Born: 25 November 1928, Philadelphia PA, USA
Entered: 14 August 1948, Marylandiae Province (MAR)
Ordained: 19 June 1960
Professed: 08 September 1977
Died: 29 October 2004, Philadelphia PA, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)

by 1980 came to Belvedere (HIB) working

Born: 17 January 1839, London, England / Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 01 September 1857, Frederick MD, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)
Final Vows: 02 February 1869
Died: 04 December 1902, Woodstock College, Washington DC, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)

Born London of Irish parents came to live in Dublin until emigration to USA two years later.

◆ Woodstock Letters SJ : Vol 32, Number 1

Obituary

“Brother Richard Dugan SJ” p132

Few of our coadjutor Brothers were better known through- out the Province than “Brother Dick”, as he was universally known, to distinguish him from his brother, Henry Dugan,
who died three years before him. In fact, he was well known by Ours in all parts of this country, for he was for eighteen years infirmarian at Woodstock at the time the scholasticate was the common house of studies for all Ours in the United States. Born in London of Irish parents, January 17, 1839, he was moved to Dublin the following year and when only two years old emigrated along with his parents to Boston. It was here he was received as a postulant, when only sixteen years old, by Father Stonestreet and sent to Philadelphia for his probation. Here he spent three years, a part of this time as a novice under the care and direction; of Father Ward. In 1858 he was sent to Frederick to complete his novitiate and it was here he began what was the chief duty of his life, the care of the sick. After taking his vows, in 1859, be was sent to Georgetown as assistant to Brother John Cunningham, better known as "Brother Johnnie," of whom an account will be found in The Letters vol xvii p 386. For ten years these two Brothers attended to the sick at the college and scholasticate, which was then at Georgetown, and Brother Dick formed a lasting friendship with Brother Johnnie, amounting on his part to almost veneration. When the scholasticate was opened at Woodstock, in 1869, Brother Johnnie was sent there as infirmarian and Brother Dick remained at Georgetown. In 1885, Brother Johnnie on account of his age and ill health, had to be removed from his office and Brother Dick the following year was sent from Georgetown to take his place. His first patient at the scholasticate was his old friend Brother Johnnie, whose nurse and companion he now became for four years. The remainder of his life Brother Dick passed at Woodstock and in the same charge till shortly before his death. There was nothing striking or wonderful in this life except the good Brother's devotedness to the sick and his energy in his work. He never seemed so happy as when he had the care of some old Father or Brother or when he had to battle with some dangerous disease. It was then he would shut himself up with his patient and devote all his time and energy to combat the malady. Many a Father and Brother in the Province owes his life to the constant and unwearied care of this good Brother. Of course he could not nurse all back to health; among his patients there were those, like his friend Brother Johnnie, whose course was run. It was thus that he assisted a good number to die. He kept faithfully an account of all these and he had the satisfaction in his last days of counting sixty-one whom he had helped to die a holy death. Besides his devotedness to the sick, the Brother was remarkable for his energy in his work. There were times when he would have no sick to attend and then he would not rest but worked energetically at his trade of painter; whitewashing, if he could find nothing else to do. To be idle, even when he was invalided, was a great cross to him. Keeping up the traditions of his great friend, Brother Johnnie, everything had to be dispatched with the greatest ardor he could put into it. During his convalescence, after his first stroke of apoplexy, he found a pile of several thousand old bricks lying in the cellar, and unasked, set to work to remove the old mortar and put them in the condition to be used. This is only a little instance of his untiring energy. He seems to have adopted the saying of his dear old Brother Johnnie, which he would enjoin on those who bade him good bye on departing for another house : “Never let the Devil or the Minister catch you idle”.
'
It was thus that Brother Dick passed his eighteen years at Woodstock in the care of the sick, and in energetic labor when not in the infirmary. He passed through much suffering and underwent several severe surgical operations, in one of which, six years before his death, his life was despaired of by the physicians. He recovered, however, and it was only a year before his death that he was rendered helpless by a stroke of apoplexy. He was then wheeled around and, nursed by his successor and spent his days in reciting his “rosary”. He was glad to die, for death seemed to have no terrors for him. It was thus after sinking gradually, day by day, that he met his end, on August 3, conscious almost to the last.

