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Jesuit Alcalá de Henares

Power, Paul, 1732-1795, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/2006
  • Person
  • 16 April 1732-22 February 1795

Born: 16 April 1732, County Waterford
Entered: 08 September 1750, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: c1759, Alcalá, Spain
Final Vows: 02 February 1768
Died: 22 February 1795, St, Patrick's, Waterford

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1783 Succeeded Father St Leger as PP of St Patrick’s Waterford
1793 Fathers Power, O’Halloran, O’Callaghan, Mulcaille and Betagh (the five survivors) met and agreed to confide the funds to Father O’Callaghan to be kept for the Restored Society.

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Nicholas and Helena née Keating
Studied at Irish College Salamanca from 07 August 1748 for two years before Ent 08 September 1750 Madrid. He originally expressed his desire to join the Society and his Rector at Salamanca John O'Brien gave him a letter of introduction to the Provincial of Toledo : “He is 18 years of age, of good health, great ability, of a peaceful disposition and well inclined, of good appearance and with none of those impediments mentioned in our constitutions. He is of good parentage, upright and Catholic. He has a first cousin of his name, a merchant of Seville, who has offered to defray the expense of his entering”.
After First Vows he was sent to Alcalá for studies and was Ordained there c 1759
1759-1762 He was then sent to teach Humanities at Villarejo
1762 Sent to Ireland and the Waterford Residence. At the Suppression he was incardinated at Waterford, and continued to minister at St Patrick’s. He succeeded Fr St Leger as PP in 1783 and died there 22/02/1795

◆ Fr Joseph McDonnell SJ Past and Present Notes :
16th February 1811 At the advance ages of 73, Father Betagh, PP of the St Michael Rosemary Lane Parish Dublin, Vicar General of the Dublin Archdiocese died. His death was looked upon as almost a national calamity. Shops and businesses were closed on the day of his funeral. His name and qualities were on the lips of everyone. He was an ex-Jesuit, the link between the Old and New Society in Ireland.

Among his many works was the foundation of two schools for boys : one a Classical school in Sall’s Court, the other a Night School in Skinner’s Row. One pupil received particular care - Peter Kenney - as he believed there might be great things to come from him in the future. “I have not long to be with you, but never fear, I’m rearing up a cock that will crow louder and sweeter for yopu than I ever did” he told his parishioners. Peter Kenney was to be “founder” of the restored Society in Ireland.

There were seventeen Jesuits in Ireland at the Suppression : John Ward, Clement Kelly, Edward Keating, John St Leger, Nicholas Barron, John Austin, Peter Berrill, James Moroney, Michael Cawood, Michael Fitzgerald, John Fullam, Paul Power, John Barron, Joseph O’Halloran, James Mulcaile, Richard O’Callaghan and Thomas Betagh. These men believed in the future restoration, and they husbanded their resources and succeeded in handing down to their successors a considerable sum of money, which had been saved by them.

A letter from the Acting General Father Thaddeus Brezozowski, dated St Petersburg 14/06/1806 was addressed to the only two survivors, Betagh and O’Callaghan. He thanked them for their work and their union with those in Russia, and suggested that the restoration was close at hand.

A letter from Nicholas Sewell, dated Stonyhurst 07/07/1809 to Betagh gives details of Irishmen being sent to Sicily for studies : Bartholomew Esmonde, Paul Ferley, Charles Aylmer, Robert St Leger, Edmund Cogan and James Butler. Peter Kenney and Matthew Gahan had preceded them. These were the foundation stones of the Restored Society.

Returning to Ireland, Kenney, Gahan and John Ryan took residence at No3 George’s Hill. Two years later, with the monies saved for them, Kenney bought Clongowes as a College for boys and a House of Studies for Jesuits. From a diary fragment of Aylmer, we learn that Kenney was Superior of the Irish Mission and Prefect of Studies, Aylmer was Minister, Claude Jautard, a survivor of the old Society in France was Spiritual Father, Butler was Professor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology, Ferley was professor of Logic and Metaphysics, Esmonde was Superior of Scholastics and they were joined by St Leger and William Dinan. Gahan was described as a Missioner at Francis St Dublin and Confessor to the Poor Clares and irish Sisters of Charity at Harold’s Cross and Summerhill. Ryan was a Missioner in St Paul’s, Arran Quay, Dublin. Among the Scholastics, Brothers and Masters were : Brothers Fraser, Levins, Connor, Bracken, Sherlock, Moran, Mullen and McGlade.

