of the following days’. This was due to ‘a few of your Order, who speak Flemish’. Subsequently, the Irish Provincial became a member of the Distribution Committee which looked after the welfare and distribution of refugees arriving in Ireland. The Irish Jesuits received offers to house the refugees and organised schemes to aid them, both physically and spiritually.

Note by Fr John MacErlean SJ regarding two novices in the Province of Belgium in 1611. Summarises that Stephan Goulding, Cork, second year novice, is a diligent student while Peter Halling, first year novice in which he was mediocre in every respect, has in the future, promise. (In Latin).

Notes and letters to Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ from various academics including Dr Jocelyn Otway-Ruthven, Prof Jim Lydon (Professor of History, T.C.D.) and Dr Ludwig Bieler, relating to the [Irish Manuscripts Commission]. Includes: carbon copy of a ‘Report on Manuscripts of Irish Interest in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg’ by Dr Ludwig Bieler (August 1957, 11pp).