Born: 24 October 1912, Philadelphia PA, USA
Entered: 07 September 1931, St Andrew on Hudson NY, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboiracensis Province (MARNEB)
Ordained: 18 June 1944
Professed: 02 February 1949
Died: 16 September 1991, Baltimore MD, USA - Philippine Province (PHI)

by 1963 came to Wah Yan Hong Kong (HIB) working 1962-1967

◆ Biographical Notes of the Jesuits in Hong Kong 1926-2000, by Frederick Hok-ming Cheung PhD, Wonder Press Company 2013 ISBN 978 9881223814 :

Note from Herbert Dargan Entry
He freed Fr John Collins for fulltime social work, set up “Concilium” with Frs Ted Collins, John Foley and Walter Hogan. he also set up CMAC in 1963. He sent Fr John F Jones for special training in Marriage Life. He also sent Fr John Russell to Rome for training in Canon Law. he was involved with rehabilitation of discharged prisoners and he visited prisons.

Born: 23 August 1828, Mullingar, County Westmeath
Entered: 30 October 1854, Lyons, France - Lugdunensis Province (LUGD)
Ordained: 11 November 1851, Mullingar, County Westmeath - pre Entry
Final Vows: 02 February 1868
Died: 15 June 1876, Mullingar, County Westmeath

Part of the St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin community at the time of death.

in 1856 at Lyon France (LUGD) for Tertianship
by 1857 at St Joseph’s, Springhill AL (LUGD) teaching
by 1867 at Laval France (FRA) studying

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
He had studied at Maynooth for the Meath Diocese, being Ordained by Dr Cantwell at Mullingar 11 November 1851. He had then worked as a Curate in Meath before Ent.

He joined the LUGD Province wishing to be on the USA Mission. After First Vows he went teaching to Spring Hill College, Alabama.
1863 He was sent to Ireland and Teaching in Galway.
1864 Sent as Minister to Joseph Dalton in Tullabeg.
1865-1866 Sent to teach at Clongowes.
1867 He was sent to Laval in France for further studies.
1868 He was sent back teaching at Tullabeg.
1869 he was sent to Gardiner St as Operarius. Here he proved a most zealous Priest, a great temperance advocate and Director of the Confraternity for the Sacred Heart for the repression of intemperance. he did great good, especially among working class and artisans. He was also editor of a very successful little paper called “Monitor” which had a wonderfully large circulation.
In failing health he went to his father’s house in Mullingar, and he died there peacefully 15 June 1876. His remains were brought to Dublin, and he is buried in the Jesuit plot at Glasnevin.
His “last act” was an attempt to sing the “Gloria”!

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Robert Kelly 1828-1876
Fr Robert Kelly, a secular priest of the Meath diocese, where he worked for four years, was born in Mullingar on August 27th 1828.

He entered the Society at Lyons in 1854 and was engaged as Master at Spring Hill College, New Orleans Province, for some years. In 1863 he was recalled to Ireland, and filled various posts in Galway, Tullabeg and Clongowes. He spent the last eight years of his life as Operarius in Gardiner Street, where he was Director of the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart.

He was very zealous in the cause of temperance, did great good among the working classes, and edited a very successful little paper called “The Monitor”.

His death was very peaceful, taking place at the home of his father, Dr Kelly, in Mullingar in 1875. His last act was an effort to sing the “Gloria in Excelsis” of High Mass.

Born: 04 May 1811, County Tyrone
Entered: 05 September 1836, Frederick, MD, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)
Died: 13 May 1839, Philadelphia, PA, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)

Part of the Georgetown College, Washington DC, USA community at the time of death

Born: 11 February 1818, Granard, County Longford
Entered: 20 September 1837, Frederick, MD, USA - Marylandiae Province
Ordained: 1851
Final vows: 15 August 1855
Died: 26 April 1886, St Joseph’ Hospital, Philadelphia PA, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)

Part of the Gonzaga College, Washington DC, USA community at the time of death

Born: 22 October 1901, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Entered: 30 April 1971, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Final Vows: 08 September 1981, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin
Died: 14 March 1982, Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin

◆ Irish Province News

Irish Province News 57th Year No 3 1982

Obituary
Br Edward Maher (1901-1971-1982)

