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Born: 16 March 1708, Wexford Town, County Wexford
Entered: 21 May 1737, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castelanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: - pre Entry
Died: 30 March 1777, Wexford Town, County Wexford

1741-1750 Teaching Philosophy and Rhetoric
1750 Went to Wexford - made PP of Wexford by Papal rescript 01 June 1756
Bishop Sweetman wrote of his visitation to Wexford 20 April 1758 “I visited and confirmed on which occasion Fr Devereux Keating gave a handsome exhortation on the Sacrament. Everything was done with diligence and edification”
In History of Diocese of Ferns is named as “Edward Devereux Keating”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1750 PP of Wexford by Papal Rescript
1777 Wrote the “Wexford Parish Register 01 June 1736-30 March 1777”
Professor of Rhetoric and Philosophy for nine years and then came to Wexford

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Already a priest and had studied Philosophy at Santiago and Theology at Salamanca when he Ent 21 June 1737 Villagarcía
After First Vows he taught Humanities for a year and then was sent to Royal College Salamanca to complete his Theology studies
1741-1742 Tertianship at Valladolid
1742-1747 Taught Humanities at Oviedo College
1747-1750 Taught Philosophy at Segovia
1750 Sent to Ireland and appointed to Wexford where he became PP by Papal rescript 01 May 1756. He was subsequently appointed Vicar General. On the suppression of the Society he was one of the signatories of the instrument accepting that brief, and he then became incardinated in the diocese of Ferns and died at Wexford 30 March 1777

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Edward Keating SJ 1708-1777
Edward Keating was born in Leinster on October 13th 1708. He entered the Society in Castille on May 31st 1737.
Having taught Humanities for 6 years and Philosophy for 3, he returned to Ireland in 1750. Wexford was the scene of his labours.
He was one of those Jesuits left in Ireland after the Suppression, and was one of the Trustees of the Mission Funds.
His death took place on March 30th 1777.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
KEATING, EDWARD, was born in Leinster on the 13th of October, 1703, entered the Order in the Province of Castille, on the 2lst of May, 1737. After finishing his studies he was employed to teach Humanities for six years and Philosophy for three years This Professed Father came to the Mission in 1750, and cultivated strenuously and usefully the vineyard at Wexford, where 1 lose sight of him in 1755.

◆ Fr Joseph McDonnell SJ Past and Present Notes :
16th February 1811 At the advance ages of 73, Father Betagh, PP of the St Michael Rosemary Lane Parish Dublin, Vicar General of the Dublin Archdiocese died. His death was looked upon as almost a national calamity. Shops and businesses were closed on the day of his funeral. His name and qualities were on the lips of everyone. He was an ex-Jesuit, the link between the Old and New Society in Ireland.

Among his many works was the foundation of two schools for boys : one a Classical school in Sall’s Court, the other a Night School in Skinner’s Row. One pupil received particular care - Peter Kenney - as he believed there might be great things to come from him in the future. “I have not long to be with you, but never fear, I’m rearing up a cock that will crow louder and sweeter for you than I ever did” he told his parishioners. Peter Kenney was to be “founder” of the restored Society in Ireland.

There were seventeen Jesuits in Ireland at the Suppression : John Ward, Clement Kelly, Edward Keating, John St Leger, Nicholas Barron, John Austin, Peter Berrill, James Moroney, Michael Cawood, Michael Fitzgerald, John Fullam, Paul Power, John Barron, Joseph O’Halloran, James Mulcaile, Richard O’Callaghan and Thomas Betagh. These men believed in the future restoration, and they husbanded their resources and succeeded in handing down to their successors a considerable sum of money, which had been saved by them.

Born: 25 March 1843, Enniscorthy, County Wexford
Entered: 26 July 1860, Frederick, MD, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)
Ordained: 1873
Final Vows: 15 August 1882, St Thomas, MD, USA
Died: 29 March 1895, St Francis Hospital, Jersey City NJ, USA

Part of the St Peter’s College, Jersey City, NJ, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB) at the time of death

Born: 30 April 1881, Woodford, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1899, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 26 July 1914, Milltown Park, Dublin
Professed: 08 December 1954
Died: 03 February 1958, Georgetown, British Guyana - Angliae Province (ANG)

Transcribed HIB to ANG : 1901

Older brother of Gerald Keary Ent and LEFT 1901

Mother died in 1884, and his father, a farmer and shopkeeper died in 1890.
He was one of six boys (2 deceased) and nine girls (2 deceased). One sister is a nun.

Educated at Woodford NS, and then Coláiste Iognáid, Galway

First World War chaplain

by 1916 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Note from John Fitzgibbon Entry :
Some dramatic details concerning Father Fitzgibbon’s death are given in a letter from Father Keary CF, a brother Jesuit, who writes : ‘Father Fitzgibbon had blessed a grave and read the Burial Service over one of our boys about 2pm on Wednesday last, and was talking to a German Catholic prisoner of war in the cemetery, when a shell landed in our midst and the Father fell forward. One of our boys rushed to his help, but had only raised him to his knees when another shell burst in on them, fording him to drop his burden and fall on his face to avoid being killed himself. A few minutes later Father Fitzgibbon’s dead body was removed, and was buried the next day’.

Born: 23 August 1923, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1942, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois

Left Society of Jesus: 01 April 1943

Father was a shopkeeper and family lived at Aughrim, County Galway.

Younger of two boys with two sisters.

Early education was for two years at a National School in Aughrim and then at St Joseph’s College Ballinasloe (Garbally).

Director of Irish School of Ecumenics 1999-2005

Born: 27 June 1912, Harbour View, Cobh, County Cork
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 13 May 1942, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Died: 28 October 1986, Jervis St Hospital Dublin

Part of St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin, and living at Our Lady of Consolation, Donnycarney, Dublin at time of his death.

Father was a British Naval Officer and died in 1916. Mother is supported by a Government pension.

Youngest of four boys with one sister.

Educated firstly at Convent and National schools, he went to PBC Cork for one year and then to Mungret College SJ for three and a half years.

Chaplain in the Second World War

by 1970 at Kitwe, Zambia - working in Educational TV

Born: 17 June 1910, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 12 March 1932, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois

Left Society of Jesus: 04 January 1940

1932-1934: St Mary's, Emo, Novitiate
1934-1940: St Mary's, Emo, working

Possibly was working in Dublin and with the Little sisters of the Poor in Roebuck for a while. Reported to have died. (1973)

Born: 27 January 1601, Cashel, County Tipperary
Entered: 26 January 1621, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: c 1627, Salamanca, Spain
Professed: 1634
Died: 13 June 1648, Irish College, Santiago de Compostella, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

??Studied Literature, Humanities Philosophy and Theology??
1619 Teaching Grammar at León College, Spain
1625 Teaching at Valladolid College
1639 Rector at Compostella
1645 Rector at Compostella

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was Rector of Santiago, of brilliant talents and solid piety.
Rector and preserver of Irish College Salamanca.
Held in the highest of esteem by the Bishops of Spain for extraordinary learning and piety
(cf Irish Ecclesiastical Record sketches of him by Dr McDonald and Hogan)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Philip and Helen née Sall. Nephew of Barnaby O’Kearney.
He had completed two years Philosophy at the Irish College Salamanca before Ent 26 January 1621 Villagarcía
After First Vows (Noviceship was both at Villagarcía and León) he resumed studies at the Royal College Salamanca where he was Ordained c 1627
1628-1631 Operarius at Valladolid
1631-1646 Rector of Santiago. About this time Robert Nugent tried to have him applied to the Irish Mission but he was kept as Rector at Santiago until 1646
1646 Sent to the Jesuit College at Compostella as Spiritual Father where he died 09/06/1648
Notable amongst contemporary tributes to his memory is the letter of Peter Redan : “For all his intellectual gifts, he abitiononed purely spiritual work such as Preaching and other opportunities of an Operarius”.
He was a noted missioner also and throughout his long association with Compostella was one of the Bishop's examiners for candidates for Holy Orders

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Carney (Kearney, O'Carney), James
by Patrick M. Geoghegan

Carney (Kearney, O'Carney), James (d. 1648), Jesuit priest and rector, was born in Cashel, Co. Tipperary. As a youth in Cashel, he studied classics before being sent to Spain, because of legal restrictions, to complete his education. He read philosophy at the Irish college of Santiago de Compostella, in Galicia, before studying theology at Salamanca. He is mentioned in some accounts as a priest at the college of Salamanca in the early 1610s. He left Salamanca in 1612 to assist Theobald Stapleton (qv) with the formation of an Irish college at Seville, of which Carney and Maurice Regan became the first superiors. The Jesuit order took over the college in 1619, and it later became attached to the college at Salamanca. Carney followed this example and joined the Jesuits himself in 1620. Possessing extreme modesty throughout his life, Carney insisted that he wanted to join the Jesuits to allow more intelligent and talented men to concentrate on important duties, leaving the menial work to him. Nevertheless he was considered the most outstanding student of his generation, and when called upon to defend his theological theses he impressed the doctors of the University of Salamanca with his intelligence, his arguing ability (especially the fact that he never lost his temper), and most of all his modesty. He was extremely talented and pious; his fellow students respected his holiness, noting that he never disobeyed a rule of the order. He professed his four vows in 1634.

As his fame spread throughout Spain, he won the respect of the bishops of Spain with his learning and piety. Appointed president and rector of the Irish college at Santiago, alongside Fr Richard Conway (qv), he was credited with maintaining its existence, and enhancing its reputation, through his extensive work in raising money and by his prayers. His reputation ensured a steady stream of pilgrims from all classes, and he was always willing to give his blessing. He would also engage, in any spare time, on religious missions throughout Spain. He engaged in long fasts and passages of penance, including self-mortification, and sometimes would pray throughout the night. His superiors in the order were regularly forced to intervene for the sake of his health and urge moderation. During an illness in 1643 he made a number of prophecies, one (apparently correctly) predicting the time and nature of his death; because of this he was credited with the gift of prophetic sight. He died 10 June 1648 at Santiago. There were scenes of mass grief at his funeral, which was attended by the dignitaries of the town, and large crowds paid their respects outside.

William MacDonald, ‘Irish colleges since the reformation’, IER, viii (1872), 469; ix (1873), 208–9, 212; x (1874), 174–7; Edmund Hogan, ‘Irish colleges since the reformation’, IER, ix (1873), 1–5; id., ‘Chronological catalogue of the Irish province of the Society of Jesus’, Henry Foley, Records of the English province of the Society of Jesus, vii (1893), 29; id., Distinguished Irishmen of the 16th century (1894), 63; J. Walsh, The Irish continental college movement (1973)

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father James Carney 1598-1648
Fr James Carney was born in Cashel in 1598 of very respectable and pious parents. Having received a solid classical education in his native town, he then went to Compostella for philosophy, and then to Salamanca for Theology. During this time of 1620/1 he entered the Society.

With the exception of two years as Spiritual Father at Compostella, his whole life was spent governing the irish College of Salamanca.

He wrote the preface to Fr Reddan’s Commentary on the Maccabees, and also the epigram “Rupes et Nardus”, found in the same Commentary.

He died on July 26th 1648.

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
CARNEY, JAMES, Father (Irish), a native of Cashel ; entered the Society 1621. In 1634 he was in the Province of Castile. Once Rector of the Irish College, Seville. He died Rector of the Irish College, St. James', Compostello, in 1648. (See Irisk Ecclesiastical Record, October, 1872 ; February, 1873 ; January, 1874, p. 174; and April, 1874. p. 297. A man of extraordinary sanctity and learning, whose memory survived him long after his death.

◆ Menology of the Society of Jesus: The English Speaking Assistancy

June 11

Father James Carney was born in Cashel, in the year 1 598, and entered the .Society in Spain, in 1621. He made his Profession in 1634, when in the Province of Castile, and was afterwards appointed Rector of the Irish College in Seville. Subsequently he became Rector of the Irish College, St. James', Compostella, and when in a similar position at Salamanca he rendered great service to the College there. He died at Compostella, on the loth of fune, 1648. Father Carney was held in the highest esteem by the Bishops of Spain on account of his extraordinary sanctity and learning. His memory survived him long after his death.

Born: 15 August 1896, USA
Entered 15 July 1914, Ent St Mary's Emo (HIB for Campaniae Province - CAMP)
Ordained: 26 August 1928
Professed: 02 February 1931
Died: 22 June 1967, San Francisco CA, USA - Extremo Orientalis Province (ExOr)

by 1954 came to Singapore (HIB) working - 1st group in Singapore with Patrick Joy 1953-1960

Born: 05 September 1935, Cabra Road, Cabra, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1953, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 10 July 1968, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1981, Boston College High School, MA, USA
Died: 24 February 2014, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Brendan Mary Kearney

Two sisters.

Early education was at various primary schools and then at Belvedere College for four years. He then went to Castleknock College

by 1981 at Boston College High, MA, USA (NEN) Sabbatical
by 1994 at Granada Hills, Los Angeles CA, USA (CAL) working
by 2003 at Redondo Beach CA. USA (CAL) working

Born: 29 September 1567, Cashel, County Tipperary
Entered: 17 October 1589, Tournai, Belgium - Belgicae Province (BELG)
Ordained: 14 February 1598, Louvain, Belgium
Final Vows: 02 August 1605
Died: 19 August 1640, Cashel, County Tipperary

Alias Bryan O'Carney

Son of Pat Kearney and Elizabeth Connor
Master of Arts and studied Philosophy for 6 years - studying at Douai (1588) - D Phil (1589)
1593 at Antwerp teaching Humanities and Poetry
1597 2 years Theology at Louvain
Taught Rhetoric at Lille for 2 years
1599 At Bourges teaching Greek?
1617 In Ireland
1621 Superior of Jesuits in East Munster.
“chiolericus, has judgements and prudence and a good preacher”.
Uncle of Walter Wale - RIP 1646; James O’Kearney - RIP 1648

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
Son of Patrick O’Carney and Elizabeth née Coney. Brother of the Archbishop. Uncle of Walter Wale.
Ent 17 October 1589 Tournai; RIP 20 August 1640 Cashel
Studied in Ireland and then four years Philosophy, graduating MA and D Phil at Douai
Admitted by FLA Provincial Oliver Manraeus 17 October 1589, and Noviceship at Tournai
1591 October 2 Sent to St Omer for studies in Humanities
Regency teaching Greek and Rhetoric at Antwerp and Lille;
1603 Arrived with nephew Walter Wale in Ireland
Both he and his nephew were tried and condemned to death
Writer; a fervid Preacher; gave Missions throughout Ireland
He went in disguise for many years and had many hairbreadth escapes (Foley’s Collectanea)
He is also mentioned in the Report of the Irish Mission SJ made to Fr General Nickell (1641-1650) which are preserved in the English College Rome, and a copy at RHC London.
(cf Hibernia Ignatiana" for letters of Fr Kearney recounting his work in Ireland; Oliver’s “Collectanea”, from Stonyhurst MSS; de Backer’s “Biblioth. des Écrivains SJ” for published sermons)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Patrick and Elizabeth née Convey
Studied in Ireland and under the Jesuits at Douai and graduated MA before, and Later DD Ent 05 October 1589 Tournai
1591-1595 After First Vows he taught Humanities successively at St. Omer, Antwerp and Lille.
1595-1598 He then studied Theology at Louvain and was Ordained there in 1598.
1698-1601 He had requested to be allowed go to the Irish Mission, and while waiting for permission taught at Bruges and Douai
1601-1602 Made Tertianship at Tournai
1603 Late Spring accompanied by his nephew Walter Wale (both sent an account of their journey to the General once arrived) he set out for Ireland where he was sent to Cashel and Kilkenny but his last years were passed in Cashel, where he died 20/08/1640. In the early days of his ministry he was seen in many parts of Munster and also was able with his nephew Walter to reconcile the Earl of Ormonde with the Catholic Church. He died at Cashel 20 August 1640.
He was for many years a Consultor of the Mission.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Kearney, Barnabas (Ó Cearnaigh, Brian)
by David Murphy

Kearney, Barnabas (Ó Cearnaigh, Brian) (1567–1640), Jesuit priest and writer, was born 29 September 1567 at Cashel, Co. Tipperary, son of Patrick Kearney and Elizabeth Kearney (née Convey). His elder brother was David Kearney (qv), a secular priest who served as archbishop of Cashel (1603–24). Educated locally, Barnabas left Ireland for the Spanish Netherlands and studied philosophy at the Jesuit college in Douai, where he graduated MA (1588), later obtaining a doctorate in philosophy. He entered the Society of Jesus at Tournai on 5 October 1589 and, after his noviciate, taught humanities at Saint-Omer, Antwerp, and Lille (1591–5). Completing his studies at Louvain, he was ordained priest (1596) and then taught at Bruges and Douai. He completed his tertianship at Tournai in 1601–2.

In 1603 he travelled to Ireland with his nephew, Walter Wale, SJ, and for the next thirty years he played a prominent part in the work of the Irish Jesuit mission. Based in Cashel, he enjoyed the assistance of his brother David and, with Walter Wale, worked as one of the pioneers of the counter-reformation in Ireland. Discouraging locals from attending protestant services, in 1605 he avoided being captured by English soldiers when a party of men from the town assisted his escape. A powerful preacher and fluent in Irish, he worked mostly in Munster but also travelled to areas of Leinster, where he worked giving basic religious instruction and also trying to raise the level of the diocesan clergy. In 1610 he was appointed as consultor of the mission and, with Wale, was reputed to have brought Thomas Butler (qv), 10th earl of Ormond, into the catholic faith.

He published collections of his sermons, having manuscripts smuggled abroad to printers on the Continent. His first collection of sermons, Heliotropium, sive conciones tum des festis quam de Dominicis quae in solani totius anni circulo occurrunt, was published in Lyons (1622). In 1623 he sent over a second collection of sermons, ‘Tragici discourses de Passione Domini’, but the Jesuit censors refused to approve it for publication. The manuscript no longer exists and the reason for the censors’ decision remains unclear. Another collection of his sermons was, however, later approved by the censors and published as Heliotropium, sive conciones de mysteris redemptionis humanae quae in Dominica Passione continentur (Paris, 1633). This was dedicated to Archbishop Thomas Walsh (qv), who succeeded Kearney's brother at Cashel. Among the earliest collections of counter-reformation sermons, both of Kearney's publications are now extremely rare, only two copies of his 1622 Heliotropium surviving in Irish libraries (one in TCD, another in the Milltown Institute Library).

In 1629 he was appointed superior of the Cashel ‘residence’ (the territory of the local Jesuit community). His brother had left a small house to the Society and he later supervised the establishment of a small Jesuit community in Cashel. He died 20 August 1640 in Cashel. A collection of his letters is held in the Irish Jesuit Archives, Dublin.

‘Irish ecclesiastical colleges since the reformation: Salamanca, III’, IER, x (Aug. 1874), 527; E. Hogan, SJ, Ibernia Ignatiana (1880); B. Millett, ‘Irish literature in Latin’, NHI, iii, 579; Francis Finnegan, SJ, ‘A biographical dictionary of the Irish Jesuits in the time of the Society's third Irish mission, 1598–1773’, 142–3 (MS volume in Jesuit archives, Dublin); Charles E. O'Neill, SJ, and Joaquín M. Domínguez, SJ (ed.), Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús: biográfico-temático (Madrid, 2001), iii, 2182; information from Fr Fergus O'Donoghue, SJ, Jesuit archives, Dublin

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Barnaby O’Kearney 1565-1640
One of our greatest Missioners during the Penal Days was Fr Barnaby O’Kearney. Born in Cashel in 1565, where his brother David was afterwards Archbishop, Barnaby entered the novitiate in 1589, and was a brilliant classical scholar, teaching in Antwerp and Lille.

He came back to Ireland with his nephew Walter Wale SJ in 1603, and there he laboured for 37 years. He worked most of hism time in Munster, based in Cashel. On one mission he terrified 5 men who were leading wicked lives, by his description of hell, so that they mended their ways. In another sermon he converted a Viscount and his three brothers. The restitution he caused to be made for sins of injustices in Munster amounted to thousands.

Naturally he incurred the fierce hatred of the priest-hunters. The story of his escape from almost certain capture read like episodes of life in the Wild West. So great was the improvement in public morality as a result of his work, that the judges of the Assizes declared in open court, that Barnaby O’Kearney and Walter Wale did more to prevent robbery than all the enactments and terrors of the law.

It is truly remarkable that this man, in spite of the hazards and perils of his life, lived to celebrate his jubilee in the Society, and also had time in thew midst of his labours to publish his sermons, one volume of Homilies for Sundays and Feasts and another volume on the Passion of the Lord.

He died an old man of 75 years on August 20th 1640.

◆ The English Jesuits 1550-1650 Thomas M McCoog SJ : Catholic Record Society 1994
With his Jesuit companion Walter Wale, Kearney stayed in London with Henry Garnet during the Winter and Spring of 1602/1603 (AASI 46/23/8 pp 399-400

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
KEARNEY, BARNABY, was born at Cashell in 1565, and was brother to David, Archbishop of Cashell. He was admitted into the Society at Douay in the 24th year of his age. After teaching Rhetoric and the Greek Language at Antwerp and Lisle, he was ordered to the Irish Mission, where he arrived with his nephew, F. Walter Wale, in the summer of 1603. Both vied with each other in giving themselves up to the ministry of the Word : and both were marked out for the vengeance of the government. A troop of horse was sent by the Viceroy to Cork to apprehend them at the dawn of the 5th of September, 1606 : but God delivered his servants from their malice. F. Kearney in a letter dated the 4th of October, that year, after mentioning this escape, writes that he followed his Excellency’s footsteps to Waterford, and entered that City unsuspected with the immense concourse of the spectators, and was an ear and eye witness to his triumphant reception. His Excellency on arriving at the Court House, summoned before him eleven of the most respectable inhabitants of Waterford, viz. Paul Sherlock, who had been elected Mayor for the ensuing year, Nicholas Marian, Michael Brown, Nicholas White, James Fagan,* Nicholas Strong, James Sherlock, Richard Wadding, James Walsh, Patrick White, Richard Boucher; six neglected to make their appearance, and were heavily fined, and ordered to present themselves at Cork. The five who attended, with great spirit professed that they would never swerve an iota from the Roman Catholic Religion which they had inherited from their Fathers; but should ever manifest loyal allegiance to their Sovereign, and obedience to his representatives in all civil and political matters. His Excellency marked his indignation at this bold expression of sentiment imposed a heavy fine, and gave them in charge to his Secretary, until they should alter their opinions. Finding them immovably firm in their faith, he caused them to appear before the Lord Chief Justice, who endeavoured to gain them over by promises of place and emolument, and assured them that the Government would be satisfied, if they would but once attend the Protestant service. But these heroes well knowing that dissimulation in Religion was inadmissible, refused their consent, telling him, that they had given, and ever would give undeniable proofs of their civil allegiance; that it could never benefit the king’s interests for them to act against the dictates of conscience; and that they could not believe that the King wished them to make such a sacrifice of principle. The Sheriffs JAMES WAISH and JAMES BREWER “vere duae olivae in Domo Dei”, were then attacked; but with no better success. One hundred and sixty citizens were then selected as likely persons to be prevailed on to surrender conscience to the motives of fear and interest; but God who chooses the weak things of the world to confound the strong, supplied them with courage to resist every assault, and not one, God be praised, of the whole number, nor even in the whole population of Waterford, comprising many thousands of inhabitants, would degrade himself by an act of hypocrisy and apostasy. In revenge, tyrannical iniquity, calling itself justice, and the gospel of the Redeemer, inflicted pecuniary penalties. The base attempt of the Chief Justice to rob the inhabitants of Ross of their conscientious integrity proved equally abortive. “The Viceroy in his progress towards Carrick was informed that Nicholas Madan harboured in his castle of Whitfeld, three miles from Waterford, a learned English Priest, Thomas Hill, an Alumnus of the English College at Rome. Under some specious pretext, his Excellency proceeded in that direction with a troop of horse, and sent a detachment to search every corner of the Castle; but they found nothing, and Mr. Hill, thanks be to God, is still safe in Ireland”. The letter is dated from his hiding place, where his brother, the Archbishop of Cashell lay also concealed “e nostro latibulo, ubi frater modo est”, 4 Octobri, 1606.
F. Kearney continued during the long period of 37 years and in very difficult times the diligent and faithful Steward of the mysteries of God. The friend of peace, the promoter of habits of honest industry and sobriety, this true patriot, deserved to hear that his efforts to advance the public good, and prevent the disturbance of the public tranquillity, were duly appreciated by the constituted authorities. Even judges of assizes were known to declare in open court, that the two Jesuits, Barnaby Kearney and Walter Wale, did more to prevent robbery, than all the terrors of the law, than all the framers of coercive restrictions. I find by a letter of F. Robert Nugent, dated (ex Hybernia 1 Octobris, 1640) the following account of his death :
“F. Barnaby Kearney, an old man of 75 well spent years, quitted on the 20th day of August the labors of this life, as we hope, for everlasting rest, fortified with all the Sacraments of the Church. He had spent 51 years in the Society, and 37 in the Mission, was professed of the Four Vows, and was always zealous in preaching, (some of his sermons are in print) : in various places he taught the people with Evangelic fervour and abundant fruit!”
The sermons alluded to in this paragraph are in Latin for the Sundays and feasts in the whole year. The Title of the book is “Heliotropion”, in 8vo. printed at Lyons in 1622. A second volume of his sermons, on the Passion of Christ, was published in an octavo form at Paris, in 1633. He left in MS. an account of the death of the Earl of Ormond. This nobleman, I take it, was Thomas Butler, called “The Black Earl”, in whose conversion before his death, in 1614, F. Kearney was greatly instrumental.

• The Fagans were generous supporters of religion. F. Fitzsimon, in a letter dated 25th of November, 1599, mentions, “Dominus Thomas Fagan, insignis Benefactor noster”. as entitled to the special prayers and gratitude of the Society.

Born: 22 December 1948, Glenard Road, Salthill, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 07 September, 1966, St Mary’s Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 23 June 1978, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Final Vows: 22 August 1988, Kitwe, Zambia
Died: 20 July 2021, St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia - Southern Africa Province (SAP)

Transcribed : HIB to ZAM 22 August 1988

1966-1968 St Mary’s, Emo
1968-1971 Rathfarnham Castle - studying
1971-1973 Milltown Park - studying Philosophy
1973-1975 Canisius College, Chikuni, Zabia - Regency, studying language
1975-1977 Milltown Park - studying Theology
1977-1978 Tabor House - studying Theology at Milltown
1978-1979 Missionary Institute, The Ridgeway, London, England - studying Theology
1979-1980 St Kizito Pastoral Centre, Monze, Zambia
1980-1982 Catholic Church, Namwala, Zambia - Parish Priest
1982-1983 Galway - Chaplain at Coláiste Iognáid
1983-198 Jesuit Residence, Kitwe, Zambia - teaching
1986-1987 Joint HIB/BRI Tertianship - Tullabeg and St Beuno’s
1987-1993 Jesuit Residence, Kitwe, Zambia - teaching
1993-199 St Ignatius, Lusaka, Zambia

https://jesuitssouthern.africa/2021/07/20/fr-joseph-keaney-sj-rip/
RIP
Fr Joseph Keaney SJ
22 December 1948 – 20 July 2021

The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) mourns the loss of Fr Joseph Keaney SJ.

After a long battle with serious illness he passed away peacefully this afternoon, Tuesday 20 July 2021, at St Ignatius Jesuit Community in Lusaka. Fr Keaney will be remembered for his pastoral care and missionary zeal. He was a friend to many and will be fondly remembered.

We commend Fr Keaney to the Lord, knowing that he is now at peace and has no more pain.

https://ordo.jesuitssouthern.africa/obit/07-20-2021%20%E2%80%93%20Joseph%20Keaney.pdf

Fr Joseph Keaney, S.J.
(1948-2021. In Zambia 1973-2021)
20 July 2021

Fr Keaney was born to Gerry and Ena (nee Conway) Keaney on 22 December 1948 in Ballyhaunis, in the West of Ireland. He went to the Jesuit St Ignatius College in Galway for his secondary education and immediately afterwards, entered the novitiate in 1966, with his school mate Martin Curry. He was always close to his family, especially his siblings Mary, Chris, Gerry and Hilary who later would visit him on occasion while he was at St Ignatius.

He followed the usual program of training, completing a degree in English and Mathematics at
the University College Dublin, followed by philosophy in Milltown Park. He was missioned to Zambia and taught at Canisius Secondary School from 1973 to 1975, while also learning chiTonga. After his theology in Milltown Park he was ordained in 1978. He did a year’s course on Missiology at the Mill Hill Institute in London before returning to Zambia in 1979.

His first assignment was in pastoral work in Tonga land - Namwala, Monze diocese from 1979- 1981. He developed a kidney condition and returned to Ireland for treatment. He recuperated in his old school of St Ignatius in Galway. He was advised to avoid the rough roads of rural areas and so was assigned to pastoral work in Kitwe (1983-1993). In 1987 he was appointed parish priest of the new parish of Our Lady of Africa and worked energetically to erect the new church. He was very sociable and outgoing and loved to go to all the celebrations in his parish. He himself afterwards freely admitted that he was a friend of Mr Moshi and Johnny Walker. During his stint in Kitwe, he went for his final year of training – tertianship - in the Irish/English program. It was a time of great growth where he began to come to grips with his shadow side and started to cope more positively with his recurring bouts of depression.

When he came to St Ignatius in 1993, he was, in many ways, rejuvenated and more interested in helping others to cope with their problem. Within a few years the parish became more vibrant with greater lay participation and with plenty of opportunities for the youth to pay their part. In Kitwe he felt himself more on the outside of things with the need to construct a new church and losing himself in activity. When he came to St Ignatius, he shifted his energies to helping others to grow through their own experience of life. He spent long hours listening to personal problems and getting to know his parishioners from the inside. During his funeral, which was on-line due to Covid restrictions, many dozens of posts were sent in by the parishioners, thanking God for the priest who listened to them, who was in touch with their problems and who knew a great number of them by name. His liturgies were always lively and full of the joy of the Good News. He often proclaimed the Gospel reading reciting it by heart to make it more personal. In distributing Holy Communion he would use individual names. He was parish priest from 1983 to 2015 during which time he was also the superior of the Jesuit community at St Ignatius (2004-2009). After a sabbatical in Ireland and the States in 2015, he returned as an assistant (2015) but was also acting parish priest from 2016 to 2018. In 2018 he went to Ireland for medical treatment as he developed a serious bone condition ostereoporosis). Gradually his mobility was restricted and he began to experience a lot of pain in the simplest bodily movements. He returned to St Ignatius using a battery driven wheelchair which enabled him to move freely on the lower floor from his office to his bedroom to the dining room. He became more confined to bed in his last couple of years. He could still continue to help others and people were deeply impressed how he could live with so much pain and discomfort with such patience. Purified by his patience on his bed of pain, he became a pure offering to the Lord who called him to Himself on 20 July 2021.

Born: 27 June 1885, Nhill, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 23 February 1901, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB) / St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg
Ordained: 16 May 1918, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 15 August 1921, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Died: 13 August 1960, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, Sydney - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, Australia community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Father was a Police Sergeant and property owner.

One younger brother and three sisters (one deceased)

Educated at Xavier College, Kew

2nd year Novitiate at St Stinislaus College, Tullabeg

Uncle of Daniel McLoghlin (ASL) - RIP 1986

by 1909 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1912 in Australia - Regency
by 1920 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
Bill Keane was educated at Xavier College, Kew, 1896-1900, being dux in 1900 at the age of fifteen. He was very gifted, quick and alert. He entered the Jesuits, 23 February 1901, and was a novice under Aloysius Sturzo at Greenwich, Sydney. He went to Tullabeg, Ireland, for his second year noviceship and juniorate, graduating from University College Dublin in 1908 with a first class degree in mathematics. Later he gained a MA.
Then he proceeded to Stonyhurst, England, for philosophy, and returned to Xavier College, Kew, for regency from 1910-15. Theology studies, 1915-19, were at Milltown Park, Dublin, and his tertianship at Tronchiennes, Belgium.
During his studies he completed a well respected thesis on Pragmatism. He also drew attention to the importance of Milton's Latin correspondence, and while at Riverview made a notable defence of truth in the presentation of modern European history against the age-old errors that had been fed to school children and university students in the protestant world.
He returned to Xavier College, 1920-25, being prefect of studies in 1922. At this time he proved himself an outstanding teacher of Latin, history, English, mathematics and science, but it was in mathematics that he really excelled. He had the gift of making the most abstract problems appear simple and easy to solve.
He took a great interest in all forms of sport, and could discourse freely on cricket, football and rowing. In cricket, however, he was probably at his best. He loved umpiring matches and must have spent hours on the main oval at Xavier. He had an unusual collection of cricket problems that he propounded to the boys and the community with the greatest delight. He had a wonderful memory and could relate the achievements of famous batsmen and bowlers in Australia and in England.
He was editor of the Xavierian, in which he published a series of articles entitled “Twenty Years of Public Schools Sport”. He had a great knowledge of Old Xaverians and stories connected with them.
He taught at Riverview and St Aloysius' College, Sydney, 1926-35, and lectured in philosophy at St John's College, University of Sydney, 1930-33. He professed philosophy at Loyola College, Watsonia, 1936-38 before the philosophate moved to Canisius College, Pymble, in 1939.
Then Keane was appointed rector of Canisius, and teacher of logic and ontology. When theology began in 1940, he taught fundamental theology, dogma, church history and oriental
questions at various times. He returned to teaching mathematics at Riverview in 1954, but, after stroke later that year, was confined to hospital, where he died six years later. For the last two years he was speechless.
While in Sydney, Keane was much sought after by bishops, priests and religious The apostolic delegate asked him to undertake the delicate work of amalgamating the Mercy sisters. He was also asked to prepare papers on Catholic Action, and he was heavily involved in the public debate on the “New Education” of which he did not approve He was a traditionalist in thought and action, and believed that the past provided the best theory and guidelines for action in education, theology and social thought.
He was well versed in the Jesuit theory of education, especially as outlined in the “Ratio Studiorum”, and was instrumental in calling and organising the first Jesuit secondary education conference in the province in 1933.
He also took an interest in the Sisters of St Joseph. At the request of the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney he collected and set in order the official documents concerning their foundress, Mother Mary MacKillop. These were forwarded to Rome with a view to her beatification.
Keane was a very gifted man at the classics, science, mathematics, philosophy, theology, preaching and retreat giving. As a teacher he had the ability to make even the arid scholasticism of the textbooks a gripping and humane experience. His supreme gift was his appreciation of the wider context of any system of education, and his unfailing encouragement of those with the adventurous spirit to explore for themselves. He was an interesting and well-informed speaker who possessed a ready and quick mind, and a fine power of expression. Notwithstanding this gift, he still prepared his sermons and lectures with very great care and labor.
However, he was not noted for his prudence or administrative gifts. He could be very petty in administering religious order in the theologate. Perhaps his greatest gift was teaching boys - he was very clear, methodical, and a meticulously accurate teacher of mathematics. An outstanding trait of his character was the lively interest he took in everyone he met, and in their work.
Those who lived with him found him a lively companion and the focus of many community stories. His last long illness, and his inability to speak, was a great cross to him, yet was borne courageously In his death, the Australian province lost one of its most brilliant members, and one of its more colourful personalities.

