Born: 18 September 1900, Bandon, County Cork
Entered: 02 September 1919, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 14 June 1932, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1935, Campion House, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia
Died: 04 February 1973, Nazareth House, Salisbury, Rhodesia

by 1923 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying
by 1934 at St Beuno’s Wales (ANG) making Tertianship
by 1935 at St Aidan’s, Grahamstown, South Africa (ANG) teaching
by 1936 at St Paul’s Mission, Salisbury, Rhodesia (ANG) working
by 1940 in Monte Cassino Mission, Macheke, Rhodesia (ANG) working
by 1954 at Campion Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (ANG) working
by 1962 at St Francis Xavier, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (ANG) working
by 1966 at St John’s, Salisbury, Rhodesia (ANG) working

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 12th Year No 2 1937

Father James F. Brennan of the Irish Province is doing work in S. Rhodesia at St. Paul’s Mission. “He had the nasty experience of being bitten by a. snake while half asleep in a Kraal school. He was for a time unconscious, but the bite yielded to treatment by the Dominican Sisters. On this occasion Father Brennan could not take his watch-dog. We must thank God that the snake, by chance, was not of the very poisonous variety”. “English Jesuit Missionary Magazine”

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 1 1948

Fr. J. F. Brennan returned to the Salisbury Mission in November after some months rest in Ireland. He accompanied the new Superior of the Mission, Fr. E. Enright, to Capetown on the “Durban Castle”.

Irish Province News 48th Year No 2 1973

Obituary :

Fr James Brennan (1900-1973)

Fr James Brennan was born at Bandon, Co. Cork, Sept. 18th, 1900. After elementary schooling in his home town as a boy of fifteen he went to Clongowes whence he entered the noviciate at Tullabeg in 1919. On taking his vows in 1921 he remained at Tullabeg until the following year when he accompanied the late Fr Joseph O'Connor to Stonyhurst for Philosophy. He possessed a wonderful facility for making friends and it was apparently during the years at Stonyhurst he made acquaintance first with Fr Philip Beisly, then a scholastic somewhat senior to himself but with whom he contracted so close a friendship that later, in 1934 after the tertianship he volunteered for the Zambesi Mission where Fr Beisly was recently appointed Superior.
During the intervening years Fr Jim followed the routine course of formation. On completing Philosophy in 1925 he returned as teacher and prefect to his Alma Mater, where he showed himself a popular member of the Community, paratus ad omnia - his musical talents being particularly availed of.
In 1929 he went to Milltown Park for theology, ordination 1932, St. Buneo's 1933, for tertianship and the following year Rhodesia where he laboured with success for practically 40 years. His first appointment in his new field was to St Peter’s Harare after which he went as Superior to St Paul’s Mission, Musami. In 1939 he became Superior of Monte Cassino Mission where he remained until 1950. The next three years he spent at Que Que, (Kwekwe) then six years in the Cathedral Parish in Salisbury. Again 1960-3 he was in charge at Braeside. By this time his health, never robust, was deteriorating but he still contrived to be useful fulfilling the duties as Chaplain at St John’s School, Avondale and for portion of the time he acted as Chaplain to St Anne’s Hospital in the same neighbourhood.
On the few occasions of which he availed himself to return to the “home countries” he presented himself in the same urbane somewhat diffident personality which endeared him to everyone, reminiscent of that man of whom Dr Johnson once remarked that if he, the Doctor, had had a quarrel he would be most embarrassed in finding matter with which he could abuse him. There was a warmth and cheerfulness of character about him that no one ever hesitated to ask a favour or impose on him an obligation knowing that he would not suffer a refusal. On his return to Rhodesia after his last visit home he was compelled to retire to Nazareth House, Salisbury permanently, again winning the spontaneous affection of all. The nuns saw to it that his birthday on two occasions was celebrated in festive way and finally when on Sunday February 4th he died as a result of a stroke that overtook him a few days previously his obsequies were concelebrated by seventeen priests among whom Archbishop Markall was the chief concelebrant and the spacious chapel of Nazareth House was thronged by those in various walks of life who claimed his friendship. RIP

◆ The Clongownian, 1973

Obituary

Father James Brennan SJ

Fr James entered the Irish Province but after some years volunteered for work in Rhodesia where he spent the rest of his life until February of this year. He was born in Cork in, 1900 and was ordained in Milltown Park in 1932. He went to Rhodesia in 1934. He worked as priest in charge on various Mission Stations. He then joined the Cathedral Staff in Salisbury. In the last years of his life he acted as Chaplain in St John's School, Avondale.

