Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr John MacErlean SJ on various matters including:
– Fr MacErlean’s censure on a Society Appeal for Funds;
– the progress of his historical research, news from Rome and news about the Society in Australia;
– the establishment of the Society in Ireland including a ‘list of whatever documents exist to my knowledge regarding the establishment of the Society in Ireland…What exactly the establishment of the Society in Ireland means I do not know. It may be a question for a canonist to solve. The canonical succession of the New Society to the Old is disputed, and Rome has never decided the point’;
– the proposed purchase of a volume consisting of ‘the indexes of the first eleven volumes of the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum down to the 3rd volume of April’ and the binding which is ‘much older than the contents…the binding of a Missal that was presented to Father (Nicholas) Leynach in 1613 - 14 by Francis Bray, at a time when Fr Leynach was trying to establish a chapel or oratory of the Society in Clonmel’;
– the Irish College in Rome;
– lists of books the Province could present to ‘the library to be established for the use of the Coll(egium) Scriptorum and a ‘list of those members of our Province who might now or hereafter be fit to cooperate with the Collegium Scriptorum in the production of works’ and a
– ‘Brief Sketch of the Work of the Irish Jesuits from the foundation to the Suppression of the Society 1540 – 1773’ (11pp).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr Michael Pelly SJ written while serving as a chaplain with 11th York and Lancaster Regiment (218th Infantry Brigade); in Otley, West Yorkshire; The Military Hospital, York; with the British North Africa Force in North Africa; 1st Battalion, The Buffs, C.M.F. in Italy; in 93rd British General Hospital, C.M.F. and in the School of Infantry, Warminster, Wiltshire. Includes Fr Pelly’s first letter to the Provincial written from Bridlington (23 April 1942, 1p.) and letters describing the monastery of Cassino following the battle of Monte Cassino (30 May 1944, 2pp), being in Rome on the day it was taken by the Allies and his ‘semi-private audience with the Pope’ (30 June, 29 July 1944, 2 items).

Memoranda and letters to the Provincial on proposals to establish an amateur Irish Jesuit news agency to supply information to Radio Vaticana.

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial relating to pictures of St Ignatius Loyola in a book by Mary Purcell.

Two letters concerning the question of accepting a college at Oxley, Brisbane, Australia.

File of material related to the admission and taking of vows of Fr Patrick Simpson SJ to the Society of Jesus. Includes correspondence related to Fr Simpson’s studies in Rome.

A file relating to an article written by Fr Patrick Gannon SJ in the 'Irish Ecclesiastical Record' supporting a fellow Jesuit's interpretation of a passage in St. Mark. This article sparked a controversy as Fr Gannon's views were disagreed with by Cardinal MacRory (and other eminent scripture scholars). Includes a letter from Fr John R MacMahon SJ (Fr Provincial), St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin to Fr Byrne SJ concerning the controversy. Remarks 'In reply to a letter from Fr Gannon, I wrote to him to say that I could not allow him to pursue the discussion about St. Mark III, 20 - 21 any further…that I would not approve of his seeking an interview with the Cardinal; that he might write to the Cardinal, but that I would have to see a draft of the letter beforehand.' Remarks that he received a reply from Fr Gannon and includes a passage from the letter describing it thus 'He is taking a most extravagant view of the situation.' (15 April 1945, 1p). Includes a copy of a letter from Fr Provincial (Fr MacMahon SJ) concerning a letter Fr Gannon wishes to write to Cardinal MacRory regarding the difference of opinion between the two men. Remarks 'Let me assure you (and I wish I could convince you) that you are taking far too tragic a view of the whole business. If you could put it out of your mind for a month, you would, I am confident, take a more tranquil view of things.' (26 January 1945, 1p). It would appear from the file that Fr Gannon was not able to put the matter out of his mind and that it was only as a result of his death in 1953 that the matter was laid to rest. It would also appear that Fr Gannon's view was gaining some support amongst scripture scholars when he died.

Material relating to Fr Bernard P Collins SJ entry to the Society of Jesus, biographical information and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials.

Material relating to Fr Francis O'Farrell SJ. Includes notes, letters and postcards (mainly in German).

Documents relating to Fr Michael Fitzgerald SJ compiled by Fr Hugh Fenning, O.P. (Collegio S. Clemente, Via Labicana, Rome), for Fr Francis Finegan SJ. Includes letter from Fr Fenning to Fr Franics Finegan SJ (13 April 1966), 2pp) and enclosed ‘References to Michael Fitzgerald SJ in the archives of San Clemente, Rome’ (n.d., 3pp).