Note from Dermot Hogan Entry
His main work was teaching moral theology and canon law at Canisius College, Pymble, becoming rector in 1942. His presence there was strength during a blustery time under the rectorship of the brilliant William Keane.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 36th Year No 1 1961
Obituary :
Fr William Keane (1885-1960)
Fr. William Keane was born in Australia on 27th June, 1885. We read that in 1896 he came from Hawthorn to Xavier College, Melbourne, that he was a gifted student, quick and alert and that he won many prizes and distinctions, ending his time at Xavier by being Dux of the College.
On 23rd February, 1901 he entered the Irish Province of the Society at Loyola, Greenwich, Sydney, as the Australian Province was not established until about thirty years later. The Master of Novices was Fr. Sturzo, who had been a distinguished Provincial, Rector of Milltown Park and Master of Novices in Ireland, before he went to Australia to be Master of Novices there for many years. Br. Keane happened to be the last novice received by Fr. Sturzo, and when Br. Pat Griffin took his vows, he was the sole surviving novice. Thus it was that he was transferred to Tullabeg for his second year, and Loyola ceased to be a Noviceship.
He took his first rows on 23rd February, 1903, and remained as a Junior at Tullabeg until September 1905. From that date to 1908 we find him in the Catalogue at University College, 86 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, where he had as fellow Juniors such gifted students as Daniel Finn, Alfred O'Rahilly, Jeremiah Murphy and John Joy. Fr. O'Rahilly is now the only survivor of that brilliant group. Mr. Keane took his degree and got his M.A. on a thesis.
He did his Philosophy in two years at Stonyhurst and returned to Xavier College, Melbourne, in 1911. During his “Colleges” he proved himself an outstanding teacher. He taught a variety of subjects, including Classics, History, English, Mathematics and Science, but it was in Mathematics that he really excelled. We read that he had the gift of making the most abstract problems appear simple and easy to solve. Besides he took an interest in all forms of sport in the College, cricket, football and rowing, he loved umpiring cricket matches and he was Editor of The Xaverian,
In 1915 he returned to Ireland to study Theology at Milltown Park, and he was ordained on 18th May, 1918. After his fourth year he did his tertianship at Tronchiennes, Belgium, and went back to Australia at the end of 1920. He made his final vows of Profession on 15th August, 1921. His first appointment as priest was to Xavier College, Melbourne, where he became Prefect of Studies in 1922. He taught at St. Aloysius College, Sydney, from 1924 to 1932. He was then appointed Prefect of Studies at Riverview College, a position he held until 1939, when he was named Rector of Canisius College, Pymble, where he professed Theology until 1954. He then returned to Riverview to continue his favourite work of teaching Mathematics.
It was during this period at Riverview that the first signs of his illness came upon him. He noticed one morning that he could not raise his arm to shave. Paralysis had set in. He was sent to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he remained for nearly six years, and was moved from there to the Sacred Heart Hospice. He died on 18th August, 1960. For seven years he had been paralysed and for the last two he was unable to speak. He bore his sufferings with wonderful resignation, cheerfulness and patience. It was a pleasure to visit him in the early years of his illness. He lay in bed, unable to move, cheerful, abreast of all the news of the day and interested in everything. One came away from his bedside with the greatest admiration for his courage and power of endurance.
Fr. P. J. Stephenson sums up his life in the Society: “It would be difficult indeed to record all that Fr. Keane did for the glory of God. Bishops, priests and religious all sought his advice. The Apostolic Delegate asked him to undertake the delicate work of amalgamating the Mercy Nuns. It was work that required patience and tact, and he accomplished it with great distinction, and he won the complete confidence of everyone.
He also took an interest in the Sisters of St. Joseph. At the request of the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney he collected and set in order all the documents on their foundress, Mother Mary McKillop, and these were forwarded to Rome with a view to her beatification.
In the death of Fr. Keane, the Australian Province of the Society has lost one of its most brilliant members, and one of its most colourful personalities. He had done the work God had given him to do, and when the Lord asked for the sacrifice of inaction and suffering, Fr. Keane accepted it courageously, and carried it out most cheerfully”. May he rest in peace.

◆ Our Alma Mater, St Ignatius Riverview, Sydney, Australia, 1960

Obituary

Father William Keane

Father William Keane, whose death took place in Sydney on August 13, 1960, after a long illness, was born at Nhill, Victoria, on June 27, 1885. He was a pupil at Xavier College, Kew, from 1896 to 1900, and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Loyola, Greenwich, NSW, on February 23, 1901. Early the following year he was transferred to the Irish novitiate and House of Studies at Tullabeg, where he remained for three years. He then studied mathematics at University College, Dublin (1905-1908), and Philosophy at Stonyhurst, Lancashire (1908-1910). In this year he returned to Australia, and was on the teaching staff of Xavier College, Kew, from October, 1910, to July, 1915. During this time the degree of Bachelor of Science was conferred on him by the National University of Ireland, on November 5, 1912.

He returned then to Ireland, and studied Theology at Milltown Park, Dublin, from September, 1915, to September, 1919, being ordained priest in the college chapel on May 16, 1918, Tertianship followed at Tronchiennes, Belgium, September, 1919, to July, 1920, and Father Keane came back to Australia in September, 1920.

His life in Australia was spent mainly in educational work. He was at Xavier College, Kew, as master and as Prefect of Studies, 1920-1924; at St Aloysius' College, Milson's Point, NSW, 1926-1932; and at three different periods at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, 1925-1926, 1933-1935, and from 1954 to the time of his death.

When the Society of Jeşus commenced a Philosophy course in Watsonia, Victoria, in 1935, Father Keane was Prefect of Studies and one of the first professors, and he moved, with the philosophers, to Pymble, NSW, where he be came the first rector of the new foundation in 1939. When Theology was commenced in Australia, at Pymble, in 1941, Father Keane, was again Prefect of Studies and one of the first professors.

As an outstanding teacher, particularly of mathematics, classics and English, he is remembered by hundreds of his pupils, and many generations of Jesuit students found him, in the full sense of the word, an inspiring professor.

Besides these intramural occupations, he was one of the leading speakers in the establishment of Catholic Action in Melbourne and Sydney. In both cities, and elsewhere throughout Australia, he was prominent in the promotion of Social Studies in writing, lecturing and in radio broad casts.

Father Keane was always an interesting and well-informed speaker. Although he possessed a ready and quick mind, and a fine power of expression, he still prepared his sermons and lectures with very great care and labour. From the beginning of his priestly life right up to his failure in health, he was one of the most sought after retreat conductors of Australia.

In addition to all these activities, he was frequently called on by the Holy See, by the hierarchy and by his superiors for works of great importance. His accurate memory, his wide and accurate knowledge and his judgment were generously put at the disposal of all who needed his help.

An outstanding trait of his character was the lively interest he took in everyone he met, and in their work. Those who knew him intimately saw in Father Keane a faithful son of St Ignatius, always ready to help, always devoted to the obligations and ideals of his life. His last long illness, which must have been particularly difficult to one of his active spirit, was borne with never-failing cheerfulness and courage. Nowhere else, perhaps, in his life did his solid virtue and piety shine so clearly.

Jeremiah Hogan SJ Solemn Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of Father Keane was celebrated at St Mary's, Ridge St., on August 16, by V Rev J Hogan SJ (Provincial), His Eminence Cardinal Gilroy presiding. It was attended by all the Riverview boys and Community, who were also present at Gore Hill Cemetery, where V Rev Father Hogan SJ, recited the last prayer at the graveside. RIP

Born: 04 November 1867, Barraduff, County Kerry
Entered: 31 July 1885, Dromore, County Down
Ordained: 28 July 1901, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final vows: 15 August 1904
Died: 05 August 1954, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1903 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 29th Year No 4 1954
Obituary :
Father John Keane
Father Keane was born in 1867 at Barraduff, Co. Kerry, Educated at St. Michael's, Listowel and Clongowes, he entered the Society at Dromore in 1885. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Milltown; taught classics in Clongowes for six years, did theology in Milltown, where he was ordained in 1901 and completed his tertianship in Tronchiennes. Then followed a memorable period as Master of Juniors in Tullabeg, a short time teaching in Belvedere before going to Milltown in 1913 to become in turn professor of theology and professor of scripture. In 1922 he was appointed Socius to the Provincial; in 1924 he became Rector of Rathfarnham; in 1930 he joined the staff of Gardiner Street where he remained until his death on August 6th, 1954.
His reputation for scholarship, especially in the scriptural, classical and literary spheres, has always been very high. Many who had him as professor of scripture in Milltown or Master of Juniors in Tullabeg or as rector in Rathfarnham can pay tribute to the width and the depth of his learning. Those who knew Fr. Keane intimately will easily imagine him interrupting this inadequate appreciation of his scholarship with a favourite expression of his own “Humbug”! He disliked others humbugging themselves and, perhaps, he instinctively feared that he might himself succumb to self-deception. At any rate, praise always embarrassed him. If anything, he saw, or imagined he saw, his own defects too clearly. Perhaps those who knew him in his prime will agree that this severe self-criticism may have prevented Fr. Keane from writing some work of note.
Yet he could praise himself! He allowed himself indulge his pride in facts that would not upset his humility. Mountain-climbing, walking or cycling were topics on which he would discourse at the slightest opportunity. A contemporary of his remarked recently : “In his young days, Fr. Keane would frighten you! Looking at a map he would say : X to Y, 5 miles - I'll walk that in an hour ; Y to Z, 10 miles - 2 hours more”. His extraordinary physical prowess lasted well on into his old age. When eighty years old, he climbed Croaghpatrick, said Mass, breakfasted very lightly and returned to Achill for the day's first full meal at 8 p.m. No one will say that he pampered himself! He must have been one of the last in the Province to have burned the midnight oil in the literal sense. When Fr. Keane was Master of Juniors in Tullabeg his lamp had to be filled with oil every day whereas the other members of the Community required to have their lamps attended to only once a week!
But the most typical memories of Fr. Keane are those that recall him as a “community man”. Even up to a few years ago he would promptly take over “Domi” to oblige a fellow priest. To be near him at recreation was a real pleasure and a lesson in charity. The “leg-pulling” for which he was noted was never offensive. If one side in a discussion seemed to be getting the upper hand, Fr. Keane would restore the balance by first praising the winning disputant and then by taking the feet from under him. Rarely did be show his hand in a serious discussion except on a religious or patriotic subject. It was no trouble to him to upset a would-be Sir Oracle. His love of fun was so genuine that, even in a bout of pain, he would unfailingly allow himself be distracted by any effort at a joke.
Of recent years he rarely left the house. Indeed, apart from his weekly outing to purchase the Sunday Times (for the cross-word primarily) about the only occasions he put on his hat - he never had much use for an overcoat - were when he attended meetings of the Hospital for Incurables of which he was a governor. His fidelity in attendance at these meetings was most edifying, and many sufferers were deep in his debt for the enthusiasm with which he supported their cause.
He always maintained a priestly dignity with a reserve that seemed sometimes akin to secretiveness. His discomfiture at any serious reference to his talents has been noted already. Remarkable also was his reticence about the very distinguished members of his family. He never complained about the labour of work in the confessional although, up to about two years ago, he occupied a very “exposed” box. Nor did he mention the onerous commissions which “doing Domi” sometimes entails. But he was quick to praise others, to encourage some promising preacher or laud the gifts of some new writer as likely to uphold the high traditions of the Society.
Fr. Keane was a brother of the Most Rev. Patrick Keane, Bishop of Sacramento, U.S.A.; of Very Rev. Wm. Keane, P.P., Valentia; and of Sir Michael Keane, Lt.-Governor of Assam, India, who all predeceased him.
A most irritating form of eczema which had troubled him for years became acute about a year ago. Fr. Keane was one of the few improved by illness. “He suffered agony in good humour”, said one of his Community. His manly spirituality, so unobtrusive during his active years, saved him from self-pity. Even when his mind became so befogged that, at times, he could not distinguish day from night, the intensity of his gratitude to his infirmarian (Br. Colgan) and to the nurses in hospital shone in his every reply to queries as to his welfare. He died in the morning of Thursday, August 5th. R.I.P.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father John Keane 1867-1954
The reputation of Fr John Keane for scholarship in the scriptural, classical and literary spheres was very high. He had a regard which almost amounted to adoration for his high intelligence and intellectual ability. as Master of Juniors in Tullabeg, he made an undying reputation for himself in the number of honours and scholarships obtained by the Juniors under him.

He was essentially, and before all, a kindly and deeply humble religious, remarkable always for his charity of tongue and deed. He was always ready to do “Domi” for a harrassed brother while stationed in Gardiner Street.

He was a man of extraordinary physique. When 80 years old he climbed Croagh Patrick, said Mass, climbed down and returned to Achill for his days first meal at 8 o’clock.

He was born in Kerry in 1867 of a distinguished ecclesiastical family, one of his brothers was a Bishop (Patrick Keane of Sacramento; also: Sir Michael Keane was Governor of Assam from 1932 to 1937; Fr William Keane P.P., Valentia Island).

Fr Keane died a peaceful and happy death on August 5th 1954 at the ripe age of 87.

◆ The Clongownian, 1955

Obituary

Father John Keane SJ

Father Keane was born in 1867 at Barraduff, Co Kerry. Educated at St Michael's, Listowel and at Clongowes, he entered the Society of Jesus at Dromore in 1885. He studied rhetoric and philosophy in Milltown, and taught classics in Clongowes for six years. As a priest he was successively Master of Juniors in Tullabeg, a teacher in Belvedere, professor of theology and then of scripture in Milltown Park. In 1922 he was appointed Socius to the Provincial; in 1924. he became Rector of Rathfarnham; in 1930 he joined the staff of Gardiner Street, where he remained until his death on August 5th, 1954.

His reputation for scholarship, especially in the scriptural, classical and literary spheres, was always high. But he would interrupt any appreciation of his learning with a favourite expression “Humbug!” He disliked others humbugging themselves and, perhaps, he instinctively feared that he might succumb to self-deception. If anything, he saw, or imagined he saw, his own defects too clearly. Perhaps those who knew him in his prime will agree that this severe self criticism may have prevented Fr. Keane from writing some work of note.

His extraordinary physical prowess lasted well on into his old age. When eighty years old, he climbed Croaghpatrick, said Mass, breakfasted very lightly and returned to Achill for the day's first full meal at 8 pm. No one will say that he pampered himself! In the painful sickness that led to his death, his manly spirituality, so unobtrusive during his active years, saved him from self-pity. “He suffered agony in good humour”, said one of his community. Even when his mind became so befogged that he could not distinguish day from night, the intensity of his gratitude to the infirmarian and to the nurses in hospital shone in his every reply to queries as to his welfare. May he rest in peace.

Born: 01 August 1876, Halifax, Yorkshire, England
Entered: 07 September 1893, Roehampton London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 24 September 1911
Final vows: 02 February 1914
Died: 16 April 1956, St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1913 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship
by 1940 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) - Tertian Director 1939-1942

Born: 02 December 1926, Shelbourne Road, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 07 September 1944, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1958, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 22 April 1977, Kingsmead Hall, Singapore
Died: 27 November 2018, Assisi Hospice, Thomson Road, Singapore - Indonesiae Province, Malaysia-Singapore Region (IDO-MAS)

Part of the Kingsmead Hall, Singapore community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to HK : 03 December 1966; HK to IDO (MAS) 1991

Father owned a bakery and the family then lived at Bon Accord, Ennis Road, Limerick City.

Second of four boys with one sister.

Early education was five years at a Convent school and then he went to Crescent College SJ for nine years.

by 1953 at Hong Kong - Regency

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/gerard-keane-deeply-loved/

Gerard Keane SJ – down to earth and deeply loved
Fr Gerard (Gerry) Keane SJ passed away on 27 November 2018 at Assisi Hospice, Singapore aged 92 years. His funeral took place in St Ignatius Church, Singapore on 30 November. He was the last of the Irish Jesuits who served in the Region of Malaysia-Singapore. Fr Gerry was a great friend of Paul Andrews SJ. Extraordinarily, they both entered the novitiate together and were ordained together; finally, they both died on the same day, and both of them had their funerals on 30 November, Paul in Dublin and Gerry in Singapore.
The Catholic News in Singapore provided the obituary. Born in Limerick in 1926, Fr Gerry once observed about his calling: “I thought that if what Christ is all about is true, then it [the priesthood] is the only thing worth doing.” He entered the novitiate at 17 years old and later did his regency training in Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. He returned to Ireland for his theological studies and was ordained a priest in 1958.
Fr Keane then missioned as an assistant parish priest and spiritual director of St Ignatius in Singapore when it was first established. He was editor of the Malaysian Catholic News and broadcasted on Radio Singapore. Other roles included chaplain at a junior college, superior of the Jesuit community and director of an Ignatian spirituality and counselling centre.
When Fr Gerry lost his voice to cancer in 2001, he retired from active service at St Ignatius Parish but continued to write for the weekly parish bulletin up to a few months before his passing. The parish celebrated Fr Keane’s Golden Jubilee of Priesthood in 2008. He was much loved and will be remembered for his wonderful gift of friendship.
Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye of Singapore was a former student of Fr Keane who gave the homily at his funeral. He said: “Deep in our hearts, truly, when we think of the life of Father Gerard Keane we are filled with joy because he has lived the fullness of life. He is one of those very rare, true blue, missionaries and pastors...a man who was called early, a man who responded to God’s call and a man who was faithful to his call until death.”
The archbishop spoke of Fr Gerry’s fatherly love where in recent years he was still able to connect with young people and who expressed a holiness through his simplicity. He joked that the secret to his long life was due to his drinking of Irish whiskey which killed all the germs in his body. “He was a man who was able to feel the humanity of others, a very down-to-earth person, a person who can feel the struggles of the ordinary man and woman...a true human being because he was just himself.”
There was also a reference to the latter stage of Fr Keane’s life when he could not speak due to cancer. The archbishop commented on the value of elderly people in a country where euthanasia is considered by some to be a good option.” Fr Gerard Keane was still doing something by doing nothing,” he said.
Irish Jesuit Fr Jimmy Hurley joined the Society of Jesus along with Fr Gerry and Fr Paul Andrews in 1944 and were also ordained together in 1958. Fr Hurley said that Fr Keane was very highly regarded among his peers. He noted his exceptional football skills and language skills when they were sent as missionaries to Hong Kong.
“He was very perceptive and he anticipated the changes of the ecclesiastical Church before Vatican II,” said Fr Hurley. After ordination, Fr Hurley returned to Hong Kong and Fr Keane went to Singapore, but they remained friends over many years. Fr Hurley visited his fellow Jesuit when he lost his voice. They communicated with each other for several hours and their friendship strengthened.
They met again a few years ago in Thurles, County Tipperary along with John K. Guiney SJ and Paul Andrews SJ. “A testament to his character,” said Fr Hurley, “was that even during this brief stay in Ireland, his parishioners back in Singapore were anxious that he would return and live out his remaining years there. He was deeply loved.”
Fr Gerry is the beloved son of the late Jim and Nellie Keane. He is predeceased by his brothers Paddy, Michael & Seamus and sister Marie (Lambe), formerly of Bon Accord, Ennis Road, Limerick. He is survived and lovingly remembered by his brother Louis, sisters-in-law Grace & Tanis, nephews, nieces, grandnephews, grandnieces and great grandniece. He is sadly missed by his colleagues in the Jesuit Community, his wonderful carers, his loyal parishioners in the Parish of St Ignatius and by his many friends in Ireland and Singapore.

◆ Irish Jesuit Missions : https://www.jesuitmissions.ie/news/443-uncle-gerard-the-gregarious-missionary

IRISH MEN BEHIND THE MISSIONS: FR GERRY KEANE SJ
“Christ on a bike!”—or, a priest on a Honda 50—was rare in 1970’s Ireland, well in Tipperary anyway. I suppose it was summer 1974 when Uncle Gerard, as we referred to him, was on one of his visits to Ireland. In my hometown Thurles, he appeared up the lane unannounced and under the radar as usual. He took the windy mountains road from Limerick to Thurles. No one knew who it was until he lifted the helmet and beamed a big smile.
Then after we all sat looking at him for an hour, he said in his calm quiet voice: “Take it for a spin”. I think I was 11—this was some laugh—we had a long lane up to the house so we spent the afternoon wobbling and weaving up and down, my first and last time riding a motorcycle. To us Uncle Gerard was alternative and novel and fun and didn’t wear a collar, so the contrast was refreshing and “cool” in Ireland of the time.

Growing up in Thurles, Ireland
Our childhood and growing up years were marvellous in Thurles. We were fortunate: a big house with many people coming and going, family shop and pub and filling station. Marie Keane, my mother, was Gerard’s only sister and married my dad, Patrick Lambe in 1953. She was a student of the Ursuline Convent in Thurles and latterly a PE teacher there, which explains how she came to meet my father. She died from cancer in 1975 at the ridiculously young age of 48.
My Uncle Gerard looks so familiar to me, at 88, he now looks more like his mother and my mother, the big face-changing smile is a dead giveaway. One wonders how he heard the news of his only sister’s passing thousands of miles away and how he coped without close family with whom to grieve.

Our Uncle Gerard, a Jesuit priest in Singapore
In his all too rare visits to Ireland he would bring gifts for the women, dresses and kimonos and shawls, all in traditional far-eastern patters and styles, silks and satins: beautiful and graceful gowns in fantastic colours. For the men, linen summer shirts with outrageous colours and patterns, only worn in public for a bet!
Our earlier impressions and memories of Uncle Gerard are episodical, for the main part we only ever saw, or knew, of his life when he visited Ireland and there were long gaps in between. Strangely, Uncle Gerard didn’t discuss his missionary work at any length with us when he came to visit. He suffered from that false modesty and self-deprecation that we Irish do all too well. Only recently we have become aware of his writing and broadcasting accomplishments in Singapore.

“Please, no fuss”
When Uncle Gerard was in Thurles he would stay for a few days or a week. He loved nothing more that to sit in kitchens and talk into the late hours, and sip the whiskey, and smoke Consulate—my goodness those all-white menthol cigarettes I remember so well—and the laughing and the smoke filled room. He never had a tourist agenda, all he wanted was to meet people and spend time together.
He has just returned to Singapore after a visit to Limerick and Tipperary, only made possible by the unbelievable generosity and love of his friends in Singapore. And again this time all he wanted was just to meet friends and family and spend time: “Please, no fuss”.
I remember when he visited in a summer of the late sixties: he was driving a brown Morris Minor. We all piled into it with towels and swimmers and careered around the roads of Tipperary. I especially remember he drove us to our cousins in Templemore who had a marvellous garden and swimming pool. Well, the squeals of laughter can be still heard and the memories everlasting. Uncle Gerard is a dude and our coolest uncle.
When you try too hard to impress kids they are reticent and wonder : “What’s with this guy?” A gentle demeanour and a sense of humour are all you need and the communication lines are established, no in-your-face inquisition, just understated and calm. They say the loudest person in the room is the weakest. Well if this has merit, then the corollary is true of Fr Gerry.

In the heart of his family
We were and are immensely proud of him and his pioneering spirit. We loved to tell people of “our Uncle Gerard, a Jesuit priest in Singapore”. Even now in the globalised world of instant communication and fast travel, there is great kudos in having a gregarious missionary in far-flung places, and to have one as cool as Gerry Keane is a bonus.
Approaching our last few years, we would all want to have our loved ones close and to spend time just listening and talking and sharing. Gerard is our flesh and blood, our pride and joy, but his true family is with him where he lives, and has lived for most of his life, and we thank God for that.
It gives us great peace and comfort to know for sure that our dear and much loved uncle and brother is right in the heart of his family.
Author: Patrick Lambe, October 2015

Born: 28 July 1916, Pearse Street, Ballina, County Mayo
Entered: 07 September 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 30 July 1947, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1951, St Ignatius, Leeson Street, Dublin
Died: 11 May 2000, St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin

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

Father was a doctor and businessman.

Second of three boys with one sister.

Early education at a private school in Ballina and then he went to Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1949 North American Martyrs, Auriesville NY USA (NEB) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 24th Year No 1 1949

LETTERS :
Fr. Edmund Keane, writes 27th September, from Our Lady of Martyrs Tertianship, Auriesville, New York :
“On the eve of the Long Retreat (it begins this evening) I write to commend myself in a special manner to your Holy Masses and prayers. Auriesville certainly affords all the exterior aids for a faithful retreat : peace, coolness, and the wide open-spaces so welcome after the heat and hurried tempo of New York, and one can depend on the weather to behave. After four weeks Fr. Kent and I are now well settled into the Tertianship, and both are in good health, D.G. The house is very comfortable and well appointed, food excellent, and surroundings from a scenic point of view very beautiful. In all there are 43 Tertians, of whom only about 8 hail from Provinces other than American, so there are no language difficulties. Fr. Keenan is our Instructor, and I am glad of the opportunity of spending a year under his direction.
Yesterday, the Feast of the Matryrs was marked by special celebrations, and during the day the number of pilgrims that flowed in through the Shrine must have been over 10,000. Solemn High Mass coram Episcopo (Most Rev, Dr. Gibbons of the Albany diocese) in the Coliseum at noon, preceded by a procession into it of various bodies, the Knights of Columbus, The Order of Alhambra and the A.O.H., etc. A sermon was preached by Fr. Flattery, Director of the retreat-house. The celebrant, deacon, subdeacon and M.C. were Filipino, Canadian, Italian and Dutch respectively Tertians). Supply work comes round about every third week : one regular week-end call brings us a distance of 150 miles, and so we are armed with the faculties of three dioceses - New York, Albany and Syracuse. Some hospital work, too, may likely fall to my lot, such work, apart from its value as an experimentum, should be rich in experience ..."

Irish Province News 24th Year No 3 1949
LETTERS :

From Fr. R. Ingram, Holy Family Rectory, 1501 Fremont Ave., South Pasedena, Cal., U.S.A. :
“I have just missed a trip to the Marshall Islands and Hawaii. Shell Ox Co. is sponsoring a world-wide experiment op gravity observations to be taken simultaneously at many different stations. We had arranged a party to take the observations in the Pacific, they were to be made every 1 hour, and the Navy had agreed to co-operate by flying the personnel and instruments to the locations. But an automatic recorder was perfected by La Coste (the designer of the ‘gravy-meter’) and off he went alone. God bless American efficiency! Instead of flying across the Pacific a party of us have charge of the observations for the Los Angeles region. We hope to get a lot of information.
I plan to leave the West for St. Louis at the end of July. I sail for Ireland with Frs. Kent and Keane on 7th September”.
(Fr. E. Kent has been acting as Assistant Chaplain in City Hospital, New York.)

◆ Interfuse No 105 : Special Edition 2000 & ◆ The Clongownian, 2000

Obituary
Fr Edmund (Eddie) Keane (1916-2000)

28th July 1916: Bom in Ballina, Co. Mayo
Early Education Private school in Ballina and at Clongowes Wood College
7th Sept. 1933: Entered the Society at Emo
8th Sept. 1935: First Vows at Emo
1935 - 1938: Rathfarnham - Arts at UCD
1938 - 1941: Tullabeg, studying Philosophy
1941 - 1943: Belevedere - Teacher, H.Dip in Education
1943 - 1944: Mungret College - Teaching
1944 - 1948: Milltown Park - studying Theology
30th July 1947: Ordained at Milltown Park
1948 - 1949: Tertianship at Auriesville, New York
1949 - 1951: Leeson Street - Assistant Editor “Studies” and Editor “Irish Monthly”
1951 - 2000: Gonzaga College - Teacher until 1991 when he retired from teaching. He continued to be active as Writer, Spiritual Director (SJ), etc.

Father Keane played golf and tennis until an advanced age. Even after a hip operation in recent years he went back to golf. His health was failing and he moved to Cherryfield Lodge in March while awaiting a bed in the hospital. He was admitted to St. Vincent's Private Hospital for tests on the 20th April last. There had been a gradual deterioration in his health, so his death was not unexpected. The community were glad to have a vigil with him on the evening before he died. He died peacefully before 10 a.m. on 11th May, 2000.

The following obituary appeared in The Irish Times shortly after Fr. Keane's death ...

Eddie Keane - known with much more affection as “Neddie” to generations of Gonzaga students - lived a long and an ordinary life which will almost certainly be forgotten. Fame asks of its candidates the proofs of ego and the protocols of conquest, and neither in any way interested this very benign, bookish man who taught classics in a quiet secondary school through a half century of planetary atrocity and apocalypse.

In fact, he was so self-effacing that most of us discovered his background in Ballina only by reading the death notice which his community placed in a newspaper, and so self-possessed that the other possibilities of his apostolate - the prestige of service overseas, say, or of academic ambitions as a classicist - didn't distract him for a moment from his daily obligations as a mentor and a friend to multitudinous middle-class kids cogging Xenophon and Virgil from their inky, broken-down textbooks.

Eight and nine-year-olds who served Eddie's Mass - the old Tridentine rite of Pius V in the little scented oratories of the priests' house - won't have forgotten that familiar kindness of his at the far end of their schooldays, when bewilderment over the black-letter and the red-letter Latin of the altar-server's laminated sheet would cause the affectionate face to turn, smile, and set right, as the smells of breakfast rose up from the kitchens and oriental blossom drifted across the tennis courts. And, by the same token, 18 and 19 year olds who participated in the late 1960s in the new vernacular Mass of Paul VI won't have forgotten the period after the Council, years of turmoil and resurgence, the glory days of the Jesuits under their second Ignatius, Arrupe the Basque, as the order re-invented itself in the name of liberation theology and the preferential option for the poor, when Father Keane was still there with Catullus in one hand and the Psalter in the other, trying to twin Jerusalem and Athens, the Graeco-Roman idea and the Judeo-Christian ideal.

This was no small achievement. When the Lord scolds Saul on the road to Damascus in the Acts of the Apostles, he does so with a quote from Euripides. But to the fundamentalist mind (Eddie would probably red line the phrase as oxymoron) classical civilisation is a pagan place, while to the humanist sensibility scriptural culture, because of its association with the institutional church , is usually barbaric. To one splendid Ignatian companion, however, the two belonged together as the blackboard and the chalk, so that he could speak in a senior classroom, after prayer at the start of the session, of the homosexual organisation of the fifth-century Greek army or of bisexuality in antiquity, at the time when either dispensation was a criminal activity in the Irish state and when the dislike of the gay individual was as pronounced and as pathological as the dislike of the Roman Catholic clergy is today.

Asked by a boy in the senior school what he most looked forward to after his death, he said: "I want to spend my first thousand years talking to Sophocles". (Did he know that the dramatist's Antigone had been called the fifth gospel by Simone Weil?) And again, preaching to a packed congregation in the school chapel at midnight mass on Christmas Eve, the feast of the incarnation, he declared: “Because of what we are celebrating here tonight. I am speaking to a gathering of immortals”.

Some of his former students are still fearful that eternal life and immortal life may not be the same thing. More of us again have given up altogether on the hereinafter. But Edmund Keane was a scholar and a very gentle man and I leave the adjectivity in his hands. In an ordinary and ordained life he taught us all, men and boys, that continuity is a form of constancy, that constancy is an act of fidelity, and that fidelity is the behaviour of love. I hope that he wept tears at the sight of heaven, just as he wept on the marble steps of the Propylaea on the Acropolis in Athens in 1965 and cried out among the tourists: "How beautiful! How beautiful!"

His articles appeared in the Sacred Heart Messenger and not in Concilium; his parish work during the summer adjournments was in Britain and not in Bolivia; but his dedication, on the long gravel drive to the long millennium, to the two discredited creeds of the Jew and the Greek - to the Way, the Truth and the Life on the one hand and to the true, the Good and the Beautiful - was a threshold and a turning point to the students he guided.

Now he has entered, more deeply than ever before, the society of Jesus.

Aidan Matthews

Interfuse No 106 : Autumn 2000

FATER EDMUND KEANE SJ

Joe Brennan

Father Edmund Keane was born on July 28th 1916 and died in St. Vincent's Private on 11th May 2000. His primary education was in his home-town. He went to Clongowes for his secondary education where he was an above average student, good at games, particularly tennis. He matriculated in 5th year and entered the Society in Emo in September 1933.

He did a Classics degree in UCD, gaining first-class honours. He was an exceptionally bright student and had no difficulty in putting either Greek or Latin words to the popular tunes of the day or songs from Gilbert and Sullivan or other operettas.

This ease in the Classics was evident to his students in Gonzaga in a teaching career of 40 years. To a professional ease was added an enthusiasm for the intellectual and linguistic challenge Greek and Latin demand. A past pupil, Aidan Matthews, wrote of him in an obituary in the Irish Times:

“... he was so self effacing that most of us discovered his background in Ballina only by reading the death notice which his community placed in a newspaper, and so self-possessed that the other possibilities of his apostolate - the prestige of service overseas, say, or of academic ambitions as a classicist - didn't distract him for a moment from his daily obligations as a mentor and a friend to a multitudinous middle-class kids cogging Xenophon and Virgil from their inky, broken-down text-books”.

His own course of studies took the normal course; Philosophy in Tullabeg, two years regency in Belvedere, one in Mungret, Theology and ordination in Milltown. He did his tertianship in Auriesville, New York, and particularly enjoyed the chance to ski, skate and play ice-hockey, once again showing his natural athletic abilities.

For two years he was in Leeson Street as assistant Editor of Studies and Editor of the Irish Monthly. In 1951 he went to Gonzaga where he remained for almost 50 years. He founded the Classics Department there, but also helped in many other fields, especially rugby, and above all, tennis. In a fitting tribute to his contribution to Gonzaga, a group of past pupils have commissioned the renewal of the College courts with a savannah-grass surface as a memorial to Eddie and his contribution to Gonzaga.

In more recent decades he had developed a pusillus grex on Sunday mornings in the Domestic Chapel. His insights were greatly valued. In the words of one of the most regular members he was “holy, intelligent, very well informed and obviously a scholar. He was very kind and possessed a very natural dignity”.

In community he made a tremendous contribution to recreation. His joy with words and word-plays, his interest in current affairs, his enthusiasm for all forms of sports meant that all benefited from his wit and wisdom. Yet in all of this he was basically a reserved man, rarely sharing his religious insights. While no stoic or sophist - he could be devastatingly critical of the 'culture' of the classical world - he did not believe in wearing his heart on his sleeve.

While the boys might not know of his Mayo origins, the community knew of his pietas. He was proud to bring his cousin, President Mary Robinsion, to visit the house. He delighted in the company of his nephews and nieces, especially Dillie Keane, the well-known founder of “Fascinating Aida”. As one of his nephews wrote; “To us he was so constant, such a rock of good sense, kindly and humorous, that we will miss him greatly”.

Many of his past-pupils speak highly of him. He kept up a correspondence with many of them. One writes: “I was one of those who corresponded over the years with Father Keane. I have kept all his letters and agree with you that they were all minor works of art, carefully crafted and full of information and insightful analysis, as he would have wished. I shall be doubly sure now to safeguard them”.

His reputation with the lay staff was particularly high. While he had his natural reserve, he was open to all. They found him “extraordinarily civil”, with a positive attitude to all. Many enjoyed his play with words and responded to it. But behind it all they knew him to be “a dedicated priest and don”"

For many years he wrote a most popular article in the Messenger, “If you see what I mean”. They were a perfect demonstration of learning worn lightly. Yet they had a deeper purpose behind them, as the title implied. Clearly in all his work this balance of the sacred and the profane was something which he did naturally, though greatly aided by grace. This balance was expressed by Aidan Matthews in his obituary:

“His articles appeared in the Sacred Heart Messenger and not in Concilium; his parish work during the summer adjournments was in Britain and not in Bolivia; but his dedication, on the long gravel drive to the long millennium, to the two discredited creeds of the Jew and the Greek - to the way, the Truth and the Life on the one hand and to the true, the Good and the Beautiful - was a threshold and a turning point to the students he guided.

Now he has entered, more deeply than ever before, the society of Jesus."