Trouble was not long coming. Protestants were upset that the Jesuits were in Ireland and sent a petition was sent to Parliament, suggesting that the Vow of Obedience to the Pope meant they could not have an Oath of Allegiance to the King. In addition, the expulsion of Jesuits from all of Europe had been a good thing. Kenney’s influence and diplomatic skills resulted in gaining support from Protestants in the locality of Clongowes, and a counter petition was presented by the Duke of Leinster on behalf of the Jesuits. This moment passed, but anto Jesuit feelings were mounting, such as in the Orange faction, and they managed to get an enquiry into the Jesuits and Peter Kenney and they appeared before the Irish Chief Secretary and Provy Council. Peter Kenney’s persuasive and oratorical skills won the day and the enquiry group said they were satisfied and impressed.

Over the years the Mission grew into a Province with Joseph Lentaigne as first Provincial in 1860. In 1885 the first outward undertaking was the setting up of an Irish Mission to Australia by Lentaigne and William Kelly, and this Mission grew exponentially from very humble beginnings.

Later the performance of the Jesuits in managing UCD with little or no money, and then outperforming what were known as the “Queen’s Colleges” forced the issue of injustice against Catholics in Ireland in the matter of University education. It is William Delaney who headed up the effort and create the National University of Ireland under endowment from the Government.from the Government.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
POWER, PAUL. All that I can glean of this Father is, that he was appointed joint executor with F. Callaghan to Rev. John Fullam’s will. It is painful to the compiler of these notes to be able to offer so little information, but he hopes to sharpen the industry and zeal of others. His object is merely to gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

Ó Neachtain, Peadar, 1709-1756, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1848
  • Person
  • 29 June 1709-28 October 1756

Born: 29 June 1709, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 25 May 1729, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: 1737, Toledo, Spain
Final Vows: 02 February 1749
Died: 28 October 1756, Murcia, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)

Alias Ignatius Norton

Taught Rhetoric, Minis and Moral Theology. Was Prefect of Studies

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Son of Teig (son of William) O’Neachtan and his wife Catherina Birmingham, not Cruice as O’Reilly wrongly states in his “Irish Writers”. A man named Birmingham is called in Irish “MacFeorais” and a lady “Ni Cheoris:. Mrs O’Neachtan is called “mother of the reverend learned Father Peter O’Neachtan, of the holy Ordere of Jesus - do Naom Ord Iosa”
Note from John O’Neachton Entry :
A John O’Neachton wrote verses “on the death of Catherine Cruice, wife of Teig O’Neachton, and mother of Peter SJ. They began : “Catriona ni Ceoris an oigbean bus aille - Catherinea Cruice, the young woman (who) was beautiful” (O’Reilly “Irish Writers”)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Tadgh or Thady (poet) and Catherine née Nic Fheorais (Birmingham). Baptised by Canon Valentine Rivers (an alumnus of the Dublin Jesuit School)
Early education was at the Jesuit School in Dublin under Milo O’Byrne and then Philosophy at Canon John Harold’s Academy. In May 1728 with a letter of recommendation to the Rector, he headed for Santiago (the events of his journey are recorded in a poem by his father), and after a few months there entered the Irish College at Salamanca for a year before Ent 27 May 1729 Madrid
After First Vows he was sent for studies to Alcalà and for Theology to Toledo where he was Ordained 1737
1737-1743 Sent to teach Rhetoric to the Jesuit Scholastics at Villarejo
1743-1745 Sent to Alcalà to teach Philosophy
1745-1755 Sent to Murcia for a Chair of Moral theology.
1755 He was sent back to Alcalà to teach Moral Theology, but his health failed him afterwards and he had to resign. He moved to Murcia and died there 28 October 1756
In the Society Ó Neachtain was known by the anglicised version “Norton”. As an Irish speaker, The Mission Superior Thomas Hennessy had made representations to have him sent to the Irish Mission. His Superiors in TOLE had such a high regard for his gifts that they refused to release him.
His Obit pays tribute to a man of high intellectual gifts, which inspired so many of his Spanish students, though he was also much sought after by lay people as a Spiritual Guide.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Peadar Ó Neachtáin 1709-1756
Peadar Ó Neachtáin was born in St Catherine’s Parish Dublin on June 29th 1709. He was the son of Seán Ó Neachtáin, the Irish poet.