Born: 29 March 1909, Rosshill House, Roscommon Town, County Roscommon
Entered: 01 September 1926, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1940, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 08 December 1944, Manresa House, Roehampton, London, England
Died: 08 December 1990, Canossa Hospital, Old Peak Road, Hong Kong - Macau-Hong Kong Province (MAC-HK)

Part of the Wah Yan College, Hong Kong community at the time of death

Transcribed : HIB to HK 03/12/1966

Father was an officer in Customs & Excise and died in October 1916. In 916 his mother became an officer in Customs & Excise, working in pensions. She lived at Norfolk Road, Phibsborough, Dublin.

At the age of two he went to live in West Clare, and then a year later in Cardiff, Wales. A further year later saw him living in Bandon.

He has a brother (a Vincentian Novice) and a sister (a Professed Dominican nun)

Early education was at a Convent school and then a National School in Bandon. Then his father died and he went to live in Mullagh, County Clare and attended a National School there for three years. Then the family moved to Dublin and he went to O’Connells School.

Tertianship at Rathfarnham

WW2 Chaplain 1943-1947

Transcribed HIB to HK : 03 December 1966
Mission Superior of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Hong Kong: 10 August 1965-03 December 1966
1st Vice-Provincial of the Irish Jesuit Mission to Hong Kong: 03 December 1966-1972

by 1935 at Aberdeen, Hong Kong - Regency
by 1936 at Wah Yan, Hong Kong - Regency
Hong Kong Mission Superior 10/08/1965
VICE PROVINCIAL 03/12/1966

◆ Hong Kong Catholic Archives :
Death of Father Fergus Cronin, S.J.
R.I.P.

Father Fergus Cronin, SJ., of Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, priest in charge of the Catholic Centre Chapel, died at Canossa Hospital on Saturday, 8 December 1990, aged 81.

In the course of his long life here he won distinction both as a priest and as a voluntary servant of the public. Yet he will be remembered most vividly for his almost unrivalled power of making personal friends and giving wise and sympathetic personal advice.

Father Cronin was born in Co. Roscommon, Ireland, in 1909, the youngest of three children of an early-widowed mother. His only sister became a Dominican nun. His elder brother became a Vincentian priest. He himself joined the Jesuits in 1926.

He first came to Hong Kong as a Jesuit scholastic in 1934, and spent three years studying Cantonese and teaching in Wah Yan College, then housed in Robinson Road. He returned to Ireland in 1937 to complete his Jesuit training and was ordained priest in 1940.

In 1942 he became a chaplain in the British army, serving in the U.K., the Faeroes and Iran and Iraq. In 1944, he had the rather gruesome task of organising replacements for Catholic chaplains who were wounded or killed in the allied assault on Europe.

He was demobilised in 1946 and, apart from one year in India, spent the rest of his years serving the Church and the people of Hong Kong.

The posts he held testified to his gifts as an administrator and a leader - Warden of Ricci Hall, University of Hong Kong; Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Macao, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia; Rector, first of the Jesuit community of Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, and later of the Ricci Hall Community; Director of the Hong Kong Catholic Centre; Bishop’s Delegate for Charismatic - the list is incomplete. In 1964 the Jesuit Superior General sent him to India for a year to make a survey of the intellectual resources of the numerous Indian Jesuit Provinces. The gifts that drew these offices to him were apparently family characteristics his elder brother revived the C.B.E. for his work as head of the Teacher’s Training College in Strawberry Hill, London, his sister became Prioress in one of the chief girls' schools in Dublin.

