Born: 21 January1705, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 16 April1729, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province(LUS)
Died: 01 March 1732, Coimbra Portugal - Lusitaniae Province(LUS)

Born: Ireland / Porto, Portugal
Entered: 1751, Goa, India
Ordained: ??
Died: Post-1777, Portugal
Official Catalogus Defuncti Missing

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as “Alward” Ent 1751

◆ Old/16 has a : “James Aylward”; DOB Ireland; Ent Goa; RIP Portugal

◆ CATSJ A-H has “an Irishman”; Ent 1751
Was transferred from from Azeitão prison to St Juliáo in May 1769
Left St Julião prison in 1777

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
An Irishman of GOA

1759-1769 Imprisoned in Portugal

◆ MacErlean Notes
DOB Oporto, Portugal of a Waterford family;

1759-1769 along with 124 Jesuits, imprisoned by Pombal at Azeitão in Portugal
1769 Transferred to São Julião dungeons
1777 Queen Mary of Portugal orders release of prisoners. Only 45 survived of whom James Aylward was one. Nothing further known after that.

◆ MacErlean Cat Miss HIB SJ 1670-1770
1777 LUS Cat
In Prison
Born in Porto of English parents from the Province of GOA

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII - Appendix
AYLWARD, JAMES, an Englishman of the Province of Goa, was a prisoner in Azeitao, Portugal, and again from May 11, 1769, till 1777, in St. Julian (Carayon's documents inédits.) (Communicated by Father Hogan, who thinks he was an Irishman.)

Born: 23 January 1682, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 12 September 1701, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Died: 31 October 1706, Arévalo, Castile y León, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Alias Rivers

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Raphael and Helena née Bryan
He was engaged in his theology studies at the Royal College, Salamanca, when he contracted consumption. He died at Arevolo, 31 October 1706. (Carta necrologica extant)

Born: 10 October 1709, Bremore, County Dublin
Entered: 09 November 1726, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Final Vows: 1750
Died: 01 February 1762, Preston, Lancashire, England - Angliae Province (ANG)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1741 HIB Catalogue says sent to Ireland.
1752 & 1755 In HIB Catalogues and said to be working in England (cf Battersby’s “Dublin Jesuits” and Foley’s Collectanea)
Served many years on the Preston Mission, where he opened the first public Chapel there in 1760, and died soon after there 01 February 1762

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After First Vows he was sent for Philosophy and then spent Regency at Coimbra. Having completed his studies and ordination he continued teaching at Pernes College LUS
1741 Sent to Ireland he was stationed at Dublin for the next ten years after which he joined the English Province. He died at Preston 1 February, 1762

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
BARNWALL, PATRICK, was born at Bremore, in the County of Dublin, on the 10th of October, 1709, and embraced the Institute of St. Ignatius, at Coimbra, on the 9th of November, 1726. He began to serve the Irish Mission in 1741, and was raised to the rank of a Professed Father in 1750. For several years he was stationed at Preston in Lancashire, where he opened St Mary s Chapel, about the year 1760, and died there shortly after; viz, 1st of February, 1762

Born: 1585/6, New Ross, County Wexford
Entered: 1606, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1615, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 26 March 1648, New Ross, County Wexford

Studied in Portugal, was examined for Grades after 4 years of Theology
1617 came on Irish Mission.
1622 in East Munster (Waterford).
Very talented but sickly

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1617-1646 In Ireland
He is identical with “Michael Burrice” in Foley’s "Collectanea"

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Studied at Irish College Lisbon before Ent 1606 Lisbon
After First Vows he completed his studies at Évora and was ordained in 1615
1617 Sent to Ireland and exercised ministry at New Ross until his death there 26 March, 1648

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Michael Barick 1585/6-1648
Michael Barick was born in New Ross in 1582 or 5, and entered the Society in 1606 or 1610.

He returned to Ireland in 1617, and remained on the Mission until his death, which occurred between 1646 and 1649. Ther are very meagre details of a man’s life which can be accounted for by the fact that numerous letters sent by Superiors to Rome never reached their destination. Furthermore, if Fr Barick laboured in Ireland for about 30 years, as he did, he only succeeded in doing so by lying low and going round in disguise. In his case, the lack of information is complicated by the fact that his name is often given as “Burrice”.

Born: 1582, Drogheda, County Louth
Entered: 23 October 1604, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: c1610, Rome, Italy
Final Vows: 05 September 1622
Died: 15 June 1649, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny

Of the “Villa de Drochedat” Meath
Educated at Irish College Douay
1610-1611 Sent from Rome as Professor of Spirituality and Scholastic to Irish College Lisbon
1617 in Ireland
1622 in Meath or Dublin
1626 in Ireland
1637 described as fit to be a Superior, but has choleric temperament
1649 in Kilkenny aged 70

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was a learned and most edifying priest and had rendered great service “by sea and by land”.
He was Rector of the Drogheda Residence.
He went thrice to Rome on behalf of the Irish Mission
Socius to the Mission Superior.
He was forty-five years on the Mission, and from Drogheda worked throughout Ulster in the midst of many perils. (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had started his studies at Douai before Ent at 26 October 1604 Rome
After First Vows he was sent to complete his studies at Roman College and was Ordained c 1610
1610 Sent to Lisbon to be Prefect of Studies and Spiritual Father at the Irish College
1612 Returned to Ireland and assigned to Dublin Residence - possibly stationed at Drogheda
1621 Working in Drogheda, during which time he became entangled in the dispute between the Vicar General and the Franciscans.
He retired from Drogheda in the early 1640's and spent his last years at Kilkenny where he died, 15 June, 1649. He was named amongst the six Jesuits who resisted the censures of Rinuccini.
Regularly asked to conduct Irish Mission business in Rome
For many years Robert was Socius to the Superior of the Mission.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Robert Bath 1581-1649
Robert Bath was one of the most distinguished Jesuits who worked in Ireland during the period 1610-1649.

Born in Drogheda in 1581 of a family which gave a martyr to the Society, he entered the Jesuits in 1604. His work was mainly centred around Ulster, and for a long period he was Superior of the Drogheda Residence.

Three times he went to Rome to report on the state of the Mission.

Worn out after a ministry of 45 years, he died in Kilkenny on June 15th 1649.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
BATH, ROBERT. In 1624, he had been settled for about two years at Drogheda, where he instituted the Sodality of the B. Virgin Mary. He was thrice sent to Rome for the good of the Irish Mission. Worn out with age and infirmity, he died at Kilkenny, on the 15th of June, 1649.

Born: 1589/92, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 1620, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1620 - pre Entry, Lisbon, Portugal
Died: 05 August 1626, Bragança, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)

Studied two years Theology and was a Bachelor of Arts
1625 at Angra College in Island of Ierceira (Azores?), Minister and Prefect of Church
1628 Minister and procurator of “Villaniciosa (Villa Niçova?) - had been Procurator in Irish College in Lisbon
1633 Confessor at Porto
1636 at Bragança College : Confessor and Consultor, was minister for 9 years

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was in Portugal in 1621 when his Superior wanted him for the Connaught Residence.
He was probably a grandnephew of Archbishop Bodkin, whose “nephew, grandnephew and great grandnephew entered Religious Orders” (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1622 Was supposed to go to the Connaught Residence after First Vows, but his Portuguese Superiors retained him for their own work. So, he was appointed Minister and Prefect of the Church at San Miguel in the Azores. Later he held similar positions in Villa Viçosa and Porto.
Served for a time as Procurator of the Irish College Lisbon.
1636 By this time he was Operarius and Consultor at the Residence of Bragança where he died before 1639.

Born: 09 March 1869, Hüttseifen, Niederfischbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Entered: 05 July 1890, Barrô, Aveira Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Final vows: 30 March 1902
Died: 11 March 1938, St Joseph’s, Macau, Hong Kong - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Came to Australia1912 - 1927
1912-1915 St Aloysius, Sydney
1915-1924 Sevenhill, Australia
1924-1927 Manresa, Norwood, Australia
Hong Kong 30s

◆ David Strong SJ “The Australian Dictionary of Jesuit Biography 1848-2015”, 2nd Edition, Halstead Press, Ultimo NSW, Australia, 2017 - ISBN : 9781925043280 :
He was German born, but because of his love of the Missions in Africa, he joined the Portuguese Province (LUS), which at the time accepted foreign candidates because of the work on the Zambesi Mission.

1894-1910 After Noviciate in Barrô, he made his way to Africa and Boroma in the Zambesi, until 1910 when the Jesuits were forces to leave the Mission because the junta of the Masonic Lodge had assisted in the change of government in Portugal.
1912-1913 He was sent to Australia and St Aloysius College, Milsons Point.
1913-1924 He went to Sevenhill and was cellarer, sacristan and did general house duties.
1924-1926 He was at the Norwood Parish doing domestic duties and infirmarian.
1926-1931 On the advice of a missionary, Fr Neto, he left Australia for Hong Kong. He began at an Industrial School of the Mission Shiu-Hing (Zhaoqing/Shiuhing) in Tau-T’au. When he was replaced there he helped in various houses of the Mission.
1931 He went to St Joseph’s Seminary in Macau and worked there until his death. During 1937, having suffered repeatedly over the years from troublesome African fevers, he was struck by a mild paralysis, which became more serious and began to affect the brain. This cause considerable disability which eventually led to his death.

He was experienced by his brethren as a man of severe disposition and harsh words, failing arising more from intransigence than ill will. He was also steeped in spiritual life and a very observant religious. He enjoyed spending his life helping missionaries.

Note from George Downey Entry
He became the first Australian winemaker at Sevenhill and a very successful one. He succeeded Brother Boehmer, and he was able to bring some order into the affairs of the winery

Born: 1581, Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 1597, Portugal

Left Society of Jesus: nothing post 1608

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 1587

◆ CATSJ A-H has DOB 1582 Clonmel; Ent 1597?;
1603 has finished 3 years of Arts at Braga College (LUS) and in Society 5.5 years
1606 at Évora teaching Latin for 3 years

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773
Born at Clonlel, 1581, entered the Society in Portugal, 1597.

After his Noviceship he studied Philosophy at Coimbra, 1600-1601, but finished the course at the College of Braga. He was then sent for his Regency to Coimbra, and later to Madeira, where he was teaching Latin, 1607-1608.

His name then disappears from the records.

Born: Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 1610, Mechelen, Belgium, Belgicae Province (BELG)
Ordained: ??

Left Society of Jesus: c1620

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB probably Clonmel; Ent c 1610; RIP post 1620

1620 Professor of Divinity at Coimbra and Évora and before that

Is praised by Bishop Rothe in “Hibernia Resurgens”

(All sounds more like Robert Queitrot??)

Born: 01 February 1661, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 13 December 1676, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 01 May 1690, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows: 02 May 1697
Died: 13 September 1707, Irish College, Salamanca, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Alias Bruno

Nephew of Ignatius Browne - RIP 1679

1681 At St Anthony’s College, Lisbon studying - also studied at Irish College
1685 in 3rd Year Philosophy at Coimbra, Portugal
1690 4th Year Theology at Coimbra

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Father Knoles, Mission Superior gives Ent date as 1677
Most likely a nephew of Ignatius Brown 1st.
1698 Deported with Bernard Kiernan and went to Poitiers, and then on to Spain. (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS, citing a letter from Anthony Knoles New Ross 06/04/1714)

May be identical with Ignatius Brown who is said to have Ent at Milan in 1679, and studied in Genoa 1682-1683 (cf Foley’s Collectanea) - this man was said to have LEFT or been DISMISSED 26/09/1684

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After First Vows he was sent to complete all his studies at Coimbra and was Ordained there in 1690
1690/1691 Sent to Ireland and worked as a schoolmaster at Kilkenny. In a letter of John Higgins 1694 to Thomas Eustace, he is described as an able and zealous preacher.
1697 Exiled to Spain where he was appointed to teach Humanities at Villagarcía CAST.
1699 Appointed to teach Theology at Salamanca
1705 Appointed Rector of Salamanca. He died in office at the Irish College, 13 September, 1707

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
BROWN, IGNATIUS, There were two Fathers of this name.
The junior entered the Society in 1677, and left Poitiers for the Castile Province on the 10th of September, 1698. I read in a letter of F. Ant. Knowles, dated Ross, 6th of April, 1714, “Tempore bellorum et persecutionis missi in exilium in eoque mortui, sunt P. P. Bernardus Kiernan et Ignatius Brown, duo pii et inculpabiles viri”.

Born: 10 October 1704, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 14 January 1724, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1738, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: c 1740
Died: 19 January 1761, Azeitão Prison, Setúbal, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Borni

1737 in 3rd year of Theology at Évora, Portugal, typographer for 5 years
1740 teaching Grammar at College Portinanensi (could be Villanova de Portinão, north of Cape Vincent)
1743-1746 at Funchal in Madeira as Concionator and again in 1749 for many years
1752 Teaching Moral Theology at Funchal College

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1726-1729 After First Vows he studied Philosophy at Évora
1729-1934 He was sent for Regency not to a College, but as a “proof-reader” at the press attached to Évora College
1734-1738 Studied Theology at Évora, and was Ordained there c 1738
Father Thomas Hennessy was anxious to have him sent back to work in Ireland, and though the General agreed, his Portuguese Superiors determined to hold on to this Irishman because of his superb ability, and they saw him as having a capacity for government. So, he became in turn a Teacher, Preacher, Confessor, Consultor, and Professor of Moral Theology at Évora.
With the troubles for the Society in Portugal and elsewhere, he suffered along with his Portuguese fellow-Jesuits who from 1758 were rounded up imprisoned. He died in the prison of Azeitão Prison, Setúbal on 19 January, 1761

*Fr Finegan changes “Richard” to “Felix” in one of his accounts, but I am guessing that this is just an aberration as they led different lives at different times.

Born: 1586, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 1605, Évora, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Died: 1609-1619
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet

◆ Old/16 has : “P Robert Byrne”; DOB 1586 Dublin; Ent 1605 Portugal; RIP 1609 & 1619

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB 1586 Dublin; Ent 1605 Portugal; RIP 1609-1617

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773
He was born in Dublin, c September 1587, studied a short time at the Irish College, Lisbon, before he entered the Society in that city, 1605, and made his Noviceship at Évora. He studied Philosophy for four years at Coimbra, and by 1614 had done two years of Theology, and was then in poor health at the Irish College, Lisbon.

Conflicting entries in the catalogi of that year make it impossible to determine whether or not he was already a priest, and lacunae in the catalogi for succeeding years also make it impossible to assign the date of his death.

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
BIRNE, ROBERT (Irish); entered the Society 1605. (Hogan's Ibernia, p. 429.)

Born: 1589, Kilkenny/Tipperary
Entered: 1605, Lisbon, Portugal (LUS)
Ordained: 1615/16
Died: 1639, Ireland

Left Society of Jesus: 27 March 1634

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Two Entries : 1. Michael Cantwell; 2. Michael De Morales

DOB 1586 Tipperary (1), Kilkenny (2); Ent 1605 Portugal (1), 1605 TOLE (2); RIP post 1631 Ireland (1); RIP post 1619 (2)

A Writer; LEFT the Society c 1630; Is praised by O’Sullevan Beara (1)
1617 in TOLE; 1619 Seville; perhaps he is identical with Michael Cantwell (2)

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773

He was born in 1589 and was a student at the Irish College, Lisbon, when he entered the Society in that city, 1607.

He resumed his ecclesiastical studies at Coimbra, but having completed only two years of Theology there, he was transferred to Spain, where he completed his studies at the College of S Hermenegildo, at Seville, and where he was ordained priest, 1615/1616.

He was Minister at the Irish College, Seville, in 1621, when he finally got permission to return to ireland. He had been trying to get back to Ireland to patch up quarrels in his family. After his return he worked on the Mission in East Munster, but left the Society, or was dismissed, early in 1630. That same year he set out for Rome, allegedly with the support of some Irish Bishops, to lay before the Holy See complaints, not only against the Jesuits in Ireland, but against all the regular clergy of the country.

His later career cannot be treated.

◆ 2014 412 Studies - Michael Cantwell - A Troubled Irish Jesuit in 17th Century Spain - Lozano.doc

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
CANTWELL, MICHAEL (Irish), entered the Society 1605. (Hogan's Ibernia, p. 249.)

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
MORALES, MICHAEL DE, Father (Irish), alias CANTWEL, was a native of Kilkenny. He appears in the Province of Toledo in 1617. In 1619 at the Irish College, Seville. Irish Ecclesiastical Record, February, 1873). He may be identical with Michael Cantwell, who entered the Society 1605, and died in 1631. (Hogan's list.)

Born: 1617, Waterford
Entered: 1639, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1649, Coimbra, Portugal
Professed: 15 August 1662
Died: 21 May 1696, Waterford Residence - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Cary

1642 Student of Philosophy
1645 At Coimbra College; taught Latin at Évora College 1645
1649 Teacher “Mag in Artibus” at Lisbon College
1654 In Angra College in Madeira
Taught Latin and Cases of Conscience at Bragança
1665 Rector of College at Funchal, Madeira, teaching Moral Theology

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Is perhaps the Richard Carew, Irish Jesuit, who sailed from Portugal to Marañon in 1659, and then went to Pernambuco. (Franco’s “Annales”)
Recommended by his Superior, Francis White, as a Consultor of the Mission in a letter dated Kilkenny 19 December 1668

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ ;
Distinguished career as professor of Theology in Portugal and the Azores, accompanied Fr Hyacinth de Magistris to visit Maranhon (Maranhão) in Brazil which lasted (1659-1662)
1662 Returned to Portugal
1668 Came to Ireland

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1641-1649 After First Vows studied at Coimbra and graduated MA. He was Ordained there in 1649
1649-1654 He had a distinguished teaching career at Braga and Branança and was later Professor of Theology at Angra on the island of Terceira in the Azores
1654-1662 He volunteered to work in Brazil, and this did not happen until 1659 when he accompanied the Jesuit Visitor Hyacinth de Magistris to Maranhon (Maranhão) in Brazil He became Superior at the Maranhão Residence, but during a conflict was expelled after three years.
1662-1665 On return to Portugal was appointed Procurator at the Irish College Lisbon
1665-1668 Sent as Operarius to the Church at Funchal, Madeira
1668 He returned to Ireland and was sent as Operarius to the Waterford Residence where he died 21 May 1696

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Richard Cary (Carew) SJ 1619-1696
Fr Richard Cary (or Carew) was born in Waterford in 1619 and entered the Society at Lisbon in 1639.

After a distinguished career as a professor of Theology in Portugal and the Azores, he accompanied Fr Hyacinth de Magistris on a visitation of Maranhon and Brazil.

On his return, he remained 6 years in Portugal, and then he came home to Ireland. He was stationed at Waterford until 1696, the year of his death.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
CAREW, RICHARD. (I suspect of the ancient family of Carew, of Garryvoe, in the Barony of Imokilly) I find that he was recommended for a Consultor by his Superior, Francis White, in a letter dated Kilkenny, 19th of December 1668.

Born: 1580, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 16 February 1605, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: c 1609, Rome, Italy
Died: 19 July 1649, Waterford Residence, Waterford City, County Waterford

Alias Clare

Had studied Philosophy and Theology at Irish College Douai before entry
Was the oldest of the Professed Fathers in 1648
Was stationed for a while at the Dublin Residence (his name appears on a book at Carlow College of that residence)
1617 was in Ireland - mentioned in the 1621 and 1622 Catalogue : talented with good judgement, prudence and experience. A pleasing character who might be formed to be a Superior
1649 Superior in Waterford

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was a Preacher; The oldest of the Professed Fathers in 1648; Superior at Waterford in 1649; A man of talent

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Studied Rhetoric at Irish College Lisbon before, then Philosophy at Douai before Ent 1605 Rome
After First Vows completed his studies probably in Rome, and was ordained by the time he returned to Portugal 1609
1609 Returns to Portugal
1611-1616 Sent by the General to Irish College Lisbon as Prefect of Studies to replace Robert Bathe. In his letter to the Portuguese Provincial he said “I have seen such reports of Fr Cleere’s prudence, mature judgement and learning, that I trust the Irish College will not suffer by the change of Fr Bathe”
1613 Sent to Ireland and to Waterford Residence and worked there, Cork and the rest of Munster
1642-1649 Appointed Superior at Waterford Residence (1642-1647) and was Acting Superior of the Mission awaiting the new Mission Superior (1647-1648). In 1649 he was again appointed Superior of the Waterford Residence and died in Office19 July 1649

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Edmund Cleere (Clare) 1580-1649
Fr Edmund Cleere was a Waterford man.

Fr Holywood, writing on June 30th 1604 says : “I left behind me in Paris studying theology Mr Edmund Cleere”

As a priest Fr Cleere worked in Waterford and was Superior of our House there for many years. In 1648, Bishop Comerford of Waterford presented a memorial to the Nuncio beggin a revocation of the censures. Among the signatories was Edmund Cleere together with John Gough, William McGrath and Andrew Sall, all of the Society.

When the Visitor Fr Verdier visited Waterford, he found Fr Cleere almost superannuated. He died shortly afterwards in Waterford on July 19th 1649.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
CLARE, EDWARD, of Waterford. The first time that he comes across me is in a letter of F. Holywood, dated the 30th of June, 1604, in which he says, “I left behind at Paris studying Theology, Mr. Edward Clare”. For many years he was Superior of his Brethren at Waterford; and when F. Verdier visited him, he found him almost superannuated. I learn from F. William Malone’s letter, dated Galway, the 2nd of August, 1649, that F. Clare, the most ancient of the Professed in the Mission, died at Waterford on the preceding 19th of July, “dierum et meritorum plenus”.
N.B. Anthony Wood and his copyists, Harris and Dodd, evidently confound this Father with his contemporary, F. John Clare. Had they turned to the conclusion of F. John Clare’s admirable work, The Converted Jew, they would find that he expressly calls himself an English Pryest.

Born: 08 October 1566, Youghal, County Cork
Entered: 08 December 1598, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (CAST)
Died: 31 October 1602, Youghal, County Cork (Hanged Drawn and Quartered - Martyr)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
He was Chief of the Clan-Colan; Commander of heavy cavalry in France; Captain of Corunna Port; Hanged Drawn and Quartered for the Catholic Faith
(cf IbIg pp89, 102, and which includes also a complete copy of Carew’s examination - 09/07/1602 - of Collins at Dunboy; Tanner’s “Martyr SJ”; Drew’s “Fasti”; IER September 1874))
Parents were a “high family” who owned the property of Labrouche (in France??). His family name was O’Callan, but he changed for humility’s sake to Collins
Age 22 entered the military profession in Europe, spending five years in the French and seven in the Spanish service. He began at Nantes for three years, then he became a dragoon with the League, for eight or nine years, then went to Spain where the King gave him a pension of twenty-five crowns per month.
About a year after he arrived in Spain, he met Fr Thomas White, Rector of Salamanca, and by his advice entered the Society. Two of his fellow novices were Richard Walsh and John Lee He Entered at Santiago de Compostela where had spent two months following an attack of the plague. After First Vows he was sent to Ireland as a companion to James Archer, who was a Chaplain to the Spanish invading force sent by Philip III of Spain. He was taken prisoner and rejected the overtures to reject his faith he was hanged (at Cork or Youghal).
Captain Slingsby, in a report of the taking of Dunboy Castle, July 1602 says “We gained the top of the vault and all the Castle upwards, and place our colours on the height thereof; the whole remainder of the war-men, being seventy-seven men, were constrained to retire into the cellars, into which we , having no descent but by a straight winding stone stairs, they defended themselves against us, and thereupon, upon promise of their lives, they offered to come forth, but not to stand to mercy; notwithstanding, immediately after, a friar, born in Youghal, Dominic Collins who had been brought up in the wars in France, and there, under the League, had been a Commander of Horse in Brittany, by them called Captain de la Broche, came forth and simply rendered himself.” (Carew, Irish State Papers, 1602, Public records Office, London). Carew to the Privy Council letter of 13 July 1602 says “In my journal sent into your Lordships by the Earl of Thomond, I mentioned three prisoners of the ward of Dunboyne (sic) which for a time I respited...the third called Dominic Collins, whom I find more open hearted than the rest (and whose examination I send enclosed) the which, although it does not merit any great favour, ye because he hath so long education in France and Spain, and that it may be that your Lordships heretofore, by some other examination, have had some knowledge of him whereby some benefit to the State may be made, I respite his execution till your further pleasure be signified unto me”

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of John and Felicity O Dril ( O’Driscol or Ó Duala)
He emigrated to France in 1586 he served as a soldier under Philip Emmanuel of Lorraine who soon promoted him commander of cavalry. In 1594/95 he served in the Spanish Army until 1598 - he was with the Spanish Fleet off Portugal in March, 1597 - before Ent 08 December 1598 Compostella
1602 After First Vows on 04 February 1601 he was chosen as companion to James Archer then about to return to Ireland. Dominic sailed there in the Spanish fleet in 1602. He was in the fort of Dunboy during the siege, not as a combatant but occupied with the spiritual and corporal needs of the besieged who eventually chose him to treat for terms with the English. Taken prisoner, he was offered liberty on condition of renouncing his faith and swearing allegiance to Elizabeth 1. He was hanged at Cork, 29 October, 1602, apparently without due form of trial. From the time of his death, Brother Dominic was regarded as a true martyr for the Faith. His cause for beatification is before the Holy See. (NB All contemporary accounts state that he suffered at Cork. The story that he was martyred at Youghal is of a much later date. Details of his execution such as disembowelling and quartering are also found only in later sources).

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Collins, Dominic
by David Murphy

Collins, Dominic (c.1566–1602), soldier, Jesuit, and martyr, was born in Youghal, Co. Cork, son of John Collins, previously mayor of Youghal, and Felicity Collins (née O'Dril or O'Duala). In the aftermath of the passing of the acts of supremacy and uniformity (1560) he was born at a time of increasing religious tension, as the population of his home town was being put under considerable pressure to convert to protestantism. As a child he witnessed the failed rebellion of James fitz Maurice Fitzgerald (qv) in 1579 and it is possible that he attended the Jesuit school run by Fr Goode, and later by Fr Rochford and Fr Lea, in Youghal.

Deciding on a military career on the Continent, he left Ireland in 1586 and travelled to France. He initially lived in Nantes, where he worked in an inn and, when he had accumulated some money, joined the army. Enlisting in the army of Philip Emmanuel de Vaudemont, duke of Mercoeur, he fought with the Catholic League against the huguenots in Brittany, serving for nine years and reaching the rank of captain of cavalry. He captured the chateau of Lapena in Brittany from the huguenots and was appointed by Mercoeur as its military governor. In March 1598 Mercoeur agreed terms with Henry of Navarre and Collins left the service, handing over Lapena to the Spanish general Don Juan del Aguila (qv). He moved to Spain, where he met an Irish Jesuit, Fr Thomas White (qv), at Corunna and, experiencing a change of heart of truly Ignatian proportions, he applied to enter the Society of Jesus. Due to his age and previous career, he was initially refused but was finally accepted as a brother-novice at the Jesuit College at Santiago de Compostela in late 1598. The records of the college for 1601 note that he entered in 1598, was of distinguished parentage, had been a captain of cavalry, and was past 32 years of age. In February 1601 he made his first religious profession and seven months later was appointed by his superiors to join the Irish mission, as Fr James Archer (qv) had specifically asked for him, perhaps due to his previous military experience and also his Spanish contacts.

Archer had been described by Sir George Carew (qv), president of Munster, as ‘a chief stirrer of the coals of war’ (Morrissey, Studies, 318) and was being constantly sought out by government agents. Collins's association with him was to prove dangerous. He sailed with the Spanish expedition to Ireland on 3 September 1601, one of the commanders being Don Juan del Aguila, to whom Collins had surrendered Lapena in 1598. The flotilla with which he travelled arrived late at Castlehaven due to bad weather. After the defeat of the Irish and Spanish forces at Kinsale, Collins finally met Archer in February 1602 at the castle of Gortnacloghy, near Castlehaven. When English reinforcements arrived in June 1602 he was in the party of Captain McGeoghan, which retreated to Dunboy castle. They endured a long siege, which ended on 22 June, and there is some suggestion that Collins was taken prisoner when he made an attempt to negotiate with the besiegers. When the castle finally fell, the remaining members of the garrison were immediately executed and he was one of only three prisoners taken.

He was brought to Cork, where he was imprisoned and interrogated. Tried by court martial, he was sentenced to death, the court finding that due to his arrival with the Spaniards, his association with Archer, and his presence at Dunboy he was a traitor and his life forfeit. He was not executed immediately, however, as his captors urged him to recant his religion, provide information, and also enter into their service. He steadfastly refused and in October 1602 was taken to his hometown of Youghal for execution. On 31 October he was taken to the scaffold and in a last statement exhorted the assembled crowd to remain true to their faith. Before he finished his statement, he was pushed from the ladder and hanged. It is believed that his body was taken away that night by some local people and buried secretly.

It was clear from Collins's attitude and final words that he was convinced that he was being persecuted for his religious beliefs. Carew's account of Collins's statements under interrogation support this and this fact became crucial in his cause for beatification. The Society of Jesus immediately accepted that he had been martyred, and his status as a martyr was soon generally accepted by catholics across Europe. Some miracles were later attributed to him. In 1619 David Rothe (qv), vice-primate of Ireland and later bishop of Ossory, included details of Collins's life in his De processu martyriali quodundam fidei pugilum in Hibernia, and during the next two centuries there were continued efforts to have Collins beatified. In the nineteenth century, Patrick Francis Moran (qv), vice-rector of the Irish College in Rome, promoted Collins's cause and those of the other Irish martyrs. Archbishop William Walsh (qv) of Dublin further promoted the cause, and in 1917 the apostolic process opened with 260 causes put forward for further investigation, Collins being only one of these. Further research was carried out during the terms of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid (qv) and Archbishop Dermot Ryan (qv). Much of this research was carried out by Mgr Patrick Corish, Fr Benignus Millet, OFM (1922–2006) and Fr Peter Gumpel, SJ. Finally, on 27 September 1992, Pope John Paul II beatified Dominic Collins and eighteen other Irish martyrs.

There is a portrait in oils of Dominic Collins in St Patrick's College, Maynooth. This dates from the seventeenth century and originally hung in the Irish College in Salamanca. There is a large collection of papers relating to his cause for beatification in the Jesuit archives in Dublin.

Edmund Hogan, SJ, Distinguished Irishmen of the sixteenth century (1894), 79–114; Louis McRedmond, To the greater glory: a history of the Irish Jesuits (1991); Desmond Forristal, Dominic Collins: Irish martyr, Jesuit brother (1992); Thomas Morrissey, SJ, ‘Among the Irish martyrs: Dominic Collins, SJ, in his times (1566–1602)’, Studies, lxxxi, no. 323 (autumn 1992), 313–25; information from Fergus O'Donoghue, SJ, of the Jesuit Archives, Dublin

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/jesuitica-jumping-jesuits/

JESUITICA: Jumping Jesuits

Tavellers in the Beara Peninsula will remember the Priest’s Leap, a mountain cliff in the townland of Cummeenshrule, where (around 1600 AD) a priest on horseback escaped from pursuing soldiers by a miraculous leap, which landed him on a rock near Bantry. Was the lepper a Jesuit? One tradition claims him as James Archer SJ; another as Blessed (Brother) Dominic Collins. In view of some dating difficulties, one can only say: pie creditur – a common phrase in Latin hagiographies, meaning “It is piously believed…”!

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 36th Year No 1 1961
THE UNVEILING OF A PLAQUE N HONOUR OF FR. DONAL O'NEILLAN, O.F.M., AND BR. DOMINIC COLLINS, S.J., MARTYRS
The old town of Youghal was en fete, gay with flags and bunting, on Sunday, 23rd October, 1960, for a unique tribute of honour to the memory of two martyred sons of the town, Fr. Donal O'Neillan, O.F.M., and Br. Dominic Collins, S.J., who gave their lives for the faith there in Elizabethan times.
There was a Solemn High Mass in the parish church at which an eloquent tribute to the martyrs was given by Fr. William Egan, P.P., Castlemartyr. The greater part of his discourse dealt with the life of Br. Dominic, as very little was known of Fr. O'Neillan. The parish priest of Youghal, Canon Sheehan, presided and with him in the Sanctuary were Fr. Celsus O'Brien, the Franciscan Provincial, and Fr. Pearse O'Higgins, who was representing Fr. Provincial. Canon Sheehan, an old Mungret man, is well-known to our Fathers who served as Chaplains in both World Wars.
After the High Mass, there was a procession through the town to the Clock Gate for the unveiling by Canon Sheehan of a commemorative plaque to the two martyrs. A big number of clergy, secular and regular, marched in the procession and there were also units of the Army, F.C.A. and Civil Defence Corps, as well as a great many of the citizens of Youghal. The music was provided by the Christian Brothers' Boys' Band and by a Pipers' Band, A. 16mm, colour-film of the commemoration is in process of development and the Organising Committee have promised to loan it for showing in our Houses.
The speakers on the platform were Canon Sheehan, who paid glowing tributes to the Society, Fr. Celsus O'Brien, who briefly traced the history of the Franciscan foundation in Youghal from its inception in 1224 and showed that both the martyrs had a common purpose, the glory of God and the welfare of the Irish people, and Fr. O'Higgins.
Fr. O'Higgins, who spoke in Irish and English, in the course of his speech said: “This is a proud day for us Irish Jesuits when we see the great honour accorded to our own Br. Dominic Collins by his fellow-towns people. Our Society has long associations with Youghal, going back to the latter part of the sixteenth century, when our Fathers established a school here and laboured zealously for the greater glory of God and the good of souls. Theirs was not a tranquil nor an easy life, for they were hunted men and lived ever in the shadow of death. But they were dedicated to their noble task and were blessed because, like their Divine Master, they suffered persecution for justice's sake. These were the men who trained Dominic Collins in his early years and it was, no doubt, the example of their zeal and heroism which inspired him in later life to emulate St. Ignatius Loyola by turning away from the glory of a distinguished military career to put on the armour of God. He proved himself indeed a true soldier of Christ and never shirked his duty, even in face of the fiercest opposition”
A recording unit from Radio Éireann was present, and a report of the proceedings was broadcast the following day in the Provincial News.
The Society was represented by the following: Frs. Andrews, Perrott, Cashman, Daniel Roche, Leahy, John Murphy and J. B. Stephenson, and by Brs. Priest, Murphy, Kavanagh, Cunningham, Brady and Fallon.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Brother Dominic Collins 1553-1602
The Irish Province of the Society of Jesus is proud to number among her list of martyrs that of one of its spiritual coadjutors, Brother Dominic Collins.

He was born in Youghal in 1553. His people were wealthy burghers of the town, good Catholics, who had their son educated in all probability at the school run by Fr Charles Leae and Robert Rochford at Youghal. Dominic became a soldier in the French and Spanish armies, rising to the rank of Captain.

Being stationed at Corunna, since famous for its memories of Sir John Moore, he had more time for reflection and decided to become a religious. He was received into the Society as a Brother, at his own unshakeable request, by Fr Thomas White at Salamanca in 1598. Having taken his vows, he was sent to Ireland as Socius to Fr James Archer, and he took part in the famous siege of Dunboy Castle.

On the surrender of Dunboy Castle, he was taken prisoner and lodged at Shandon Castle, tortured and condemned to death. He was led forward to esecution clothed in his Jesuit gown, his hands tied behind his back, all the way from Shandon Castle to his native Youghal.

On arriving at the scaffold, he burst forth into those words attributed to St Andrew “Hail Holy Cross, so long desired by me. How dear to me this hour for which I have yearned since I first put on this habit”. To the people he said “Look up to heaven and be not unworthy of your ancestors, who boldly professed the Faith. Do you too uphold it. In defence of it, I desire to give up my life today”. Thereupon, he was hanged, drawn and quartered on October 23rd 1602.

On October 23rd 1960, his fellow townsmen, proud of his name, erected a tablet to his honour, which can be seen today in the clock tower of Youghal.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
COLLINS, DOMINIC, (his own signature spells the name Collensse) was of a good Irish Family. After embracing the military life, and spending as a Captain five years in the French, and eight years in the Spanish service, he began and finished his Noviceship in the Jesuit’s House at Compostella. I learn from an original letter of F. Richard Field, dated Dublin, the 26th of February, 1603, that this ill-advised Lay-brother accompanied a Spanish expedition, which made a descent on the coast of Munster - that when these forces capitulated to the Lord Lieutenant, on certain conditions, and returned to Spain, Dominic, full of ancient military ardour, remained behind and repaired to a Castle (Dunboyne) - that after a seige of some months it was taken by storm. Dominic was thrown into prison, and on the 3rd of October, 1602, when he could not be induced by threats or promises to renounce his religious Institute, abjure the Catholic Faith, and support Queen Elizabeth s claims to his allegiance, he was executed at Cork ( by Mountjoy), “cum summa omnium aedeficatione, proaequente eum lachrymis tota paene civitate Corcagiensi”. Drews incorrectly fixes his death on the 31st of October, 1604. In p. 34 of Bromley’s “Catalogue of Engraved English Portraits”, is mentioned a small head of Dominic Collins, Jesuit, who died in 1602.

Born: 1544, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 1583, Madrid, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: 1563, Waterford City, County Waterford
Died: 31 January 1599, Spain

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet Ent 1583

◆ Old/16 has DOB 1544 Waterford; Ent 1583; Prof 4 Vows; RIP 1599 in Spain

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Comberford or Comerford

DOB Waterford; Ent c 1583

He was BA Oxford c 1562. Wood, “Athen. Oxon” Vol I, p 200, ed 1721 says “Nicholas Comerford was born in the city of Waterford in Ireland; took his degree in Arts 1562, after he spent at least four years in this university pecking and hewing at Logic and Philosophy. Which degree been being completed by determination, he went into his own country, entered the sacred function, and had preferment there, but was turned out from it because of his religion. He wrote in English a pithy and learned treatise, very exquisitely penned, as one (Richard Stanihurst, “In Descript Hibern.” c 7) saith, entitled “Answers to certain questions propounded by the Citizens of Waterford”. Soon after he left his country for the sake of religion; he went to the University of Louvain, where he was promoted to the degree of DD 23/06/1576; and afterwards as ‘tis said, wrote and published diverse other things.” He died in Spain. (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)

Professor;

Peter Lombard addressed a Latin poem to him on his taking his DD (cf Foley’s Collectanea; his life in IbIg; Wood’s Athen. Oxon)

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online
Comerford (Comberford, Quemerford), Nicholas
by Anthony M. McCormack

Comerford (Comberford, Quemerford), Nicholas (c.1541/5–c.1599), Jesuit, was born in Waterford city, son of Patrick Comerford and his wife, who was a Walsh. He was educated at Peter White's renowned school in Kilkenny city before studying at Oxford for at least four years, graduating BA (20 February 1563). He returned to Waterford, where he was ordained a priest and granted church office, of which he was later deprived due to his catholic views. In September 1565 he entered the university of Louvain (then in the Spanish Netherlands) to study theology. Described as one of the most eminent lecturers there, he received from Louvain (23 October 1576) his DD degree, on which he was congratulated by his friend, the future archbishop of Armagh Peter Lombard (qv), in a poem entitled ‘Carmen heroicum’ (‘Heroic song’). By April 1577 he was at Waterford, where the royal authorities complained that he preached continually against the established religion, and marked him down as one of the leading catholic clergymen in the area.

Renewed religious persecution in Ireland probably compelled him to leave c.1580–81 and he then entered the Society of Jesus at Madrid. Thereafter, he lectured in a number of Spanish colleges, appearing at Bayona in 1589, and at Lisbon in 1590. That year his candidacy for the archbishopric of Cashel was promoted by a number of Irish catholic clergy, but nothing came of this. His life after 1590 is unknown but he is said to have died in Spain in 1599. He wrote a tract in English entitled Answers to certain questions propounded by the citizens of Waterford, a number of sermons, and a poem in Latin entitled ‘Carmina in laudem comitis Ormondiae’ (‘Songs in praise of the earl of Ormond’).

Charles Smith, Ancient and present state of the county and city of Waterford (1746), 360; W. Harris, The whole works of Sir James Ware (1764), ii, 96; DNB; E. Hogan, Distinguished Irishmen of the sixteenth century (1894), 71–8; Crone (2nd ed., [1937]); B. Jennings, ‘Irish students in the University of Louvain’, Measgra i gcuimhne Mhichíl Uí Chléirigh, ed. S. O'Brien (1944), 74–97

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
COMBERFORD, or COMERFORD, NICHOLAS (Irish), entered the Society about 1583. (Father Hogan's Ihernia, p. 249.) He was a native of Waterford ; studied at Oxford. Wood, then. Oxon., vol. i. p. 200, ed. 1721, says: “Nicholas Comerford was born in the city of Waterford, in Ireland; took his degree in arts 1562, after he had spent at least four years in this University in pecking and hewing at logic and philosophy. Which degree being com pleted by determination, he went into his own country, entered the sacred function, and had preferment there, but was turned out from it because of his religion. He wrote in English a pithy and learned treatise, very exquisitely penned, as one (Richard Stani hurst, In Descript. Hibern. c. 7) saith, entitled, Answers to certain questions propounded by the Citizens of Waterford. Also divers sermons. Soon after he left his country for the sake of religion ; went to the University of Louvain, where he was promoted to the degree of D.D., June 23, 1576; and afterwards, as 'tis said, wrote and published divers other things." He died in Spain. (Oliver, as above).

◆ Memorials of the Irish Province SJ June 1902 1.6
A Brief Memoir of Father Alfred Murphy SJ - by Matthew Russell SJ

Father Nicholas Comerford SJ

In Spain, about the year 1599, died Father Nicholas Comerford, a native of Waterford in Ireland. He was the first of sixteen Waterford Jesuits of the name who lived between the years 1590 and 1640, and the first of the many celebrated natives of Waterford who joined the Soeiety of Jesus. Among the three thousand students who at one time frequented the lecture halls of the famous University of Louvain, the genius and learning of this city of Waterford shone with the brightest lustre. Having received his early training at the then well known school of Dr Peter White, Comerford went to Oxford, where he received his degree of Doctor of Divinity on the 23rd October, 1576. He then returned to Ireland, where his zealous labours in the ministry attracted the hostile notice of the Lord President of Munster, who spoke of him as “teaching against our religion”, and thereby “causing a number to despair”, or in other words, to be converted to Catholicity. The same high authority speaks of him as being, with Father Archer, afterwards of the Society, “the principal agent of the Pope”, and complains that “Popery is mainly supported by the students of Waterford educated at Louvain, by whom”, he adds, “the proud and undutiful inhabitants of this town are cankered in Popery”.