Peadar received his early education from the Jesuits in their day-school in Dublin presided over by Fr Robert Eustace. He entered the Society abroad at the age of 19.

Éigse Vol 1 contains a long poem of his father’s written on his son’s journey across the seas. Fr Peadar is mentioned by O’Reilly, author if the Irish Dictionary, in a list of 400 Irish writers.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
NORTON, or O’NEAGHTON, PETER, son of Teigh O’Naghton, by his wife Catharine Cruise. This Jesuit is mentioned by O Reilly, author of the “Irish Dictionary”, in an account of four hundred Irish Writers.

Magill, Casimir, 1737-1771, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1649
  • Person
  • 19 June 1737-01 March 1771

Born: 19 June 1737, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 21 May 1760, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: before 1771
Died: 01 March 1771, Rome, Italy - Toletanae Province (TOLE)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of James and Maria née Humphreys
1762-1765 After First Vows he was sent to Philosophy at Murcia
1765-1767 Sent for Theology at Alcalà when the Society was expelled from Spain in 1767
Date of his Ordination is unknown, but he was a Priest at the time of his death 01 Marhc 1771 in Rome
According to TOLE CAT for 1767, which carries annotations for later careers of TOLE, Magill was said to have LFET the Society 11 February 1768, but that he died in the Society in Rome 01 March 1771.

Houling, John, 1543-1599, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1461
  • Person
  • 1543-07 March 1599

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.

Henessy, James, 1711-1771, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1441
  • Person
  • 23 July 1711-09 January 1771

Born: 23 July 1711, Kilmacthomas, County Waterford
Entered: 22 September 1737, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: 1740, Alcalá, Spain
Final Vows: 15 August 1755
Died: 09 January 1771, Ireland

1755-1757 At Villareal College, Master of Rhetoric, Admonitor and Spiritual Father, Prefect of Sodality
1764 Rector of Navalcarnero College (Madrid) TOLE - had also been Minister
1765 Not in TOLE Catalogue (Ireland??)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
He was public Professor of Rhetoric in TOLE.
1747-1755 In Clonmel (1747-1752) and back in TOLE in 1755 (HIB Catalogues 1752 and 1755)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had studied Philosophy at Madrid and Theology at Salamanca before Ent there 22 September 1737
After First Vows sent to Alcalá to complete studies and was Ordained there 1740
1740-1741 Sent to College of Nobles, Madrid to teach Rhetoric
1741-1724 Sent to Alcalá as Minister
1724-1747 Sent to Villarejo teaching Rhetoric to Jesuit Scholastics
1747 Sent to Ireland and to St Mary’s Clonmel, and was Superior of the Residence for a while until the parish was taken by secular clergy
1753-1758 Sent to Villarejo to teach
1758-1762 Rector of Ocaña
1762 Sent as Superior of the Residence and Church at Navalcarnero (South of Madrid)
1767 Jesuits expelled from Spain
1771 Left for Ireland on 10 July 1771
Nothing further known
(Note: the catalogi of the Toledo province assign three different birthplaces for James Hennessy:-
(1) 'Balligrimminensis', diocese of Cashel; (2) Clonmel; (3) ' Kilnemackensis' of the diocese of Lismore.)

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
HENNESSEY, JAMES, was born in Munster,on the 16th of January, 1720, and became a candidate for the Society at Madrid, in 1737. Ten years later he came on the Irish Mission, and was stationed at Clonmel; but after a few years labor returned to Spain, where 1 find him in 1755 after which time he eludes my observation.

Harnett, Philip, 1943-1996, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/506
  • Person
  • 06 January 1943-20 December 1996

Born: 06 January 1943, Clonsilla, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 10 October 1961, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 23 June 1972, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1982, Loyola, Eglinton Road, Dublin
Died: 20 December 1996, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Loyola community, Eglinton Road, Dublin at the time of death.

Father was a Veterinary Surgeon in the Department of Agriculture. Mother died in 1958.

Second of three boys with three sisters.

Educated for three years at a private school in Pembroke Street, Ballsbridge, he then went to Belvedere College SJ for nine years. After school he went to UCD studying Arts for one year.