◆ The Gonzaga Record 2000

Obituary

Edmund Keane SJ

Eddie Keane - known with much more affection than stringency as “Neddie” to generations of Gonzaga students lived a long and an ordinary life which will almost certainly be forgotten. Fame asks of its candidates the proofs of ego and the protocols of conquest, and neither in any way interested this very benign, bookish man who taught classics in a quiet secondary school through a half-century of planetary atrocity and apocalypse.

In fact, he was so self-effacing that most of us discovered his background in Ballina only by reading the death notice which his community placed in a newspaper; and so self-possessed that the other possibilities of his apostolate--the prestige of service overseas, for example, or of academic ambitions as a classicist-didn't distract him for a moment from his daily obligations as a mentor and a friend to multitudinous middle-class kids cogging Xenophon and Virgil from their inky, broken-down textbooks.

Eight and nine-year-olds who served Eddie's mass - the old Tridentine rite of Pius V in the little scented oratories of the priests' house - won't have forgotten that familiar kindness of his at the far end of their schooldays, when bewilderment over the black-letter and the red-letter Latin of the altar-server's laminated sheet would cause the affectionate face to turn, smile, simplify, and set right, as the smells of breakfast rose up from the kitchens and oriental blossom drifted across the tennis courts. And, by the same token, 18- and 19 year-olds who participated in the late 1960s in the new vernacular Mass of Paul VI won't have forgotten the period after the Council, years of turmoil and resurgence, the glory days of the Jesuits under their second Ignatius, Arrupe the Basque, as the order reinvented itself in the name of liberation theology and the preferential obligation for the poor, when Father Keane was still there with Catullus in one hand and the Psalter in the other, trying to twin Jerusalem and Athens, the Greco-Roman idea and the Judeo-Christian ideal.

This was no small achievement. When the Lord scolds Saul on the road to Damascus in the Acts of the Apostles, he does so with a quote from Euripides. But to the fundamentalist mind (Eddie would probably red-line the phrase as an oxymoron) classical civilisation is a pagan place, while to the humanist sensibility scriptural culture, because of s association with the institutional church, is usually barbaric. To one splendid Ignatian companion, however, the two belonged together as naturally as the blackboard and the chalk, so that he could speak in a senior classroom, after the prayer at the start of the session, of the homosexual organisation of the fifth-century Greek army or of bisexuality in antiquity, at a time where either dispensation was a criminal activity in the Irish state and when the dislike of the gay individual was as pronounced and as pathological as the dislike of the Roman Catholic clergy is today.

Asked by a boy in the senior school what he most looked forward to after his death, he said “I want to spend the first thousand years talking to Sophocles”. (Did he know that the dramatist's Antigone had been called the fifth gospel by Simone Weil?) And again, preaching to a packed congregation in the school chapel at midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the feast of the Incarnation, he declared: “Because of what we are celebrating here tonight, I am speaking to a gathering of immortals”.

Some of his former students are still fearful that eternal life and immortal life may not be the one and same thing. More of us again have given up altogether on the hereinafter. But Edmund Keane was a scholar and a very gentle man, and I leave the adjectivity in his hands. In an ordinary and ordained life he taught us all, men and boys, that continuity is a form of constancy, that constancy is an act of fidelity, and that fidelity is the behaviour of love. I hope that he wept tears at the sight of Heaven, just as he wept on the marble steps of the Propylaea on the Acropolis in Athens in 1965 and cried out among the tourists: “How beautiful! How beautiful!”

His articles appeared in the Sacred Heart Messenger and not in Concilium; his parish work during the summer adjournments was in Britain and not Bolivia; but his dedication, on the long gravel drive to the third millennium, to the two discredited creeds of the Jew and the Greek-to the Way, the Truth and the Life on one hand and to the Truth, the Good and the Beautiful on the other—was a threshold and a turning point for the students he guided. Now he has entered, more deeply than ever before, into the Society of Jesus.

Aidan Matthews

Born: 30 April 1825, Keady, County Armagh
Entered: 07 August 1850, Montréal, Québec, Canada - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 1858
Professed: 15 August 1864
Died: 21 October 1866, Montpellier, France - Campaniae Province (CAMP)

Part of the Issenheim, France community at the time of death

Born: 08 May 1828, Killeshin, County Laois
Entered: 29 September 1853, Florissant MO, USA - Missouriana Province (MIS)
Professed: 15 August 1864
Died: 18 August 1882, Osage City, KS, USA - Missouriana Province (MIS)

Born: 11 October 1805, Harold's Cross, Dublin
Entered: 19 September 1823, Amiens, France - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 24 September 1836
Professed: 02 February 1846
Died: 13 February 1863, St Francis Xavier, Gardiner St, Dublin

by 1829 in Clongowes Wood College SJ

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
His father died when he was very young, but his mother was able to attend to his education, and as soon as Clongowes was opened, he was sent there, and she was happy to put him in the care of Peter Kenney. His friends there were keen that he would be come a Jesuit.
Once he finished school he Entered and did his Noviceship in France.
After First Vows he went for studies in Physics at Paris, under Moigno and Lejariel. He was then sent to Clongowes for Regency, where he taught Classics for several years.
When he finished Regency he was sent to England for Theology, and was Ordained at Stonyhurst by Dr Briggs.
1837 He came back to Clongowes, teaching the higher classes with great success, and was appointed Rector in 1850, a position he held for five years. he faithfully adhered to the old custom of wearing a Court Suit on Academy Day.
1855 He was sent to Gardiner St as Operarius, and worked thus for some years. Unfortunately towards the end he suffered greatly from scruples and so was unfit to work. he died quite suddenly in the end. All through his final sickness, he was patient and kind to all.
He was a great classical scholar, a good poet, very zealous, and a pious observant of his faith.

Born: 05 February 1913, Dolphins Barn Street, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 11 September 1931, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1946, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1949, Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 27 May 1982, County Wicklow (in a car accident)

Part of the Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin community at the time of death

Born at Rotunda Hospital Dublin

Father is a shopkeeper.

One half-brother and half-sister.

Educated at a local private school and a National school. In 1926 he went to Belvedere College SJ

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 57th Year No 3 1982
Gonzaga
A phone-call about midnight of 27th/28th May brought us the tragic news of the death of our colleague, Fr Joe Kavanagh, What exactly happened is not entirely clear, but it appears that Fr Joe was involved in a hit-and-run accident while travelling on his Honda motor-cycle at about 11 pm near the Glen of the Downs, co. Wicklow. He was buried from St Kevin’s church, Harrington street, where he had been a curate for the past two years, and he got a send-off that he must have appreciated from his lofty position. A very large number of concelebrants, both Jesuit and diocesan, joined Fr Rector in the requiem Mass; the music was provided by Our Lady's Choral Society, of which Joe had long been a zealous and active member; two Bishops presided, the Most Rev Joseph A Carroll and the Most Rev Donal Murray; and among the congregation were the Lord Mayor (an old pupil) and Mr John Wilson (government minister and an old teaching colleague). We miss Joe very much. Though working in a parish he was always very much a member of the Gonzaga community, in reality as well as in spirit. He joined us as often as his duties would allow and was always a welcome, refreshing, peaceable presence. May he rest in peace.

Obituary
Fr Joseph Kavanagh (1913-1931-1982)

In the last issue of the Province News the editor had a few interesting words to say about the commissioning of obituary notices. In asking me to present a pen- picture of Joe Kavanagh he didn't have to do any serious arm-twisting: I, am more than glad to be able to pay my tribute to a man who was my companion for many years and whom I, among many others, will sadly miss now that he is gone.
Let us start with the timetable, as it were, of Joe's life. He was at school in Belvedere, entered the noviceship in Emo in 1931. This was followed by Juniorate in Rathfarnham where he pursued a French course with considerable success: philosophy in Tullabeg from 1937-1940, and from these years arises a clear memory of Joe working out, with marvellous patience and good humour, a quartet from Gilbert and Sullivan that was somewhat beyond the vocal range of those whom he was directing. The regency years were spent at Mungret (1940-42) where he was obviously very happy and very successful, but the exigencies of the time demanded that he move to Clongowes for his third year, to get his Certificate in Education. From 1943 to 1947 he was in Milltown for theology, and from those days too I can picture him at the piano preparing a motley caste for a brief season of operetta, or playing at centre-forward on the soccer pitch where he was no mean performer, and many of his contemporaries will remember that deft flick of his that was productive both of goals and serrated shinbones.
After tertianship in Rathfarnham Joe spent a year in Clongowes, followed by three years in the Crescent and then, in 1952, he came to Gonzaga where he was to remain until 1971. After this long period of teaching the rest of his days were to be passed working for the "Diocese' - seven years in the Blackrock area, where he was chaplain to Obelisk Park and also taught in the Blackrock Technical school, three years in East Wall and his last two years as a curate in Harrington street.
When Joe's remains were brought to St Kevin's Church on the evening of 29th May, his parish priest, Fr Dermot O'Neill spoke a few words and described Joe as “a nice, quiet, unassuming, hard working priest”, and most would agree that that is a very fair description. He always had this air of quiet about him; perhaps “serenity” would be a better word, or even “unflappability”. In my mind’s eye I can see him, good humoured and unperturbed, surrounded by a mob of unruly schoolboys or refereeing an under-10 rugby match with tremendous aplomb. There was an occasion when, in the act of refereeing, Joe fell backwards over a stray mongrel that had wandered onto the pitch: except physically he wasn't the slightest bit upset. Teaching, I suspect, was always a little against the grain for Joe. but he applied himself to this task over many years with admirable patience and dedication, and must have passed on much of his own great enthusiasm for the French language: certainly many of his pupils remember him with great affection and while they may beat their breasts a little for the merry dance they sometimes led him in the classroom they recall with gratitude his quiet tolerance and inspiration.
There was a period when Gonzaga took its cricket seriously, and this was one game that Joe particularly enjoyed. I remember him playing in the Staff versus Boys matches, tying up the opposition with a mixture of slow googlies and chinamen; and at other times he could be seen umpiring at square leg or behind the wicket, always perched upon a shooting stick.
When at last his teaching days came to an end and he moved out into the “Diocese” he brought the same calmness and application to his new duties. I know that as a curate he undertook very seriously the job of visiting his parishioners. But all the time - from 1971 - that Joe was working as a curate he remained a member of the Gonzaga community and this he was both in fact and in spirit; for hardly a week passed that he didn't join his brethren there, and they will now miss his quiet presence, his informed conversation and his generally optimistic view of world affairs.
Joe seems to have suffered from some sort of a chronic ulcer. Certainly, over the years he was taking something for this ailment or observing a mild diet. And yet I always regarded him as a man of rude health, a man who not all that long ago put-putted his way on his motor bike all the way from Dublin to some place north of Rome where the machine “packed up”, unable any longer to match the vigour of its rider. It was on his motor-cycle, in his 69th year, that he met his sudden tragic death, (27th May 1982), the victim, apparently, of a hit and-run accident around 11 pm in the Glen of the Downs, though the exact circumstances may never be known. .
For his funeral Joe got a great send off. St Kevin's Church, Harrington' street, was packed for the requiem Mass concelebrated by a very large number of both Jesuit and diocesan priests and presided over by two bishops. But what must have given him, watching from above, especial satisfaction, was the fact that the Gardaí spontaneously provided a cycle escort to expedite the funeral cortège to Glasnevin (he had worked with them in the parish), and that the music was provided by Our Lady's Choral Society of which he had long been an active and zealous member. His love for music had always been conspicuous. He was always the choir master, the organist, the musical director of shows and entertainments from novice to tertian, and even after. Nothing he liked better than to be seated a a piano when he displayed the extraordinarily wide range of his musical interests, at one time fingering a Beethoven sonata, at another belting out something straight from Tin Pan Alley.
There can be no doubt but that now he is a member, perhaps even the director, of a celestial choir and that he will continue to make sweet music to the Lord for all eternity.

Irish Province News 58th Year No 2 1983

Gonzaga
Fr Joe Kavanagh
Further light has been thrown on the circumstances surrounding the accident that ended in the tragic death of Fr Joe Kavanagh at Glen o’ the Downs on the night of 27th May 1982. The following reconstruction is based on the evidence presented in Bray district court on 7th January, at the hearing of the prosecutions brought under the Road Traffic Act against the two motorists involved in Fr Kavanagh's death.

The first impact
A woman was driving south in this area around 11 pm. There was a heavy drizzle. Some distance behind her was another car driven by a Mr Fiach McDonagh of Wexford, who thus described the whole occurrence. As he came around a bend on to a straight stretch of road he saw sparks come from under the car in front of him. The car appeared to be on the correct side of the road at the time, then swerved over to the right-hand side of the road and carried on some distance ending up in a ditch. It wasn't until he came level with a helmet which he spotted lying on the road that he realised that an accident had taken place. He turned his car round towards Dublin and stopped on the Dublin-bound carriageway, with his light shining full on the motor-cyclist, who was positioned with his entire body lying on the hard shoulder except for his head, which was on the roadway. A car came from the direction of Dublin: he stopped it and asked the driver to get help. Then he spoke to the priest on the ground and told him he was sending for help.
The car that he had seen sparks come from had travelled weil over a hundred yards down the road. He noticed some body get out, walk around the car, look and get in again; then it slowly began to drive away.

The second and fatal impact
Ms McDonagh went back to his own car and saw at the same time a car travelling from the Wicklow direction, This car kept coming even when it was in full view of the car stopped in the middle of the road. At the last minute it swerved suddenly to the inside of the stopped car on to the hard shoulder. Here it struck the bike and the man on the ground, swerved to the right-hand side of the road and ended up in the ditch on the opposite side. The impact had flipped the priest right up in the air and over, reversing his position. Two men got out of the car, both as it transpired ambulance men. When they saw the priest on the ground they went back to their car, took out a first-aid kit to do whatever they could, but found no pulse.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1982

Obituary

Father Joseph Kavanagh SJ

When I joined the Gonzaga Community in 1961, the oriental-like inscrutability and rather dis tant manner of Father Kavanagh gave me a little indication of his real qualities. In fact he proved to be a delightful companion, whose gentle sense of humour, generosity and undemonstrative kindness greatly enhanced community life. In the school, while he did not attain sufficient command of a class to be an excellent teacher, he won the affec tion of the pupils capable of distinguishing quality of personality from pedagogical skill. Later, in parish work, his quiet and undemonstrative devo tion to his parishioners was most impressive and much appreciated. To this the attendence at his funeral bore eloquent testimony. As a friend - I had the good fortune to enjoy his friendship for 21 years - he was warmharted and generous and a kindly and wise counsellor.

There was about him a self confidence and magnanimity reflected in his judgements of others which were almost always positive and generous: never destructives, never petty. He was as patient with the shortcomings of others as he was of his own and always keenly aware of the qualities and strengths of others.
He was a good man, a sound religious and a loyal friend. May he rest in peace.

Born: 22 July 1910, Dolphin's Barn, Dublin
Entered: 19 January 1934, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Final Vows: 02 February 1944, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 14 March 1982, St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin

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

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 57th Year No 2 1982
Obituary
Br James Kavanagh (1910-1934-1982)
Brother James Kavanagh was born in Dolphin's Barn, Dublin, on 22nd July 1910. His father was from Wexford and his mother from Cavan. He received his early education at the local national school and James's street Christian Brothers' school. He did well at his studies and was keen on most games. At eighteen he started work in T. & C. Martin & Co., D'Olier Street, and remained with them till he joined the Society. As a young man his favourite sport was soccer. He played first for Bridewell, then advanced to Shelbourne. He said that had it not been for an accident to his ankle, soccer would have been his profession. For his entertainment he went to dances and loved music and enjoyed a few drinks with the lads in their favourite pub, His Jesuit vocation he attributed to a week-end retreat in Rathfarnham, where Fr Patrick Barrett (d. 1942) usually spotted a possible vocation and in James's case was right on target.
He entered the Jesuit noviciate at Emo at 5.30 am on the morning of 11th on 19th July 1933, three days before his 23rd birthday. He himself told the following story: as a novice, he got a fit of the 'blues', feeling 'fed up', so he went to the master of novices and told him he wanted to go home. Of course the novice-master tried to calm him down and said, “Now, James, all this will pass away in time,' 'No, Father', said James: I have made up my mind.' So a car was to take him to the railway station after dinner the next day. He came down from the dormitory with a suitcase in each hand, left them in the hall, and went into the domestic chapel to pay (as he thought) his last visit. While praying before the blessed Sacrament he became worried about his decision to go, asked for divine guidance, then concluded that he was mistaken in wanting to leave. He came out, went straight to the master of novices and told him he wanted to stay. “You're most welcome”, said he. For the rest of his life James had no doubt about his vocation. After his First Vows on 19th July 1936, he was sent to Clongowes, where he spent six months. Here he learnt from Br Corcoran (d. 1956) the management of domestic staff.
The 1937 Status assigned Br James to Milltown Park as supervisor of domestic staff and dispenser. Here he was to stay till 1952. In those years Milltown was noted for its large community - at times over a hundred - and it was not easy for with the problems of maintaining supplies. There were problems too with staff; the supervisor training them as cooks or waiters, then after a year or more seeing them move to higher-paid jobs and having to begin all over again with others. Many of his former staff, nevertheless, returned to thank James for his guidance and kindness. With the community he was popular: his sense of humour and general interest in people made life less lonely for others. It was he who discovered the tragic Milltown fire at 5.20 am on the morning of 11th February 1949. He actually carried Fr Bill Gwynn (age 84; d. 1950) to safety. Fr James Johnston lost his life in that fire, and the Theologians House was completely burnt out. In the noviciate Br James had been trained as a cook: as such he was sent to Mungret, where as in Milltown he did a fifteen-year spell. He was a very good cook and actually liked cooking. He took a great interest in the students and with his general knowledge of sports won many friends among them. In later years he often spoke with affection about the years he spent in Mungret, and was really sorry when he heard that it was to be closed.
In 1967 he returned to his native Dublin and there spent the rest of his life. His next post was Gonzaga, where he was supervisor of domestic staff and dispenser. While here he was drawn into the high-level consultations on what 31st General Congregation envisaged as the role of the Brothers. In accordance with its 7th Decree, Fr General Arrupe recommended that an advisory commission on our Brothers be set up in every Province. Fr Brendan Barry, then Irish Provincial, set up our Commission on Brothers (1968), to which Br James was appointed as member and secretary. It was remarked in these pages that this commission had been very busy holding its own meetings, sending out circulars and convening regional meetings of Brothers, In 1969 Br James was chosen by Fr General as one of the four representatives of the English Assistancy to attend the World Congress of Brothers in Rome (May 1970). He was happy and glad to report on the long-overdue reappraisal of the Brothers' vocation and role which the Society had undertaken. After five years Br James moved down the Gonzaga avenue to the College of Industrial Relations, where he became Secretary. To quote CIR’s appreciation from last year: “His genial personality and genuine understanding of the Dublin working man won him many friends amongst the scores of students who check-in nightly at the enrolment desk. On his part, Br James had a remarkable memory for names and faces and personal details, a talent which helped to forge close links between students and College”.
In January 1981 he became very sick: he felt that his health was failing, After six weeks in St Vincent’s hospital it was obvious that he would not be able to continue working in CIR. He asked to be transferred to Milltown Park, and there he went. For the next year he was looked after by Br Joe Cleary, and James on many occasions praised his kindness and patience. As time went on he improved a little and asked the Rector to give him some kind of work to do. However, in January last he had a recurrence of his previous sickness, was put back in hospital for two weeks, came out only to deteriorate surprisingly quickly, and finally was moved back to hospital (2nd March). He died very peacefully on 14th March.
It is difficult to avoid superlatives in speaking of Br Kavanagh, and it can truly be said of him that he was an excellent Jesuit Brother. He was a most exact religious, filled with deep piety and devotion to the blessed Sacrament, our Lady and the saints. He was particularly dedicated to spiritual reading and was familiar with most of the spiritual classics. He was highly efficient in his work and had a wonderful memory for details. To the poor he was always generous and helped a number of people to find employment. There was a balance in his life-style: he loved music (not “pop”); he thoroughly enjoyed a good film and a game of cards, and never lost. interest in Gaelic and soccer games; horse-racing also took his fancy. One can say that James was a happy man and a good community man: one who responded easily to any social demands that came his way, May he rest in peace!

First President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991.

Born: 11 January 1856, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 06 October 1891, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1898, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 25 March 1909, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 19 July 1945, Mungret College, County Limerick

Youngest brother of Robert I - RIP 1929 and T Patrick - RIP 1918
Cousin of Joseph McDonnell - RIP 1928

Early education at Stonyurst College SJ, Lancashire, The Oratory, Birmingham and Trinity College, Dublin

Went to King’s Inns, Dublin 1874 and called to the Bar at Easter 1879. Appointed a judge of the Niger Territories, 1888. Leaving that post he was called to the English Bar and Lincoln’s Inn November 1890, and took LLB and LLD at TCD

by 1894 at Enghien Belgium (CAMP) studying
by 1895 at St Aloysius Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1908 at Drongen Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1919 at LLandrindod, Wales (ANG) working

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Youngest brother of Robert I - RIP 1929 and T Patrick - RIP 1918
Note from Robert I Kane Entry :
“Father Robert Kane SJ, well known as ‘the Blind Orator’ died at Milltown Park.... The son of William J Kane of Dublin and his wife Mary MacDonnell of Saggart ... he was a nephew of Sir Robert Kane, distinguished Irish scientist, author of “The Industrial Resources of Ireland”, and first cousin to the famous Admiral Henry Kane.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 20th Year No 4 1945

Obituary :

Fr. William Kane (1856-1891-1945)

On July 19th, 1945, at Mungret College, Limerick, Fr. William Kane peacefully died in the 90th year of his age and the 54th year of his religious life.
Fr. William Kane was born in Dublin on January 11th, 1850. He was a nephew of the celebrated scientist Sir Robert Kane, F.R.S., and first cousin of Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Kane, world-famous as commander of H.M.S. "Calliope," which by his skill he saved from destruction in a tornado that swept over Apia Harbour, Samoa, on March 17th, 1889. Having completed his secondary education at Stonyhurst College and at the Oratory School, Birmingham, then under the direction of Newman, he studied law at Trinity College, Dublin, taking out his degrees of B.A, and LL.D. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1879. In 1888 he accompanied Sir James Marshall to the Niger Territories as a Junior Judge, and subsequently succeeded Sir James as Chief Justice. He resigned this post in 1889; and on his return to Europe, was called to the English Bar. Two years later he joined the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus, of which two of his brothers, Frs. Robert and Patrick Kane were already members. He studied Philosophy at Jersey and Theology at Milltown Park, Dublin. He was ordained priest in 1898, and made his solemn profession in 1909.
Having spent two years at Milltown Park as Professor of the Short Course of Theology, Fr. Kane joined the staff of Mungret College in 1901. With the exception of his year of tertianship at Tronchiennes, another year as Professor of Philosophy at Milltown Park, and a short period of parochial duty at Llandrindod Wells after the death of his brother Fr. Patrick, Fr. Kane was a member of the Mungret community until his death last July. He taught in the secondary school and in the classes preparing for the Arts and B.A. degree examinations of the Royal University. He was Editor of the Mungret Annual for several years. But the greater part of his life in Mungret was devoted to the intellectual and professional training of the Apostolic students as Professor of Philosophy. Advancing age obliged him at length to retire from active life, but to the end he was an assiduous reader, and retained his faculties unimpaired to within a day or two of his death.
Fr. Kane's acute and vigorous mind embraced a variety of recondite branches of learning-Philosophy, Theology, Physics, Astronomy, Botany, higher Mathematics. Anything ke knew, he had thoroughly mastered ; and his memory, even in extreme old age, was amazingly fresh and accurate. Ever eager to impart the rich stores of his knowledge, he was prepared at a moment's notice either to range at large over wide fields of knowledge or to discuss some abstruse problem in minute detail. A year or two before his death I was taking a stroll with him on the Philosophers' Walk in Mungret. It was the month of May, and the Philosophers were seated here and there under the trees preparing for the oncoming examinations. Two of them approached us and said to Fr. Kane: "Father, we have a difficulty which we would like you to solve for us"; and they stated it. Fr. Kane replied at once “Schiffini deals with that point”, and then and there cleared up the whole matter in a few words. It struck me at the time that if he had received a day's notice in which to consult his authorities, he could not have given a more complete and satisfactory answer.
Yet while his learned ‘sock’ was ever on, Fr. Kane's social gifts made him an excellent community man. He had a large fund of good stories and amusing anecdotes, and was always ready to cap a witticism with one better. He took part in concerts and entertainments, singing with great go, and biretta pertly cocked on the side of his head, a Latin version of "Father OʻFlynn." He was a keen cricketer, fielding brilliantly at "point" with quick eye and sure hand. He took a prominent part in the activities of a villa, especially in mountaineering. I have often heard him say that he had climbed to the summit of Carrantuohill on four different occasions. Few, I think, have made the ascent so often.
Not the least pleasing features of Fr. Kane's character were his harmless drolleries. Lacking to some degree in a sense of humour, he would take almost any statement literally, a fact wbich laid him open to much "leg-pulling.” He had made a careful study of the topography and antiquities of Limerick, and misstatements, usually deliberate, I fear, regarding the streets and bridges of the city, invariably elicited from him a vigorous and uncompromising correction. On such occasions you took your life in your hands, for when the interests of truth were at stake, Fr. Kane gave no quarter. His previous legal training manifested itself in the cross-questioning to which he subjected you on apparently unimportant details connected with some incident you were relating. Or again, if you proposed some problem calling for lengthy explanation, you might expect to be served with sheets-usually the backs of envelopes-filled with facts, references, charts, etc., more or less undecipherable.
But these foibles of the “old Judge”, as we loved to call him, were but the surface of things. Beneath was the man of high intelligence, wide and deep culture, a gentleman in the full meaning of Newman's analysis of that term, a religious in accordance with the Institute of the Society. Of the virtues with which he was adorned I shall mention but one, the greatest of all, namely his charity. Fr. Kane was a man of strong character and convictions ; yet though I have lived with him for over twenty years, I cannot recall having ever heard him say an unkind word of anyone, or speak with disparagement either of his religious brethren, or of the general body of the clergy or laity, or of men in public life. Eternal rest and light to his soul; and may God continue to bless our Province with men endowed with the eminent talents and solid piety of Fr. William Kane.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father William Kane 1856-1945
Fr William Kane, the third of the famous Jesuit trio of the Kanes, was commonly known as “The Judge” for the fact that he had been a judge in Nigeria before entering the Society.

Born in Dublin on January 11th 1856, he received his early education at Stonyhurst and The Oratory Birmingham. At rthe suggestion of Newman, he studied Law at Trinity College Dublin, taking his BA and LLD degrees. He was called to the Irish Bar in1879, and ten years later to the English Bar. Meanwhile he held the post of Chief Justice iun Lagos Nigeria. In 1891 he became a Jesuit.

He professed the short course at Milltown for two years, and then in 1901 he went to Mungret, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was so long there that he became a symbol of the place, being especially dear to generations of Apostolics to whom he professed philosophy for so long.

He was a man of deep, one might almost say rigid religious conviction, a scholar and a gentleman, in the full meaning of Newman’s definition of that term. He was never known to criticise anybody publicly though he could inveigh with vehemence what he thought was improper or incorrect.

As Spiritual Father his Triduum to the scholastics at Christmas was always on the Three Wise Men, and especially on the mysterious star. Indeed, more often than not, like the Wise Men, he used lose the guiding star of his discourse.

Active up to the last two years of his life, he passed on to his reward on July 19th 1945, after a strenuous life of faithful service.

Fr Kane’s Memento for the Living was always made at length and aloud, and included even those in high places with whom he disagreed in politics. It is hoped that his many pupils all over the world will remember him in their Memento for the Dead.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1926

Mungret Jubilee

Father William V Kane SJ

It is twenty-five years since Father William Kane was placed on the staff of Mungret College, and since then his connection with the School has been practically continuous. It would be very ungracious - to say the least.. to let such an anniversary pass without some acknowledgment.

Fr Kane has given to Mungret the service of a quarter of a century. He has expended generously, without counting the cost, his talent and energy; he has laboured long and unselfishly in a field where the sower does not. always-nor often-see his harvest. For some years past he has not been teaching the Intermediate classes, and thus has not been in direct contact with the Lay School. He no longer plays the games - “old boys” wlio are not yet too venerable will remember how steadily he batted in Community matches and whát a dangerous man he was at point - but he has still the deepest interest in all that concerns the Lay School.

But his principal work has been done in the Apostolic School. For over fifteen years as the chief teacher of Philosophy, he has been the constant and principal influence in the intellectual and professional training of the Apostolics; and scarcely less considerable has been the influence he has exerted by his activity and interest in the debates and academies.

The Philosophers have been not merely his pupils; they have also been his friends. They write to him from all parts of the world, from All Hallows, Dalgan, Genoa, Rome - if they are at their studies : from America, South Africa, Australia, India, China, where they are at work on the mission. It is scarcely an injustice to anyone to say that for the great majority of the Apostolics who have passed through Mungret since 1900, Fr Kane is the figure that first springs to their mind at the mention of their “Alma Mater”. He is the one figure, too, that they have been certain to find before them when they came back on a visit. Rectors and Moderators have come and gone, but Fr Kane was permanent.

His work for the “Mungret Annual” can not be left unmentioned. He has been connected with it as Editor or Manager for nearly twenty years. What it has cost him in time and worry and labour, only those can guess who have some experience of such work.

The service which Fr Kane has given for 25 years to Mungret is not the service which men usually notice and reward; but there is One Who seeth in secret and will repay. And in the meantime, the “Mungret Annual”, which owes so much to him, speaking for the authorities of the College and expressing the sentiments of his many Mungret pupils and friends, in Ireland and in other countries, wishes to make here a simple acknowledgineot of esteem for his character and of gratitude for his services. May he be long spared to give himself to God's work

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1946

Obituary

Father William V Kane SJ

The death of Father William Kane, I which took place on July 19th, 1945, has broken a golden link with Mungret's glorious past, and taken from amongst us a saintly priest whose personality and influence are closely entwined with generations of Mungret's alumni, priests and laymen, both at home and in distant lands.

Father William Kane was born in Dublin on January 11th, 1856. He was a nephew of the celebrated scientist, Sir Robert Kane, FRS, and first cousin of Rear Admiral Sir Henry Kane, world-famous as commander of HMS “Calliope”, which, by his skill he saved from destruction in a tornado that swept over Apia Harbour, Samoa, on March 17th, 1889. Having completed his secondary education at Stonyhurst College and at the Oratory School, Birmingham, then under the direction of Newman, he studied law at Trinity College, Dublin, taking out his degrees of BA, and LLD. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1879. In 1888 he accompanied Sir James Marshall to the Niger Territories as a Junior Judge, and subsequently succeeded Sir James as Chief Justice. He resigned this post in 1889; and on his return to Europe, was called to the English Bar. Two years later he joined the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus, of which two of his brothers, Fathers Robert and Patrick Kane were already members. He studied Philosophy at Jersey and Theology at Milltown Park, Dublin. He was ordained priest in 1898, and made his solemn profession in 1909.

Having spent two years at Milltown Park as Professor of Theology, Father Kane joined the staff of Mungret College in 1901. With the exception of his year of tertianship at Tronchiennes, another year as Professor of Philosophy at Milltown Park, and a short period of parochial duty at Llandrindod Wells after the death of his brother, Father Patrick, Father Kane was a member of the Mungret community until his death last July. He taught in the secondary school and in the classes preparing for the Arts and BA degree examinations of the Royal University, and was Editor of the “Mungret Annual” for several years.

But the greater part of Father Kane's life in Mungret was devoted as Professor of Philosophy to the intellectual and professional training of the students of the Apostolic School. A man of keen and subtle intelligence, and profoundly versed in many recondite branches of knowledge - Theology, Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics - he was fully competent to deal with the great problems of Metaphysics, and to appreciate their bearing and influence on other sciences. As a result, Father Kane imparted to his pupils a thorough grasp of first principles, as well as habits of clear and orderly thinking. To his training was due, in no small measure, the success achieved in Rome, Louvain and other. centres of theological study, by Mungret men, so many of whom gained the highest academical distinctions, gratefully acknowledging the debt which they owed to Father Kane.

While devoted to Philosophy and Science, Father Kane at the same time took a prominent part in the activities of College life. He attended and spoke at the boys Debating Societies; and at House Concerts he delighted all by the verve and “go” with which he sang a Latin version of “Father O'Flynn”. He was a keen cricketer, fielding brilliantly at “Point” " with quick eye and sure hand. These manifold contacts with the everyday lives of his pupils, his sterling qualities, and his charming if uncompromis ing personal character, endeared him to all, When past Mungret students from distant parts of the globe revisited their Alma Mater, one of their principal objects was to meet Father Kane and talk over old times, with him.

Advancing age at length obliged Father Kane to retire from active life. During the placid evening of his days, spent at Mungret under the devoted care of Nurse Corrigan, the College Matron, Father Kane maintained his interest in the many depart ments of learning of which he had obtained so thorough a mastery. To the end he retained all his faculties unimpaired. Death came peacefully. On a quiet night during the summer holidays he passed to his eternal reward. RIP

JM SJ

Born: 15 October 1849, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 March 1868, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1885
Final Vows: 02 February 1889, Mungret College SJ Limerick
Died: 11 December 1918, Llandindrod Wells, Wales

Middle brother of Robert I - RIP 1929 and William V - RIP 1945
Cousin of Joseph McDonnell - RIP 1928

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1871 at Roehampton, London (ANG) studying
by 1873 At Vals, France (TOLO) studying
by 1883 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying
by 1888 at Drongen, Belgium (BELG) making Tertianship
by 1901 in Collège Sainte Famille, Cairo, Egypt (LUGD) Military Chaplain and Teacher
by 1904 at St Mary’s, Rhyl (ANG) working
by 1912 at Llandrindod, Wales (ANG) working

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :

Middle brother of Robert I - RIP 1929 and William V - RIP 1945
Like his brothers, he was of no ordinary talent. He studied Theology at St Beuno’s and was professor of Theology at Milltown.

He had taught at Clongowes and Mungret and was Spiritual Father at Galway. Later he was a Missioner at Tullabeg and an Operarius at Llandindrod Wells, Wales. He led a hardworking life in the latter until his death there 11 December 1918.

Under the heading “Spa’s Loss” the following appeared in a local paper after his death
“We regret sincerely to record the death of Father Patrick Kane, pastor of the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Ransom Llandindrod Wells, which occurred on Wednesday at Llandindrod Wells.
Father Kane was for some years working in the interests of the Catholic Mission in Wales at Rhyl, and came to Llandindrod Wells in November 1911. He took great pains to make himself proficient in the Welsh language, which he spoke very well. He was a diligent student of the literature history and antiquities of Wales, and for many years took and direct and personal interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the Principality. he was admitted by examination to the Bardic Circle, his title being ‘Maol Daffyd’.
The Welsh language was not the only one with which he was acquainted, for he was an accomplished linguist, and gave great joy to the Belgian refugees who were at one time entertained in Llandindrod Wells, by conducting services in their own tongue. In this an in many other ways he rendered signal service to those unfortunate people, who will always remember his great kindness to them.
Father Kane was a member of the Library Committee, but his tastes did not lie in the direction of public work. He laboured, as it were, in the dark, his gentle unassuming nature leading him to do his good work by stealth. Only those who have received the benefit of his services have any conception of the good he really did. In the poorest quarters of the town and district, where his activities were chiefly centred, he will be long and sincerely mourned, for he was in the best sense of the term both a spiritual and material Father to them.
Self-denial was the keynote of his existence. No genuine appeal was ever made to him in vain, and whatever his means, his heart was infinitely larger. There can be little doubt that the way in which he denied himself for the sake of others had a deleterious effect upon his health, and that i this respect he gave his life for others”.