Father Comerford was ultimately obliged to yield to the stress of persecution, and take refuge on the Continent along with Father Archer. While abroad he entered the Society at Madrid. Brennan, in his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, says that “he was one of the most eminent lecturers in Louvain . ... Wishing to combine the religious with the literary life, he entered the Society of Jesus. He was afterwards”, he adds, “sent to Spain, and he was there honour ably employed for many years, and obtained unbounded applause in some of the most celebrated colleges of that kingdom”. Cardinal Allen and other influential persons endeavoured, in 1589, to have him appointed to the Archbishopric of Cashel, but the humble religious succeeded in evading the proferred dignity. He wrote in English a learned discourse, entitled, An Answer to certain Questions propounded by the Citizens of Waterford, as well as a volume of sermons, and many learned tracts on philosophical and theological subjects.

◆ Rev. Edmund Hogan SJ : “Distinguished Irishmen of the Sixteenth Century” - London : Burns and Oates, Limited, New York, Cincinnati : Chicago, Benzinger Brothers, 1894 : Quarterly Series : Volume Ninety

Nicholas Comerford

FATHER WHITE received great help in his arduous undertaking from the presence and influence in Spain of his distinguished kinsman, Father Nicholas Quemerford or Comerford, S.J., who “was honourably employed and obtained unbounded applause in some of the most celebrated colleges of that kingdom”. (1) The Comerfords showed ardent attachment to the Faith in the sixteenth century. A wayside cross erected at Danganmore at that period bears the inscription : “Pray for the souls of Richard Comerford and of his wife Dame Johanna Saint-Leger”. In 1592, Richard Comerford of Waterford, Merchaunt, is reported to the Government for entertaining Sir Morren, a priest; and Belle Butler, wife unto Thomas Comerford of Waterford, Merchaunt (now in Spain), is denounced. for retaining Sir John White, priest. Nicholas was the son of Patrick Comerford, (2) of Waterford, and of his wife, a lady of the influential family of Walsh; he was uncle of Dr. Patrick Comerford, the distinguished Bishop of Waterford and Lismore; he was related to the best families of his native city, was the first of sixteen Waterford Jesuits of the name, who lived between the years 1590 and 1640; and he was the first of the many celebrated natives of Waterford who joined the Society of Jesus. He was educated at the school of Dr. Peter White, “from which”, says Stanihurst, “as from a Trojan horse, issued men of distinguished literary ability and learning - the Whites, Comerfords, Walshes, Wadings, Dormers, Shees, Garveys, Butlers, Stronges, and Lombards. (3) Out of this schoole have sprouted such proper ympes through the painfull diligence and the laboursome industry of a famous lettered man, Mr. Peter White, as generally the whole weale publike of Ireland, and especially the southerne parts of that island, are greatly thereby furthered. This gentleman's methode in trayning up youth was rare and singular, framing the education according to the scoler's veine. If he found him free, he would bridle hym, like a wyse Isocrates, from his booke : if he perceived hym to be dull, he would spur hym forwarde; if he understoode that he were the worse for beating, he would win him with rewardes; finally, by interlacing study with vacation, sorrow with mirth, payne with pleasure, sowernesse with sweetnesse, roughness with myldnesse, he had so good successe in schooling his pupils, as in good sooth I may boldly byde by it, that in the realme of Ireland was no Grammar School so good, in England, I am well assured, none better. And because it was my happy happe (God and my parents be thanked) to have been one of his crewe, I take it to stand with my duty, sith I may not stretche myne habilitie in requiting his good turnes, yet to manifeste my good will in remembrying his paines. And, certes, I acknowledge myselfe so much bounde and beholding to hym and his, as for his sake I reverence the meanest stone cemented in the walles of that famous schoole”. (4)
From White's school Comerford went to Oxford (where White himself had been some time Fellow of Oriel), and, according to Anthony Wood, “he there took his Degree of Arts in the year 1562, after he had spent at least four years in pecking and hewing at logic and philosophy. Which degree being completed by determination, he went into his own country, entered the sacred function, and had preferment there, but was turned out from it because of his religion. He wrote in English a pithy and learned treatise, very exquisitely penned, as one Richard Stanihurst saith, entitled Answers to Certain Questions Propounded by the Citizens of Waterford. He also wrote divers sermons. Soon after he left his country for the sake of religion, went to the University of Louvain, where he was promoted to the degree of Doctor of Divinity June 23, 1576, and afterwards, as it is said, wrote and published divers things”. (5)
Wood was mistaken with regard to the date, the 23rd of June, as we know from Foppens MS. History of Louvain (6) that Comerford went to that University in 1565, and became Doctor of Divinity, on October 23, 1576; on which occasion his fellow citizen, Peter Lombard, who ranked “Primus Universitatis”, composed and published a Latin poem entitled Carmen Heroicum in Doctoratum Nicolai Quemerfordii. Comerford came at once to the help of his countrymen; his presence was soon felt and was thus reported in 1577 by the Lord President of Munster : “Doctor Quemerford of Waterford is also of late come out of Louvain; he and all the rest taught all the way between Rye and Bristol against our religion, and caused a number to despair. There are a great number of students of this city of Waterford in Louvain, at the charge of their friends and fathers”. (7) The fame of Louvain spread over Europe, its lecture-halls were frequented at times by three thousand students, and Cardinal Bellarmine declared he had never perhaps seen anything equal to it as to numbers, learning, &c. (8) Among those thousands the genius and learning of the city of Waterford shone with the brightest lustre.
A people so gifted and enlightened as the in habitants of Waterford could neither be cajoled nor coerced into the embraces of heresy. This is fully recognized and deplored by the missionary Lord President of Munster, who continues in these terms : “James Archer of Kilkenny, Dr. Comerford of Waterford, and Chaunter Walsh are the principal agents of the Pope. Popery is mainly supported by the students of Waterford educated at Louvain, by whom the proud and undutiful inhabiters of this town are cankered in Popery, undutiful to Her Majesty, slandering the Gospel publicly, as well this side the sea as beyond in England, that they fear not God nor man, and hath their altars, painted images, and candlesticks in derision of the Gospel, every day in their synagogues - so detestable that they may be called the unruly newters rather than subjects. Masses infinite they have in their several churches every morning without any fear. I have spied them; for I chanced to arrive last Sunday at five of the clock in the morning and saw them resort out of the churches by heaps ; this is shameful in a reformed city”. This “shameful” conduct went on for twenty years longer, for Dr. Lyon, Protestant Bishop of Cork, reports to Hunsdon, the Lord Chamberlain, in a letter dated July 6, 1596, “The Mayor of Waterford, which is a great lawyer, one Wadding, carieth the sword and rod (as I think he should do) for Her Majesty; but he nor his sheriffs never came to the church sithence he was mayor, nor sithence this reign, nor none of the citizens, men nor women, nor in any other towne or city throughout this province, which is lamentable to hear, but most lamentable to see; the Lord in His mercy amend it when it shall please His gracious goodness to look on them”. These canting knaves, Drury and Lyon,
Were of that saintly, murderous brood,
To carnage and the gospel given,
Who think through unbelievers' blood,
Lies their directest path to Heaven.
If Drury could have “spied”, and caught Comerford and Archer, he would have got themn hanged, drawn, and quartered, as two years previously he had served their brother in religion, Edmund O'Donnell, S.J. However, this cruel man, who reported the movements of Comerford, went a year afterwards to give an account of himself to God; having hanged Bishop O'Hely, he suddenly got sick and died, uttering blasphemies. (9).
Fathers Comerford and Archer escaped the clutches of Drury, perhaps through the kindness of Annie O'Meara, the wife of Magrath, the Queen's Archbishop of Cashel. Annie was in the habit of eliciting State secrets from his Grace, and of giving timely warning to priests when any danger was impending. Indeed the poor apostate friar aided her in the good work; for on June 26, 1582, he wrote to her from Greenwich : “I desire you now to cause the friends of Darby Creagh (Bishop of Cork) to send him out of the whole country, if they may; for there is such search to be made for him that, unless he be wise, he shall be taken. I desire you, also, to send away from your house all the priests you are in the habit of having there”. This unfortunate man and his wife were ultimately reconciled to the Church by Dr. O'Kearney, the Catholic Archbishop of Cashel.
Dr. Comerford and James Archer, after their departure from Ireland, entered the Society of Jesus; the latter at Rome in 1581, the former at Madrid. (10) The erudite Franciscan, Father Brennan, says in his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, that Comerford “was one of the most eminent lecturers in Louvain. ... Wishing to combine the religious with the literary life, he entered the Society of Jesus. He was afterwards sent to Spain, and he was there honourably employed for many years, and obtained unbounded applause in some of the miost celebrated colleges of that kingdom”. He was at Bayona de Galicia, in Spain, in the year 1589, at Lisbon the year after, when he was by Cardinal Allen and divers others estates sent for from Rome to have the archbishoprick of Cashel”. (11)
After the year 1590, Father Comerford disappears from our view; he is not named in the Catalogue of Irish Jesuits of 1609, and is supposed to have gone to receive the reward of his labours in the year 1599. Sketches of his career are given in Stanihurst's Descriptio Hiberniae, Wood's Athene Oxonienses, Harris' Edition of Ware's Irish Writers, the Collectanea of Dr. Oliver and Brother Foley, S.J., Brennan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, Meehan's Memoirs of the Irish Hierarchy, the Ibernia Ignatiana, and in the National Biography. He wrote : a. Many learned tracts on philosophical and theological subjects. b. Sermons. c. Carmina in laudem Comitis Ormondia. d. An Answer to certaine Questions propounded by the Citizens of Waterford.
Father Comerford was the first of a long line of distinguished Waterford Jesuits, and as he and his immediate relatives worked with all their might for the preservation of Catholicity in their native city, their efforts were crowned with success. The Lord Chancellor, “in his speech upon his granting a seizure of the Liberties of Waterforde”, said, “The city of Waterforde hath performed many excellent and acceptable services to the Queen of England, insomuch that they deserved the posie of Urbs intacta manet. . . . But this citie which thus flourished, and the inhabitants and citizens thereof, whom I know to be equal, for all manner and breeding and sufficiencie, to any in the King's dominions, or in Europe; yet when they yielde their heart to foreign states (12) (which is the principal part of man), then they neglected their duty and fidelity, (12) so far forth ; as being directed by Popish priests and Jesuits, that they could not within their whole corporation find one man (14) to serve the King's majesty in the magistracy of Mayor, for want of conformity. (15) . . . And so I pronounce that a seizure be awarded of all their liberties”. This English document, from which I have given a few extracts, is in the Irish College of Salamanca, and has foot-notes appended to it, apparently by Father White, of which I also give a few instances.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
QUEMERFORD, NICHOLAS, of Waterford, educated at Oxford, where he took his degree of Arts in 1562. Anthony Wood, (according to Harris, p. 96. Writers of Ireland, but I cannot verify the passage) says, that after spending four years in that University he returned to Ireland and took Orders. Repairing to Louvain, he was promoted to the degree of D.D. 23rd of June, 1576, on which occasion his countryman Peter Lombard, who ranked “Primus Universitatis” wrote “Carmen Heroicum in, Doctoratum Nicholai Quemerfordi”. p. 219, vol. I. Athenae. Oxon. Afterwards he became a Jesuit and died in Spain. He wrote in English a Learned discourse intitled “Answers to certain Questions propounded by the citizens of Waterford” also “Sermons” and other works."

◆ Memorials of the Irish Province SJ January 1903 1.6

A Short History of Some Irish Jesuits : Joseph McDonnell SJ &
Short Memoirs of the Early Irish Jesuits Who Worked in Ireland Down to the Year 1840: Joseph McDonnell SJ (Pamphlet)

Father Nicholas Comerford SJ
In Spain, about the year 1599, died Father Nicholas Comerford, a native of Waterford in Ireland. He was the first of sixteen Waterford Jesuits of the name who lived between the years 1590 and 1640, and the first of the many celebrated natives of Waterford who joined the Soeiety of Jesus. Among the three thousand students who at one time frequented the lecture halls of the famous University of Louvain, the genius and learning of this city of Waterford shone with the brightest lustre. Having received his early training at the then well known school of Dr Peter White, Comerford went to Oxford, where he received his degree of Doctor of Divinity on the 23rd October, 1576. He then returned to Ireland, where his zealous labours in the ministry attracted the hostile notice of the Lord President of Munster, who spoke of him as “teaching against our religion”, and thereby “causing a number to despair”, or in other words, to be converted to Catholicity. The same high authority speaks of him as being, with Father Archer, afterwards of the Society, “the principal agent of the Pope”, and complains that “Popery is mainly supported by the students of Waterford educated at Louvain, by whom”, he adds, “the proud and undutiful inhabitants of this town are cankered in Popery”.

Father Comerford was ultimately obliged to yield to the stress of persecution, and take refuge on the Continent along with Father Archer. While abroad he entered the Society at Madrid. Brennan, in his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, says that “he was one of the most eminent lecturers in Louvain . ... Wishing to combine the religious with the literary life, he entered the Society of Jesus. He was afterwards”, he adds, “sent to Spain, and he was there honour ably employed for many years, and obtained unbounded applause in some of the most celebrated colleges of that kingdom”. Cardinal Allen and other influential persons endeavoured, in 1589, to have him appointed to the Archbishopric of Cashel, but the humble religious succeeded in evading the proferred dignity. He wrote in English a learned discourse, entitled, An Answer to certain Questions propounded by the Citizens of Waterford, as well as a volume of sermons, and many learned tracts on philosophical and theological subjects.

http://comerfordfamily.blogspot.com/2007/12/comerford-profiles-3-revd-dr-nicholas.html
The Revd Dr Nicholas Comerford or Quemerford (ca 1541/1545-ca 1599) was a prominent Jesuit theologian from Waterford in the aftermath of the Reformation, and was the first of 16 members of the Comerford name who were Jesuits or members of the Society of Jesus in the half century between 1590 and 1640. He lived in Oxford, Waterford, Louvain and in Portugal and Spain, he spent some time living in Rome as the Pope’s guest, and at one time he was nominated as Archbishop of Cashel, although the nomination was blocked by the King of Spain and was never accepted by the Vatican.
Nicholas Comerford was born in Waterford ca 1541-1545, the son of Patrick Comerford and his wife, […] Walsh.[1] It is said that Nicholas was sent to school at Peter White’s famous academy in Kilkenny,[2] although he may have been too old to have been one of White’s pupils. White was educated at Oxford, and was a Fellow of Oriel College before returning to Waterford, where he was Dean of Waterford Cathedral until he was ejected for nonconformity. He then established his famous academy or school in Kilkenny in 1565, and his pupils there included the historian Richard Stanihurst (1547-1618), and later the Franciscan theologian and historian Luke Wadding (1588-1657), as well as other members of the White, Comerford, Walsh, Wadding and Lombard families from Waterford and Kilkenny.[3]
After school, Nicholas Comerford went on to Oxford. Although it is not known which college he was a student in – perhaps White’s Oriel or his professors’ Magdalen College –we know he spent at least four years “in pecking at logic and philosophy” and graduated BA on 20 February 1563.[4] During his time at Oxford (ca 1559-1563), his contemporaries included Edmund Campion (1540-1581), a friend of Stanihurst and later a Jesuit martyr, who was a student at Saint John’s College and graduated in 1564; and Richard Stanihurst, who went to Oxford from Kilkenny in 1563.
The Regius Professors of Divinity in Oxford during Nicholas Comerford’s time there as an undergraduate were Richard Smyth (1559) and Lawrence Humphrey (from 1560).
Smyth was Oxford University’s registrar when by royal appointment he became the university’s first Regius Professor of Divinity in 1536. He was principal of Saint Alban’s Hall (later incorporated into Merton College) and Divinity Reader at Magdalen College. He was reported to have renounced Catholicism and the authority of the Pope at Oxford on the accession of Edward VI, but accounts show him as a Catholic again soon after, and he was replaced as Regius Professor in 1548 by Peter Martyr. Smyth and Martyr held a public disputation in 1549, and Smyth was arrested soon afterwards and imprisoned for a short while. On his release, Smyth left Oxford to become Professor of Divinity at Louvain, but he returned to England on the accession of Mary, became Regius Professor once again (1554-1556 and 1559), a canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and a royal chaplain, and he took a leading role in the trials of Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer. Smyth was regius professor once again in 1559, but only briefly, and soon lost this position and all his benefices following Elizabeth’s succession to Mary in 1558. He was briefly imprisoned in Archbishop Matthew Parker’s house, and on his release fled to the continent. In Douai, Mary’s widower, Philip II of Spain, appointed him dean of Saint Peter’s Church and then in 1562 he became the first chancellor and Professor of Theology at the new Douai University.[5]
For most of Nicholas Comerford’s time at Oxford, however, the Regius Professor of Divinity was Lawrence Humphrey (ca 1527-1590), who had lived in Basel, Zurich, Frankfort and Geneva during Mary’s reign. There he made acquaintances with the leading Swiss reformers, and adopted their ecclesiastical. He returned to England on Elizabeth’s accession to the throne in 1558, and was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford in 1560. A year later, he was elected President of Magdalen College, despite the opposition of the fellows, and gradually converted the college into a stronghold of Puritanism. In 1580 he was made Dean of Winchester, and when he died on 1 February 1590 he was buried in the chapel of Magdalen College.[6]
After graduating from Oxford in 1563, Nicholas returned to Ireland, and was ordained priest in Waterford.[7] But he soon moved to Continental Europe on account of his religious views.[8] By 1564, he was in Louvain, where Richard Smyth had found refuge 15 years earlier. Nicholas Comerford’s brother, James Quemerford or Comerford of Waterford, a former chaplain to the Mayor of Waterford, wrote to Nicholas in Louvain on 14 August [1564], professing himself to be “of the old religion.” He was still in Louvain in 1565. [9]
But Nicholas was soon back in Ireland again. By 1569, he was chaplain to Sir Edmund Butler of Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and Cloughgrenan, Co Carlow, a younger brother of Thomas Butler, ‘Black Tom,’ the 10th Earl of Ormond. On 3 July 1569, Sir Edmund Butler wrote to the Lord Deputy, Henry Sydney, beseeching him “to allow the messenger whom I sent to you and them with two letters to return with answer, at least my chaplain, Sir Nicholas Comerforde.”[10]
Nicholas was Rector of Kilconnell in the Diocese of Cashel until about 1570, when the Dean and Chapter of Cashel wrote to Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond, on 19 May 1570 nominating and presenting the Revd William Phelan as his successor.[11]
In 1571, the notorious pluralist, Miler Magrath, became Archbishop of Cashel. With this appointment, Ireland, and the Diocese of Cashel in particular, were now unsafe places for a man of Comerford’s Catholic convictions. He moved to the Continent, and by 1574, he was back in Louvain once again. The Catholic University of Leuven or Louvain was founded in Brabant, or present-day Belgium, in 1425, and its distinguished students included Desiderius Erasmus and Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens (Pope Adrian VI).
In Louvain, he was a contemporary of Peter Lombard of Waterford, later Archbishop of Armagh. When Nicholas Comerford received his doctorate in theology (DD) at the Catholic University of Louvain on 23 October 1576, the occasion was marked by a poem in Latin penned by his cousin Peter Lombard (1555-1625) from Waterford, who later became Professor of Theology at Louvain and then Archbishop of Armagh: Carmen heroicum in Doctoratum Nicolai Quemerfordi.[12]

In 1577, Nicholas was reported by the Lord President of Munster, Sir William Drury, as having recently come out of Louvain with the Kilkenny Jesuit James Archer and others, and had been preaching “all the way between Rye and Bristol against our religion.” Later, Drury spoke of him as one of “the principal agents of the Pope.”[13]
Nicholas returned to the Continent, and by 1578 it was reported that the chief Irish ecclesiastics then living in Rome on the bounty of the Pope included Dr Nicholas Comerford.[14] Gregory XIII was a liberal patron of the Society of Jesus and is best remembered for his reform of the calendar, giving his name to the Gregorian Calendar.

Later in 1578, Nicholas Comerford was living in Porto in Portugal, where he was said to be “of great authority among the Irish by reason alike of doctrine and of probity.”[15] Between 1578 and 1583, he joined the Jesuits or the Society of Jesus in Madrid, and was professed of the four vows.[16] He spent some time in Rome, later moved to Porto in Portugal, and then lectured in theology in a number of colleges in Spain and Portugal.

By 1589, he was living in Bayona in Spain. Christopher Arthur, a merchant from Limerick who was visiting Spain in 1589, reported to the Lord Deputy, Fitzwilliam, that among the Irish bishops in Spain, Dr Comerford of Waterford was living in Bayona de Galizia. [17]
By 1590 he was in Lisbon.[18] In January that year, Comerford was nominated by Cardinal William Allen (1532-1594) and others as Archbishop of Cashel in opposition to Miler Magrath, who was Archbishop of Cashel 1571-1622. Allen had been the Principal of Saint Mary Hall, Oxford, which was closely linked with Oriel College, while Nicholas Comerford was an undergraduate at Oxford, and Allen – like Comerford – moved to Leuven in the 1560s. However, the nomination did not receive the support it needed from King Philip II of Spain. Six years before Comerford’s nomination, Dermot O’Hurley, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel, had been hanged at Dublin Castle on 20 June 1584. However, the Spanish monarch did not want Comerford to leave Spain for Ireland, and instead, the king offered him any other post he might chose in Spain. As a consequence, Comerford’s nomination as Archbishop Cashel was not accepted in Rome, and the see remained vacant until 1603, when David Kearney was appointed in 1603; a Comerford was eventually appointed to Cashel in 1693, when Edward Comerford was appointed Archbishop of Cashel in succession to John Brenan.[19]

The failure to become Archbishop of Cashel marks the end of Nicholas Comerford’s ecclesiastical career. It is possible that he continued to live out his days in Spain, although there is no further mention of Nicholas Comerford in the Jesuit records after 1590, and he is reported to have died in Spain ca 1599.[20]

Nicholas Comerford was the author of Answers to certain questions propounded by the citizens of Waterford, said to have been “a learned and pithy treatise.” He also wrote a number of tracts on philosophy and theology, some of his sermons were published, and he was the author of a poem in Latin, Carmina in laudem comitis Ormondiae (Songs in praise of the Earl of Ormond).[21]

[1] Dictionary of National Biography, vol 4, p. 894 (where the date of birth is given as ca 1544); Hogan, Catalogue of Irish Jesuits (Dublin, 1880) p. 6, which also prefers ca 1544; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB), vol 11, p. 866, where the date ca 1540 is preferred. More recently, Anthony M McCormack prefers ca 1541/1544; see Anthony M McCormack, ‘Comerford (Comberford, Quemerford), Nicholas,’ pp 715-716, in Dictionary of Irish Biography (eds James McGuire, James Quinn), vol 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2009).
[2] ODNB 11, p. 866; McCormack, p. 715.
[3] J. Browne, Transactions of the Kilkenny Arch. Soc., 1. (1849-51), 221-29; Richard Stanihurst, Description of Ireland, Chapter 7; Power, Brenan, p. 244; Dowling, Continuity Ossory, pp 247-249.
[4] Foster vol 1, p. 314, which gives the date 20 February 1562-63; Brenan, Ecclesiastical History, p. 443; DNB 4, p. 894, which gives the date 1562 for his BA; Hurley says he graduated at Oxford in 1562, see Patrick Hurley, ‘Memoir of Dr Patrick Comerford, OSA, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, 1629-1652,’ Irish Ecclesiastical Record, December 1887, p. 1083; ODNB 11 gives the date 1562(see p. 866); McCormack agrees with 20 February 1563 (see p. 715).
[5] J. Andreas Löwe, Richard Smyth and the Language of Orthodoxy: Re-imagining Tudor Catholic Polemicism (Studies in Mediaeval and Reformation Traditions: History, Culture, Religion, Ideas, 96; Leiden: Brill, 2003), passim; JP Spellman, ‘The Irish in Belgium,’ Irish Ecclesiastical Record, July 1886 (Dublin: 1886), p. 642.
[6] C.H. Cooper and T. Cooper, Athenae Cantabrigienses (Cambridge 1861), vol 2, pp 80 ff.
[7] DNB 4, p. 894; ODNB 11, p. 866; McCormack, p. 715.
[8] DNB 4, p. 894.
[9] Ronan, p. 114; Cal State Papers Irl 1601-1603, p. 663.
[10] Carew vol 1, p. 385.
[11] Ormond Deeds, 5, p. 185.
[12] Foster 1, p. 314; Spellman, pp 642-643; Hogan, Catalogue of Irish Jesuits, p. 6; ODNB 11, p. 866; McCormack, p. 715.
[13] ODNB 11, p. 866; Hogan (1894), p. 74.
[14] Ronan, p. 580.
[15] Ronan, p. 590.
[16] Hogan, Catalogue of Irish Jesuits, p. 6; DNB 4, p. 894; ODNB 11, p. 866.
[17] Cal State Papers Irl, vol 4 (Elizabeth 1588-1592), p. 136; ODNB 11, p. 866.
[18] ODNB, vol 11, p. 866.
[19] Cal State Papers Irl vol 4 (Elizabeth 1588-1592), p. 295.
[20] Hogan, Catalogue of Irish Jesuits, p. 6; Spellman, p. 663; DNB 4, p. 894; ODNB 11, p. 866; McCormack, p. 715.
[21] Brenan, Ecclesiastical History, p. 444; ODNB 11, p. 866; McCormack, p. 715.

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

October 12

Father Nicholas Comerford was the first of a long line of distinguishcd Waterford Jesuits, who worked with great fervour and energy for the preservation of Catholicity in their native city, and whose efforts were crowned with success. Father Nicholas was born in Waterford and began his education in the well-known school of Mr. Peter White. He went up afterwards to Oxford, and took his degree in 1562. Returning to his own country, he was ordained and advanced to some preferment, but was afterwards deprived of it on account of his religion. He then repaired to Louvain, where he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1577, his reappearance in Ireland drew the following comments from the Lord President of Munster “Dr. Comerford of Waterford is also of late come out of Louvain, he and the rest argued the whole way between Rye and Bristol against our religion, and caused doubt in several persons. There are a great many students of this city studying in Louvain, at the charge of their parents and friends”.

Fathers Comerford and Archer escaped the hands of Sir William Drury and, leaving Ireland, entered the Society; the former in Madrid, the latter at Rome. Father Comerford was employed in Spain for many years with great success and distinction in several Colleges, Bayonne in Galicia and Lisbon being among the number. His name occurs in the Irish State Papers, bearing date March 14th, 1589, as having been summoned from Rome by Cardinal Allen in order to be promoted to the archbishopric of Cashel, but
at this time he disappears from our view, and as he is not named in the Catalogue of 1609, he probably died about the same period.

Born: 1572, New Ross, County Wexford
Entered: 22 July 1592, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae province (LUS)
Ordained: 1600, Salamanca, Spain
Professed: 06 January 1613
Died: 01 December 1626, Irish College, Seville, Spain - Baeticae Province (BAE)

Uncle of John Conway SJ - DOB 1617, Ent 1627, LEFT July 8, 1631

Studied 3 years Arts and 2 of Theology at Coimbra before Entry
1603 At Salamanca has 3 years Philosophy and 4 years Theology and is a Confessor
1612 in Compostella where he wrote an account of O’Devaney’s in Ireland martyrdom from an eyewitness
1614 At Madrid College
1617 In Province of Castellanae
1622 Rector of Irish College Seville
1624 At Madrid, Prefect of College

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica”:
He was a Rector and a great promoter of the Irish Colleges in Spain; Writer;
He was zealous and pious.
He was tied to a tree by robbers and miraculously freed by the Blessed Virgin Mary and his Angel Guardian (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ:
Son of Patrick and his wife née White
Studied Humanities at Irish College Lisbon 1589/1590 before Ent 22 July 1592 at Coimbra
After First Vows was sent to Spain for studies, to Montforte for Philosophy and Royal College Salamanca for Theology and was Ordained there 1600.
From the completion of his studies until the end of his life he was destined to play an important part in the organisation and support of the Irish Colleges of Salamanca, Santiago, and Seville.
1600-1608 At Salamanca as Spiritual Father but frequently filled in as vice-Rector during the many absences of Thomas White, who was constantly travelling seeking alms for the College,
1608-1613 Rector Irish College Salamanca
1613-1618 Appointed Rector of Irish College Santiago
1619-1622 First Rector of new Irish College Seville - lent to BAE
1622-1625 Freed from Seville to organise the finances of the Irish Colleges from the procurator's office at Madrid.
1625 Appointed Rector of Seville again and died in Office 01 December 1626
Richard Conway, it can ·be justly claimed, was one of the most eminent of Irish Churchmen of the seventeenth century. Under his prudent guidance for over a quarter of a century the three Irish Colleges under the control of the Jesuits in Spain sent forth to the Mission in their home country an army of splendidly trained priests prepared with knowledge and animated by zeal to maintain the Catholic faith in all its purity amongst their countrymen.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Conway, Richard
by Terry Clavin

Conway, Richard (1572–1626), Jesuit, was born in New Ross, Co. Tipperary, son of Patrick Conway; nothing is known of his mother. In 1590 he travelled to Lisbon and studied humanities at the Irish college there. On 22 July 1592 he was received into the Jesuit noviciate at Coimbra. After completing his noviceship at Coimbra, he studied philosophy at Monterey in Spain (1595–8) and theology at Salamanca. Highly regarded by his superiors, he was ordained in 1600 at Salamanca and was preacher and confessor there (1600–08). From 1605 he was often acting rector of the college, as the rectors were frequently absent raising funds. Conway also went on fund-raising missions for the college and became close to influential figures at the royal court and elsewhere. His skill at tapping wealthy benefactors for money facilitated his appointment as rector of the Irish college at Salamanca on 6 May 1608.

By 1608 Conway had been made procurator of the Irish mission. This was an important but burdensome office, which involved variously arranging correspondence between the Jesuits in Ireland and Rome, providing travel expenses for Jesuit novices studying abroad, advising Irish exiles who went to Spain, and promoting the interests of the Irish seminaries at the royal court in Madrid. Further, in the years following the conclusion of the Nine Years War in Ireland in 1603, large numbers of Irish refugees began arriving in Spain, and Conway was heavily involved in providing for them. As a result of these administrative responsibilities, from 1608 he resided for part of each year at Madrid.

Despite his heavy workload, Conway kept in contact with his former pupils who had joined the Irish mission. Their dispatches from Ireland had left him keenly aware of the dangers that faced the catholic clergy there. In 1611 he began writing a book outlining the persecution suffered by Irish catholics at the hands of English protestants. However, his superiors dissuaded him from completing this work, for fear that it would anger the English government.

In 1611–13 he was heavily involved in negotiating the transfer to the Irish Jesuits of the Irish college at Salamanca, which had previously taught both the laity and candidates for the priesthood. The Jesuits intended to use the college exclusively to train priests, but this was strongly opposed by the existing students. In July 1613 Conway took possession of the college and informed all students there that they would be expected to become priests. Many students refused to accept this and were expelled. In 1614 the powerful exiled Irish catholic nobleman Domhnall O'Sullivan Beare (qv) protested at Conway's conduct, but his superiors stood by his actions and he remained rector at Salamanca until 1618. As before, he proved hugely successful at raising funds to maintain the college, which was soon able to support twenty-five students.

In 1618 he resigned his rectorship and moved to Madrid, where he focused on raising money for the Irish colleges in Spain and for the Jesuit mission in Ireland. However, in 1619 he was made rector of the Irish college at Seville. The college was in a miserable condition, but his ability to raise money brought about a rapid improvement. Such was his success that complaints were directed against him for depriving other Jesuit houses in the city of charity. In late 1623 he was replaced as rector in Seville and went to Madrid to resume his role as procurator. He returned to Seville to become rector again in late 1625 and died there 1 December 1626.

John McErlean, ‘Richard Conway S.J.’, Irish Monthly, no. 51 (1923); Francis Finegan, ‘Irish rectors at Seville, 1619–1687’, IER, 5th ser., cvi (July–Dec. 1966), 45–63

◆ James B Stephenson SJ The Irish Jesuits Vol 1 1962

FR RICHARD CONWAY, SJ 1573-1626
(Abbreviated from the account published by Fr. John Mac Erlean, S.J. in the IRISH MONTHLY, 1923-24)

The preservation of the Catholic Faith in Ireland during three centuries of brutal persecution was largely due to the colleges and seminaries which patriotic Catholic Irishmen founded in several countries of Europe for the instruction of Irish youths and the education of Irish priests. Such signal service to the cause of God and Fatherland deserves to be remembered with everlasting gratitude. Their work was crowned with success. The most deadly efforts of the persecutors were gloriously defeated. One strange effect, however, of the long continuance of the persecution has been that the lives and works of those who commenced and carried on its triumphal resistance have been forgotten by those who even now are enjoying the fruits of their self-denying labours. To rescue their memory from oblivion is a pious and patriotic task.

Three Irish Jesuits stand out prominently as founders of Irish colleges in the Spanish peninsula: Fr John Howling, of Wexford, founder of the Irish College of Lisbon in 1590; Fr Thomas White, of Clonmel, founder of the Irish College of Salamanca in 1592; and Fr Richard Conway, of New Ross, who with Fr, Thomas White founded the Irish College of Santiago de Compostella in 1613, and that of Seville in 1619. Sketches of the careers of Fr. Flowling and Fr White were published by the late Fr. Edmund Hogan, S.J. in his Distinguished Irishmen of the Sixteenth Century (London, 1094). Fr. Conway is mentioned frequently by the Rev, William McDonald, then Rector of the Irish College of Salamanca, in his articles entitled Irish Colleges Since the Reformation, published in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record in 1873, but a consecutive account of his career is well worth attempting for the light it throws upon the ecclesiastical history of the times.

The Conways were one of the leading families of New Ross in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The head of the family in the middle of the sixteenth century was Patrick Conway, who died in 1587, He married a Miss White, by whom he had two sons, George and Richard. Richard, the future Jesuit, was born at New Ross in 1572 or 1573. There is not much to record of his childhood or early years. He left Ireland for Spain when about sixteen or seventeen years of age, but, young as he was when he left his native land, he did not leave without personal experience of England's methods in Ireland, for his mother's house was raided on a forged warrant “to seize upon chalices, money and other things ... in respect of priests and Jesuits that were there harboured to say Masses”. In a note written in 1612 he sets forth clearly the reasons that forced him to seek abroad the education denied him at home. He says: “The greatest injury the English heretics have done, and one which has had the most serious consequences, has been the prohibition of all Catholic schools in our nation, naturally so inclined to learning, except an odd infant school in the principal cities and towns where reading, writing, and a little grammar are taught. Their object was to sink our people to degradation, or fill the universities of England with the children of those who had any means to educate them, where they might become more dependent on heretics and contaminated with their errors. They have also taken singular care that all children be taught English, and chastise them if they hear then speak their own native language. But all the efforts of these crafty heretics do not produce the desired effect. The natives not only did not go to England, but preferred rather to remain in ignorance than run the risk of their faith and religion by doing so, or they went secretly and quietly to many foreign parts, but particularly to Spain”.

It was in the year 1590, seemingly, that Richard Conway landed at Lisbon. There he met many other Irish students, who had come abroad for the same purpose, and whose interests and welfare were the object of the solicitous care of the Wexford Jesuit, Fr John Howling, then resident at the Jesuit house of S Roque, in that city. Fr Howling was at that very time engaged in founding a college for these Irish students, which was opened soon after'. During the next two years, 1590-1592, Richard Conway remained in the Irish College, studying humanities or classics. Then, as a Spanish writer says, “feeling that the end he had in view, the preservation of the faith and the conversion of heretics in Ireland, could be attained with greater security and perfection in a Religious Order, he offered himself to the Society of Jesus, and was received into it”. He entered the Novitiate of Coimbra on July 22nd, 1592.

After completing his two years! noviceship at Coimbra, and taking his vows as. a scholastic on August 20th, 15941, he was sent in the following year to the College of Monterrey in Spain, where he devoted himself to the study of philosophy for the next three years, 1595-1598, During this time he won the highest praise from the authorities of the College for his intellectual gifts, his prudence and skill in the management of affairs, and his progress in philosophy. He is described as being of gentle disposition, and even at this early date is said to be one who would be an excellent labourer in the vine yard of the Lord, and be suited for the office of Superior of his nation.

From Monterrey he passed, in 1598, to the Royal College of Salamanca, where he studied theology for the next four years, 1598-1562, though not without interruption, for, as our Spanish authority says: “The Superiors recognising his remarkable talent for looking after those of his nation, and the holy zeal that he had for their welfare, took him from his studies before he had completed them to employ him in this work, whereupon he began to aid the Irish seminaries”. The Irish Seminary, or College of Salamanca, founded by Fr Thomas White, had been put under the care of the Society of Jesus by King Philip, in 1592, in answer to a petition presented by the Irish gentlemen at the Spanish Court. From 1592 onwards, Fr White and Fr James Archer were in charge of it. As they were often absent on missionary labours, or seeking aims for the support of the College, the duty of loo!:ing after the Irish students devolved on Fr Richard Conway, especially after his ordination as priest in 1600, and though he had still to do two years of his theological course, he acted from time to time as Vice-Rector.

Thus began Fr Conway's work on behalf of the Irish seminaries. He was stationed at Salamanca as preacher and confessor from 1600 to 1608, and often acted as Vice-Rector, he had full charge of the Seminary of Salamanca as Rector from 1608 to 1613, then of that of Santiago, 1613-1618. In 1619 he became Rector of the newly-founded Irish College of Seville, a position he held until 1622, and to which he was again appointed in 1625, and which he continued to hold till his death in 1626. Nor did this exhaust his labours. During these same years he acted as Prefect of all the Irish colleges in Spain, and as Procurator of the Irish Mission, in which capacity he was called to attend to the financial and other affairs of the Irish Mission in countries so far apart as Rome, Germany, Spain, Flanders, France, and Ireland,

When first he took up these multifarious duties it was a time of extraordinary difficulty. The victory of the English arms in Ireland in 1603 not only cut off all hope of receiving alms from Ireland, such as Fr James Archer had collected for the colleges in 1596, but threw upon the shores of Spain in the succeeding years destitute crowds of Irish men, women, and children, fleeing in ever-increasing numbers from the cruelty of the English, while continuing the main work of providing for the necessities of the colleges, Fr Conway strove hard to relieve the distress of these helpless refugees. Of the religious and scholastic fervour of the Irish Seminary of Salamanca in these years the Annual Letters of the Province of Castile for the year 1604 bear : striking testimony. There were then four Jesuits living in the College, filling the offices of Rector, Confessor, Professor, and Spiritual Director respectively. The students numbered twenty-two, of whom eight were studying theology and four philosophy. Eight students had entered the Society of Jesus, and four had entered other Religious Orders. All students made a week's retreat, some even made two weeks, and all were assiduous in religious practices. The Bishop, the Magister Scholae, and other Doctors testified in laudatory terns to the doctrine, conduct, and training of the students.

But, meanwhile, those to whom was due whatever provision for Irish students existed were subject to a new and unexpected trial. The administration of the Irish Colleges was bitterly and unreasonably assailed. These institutions were so necessary, and the good they were doing for the preservation of the faith in Ireland was so striking, that some well-meaning persons forgot, no doubt unconsciously, the ceaseless efforts required to procure for them the limited and uncertain resources which they possessed; but the bitterest critics were those who had done nothing towards the founding of the Colleges, and had never contributed a penny towards their support. The history of the two centuries that followed offers many examples of similar attacks on the administration of the Irish Colleges in Spain and Rome. The motives in the main were provincial animosities, suspicions of partiality, and the interference of ill affected outsiders, who for their own ends fomented dissensions and encouraged insubordination within the college walls.

This agitation was begun in 1602, when a memorial against the continuance of the Irish Fathers of the Society af Jesus in control of the Seminary of Salamanca, drawn up in the names of O'Donnell and O'Neill, was presented to King Philip III, and demanded: (1.) that half the students of the Seminary should be selected from Ulster and Connaught; (2) that Fr Thomas White should be removed from the rectorship as being one who could not be trusted to carry out such a selection, or who would ill-treat those students whom he would be forced to receive; and (3) that a Spaniard, who would see to the punctual execution of this decree, should be appointed Rector.

The plot was skilfully conceived and vigorously carried out. The malcontents dared not go so far as to demand that the seminaries should be handed over to themselves, but yet they hoped by appealing to Spanish prejudices to oust the Irish Jesuits. The controversy continued for more than two years, memorials and replies alternating. In defence of the Irish Jesuits, the Irish nobles and gentlemen residing in Valladolid refuted the accusations and defended the existing administration; the Provincial of Castile denied that there was any preference against Northern students; the Bishop of the place testified to the good conduct of the students and the discipline observed in the government, and said he had never heard any complaints of the rule of the Irish Fathers. Finally, the Rector of the Royal College, to whose supervision the Irish College was subject, declared that all the charges made by the memoralists were false and wholly destitute of foundation.

In spite of these testimonies in favour of the Irish Fathers, the government of the Irish College was by order of the King taken from then and a Spanish Jesuit was appointed Rector. This royal order remained in force for only three years, 1605-1608. The arrangement was found by experience to be unsatisfactory both for the finances and the discipline of the College, Indeed, it would have proved ruinous to the College had not Fr William Bathe, Fr Richard Conway, and, later, also Fr Janes Comerton, who dwelt in it as confessors and preachers, exerted all their influence to keep things quiet, and in general to promote the interests of the College.

The efforts of the Irish Fathers to help the Irish students in the midst of numerous difficulties were fully appreciated by the Jesuit General, Fr Claudius Aquaviva, who on April 3rd, 1607, complimented Fr Conway on what he was doing for them. But the state of affairs brought about by the royal interference rendered all efforts well nigh futile. Soon the General came to see that if the Seminary was to do efficient work it would have to be committed to the charge of the Irish Fathers, and wrote to this effect to the Spanish Provincial on July 24th, , 1607. The Spanish Rectors themselves readily admitted their unsuitability for the position, and the last of the three who held office during those three years appealed to the Provincial to appoint Irish Rectors in future. Finally the King was requested to revoke his former order, which he did on March 24th, 1608. Fr Richard Convay was chosen as the person most fitted to take on the government of the College, and he entered upon his office as Rector on May 6th of the same year.

During the time of the Spanish Rectors, as well as during the whole of his subsequent career, Fr Conway continued his activity on behalf of the Irish students and refugees. In a contemporary account we read that he often went to the Court and other places to seek alms for the support of his seminarists and by his zeal, pleasant manners, and exemplary life succeeded in getting large contributions for their relief, many other students and priests, for whom the Seminaries had no room, he assisted by giving them enough to enable then to pursue their studies in Salamanca, Alcala, Valladolid, Granada, and Cordova. His zeal did not confine itself to students, ecclesiastical or lay, but extended itself to relieving a large number of Irish girls who fled from Ireland for religion's sake to Spain. He sought alms for them all, and settled them in good positions. Some entered convents, while for others he begged dowries, and left then honourably and virtuously married. In the matter of getting alms, he was greatly helped by the fact that he had easy access to the houses of the highest gentlemen at the Court, including even the King and Queen, and the Prelates and Chapters, all of thom he won over by his good example and by his conversation. Thile seeking to relieve the material necessities of his countrymen, he did not neglect their spiritual needs. He preached not only to his seminarists, but also to externs, gave them the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and sought their society only to win them and improve them spiritually.