Father Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus: 31 July 1986-30 July 1992
1st President of the European Conference of Provincials 1992-1996

Cousin of Donal Doyle SJ (JPN)

by 1966 at Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain (TOLE) studying
by 1973 at Washington DC, USA (MAR) studying
PROVINCIAL 01 September 1986
by 1994 at Brussels Belgium (BEL S) President European Conference
by 1995 at Strasbourg France (GAL) President European Conference

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Harnett, Philip
by Peter McVerry
Harnett, Philip (1943–96), Jesuit priest, was born 6 January 1943 in Dublin, the third child of Patrick Harnett and Ursula Treacy. He had two brothers, John and Patrick, and three sisters, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. Following an education at Pembroke School, Ballsbridge, and Belvedere College, he joined the Jesuits on 10 October 1961 and studied arts at UCD, philosophy in the Jesuit College, Madrid, and theology in Milltown Park, Dublin. He was ordained a priest on 23 June 1972.

Harnett studied as a drugs counsellor in Washington, DC, in 1972 and worked for the Dublin diocese as a drugs advisor until 1974. He was then appointed parish priest in the inner-city Jesuit parish of Gardiner Street where, for six years, he coordinated a major community development programme. From 1980 to 1983 he worked in the central administration of the Irish Jesuits before being appointed to the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. During this time he lived in the socially deprived neighbourhood of Ballymun and sought to raise awareness of the structural injustices in Irish society; he also lectured and gave many workshops on this theme. He worked closely with residents in Ballymun to support their struggle to improve the quality of life in their neighbourhood.

In 1986 Harnett was appointed provincial of the Irish Jesuits. In this post he led the Jesuits through a period of rapid change in Irish society and the Irish church, and his leadership skills became very evident. Although he had to make difficult, and sometimes unpopular, decisions to respond to the changing circumstances, he retained the respect of those whom he led. He encouraged and supported the Irish Jesuits in their commitment to social justice, which he saw as a central thrust of their mission. In 1993 he was appointed to the newly created post of president of the Conference of European Jesuit Provincials, which reflected the high esteem in which he was held, and moved to Strasbourg. Three years later he was diagnosed with cancer, and despite a course of immuno-therapy in Strasbourg he became progressively weaker. He returned to Dublin, where he died 20 December 1996.

Irish Province Jesuit Archives; personal knowledge

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 92 : August 1996
Obituary

Fr Philip Harnett (1943-1996)

6th Jan. 1943: Born in Dublin
Early education: Pembroke School, Ballsbridge and Belvedere College
10th Oct. 1961: Entered the Society at Emo
11th Oct. 1963: First Vows at Emo
1963 - 1965: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1965 - 1967: Madrid, studying Philosophy
1967 - 1969: Crescent College Comprehensive, Teaching
1969 - 1972: Milltown Park, studying Theology
23rd June 1972: Ordained Priest at Milltown Park
1972 - 1973: Washington, Diploma in Drugs Abuse Training
1973 - 1974: Gardiner St - work for Archbishop on Drugs SFX
1974 - 77: Gardiner Street, Parish Priest
1977 - 1978: Tullabeg, Tertianship
1978 - 1980: SFX Gardiner St - Parish Priest
1980 - 1983: Loyola House - Special Secretariat
1983 - 1986: Arrupe, Ballymun Superior - work at CFJ
1986 - 1992: Loyola House, Provincial
1992 - 1993: Sabbatical
1993 - 1996 Brussels/Strasbourg: President of Conference of European Provincials

Philip was feeling a lack of energy after Christmas 1995. His doctors diagnosed cancer and this necessitated the removal of a kidney. Under medical supervision, he initially returned to work in Strasbourg but his doctors eventually prescribed a course in immuno-therapy that lasted several months during which time Philip was unable to work. On completion of the therapy he returned to Dublin to stay with his sister Anne for some weeks. After a fall, he was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital and then to Cherryfield Lodge. He made very determined efforts to regain his health and members of the province prayed for him through the intercession of Fr. John Sullivan. Gradually, however, he became weaker and was more and more confined to bed. He died at 3am on Friday 20th December 1996.

Homily for Philip Harnett's funeral Mass, December 23rd, 1996
Can't you imagine Philip Harnett as Jesus asks him does he love him more than these others, and then asks him for a second and third time does he really love him? What I imagine is that Philip would be wondering what kind of manipulation and emotional blackmail all this was! I think he'd probably call for some kind of small group session in Ignatius' court of heaven, perhaps with himself, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, to facilitate the Lord's apparent insecurity!