For many years he was lecturer on Logic in the University of Hong Kong. For decades he acted as a Justice of the Peace and was a member of the Hong Kong Housing Society. He took these tasks very seriously and was awarded the O.B.E. in recognition of his services.

All this may seem to add up to a very full life. Yet to those who valued him most, lists of posts held and of work done seem almost irrelevant. The Father Cronin they mourn was the adviser who guided them and the friend who sustained.

He spent his life forming and keeping friendships - men whom he taught as boys in the 1930s, men and women to whom he lectured in the 1950s, former students of Ricci Hall, hosts of those with whom his busy life brought him into contact, have cherished his affection through decades and are permanently grateful for his wise counsel.

His advice was always personal and was often unexpected. It could be bracing, astringent or gentle as the occasion offered. Always it was based on a sympathetic and intelligent assessment of the person he was advising.

Since the vast majority of the people of Hong Kong are Chinese, the vast majority of his friends were Chinese, but there were no national limits to his friendship. Recent years had brought many Filipinas within its scope. Other Asians, Europeans, Americans and Australians in great numbers will be saddened by the news of his passing. Only lack of opportunity robbed him of African friends.

These friendships were independent of social and economic status. He will be mourned equally by Sir Philip and Lady Haddon Cave, the Frequenters of the Catholic Centre Chapel, the members of the Catholic Women’s League, the members of the Little Flower Club, and Pak Ching and A Chau, two former number on servants of Ricci Hall. He valued people, not for what they possessed or what they had achieved, but for what they were - as he might have said, “because of the love that I bore them.”

We shall not see his like again.
Sunday Examiner Hong Kong - 14 December 1990

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013.

Note from Alan Birmingham Entry
On the death of Father Fergus Cronin SJ, Father Alan took over as rector of the busy Catholic Centre Chapel.

Note from Thomas Fitzgerald Entry
A Solemn Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul was celebrated in the chapel of Wah Yan College Hong Kong, on Monday, 17 July, by Father F. Cronin, S.J., Regional Superior.

Note from Jimmy Hurley Entry
Martin Lee Chu-ming, former legal advisor to The Justice and Peace Commission :
Lee said that he could find many similarities between Father Hurley’s life and his own. They were both inspired by Father Fergus Cronin in the fight for people’s rights. Lee recalled how Father Hurley sought clearance before attending a press conference to speak for the students and Father Cronin, the then-Jesuit superior in Hong Kong, told him: “Go James, attend! This is where you must be.” Father Hurley said he could not forget such a clear instruction and was grateful for the support. Lee recalled that when he started in politics, he also visited Father Cronin, who was then seriously ill, and asked what he could do for the Church. Father Cronin told him to follow his conscience and do what he thought he should do.

Note from Terry Sheridan Entry
The chief celebrant, Father Fergus Cronin, Provincial Superior of the Hong Kong Jesuits and one of Father Sheridan’s oldest friends in Hong Kong, paid the following tribute. I suppose all of us here are people who knew Father Terence Sheridan so it is not necessary for me to say who he was nor to mention many of the things he did....

Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :
1st Vice-Provincial of Hong Kong (1967-1972)

His older brother was a Vincentian Priset and was awarded a CBE for his work at the Teachers Training ollege at Strawberry Hill London. His sister was a Dominican sister who became Prioress at one of the chief Dublin Girls School.

1928-1931 He studied Histroy at UCD graduating BA (Hons)
1931-1934 He was sent for Philsophy to Tullabeg
1934-1935 He was sent teaching to Hong Kong and the Regional Seminary at Aberdeen for Regency
1935-1937 He moved to Wah Yan Hong Kong
1937-1940 He was back in Ireland for Theology at Milltown Park
1941-1942 He was at Rathfarnham making Tertianship
During 1962-1964 he toured the Asian Provinces to assess what kind of Provincial cooperation might be possible in the intellectual level.
1963-1965 He was Superior at St Joseph’s, Wise Mansion
1972-1974 After finishing as Vice-Provincial he was in charge of St Joseph’s Church and the Catholic Centre for the Diocese of Hong Kong
1980-1986 He was Superior of Ricci Hall
1986-1990 He was Director of the Catholic Centre.