His interest in the students did not cease when they left college, He followed then with paternal anxiety, and supported them by his advice when they had returned to their dangerous mission, and they on their part kept up a filial correspondence with him. Their letters shout the spirit with which they faced the danger's that surrounded them. The Rev Eugene O'Brien wrote to Fr Conway from Galway on September 30th, 1606, to tell him of the efforts made to take him when the persecutors found that he was an alumnus of the Spanish College. From Waterford the Rev John Wadding wrote in October of the same year, praising the constancy of the Mayor and Councillors of that city, several of whom had been taken prisoners by the heretics. Another former student, Rev Luke Bennett, a relative of his own, writing from Dunmore, in Leinster, in April, 1607, describes the persecution in his native New Ross, and tells how the faith is preserved in the district by the ministrations or four other priests from the Slamanca College, The Licentiate, Thomas Wise, who had gone from Salamanca to Rome, wrote to Fr Conway in June, 1607, telling hin of the barbarous cruelties inflicted on another former pupil. Thady Dimiran, because he refused to abjure the faith.

In 1611 the General wished Fr Conway to go to Rome and assist him with his advice in matters concerning the Irish Mission; but he yielded to representations made by Fr Thomas White and others, who explained how much his services were required in Spain.

In the year 1610 the Irish College of Salamanca was the recipient of several privileges and favours, A new building was presented to the Irish by the States of Castile, etc. A slab was placed over the door to commemorate the event. A new title, Colegio de Nobles Irlandeses (College of Irish Nobles), was given to the new establishment, which was formally made a royal college, and placed under the protection of the Kind, and, in addition to the ordinary annual alms given by the King to the College, Philip III undertook to pay every student his travelling expenses back to Ireland on the completion of his studies. These grants, largely due to Fr Conway's intercession, secured the future of the College.

But the government of the College, the begging of alms for its support, the solicitation of royal favours, did not exhaust the activities of Fr. Conway. Whilst engaged in these absorbing occupations, he compiled a work on English tyranny in Ireland, the publication of which was stopped lest the irritation of the King of England might endanger the lives of the Jesuits in Ireland and England and lead to a more violent persecution of the Catholic priests and laity in these countries. Whether the book was ever completed or not is not known, but certain short tracts, which may have been intended to form chapters of the complete work, have been preserved. Among these, his treatise on Irish saints marks him out as one of the pioneers of Irish hagiography.

During the last two years of Fr Conway's rectorship at Salamanca he was much occupied with the negotiations that transferred the Irish College at Santiago de Compostella to the care of the Irish Fathers or the Society of Jesus in Spain. This College had been founded in the year 1605 by the King of Spain, at a time when thousands of Irish exiles fled to that country to escape the persecution of the English heretics. £100 per annun was granted to the students by the King, and the Rev Eugene MacCarthy, a secular priest, was appointed Rector of the College. This arrangement did not work satisfactorily, and Philip III determined to entrust it to the Irish Fathers. He wrote to this effect to the Provincial of Castile, Fr Gaspar de Vegas, and the Governor of Galicia, D Luis Henriquez. Owing to the straitened circumstances of the Province of Castile the Provincial hesitated about accepting the additional burden. Fr Conway forwarded to the General a statement of the case, giving the reasons for and against acceptance. The General in his reply favoured acceptance. Meanwhile Fr Eugene MacCarthy undertook the defence of the existing arrangement, and in a letter to the Provincial accused the Irish Fathers of being actuated by motives of ambition and self-interest in attempting to capture the College. Fr William White, SJ, had no difficulty in refuting these charges; the Provincial's opposition weakened, and in April, 1613, the question was finally settled by an express order to the Provincial from the Duke de Lerma, on the part of the King, for the Fathers to take charge of the College.

In consequence of this order, Frs Thomas White, William White, and Richard Conway sent to Santiago and took possession of the College, and on the 16th July the General wrote to the Provincial to order Fr Conway to take up the government of the Seminary of Santiago.

Fr Conway occupied the position of Rector from 1613 to 1618, though his other office of Procurator of the Irish Mission often compelled him to be in Madrid, especially towards the end of his term. He threw llimself with characteristic energy into the work of establishing and developing the new Seminary. The royal allowance of £100 per annum sufficed for the support of a small number of students, but by alms which he succeeded in obtaining from the clergy and the faithful he was able to maintain as many as twenty-five. He drew up plans for linking up the Seminaries of Salamanca, Santiago, and Lisbon, to prevent overlapping, by having humanities taught in one, philosophy in another, and theology in the third. He looked after the spiritual interests of the Irish in Santiago, and as many of them were soldiers from France and the Low Countries, he arranged for the sending of Irish Jesuits who understood French and Flemish to minister to them. Another favourite idea of his was to unite the two Colleges of Salamanca and Santiago at the latter place. This would have economised on the staff and would have been beneficial to the health of the students; but no change was made.

Some disagreements and disputes arose during these years between O'Sullivan Beare and Fr Contay. In 1614 the former complained to the General of the expulsion of certain students from the Seminary, which, he said, had been established by the royal bounty, and with his consent transferred to the Society of Jesus. After full examination, however, Fr Conway's action was approved by his Superiors. Another complaint was in respect of a house granted him by the King, of which he had been deprived by Fr Conway. This dispute was brought into the courts, and the claim of O'Sullivan Beare was upheld. It was a curious example of a double grant. In the decree of the Royal Camera, dated 29th July, 1617, it is said that the Camera, when it granted the house in question to the Seminary, was not aware that a grant had previously been made of the same house to O'Sullivan Beare, and that consequently the house was adjudged to him. There is no imputation against the good faith of Fr Conway in this law suit,

During the progress of the case, O'Sullivan Beare petitioned the King to have the former semi-laical character of the College of Santiago continued, maintaining that there was greater need of Catholic gentlenen in Ireland than of priests. Fr Conway resisted this interference, and his action received the approval of the General, Fr. Mutius Vitelleschi, who succeeded Fr Aquaviva on the latter's death in 1615. In April, 1618, on the appointment of Fr James Comerfort as Rector of Santiago, Fr Conway was left free to act as Procurator of the Irish Mission in Madrid. He had been carrying on the duties of this position since 1608, and had to deal with many important matters concerning the welfare of the Irish seminaries in Spain. Between 1613 and 1624 he carried on a good deal of correspondence about what is termed “the Sicilian money” - a legacy of the late Queen, amounting to between 6,000 and 7,000 ducats, half of which was to be invested for the support of the Mission. The exhausted state of the Sicilian treasury caused the payment of this sum to be deferred, and finally all hope of receiving it was abandoned.

Another important affair entrusted to the care of Fr Conway was that of the pension of Archbishop David Kearney, of Cashel. As the Archbishop was for many years at the beginning of the seventeenth century the mainstay of ecclesiastical organisation in Ireland, Philip III of Spain, in order to enable him to promote the interests of the Church, assigned to hin a pension of 2,000 ducats on the Bishopric of Cadiz. With the approval oi the General, the Archbishop in 1611 appointed Fr Conway his agent to conduct the necessary negotiations. These negotiations continued until the Archbishop's death in 1621, and the subsequent arrangements to carry out the disposal of the money in accordance with his wishes, and to resist the claims of the English and Scotch Colleges in Spain, occupied the attention of Fr Conway till his death, two years later, and dragged on for four years after that time.

In 1619 Fr. Conway vas recalled from Madrid, and sent to take up the position of Rector of the Irish College of Seville, which in that year was handed over to the Irish Jesuits. Eight years previously the General had been asked by Don Felix de Guzman, a Sevillian nobleman, Archdeacon and Canon, to undertake the management of such a college, but the General was unwilling to do so, as an English College already existed in the same city, and he wrote to that effect to Fr Conway, who as then in Lisbon, on December 6th, 1622. In the following year the Apostolic Nuncio in Spain gave leave for the collecting of alms for the Irish students of Seville, but again in this year, and in the two succeeding years, the General expressed his unwillingness to have the Society associated with the projected College.

The College was duly opened, and for the next few years was governed by a succession of secular priests, of whom the first two were Irish and the next four Spaniards. As the numerous changes indicate, the arrangement did not prove satisfactory, and Don Felix de Guzman and Don Geronimo de Medina Ferragut renewed their exertions to induce the Jesuits to take over the government of the College. Don Felix offered to support the Fathers sent, and Don Geronimo offered to make over the house which the students occupied, on the sole condition that the College should be called the College of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother of God and of the Holy Catholic Faith, which name it retained ever afterwards. Fr Conway was now in favour of the Society taking over the College, and the King wrote expressing his desire that this should be done. In April, 1619, the Provincial and his Consultors agreed to accept, notwithstanding the grave difficulties which presented themselves, and this decision was approved by the General on June 19th. On the same day he wrote to Fr Richard Conway telling him to proceed to Seville to take charge of the new College.

The Society took possession of the College on August 20th, 1619. Fr Conway and Fr Michael de Morales (Cantuell) drew up an inventory of its goods and a list of the students. The effects left by the preceding administration were valued at only £12, and several large debts had been incurred which had to be paid afterwards. Fr Conway mentions the names of six students. The names of six others are known, and another account says that there were in all fifteen.

In view of the necessities of the Irish Seminary of Seville, the Holy See on September 9th, 1619, granted, in answer to a petition of Fr Conway, permission to the fishernien of Andalusia to fish on șix Sundays and holidays in the year, on the understanding that “the fruit of their toil should be given freely and without condition to the Irish College of Seville for the support of the Rector and students and persons employed in their services”.

To raise funds for the Irish Seminaries, all of which, but especially that of Seville, were in great need, Fr Conway proposed that some Irish Fathers should be sent from Spain to the Indies, that is, to Mexico and South America, with a view to collecting alms. When that proposal was not favourably entertained, he begged the General to write to the Provincials of the Indies to ask then to do whatever they could, and he suggested that the Provincial of Mexico should be requested to set aside Fr Michael Godinez (Wadding) for that work. The first part of the proposal was agreed to, but what the ultimate success of the project was we do not know.

During the years 1622-1623 complaints were made to the General of the way in which Fr Conway was running the College. The matters complained of were not of serious import. He is said to have admitted more students than the revenues of the institution could support, and to have allowed confessions to be heard in the church of the Seminary instead of sending the penitents to the Casa Professa, according to the regulations already laid down. Another complaint was that “the students of the Irish College went one day during the summer months in their collegiate gowns to bathe in the river, and returned home two hours after nightfall”. The real reason underlying all the complaints were seemingly Fr Conway's zeal in collecting alms, and new regulations were made with regard to requesting support for the College in the city. Fr Conway's alms-questing was not without some exciting experiences, for at least on one occasion, when going along the road for this purpose, he was set upon by robbers, who deprived him of everything he had, beat hin severely, and left him with his hands tied at the foot of an olive tree, where he lay for some time before he was able to free himself and make his way to a neighbouring village.

Towards the end of the year 1623, Fr Luis Ramirez was appointed Rector of the Irish College of Seville, and Fr Conway returned to his forner office of Procurator of the Irish Mission at the court of Madrid. On the 22nd December of that year he laid before the General a new plan for increasing the provision made for the education of the Irish secular clergy. This was to petition the Holy See to allow the Chapters of the Churches of Spain to receive tho Irish students each for the Irish Missions into the seminaries founded by order of the Council of Trent, notwithstanding the decree of that Council that the seminarists should be natives of the dioceses. The General deferred the consideration of this suggestion until the approval of the Chapters should have been obtained.

Another prospect for the development of colleges for the Irish secular clergy opened when towards the end of 1623 the Grand Prior of England of the Order of St. John set aside 2,000 ducats as a beginning of a foundation of an Irish College in Rome. Fr Conway was directed to forward the sum to Rome, so that it might be used to buy a site or be allowed to lie at interest until there would be enough for the end intended. In the following year, 1625, the General announced to him that the foundation of an Irish Seminary in Rome by Cardinal Ludovisi was taking shape slowly, but that it was not known when it would be put into execution.

On June 2nd, 1624, Fr Conway informed the General that the King and Council, recognising that the Irish Seminary at Douay was not being well administered by those who had charge of it, wished to entrust it to the Society. In reply, the General told him that, if the matter was as represented, the King and Council would be sure to give some sign of their desire, but that meanwhile he was not to speak about the subject or try in any way to have the Seminary entrusted to the Society. Similarly, when he announced in the following year the foundation of a new Irish Seminary at Alcala, he was told to have nothing to do with it: “Better improve those of Salamanca, Seville, and Santiago, so that they may be able to support more alunni”.

In 1624 he appealed to the Catholic King to recommend the needs of the Irish students to the bishops of Spain, and in a letter dated St Laurence (the Escorial), 31st October, 1624, King Philip III wrote recommending them to the Bishop of Zamora, as he had already recommended then, he says, to the prelates of Seville and Jaen.

Meanwhile affairs were not proceeding well in the Irish Seminary of Seville, Before a year elapsed Fr Ramirez asked to be relieved of the rectorate. The Spanish Fathers were not able to manage the Irish students. On the 7th July, 1625, Fr. Conway was ordered to proceed to Seville and take charge of the Seminary, as soon as he had settled up his affairs in Madrid; but it was not until Christmas that he arrived in Seville, and entered upon his duties as Rector of the Seminary for the second time. Under his management the disorders ceased, and he was congratulated on the zeal with which he looked after the interests of the College.

In January of the following year, 1626, the Seminary suffered great loss from the overflowing of the river. A good part of the building collapsed, and Fr Conway's efforts for the welfare of his students won considerable praise. He found accommodation for them in different places, but remained on in the house himself, and when he had collected what was necessary for their support he carried the food to them every day on foot. A few months later, in August, 1626, he became seriously ill, and he died on the lst of December, after having received the last Sacraments.

In this sketch of Fr. Conway's life and work little has been said of his spiritual life. From the difficulties he overcame and the greatness of the work he accomplished it has been possible, no doubt, to form some idea of those interior forces which supernaturalised his external activities, but there is abundant testimony given by those who lived with him to his religious virtue and holy life. Especially remarkable was his constancy in prayer. As the hours of the day did not suffice for his many devotional exercises, he devoted to them a large part of the night. We are told, that, though it was generally twelve or one o'clock when he retired to rest, he rose before four in the morning. His spiritual note-books, which reveal the daily life of his soul, contain so many prayers and devotions, distributed by days, weeks, months, and years, that it would seen he had nothing else to do. His fasts and other mortifications were also noticed by his contemporaries. He slept three nights a week on the ground; he fasted every Saturday, and each day he gave a large part of his food to the poor. He wore clothes cast off by others, and at his death the only thing that he seems to have possessed was a small cross, half broken. As a final example of his spirit of detachment and abnegation may be mentioned the fact that, although for many years he had leave from his Superiors' to return to his native land, he never made use of it, lest by doing so he might neglect the Irish exiles abroad.

Fr Conway was not only a devoted son of the Catholic Church, but a great lover of Ireland. In the heat of controversy O’Sullivan Beare spoke of him as Anglo-Irish. Geoffrey Keating was accused of being the same, and his reply to the accusation might have been penned by Fr Richard Conway. For Fr Conway spoke the Irish language, and was as familiar with Irish history and tradiions as any O'Sullivan. By his words and writings he revived the name and fame of Ireland on the Continent. It was through him, as far as we can discover that the Codex Salmanticensis, from which Fr. John Colgan, OSF, and the Bollandists derive so much of their knowledge of Ireland's early saints, came into possession of the Irish College of Salamanca, and was thus preserved for future ages. The seminaries he founded frustrated the British plan of perverting Ireland through enforced ignorance.

To Salamanca, the first of the seminaries which lie ruled, he transmitted that tradition of learning and love of Ireland which such men as Fr Paul Sherlock and Fr Peter Reade afterwards handed on. Ireland may well be proud of him, and so may the Society of Jesus. At a time when the memory of the canonisation of St Ignatius and St Francis Xavier was still fresh in Spain, a Spanish contemporary does not hesitate to compare him with both these illustrious saints : “Fr Richard Conway”, he says, “was one of the true sons of our glorious Father, St Ignatius, and a true imitator of that zeal for souls that consumed the heart of the glorious Father, St Francis Xavier, on the eve of whose feast he was called to his reward by God, leaving to us who remain after him his exemplary life for our initiation and consolation”.

John MacErlean SJ

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Richard Conway 1572-1626
Fr Richard Conway, together with Fr John Houling and Fr Thomas White, may be reckoned as one of the Saviours of the Faith in Ireland. This claim is based on his work of founding and maintaining Irish Colleges, mainly in Spain and Portugal, by means of which a steady flow of secular priests, Jesuits and educated Irish gentlemen was poured into the country, when all means of higher education had been eeradicated by the English authorities

Richard Conway was born in New Ross in 1572, and he sought the education, deniend him at home, in Lisbon, at the age of sixteen or seventeen. There he met Fr John Howling, and under his aegis became a Jesuit at Coimbra in 1592. Thenceforward, his whole life was dedicated to the education andservice of trhe countless Irish refugees flybing from persecution at home. He founded the Colleges of Santiago and Seville, and by a lifetime questing alms and wisely governing various Irish Colleges, fought the good fight, which prompted Fr MacErlean to say of him “Ireland may well be proud of him, and so may the Society of Jesus”.

Some time before his death, while collecting alms, he was waylaid by robbers and deprived of everything he possessed.He was neated severely, and he was left with his hands toed to the bottom of an olive tree. He cried aloud for help but noone came. He invoked Our Lady and his Guardian Angel, whereupon his bonds were loosened, and he made his way to a nearby town.

On his death bed, December 1st 1626, before he closed his eyes forever, Christ Our Lord appeared to him, and as a foretaste of the glorious reward in store for him, led him unto a charming region, where he beheld strange and secret sights.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
CONWAY, RICHARD. I learn from two letters of Dr. David Kearny, Archbishop of Cashell, of the 15th of July, 1616. and the 30th ot September, 1616, that this confidential Agent was actively employed In Spain in his Grace s service. The Father was at Madrid in October, 1624.

Born: 10 August 1710, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 18 November 1728, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1743
Died: 1758, Dublin
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 17/11/1728 and Old/15 (1)

◆ Old/16 has : “P Laurence Croak”; DOB 10/08/1710 Dublin; Ent 17/11/1728 Lisbon; Prof 4 Vows; RIP 1758 Dublin

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB 10/08/1710 Dublin; Ent 17/11/1728 Lisbon; RIP 1758 Dublin

Taught Rhetoric and Theology in Ireland

1751 In Ireland
1752 At Lord Trimleston’s (a Barnewall home in Meath)
1755 At Dublin Residence

◆ Calendar of MacErlean Transcipts Addenda III Catalogi of Irish Mission 1700-1735 & 1735-1752 (Finegan)
1751 Fr Laurence Croak arrived on the Irish Mission
1751-1752 Dublin Residence

◆ MacErlean Cat Miss HIB SJ 1670-1770
1730 LUS Cat
Collegium Coimbra
“Laurentius Croak” (later called “Laurentius Patricio”)
Born 09/08/1710 Dublin
Entered 18/11/1728
Novice

1734 LUS Cat
Collegium Evora
“Laurentius Patricio”
Born 09/08/1710 Dublin
Entered 10/11/1728
For Irish Mission; Studying Philosophy Novice

1737 LUS Cat
Collegium Evora
“Laurentius Patricio” (vere Croak)
Born 09/08/1710 Dublin
Entered 18/11/1728
For Irish Mission; Studying Philosophy; Teaching Humanities 2

1740 LUS Cat
Collegium Coimbra
“Laurentius Patricio”
Born 09/08/1710 Dublin
Entered 10/11/1728
For Irish Mission; Studying Philosophy; Teaching Latin 2

1743 LUS Cat
Collegium Coimbra
“Laurentius Patricio”
Born 10/08/1710 Dublin
Entered 18/11/1728
For Irish Mission; Studying Philosophy, Theology; Taught Grammar, Rhetoric 6 years

1745 LUS Cat Brevis
Collegium Coimbra
“Laurentius Patricio”
Theology 4

1746 LUS Cat Brevis
Collegium Elvas
“Laurentius Patricio”
Teaching Latin

1747 LUS Cat Brevis
Collegium Elvas
“Laurentius Patricio”
Teaching Latin

1748 LUS Cat Brevis
Collegium Faro
“Laurentius Patricio”
Teaching Moral Theology and working in S Barbara chapel

1749 LUS Cat Brevis
Collegium Faro
“Laurentius Patricio”
Born 09/08/1710 Dublin
Entered 18/11/1728
Professed Four Vows
Teaching Grammar & Rhetoric 8, Moral Theology 1

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773
He was born in Dublin, August 9, 1710, and entered the Society in Portugal, November 18, 1728.

After his Noviceship he studied Philosophy at Évora, and then for six years taught Latin in the Jesuit schools at Évora, Faro and Coimbra. He made his Theological studies at the University of Coimbra, 1741-1745, and was ordained priest in 1743.

At the end of his studies he was sent to teach Latin at Elvas, and later held a chair of Moral Theology at Faro for two years.

He was recalled to Ireland in 1751, and for the next few years was Chaplain to the household of Lord Trimleston.

In 1755 he was Operarius in Dublin, but no record of the date or place of his death has survived.

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
CROAK, LAWRENCE, Father (Irish), was born in Dublin August 10, 1710; entered the Society, at Lisbon, November 17, 1728; and was in due time professed of the four vows. Returning to Ireland in 1751, he was for some time Chaplain to Lord Trimblestown, and subsequently assisted as a Parish Priest in Dublin. (Oliver, from Stonyhurst MSS.)

Born: 1603, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: April 1620, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Died: 1628, Évora, Portugal
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as “da Cruz” Ent 1620

◆ Old/15 (1) has “da Cruz” Ent 1620, RIP 1628

◆ CATSJ A-H has “da Cruz or Cruise”; DOB c 1602 Dublin; Ent November 1620 Lisbon;
1625 At Coimbra 2nd course of Arts
1628 Teacher of Latin at Évora

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773
He was born in Dublin, 1603, and entered the Society at Lisbon, April 1620.

After his Noviceship he was sent to Évora for his Philosophy course, after which he was appointed to make his regency in the Jesuit school of that town, where he taught Latin.

His name disappears from the records after 1628

Born: 1657, Ireland
Entered: 1677, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1681, Évora, Portugal
Died: 22 July 1703, Tuticorin (Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu), India - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Colan

Nephew (?) of Hugh Hughes (Cullen) - RIP 1705

1681 Went to the Indies (Franco’s synopsis)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Possibly a nephew of Hugo Cullen (alias Hues, Hughs)
Had already begun Philosophy before Ent 1677 Lisbon
After First Vows he was sent to Évora for studies, but only remained until 1681 when he was Ordained and was heading for the Indian Mission
In India he worked at Travancore (Thiruvithamkoor) in Tamil Nadu and the Malabar Region, and he died in Tuticorin (Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu) 22 July 1703

Born: 27 November 1582, Dublin
Entered: 30 August 1604, Mechelen, Belgium (BELG)

Left Society of Jesus: 04 october 1808

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773

He was born in Dublin, December 27, 1582, and had been a student at the Irish College, Lisbon, before he entered the Society at Rome, October 28, 1604 and sent to Belgium.

After his Noviceship he resumed his studies, but left the Society October 4, 1628.

He was a nephew of Dr Christopher Cusack, founder of the Irish College, Douai.

Born: c 1591, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 1605, Évora, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Left Society of Jesus: 1614

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 1605 and Old/15 (1)

◆ CATSJ A-H has “da Cruz or Cruise” also “Rupert da Cruz”; DOB c1591 Dublin; Ent 1605;
1606 At Évora age 15, in Soc 1 year
1611 At Coimbra
1614 At Irish College Lisbon in 3rd year of Theology

not in 1609 LUS CAT

Born: 1546, Lisbon, Portugal
Entered: 28 April 1561, Lisbon Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Final Vows: December 1586, Lisbon, Portugal
Died: 17 June 1588, on ship in transit to England - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

◆ The English Jesuits 1650-1829 Geoffrey Holt SJ : Catholic Record Society 1984
Born c1546 Lisbon, Poerugal (Borja de Medina “Jesuitas en la Armada”)

◆Old/18 has “d’Almeida” RIP 19 June 1588 England

Born: 1618
Entered: 1634, Évora, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Died: 21 July 1646, Braga, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

◆CATSJ I-Y has
“de Loyola or Carlos Duarte”;
1619 Duarte de Loyola of Ireland is at Coimbra 1st year Theology Age 24 Soc 3 = DOB c1595 Ent c1616
1625 At Portalegre teaching Latin and engaged in the books of Suarez for 2 years
1628 At St Miguel College as Preacher, Confessor
1639 Carlos de Loyola ex HIB at Évora studying
1642 At Lisbon College teaching languages, has studied Philosophy
1645 At Évora College teaching Latin or Charles de Loyola at Coimbra College teaching Latin Age 28 Soc 11??1649 Not in CAT

Born: 1657, Fannystown, Duncormick, County Wexford
Entered: 11 June 1681, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: c.1693, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 12 July 1694, Porto, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Wareus

1693 Minister of Irish College Lisbon and working in Theology - Vereus was said to be Minister there in 1700

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Lived in Portugal and had been a merchant. Converted to religious life by seeing the ravage done by lightening. He was a pious, angelic, and affable Priest. (Franco)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had done studies at Coimbra before Ent 11 June 1681 in the same city
After First Vows he continued his studies at Coimbra and was Ordained there by 1693, though his health was poor.
1693 At the Irish College Lisbon as Minister, though still engaged in studies.
He was in delicate health and died 12 July 1694.

Born: 1632, Ireland
Entered: 22 January 1658, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: pre entry
Died: 08 September 1660, Angola - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Catalogus Defuncti 1641-1740 has Antonius Ferreira RIP 01 August 1663 Angola (HS48 12v Lusit)

Catalogus Defuncti 1640-1670 says Antonius Voras (al de Veras) RIP 08 September 1650 Angola (HS48 63v et Foley, Hibern)

and

Catalogus Defuncti 1640-1670 says Antonius Veras (de) (al de Veras) (hibern n 1632, ingr 1658) RIP 08/09/1660 in Angola (HS48 10v - cfr. Lus.45:222v (catal, I, 1658): Pater Ant. d'Veras - Transtag)

Born: 24 January 1877, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 11 September 1894, Barrô, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 26 July 1910, Milltown Park, Dublin
Died: 23 August 1946, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil - Brasiliensis Septrionalis Province (BRA S)

by 1910 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1909-1912

Died: 09 February 1754, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

◆ In Old/15 (1) & CATSJ A-H

Born: 05 January 1716, Edgeworthstown, County Longford
Entered: 26 July 1732, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1747/8, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 17 April 1758, Dublin, County Dublin - described as Martyr

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Taught Grammar, Humanities and Rhetoric in Lisbon.
1750-1758 In Dublin
In the 1755 HIB Catalogue is the date “17/04/1758” by a different hand, which is presumed to be the RIP date.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1734-1737 After First Vows studied Philosophy at Coimbra
1737-1742 Sent on Regency at Lisbon teaching Rhetoric
1742-1749 Sent for Theology at Coimbra and Ordained there 1747/48
1749-1750 After Tertianship at Coimbra, he was sent as Minister at Irish College Lisbon
1750 Sent to Ireland working as an Operarius in Dublin, but was already in poor health, and he died there 17 April 1758

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
DORAN, EDMUND, of Leinster. He was born on the 5th of January, 1716, and entered the Society at Lisbon on the 26th of July, 1732. This Professed Father came to the Irish Mission in 1750; he was naturally of a weak constitution. Dublin was his usual residence, where it seems he died on the 17th of April, 1758.

Born: 1584, Ossory, County Kilkenny
Entered: 18 December 1603, Évora, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1612/3, Évora, Portugal
Died: 13 March 1642, Galway Residence, Galway City, County Galway

Alias Duigin

1606 Student at Évora and called “John Baptist Doulgar”
1614-19 Teaching Arts at Irish Seminary in Lisbon
Was Rector of Irish College at Lisbon
1626 Was in Ireland
1634 Reading Theology at Lisbon
“Often accompanied Dr Kirwan on his visitation of the Tuam Diocese. He was 20 years Superior of the Galway Residence”.
“So profound his learning, piety and judgement, his opinions and decisions were at all times considered as oracles of the best of the people (Lynch on Life of Dr Kirwan)”
Known to have forfeited his estates at Cloncoise Castle a slab of which is now in gardens of Mundrehid House, Co Laois

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Nephew of Peter Lombard, Archbishop of Armagh
He was Professor of Belles Lettres, Philosophy and Theology - his learning, prudence and piety are extolled by Dr Lynch.
1620-1642 He was a zealous Missioner in Connaught and Rector of Galway Residence (cf Foley’s Collectanea)
1607-1642 On Irish Mission. He was reported by the Mission Superior to have been “distinguished for the example of religious life, and for laborious industry during the many years he cultivated the vineyard” (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
(cf “Pii Antistitis Icon, or Life of Bishop Kirwan)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied at the Irish College Lisbon before Ent 18 December 1603 Évora
After First Vows he completed Philosophy studies, did a short Regency and then studied at Évora where he was Ordained there 1612/1613
1613 Sent to Lisbon to teach Philosophy
1619-1622 Rector of Irish College Lisbon succeeding Cornelius Carrick, but was keen to be sent on the Irish Mission
1622 Sent to Ireland and to the Galway Residence.
1630-1641 Superior of Galway Residence for eleven years and died there 13 March 1642
In 1625 - three years after his return to Ireland - trouble broke out at the Irish College Lisbon because of the appointment of a Portuguese Rector to replace William McGrath. The Portuguese Provincial appealed to Fr General to have Fr Duggin returned and there is much correspondence between them in the succeeding four years. Fr Duggin in the end was not sent back because he was too valuable in Galway.
A great friend of Bishop Francis Kirwan of Killala, whom he accompanied on his first visitation of his Diocese
The Mission Superior Robert Nugent paid tribute in his notification of death to the General “ for his exemplary religious life and indefatigable labours in this vineyard for many years”

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
DUIGUIN, JOHN BAPTIST. From F. Robert Nugent’s letter, dated Ireland, 24th of April, 1642, I collect that his friend had died on the preceding 13th of March, religiosae vitae exemplo et multorum annorum exantlatis in hac vinea laboribits insignis.

Born: 1601, Fethard, County Tipperary
Entered: 1625, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1630, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 09 October 1636, Irish College, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

1624 in the Novitiate at Lisbon (LUS)
1628 Studying Theology at Lisbon
1633 Teaching at San Miguel, Azores (LUS)
1633 Teaching at Irish College in Lisbon

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
He had already studied Philosophy at Irish College Lisbon and received Minor Orders there 24 February 1623 before Ent 1625 Lisbon
After First Vows he was sent to Coimbra for studies and Ordained there c 1630
1633-1635 Professor of Moral Theology at the College of S Miguel in the Azores
1635 Professor of Dogmatic Theology at Irish College Lisbon until he died there 09 October 1636

Born: 25 November 1638, Craddockstown, County Kildare
Entered: 01 December 1658, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: 1669, Palermo, Sicily
Final Vows: 02 February 1676
Died: 30 January 1700, Irish College, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)

1675-1686 at Fermo College (ROM) teaching Philosophy and Grammar - and 1681 teaching Theology at Macerata College
1693-1700 At Irish College in Rome taught Theology, Philosophy and Humanities : Rector 1695-1698

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1692-1695 Rector at Rome. While there in 1692, he received letters from Fathers Relly and Wesly at Poitiers. He sought and procured for the “meritorious and afflicted Irish Mission” 50,000 reales from Fr Emmanuel de Sylva SJ, Lisbon. In 1693 he received a further letter from Father Relly, which was directed to the Greek College, Rome. On 05 February 1695, he received from Father Ininger of Ingolstadt, 500 scudi, or 1,000 florins for the Irish Mission.
In 1690 he was at Poitiers when his nephew William, a lieutenant Sir Maurice Eustace’s infantry writes to tell him that his brother has been killed at the siege of Limerick, “riding as a volunteer”. He also asks him to get him transferred into Tyrconnell’s Horse, in which regiment he would have less work and more pay.
1697 There is a petition against him by his sister-in-law, Mrs Eustace at Craddockstown.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of William and Jane née Whyte (daughter of Nicholas Whyte at Leixlip)
Had already studied Philosophy at Antwerp before Ent 02 December 1658 Rome
After First Vows he was sent for Regency at Fermo, and then studied Theology at Palermo where he was Ordained c 1669
1669-1671 Sent teaching at Ascoli
1671-1672 Tertianship at Florence
1672-1678 Taught Philosophy and Theology at Fermo, and also spent one year during that time as Penitentiary at Loreto
1679-1681 Sent to Macerata College to teach Philosophy
1681-1683 Sent to Irish College Rome as Prefect of Studies
1683-1684 Sent to Fermo College again to teach Dogmatic Theology
1684-1690 Sent to Ireland and was appointed Superior of the Dublin Residence and school, and was also made a Consultor of the Mission, and was though to be a very suitable candidate for Mission Superior. He remained there until the Williamite conquest, and the Mission Superior Lynch sent him to Rome as Procurator of the Irish Mission. On the way he spent a year at Poitiers to attend to urgent financial business of the Mission in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Dublin.
1691 Arrived in Rome and proved himself a tower of strength of the mission during the darkening years that preceded the penal times acting as procurator of the Irish Mission.
1694 Appointed Rector of Irish College Rome 10 October 1694 and died in office 30 January 1700.

Born: 1575, Fethard-on-Sea, County Wexford
Entered: 1598, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1604, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 30 June 1647, Cashel Residence, County Tipperary

1603 At Coimbra (LUS) in 3rd year Theology
1606 Teaching Theology at Irish College Lisbon
1616 Catalogue Superior of Mission thinks he to fill Chair of Theology. Missioner
1617 Is in Ireland. Prudent and assiduous operarius, very hot tempered
1622 In Leinster
1626 Good in all, preaches well, not circumspect, choleric

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
(cf Foley’s Collectanea and Fr Young’s sketch in “Spicilegium Ossorium, Vol ii)
1607 Sent to Irish Mission from Spain, at the time his brother John, a judge, quitted the bench for conscience sake.
He is named in the letter of Father Lawndry to the General 04/11/1611 as then labouring assiduously on the mission in his neighbourhood. He was employed at Cashel chiefly for forty years, and was a distinguished Preacher.
He is named in a Report of the Irish Mission 1641-1650 (Verdier?). His virtues are fully recorded in this Report.
His death is recorded at Cashel residence a few months before the destruction of the city and church.
Is said to have died on his knees on Good Friday 16/04/1647 (though Easter Sunday was 21 April 1647!)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Redmond Everard. Brother of Sir John Everard, Speaker of the House of Commons
Had studied Humanities at the Irish College Lisbon and Philosophy at Coimbra before Ent 1598 Portugal
After First Vows he resumed his studies at Coimbra and was Ordained there 1604
1604-1605 Sent to lecture Philosophy at Braga
1605-1608 Sent to lecture Philosophy at the Irish College Lisbon
1608 Sent to Ireland and was at Callan by May, and then sent to the Dublin Residence
1621-1631 Sent to Drogheda and with Robert Bathe established there the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin. he was also a Consultor of the Mission.
1631 Sent to Cashel residence. In spite of poor health he was zealous in Ministry until his death there 30 June 1646

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father James Everard SJ 1575-1647
Fr James Everard was born in Fethard in 1575. He entered the Society in Portugal in 1598, the year the irish Mission was founded, by the appointment of Fr Holywood as Superior.

After some years spent professing Theology in Portugal, Fr Everard succeeded in getting to the irish Mission in 1607. That same year, his brother, who was a judge, resigned his post rather than act against his conscience.

His talents as a preacher were remarkable, and for 40 years he laboured unceasingly as a missioner amid innumerable perils. Cashel was the scene of his apostolic labours, though his name appears in a State paper as being secretly kept by Archbishop Matthews in his hose in Dublin in 1611.

He was of delicate health and suffered a good deal during his life, but his ill health never made him less prompt for any call.

He was found dead on his knees on Good Friday morning, April 16th 1647, aged 72, of which 50 were spent in the Society.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
EVERARD, JAMES. This Rev. Father offered his services for the Irish Mission early in 1605, but could not be spared from Spain until the Autumn of 1607, at the very time that his brother John, an eminent lawyer and judge, quitted the Bench rather than betray his Conscience. At this period, intolerance, with the denial of civil rights, stalked abroad through his native Country, and the best men were seized for its victims, and the British Constitution was the by-word for injustice, oppression, and persecution to death for liberty of Conscience. During 40 years, F. Everard was reserved for Apostolic labor chiefly at Cashell. As a Preacher, he ranked in the first class : and though of a delicate constitution, and generally unwell, he was ever prompt and eager to fulfil the duties of his ministry. Severe to himself, he was all condescension and charity to his neighbours. On Good Friday, 16th of April, 1647, the venerable man was found dead on his knees.

Born: Ireland
Entered: 1620, Portugal (LUS)
Ordained:
Died: post 1624, Lisbon, Portugal
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 1620

◆ Old/16 has : “Christopher Field”; DOB Ireland; Ent 1620 Portugal; RIP post 1624 Lisbon

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB Ireland; Ent 1620 Portugal; RIP post 1624

1624 In Lisbon studying

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
FIELD, CHRISTOPHER The only mention that 1 find of him is in a letter of his Superior, F. Thomas Lawndy, dated 6th of March, 1624. He appears to have been then a Scholastic.

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
FIELD, CHRISTOPHER, Scholastic (Irish), is named in a letter of Father Lawndry, the Superior, March 6, 1624 (Oliver, from Stonyhurst MSS.)

Born: 1549, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 06 October 1574, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Died: 07 July 1626, Asunción, Paraguay - Paraguayensis Province (PAR)

Alias Filde

Son of Dr Field and Genet Creagh
1569 There was a Thomas Field Penitentiary of English, Irish and Scots (is this he?)
1575 In April he and Fr Yates left Rome for Brazil arriving 1577. Fr Yates describes him in a letter as “Yrishe man”
1577 in Portugal ???

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
Son of Dr Field and Genet (Janet) née Creagh (Creah)
In 1586 he was captured and “evil-handed” and manacled by English pirates, put out in an open boat with no rudder or oars and drifted away to Buenos Ayres.
He was one of the three first missioners of Paraguay; of great innocence of life and alone in Paraguay for years.
He is erroneously called a Scot by Charlevoix and an Italian by Franco
(cf Cordara “Hist Soc” AD 1626 and in Foley’s “Collectanea”, p253 there is an interesting letter about him in 1589 by Fr Yates)
Alias “Felie”
Humanities at Paris, Philosophy at Louvain, graduating MA before Entered 06/10/1574 Rome
28/04/1575 Went on pilgrimage with James Sale, an Englishman from Rome to Galicia, and from there to the Brazils without having taken First Vows.
He spent many years in Brazil with Joseph Anchieta (Apostle of Brazil, styled Thaumaturgus) and was his emulator. Ordered from Brazil to Paraguay. After incident above with pirates, he died in Asunçion, Paraguay. (cf "Hibernia Ignatiana" and Oliver, Irish Section, Stonyhurst MSS)
Letter from Fr John Vincent (vere Yates), a Missioner in Brazil, to Fr John Good, dated, St Anthony's Brazil, 02 January 1589 (British Museum Lansdown MSS). he calls him by the alias name of “Thomas Feile” :
“News of Father Thomas Feile are these. Since that I wrote your Reverence of him in my other letter, in 1586 he was sent from St Vincents with three others of our company into a country far from here, which they call Tumumâ, near unto Peru, at the petition of the Bishop of that place unto our Provincial of this Brazil land; and in his way by sea near unto the great River Plate, they were taken by an English pirate named Robert Waddington, and very evil handed by him, and robbed of all those things they carried with them. The which pirate afterwards, in the year of 1587, came roaming along this coast from thence, until he came unto this city, the which he put in great fear and danger, and had taken it that if these new Christians of which we have charge, had not resisted him, so that one hundred and fifty men that he brought with him, he left unto three score slain. On this matter in other letters, I doubt not but that your Reverence shall hear. To return now to the news of Father Thomas Feile, I do give you this knowledge of him that he was very unapt to learn this Brazil speech, but he did always edify us with his virtuous life and obedience to all those with whom he was conversant, unto whom I have sent the letter your Reverence did sent him, and with the same, I sent unto him his portion of the blessed grains and images which came unto my hands, as also the roll of countrymen that be of our company. Whilst he was in this Brazil land, he took not only the holy order of Priesthood, as I do hear he took in the same place where he is now resident, which is as far as Portugal from hence”
(cf IbIg; Oliver, Irish Section, "Stonyhurst MSS")
1574 Left Portugal for Brazil arriving at Bahi in 31 December 1577
Spent 10 years as scholastic living in Piratininga (São Paolo), often accompanying Fr Anchieta on his missionary tours among the Indians

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
1587 Sent to Paraguay (escaped death by pirates after his ship was captured off Buenos Aires)
He spent time at the Mission of Córdoba de Tucuman (Argentina) and then went to Asunçion (Paraguay).
He and Fr Ortega evangelised Indians for hundreds of miles around Asunçion
1590-1599 Founded a Church in Villa Rica, Paraguay
1599 Recalled to Asunción, and the Missions at Villa Rica and Guayra were abandoned until the Province of Paraguay was formed in 1607, and he returned there then.
Eventually returned to Asunción ministering to the Indians until his death in 1626

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Field (Fehily), Thomas
by Patrick M. Geoghegan

Field (Fehily), Thomas (1546/9–1625), Jesuit priest and missionary, was born in Limerick, in 1546 or 1549, son of a catholic medical doctor, William Field (or Fehily), and his wife, Genet Field (née Creagh). Because of his religion he was sent for his education to Douai and then Louvain, in the Low Countries, and finally to Rome, where he entered the Society of Jesus on 6 October 1574. He trained for the priesthood before being sent on an important mission to Brazil. Travelling from Rome to Lisbon, he was forced to beg along the way, before beginning the long journey to South America in 1577.

In Brazil he worked with the Spanish Jesuit José de Anchieta (1534–97), who was credited with performing many miracles. In 1586 he was one of five Jesuits sent from Brazil on a mission to convert the peoples of La Plata province. During the voyage the group was captured by pirates, some of them Irish pirates who treated Field with utter contempt, despising his catholic zeal. In the end he was put into an open boat without rudder or oars and set adrift, but he survived and arrived safely in Argentina. He is believed to have been the first Irishman to set foot in Argentina and may also have been the first to go to Brazil.

