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Biographical notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong, 1926-2000 - Frederick Hok-ming Cheung
Wonder Press Company, Hong Kong.

Many Jesuit Provinces had missions in China before 1926 when the Vicar Apostolic of Hong Kong, Fr Henry Valtorta (1883-1953), invited the Irish Jesuits to his vicariate. In October 1926, Frs George Byrne (1879-1962) and John Neary (1889-1983) left Dublin for Hong Kong, which became a Mission for the Irish Province. They were joined, in early 1927, by Fr Daniel Finn (1886-1936) from Australia and later by Frs Richard Gallagher (1887-1960), Patrick Joy (1892-1970) and Daniel MacDonald (1891-1957).

The initial work of the mission concentrated in Hong Kong, with some teaching in Canton and Macao. Their works involved: reviving the Catholic journal, ‘The Rock’; the opening of a hostel (Ricci Hall) for Chinese Catholic students at the University of Hong Kong (1929-); their involvement in the Regional Seminary, Aberdeen, Hong Kong (1931-1964), Wah Yan College, Hong Kong (1932-) and Wah Yan College, Kowloon (1952-). Some lecturing occurred in the university, in areas such as archaeology, education, engineering, and geography. In Canton, Frs Michael Saul (1884-1932) and Joseph McCullough (1892-1932) died from cholera. Hong Kong was under Japanese occupation 1941 - 1945. The Irish Jesuits organised a school for refugees from Hong Kong in Macao and the Regional Seminary was also moved to Macao. Wah Yan College was closed in 1941 and reopened in 1945. Fr Thomas Ryan’s account “Jesuits under Fire in the siege of Hong Kong 1941” deals fully with this time.

After World War Two, the Irish Jesuits established a language school, student centre and parish in Canton. They were expelled by the Communists in [1953]. Wah Yan College grew and developed and further works included the foundation of a university hostel at Kingsmead Hall, Singapore and at Xavier Hall, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Other works of note that Irish Jesuits had a hand in establishing and running in Hong Kong include: the Hong Kong Housing Society (1938); Wah Yan Relief Association (1938); Shoeshine Boys Club (1952-1962); the Credit Union Movement (1962); Rehabilitation Centre for the Handicapped (1962); Catholic Marriage Advisory Council (1963); Road Safety Association for Schools (1964); Industrial Relations Institute (1968); Chinese Opera in English (1960s); Fisherman’s Children School (1960s) and Welfare for Police in the Training School. In 1966, Hong Kong became a Jesuit Vice-Province and in 1985, the Province of Macau-Hong Kong was established. Today, Hong Kong is a unit within the Chinese Jesuit Province.

Over a hundred Irish Jesuits have served in Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Singapore - 30 of whom are buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery in Hong Kong and two in mainland China.

Thomas F. Ryan SJ : from Cork to China and Windsor Castle 1889-1971.
Columba Press, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 2010

In Xavier's footsteps: the Irish Jesuit mission to South China.
Office of the Irish Messenger, [Dublin], 1934

Irish Jesuits in South China: a record of twenty five years
The Local Printing Press, Ltd, Hong Kong

Ricci Hall: a decade 1929-1939

Catholic Guide to Hong Kong
Catholic Truth Society, Hong Kong, 1962

The Irish Jesuits in China

A Priest in a Japanese Jail.
Dublin : Office of the "Irish Messenger", 1948.

Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China and Beyond. Irish Jesuit Mission-its development 1926-2006. Hong Kong: Xavier Publishing, 2008.

File of mission material relating to Fr Roger Maguire SJ. Includes photograph; personal record; and correspondence between Fr Maguire and Fr Thomas Martin SJ, Irish Jesuit Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Mission material relating to Fr Patrick Howatson SJ. Includes passport; mortuary card; announcement of death; requiem; and correspondence between Fr Howatson and Frs. Thomas J. Martin and Vincent Murphy, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin and his sister, Helen Clarke, Tralee, County Kerry and Fr Martin.

File of mission material relating to Fr Edmund Sullivan SJ. Includes passport; passport photographs; personal record; obituary; accounts of the trial of Canadian Sisters in Canton (2 December 1951); the Communists in Canton (1949); Fr Sullivan’s experiences 1942 - 1945 ; and correspondence between Fr Edmund Sullivan and Fr. Thomas J. Martin, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Jesuits under fire in the siege of Hong Kong, 1941. Burns Oates & Washbourne, London, 1944.