He was in Hong Kong for over 40 years. He was a gifted administrator and leader as Vice provincial in Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore.He pursued the expansion of the Province and was very keen for inter Provincial cooperation in east Asia. He was once the Bishop’s Delegate for Charismatics and also a lecturer in Logic at HKU (1946-1962). He was appointed by the Hong Kong Governor as a member of the Board of Education, a member of the Education Appeals Board, the Council for Social Services and the University of Hong Kong Council.
He was also active in the Catholic Women’s League, Catholic Marriage Council and American Sailors Catholic Service. He served as Rector at the Catholic Centre, the English Catholic “public relations” and a member of the HK Housing Society.
He was awarded a “Justice of the Peace” in Hong Kong as well as an OBE in recognition of his services.

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 22nd Year No 1 1947

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

Born: 16 April 1888, Bandon, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1905, Roehampton, London - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 1922
Final Vows: 02 February 1927
Died: 18 September 1945, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

by 1926 came to Tullabeg (HIB) making Tertianship

Born: 06 May 1889, Glountanefinane, Ballydesmond, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1907, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 28 November 1915, St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin

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

Father was a sergeant in the RIC and is retired living at Castle Road, Bandon.

Second eldest in a family of nine, four boys and five girls (1 deceased young)

Early education at Skibbereen NS and then Ballydehob NS, and later at Bandon NS. He then went to Clongowes Wood College SJ

by 1914 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
by 1915 at Stonyhurst, England (ANG) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Early education at Clongowes. He was a great student and won exhibitions in all grades of the Intermediate, and showed promise that he might be a first class Mathematician.

After First Vows he was sent aside for Mathematical and Scientific studies. He was one of the Juniors chosen to attend lectures at the newly founded UCD. He graduated BSc 1912.
He studied at Tullabeg (1909-1910) and Milltown (1910-1912).
1912-1914 He studied Philosophy at Valkenberg, excelling at Philosophy and German.
1914-1915 He finished his Philosophy at Stonyhurst.
Towards the end of 1915 his health, which was never robust, began to fail and he underwent several operations for intestinal tuberculosis. When the Great War broke out in 1914, he had barely the strength to journey to Stonyhurst to continue his Philosophy. Gradually he grew weaker, and in the following summer he returned to start work in the Colleges. He bore his illness with resignation, and a quiet edifying life was ended by a peaceful and holy death. He died in Dublin 28 November 1915.

◆ The Clongownian, 1916

Obituary

Thomas Egan SJ

Early in last November Rev Thomas Egan SJ, died in St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, after a protracted illness. He was in Clongowes from 1903 to 1907, after which he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Tullabeg. From 1910-12 he studied with success for his degree at the NUI, after obtaining which with honours he was sent by his superiors to Valkenburg in Holland, the Philosophate of the German Jesuits, to study philosophy and learn German. Towards the end of his second year there he fell ill, and had to be removed to hospital at Aix la Chapelle, where he underwent several very serious operations. Though he got over them successfully for the time, he never recoveered his old health again, and when after a stay in Stonyhurst he returned to Ireland, it so became evident that the fatal disease was returning. He lingered on, however, several months in hospital, enduring sufferings with great resignation, and ready for death's call. His death, like his life and character, was a peaceful one. After receiving the last sacraments he became unconscious, and thus calmly passed away.

Born: 15 May 1887, Shannon Street, Bandon, County Cork
Entered: 12 November 1902, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1917, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1921, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 31 October 1956, Milltown Park, Dublin

Father is headmaster of a large school, and now resides at The Lodge, Watergate, Bandon, County Cork.

Fourth child of twelve - six boys and six girls.