When he arrived at Buenos Aires it had been in existence just seven years and comprised only a dozen houses. With Manuel Ortega as his superior he was sent on a further mission to Paraguay, where he baptised thousands, and was responsible for the conversion of many. He tended to the sick during the great fever epidemic in South America in 1588 and was respected for his hard work and dedication. A man of great piety and humility, as penance he denied himself the use of fruit on the trees. He died 15 April 1625 at Asuncion among the peoples of La Guira, Upper Paraguay.

Henry Foley, Records of the English province of the Society of Jesus (1877), i, 288; Edmund Hogan, Chronological catalogue of the Irish members of the Society of Jesus, 1550–1814 (1888), 5; Thomas Murray, The story of the Irish in Argentina (1919), 1–8; Aubrey Gwynn, ‘The first Irish priests in the new world’, Studies, xxi (1932), 212–14; ODNB

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Thomas Field SJ 1549-1626
Fr Thomas Field was born in Limerick in 1549 and entered the Society at Rome in 1574. He was attached to the Portuguese Province and from there left for Brazil, arriving at Bahia on 31st December 1577. He spent ten years as a scholastic in what is now known as Saõ Paolo, but made frequent journeys among the Indians with the Venerable Fr Anchieta during these years.

He was transferred to Paraguay in 1587, and on the voyage, narrowly escaped death at the hands of English pirates, who captured his ship off Buenos Aires. He proceeded,to Asuncion, where with Fr Ortega he evangelised the Indians for hundreds of miles around. In 1590 he built a Church at Villa Rica which became his headquarters for the next nine years.

In 1599 he was recalled to Asuncion, and the Mission at Villa Rica was abandoned until Paraguay was made a Province in 1607. He then returned to the scene of his former labours and worked among the Indians until his death in 1626.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 45 : Christmas 1986

Portrait from the Past

FR THOMAS FILDE : 1548/9-1626

Edmund Hogan

The Limerick Jesuit who was one of the founders of “The Mission” - currently showing at Dublin's Adelphi Cinema.

“On the 6th of October, 1574, Thomas Phildius, a Limerick Irishman, twenty-five years of age, enters the Novitiate. His father, Willian, was a doctor of medicine and his mother was Genet Creah. Both his parents are dead. He studied humanities for three years at Paris and Douay, and philosophy for three years at Louvain, where he became Master of Arts... under his own hand - Thomas. Phildius”. So wrote Thomas Filde in the Roman Novice-Book.

Thomas was born at Limerick in the year 1548, or 1549, of Catholic parents, at whose house he most probably often saw the Nuncio, Father Woulfe, S.J., who resided at Limerick in those days. In order to preserve his faith, Thomas was sent to study at Paris, Douay and Louvain; and he was received into the Society in Rome by the General, Everard Mercurian. He showed such advancement and solidity in virtue, that, after six months in the Novitiate, he obtained leave to go on the Brazilian mission.

With four Jesuit companions, he set sail joyfully on the “Rio de Janeiro”, and, after a prosperous voyage, came in sight of South America. They were in the Rio de la Plata and felt free from all fear of the English sea-rovers, when they discovered two sails, which were those of the cruel corsair, Cavendish. The English boarded the Portuguese merchantman, treated the passengers and crew with some humanity, but wreaked all their fury on the Jesuits. The pirates confided them to the mercy of the waves in a boat without rudder, oars, or sails, and left them to be tossed about and die of hunger in these wide waters.

Against all human expectation they drifted into the port of Buenos Ayres. When it was heard at Cordova that they had reached Buenos Ayres, almost dead with hunger and cold, they were met by the Bishop of Paraguay, who pressed them to go to Asuncion, where their Brazilian speech was well understood. Filde, de Ortega (a Portuguese) and Saloni (a Neapolitan) held a consultation, in which, after fervent prayer, they resolved to go to Paraguay, the language of which they spoke. They travelled nine hundred miles partly by land, partly by the Argentine and Paraguay Rivers, evangelizing as they journeyed on, and on August 11th, 1588, they reached a place nine miles from the town of Asuncion. The Governor of the province and other gentlemen went out to meet and welcome them The Indians seeing the respect of the Spaniards for those priests, conceived a high opinion of them, which grew greater when they considered the sympathy which the Fathers showed for them, the zeal with which they instructed them, the courage with which they protected them from Spanish oppression, and the disinterestedness and devotedness with which they had come so far, and through so many dangers, for the sole purpose of saving their souls. The neighbouring Indians hearing of these three holy nen went to see them, and were delighted to hear them speak the Guarani language.

But as the Spaniards were in a sad state in and around the town, the Fathers set to work at once to reform them, preaching to them, catechizing, hearing confessions, often spending whole days and nights in the tribunals of mercy, and scarcely ever allowing themselves more than one or two hours' rest. They converted the whole town. Then they turned to the Indians in and around Asuncion; instructed them, administered the sacraments to them; on Sundays and feast-days they got them to walk in procession, singing pious Guarani hymns. They then visited two distant Indian villages, and evangelized them, and after that Fathers Filde and de Ortega went and preached the Gospel through all the Indian tribes from Asuncion to Ciudad Real del Guayra, and produced most abundant fruit.

At about ninety miles from the first Indian village lived a barbarous race, in almost impenetrable forests and among rocks almost inaccessible. They were brave and robust; but never worked, and spent their time dancing and singing The Fathers sent two Christian natives to them with presents, and with promises of good things if they came out of their fastnesses to them; and in the meantime they prayed fervently that God would draw these poor people towards them. Their prayers were heard, and the head cacique came, with some of his men, dressed in war-paint of various colours and wearing long flowing hair, which had never been cut, with a crown of high plumes on his head. These savages were at first very shy in presence of the two strangers, but were soon attracted to them by the kindness of their looks and actions: they were converted, and promised to lead a good life and to prevail on the rest of their tribe to do likewise. The cacique was induced to remain with the Fathers, while his attendants and forty Indians recently baptized were despatched to bring out the members of his tribe. At the end of a fortnight, they brought with them three hundred and fifty men, women and children, who seened on the verge of starvation. Many children died of hunger the day of their arrival, after receiving the Sacrament of Baptism; the survivors were formed into a pueblo, were baptized, and led a holy and happy life.

The Jesuits baptized many pagans, performed the ceremony of marriage for many Spaniards and many Indians who had been living in a state of concubinage; instructed those ignorant of religion, extinguished long-standing animosities, and put an end to many scandals. The townspeople were so edified by their virtues, that they pressed them to remain and wanted to found a house of the Society in that place. But Fathers Filde and de ortega did not wish to narrow their sphere of action, and, at the end of a month's mission there, they went forth again to pour the treasures of grace on other parts of the province; they evangelized the numerous tribes between Ciudad Real and Villa Rica, baptized all the infidels who dwell along the banks of the Rio Hiubay, banished drunkenness and polygamy from among them, protected them against the oppressions of the Spaniard; and after many hardships and labours reached Villa Rica, and were there received with great solemnity. Triumphal arches were put up and the most fragrant flowers of that delightful country were displayed to do them honour. With military music and singing and other demonstrations of joy and welcome, they were conducted in procession to the church, where they declared the object of their mission. They remained four months at Villa Rica, working with untiring zeal, instructing the Spaniards whom they found ignorant of the truths and practices of religion, and doing all in their power to put in the souls of the colonists sentiments of mercy and kindness towards the poor Indians whom they were accustomed to treat as slaves.

After their apostolic labours at Villa Rica, the two Fathers went forth and converted a nation of ten thousand Indian Warriors, Indios de guerra, called Ibirayaras, who for clothing were contented with a coat of war-paint, and delighted in feeding on the flesh of their fellow-man. The Fathers had the happiness of rescuing many prisoners from being fattened, cooked, and eaten by these cannibals. They then baptized three thousand four hundred of another tribe; but before the work of conversion, Filde's companion narrowly escaped being murdered, and thirty of their neophytes were put to death by some wicked caciques. The two missioners had been often deliberating about going back to Asuncion; but as the inhabitants of Villa Rica built a church and residence for
them, they remained there for seven years longer.

In 1593, Father Romero was sent as Superior of the mission of Tucuman; he brought nine missioners with him, ordered Fathers Filde and de Ortega to continue their work in the Guayra territory, and sent Fathers Saloni and de Lorenzana to their assistance. On the 3rd of November, 1594, these two started from Asuncion, and reached Fathers Filde and Ortega at Villa Rica on the feast of the Epiphany, 1595. In this journey of over five hundred miles, they narrowly escaped being drowned in the Parana, and had often to make their way by swimming, or by wading through marshes and flooded fields. Swimming seems to have been one of the useful, and even necessary, arts of these early missionaries. We are told it of three of them, but not of Filde, who, being born and brought up on the banks of the Shannon, was skilled in the art of natation, and of driving and directing a “cot” or canoe through the water.

Fr. Filde was the sole representative of the Society in the countries of Tucuman and Paraguay until 1605 when he was joined at the residence of Asuncion by Fathers Lorenzana and Cataldino. The former wrote to the Provincial of Peru: “We found in our house, to the great comfort and joy of his soul and of ours, good Father Filde, who in spite of his infirmities has gone on with his priestly work and by his religious spirit and his dove-like simplicity (simplicidad columbina), has edified the whole town very much for the last three years. His is never done thanking God for seeing his brethren again in this far-off land".

In 1610, two Italian Jesuits made their way to Villa Rica, and found there the sacred vessels and the library which belonged to Fathers de Ortega and Filde. In the month of February they went up the River Paranapane, or “River of Misfortune”, to the mouth of the Pirape; they knew from the cacique who guided them with what joy they would be received by the native neophytes of Filde and de Ortega, and the moment they entered the lands of the Guaranis, they were net and welcomed with effusion in the name of the two hundred families whom these first missionaries had evangelized, and to whom the new-comers were bringing the blessings of civilization and liberty. On the very place that witnessed this interesting interview, Fathers Macheta and Cataldino founded the first “Reduction” of Paraguay, which was the model of all those that were formed afterwards.

In 1611, there was a burst of popular indignation against the Jesuits on account of their efforts to abolish slavery. They were “boycotted”, and could not get for charity or money anything to eat. No one would sell them anything. A poor old Indian woman, knowing their wants and the implacable hatred the Spaniards bore them, brought them some little thing to eat every day; but the other Indians had been turned against their best friends by the calumnies of the Spaniards. The Fathers withdrew to a country house in the village of Tacumbu; yet not liking to abandon the place altogether, they left Brothers de Acosta and de Aragon to teach school and Father Filde to say Mass for them. Here the Limerickman spent the last fifteen years of his life.

In 1626, Thomas Filde died at Asuncion in the seventy-eight or eightieth years of his age, and the fifty-second of his religious life, during which he spent about ten years in Brazil and forty in the missions of Paraguay, of which he and de Ortega were the founders.

Born: 06 April 1632, County Waterford
Entered: 14 October 1655, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1664, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 02 February 1676
Died: 21 December 1695, Residence of Faro, Faro, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Geraldine

1661 Had finished Philosophy
1665-1669 Minister of Irish College, Lisbon for 5 years
1678-81 At Angra College teaching Moral Theology

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
For many years Professor of Moral Theology in the Azores, and was dear to all for his amiability and virtue.
Returning to Ireland he was Chaplain in the Fleet which was sent against the French, and in which were many Irishmen.
After several escapes he was deported from Ireland, and in the College at Faro, looked after the interests of Irish people there (Franco “Annales”)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After First Vows he studied at Évora and was Ordained c 1664
1664-1676 Sent as Minister to Irish College Lisbon
1676-1685 Sent to S Miguel Azores to teach Moral Theology
1685 Sent to Ireland and to Waterford, though he did not reach there until 1687. Along with Anthony Knoles he became a teacher at the Corporation or Free School, which was set up after James II had created by a new charter the Corporation of that city.
1692 Exiled to Portugal after the Williamite Conquest and sent to the Faro Residence, where he ministered to Irish and English sailors and merchants at the port there, until his death there 21 December 1695

Born: 25 July 1659, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 02 May 1677, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: 14 March 1691, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 04 August 1717, Dublin City, County Dublin

1704 Living at Grangegorman Dublin, PP of Kinsealy
1708 Catalogue Studied Philosophy 3 years and Theology 4 years. Taught Grammar for 6 years. Minister. Strong considering his age
1714 Catalogue A good Operarius. Was a PP but hindered by persecutors. Opened a school for boys but had to abandon that as well. Laboured then in secret. Learned and obedient to Superiors and loves the Society. He was accused through harsh words of giving offence to ours working in the city. He got mixed up in family affairs, but local Superior says he is modest and obedient.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1694 Arrested on landing in Ireland and brought to Dublin, a distance of 100 miles, and examined by the Privy Council and then released. (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS and HIB Catalogue 1708 etc)
1697 I March he was lodging at Mr Elleston’s, Channel Row, Dublin (now North Brunswick St) and assisting at Channel Row Chapel (Spy’s Report)
1704 The List of Registered Popish Parish Priests (preserved at Clongowes) and gives his name as “Popish Priest’s name, James Gibbons; place of abode Grangegorman; Parish of which he pretends to be Parish Priest, Kinsaly; Received Popish Orders 14 March 1691 at Coimbra” etc
He was a learned and zealous Priest’ A Prisoner in 1695 (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After First Vows he studied Philosophy at Coimbra and then was sent to Braga for Regency. He returned to Coimbra for Theology (1687) and was Ordained there 14 March 1691
1691-1694 He was teaching Rhetoric at Porto College when he was sent to Ireland in 1694
1694 Returned to Ireland and sent to Waterford. On his arrival there he was arrested, held in a Dublin prison and then released (the authorities were apparently unaware of his Jesuit identity).
1697 He was an Assistant Priest at Channel (sic) Row and his identity was still unrecognised as a Jesuit
1704-1714 He became PP at Kinsealy and living at Grangegorman. In 1714 following the Proclamation against the hierarchy and regular clergy, he relinquished that position, probably because his identity as a Jesuit was at last discovered.
1714 He then engaged in a furtive Ministry in the city and managed to conduct a school for a short period until he died there 04 August 1717

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
GIBBONS, JAMES. This Father was actually arrested in December, 1694, on landing; and conveyed to Dublin, a distance of 100 miles, and examined by the Privy Council on his reason for returning to Ireland. He was discharged from custody on the following February, He was living on the 15th of November, 1712.

Born: 1598, Thomond, County Clare
Entered: 1617, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Died: 16 November 1619, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias de Amaral

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Two Entries : Gorman (1); Michael Amaraly (2)
Matthew Gorman
DOB Tuam or Thomond; Ent 1616 Portugal; RIP post 1617
Michael Amalary
DOB Ireland; Ent 1619 Lisbon; RIP 01 November 1619

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
He died at the Novitiate fifteen months after Ent in Lisbon 16 November 1619

Born: 1644, Ireland
Entered: 07 December 1664, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Died: 10 April 1673, At Sea in transit to Goa - - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Didacus Garcez

1664 Mentioned
1673 at Port Indes

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He went from Portugal to the Indies in 1673 (Franco’s “Hist of the Province of Portugal”)

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
1673 After studies set sail for GOA with a large number of Jesuits. Twelve Jesuits died of sickness on the voyage and the first was James Grace. Buried at Sea

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father James Grace SJ 1644-1673
Fr James Grace was born in Ireland in 1644, and entered the Society at Lisbon in 1664.

After finishing his studies he set sail for Goa early in 1673 with a large number of Jesuit Fathers. Sickness broke out on the voyage, and twelve missioners died. The first to die was Fr Grace on April 10th 1673. He was buried at sea.

Born: 1597, Fethard, County Tipperary
Entered: 1615, Portugal
Died: post 1617, Portugal
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 1615 and Old/15 (1)

◆ Is this the same as Edward Hackett (Duarte de Loyola) : both succeed one another in Old/15 (1) and Hogan

◆ Old/16 has : “Nicholas Hacket”; DOB 1597 Fethard; Ent 1615 Portugal; RIP post 1617

◆ CATSJ A-H has
1617 Is in Portugal

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB 1597 Fethard; Ent 1615 Portugal; RIP post 1617

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
HACKET, NICHOLAS, Scholastic (Irish), a native of Fethard (Federensis), county Tipperary, born 1597; entered the Society 1615, and died after 1617. (Irish Ecclesiastical Record, August, 1874, and Hogan's list.)

Born 1595: Ireland
Entered: 1615, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1623, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 22 September 1632, Évora, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)

Alias Duarte de Loyola

1626 LUS Catalogue in Portugal

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1626 in LUS Catalogue

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied Philosophy at University of Coimbra before Ent there 1615
After First Vows he was sent on regency, initially teaching Humanities at Coimbra, and then as proof reader to Francisco Soares in the preparation of the latter's works for printing. He completed his Theology at Coimbra and was Ordained there c 1623.
After his formation was complete he was sent as Operarius to Portalegre, Portugal and then to Évora where he died 22 September 1632

Born: 02 February 1586, Cashel, County Tipperary
Entered: 20 September 1610, Tournai, Belgium - Belgicae Province (BELG)
Ordained: 1614/1615
Died: 1615, St Omer France
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet

◆ Old/15 (1) has “Haly” Ent 1609, corrected to 1609-10 on one copy and RIP 1615

◆ Old/16 has : “P Peter Haly”; DOB Cashel; Ent 1609 Belgi

◆ CATSJ A-H has “Halleus or Haly”; DOB 02/02/1586 Cashel; Ent 20/09/1610 or 1609 Belgium;
Mother was Ellen Everard
Studied Humanities at home and at Lisbon for 8 years. Studied Philosophy. Studied Theology at Douai
1615 At St Omer Studying Moral Theology

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB Cashel; Ent 1609 Belgium

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773
He was born at Cashel, February 1586, and was the son of Nicholas Halley and his wife Helen Everard. He studied Philosophy at Lisbon under Father James Everard, and then returned. for reasons of health, to Ireland, where he was admitted to Minor Orders by the Archbishop of Cashel.

he returned later to Europe and entered the irish College of Douai, where he studied Theology for one year, and then entered the Society at Tournai, September 20, 1610.

After his Noviceship he was sent to St Omer to continue his Theological course.

Contemporary Catalogi cannot help us to determine whether he was ordained Priest in the winter 1614/1615, but a letter of March 21, 1615, implies that he was already a priest.

His name then diappears from all Jesuit records.

Born: 23 April 1656, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 22 April 1681, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1689, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows: 15 August 1713
Died: 05 January 1733, Waterford City, County Waterford

Studied Philosophy 2 years - seems to have studied at Lisbon before entering
1685 Was Subminister of Novices at Coimbra
1689 “Popish” PP of St Olave’s in Waterford priested in 1689
1700 At St Anthony’s College Lisbon (LUS)
1708 Catalogue Studied 3 years Philosophy and 4 Theology, was an MA Portugal. Taught Moral. Is now a PP
1713 Is now weak and acting PP - Copy of book in Carlow College says John Higgin Resid Waterford
1717 Catalogue “Many years laboured in Waterford, Confessor and looking after poor. Esteemed by priests and people. Grave and modest, if a little obstinate, often not making use of advice from others. Perhaps easily deceived by the evil minded, to the disgust and pain of his friends and derision of his enemies.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Graduated MA in Portugal
Ord 1689 by John, Lord Bishop of Coimbra and “Earl of Arganil” Coimbra (List of registered Popish Priests)
1694 Arrived in Ireland in December and became Socius to the Mission Superior, Anthony Knowles (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
1704 Acting PP of St Olaf’s, Waterford
1708 Was a Missioner in Ireland
“On the 5th of the present month, Our Lord took to Himself, as we hope, Father John Francis, full of years and merits, a truly apostolic man in zeal and charity, and universally lamented by all in this city. I beseech your Reverence to remember his good soul at the altar, and to make his death known to the students that they may recommend him to God in their prayers.” - Letter in Spanish of Ignatius Roche to James de Oranjo, dated Waterford January 17, 1722-3 (should read 1732-3?) (Irish Ecclesiastical Record March 1874 and Hogan’s Irish list)
He was a most worthy Priest in the opinion of his brethren; MA and Professor of Theology; Learned
Some letters of his are at Salamanca
(cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had already studied Philosophy at Lisbon before Ent 22 April 1681 Portugal
After First Vows he was sent to Coimbra to resume his studies and graduated MA in 1687 and Ordained there 1689
He then taught Moral Theology at Coimbra for one year
1694 Sent to Ireland and to Waterford, where he spent the rest of his life
1704 Registered at the Tholsel Waterford as PP of St Olav’s, to which were joined St Peter’s and St Patrick’s. He continued as PP of these three Parishes until his death there 05 January 1733
The Parish Register he kept for twenty five years at Waterford survived.
He was for many years Consultor and Secretary of the Irish mission

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father John Francis Higgins SJ 1656-1732
Fr John Francis Higgins was born in Waterford on April 23rd 1656. He was admitted into the Society in Portugal, and in the same country took his degree as Master of Arts.

Arriving in Ireland in 1694, with a great name among his brethren for worth and learning, he became Socius to the Superior, Fr Knoles, in Waterford. In 1708 he entered on missionary work and in succession to Fr Everard he became Parish Priest of St Patrick’s and St Olave’s in Waterford. He started the Parochial Register in the Parish which still survives in St John’s Church.

He died in 1732. The Superior, Fr Ignatius Roche wrote to Fr General of him as having “died full of years and merits, a a truly apostolic man in zeal and charity, and universally lamented by all in Waterford”.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
HIGGINS, JOHN FRANCIS, was admitted into the Order in Portugal, in April, 1681. He reached the Irish Mission in December, 1694, and it seems was socius at Waterford to the Superior Anthony Knoles. After the 13th of December, 1697, I lose sight of him.

Born: 1543, Wexford Town, County Wexford
Entered: 1570, St Andrea, Rome, Italy (ROM) / Arona, Novara, Italy (MED)
Ordained: pre-Entry
Died: 07 March 1599, San Roque, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS). Described as a "Martyr of Charity".

1590-1599 At Casa San Roque Lisbon, Age 50, Society 7, Confessor

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ "Catalogica Chronolgica":
He was a Martyr of Charity; Founded the College of Lisbon; Writer; Very zealous; A good linguist.
He is much praised by Fitzsimon and Copinger (his contemporaries) [cf Foley “Collectanea”]

◆ Fr Francis Finagan SJ:
Was already Ordained before Ent 1583 Rome. Received into the Society by General Aquaviva.
Although he entered at Rome, as there was no room there he was sent to make his Noviceship at Arona (near Milan)'.
1585-1589 Seems to have been at Genoa studying'.
1589 Sent by the General to Lisbon to take the place of Father Robert Rochford in ministering to the sailors and merchants who frequented the port, and lived at the Residence and Church of San Roque. He met with poor students arriving from Ireland or already living precariously in the city, anxious to make their ecclesiastical studies and return as priests to work amongst their countrymen. His immediate problem was feeding and housing them. By questing for alms for the support of these poor Irishmen he was able to meet their immediate and most pressing needs; food; clothing and lodging adequate for study and prayer. But Royal recognition and support were necessary to assure stability to the work. Thanks to the good offices of a Jesuit Pedro Fonseca, the Royal approval was secured and the Irish College, Lisbon, came officially into being on 1 February, 1593. A wealthy nobleman, Antonio Fernando Ximenes, endowed the Chairs of Theology in the College. Howling himself never became Rector of the College he did so much to found. His preference was that his Mission amongst sailors, traders and the refugees from the Elizabethan persecution, would have been impossible if he had been tied down by the problems inseparable from government. He died a martyr of charity during an outbreak of plague in the city 07 march 1599 (though this seems to have been a common date of death for many Jesuits who died in the plague of the time in different parts of Europe). In his busy nine years in Portugal, Howling must have found little leisure for writing yet he can be fairly described as the the first of the modern Irish martyrologists from Bishop Rothe to Bruodin. His opusculum is entitled “Perbreve Compendium in quo contin- entur nonnulli eorum qui .. . in Hybernia, regnante IMPIA REGINA Elizatleth martyrium perpessi sunt”. (Spic.Ossor.l, pp 82 sqq.)

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Houling, (Howlin), John
by Judy Barry

Houling, (Howlin), John (1543/4–1599), Jesuit and martyrologist, was born in Wexford and entered the priesthood at an unknown date. He is first recorded in 1577 when he was at Alcala de Henares, Spain (where he was a friend of William Walsh (qv), the exiled bishop of Meath). He was in Galicia in 1580 and in Lisbon in February 1583. Towards the end of that year he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome and was sent to Milan for his noviciate. In September 1589 he set out for Spain and was directed to a Jesuit house in Lisbon to take the place of Robert Rochford who ministered to Irish sailors and catholic exiles who landed at that port. Many of the exiles were unaccompanied youths and Houling’s concern for their welfare led him to envisage founding a college to provide them with an education. In 1592, he assisted Thomas White (qv), who had encountered similar problems at Valladolid, to establish a college for Irish students at Salamanca, with a royal guarantee of admission to the university.

Shortly after, having raised sufficient money to buy a disused convent, Houling brought his plans for Lisbon to fruition: on 1 February 1593, with the aid of Father Pedro Fonseca, he established the Irish College of St Patrick with an initial enrolment of thirty students. For the next six years he taught in the college and administered its affairs, overcoming its initial financial difficulties with funds provided by the viceroy of Portugal and the assistance of a local nobleman, Antonio Fernando Ximenes, who established an endowment to support fourteen students. In October 1599 plague broke out in Lisbon, and Houling and three fellow Jesuits busied themselves with visiting the sick and distributing food. All four died of the plague. Houling died in Lisbon, but the date recorded (7 March 1599) is clearly notional, having been assigned also to the deaths of a number of Jesuits who died about this time in different parts of Europe.

About 1589, Houling compiled the first native Irish martyrology, ‘Perbreve compendium’, a biographical listing of forty-six Irish people who had suffered for their religion between 1578 and 1588, thirty-nine of whom had died. Almost all were from Munster and south Leinster and most were Anglo-Irish. Rather more than half were lay people. Some of these were people of note, including the 15th earl of Desmond (qv), his brothers James and John (qv) and the brothers of Lord Baltinglass (qv), but there were ordinary people as well, among them a Wexford baker, Matthew Lambert (qv). Two were women, Margaret Ball (qv) and Margery Barnewall, who had suffered persecution for their faith.

Houling, in effect, was ascribing martyrdom to those he believed to have died for their faith in the Desmond, Baltinglass and Nugent rebellions or who had suffered in the aftermath. It is unlikely that he was in Ireland during the decade but he was personally acquainted with some of those whose stories he recorded, including Barnewall whose confessor he had been in Galicia, and his work provides an insight into the way in which exiles perceived events at home. It is preserved in the archives of the Irish College of Salamanca and was printed by Cardinal P. F. Moran (qv) in Spicilegium Ossoriense, i (1874), 82–109.

Edmund Hogan, Distinguished Irishmen of the sixteenth century (1894), 29–47; Irish Jesuit Archives (Leeson St., Dublin), MacErlean transcripts; Proinsias Ó Fionnagáin, SJ, ‘A biographical dictionary of Irish Jesuits in the time of the Society's third mission, 1598–1773’ (unpublished MS, c.1970s); Colm Lennon, The lords of Dublin in the age of reformation (1989), 143, 156–8, 213–14; Alan Ford, ‘Martyrdom, history and memory in early modern Ireland’, Ian McBride (ed.), History and memory in modern Ireland (2001), 43–66

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father John Howling 1542-1599
The name of Fr John Howling deserved to be held in honour and benediction for two reasons : Firstly because he was the founder of the Irish College in Lisbon in 1593, which, in the words of Fr Edmond Hogan “was a momentous event in Irish history, determining in a very great measure, the Catholic future of the country”; Secondly, for his work as a historian. In the midst of his most arduous labours for the faith, he wrote a most valuable account of the Irish martyrs done to death between 1578 and 1588. It is the very first contribution to an Irish Martyrology.

Fr Howling was a Wexford man, born in 1542 and entering the Society in 1573. He was an able writer, and excellent linguist, a man of untiring zeal, and lastly, a Martyr himself, for he died nursing those sick from the plague in Lisbon, on December 13th 1599.

Fr Henry FitzSimon wrote of him : “Fr Howling, by his pains advanced the public good of his country to his greatest power, leaving his memory in continual benediction, and that by him, our sad country hath received many rare helps and supplies, to the gread advancement of God’s glory and the discomfiture of heretics”.

Fr Howling’s name is given by Oliver in his “Collectanea” as “Olongo” (CCXIII), where he refers to him as “This unaccountable name (Q Lynch) as given by Fr Matthioas Tanner, p 347 of “Confessors of the Society of Jesus”.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
HOULING, JOHN This Father is mentioned in the Preface to F. Fitzsimon’s “Treatise on the Mass"

OLINGO, JOHN. This unaccountable name (Q. Lynch ?) is given by F Matthias Tanner, p. 347, “Confessors of the Society of Jesus”, to an Irish Father who died a victim of charity in attending persons attacked with the plague of Lisbon, in the Month of January, 1599.

Born: 17 January 1627, Athlone, County Westmeath
Entered: 31 December 1648, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1654, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 02 February 1665, London, England
Died: 19 August 1705, Irish College, Poitiers, France - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Hugo Hues; Hugo Cullen

Confessor to Queen of England, Catherine of Braganza, for 27 years

“Colan” - called “Cullenam” by Fr Knowles; signs himself as “Colano”; also separate entry has “Hugo Colano alias Hues” as he signs himself in a letter from Paris 13 November 1682
1651 In Philosophy teacher of Mathematics at Lisbon for 4 years
1655 Teacher of Mathematics at Elvas College Lisbon for 4 years
1661 at Évora College
1685 Returned to Ireland from Paris
1690-1696 at Irish College Poitiers and 1697-1703, then Procurator there 1703-1705
RIP Poitiers 19/08/1705 or 1704

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Confused two Entries (1) Heys or Hayes and (2) Hughes or Hues
(1) Heys or Hayes (cf below)
DOB c 1626 Ireland; Ent c 1647;
This Irish Jesuit is described by Father Conn in 1669 as “capellano effectivo della Regina e missionario legittimo” (Battersby “Jesuits” p 79)
Perhaps he is the same as Father Hughes of Hugo Colan
(2) Hughes or Hues
DOB Ireland; Ent c 1671; RIP 19/08/1709 Poitiers (in pencil)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Began his studies (in Portugal?) before Ent at Lisbon 31 December 1648
After First Vows he seems to have made all his studies at Évora and was Ordained there by 1654
He taught Mathematics at Elvas - though his Superiors thought he was better suited to literary subjects.
1661/2 Sent to London and made Final Vows there 02 February 1665
1671 He was Chaplain to Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II and a Court Preacher in England. There he received from here some generous donations for a new Irish College or Novitiate at Athlone, but this money was actually used to found the new Irish College at Poitiers, until the Athlone project could be realised. This Athlone project never got off the ground, even though the thinking was that it could be disestablished in France and moved to Athlone..
During the Titus Oates Plot Cullen was a refugee in France and was acting as Procurator of the Irish Mission. Afterwards he returned to London and was again Chaplain to Queen Catherine. He was later envoy-extraordinary of James II to the court of Lisbon in order to solicit help from Portugal against William of Orange. This mission proved fruitless. He then came to Saint-Germain-en-Laye in service of the exiled James II, and he lived there until at least 1693.
1693 Took up residence as Procurator at the Irish College Poitiers, which he had done so much to found, and he died there 19/08/1705.
In his lifetime he was acknowledged by the General as “bene meritus” of the Society
Though the Athlone project was never realised, at the Suppression of the Society, some considerable part of the foundation was rescued in time by a Scots Jesuit - Crookshank - from a Paris bank. This money later formed part of the purchase money of the Restored Society’s first house in Ireland, Clongowes Wood College.
It is impossible to decide if his name was various spellings of “Cullen” or “Hughes” (his father’s surname and which his mother’s?). This difficulty similarly arises with others such as “D’Arcy/Bermingham” and “Thaly/Johnston”

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father John Hughes 1630-1705
At Poitiers on August 30th 1705 died Fr John Hughes, who may be regarded as the founder of the fortunes of the resuscitated Society in Ireland. He was Chaplain to Catherine of Braganza, Consort of Charles II of England. Through this connection, he came into the possession of a vast sum of money, which he placed at the disposal of Fr General for the use of the Irish Mission.

In particular he wished to found a house of Ours at Athlone, a fact which leads us to suspect that he was born there in 1630. This house was to be a College with a noviceship attached, revenues being sufficient to support a College and 24 novices. A foundation of sorts was made, which lasted only a short while with five of our Fathers. The bulk of the money was used to found our House at Poitiers. What was left formed the nest=egg which our Fathers so wisely invested at the Suppression, and which was afterwards used to purchase Castle Brown. Clongowes.

Fr Hughes, whose name is found in Jesuit letters under various aliases - Hugh Collins; Hugh Cullenan or Colan – resided for 30 years in London, as he hmiself states in a letter dated 1st May 1684.

When he died at Poitiers in 1705, Fr Knowles referred to him as “insignis et praecipus huius missionis benefactor”.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
CULLENAN, HUGH. This Rev, Father was a Chaplain to Catharine, Queen of Charles II. and was mainly instrumental by his influence with her Majesty in procuring a splendid sum towards the erection of the Seminary at Poitiers. For 30 years, as I find by his letter of the 1st of May, 1684, he had resided in London. He was so successful in collecting funds for that establishment as justly to merit the title as its second founder. To the Irish Mission also he proved a generous friend. The year of his death I cannot fix; but F. Knoles, in his letter of the 6th of April, 1714, enumerating , the Fathers who died in exile “tempore bellorum” mentions F. Hugh Cullenan “insignis et praecipuus hujus Missionis Benefactor”.

Born: 04 June 1600, Kilmallock, County Limerick
Entered: 15 April 1623, Lisbon, Portugal - Lisitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1636, Évora, Portugal
Died: 24 June 1682, Kilmallock, County Limerick - Romanae Province (ROM)

Alias O’Hurley
Superior of the Irish Mission 1649

1633-1636 At Évora studying Theology
1639 Came to Mission and was at Limerick in 1649 as Superior, Preacher, Confessor and teaching Humanities
1655-1661 Catalogue At Irish College Lisbon teaching Theology. 4 vows. Talent for letters and public affairs good.
1666 ROM Catalogue Residing with some noblemen 20 miles from Limerick, administering sacraments. Was 20 years on Mission before being exiled to Portugal

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Studied four years each of Philosophy and Theology. knew Portuguese, Irish, English and Latin.

1639 Sent to Irish Mission; Superior of Limerick Residence for three years (HIB CAT 1650 - ARSI)
1649 Superior of the Irish Mission (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
1666 Chaplain to a nobleman - probably a relative - about twenty miles from Limerick and acting as Missioner at that time, which he had done for thirty six years, six of the in exile. (HIB Catalogue 1666- ARSI) (cf Foley’s Collectanea)
Described as a sincerely good and observant of religious discipline, and united by blood or friendship with many gentlemen of the County Limerick. Learned, charitable and humble.
Mercure Verdier - Visitor to Irish Mission - says he came from an ancient Irish noble family.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied at and received Minor Orders (24/02/1623) Irish College Lisbon before Ent 15 April 1623 Lisbon
After First Vows he studied Philosophy at Évora and then spent a period of Regency also at Évora, and remained there for Theology where he was Ordained c 1636. He then went to Coimbra.
1638 Sent to Ireland
1646-1649 Rector at Limerick. During the crisis over the Nuncio's censures, O'Hurley, in common with all the clergy of Limerick, (the Bishop alone excepted) observed the interdict at the Jesuit church. The Superior of the Mission, William Malone, insisted that the Jesuit church be opened but Father O'Hurley withdrew to his relatives in the country. The Visitor Mercure Verdier reported of him “William Hurley, Superior at Limerick is solemnly professed; a deep lover of the religious life, learned and outstanding in the virtues of charity and humility. He is aged about fifty and is in delicate health. He governs according to the mind of the Society. He comes of a noble old Irish family. Father Malone was hostile to him because he observed the interdict. Malone also kept saying that he had no talent for government but I found that the very opposite was the truth and no one has complained about him. At the time of the poor harvest he provided, thanks to his relatives and friends, the food for the community what scarcely anyone else could have done.”
Under the “Commonwealth” he was arrested and deported .
1655-1664/65 Arriving in Lisbon was appointed Professor of Moral Theology at the Irish College
1664/65 Sent to Ireland and worked between Limerick and Cork, using his brother's residence as his Mission centre. He died there 24 June 1682

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
HURLEY, WILLIAM, of a noble stock and family of the ancient Irish. In 1649,he was Superior of his brethren at Limerick, he is described as being a Professed Father, aged about 50, a devout and learned religious, and eminent for charity and humility.

Born:
Entered: 1651,
Ordained:
Died: 31 March 1664. Lisbon, Portugal

◆ Catalogus Defuncti 1641-1740 has Edmundus Kelly (Chelli, Guellus, Quelly) RIP 31/03/1664 Lisbon (HS48 37r Hibern. e t Transtag)

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as “Kelles or Kelly” Ent 1651

◆ Old/15 (1) has “Kelles or Kelly” Ent ante 1651

◆ Old/16 has : “P Edward Kelles or Kelly”; Ent before 1651

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Ent pre 1651;

Rector of Salamanca or Lisbon

Real name probably Kelly

Born: 1714, Ireland
Entered: 1689, Portugal
Ordained:
Died: 14 August, 1762, São Julião, Lisbon, Portugal
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ CATSJ I-Y has DOB Ireland?; Ent LUS; RIP San Julian prison, Portugal

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB England; Ent LUS; RIP Eve of the Assumption 1762 (14/08/1762) São Julião, Lisbon, Portugal

Hogan thinks he may have been an Irishman

Was a prisoner in Brazil and São Julião, Lisbon, Portugal 02/06/1761-14/08/1762

◆ The English Jesuits 1650-1829 Geoffrey Holt SJ : Catholic Record Society 1984
Born 1714 English
Entered Portugal
RIP 24/03/1762 Portugal (Foley 7)

Born: 1589, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 27/08/1661, Rennes, France (”in articulo mortis”)
Ordained: 1614, Cashel, Co Tipperary
Died: 27 August 1661, Rennes, France

Parents Matthew and Juliana Lynch both from distinguished families.
Received early education from his uncle Fr Arthur Lynch. Higher education at Lisbon
1614 Ordained by AB Kearney of Cashel
1618 At Dieppe College teaching Philosophy
1620 Appointed VG by DR Conry AB of Tuam and later by AB Malachy O’Queely
1645 Consecrated Bishop of Killala at Paris 07 May 1645. Member of Supreme Council of Kilkenny. Opposed to Nuncio on Censures, but later publicly renounced opposition.
1649-1652 Worked zealously and had to evade capture,, by hiding in cellars of friends home in Galway 14 months.
1655 Exiled with AB of Tuam and others till death. Lived mostly at Nantes in poverty and prayer, Wrote that the Society had always been loved by him. His funeral was described as more like a canonisation than a funeral. A Jesuit delivered the homily and he is buried in Society grave at Rennes. Reputed to be a “saint”, and miracles attributed to him (Fr General.
Left monies in Ireland for the purchase of a Residence/School for the Society

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Bishop of Killala
His life was written by Dr Lynch “Pii Antistitis Icon”
1660 Father Quin writes to Father General “Dr Kirwan is reputed a saint here”. Miracles were performed by him.
The saintly Father Yong says his obsequies were more like a canonisation than a funeral.
Received into the Society by General Vitelleschi pro articulo mortis 15 January 1640, since he could not be received otherwise at that time.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Matthew and Julia née Lynch
Early studies under an uncle Arthur Lynch and later priestly studies at the Irish College Lisbon.
Ordained in Ireland by Archbishop Kearney of Cashel 1614
1614-1620 Teaching Philosophy in France and spent some time in Louvain, before being appointed Vicar General of Tuam by the exiled Bishop. e exercised this ministry assiduously, visiting many priests and regularly accompanied by various Jesuits, as he was very attached to the Society.
1645 Became Bishop of Killala 06 February 1645.
Exiled under the “Commonwealth” he found refuge with the Jesuits at Rennes. Before or on his death (”in articulo mortis”) he was received into the Society. He died at Rennes and was buried in the Jesuit church of that city

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Kirwan, Francis
by Terry Clavin

Kirwan, Francis (1589–1661), catholic bishop of Killala, was the son of Matthew Kirwan and his wife, Juliana Lynch, both of Galway city. He was taught at Galway by his maternal uncle, Arthur Lynch, who was a priest, and subsequently studied at Lisbon. In 1614 he was ordained a priest by David Kearney (qv), archbishop of Cashel, before travelling to France where he was teaching philosophy at Rouen by 1618. Subsequently, his uncle William Lynch removed Kirwan (against his wishes) to Louvain in the Spanish Netherlands. There he impressed Florence Conry (qv), archbishop of Tuam, who sent Kirwan back to Ireland in 1620 to act as vicar general of the archdiocese of Tuam.

Kirwan was indefatigable in attending to his duties as vicar general and effective head of the catholic church in Connacht, travelling to the most remote areas of the archdiocese. His ascetic lifestyle and modest demeanour earned him the respect and awe of the catholic laity, although he was criticised for his tendency to favour the hospitality of wealthy catholics. He worked particularly hard to ensure that his clergy met strict counter-reformation standards, stipulating that each priest could have only one parish, and supervising those training to become priests. Generally the local authorities turned a blind eye to his activities and Kirwan seems to have been on friendly terms with William Daniel (qv), the protestant archbishop of Tuam. Indeed, his main opposition came from his own clergy, many of whom preferred a more lax brand of catholicism.

Conry died in 1629, but his successor as archbishop of Tuam, Malachy O'Queely (qv), retained Kirwan as vicar general. About 1637 he decided to depart for France to preside over the education of a group of Irish youths there. They settled at Caen and were maintained for several years by funds sent from Ireland. However, the beginning of a long period of warfare in Ireland in 1641 meant that this revenue source was cut off. Kirwan's scholars dispersed and he travelled again to France, where he attempted unsuccessfully to gather together the Irish students under his leadership and tried to organise the sending of arms to the catholics in Ireland. During this period he also befriended Vincent de Paul.

As early as 1625 Kirwan had been recommended for a bishopric, and on 7 May 1645 he was consecrated bishop of Killala at the church of St Lazarus in Paris. He travelled to Ireland and, after being warmly received by the supreme council of the Catholic Confederation at Kilkenny, took possession of his see in October 1646. The most powerful local lord was Ulick Burke (qv), marquess of Clanricard, a strong royalist with whom Kirwan became close. As well as attending to his pastoral duties, he frequently travelled to Kilkenny and Waterford to participate in the confederate assemblies.