Although Br Ned was granted four score of years, his life as a Jesuit spanned little more than a decade. Before becoming “Brother” he had already filled the roles of father and grandfather. The present writer first made the acquaintance of Mr Ned Maher when he (Ned) came to have a chat with Fr Cecil McGarry about entering the Society. A very dapper man with a thin Ronnie Colman moustache; alert, brisk, humorous, at once affable and serious. All these adjectives could be applied to him twelve years later, right up to the time of his last (and really first) illness when it saddened e to see the alertness and humour fading into an almost puzzled resignation.
Ned was born in Philadelphia on 22nd October, 1901, was educated at Belvedere, Clongowes, UCD and Georgetown University. After a short spell working in a bank he took up business, in which he remained for the rest of his lay life. He entered the Society on 30th April, 1971, took his first rows on 29th April, 1973 and pronounced final vows on 8th September, 1981.
A jumble of memories comes to me as I remember Ned; his love for operatic works on stage or radio. The only holiday he allowed himself was a few days every year at 35 lower Leeson Street from which he could, with chosen companions, easily attend the operas at the Gaiety theatre. He was one of the few men I know who appreciated the works of Wagner.
Chess was a game he liked. I cannot say whether he was a skilful player, but he would take on any of the novices who knew how to play. Reading he loved, though within a rather restricted field. Surprisingly (though maybe not in a person of Wagnerian tastes) he focused his reading on the war histories and the memoirs of famous commanders. For one form of recreation he felt no attraction at all ... walking. We used joke him about never having seen the other end of our property, “Walking” for Ned was a purely functional exercise; to get to a bus or bank or post-office; and he hadn't any inclination to look at the birds of the air or the lilies in the field; they hardly existed for Ned.
Maybe I am remembering only the marginal things about Ned, the mere phenomena, as the existentialists would say. But surely it was in and through these “marginals” that one got to know and love the whole essence, flavour, tang and colour of the personality that was Ned. Devotion to crosswords, Curly Wee, Verdi and Puccini were always “in place”, in the place where “desipere” is the mark of a wise man.
So much for play. What about his work? Apart from one short and unsuccessful period as staff-manager in Mungret he was Bursar in Manresa House and secretary of the Retreat House. He really loved work; figures and account books were his delight. Being secretary to the Retreat House involved a huge correspondence especially with regard to booking-in retreatants. Since he was not too familiar with all the permutated titles of religious congregations, many an LSA sister would find herself on the list as OLA or vice versa. One day about five years ago I dropped in to see Ned and found him typing away in his tiny room, Thinking of the lovely house he had left I asked him to tell me honestly if he ever had moments of regret at leaving all that. He simply said “I would not want to be. anywhere else”.
It might be a bit too facile to write that Ned was a man close to God. He was of a generation that did not easily unburden the secrets of the heart. He belonged to the dutiful, carnest type of religious and was definitely conservative in his views on religious practice. But the surprising element in his make-up was his ability to combine these conservative attitudes with a marvellous and spontaneous capacity for getting along splendidly with younger people, especially with the novices. Because he was given the grace of living close to the young in the Society he was able to love them while rejecting, through incomprehension, or even antipathy, some of their tastes in music, clothes et cetera. The same was true on the part of the younger people. Love and respect in the Society goes beyond personal tastes in external things. The presence of the old and the young can be a blessing when both find the presence of the Lord in each other. It was this way with Ned and the novices.
Of course he never lost touch with the young of his own family and it was a source of great joy to him that his son Paul and daughter-in-law Mary kept in such close touch with him. His daughter Judith with her husband Michael were most attentive to him. It was a lovely sight on some Sunday afternoons to see the three generations of the Maher family strolling around the Manresa grounds:
Finally, just to remind those who knew him well of two familiar sayings of Ned: On being addressed at breakfast “How are you this morning, Ned?” his invariable and jocose reply was “Poorly, thank God”. And when a novice would tease him, as they constantly did, Ned would be heard to say in mock seriousness “Go away, BOY”.
Ned himself went away very peacefully at 4 am on the morning of 14th March with Fr Rector, his son Paul and his daughter Judith there to bid him a last farewell.

◆ The Clongownian, 1982

Obituary

Brother Ned Maher SJ

Although Br Ned was granted four score of years, his life as a Jesuit spanned little more than a decade. Before becoming a “brother” he had already filled the roles of father and grandfather. He has been described thus: “A very dapper man with a thin Ronnie Colman moustache; alert, brisk, humorous, at once affable and serious”. All these adjectives could be applied to him right up to his last (and really first) illness.

He was born in Philadelphia on 22nd October 1901, educated at Belvedere, Clongowes and UCD and Georgetown University. After a short spell working in a bank he took up business, in which he remained for the rest of his lay life. He entered the Society of Jesus on the 30th April 1971, took his first rows on 29th April 1973 and pronounced final vows on 8th September 1981.
Apart from one short period as staff manager in Mungret Br Ned was bursar in the Jesuit house in Dollymount and secretary of the Retreat House there. He really loved work; figures and account books were his delight. He had a great love of opera and reading and related very well indeed to the novices who live in Doilymount.