A file relating to the fate of the Irish Jesuit priests working in Hong Kong during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation of the city. Includes returned letters to Irish Fr Provincial marked 'No Service Return to Sender'. Includes letters from family members asking for news or reporting to Irish Fr Provincial on letters received by them. Includes letters from other individuals seeking news about non Jesuit family members. Includes a copy of a request by Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ to Joseph P. Walshe, Department of External Affairs seeking help in assisting four Jesuit students to return home to Ireland (23 March 1943, 1p). Includes a reply stating that a proposed scheme to exchange civilian internees applies only to British or Allied subjects (12 May 1943, 1p). Includes a memorandum written by Fr Joy on Irish nationals in Hong Kong. The memorandum was sent by Irish Fr Provincial to the Irish Red Cross (24 October 1942, 2pp). Includes letters concerning Irish Jesuits who left Hong Kong to live and work in India during the war and subsequent return to Hong Kong when the war was over. Includes 'A Priest in a Japanese Jail' by Fr Gerard Casey SJ (1948)

File of mission material relating to Fr Derek Reid SJ. Includes announcement of death and newspaper articles; obituaries; personal record; and correspondence between Fr Reid and Fr Thomas J. Martin SJ, Mission Office, Dublin.

Irish Jesuits Go East - Part 1

Wah Yan College Kowloon 50th anniversary magazine.

File of mission material relating to Fr John Moran SJ. Includes passports; passport photographs of Fr Moran; announcement of death; obituary; personal record; and mainly correspondence between Fr Moran and Frs. Vincent Murphy and Thomas J. Martin, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Ricci: Souvenir record of the silver jubilee of Ricci Hall, Hong Kong University 1929-1954.

File of mission material relating to Fr Patrick Grogan SJ. Includes photographs; announcement of death; personal record; and correspondence between Fr Grogan and Fr Thomas J. Martin, Mission Office, Dublin.

File of mission material relating to Fr John Foley SJ. Includes announcement of death; personal record; obituary; sermons, articles and correspondence between Fr Foley and Frs. Thomas O'Brien, Vincent Murphy and Thomas J. Martin, Mission Office, Dublin.

Group photograph of the first seminarians and their professors taken at the Regional Seminary.

Group photograph of the first year of Aberdeen Seminary, Hong Kong. The photograph includes Bishop Valtorta and Fr Thomas Cooney SJ (Rector) and other Irish Jesuits.

Group photograph of the retreat group at the Regional Seminary, Hong Kong.

Group photograph taken on the occasion of His Excellency Mgr Zanin's (Apostolic Delegate to China) visit to the Regional Seminary.

Series of letters written by Fr John Neary SJ to Irish Provincial John Fahy SJ concerning his arrival to Hong Kong and the development of the Mission there

5 December 1926, 3pp
9 December 1926, 3pp
12 December 1926, 4pp
18 December 1926, 5pp
21 December 1926, 3pp
29 December 1926, 3pp
17 February 1927, 1p
26 February 1927, 2pp
1 March 1927, 1p
11 April 1927, 3pp
2 June 1927, 1p

File of mission material relating to Fr Seamus Doris SJ. Includes passport photograph; personal record; announcement of death; homily; and correspondence between Fr Doris and Frs Thomas J. Martin and Thomas O'Brien, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

File of mission material relating to Fr Timothy Doody SJ. Includes passport photograph; identity papers; personal record; announcement of death; obituary; Ten Yuan Held Bank Note - The Bank of Ming Tung - Currency for the Other World (1941); ‘residence and identity card issued by puppet government in Shanghai’; invitations to weddings; and correspondence between Fr Doody and Frs Thomas J. Martin, Vincent Murphy and Thomas O'Brien, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Photographic album of the (the new) Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. The photographs have typewritten captions. Includes: various buildings, exteriors, interiors and landscape photographs of Wah Yan College, Queen's Road East, Hong Kong: opening day ceremonies of the new college (27 September 1955); Irish Jesuits Frs John Carroll, Richard Harris, Matthew Corbally, Richard Gallagher, Donald Lawler, Thomas Ryan, Timothy Doody, James McAsey, Herbert Dargan, Patrick Toner, Edmund Sullivan and Cyril Barrett; Monsignor Lorenzo Bianchi, Bishop of Hong Kong; Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham and Lady Grantham; Professor Gordon Brown.
Includes photographs of Fr Gallagher's jubilee dinner ar Ricci Hall.