In this, the end of John's gospel, we have played out before us the last act of the drama, which began with the invitation to the disciples in the first chapter of John to "come and see". This last act for Philip wasn't as he had either anticipated or wanted: somebody else was putting a belt around him and taking him where he would rather not go. This last journey and meeting with Jesus began last January with news of his serious illness, and intensified in September when he returned to Ireland and it became clear that his illness according to conventional medicine was terminal. It was mostly a journey through his memory, his mind and his heart. Philip the mountain climber, the hill walker, the marathon runner, that vibrant and handsome physical presence, went on this most important of all his journeys with disintegrating body, struggling for breath, but with spirit undiminished and even expanding, as he yearned for life and yearned to understand better the meaning of his and our lives.

What did he find out? Well: that, as always, he was held by the hand of Jesus. That was core and central: beneath all his banter and mockery, it was always clear that for Philip his relationship with Jesus Christ was the bedrock of his life, I heard him once as Provincial articulate this in an impassioned and unguarded way, confirming what I had always suspected was true. This came out so strongly in these last few months: if Jesus was leading him, even where he would himself not want to go, then it was alright. He might argue, protest, even rant and rave, but in the end, warts and all, it was alright. And this is what happened: Philip was able to say “I'm happy”, even as he continued to desire life and felt it ebbing out of him: all will be well, all manner of things will be well, because Jesus Christ, his life-time companion, was with him.

What he found out also was that as he got closer to Jesus and the next life, he got closer to his family, his friends, to his life. He pondered long the influence of his deceased mother and father, his relationship with his brothers and sisters, John, Anne, Catherine, Patrick and Mary, his extended family of in-laws, nephews, nieces and aunts. It was such a great joy to him to be able, after a characteristically honest, searching, and healing look-back, to embrace this network of relationships with heightened appreciation. I know, because he told me and others more than once, how deeply touched he was in particular by the palpable love he felt from his immediate family: he relished the directness of their affection, he was so pleased that it could be expressed so openly, and he wanted so much for them to understand how much they meant to him. Of course he was still capable of saying "God bless" if there was even a hint of mawkishness or false sentimentality in any of this: but he did, more than ever before, want to own and relax into the love he felt for an received from others. And he did so that last journey was simplifying and purifying in a way that surprised and made him very happy - through his prayer, his pondering and sifting, his talking it over with others in a characteristically open way, he found that in coming closer to Jesus Christ he became closer to the rest of us. As his body contracted, his heart expanded.

This applied also of course to his relationship with his friends - with Bernadette in Australia (whose brother Joseph is, I'm glad to say, with us this morning), Catherine in France, with his many friends, Jesuit and lay, from Ireland and different parts of the world, many of whom are here today. He was inclined in fact to dwell less on his achievements, and more on the people who had enriched his life: this was a bit different for a Jesuit, as he well realised! He appreciated so much the care he received in Strasbourg, in Elm Park, above al in Cherryfield. This included those who so generously offered him the help of various alternative medicines, as with typical whole heartedness he embraced every way to continue with life which he had such a huge desire for. And he was so pleased too that the Jesuit Province was praying through John Sullivan's intercession for a miracle cure: I think there may have to be another small group meeting in heaven, involving Philip. John Sullivan and a facilitator to sort out what exactly John Sullivan thought he was at, before the two of them can be the good pals Paul Cullen was talking about last Saturday!

But this was something that Philip also found out: that God, the Father, was not aloof, distant, judgmental, and to be feared. Rather, he marvelled to discover the infinite, inexhaustible patience of God, so open to taking all the anger, the fear, the rage that someone in Philip's terrible predicament felt, and yet there for Philip, as Jesus was. That again was wonderful: this after all is the God of life, and Philip again was reassured that against all the odds God, who is Father and Mother, was there for him, no matter what.

I have spoken of Philip through what I know of his own eyes. The reading from the Romans, with talk of the groaning of creation, gives us an opportunity to assess Philip through our own eyes, because this is also part of the truth of who it is. Creation groans because God's kingdom is being established against great opposition, and Philip had dedicated his life to this Kingdom. What are the kind of qualities which made his contribution so important, particularly in his life as priest in Gardiner Street, Special Secretariat in Loyola, work in Ballymun and the Centre for Faith and Justice, as Provincial and then as President of the Conference of European Provincials?