Letters, notes and telegrams to Fr John Conmee SJ from various individuals in Rome on the Cause of the Irish Martyrs.

Miscellaneous notes on the cause of the Irish Martyrs (none are in English and none of the martyrs mentioned were Jesuits). Includes letter from Rome (In French), 24 October 1888.

Mission material relating to Br Patrick Sherry SJ. Includes passport photographs, passports, personal record, announcement of death, and correspondence between Br Sherry and Frs Thomas J. Martin and Vincent Murphy, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin, Ireland.

File of mission material relating to Fr Gerald Lawlor SJ. Includes correspondence between Fr Lawlor and Fr Thomas Martin SJ, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

File of mission material relating to Fr Patrick O'Brien SJ. Includes passport photograph; announcement of death; obituaries; death certificate; personal record; Zambian stamps from 1980 - 81; newspaper cuttings from the trial of Laurence Sullivan, Lusaka, Zambia in which Fr O'Brien refused to be called as a witness (1952) and correspondence between Fr O'Brien and Frs. Thomas Martin, Vincent Murphy and Thomas O'Brien, Jesuit Missions, 20 Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Notes and letters by Fr John Ffrench SJ, including reports on 12 boys at St Stanisalus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly and what he has taught to them (18 October 1834), letters while acting as Substitute English Assistant to Fr General and English Assistant to Fr General, Rome to Fr O'Reilly SJ and Fr Browne SJ (21 December 1865 & 16 February 1867) and note on the wood used for Tullabeg. Includes letters from Fr George Lambert SJ, Fr General Peter Beckx SJ, Curia Generalizia Compagnia di Gesù, Rome, Italy on the death of Fr John Ffrench SJ (1873).

Obituary of Fr Daniel Joseph O'Connell SJ by the Vatican Observatory (4pp)and copy of a letter from Fr John P Leonard SJ, Rome, Italy to Fr Fergal McGrath SJ, 35 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin describing Fr O'Connell'a death (15 October 1982, 1p).

Obituary of Fr Edward O'Connor SJ by Fr Des O'Loghlen SJ taken from the 'Zambia - Malawi Province' newsletter, September - October 1993.

A file relating to permission granted by Fr General Wlodimir Ledóchowski SJ and the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Matthew Cullen, for the establishment of a Jesuit house at Emo, County Laois.

Photocopy of a letter from Fr Joseph Dunn SJ, Preston, England to Fr Gaetana Angiolini SJ, Gesu, Italy concerning the Restoration of the Society, and with references to Irish Jesuits in Palermo. In Italian; original document in the Bibliotheca Corsini, Rome (15 July 1815, 3pp) and translation of same made by Fr Fergal McGrath SJ (Irish Province Archivist until 1986) (5pp).

A file relating to various proposals over the years to extend and add to the existing buildings at Mungret College. Includes plans. Includes an extensive file relating to the building of the swimming pool (10 October 1963 - 17 February 1965, 60 items).

A file relating to the purchase of additional farm land adjoining Mungret. Includes a letter from Fr General Franz Wernz SJ, Rome to Fr James Tomkin SJ (Rector), Mungret College granting permission for a farm adjoining Mungret to be bought. Includes copies of documents relating to the possibility of purchasing Purcell's farm

Documents relating to a report on poverty in the Province sent to Rome in October 1926 in response to a letter sent in March 1926 by Fr General to the Irish Fr Provincial. Includes copy of Fr General’s letter, questionnaire and the responses which comprise the report.

A file containing miscellaneous notes, MSS material and articles by Fr Roland Burke Savage SJ relating to his research on Fr Peter Kenney SJ. Includes letters to Fr Burke Savage concerning this research (2 May 1977 - 10 June 1986, 12 items). The file was used by Fr Morrissey for his research on Fr Peter Kenney SJ.

File containing Robert Thompson's admissionpapers and correspondence with irish Fr provincials covering his time in Zambia, at Rathfarnham Castle and Tullabeg and his parish work at Clane, County Kildare and Moycullen, County Galway.

File relating to the sudden death of Fr John Hannon SJ, including letters of sympathy.

A telegram from Pope Pius XI to Fr Patrick Barrett SJ, Director of Retreats at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, blessing all those making a retreat at Rathfarnham. In Latin.

Typescript copies of correspondence concerning Mungret College following Fr William Ronan's return from his fund-raising tour of America, by Fr Thomas Morrissey SJ.