Photographic album with original and copy inserts of scenes from Hong Kong, Canton and China. The copy photographs (seem to be mass-produced and touristic) have numbers in the bottom left hand corner, with white handwritten captions, for example, 'A chair at Hong Kong', while original photographs are often described on reverse with pencil, 'The Seminarians 1926', and underneath in light pencil. The first number of photogrpahs are missing. The album appears to contain a large number of photographs of Franciscans in China and of Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc. (Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers), and some Jesuits. Includes: the consecration of Bishop Valtorta [with the] Band from the Salesian Industrial School, Macao (1926); Fr Crochet SJ and his Chinese flock; Bishop Wittner OFM and his Chinese priests; seminarians of the regional seminary at Tatungtu, Shansi; Fr Netto; Fr Pradel with lepers at Sheklung; Fr Nugent (Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America), Ningpo, Fr Gleeson, Frs Driscoll, Malone and Murphy (Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America). The Irish element to the album may perhaps why it ended up with the Irish Jesuits.

Article entitled ‘Cross-roads in China’ by Fr Thomas Ryan SJ, which discusses the transformation in Chinese society, pre and post war, missionaries, Catholicism and schools.

General Memoriale and Memoriale for Fr Superior of the visitation by Fr Thomas Ryan SJ to St Ignatius’ House, Canton.

File of telegrams concerning the Hong Kong mission and departure to and arrival of Jesuits in Hong Kong.

Letter from Irish Fr Provincial John MacMahon SJ, St Francis Xavier's, Dublin to Fr Thomas Ryan SJ, Chungking, China relating to news about Jesuit works, Irish Jesuits and their travels and work, recent deaths, schools and contemporaries of Fr Ryan.

Note from Irish Fr Provincial John R MacMahon SJ to Mr. Hollis, Burns, Oates and Washbourne Ltd., London ‘with reference to an Australian edition of Jesuits under Fire’.

Airgraph from Fr John B Moyersoen SJ, 32, Park street, Calcutta, India to Irish Fr Provincial John R MacMahon SJ, Dublin, replying to ‘Your airgraph of 27th ult.’. Mentions writing to Fr Marin and Fr Donnelly and ‘We often see Fr Naughton’.

Two letters written by Fr John Neary SJ to Irish Provincial John Fahy SJ relating to arrangements for his journey to Hong Kong.

Copy of circular sent by Irish Fr Provincial John Fahy SJ to Jesuit houses in Ireland announcing Fr General's decree for an Irish foreign mission to the Chinese province of Nan-King.

Panoramic postcard containing views of the harbour at Hong Kong. Annotations on reverse by Fr John Neary SJ pointing out significant features.

Article entitled ‘Missionary endeavour of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus from 1915 to 1940’ which gives a history of the mission in Hong Kong and China.

File of material relating to Fr Cyril J Barrett SJ. Includes passport photograph of Fr Barrett, announcement of his death and obituaries, and correspondence between Fr Barrett and Frs Thomas J. Martin and Vincent Murphy, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street Dublin (31 July 1957 - 11 April 1975).

Plans, elevations cross-sections and brochure of the proposed new building for Wah Yah College, Kowloon.

Annual accounts for the Hong Kong Mission. Includes accounts for the Wah Yah Colleges in Hong Kong and Kowloon, the Language School in Cheung Chau and Kingsmead Hall Singapore and the Revisor’s report.

A file of letters sent by the house consultors of St Ignatius House, Canton to Irish Fr Provincial.

Visitation memorials by the Superior of the Mission, Fr Thomas F. Ryan SJ for St Ignatius House, Canton.

A file of letters from Rev. John Moyersoen SJ, 32 Park Street, Calcutta to Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ concerning the Irish Jesuits who took up positions in the Indian mission following their temporary departure from Hong Kong during the war.

A file relating to Fr Francis Chan SJ and his qualifications and suitability to take a course in Education in Manresa College, Roehampton, London.

Extracts from a letter from Fr John O'Meara SJ, Canton to Superior (Fr Richard Harris SJ) concerning his work and life in Canton.

A file relating to correspondence of bequests made to Irish Fr Provincial regarding the Hong Kong and China missions.