Of course he never lost touch with the young of his own family and it was a source of great joy to him that his son Paul and daughter-in-law Mary kept in close touch with him. His daughter Judith with her husband Michael were most attentive to him. Ned left this world peacefully at 4.00 a.m. on the morn ing of the 14th of March with his Rector, his son Paul and his daughter Judith there to bid him a last farewell.

Born: 07 May 1918, Murroe, County Limerick
Entered: 14 August 1937, St Andrew on Hudson NY, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)
Ordained: 18 June 1950
Final vows: 15 August 1954
Died: 27 June 1997, Philadelphia PA, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)

by 1952 came to Rathfarnham (HIB) making Tertianship

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.

Born: 08 October 1800, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 29 July 1815 - Georgetown College, Wahington DC, USA - Maryland Province (MAR)
Final Vows: 02 February 1834
Died: 21 January 1860, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - Maryland Province (MAR)

Brokers of Culture

Italian Jesuits in the American West 1848-1919

Gerald McKevitt SJ

Stanford University Press, Stanford, California USA, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-0-8047-5357-9

Chapter 3: Instant Dispatch: The Ideology of Immigration

p44-45
Other Italians had emigrated in the period preceding the Risorgimento. Stefano Gabaria, a priest from Rome, arrived in r 8 3 4, along with Andrea Mazzella, a Neapolitan brother, who spent most of his career in the Midwest among the Potowatami and Kickapoo tribes. During a recruiting trip to Italy in 1845, James Ryder, a former president of Georgetown College, had net- ted three Roman and five Neapolitan volunteers. The gaggle included Angelo Paresce, who later held key jobs in the Maryland Jesuit world as
director of novices, provincial, and eo-founder of Woodstock College.H The trickle of expatriates drafted by Ryder swelled into a stream when rev- olution descended upon Italy. In 1848, the Naples Province sent a cluster of seminarians to complete their training in America, initiating a practice that persisted for decades. That same year, Roman College students and profes- sors, who had taken asylum in England, crossed the Atlantic, their way hav- ing been paved by the high-profile Jesuit astronomer Francesco De Vico. The priest, provided with transportation and letters of introduction by the U.S. Ambassador to England, George Bancroft, arrived in Washington, D.C. Warmly received by scientists and civic officials, including President James K. Polk, De Vico decided to make America his home when Georgetown College offered him the directorship of its observatory. So enthusiastic was De Vico that he wrote to his Roman College colleagues uncomfortably lodged in England, urging them to join him. He even offered to personally accompany them to the United States. Struck down with typhoid, however, the forty-three-year-old scientist died in London on I 5 November I 848. He was, a companion lamented, like Moses, who expired before he could bring his people into the promised land. And like the ancient Israelites, the Romans continued on without their leader.

Disembarking in New York, the Italian refugees were met by James Ryder, who conducted them to Washington, D.C., and to an enthusiastic reception at Georgetown College. Although accustomed to integrating displaced Europeans into their ranks, the Americans were impressed by this scholarly delegation from Rome, the hub of the nineteenth-century Catholic universe. The group was comprised of "venerable fathers" with "silvery locks" and seminarians with "the ruddy looks of youth," Bernard A. Maguire, an American Jesuit, orated with sanctimonious seriousness during welcoming ceremonies. There was Giovanni Perrone, the well-known theologian; Felice Sopranis, the former rector of the Roman College; the mathematician Francesco Provenzali; and the astronomer Angelo Secchi, heralded interna- tionally for his spectral classifications of the stars.

Chapter 4: Witnesses to Shortcomings: Reforming Jesuit America

p66
Accordingly, American Jesuits had for years sent their most promising seminarians to Rome to drink in the spirit of the Society at its Olympian spring. For this reason James Ryder, later president of Georgetown College, and other Maryland scholastics had been dispatched to Italy for training in the I82os. Similar benefits were expected to flow in reverse when the Roman College exiles of I 848 arrived in the United States. "Shaking off the dust of their feet upon the continent of Europe," an American priest said, the fac- ulty of the Collegio will "work as no other body in the church can work for converting this country to the Faith.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Ryder

James A. Ryder

James A. Ryder SJ (October 8, 1800 – January 12, 1860) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who became the president of several Jesuit universities in the United States. Born in Ireland, he immigrated with his widowed mother to the United States as a child, to settle in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. He enrolled at Georgetown College and then entered the Society of Jesus. Studying in Maryland and Rome, Ryder proved to be a talented student of theology and was made a professor. He returned to Georgetown College in 1829, where he was appointed to senior positions and founded the Philodemic Society, becoming its first president.