Note from Robert I Kane Entry :
“Father Robert Kane SJ, well known as ‘the Blind Orator’ died at Milltown Park.... The son of William J Kane of Dublin and his wife Mary MacDonnell of Saggart ... he was a nephew of Sir Robert Kane, distinguished Irish scientist, author of “The Industrial Resources of Ireland”, and first cousin to the famous Admiral Henry Kane.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Patrick Kane 1849-1918
Fr Patrick Kane was one of three brothers, all of whom became Jesuits, each of whom were outstanding men, and each remarkable in his own way. Their father was Sir Robert Kane, eminent author of “The Industrial Resources of Ireland”, published in 1844. Patrick was born in Dublin on October 15th 1849, was educated at Clongowes and entered the Society in 1868.

During his theological studies at St Beuno’s Wales, he became interested in all things Welsh, the language, the customs, and especially the religious plight of the people. There was born in him the desire to devote his life to the conversion of Wales, an ambition he never lost sight of him his various offices in the Society, as a Master in Clongowes and Mungret, Spiritual Father in Galway, Professor of Theology at Milltown Park and Missioner at Tullabeg. He became proficient the Welsh languages.

Te reward of his steady application was seen in 1908, when in Tullabeg he underwent the searching examination lasting four hours, for the title of Bard. He was solemnly installed as Bard at the Eisteddfod at Llangollen the same year, taking the title Maol Dafydd, the Servant of David. He was the first priest ever to become a Bard. In 1911 he finally achieved his ambition and was appointed to Llandrindod Wells. Here he began a life truly apostolic in its nature, struggling against difficulties and apathy. He lived in poverty, refusing to accept help from home, giving of his own slender resources “in the poorer quarters of the town where his activities chiefly centred”.

“There cane be little doubt that the way in which he denied himself for the sake of others had a deleterious effect on his health, and that in this respect, he gave his life for others”. On his arrival there were 34 Catholics in the parish, and on his death he left behind his 100 Catholics, not a very imposing achievement in terms of numbers, but from the point of view of his own devotedness and self-dedication, precious in the sight of God, and enough to merit him the additional title “Apostle of Wales”.

He died on December 11th 1918, in the words of Fr MacErlean “A dreamer, if you like, but a dreamer whose dreams were of the extension of Christ’s Kingdom on earth”.

◆ The Clongownian, 1919

Obituary

Father Patrick Kane SJ

At Llandrindod Wells, in his adopted country, Father Patrick Kane passed away on the 11th of last December. He was one of three brother Jesuits, two of whom, Fathers Robert and William Kane, are still with us. Let us briefly tell the story of his life. Born in 1849 he went with his brother Robert to Clongowes in 1859. He was one of the comparatively few who have passed from Elements to Rhetoric, spending eight years in the College. He was then, as an affectionate pen has described him, “A good. humoured merry boy, without thought of care or worry, full of fun, witty, clever, healthy and hardy. He was fonder of walks and chats than of games, but in one game - stilts - he was the champion of the house and won many a famous victory.

In 1867 he was sent to TCD, but its uncongenial atmosphere was for him a veritable purgatory, and after a period of severe mental trial, he entered the Noviceship of the Society of Jesus at Milltown Park. On the completion of his studies he returned to Clongowes as prefect in 1875 and as master in the following year. This was destined to be his last stay at his old College.

In 1885, after studies at St Beuno's, North Wales, he was ordained. From that date until about 1901 he was, except for a period as chaplain at Cairo, engaged in teaching in various colleges of the Order in Ireland. We hardly care to attempt in so slight a sketch any picture of his personality, still less of his inward spiritual life. He was a man of highly ideal and intellectual disposition, so much so as to be habitually neglectful of outward material things. His manner, as all knew him will testify, was singularly gentle and refined. His nature was diffident and retiring. These few traits were obvious to all.

In 1903 came the first sign of hope that a certain aspiration which he had cherished for years might at last be ful filled. This aspiration was to devote his life to the conversion of Wales. He had convinced himself that the Welsh people had never deliberately given up the Faith it had perished from their midst for lack of preachers and teachers, for Wales had been left with out a priesthood. In 1903 he was sent ito Rhyl, North Wales, and profited by the chance to acquire a speaking knowledge of the language which for nearly twenty years he had been secretly studying. But the final fulfilment of his hopes was to be deferred for many a year yet. It was not till 1911 that his holy dream came true. He was given the small Welsh mission of Llandrindod Wells, and there the remainder of his life was to be spent.

Some years before going to Wales he had passed the difficult examination - it included Welsh literature, history, antiquities, and music - for the highest Welsh literary degree, that of Bard, and our readers will remember a portrait of him, dressed in his flowing Bardic robes, which appeared in our pages. Henceforth he was Welsh in heart and soul and to the end never waveredd in his allegiance.

Father Patrick's manner of life in Llandrindod may be gathered from a letter written shortly after his death to his brother, Father Robert, by Father Matthew Power SJ.

All the time I was with him he was living or dying on semi-starvation fare and would brook no expostulation from me or anybody else. With the coming of the Belgian refugees to Mid Wales, his labours increased tenfold. Rising at five be very often went without breakfast to mid-day. No housekeeper could stand his irregularity at his so-called meals. He was dying on bis feet and in the train of lack of sleep and food. His only recreation was to meet his fellow-bards at tbeir annual Eistedfodd. His enthusiasm for Wales and her people and her literature was boundless, and his hopes for her conversion irrepressible, I have seen him in a procession of the Blessed Sacrament on the open road, surrounded by not more than twenty Catholics. I have beard him preach in “too literary Welsh”, as natives said, to these people in his little church and to four adults and twenty children in tbe public street in English. On Sunday he addressed two sermons to his flock, one in English and the other in good French - and excellent touches they were. Always tired, he never admitted it or ever gave in. Heart and soul he was with the Welsh, not the Irish or English. The land of his adoption and its reclamation from its heresy were the be-all and the end-all of his devoted life. Some of his converts, as always happens, proved unsatisfactory, but he never lost faith in them. Truly his was a consecrated life, passed in every kind of hardship, and hidden with the hiddenness of the Saints of God. Like me, Father William Kane remonstrated with him but to no effect. He would spend himself and be spent on his apostolic mission, fruitful or unfruitful. Little did the Welsh know who was among them toiling and praying for their salvation. Nothing about Wales ever dispirited him and nothing out of Wales ever interested him. His own Irish boy-pupil was a laggard in the study of Welsh. He never gave him up, but pegged away at his dreary tuition. It was plain to all that he could not long stand a life like this.... I dread to ask about his flock and the Church of Our Lady of Ransom. I fear they are, indeed, Shepherdless. I know Wales pretty well and feel that his gain of life has left them very poor indeed. I should like to know if you can find time to tell me the circumstances of the death of this man of God and the place of his burial. I trust be sleeps where he worked and prayed on that barren soil...,. You may remember me as an old boy of yours.
Yours respectfully in Xt,

M Power SJ

It was in October of last year that disquieting news of Father Kane's health began to come from Llandrindod. Father William went over to Wales and had his brother be moved to a private hospital. Towards the end of November the third brother, Father Robert, went across to see the invalid and the two Jesuit brothers who, from early youth, had been twin spirits united by the deepest affection and sympathy, were together for the last time. The end came unexpectedly while both his brothers were far away. It was not only the members of his tiny flock that followed his remains to the grave: a very large number of non-Catholic fellow-townsmen mourned him sincerely.

Writers in non-Catholic newspapers vied with one another in generous tributes to his memory. They spoke of his gentle unassuming nature, his widespread unobtrusive charity doing good by stealth, of the love he inspired in the poor, his utter self-denial, his entire devotion to his life-work for Wales.

Reluctantly we close here this scant record of a noble life.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Patrick Kane (1849-1919)

Younger brother of Father Robert Kane (v. infra), was born in Dublin and entered the Society in 1868. He was ordained at the theologate of the English Province in 1885. Father Kane spent two periods as master at the Crescent, 1879-82 during his regency and again in 1909-11. He was sometime lecturer in philosophy and theology at Milltown Park. Father Kane, though a man of very high intellectual gifts, had little aptitude for teaching. His bent lay in the direction of missions and retreats. As a result of a mission given in Wales, he resolved to work permanently amongst the Welsh people and at the age of fifty-two set about the task of learning the Welsh language. His success was such that he received the Welsh bardic distinction. From 1911 until his death he laboured in apostolic poverty at Llandrindod Wells

Born: 29 March 1848, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 03 November 1866, Milltown Park, Dublin
Ordained: 1880, Laval, France
Final Vows: 02 February 1888, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin
Died: 21 November 1929, Milltown Park, Dublin

Oldest brother of T Patrick - RIP 1918 and William V - RIP 1945
Cousin of Joseph McDonnell - RIP 1928

Early education at Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1869 at Amiens, France (CAMP) studying
by 1870 at Roehampton, London (ANG) studying
by 1875 at Vals, France (TOLO) studying
by 1877 at Laval, France (FRA) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Oldest brother of T Patrick Kane SJ - RIP 1918 and William V Kane SJ - RIP 1945

Paraphrase/Excerpts“Irish Catholic” :
“Father Robert Kane SJ, well known as ‘the Blind Orator’ died at Milltown Park.... The son of William J Kane of Dublin and his wife Mary MacDonnell of Saggart ... he was a nephew of Sir Robert Kane, distinguished Irish scientist, author of “The Industrial Resources of Ireland”, and first cousin to the famous Admiral Henry Kane. He received his early education at Clongowes (1859-1864) and Ushaw (1864-1866).

After First Vows he went to St Acheul and then Roehampton for studies. He then spent three years Regency at Clongowes teaching Classics, and then back to France at le Mans, then two years Philosophy at Laval and followed by three years Theology and he was Ordained in 1880. Ill health forced him back to Ireland where he finished his Theology.
When the Philosophical school was opened at Milltown in 1881 he was appointed Professor of Physics and Ethics, which due to failing sight he was forced to abandon after a couple of years. He made his Tertianship at Roehampton and was then sent to Gardiner St. for two years and where he made his Final Vows. Then the Theology faculty was opened in 1889, and in spite of his disability, he was appointed Professor, and again after three years he had to abandon this post due to poor sight.
He remained at Milltown after he finished as professor, with the exception of two years at Crescent (1901-1903). He now devoted himself to the ministry of Preaching, Confessing and giving Retreats. Though totally blind for almost 30 years he would not abandon work. His strong and determined character would not consider a life of inaction or repose. He was fifty-six when he started teaching Philosophy and an oculist told him his eyes would not stand the strain, but he went ahead anyway. Instead, knowing blindness would come, he resolved to acquire a thorough knowledge of Philosophy and Theology, a store on which he would have to draw in the future. In the darkness of his blindness he sat composing his sermons and committing them to memory. He was then continuously sought after as a Preacher both in Ireland and England. His style was florid and rhetorical, but the matter was solid and profound. He could make dry scholastic argument live by the touch of his poetic mind.
Although blind he was able to prepare many works for publication, ad so he kept working right until the end. His last illness lasted 10 days and he died peacefully at Milltown.
Shortly before his death the Senate of the National University of Ireland notified him that they intended to confer the Degree ‘Doctor of Literature’ on him, in recognition of his published work.”

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 5th Year No 2 1930
Obituary :
Fr Robert Kane
Fr. Robert Kane ended his long and heroic life at Milltown Park, Dublin, on Thursday Nov. 21st. 1919. Fighting a battle against blindness for 40 years, and during all that time preaching sermons, many of them on great occasions, giving retreats, writing books, travelling alone through a crowded city, going on long missionary journeys, surely all that lifts a man's life to the heroic level. And such was the life of Fr. Robert Kane.

He was born in Dublin on the 29th March 1848, His first school was the Loreto Convent, N. Gt. Georges St, in which street his family then lived. He spent a short time at a school in Gloucester St., then for a year was with the Carmelites in Lr. Dominick St., another year at Newbridge, went to Clongowes in 1859, and finally to Ushaw in 1864 where he put in two years. When at Clongowes he began to think of joining the Society. At that time he was a Ward of Court, under the authority of the Lord Chancellor, and the change to Ushaw was, possibly, to test his vocation. He remained firm and entered the Novitiate at Milltown Park on the 3rd. Nov. 1866. He went to St. Acheul for his juniorate, where, on his 21st birthday, 29th March 1869, he took his vows. A second year's juniorate, spent at Roehampton, followed, and then Clongowes for three years teaching 1st Grammar and Poetry.
It was during these three years that his eyesight, in consequence of a neglected cold, first became affected. A distinguished Dublin oculist, a protestant, told him that he would eventually lose his sight, that he would he unable for a life of severe study, and suggested settling down in the country to farm land. Fr. Kane went to our College at Le Mans instead, and put in a year as lower line prefect.
Next came philosophy, two years at Vals, and a third at Laval. On his way to Vals he got leave to visit Lourdes, and he ever afterwards believed that the result of the visit was a special grace that enabled his eyesight to hold out during the long years of severe Jesuit study. Theology followed immediately - three years at Laval, (at the end of them came the expulsion
from our houses in France), the fourth year was passed in private study at Clongowes. Fr. Kane was ordained in the Cathedral at Laval on the 8th Sept. 1880, travelled to Dublin and said his first Mass at St Francis Xaviers, Gardiner St. on the feast of the Dolours BVM.
Those who made their studies at Laval will remember the excellent custom of having a long sleep to 5am during the minor vacation. Fr. Kane would not avail of this privilege. Up at 4am., and, when the morning devotions were over, pounded hard in his room until 11.45. On Villa days there was a forced march of some 40 or 50 miles. On getting back to Ireland
this too strenuous work was increased rather then lessened. People say that he burned the candle at both ends.
However the studies were get through without serious mishap. From issi to 1991 the 1883 the philosophers of Milltown had him as one of their professors and their immediate Superior. In the latter year tertianship was commenced at Milltown, but did not last long, the eyes were getting ominously bad, and for nearly two years he was laid up partly at Milltown, partly at Dusseldorf. In 1885, all the Catalogue says about him is “Cur Val”. In 1886-87 he made his tertianship at Roehampton, and when it was over went to Gardiner St., remained there for two years and then returned to Milltown as professor of the “Short Course”. He held this position for three years, but the eyes seem to be getting slowly, steadily worse, and by 1892 his energies were confined to “Exam. NN., Trad. exerc. spir., conf. ad jan”. From that date he remained at Milltown until his death, with the exception of two years spent at the Crescent, Limerick . Limited space inexorably compels to postpone a further sketch of Fr. Kane's life to the June number.

Irish Province News 5th Year No 3 1930

Obituary : Fr Robert Kane continued

Up to about the year 1901, Fr. Kane was still able, under favourable circumstances, to read his own manuscripts, large, heavy writing. But about that date the sight failed completely. He became stone blind.
It was then that the heroism of the man asserted itself. He did not lie down under the weight of his heavy cross. He continued to preach, to give lectures, retreats, to move about the country on missionary journeys. And he prepared all his discourses with the upmost care. At first sight this would seem impossible, but with the help of a secretary, and the aid of the more than willing scholastics of Milltown, the work was done.
Fr. Kane's style of preaching had many ardent admirers and many very severe critics, He was quite alive to this fact, and defends himself as follows : “I frankly and most willingly admit that there are able and admirable men who don't quite approve of my style of preaching. To them, and to all those who share their views, I offer my “Apologia”. I never for a moment thought my style is the only good style, nor did I ever fancy that it is the best style. My position is this : My style is the best style for me, and for those amongst my audience whose character and sympathies are like my own.
“Nothing is too good, too beautiful, to he the living shrine of the living Word. The inspired practice of the Church has been always, when this is possible, to build her grand Cathedrals., her humble pretty Chapels for her King to dwell therein. No gold is too pure, no precious stones too costly or too brilliant to enshrine His Precious Blood, no silk too fine, no lace too delicate to adorn His Altar or its ministers. So, too, no oratory is too elevated, or too touching, or too beautiful to be the medium of His teaching or His appeal.
This is true of the personal character of the Priest, as he is Christ's Preacher. To his Divine work, the individual Priest must put all the thinking of his mind, the knowledge of his study, the care of his writing, the accuracy and finish of his speech, the power and attraction of his voice, the fitness, the reverence and the subdued sacredness of good taste in gesture. In all this the Priest must he himself, his very own best self. This is my ideal, and I have tried to realise it in myself.”
The depth of Fr. Kane's holiness has been, fortunately, revealed to us by a little book, a few copies of which were distributed on the occasion of his Diamond Jubilee. It consists of a collection of prayers composed by himself. The prayer for patience occupies just six pages of that book. Though he does not say so, it is quite obvious that his own heavy cross was pressing on him, and the prayer tells us how he bore it. Only a few lines of those six pages can be given : “Jesus Christ, my God and my Redeemer, I accept my cross as a result of my own folly, ignorance, or obstinacy, as a result chosen or permitted by Thy Supreme Will. I accept it as a punishment inflicted by Thine Absolute Justice, As a keepsake sent from Thy Sacred Heart; As the Sign of the Cross upon my life; As a moulding of my life into a likeness of Thine own life. I accept it in union with Thine own most bitter Passion, and in union with the Dolours of Thine own most Blessed Mother. I accept it with unquestioning resignation, with thanksgiving, with gratitude for Thy goodness to me and mine, in reparation for my faults and sins”. He confided to a friend, that it costs him years of struggle to say this prayer with his whole heart. The “Prayer of a Religious” is very striking. Again no mention of himself, and again quite obvious that he is unconsciously laying bare his heart . He thanks God for the “inestimable grace of vocation”, for God's “mysterious mercy”, in keeping him true to that vocation, and then, in impassioned words, begs for the grace to he faithful to that vocation in life and in death. Those who can speak with certain knowledge tell us of his tender devotion to Our Blessed Lady, from boyhood. Of course the “Few Special Prayers” contains prayer to the “Virgin Mother”. But there is scarcely a prayer in the book in which Mary is not called on with tender devotion and absolute confidence. Fr. Kane was very honest when telling us of the praise or blame meted out to him during life. Surely he was not less honest when dealing heart to heart, with God, and these Special Prayers tell us how he dealt. His piety did not lie on the surface, but every page of that book reveals the true Jesuit, the real, genuine A “Man of God”
During his period of total blindness Fr. Kane prepared for the press and published the following : “The Eucharist”; “From Peter to Leo”; The Virgin Mother”; “The Sermon of the Sea and other Stories”; “Socialism”; “The Plain Gold Ring:’ “Good Friday to Easter Sunday”; “God or Chaos”; “From Fetters to Freedom”; “Worth”; “A dream of Heaven and other Discourses”. A poem of his “From out the Darkness” appeared in the Irish Monthly, October 1885, 1885, that gives a good idea of his character.
Shortly before his death, the Senate of the National University notified him that they intended to confer the degree of Doctor of Literature on him in recognition of his published work.
We are again indebted to Fr. P. Gannon for the following appreciation It appeared in the : Standard” 1of Nov. 30th. :
After Fr. Finlay, Fr. Kane, and another link is snapped with the ecclesiastical Ireland of the last half century. Much more, too, than his younger colleague did Fr. Kane pertain to that past. The final years of blindness naturally lessened contact with men and passing events.
Yet Fr. Kane refused to be alone, or to be severed from the world of men. He did not retire to his tent embittered and inactive. He came of a fighting race and continued the good fight, as he saw it, with a gallantry well nigh heroic. He reminded one a good deal of an abbé of the ancient régime - perhaps because so much of his education was received in France. He had the dignity and stately courtesy of older times. His appearance in the pulpit suggested even a prophet of the Old Testament - The handsome face, the flowing beard, the voice, rich and sonorous till age weakened it, the gestures graceful and impressive, the moral earnestness, the air of conviction of this sightless seer caught the attention and stirred the imagination of his listeners. These external characteristics, united with a genuine gift of eloquence which he had cultivated with his wonted thoroughness and assiduity, made him perhaps the most distinguished pulpit orator in Ireland for a whole generation. Loss of sight, making its insidious approach from early manhood gradually forced him to relinquish the professor's chair, for which he was highly qualified, and compelled him to devote all his energies to the pulpit and the lecture platform. He became “the blind orator”, widely familiar as such throughout Ireland and Great Britain, and rarely has success been more nobly won. The style of his oratory is less in harmony with the taste of to-day, and never lacked its critics. It is studied, self-conscious and somewhat artificial. It abounds in antitheses, alliteration, and elaborate cadences, which would have earned for him the reproach of Asianism among the ancients. His very dedication to his art, so admirable under the circumstances, rendered him a victim to its wiles, which are not without their seduction. The loving care which he devoted to his periods robs them too often of naturalness and spontaneity.
But when criticism has had its say, it remains true that he was a very polished, impressive and at times even great preacher, who exercised an undoubted spell upon crowded congregations for almost fifty years, and has left eleven volumes of sermons and lectures to perpetuate his fame.
They are, perhaps, a little too rhetorical, but they are not mere rhetoric, They are informed by a sound knowledge of theology, and philosophy, and give evidence of an earlier literary formation which an almost phenomenal memory kept at his disposal even to the end. This would be no mean achievement for any man, and for him, with his tragic handicap, was a triumph of will-power and brain-power which none can fail to admire.
Indeed we may say that, though he preached frequently and eloquently, the noblest sermon of all was just his life-long fight against disabilities that would have daunted the courage of any heart less resolute than his, or less stayed on God. For the secret of his strength was just an unwavering faith in “HIM who rules the whole”.
His cousin, the admiral, rescued the Calliope from a storm in southern seas in which all others perished. Father Kane saved the vessel of his own career from similar shipwreck by moral seamanship not less wonderful. In addition to his activity in the pulpit he was an assiduous giver of retreats to priests, religious and laymen, He was also a very popular and trusted confessor, and the director of many souls. Many still remain who will mourn hint and miss the cheery tones inculcating courage and confidence all the more persuasively because coming from one who had never failed to exemplify these virtues in his own sorely tried life.
Fr. William Kane once asked Fr. Robert, by letter which of his sermons or sets of lectures did he himself prefer. The reply was a straight and as honest as the passage in which he gives us the criticisms of those who disliked his style of preaching : “The dearest to me of all my writings is my set of lectures on “the Virgin Mother”. They are the realisation of a long cherished hope. They are inferior from a literary point of view to many other sermons and lectures which I have written , yet, as I told you once, I want to have a copy of them put in my coffin. The sermon on Dr. Nulty was the greatest triumph which I have achieved. The fierce feud between the Parnellites and anti-Parnellites, the rancour of anti-clerics, with many other causes, made the occasion one of almost unparalleled difficulty. To my own mind it appears that I never got so near the highest oratory, as in the way in which I approached the subject, marshalled my materials, interested my audience, and won their sympathy for my hero before they were conscious of it, brought his enemies to lay down their arms, brought his friends to be generous towards their opponents. and left the feud buried with the great old Bishop. That will sound very conceited, but it is not really so, I had prayed with the most intense earnestness, and I relied exclusively on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Against the entreaties of my greatest friends and those whose wisdom I esteemed most highly, I neither asked nor took advice. I let my own thought and feeling follow implicitly the inspiration which I knew l had a right to claim from God in the doing of His work.
“Good Friday to Easter Sunday” puzzles me. On the one hand, it is my natural expression of my most intense reverence and feeling, and, as far as I can look upon it coolly and impartially, it seems to me very good literature, as far as my own personal style goes , but, on the other hand, it falls so immeasurably below its subject, that 1 should wish to to rewrite almost every sentence of it, but 1 know and feel that if I were writing and re-writing it for ever I should always remain dissatisfied.
If you find all this too long and too egoistic, you have only got yourself to blame for asking an imprudent question”.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Robert Kane 1848-1929
Fr Robert Kane, well known as the “Blind Orator”, died at Milltown Park on November 21st 1929. He was born in Dublin on March 29th 1848, brother of two other famous Jesuits, Frs Patrick and William. He was a nephew of the renowned scientist Sir Robert Kane, and a firsst cousin of Admiral Henry Kane.

Fr Robert entered the Society in 1866, and he professed Philosophy at Milltown Park, a post he had to relinquish owing to weak sight. On the opening of the Theological faculty at Milltown in 1889, he was appointed to a chair there from Gardiner Street, in spite of his defective sight. Again, after three years he had to give up. From 1889 he resided at Milltown Park, apart from two years at the Crescent.

During all those 37 years he devoted himself to preaching and giving retreats. Though totally blind for 30 years, he never ceased working for God.

At the beginning of his philosophical studies he had been warned that his eyes could not stand the strain of study. Yet he persisted, and he refused to renounce his vocation. Knowing the affliction that would ultimately come upon him, he laid up a store of learning in the Sacred Sciences, that never failed him during his years of darkness.

He was in continual demand as a pulpit orator, both in England and Ireland. His style eas florid and rhetorical, but the matter was solid and profound. It was during this long night of the soul that he prepared for the press those numerous volumes of his including “Sermon on the Sea”, “God or Chaos” and “Socialism”. Thus he kept working up to the very end.

The character and determination displayed by him iin overcoming his handicap, and the vast amount of good he accomplished for religion, are a lasting and inspiring example to all Jesuits.

◆ The Clongownian, 1927

The Past

Father Robert Kane SJ

We take this opportunity of offering to Fr Robert Kane our very sincere felicitations on the celebration of his Diamond Jubilee in the Society, in November last.

His service in the good cause has not been that of those who stand and wait. Through forty long years of the darkness he himself has suffered he has continually upheld the torch to light the way for others. In the pulpit, in the confessional, with the pen, he has laboured with un rernitting vigour, with undaunted courage, with a vision before his eyes which is denied to many who look upon the beauties of this world. Only last year his most recent book, “The Unknown Force”, was reviewed in the “Clongownian”, while large as is the number of his published works, the body of his unpublished work, sermons, lec tures and addresses of various kinds, is greater still. Thus, even in his eightieth year, is his sword not rusted.

Contre mauvaise forturte bon coeur is a motto which Fr Kane will recognise, should these words come to his ears. Courage is the word which seems most effectively to sum up his character and his outlook. His is a courage in the truest and highest sense of the word, a courage which finds its strength in God, and which, relying on Him, has fought its way through black difficulties which most men can but dimly guess at.

◆ The Clongownian, 1930

“My Star” (Ave Maris Stellis)

Father Robert Kane SJ

Hid in tumultuous gloom, the winds made war
On the sad sea, which, wild with pain and white
With terror, leaped from the storm's stroke to height
Of cloud ; then stunned, fell moaning back afar
Down to vague chasms. Forth flashed forked fire to mar
Death's sacred horror with its demon light,
When, through the gale, the gloom, the rage, the night,
Appeared a lull, a gleam, a hope, a star.

Thus did a storm of sorrow , my day
In tangled violence of woe, that tore
My heart with wreck and havoc. But the gray
Grim tempest fled in scattered drift before
My star, and, as its mutterings died away,
The waves still sobbing, smiled and slept once more.

Written by the late Father Robert Kane, S.J.. and first published in “The Irish Monthly”, May, 1896,

-oOo-

Obituary

Father Robert Kane SJ

Nowhere ought the memory of Father Robert Kane be enshrined with more reverent care than in “The Clongownian”. Father Kane was the soul of loyalty to the College, and represented the best type of its sons. From nature he had received striking gifts, but to Clongowes he owed very much of their development and of his life-long characteristics in mind and manners. Holy, priestly, learned, a cultured gentleman-such he was in gerin when in his eighteenth year he left the College walls to enter the novitiate of the Society of Jesus; such he was when he returned thither to form the minds and tastes of another generation of Clongowes' boys; such he was in fullest development when, on Whitsunday, 1914, in the new chapel, he hailed with enthusiastic eloquence the joyful occasion of the College centenary. He was proud of Clongowes, and Clongowes has had good reasons to be proud of him.

Undoubtedly, other influences also moulded him into what he became. Of his early surrender of himself to the Society of Jesus I will not speak, save to recall that it was followed by sixty-two years of unwavering loyalty. He spent altogether nine years in France. There his mind was trained to the orderly and disciplined habits that go to make the clear thinker and the thoroughly Catholic theologian, and that in other ways too help to render life successful and beautiful. But he was too much of an Irishman to like everything he met in France. I think he sensed there a certain narrowness and rigidity which repelled him and which made him throughout life to use a French expression something of a “rondeur” a ready critic of what he thought impostures, and a tendency (controlled, no doubt) to be “agin the government”. He was not always patient with the failures of other people to reach the high ideals he had conceived as to life's conduct; and his refined idealism, combined with a quick wit and a cultivated power of epigrammatic expression, were not gifts calculated to win him unvarying popularity. One thing they would have done, combined with his strong intellect and eager ...ness as a student-that was to make him a brilliant professor. He was beginning to find himself thoroughly, it seemed, as an exponent and disputant in theology or philosophy. But it was not so to - continue at least not in the obvious way.

And so. We come to the last great formative influence in his career. This was his blindness. Induced by whatever causes - imprudence on the part of others, or imprudence in his own application to study - this dread affliction fell upon Father Robert in the prime of his manhood, came as a death-in-life when he was beginning to add to the successes of a gifted professor those of a popular preacher, when, too, he was physically full of a still-juvenile activity. A harder trial could not easily be imagined. Inexorably the shades of i night crept on, while hope after hope faded out, the long succession of forty-three years began to build round the sufferer an ever-closer prison of darkness and repression. No longer could he pick out from their shelves and skin through at will the great tomes that were his chief nental food, no longer stride forthi at four miles an hour to drink in the beauty of mountain Or sea, no longer wander freely through the pictured pages of poet or novelist or essayist.

Yet it was a wonderful proof of his elasticity and resource that he made life for himself so livable in a simply natural way as he did. He was astonishing, even in his completely blind days, as a walker, a skater, a swimmer, a diver, In such recreations he often proved his light-hearted courage in feats that left onlookers open-mouthed. But better than all this was his victorious battle against idleness and uselessness. Early he acquired the habit - afterwards so marked a feature of his career, and his success - of composing sermons and other discourses in his mind not in a vågue or haphazard fashion, but with complete grasp of the whole and the parts, and with exacting choice of every word. {In his published volumes one notices with regret that his inability to revise printers' proofs has often played false with this text). He could then dictate without pause the finished discourse to whatever scribe presented himself or was sent to him by Superiors.

In and above this activity there was something greater than a merely natural force of heroism. The supernatural was needed - and it was there. A temperament that might have been drawn, too violentīy to love of the external world, an abundance of gifts that might have proved intoxicating all these were secured for the highest aims by those angels of Providence that bring at once the chalices of pain and the mystic words of strengthening. Not only of the Greatest of Sufferers has it been written : “And, being in an agony, he prayed the longer”, but also of many a weak human follower. Robert Kane prayed long and well in his cell of darkness, and strength from above was given to him.

It was my good fortune to live on somewhat intimate terms with him during two of the earlier years of his great calamity, when, kept within a shuttered room and plagued with useless drugs, he was still encouraged to keep up the hope that sight would one day again be his. His patience and good humour were uniform. Sometimes he varied graver occupations with verse-making. His fastidiousness as a poet was all that one might expect from such a writer of prose. He anused himself with polishing and refining. I can recall how long he wavered between “whin” and “gorse” as the fitting word for a certain line of a certain sonnet. I wonder does that sonnet - or do others of his poems - survive in accessible form? I made no copies for myself - in those days, of course, carbon copies were a thing undreamt of. But my memory retains something of the most pathetic piece he dictated to me - a sonnet suggested by the first sense of despair as to his cure. It ended thus :

“My eyes shall light with joy no more
Until they look upon His face”.

But, throwing aside despair, he set himself to walk along his lightless way. He performed, during some forty-three years, work oratorical and literary that was, considering his difficulties, both in quantity and quality really astonishing. It had an immediate reward in great popular successes. As to its absolute and lasting value there may be, as there has always been, some difference of opinion. He showed himself a thoroughly-equipped philosopher and theologian - of that there need be no doubt. His literary expression he consciously and conscientiously worked up to the highest standards he knew of. He would rival Ruskin, Chateaubriand and all the literary florists in effectiveness and beauty of language. No flowers were too brilliant to set before the altar of Truth. At the same time he detested along with boldness of expression and commonplace simplicity, the exclusion of emotion, even passion, from religious art - whether music, oratory, or any other. All such negations he anathematized as puritanism, Jansenism, pharisaism. Not going into the deeper questions thus raised, I will merely say that these views of Fr Robert's had for their literary result a deliberate letting loose of emotion, a warmth (or heat) of language and an accumulation of ornament which did not win the admiration of all hearers or readers; and which in some respects such as the abuse of alliteration will be defended by few persons of good taste.

Many, undoubtedly, listened with more complete satisfaction to his less formal, less carefully prepared discourses such as those, for example, that he delivered, during a long series of years to the Students Sodality at University College, Dublin. No one was so frequently invited to help at its meetings, because no one was so surely trusted to please and to do good. Personally, I thought a little discourse of his on St Joseph delivered to that audience the most beautiful thing I ever heard spoken by him.

If there were only room for it, I should have liked to quote here, as a fine specimen of his fully-elaborated rhetorical passages, a piece which is'to be found at page 77 of the volume entitled “The Sermon of the Sea and other Studies”. Its theme is the Church as the friend of human intellectual effort.

Such a passage may well suggest to some of my readers that they have lost a good deal by not reading and studying Father Kane's books. To the more thoughtful, to the youth (for example), who is facing newly a world uncatholic and argumentative, one night suggest - as a first choice - the volume named “God or Chaos”. It was much admired by a school-fellow and unchanging friend of the author's, who was also a man of the keenest judgment - Chief Baton Palles. He said of it that though it seemed at first approach “deep” and “hard reading”, yet, when one read it slowly and thoughtfully, it is “very simple”. It has, in fact, the simplicity that belongs to clear and logical thought; it is a repertory of philosophical and theological argument clothed in a vivid and trenchant style.

Much else might be said concerning Father Kane. Here are set down merely the chief impressions and recollections of one among the many who cherish his memory. His soul is beyond concern for these human appreciations - perhaps already in bliss; still, let none of us forget him in prayer.

G O’N

◆ The Clongownian, 1941

Tribute

Father Robert Kane SJ

In the first four numbers of “Black and White”, a new magazine devoted to the cause of the blind in Eire, there appeared a series of articles on Father Robert Kane SJ, the great preacher and conferencier, familiarly known as the “Blind Doctor”, who died in 1929. These articles are from the pen of Fr Hugh Kelly SJ, and they give in eloquent and touching words the life story of that truly great Jesuit and loyal son of Clongowes. As an obituary notice of Fr Kane appeared in “The Clongownian” of 1930, it will not be necessary to do more than to recall briefly the main features of that wonderful life,

Fr Kane's blindness came upon him just when he felt himself facing his life's work and longing to do great things for The Master. In spite, however, of his great handicap he did the great things that he dreamt of, and did them with a success that he would hardly have attained had he not to face difficulties that would have daunted a less determined spirit. There was hardly an important occasion, or a great ecclesiastical function in Ireland during almost 30 years in which Fr Kane was not a prominent figure. Many will remember the truly eloquent sermon that he preached at the High Mass in our Chapel on the occasion of the Clongowes centenary. It was for him a great occasion, the greatest of his life, as he said, and he rose gloriously to it.