• Perpetual burse in memory of Fr WM. Doyle SJ in the new seminary in Hong Kong (1936);
• Perpetual burse in memory of Fr Walsh SJ in Hong Kong (1936);
• Memorial burse in memory of Fr Fegan SJ in China (1936);
• List of burse money for the education of Chinese Jesuits (13 September 1940);
• Statement of accounts for quarter the Ricci Mission Unit (1 July - 30 September 1943).

Copy of a letter from Harold Craig SJ, Archbishop's House, Darjeeling, India to [ ] thanking him for sending a copy of the Irish Province News. Describes his journey from Hong Kong to India with Fr Thomas Ryan SJ, and off walks near San Dak Fu, views of Everest, and the porters (Sherpas).

Letter from Fr Thomas R Fitzgerald SJ, Sarahville, Corbally, Limerick to Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ concerning a document from the Canossian Sisters in Hong Kong that was sent to Rome in the diplomatic mail bag.

Christmas greetings from Fr Acácio Casimiro SJ R. de Lapa 111, Lisbon to Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ.

Article published in 'The Irish Monthly' by most Rev. Dr. Paul Yu Pin entitled 'Recall to Tradition in the Chinese Missions'.

Copy of a letter from Irish Fr Provincial John R MacMahon SJ, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin to Rev James E. Walsh MM, Bishop of [ ], Superior General, Catholic Foreign Mission, Society of America sympathising over the death of the Vicar General of Maryknoll.

Copy of picture from the Daily Mail newspaper depicting a view overlooking Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

Letter from Fr John F. Hurley SJ, Superior, The Philippine Mission of the Society of Jesus PO Box 272, Manila, Philippines to Fr Cooney SJ concerning praise for the Irish Jesuits and their hospitality.

Letter from M. Belhumeur SJ, Zi-Ka-Wei, Suchow Vicariate, French Mission to two fellow French Jesuit scholastics, Labonté SJ and Bouchard SJ concerning his impressions and memories of his ordination and first ministry. Includes a photograph of the church and residence at Suchow and a map of the Suchow Vicariate.

Letter from Mgr. Yu Pin, Catholic Mission, Yunnanfu, China to Fr John J Coyne SJ concerning his trip to Europe and the landing of the Japanese army near Canton.

Letter from Br Philip G Sullivan SJ, Borgo S. Spirito, Rome to Irish Fr Provincial Laurence Kieran SJ concerning Mgr. Gee Piu's visit to Rome and Ireland.

Plan of a building belonging to the Jesuit mission in Hong Kong.

Photograph depicting a view of Hong Kong harbour and Kowloon.

Photograph of a Chinese woman holding a baby.

Note relating to contacts for air and sea passages to Hong Kong.

A file of correspondence between Fr Eddie Bourke SJ, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong and Bishop Valtorta concerning the issuing of an order that the Irish Jesuit Fathers are to wear a soutane in public. Fr Bourke's letters urge the Bishop to reconsider. Outlines his reasons for this request (1946). Question already arose in 1935.

A file relating to the publication 'The Rock'. Includes financial details of the publication and letters relating to the political nature of some of the articles.

Newspaper cutting reporting on a lecture delivered by FrRobert Nash SJ in support of the Irish Jesuit mission to China.

Booklet published by the Irish Messenger entitled 'The Irish Jesuits in China'.

A file relating to an article by Fr Gerald Kennedy SJ on China. Includes the MS of the article (92pp) and censor's reports on the article - relates to Fr Kennesy's voyage to Hong Kong,and travelogue about Rotterdam, Germany, Colombo and Manila.

Pamphlet entitled 'The Irish Jesuits in China'.

Comment on a memorandum concerning 'Sheaf'.

A file relating to army chaplains. Includes letters and memoranda relating to the non-payment of their salaries to the Hong Kong mission. Includes extracts from letters by Fr Matthias Bodkin SJ, a naval chaplain concerning news of the Irish Jesuits in Hong Kong.

A file relating to assistance obtained by the Irish Province from the Irish Red Cross in sending telegrams and money to the Irish Jesuits in Shanghai.

A file of letters from Fr Patrick Grogan SJ to Irish Fr Provincial written from India where many of the Irish Jesuits went to from Hong Kong during the war. Describes the work he has been assigned to in India.

A file relating to a proposal by Dr Fehily of the Colonial Office that some Jesuits be incorporated in the Welfare Mission which he is leading to Hong Kong following the liberating army.