At the end of his primary education he was given a choice to go into business or go to Clongowes. He chose business, but his parents removed him after two months and sent him to Clongowes Wood College.

by 1907 at Stonyhurst England (ANG) studying

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 23rd Year No 4 1948

Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin.
We moved in on Saturday morning, 14th August. Fr, Superior (Fr. McCarron), Fr. Minister (Fr. Kearns), and Bro. E. Foley constituted the occupying force, and Fr. T. Martin not only placed his van at our disposal, but gave generously of his time and labour for the heavy work of the first day.
A long procession of vans unloaded until noon, when the men broke off for their half-day, leaving a mountain of assorted hardware and soft goods to be unpacked and stowed. By nightfall we had a chapel installed, the kitchen working, dining-room in passable order, and beds set up, so we said litanies, Fr. Superior blessed the house and consecrated it to the Sacred Heart.
Next morning Fr. Superior said the first Mass ever offered in the building. It was the Feast of the Assumption and a Sunday, so we. placed the house and the work under the Patronage of Our Lady and paused to review the scene. Fr. Provincial came to lunch.
The building is soundly constructed from basement to roof, but needs considerable modification before it can be used as a temporary Retreat House. The permanent Retreat House has yet to be built on the existing stables about 130 yards from the principal structure, but. we hope to take about twenty exercitants as soon as builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and decorators have done their work.
Fr. C. Doyle is equipping and furnishing the domestic chapel as a memorial to Fr. Willie, who worked so tirelessly for the establishment of workingmen's retreats in Ireland. A mantelpiece of this room has been removed, and thermostatically controlled electric heating is being installed. Lighting is to be by means of fluorescent tubes of the latest type.
With all due respects to the expert gardeners of the Province, we modestly assert that our garden is superb. Fr. Provincial was so impressed by the work done there that he presented us with a Fordson 8 H.P. van to bring the surplus produce to market. Under the personal supervision of Fr. Superior, our two professional gardeners took nine first prizes and four seconds with fourteen exhibits at the Drimnagh show. Twelve of their potatoes filled a bucket, and were sold for one shilling each. The garden extends over 2 of our 17 acres and will, please God, provide abundant fruit and vegetables.
From the beginning we have been overwhelmed with kindness: by our houses and by individual Fathers. Fr. Provincial has been a fairy-godmother to us all the time. As well as the van, he has given us a radio to keep us in touch with the outside world. We have benefitted by the wise advice of Frs. Doyle and Kenny in buying equipment and supplies, while both of them, together with Fr. Rector of Belvedere and Fr. Superior of Gardiner Street, have given and lent furniture for our temporary chapel Fr. Scantlebury sacrificed two fine mahogany bookcases, while Frs. Doherty and D. Dargan travelled by rail and bus so that we might have the use of the Pioneer car for three weeks. Milltown sent a roll-top desk for Fr, Superior's use. To all who helped both houses and individuals we offer our warmest thanks, and we include in this acknowledgment the many others whom we have not mentioned by name.
Our man-power problem was acute until the Theologians came to the rescue. Two servants were engaged consecutively, but called off without beginning work. An appeal to Fr. Smyth at Milltown brought us Messrs. Doris and Kelly for a week of gruelling labour in the house. They scrubbed and waxed and carpentered without respite until Saturday when Mr. Kelly had to leave us. Mr. Hornedo of the Toledo Province came to replace him, and Mr. Barry arrived for work in the grounds. Thanks to their zeal and skill, the refectory, library and several bedrooms were made ready and we welcomed our first guest on Monday, 30th August. Under the influence of the sea air, Fr. Quinlan is regaining his strength after his long and severe illness.
If anyone has old furniture, books, bedclothes, pictures, or, in fact anything which he considers superfluous, we should be very glad to hear of it, as we are faced with the task of organizing accommodation for 60 men and are trying to keep the financial load as light as possible in these times of high cost. The maintenance of the house depends on alms and whatever the garden may bring. What may look like junk to an established house may be very useful to us, starting from bare essentials. Most of all, we want the prayers of the brethren for the success of the whole venture, which is judged to be a great act of trust in the Providence of God.
Our postal address is : Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin.