Well: I think his leadership qualities were remarkable. I remember joking with him that as a leader of the pack on our rugby team he was remarkable for the fact that he could roar at the rest of us to get up first to the break-down point, while arriving himself half a yard behind everyone else to the next line-out! There was something here that was truly great: the ability to motivate others, to inspire, to empower, to make others believe in themselves, not to feel that he could or had to do everything himself. Some of this of course came from his great sense of vision: in many ways for us Irish Jesuits he personified what it was to be a Jesuit after our 32nd General Congregation in the 1970's, with our mission defined in terms of faith and justice, Some of it too came from his skill in management and group work - think of all those meetings, and he was still conducting them from his sick-bed! There was too his creativity: he displayed this perhaps to greatest effect in the last job he had in Europe, where he really was trying to get something very embryonic going in difficult circumstances and in a way which won the respect of all. He had a sharp mind, a shrewd intelligence, an original and critical reading of the world and the signs of the times. Allied to all this was his ability to challenge, in a way which brought the best out of others. As you heard at the start of the Mass, Fr. General himself obviously appreciated this quality in Philip, which leads me to believe that in their relationship of great mutual respect and not a little affection, there may also have been that Harnett push for the magis, the 110%, felt by Fr. General! And of course there was his terrific humanity, his openness in dialogue, his ability to respect the institution but never let this suppress the Spirit-led unorthodoxies in himself or others, his utterly irreverent wit. Very interesting, he would say, when bored stiff; the pious put-down, God bless; the hilarious, Inspector Clousseau grappling with French vowels, particularly of the eu variety, with corresponding facial grimaces.

The stories are legion, and most of them unrepeatable. An edited, maybe apochryphal one will have to act as catalyst for your own favourites: it tells of Philip, as Provincial, being driven in the back of a car up the Milltown drive to preside at an important Province meeting. On the way he passes a group of the younger men, and in self-mocking style waves to them airily, in truly regal and almost pontifical style. Then, as the car passes, they see the same Philip gesticulating at them wildly like a school-boy from the back window of the car. He could not be pompous: sacred cows were there to be slaughtered, the unsayable was suddenly sayable, and none of it was cruel because it was rooted in the ability to be contrite and laugh at himself ( I feel so guilty!) and to be deeply serious when it mattered. He made doing what was good seem adventurous, attractive - and just plain fun! Through all of this he achieved so much, and we may rightly assess this as of more significance than he himself was inclined to do in his illness. You will all have your own list of these achievements: I mention the Signs of the Times Seminar, the development of the Milltown Institute and the Irish School of Ecumenics, as examples of how to my certain first-hand knowledge his leadership has touched the lives of so many.

He was, then, a giant of a man and will be sorely missed. He meant so much to so many. We who are left behind, his family, his friends and colleagues, his brother Jesuits, have a right to ask why? Why now? A right to grieve, to be sorry, to be angry. In doing so we will be helped by the Spirit referred to in the reading from Romans, who helps us in our weakness. We will be helped too by the spirit of Philip, who trusted in God and Jesus, who would understand that we needed to grieve and be angry, but who might say to us in the future, when we might be tempted to use our grief in a maudlin way to block our own lives - well, he might say a gentle, God bless, and help us realise that his God is the God of life, and it is even deeper life that he now enjoys.

This is what the reading from Isaiah suggests I think - more mountains, food and drink, the heavenly banquet - all in continuity with this life. This is another of Philip's great gifts to us: dying, with all its terrible rupture and loss, is for the person of faith a passing to new life. Philip lived this rupture and this hope in an extraordinarily holistic way. He told me early on that he did not want to die well", in the sense of whatever conventional expectations might be there: he laughed often, even through those last few months, and when he got angry, he would say, in aside, Kubla-Ross/stages of dying! He wondered too what would happen if there was a miracle: would he become a bit of an exhibit, like Lazarus, and would he be asked to go to Rome as part of the evidence for the cause of John Sullivan?! This apparent gallows humour was in fact more of what I have already alluded to: he loved life, he loved Jesus who was utterly incarnate, of flesh, for Philip: and if he trusted Jesus and God to bring him through death to new life, then this new life was in continuity with all the fun, the love, the mountains, the food and drink of this life. This was not a denial of death: rather it was a hymn to life, the ultimate compliment to and praise of the God of life. A 10th Century Celtic poem captures some of this sentiment:

The heavenly banquet
I would like to have the men of Heaven
In my own house:
With vats of good cheer
Laid out for them.