In June 1646, along with the rest of the catholic hierarchy, Kirwan supported the decision of the papal nuncio GianBattista Rinuccini (qv) to excommunicate those who adhered to the alliance between the Catholic Confederation and the protestant royalists. However, his association with Clanricard put him on the moderate wing of the church and increasingly at odds with the nuncio. In May 1648 he was among the minority of bishops who opposed Rinuccini's excommunication of those who supported the truce between the confederates and Murrough O'Brien (qv), Lord Inchiquin, the commander of the protestant forces in Munster. Later that year he helped Archbishop John Bourke (qv) of Tuam celebrate mass at the collegiate church in Galway, in defiance of the nuncio's interdict. His stance was vociferously opposed by his own diocesan clergy, who complained against him to Rinuccini.

From 1649 to 1652 he was active in the last struggles of the confederates and strongly supported Clanricard, who became royalist lord deputy of Ireland in 1650, against the more hard-line members of the hierarchy. He was also involved in efforts to persuade the duke of Lorraine to intervene in Ireland on behalf of the catholics. After the Cromwellian forces had completed their conquest of Connacht in the summer of 1652, he spent nearly two years in hiding, constantly pursued by the authorities. Weary and in poor health, he gave himself up in Galway in 1654, before being freed in December that year on condition that he left Ireland within two months. In the event, he sailed into Nantes with other exiled catholic clergy in August 1655. He spent two years there before settling in Brittany. Virtually destitute on his arrival in Nantes, he was maintained by grants from the French clergy and by the patronage of noblewomen. He also repented of his past opposition to Rinuccini, and in 1655 appealed to Rome for absolution, which he received two years later. He died 27 August 1661 at Rennes and was buried in the Jesuit church there. Long an admirer of the Jesuits, he was admitted as a member of their order on his deathbed.

Laurence Renehan, Collections on Irish church history (1861), i, 397–8; G. Aiazzi, The embassy in Ireland of Monsignor G. B. Rinuccini, trans. A. Hutton (1873), 468; J. T. Gilbert, A contemporary history of affairs in Ireland. . . (3 vols, 1879), i, 653; ii, 141, 191; iii, 124, 178; John Lynch, The portrait of a pious bishop; or the life and death of Francis Kirwan (1884), passim; J. T. Gilbert, History of the Irish confederation. . . (7 vols, 1882–91), iii, 183; vi, 211–12, 226; vii, 58, 213; Comment. Rinucc., vi, 126, 191–2; Patrick Corish, ‘Rinuccini's censure of 27 May 1648’, Ir. Theol. Quart., xviii, no. 4 (Oct. 1951), 322–37; Peter Beresford-Ellis, Hell or Connaught (1988), 106–8; T. Ó hAnnracháin, Catholic reformation in Ireland (2002), 238

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
Francis Kirwan, Bishop of Killala (his Lordship had obtained to be admitted into the Society “pro bona mortis”, and was buried in the Jesuits Church at Rennes)

Born: 1583, County Waterford / Oporto, Portugal
Entered: 20 April 1599, Santiago de Compostella, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Left Society of Jesus: 04 January 1611

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as “Lea” Ent 1598
◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as “Lea” Ent 1599 and there is one earlier as Ent 1598

◆ Old/15 (1) has “John St Leger” in pencil and Ent 1598-9
◆ Old/15 (1) has a “John Lee” Ent 1599

◆ Old/16 has : “P John Lee”; DOB 1583 Kilkenny; Ent 1598 Santiago; RIP between 1609 and 1617

◆ CATSJ I-Y has “De Lega (Lea?)”; DOB Waterford;
In Hogan’s hand : John Lee 1599, before 1627
1606 John De Lega At Valladolid College age 23 in Soc 7
1627 John De Lea in 3rd year Theology at Seville

In CAT Chron p11 there is a John Lee of Kilkenny : Is it he who was a fellow Novice of Dominic Collins p149

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB Kilkenny 1583; Ent 1598 Compostella’ RIP 1609-1917

Fellow Novice with Richard Walshe and Dominic Collins at Santiago de Compostella

◆ Calendar of MacErlean Transcipts Addenda Irishmen who entered Rome and Spain 1561-1772 (Finegan)
John de Lega (Lea?) 16 native of Waterdord Oporto in Portrugal, of Irish parents from Waterford -
Studied Grammar for three years
20 April 1599 Entered CAST

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
LEE, JOHN, Father (Irish), son of Walter Lee, of Kilkenny ; born in Kilkenny 1583; entered the Society 1598 (Father Hogan's list), and was fellow-novice at St. James', Compostella, with Father Richard Walshe and Brother Dominic Collins the martyr. (See State Paper; Father Hogan's Ibernia; D. Collins.) He died between 1609 and 1617. (Hogan's list.)

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773

John Lea

He was born in 1583, and entered the Society in the Province of Castille, April 20, 1599. His parents eere from the city of Waterford, but it is uncertain whether he was born there or in Oporto, whither his parents had migrated.

After his Noviceship he was sent to the Jesuit College of Santiago for his Philosophical studies, but entered on his Theological studies at the College of St Ambrose, Valladolid.

His career cannot be traced in the absence of contemporary Catalogi after 1607, when he was in his third year of Theology. Correspondence however, of 1608-1610, indicates that he was wavering in his vocation as his parents were in want and in need of his help. The letters also refer to him as El hermano Juan showing that he had not been ordained Priest. He was now living at Salamanca in 1610, but some months later was in Burgos.

The General finally, January 4, 1611, allowed him to leave the Society.

Born: 1567, Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 1586, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1594, Lisbon, Portugal
Professed: 1616
Died: 27 January 1624, Clonmel, County Tipperary

Alias Leinagh

1590-1592: Studying Theology at Funchal College, Madeira (LUS) Age 21 Soc 3.
1597: At St Anthony’s College Lisbon, Minister and Confessor there since 1594.
1600: Came to Mission Was Superior in West Munster, ie Limerick, Waterford and Clonmel.
1616: Catalogue Prefect of Ours in Residence of Munster some years. Was Consultor some years in Spain. Delicate in health a good Moral Theologian. Prudent though sometimes choleric, though inclined to meekness. Governs with tact, esteemed by the people.
1621: Catalogue Better suited for practical than speculative subjects.
1622: Catalogue Consultor in East Munster.
ARSI “A man of great prudence, circumspect, zealous and energetic. Had special credit and authority. There was a Nicholas Lynach at Newgate Prison 1598 or 1599.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
He wrote from St Anthony’s College Lisbon, Portugal, 25 September 1598, begging to be sent to the “holy and happy Irish Mission”.
He was assigned to Munster with Andrew Morony, and known to be in Ireland 1617.
In a letter from Fr Lawndry (vere Holywood) to Richard Conway 14 November 1611 (Irish Ecclesiastical Record April 1874) he says “Of the west part of the Southern Province Nicholas Lynach hath care, assisted only by Thomas Shine and Thomas Bourke, save what help he hath from Andrew Morony” (cf "Hibernia Ignatiana for several more letters).
Alive in 1622.
He was a man of talent; a great Preacher; “hath” says the Attorney General “special credit and authority” (State Papers); “Circumspect, zealous and energetic” (Holywood)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1588-1590: After First Vows he spent two years Regency at Évora and Funchal, Madeira.
1590-1594: His studies were limited to a course in Moral Theology in Lisbon and he was Ordained there c 1594.
1594-1601: Operarius at Irish College, Lisbon and Minister for a while.
1601: Sent to Ireland in February. Most of his work was done in Munster, though he did visit many parts of Connacht during his first decade back in the country with Andrew Mulrony
1610: Consultor of Mission.
1621: Stationed at Clonmel where he died 27 January 1624 and is buried at St Mary’s Church, Clonmel

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Nicholas Leynich SJ 1567-1624
The names of Fr Walter Wale and Fr Barnaby O’Kearney are always linked together for many reasons, so also the names of Nicholas Leynich and Andrew Morony. Both were born in Clonmel around the same time, entered the Society within a few years of each other, and finally come to Ireland together in 1601, and laboured both outstandingly in Munster.

Nicholas Leynich was born in the 60’s of the sixteenth century in Clonmel, entering the Society in Spain in 1586. In a letter dated 25th September 1598, from St Antony’s College, Lisbon, he pleaded with the General to be sent on the Irish Mission. He got his request, and worked with such great profit of souls, that he was marked out by the authorities as one of their greatest enemies. The Superior at the time, Christopher Holywood entrusted him with a great deal of the governance of the province of Munster and Connaught.

He was engaged for a few years in the educational work in Dublin along with Frs Field and Wale. His death occurred some time after 1622.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
LYNCH,NICHOLAS, (sometimes called Leynach) applied from St. Anthony College, Lisbon, 25th September, 1598, “to be named, though an unworthy and useless servant, amongst the labourers in the holy and happy mission of Ireland”. His earnest petition was granted. Minister was assigned to him and his colleague, F. Andrew Morony, as a field for Apostolic labor : and this Province had cause to say in the words of the Acts xvi. 17. “These men are servants of the High God, who declare the way of salvation”. In a letter dated, “ex desertis Hyberniae”, the 3rd of April, 1605, “he recommends that none be sent over to this Mission, but men that are ripe and sedate, conversant with the Institute of the Society, interior, solid, and mortified men; for such are truly required for this new plantation; not indiscreet young men, conceited in their own judgment”. F. Nicholas was still living in February, 1622.

Born: 1601, County Waterford
Entered: 1616, Évora, Portugal (LUS)

Left Society of Jesus: 1623

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 1616 and Old/15 (1)

◆ Old/15 (1) has in pencil in one copy Ent 1618/9

◆ Old/16 has : “P Paul Lombard”; DOB 1601 Waterford; Ent 1616 Portugal; RIP post 1634

◆ CATSJ I-Y has Ent Evora 1618
1617 of Waterford age 16 Soc 1 in Portugal
1618 Ent at Évora Age 18

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB 1601 Waterford; Ent 1616 Portugal; RIP post 1634

◆ Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773

He was born in 1601, and entered the Society in Portugal in 1617/1618. His name occurs in the Catalogus of 1619, and he is described as a Novice at Évora, and already fifteen months there. Nothing further is known of him in the Society.

A Paul Lombard took the student’s oath at Salamanca December 18, 1623. Father Paul Sherlock, in annotating a list of Salamanca students, seems to have identified both the former Novice and the student”- “Paul Lombard, of Waterford, 1623, entered the Society, but afterwards left it”.

Born: 1685, County Galway
Entered: 21 November 1709 - Braziliae Province (BRA)
Final Vows: 15 August 1722
Died: 16 February 1761, Rome, Italy - Braziliae Province (BRA)

Provincial Braziliae Province (BRA)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica”
A relative of Br William Lynch - RIP 1774 - probably
1738 In Brazil (in pen)
“The celebrated Father Thomas Lynch, ex-Provincial of Brazil, and greatly esteemed for learning, sanctity and apostolic labours, was imprisoned with his brethren of Bahia, put on board a man-of-war and their own ship (a fine vessel built by order of Father Lynch under the direction of a Scotch Temporal Coadjutor, an excellent mariner”. So says Father Thorpe in a letter from Rome, August 6. He met Father Lynch in Rome and heard from him all the horrors through which he and 260 Jesuits passed on their way to Europe. They were stowed away under deck and otherwise treated like Guinea slaves. (Father Thorpe’s letter at Stonyhurst and a contemporary copy at Milltown Park)

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
Early studies in Lisbon
Very distinguished career as Professor at Pernambuco and Bahia
1733-1740 Socius to 2 Provincials
1741-1746 Rector of Olinda College (near Recife)
1746-1750 Rector of Rio de Janeiro College
1750-1754 Provincial of Brazil
1759 Pombal ordered expulsion of Jesuits and travelled to Rome arriving in 1760

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Thomas Lynch SJ 1685-1761
Father Thomas Lynch was born in Galway in 1685 and did his early studies in Lisbon.

In 1709 he entered the Society for the Brazilian Province. He had a very distinguished career as a professor at Pernambuco and Bahia. He acted as Socius to two Provincials, 1733-1740, then became Rector of the College of Olinda and also Rio de Janeiro. Drom 1750 to 1754 he was Provincial of Brazil. When by order of Pombal the Jesuits were expelled from Brazil in 1759, Fr Thomas shared the sufferings of his brothers. He survived the almost incredible hardships of the voyage and landed in Italy in 1760, but died the following year in Rome.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
LYNCH, THOMAS, one of the 260 Jesuits, and victims of Portuguese tyrannical iniquity, who arrived at Civita Vecchia, from the Brazils, in the summer of 1760. In a letter of F. John Thorpe, dated Rome, the 6th of August, that year, he mentions the arrival of 20 of these Confessors of Christ, the evening before, in the Eternal City, and says, “I found one, who spoke English. He proved to be the celebrated F. Thomas Lynch, formerly a Provincial in the Brazils, and greatly esteemed for learning, sanctity and apostolical labours amongst the English there, as well as the Indians. He is 75 years old, and had retired to the College of Bahia, where he was spiritual Father, when he was suddenly seized with his brethren, by the Portuguese Government, and hurried on board a ship, bound to Lisbon:. They were all kept under the hatches during the voyage, like so many Guinea slaves!

Born: Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 1605, Portugal (LUS)
Died: post 1609
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet

◆ Old/15 (1) has Ent 1605

◆ Old/16 has : DOB Galway; Ent 1605 Portugal; RIP 1609 ?

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB Galway; Ent 1605 Portugal; RIP post 1609

He is only mentioned in the CAT 1609

Born: 1712, Ireland
Entered: 1735, Brazil Province - Brasiliae Province (BRA)
Died: 25 April 1774, São Julião, Lisbon, Portugal - Brasiliae Province (BRA)

1751 Appears in Catalogue
11/05/1769 Transferred from Prison of Azeitão to São Julião
Thought to be age 62 at death

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Was of BRA, and possibly a relative of Thomas Lynch, the Provincial of BRA.
He was imprisoned first at Azeitão, and again at São Julião, Lisbon 11 May 1769. He died there 25 April 1774 (Carayon and De Mürr)

◆ Fr John MacErlean SJ :
Belonged to BRA Province at time of expulsion. Possibly a relation of Fr Thomas Lynch.
1759-1769 along with 124 Jesuits, imprisoned by Pombal at Azeitão in Portugal
1769 Transferred to São Julião dungeons

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Brother William Lynch SJ 1712-1774
Brother William Lynch, probably a relation of Fr Thomas Lynch, Provincial of Brazil, was attached to the Brazilian Province at the time of the expulsion.

He, like many other Jesuits, was imprisoned by Pombal at Azeitao in Portugal in 1759. He spent ten years in that prison until he was transferred to the still more terrible dungeons of St Julian. He died in this prison five years later in 174, aged 62.

An unknown and unsung martyr of the Society.

Born: 06 February 1586, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 24 September 1606, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: 1615, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows: 21 April 1624
Died: 18 August 1656, Irish College, Seville, Spain

Superior Irish Mission 20 April 1647-1650 and 27 June 1654

Educated at Portugal, Rome and Irish College Douai
1614 At Évora LUS in 3rd years Theology
1617 In Ireland Age 31 Soc 11
1621 Catalogue Talent prudence and judgment good. Gentle, a good preacher.
1622-1626 In Ireland
1638-1647 Rector Irish College Rome (Arch I C Rome Lib V 199) - 10 May 1647 (in 1642 Fr Richard Shelton is Prefect)
1650 Catalogue 65 years old on Mission 35 - Superior Irish College Rome and Sup Irish Mission 3 years
1655 Catalogue In Professed House Seville “Hospes HIB and operarius”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
The family had the title “Baron Sunderlin”
Very placid and gentle; A Good Preacher; Provincial; Writer; A good religious; Rector in Rome and Seville;
Irish Catalogues of 1609, 1621 and 1636 call him “Dublinensis”. In Foley’s Collectanea evidence is produced in favour of his being a native of Manchester. The author is of the view that Simon Malone was married in Manchester and returned home, or, that he took William to be educated in Manchester as “Harry Fitzsimon, and had him baptised there and that William was then sent to Rome.
William Malone Esq of Lismullen is on the Roll of Attainders of 1642
After First Vows did two years Philosophy and four Theology; He was proficient in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Latin.
Sent to Ireland 1615; Preacher and Confessor many years; Rector of Irish College Rome; Superior Irish Mission for three years (HIB Catalogue 1650)
Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS says DOB 1586. After studies in Rome and Portugal was sent to Ireland 1617, his name is on a list in 1617 (Irish Ecclesiastical Record August 1874);
Sent to Rome in 1635 as Rector of Irish College; Made Superior of Irish Mission 23 December 1647, succeeding Robert Nugent.
Taken prisoner at the siege of Waterford and deported. He went to Seville, and there he was appointed Rector of St Gregory’s 1651-1655 and he died there 15/08/1655 age 70.
His famous work dedicated to King Charles I : “A Reply to Mr James Ussher, his answere”, 1627, was published at Douai (cf de Backer “Biblioth. des Écrivains SJ”; Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS.
Hollingsworth - of “Christ College” - states he was born in Manchester 1592. This is supported by the paper by Rev Laurence Canon Toole SS, of St Wilfred’s Manchester, regarding his birthplace (Chronicle of Manchester at Chetham Library, also published as “Mancunis” in 1839). “Anno 1592, was borne in Manchester, William son of Simon Malone, a young man with pregnant wife, he was tempted by some Irish merchants till the rebellion broke out 1649... Seduced from the Reformed to the Romish religion, of which he became one of the most earnest and able assertors; he made a reply to Archbishop Usher’s answer to the “Jesuite’s Challenge”, but he was overmatched, his adversary being more eminently learned, and having truth on his syde
“Thomas de Warre, subsequently by inheritance, Lord de Warre, a priest and rector, or parson of the Parish Church of Manchester in the reign of Henry V, founded a college to be attached to that Church for the daily celebration of the Divine Office. This College was dissolved in the first of Edward VI; it was refounded by Queen Mary; suppressed again in the first of Elizabeth, and refounded again under the name :”Christ College” in 1578.
Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS gives date of RIP as 15 August 1655 age 70, making his birth 1586, six years earlier than Hollingsworth, who may have assumed date of Baptism to be DOB. There continues to be dispute about his place of birth in that his father’s name is in the marriage register in Manchester, and there is an entry in the burial register which suggests continual living in Manchester “1597, April 29, an infant douter of Symon Mallon”.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Early education was at Douai
After First Vows he studied Philosophy at the Roman College and Theology at Évora and Coimbra (LUS) where he was Ordained 1615
1615 Sent to Ireland and Dublin. He immediately became involved in a controversy with James Ussher (afterwards Protestant Archbishop of Dublin). Ussher’s book “An answer to a challenge made by a Jesuit in Ireland” (1625) was triumphantly refuted by Malone in a work entitled “A Reply to Mr . James Ussher, his Answer”, published in Douai which reduced Ussher to silence and encouraged the Catholics.
1626-1637 Sent as Procurator to Rome
1637-1642 Rector of Irish College at Rome 10 December 1637. While in office he secured for the College the house in the Via Baccina, where it remained until the suppression
1642-1647 Prefect of Studies at Irish College Rome until 20 April 1647
1647-1650 Superior Irish Mission 20 April 1647. In more normal times he would have been eminently equipped for the duties of Superior in view of his past successes as a missionary priest in Ireland and an administrator at Rome. But taking into account the complicated politico-religious state of Ireland in 1647 and his long absence abroad he proved quite somewhat challenged by the tasks awaiting him. He identified himself with the Ormondist faction, quarreled with Rinuccini and caused a rift between his subjects of Old Irish and Anglo-Irish origin. In the first months following the “Censures” he was away temporarily and had entrusted the Office to John Young, and he had neglected to inform the General of the evolving crisis. It has been suggested that his actions later demonstrated that he sides with the small Ormondist faction on the Mission who had publicly sided with the “Confederation” against the Nuncio. In his 1649 Report to the General on the Irish Mission, Mercure Verdier recommended that he be replaced in office as soon as he had finished three years, but not before tat so as to avoid trouble with the Confederation. In the event, the General died 08/06/1949 and the election of his successor 21 January 1650, it became possible to replace Malone without incurring the displeasure of the Confederation.,
1650 He was replaced in office in January 1650, and was a very zealous missioner, but he was asked to act as Vice-Superior, 1653, on the arrest of William St. Leger. Despite the advice of the Visitor Mercure Verdier, he was again appointed Mission Superior 27 June 1654, but as he was then in prison he could not assume office. He was then deported to Spain and appointed Rector of the Irish College, Seville, 27 October 1655. By this stage he was in somewhat broken health, and much of the administration involved on the rectorship was devolved to his companion John Ussher. He died at Seville 18 August 1656
(Addendum. William Malone published in 1611 the first English translation of the works of - the then Blessed - Teresa of Avilá)

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Malone, William
by Terry Clavin

Malone, William (1586–1656), Jesuit, was born 6 December 1586 in Dublin, the son of Simon Malone, a local merchant, and his wife, Margaret Bexwick from Manchester. He studied humanities at Douai before entering the Society of Jesus on 24 September 1606 at Sant’ Andrea, Rome. After completing his theology course at the Roman college, he went to Portugal, where he studied theology at Evora and Coimbra and was ordained in 1615. He was sent to Ireland in 1615 on the Jesuit mission and was based in Dublin for the next eleven years.

Shortly after arriving in Ireland and at the request of his protestant friend Sir Piers Crosby (qv), he drew up a brief outline of the fundamentals of the catholic faith. Crosby brought this statement to James Ussher (qv), at that time professor of divinity at TCD and rector of Finglas. Malone then wrote a challenge for Ussher, asking of the protestant clergy when it was that the catholic church had fallen into error and how was it that the protestant faith could be true if it rejected a number of tenets held by the early church. Crosby brought this statement to Ussher and a relatively amicable private correspondence ensued between the two clerics as they debated the tenets of the early fathers of the church. Eventually, in 1624 Ussher published an expanded response to Malone's initial challenge. As the publication of catholic literature was prohibited in Ireland, Malone left for the Spanish Netherlands in 1626 and then arranged for the publication at Douai of his A Reply to Mr. James Ussher his answer (1627). In the Reply Malone details disagreements among protestant theologians and argues that the contrasting unity of the catholic church was the surest sign of the rightness of its claim to be the one true church. He notes that whereas previously protestant divines had based their arguments solely on scripture, they have more recently come to agree with the catholic position that the church fathers constitute an important religious authority. Controversially he dedicated the Reply to Charles I and declared that not even the pope could draw the catholics of Ireland from their obedience to their rightful king. Such fulsome expressions of loyalty met with the disapproval of many of Malone's fellow clergy and compatriots. The Reply eventually found its way into circulation in Dublin c.1629–30, after which, at Ussher's behest, three protestant writers published between 1632 and 1641 rejoinders to Malone's work, each dealing with a different topic in the debate.

After the publication of the Reply, Malone was sent to Rome to act as procurator of the Irish Jesuits there. From 1637 to 1647 he was rector of the Irish college in Rome and seems to have performed this task with great distinction. On hearing that Malone intended resigning as rector, the Jesuit superior in Ireland, Thomas Nugent, wrote to Rome in March 1641 begging that Malone remain at his post. Nonetheless he did resign in 1642, but remained in the college as prefect of studies until 1647.

He returned to Ireland that year to become superior of the Jesuit mission in Nugent's stead and soon found himself caught up in the political turmoil of those times. In May 1648 the papal nuncio to Ireland, GianBattista Rinuccini (qv), excommunicated all those who adhered to the truce between the supreme council of the Catholic Confederation and the protestant forces in Munster. He also prohibited church services and the normal administration of the sacraments throughout Ireland. This act divided the catholic laity and clergy and put Malone in a very difficult position. On one hand, the Irish Jesuits were predominantly the sons of wealthy Old English landowners, a group who broadly sympathised with the supreme council. Malone himself was Old English and supported the truce with Inchiquin. Indeed, he appears to have opposed the admission of Gaelic Irish clergy into the Jesuits and, unusually for a catholic clergyman, spoke no Irish. Given these views, it is not surprising that his relations with Rinuccini, whose most reliable supporters tended to be Gaelic Irish, had been tense. However, on the other hand, the Jesuit order stood for obedience to the pope above all else, and could hardly defy his representative in Ireland.

Malone finessed the situation with some skill, but little success, by ordering the Irish Jesuits to follow the example of their diocesan bishop regarding the nuncio's interdict. As most of the Jesuit houses were located in the dioceses of bishops who supported the supreme council this meant that, in effect, the Jesuit order did not observe the interdict. Only in Limerick did the Jesuit house defy the local bishop, and by implication Malone, by observing the interdict. Moreover, many Jesuits actively encouraged the supreme council's defiance of the nuncio and in August 1648 six leading Jesuits signed a declaration supporting the supreme council. At some point in late 1648, Malone visited Rinuccini in Galway city in an effort to convince him of his good intentions. However, the nuncio regarded Malone's behaviour as treachery and believed that the Jesuits played a major role in the failure of his excommunication to defeat the supreme council.

Meanwhile, the Jesuit general in Rome, Vincenzo Carafa, ordered Malone to travel to Bordeaux to explain his behaviour (which he declined to do) and sent Mercure Verdier to Ireland as Jesuit visitor, to ascertain the situation in Ireland. After meeting Rinuccini in Galway, Verdier travelled to Kilkenny to hear Malone and his supporters state their case. Recognising the depth of opposition to Rinuccini within the order, Verdier did not remove Malone from his position, and absolved the Irish Jesuits from Rinuccini's censures. The latter act angered the Jesuits who held that Rinuccini's interdict was invalid.

By the spring of 1650 Malone was in Waterford city, which was being besieged by Cromwellian forces. A plague broke out and Malone and other Jesuits were active tending to the sick and dying. The same year, he was replaced by Thomas Nugent as head of the Jesuit mission in Ireland. Following the fall of Waterford in 1651, Malone went into hiding and was eventually captured in Dublin in 1654. Initially sentenced to death, this was commuted to transportation to Barbados, before he was simply put on a ship for Cadiz in 1655. On 27 October 1655 he was appointed rector of the Irish college at Seville. However, his health was failing and most of the work was carried out by his colleague John Ussher, who succeeded Malone as rector following his death in Seville on 13 August 1656.

C. R. Elrington and J. H. Todd, The whole works of James Ussher, 17 vols (1847–64), iii, 3–5; W. J. Battersby, The Jesuits in Ireland (1854), 70–72; Annie Hutton, The embassy in Ireland (1873), 399, 413, 468–9, 473–5; Michael J. Hynes, The mission of Rinuccini (1932), 264–5, 297; Comment. Rinucc., vi, 139–40; D.Cath.B., ix, 573; Francis Finegan, ‘Irish rectors at Seville, 1619–1687’, IER, ser. 5., no. 106 (July–Dec. 1966), 45–63; D. Gaffney, ‘The practice of religious controversy in Dublin, 1600–41’, W. J. Sheils and D. Wood (ed.), The churches, Ireland and the Irish (1989), 145–58; Louis McRedmond, To the greater glory (1991), 49, 70–73, 78–9, 82–4; Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin, Catholic reformation in Ireland (2002), 241–3; Alan Ford, James Ussher (2005), 62, 67–8

◆ James B Stephenson SJ The Irish Jesuits Vol 1 1962
William Malone (1647-1650)
William Malone was born at Dublin on 6th February, 1586. After studying humanities and rhetoric at Douay, he entered the Novitiate of Sant' Andrea in Rome on 24th September, 1606. He studied philosophy at the Roman College, and theology at Evora and Coimbra in Portugal. Returning to Ireland in 1615, he was stationed in the district of Dublin. Soon after he became engaged in a controversy with James Usher, afterwards Protestant Primate. Usher's book, “An Answer to a Challenge made by a Jesuite in Ireland”, 1625, was triumphantly refuted by Fr Malone in a work entitled “A Reply to Fr James Usher, his Answer”, published at Douay in 1627, which reduced Usher to silence and encouraged Catholics greatly. In 1620 Fr Malone was made a Consultor of the Mission. On 11th April, 1624, he made his solemn profession of four vows. In 1626 he was sent as Procurator to Rome. When the administration of the Irish College, Rome, was given to the Society of Jesus by the will of the founder, Cardinal Ludovisi (1635), Fr Malone was selected to become Rector, but various obstacles arose which prevented him taking up that duty until 10th December, 1637. During his term of office he secured for the College the house in the Via Baccina, where it remained till the suppression of the Society. He ceased to be Rector on 1st February, 1642, but remained on as Prefect of Studies and Confessor till 20th April, 1647, when he was appointed Superior of the Irish Mission. During the dissensions that arose among Catholics on the occasion of the Nuncio Rinuccini's censures, he was a strong partisan of the Ormondist faction, and was in consequence denounced to Rome by the Nuncio. The General on 5th September, 16148, appointed a Visitor of the Irish Mission, and ordered Fr Malone to withdraw quietly to France. The Visitor, Fr Maurice Verdier, who arrived at Galway on 28th December, 1648, reported that it would be inadvisable to remove him just at that time. By the death of the General, on 8th June, 1649, all changes of Superiors were, with the approbation of the Holy See, suspended till a new General should be elected. Fr. Francis Piccolomini was elected on 21st December, 1649, and a few weeks later Fr Malone's Socius, Fr George Dillon, was appointed Superior of the Mission.

William Malone (1654)
Fr William Malone, who acted as Vice-Superior of the Irish Mission when Fr. William St Leger was exiled, was appointed Superior of the Mission for the second time on 27th June, 1654, but the General's letter to that effect can hardly have reached him before he, too, was tracked down by spies. To save his host he delivered himself up, and was sentenced to death. This sentence was afterwards changed to one of transportation to the Barbadoes; but just before he was put on board a ship sailing thither, another order arrived that he should be handed over to the captain of a ship bound for Cadiz. After many adventures he arrived there, and was appointed Rector of the Irish College at Seville on 27th October, 1655. But worn out by hardships he died there on 18th August, 1656, regretting the crown of martyrdom had escaped him.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father William Malone 1586-1656
William Malone was born in Dublin on February 6th 1586. After pursuing his studies at Douai, he entered the Socirty in Rome in 1606.
Returning to Ireland as a priest, he was stationed in Dublin where, like Fr Fitzsimon before him, he engaged in controversy with the Protestants, and became the great champion of the Catholics. He made his name in a clash with James Usher, afterwards Protestant Primate. The latter published a book entitled “An Answer to a Challenge made by a Jesuit in Ireland”. Fr Malone replied with his famous work “A Reply to Mr James Usher, his Answer”, published at Douai in 1627, which reduced Usher to silence and greatly encouraged the Catholics.

Fr Malone was the first Rector if the Irish College in Rome, when that institution was willed to the Jesuits by its founder, Cardinal Ludovisi in 1637. Ten years later Fr Malone was appointed Superior of the Irish Mission.

During the dissensions which arose among Catholics during Rinuccini’s mission, Fr Malone sided quite definitely with the Ormondist faction. As a result, he was denounced to Rome by the Nuncio, and the General appointed a Visiitor, Fr Verdier, to inquire into the state of affairs in Ireland. The General had in fact ordered Fr Malone to withdraw to the continent. It is interesting to note that the Visitor, after his investigations, advised against this course.

On the death of the General, his successor Fr Piccolini appointed Fr George Dillon as Superior in 1649. When Fr William St Leger, the next Superior after Fr Dillon was banished from Ireland, Fr Malone acted as Vice Superior, and was himself again appointed Superior in 1654. However, he was tracked down by spies, and to save his host he gave himself up.

He was banished to the Barbadoes, but the order was changed, and instead he was sent to Cadiz. On his arrival at Cadiz he was appointed Rector of the Irish College in Seville, but worn out by the hardships, he died there on August 18th 1656, regretting the crown of martyrdom which had escaped him.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MALONE, WILLIAM, a native of Dublin : enrolled himself at Rome, in 1606, amongst the Children of St. Ignatius. After pursuing his studies in that city, and finishing them in Portugal, he was ordered to the Irish Mission, to which during nearly a quarter of a century he rendered good service by his splendid talents, apostolic zeal, and extraordinary prudence. Recalled from Dublin, where he was Superior of his brethren, in the early part of the year 1635, to preside over the Irish College of St. Patrick at Rome, founded by Cardinal Ludovisi, he continued its Rector during the space of several years. Of his talents for government his brethren had formed the highest opinions. In a letter now before me addressed by F. Robert Nugent, the Superior of the Irish Mission, to the General Vitelleschi, of the 14th of March, 1641, he earnestly conjures him “not to yield to his petition of being released from the Rectorship of the College, however painful such pre-eminence may be that he knows no one at present qualified to succeed him in that office that there is not one of his brethren so conversant with the state of this Kingdom and Mission none so thoroughly acquainted with the character of the Irish youth as F. Malone”. On the 23rd of December, 1647, F. Malone was appointed Superior of the Irish Mission in the place of the said F. Nugent. His superiority fell in most difficult times.
In a letter dated Waterford, the l5th of March, 1649, he says, how thankful he should be to be relieved from it that the burthen was heavier on his shoulders than Mount Etna, insomuch that he could say with the Apostle (2 Cor. i. 8 ), he “was even weary of life”. Naturally of a most placid disposition, he found it impossible, during the period of the Interdict, to give satisfaction to the Party supporting the Nuncio, John Baptist Rinuccini * (a prelate ignorant of the country, and of very high pretensions ), and the conflicting interests of the supreme Council at Kilkenny. During the siege of Waterford, he was in the town : on its capture by the enemies of the Catholic Faith, he was apprehended and sent into banishment. On reaching Seville his talents for government were put in requisition, as Rector of F. Gregory’s College in that city. There he consummated his course of usefulness by the death of the righteous, in August, 1656, act. 70.
F. Malone will always rank among the ablest Champions of Orthodoxy in that immortal work entitled “A Reply to Mr James Ushers His Answere”, 4to. 1627, pp. 717. It was printed at Douay; but F. Southwell incorrectly fixes the date of publication to the year 1608. The admirable dedication of the work to King Charles I is abundant evidence of the Author’s loyalty and undivided Allegiance, as well as of his Patriotism. Harris’s notice of this truly learned work satisfies me, that he had never ventured to read it. See p. 130, Book I. Writers of Ireland. Doctor Synge, Archbishop of Tuam, and Dr. Joshua Hoyle, would have consulted their literary fame, had they not attempted to grapple with F. Malone.

• The Latin Report of his Nunciature in Ireland is in the Holkam Library, and as translated by Archdeacon Glover, may be read in the Catholic Miscellany of October, November, and December, 1829. See also “Hiberaia Dominicana”, also Third Section of the “Political Catechism”, by T. Wyse, Esq. London, 1829. Lord Castleniaine, p. 277, of the “Catholic Apology”, 3rd edition, says that “The Pope on being informed of the Nuncio’s conduct, recalled him, and sent him to his Bishoprick, where he lived to his dying day in disgrace, and never had the least preferment afterwards”. He died on the 13th of December, 1653, aet. 61.

Born: 01 January 1681, Derry City, County Derry
Entered: 18 August 1703, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1712/3, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 15 January 1752, Clonmel, County Tipperary

Was younger brother of John Manby - RIP 1748

Studied in Soc Philosophy and Theology
1717 Catalogue Approved Scholastic came to Mission 3 months ago and in the country with a private family. I have not been able to get to him and there are no socii near him who could give information. Came here from Portugal and their Catalogue will give necessary info
1732 At Poitiers operarius
“The Considerations” by Peter Manby said to be at Clongowes

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Dean, and grandson of Colonel Manby (Harris “Irish Writers”) Younger brother of John.
Imprisoned for the faith before Entry.
Writer; Studied at Coimbra (Franco “Annales Lusitaniae”)
1717 On Irish Mission (HIB Catalogue 1717)
Third Entry : No Ch Name Manby
DOB Leinster; Ent 1703.
Brother of Peter (Harris)
(This seems to be the same Entry, and perhaps should read brother of John??)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Peter (Dean of Derry an afterwards received into the Church). Younger brother of John Manby
After First Vows he studied at Coimbra where he was Ordained 1712/13
1716 Sent to Ireland. He lived near Dublin at the house of a nobleman, exercising the ministries of Chaplain, Schoolmaster and assistant Priest for the local clergy. He worked later at the Dublin Jesuit school before he returned to Poitiers in 1730
1730-1733 Minister of Irish College Poitiers
1733 Sent back to Ireland. For a time he was tutor to the family of Lord Dunboyne, but then moved to Clonmel where he died 15 January 1752

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Peter Manby SJ 1681-1752
Peter Manby was born in Ireland in 1680, the son of a Protestant Clergyman, Robert Manby. His father however was converted himself and became a friar, his two sons, John and Peter, becoming Jesuits.
Peter was educated in Portugal and entered the Society in 1703. In 1714 he applied for the Irish Mission.
He published a book in Dublin in 1724 entitled “Remarks on Dr Lloyd’s Translation of the Montpelier Catechism”. His contention was that it was marred by Jansenism.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MANBY, PETER, was in Portugal in the spring of 1714, and had applied, as I find by F. Anthony Knoles’s letter, dated from Ross, the 6th of April, that year, to come over to serve the Irish Mission.

Born: 1591, Burgess, Doon, County Tipperary
Entered: 1605, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1616, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 1638
Died: 01 November 1651, Limerick Residence, Limerick City, County Limerick

Alias Da Cruz

1606 Age 16 in Soc 1 year
1609 4 years in Society
1611 In Coimbra College studying Philosophy 12 years in Soc
1614 at Évora (LUS) 1st year Theology
1619 Teacher In Seminary
1622 Teacher Arts 3 years and Theology 3 years
1625 Tertianship at Lisbon
1628 Came to Mission; Superior in different residences over many years;
1637 Catalogue “Is good in everything, capable of teaching Theology and Philosophy
Was Rector of Irish College at Lisbon
1649 Cashel

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
McCrach or Magrah or Magrath or Da Cruz (Portugal)
Rector in Lisbon and Professor of Philosophy and Theology
1628 Came to Ireland; Superior in Cashel (1640 aged 70) and other Residences
A man of great virtue and learning; A good Preacher.
“Vir sane primarius et egregius concionator” (Mercure Verdier) (cf Foley’s Collectanea, Magrath)
William De L Cruce or Cross (alias Chroch)
1634 Professor of Theology at Lisbon
Became Bishop of Cashel (Irish Ecclesiastical Record August 1874)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1607-1613 Before First Vows he was sent to study Rhetoric at Lisbon and Philosophy at Coimbra. He then had one year Regency at a LUS College
1613-1616 Theology at Évora where he was Ordained c 1616
1616-1622 Taught Philosophy and Theology at Irish College Lisbon
1622-1625 Rector at Irish College Lisbon. he was the last Irish Rector during the Spanish domination, which did not allow foreigners to hold positions of authority in Portugal.
1625 After Tertianship he was sent to Ireland, but it is unclear if he got there before 1629
1629 He became Superior of the Limerick Residence in the 1630's. The General instructed the Mission Superior - Robert Nugent - to receive William’s Final Vows, but this was seemingly ignored, and it was not until 1638, eight years later that this happened. It probably had more to do with the Old-Irish/Anglo-Irish issue, rather than his ability and standing in the Society.
1640 became Superior of the Cashel Residence. He was a supporter of the Nuncio Rinuccini, and publicly defended the observance of the censures. In his 1649 Report to the General, the Visitor Mercure Verdier recommended that William be appointed a Consultor of the Mission.
On the approach of the Cromwellian forces he withdrew to Limerick where he died 01 November 1651

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MAG RATH, WILLIAM. This Professed Father had taught Theology for many years in Lisbon. He was Superior at Cashel, in 1649; and though nearly 70 years of age, was of a robust constitution, renowned for virtue and learning, and an admirable preacher.

Born: 29 September 1633, Kinsale, County Cork
Entered: 24 December 1654, Nancy, France - Campaniae Province (CAMP)
Ordained: 1664, Pont-à-Mousson, France
Final Vows: 15 August 1681
Died: 29 May 1704, St Anthony’s College, Lisbon, Portugal - Campaniae Province (CAMP)

1656-1658 At Pont-à-Mousson studying Logic and Physics
1658-1659 At Verdun teaching Grammar - capable of teaching and doing missionary work and many other things in due time
1659-1661 At Charleville teaching Grammar
1661-1664 At Pont-à-Mousson studying Theology and Prefect of Physicists in Boarding School and Rhetoricians
1664-1665 Went to FLA-BELG
Taught 3 years in CAMP. On Irish Mission 33 years (4 months in prison). Driven into exile to Lisbon

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1671 On the Irish Mission for may years; Imprisoned for eight months and deported; Zealous Preacher; Died of old age (Franco’s “Synopsis”)
1691 Preaching in Cork and Kinsale
1694 On Parochial duty in Cork, in great poverty
1714 In reporting his death, his Superior calls him “impiger concionator” (Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Educated by the Jesuits at Tournai before Ent 24 December 1654 CAMP
1656-1658 After First Vows at Nancy he studied Philosophy at Pont-à-Mousson
1658-1661 He was then sent for Regency at Verdun and Charleville
1661-1665 He was sent to Pont-à-Mousson for Theology and he was Ordained there 1664, and then did a further year of Theology at Douai.
1665-1666 In the Summer of 1665 the General wanted him to go to the ANG Tertianship at Ghent, in order to improve his proficiency in English, and therefore be more available for the Irish Mission. There was no space at Ghent, so he made his tertianship at Lierre instead.
1666-1669 He was sent as Operarius at Cambrai
1669 Sent to Ireland and Cork where he worked for the next 30 years. His command of Irish was put to good use there, and he was an able Preacher and undaunted by the poverty and hardship of his mission. In the mass arrests and enforced exile of the regular clergy of 1697/98 he was captured, imprisoned for eight months and then put on board ship bound for Portugal. He found temporary refuge at Irish College Lisbon, but on the General's orders he was received at the College of Évora. As there was nobody there to speak with him in Irish or French, he was allowed to settle at the College of St Anthony in Lisbon, a city which then had a sizeable population of Irish refugees. He died there 29 May 1704.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MEAD, ROBERT. The first time that I meet with him is in the Lent of 1671, when he gave Evening Instructions twice each week at Cork, and twice also at Kinsale. In a letter dated Waterford, the 25th of November, 1694, he is described as well acquainted with the Irish language, living in a very desolate part of the country, and in great poverty; but zealous and fruitfully engaged in the work of the Ministry. He died abroad, an exile for the Faith, and in advanced years, as I find by a letter written in 1714, and he is said to have been “impiger concionator”.

