Born: 19 November 1719, Ardcath, County Meath
Entered: 26 September 1741, Mechelen, Belgium - Belgicae Province (BELG)
Ordained: 01 May 1750, Louvain, Belgium
Final Vows: 02 February 1766
Died: 24 January 1775, Dublin

Older brother of Myles O’Reilly - RIP 1799

Son of Patrick and Mary (O’Reilly); brother of Myles
Studied Humanities at Ghent
1743-1745 In Pholosophy at Antwerp
1745-1746 Teaching at Dunkirk
1746-1750 In Theology at Louvain
1750 At Amazon River Mission, or the Courou Mission S America, or on the Indian Mission since 1751, or 1757 in Paris Province FRA; or in the FLAN-BEL Province since 1751. “Joseph Philip O’Reilly missioned among the savages of Guiana for 14 years. This last survivor and sole representative of the Company of Jesus among the poor savages was expelled by the French in 1765” (Marshall’s Xtian Missions) Many letters he sent to in Flemish his brother Miles are at Burgundian Library. (loose Hogan note)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Patrick and Mary née O’Reilly. Older brother of Miles.
Studied Humanities under the Dominicans at Lierre for two years, and then for four under the Jesuits at Ghent.
1741 Received by the FLAN Provincial at Ghent and sent to Mechelen for his Noviceship.
1743-1745 At Antwerp studying Philosophy
1745-1747 Regency at Dunkirk
1747-1751 Studied Theology at Louvain for four years.
1751 Sent to West Indies, began at the Amazon, and then in the Indies went through the severest hardships, which he narrates with much joy in Flemish letters to his brother Miles - these have been edited by Father Morris with a brief sketch of his life.
1765 Sent to the Maryland Mission
1769 Sent to first to Belgium and then Ireland, dying in Dublin 24/01/1775.
1771 Catalogue Sent to Maryland again?
According to Marshall’s “Missions” Vol iii, p 74, “The French in 1763 expelled from Guiana, the venerable Father O’Reilly, the last survivor and sole representative of the Company of Jesus among the savages - with the result that - in 1766 religion was dying out among the whites as well as among the coloured races”
Carayon in his “Guyane Francaise” says Father O’Reilly was expelled in 1765.
His letters are in the Burgundian Library, Brussels MSS 6689, written in Flemish and dated Cayenne, 27 March and 25 September 1751, 19 June 1753 and 10 September 1754.

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
Made Latin studies in Belgium and then Ent at Mechelen in 1741
1750 Having completed Theology at Louvain he left for the Mission of Cayenne in French Guyana, arriving in 1751
1751 At Courou (Kourou), French Guyana labouring among indigenous tribes for almost a dozen years
1763 At the expulsion of Jesuits from French territories, he was the last Jesuit to leave, and is said to have gone to Spanish Missions along the Orinoco
1765 Arrived at the English Maryland Mission
1769 Returned to Ireland worked in Dublin, where he died in 1775

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Patrick and Maria née O’Reilly. Brother of Myles RIP Antwerp 1799
Early education was in Belgium before Ent 26 September 1741 Mechelen; RIP 24 January 1775 Dublin
1743-1751 After First Vows he was sent to Antwerp and Louvain for studies and was Ordained there 1750.
1751-1763 When his formation was complete he was sent to the French Mission in Cayenne, French Guyana. There he worked with the Indian tribes for twelve years. When Jesuits were expelled from all of France and her territories, he was the last Jesuit to leave. When he left Cayenne, he is said to have gone to the Spanish Missions along the Orinoco, and from there to the ANG Mission in Maryland. The rest of his missionary life up to the Suppression is unclear. It would appear that he returned to Ireland after the Suppression and died in Dublin a year later 24 January 1775.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Philip O’Reilly 1719-1755
Fr Philip O’Reilly was born at Ardcath County Meath in 1719. He went to Belgium for his education where he joined the Society at Mechelen in 1741.

He left for the Mission of Cayenne in French Guyana in 1750, where he laboured for over a dozen years among the Indians at Kourou. On the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1763, he was the last Jesuit to leave his post.

He went for a short time to the Spanish Missions along the Orinoco and thence in 1765 to the English Mission of Maryland,

In 1769 he returned to Ireland and died in Dublin in 1775.