In 1840, Ryder became the president of Georgetown College, and oversaw the construction of the university's Astronomical Observatory, as well as Georgetown's legal incorporation by the United States Congress. He earned a reputation as a skilled orator and preacher. His term ended in 1843 with his appointment as provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province. As provincial, he laid the groundwork for the transfer of ownership of the newly established College of the Holy Cross from the Diocese of Boston to the Society of Jesus. Two years later, Ryder became the second president of the College of the Holy Cross, and oversaw the construction of a new wing. He returned to Georgetown in 1848 for a second term as president, and accepted a group of local physicians to form the Georgetown School of Medicine, constructed a new home for Holy Trinity Church, and quelled a student rebellion.

In his later years, Ryder went to Philadelphia, where he assisted with the founding of Saint Joseph's College and became its second president in 1856. He became the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Philadelphia, and then transferred to St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland, as pastor. Finally, he returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1860.

Early life
James Ryder was born on October 8, 1800, in Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland, to a Protestant father, who died when his son was a child, and a Catholic mother. He emigrated to the United States as a young boy with his mother after the death of his father. She took up residence in Georgetown, then a city in the newly formed District of Columbia.[1] Ryder enrolled at Georgetown College on August 29, 1813,[2] and entered the Society of Jesus in 1815 as a novice, at the age of fifteen.[3] He began his novitiate in White Marsh Manor in Maryland, before being sent to Rome in the summer of 1820 by Peter Kenney,[4] the apostolic visitor to the Jesuit's Maryland mission.[5]

He was sent alongside five other American Jesuits, who would go on to become influential in the administration of the Society in the United States for several decades. Among these, Ryder and Charles Constantine Pise were identified as the most intellectually advanced.[4] They left from Alexandria, Virginia, on June 6, 1820,[6] and landed in Gibraltar to be quarantined, before traveling to Naples on July 13 and then on to Rome in late August,[7] where Ryder studied theology and philosophy.[3]

There, he was ordained a priest in 1824,[8] and proceeded to teach theology at the Roman College.[9] He then went to teach theology and sacred scripture at the University of Spoleto, where he remained for two years.[10] He became a good friend of Archbishop Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti (later Pope Pius IX),[8] who appointed him the chair of philosophy.[1] Ryder also spent part of 1828 teaching in Orvieto.[11]

Portrait of James Ryder wearing a biretta
Ryder wearing a priest's biretta
Ryder returned to the United States in 1829, where he took up a professorship in philosophy and theology at Georgetown, to teach Jesuit scholastics.[8] He was named the prefect of studies,[12] where he implemented an overhaul of the curriculum under the direction of President Thomas F. Mulledy; he was simultaneously made vice president of the school. It was during this time that Ryder founded the Philodemic Society,[13] of which he became the first president.[14]

Founded on January 17, 1830, it was the first collegiate debating society in the United States, and it was Ryder who selected the name.[1] He was also appointed by Peter Kenney as minister and admonitor to Mulledy.[15] In this role, he received a severe lecture from Kenney in 1832 for not properly welcoming six Belgian Jesuits who arrived at the college.[16] In 1834, Ryder became a professor of rhetoric at the university.[17]

In an 1835 speech to Catholics in Richmond, Virginia, he called upon Catholics to defend national unity, which included opposing the efforts of Northern abolitionists to abolish slavery in the South; he warned Catholics that they would themselves become victims of persecution if their "glorious system of national independence" were to be overthrown. The group gathered resolved that "slavery in the abstract" was evil, but that Catholic citizens were obligated to support the civil institutions of the United States. However, they also celebrated "the determination [of] our Southern brethren, in not condescending to discuss the question of slavery with those [Northern] fanatics."[18]

Georgetown College
First presidency
The appointment of Ryder as president of Georgetown College was announced on May 1, 1840.[19] His selection came despite concerns that he was more interested in giving talks and leading retreats than ensuring the institution was financially stable.[20] Although he had the support of the Jesuit leadership, the Superior General of the Jesuits, Jan Roothaan, was worried that Ryder's American attitude in support of republicanism would take priority over his obedience to the Jesuits.[21][22]

Succeeding Joseph A. Lopez,[19] he entered office while the Provincial Council of Baltimore was in progress, and the council fathers who were gathered in Baltimore took the opportunity to visit Georgetown.[23] As president, Ryder's connections with Washington's politicians were strong. He had a particularly good relationship with the President of the United States, John Tyler, who enrolled his son at Georgetown,[24] and whose sister converted to Catholicism.[25] Their relationship went so far that Ryder played a significant role in the unsuccessful attempt to have Tyler run as a Democrat in the 1844 presidential election.[26]