We trust that the purpose for which Black and White was started may be achieved, and we are glad that its earlier numbers are associated with the name of Fr Robert Kane. We are sure that now that he is in the presence of the Great Light he will not forget those, in Eire especially, who are enduring the great privation which he endured so long and so patiently, but will plead for them that they may be comforted, and perhaps relieved, in their hard lot. Certainly in Fr Robert Kane they will have a powerful advocate,

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Father Robert Kane (1848-1929)

The celebrated pulpit orator was stationed here from 1901 to 1903. He was educated at Newbridge, Clongowes and Ushaw and entered the Society in 1886. He made all his studies abroad chiefly in France and was ordained at Laval in 1880. He was for a time lecturer in philosophy and later, professor of theology at Milltown Park but had to relinquish these posts of responsibility because of failing eyesight. By 1901, when he arrived in Limerick, he had become totally blind. Yet in spite of this handicap, he was one of the most sought-after preachers for great occasions. And his eleven books of published sermons and lectures had a wide popularity in their day.

Born: 01 December 1878, Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand
Entered: 30 July 1909, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Final Vows 15 August 1920, St Aloysius, Sevenhill, Adelaide, Australia
Died: 28 June 1965, St Aloysius, Sevenhill, Adelaide, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

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
James Kane was educated by the Marist Brothers in Timaru until about the age of seventeen, when he joined a business firm. He worked for over ten years here and developed an accountant's skill with books and figures. He could do shorthand and typing, and was very good at adding up columns.
He went to Australia and entered the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 30 July 1909, but finished his noviciate at Tullabeg, Ireland, 1912. He spent a few years as cook at Greenwich, 1912-13 and 1924-27, and a few years at St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point, 1913-16, as sacristan and infirmarian. However, he spent the longest period of his Jesuit life at Sevenhill, 1928-65. For most of these years he was cook and infirmarian, but, like most of the brothers, he was also, at various times, assistant procurator and accountant, buyer and occupied in other domestic duties.
Kane was one of the old faithfuls of the Society He was a good musician, (playing the violin and cello), a poet and artist and, in his earlier days, a good boxer. He was tough physically and morally, and had a good sense of humour. He was a faithful religious, who suffered much from domineering superiors. However, he was always very obedient. He had extraordinary patience and humility particularly in his care of the sick. He left notes on some of the old Austrian brothers who worked at Sevenhill which have been helpful for the history of the province. He developed heart disease in his latter years, but continued working until the end.

Born: 28 December 1932, Mount Prospect Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1950, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1964, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 25 March 1968
Died: 05 February 2013, Eastern Hospital, Hong Kong - Sinensis Province (CHN)

Part of the Xavier House, Cheung Chau, Hong Kong community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to HK: 25 March 1968; HK to CHN 1992

Son of Thomas Kane and Eileen Fennell. Father was a Senior Officer with Dublin Corporation.

Only boy with one sister.

Educated at O’Connell’s school for three years, he then went to Belvedere College SJ for seven years.

by 1958 at Cheung Chau, Hong Kong - Regency studying language
by 1967 at Mount Street London (ANG) studying

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
A dignified missionary presence lost
A quiet, but dignified missionary presence was lost to Hong Kong on 5 February 2013 with the death of Jesuit Father Ciaran Finbarr Kane. He was 80 years old.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1932, he joined the Society of Jesus in 1950, graduating from the University College Dublin, now known as the National University of Ireland, before coming to Hong Kong in 1958. He was ordained a priest at the Jesuit house of Milltown Park, Ireland, on the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, on 31 July 1964. A talented and adaptable man, he taught at both Wah Yan Colleges, in Kowloon and Hong Kong, but in 1971 he became the founding chaplain at the Adam Schall Residence of the United College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he forged good relationships with both the administration and teaching staff until the university took over management of residence in 1994. A tribute from the current management of the college notes, “Throughout his distinguished affiliation with United College in the past decades, Father Kane has given invaluable advice and guidance to the development of the college. He was loved and respected by the college community; his dedication will be forever cherished.” During his time in Hong Kong, Father Kane was also on the staff of Star of the Sea parish in Chai Wan, but in 2004 he moved to the society’s retreat centre, Xavier House, in Cheung Chau, where he lived quietly as a spiritual director until 2012, touching the atmosphere within the walls and grounds with the serenity of a man of God. His other great love was music and he became the well-known voice of RTHK4 (Radio Television Hong Kong) presenting sacred music for its programme, Gloria.
The director of the Hong Kong City Chamber Orchestra paid tribute to Father Kane’s appreciation of the religious dimension of music last year, when he took part in a presentation of Johann Sebastian Bach by cellist, Artem Konstantinov. The musical presentation was interspersed with the words of Christ, read by Father Kane.
“It has been a pleasure to develop the idea of combining Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites with passages from the bible with both Father Ciaran Kane and Artem,” the director wrote at the time. “It has also been a thought-provoking task, for such a combination of scripture readings and unaccompanied music has never been done before worldwide, I imagine,” she continued. The newsletter also pays tribute to the artistic suggestions of Father Kane in creating a suitable atmosphere in the small chapel of St. Stephen’s College in Stanley, with candlelight and shadows. His broadcasting career saw him presenting both Catholic and ecumenical programmes, including Morning Prayers and a twice-weekly Midday Prayers, together with live broadcasts of Sunday religious services on a monthly basis. He is especially remembered for his tribute to fathers on a Fathers’ Day programme, featuring the music of Eric Clapton. He was a member of the Religious Broadcasting and Television Advisory Committee at RTHK and made the move to free-to-air television, taking part in discussions on the infant TVB on matters as diverse as Christmas and Easter, coverage of the visit of Pope Paul VI to Hong Kong in December 1970 and the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to usher in the Jubilee Year in 2000. His sister, Eileen Kane, said on 13 February at a vigil Mass in St. Margaret’s, Happy Valley, the evening before his funeral, that her brother had no other dream than to join the Jesuits. She related how she accompanied him to a talk given by a Jesuit priest when he was a young man, saying that from that day on, he was quite convinced he had found his true vocation and road in life. Father Kane died peacefully after being hospitalised for three weeks in Eastern Hospital. He was buried from St. Margaret’s on 14 February in St. Michael’s Happy Valley Cemetery.
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 24 February 2013

Note from Frank Doyle Entry
Father Ciaran Kane, from Xavier House in Cheung Chau, studied with him in high school in Ireland and they were again together in the Jesuit formation programme, coming to Hong Kong at about the same time. Father Kane described his old friend as charming and a man who made friends easily, although in many ways he could be called a loner, as he liked to do his own thing in his own way. Father Kane said that something changed in him in later years. In describing him as dapper, he noted that in his later years he become really casual and even grew a beard. “But he really loved writing,” Father Kane said, “and he was good at it. For many years after he went back to Ireland, he would return to Kuala Lumpur and do a month at the Catholic paper each year. He wrote many things.” Father Kane said, “He never forgot his Cantonese though and kept contact with Chinese people in Ireland and England, as well as in Vancouver and New York for many years.”

◆ Irish Jesuit Missions : https://www.jesuitmissions.ie/news/213-missionary-in-hong-kong-2012

Missionary in Hong Kong 2012
Ciaran Kane, SJ
Being a missionary anywhere today is very different from what it was 50 years ago, when I first arrived in Hong Kong. Both the world and the church have changed so much in the meantime. For the church, a richer understanding of what ‘mission’ means, and that the idea of ‘mission’ is a call to all Christians. For the world, the onset of globalisation bringing peoples and cultures into closer contact and mutual influence and interdependence.
In the past, more than today, being a missionary implied coming from a faraway place bringing a set of beliefs, practices and values that were ‘foreign’ to the people you came to serve. Whether admired or reviled, the missionary had a distinctive status with his/her people. But global communications, international travel, studying and service abroad, and the shrinking of our world have now levelled the ground, and, I think, integrated the missionary more into the local church and society.
So, for me being a missionary today is a consciousness of serving the universal church, the international body of Christ, people of many races and places. As a Jesuit my specific mission is a ministry that involves me with Catholics and other Christians, local Chinese and foreign residents, working with men and women, young and old, religious and lay, married and single --- in short a microcosm of the universal church. But it’s also important for me as a citizen of this city to be concerned about society as a whole, about the social milieu in which I live and work, and to give witness to a Christian presence in civic and cultural life. I hope I can be a useful instrument in the Lord’s vineyard.

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
He was born in Dublin and was educated at Belvedere College SJ, and he then joined the Society in 1950.

1958-1961 He came to Hong Kong for Regency where he learned Cantonese and taught at Wah Yan College Hong Kong.
1967 After Ordination he returned to Hong Kong with a mission to focus on communications.
1972-1994 With the opening of the Adam Schall Residence at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, he became its founding Warden serving students and faculty.

He was known to be always friendly and approachable and had a keen interest in Church music. His sister taught Organ Music and Music History at University College Dublin. He became involved in Radio Hong Kong (RTHK Radio 4), and was greatly appreciated by them for his religious broadcasts and religious music programmes from 1967. That year he was appointed as a Member of the Advisory Committee on Religious Broadcasting nd Television, an ecumenical committee, and in 1969 was appointed Chairman.

When he retired he went to Cheung Chau helping in the Parish and as an advisor on Spirituality at the Centre.

Note from Paddy Finneran Entry
Among his students were Ciarán Kane and Frank Doyle in Belvedere

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 152 : Summer 2013

Obituary

Fr Ciarán Kane (1932-2013)

Fr. Ciarán F. Kane S.J. died in Hong Kong on 5 February 2013, at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital. During the final weeks of his long illness, and in the days around his funeral, the structural lines and the wide outreach of his ministry were brought into focus. Visitors came to the hospital from United College, in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, from RTHK's Radio 4, from the Star of the Sea parish in Chai Wan, and from Cheung Chau. Some were past pupils of the Wah Yan Colleges, others alumni of United College. There were broadcasters and people who had come to know Ciarán through his work on radio, friends at whose marriages he had officiated and whose children he had baptized, people who had come to him for spiritual direction. Other friends telephoned from the United States, Canada, England, Malasia and Ireland as well as from Hong Kong. All showed a real affection for him, as well as great appreciation of all he had accomplished in fifty years of ministry in Hong Kong.

Ciarán was born in Dublin on 28th December 1932. He attended school, first locally in Clontarf, and then at Belvedere College, which had a decisive influence on him. There, his intelligence and his giftedness were fostered. Not only did he shine academically, but his fine singing voice was recognised, and he was given leading roles in the annual Gilbert and Sullivan operas that were a feature of those years. It was also at Belvedere that he came to know about the work of Irish Jesuits in Hong Kong.

Ciarán entered the Jesuit Noviciate at Emo, on 7 September 1950. There followed, from 1952 to 1955, three years of studies in Latin and French for a B.A. at University College Dublin, and three years of Philosophy at Tullabeg, at the end of which, in the Summer of 1958, he was assigned to Hong Kong. His parents had no need to ask whether Ciarán was happy about being sent to Hong Kong - nothing could have been more evident. For two years, based in Xavier House, in Cheung Chau, he studied Cantonese, and then spent a year teaching Mathematics, English and Religion in Wah Yan College, Kowloon.

Back in Ireland, after three years of Theology, Ciarán was ordained a priest at Milltown Park on 31st July, 1964. Then, having completed the Tertianship year, also in Dublin, he embarked upon courses in media studies, in order to train as a broadcaster on radio and television. These courses took him to England, to work at the B.B.C. with the well-known broadcaster of religious programmes, the Franciscan Fr. Agnellus Andrew. He also went to Paris, to the French broadcasting station, ORTF, and worked in Dublin at the Catholic Communications Centre in Booterstown. Thus equipped, he returned to Hong Kong in the summer of 1967. In due course he became a member of the Chinese Province.

Ciarán's first assignment as a priest was at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, teaching English and Religion, but right from the start, he was also scripting and presenting religious programmes on radio. Not long after his arrival, in 1967, he was asked to take over the twice weekly programme called 'Midday Prayers', and from then on, for the next twenty-something years, he was heard each week by a growing and ever more appreciative audience. When Ciarán's mother visited Hong Kong, in 1970, she was introduced to a lady who said she loved to listen to Midday Prayers. “I'm not a Catholic”, she said, “but I asked my Pastor, and he said it was all right to listen to Fr Kane”. Forty-three years later, at Ciarán's funeral, a gentleman came to say that he had listened regularly for twenty-two years, and that, spiritually, the prayers had helped him greatly. He had taken notes from them, which he still used, he said, and he spoke of the programmes as part of “Fr. Kane's spiritual legacy”. His one regret was that he had missed the first few years, because he had not known about the broadcasts then, but he had got in touch with Ciarán personally, and, over the years, had met him regularly to talk about spiritual matters. Another of Ciarán's friends, and a former colleague, expressed a keen interest in helping to publish those programmes, or a selection from them, either in book form or on disk. It is hoped that this may indeed be possible. In the course of time, “Midday Prayers” became “Morning Prayers”, and by August 1994, Ciarán had presented these programmes more than 2700 times.

There were other broadcasts, too. Still in the 1960s, he broadcast a series of programmes on English cathedrals, called “Sounds in Stone”. Later, in the series he called “Kyrie” he introduced sacred music, as well as the spoken word. “Kyrie” was hugely successful, and reached the highest audience ratings of any English-language programmes on Radio 4. Another popular series was called “Gloria”, and he also, for a number of years, presented sacred music for Advent and Christmas. Besides all this, in 1969, he was elected Chairman of the Religious Broadcasting and Television Advisory Committee for Radio-Television Hong Kong - RTHK He was also a member of the Sacred Music Commission in the Diocese of Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the Jesuits, along with the Maryknoll Sisters, had taken the initiative of providing a new Student Hostel, Adam Schall Residence, in United College, in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, at Shatin in the New Territories. The residence opened in 1971 with Ciarán as its first Director. That new position brought with it new possibilities, and also new tasks, in liaising with people on various levels, whether students, administrators, academics or higher management. The tiny Jesuit community at Adam Schall was international, consisting of at most three men of as many different nationalities. Ciarán enjoyed his work there, and created an atmosphere in which the students' work flourished. Ciaran celebrated Mass each morning, and found himself acting as what he himself termed "the unofficial Catholic Chaplain' at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

At Adam Schall, he also kept up his interest in music. He sang with the Hong Kong Philharmonic chorus and with the Bach Choir. His voice had an unusually wide range, so that he could sing with the basses as well as with the baritones and the tenors. He even discovered, though, as he said himself, it was a bit too late to be useful, that he could sing falsetto.

In 1994, at the close of the academic year, Ciarán retired from United College. He took a sabbatical year, which he spent, for the first semester, at Boston College, and then in spiritual renewal at St. Beuno's in Wales. On his return to Hong Kong, in 1995, Ciarán was assigned, as assistant to the Parish Priest, to the new parish church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in the district of Chai Wan, which the Jesuits had undertaken to run. Again, it was a new sphere of work, with new possibilities, especially where the Liturgy was concerned. Typically, he embraced the task, and quickly made an impact, as well as many new friends. This assignment was also an opportunity for him to get to know better some of his Irish Jesuit confrères, from whom he had been somewhat isolated during his twenty-two years in Shatin. After six years of parish work in Chai Wan, Ciarán returned to Cheung Chau, and Xavier House, where his life in Hong Kong had begun. Tasked with heading up a renewed Centre of Ignatian Spirituality there, he had first to undertake extensive renovation and rebuilding of part of the house itself. This meant that he had also to fund-raise, a task which brought him back into contact with at least one Old Belvederian, who had 'made it good' globally, and visited Hong Kong on a regular basis. In the task of renovating Xavier House, he also had scope for using his artistic flair, and he enjoyed collaborating with the project's architect, in creating and furnishing new spaces for prayer, both indoors and in the gardens, as well as ensuring that the rooms for retreatants and staff were more than just basically fit for purpose.

Ciarán's return to Cheung Chau coincided with the onset of illness. This began with a heart attack in Manila, in the year 2000, a degenerative condition in the spine about two years later, which made walking somewhat difficult, a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2006 and leukaemia in 2007. Characteristically, he took it all in his stride – literally, it might be said, because he continued to come and go, up the steps or by the longer pathway between the ferry-port and Xavier House, sometimes more than once in the day. He was meticulous about taking his medicines at the correct times and the correct intervals, but otherwise, he did not allow his condition to interfere with his life, and would not even speak of it except in response to a direct question. He continued to broadcast on RTHK Radio 4, and to participate in the musical life of Hong Kong. In his last series of programmes on Radio, entitled “Oratorio”, he presented extracts from most of the best-known titles, as well as many that had scarcely been noticed before.

In 2010, he was presented with a 'Veteran Broadcaster award, and he continued to plan and work on new ideas for programmes for Radio, the medium he liked best. His last stage appearance was in January 2012, when he read excerpts from the gospels of Luke and Mark, in a performance over two evenings of Bach's solo cello concertos, entitled “Words of Christ in the music of Bach”.

In recent years Ciarán was able to return to Dublin for one month in the Summer, usually June. It was a break to which he looked forward eagerly, because it gave him the opportunity to meet and catch up with news of his friends, Old Belvederians, colleagues and cousins. He particularly looked forward to meeting for an annual lunch with the men who had entered the Noviciate with him. He also made sure that he met up with all his many cousins, and was delighted to have an excuse to travel to Cork or to Connemara. Travelling, going on pilgrimage - to Japan or to Spain - were the mature version, in his later years, of the cycling trips that had taken him, in his youth, over every possible road - or so it seemed to his family - that could be traversed in either Dublin or Wicklow

On his last visit to Dublin, in June 2012, it was obvious that Ciarán's health was relentlessly deteriorating. In September, he was airlifted from Cheung Chau to hospital in Hong Kong. There were tests, and more tests, in four different hospitals, over the months of October and November, in between which he stayed at Ricci Hall. Finally, on 17th December, he was admitted to the PYN Eastern Hospital. He celebrated his 80th birthday in hospital, on 28th December. That week, which included Christmas, he was undergoing radiation treatment daily for pain relief, but he still smiled for the cameras of all those who came to visit him, and they were many.

Towards the end of the eight weeks of his final stay in hospital, Ciarán was not always able to respond to visitors, but they continued to come. Some simply came and went. One group, and one individual friend, sang to him. Some came and wept, and went away again. As his sister, there was nowhere else I wanted to be other than by his bedside, in those last weeks. “I know that the Lord is calling me”, he told me, “and I want to go, but I can't. It is all a great mystery”. He received Holy Communion for the last time on Monday 4th February. Next day, peacefully, serenely, he was able to answer the Lord's call.

Eileen Kane

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 2013

A Missionary in Hong Kong

The following is an article written by Fr Ciaran Kane RIP (OB 1950) in 2012 :

Being a missionary anywhere today is very different from what it was 50 years ago, when I first arrived in Hong Kong. Both the world and the church have changed so much. For the church, a richer understanding of what 'mission' means, and that the idea of 'mission' is a call to all Christians. For the world, the onset of globalization has brought peoples and cultures into closer contact and mutual influence and interdependence.

In the past, more than today, being a missionary implied coming from a faraway place bringing a set of beliefs, practices and values that were 'foreign' to the people you came to serve. Whether admired or reviled, the missionary had a distinctive status with his or her people. But global communications, international travel, studying and service abroad, and the shrinking of our world have now levelled the ground, and, I think, integrated the missionary more into the local church and society.

So, for me being a missionary today is a consciousness of serving the universal church, the international body of Christ, people of many races and places. As a Jesuit my specific mission is a ministry that involves me with Catholics and other Christians, local Chinese and foreign residents, working with men and women, young and old, religious and lay, married and single - in short a microcosm of the universal church. But it's also important for me as a citizen of this city to be concerned about society as a whole, about the social milieu in which I live and work, and to give witness to a Christian presence in civic and cultural life. I hope I can be a useful instrument in the Lord's vineyard.

Fr Ciaran Kane SJ

President, Titanic Historical Society.

Born: 22 December 1822, Magerafelt, County Derry
Entered: 12 August 1853, Montréal, Québec, Canada - Franciae Province (FRA)
Professed: 15 August 1863
Died: 06 May 1897, St Ignatius, Park Avenue, New York, NY, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)

Joyce attended St Ignatius College, (Coláiste Iognáid), Galway from 1915 to 1921.

Born: 04 July 1937, St Anthony’s, St Enda’s Road, Shantalla, County Galway
Entered: 11 September 1956, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 25 June 1970, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 22 April 1977, Mukasa Seminary, Choma, Zambia
Died: 09 July 2007, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 22 April 1977

Father wasa labourer and insurance agent.

Second of five boys.

Educated for seven years at a local National school, he then went to Coláiste Iognáid SJ for six years.

by 1963 at Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain (TOLE) studying
by 1965 at Chivuna, Monze, Zambia - Regency learning language
by 1976 at Colombière Centre, Clarkston MI (DET) making Tertianship

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Paddy Joyce was born in Galway, in the west of Ireland, on 4 July 1937. He went to primary school to St Brendan's and to secondary school at the Jesuit school of St Ignatius, both in Galway. He joined the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park on 11 September 1956. On completion he went to Rathfarnham Castle in Dublin to the university where he studied Latin, French and Irish (1958 to 1961). This was followed by a three year course in philosophy, the first year at Tullabeg and the final two years at Alcalá in Spain, where he added Spanish to the languages he already knew.

In August 1964, he came to Zambia for three years, the first year teaching at Canisius Secondary School, the second year he went to Choma with Frs Flannery and Clive Dillon-Malone to be the founder members of Mukasa Minor Seminary. The third year he spent at Chivuna learning ciTonga, still another language.

He returned to Ireland to study theology at Milltown Park, Dublin where he was ordained priest on 25 June 1970. In 1971 he returned to Zambia, to Mukasa, for a short spell as a priest. From then on he took up the work he was to continue for the rest of his life, namely, pastoral work in the parishes. Apart from a break for tertianship in Clarkson MI, USA, he spent his time in Monze parish (1971 to 1975), in Choma town parish (1976 to 1980), in Nakambala parish (1980 to 1982), in ltezhi-tezhi parish in 1982, in Chikuni parish (1981 to 1987, and 1993 to 1995). He was sent to Nakambala parish again (1988 to 1993). These names and dates give but a faint idea of his parish work, his travels to outstations, baptisms, marriages and visits to the sick. Eventually he became an expert in Marriage Encounter.

In 1996 he took over the position of National Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association which he still held at the time of his death. Fr Paddy moved to Lusaka from this time onward until his death, apart from a renewal year at St Anselm's in England.

He had gone to Ireland for eye treatment in Galway but developed heart trouble and had to go to the Regional Hospital there for open heart surgery on 9 July 2007. He did not recover consciousness but died the next day, 10 July.

The above outline is a factual account of Paddy's 70 years of life and tells us a lot about him. As a boy at school he was a good footballer and always kept up an interest in the game. He knew who was playing against whom, who scored and how. He was quite enthusiastic in recounting the latest game he had seen on the TV. He was also a prize winning runner and an accomplished Irish dancer. This you will recognise when you see Zambian orphan children stepping out to the tune of 'The Walls of Limerick' !

Marriage Encounter and the Pioneers were to the fore in his later apostolic work but, apart from these, Fr Paddy was most faithful in bringing the sacraments to the sick and dying, especially to the AIDS patients in the nearby hospice of St Theresa. Nothing would stop him from this. The poor had a special place in his heart. Any alms he got from Ireland he gave to them and they always knew when Fr Paddy was at home. He was most assiduous in preparing homilies for Mass, supplying outstations on Sundays and never refusing when a call came. He was a pastoral man to his finger tips.

He was also a man of prayer, praying for his own family, for his Jesuit brothers, praying for his friends and the people he came in contact with. At the same time he enjoyed a game of golf, and liked a good joke, giving pleasure to the teller of a joke by his typical reaction. Here in Lusaka where he lived, Fr Paddy could be seen going for a walk in the cool of the evening with his rosary beads dangling from his hand. Fr Paddy has touched so many lives and he will be sorely missed.

Note from Denis Flannery Entry
Bishop Corboy of the newly established diocese of Monze (1962) saw the need for a minor seminary (a secondary school) to nurture young boys who might have a vocation to the priesthood. Fr Denis was asked to work there, so he went to Mukasa at Choma which was being built and opened the first Form 1 with the help of two scholastics, Frs Paddy Joyce and Clive Dillon-Malone.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 133 : Special Issue September 2007

Obituary
Fr Patrick (Paddy) Joyce (1937-2007) : Zambia-Malawi Province

Jerry O'Connell writes in the Zambia Province News:
Paddy Joyce was born on the 4th July 1937 in the city of Galway, Ireland and always maintained his allegiance to that county especially where Gaelic games were concerned. He completed his secondary education at St. Ignatius College, Galway in 1956 and entered the Jesuit novitiate, Emo Park on the 114 September of that same year. He followed the usual course of training of novitiate, juniorate (BA at University College, Dublin) and philosophy until the end of first year philosophy when a Visitor from Fr. General to the Irish Province closed the philosophate in 1962. Paddy did his second and third years philosophy in Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain. This brought out in him his fascination with foreign languages. But Paddy always retained a deep love of Irish culture. He enjoyed the stories, dances, songs and proverbs of the people. With his compatriots he was quite likely to presume on a continued knowledge of Irish and might similarly rattle off a phrase or proverb in Irish.

In August 1964 he came to then Northern Rhodesia as a Scholastic and witnessed Independence Day on 24 October. He served at Canisius College and studied Chitonga at Chivuna Mission. He was a member of the founding team who opened the doors of Mukasa Minor Seminary to pupils in 1966. From 1967 to 1971 he studied theology at Milltown Park, Dublin and was ordained on 25 June 1970. He returned to Zambia in 1971.

From 1971 to 1980 he served as an assistant pastor in Monze and Choma and completed tertianship in the USA. He took Final Vows in Mukasa on April 22, 1977. From 1980 to 1987 he spent short spells in Nakambala and Itezhi-tezhi and a longer time in Chikuni where he served as parish priest. There was a year's break on sabbatical. This was followed by periods in Mazabuka and Nakambala, and again in Chikuni as parish priest up to 1995. In parish work he had a great love and concern for all those to whom he ministered, especially the poor and disadvantaged and those suffering from AIDS. His family had endowed him with the upbringing and support, which was very apparent in his warm humanity and his love for the extended family.

Over the years Paddy developed a great fluency especially in Chitonga and learnt many proverbs used by the people. In the 1980s he successfully sat for the Grade 12 national exam in Chitonga. He was helped in his mastery of Chitonga by his readiness and desire to help the youth of the parishes, gathering them into clubs especially involving football. He would readily join in the games himself and he is still remembered today for that aspect of his apostolate. Paddy later studied Chinyanja when he moved to Lusaka so that he could continue with pastoral work in parishes. Perhaps it was his being rooted in Irish culture that gave him such openness to other cultures.

In 1995 he was appointed National Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a post he held until his death with one year's absence on sabbatical again, 1999-2000. He firstly moved to the Novitiate in Lusaka, spent a year or two working from Kizito Pastoral Centre, Monze, and in 2002 returned again to the Novitiate. This work suited him admirably because he had been a Pioneer himself from his school days, and he loved the opportunity to be involved in fostering the spirituality of the PTAA, and explaining it to groups. However, he found the annual National Meetings quite a challenge. He wasn't quite at ease about them and one of these may have contributed to his first mild heart attack about ten years ago. But this did not prevent him from doing his work and he was in the process of organising an international gathering of Pioneers in Zambia either next year or the year after it.

While in Lusaka, he offered himself regularly for Sunday supplies and, this past Holy Week, he presided at the ceremonies in Chinyanja in the Nampundwe area. He also presided at the Sunday Mass broadcast by Yatsani Radio. Over many years he was involved in Marriage Encounter and took part in a number of their meetings. As well as this he acted as a priest to his own family members by visiting everybody when at home and being open to all. Paddy valued his priesthood.

I spoke with him about six weeks before he went back to Ireland and he was quite concerned about a pending eye operation. He returned to Ireland for the surgery and while there he suffered a heart attack and underwent by-pass surgery. Unfortunately he did not come through the operation and he died in a Galway hospital on 10th July 2007. Paddy was at home in so many environments that we can be sure that he will feel welcome and at home in the place prepared for him by Jesus who is the way, the Truth and the Life. May his soul rest in peace.

Homily preached by Joe Keaney at Luwisha House, Lusaka:
Years ago, when I was a scholastic in Chikuni, one old Father said of another old Father, “That man is always blowing his own trumpet”. He then told me about yet another old Father who was a lot smarter. This man never blew his own trumpet but, throughout his life, was clever enough to have someone else blow it for him. Fr Paddy Joyce never blew his own trumpet and I think I'd be right to say that few others blew it for him.

I was still a schoolboy when I first met Paddy. He had already been a Jesuit for 10 years before I joined up. I knew his mother and his brothers, all of whom, except for Dominic, have since gone to the Lord. Paddy grew up in an honest, hard working and humble family in the Galway suburb of Shantalla. He attended the same school I did, Coláiste Iognáid, which was the only Irish speaking Jesuit school in Ireland.

Paddy joined the Jesuits in 1956 and brought with him to the novitiate a great love of Ireland and all things Irish. He loved the language, our country's rich folklore, its turbulent history, its sports, its music, its dance, its poetry and prose. Sadly, though, Paddy would have quickly discovered that for the most part these Gaelic interests of his were not shared or highly valued by the majority of his new brothers in the Society of Jesus. His fellow novices from the other Jesuit schools would have been far more interested in rugby and even, God help us, cricket, than in Gaelic football or hurling.

Paddy was blessed by God with average intelligence and, throughout the long years of studies, battled to pass his exams. At the same time, many of his peers would have been earning distinctions, and merits and doctorates, Poor Paddy often felt left out and, I suspect, grew up in the Society with a decided lack of self-confidence and low self esteem. But he stuck it out for 51 years with his learned Jesuit brothers until the Lord called him home this week.

God's call drew Paddy away from his native Galway and eventually away from his beloved Ireland to serve him in the Province of Zambia Malawi. For most of his working life he brought the Word to the Tonga people of the Southern Province before being transferred to Lusaka. They responded enthusiastically to his simplicity and non threatening manner. He was extraordinary successful and really mastered the language of the South.

Paddy Joyce was a simple priest who was never considered for the rank of bishop. He was never a Jesuit provincial, rector or superior. He was never on the news as a spokesman for the Church. He never published learned papers. He was never what we might call the star, never the bride, always the bridesmaid. In the Gospel we heard the invitation of Jesus, “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give your rest”. Throughout his life as a priest, Paddy responded to that invitation. He was devoted to prayer. God constantly consoled him in prayer, breathing his love and joy and cheering up his gentle soul. Without that consolation there would have been many more cloudy days in Paddy's life.

This week the word of God was spoken to Fr Paddy Joyce more loudly than ever before. As he battled for breath and life after his surgery, the Word was inviting him to let go, to return home and to meet again his beloved parents, his brothers, Thomas McDonagh and Padraic Pearse - Paddy's heroes of the 1916 uprising - and maybe even the legendary Finn McCool and Cuchulan. The voice was whispering the promise of his prayer life, “You will find rest for your soul”.

What a surprise there was in store for Paddy as his heavenly Father gathered him in his arms, kissed him tenderly on the cheek and said well done my lovely little boy, faithful son of St Ignatius. You did an absolutely marvellous job for me. I wish you could have known all the time that your life and contribution are just as precious and important to me as that of Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Fr Peter Hans Kolvenbach or Fr Peter Nathaniel Bwanali. I am so grateful for the way you spread my love amongst the Tonga people. I can't count the number of little ones you helped and lifted up on your journey through Monze, Chikuni, all over the Southern Province, in Lusaka and especially in the home of Mother Theresa in Mtendere. You opened the door to my Sacred Heart for thousands of my children in the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. You enriched with my love hundreds and hundreds of married couples in Marriage Encounter. My little Paddy, you were a star, an absolute star.

I stand here before you this evening to blow Paddy's trumpet a bit. In the heel of the hunt this quiet nervous little man was, after all, a star. If we look at Paddy's life and assess it by the standards of the Gospel alone, we see he was, for sure, a star, an absolute star. In Matthew's Gospel Jesus beatifies all those who are gentle, the meek, the humble, the peacemakers, all those who mourn. These people are the salt of the earth, the light of the world.

When the disciples were squabbling one time about who was the greatest Jesus told them that to be great one must become the servant of all. Another time Jesus presented them with a little child, suggesting greatness and childlikeness were not far apart.

Paddy was a wonderful Jesuit and lived his three vows of religious life so well. He responded obediently to the wishes of his superiors and went where he was sent. His living of the vow of poverty should be an example to us all. He was never a snappy dresser and without the input of Una, his sister-in-law, would have been a total disaster. And as far as I know he never had any girlfriends. He was a great companion to us in the Society, especially with those willing to enjoy his charming stories and share his enthusiasm for sport. When I think about Paddy this week I realize we had a little saint in our company, the real salt of the earth. I wish now I had blown his trumpet a bit more loudly and a bit more often down the years.

Paddy died back home in Galway. I don't know if he would have wanted that or if he would have cared one way or the other. But I do know that nowhere on this earth did Paddy Joyce feel more at home and accepted than in the home of Dominic, Una and their children, back in the old home of Shantalla. In that house he was always a star.

We give thanks to God for his life, his simplicity, his humility, his compassion for the little ones, his enthusiasm, his stories and his great sense of fun. After his life of prayer he will have no difficulty recognizing the face of God. This week he has finally and fully found rest for his soul. Farewell for now, brother, and enjoy that rest.

Teacher Training Department, National College of Art, Kildare Street, Dublin

Born: 31 October 1906, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Entered: 07 September 1930, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Professed: 15 August 1941
Died: 20 February 1972, St Joseph. Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

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
Maurice Joyce's father was a former mayor of Richmond while he himself was educated at St Ignatius' school. Afterwards, he was a bookbinder with Sands and McDougall for eight years before entering the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 7 September 1930. After vows and a few years of cooking, domestic duties and tending the garden at Greenwich, he went to Riverview for a few years as storekeeper, then to Loyola College, Watsonia, as assistant cook, infirmarian and bookbinder.
He spent some years, 1938-48, at the newly established Canisius College, Pymble, as refectorian, assistant cook and bookbinder. From 1948-56 he was manuductor, dispenser and bookbinder at Loyola College, Watsonia, and then went to Campion College, Kew, 1956-62 and 1965-68 as manuductor and cook. He also assisted the editor of “News from India”, and promoted brothers vocations. He spent another period at Watsonia, 1962-65, doing similar duties, and finally was stationed at the provincial residence as bursar, 1968-72. He also had care of the villa house at Anglesa at this time.
Joyce was a very cheerful and accomplished man. His greatest contribution to the community was in the way he supported others. Every community was blessed with his presence. He was the leaven that worked for good in each community he lived. He was an unofficial spiritual father who helped many through difficult times. He was also an amateur comedian, a versatile and amusing writer and an exemplary religious. He did much work for vocations and for the Indian Mission.
He was highly respected member of the province.

Born: 26 July 1832, Enniscorthy, County Wexford
Entered: 02 December 1856, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: 1868, Salamanca, Spain
Final Vows: 15 August 1874
Died: 11 September 1880, St Patrick’s College, Melbourne, Australia - Romanae province (ROM)

by 1859 in Roman College, Italy (ROM) studying Philosophy
by 1861 at Namur Belgium (BELG) studying Philosophy
by 1866 at Loyola College, Salamanca Spain (CAST) studying Theology 1
by 1869 at Leuven Belgium (BELG) studying
by 1871 at Rome Italy - Tusculanus (ROM) teaching
by 1872 at St Joseph, Tiruchirappalli, Negapatanense India (TOLO)

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early education was at Clongowes.