Irish Province News 32nd Year No 1 1957

Obituary :

Fr Michael Quinlan (1887-1956)

Fr. Quinlan was born on 15th May, 1887, at Bandon, Co. Cork, the fifth child in a family of twelve, He attended the National School at Bandon, of which his father was Principal, and in 1899 went to Clongowes, where he remained until June, 1902, leaving after the Middle Grade, He entered at Tullabeg on 12th November, 1902, and after his first vows he remained there for two years' Juniorate. He then went to Stonyhurst to study philosophy for three years,
It was during this time that he took his B.A. degree at the Royal University in Dublin. He taught for five years at Belvedere and in 1914 he went to Milltown Park for theology. He was ordained on 31st July, 1917. Before his tertianship at Tullabeg he taught for one year at Belvedere and after the tertianship he returned to Belvedere in 1920 as Prefect of Studies. He was Rector of Belvedere from 1922 to 1928, and Rector of Galway from 1928 to 1933. After one year at Clongowes he was transferred to Gardiner Street, where we find him as Minister from 1934 to 1945, and Operarius from 1945 to 1955. Owing to failing health he was sent to Milltown Park. He died on 31st October, 1956, and he was buried with his fellow-novice, Fr. MacSheahan, at Glasnevin.
The author of this obituary notice has just attended a meeting of the St. Joseph's Young Priests' Society. It was the first meeting of that branch since the death of its Spiritual Director, Fr. Michael Quinlan. It would not be possible to remain unaffected by the obviously sincere tributes paid to his memory. “He was always ready, at any time or place, to help us in every way in his power”. “In the twenty years he was with us he was our most faithful friend and guide and advisor, never missing a meeting, always easy to approach”. “We could bring him any problem, sure, in advance, of a sympathetic hearing, certain he would leave nothing undone to find the solution”.
Fr. Bodkin, who succeeds Fr. Quinlan as Spiritual Director, warmly endorsed these remarks, having known Fr. Quinlan since he was a scholastic in Belvedere and Fr. Bodkin a small boy there. In those far-off days there was in evidence the same unfailing kindness which deepened with the years, and now remains the characteristic of the man that one instinctively associates with his name.
What was said at that meeting today finds a loud and ready echo in the hearts of countless numbers of Dublin's poor. As successor to Fr. Potter, Fr. Quinlan directed the “Penny Dinners”, devoting himself with tireless zeal, till near the end of his life, to collecting and distributing to visiting the poor, writing countless letters begging alms for them, missing no chance of interesting people in a position to help this excellent form of charity which for many long years has been carried on by the Gardiner Street community.
One got further insight into his interest in the poor and in his love for them, during a mission in Gardiner Street. The number who spoke of him in terms of deep affection, and the detailed knowledge he himself showed by the accurate information he put at the missioners' disposal, gave evidence of the practical zeal he had for their spiritual and corporal welfare.
Not content to direct a Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul, he proved himself a veritable apostle by the innumerable contacts he made with the poor in their homes. He was often observed slipping out quietly with one or two or three parcels of food or clothes for those in dire need. One large store in Dublin is said to have kept him supplied with lots of shoes and boots. The children of the poor flocked around him in the streets, and were happy when they could say they were attending “Fr. Quinlan's School” - the one he had charge of in Dorset Street.
A Jesuit told him once : “Congratulate me, I'm fifty today”. Fr. Quinlan paused a moment and then said the unexpected - regretfully but quite seriously. “Fifty are you? I'm afraid you'll never be a Rector now!” He had a most exalted idea of the honour conferred on a man whom the Society considered fit to be raised to that high eminence, and he would not fail, from time to time to regale you with stories about the time “when I was Rector”. He held that position twice, in Belvedere and at Galway, and it was in his time at Galway that the College got the status of an “A” school. Though no linguist, he managed to reach sufficient proficiency to teach mathematics through Irish, “and I doubt”, writes a contemporary, “if there has ever been a better teacher of that subject in the Province”.
For years in Gardiner Street, whether as Minister or Prefect of the Church, or later as an Operarius, he got through a prodigious amount of work. It was nearly always he who filled the gaps if a preacher had to drop out. It was, above all in the Confessional, we may very reasonably surmise that his great-hearted charity found its widest outlet. It has been well said that devotion to the work of hearing Confession is an infallible mark of a true priest. Judged by that test, Fr. Quinlan was a true priest indeed. He was “always ready”, early or late, irrespective of fixed “hours” to treat with souls in the sacred tribunal, One has heard it said more than once: “I'd love to go to Fr. Quinlan for Confession only that his ‘box’ is always so crowded”.
He was the author of many articles and pamphlets which have circulated widely, particularly one on Confession which is still enjoying an enormous sale.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Michael Quinlan 1887-1956
It has been truly said that devotion to the confessional is an infallible mark of a good priest. Judged by this standard Fr Michael Quinlan was an excellent priest. He was always ready, early or late, irrespective of fixed hours to help souls in the sacred tribunal. It was afterwards said “I’d love to go to Fr Quinlan for confession, only his box is always crowded”.