Georgetown University Observatory between 1843 and 1907
The Georgetown College Astronomical Observatory was constructed during Ryder's presidency.
Upon assuming the presidency, Ryder inherited a significant debt of $20,000 (equivalent to $610,000 in 2023[27]), which he liquidated by 1842, at least part of it being paid by Ryder himself from monies he earned lecturing.[26] Ryder had gained a reputation for talent in preaching, which he did without notes. This was particularly admired by Archbishop Samuel Eccleston, and Roothaan cited it as a source of many conversions to Catholicism.[28]

Word of his preaching reached President James Buchanan, who would attend his sermons and who received private instruction in Catholicism from him.[25] Eventually, Ryder was described as the most well-known Catholic preacher in antebellum America.[29] Twice during his presidency stones were thrown at him in the streets of Washington, one of these incidents occurring on April 26, 1844, as he was returning from the Capitol Building, where he had presided over the funeral of Representative Pierre Bossier.[30] Such anti-Catholic aggression was the outgrowth of the Know Nothing movement in the United States.[25]

Ryder oversaw the establishment of the Georgetown College Observatory in 1842, a project spearheaded by James Curley.[31] The opening of the observatory attracted several renowned Jesuit scientists from Europe who were fleeing the Revolutions of 1848.[32] Moreover, the College of the Holy Cross was established in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1843, and Ryder sent Jesuits from Georgetown to teach there,[31] while graduates of the new college received a degree from Georgetown until it was independently chartered by the Massachusetts General Court.[33] Through having been recognized by the United States Congress in 1815, the university, as the President and Directors of Georgetown College, was officially incorporated by an act of Congress in 1844, and Ryder was named as one of the five members of the corporation.[34] His term came to an end on January 10, 1845, when he was succeeded by Samuel A. Mulledy.[35]

Second presidency

Ryder oversaw construction of the new Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown.
In 1848, Ryder was appointed president of Georgetown for a second time, replacing Thomas Mulledy.[36] His first act was to build a new edifice for Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood, which was then located on college property.[25] He also implemented his fervent support for temperance by prohibiting students from consuming alcohol on or off campus, and eventually applied this ban to the Jesuits as well. This unpopular policy was accompanied by a ban on smoking.[25]

In the fall of 1849,[37] Ryder was approached by four physicians who had been excluded from the Washington Infirmary and established a new medical faculty. They asked that their faculty be incorporated into Georgetown as its medical department,[38] creating the first Catholic medical school in the United States.[39] Ryder accepted the proposition within a week, giving rise to the Georgetown College School of Medicine.[40] He appointed the four petitioners as the first professors of the school on November 5, 1849,[40] and the first classes were held in May 1851.[38]

A rebellion broke out among the students in 1850. It began when members of the Philodemic Society held a meeting one day, in defiance of the prefect's order to the contrary.[41] Ryder, who frequently left the college to preach, had been away for several weeks on a preaching tour.[42] In response, the prefect suspended the society's meetings for one month. Upset at this decision, several members refused to perform their nightly reading at the refectory, and later threw stones in the dormitory. When Ryder returned, he expelled three students. One of these entered the refectory that night and incited the students to insurrection, who stormed a Jesuit's room. Forty-four of the students abandoned the college for downtown Washington and wrote Ryder that they would not return until the three were re-admitted and the prefect replaced.[41] With the students' hotel bills mounting and going unpaid, Ryder convinced them to return to the college and quit the rebellion. He later replaced the prefect with Bernard A. Maguire.[43]

Later that year, Ryder presided over the marriage of William Tecumseh Sherman and Eleanor Boyle Ewing.[44] His presidency came to an end in 1851, and Ryder was replaced by Charles H. Stonestreet.[45]

Maryland provincial
In September 1843, while president of Georgetown, Ryder was appointed the provincial superior of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, with the strong support of his predecessor, Francis Dzierozynski.[46][47] Ryder voiced support that the Jesuits should sell their parochial property, leaving this to diocesan priests, to instead focus on education in cities.[24]

At the same time, the Bishop of Boston, Benedict Joseph Fenwick, had become concerned with the cost of operating the newly established College of the Holy Cross. Therefore, he encouraged Ryder to accept ownership of the school on behalf of the Society of Jesus. The Superior General, Roothaan, delegated this decision to Ryder, who was initially hesitant to accept the college. By 1844, Ryder had privately decided to agree to the transfer,[48] but this was not communicated to Fenwick and the deal formally struck until 1845 by Ryder's successor.[49]