After First Vows he remained in Rome for Philosophy.
He was then sent for Regency Teaching Mathematics at Clongowes.
He was then sent to Salamanca for Theology, was Ordained and went to Louvain for his 4th year Theology.
1870 he went to India, where he spent nine years teaching at Trichonopoly (Tiruchirappalli) and as Chaplain to the British Forces there, and working with indigenous people.
1879 A large tumour appeared on the left side of his face. His Superiors wanted him to return to Ireland, but the doctors thought he needed a warmer climate. So, he went to Melbourne, arriving there November 1879. he received a warm welcome at St Patrick’s College there, and the most eminent surgeon there was called to attend to him. The diagnosis was that he had a cancer which would result in his death in about eight months. An operation granted him some relief, but by September of 1880 he was clearly close to death. The Rector Christopher Nulty was called to his bed at 12.45 am, just in time to give him the last rites.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
James Joyce entered the Society 26 July 1856, and undertook novitiate and early studies in Rome, followed by regency at Clongowes, and theology in Salamanca and Louvain. In 1870 he sailed for India where he was head of the college in Trichinopoly and chaplain to the British Army. In 1879 a large tumor appeared on the side of his head and superiors wanted him to return to Ireland. Doctors thought a warmer climate would be better so he was sent to Melbourne, living at St Patrick's College. The cancer soon killed him.

Born: 12 November 1892, Main Street, Killorglin, County Kerry
Entered: 07 September 1910, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1924, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1928
Died: 19 February 1970, Mater Hospital, Dublin

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

Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Hong Kong Mission : 09 October 1941

Middle brother of John C - RIP 1950, Francis - RIP 1977

Parents are shopkeeper, publican, farmer and property owner. Mother died in 1906.

Fourth eldest of eight boys and he has five sisters.

Early education at a local National School and then he went to Clongowes Wood College SJ

Studied for BA at UCD

by 1915 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1927 at At Vienna, Austria (ASR) making Tertianship
by 1928 second batch Hong Kong Missioners
Mission Superior Hong Kong 09/10/1941
by 1954 came to Singapore (HIB) working - 1st group in Singapore A Aizier, A Bérubé, A Joliet (CAMP) & J Kearney (ORE)

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Death of Father Joy

Father Patrick Joy, from 1927 to 1951, one of the best known Jesuits in Hong Kong, died in Dublin of 20 February 1970, aged 77.

Father Joy was born in 1892. He entered the Jesuit novitiate there in 1910, following an elder brother and to be followed by a younger brother. He was ordained priest in 1926, and after a period of socio-economic studies in Vienna, came to Hong Kong in 1927.

In his early years here he edited The Rock, took part in the long-remembered 1929 lecture-course that ended a bitter anti-Catholic and anti-Christian campaign here, and did general priestly work.

When the Regional Seminary for South China was opened in 1931 in what is now Holy Spirit Seminary, Aberdeen, Father Joy was appointed Professor of Moral Theology and held that post till he left Hong Kong in 1951, with the exception of the years when he was Regional Superior of Jesuits in Hong Kong.

He was appointed Regional Superior in the summer of 1941. His wide-ranging mind and his courageous spirit seemed to promise a large expansion of Jesuit activity in Hong Kong. Instead, within a few months, he was restricted to the agonising duties that weighed on all who had to bear responsibility in the days of the Japanese occupation. As an Irishman he escaped the ordinary internment, but he was arrested individually in 1945. The end of the war found him in prison, very doubtful about the future of his neck.

For two years after the war he supervised the restarting of activities that had been interrupted by hostilities and the occupation. He encouraged or initiated various kinds of work demanded by the needs of reconstruction; but there were so many repairs to be done so many men to be restored to full health and vigour, that there was little opportunity for him to give himself to the large-scale planning that his character seemed to demand. In 1947 he returned to the teaching of moral theology in Aberdeen. By now he was very widely known as a wide, warmhearted and widely informed counsellor in difficulties of every kind Constant appeals for advice made very heavy demands on his time and energy, but he delighted in meeting these demands. His surname was an appropriate one: he had zest and took joy in all that he did.

In 1951 he was appointed to lead the little band of Jesuits that branching out from Hong Kong to work in Singapore and what was then called Malaya. Usually a younger man is chosen for such a task, but Father Joy at 59 retained the initiative and the courageous exuberance of youth. The opportunity that had been denied to him in Hong Kong by the war was granted to him now though on a smaller scale. The work being done by Jesuits in Singapore and Malaysia still bears the stamp set upon it by Father Joy.

In 1959 he was recalled to Ireland to teach Moral Theology in the Jesuit scholasticate in Dublin. This was not retirement. At the age of 67, he brought a fresh breeze into the lecture room. His years of teaching in Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Had made him a seasoned professor of moral theology and his varied life had given him a breadth of experience that few professors could rival. He had moreover one special advantage. Throughout almost all his time in Hong Kong he had shared with Father A. Granelli, P.I.M.E., the labours of the very busy Diocesan Tribunal. This had given him an insight into the workings of Church law and the vicissitude of marriage such as he could never have gained from study. In Dublin he soon became what he had been in Hong Kong and Singapore, a man to be consulted by anyone who had a problem that no one else seemed able to solve.

In his last years he contracted leukaemia. It was arrested for a time, but in 1968 he had to give up lecturing, though he remained a universal consultor as long as any energy lasted. His life slowly ebbed away and he died on Saturday, 21 February.

Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul will be celebrated in the chapel of Wah Yan College, Kowloon, at 6pm on Monday 2 March.
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 27 February 1970

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
He was one of the second group of Jesuits to arrive on the Hong Kong Mission in 1927. He soon worked on the “Rock” which forst appeared as a Jesuit publication in 1928. He presented some updated statistics -the population of Hong Kong at that time was estimated at a little over 900,000, of whom 16,000 were Europeans, and the Catholic population - mostly Portuguese - was about 10,000.
He soon took up work at the seminary in Aberdeen for 16 years before heading to Singapore in 1951. At the Seminary he was Professor of Moral Theology. During the years of the Japanese occupation, he carried on with a small group of men at the old Wah Yan. He was also appointed a sort of honorary Irish Consul, to look after the interedts of about 70 Irish nationals there.
In late May 1943, along with Fr Gerry Casey he was arrested by the Japanese and interned at Stanley unti August 7.
With his lecturing, writing and public debating in the pre war years he became a public figure in Hong Kong. He was already closely associated with Catholic life in the colony in many ways, and was a personal friend and advisor to Mgr Valtorta who was running the diocese.
According to Fr Caey “The dominant feature in Paddy Joy’s character was his solicitude, primarily for the conversion of pagans Though he couldn’t speak Chinese well, he pointed out one prisoner to me that he thought could be instructed and baptised, and I found he was right...... he had an observant eye and a keen mind. In public debate about moral matters such as birth control, he was quick and effective,”
According to Fr Thomas Ryan, Fr Joy’s outstanding qualities were “devotion to his task and solid common sense........ He probably was the Irish Province’s greatest gift to the Hong Kong Mission.”
According to Father Patrick Grogan “....... in Moral Theology and Canon Law, and especially in making the right approach t the right authorities, there was no one to equal him. I think he was at his best as our Mission Superior during the siege of Hong Kong”
According to Fr Patrick McGovern “Fr Joy was a great man..... his virtue was that although he was an intellectual heavyweight, he stepped so lightly through this morass of problems that no toe was trod on. On the contrary, wounds and hurts, both personal and canonical were bound up so deftly that the cured patients not only improved relations with one another, but in the process of being helped gave their universal and unstinting respect to the man who did the helping. He became the focus of a vast diversity, and from all sides won confidence, respect and affection”.

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 16th Year No 4 1941
General :
Fr. John R. MacMahon, Rector of Milltown Park since August. 1938. was appointed Provincial by Very Rev. Fr. General on 8th September. The best wishes and fervent prayers of the Province are tendered to him on his elevation to his new post of responsibility.
The best thanks of the Province follow the outgoing Provincial Fr Kieran, whose fidelity to duty, understanding ways and kindly charity during the many wears in which he guided the destinies of our Province will long be remembered with gratitude and appreciation. A special feature of his humanity was the quite remarkable devotion and charity which he ever showed to our sick.
We wish him many years of fruitful work for God’s glory and much happiness in his new post as Director of the Retreat, House Rathfarnham Castle.
Fr. Patrick Joy was appointed Vice-Superior of the Hong Kong Mission on 29th July.

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.

Milltown Park :
Fr. P. Joy, Superior of the Hong Kong Mission, gave us a very inspiring lecture entitled: "The Building of a Mission,” in which he treated of the growth, progress and future prospects of our efforts in South China.
In connection with the Mission we were very glad to welcome home Frs. McAsey, Wood and Corbally, who stayed here for some time before going to tertianship.

Irish Province News 45th Year No 2 1970

Obituary :

Fr Patrick Joy SJ (1892-1970)

Father P. Joy died after a prolonged illness borne with great fortitude, nonchalance, one might say, in the Mater Nursing Home, Dublin on Thursday, February 19th. His remains were conveyed to Gardiner St. where the obsequies, including concelebrated Mass were observed on Saturday, February 21st. Fr. F. Joy, to whom we offer sincerest sympathy on his brother's death, participated with Fr. Provincial, Fr. J. Brennan, Rector of Milltown (principal concelebrant) and several other members of the Milltown staff at the concelebration. The congregation of ours and others was very representative. Father Patrick Joy was born in Killorglin, Co. Kerry on November 12th, 1892. He entered the Society in Tullabeg from Clongowes on September 7th, 1910 - one of five novices; after pronouncing his vows on September 8th 1912 he joined the Juniorate (then in Milltown Park) and the following year was one of the 14 foundation members of the community at Rathfarnham whence he secured a B.A. degree in U.C.D. This was followed by three years in Stonyhurst where he was one of 14 Irish Philosophers. He taught in Clongowes from 1917 to 1922 when he proceeded to Milltown, where he was ordained in 1925. Tertianship followed in 1926 near Vienna in Austria where he acquired a knowledge of German. In October 1927 he sailed for Hong Kong with Fr. Daniel MacDonald and Fr. Richard Gallagher.
Fr. Joy was one of the second group of Irish Jesuits to arrive in the newly-founded Mission, on 27th October 1927. Within a week he was working on the Rock which first appeared as a Jesuit publication at the beginning of 1928, and writing letters home appealing for articles and books. He gave some just-published statistics : the population of Hong Kong at that time was estimated at a little over 900,000, of whom about 16,000 were Europeans; the Catholic population, mostly Portuguese, was about 10,000. Soon the seminary work for which he was destined took up more of his time, as Aberdeen began to take shape, first in negotiations and planning and then in building. For 16 years, until he went to Singapore in late 1951, Fr. Joy was on the Status as professor of Moral at the regional seminary. Those years didn't include the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during the war, at which time Fr. Joy held the difficult position of Superior of the Mission to which he'd been appointed in October 1941, two months before the war hit Hong Kong; he'd been Vice-superior since the previous July. He had to see to the safe dispersal into China and elsewhere of most of the mission personnel, keeping alive what work could be done in Hong Kong, carrying on with a small group of men at the old Wah Yan. He was also appointed an honorary Consul to look after the interests of about 70 Irish nationals in Hong Kong. At the end of May 1943, together with Fr. Gerry Casey, Fr. Joy was arrested by the Japanese authorities and interned until August 7th with many others in the basement of the Supreme Court. “Laetitia est in carcere” was how Fr. Tom Cooney circulated this news to the dispersi in China. With his lecturing, public debating and writing in the pre-war years, Fr. Paddy had become a public figure in Hong Kong; he was closely associated with Catholic life in the colony in many ways, and with the diocese under Mgr. Valtorta to whom he was a personal friend and adviser.
Sent to Singapore in 1951, he quickly became absorbed with the work of the Church there and in Malaya, again reaching prominence in Catholic life and activity. He pioneered single-handed the Malaysia-Singapore part of the present vice-province, leaving many friends and his heart there when he retired to Ireland and the Moral chair again at Milltown in November 1958. “I shall know the Malay Peninsula well before they put me under the sod”, he wrote in August 1953 just before the tenders for Kingsmead Hall. were in. “I have already been through it from end to end about 20 times”. When Kingsmead was completed and became a house of the Hong Kong Mission, Fr. Joy was appointed Superior there. His next objective was Kuala Lumpur, where he finally became established in 1957 during the long drawn out negotiations and difficulties concerning the proposed social centre in Petaling Jaya. But though Fr. Paddy had left Asia before the present church and hostel there had taken shape, he continued to take keen interest in Malaysia and its affairs, and in other problems of the continent during his final years in Ireland.
“On January 16th 1959 Fr. Joy took his first Moral Lecture in Milltown - he marked the date in his Milltown Calendar. I was a second year theologian in his class. For ten years, until he was 76, he worked as Prof. Mor.; he was loved by his students, by the whole community. We learnt from him; we admired him; we respected him; to us he was “Paddy Happy”. He taught through stories about himself. He never told us of his prison sufferings; he never mentioned the commendations of the C. in C. or the Governor in Hong Kong - which I discovered among his papers. His stories illustrated some point in moral, even if in later years they tended to miss the point at issue; they showed his zeal, his charity, his compassion; they were never expressions of vanity.
A crowded decade. Dozens of weekend retreats; tridua; 8 day retreats; Vice Rector between Bishop Corboy and Fr. Brendan Barry; Provincial Procurator to Rome; House and faculty consultor; innumerable clients, by phone, by letter, in the parlour; dozens of lectures, in England and Ireland, to Pax Romana, to medical societies, to legal groups, to mission groups, to Jesuits and to others. He joined a sub-committee of Gorta and helped it enormously. He encouraged the struggle for women's rights through friends in St. Joan's Alliance.
His transistor was on many times a day for the news BBC and SRE. This was a symbol of his up-to-dateness. Though he was 73 when Vatican II ended he made it all his own, carefully annotating his own copy of the documents, just as he did those of the 31st Congregation when he got them two years later, or with a 1966 basic article in Periodica on renewing moral theology. In hospital he learnt to appreciate the changes in the Mass and started practising the new rite.
He was 72 when I joined the staff in Milltown. You pick what you want to teach and I'll do the rest', he said. He did not expect me to have identical views, and he encouraged me to do my job my way. A selfless senior partner.
He respected everyone, believed in everyone-because of his faith in Christ the Redeemer. He already rests in peace.
J. HEALY

Appreciations
“The dominant feature in Fr. Paddy Joy's character was his solicitude - solicitude for the conversion of pagans; I remember in prison, though he couldn't speak Chinese well, he pointed out to me one prisoner that he thought could be instructed and baptised, and I found he was right. Again, solicitude about small matters, of security such as locking doors or keeping away from windows during an air-raid. Along with this, he had an observant eye and a keen mind, In public debate about moral matters such as birth control he was quick and effective:. (Fr. G. Casey.)
“Devotion to his task and solid common sense there were the outstanding qualities of Fr. Paddy Joy. A deceptive exterior concealed a sharp brain made more acute by years of experience as professor of moral theology and consultant on moral problems for the clergy of South China. It made him equally effective whether seeking a sympathetic solution for a tangled marriage problem or protesting against Japanese conquerors who had never heard of Irish citizenship. He was probably the Irish province's greatest gift to the young Hong Kong mission. The eagles are felled, caws and daws!” (Fr. T. Ryan.)
“I think Fr. Paddy was at his best as our Superior during the siege of Hong Kong. He had come across from Kowloon to be with the majority of his subjects and he lived at Wah Yan, Hong Kong. In the evenings some would come back with stories of hair raising experiences. The norm given by Fr. Joy was ‘Go anywhere and take any risk if it is for the good of souls. Otherwise keep under cover?’ (Fr. P. Grogan.)
“As the first Jesuit to live in Malaya proper (as distinct from Singapore), I came into territory which had been almost untouched by Jesuits from the time of Francis Xavier's immediate successors until after World War II. By far the most striking feature for a Jesuit to run into was the universal warmth of the relationship which already existed between us and the local clergy and religious. Everywhere without exception I was welcomed as a Jesuit for the same reason - Fr. Joy was a Jesuit, and Fr. Joy was a great man. He had established this extraordinary reputation in circumstances which were difficult and complicated. In a huge territory with only one Bishop and a sparse distribution of a small number of priests, the aftermath of war had naturally left a back log of work undone. There were marriage problems to be sorted out, there were tensions in several directions. Fr. Joy's virtue was that although he was an intellectual heavyweight he stepped so lightly through a morass of problems that no toe was trod on. On the contrary, wounds and hurts both personal and canonical were bound up so deftly that the cured patients not only improved relations with one another, but in the process of being helped gave their unstinted respect to the man who did the helping. He be came the focus of a vast diversity, and from all sides won confidence, respect and affection. (Fr. P. McGovern.)

◆ The Clongownian, 1972

Obituary

Father Patrick Joy SJ

Fr Paddy Joy when he died after a prolonged illness on February 19th, 1970, was in his 78th year, having been born in Killorglin, Co. Kerry, on November 12th, 1892, He was the fourth of eight brothers, who were all in Clongowes. There was a Joy on the roll every year from 1895 when Maurice came until 1920, when Frank left, except for the four years 1902 to 1906. When Frank left in 1920, Paddy was here as a Scholastic until 1922. John was here as Rector and Prefect of Studies from 1922 until 1930. Frank was back as a Scholastic from 1927 to 1931. In 1932 Maurice Junior began the second generation Joys and Tempanys - and they were here every year until 1953. So that in all the family had a representative here, except for two breatks totalling five years, from 1895 to 1953, a period of 58 continuous years.

Paddy Joy spent four years in Clongowes, from 1906 to 1910; he matriculated and passed his First Arts examinations the last to be lield in CWC under the Royal University. “Apart from that”, he wrote later, “the only distinction I received was the Rugby XV”.

From 1910 to 1912 he was in the Noviceship in Tullabeg. He began his Juniorate in Milltown Park, attending the lectures of the National University from there. In 1914 he took his degree and went to Stonyhurst for his philosophy. While there he was a protégé of Fr Charles Plater, and to this he owed a lifelong interest in Social Studies, co operating as a Scholastic with Frs Plater and Martindale in retreats for the troops of the First World War, at Oxford.

He was back in CWC from 1917 to 1922, as Gallery Prefect, Maths teacher, Prefect of the big Study Hall, and Editor of the “Clongownian”. His number of the “Clongownian” made history with an exhaustive contribution on Clongownians on the Run - the school's contribution to the War of Independence.

He began theology in 1922 in Milltown, and was ordained in 1924.

In 1927 he was one of the second batch of Irish Jesuits to reach the newly-founded Hong Kong Mission. He was immediately employed in giving philosophy lectures, and had to resuscitate “The Rock” - a Catholic periodical which was to achieve fame later in the years between the first and second World Wars. He took part in a famous controversy with the Rationalists.

In 1931 theology was started in the new Seminary, and for ten years Fr Joy professed Moral theology there. In that capacity he was a clearing house for Moral Theology problems from the Missions all over China, and Defensor Vinculi of the Hong Kong Court.

In 1941 he was made Superior of the Hong Kong Mission and was appointed Honorary Consul to look after the interests of the Irish Colony there - numbering about 70. When the Japanese siege of Hong Kong began, he was in Wah Yan College. The story of the siege has been told in Fr T Ryan's “Jesuits Under Fire”.

The Irish Colony in Hong Kong formed themselves into a Third Nationals Committee and elected Fr Joy as their Chairman. In this capacity he was able to have many Irish released from internment most of them got out of the colony. He also succeeded in having a school in Macao for the sons of refugees from Hong Kong. Although the Japanese gave permission for relief work in Hong Kong and Macao, they were always suspicious about it.

On May 24th 1943 Frs Joy and G Casey were arrested and lodged in the “cells” beneath the Supreme Court Building. About 45 others were arrested at the same time. Frs Joy and Casey were detained for three months, “Conditions were indescribable”, he wrote later, “There were 80 of us in the ‘cells’, no direct ventilation, no sunlight, food very meagre. Ten died of beri beri while we were there. All day, every day prisoners were taken out for questioning and torture, and the shouts of the tortured could be heard in the cells. Men taken out for questioning returned a few hours later more or less human wrecks, and after they had a day or two to recover, they were taken out and tortured again. The questioning was a trying experience. It took the form of a three-hour session in the forenoon, followed by another 3-hour session in the afternoon. It was done to the accompaniment of shouts and threats without ceasing, I had eight such days of questioning, but neither Fr Casey nor I were tortured”.

Fr Joy was sent to Singapore in 1951 and became absorbed in the work of the Church there and in Malaya. He pioneered single-handedly the work of establishing the Malaya-Singapore part of the present Vice-province. He was made Superior of the newly built Kingmead Hall, and established the Society in Kuala Lumpur in 1957.

On the death of Fr Coyne in 1958, Fr Joy came back to Milltown Park, and was Professor of Moral Theology there until his final illness. During these last years he gave dozens of week-end retreats, tridua, 8-day retreats. He was Vice Rector of Milltown Park between the departure of Bishop Corboy for Rhodesia and the appointment Fr B Barty as Rector. He was elected to represent the Irish Province at the Procurators Congregation in Rome.

After his death, Fr T Ryan wrote: “He was probably the Irish Province's greatest gift to the young Hong Kong Mission” - that is perhaps his fittest epitaph.

Born: 15 June 1884, Main Street, Killorglin, County Kerry
Entered: 06 September 1902, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1917, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1922, Mungret College SJ, Limerick
Died: 23 November 1950, St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin

Part of Clongowes Wood College SJ community at time of his death.

Older brother of Patrick - RIP 1970, Francis - RIP 1977

Father was a shopkeeper, farmer and property owner.

Second of eight sons (1 deceased) and seven sisters (2 deceased)

Early education locally until he went to Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1909 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 26th Year No 1 1951

Clongowes Wood College :
We deeply regret to record the death of Father John Joy, who died on the 2014 November in St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin. His great sense of humour, his cheerfulness and kindness will long be remembered by his brethren, who were privileged to live with him. Probably the greatest tribute paid to Fr. Joy was the genuine sorrow expressed by the boys of the College when they learnt of his death.
The funeral took place in Clongowes on Saturday, 25th November. Among the very large group of mourners who came to pay their last tribute to a man who had won the affection and esteem of those who knew him, were : Very Rev. Father Provincial, eleven Rectors or Superiors of Houses, as well as a very large body of his fellow-Religious, Monsignor Kissane and a number of Priests of the neighbouring parishes, Mr. McGilligan, Minister for Finance, Commander Crosbie, President of the Clongowes Union, with numerous old Clongownians, and also representatives of numerous Kildare families, both rich and poor. R.I.P.

Irish Province News 26th Year No 2 1951

Obituary :

Father John C Joy

The account of his life that appeared in the papers :

Son of the late Mr. Maurice Joy, Killorglin, John C. Joy was born in 1884. Educated at Clongowes, he entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus' College, Tullamore, in 1902. He graduated in Classics in the Royal University, being one of the group of students who then resided at 86 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin. He later received the degree of M.A. in Mental and Moral Science, which he studied at St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst. His life of the Philosopher Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, which he described as “A Study in Ideals”, was published about that time.
Father Joy was Classical Master at Clongowes for three years preceding his ordination at Milltown Park, Dublin, where he was ordained in 1917. On the completion of his religious training at Tullamore, he was appointed Prefect of Studies and, later, Rector of Mungret College, Limerick. He became Rector of Clongowes in 1922, a position which he held for five years, and was largely responsible for the planning of the new College building erected by his successor Father George Roche.
It was during that period that the present system of Irish Secondary Education replaced that of the old Intermediate Board ; as Chairman of the Catholic Headmasters' Association, Fr. Joy played a notable part in solving the many problems involved. He made a thorough study of the history of Irish education, and with his colleagues of the Association he spared no effort to formulate and carry through a policy in full harmony with Catholic and national ideals.
Later as editor of the “Irish Monthly”, as Vice-Rector of St. Ignatius' College, Galway, and as Rector of the House of Philosophical Studies, Tullamore, he continued to exert an important influence in the sphere of education.
Father Joy was Assistant Director of the Retreat House at Milltown Park 1985-40, and at Rathfarnham Castle 1940-46. In the last named year he was transferred to Clongowes where he laboured till his death as Master and Spiritual Father to the Community. He was a brother of Father Patrick Joy, S.J., former Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission in China, and of Father Francis Joy, S.J., the present Rector of Mungret College.

An Appreciation.
The outstanding recollection of Father John Joy that remains with me is that of his unfailing goodness of heart. He was one of those happy men who like to hear good about others and to say good about them. It was always a pleasure to meet him, for he was full of interest in what you were doing, or what was happening in your community, or how mutual friends were getting on. And this interest was not a mere idle one. He was ready to translate it into action whenever he could be helpful. He was one of those to whom the younger men in his community could always go for help and sympathy in their difficulties, and he was incessantly busy helping his former pupils to get on in life,
This goodheartedness was the source of another characteristic, his invincible optimism. Once he got interested in any scheme, he could never admit that it was going otherwise than well, or that the difficulties which presented themselves would not be happily solved in the end. He was intensely loyal to his friends and viewed all their achievements in the most favourable light. It may even be granted that his optimism was at times excessive, and led him to deny the existence of defects in institutions, schemes and persons, which were obvious to others. But in our day such an excess is so rare that it may fairly be accounted a virtue. Certainly, one never felt discouraged or depressed by Father Joy. As a superior he was always open to new suggestions, courageous in sanctioning new activities, generous in his recognition of hard work, and quick to recognise the element of success even where it was not
obvious.
A mere casual acquaintance with Father Joy might give the impression that he was hasty and hence unreliable in judgement, but this was soon corrected by a closer knowledge of him, He had a quick mind, and was prone to express his opinions vigorously and with an apparent intolerance of discussion. But it was noteworthy that when it came to action on any point, be rarely put a foot wrong, and it became clear that he had taken much more account of the views of others than had appeared. The soundness of his judgement was very apparent when one consulted him privately on any point. In public discussion, opposition often tempted him to defend a weak position, but in private he could weigh up admirably both sides of a case. He had wide experience in various fields of work, knew human nature well, and had no small share of the traditional shrewdness of his native county, All these qualities made his opinion well worth listening to.
But for the handicap of ill-health, Father Joy would undoubtedly have played an even greater part in the life of the Province than he did. He was, indeed, a man of very great all-round ability. He was a first class classical scholar, he had a sound knowledge of theology and philosophy, especially of that part of ethics which deals with social questions, his published work on the life of Marcus Aurelius, his pamphlet on Syndicalism and the few articles which he contributed himself when editor of the “Irish Monthly” show that, had circum stances permitted, he might have done excellent work as a writer. He was an excellent teacher, a vigorous and progressive administrator, and had considerable personal influence over a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. The record of his actual achievement is an impressive one, and yet for the better part of his life he was a semi-invalid. He was attacked by neuritis in the arm after the 1918 influenza epidemic. It became more severe during his Rectorship of Clongowes, and from that on, he was rarely free from severe pain. During the last few years of his life he seems to have had some relief, and it was a completely new complaint, internal malignant trouble, that necessitated the severe operation from which he never rallied. It was characteristic of him that he faced the operation, and later death, with high-spirited courage and strong faith. On learning how grave the operation would be, he recalled for his brother, Father Frank, the courageous words of Father Wrafter when told that he was dying, and adapted them to himself, saying: “I have had sixty-seven years of good life, and I am ready if the Lord wants me”.
This brief tribute to the memory of Father Joy would be incomplete without some reference to one of his most lovable characteristics, his affection for his family. The early death of his mother when he was only a Junior, laid upon his shoulders a heavy load of responsibility for the upbringing of a large household of young brothers and sisters. It looked, indeed, as if he would be bound to relinquish his vocation for their sakes. He left himself, however, in the hands of his superiors, who decided against such a step, and his trust in God was rewarded. No man ever devoted himself more wholly to the interests of the Society and the Province, yet he was enabled also to guide and assist his brothers and sisters to the outstandingly successful careers which all of them achieved. To none was he more devoted than to his Jesuit brothers, Father Paddy, and Father Frank, and to them the deep sympathy of the whole Province goes out.

◆ The Clongownian, 1951

Obituary

Father John C Joy SJ

John C Joy was born in 1884 at Killorglin, Co. Kerry. He came to Clongowes in 1898, and entered the Jesuit novitiate straight from school in 1902. Very early in his religious life, he had to make a difficult decision. Whilst he was studying for his BA in the old University College at 86 St Stephen's Green, his mother died, leaving a large family of very young children. It seemed at first as if he would have to relinquish his vocation to help in the upbringing of his brothers and sisters. However, he left the matter in the hands of his superiors, who decided against such a step. His confidence in God was fully rewarded, as he had the satisfaction of seeing his whole family achieving remarkable success in their various walks of life. All of his seven brothers were also Clongownians; two besides himself entered the Society of Jesus. Father Paddy Joy, formerly Superior of the Jesuit Mission in China, is now professor of theology at the Regional Seminary, Aberdeen, Hongkong, and Father Frank Joy is the present Rector of Mungret College. Of the other brothers, four settled in the New World where they had distinguished careers, Maurice as a journalist in New York, Joe and Harry in the insurance business in Montreal, and Jim in insurance and banking in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bill, after a few year's spent in Canada, returned to Ireland and took up farming in his native Killorglin, The Joy family have had an almost unbroken connection with Clongowes since Maurice entered in 1895, either as boys, or, in the case of the Jesuit brothers, as members of the community, There was a short break in 1931, but since 1933 the tradition has been happily carried on by the second generation, Bill's sons, Maurice, Eugene, John and Vincent, and Edward and Maurice Tempany.

Of all of them, none played so large a part in the life of Clongowes as Father John Joy. Having graduated brilliantly in classics, and taken the degree of MA in Mental and Moral Science in the Royal University of Ireland, he returned to Clongowes in 1911, and acted as classical master for three years before going on to complete his studies for the priesthood at Milltown Park, where he was ordained in 1917. He then taught for a year at Mungret and a year at Clongowes before going to his tertianship at Tullabeg. In 1922 be was appointed Prefect of Studies at Mungret, and early the next year became Rector, but was almost immediately transferred as Rector to Clongowes. He was then at the height of his powers, and threw himself with wholehearted energy into the work of administration. He had always had a deep interest in social problems, and this enabled him to take a wide view of education as being a preparation for life. His talks to the boys often took this line, and emphasised their duty, as Catholics, to play their part in public life and to make whatever contribution they could to the national well-being. His experience as Prefect of Studies in Mungret had given him a good insight into the working of the new scheme of secondary education which bad recently replaced that of the old Intermediate Board. He saw its merits and defects, and his attitude was a good blend of conservatism and the will to see whatever was good in any innovation. As Chairman of the Catholic Headmasters' Association, he did much in conjunction with his colleagues to help in the difficult and, many will say, still unsolved - task of evolving a system which would raise the general level without interfering unduly with the liberty of individual schools. His attitude towards other aspects of school life displayed the same breadth of mind. He was largely responsible for the introduction of the Boy Prefects, and for the policy of allowing the school to compete in the public football and athletic competitions. When the project of the new building was proposed, he travelled on the continent and in England gathering ideas for it, and collaborated with the architect, the late Tom Cullen, in completing the plans which were successfully carried out by his successor, Father George Roche.

Father Joy's popularity as Rector, both with boys and community, sprang from two main sources. There was, first of all, that broadness of mind and courage in undertaking new ventures which has al ready been touched upon. There was something essentially virile about him that inspired courage and confidence in others. But, though very determined when his mind was made up, he did not disdain to take advice. Those under him felt that he was always open to new suggestions, and quick to accord credit for them and encouragement to carry them out. The second and deeper cause for his popularity was his unaffected loyalty to his old school and his whole-hearted devotion to its interests. He had a very real personal interest in and affection for the boys under his care, and this interest and affection did not cease when they left school. He had a wide circle of friends among Clongownians of many generations, and his friendship expressed itself in a very practical way by the advice and help which he gave so unsparingly.

Father Joy's achievement, both as Rector of Clongowes and in later years, was all the more remarkable when it is recalled that he was handicapped by severe ill health. He was attacked by neuritis in the arm after the 1918 influenza epidemic and the malady grew steadily worse during his Rectorship of Clongowes. Those who knew him intimately were aware that he was hardly ever free from pain he once confided to his brother, Father Frank, that it took him nearly three hours, twice the usual time, to struggle through the recital of his breviary - yet he carried on with wonderful courage. After leaving Clongowes in 1927, be held many important positions, as editor of the “Irish Monthly”, Vice-Rector of St Ignatius' College, Galway ; Rector of St Stanislaus College, Tuilamore, and Assistant Director of retreats at Milltown Park and Rathfarnham Castle. It was fitting that his last years, from 1946, should see him back at Clongowes as master and Spiritual Father to the community. His health at this period seemed to be somewhat better, and it was a new and unsuspected complaint which necessitated the severe operation from which he never rallied. A life of suffering, endured with courage and a supernatural spirit of faith and resignation, had pre pared him to meet this last trial. On learning how grave the operation would be, he recalled for his brother, Father Frank, the courageous words of an old friend and colleague of his at Clongowes, Father Joseph Wrafter, when told that he was dying, and applied them to himself : “I have had sixty-seven years of good life, and I am ready if the Lord wants me”.

The extent and depth of his friendships was eloquently testified by to the immense gathering at the removal of his remains from St. Vincent's Hospital, and many travelled long distances the next day to be present at the funeral. Those who were present at the Requiem Mass in the Boys' Chapel and at the burial service in the quiet graveyard off the main avenue must have reflected that if ever a man deserved to have his mortal remains laid to rest at Clongowes amidst the prayers of the com munity and boys, and of many of the Past, it was Father John Joy. It was the one return he would have asked for his unswerving devotion to his Alma Mater,

F McG.

Born: 23 March 1903. Main Street, Killorglin, County Kerry
Entered: 31 August 1920, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1934, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1938, Chiesa de Gesù, Rome, Italy
Died: 13 December 1977, Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin

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

Youngest brother of John C - RIP 1950, Patrick - RIP 1970

Father was a shopkeeper, publican, farmer and property owner. Mother died in 1906.

Eight sons (1 deceased) and seven sisters (2 deceased)

Early education at local Killorglin NS, he went to Clongowes. Clongowes Wood College SJ

Studied for BA in Classics at UCD

Father General's Assistant English Assistant

by 1936 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1937 at Rome, Italy (ROM) working with Propaganda for Faith Secretariat and then Substitute English Assistant
by 1938 at Rome Italy (ROM) Sub English Assistant

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 53rd Year No 2 1978
Obituary :
Fr Francis Joy (1903-1977)
On December 13th, 1977, Father Frank Joy died in Jervis Street Hospital. He had been brought there after collapsing in Dorset Street.
Born in Killorglin, Co, Kerry, on March 23rd 1903, he entered the Noviceship in Tullabeg on August 31st 1920. After the normal course of studies he was ordained priest in Milltown Park on July 31st 1934. His Tertianship was at St Beunos (1935-1936), and he pronounced his Final Vows in Rome, in the Church of the Holy Name, on February 2nd, 1938. They were received by the Vicar General.
Father Joy spent the years 1936-1946 in Rome in the varied works assigned to him. On his return to Ireland in 1946, after some time in Gardiner Street, and Belvedere, he was appointed Rector in Mungret College, in which office he remained from 1950 to 1956. After four years Superior in Manresa Retreat House, he was Rector in the Crescent, Limerick from 1960 to 1965, and then Rector in Clongowes from 1965 to 1968. father Joy spent some years at Retreat work in Leeson Street (1968-1970) and Milltown Park.
Father Joy went to Belvedere in 1971 and remained there in the Office of Bursar and Assistant Bursar until his death in 1976.
Father Frank Joy was very well known and liked in the Province, a thing which emphasises the friendliness and religious spirit that belonged to him. This is significant, for the successive works that were assigned to him were such as would - for the most part, - have drawn little attention to him from his fellow Jesuits in Ireland. Thus his early years in Rome were taken up with jobs that brought no attention to himself: e.g., he was, for a time, Editor of 'Lettres de Rome'. He was successively Rector or Superior of various houses over many years: and then as now a Rector of a College tended to be better known by parents and friends of the students than to other members of the Province outside his own Community. And it was, very fittingly, - in the rather hidden though important work of Bursar that he spent his last quiet years in Belvedere.

