File relating to Fr Thomas F Ryan SJ, including correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials, catalogue entries, and photographs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A file relating to the deaths of Frs Michael Saul SJ and Joseph McCullough SJ from cholera.

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

Mission material relating to Fr Patrick McGovern SJ. Includes announcement of death, obituary, personal record, and correspondence between Fr McGovern and Fr Thomas J Martin SJ, Mission Office, Dublin.

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

File of material relating to Fr Richard J Kennedy SJ. Includes personal record; passport photographs; photographs; article entitled ‘What I saw of the Red Terror in China’ (1954); newspaper clippings on the arrest, ‘trial’ and release of Fr Kennedy in Canton (1953); certificate of post-war credit and financial statements from the Midland Bank Limited and correspondence between Fr Kennedy and Fr Thomas J Martin SJ, Mission Office, Dublin.

Photograph depicting the ordination of a group of Chinese priests by Bishop Francis Xavier Ford (son of Patrick Ford of Clann na Gael and owner of 'Irish World' in fenian days in U.S.A.. Fr Patrick Joy SJ is seen on the extreme left of the photograph, second row. Other Irish Jesuits are in the photograph.

Photograph of Fr Patrick Joy SJ (front row, centre), Bishop Francis Xavier Ford and the Maryknoll Sisters, Kaying, China at the end of their retreat.

Photograph of Fr Richard Gallagher SJ, with writing on reverse 'My dear Pauline, Just a wee line of best wishes for a happy Christmas ...The people with me are all lepers. I paid them a visit last August'.

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