Born: 1582, Duleek, County Meath
Entered: 25/04/1600, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1611, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows: 1624
Died: 11 August 1652, Galway Residence, Galway City, County Galway

Alias De Moura

1642 At Drogheda, and subsequently appointed Chaplain to Sir Richard Blake (Oranmore, Co Galway, Mayor of Galway twice and Parliamentarian)
1649 Superior Galway Residence
in 1650 Catalogue
He was a very learned, charitable and humble man; Superior in Connaught; Forty years on the Irish Mission, and imprisoned for the Catholic faith.
Peter Walsh in his “Remonstrance” calls him “an old venerable Jesuit and skilful exorcist” (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1642 At Drogheda, and subsequently appointed Chaplain to Sir Richard Blake (Oranmore, Co Galway, Mayor of Galway twice and Parliamentarian)
1649 Superior Galway Residence
in 1650 Catalogue
He was a very learned, charitable and humble man; Superior in Connaught; Forty years on the Irish Mission, and imprisoned for the Catholic faith.
Peter Walsh in his “Remonstrance” calls him “an old venerable Jesuit and skilful exorcist” (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied Humanities at the Irish College Lisbon before Ent 25 April 1600 Coimbra
After First Vows - which he completed at Braga College - he was sent for studies to Coimbra (1602-1605), did regency as Minister at Irish College Lisbon companioning Thomas White, and returned to Coimbra for Theology and was Ordained there c1611
1612-1613 Spiritual Father and Confessor at Irish College Lisbon
1613/14 Sent to Ireland and Connaught Residence.
1625 He was sent to Dublin Residence to act as Master of Novices for the four priest candidates. He was later at Drogheda, but had to leave there when it fell to the Puritans in 1642
1649 His whereabouts after Drogheda are unknown, but he was Superior of the Galway residence in 1649, and he died there 11 August 1652

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MORE, JOHN. He was living at Drogheda, in 1642, but in October that year, succeeded in escaping thence from Puritanical fury. Subsequently he was appointed Chaplain to Sir Richard Blake. When Pere Verdier visited him in the early part of the year 1649, he found him Superior of his Brethren at Galway, and reported him as being a Septuagenarian, as a man of consummate probity, and conspicuous for charity and humility. I fear it will be nearly impossible to ascertain the date of his death.

Born: 1564: Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 1585: Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: by 1597: Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 13 April 1621, Galway Residence, Galway City, County Galway

1587-1593: At Coimbra Studying Arts and Theology
1593: At San Roque College Studying Arts and Theology (or Helping Fr Manoel de Gaes?)
1597: At Coimbra Finishes Arts and Theology, now a Confessor at S Fins.
1616: Catalogue Age 50 Soc 30 Mission 16. Was prefect at Connaught Residence. Minister and Consultor. Some years in Spain. Weak health, phlegmatic, very edifying, prudent and fit to be Superior. Learned in Scholastic Theology, Controversy and Moral Cases of Conscience. “Stays too much in room reading his Examen”. Was expected from Portugal but did not come.
1617: Catalogue Age 63 Soc 31. Is in Ireland.
1626: Catalogue there is an Andrew Morony Junior - ArcLed asks if he is the same as Nich Morony.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
Had been a Minister and Consultor in Spain; Was a good Theologian and controversialist; Very fond of study; “doctus et gravis” and most edifying. Came to Ireland about 1600 and stationed in West Munster for many years. His learning and virtue was well known to General Aquaviva, says Holiwood (alias Lawndry, so he probably studied in Rome (Lawndrey’s Litterae 1611) - Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica”.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Probably an uncle of “Francis” Mulroney, as in the 1626 list of Irish Mission there is an “Andreas Mulrony Junior”
Had studied Humanities at Lisbon before Ent 1585 Coimbra
After First Vows he stayed in Coimbra for studies. Unclear where he completed his Theology and was Ordained
1593 He was then appointed to assist Father Manuel de Gois in preparing his “Cursis Conimbricensis” for printing at the Casa San Roque
1597 Was Minister and Priest at Braga Residence, and Operarius at St Fins in Northern Portugal by 1598
1598 Fr Holywood was recruiting Irish Jesuits for Ireland and asked for Mulrony because of his fluency in Irish.
1601 Sent to Ireland, initially in Dublin, and then with Nicholas Leynach in Munster and Connaught (1605), and then conducted a Mission with Walter Wale in Ulster (probably means North Leinster and South Ulster) 1607.
1610 First Superior of Galway Residence and Consultor of Mission (he was mentioned as a possible Rector for Irish College Lisbon too, 1613). He spent the rest of his life in Galway, where he died 13 April 1621. Some five months before his death, the General advised Father Holywood to instruct Mulrony in the government of the mission in case death or other circumstances should make it impossible or Holywood to carry his duties

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Andrew Moroney SJ 1554-1620
On August 14th 1604, the Lord President of Munster, Brouncker, issued a decree that all Jesuits depart from the Kingdom before the last day of September. A reward was offered : £40 for the body of a Jesuit, £6.3.4 for every seminary priest, and £5 for every Massing priest. None were brought in, but some months later a spy sent in a list of all the priests still in Munster. Prominent among these was the name of Andrew Moroney SJ. His name is also given as Mulroney.

He was born in Clonmel in 1554 and became a Jesuit in 1591. He came on the Irish Mission in 1601, having been highly recommended for the work by Fr Henry Fitzsimon. He certainly lived up to his reputation, being over the next twenty years, one of the outstanding missioners in the country.

He came to Ireland along with Fr Nicholas Leynich, who was his constant companion on the Mission. Later he was transferred to Connaught where he was Superior of the Connaught Residence. Carrick-on-Suir also received a great deal of his ministrations.

Towards the end of his life he worked in Dublin. The early letters of his Superiors to Rome are loud of their praise of him as a virtuous and reliable man. He died some time after 1620.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MORONY, ANDREW. As early as the 7th of September, 1599, F. Fitzsimon recommended him as a fit person to be employed as a Missionary in the south of Ireland. That he was so employed, is evident from F. Field s letter of the 25th of February, 1603. Four years later I meet him still at Munster.

Entered: 1698
Died: 28 May 1759, Porto, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
DOB probably Ireland; Ent c 1698
1719 Rector of St Francis Xavier College Lisbon (Franco)
Gualter Murcote seems to be Walter Murphy

◆ In Old/15 (1) and Chronological Catalogue Sheet

Born: 16 January 1833, Scarteen, County Cork
Entered: 26 October 1848, Dôle France - Lugdunensis Province (LUGD)
Ordained: 1862
Final vows: 02 February 1869
Died: 18 May 1896, University College, Dublin

by 1849 in Vals, France (LUGD) studying
by 1859 at Bonn, Germany (GER) studying Philosophy
by 1860 at Paderborn, Germany (GER) studying Theology
by 1861 at St Beuno’s, Wales (ANG) studying Theology 3
by 1867 at Manresa, Spain (ARA) making Tertianship

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
When he was five years old the family moved to Kanturk, where he had his early education before going to Clongowes.

1852-1858 After First Vows and some studies he was sent for Regency to Clongowes as a Teacher of all years.
1859 He studied his Second Year of Philosophy at Bonn.
1860-1863 He began his Theology at Paderborn, but after one year was transferred to St Beuno’s.
Returning to Ireland he taught Humanities and Rhetoric as well as Logic at Clongowes.
1867 he made Tertianship at Manresa, Spain
1868 He was sent to Tullabeg teaching Rhetoric.
1869-1874 He was sent to teach at Crescent Limerick.
1874-1882 he was attached to the Missionary Staff, and was Superior of that Staff for seven years.
1883-1888 He taught at UCD
1888 he was sent to Milltown to teach Canon Law.
1892-1896 He was back at UCD, mainly as a Writer. He died unexpectedly during the night of 17 May 1896 in his 64th year and 48th in Religious Life.

Ten years before he died he had been appointed by the Bishops of Ireland as promoter of the Causes of those who had died for their faith during the Penal Times. His last work as entitled “Our Martyrs” which was not published until after his death, though he had seen the last sheet through the press!
His other works include : “The Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell”; The History of Holy Cross Abbey”; “School History of Ireland”

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Murphy, Denis
by David Murphy

Murphy, Denis (1833–96), priest and historian, was born 12 January 1833 at Scarteen, near Newmarket, Co. Cork, the eldest son of Timothy Murphy and his wife Joanna (née O'Connell). He was educated at Mr Curran's school in Kanturk before attending Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. Entering the Society of Jesus on 26 October 1848, he made his noviceship at Dôle and then returned to Clongowes and taught history and literature (1852–8). He undertook further philosophical and theological studies in Bonn, Paderborn, and St. Beuno's in Wales and, returning to Ireland in 1863, taught rhetoric and logic at Clongowes (1863–7). In 1867 he made his tertianship at Manresa in Spain and later taught at St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, and the College of the Sacred Heart, Limerick. In 1874 he was attached to the society's missionary staff. He established a reputation as an excellent conductor of religious retreats and was appointed superior of the missionary staff in 1873. He began teaching French language and literature in 1883 at University College, St Stephen's Green, Dublin, and, in 1888, was appointed to teach moral theology, and later canon law, at Milltown Park. In 1892 he returned to his teaching duties at University College and also served as an examiner in Spanish for the RUI.

Best known for his historical researches and writings, Murphy was a prominent member of several learned societies including the Kildare Archaeological Society, the RSAI, and the RIA (1884), and contributed to their journals. His articles in the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland include ‘Mungret Abbey’ (1894), ‘The castle of Roscommon’ (1891), ‘The ornamentation of the Lough Erne shrine’ (1892), and ‘The Irish Franciscans at Louvain’ (1893). His best known historical work is Cromwell in Ireland (1883), a scholarly and balanced account of the military campaign of 1649–51 written to refute the many myths associated with Oliver Cromwell (qv); new editions were published in 1885 and 1897. Murphy gave credit to Cromwell for his courage and military effectiveness, but condemned his religious bigotry and cruelty, and agreed with the 1st earl of Clarendon's saying ‘that he was a great, bad man’ (Cromwell in Ireland, p. ix). In 1893 Murphy translated into English and published Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh's (qv) manuscript life of Red Hugh O'Donnell (qv) with an extensive historical introduction and parallel bilingual text (The life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell (1893)). The translation, however, was severely criticised by some Irish scholars for its lack of precision. His widely used School history of Ireland (1894) gave a concise bird's eye view of Irish history from the arrival in Ireland in the 3rd century BC of Ceasair, granddaughter of Noah, ‘forty days before the deluge’, up to his own day.

At the request of the Irish bishops, in 1886 Murphy began researching a history of the martyrdom of Irish catholics since the reign of Henry VIII. He carried out extensive researches in the Vatican and other continental archives for over a decade, the result of which was the posthumously published Our martyrs: a record of those who suffered for the catholic faith under the penal laws in Ireland (1896) which he completed only days before his death. His edition of The annals of Clonmacnoise (1896), based on the translation of Conall Mageoghegan (qv), was also published posthumously.

He was elected to the RIA's committee of polite literature and antiquities (1891) and became vice-president of the RSAI (1894) and editor of the Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society. He received an honorary doctorate from the RUI in recognition of his historical research. A kindly and cheerful man, he enjoyed playing the bass violin to relax from his scholarly pursuits. He died suddenly 18 May 1896 in his rooms at University College, and was buried in the Jesuit plot in Glasnevin cemetery. There is a substantial collection of his papers in the Jesuit archives in Dublin which includes research notes for Our martyrs and lists of Irish manuscripts in archives in Rome and Spain.

Times, 25 May 1896; Irish Catholic, 23 May 1896; RSAI Jn. (1896); Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society, ii (1896), 81–3; Irish Monthly, xxiv (1896), 328–31; DNB; Boase, supp. iii; Cork Hist. Soc. Jn., xv (1909), 90–92; Beathaisnéis 1882–1982, i, 90; papers of Denis Murphy, Jesuit Archives, Dublin

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Denis Murphy 1833-1896
Fr Denis Murphy was born at Scarteen County Cork on the 16th January 1833. Having received his education at Clongowes, he entered the Society in 1848, making his novitiate in Dôle, France.

After his ordination and tertianship he taught in our Colleges, Clongowes, Crescent and Tullabeg. From 1874-1882 he was attached to the Mission Staff. From 1883-1896 he taught at University College, St Stephen’s Green, wit a break in between as Professor ar Milltown Park.

He had been appointed by the Bishops of Ireland as Promoter of the Causes of the Irish Martyrs. This led to his book “Our Irish Martyrs”. His other published works are “The Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell”, “The History of Holy Cross Abbey”, “Cromwell in Ireland” and “The Annals of Clonmacnoise”.

He died rather suddenly on May 17th 1896, being 64 years of age and 48 years a Jesuit.

◆ The Clongownian, 1896

Obituary

Father Denis Murphy SJ

Clongowes was still lamenting the loss of one of her most distinguished sons, Dr William J Fitzpatrick, when another, of those who have won fame for their Alma Mater in the world of letters was called away to his account. Born at Newmarket, County Cork, in 1833; Denis. Murphy went first to school at Kanturk; and then came to Clongowes, so young and so clever, that he is said to have finished the class of rhetoric at the earliest age recorded except in the case of Chief Baron Palles. Before his sixteenth birthday he had entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus, and after spending some years in England and on the Continent returned to Clongowes as professor of classics.

As a writer and a lecturer; Father Murphy soon made a name for himself; as an antiquary he stood in the foremost rank in this country, and in recognition of his great services to Irish literature and history, the Royal University conferred upon him the honorary degree of LLD.

Many noble tributes were paid to his memory by the Press, and we cannot do better than give our readers the notice which the “Independent” gave of his life and labours :-

The announcement of the death of the distinguished Jesuit, Father Denis Murphy, will come with tragic suddenness on his numerous friends in Ireland. Father Murphy had not been strong for some time past, but there was no premonition of the approach of his death. Last week he might have been met working among, as was his wont, the manuscript materials in the Royal Irish Academy. On Sunday, as usual, he performed his sacerdotal duties, and in the evening, apparently in the best of health, beguiled the time revising the final proofs of his “History of the Irish Martyrs”, which was promised from the printing press next month. On Monday morning he was found dead in his bed, evidently having passed quietly away in his sleep a few hours previously. By the death of the Rev Denis Murphy, Ireland is deprived of the services of an untiring, faithful-hearted son, who loved her with love “far brought from out the storied past”, used in the present and transfused for future times; and the Jesuits lose a useful member, whose work has added lustre to the Irish Province, for his name will be placed on the bead-roll with that of the Blessed Edmund Campion SJ, and those of the Bollandist Fathers.

Father Murphy was born in 1833; and shortly after the Famine Year joined the Society. He was educated: in England, Spain, and Germany, as well as at the Irish houses belonging to his Order. The little town of Newmarket, County Cork, where he was born, is famous as the birthplace of John Philpot Curran, and is hallowed by the memory that there too Thomas Davis spent much of his boyhood's years. It lies in the heart of one of the most historically interesting and romantic districts in that county which Sir Walter Scott estimated contained more romance than all Scotland. Not very far from Father Murphy's early home the brave MacAlistrum had fallen in fight against Murragh-au Theathaun, as the peasants still call the Cromwellian commander, and Phelix O’Sullivan, the vindicator of the Irish Catholics, had broken battle with the English in the Raven's Gleng, and crossed the Blackwater by dint of his long spears; in his historic march into Connaught. Such and similar surroundings possibly first formed the historic faculty which, in later years, developed and trained as it became, distinguished Father Murphy's career. Besides, lectures on side-lights of history, feuilletons and fugitive, magazine articles innumerable, he published several volumes of rare value as contributions to the history of Ireland, although dealing with periods and individual persons. His life of Hugh. O'Donnell deserves a place in every Irish home. It is a bilingual text, and side by side wish the Gaelic original of the pious Scribe O'Clery, we have an English translation copiously imitated. By this scholarly book probably Father Denis Murphy will “be best known to the future students of our country's history. The story of Red Hugh, the bright brand foretold of Fanult, is. a revelation of purity of motive and single-hearted. I purpose which teaches mighty lessons to all Irishmen, and its publication as such. apart from its historic value, was a most important event. Nothing in drama or epic of any age or country can exceed the pathos and tragedy contained in this simple record of facts which Father. Murphy was the first to render into the English tongue. Sir William Wilde used to lament that Cromwell's campaignings in Ireland were the most defective portion of modern Irish history. To remedy this Father Murphy set himself to work, and did so effectually in his book “Cromwell in Ireland”, which gives in detail an account of that memorable campaign which began in August, 1648, and ended in May, 1649. He follows Cromwell step by step in his progress through the country, and traces his march with a blood-red line upon the map. He is even at pains to rescue Cromwell's memory from some things set down in malice, but he musters facts enough to show him the great bad man Clarendon maintained he was. Among his other substantial works are his “History of Holy Cross Abbey”, “The Annals of Clonmacnoise”, and his compendium of Irish history, The work he was engaged on when death took him to his reward is entitled “Our Martyrs”, and is a detailed account of those who died for the Faith in the different religious persecutions in Ireland from the period which is styled the Reformation. This book was the carrying out of part of the work he under took a few years ago at the suggestion of the Irish bishops - viz, the promotion of the claims to canonization of those Irishmen and women who had suffered death for religion's sake. “The School History of Ireland”, which was published in 1893, fulfils a useful work, This little book, which was brought up to date from the earliest periods, contains on its last page a graceful allusion to Mr Parnell's honoured name, and the services he rendered Ireland, which is, perhaps, remarkable when we remember the position of the writer and how high party seeling ran at the year of the publication of the book. Besides faithfully discharging the duties of a missionary priest, and a teacher in several schools and colleges, Father Murphy managed to make time in his busy life to fill with credit to himself positions of responsibility in many learned societies. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Vice-President of the Royal Academy and a Council member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, and of the National Literary Society. He was editor of the “Kildare Archaeological Journal”, and took a particular interest in similar publications in Cork, Waterford, and Belfast. Such are Father Murphy's services as a historical researcher and a reliable interpreter of records difficult of access as to cause abiding regret that his books are so few. His place as an Irish scholar will not easily be filled ; his place as a thoughtful, ever faithful friend never can”.

His funeral was attended by a large number of clergymen and other citizens of Dublin, the coffin being covered with numerous beautiful wreaths. One in particular calls for our notice. The staff at the establishment of Father Murphy's printers (Messrs Sealy, Bryers, and Walker), subscribed for and forwarded a costly wreath to be laid on his coffin. The gift was accompanied by a large card bearing the imprint of an open book, the left hand page of which bore the following inscription :

IN MEMORIAM.
REV DENIS MURPHY SJ, LLD,
Died May 18th, 1896
Aged 63
RIP

A Tribute of great Respect
and Affection
From the Staff of his Printers,
Messrs SEALY, BRYERS, and WALKER,
Middle Abbey Street.

The other page contained the following :

The concluding sentences of a corrected proof found at his death-bedside addressed to the Printer -

“But he chose the better part, he finished his course, and kept the faith. As to the rest, there was laid up for him a crown of justice which the just Judge gave him, and will give to all that love His coming”.

◆ The Crescent : Limerick Jesuit Centenary Record 1859-1959
Bonum Certamen ... A Biographical Index of Former Members of the Limerick Jesuit Community

Father Denis Murphy (1833-1896)

Was born at Scarteen, Newmarket, Co Cork. He was educated at Clongowes and, on being admitted to the Society, was sent to France for his noviceship. He pursued his higher studies at Bonn, and Paderborn, and was ordained at St Beuno's, in Wales in 1862. On his return to Ireland he was appointed to the teaching staff at Clongowes where he remained until 1867 when he set out for Spain to make his tertianship at Manresa. On his return from Spain, Father Murphy began his long association with the Crescent. From 1868 to 1874 he was a member of the teaching staff while he was also minister of the house, and in charge of the church choir. In 1874 he joined the mission staff then resident in Limerick and remained a member of it until 1883. During his years in Limerick, Father Murphy was held in the deepest respect and affection by all who knew him. He was known and appreciated as a man of versatile intellectual qualities. But this incident shows something of his very practical bent. During his years at the Crescent, it came to his notice that the widowed mother of two Crescent boys was having trouble with a leaking roof. She had seen better days and was in receipt of an annuity just enough to cover up the poverty of herself and children. She told Father Murphy that the estimates for repairs were beyond her resources short of going deeply into debt. Father Murphy, to calm her anxiety, went off to the builders, bought the wood at wholesale and with the help of the elder son of the widow, carried out the repairs on the roof with such skill that the next repairs became necessary only some forty years after Father Murphy's death.

In 1883, Father Murphy was transferred to University College, Dublin, where he was appointed to the post of bursar and librarian. His new post gave him enough spare time to work on his historical notes, the results of his researches during his scholastic days. For during his early years, he had travelled extensively in Europe to collect historical data on the persecutions for the Faith in Ireland. His researches brought him to the archives of cities so widely separated as Madrid, Lisbon, Douai, Louvain, Paris, Vienna and Prague. In his generation, Father Murphy was probably Ireland's most informed historian. After some five years at University College, Father Murphy was transferred to Milltown Park to take over the chair of moral theology. Fortunately, for Irish historical scholarship he was released from his post and returned to University College where he spent the last four years of his life. His monumental work entitled Our Martyrs was just finished in the press, but not yet published, the day before his death. For the last ten years of his life, he held from the Irish hierarchy the post of official Postulator of the Cause of the Irish Martyrs.

Born: 29 September 1680, Balrothery, County Dublin
Entered: 11 April 1703, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1712, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows 14 February 1736
Died: 12 July 1736, Dublin Residence, Dublin City, County Dublin

Nephew of Edward Murphy, Archbishop of Dublin

1705-1711 At Coimbra studying Philosophy and Theology. Teaching Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Progress very good
1716 Came to Ireland
1736 Superior in Dublin
“Good disposition, learned, inclined to work. Modest, humble, meek and always docile to Superiors directions. Esteemed by people and clergy. Has an uncle a Bishop. Now in Dublin and helping PP. Is exposed to dangers in these duties. Has a harsh voice and weak chest, consequently not fit for preaching.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Much esteemed by priests and people, and his Superior. His uncle who was a learned and pious Bishop had a high opinion of him. Of solid judgements, modest, mild and humble. Learned and hardworking.
Studied four years Philosophy and four Theology after First Vows.
1717 Ran great risk by instructing the young in the chief town of the region where lived. Was teaching Latin and Greek fo over five years at the time.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
He was an nephew of Edward Murphy, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, and later Archbishop of Dublin
Unclear where he did his Noviceship, but it is most likely at Coimbra.
After First Vows he was sent to Coimbra for Philosophy, and then spent two years Regency teaching Hebrew and Greek.
1709-1712 He then returned to Coimbra for Theology and he was Ordained there c 1712
1713 Sent to Ireland, he he re-established with Fr. Milo Byrne the Dublin Jesuit school - which had been in abeyance since the 1690s - and for the next quarter of a century worked at Mary's Lane Chapel. He also worked closely with Canon John Harold preparing young men for seminaries in Europe. A Consultor of the Mission and Superior of the Dublin Residence, he was frequently recommended for the Superiorship of the Mission itself and was a valued adviser of the General on matters concerning the Mission. He died in Dublin 12 July 1736
He was one of five Jesuits arrested and tried in Dublin, November 1718 on the information of a Portuguese Jew Garcia, who had come to Ireland hoping to earn a living priest-hunting. However, Murphy was set free

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Michael Murphy SJ 1679-1757
Michael Murphy was a Dublin man born in 1679. He became a Jesuit in 1702.

His studies completed, he ran a most successful school in Dublin. One of the most brilliant pupils was Peadar Neachtan, afterwards a Jesuit, son of the poet Seán Ó Neachtain.

Fr Murphy was highly praised by Blessed Oliver Plunkett as being a good theologian, a learned and hardworking man, an excellent religious, possessed of great talent and an eloquent preacher in the Irish language. He was so esteemed by the people and the secular priests, as well as by his Superiors, for his solid judgement, his gentle disposition, and his courage in exposing himself to great risks to instruct the young during those days of the Penal Laws. Judging from Archbishop Plunkett’s commendation, Fr Murphy must have taught schools in Drogheda.

He died in 1757.

Born: 1581, Fethard, County Tipperary
Entered: 01 September 1609, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: Salamanca pre entry
Final Vows: 1628
Died: 27 August 1649, Irish College, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Peter Naishe, by 1626 under the name Peter Ignatius (cf Foley’s Collectanea)
DOB 1582 Fethard; Ent 1608 Portugal; RIP post 1626 Portugal
In Lisbon : 1609; 1611; 1617; 1626

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ
DOB 1581 Fethard; Ent 01 September 1607 Portugal; Ord pre Ent Salamanca; RIP between 1649 and 1650 Lisbon
Son of William and Elena née Mulrony. He was probably a nephew of Andrew Mulrony and uncle of Nicholas Nash

Had already studied Humanities at irish College Lisbon and was briefly at Irish College Salamanca and was already Ordained before Ent 1609 Portugal without having completed the usual course of studies.

After First Vows he was sent to initially to Irish College Lisbon, where the LUS CAT states that he had completed Philosophy but only half a year of Theology. He was then sent to Évora, where he studied Theology for another year and a half.
1613/14 Sent to Irish College Lisbon and served positions of Minister and Procurator up to his death there between 1649 and 1654

Up to 1621 he was regarded as destined for the Irish Mission, but when his success in administration became recognised, he was left in Portugal to serve the interest of the students who would return as priests to Ireland.

◆ In Old/15 (1), Old/16 and Chronological Catalogue Sheet

◆ CATSJ I-Y has
1608 At Coimbra Age 26
1610 1649 At Irish College Lisbon - Minister and studying Philosophy and Theology

Born: 23 October 1583. County Meath
Entered: 23 October 1604, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM) & Naples, Italy - Neapolitan Province (NAP)
Ordained: 1610, Naples, Italy
Final vows: 1624
Died: 17 July 1644, Drogheda, County Louth - Described as "Martyr"

Uncle of Nicholas Nettweville, RIP 1697 and Christopher Netterville, RIP 1651

Originally received into Society by Fr Bernard Olivier on 30 August 1604. Then received 23 October 1604 at Novitiate in Rome , and after 1st Probation 22 November 1604 went to Naples to continue Aged 22
1606-1611 In Naples College studying Logic, 3 years Philosophy and 3 Theology
1617 In Meath Age 35 Soc 13
1621 CAT In Meath Age 38 Soc 17 Mission 7. Strength middling. Good talent and judgement. Not very circumspect. Sanguineus and rather lazy. A Preacher
1625 At Irish College Lisbon
1622-1637 In Dublin district
Master of Arts, Minister 3 years, Irish Mission 12

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was Minister in Naples
1615 Came to Ireland from Sicily
1621 In Kildare
Dragged from his bed by the rebel Parliamentary soldiers at Drogheda 15 June 1649, cruelly beaten with clubs, causing his death four days layer aged 67. (cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS, IER. Tanner’s “Martyr SJ” and Drew’s “Fasti SJ”)
A most meritorious Missioner (cf Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1606-1612 After First Vows he studied at Naples where he was Ordained 1610, ad then he did for two further years of study at Naples.
1613-1614 Made Tertianship at the College of Massa.
1614-1615 He was sent to Ireland with John Shee, but illness kept him at Bordeaux until 1615
1615-1623 Arrived in Ireland and the Dublin Residence, exercising Ministry in the surrounding Counties of Kildare and Meath.
1623-1625 He set out for Spain bringing a group of Irish Seminarians for the Irish Colleges. On arrival he secured interviews with the Ambassador of England and the secretary of the Prince of Wales for whom negotiations were in progress to conclude a marriage agreement with one of the Spanish Infantas. In these interviews he received reassurances that religious persecution would cease in Ireland as soon as the royal match was made. In August of that same year he went to the Irish College, Lisbon, and during his stay there was accused by the Archbishop of Cashel/Dublin of failing in impartiality with regard to the admission of students from the four provinces of Ireland to the Irish Colleges of the Peninsula. One outcome was that he was called back to Ireland in the Spring of 1625
1625-1641 Returned to Ireland and Dublin until the City was controlled by the Puritans
1641 He was based in North Leinster. He was captured and put to death by Scots Covenanters under Munroe who made an incursion as far as North Westmeath in June and July 1644.
The correct Date of Death is 17 July 1644. Some Jesuit writers gave his year of death at 1649 to coincide with the massacre at Drogheda. It is probable that the Roman necrologist mistook Netterville for Robert Bathe, who died in Kilkenny 1649

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Robert Netterville SJ 1583-1649
Robert Netterville was born in Meath in 1583, brother of Viscount Netterville and uncle of Frs Nicholas and Christopher Netterville. He became a Jesuit in 1604 in Italy.

For the rest of his life he was stationed at our Residence in Drogheda. When that city was besieged by Cromwell, Fr Robert was now an old man and confined to bed with his infirmities. But old age and infirmity did not save him from the fury of the Cromwellians. He was dragged from his bed and trailed along the ground, being violently knocked against each obstacle that presented itself on the way. Then he was beaten with clubs, and when many of his bones were broken he was cast on the highway. Catholics came during the night, bore him away and hid him somewhere. Four days after, having fought the good fight, he departed as we would expect to receive the martyr’s crown.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
NETTERVILLE, ROBERT. This venerable old man, rich in labors and merits, was dragged from his bed by the Parliamentary soldiers at Drogheda, on the 15th of June, 1619, and so unmercifully beaten with clubs, that he died four days later “Per domum raptatus, tum fustibus contusus, effractisque ad collum et humcros ossibus (15 Junii, 1649) relictus est semivivus, et quarto post die abiit è vita”.
Ex libro Collectancorum signato F. olim in Archiv, Coll. Angl. Romae. - See Tanner , Drews.

Born: 05 July 1626 County Cork
Entered: 14 October 1655, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Provine (LUS)
Ordained: 1655, Lisbon, Portugal - pre Entry
Died: 01 August 1676, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal - Lusitaniae Provine (LUS)

1638 Confessor at the country house of St Ignatius College Oporto
1661 At Irish College Lisbon - Minister and Procurator
1665-1676 At Funchal College, Madeira

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1670 The Irish Mission Superior repeatedly asked to have him sent to Ireland from the Madeira Mission
(cf Boulaye Le Gouz, about a Cork family of this name; and Foley’s Collectanea)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
He was already Ordained and had completed most of his studies before Ent 14 October 1655 Lisbon
After First Vows he was sent to Évora for studies, but fell seriously ill there and was sent as Operarius at Porto
1660 He was sent as Minister and Procurator at the Irish College Lisbon.
1661 For reasons of health he was sent as Procurator to Funchal, Madeira, and for the next 10 years appealed to be sent to Ireland (including a letter he wrote to the General 30 April
1662), and his request had the backing of the Superiors of the Irish Mission. In that letter he explained that during his serious illness at Évora, he had made a vow to Francis Xavier to ask if he could be sent to Ireland, were he restored to full health, and he attributed his restored health to his promise. Nothing came of his letter, or the requests from the Irish Mission. But it was decided that his frail health could only deteriorate rapidly in Ireland while his Portuguese Superiors were unwilling to part with him. The matter came up again in 1670, and a similar decision was made.
He was Procurator of the Funchal Residence up to the time of his death August 1576 but was also highly regarded as a man of prudence and good judgement in his work, as well as a capacity to be a zealous Operarius.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
NEVILLE, ROBERT. All that I can learn of him is contained in a letter of F. Richard Burke, dated from Galway, 4th of April, 1670, in which he repeats his petition that F. Robert may be recalled from the Mission at Madeira, to serve his native country.

Born: 23 May 1726, Limerick City, County Limerick
Entered: 31 July 1747, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: pre 1754
Died: 29 June 1795, Killaloe, County Clare

Son of Elinor Nihill née Hackett

Nihill or Nihell is a variant of O’Neill

1757-1759 Prefect of Boarders at Irish College Poitiers

There were three other Nihell’s SJ. One was the brother of the Bishop, and John and Edward who was born at Antigua, and entered the Society at Ghent in 1768 and 1769. Edward died a victim of charity attending negroes at Trinidad in 1826 (cf Foley’s Collectanea). His Nephew was Father McShee SJ.
Ferrar’s “Limerick” :
Of a very ancient and respectable family names O’Neill. He was a near relative of Baron Harrold, Colonel of the Regiment of Königsfelt, of Colonel Nihell, of Dillon’s Regiment at Fontenoy, and of Brigadier-General in Naples, and Colonel of the Regiment of Limerick. He was also a brother to Dr James Nihell, a medical writer, and a nephew of Sir John Higgins, first physician to the King of Spain.”
1770 He published a work on “Rational Self Love”.
1778 The Archbishop of Dublin tried to get him made Bishop of Limerick, while the Bishop of Cashel and his friends supported Thomas Butler (later Lord Cahir), another ex-Jesuit.
1784 He was made Bishop of Kilfenora
1787 He was completing and preparing for press his brother James’ “Life and Doctrines of Christ” and was engaged in writing a “History of the Redemption of Man”. (These MSS are in the Milltown Park Library).
J Roche, author of “Memoirs of an Octogenarian” says “Dr Nihell was a cousin of my father’s, at whose table I well recollect him as a most welcome guest, for he was distinguished as a Priest, a scholar and a gentleman. I was present at his consecration in Limerick in 1784, when Mr Kirwan OsF was Preacher, and Lord Dunboyne, Bishop of Cork, one of the assisting prelates. Kirwan preached on apostasy, and he and Dunboyne later apostasised!” (cf O’Renehan’s “Collections” p 370)
His tomb is in the old Cathedral of Kilfenora.
Brother of Bishop Nihell. The Nihill’s were related to the Harolds, Arthurs, Macghees, McNamaras, Butlers, Woulfes and Calcutts of Limerick and Clare (in pen)
After the Suppression he was PP of Rathkeale. As he was of decided literary tastes, he resigned his parish and lived in Limerick. He died there some time post 1780. (Father Denis Murphy’s Collections)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Laurence Nihell and Alice née Arthur
His early life in the Society is hard to determine. he is mentioned only once in the LUS Catalogue 1749, which tells nothing of his studies before Entry. It seems certain that after First Vows he was sent to Coimbra for studies.
1752 In the Spring of 1752 he wrote to Fr General for permission to study Mathematics and Theology before he should return to Ireland. The General in his reply, dated 30 May, informed him that the permission asked for would be granted only if Superiors decided that such studies were necessary
1754 It is also uncertain if he was Ordained when he arrived at the Irish College Poitiers 15 December 1754 - there is no record of him in the AQUIT Catalogues of 1754 and 1758. His name at Poitiers has survived only in the Procurator's books down to 1758 when he left the Society.
1758 LEFT the Society and returned to Ireland where he was incardinated in Limerick, and succeeded Fr David Burke as PP of Rathkeale in 1762.
1767 Moved to St Mary’s Limerick as senior Curate
1783 Ordained Bishop of Kilfenora, and he died 29 June 1795 and was buried in the chancel of the old Cathedral Church of his Diocese

Born: 03 September 1924,
Entered: 11 September 1941, Guimãres, Portugal (LUS)
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin

Left Society of Jesus: by 1953

by 1949 came to Milltown (HIB) studying 1948-1950

Born; County Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 25 April 1600, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1611/2, Evora, Portugal
Died: 16 August 1617, Bragança, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Andreas Nolan

1603 At Coimbra studying Age 21 Soc 3.5
Rest of time “In Portugal” probably mostly Coimbra : 4th year Arts; 4 years Theology; Taught Latin at Coimbra studying Theology and Philosophy
In 4th Year Theology his name appears as “Fr Andrea O’Nolan”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
In Portugal 1617

◆ Fr Francis Finegan :
Had studied at Irish College Lisbon before Ent 25 April 1600 Coimbra
1602-1606 After First Vows he remained in Coimbra for Philosophy.
1606-1608 He was then sent for two years Regency at Bragança.
1608-1612 He was sent to Évora for theology and he was Ordained there 1611/12
1612-1614 When formation was completed he was again sent to Coimbra to teach Latin
1614 He was sent back to Bragança where he died suddenly during the plague 16 August 1617
An impressive obituary notice of him has survived.
He had volunteered for the Irish Mission, but he was such valued in Portugal, both in the classroom and the pulpit, as well as being recognised as an eminent Spiritual Director.

Entered: Luistanae Province, Portugal (LUS)
Died: Évora, Portugal - Luistanae Province, Portugal (LUS)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ
He was apparently an Irishman who entered the Society in Portugal. It is not completely clear if he was a Brother or Scholastic.

Born: 25 December 1585, Delvin, County Westmeath
Entered: 17/05/1609, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: c 1614, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 18 September 1625
Died: 16 November 1656, Porto, Portugal

Had studied Philosophy before Entry
1614 At Évora LUS studying Theology
1617/1618 In Ireland
1621 Talent judgement, prudence and health good. Melancholic.
1622 Catalogue In Dublin; 1646 in Galway
1654 At Oporto Age 70 Soc 45 Mission 29 (as Coninator)
1655 in Oporto, good for everyday duty only he is stricken or worn out with old age
Fine and detention ordered by the Lords Justice against Earl Nugent for retaining Nicholas in contravention of a proclamation against Jesuits

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
A Writer, good Preacher and linguist, and a man of most innocent life.
While imprisoned for a while in Dublin Castle he composed Irish Hymns that were sung throughout Ireland
Superior in Porto where he died in the odour of sanctity.
Called a “nonagerian” in Franco’s Annales (cf Foley’s Collectanea for detailed sketches of Nicholas and Robert - his brother)
1615 Sent to Irish Mission, knew Latin, Irish and English, with some ability in Spanish and Italian. A Preacher, Confessor and Catechist for many years as well as Director of the Sodality of BVM (HIB CAT 1650 - ARSI)
RIP 22 November 1656 Porto
He belonged to a distinguished family and was trained in piety from his youth. He was struck when a child by a conversation with his elder brother on the enormity of mortal sin, he is said never to have offended God by a grievous fault during the whole of his long life. He made his Higher Studies at Antwerp, graduating MA, admissted to the Society in Rome and sent to Évora in Portugal for Theology.
He was sent to Dublin about 1615, where his apostolic zeal obtained for him an imprisonment of four years, and on discharge, he resumed his labours with great fervour.
In 1649 he appears in Galway, and in the following year at Oporto, where he died 02 November 1656
(Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS, where he cites Franco “Lusitania” p 315; Drew’s “Fasti” where he fixes his death as 22 November 1656.
As his near relatibe, Nugent, Baron of Delvin. who died in the Tower of London 1580 composed an exquisite Irish song on the loss of liberty, so Nicholas beguiled the weary honours of his four years confinement in the Castle of Dublin writing songs or hymns - in Irish no doubt - which were sung all through the island “pios quosdam ac passim postea cantatos ibi (in carcere) perscite composuit” (cf Nadasi and Franco.
Father Goswin Nickel, General, in a beautiful letter to the Provincial of Portugal, 01/06/1652, bears witness to Father Nugent’s successful missionary labours of thirty-three years (”Spicilegium Ossoriense” Vol i p 384)
Franco gives the RIP date as 02/11/1656 and the place - Nadasi and after him Drew gave 22 November 1656

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Oliver and Catherine née Plunket. Brother of Robert
He had already studied at Antwerp and Douai graduating MA before Ent 17 May 1609 Rome
1611-1614 After First Vows at St Andrea Rome he was sent to Évora for Theology and Ordained there 1614
1616-1619 Sent to Ireland. Shortly after his arrival in Dublin he was arrested and held in prison for the next three years. During his captivity he exercised his ministry amongst his fellow-prisoners and was visited by both the prison's Governor (Lord Deputy) and his wife who tried to shake his constancy. Like his brother he was a musician, and so he spent much of his time in his cell composing the hymns which he would later teach the people during his missionary tours.
1619-1641 On release sent to Dublin, but because of his fluency in Irish was often on the mission far from Dublin.
1641 After the fall of Dublin to the Puritans he went to Galway and was Superior of the Residence there before the arrival of the Visitor Mercure Verdier. Although he was of Anglo- Irish stock he kept clear of the Ormondist opposition to Rinuccini.
1651 He seems to have left Galway at the same time or in the company of John Young.
1652 He was in Rome and received from the General a letter of introduction to the LUS Provincial
In the dispersal of so many of the Jesuits at the triumph of Cromwell, Nicholas Nugent found refuge in Portugal and proved himself an able Operarius, as Preacher, Catechist and Confessor at Porto where he died 16 November 1656

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Nicholas Nugent 1585-1656
Nicholas Nugent, a brother of Fr Robert Nugent was born in Meath on December 25th 1585. It is said of him, that as a child, hearing his elder brother, Fr Robert, discoursing on the malice of mortal sin, he conceived such a horror of it, that during his whole life, he never offended God by any grievous sin.

He entered the Society in 1609 and came to Ireland in 1615. He worked with great success in Dublin and its environs. He is reported in one letter to Rome as “being now resident near Baggotstown County Dublin”. At last he was captured by priest-hunters in the house of his uncle, Lord Inchiquin, and confined to Dublin Castle. Here he spent four years until released on payment of a large fine by his uncle.

He was in Galway in 1649, but the following year he sailed for Oporto, where he continued to work for souls. Many miraculous cures were attributed to him, and after his death on November 2nd 1656, objects that belonged to him were eagerly sought as relics by the people and the nobility of Oporto.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
NUGENT, NICHOLAS. I meet with two Members of this name.
The first was of a distinguished family, and trained to piety from his cradle. It is said of him when a child, that hearing his elder brother discoursing once on the hideousness and the enormity of a mortal sin, he conceived such an horror and detestation of it, that during the subsequent course of a long life, he never offended his God in a grievous matter. Going to Antwerp, he there studied the Belles Lettres and Philosophy, and took the degree of Master of Arts. Proceeding thence to Rome, he was a Postulant for admission into the Society. After two years probation, he was sent to Evora to study Theology. When qualified for the Mission in his native country, he was placed by Superiors about the year 1615 in Dublin, where he displayed the zeal of an Apostle. An imprisonment for the space of four years was the reward of his services; but he was no sooner discharged, than he resumed his missionary functions with greater fervour. I find him in Galway in 1649. In the following year he sailed for Oporto, where he continued to promote the interests of Religion by his talents, and to edify all that approached him by his humility and sanctity. He died at Oporto on the 2nd of November, 1656, aet. 77.
See p. 315, Synopsis Annalium, S. J. in Lusitania, Auctore P. Ant. Franco, S. J. Fol. Aug. Vindelic, 1726, pp. 466. Drews fixes his death on the 22nd of November.

Born: 21 September 1703, Lisbon, Portugal
Entered: 13 September 1720, Bordeaux, France - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)
Ordained: 1730, Bordeaux, France
Final Vows: 1737
Died: 15 September 1739, Irish College, Poitiers, France - Aquitaniae Province (AQUIT)

1733-1737 At Irish College Poitiers teaching Humanities and Rhetoric
of Irish parentage

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Early education in Philosophy was at Irish College Poitiers
1722-1728 After First Vows he spent six years Regency and Périgueux and La Rochelle.
1728-1732 He then was set for Theology at Bordeaux and was Ordained 1730
1732-1733 He was sent teaching at Agen for a year
1733 Sent to Irish College Poitiers as Procurator, where he worked until he died 15 September 1739. He was regarded by his contemporaries as a man of deeply religious virtue
Ignatius Kelly and his successor, Thomas Hennessy both tried to have Matthew assigned to the Irish Mission. This is but one of many instances where Irish Jesuits regarded Jesuits born abroad of Irish parents as belonging potentially to their Mission in Ireland.