◆ The Clongownian, 1978

Obituary

Father Frank Joy SJ

Frank was the youngest of the six members of the Joy family of Killorglin who were educated in Clongowes. He spent four years here form 1916 to 1920. On leaving school he entered the Jesuit Noviceship at Tullabeg, where he had been preceded by his two elder brothers John and Paddy. At the end of his noviceship he went to UCD and took an honours degree in the classics. He then proceeded to Milltown Park to do his philosophical studies, after which he came back to Clongowes and taught classics between 1927 and 1931. His theological studies followed, again in Milltown Park, and he was ordained priest there on July 31st 1934, A spiritual year followed in St Bueno's College, North Wales, and at the end of that year he was summoned to Rome to work at the headquarters of the Jesuit Order, and remained there for nine years from 1939-46.

On his return to Ireland, he was engaged in retreat work in Gardiner Street and Belvedre College. In 1950 he went to Mungret College as Rector. From 1956-60 he was superior of Manresa the Jesuit Retreat House in North Dublin. In 1960 he went back to Limerick as Rector of the Crescent Church and College. In 1965 he returned to Clongowes as Rector, and held that office for three years. In 1968 he moved into Belvedere College, filling the responsible office of school bursar. And so, Frank spent most of his life in administration, and a very capable administrator he was. For the last few years his health had not been good. He went out for a walk in Dublin on December 13th 1977, and suffered a heart attack in the street. He was taken off to hospital and died that night. He was 74 years of age.

Born: 15 June 1796, Ireland
Entered: 08 June 1815 - Marylandiae Province (MAR)
Died: 10 October 1828, Newtown, Maryland, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)

Born: 29 September 1610, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 19 March 1633, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: 1641, Rome, Italy
Final Vows: 01 January 1651
Died: 08 December 1673, Sezze, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)

1636-1639 At Roman College - Disposition or talent, judgement and proficiency good.
1642 At St Andrea Tertianship
1645 At Illyricum College (Loreto) (ROM) teaching Grammar and Philosophy. Fit for lighter subjects and for governing
1649 In the Greek Seminary Rome as Minister and teaching Philosophy and Theology
1651 At Spoleto College - fit to teach speculative sciences
1655 In the Illyricum College teaching Grammar, Philosophy and Theology
1658-1661 Penitentiary at Loreto teaching Philosophy and Theology
1669, 1671 Rector of Irish College Rome, but also said to be Rector of Montesanto (ROM) in 1669
1672 at Politabo College, teaching, penitentiary Rector for 4 years and Minister for 2
1675 & 1678 Catalogue not mentioned

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had already studied at Douai before Ent 19 March 1633 Rome
After First Vows he resumed studies at the Roman College and was Ordained there 1641
1644-1664 Sent to a Chair of Philosophy at Illyrian College Loreto, and later a Chair in Theology - and during this time he also lectured at Spoleto and Viterbo (1650-1652)
1664-1670 Sent as Minister to Montesanto, where he became Vice-Rector in 1665, and then Rector 28 September 1667
1670-1671 Rector of Irish College Rome where he showed himself a far-sighted financial administrator, but his rule was unpopular with the seminarians whose summer vacation he decided should be shortened from twenty to fifteen days. His rectorship lasted only a year.
1671 With failing health he retired with permission from Fr General to the College of Montepulciano, and he died at Sezze 28 December 1673
He had been chosen to go to Ireland in 1649 but the worsening condition of the country caused the General to cancel permission for the journey

Born: 29 March 1929, Wellpark Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1948, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1962, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1965, St Aloysius, Washington DC, USA
Died: 20 February 2013, Littleton, CO, USA

Left Society of Jesus: 1970

Transcribed: HIB to HK - 03 December 1966

Father was a Civil Servant and family lived at Merrion Square, Dublin. Parents, John and Kathleen (O’Brien). Also lived in Dalkey and Rosslare, County Wexford

Fourth in a family of five, with three brothers and one sister (who is in the Little Sisters of the Assumption).

Early education at a national School in Rosslare, County Wexford, and two in a Convent school in Dublin, he then went to Clongowes Wood College SJ for six years.

Baptised at Church of the Assumption, Dalkey 02/04/1929
Confirmed at St Mary’s, Tagoat, County Wexford 1941

1948-1950: St Mary's, Emo, Novitiate
1950-1953: Rathfarmham Castle, Huniorate, UCD
1953-1956: St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, Philosophy
1956-1957: Cheung Chau, Hong Kong - Regency studying language
1957-1959: Wah Yan, Kowloon,Hong Kong, Regency
1959-1963: Milltown Park, Theology
1963-1964: Rathfarnham Castle, Tertianship
1964-1965 at St Aloysius Church, Washington DC, USA (MAR) studying for PhD in Sociology at Catholic University
1965-1966 at U Michigan, Ann Arbor MI, USA (DET) studying and teaching; residing at Catherine Street, Ann Arbour, MI, USA
1966-1968: U of Minnesota WI, USA (WIS) studying and teaching; residing at St Stephen’s Rectory, Clinton Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, USA
1968-1970: Ricci Hall Hong Kong, Superior, Lecturing in Social Work at Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Chaplain to students in United Colleges there; Advisor to CMAC

After leaving worked at University of Minnesota, Duluth

Address 1972: N 34th Avenue W, Duluth MN, USA, USA
Address 2000: South Ivy Way, Englewood, CO, USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Finbarr_Jones

John Finbarr Jones

John Finbarr "Jack" Jones (29 March 1929 – 20 February 2013) was a researcher and scholar of social development,[1] Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver from 1987 to 1996.[2] He served on the Advisory Board of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. As director of the social work program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong between 1976 and 1987, he helped recreate the social work field in China. He wrote or edited more than a dozen books on social development, focusing on human security, international conflict resolution, and transitional economies.

Early life and education
Jones was born in Dublin, Ireland, the fourth of five children born to John Jones, a customs and excise agent, and Kathleen O'Brien Jones. He attended boarding school at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare, until 1948. He then completed his bachelor's degree at National University of Ireland, Dublin (now known as University College Dublin). He joined the Jesuit order after earning his bachelor's degree [gained degree at UCD while a Jesuit], and served as a missionary to Hong Kong. He left the priesthood in 1969. After leaving the priesthood, he earned a master's degree in social work at the University of Michigan, and a Master's in public administration, and a PhD in social work at the University of Minnesota. His doctoral dissertation was adapted into his 1976 book Citizens in Service: Volunteers in Social Welfare During the Depression, 1929 – 1941, which he co-wrote with John M. Herrick.[3]

He married Lois McCleskey Jones, in Washington D.C. in 1974. They had two children.

Professional life, research and scholarship
Shortly after Jones completed his doctoral work, the University of Minnesota recruited him to found its School of Social Development, where he was Dean from 1971 to 1976.

Jones then returned to Hong Kong, where he was director of the department of social work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong until 1987. While in Hong Kong, Jones was vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, and a member of the Hong Kong Advisory Committee on Social Work Training. In 1980, he edited Building China: Studies in Integrated Development, which documented the earliest stages of development in the People's Republic of China following the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution.[4]

Jones was influential in promoting the concept of Social development theory in the field of social work.[5] In 1981, he co-edited Social Development which helped define this approach.[6]

In 1987, he was appointed dean of the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. Under his leadership the school founded the Bridge Project,[7] which supports education initiatives in Denver's public housing developments.[8] He also helped form a partnership between DU and the All China Youth Federation and the China Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing, one of the first such collaborations between American and Chinese universities.[9]

After retiring as dean in 1996, he continued to work as a research professor affiliated with the University of Denver's Conflict Resolution Institute and the Graduate School of Social Work. His contributions to the fields of human security and social development included: The Cost of Reform: The Social Aspect of Transitional Economies which he co-edited with Asfaw Kumssa.[10] Jones was named dean emeritus of the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work in 2004.

Throughout his academic career, Jones served on several international boards and committees, including the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), and the International Council of Social Welfare. Jones was president of the American Humane Association and served on the Colorado Governor's Business Commission on Child Care Financing.[11]

Jones co-ordinated various private and publicly funded research projects, including:

Research on local social development, transitional economies, and social reforms in Asia and Africa, sponsored by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD).
Research on social development in China and Hong Kong, funded through the U.N. Social Welfare and Development Center for Asia and the Pacific.
Research on the chronic mentally ill, funded through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
Research on child protective services, funded by the United States Children's Bureau (HHS).
Program evaluation of rural violence prevention, and community impact studies, funded by the Blandin Foundation.
Gap analysis study of training, funded by the Ford Family Foundation.
Immigrants' online database creation and evaluation, funded by First Data / Western Union Foundation.
He also served on several editorial boards, including: Social Development Issues, Regional Development Dialogue, Regional Development Studies, Journal of Social Development in Africa, and Hong Kong Journal of Social Work.

Born: 28 March 1828, Benada Abbey, County Sligo
Entered: 16 November 1850, Hodder, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 1857
Professed: 01 May 1868
Died: 12 January 1893, Loyola, Guipúzkoa, Spain - Angliae Province (ANG)

Younger Brother of Daniel RIP 1869 Milltown; Cousin of Nicholas Gannon - RIP 1882

Provincial of English Province 1876; Had been appointed Father General's English Assistant in 1892

Son of Daniel and Maria née MacDonnell (daughter of Miles of Carnacon, Co Mayo). Brother of Daniel RIP 1869 Milltown

◆ The Clongownian, 1899

Four Jesuits among our Past

The last number of “The Clongownian” contained some account of our Past in the Army, an account which, though extended, has proved by no means exhaustive. It is now proposed to give a similar record of four members of another societas militans, though their warfare is not of this world.

Elsewhere in this number will be found mention of Father James Jones, spoken of by Father William Bullen Morris, of the Oratory, his schoolfellow here fifty years ago. He was born at Benada Abbey, in Sligo, less than a year before the Emancipation Act. The Abbey was an Augustinian foundation of 1423, and was bestowed under James I on a zealous Protestant, Sir Roger Jones, of Ruthin, in Wales. The property, however, after many years, passed to a Catholic heir, the father of James Jones and of his brother Daniel, a Jesuit of the Irish province, who was Minister in Clongowes when James was one of the scholars, and who died just after his nomination as Provincial. Benada Abbey was made over in 1858 to the Irish Sisters of Charity, a congregation which two sisters of the donors had entered.

James Jones came to Clongowes in 1843 with his cousin, Nicholas Gannon, and spent six years in the College. In the earlier part of his course his classmate was Father Robert Carbery SJ, who has written elsewhere of him in the following terms :

“He was a fine, tall, rattling young fellow, full of life and fun, ready for every kind of venture. His doings at that time would read more like fiction than fact. But in all this there was not the slightest derogation from virtue. I remember, in after years, when he came home from Demerara, and we were talking over school days, he said to me that he often thought, with amazement and with gratitude to God, of the wonderful innocence and modesty in conversation of all our old companions at Clongowes. He left school in 1849, and spent about a year in Dublin. His friends were amazed when they heard of his departure in November, 1850, for St Acheul, where he began his novitiate. But at the same time they all agreed that he would make a splendid Jesuit”.

Novitiate over, Mr James Jones went to St Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, for rhetoric and philosophy, and there, in and out of the lecture-room, he was “a foremost, eager, and subtle disputant”. In 1855 he was in Sicily threatened with pulmonary disease, and in 1857 went to the still warmer climate of Guiana as a missioner; and the last of the four years spent there found him Vicar-General.

In 1861 he returned to Europe, fairly restored to health, and finished his studies. 1865 saw him Superior of the Jamaica mission, and in 1871 he became Professor of Theology at St Bueno's, where he was also three years Rector, till 1876, when he was appointed Provincial in England. At that epoch this office, never a light one, was a position of unusual responsibility, and he was not sorry when, in 1880, he returned to his twofold office at St Bueno's. He was Rector till 1885, and Professor till 1892, when he was elected to go to the twenty-fourth general congregation of the Society, the first ever held at Loyola, in Spain. There he was elected to the important position or Assistant of the Father General for the English-speaking provinces and missions. But before the congregation concluded his health rapidly grew worse, and he was unable to leave Loyola, where he died on January 12, 1893.

His writings were chiefly on theological subjects, the best known being his answer to Dr Littledale, of Liverpool, entitled “Dishonest Criticism, being a Chapter of Theology on Equivocation, and on doing Evil for a Good Cause”, a book declared by a non-Catholic critic to be the best of its kind since Newman's “Apologia”. He was a frequent contributor, too, to the Tablet and the Month on scholastic subjects. The present Rector of St. Bueno's, Father Rickaby, writes, in answer to our inquiries for a photograph of Father Jones, that he seems to have had a great aversion to the camera, and once, at a Synod at Wstminster, saved himself from the photographer by flight. One photograph, however, we learn of as having existed and as we write there is still some hope that it may be recovered. would be a deep pleasure to have a permanent memorial of a Clongownian 'beloved by all for his warm-hearted generosity, his genuine humility, and strong principles, tempered by considerate charity.

Born: 1785, Ireland
Entered: 30 September 1809, Liverpool, England "in articulo mortis" - Angliae Province (ANG)
Died: 30 September 1809, Liverpool, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Was sent to Stonyhurst from Carlow College to complete his Humanities in the Summer of 1805. He passed through the classes from Grammar to Rhetoric with the highest credit, but ill health prevented his entering the Novitiate. In the last week of 1809, he was admitted to Vows in the Society “in articulo mortis” at Liverpool.

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Died a Novice (Scholastic inserted in pen)

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
JONES, JAMES. This talented native ot Ireland, was sent from the College of Carlow to Stonyhurst in the summer of 1805. For the next two years I had the honour of being his master in Grammar and Syntax. On my quitting the College, he pursued the studies of Poetry and Rhetorick with the highest credit, but bad health would not permit him to join the Novitiate. Just before his death in the last week of September, 1809, F. Sewall received the Vows of this most pious and promising youth at Liverpool.

Born: 01 February 1816, Banada Abbey, County Sligo
Entered: 15 May 1844, Hodder, Stonyhurst, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 1852, St Beuno's, Wales
Final vows: 02 February 1860
Died: 02 June 1869, Milltown Park, Dublin

Older brother of James - RIP 1893; Cousin of Nicholas Gannon - RIP 1882

First Irish Province Novice Master 1860-1864

by 1847 in Clongowes
by 1851 at Laval (FRA) studying Theology
by 1854 Teaching at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG)
by1859 at St Eusebio, Rome Italy (ROM) making Tertianship
by 1860 Mag Nov at Milltown

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Daniel and Maria née MacDonnell (daughter of Miles of Carnacon, Co Mayo). Brother of James RIP 1893 Loyola, Guipúzkoa, Spain

Early education and Prior Park, Bath, then Louvain and Trinity College Dublin. On his father’s death he succeeded to the family estate, became a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for Sligo, and was once put in nomination to represent the County in Parliament. Growing weary of the world, he determined to consecrate himself to God in the Society of Jesus, joining the Irish Vice-Province, and his Noviceship was at Hodder, 15 May 1844, aged 28.

1846-1847 After First Vows he taught Grammar at Clongowes.
1847-1851 He then studied Philosophy and some Theology at Laval, and the finished his Theology at St Beuno’s, being Ordained there.
1852 Appointed Socius to the Novice Master at Hodder, while completing his Tertianship at the same time.
1854-1857 Professor of Moral Theology at St Beuno’s, and then taught the short course in Hebrew, whilst acting as Spiritual Father.
1857-1858 Sent to Gardiner St as a Missioner, but soon left for Rome, having got permission to make a second Tertianship, since the first was too much interrupted at Hodder.
1859 Sent to Milltown as Minister
1860-1864 Having taken Final Vows, he was appointed Rector of Milltown and the first HIB Master of Novices, the Vice-Province having been raised to a full Province in 1860.
1864 He was succeeded by Joseph Lentaigne, so he became Spiritual Father at Milltown, and Director of the Spiritual Exerecises to externs, whilst at the same time being Socius to the Provincial.
1869 He died a holy death at Milltown 02 June 1869 Milltown aged 53. A full account of his sickness and death appeared in “Letters & Notices” Vol vi, pp 172 seq :
“Father Jones was a profound Theologian, and deeply versed in Canon Law, and was consulted with very great confidence by many persons far and near. is varied talents were enhanced by a singular humility, a most amiable disposition and a childlike simplicity, and he could never be brought to look upon himself as fit for any post of honour or responsibility. Death alone had anticipated his knowledge of the fact that he had been appointed Provincial”.

He was thrice elected Procurator to represent the Irish Province in Rome : 1860, 1863 and 1868.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Daniel Jones 1816-1869
Fr Daniel Jones was born at Benada Abeey County Sligo on February 1st 1916. He made his classical and higher studies at Prior Park, the University of Louvain and Trinity College Dublin. On the death of his father he succeeded to the family estate, and became a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for Sligo. Growing weary of the world, he entered the Society at Hodder in 1844 for the Irish Province.

In 1850 he was made Socius to the Master of Novices at Hodder, while doing his tertianship at the same time. In 1857-1858 he was a Missioner at Gardiner Street, but soon left for Rome, having obtained leave to make a second tertianship, due to the interruptions of the first one. He was then appointed first Rector of Milltown Park and Master of Novices.

In 1864 he was succeeded as Rector by Fr Lentaigne, he himself becoming Spiritual Father and Director of retreats. Three times successively he was elected Procurator to represent the Irish Province in Rome. He was a holy man, and also the author that handy little booklet on the Morning Oblation. He was so humble in himself that he never considered himself fit for any post of responsibility. Death alone anticipated his knowledge of the fact that he had been appointed Provincial.

He died a holy death at Milltown Park, June 2nd 1869.

36 Waterloo Road, Dublin

Born: 05 October 1895, Perrigny-lès-Dijon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
Entered: 05 November 1913, (HIB for Campaniae Province - CAMP)
Ordained: 29 August 1926
Professed: 02 February 1929
Died: 24 March 1967, Lille, Hauts-de-France, France - Extremo-Orientalis Province (ExOr)

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

Born: 30 July 1925, Norfolk Parade, Belfast, County Antrim
Entered: 20 September 1943, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 24 March 1957, St Ignatius, Tokyo, Japan
Final Vows: 02 February 1961, Tokyo, Japan
Died: 12 October 2010, SJ House, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan - Japanese province (JPN)

Transcribed HIB to JPN: 02 February 1961

Youngest of four boys

Early education was at a Convent school in Belfast, and then at primary schools in Belfast, Holyhead and Liverpool. He then went to St Francis Xavier’s College in Liverpool. Returning to Belfast he attended St Malachy’s College, Belfast

by 1952 at Eiko, Yokosuka-shi, Japan (JPN) studying
by 1954 at Sophia University, Tokyo (JPN) Regency teaching
by 1955 at Nerima-ku, Tokyo (JPN) studying

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/tokyo/

Goodbye to Bill

Fr Bill Johnston, who has died in Tokyo, had a good send-off, reflecting the remarkable impact of this diffident Belfast-born Jesuit. It included a message from President Mary McAleese: ‘I’m so sorry to hear of Father Johnston’s death, though glad for him that his suffering is over and he has reached life’s best destination. May he be enjoying a heavenly welcome.’ The Archbishop of Tokyo (whom Bill had baptised) led the funeral Mass in St Ignatius’ Church, accompanied by the Irish Ambassador, some thirty priests and Archbishop Pittau SJ. The Irish Times plans an obituary. All friends are welcome to a Month’ s Mind Mass in Milltown Park at noon on Friday, 12 November. The photo of Bill reproduced here was taken in 1988.

https://www.jesuit.ie/news/william-johnston-sj-rip-2/

William Johnston SJ, RIP
Bill Johnson SJ, the Irish Jesuit internationally renowned for his work on mysticism and inter-faith dialogue, died peacefully this morning, Tuesday 12 October in Tokyo, Japan. Born in Belfast on 30 July 1925, he entered the Jesuits on 20 September 1943. He was ordained a priest on March 24 1957 and spent many years of his life in Japan where he became actively involved in inter-religious dialogue, especially with the Buddhists. Writing in an article for The Tablet in the aftermath of 9/11 he claimed, “We used to say that dialogue between the religions is necessary for world peace. Now we can say that dialogue between the religions is necessary for world survival.” He was well known also for his best-selling books on mysticism, including Silent Music, The Still Point, and The Inner Eye of Love. Read the full text of Bill’s Tablet article below. May he rest in peace.

https://www.jesuitmissions.ie/news/122-death-of-bill-johnston-sj

Death of Bill Johnston SJ
Bill Johnson SJ, the Irish Jesuit internationally renowned for his work on mysticism and inter-faith dialogue, died on Tuesday 12 October in Tokyo, Japan.

Born in Belfast on 30 July 1925, he entered the Jesuits on 20 September 1943. He was ordained a priest on March 24 1957 and spent many years of his life in Japan where he became actively involved in inter-religious dialogue, especially with the Buddhists. He was well known also for his best-selling books on mysticism, including Silent Music, The Still Point, and The Inner Eye of Love. May he rest in peace.

https://www.jesuit.ie/who-are-the-jesuits/inspirational-jesuits/william-johnston/

William Johnston
Born in a time in Northern Ireland when religious strife and segregation was prevalent, William Johnston went on to become one of the foremost persons in the area of interfaith dialogue, after encountering Buddhism while in Japan.
William Johnston was born in 1925 in Belfast, the youngest of four sons. When he was seven his family moved first to Holyhead in Wales, then to Liverpool. At fifteen he returned to Belfast, where he attended St Malachy’s College. In 1943, having finished school, Johnston entered the noviciate for the Society of Jesus, in [St Mary's, Emo, County Laois], Tullabeg, Co. Laois. While studying philosophy in Tullabeg, he was assigned to Japan, so in 1951 he travelled east. He first spent two years learning Japanese in a Jesuit community south of Tokyo, before moving to Sophia University in the city, where he taught English.
Johnston went to Japan expecting to preach and convert. While studying theology in Shakujii, however, he began to develop a fascination with Buddhism, in particular Zen Buddhism, and mysticism. He saw that for all the differences between his religion and those he encountered in Japan, when it came to meditation and the search for wisdom the great religions shared a common ground. From this revelation came what would be a lifelong involvement in inter-religious dialogue, in particular between Buddhism and Christianity.
When he travelled to Rome in 1958 for six months he further immersed himself in mysticism and transcendental meditation. He later called his time there a ‘revolution in my life’. Once he returned to Japan to resume teaching in 1960, having spent a short while in a New York parish, Johnston read the great 14th century mystical work, The Cloud of Unknowing. He was enthralled. He began then to write on it, work which he later turned into his doctoral thesis, later published as The Mysticism of the Cloud of Unknowing.
Following this Johnston’s next major endeavour was the translation of a novel called Chinmoku, written by Endo Shusaku, a Japanese Catholic. The book, released as Silence, tells the story of a Jesuit apostate in Japan, and because of this many of Johnston’s colleagues weren’t pleased that he chose it. The translation, released in 1969, was highly regarded, and it introduced the acclaimed novel and writer to a new audience. Johnston met Endo when undertaking the translation, and they remained friends until Endo’s death in 1996.
Johnston continued to write over the decades that followed, and he amassed a wider and wider following. He was in demand as a teacher and travelled extensively, to China, the Philippines, Australia and elsewhere. In 2006 he released an autobiography titled Mystical Journey. Johnston died in 2010, in Tokyo.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 144 : Spring 2011

Obituary

Fr William Johnston (1925-2010) : Japanese Province

Bill, the youngest of four boys, was born in Belfast, a city torn with political and religious tension and strife. Those earliest years scarred Bill's memory for the rest of his life. When he was eight, the family moved to Wales, and a year later to Liverpool, where Bill went to Xavier, the Jesuit school. He appreciated his Jesuit teachers but hated the use of corporal punishment. When Liverpool was targetted by German bombers in World War II, the family returned to Belfast and Bill completed his secondary education in St Malachy's College. He entered the Jesuit noviciate in Emo in 1943, did a BA in Classics in UCD, then studied philosophy in Tullabeg. The saintly Fr John Hyde later told Donal Doyle that of all the scholastics he had ever taught, Bill Johnston had the most brilliant mind.

In 1951 he and Gerry Bourke were accepted for the Japanese mission, and it was in Tokyo that he was ordained priest in 1957, taught English Literature in Sophia University, and enrolled for a doctorate in theology there. He did his dissertation on the anonymous medieval classic, The Cloud of Unknowing. Bill's book The Mysticism of 'The Cloud of Unknowing’, with a preface by Thomas Merton, became an authoritative work and set the tone for a lifelong spiritual journey through various styles of prayer. Bill had felt drawn to prayer from his early years, and the titles of his books reflect his spiritual journey: The still point: reflections on Zen and Christian mysticism (1970); Christian Zen (1971); Silent music: the science of meditation (1974); The inner eye of love: mysticism and religion (1978); The mirror mind: spirituality and transformation (1981); The wounded stag: Christian mysticism today (1984); Being in love: the practice of Christian prayer (1988); Letters to a contemplative (1991); Mystical theology: the science of love (1995); Arise, my love: mysticism for a new era (2000); Mystical journey; an autobiography (2006). He also translated Endo Shusaku's Silence (1969), and Nagai Takashi's Bells of Nagasaki (1984).

Because of the popularity of his books, Bill became well known around the world and, while continuing to teach religion at Sophia University, he gave talks and retreats in many countries, and was appointed to direct the tertians in the Philippines for two years. The last and most memorable of his retreats was to diocesan priests in China just a few months before he collapsed into his final illness.

As the book-titles suggest, Bill engaged actively in religious dialogue, especially with Buddhists. He wrote euphorically about the religious summits in Assisi convoked by Pope John Paul II, which he felt heralded the new era" implied in the title of Arise my love. He took part in a World Religious Summit in Hieizan in 2007. Throughout all this, his love for silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament was remarkable. If he was not in his room or had gone out somewhere, he would often be found in the Chapel in silent prayer. With his prayer group of lay people, he would bring the Blessed Sacrament to a small chapel where they would pray silently together.

The Teacher
Bill first appeared in my life in 1944 as a teacher, instructing Michael Crowe and me in the customs of the Jesuit Noviciate in Emo. Indeed Michael was already a mystic. Bill was our angelus, the second-year novice who looks after a couple of first-years. He went on to be a great teacher. Most of his books were essentially didactic, teaching people how to pray. Being in Love begins: “You have asked me, Thomas, to write to you about the art of prayer” - and he goes on to instruct, with clarity and order,

Skip nearly sixty years. One morning in 2002 I had breakfast with Bill in Manresa, a chance to renew an old friendship. Looking back on the years since our noviceship, I ask him over breakfast:

“Bill, your life is productive. You have made a difference. You have helped countless people across the world. You have written bestselling and original books, lectured in your Japanese university and in many other countries. Of all the things you have done, what would you like to be remembered by? What was most worthwhile?”

Bill blushed, which he did easily, though his red hair had turned white. And he thought for a bit before replying: “I taught some people to pray”.

“When you say ‘taught’, I asked, do you mean by your writing and lecturing?”

“No, no”, he answered. “I mean that individuals asked me how to pray, and I taught them, one by one. Some of them were Europeans who came to Japan to learn Zen meditation, but they had no experience of the Christian tradition of interior prayer which goes back two thousand years. I taught them- that makes me happy”.

I thought about this. It was not what I expected. Bill was an international figure. He was moving on from Manresa to give a retreat to Lutherans in Sweden. He was just back from lecturing in USA. But he did not rate that as high as helping people to pray.

He saw prayer not so much as a private devotion, but as the only hope for the future of mankind. At the Assisi meeting of the world's religious bodies Pope John Paul II had said that the exigencies of peace “transcend all religions”. Bill took this further: “I still ask myself if we can develop the Pope's thought in such a way that people throughout the world – with or without religion - will be willing to sit together in silence, faithful to their own beliefs but united in a great love for peace and for the earth”.

He was a good teacher because he had learned from experience, reflecting on the history of his heart in the same way as Ignatius did. His journey had been a lengthy one, from Ireland his mother to Japan his wife (as he liked to put it), from the sectarian hatreds of Belfast to a philosophy of love, and from the stringent logic of the first week of the Spiritual Exercises to a contemplation in which the body and the heart were what counted.

That was one of his lifelong struggles: did he belong in the Jesuits, where the spirituality he had been taught in Emo was so rational, conscious, intellectual? He came to see that Ignatius himself was not like that, but a true mystic, reaching beyond language, so much in love with God that his tears of joy in prayer threatened to damage his eyesight. Bill too was a man who wept easily, and knew the ecstasy of falling in love. His friendships, with both men and women, were immensely important to him. Yet in prayer he knew the value of habit and discipline in opening oneself to the Lord.

His first advice was: Attend to your breathing; then to your posture – straight back, eyes half closed, in lotus position if you can manage it. Then find a mantra, a phrase that you can repeat: Jesus, Come Holy Spirit, or the like. Give time to prayer - Bill himself was faithful to an hour's meditation every day, and as the years passed be loved to spend longer periods with the Blessed Sacrament.

Dark nights
Bill knew that it would not be all sweetness and light. He went through difficult periods. On a mission to India his money, passport, visa and tickets were stolen, and he had to cancel a retreat because he could not travel. He was left alone to manage a tertianship in the Philippines and was forced to realise that his strength was in teaching, not administration. He opted to make a 30-day retreat in USA under a famous director, but was so shaken by his confrontations that he fell sick. The shadow of the Cross often fell upon him. He suffered a great deal from what he felt were abuses of truth, as when well-known theologians were censured in different ways. At such times Bill became angry and critical of how things were being done. But he continued to pray, and in time, as the storm abated, peace and the love of life returned.

St Teresa of Avila warns that ordinarily one does not enter the seventh mansion (the apex of mystical prayer) without severe illness and pain. When Bill read this, he reacted: For me this is frightening, and I hope the great Carmelite is wrong. Alas, she was right. The real history of Bill lies not in his books, lectures or travels, nor in the things that he did, but in the steady work of God, putting him through a long dark night of sleeplessness and anxiety, and finally stilling him with paralysis. Even words failed as he lost the power of coherent speech. The last two years may well have been the most formative of his entire life, when God, not Bill, was active. The book that he had had constantly come back to was the anonymous Cloud of Unknowing, which urges us to seek God not through knowledge but through what the author calls a "naked intent" and a “blind Love”.

After two years in which he could neither move nor speak, Bill has gone beyond the Cloud of Unknowing to that happiness where, as St Paul writes: Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. The impression of his final weeks could be summed up in the word Peace. It was written on his face almost as though he had caught a glimpse of the happiness promised in the Gospel. May God be good to him.

Paul Andrews, helped especially by Dermot Brangan and Donal Doyle

Born: 28 August 1897, Coney Island, Ardglass, County Down
Entered: 31 August 1915, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1929, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1933
Died: 20 October 1990, Nazareth House Melbourne, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Younger brother of Henry A Johnston - RIP 1986

Father was a solicitor’s clerk. Mother died in 1899. Father lives at English Street, Downpatrick, County Down

Youngest of four sons and four sisters.

Educated at for two years at a convent school in Downpatrick he then went to the local National School in Downpatrick run by the Christian Brothers. In 1910 he went to Mungret College SJ

by 1932 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Thomas Johnston, brother of Henry, and the youngest of nine, received his secondary education at Mungret College, Limerick, and entered the Society at Tullabeg, 21 August 1915. His juniorate and university studies, 1917-21, were in classics, English, French and ancient history, and he gained a BA with honours. Philosophy and theology were at Milltown Park, and tertianship was at St Beuno's, Wales, 1931-32. He taught religion and the classics at Clongowes, 1924-27.
Arriving in Australia in 1932, he was appointed to Xavier College, Kew, where he taught religion, Greek and Latin. From 1933-38, he lectured in philosophy at the diocesan seminary, Corpus Christi College, Werribee. His lectures and spiritual talks were concise, clear, well reasoned and easy to listen to. He was dean of Newman College, within The University of Melbourne, 1939-45, and tutored in philosophy. For two years he was rector of St Ignatius' College, Riverview, teaching Latin and religion.
From 1948 to 1952 he was rector of the Holy Name Seminary, Christchurch, New Zealand, and taught Latin. During this time some considered him aloof and unfriendly in his dealings with students and priests.
After a year at Werribee teaching moral theology, 1953, he was appointed rector of St Leo's College, University of Queensland, 1954-66. From 1967-74 he was minister and assistant pastor at the parish of St Ignatius' Toowong within the archdiocese of Brisbane. During these years in Brisbane, Johnston was confessor and confidant to the archbishop. He preached on the occasion of the archbishop's diamond jubilee in the priesthood, 19 September 1956.
When he left Queensland in 1975, he worked in the Sale diocese until 1983, when ill health finally forced his retirement from active ministry. His presence in the diocese was greedy
appreciated by the bishop and the priests he assisted. The people appreciated his to the point homilies for their brevity and clarity.
As a teacher and lecturer he was clear and interesting, with an economy of words. As dean of discipline at Werribee, he was always kind, gentle and supportive. His exposition of the Spiritual Exercises was precise and brief, but challenging. He believed in the work of the Holy Spirit.
His life style when engaged in parish duties was very regular. He rose at 5.30 am and liked to say the early Mass. He had breakfast at 8 am and by 9.30 he was visiting parishioners. Following a siesta after lunch, from 4 to 6 pm he resumed visiting the parish. The Rosary was said after the evening meal in common when possible, and he retired to bed by 9.30 pm.
Eventually he retired to Hawthorn, but for the last four and a half years of his life resided at Nazareth House, a home for the aged.

Born: 23 November 1916, Belvidere Road, North Circular Road, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 September 1936, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 28 July 1948,Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 11 February 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
(Killed in the Fire at Milltown Park 11 February 1949)

Father was a shop manager.

Second of four sons.

Early education was for four years in an infant school in Dublin he then went to O’Connells School (1925-1935)

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 24th Year No 2 1949

The Fire at Milltown Park :
Early in the morning of Friday, February 11th, fire broke out in the tailor's shop over the Refectory. The alarm was given and the Fire Brigade summoned. At first the progress of the fire was slow, but after a short time it became terribly rapid, and some of the Community were rescued barely in time. Fr. Johnston, Fourth Year Theologian, lost his life. He had remained to dress himself completely, as he was due to say Mass at the Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Anne's, and was asphyxiated by the fumes before he could escape - one may say, a martyr of Duty. Fr. Gannon got severely burned, and Mr. Reidy suffered injury to his spine as the result of a fall ; both are doing well and will, it is hoped, be none the worse in the end. The Fire Brigade was able to prevent the fire from spreading beyond the building where it had broken out.