Ryder delegated much of his responsibility, though he remained in charge.[33] He held the post until 1845; Jan Roothaan believed the province had to be put under the control of a European to rectify the compounding scandal and mismanagement that had begun under Thomas Mulledy. To that end, he was replaced by Peter Verhaegen of Belgium.[47]

College of the Holy Cross
Oval portrait of James Ryder
Photograph of Ryder
After his first presidency at Georgetown ended in 1845, Ryder went to Rome to clear his name in light of suspicions of his relationship with a woman who had exchanged letters with him.[21] He traveled to Rome in January by way of New York City and France.[50] In Italy, he recruited eight Jesuits to join him in the United States.[22] One of these was a future president of the College of the Holy Cross, Anthony F. Ciampi.[51] Upon Ryder's return, suspicions continued, despite his defense that the correspondence involved only spiritual counseling, but they finally ceased following Roothaan's order in 1847 that the correspondence end.[21]

Upon returning to the United States, he was appointed by Bishop Fenwick as president of the College of the Holy Cross on October 9, 1845, succeeding the school's first president, Thomas F. Mulledy.[52] As president, he oversaw the construction of an east wing at the college, in accordance with the original plan for the school, which contained a dining room, chapel, study hall, and dormitory.[52] This wing was the only part of the school spared by a subsequent fire in 1852.[53] In 1846, he saw to the burial of the founder of the institution, Fenwick, in the college cemetery, pursuant to his wishes. The number of students increased during his administration.[52]

Ryder clashed with Thomas Mulledy during Mulledy's election as procurator of the Jesuits' Maryland province.[54] As a result, he praised Ignatius Brocard's decision not to send Mulledy back to the College of the Holy Cross, where Mulledy was greatly disliked.[55] The lack of discipline among the Jesuits at Holy Cross drew the commentary of both the Bishop of Boston, John Bernard Fitzpatrick, and Roothaan, who were particularly concerned with the propensity for drinking among the priests.[56] Upon the end of his standard three-year term, Ryder was succeeded by John Early on August 29, 1848, and he returned to Georgetown.[52]

Later years
Saint Joseph's College
In 1851, he moved to Philadelphia, where he assisted in the founding of Saint Joseph's College.[47] He was made the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church on September 30, 1855, when he replaced Richard Kinahan to become the first Jesuit in this position,[57] and remained until he was succeeded by John McGuigan on October 4, 1858.[58]

In the meantime, he was appointed the president of Saint Joseph's College in 1856, following its first president Felix-Joseph Barbelin. Ryder sought to relocate the college from Willings Alley to the existing school building at St. John's, which would involve the transfer in ownership of the pro-cathedral from the Diocese of Philadelphia to the Jesuits; the diocese was unwilling to entertain this offer.[25]

In light of the ongoing Know Nothing movement, Ryder was referred to for some time as "Doctor Ryder" rather than "Father Ryder". He also wore layman's clothes, such as a bow tie rather than a Roman collar, in accordance with the orders of Charles Stonestreet, the Maryland provincial, that the Jesuits should not wear their clerical attire. Ryder's tenure lasted only until 1857 before he was succeeded by James A. Ward. He was forced to resign the presidency due to his deteriorating health, though his likeness endures in the form of a gargoyle of Barbelin Hall.[25]

Pastoral work
Because of his oratorical skills, Ryder was sent to raise money for St. Joseph's College in California in 1852, where he raised $5,000 (equivalent to $180,000 in 2023[27]).[24] While there, he fell ill, and briefly went to Havana, Cuba, and then to the Southern United States, where he recuperated for several months.[59] He was then stationed at St. Joseph's until 1856, when he was made the rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, Maryland.[47]

In 1857, he was transferred to Alexandria, Virginia, to do pastoral work, and he returned to Philadelphia in 1859 as spiritual prefect at St. Joseph's College.[21] Ryder died on January 12, 1860, in the rectory of Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia, following a brief illness.[3][60] His body was transported back to Georgetown to be buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery.[61]