Born: 1604, Galway City County Galway
Entered: 02 February 1619, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1633, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows: 01 November 1640
Died: 01 January 1642, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

1622 At Évora studying Rhetoric;
1625 At Coimbra 3rd year Arts
1636 In Tertianship at St Anthony’s Lisbon
1639 At St Anthony's College, Lisbon teaching Latin (or Grammar) and Mathematics

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1626 Sent to Bragança College for Regency and demonstrated exceptional ability as a Mathematician
1631 Returned to Coimbra for Theology, qualified with an MA and was Ordained there in 1633
After studies he was appointed to teach Mathematics at St Anthony’s Lisbon regarded as one of the most outstanding mathematicians in that kingdom.
1641 He was named Royal Engineer but did not long enjoy his distinction as he died in Lisbon 01 January 1642

Born: 1593, Pallas, County Longford
Entered: 1611, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Died: 09 August 1615, Irish College, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)

Alias O’Feril

1614 at Irish College Lisbon, a Lay Brother

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1611 Was in Irish College Lisbon

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After his First Vows he was sent to Irish College Lisbon, and nothing further is known

Born: 05 January 1725, Moura, Portugal
Entered: 06 December 1747, Portugal
Ordained: ???
Died post 1754
Official Catalogus Defuncti MISSING

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet as Ent 06/12/1747

◆ Old/15 (1) has in pencil (31) Ent 06/12/1747 RIP after 1754

◆ Old/16 has a : “Bryan O’Kelly”; Ent c 1745

◆ CATSJ I-Y has DOB 05/01/1735 (probably1725) Moura, Portugal; Ent 06/09/1747;
1754 At Évora (LUS) studying “Bernardus O’Kelhe” (De Backer Col II

Ent 1744 (Foley p588)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Bryan O’Kelly

Publicly defended theses in Philosophy at University of Évora. His Professor was Father Abreu.

Born: 1603, County Galway
Entered: 15 April 1623, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 25 July 1632, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 11 February 1646
Died: 31 March 1664, Irish College, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Catalogus Defuncti 1641-1740 has Edmund Kelly (Chelli, Guellus, Quelly) RIP 31/03/1664 Lisbon (HS48 37r Hibern. et Transtag,)

Catalogus Defuncti 1640-1670 says Edmund Kelly (Chelli, Guellus, Quelly) RIP 31/03/1664 Ulyssipone (HS48 37r Hibern et Transtag)

Born: 1594, Muskerry, County Cork
Entered: 17 March 1621, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 21 December 1619, Seville, Spain - pre Entry
Final vows: 16 August 1636
Died: 28 February 1656, Professed House, Lisbon, Portugal - - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Cornelio de San Patricio

Had studied 3 years Theology at Seville before Ent
1625 At Irish College Lisbon, Prefect of Theologians and Philosophers
21628 Teaches Theology at College of St Miguel, Azores
1633-1636 A Master of Arts, now teaching Casus at Évora
1639 At Irish College Lisbon teaching Moral and Scholastic Theology
1642-1656 At Professed House Lisbon, Confessor, Concinator, Teaching Moral and Special Theology
Published “Disputatio de Regno Apologetica Hibernia”. This was republished by Trinity College to incite odium against Catholics and prevent their emancipation (Foley 476)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Writer; Professor of Theology at Évora and elsewhere; described as very brave and pious; was a great light in Moral Theology in Lisbon (“Annales” Franco). A celebrated man of his day.
He rendered great service during an earthquake and eruption in San Miguel, Angra, Azores
Harris “Writers of Ireland”, where he mentions that he published under the name Constantine Marullus “Disputatio apologetica et manifestiva de jure Regni Hibern : pro Catholicis Hibernis adversarus haereticos Anglos”, quarto, Frankfort, 1645. Book 1, p 121. Harris was bitter against him, and gravely asserts that Gregory XIII, who had then been dead and buried for fifty-seven years, granted a Bull in 1642 to Owen Roe
(cf Gilbert’s “History of Affairs in Ireland” part ii pp 668 and 739; Foley’s Collectanea - where he is called Constantine or Conon O’Mahony )

Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied and was Ordained at Irish College Seville 21 December 1619 before Ent 17 March 1621 Portugal (While he was still engaged in his studies he was expelled from the College but received back after he had expressed repentance for his fault) Then he Entered a year later in Portugal.
Once he Entered in Portugal he used the name “Cornelio de San Patricio”
After First Vows Sent as Prefect of Studies to Irish College Lisbon
1626 Sent to the Azores as Professor of Moral Theology at San Miguel, Angra, quickly establishing a high reputation throughout Portugal. During the 1630 earthquake at San Miguel, he showed resourcefulness and courage in bringing help and consolation to those rendered homeless by the disaster.
1633-1639 Sent to Évora to teach Moral Theology. He had graduated MA - but unclear if this was in Spain or Portugal.
1639-1642 Sent to Irish College Lisbon to teach Moral Theology
1642 Operarius at the Professed House in Lisbon, where he died 28 February 1656
His celebrated book “Disputatio Apologetica et Manifestativa de Iure Regni Hiberniae pro Catholicia Hibernis adversus Haereticos Anglos ” possibly makes him considered as the first Irish “separatist” of modern times. This book was circulated in Lisbon, but bears the name of a non existent publisher in Frankfurt. The book was denounced by João IV of Portugal, an ally of England. O’Mahony proposed that the solution to Irelands problems might be the election of a King of old Irish stock, and also urged war to the death of all English Protestants in the country. The thesis of the book was used by the Confederation of Kilkenny to attack the position of Eoin Ruadh. It was a century and a half later, with Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen before this thesis was proposed again. O’Mahony’s book was reissued in Dublin in 1826 by those who wished to raise anger against the Catholic Church and the Emancipation movement.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
O'Mahony, Conor
by Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin

O'Mahony, Conor (1594–1656), Jesuit academic and author, was a native of Muskerry, west Co. Cork. Little of his early life is known until his entrance into the Irish College at Seville, probably in 1614, where he studied philosophy and theology for three and four years respectively, ultimately graduating as master of arts and doctor of divinity. He was admitted to minor orders on 7 June 1618 and was ordained a priest on 21 December 1619. The following year he was almost expelled from the college for unspecified misdemeanours. In 1621 he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Lisbon and took the name ‘Cornelius a Sancto Patricio’. In and around 1626 he went to the college of San Miguel in the Azores, where he was to spend seven years as professor of moral theology. He is also recorded as having performed great service to the victims of an earthquake and eruption at Ponta Delgada in 1630. O'Mahony held the chair of moral theology at the university of Evora (1633–5), and in 1636, the year of his final profession as a Jesuit, was transferred to Lisbon, where he became professor of dogmatic theology for five years.

The experience of living in Portugal during the Braganza revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs and, almost certainly, personal acquaintance with several of the Jesuit scholars who provided intellectual justification for the Braganza position, were of critical importance in conditioning his own reaction to rebellion in Ireland and the formation of the Confederate Catholic Association in 1642. In 1645 he published in Lisbon the text on which his historical reputation rests, the Disputatio apologetica de iure regni Hiberniae pro catholicis Hibernis adversus haereticos Anglos, a two-part work consisting of a ‘disputatio’ and an ‘exhortatio’.

O'Mahony's purpose was to demonstrate that the ‘Hiberni’, a generic term which he used to denote all the catholics of the island, had the right to reject the authority of the monarchs of England over Ireland. In the ‘disputatio’ he first rehearsed a series of arguments which might be advanced to legitimise English authority, and then proceeded to attack them. His arguments were intensely legalistic and the historical underpinning was somewhat weak. The second part of the ‘disputatio’ was relatively stronger. It adapted the work of Bellarmine, Suarez, and Molina to build a case that, even if English monarchs had once legitimately ruled over Ireland, the Irish retained the right to eliminate their authority because of the lapse into heresy of Charles I and his two predecessors. The ‘exhortatio’ that followed, drawing heavily on biblical example, urged the Irish people to choose a new catholic and native monarch and to eliminate all the remaining heretics in the island.

Although emotional resonances with O'Mahony's book can be detected in some manuscript material produced after the rebellion of 1641, it received almost no public support among the audience for which it was avowedly written, the Confederate Catholics of Ireland. The book ran counter to the dominant current in Irish catholic political ideology, which stressed the legitimacy of Stuart rule. In 1645, the year of its publication, even the clerical convocation, the most militant group within the association, dismissed out of hand the idea that Charles was not the confederates’ legitimate king. Radical catholics within the association opted to refer to the confederate oath of association to justify their objectives, rather than to O'Mahony's dangerously divisive argumentation. Moreover, the frank approbation in the ‘exhortatio’ for the killing of 150,000 protestants since the initial rebellion was particularly unwelcome to the great mass of the Confederate Catholic leadership, who wished to avoid any link to the alleged massacres of 1641. The confederate executive ordered that copies of the book should be burned by the common hangman, and evidence has survived that the city of Galway independently expressed its abhorrence for the book and its author. Peter Walsh (qv) is also said to have preached nine sermons against the book in Kilkenny.

Although it attracted little support in Ireland, O'Mahony's text did contribute to the divisions that racked the confederate association in the later years of the decade. It was feared in some quarters that his book was intended to provide the theoretical underpinning to an attempt by Owen Roe O'Neill (qv) to wrest the sovereignty of Ireland from the Stuart monarchy. O'Mahony's work also increased the difficulties of the papal nuncio Rinuccini (qv), who was suspected of plotting to establish papal suzerainty over Ireland and who was accused in Rome by Sir Kenelm Digby of tolerating the Disputatio apologetica. Rinuccini may also have refused to hand John Bane, a parish priest in Athlone, over to secular justice after he was discovered with a copy of the book in his possession. For his part the papal nuncio related some of the hysteria evoked by the text to the fears of secular landowners that O'Mahony's arguments might be used to delegitimise their continued possession of former monastic property. The divisive effect of the book seems to have been heightened by the general lack of knowledge concerning the true identity of its author. This may well have been a conscious decision on the part of O'Mahony, as the title page of the book gave a bogus place of publication. Alternatively, the reference to Frankfurt as the place of publication in the title imprint may have been a device to escape the attentions of the Portuguese censor.

As it transpired, the efforts of the English ambassador, Sir Henry Compton, resulted in two separate condemnations of the text in Portugal on 6 April and 5 December 1647, although no action seems to have been taken against O'Mahony. In the post-confederate period the Irish Jesuit did reveal himself as the text's author to Patrick Plunkett (qv), bishop of Ardagh. Having been in good health, he died suddenly 28 February 1656 at the Jesuit House in Lisbon.

After his decease, copies of the Disputatio were never common: the authors of the Commentarius Rinuccinianus, for instance, had never seen the text but it did enter into later Irish protestant mythology. In 1689 Richard Cox (qv) described it as ‘a most treasonable and scandalous book’ and observed that it was not publicly condemned by the congregation of catholic clergy in Dublin in 1666. A small number of copies of the work were reprinted, apparently in 1826, probably as part of the campaign against catholic emancipation.

Peter Walsh, The history and vindication of the loyal formulary of Irish remonstrance (1674); Edward Borlase, The history of the Irish rebellion (1680); Richard Cox, Hibernia Anglicana: or the history of Ireland from the conquest thereof by the English to the present time (1689); G. Aiazzi, Nunziatura in Irlanda di Monsignor Gio. Baptista Rinuccini arcivescovo di Fermo negli anni 1645 à 1649 (1844); Records of the English province of the Society of Jesus, vii, pt ii (1883); Stanislaus Kavanagh (ed.), Commentarius Rinuccianus, de sedis apostolicae legatione ad foederatos Hiberniae catholicos per annos 1645–9 (6 vols, 1932–49); J. P. Conlon, ‘Some notes on the Disputatio apologetica’, Bibliog. Soc. Ire., vi, no. 5 (1955), 66–77; P. Ó Fionnagáin, ‘Conor O'Mahony, S.J. (1594–1656): separatist’, O'Mahony Journal, xvi (1993), 3–15; Tadhg Ó hAnnracháin, ‘ “Though hereticks and politicians should misinterpret their goode zeal”: political ideology and catholicism in early modern Ireland’, Jane Ohlmeyer (ed.), Political thought in seventeenth-century Ireland: kingdom or colony (2000), 155–75

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Cornelius O’Mahony SJ 1594-1656
Constantine O’Mahony was born at Muskerry County Cork and became a Jesuit in 1621. When his formation was complete, he professed Philosophy at Lisbon.

In 1645 he published his “Disputatio Apologetica et Manifestiva de Iure Regni Hiberniae pro Catolicis Hibernis Adversus Hereticos Angles”. It was published under the pen name Constantine Marillus. The thesis of the book was that the supreme authority of a nation lies in the representatives of the people, the teaching of St Robert Bellarmine and Suarez. The book gave great offence to the Supreme Council at Kilkenny, and had the distinction of being publicly burnt in the market place of the same town. It was reprinted in Dublin in 1827, 100 copies. The book is singled out for special mention and attack by Hector McPherson in his book called “England’s Fight with the Papacy” in the chapter entitled “The Jesuits in History”. McPherson says that O’Mahony was regarded as “a great light in moral Theology in Lisbon, according to Roman Catholic circles”. Harris in his “Writers of Ireland (p121) describes O’Mahony as “a Jesuit of most virulent temper”. However, we are warned by Oliver and his colleagues, that Harris’ opinion of the author and his work must be received with caution – “much is heavily grounded on hearsay evidence”.

Fr O’Mahony was often called Cornelius a Santo Patricio. He was alive in 1650 at Lisbon, though very old

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
MAHONY, CONSTANTINE, born at Muskerry, in the County of Cork,and often called “Cornelius a Sancto Patritio” Harris, p. 121, Book I, of the writers of Ireland, describes him as “a Jesuit of a most virulent temper”, and says that he published a book under the feigned name of Constantine Marullus, entitled, “Disputatio Apologetica et Manifestiva de Jure Regni Hiberniae pro Catolicis Hibernis adversus Haereticos Anglos”, 4to. Frankfort, 1645. Harris’s character of the work and of its author must be read with caution : much is evidently grounded on the hearsay of enemies. One assertion, that Pope Gregory XIII, had granted to Owen Rowe O’Neil a Bull in 1642, “whereby all the actors in the bloody massacre of the foregoing year are blessed”, is the compound of the vilest absurdity and most atrocious falsehood. That good old Pope had been honestly dead and buried 57 years before the appearance of this Irish Bull. F. Mahony was still living in 1650, at Lisbon, but far advanced in years.

Born: 1584, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 1604, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1617, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 21 October 1629, Dublin Residence, Dublin City, County Dublin

Alias Cotinho

1606 & 1611 At Coimbra College
1609 LUS CAT suggests Coutenho and Queitrott are not the same person :
Robert Queitrotus Dublin Age 20 in Society 4 years
Robert Coutinus Dublin Age 23 in Society 5 years
1611 CAT in Portugal studying Philosophy
1614 Teaching Greek & Hebrew at Coimbra
1617 in Portugal
1619 Had been at Coimbra 6 years
1622 at Santarem College teaching Greek and Hebrew
Son of Nichilas Queytrot Mayor of Dublin c1515??

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ
Had studied at Irish College Lisbon before Ent 1604 Lisbon
1606-1613 After First Vows he was sent to Coimbra for studies in Latin, Philosophy and one year of Theology
1613-1619 He was then sent to teach Hebrew and Greek also at Coimbra for six years. He seems to have been Ordained priest by 1617 without having completed the usual studies
1619-1622 Sent to studies at Coimbra again, and was still doing them while also an Operarius at Santarém 1621-1622
1622-1623 Made Tertianship at Lisbon
1623 He was sent to Ireland and the Dublin Residence. he was teaching Humanities at the school in Back Lane and working as an Operarius when he died October 1629

Born: 1571, Kilfenora, County Clare
Entered: 1601, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: pre Entry
Final vows: 06 January 1629
Died: 06 June 1629, Galway Residence - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

Alias Carrick

Studied 2 years Arts before entry
1603 In Philosophy at Coimbra (LUS)
1606 Hearing Confessions and helping Fr White at Madrid
1611 Minister at Professed House in Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain, The Minister at Irish College, Lisbon, Age 43 Soc 10 has studied Philosophy and Theology
1614 Has been Rector at Irish College Lisbon for 5 years and still there in 1622 (Rector 9 years)
1617 In Portugal Age 49 Soc 19
1626 In Portugal

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Called “Tuamensis and Toumensis”
Praised by Father Fitzsimon as a benefactor of Irish education; Was of Thomond or Tuam Diocese
1617 In Portugal (IER August 1874)
Drew’s “Fasti SJ” records a death of a man of this name in Cadurci (Cahors), France 1633. He is described as most devout to the Blessed Eucharist, and when a youth, being reduced to death’s door by a dangerous sickness, he earnestly desired to receive Holy Communion, not so much by way of viaticum as of medicine, and, having partaken of the heavenly Food, he was instantly restored to health, to the amazement of the medical men. He was so inflamed with the love of God, that, when speaking of the Divine things, sparks were seen issuing from his mouth, inflaming the hearts of his auditors with the same affection.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied Humanities and Philosophy at Irish College Lisbon and was already Ordained before Ent 1601 Lisbon.
After First Vows he completed his studies at Coimbra.
1604-1606 Confessor at Irish College Lisbon
1606-1609 Minister at Vila Viçosa
1609-1620 Rector Irish College Lisbon
1620-1626 Procurator Irish College Lisbon
1629 Sent to Ireland in the Summer and to the Connaught Residence until he died June 1629

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Cornelius Roche SJ 1575-1633
Cornelius Roche was born in Tuam in 1575. He entered the Society in 1596 and was in Portugal in 1617, where his name was written as De Rocha. It is recorded in the “Fasti Breviores” that he died at Carduci in (Cahors) France in 1633. He was most devout to the Blessed Sacrament.

When a youth being reduced to death’s door by sickness, he earnestly desire to receive Holy Communion, not so much by way of viaticum but as medicine, and having received, he was instantly restored to health, to the amazement of the doctors.

The “Fasti Breviores” says of him “He was so inflamed with the love of God that when speaking of heavenly things, sparks were seen issuing from his mouth”.

His name also appears in the Irish version as Cornelius Carrig.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
CARRICK, CORNELIUS. I meet him at Madrid in August, 1607. He is mentioned with honor in F. Fitzsimmon’s Treatise on the Mass, 1611

ROCHE, CORNELIUS. All that I ferret out, is his existence in the early part of the 17th century in Spain.

Born: 1530, County Wexford
Entered: the Society 05 December 1564, Professed House, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Final Vows: 1575
Died: 19 June 1588, at Sea in The Armada - “in classe quel ibat in Angliam” - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

1567: He is being sent by Fr Borgia to Canisius “as he is one of the most talented of the pupils of Fr Pereira, Prof Philosophy at the Roman College, and advanced in virtue” (Letters of Borgia Vol III p510).
1567: “Robertus or Rochford Hibernus” at Dillingen in November (Richard Fleming there at the same time) - his talent at Rome having been noteworthy
1576: At Paris College Age 30.
1587: At St Anthony’s College Lisbon, Age 44, Soc 22, teaching Latin and Catechism. Said to be teaching Ireland under the Bishop of Cork -Tanner, an ex Jesuit) VAT Arch Inghilterra 1.308)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica”
Probably a brother of Charles - who only gets mentioned as being in Youghal 1588.
He was a great linguist; Prisoner; Missioner.
His name often appears in the Anglo-Irish State Papers.
He died on board a Spanish man-of-war; “a Martyr of Charity”; Had taught school in Youghal in 1575.
It is probably he of whom Stanihurst describes “born in the county of Wexford, is a proper divine, an exact philosopher and very good antiquary”.
In 1581 Matthew Lamport of Waterford and Matthias Lamport a Dublin PP were hanged for harbouring Fr Rochford; Robert Meiler, Edeard Cheevers, John O’Lahy and two sailors were hanged, drawn and quartered for bringing him from Belgium to Ireland; Richard French, A Wexford Priest, for harbouring him, was imprisoned in Dublin and died of misery in prison (IbIg).
Mentioned in a letter of Edmund Tanner, Cork 11 October 1577, as keeping a school at Youghall with Charles, spreading on every side the good odour of the Society of Jesus (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS).
Highly spoken of in a letter from Henry Fitzsimon in a letter in Irish Ecclesiastical Record, March 1873 p 262, and is frequently mentioned in "Hibernia Ignatiana".
We know of his death 19 June 1588 from an entry in “Bibl. de Bourg. MS n 6397, liber primus defunctorum SJ in variis provinciis, Brussels” : “Balthazar de Almeida (died) in a ship which was proceeding to England, 17 June 1588. P Robertus Rocheford (died) on the same ship, 19/06/1588”. They were probably Chaplains in the Spanish Armada.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Robert Rochfort 1530-1588
After the departure of Fr David Wolfe from Ireland, there were two Jesuits left there, Frs Charles Leae and Robert Rochfort. The latter was born in Wexford in 1530 and entered the Society at Rome in 1564. St Peter Canisius was his Professor at Dilingen in 1567.

Having come to the Irish Mission, he succeeded in maintaining a school in Youghal, in spite of continual persecution until 1575, with the aid of Fr Leae. This school was highly praised by Edmund Tanner, Bishop of Cork and former Jesuit.

Fr Rochfort was closely associated with Viscount Baltinglass in the rebellion of 1581. On his account many people suffered imprisonment and death for harbouring him. The English seem to have had a great dread of him and his name is constantly mentioned in State Papers of the time. Finally, seeing how dangerous it was for people to harbour him, he withdrew to Lisbon in 1532.

In Lisbon he laboured for some years to the great spiritual advantage of Catholics from Ireland and England and other nations, and whom his skill in many languages enabled him to instruct and assist. According to common report, he died in Lisbon in 1588. However, in a list of Defuncti of the Society we find the following “Balthazar Almeida died in a ship which was proceeding to England June 17th 1588. P Robert Rochford died in the same ship, June 19th 1588. He had been a prisoner for the faith and died a victim of charity”. It would seem that he had been a chaplain to one of the ships of the Spanish Armada

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
ROCHFORD, ROBERT, is mentioned with honour in the Epistle Dedicatory of Father Fitzsimon’s Treatise on the mass, printed in 1611. In a letter of Father Edmund Tanner, dated Cork, the 11th of October, 1577, I read, “Rev. Father Charles and Master Robert Rochford spread on every side the sweetest odour of the Institute of the Society of Jesus. They keep a school in the town of Youghall, in the Dioceses of Cork, Munster : their auditors and the townspeople are daily trained in the Christian doctrine, and the frequentation of the Sacraments and good Morals, as well as the miserable circumstances of the times will permit, but not without molestation; yet God gives them perseverance and great benefit to their Hearers”.

Entered: 1644 - Flanders Province (FLAN)
Died: 19th July 1689, Mechelen, Belgium - Flanders province (FLAN)

1649 marked at Kilkenny

Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1647 He had charge of the printing press at Kilkenny
1657 He had charge of the printing press at Évora, Portugal
He is perhaps the “Brother George” praised by Primate Plunket in 1672

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
A member of the Flanders Province was loaned to the Irish Mission in 1646 in order to work the printing press at the Jesuit College, Kilkenny. When the press was eventually seized by the Supreme Council, he remained on for some time at the College and was Dispenser there. Mercure Verdier during his Visitation of the Mission in 1649 met George and in his report to Rome paid tribute to his fine qualities of character. George returned to Flanders after the Visitation.
1657-1661 He was once more “on loan” having been sent to help with the printing press at the College of Évora in the Portuguese Province
1661 For some years he was stationed at Antwerp and then was sent to Mechelen where he died 19 September 1689
Although he was a member of the BEL FL Province, he is rightly reckoned amongst those who served in the Irish Mission.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Brother George Sarazen SJ ????-1689
George Sarazin was a printer and manager of the printing press in Kilkenny. He entered the Society and there operated the printing press the Society had acquired in Kilkenny, perhaps from Brother George. All the printing of the Confederation of Kilkenny, decrees, proclamations etc, were done on this press by Br Sarazen. He is mentioned by Père Verdier, the Visitor, as a good religious and a very clever man. He died in 1657?

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
SARAZEN, GEORGE. This Temporal Coadjutor is reported by Pere Verdier to be a good Religious man and a very ingenious person. He had been a Printer, and conducted the press at Kilkenny.

Born: 1564, Clonmel, County Tipperary
Entered: 1584, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1597, Coimbra, Portugal
Died: 17 April 1641, Clonmel, County Tipperary

Alias Shine

1587: At Coimbra Age 24 Soc 3.25. Studied Humanities
1593: At Angra College, Terceira, Azores teaching Grammar
1597: At Coimbra in 4th year Theology
1603: At Irish College, Lisbon?
1621: Catalogue Age 63 Soc 37 Prof 3 Vows. Talent and judgement good, not sufficiently circumspect. An enthusiastic Operarius
1622: In East Munster
1626: In Ireland. Good in all prudence middling

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica”:
“Of great abilities; had seen a great deal “multa vidit”; came to Ireland c 1607. In Ireland 1617 (Irish Ecclesiastical Record August 1874). Names in a letter of Thomas Lawndry 04 November 1611 (published in Irish Ecclesiastical Record) as then helping Nicholas Lynach in West part of Southern Province. Oliver of Stonyhurst MSS, states that he reached Ireland with Fr Everard before the end of 1607.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ:
He had already done studies in Humanities for five years at Lisbon before Ent 1584 Coimbra.
1586-1591 After First Vows he was sent for Philosophy to Coimbra.
1591-1593 He was sent for Regency to Angra in the Azores.
1593-1597 Sent again to Coimbra for Theology and was Ordained there 1597.
1597-1605 He was sent as Operarius to St Anthony’s Lisbon and Spiritual Director and Confessor at the Irish College.
1605-1609 He was sent as Operarius successively at Faro and Évora.
1609 Sent to Ireland and spent the rest of his life at Clonmel - not least because his travel was restricted due to poor eyesight. He died at Clonmel 17 April 1641.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
SHINE, THOMAS, reached Ireland from Spain with F. Everard before the end of 1607.

Died: 20 May 1734, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)

◆ In Chronological Catalogue Sheet
◆ CATSJ I-Y has “Esteves or Stephens”; RIP 20 May 1734 Lisbon

Born: 04 November 1822, Lough Glynn, County Roscommon
Entered: 07 September 1840, Hodder, Stonyhurst, England - Angliae Province (ANG)
Ordained: 1850
Died: 22 April 1856, Sevastopol, Crimea

◆ HIB Menologies SJ :
Studied Humanities at Stonyhurst before Ent.

1841 After a year at Hodder, he was sent to Madeira with his father for a change of air 27 September 1841
1844 Sent to Liverpool School for Regency
The after studies in Philosophy at Vals and a long course in Theology at St Beuno’s, he was Ordained 1850.
1851-1853 Appointed Minister at Stonyhurst
1853-1854 Appointed Superior of the new school in Manchester
1854 Appointed Superior of the new Mission at Accrington

He was appointed Chaplain to the English forces in the Crimean War, for which he had volunteered. He died in a camp there of fever 22 April 1856 aged 34. he was universally beloved for his many virtues, a man of great talent and high promise. he was buried in the Crimea with military honours, and his funeral was accompanied by upwards of 6,000 troops. He had caught the fever while voluntarily attending to the wounded French soldiers. He died before taking Final Vows.

Born: 30 September 1634,County Meath / County Dublin
Entered: 15 August 1652, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: 1659, Salamanca, Spain
Final Vows: 15 August 1669
Died: 07 October 1683, Talavera de la Reina, Castile-La Mancha, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)

1655 At Compostella Age 22 Soc 3. Studying 3rd year Philosophy.
1660 At Pamplona College as Minister. Good talent and judgement
1665-1672 At Oviedo CAST teaching Grammar and Minister
1675 Not in Catalogue
Taught Philosophy and Theology at Ávila (no dates)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1674 Procurator of Irish Mission, Madrid
Names in a letter of Christopher Mendoza, Madrid dated c 1675 -He was procurator at Madrid (A Copy at the Archives de l’État, Brussels, is given in “Collectio Cardwelli” Vol iii Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)
Accused by Titus Oates and mentioned in the false narrative (cf : “Records SJ” Vol v, pp 97 seq)
Mentioned occasionally in the “Note and Letter-book” of Father John Warner, ANG Provincial, and now in the Cambridge Public Library.
His letters are in Salamanca

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
1654-1659 After First Vows he was sent for studies first to Compostella and then Salamanca where he was Ordained 1659
1659-1664 Sent as Minister and teaching Humanities at Pamplona and then Oviedo
1665-1669 Rector Irish College Santiago. He was known also to conduct parish missions from there.
1669-1672 Taught Moral Theology at Oviedo and later at Avilá.
1672-1682 General appoints him as Rector at Irish College Seville, at the request of the students, but he pleaded his indifferent health against acceptance of the post. Instead, on the representations of the Superior of the Irish Mission, Jerome was appointed Procurator of the mission and of the Irish Colleges (Santiago, Salamanca, and Seville) at Madrid, and against the opposition of the Provincial of TOLE
1682 Out of the blue he was commanded by a Royal Decree to leave Spain forthwith. The charges against him cannot now be specified but it can be surmised that the sum of his offence had something to do with his success in winning financial help for the Mission and Colleges to the (alleged) detriment of the Spanish Jesuits establishments. Protests and memorials from the Irish in Spain failed to move the King. The General pronounced him innocent of the charges and arranged for him to settle in the province of Portugal. He died on his way there at Talavera 07 October 1683

Born: 1610, Carton, County Kildare
Entered: 1625 - Lusitanae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1636, Évora, Portugal
Final Vows: 06 May 1656
Died: 18 November 1667, Dublin Residence, Dublin City, County Dublin

Older brother of Peter Talbot - LEFT 1659 (Archbishop of Dublin 1669; RIP November 15, 1680

Foley’s "Collectanea" :
I think there were three John Talbot SJs as follows :
(1) John Talbot DOB 1609; Ent 1626 Portugal;
(2) John Talbot DOB 1611 Kildare; Ent 1632; Irish Mission 1638 Preacher, Confessor and Professor of Humanities; RIP after 1666
(3) John Talbot DOB 1619; Ent c 1637; - had been at St Alban’s Valladolid before Ent Belgium 1637. Not traced in ANG Catalogues
One of these was a brother of Peter, the two others were probably an uncle and cousin of his

1628 Age 18 Soc 3 studying at Coimbra LUS
1634 At Valladolid
1636 At St Anthony’s College Lisbon
1649 CAT Given at Cork (30 after his name)
1650 CAT Teaching, Confessor and Concinator. Came to Mission in 1639 is Age 39.
1666 CAT Consultor of Mission living at Dublin, Catechising and Administering the Sacraments. On the Mission 26 years
“Peter Walsh said when Fr J Talbot died ‘There is one honest Jesuit’”
“Wilson’s Friar Disciplined” p 93 printed in 1694 says Fr J Talbot had influence with General Preston

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of William 1st Baron of Carton and Alison née Netterville. Brother of Richard, first Duke of Tyrconnell by James II and Viceroy of Ireland. Brother of Dr Peter Talbot, formerly SJ and Archbishop of Dublin. Brother of Robert 2nd Baron of Carton. (HIB Catalogues and Dr Peter Talbot’s “Friar Disciplined”) Cousins of the Netterville’s SJ.
Early years in the Society were at Évora, Portugal, and he studied Theology for three years in the Society. He knew Irish, English, French and Latin.
He taught lower schools for three years and was a Preacher and Confessor for eight years. (HIB CAT 1650 - ARSI)
1666 Consultor of Irish Mission and living in Dublin. He was engaged in administering the Sacraments and had been on the Mission twenty-six years. (HIB CAT 1666 - ARSI)
Esteemed good Preacher; like most of his Irish contemporaries, he spoke Irish, English and one or more of the continental languages.
Dr Peter Talbot in his “Haersis Blackloiana” says “Évora gave many orthodox Theologians to the Catholic faith, and among others, my brother John Talbot, a distinguished defender of the faith”. (cf Foley’s Collectanea, which also states that the HIB CAT 1650 says that he is a native of Kilkenny, born 1611 and Ent 1629)
Dr Peter Talbot in his “Friar Disciplined” says to the famous Peter Walsh “Mr Walsh, Father John Talbot, of whom you said when he died (as if it were a rarity of kind of miracle) ‘There lies a honest Jesuit’ assured me, that, after his brother Sir Robert Talbot Had...”
Dr Peter Talbot in his “Haeresis Blackloiana” p 250 says that he himself had studied in Rome with such gifted Jesuits (orbis miracula) as Tirrell, Maurus, Telin (an Irishman - Teeling?), and the younger Palavicino, and was appointed to teach Philosophy at Évora, which has given so many outstanding Theologians to England and Ireland, and amongst others, Father John Talbot, my brother, a distinguished defender of the Roman Faith”
He is probably the Jesuit named by Mercure Verdiere, Visitor to the Irish Province, in a letter 24 June 1649, as John James Talbot, then thirty years of age, and residing with his mother, “in oedibus nobilium” (Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Sir William of Carton and Alison nee Netterville (daughter of John Netterville of Castletown, Co. Meath) Brother of Peter (later Archbishop of Dublin).
1627-1636 After First Vows (unclear if Noviceship was at Lisbon or Coimbra) he was sent for studies to Coimbra and then Évora where he was Ordained 1636
1636-1640 Had been teaching Latin at St Anthony’s, Lisbon, but very keen to be sent to Ireland.
1640-1652 Sent to Ireland where he worked from his mother’s house. He spoke Irish as well as English
1652-1654 Sent back to Europe and was in the company of his brother Peter (later Archbishop of Dublin), who was visiting various European courts to solicit help for Charles II
1655 Sent back to Ireland and he worked initially near Galway and then Dublin alternately, and ended at the Dublin Residence as a Consultor of the Mission (1664), where he died 18 November 1667

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
TALBOT, JOHN JAMES. This Father is mentioned in Pere Verdier’s Report of the 24th of June, 1649, as being 30 years old, of a robust constitution, but living with his mother, “in oedibus nobitium” without office.

N.B. There was another F. Talbot, whom I meet with in the town of Galway, early in 1649 : he is described as being about 40 years old, Professed of the Four Vows, and then teaching Grammar.

Born: 1580, Drogheda, County Louth
Entered: 26 July 1597, Drogheda, County Louth

Left Society of Jesus: 1601

◆ Father Francis Finegan Notes
DOB 1580 Drogheda; Ent 26/07/1597 Lisbon;

Had previously studied at St Anthony’s Lisbon before Ent 26/07/1597 Lisbon

Nothing further is known after Ent, but he seems to be identical with a Matthew Talbot who was at the College of Braga, apparently studying philosophy 1600-1601. A Matthew Talbot is also mentioned in the list of past students of the Irish College, Lisbon (1615)

Born: 29 June 1618, Carton, County Kildare / Malahide County Dublin
Entered: c May 1635, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 06 April 1647, Rome Italy
Died: 15 November 1680, Dublin Castle, Dublin, County Dublin

Left Society of Jesus: 29 June 1659

Consecrated Archbishop of Dublin 09 May 1669, Antwerp, Netherlands

Younger brother of John Talbot SJ - RIP 1667

https://www.dib.ie/biography/talbot-peter-a8452

DICTIONARY OF IRISH BIOGRAPHY

Talbot, Peter

Contributed by
Clarke, Aidan

Talbot, Peter (c.1618–1680), churchman, was sixth son of Sir William Talbot (qv), sometime recorder of the city of Dublin, and his wife, Alison Netterville. He entered the Society of Jesus in Portugal in May 1635 and completed his education in Rome, where he was ordained on 6 April 1647 and where he was said (by Oliver Plunkett (qv)) to have proved ‘so troublesome’ that he was sent to Florence for the tertian stage of his probation.

He returned to Portugal before long and went thence to the Spanish Netherlands, where he became involved in the politics, both high and low, of the royalist exiles. His conjoint aims were to secure support from catholic sources for the restoration of Charles II and to persuade Charles to court this support by promising concessions to his catholic subjects. In the early summer of 1653, probably at the prompting of his francophile Franciscan brother Thomas, he submitted proposals to the French ambassador in London and visited Ireland briefly in furtherance of them, but the venture proved fruitless. He returned to London in 1654, this time from Madrid as an agent from Philip IV to the Spanish ambassador, Cardenas. Late in the same year, in Cologne, he acted as an intermediary between the king and the papal nuncio, to whom he hinted that Charles might be prepared to convert to catholicism, and who declined to convey so improbable a message to Rome. In 1656 Talbot exploited his ready access to the Spanish court to advise Charles that a treaty with Spain would be assured if he were secretly to declare his conversion, but the subsequent treaty was concluded on other terms, without Talbot's assistance. From 1655, when his brothers Richard (qv) and Gilbert had been involved in a plot to kill Oliver Cromwell (qv), Talbot had become increasingly committed to promoting the extravagant schemes of the former Leveller Edward Sexby, which ranged from Spanish invasion to the assassination of Cromwell.

After Richard Talbot was admitted to the circle of James (qv), duke of York, Peter came under suspicion of transferring his allegiance to James. In the summer of 1658 he incurred the king's displeasure by making a mysterious visit to Spain on James's behalf, and even greater ambiguity surrounded a visit to England on the fall of the protectorate in April 1659. It appears that Talbot travelled at the instance of ministers of the Spanish government, who were persuaded that he could help to prevent the republicans from gaining control. However, his failure to inform Charles of his mission prompted suspicions that he was either exploring the possibility of a peace between the commonwealth and Spain or intriguing in the interests of York. This episode triggered a final breach with the Society of Jesus. Though Talbot had not yet been professed, a place had been found for him, teaching moral theology in Antwerp, and he had published a number of works of religious controversy, but his political activity had not met with the approval of his superiors. Almost certainly in response to representations from Charles or his advisers, the general instructed him to leave England and ‘dissevered’ him from the order in June when he did not obey. Talbot managed to recover the king's favour in the autumn when he travelled to Fuenterrabia to assist Charles in his efforts to have his interests accommodated in the Franco–Spanish treaty of the Pyrenees. He had returned to the Netherlands and was pursuing further possibilities of securing military backing in May 1660 when Charles was restored.

In September 1660 Talbot took up residence in London, where his involvement in the politics of court faction continued. The king's chief minister, Clarendon, was implacably hostile to him but he enjoyed the patronage of Ormond (qv) and supported the loyal remonstrance promoted by Peter Walsh (qv), with whom he had worked closely in 1659. Appointed queen's almoner shortly after the royal marriage in May 1662, he was dismissed and barred from court less than six months later at the behest of the king's mistress, Lady Castlemaine. As Richard Talbot became increasingly identified with catholic opposition to Ormond in Ireland, Peter became critical of both Ormond and Walsh: he opposed the adoption of the remonstrance in Ireland and associated himself with Clarendon's opponents in England, particularly Buckingham and Arlington, both of whom he had known well on the Continent. Clarendon's fall in August 1667 and Ormond's dismissal from the lord lieutenancy, announced by Charles in February 1669, prepared the way for Talbot's appointment to the archbishopric of Dublin, which coincided with the appointment of Lord Robartes (qv) in place of Ormond. Talbot was consecrated in Antwerp on 9 May and took up his position in Dublin in the autumn, having spent the intervening months in London arguing for an end to the established policy of favouring those clergy who supported the remonstrance. The expectation of a close working relationship with the new lord lieutenant was disappointed when Robartes resigned within six months of his arrival (September 1669) and was replaced by Lord Berkeley (qv). Berkeley, who had known and distrusted Talbot in exile, treated him with the wariness required by his influential connections and dealt so far as possible with Archbishop Plunkett instead. When a general synod of bishops convened in Dublin on 17 June 1670, Talbot pursued his advantage over Walsh and the remonstrants by proposing the adoption of an alternative declaration of temporal allegiance, closely resembling the address that had been rejected by Ormond in 1666; this initiative was accepted by the meeting and formally welcomed by Berkeley (who had approved the declaration in advance at the prompting of Richard Talbot). During the synod Peter Talbot openly challenged the authority of Plunkett, partly by denying the historic primacy of the see of Armagh but also by claiming a royal mandate to oversee the conduct of the Irish clergy. The practical difficulty was resolved by having the decisions issued in the name of the bishop of Ossory, as secretary of the meeting, rather than that of the primate. The jurisdictional dispute was considered by the congregation of Propaganda Fide on 2 August 1672, when judgement was reserved and the protagonists were bound to silence. Later in the year, Bishop John O'Molony (qv) of Killaloe brokered an uneasy reconciliation between the rivals.

For some years, Talbot exercised his pastoral charge openly, holding provincial synods in 1670 and 1671, conducting a visitation in the latter year, and convening a number of meetings of clergy after Berkeley's replacement in August 1672 by the earl of Essex (qv). In February 1671 he presided at a meeting of nobles convened to arrange financial support for Richard Talbot's representation of catholic interests in London and took the opportunity to propose that the clergy should be required to contribute. His struggle with the remonstrants continued: he was charged with exercising foreign jurisdiction by a number of Franciscans in January 1671 and successfully defended before the council by Sir Nicholas Plunkett (qv). In the late summer of 1672 he excommunicated the Dominican prior of Kilcock, John Byrne, placed the parish under interdict, and prevailed on his nephew, a justice of the peace, to have Byrne committed to jail. On 26 March 1673 the English commons, as part of its response to Charles's declaration of indulgence, demanded that Talbot should be banished ‘for his notorious disloyalty and disobedience and contempt of the laws’ and in the following month, with the encouragement of the administration, Fr Byrne charged him with exercising a foreign jurisdiction and with raising money contrary to law. A committee appointed by Essex took evidence of Talbot's conduct in May 1673. The charges were found to have been proven and his claim to have authority from England ‘for punishing and correcting the popish clergy’ was judged untrue on the testimony of Oliver Plunkett, who had been so assured by Talbot's successor as queen's almoner, Lord Philip Howard. Talbot had applied for and received a pass to travel to France in April; he left Ireland in June, secured letters of recommendation to Louis XIV from both Charles and the duke of York, and arrived in France by September.

Supported by a royal pension of £200, he wrote a number of works of religious controversy, published his statement of the case for Dublin's right to the primacy, and addressed a pastoral letter to his diocese in May 1674. By March 1676 he had moved to England, where he lived in declining health as a guest of Sir James Pool in Cheshire for two years before receiving permission from Ormond (again lord lieutenant) to return to Ireland in May 1678 on condition that he did not interfere in temporal matters. He lived privately in his brother Richard's house at Luttrellstown till 11 October, when he was arrested on foot of an accusation that he was implicated in the ‘popish plot’, with particular responsibility for the murder of the duke of Ormond. The charge was without foundation but there was an irony, not lost on Ormond, in the fact that Peter had been suspected of complicity in a threat to take Ormond's life for which Richard had been imprisoned in 1664. Peter remained in prison in Dublin without trial till his death (25 October × 22 November 1680), some weeks after he had received sacramental absolution from his erstwhile rival and fellow prisoner, Oliver Plunkett.