Letter from J. E. Walsh, Superior General, Maryknoll, New York to Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ, St Francis Xavier's Church, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin concerning notes sent from China intended for the Irish Province.

A file relating to the imprisonment of Frs Patrick Joy and Gerard Casey by the Japanese.

A file of letters from Fr Thomas F. Ryan SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the Hong Kong mission during the Second World War and his work in Hong Kong afterwards.

Typescript entitled 'Steer Neutral in Troubled Waters, Hong Kong 1941 - 1945' describing the experience of Irish Jesuits during the Japanese occupation by Fr Eddie Bourke SJ. Not related to Fr Thomas Ryan's 'Jesuits Under Fire'.

A file relating to Irish Jesuits working and living in China and Hong Kong during the rise in communism after the Second World War. Includes newspaper cuttings and descriptions by the Irish Jesuits of their experiences.

A file of letters from Fr Daniel J Finn SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning his voyage to China, the early years of the Chinese mission and his work in the mission. Includes a letter describing the difficulties he has encountered in learning Chinese (8 April 1927, 6pp). Includes a description of a visit to a mission in Shiuhing (9 May 1927, 14pp). Includes a letter discussing the staffing needs for the Hostel attached to Hong Kong University (17 May 1927, 8pp). Includes a letter describing the move to the Sacred Heart College Canton, China. Describes how they are settling in (9 September 1928, 8pp).

A file of letters from Fr Daniel Donnelly SJ to Irish Fr Provincial.

Article published in the 'Irish Monthly' entitled 'Christian Influence in Post-War China' by Bishop Paul Yu-Pin. Includes a review of Fr Thomas Ryan's book Jesuits Under Fire.

A file of letters from Christopher Hollis, Burns, Oates and Washbourne Ltd., 28 Ashley Place, London to Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin concerning Fr Thomas Ryan's book. Refers to a proposal to publish the book in Australia. Includes reviews of the book.

Memorandum of Agreement between Irish Fr Provincial John R. MacMahon SJ, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin and Burns, Oates and Washbourne concerning Fr Thomas Ryan SJ's book 'Jesuits Under Fire'.

A file of letters to Irish Fr Provincial from Irish Jesuits on their way to the Hong Kong mission describing their journey by air.

A file of telegrams and one letter from Fr Eddie Bourke SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the Hong Kong mission.

A file of letters from various individuals living and working in Hong Kong to Irish Fr Provincial concerning their work in the Hong Kong mission.

A file of letters from Fr Joseph J. McAsey SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the Hong Kong mission.

A file of telegrams from Fr Albert Cooney SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the Hong Kong mission.

Letters from John O'Meara, SJ, Regional Seminary, Aberdeen, Hong Kong to Irish Fr Provincial concerning his life and work in the Regional Seminary.

A file of letters from Fr Gerald L Kennedy SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning his work in Hong Kong. Includes a letter concerning his voyage home. Remarks 'Just a line to tell you that Frs Fitzgerald, Gallagher and myself are ploughing our way through the Gulf of Aden on our way home after 3½ years of hunger and deprivation…' Discusses the other Jesuits still in Hong Kong (24 October 1945, 2pp).

A file of letters from Fr Michael Saul SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning his journey to the Hong Kong mission.

A file of letters from Fr Joseph McCullough SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning his journey to Hong Kong and his work in China.

A file of letters from Fr Daniel MacDonald SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the Hong Kong mission, describing his work in villages around the West River (Shiuhing).

A file of letters from Fr Richard Gallagher SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning his journey to Hong Kong, learning Chinese, his work in the Chinese mission and in Wah Yan College.

A file of letters from Fr Patrick Joy SJ to Irish Fr Provincial concerning the Hong Kong mission.

A file relating to the Regional Seminary, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Includes documents relating to the establishment of the Regional Seminary, finances, annual report detailing the opening of the Seminary in 1931 (24 January 1933, 6pp). Includes letters relating to the Terna for the Rector of the Seminary (12 - 15 April 1937, 5 items and 30 June 1937 - 2 July 1937, 7 items).

Copy of the a preliminary report on the construction of new buildings at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong by Philip Will Jr.

A file of letters sent by the house consultors, Rector and Vice-Rector of Ricci Hall, Hong Kong to Irish Fr Provincial.