Milltown Park, Dublin :
The morning of Friday, February 11th was a tragic morning here in Milltown Park. The two top stories of the Theologians House (built in 1908 by Fr. Finlay) were burnt out. Fr. James Johnston, a 4th Year Theologian lost his life, Fr. Gannon was severely burnt on his hands and face, and Mr. Reidy dislocated some of the vertebrae of his spine, jumping from a ledge underneath his window.
At 5.30 Br. Kavanagh discovered a fire in the Tailor's Room. He summoned Fr. Smyth, acting Minister, who telephoned for a fire brigade, while a few scholasctics endeavoured, unsuccessfully, to extinguish the fire with Minimaxes and water. Br. Kavanagh carried. Fr. W. Gwynn (aged 84) to safety, and Fr. Smyth warned the occupants. of the Theologians House to make for the fire escape.
By this time the stairs end of the Theologians' House was burning fiercely; the fumes and heat in the corridors were unbearable, and it is due to the Mercy of God that so many were able to get to the fire escape before they were overcome with suffocation. In the meantime, the first of the fire brigades had arrived and Frs. Power, Hannigan, Gannon and a couple of scholastics were rescued. The firemen then concentrated on saving the New House which was by this time filling with smoke.
A roll-call shortly after 6 o'clock confirmed that Fr. Johnston was missing, but by this time the whole of the doomed wing was ablaze. Coincidentally with the celebration of the Community Mass at 7.15 the six fire brigades got the conflagration under control.
Offers of assistance and accommodation began to pour in from all sides and within a couple of days ran into thousands.
The Scholastics were transferred to the Retreat House, Rathfarnham, where they stayed for four days. They will always remember the kindness and hospitality shown by the Rector, the Community and the Retreat House staff of Rathfarnham.
On Tuesday 15th the Scholastics returned to Milltown, where a field kitchen, presented by the Army, had been installed. They occupied the Retreat House and many of the rooms had to accommodate two occupants, as the Minister's House also had to be vacated owing to damage and water.
On Friday 18th, the ‘octave' of the fire’, lectures were resumed, and routine was gradually established.
Fr. Gannon recovered rapidly and hopes to be back in Milltown soon. Mr. Reidy is also on his feet again, and he too hopes to be out of hospital in the near future, though he will be partially encased in plaster of paris for a considerable time.
The majority of the occupants of the Theologians' House lost all their personal effects, notes, etc. Fr. Gannon, however, being at the end of the corridor, and having his door closed, will salvage all his books and notes.

Gardiner Street :
On February 13th the remains of Fr. J. Johnston, who had perished in the fire at Milltown Park, were brought to the church, where they were met by a great and most sympathetic crowd. On February 14th the Office and Solemn Requiem Mass were held, which were attended by 200 priests and a vast gathering of lay-people. His Grace, the Arch bishop presided; there were present also Bishop Dunne, Mgr. Dargan, Mgr. Moloney, Canon McArdle, Canon T. Ryan, Canon O'Callaghan. An Taoiseach, Mr. Costello had a prie-dieu out in front. Very Rev. Fr. L. O'Grady, Rector of Milltown Park, was the celebrant of the High Mass. Mr. H. Dargan was M.C. The very large congregation was a striking manifestation of sympathy to tbe family of Fr. Johnston and to the Society for the sad accident. Many lesser expressions of sympathy were given to the Fathers here.

Obituary

Fr. James Johnston (1916-1936-1949)

Father James Johnson was born in Dublin on November 23rd, 1916. He was educated at O'Connell School and is remembered by his teachers and contemporaries there as a quiet, unassuming student of considerable ability. Jim Johnston was one whose gifts of mind and character were fully appreciated by relatively few of his classmates. Shy and reserved he had a natural distaste for superficial prominence of any kind, but those who knew him intimately saw clearly his fine qualities and found in him a devotedly sincere friend,
In September, 1936 he entered the noviceship at Emo, and on September 15th, 1938 pronounced his first vows. In the Juniorate he studied Latin and History as subjects for his degree which he secured with honours in September, 1941. The same month he began philosophy at Tullabeg. After one year of teaching at Clongowes where he obtained his Teaching Certificate with distinction, he began theology in Milltown Park, being ordained on July 28th, 1948.
Jim Johnston combined great intellectual gifts with remarkable versatility and efficiency in practical hobbies. At times his shyness prevented him from revealing his true ability, and he rarely, I think, did himself justice in formal public appearances. A notable exception to this was the examination for Diocesan faculties when his clear answering won special praise from the examiners. His contemporaries know how thoroughly he could master a subject, and bow clearly and simply he could discuss and explain difficult-points without ever sacrificing depth or accuracy. This was especially true of Moral Theology, and many will remember with gratitude the help he gave them in this and in other subjects.
At Clongowes he was a soundly successful teacher, and his classes liked and respected him for he rarely had to resort to sending boys out, never lost patience, and accepted lack of response with that attractive dry humour which never failed him. His achievements as a student and teacher are all the more remarkable in view of the fact that early in his studies he began to suffer from headaches and tiredness, and his power of work could never quite measure up to his natural taste for study. Yet he never complained that he was not feeling well, but carried on with a quiet determination that at times must have amounted to heroism.
His competence in practical matters was remarkable. In Rathfarnham and in Clongowes later he was in charge of Meteorology, and this office meant more to him than a routine recording of thermometer and rain-gauge reading, for he also mastered the theory of the science. But gardening was his favourite hobby and in Tullabeg and Milltown Park he devoted almost every free day to working in the grounds. He worked with meticulous care and visitors who admired the neatly laid out flower-beds and skilfully blended colours paid tribute, un knowingly, to the patient work of Jim Johnston. An adept at electricity he installed the stage lighting for the Christmas plays each year in each of the scholasticates. His versatility extended to photography at which he was quite an expert, and indeed he never dabbled in any thing, for the same quiet efficiency characterised everything he did.
It is not surprising that such versatility was duly recognised by others and that he was constantly asked by fellow-scholastics to do various jobs great and small. With a ready and unfailing charity he always obliged and never showed the slightest reluctance nor even gave the impression that his time was being encroached upon though such must have been the case.
Anyone who knew him intimately during his fourth year at Milltown was impressed by his deep appreciation of the priesthood, and several have remarked that with his ordination he had acquired a new confidence and assurance. Supply work appealed greatly to him and he was always particularly glad when given an opportunity of hearing confessions.
Fr. Johnston's qualities of intellect and character, his practical efficiency and unassuming charity made him loved and respected, and gave assured promise of a zealous and fruitful apostolate, and the sound success of any work appointed him by Superiors. On February 11th, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, he was to have said Mass at 7 o'clock in Mount St. Anne's. Shortly after 7 o'clock that morning many members of his community were offering Mass for the repose of his soul. His death came as a great shock to them and to all the Province. May be rest in peace.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 51 : Special Issue – Dublin Millenium 1988

THE MILLTOWN FIRE

Denis Nerney

The late Fr Nerney, writing in December 1949, describes the calamity which many of our older readers will remember vividly. The photographs are from the Francis M. Browne S.J. Collection.

On the morning of Friday, 11th February, 1949, there was a serious fire at Milltown Park in which one young priest, Father James Johnston, lost his life, two were gravely injured and many others suffered from burns and shock.

The fire was discovered at 5.40 a.m., twenty minutes before the time for rising, in the north-east corner of the Finlay House. A pantry on the ground floor was on fire and the room above it was full of smoke. Those living nearby were aroused immediately; the Fire Brigade was summoned and the alert was given in the various houses.

When Fr Smyth, Acting Minister, had telephoned for the Brigade, he ran up the stairs to make sure that everyone was ready. Finding the lower corridor already on the alert, he proceeded to the top corridor, opening every door. Up to the time when he had nearly reached the south end, just before 5.49, there was no impression of an imminent emergency. There was no fire or smoke about and all seemed normal in the corridor. But at that moment (i.e. some seconds before 5.49) there was a muffled explosion down in the stairs, a great wave of fire and smoke rose to the roof and began to flow into the corridors of the Finlay House and into the Rector's House. The roof of the Finlay House went into flames, the lights went out and within one minute the north ends of the corridors and the passages into the Rector's House were burning fiercely, while the whole place was engulfed in thick smoke and fumes. Immediately Fr Smyth ordered everyone to go straight to our fire ladder at the south-west end. His call was so piercing that it was heard in the corridor below, in the Rector's House and even outside in the grounds. The difficult manoeuvre of getting away by the ladder in darkness, thick smoke and intense heat was carried out with great order and speed. Those whose rooms adjoined the fire ladder kept shouting directions in the corridors until nearly overcome; they were among the last down the escape.

At approximately 5.50, ten minutes, therefore, after the fire was discovered and one minute after the explosion - the upper storeys of both Houses were so choked with fire and smoke and fumes that they became quite impassable. Such was the precipitate course of events that a number were trapped in their rooms. Five were rescued by ladders and two jumped from outside ledges. A roll was called immediately to make sure that all were safe. When Fr Johnston did not answer, a search was made for him and stones were thrown at his window. One attempt to reach his room had to be turned back as the roof and upper corridor were in flames; and not even the firemen could get into that part of the building until about 7.30. All that is known with certainty is that he attempted some time after 5.50 to reach our escape - a matter of half a dozen paces - and was overcome on the way. His next-door neighbour had actually made the same attempt about 5.50, was forced back into his room and had to be rescued by the firemen through his window. Nothing in the desperate ordeal of the fire affected the community so profoundly as the tragic death of this young priest.

Such was the suddenness of the final conflagration that the firemen were amazed that many more had not lost their lives. They explained that our fire was of the “flash-over” type, an unusual and treacherous kind of fire which is propagated by the secret spread of smoulder inside floors, stairs, partitions and lofts until a critical temperature is reached and the smoulder bursts into flames
3, simultaneously or in rapid succession at different points. The probability is that a concealed smoulder fire had been working its way during the night from the north-east corner of the Finlay House, up the stairs, and that it had reached at least half-way across the roof loft by 5.48; further, that it had penetrated both floors, possibly over their whole length. As a result, the fire was beyond the control of our fire appliances when it was discovered; and at 5.48, when there was as yet no visible sign of an emergency in the corridors, the Finlay House was riddled with smoulder. The rising temperature reached its flash point a few seconds later; and immediately, one may say without exaggeration, the Finlay House exploded, allowing no one in it much more than a minute, many less and some no time at all, to escape by our ladder.

The material damage was considerable. In the Finlay House 32 rooms and in the Rector's House 10 rooms were burnt out or rendered uninhabitable. All the rooms off the stairs and in the top storey of the Finlay House were utterly consumed with everything in them. The soaking contents of a few rooms in the lower corridor were saved. The refectory beneath was partly on fire, and water was cascading through the ceiling and floor into the kitchen and domestic offices below it for 24 hours. In addition, therefore, to the loss of 42 living rooms with most of the contents (furniture, clothes, books) the entire domestic economy of Milltown Park, which catered both for the community and the House of Retreats, was destroyed; and for a week there was nothing to be had except a cup of tea made on a primus stove.

The community had no choice in the circumstances but to scatter to other houses for food and shelter. A small number who were able to stay on in the Retreat House, said Mass and had their meals at local Convents, with the Sisters of Charity at Mount Saint Anne's and Donnybrook and with the Dominican Sisters at Muckross Park. The immense hospitality and kindness of these Convents and of our own Houses must be recorded here. We had offers of accommodation for our homeless from Maynooth, Clonliffe, the Holy Ghost Fathers and the Marist Fathers, as well as from private families. His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin called twice and gave . us £1,000 for reconstruction. Others to visit us were Dr Dunne, Bishop of Nara; Dr Kissane, President of Maynooth; the Taoiseach, Mr Costello; Dr O'Higgins, Minister for Defence; as well as very many other friends of the community and neighbours. On its own initiative the Army sent us a camp kitchen and a company of soldiers to install it. With its help our domestic economy was re-established and the community was able to return home.

Within a few weeks, in spite of restricted space and an improvised economy, the work of the theologate and the retreats was resumed. Two members of the community who had suffered very grave injuries in the fire, made a full recovery at St Vincent’s, the hospital refusing all remuneration for surgical and other expenses. One storey of the Finlay House has been dismantled; the rest is a ruin; while part of the Rector's House is in no better condition. In the meantime, we are looking forward to the construction of a new House of Studies at Milltown Park.

Born: 17 October 1888, Downpatrick, County Down
Entered: 12 November 1906, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 24 October 1920
Final Vows: 01 February 1924, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Died: 04 September 1986, St Joseph, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia

Older brother of Thomas Johnston - RIP 1990

Father was a solicitor’s clerk. Mother died in 1899.

Three brothers and four sisters.

Educated at a Convent school and then a De La Salle High School, Downpatrick. At 14 he went to Mungret College SJ

by 1915 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University online :
Johnston, Henry Aloysius (1888–1986)
by J. Eddy
J. Eddy, 'Johnston, Henry Aloysius (1888–1986)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/johnston-henry-aloysius-12703/text22903, published first in hardcopy 2007

Catholic priest; Catholic theologian

Died : 4 September 1986, Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Henry Aloysius Johnston (1888-1986), Jesuit priest and seminary rector, was born on 17 October 1888 at Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, son of Henry Johnston, clerk, and his wife Kate, née Woods. A younger brother also became a Jesuit. Henry was educated at Mungret College, Limerick, and entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg College in 1906. He studied at the Royal (National after 1909) University of Ireland (BA, 1910; MA, 1912), gaining first-class honours in ancient classics in his masterate while also teaching at St Stanislaus College, Tullamore (1910-11). In 1912-14 he taught at Clongowes Wood College, Kildare. After reading philosophy at St Mary’s Hall, Stonyhurst, England (1914-16), he returned to Ireland to teach at Tullabeg (1916-18) and then studied theology at Milltown Park, where he was ordained priest on 24 October 1920. Back at Tullabeg, in 1922 he completed a doctorate in theology for the Gregorian University, Rome, although the degree was not conferred until 1963.

Responding to a call from Corpus Christi College, the recently established seminary at Werribee, in 1923 Johnston travelled to Victoria, and, after teaching at Xavier College, Melbourne, took up his appointment in 1925. Essentially a professor of philosophy, he also taught liturgy and music, and on occasion scripture and moral theology. In 1930 he became rector of the college, remaining so until 1947. Almost four hundred student priests came under his influence. Noted for his professional poise, practical equanimity and unshakeable self-confidence, he was a rigid, seemingly aloof disciplinarian: he treated all students alike and set an example of impeccable priestly behaviour. Industrious and orderly, without being pettifogging, he had a passion for detailed knowledge and accuracy.

The years at Werribee were the highlight of Johnston’s life in Australia, but his work extended beyond them. He taught (1949-53) at Canisius College, Pymble, Sydney, and then served as parish priest and superior (1954-56) at St Mary’s, North Sydney. In 1957 and again in 1961 he was tertian instructor at Sevenhill College, Clare, South Australia, and between those appointments taught Greek, Latin and history at Loyola College, Watsonia, Melbourne. From 1962 to 1966 he served as parish priest and superior at Immaculate Conception Church, Hawthorn. After further stints of teaching at Werribee (1967-70) and Watsonia (1970-73), he worked (1974) with the Marist Brothers at Campion College, Kew. He spent 1975-77 at the provincial’s residence, Hawthorn, before returning to St Mary’s (1978-82) as chaplain to the nearby Josephite Sisters.

Incisive of mind and tenacious of purpose, Johnston was a formidable Irish gentleman, scholar and cleric. A passion for knowledge and accuracy also informed his work as a polemicist, a writer of apologetic tracts, and a radio personality. His somewhat steely smile and halo of tightly curled white hair gave him a special aura. He maintained an iceberg calm and relentless logic at all times. Yet, although he appeared reserved, even cold, he could be counted on for sympathetic advice. He had a respect for individuality, if within strictly defined boundaries. His popular publications included Plain Talks on the Catholic Religion (1936), A Critic Looks at the Catholic Church (1944) and A Seed That Grew (1956), a history of North Sydney parish. Father Henry Johnston died on 4 September 1986 at Kew and was buried in Boroondara cemetery.

Select Bibliography
Corpus Christi, no 1, 1962, p 46, no 2, 1967, p 163, no 3, 1974, p 25
Jesuit Life, no 22, 1986, p 27
private information and personal knowledge.

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Henry Johnston was a most remarkable man. It was not that he had any single great achievement his achievements were doing everything he undertook well. He possessed the characteristics of many Northern Irishmen and had an acute, incisive mind and a remarkable tenacity of purpose that showed itself in every undertaking, whether it was the mastery of some subject of study, the conduct of a parish, or a game of tennis or golf.
He said that as a young man he had developed a stomach ulcer. It is hard for those who knew him well to believe that any ulcer would have the temerity to attack his innermost regions but in any case, his physician prescribed a rigid diet of food that he obediently and equally rigidly observed for the rest of his many years. His breakfast of a poached egg and a cup of milk was never changed and seemed almost symbolic of his life. He invariably had an afternoon rest and retired at night at 10.00 pm and nothing, absolutely nothing, was allowed to interfere with this practice.
He was a man who was nearly always logically right, but was often psychologically wrong. He did not show much compassion or feelings for people or situations. He would inform unenlightened celebrants of the Eucharist of the number of rubrics they had broken during their celebration. Then was surprised when they expressed their disapproval of his criticism. This he could not understand - he thought that they would want to be enlightened.
Johnston accepted every challenge with zest and proceeded to meet it. He regretted not learning to play the piano because he believed he would have been good at it! Every moment was spent in profitable work. When his abstemious meal was finished and there was still someone reading in the refectory he practised his shorthand, taking down what was read, writing with his finger on the table. Even at the community recreation he was continually checking conversation by referring to a dictionary or encyclopaedia, or some other reference book, even if it was only the railway timetable. He had a passion for knowledge and accuracy.
Through the years he had passing interests. At Werribee he was an avid ornithologist, so cats, because of their known proclivities in this area, were a discouraged species. But this could scarcely be believed by the scholastics who had observed - some would say suffered from -his feline preferences when he was at Pymble and Watsonia. No one ever knew Henry Johnston to be flustered or to lose his calm in any situation. He was a great polemicist, not only in his written defences of the faith, but also on the Catholic Evidence platforms in Melbourne and Sydney. He argued with an iceberg calm and relentless logic, and mostly with a rather deadly smile. He pushed the sale of his books and pamphlets with the persistence of a second hand car salesman because he knew they were good for the buyer. He had a Pauline respect for the goods he passed on.
Johnston entered the Jesuits, 12 November 1906, and was ordained, 24 October 1920. He was later sent to Australia, and from 1925, spent 27 years at the regional seminary at Werribee, seventeen as rector, 1930-47. These years probably mark the highlight of his life. He taught, at various times, most theological subjects. He had an MA in classics from the National University of Ireland, and a doctorate in theology from the Roman Gregorian University that he used to good purpose in writing “Plain Talks on the Catholic Religion” and “A Critic Looks at the Catholic Church”. His last unpublished work was a refutation of the validity of Anglican Orders.
Johnston's impact on priests ordained for the dioceses of Victoria and beyond was incalculable. In his years at Werribee, nearly 400 priests came within the sphere of his influence, about 100 of whom predeceased him. Johnston had a great respect for the priests of Corpus Christi. He followed their progress with interest and never failed to write a congratulatory and encouraging letter to every student on the occasion of a priestly silver jubilee.
One of his great strengths as rector was that he had no favourites among the students. They stood in awe of him. Undemonstrative to a marked degree, he appeared to be reserved and distant even cold. But if one brought a personal problem to him one was assured of a sympathetic hearing and sound advice. He is recorded as saying that he found it very hard to say “no” to people. There were those who thought he should have found it easier with the passage of time because he had had so much practice at it. T
he spirituality he fostered among the students was based on their becoming men of God. In his prayer life, his disciplined commitment to both his priesthood and religious vocation, and his devotion to the Mass and to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he clearly showed the seminarians the way. Johnston made himself an authority on many subjects. One such discipline was the Sacred Liturgy. He took his usual pains to master the subject and did all in his power to instil into the students a practical knowledge of, and a reverence for, the liturgy. He embraced the post-conciliar liturgy with equal enthusiasm. His faith in the Church and his transparent obedience had no limits.
He held high office among the Jesuits for many years, as rector of Canisius College, Pymble, 1949-53, and Loyola College, Watsonia, 1958-60, as well as parish priest of North Sydney, 1954-56, and Hawthorn, 1962-66. He also gave talks on the Catholic Hour in Melbourne, and was frequently requested to give spiritual retreats. In later years he taught theology at Werribee, 1967-73, and from 1978-82 he was chaplain to St Joseph's Convent, Mount St, North Sydney. His Final residence was a hostel, St Raphael's, Kew. Johnston succeeded John Fahy as tertian instructor in 1957, and was heavily involved in retreat giving and spiritual direction. Over 56 years, he preached 306 retreats to every sort of person, from school children to bishops. His spirituality was traditional, centred on Jesus Christ, acknowledging the need to surrender oneself to God, but also strong on the need for the discipline of human passions. He was intellectual, logical and precise in his directions, without sentimentality or affection.
He believed that joy in the spiritual life was not gained without humility and effort. Perfection in all human activities enabled God to be generous, but imperfections 'might be the beginning of the path to hell for a religious.
He Liked to emphasis the military metaphor in spirituality. The spiritual quest required a “state of war” with oneself He taught that the good Jesuit needed detachment (indifferences, obedience, humility and charity : “I must strip myself of everything and know myself in my nothingness”. 'We naturally love notice, praise, esteem. We must convince Ours that this is not wise or good”. The cross appeared to be all important in Johnston's spirituality.
He did not believe that human friendship was important if Christ was a friend, and that the necessity of human friendships could be exaggerated. In his own life he was experienced as remote and austere, but the depth of his learning and the breadth of his experience with people gave him the ability to give logical and sensible solutions to problems both spiritual and human. The apparent correctness of his advice appeared to make up for his lack of human warmth, at least with non-Jesuits.
The virtues of fear and love were both presented in his talks, but they were presented in such a cold manner that fear became the predominant message He taught that the good Jesuit was one who was interested in prayer, obedience, hard work, and reverence towards others. The preaching of joy in life, or the idea of malting allowances for human weakness did not appear in Johnston’s dictionary. Other Jesuits respected him, but they could not accept his joyless spirituality and lack of human approachability. He was not believed to be a model for younger Jesuits. lt would be hard to meet his like again and no one would be in more complete agreement with this than Johnston himself.
He was remarkable priest, an outstanding spiritual director, a dedicated religious, who encouraged and inspired by his example, a noted scholar, and a leading apologist.

Note from George Collopy Entry
When Henry Johnston had to attend a conference in Rome, he was appointed Acting Parish Priest at St Mary’s, Sydney, and he was later confirmed as Parish Priest.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 61st Year No 4 1986

Obituary

Fr Henry Johnston (1888-1906-1986) (Australia)

Fr Johnston's requiem Mass was Melbourne. Archbishop Little presided, bishops along with Jesuit and diocesan priests, many of them former students of Fr Johnston's. Under the headline, “One of our best-known priests”, Fr William Daniel, Superior of the Jesuit Curia of the Australian Province, paid a fine tribute to Fr Johnston in this statement to the press:

As a Jesuit in Australia, Fr Johnston filled many offices, but is best remembered for his 27 years as a professor in the seminary at Werribee, Victoria.
Born in Downpatrick, Ireland, he was of two brothers to become Jesuits. Both men had considerable talents and that characteristic Northern Ireland acuteness of mind and tenacity of purpose.
Henry Johnston, SJ was in his time a great polemicist. He debated matters of faith on the Catholic Evidence Guild platforms in Sydney and Melbourne. During the 1930s and 1940s he conducted the Question Box and gave talks on the Catholic Radio Hour in Melbourne. He published pamphlets in abundance, but his only books were “Plain talks on the Catholic religion” (a book unequalled in time for clarity and the exactness of its teaching), "A critic looks at the Catholic and Catholic Church”, and a history of the parish of North Sydney.
No one ever knew Fr Johnston to be ruffled or angered by controversy. He approached every undertaking, whether it was a debate or a game of tennis or golf, with an iceberg calm and the application of logic. Urbanity marked his words and actions. Uncharity was as alien to him as a display of emotion or yielding of position.
He professed sacred scripture, philosophy and moral theology, and indeed everything else as need arose. He and the concelebrants included seven
was rector in several Jesuit houses of celebrated in St Patrick's cathedral, study, parish priest in two large parishes, and instructor of tertians ... Fr Johnston retained an extraordinarily youthful intellect, and accepted every new task as an enjoyable challenge, whether it was in sacred studies,liturgical music, or golf. He was not happy until he had mastered each new skill. He carried on his labours, writing and lecturing, right up until his last few days, when he suffered impairment of sight and eventually its loss.
It is no exaggeration to say that Fr Henry Johnston is a legend among the clergy of Victoria, so many of whom he helped to form. His achievements and foibles are still spoken of at many a clergy gathering. His life was one of dedicated service and scholarship. His last years of acceptance of his failing one faculties were borne with the same calm had marked the course of his long life.

Under the heading, “Fr Johnston: men tor to hundreds of priests, laity”, another Australian newspaper article describes Fr Johnston:
The late Jesuit Fr Henry Johnston its influenced at least four hundred priests and countless lay people - non-Catholic - during his eighty years in the Society of Jesus and 66 years as a priest.
Dean F M Chamberlin, homilist at the requiem Mass, said that in 1923 Fr Johnston came to Australia, where he exercised a remarkable influence for two-thirds of the present century.
On his arrival he taught English and Latin at Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne. He had already won example. bachelor's and master's degrees with first-class honours in Ancient Classics at the National University of Ireland, followed by a doctorate in sacred theology at the Gregorian University, Rome.
In 1925 he took up an appointment to the professorial staff of the regional seminary at Corpus Christi College, Werribee, and was to remain there for a period of 24 years, 18 of them as period of 24 years, 18 of them as rector for three successive terms. In the early 1940s, when the professor of moral theology and later the professor of sacred scripture both fell ill, he calmly and successfully professed both these courses for a period of four to five years. Later he was to return to Werribee 1967 through 1969, to profess natural theology, rational psychology, sacred scripture and biblical history. By the time he left Werribee for a second time, he was in his 82nd year. .
Fr Johnston's finest and happiest years were spent among diocesan priests and seminarians. It was for this reason that the Jesuit fathers asked that someone from among the diocesan clergy should act as homilist at his requiem.
Students stood in considerable awe of this markedly undemonstrative, reserved and distant man, but came to know that they could always expect a sympathetic hearing and sound advice when they confided their problems to him. He is recorded as saying that he found it very difficult to say “no” to people. There were those who thought he should have found it easier with the passage of time, he gained so much practice at it!
That our futures were in our own hands was underlined by his parting words at the end of the scholastic year. “No one”, he used to say, “is expected back”. His repeated exhortation was that each of us should strive to become a homo Dei. If we have failed to scale the heights, it was through no failure on his part to present them both by word and example.
By his prayer life, by his disciplined commitment to both his priesthood and his religious vocation, and by his devotion to the Mass and to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he clearly showed us the way. His clarity of thought and inexorable logic were frightening to the student whom he left foundering in his wake - as the homilist had reason to recall more than 45 years later.
He made the utmost use of time and brought his self-discipline to bear on studies, so that his intense application gave him knowledge of subjects in which he lacked formal training. Although he had no musical training, he made himself self an authority on Gregorian chant, and was professor of sacred music during his years at the seminary.
Likewise he made himself an authority on sacred liturgy. He took his usual pains to master the subject, and did all in his power to instil into the students a practical knowledge of and a reverence for the liturgy. He embraced the postconciliar liturgy with equal enthusiasm. His faith in the Church and his transparent obedience had no limits.
He showed the same tenacity in the pursuit of his hobbies - if indeed they can be called hobbies - whether of astronomy or of golf, which latter he took up when in his sixties. He studied the instruction manuals written by the experts and practised the shots - some say for as long as twelve months - before playing a formal round. Came the day, and to the amazement of his playing companions, he parred the first three holes, On receiving their congratulations, he drily observed: Well, that's what you're supposed to do, isn't it? Said the homilist: I can hear him saying it.
He was parish priest and superior at St Mary's, North Sydney, in the mid-1950s, and was appointed parish priest of the Immaculate Conception parish, Hawthorn, Melbourne, in 1962, when he was in his 74th year, and brought to the administration of that parish in the subsequent five years a zeal and enthusiasm which would have done credit to a man half his age. He was an outstanding example of a dedicated pastor.
After that he had various responsibilities within the Society of Jesus, and served as chaplain to the Marist Brothers noviciate at Macedon, and later still to the Sisters of St Joseph, Mount Street, North Sydney, relinquishing this latter post in his 95th year.
Over a period of years he suffered the disability of failing eyesight, which must have been a severe trial to a man of his academic and literary bent.

Born: 07 August 1909, Kinvara, County Galway
Entered: 01 September 1928, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly

Left Society of Jesus: 07 August 1931

Born at Hollis Street, Dublin

Parents have commercial business interests.

Eldest of three boys and three girls.

Education was at first ten years at a National School in Kinvara, and then at St Mary’s College, Galway

1928-1930: St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, Novitiate
1930-1931: Rathfarnham Castle, Juniorate

Born: 02 September 1888, Redfern, Sydney, Australia
Entered: 01 February 1915, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Final Vows: 02 February 1925, St Ignatius College Riverview, Sydney, Australia
Died: 14 September 1968, St Ignatius College, Riverview, Sydney, Australia - Australiae Province (ASL)

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Older brother of Vincent - RIP 1978
◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Walter Johnson, brother of Vincent, was educated by the Marist Brothers, Broadway, and worked in Lasseter's store for seven years before entering the Society at Loyola College, Greenwich, 1 February 1915 . Then he spent the rest of his Jesuit life at St Ignatius' College, Riverview, 1917-68.
Apart from domestic duties, his special work was as accountant and bookkeeper. From time to time he was also storekeeper, dispenser, sacristan, in charge of the farm and garden, and ran the tuck shop. He was also a regular referee at games.
He was an institution at the college during those years, and was recognised by the community as most regular in his religious duties. He was a good community man, and accumulated a huge fund of stories about Jesuits and boys, and became a sort of repository of college tradition. He died suddenly in his chair in the community library on the day of the Indian Bazaar.
His life, uneventful and confined within the walls of one school, was marked by hard work, a strong sense of community and much charity The Old Boys, in a show of appreciation, gave him a dinner to mark his golden jubilee as Jesuit and presented a ciborium to the chapel in recognition of his years of service. He loved cricket and was a supporter of the Collingwood football team.

Born: 11 December 1890, Redfern, Sydney, Australia
Entered: 14 August 1914, Loyola, Greenwich, Australia (HIB)
Final Vows: 15 August 1925, Xavier College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia
Died: 07 December 1978, Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew - Australiae Province (ASL)

Part of the Campion College, Kew, Melbourne, Australia community at the time of death

Transcribed HIB to ASL : 05 April 1931

Younger brother of Walter - RIP 1968

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280
Vincent Johnson, one of two brothers who entered the Society joined 14 August 1914. Johnson had not a very robust constitution during his noviciate, and moved to Sevenhill after his vows. Here he was refectorian, and showed signs of mild epilepsy. His final vows were taken on 15 August 1925.
The climate at Sevenhill seemed to restore his health so much that in the early 1930s Johnson was stationed at Xavier College where he was manager of the domestic staff and ran the famous Jersey stud at the farm. Soon after the farm was sold to pay off debts, Johnson was moved to the Messenger Office, replacing Brother Paul Duffy, who had been manager for many years. Father Eustace Boylan did not seem to have the necessary financial acumen to balance the books, but Johnson soon sorted out the financial situation and restored balance to the financial department. He moved on to help the province procurator, Philip Gleeson, at Campion College, Kew. In 1964 he celebrated his golden jubilee, well publicised in the Catholic press. He spent the years 1965-66 at the provincial residence, still helping the bursar at Campion College. This work was believed to be too heavy for him, and in 1967 he retired to Loyola College, the noviciate. Here he spent much of his time praying and writing out prayers for anyone interested. Sisters on retreat were frequency targets for these leaflets. The revised rite of the Mass was especially appreciated by Johnson who enjoyed greeting everyone near him at the 'kiss of peace'. He also had to be restrained at the prayers of the faithful. Even in his 80s he was as irrepressible as ever. He survived many emergency visits to hospital. When the noviciate moved to Sydney in 1974, Johnson chose to remain in Melbourne at Campion College. That year he celebrated his diamond jubilee. His speech reflected the happy personality that he always projected. However, he was never happier than during his time in hospital, and when he entered the hospice, Caritas Christi, his joy was complete.

Born: 19 November 1840, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1865, Milltown Park
Final Vows: 02 February 1877
Died: 27 May 1900, Clongowes Wood College, Naas, Co Kildare

in Vita Functi 1900 Catalogue as JOHN

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
His mother was a Catholic and his father a Protestant, and he was raised in his father’s faith. He became a Catholic around nineteen and Entered 07 September 1865, where his Novice Master was Aloysius Sturzo.

1869 After First Vows he remained at Milltown, and then as Janitor and Cust Tricl. at Tullabeg.
1871-1872 He was sent to Limerick, and later on to Clongowes as Dispenser to everyone’s satisfaction (1875).
1880 He was sent back to Limerick, and in 1881 transferred to Galway, and later still to Milltown.
1883 He was sent to Gardiner St as Buyer and Dispenser.
1884 The last five or six years of his life were spent at Clongowes. He was in charge of the Boys Refectory, and he did an admirable job, making sure the boys were comfortable, and he was scrupulously clean. No area of the school was more admired than brother Johnson’s Refectory.
He had been in poor health and used to go up to Dublin for a “Turkish Bath”, and returning on the same day. A few days before his death he had come to Dublin as usual, but unfortunately left the “cooling room” too early, so that when he returned to Clongowes he had started to develop pneumonia. Learning of his impending death, he prayed most fervently. His patience and submission were most admirable. He was assisted in his last moments by his Spiritual Father, Michael Browne, and died 27 May 1900.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother Thomas Johnson 1840-1900
In Wicklow on November 19th 1840 was born Thomas Johnson a temporal coadjutor. His father was a protestant and his mother a Catholic, so Thomas was brought up and educated as a Protestant. But the prayers of his good mother prevailed at last, and he became a Catholic at about 19 years of age. On September 7th 1865 he was admitted as a novice at Milltown Park, with Fr Sturzo as his Novice-Master.

He spent many years of faithful and edifying labour in man capacities in our houses, Tullabeg, Limerick, Galway and Gardiner Street. The last years of his life were spent at Clongowes, in charge of the Boy’s Refectory.

He had been in poor health, and he used to run up to Dublin for an occasional “Turkish Bath”, returning home the same day. Some time before his death he came up as usual, but unfortunately lefty the cooling room too soon, caught a chill, and on his return home developed pneumonia.

On hearing of his approaching death, he prayed fervently, and his patience and submission were most admirable. He was assisted in his last moments by his Spiritual Father, FR Michael Browne, and gave up his soul to God in the liveliest sentiments of faith and ardent love on May 7th 1900.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959

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

Brother Thomas Johnson (1840-1900)

In the last century, very few of our Brothers were associated with the Crescent and even then for but a few years at a time. Yet, two at least, of their names should find a place in this biographical index.

Brother Thomas Johnson (1840-1900), born in Co Wicklow, was the son of a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. According to the custom of the time, the boy was brought up in his father's beliefs but at the age of nineteen, he became a Catholic. He was admitted to the Society in 1865 and a few years after his religious profession was sent as sacristan to the newly opened church of the Sacred Heart, Limerick. His stay was short but he returned in 1871 and remained two years at the work of sacristan. For sometime after his departure, there were no Brothers attached to the Crescent community. In his time, Brother Johnson's spirit of work and edifying religious life made him a valued member of the Province. His death took place in Clongowes.

Born: 15 March 1812, Ireland
Entered: 06 August 1848, Florissant MO, USA - Missouriana Province (MIS)
Died: 21 January 1851, St Louis College, MO, USA - Missouriana Province (MIS)

Born: 18 July 1917, Hornsey, Middlesex, England
Entered: 07 September 1933, Roehampton, London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 29 July 1951
Professed: 02 February 1954
Died: 13 December 1981, South Africa - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1939 came to Tullabeg (HIB) studying 1938-1941
by 1942 at Mungret (HIB) Regency