Born in Bandon in 1887, he entered the Society in 1902, after his schooling in Clongowes.

He became a Rector comparatively young, first in Belvedere from 1922-1928, and then in Galway from 1928-1933. He always had a reverence for the office of Rector, simple and amusing in its way.

In Gardiner Street, where he spent the latter part of his life, he was in charge of the schools and the Penny Dinners. His devotion to the poor knew no bounds. He was tireless, ingenious and shameless in their service. This and his devotion to hearing confessions mark him out as a man of God. He was also active with his pen, and he was the author of numerous pamphlets, many of which remain popular.

He died on October 31st 1956.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1957

Obituary

Father Michael Quinlan SJ

Fr Quinlan was born on 15th May, 1887, at Bandon, Co Cork, the fifth child in a family of twelve. He was at school at Clongowes, entering the Society of Jesus in 1902. He studied Philosophy at Stonyhurst and then taught for five years at Belvedere. In 1914 he went to Milltown where he was ordained on 31st July, 1917. He came back to Belvedere in 1920 as Prefect of Studies and in 1922 was appointed Rector of the College. At the end of his term of office he went to Galway as Rector and was there from 1928 to 1933. He worked at Gardiner Street from 1934 to 1955. From then till his death in October, 1956, he was at Milltown Park.

Anyone who knew Fr Quinlan could not help but see that his heart was in the work of a priest in Gardiner Street. In the last months of his life his cross was not the pain and weakness he was called on to suffer, but the separation from the work he loved best - the work of the confessional - and from that network of innumerable contacts with the poor he had built up over the years. For years in Gardiner Street, whether as Minister or Prefect of the church, he got through a prodigious amount of work. It was above all in the confessional that his charity found its widest outlet. It has been said that devotion to the work of hearing confessions is an infallible sign of a true priest. Judged by that test, Fr Quinlan was a true priest indeed.

◆ The Clongownian, 1957

Obituary

Father Michael Quinlan SJ

Father Quinlan came to Clongowes as a boy in 1899 and remained until 1902, when he entered the Society of Jesus at Tullabeg. Having finished his earlier studies, he taught for five years at Belvedere and went on to Theology in 1914. He was ordained in 1917.

In 1920 he became Prefect of Studies at Belvedere and he was Rector of that College from 1922 to 1928, and Rector of Galway from 1928 to 1933. After one year at Clongowes he was transferred to Gardiner Street where he worked until 1955, when he was transferred to Milltown Park. He died on October 31st, 1956, and was buried with his fellow-novice, Father MacSheahan, who had died on the previous day. Father Quinlan was for many years Spiritual Director of the St. Joseph's Young Priests Society, who paid glowing tributes to his work for them and to his great sympathy and accessibility. He was much sought after for Confessions and was the author of many articles and pamphlets which have circulated widely, particularly one on Confession which is still enjoying a wide sale. May he rest in peace.