References
Citations
McAdams 1950, p. 240
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 48
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 88
Kuzniewski 2014, pp. 1–2
Curran 1993, p. 89
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 9
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 10
Curran 1993, p. 109
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 15
McLaughlin 1860, p. 5
Devitt 1933, p. 312
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 89
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 66
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 263
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 19
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 20
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 72
"Proslavery Oration by Rev. James Ryder, SJ, August 30, 1835". Georgetown Slavery Archive. September 30, 1835. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 75
Curran 1993, p. 117
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 33
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 35
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 76
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 34
Croce 2017, pp. 14–15
Curran 1993, p. 123
1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
Kuzniewski 2014, pp. 33–34
Curran 1993, p. 121
Easby-Smith 1907, pp. 79–80
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 78
Curran 1993, p. 139
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 79
Easby-Smith 1907, pp. 80–81
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 82
Easby-Smith 1907, p. 85
Curran 1993, p. 146
"History of Georgetown University's School of Medicine". Georgetown University School of Medicine. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
O'Neill & Williams 2003, p. 35
McFadden 1990, p. 296
Shea 1891, p. 166
Curran 2012, p. 136
Shea 1891, p. 167
Burton 1947, pp. 76–77
Shea 1891, p. 172
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 14
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 32
Kuzniewski 1999, p. 44
Kuzniewski 1999, p. 45
"Dr. Ryder, President of Georgetown College and Provincial of the Jesuits ..." Alexandria Gazette. January 16, 1845. p. 3. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
LaGumina et al. 2000, p. 116
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross 1883, p. 16
Historical Sketch of the College of the Holy Cross 1883, p. 25
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 28
Kuzniewski 2014, p. 29
Kuzniewski 1999, pp. 51–52
Griffin 1909, p. 395
Griffin 1909, p. 396
McLaughlin 1860, p. 20
McAdams 1950, p. 241
McLaughlin 1860, p. 19

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The Very Reverend
James A. Ryder
SJ
Portrait of James A. Ryder
2nd President of Saint Joseph's College
In office
1856–1857
Preceded by Felix-Joseph Barbelin
Succeeded by James A. Ward
20th & 23rd President of Georgetown College
In office
1848–1851
Preceded by Thomas F. Mulledy
Succeeded by Charles H. Stonestreet
In office
1840–1845
Preceded by Joseph A. Lopez
Succeeded by Samuel Mulledy
2nd President of the College of the Holy Cross
In office
1845–1848
Preceded by Thomas F. Mulledy
Succeeded by John Early
Personal details
Born October 8, 1800
Dublin, Ireland
Died January 12, 1860 (aged 59)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place Jesuit Community Cemetery
Alma mater Georgetown College
Orders
Ordination 1824

https://www.holycross.edu/archives-and-special-collections/rev-james-ryder-sj

Rev. James Ryder, S.J.

Rev. James Ryder, S.J.
Second President of Holy Cross
1845 - 1848

James Ryder was born in Dublin, Ireland on October 8, 1800. After the death of his father, he came to the United States with his mother and enrolled in Georgetown College in 1813. Two years later he entered the Society of Jesus at Whitemarsh, MD. He was sent with Rev. Mulledy and five other Jesuits to Rome for philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained a priest in Rome in 1825.
Rev. Ryder became known as a great administrator and eloquent preacher. He served twice as President of Georgetown College from 1840 to 1845 and again from 1848 to 1851. Concurrently, he was Provincial of the Maryland Province from 1843 to 1845.
In 1845 he became President of Holy Cross and during his presidency he added the East wing to the original Fenwick building. He left Holy Cross in 1848 and served in Jesuit churches in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
He died at the Jesuit church of St. Joseph in Philadelphia on January 12, 1860.

https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/R/ryder-james-dd.html

McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia

Ryder, James, Dd

Ryder, James, D.D., a Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, was born in Dublin in 1800, and emigrated to the United States in early youth. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in 1815, and pursued his secular studies at Georgetown College, Md., from 1815 to 1820, and his theological studies at Rome from 1820 to 1825. He then received holy orders, and occupied the chair of theology and Sacred Scriptures in the College of Spoleto, Italy, from 1825 to 1828. He returned to America in 1828, and was for several years professor of theology and vice-president of Georgetown College. Iu 1839 he was pastor of St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, and also of St. John's Church, Frederick, Md. From 1840 to 1845, and also from 1848 to 1851, he was president of Georgetown College, and from 1845 to 1848 president of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass. He was also superior of the Order of Jesuits in the province of North America. Ryder died in 1860. He published occasional Lectures and Discourses, and was a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Americana. See Allibone, Dict. of Brit. and Amer. Authors, s.v.

Born: 10 February 1950, Somerville, Newcastle, County Galway
Entered: 07 September 1967, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 27 June 1981, Galway Cathedral, Galway
Final Vows: 03 December 1994, Loyola, Eglinton Road, Dublin
Died: 31 January 2020, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

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

Born in Dublin

Father RIP. Mother - Margaret

Educated at Coláiste Iognáid, Galway City

by 1981 at Fordham NY, USA (NYK) studying
by 1990 at St Joseph’s,Philadelphia PA, USA (MAR) teaching 1 semseter
by 1991 at Austin TX, USA (NOR) making Tertianship