Sources
Bodl., Carte MS 38; Peter Walsh, The history and vindication of the loyal formulary or Irish remonstrance (1674); T. Carte, The life of James, duke of Ormond (1735–6); id., A collection of original letters and papers (1739); L. F. Renehan, Collections on Irish church history, i: Irish archbishops (1861); Calendar of the Clarendon state papers preserved in the Bodleian Library, ii–v (1869–1970); P. F. Moran (ed.), Spicilegium Ossoriense (1874); HMC, Rep. 10, app. 5, Jesuit archives (1885); P. F Moran, Memoir of the Ven. Oliver Plunkett (1895); CSPD, 1672–3, 1678; HMC, Ormonde MSS, ii; new ser., v (1908); Eva Scott, The travels of the king (1907); P. W. Sergeant, Little Jennings and Fighting Dick Talbot (1913); William P. Burke, The Irish priests in the penal times (1914); Benignus Millett, The Irish Franciscans, 1651–1665 (1964); id., Survival and reorganization, 1650–95 (1968); C. Petrie, The great Tyrconnell (1972); John Hanly (ed.), The letters of Saint Oliver Plunkett (1979)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :

DOB Carton, Kildare; Ent 1635 Portugal; RIP 1680 Newgate prison - LEFT 29/06/1659 “justis de causis”, but wished to return

Son of William 1st Baron of Carton and Alison née Netterville. Brother of John SJ. Brother of Richard, first Duke of Tyrconnell by James II and Viceroy of Ireland. Brother Sir Robert 2nd Baron of Carton. (HIB CATS and Dr Peter Talbot’s “Friar Disciplined”) Cousins of th Netterville’s SJ.

He rendered good service to Charles II while exiled, and a letter from the King to him is given in Thurloe’s State Papers Vol i p 662. He is also alluded to in another paper in the same volume, p 752.
On the death of Thomas Fleming Archbishop of Dublin, Pope Clement IX appointed Peter as Archbishop on 02/05/1669.

1638 Came to Irish Mission and was a good Preacher, Confessor and Professor of Humanities.

1658 On 30/041658 he arrived at the Professed House Antwerp from Ireland (BELG CAT)

1680 He died at Newgate prison Dublin for the faith. He wished to reenter the Society from which he had been dismissed “justis de causis”. “Father Peter Talbot in England, though he did not belong to the English Province, was dismissed by order of Father General 29/06/1659”. (CAT Tertius of ANG 1659-1660. (cf Hogan’s List)

Dr Talbot in his “Friar Disciplined” says to the famous Peter Walsh “Mr Walsh, Father John Talbot, of whom you said when he died (as if it were a rarity of kind of miracle) ‘There lies a honest Jesuit’ assured me, that, after his brother Sir Robert Talbot Had...”
Dr Talbot in his “Haeresis Blackloiana” p 250 says that he himself had studied in Rome with such gifted Jesuits (orbis miracula) as Tirrell, Maurus, Telin (an Irishman - Teeling?), and the younger Palavicino, and was appointed to teach Philosophy at Évora, which has given so many outstanding Theologians to England and Ireland, and amongst others, Father John Talbot, my brother, a distinguished defender of the Roman Faith”
In his treatise on “Religion and Government” p 557, Dr Talbot says he saw the Martyr, Father Mastrilli, in Lisbon on his way to India, and heard him tell his story of his cure by St Xaverius.

(For his literary works see de Backer “Biblioth. des Écrivains SJ”, and for a fuller account see Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)

Dr Talbot’s Letter to Peter Walsh in his “Friar Disciplined”
“As to Friar Walsh, his no less ridiculous than malicious observations and comments upon my devotion and respect to the Most reverend Father Oliva and the whole Society - I must own to the whole world I should be as ill as a man and as a great liar as Walsh himself (and that is the worst that can be said of any man), if I did not esteem very much and speak well of the virtues and learning of the Society. Few can speak with ore knowledge and none with less impartiality. I have lived in their most famous Colleges, and taught in some. I never was in any College or community of theirs where there was not one or more of known eminent sanctity, many of extraordinary virtue, and none that I knew vicious. I always found their Superiors charitable and sincere, their Procurators devout, their Professors humble though learned, their young Masters of Humanity and Students of Philosophy and Divinity very chaste, and if any gave the least suspicion of being otherwise, he was presently dismissed, It is my greatest admiration how so great a body, so generally employed and trusted by the greatest princes, so conversant in the world (according to their holy Institute) can savour so little of it and live so innocently as they do, and even forsake the best part of it, Europe their many conveniences and relations (who are illustrious) and banish themselves to Asia, Africa and America, upon no other account of saving souls. In their schools they teach not those infamous doctrines which that foul mouthed FW asperseth their authors with and says I do practice, but are very reserved in delivering any larger opinion, even of the most famous writers, for fear men should abuse an misapply their authority. This is the substance of what I have said and must say if I will speak truth of an Order, wherein I have lived many years in great content, and truly so innocently (through God’s grace and their example) that the greatest sin I can charge myself with during my abode among them, is the resolution I took of leaving them, though (perhaps erroneously) I framed then a judgement that the circumstances di excuse it from being mortal”... (Hogan’s note)

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
TALBOT, PETER, son of Sir William Talbot, and Brother of the Richard Talbot, who was created Duke of Tyrconnell by King James the Second, and Viceroy of Ireland. Peter was born in the County of Dublin, in 1620. At the age of 15 he enrolled himself in Portugal, amongst the children of St. Ignatius. After his promotion to the Priesthood, he was employed to teach Moral Theology at Antwerp. He had reached London in the spring of 1651, and was preparing to pass over to Ireland on some secret service and commission of Jean IV King of Portugal, and I find him described in a letter of the 29th of April that year as sapientia, pietate et zelo tanto oneri parem. His letter from Cologne, written on the 17th of November, 1654, shews how fully he possessed the confidence of his legitimate Sovereign Charles the Second, then a resident in that City. That his Majesty was then disposed to favour his Catholic subjects, whom he had found to be most faithful to his person and most zealously attached to Monarchial Government, is certain nay, that he was favourably disposed towards their religion is not improbable; but I see no cause for crediting the assertion of the learned author of the Hibcrnia Dominicana, p.711, that the King was reconciled to the Catholic Church by F. Peter Talbot, at Cologne, in the year 1656. There is too much reason to believe, that the King’s was but a death bed conversion.

About the period of the Restoration of his Sovereign, whose interests he had long and most diligently served, and promoted F. Talbot obtained “justis de causis” a dispensation from his vows; but his affection for the Society of Jesus continued unabated. On the death of Dr. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin, Pope Clement IX named Dr. Talbot, on the 2nd of May, 1669, to fill that vacant see. His zeal for the advancement of Religion, and for his Country’s welfare (for he was a true patriot), procured him many enemies in those days of intolerance and bigotry. With his pen he was indefatigable, as the list of his works, which he himself supplied for insertion in Southwell’s Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Jesu (p.702) abundantly proves. In consequence of K. Charles IInd’s Proclamation for the banishment of all Bishops and Religious from Ireland, his Grace repaired to the continent; and I find by his original letter, dated the 29th of December, 1673, from Paris, that his Sovereign, as well as James Duke of York, had recommended him to the most Christian King, and even in letters written with their own hands, to provide him with a Benefice becoming his station, and that he had then actually delivered them. How long he remained abroad I cannot determine; but I read in a Journal, formerly kept at Watten, near St. Omer, the following memorandum : “AD 1676, Feb. 24. My Lord Primate of Ireland, Lord Talbot came here from St. Omer, with F. Retor and F. Ireland”. Soon after his return to Ireland, whilst labouring under great bodily infirmity, he was seized in his brother s house at Carr Town, County Kildare, removed in a chair, and committed a close prisoner, as an accomplice in Oates Plot !!! Harris, (p.197, Book I. Writers of Ireland) with all his prejudices, admits that “nothing appeared against him from his examinations, nor from those of others”. Still the wicked policy of the Sovereign allowed this faithful subject* and old friend to linger for two years in confinement within the walls of Newgate, Dublin, where he died in 1680. See the honorable testimony, p. 131, of the Hibernia Dominicana, to this most injured character. Dr. Patrick Russell was elected his successor in the Archbishopric on the 2nd of August, 1683.
Whilst a Father of the Society of Jesus, he published :

1. “A Treatise of the nature of Catholic Faith and Heresie, with Reflection upon the Nullitie of the English Protestant Church and Clergy” Svo Rouen, 1657. pp. 89.
2. “The Polititians Catechisme for his Instruction in Divine Faith and Morale Honesty”. Svo. Antwerp, 1658, pp.193. Dodd, p. 284, vol. iii. Church History might have improved his article, had he paid more attention to the spirit of F. Southwell’s Narrative, which lay open before him.

• This Luminary of the O.S.D. Dr. Thomas Burke was born in Dublin, in 1709, and succeeded Dr. James Dunne in the See of Ossory, in 1759. He was consecrated at Drogheda by the Primate Anthony Blake, on Low Sunday, the 22nd. of April, that year, and died at his house in Maudlin Street, Kilkenny, on Wednesday, the 25th of September, 1776. This compilation 4to. pp. 797, was actually printed at Kilkenny, from the press of James Stokes (although the title page sets out that it issued from the Metternick Print-office at Cologne) in 1762. Ten years later, a Supplement was printed at Kilkenny, I think by Edmund Finn, which increases the whole work to 949 pages. The Historical Part is valuable Indeed; but the political tendency of the work excited great uneasiness and alarm in the Bishops and Clergy of Ireland. Seven of the Prelates met at Thurles, and signed a declaration on the 28th day of July, 1775, expressive of their disapproval of the Publication as tending to weaken and subvert the fidelity and allegiance due to their gracious Sovereign George III. and to disturb the Public peace and tranquillity, and to give a handle to their opponents to impute principles that they utterly reject, and which are unfounded in the Doctrines of the Catholic Church. See the Anthologia Hibernica for February, 1793, p. 96

• The honour of the reconciliation is due to the Benedictines.That holy Missionary, Benedict Gibbon, (born at Westcliffe, in Kent; professed at Lambspring, on the 21st of March, 1672; deceased 1st of January, 1723), whilst dining with F. Mansuet, O.S.F., Confessor to James, Duke of York, desired him to go to his Royal Highness and advise him to propose to the King, then near his end, whether he did not desire to die in the Communion of the Catholic Church. The Duke did so; and the consequence was, that F. John Huddleston concluded this reconciliation. The seeds of this Conversion were probably sown at Mosely. During the King’s concealment there, he had much interesting conversation with F. Hudleston the Chaplain.

• To the Editor of the Catholic Miscellany for 1826, the public is indebted for reprinting the admirable Pastoral Letter of this loyal Archbishop of Dublin, dated Paris, May 2nd, 1674. See pp 66. 72.

Francis Finegan SJ Biographical Dictionary 1598-1773

He was the younger brother of Father John Talbot SJ, and was born June 29, 1618, and entered the Society at Lisbon, c May 1635. Before his admission to the Novitiate he had already begun his Philosophical studies.

After his Noviceship he resumed his Philosophy course at Coimbra, and according to the Portuguese triennian Catalogus of 1642, was reading Theology, but that source does not say where. In 1645 he was teaching Latin in Lisbon and was not yet a Priest, and it is possible that he interrupted his Theological studies to make his Regency. In any event, he was not ordained Priest until April 1648. The following year he was sent to the Roman Province to make his tertianship at Florence. Thereafter he identified himself with the cause of Charles II.

He was in Ireland in 1652, and for some time the following year. Afterward, his name appears in only one Catalogue, that of Flanders in 1655, when he was a Military Chaplain. The contemporary correspondence shows that his journeyings and negotiations for the Royalist cause earned him the disapproval of the General. He was finally dismissed from the Society on June 29, 1659.

His departure from the Society, however, was friendly, and ever after, his relations with his former colleagues in Ireland were most amicable. he eventually became Archbishop of Dublin, 1669, and died a prisoner for the Faith on November 15, 1680, at Dublin Castle.

The cause for his beatification is before the Holy See.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Talbot_(bishop)

Portrait of Peter Talbot, c. 1660, located in Malahide Castle
Church Catholic Church
Archdiocese Archdiocese of Dublin
Appointed 1669
Orders
Ordination c. 1647
Consecration 9 May 1669
Personal details
Born 1618/1620
Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland
Died 15 November 1680
Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland
Peter Talbot (1618/1620 – 15 November 1680) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin from 1669 to his death in prison. He was a victim of the Popish Plot.

Early life
Talbot was born at Malahide in 1618[1][2] or 1620[3][4][5] to Sir William Talbot and his wife Alison (née Netterville).[2][3][5] In May 1635, he entered the Society of Jesus in Portugal.[3][2][5] He was ordained a priest at Rome on either 6 April 1647[2] or 6 June 1648.[1]

According to archbishop Oliver Plunkett, Talbot proved ‘so troublesome’ that he was made to carry out the tertian stage of his probation in Florence.[2]

Talbot held the chair of theology at the College of Antwerp.[3][4][5] In the meantime during the Commonwealth period, Charles II and the royal family were compelled to seek refuge in Europe. Throughout the period of the king's exile, Talbot's brothers were attached to the royal court. The eldest brother, Sir Robert Talbot, 2nd Baronet, had held a high commission under James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond in the army in Ireland and was reckoned among the king's most confidential advisers. A younger brother, Richard Talbot, later 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, was also devoted to the cause of the exiled monarch and stood high in royal favour.[4]

Appointments
Peter Talbot himself was constantly in attendance on Charles II and his court. On account of his knowledge of the continental languages, he was repeatedly dispatched to private embassies in Lisbon, Madrid, and Paris. On the return of the king to London, Talbot received an appointment as Queen's Almoner, but the Clarendon and Ormond faction, which was then predominant, feared his influence with the king. He was accused of conspiring with four Jesuits to assassinate the Duke of Ormond, and he was forced to seek safety by resigning his position at Court and retiring to continent Europe. The king allowed him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. Before his return to England, Talbot had, with the approval of the General of the Jesuits, severed his connection with the Society.[4]

He was appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1669. Sources differ on the exact date - 11 January,[4] 8 March[1] or 2 May.[3] Talbot was consecrated in Antwerp on 9 May 1669,[2][5] assisted by the Bishops of Ghent and Ferns.[4][5]

Catholic persecution
During this period, the English treatment of Catholics in Ireland was more lenient than usual, owing to the known sympathies of the King (who entered the Catholic Church on his deathbed). In August 1670, Talbot held his first Diocesan Synod in Dublin. It was opened with High Mass, which for forty years many of the faithful had not witnessed. In the same year, an assembly of the archbishops and bishops and representatives of the clergy was held in Dublin. At this assembly, the question of precedence and of the primatial authority gave rise to considerable discussion and led to an embittered controversy between the Archbishop of Dublin and Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh.[4] The subject had been one of great controversy in the Middle Ages, but had been in abeyance for some time.[citation needed] Both prelates considered that they were asserting the rights of their respective sees, and each published a treatise on the subject. Another meeting of the Catholic gentry was convened by Talbot, at which it was resolved to send to the Court at London a representative who would seek redress for some of the grievances to which the Catholics of Ireland were subjected. This alarmed the Protestants in Ireland, who feared that the balance of power might shift to the Catholic majority. They protested to King Charles, and in 1673 some of the repressive measures against Irish Catholics were reinstated, and Talbot was compelled to seek safety in exile.[4]

Exile, arrest and death
During his banishment, he resided generally in Paris. In 1675, Talbot, in poor health, obtained permission to return to England, and for two years he resided with a family friend at Poole Hall in Cheshire. Towards the end of 1677, he petitioned the Crown for leave "to come to Ireland to die in his own country", and through the influence of James, Duke of York his request was granted.[4]

Shortly after that, the Popish Plot was hatched by Titus Oates, and information was forwarded to James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to the effect that a rebellion was being planned in Ireland, that Peter Talbot was one of the accomplices, and that assassins had been hired to murder the Duke himself. Ormond was in private deeply sceptical of the Popish Plot's existence, remarking that Talbot was too ill to carry it out.[4] Of the alleged assassins, Ormond stated that they were such "silly drunken vagabonds" that "no schoolboy would trust them to rob an orchard"; but he thought it politically unwise to show his doubts publicly. Though he was sympathetic to Oliver Plunkett, who was also arrested in connection with the alleged Plot and was later to die on the scaffold, he had always been hostile to Talbot.[6]

On 8 October 1678, Ormond signed a warrant for Talbot's arrest.[6][4] He was arrested at Cartown near Maynooth at the house of his brother, Colonel Richard Talbot, and was then moved to Dublin Castle.[4]

For two years Talbot remained in prison without trial, where he fell ill.[4][2] Despite their long friendship, Charles II, fearful of the political repercussions, made no effort to save him.[6] Talbot was held in an adjoining cell to Oliver Plunkett. The two archbishops reconciled as fellow prisoners, setting aside their disagreements as expressed in their treatises.[4]

From his prison cell, Talbot had written on 12 April 1679, petitioning that a priest be allowed to visit him, as he was bedridden for months and was now in imminent danger of death. The petition was refused, but Plunkett, on hearing of Talbot's dying condition, forced his way through the warders and administered to the dying prelate the last consolations of the sacraments.[4][2] Talbot died in prison on 15 November 1680.[6][1][2][4]

Legacy
Talbot is said to have been interred in the churchyard of St. Audoen's Church, close by the tomb of Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester.[4]

(1) Cheney, David M. "Archbishop Peter Talbot". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 1 January 2024.

(2) Clarke, Aidan. "Talbot, Peter". Dictionary of Irish Biography.

(3) Oliver, George (1838). Collections towards illustrating the biography of the Scotch, English, and Irish members, of the Society of Jesus. C. Dolman. ISBN 978-1333240035.

(4) Moran, Francis (1912). "Peter Talbot" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14.

(5) Bagwell, Richard (1898). "Talbot, Peter" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55. pp. 327–329.

(6) Kenyon, J.P. (2000). The Popish Plot. Phoenix Press Reissue. p. 225.

◆ Henry Foley - Records of the English province of The Society of Jesus Vol VII
TALBOT, PETER, Father (Irish), born at Carton, in Kildare, 1620; entered the Society in Portugal, 1635. (Hogan's list.) He was son of Sir William Talbot, and brother of Richard Talbot, who was created first Duke of Tyrconnell by King James II.
This Father rendered good service to Charles II, when an exile, and a letter from the King to him is given in Thurloe's State Papers, vol. i. p. 662. He is also alluded to in another paper in p. 752 of the same vol. Upon the death of Dr. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin, Pope Clement IX, appointed Father Peter Talbot to fill the vacant Archbishopric on May 2, 1669. For his literary works see Father Southwell's Bibl. Scriptorum .7., and Father de Backer's Biblioth. des Ecrivains 5.7., and for a fuller account see Oliver, from Stonyhurst MSS. On April 30, 1658, he arrived from Ireland at the Professed House, Antwerp. (Belgian Catalogue.) He died in Newgate Prison, Dublin, for the Catholic faith, in 1680. He wished to re-enter the Society, from which he had been dismissed, justis de causis. (Hogan's list) " Father Peter Talbot in England, although he did not belong to the English Province, was dismissed by order of the Rev. Father General, June 29, 1659."-Catalogus Tertius of the English Province for 1659-60. See Hogan's Irish list for further particulars. (1)

Talbot, John, born in 1611, in county Kildare, probably at Carton, the seat of his father, Sir W. Talbot, Bart. ; entered the Socięty in 1632; came to the Irish Mission in 1638; was a good preacher, Confessarius and Professor of Humanities; was brother of Sir Robert Talbot, Bart., Richard, Duke of Tyrconnell, Viceroy of Ireland, and Peter, Archbishop of Dublin. (Irish Catalogues S.J. Dr. Talbot's Friar Disciplined,) He died between 1666 and 1674 ; since Dr. Talbot, in his Friar Disciplined, published in 1674, says to the famous Peter Walsh : “Jr. Walsh, Father John Talbot, of whom you said when he died (as if it yere & rarity or kind of miracle). There lies a honest Jesuit,' assuredi me, that, after his brother, Sir Robert Talbot, hari," etc. Again, Dr. Talbot, in his Horosis Blackloiana, says he himself had studied in Konie with such gifted Jesuits (orbis miracula) as Tirrell, Maurus, Telin (an Irishman), and the younger Palavicino, and was appointed to reach philosophy at the University of Evora, which has given so many orthodox theologians to England and Ireland, and amongst others Father John Talbot, my brother, a distinguished defender of the Roman Faith." (Hurusis Blacklinna, P. 250.) In his Treatise on Religion and Government, p. 557, Dr. Talbot says he saw the martyr, Father Mastrilli, in Lisbon, on his way to India, and heard him tell the story of his cure by St. Xavcrius. All these Talbots were cousins of the Fathers Netterville, S.).

The Gilbert Talbot of the Society, who cannot be identified in the English Catalogues, was perhaps a brother of Peter's, who had been a Colonel in the Irish army in the “Forty-one Wars" (1641), and, says Clarendon, was looked upon as a man of courage, having fought a dud or trvo with stond men. I think there were three John Talbots S.J., as follows: (1) John Tallxot, born 1609; entered 1626, in Portugal. (2) John Talbot, born in Kildare, 1611; entered 1632; came to mission in 1638. (3) John Talbot, born 1619; entererl circ. 1637; one of them was a brother of Peter's, the two others were probably an uncle and a cousin of his.

Dr. Talbot's Laler to Peter Walsh in the " Friar Disciplined,"
As to Friar Walsh, his no less ridiculous than malicious observations and comments upon my devotion and respect to the most Reverend Father Oliva and the whole Society--I must own to the whole world I should be as ill a man and as great a liar as Walsh himself (and that is the worst that can le said of any man), if I did not cstcem very much and speak Hell of the virtue and learning of the society. Fow can speak with more knowledge, and none with less impartiality. I have been in most of their Provinces of Europe. I have lived in their most famous Colleges, and taught in some. I never was in any College or community of theirs where there was not ne or more of known eminent sanctity, inany of extraordinary virtue, wul none that I know vicious. I always found their Superiors charitable and sincere, their l'rocurators (levout, their l'rofessors humble though learnul, their young Masters of Ifumarity and Students of Philosophy and Divinity very chasic, and if any pare the least suspicion of being utlicrwise, he was presently dismissed. It is ny greatest aclınira tion how so great a lody, so generally employed and trusted by the greatest princes, so einversant in the world (according to their holy Institute). can savour so little of it and live so innocently as they do: and cten forsake the best part of it, kurope, their many conveniences and relations (who are illustrious), and lanish themselves to Asia, Africa, and America, tupun no other account but that of Sving souls. In their schools they tanch not those infanious (loctrines which that foul-momhed F. . asperseth their authors with, and says I do practise, frut are very reserved in delivering any larger opinion even of the most famous writers, for fear men should alsuse and misapply their authority. This is the substance of what I always said and must say if I will speak truth of an Order wherein I have lived many years in great content, and truly so innocently (through God's grace and their example!, that the greatest sin I can charge myself with during my alade among them, is the resolution I took of leaving them, thouyl (perhaps erroneously) I framed then a judgment that the circumstances did excuse it from being inorlal," etc. (This note is furnished by I'r. Hogan.)

Born: 1593, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 05 April 1610, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: c 1618, Salamanca, Spain
Final Vows: 16 October 1626
Died: 10 January 1652, Imperial College, Madrid, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Alias Gaudin

Son of Thomas and his 2nd wife Anastatia née Devereux. Brother of Thomas, half-Brother of Walter, Michael and Peter. 1st Cousin of Ambrose and Luke OFM

1619 at Monforte College teaching Latin
1625 At Valladolid Age 32 Soc 15. Teaching Grammar and Philosophy. Talent very good for teaching. Would be a good Superior
1626 In Spain. Prof 4 Vows. Talent, judgement and proficiency very good. A talent for teaching and government. Taught Philosophy and Theology
1633 At Salamanca Age 39 Soc 22 teaching Theology
1636-1639 At Valladolid teaching Philosophy and Theology
1642-1645 At Salamanca teaching Theology. Possesses excellent talent and judgement with much character and piety. Highly qualified to teach Theology. Has a talent for giving advice and transacting business. I believe a very good man to be a Superior. by 1645 has been Prefect of Studies.
1649 At Imperial College Madrid. Teaching Moral and “los estudios Reales”
In Waterford College there is a “Tirinus” with “Es de la Mission de Irlanda applicole con licencia de NP Geberal et Lucas Guadin SJ”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
A Writer; One of the Wadding brothers SJ; Rector of Burgos; Prefect of Irish Mission; Professor of Theology at Salamanca, Valladolid and Madrid; A most distinguished man “quem summis aequiparare possis” (Litt Anuae Prov of Toledo); Ninve Volumes of his Theological MSS are preserved at Salamanca (Foley’s "Collectanea")
1617 In CAST (Irish Ecclesiastical Record, August 1874)
1642 At Salamanca, and Robert Nugent Irish Mission Superior in a letter of 24 April 1642 asks General Vitelleschi for his and his brother Peter’s services in Ireland, and again in another letter of 28 February 1643 (Oliver Stonyhurst MSS).
RIP 31 December 1650 or 01 January 1651. His death is alluded to in a letter or report of Fr Christopher Mendoza, Madrid 1675, as having occurred at St George’s College Madrid, but without date (cf Richard Cardwell’s transcripts of MSS SJ in the “Archives de l’État”, Brussels, Stonyhurst MSS)
“The Supreme Council of Ireland, to Fr Luke Wadding, of the Society of Jesus in Spain 28 June 1643 : Reverend Father, wee have sent back Father Talbot into Spain, to render humble and hearty thanks to his Catholicke Majesty fr the great affection he bears to our cause and nacion; and wee have authorised you as by our severall commissions you will finde to agitat our affairs as well at Courte as with the Prelates and Clergie of Spaine. We know your zeal to the cause and the care you have of your countrye” (Hogan)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Thomas and his 2nd wife Anastatia née Devereux. Brother of Thomas, half-Brother of Walter Michael and Peter. 1st Cousin of Ambrose and Luke OFM
Apparently he left Ireland as a young boy, and he had already studied Humanities at St Patrick’s Lisbon, and he had started Priestly studies at Salamanca 15 September 1608 before Ent 06 April 1610 Villagarcía the same day as his brother Thomas
1612-1619 After First Vows 06 April 1612 he was sent for studies to Royal College Salamanca and was Ordained there c 1618
1619-1622 He then taught Classics and later Philosophy and Theology for three years at Monforte
1622-1624 Taught Philosophy at Compostela
1625-1640 First teacher of Theology at St Ambrose, Valladolid
1640-1647 Teaching Theology at Royal College Salamanca
1647-1652 Teaching Theology at Imperial College Madrid (TOLE) where he died 10 January 1652
The Superior of the Irish Mission wanted to have Luke sent back to Ireland but the Spaniards refused to part with a scholar of his brilliance. Luke himself never lost interest in the Mission and was able to assist it with alms from friends in Spain
On the outbreak of the war in Ireland in 1641, he was able to counter the misrepresentations of the origin of the war circulated at the Spanish court by the English Jesuit, Thomas Babthorpe
He was also a Writer.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Note from Paul Sherlock (Sherlog) Entry
In April 1642 and again in February 1643, Robert Nugent, superior of the Jesuits in Ireland, wrote to the general of the order, Viteilleshi, requesting the return to Ireland of Sherlock and another Irish Jesuit, Luke Wadding (a professor at Salamanca and cousin of the Franciscan Luke Wadding (qv) (1588–1657)), declaring both priests to be ‘absolutely necessary to this mission’ (Grogan, 94). Neither priest returned.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Luke Wadding 1593-1651
Fr Luke Wadding was a cousin of Fr Ambrose Wadding SJ, and of Luke, the glory of the Franciscan order. The Jesuit Luke Wadding was born in Waterford in 1593, of which city his father, Thomas Wadding, was Mayor in 1596. In 1610 Luke Wadding entered the Jesuit noviciate at Villagarcia Spain, joining his younger brother Michael, who had entered the year before, and was followed the year after by his brother Thomas.

Fr Luke spent all his life in Spain, teaching Humanities and professing Philosophy and Theology in the various Colleges and Universities. In spite of repeated appeals by the Mission Superior Robert Nugent, he was never allowed back to work in Ireland. However, like his celebrated cousin, the Franciscan, he worked on behalf of the Irish cause on the continent. According to Richard Bellings “Fr James Talbot OSA and Fr Luke Wadding SJ, Professor of Divinity at Salamanca, procured 20,000 crowns for the Irish cause”.

He died in Madrid on 30th December 1651. In 1648 he had acted as Prefect of the Irish Mission, having under his charge the Irish Jesuit Colleges in Spain and Portugal, and in general to transact the business of the Jesuits in Ireland.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
WADDING, LUKE, (brother to F. Peter Wadding ) was a native of Waterford, and of a Family fruitful in great men. F. Luke was living at Salamanca, and his brother Peter in Bohemia, in the year 1642. On the 24th of April, that year, the Superior of the Irish Mission, F. Robert Nugent, applied to the General Vitelleschi for the benefit of their services at home. In a letter of the 28th of February, 1643, he repeated his anxious wish for their return, “in Missione hac omnino neccssarii sunt”; but it is certain that the petition could not be granted.

Born: 1587, Waterford
Entered: 1609, Villagarcía, Galicia, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)
Ordained: c 1619, Mexico
Final Vows: 12 April 1626
Died: 12 December 1644, College of SS Pedro and Pablo, Mexico City, Mexico

Alias Godinez

Son of Thomas and his 1st wife Mary née Walsh. Brother of Walter and Peter. Half Brother of Luke and Thomas. 1st Cousin of Ambrose and Luke OFM

William Browne was his cousin and possibly Ignatius Browne as well (acc to Edmund Hogan)
1614 Has finished Philosophy and is in Mexico. Has taught Grammar in College of Mexico. Strong constitution.
1617 In Mexico Age 26 Soc 8

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Went to Mexico 1605; Professor of Rhetoric, Philosophy, Theology and Scripture; Missioner in Cinaloa; Rector of various Colleges; Writer on Mystical Theology; An extempore Latin Poet; A Spiritual Director of many souls eminent for sanctity.
A Priest of extraordinary holiness.
(In pen) By 1614 was in College of Mexico, had finished Philosophy, taught Grammar for two years and was strong.
1617 Was at Mechelen (Irish Ecclesiastical Record August 1874; de Backer “Biblioth. des Écrivains SJ”) (cf Dr P Powers Waterford Saints pp32-38)

◆ Fr John McErlean SJ :
1610 Set sail for Mexico as a Novice, and once there adopted the name “Godinez”
1619-1626 Worked as a missioner in the remote Province of Sinaloa, with as many as 5,400 Indians under his care
1626 Ordered by Fr General to recuperate, and was appointed Rector successively of the S Geronimo College at La Puebla de los Angeles (Puebla), S Ildefonso at Mexico City, Guatemala College, Mexico (now Guatemala), Oaxaca, Mexico and S Ildefonso at La Puebla de los Angeles (Puebla).
Zealous missioner and successful administrator, but also a saintly man demonstrated in his celebrated work on Mystical Theology

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Thomas and his 1st wife Mary née Walsh. Brother of Walter and Peter. Half Brother of Luke and Thomas. 1st Cousin of Ambrose and Luke OFM
A year after Entry at Villagarcía he set sail as a Novice for Mexico. Once he arrived in Mexico, he adopted the Spanish name “Godinez” for his surname.
1619-1626 After Ordination c 1618 he was sent to Sinaloa, northwest Mexico, where he had as many as 5,400 Christian Indians under his care.
1626 Worn out by his labours, he was recalled by order of the General in 1626 to recuperate his strength
Later he was appointed Rector of S Geronimo at La Puebla de los Angeles, then S Ildefonso at Mexico City, then Guatemala College, Mexico (now Guatemala), and Oaxaca College, Mexico.
Finally he died at the College of San Pedro and San Pablo Mexico City 1644
A successful missionary and administrator, he wrote a celebrated treatise on Mystical Theology

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Wadding, Michael
by Terry Clavin

Wadding, Michael (1591–1644), catholic missionary and mystic, was the son of Thomas Wadding of Waterford city and his wife, Mary Walsh. Thomas was a successful lawyer who served as chief justice of Tipperary and as mayor of Waterford in 1596, and provided legal advice to Sir George Carew (qv), lord president of Munster. He was a staunch catholic and his houses in Waterford city and in King's Meadow, Co. Waterford, acted as sanctuaries for priests. Inspired by the suffering and labours of these priests, Michael appears to have been set from an early age on a career in the clergy. About 1605 Michael went to the Irish college at Lisbon where he studied for two years, before joining the Irish seminary at Salamanca in September 1607. However, he left the seminary to join the Society of Jesus at Villagarcia on 15 April 1609. There he became a disciple of the renowned theologian and mystic Father Suarez. Wadding quickly decided he wanted to become a missionary in Mexico. On 15 May 1610 he was granted permission to do so, and he travelled to Mexico later the same year. He changed his name to Miguel Godinez, most likely for the convenience of his Spanish colleagues.

In Mexico he continued his studies and in 1612 he became professor in the college of Mexico. In 1618 he was sent on the mission to Sinaloa, a province on the extreme western coast of Mexico, facing the Gulf of California. Over the next eight years he endured an extremely harsh environment and the hostility to Christianity of many of the local tribes. On two occasions he had to flee for his life and he witnessed the death of two Jesuit colleagues and his own servant boy at the hands of the natives. After 1624 a plague wreaked havoc in the region and the missionaries were preoccupied mainly with tending to the sick and dying. He was particularly impressed by the spirituality of his fellow missionaries, and how many of them had ecstatic spiritual experiences during their period in the wilderness. Despite all the difficulties, he enjoyed some success and is credited with converting the Basiroas tribe. He was recalled from the mission soon after making his final profession of the four vows at Jepotzolan in Sinaloa on 12 April 1626.

By the year's end he was acting as professor of philosophy in the seminary at St Ildefonso at Puebla de los Angeles. Thereafter he appears as rector of the Jesuit college of Guatemala (1638) and as rector of the college of Puebla de los Angelus (1640). While he was teaching theology, he compiled his Treatise on mystic theology, which was based mainly on his experiences in Sinaloa. In Mexico he was widely regarded as a holy man and was distinguished for his knowledge of mystic theology. His Treatise was eventually published in 1681 and went through ten editions. Wadding died in Mexico 18 December 1644.

Edmund Hogan, ‘Worthies of Waterford and Tipperary’ in Waterford ASJ, no. 4 (1898), 73–82; Catholic Encyclopaedia (1913), xv, 524–5; P. Power, Waterford saints and scholars (1920), 32-8

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 2nd Year No 1 1926

Three centuries ago (1626) Fr Michael Wadding took the vows of the Society in Mexico. He was born in Waterford, and was a cousin of the famous Franciscan, Fr. Luke Wadding. He had two brothers Jesuits who won lasting reputations in some of the leading Universities of Europe.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father Michael Wadding 1587-1644
Michael Wadding was one of the celebrated Wadding family of Waterford. He is better known by his Spanish name, Michael Godinez. In fulfillment of his father’s dying wish, he set out with his brothers Ambrose and Luke for the continent, where he entered the Irish College at Lisbon. He became a Jesuit in 1609.

After eleven months noviceship at Villagarcia, where he became acquainted with the great Suarez, he volunteered for the then most arduous Mission, the Indians of Mexico. Here he laboured with zeal, amid incredible hardships, crossing the mountains by perilous paths, trudging with knap-sack on back, and parched with thirst over burning plains, swimming rivers, encountering wild beasts and wilder men, the saintly Jesuit carried the Gospel to the barbarian tribes. He saw two of his companions transfixed with arrows and a third clubbed to death.

His efforts met with miraculous success. |There was no single year in my time” he says, “in which the number of baptised pagans was less than 5,000. Some years it was over 10,000, and in the year 1624, the whole Province contained 62,000, and some time after 120,000 converts to Christianity”.

It was the sun baked solitude of blistering plains, in the gorges of might mountains and in the gloom of forests, where the feet of a European had never trodden, that Michael thought out the material which later he embodied in his “Theologica Mystica”. This book, which was written in Spanish, almost equalled the Imitation in popularity. It went into numberless editions, was translated into Latin and other European tongues, and for two centuries enjoyed a great reputation as a standard work on the spiritual life.

In 1616 he became Professor of Philosophy at the Seminary of St Idelfonso at Pueblo de los Angeles, in 1638 the Rector of the College of Guatemala, in 1640 Rector of Pueblo de los Angeles.

On September 12th 1644 he died in Mexico, with the reputation of a great saint and a great mystic.

Born: 16 March 1611, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 14 September 1634, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitaniae Province (LUS)
Ordained: 1645, Coimbra, Portugal
Final Vows: 28 March 1655
Died: 17 November 1697, Waterford Residence, Waterford City, County Waterford - Romanae Province (ROM)

Superior of Mission 1666
Novice Master Lusitania Province 1665

1639 At Coimbra studying Philosophy
1642 Teaching Greek and Hebrew (at Lisbon?)
1645 At Elvas Teaching Greek and Hebrew (a Hogan slip has Elvas crossed out and Coimbra). Age 31 Soc 11
1649 At Irish College Lisbon teaching Moral Theology
1650 At Alentejo LUS
1658 At Irish College Lisbon Minister and Procurator. Is an M Phil
1661 At Professed House Lisbon, Socius to Provincial
1665 At Novitiate House Lisbon Age 50 Soc 34 (Superior is Francis Uhel?)
1670 Superior of Ireland (Arch Ir Coll Rom I 85,87)
Several of his books in Waterford have “Resid Waterford SJ, Martinus Franciscus Vittus”

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1665-1669 Was for Master of Novices in Portugal, and Rector of the Novitiate - one of his Novices was John de Britto (Franco’s “Annales”)
Was Socius to the LUS Provincial
Superior of the Irish Mission
A good linguist
By his zeal, charity and prudence he gave great satisfaction while he was with the Spanish (should be Portuguese) Ambassador in England; Pleased the Irish gentry; had great influence with the Queen and her household.
A letter of William St Leger, Irish Mission Superior, 16 January 1663, speaks highly of him and earnestly asks that he be sent to the Mission,
A letter of Francis, Kilkenny 19 December 1668, shows that he was then Superior of the Mission
(cf Oliver, Stonyhurst MSS)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had previously begun studies at the Irish College Lisbon before Ent 14 September 1634 Lisbon
1636-1647 After First Vows he was sent for studies to Coimbra, where he graduated MA, ad he also taught Greek and Hebrew there. He was also Ordained there 1645
1647-1660 Sent as Minister at Irish College Lisbon and also taught Moral Theology
1660-1662 Appointed Socius to Provincial in Lisbon
1662-1666 Rector and Master of Novices at Lisbon - one of his Novices was John de Britto
1666 He was sent to Ireland as Superior of the Mission. He was the first to detect the frauds of James Taaffe OSF who posed as a Nuncio with extensive powers from the Pope.
When he finished as Mission Superior he went to Waterford, and spent the rest of his life there until his death 17 November 1697

◆ James B Stephenson SJ The Irish Jesuits Vol 1 1962
Francis White (1666-1669)

Francis White was born at Waterford on 16th March, 1617. He went to Lisbon to complete his studies, and entered the Novitiate of the Society there on 14th September, 1634. At the end of it he proceeded to Coimbra, where he studied philosophy and theology, took out his degree of Master of Arts, and taught Greek and Hebrew. In 1647 he became Minister of the Irish College at Lisbon, and lectured on Moral Theology. He made his solemn profession of four vows on 28th March, 1655. In 1660 he was appointed Socius of the Provincial, and two years later he became Rector and Master of Novices. One of the novices trained by him was the future martyr, Blessed John de Britto. Early in 1666 he returned to Ireland, and was appointed Superior of the Irish Mission. He was the first to detect the frauds of the friar, James Taffe, OSF, who claimed legatine powers over the clergy, secular and regular, of Ireland. When his term of office came to an end he laboured as a missioner for many years at Waterford, where he died on 17th November, 1697.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Francis White 1617-1697
Francis White was born of one of the leading families of Waterford on March 18th 1617. He spent a great deal of his early life in Lisbon, where he did his studies and entered the Society.

He taught Greek and Hebrew. In 1647 he went to the Irish College at Lisbon, where he was first Minister, then Rector and Master of Novices. He spent some time in London where he was attached to the Portuguese Ambassador, and had great influence with the Queen and her household.

In 1666 he came to Ireland and was made Superior of the Mission. He was the first to detect the frauds of the friar James Taafe OSF, who claimed legitimate power over the clergy of Ireland.

When his term of office was complete he retired to Waterford, where he laboured for many years and where he died on November 17th 1697.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
WHITE, FRANCIS, of one of the best families in Waterford, for many years resided in Portugal, where he was Master of Novices. F. William St. Leger, in a letter dated the 16th of January, 1663, says of him, “It is time that he should serve the Society and the Church of God in his own country. This is expedient and almost necessary; he is eminently qualified by virtue, and abilities, and method; he has filled several offices in the Order. Whilst in England with the Portuguese Ambassador, he gave the highest satisfaction by his zeal and charity; he is known and welcome to the English and Irish Gentry; is well acquainted with languages, and conversant with the world; has considerable influence with the Queen and her Household” &c. A letter of F. Francis White, dated Kilkenny, the 19th of December, 1668, shews that he was then Superior of the Irish Mission. He died at Waterford, on the 17th of November, 1697, at. 87. He had a brother Patrick, a worthy Priest, who nobly did his duty during the Plague at Waterford* in 1650.

• See p 571 of that invaluable work “Hibernia Dominicana”.

Born: 1608, Lisbon, Portugal
Entered: 1625, Lisbon, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)
Ordained: c 1637, Évora, Portugal
Died: 22 December 1642, Coimbra, Portugal - Lusitania Province (LUS)

1633 Teaching Latin at Coimbra
1636 At Évora studying Theology
1637 Catalogue “Joan Vitus receuter venit”

◆ Francis Finegan SJ :
1627-1637 After First Vows he was sent for studies at Coimbra where he graduated MA. He was then sent of Regency to San Miguel in the Azores. he was then sent to Évora for Theology and Ordained there c 1637.
1637-1642 He had been sent to Coimbra to teach Classics when he died there 22 December 1642
In the 1629 LUS Catalogue he was reckoned as an Irishman, and so a potential member of the Irish Mission

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
WHITE JOHN. This Father is mentioned by F. Robert Nugent in his letter dated “ex Hibernia, 1 Octobris,1640”.