I would like to have the three Marys,
Their fame is so great.
I would like people
From every corner of Heaven
.
I would like them to be cheerful
In their drinking,
I would like to have Jesus too
Here amongst them.

I would like a great lake of beer
For the King of Kings,
I would like to be watching Heaven's family
Drinking it through all eternity,

This symbolic picture of the heavenly banquet, so true for example to the great satisfaction experienced by Philip in his two trips to pubs for a drink with his brother John in the weeks before he died, is part of Philip's gift to us as he parts. It tells us to treasure life to the full; to seek its meaning in responsible love and in Jesus Christ; to hope with great realism and joy for a reunion of all creation at God's heavenly banquet. In his last few days when Philip, master of meetings, wanted a bit of time on his own he used to say, courteously, humorously: the meeting is over, you may go now! The meeting is indeed over now, Philip: and although it breaks our hearts, you may go: and we thank you and God for all you have meant to us, and for the hope that we may continue to make this world a better place and may enjoy life to the full with you in the future.

Peter Sexton, SJ

-oOo-

When Philip Harnett became Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Ireland, he automatically assumed a number of responsibilities relating to the Irish School of Ecumenics. Firstly he became the Roman Catholic Patron, secondly he became Trustee, and lastly he assumed the Presidency of the Academic Council. In this last role he quickly became aware much more fully of the work of ISE - its degree/diploma programmes in Dublin, its adult education courses on reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the research and outreach efforts of the academic staff. Already in ISE there was a growing realisation that the Irish Churches should take a more positive interest in ISE and Philip saw and endorsed this aim. He also learned of the precarious financial position of ISE and he realised the need for change and development in the school's administration. As time passed the Provincial felt a growing need to take a more constructively active role to help ISE - discerning that those who were running ISE - Executive Board and Director - were too close to the action and too fully involved to stand back and be objective. With the agreement therefore of those in ISE, of the other Patrons and the Trustees, Philip invited (to use a politically correct term which probably understates the nature of the 'invitation') two business men whom he could rely on to act as consultants to the Patrons and to draw up a report on ISE.

That report, when in due time it was presented to the Patrons, was comprehensive and in some areas radical. Its recommendations were accepted by the Patrons who left it to Philip to set up a 'task force' to work with ISE in implementing the recommendations.

This process has resulted in long term advantages and reforms, the outworking of some of these is still in progress. It developed a new relationship for ISE with the Irish churches. The Archbishop of Dublin (Roman Catholic) together with a nominee for the Episcopal Conference have become Patrons (in the place of the Jesuit provincial who remains President of the Academic Council and one of the Trustees together with the Patrons from the other larger churches in Ireland, Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian. Equally significantly the churches committed themselves to a programme of financial grants to ISE. This opened up the way for ISE to establish an Endowment Fund and to approach the corporate business sector for significant donations,

The Executive Board of ISE was given much greater responsibility and authority, making it possible for the Academic Council to concentrate on broad policy and the maintenance of Academic standards and research. These changes have been fundamental to the most recent development - albeit one not foreseen in the Consultants' report - that of grant-aid for ISE from the Minister for Education.

Throughout this whole process Philip Harnett retained his interest in and enthusiasm for ISE and for the aims and principles of the school, He gave constant personal support to those of us involved within ISE, and his quiet encouragement and guidance were always available and freely given. His commitment to ecumencial co-operation was a practical and constructive involvement and his actions stemmed from genuine concern and spiritual motivation. He saw ecumenical action and co-operation as a natural part of his Christian life and witness, and he put this vision to good effect in relation to ISE.

Over the time span of history many people have contributed to the formation of ISE's structures, visions and programmes. The recent development of the School is no exception and while successive provincials and directors have made their contributions, it fell to Philip to be the School's Jesuit patron at a critical phase. Philip Harnett had the vision - a vision that combined ideas and imagination with gentleness and compassion, allied to an administrative experience and skill. These attributes enabled Philip to help the school, grown too large for its original “family structure, to develop into a well administered institution. His was a contribution that came at the right time and was made in the right way.

David Poole

David Poole who is a member of the religious Society of Friends, was Chair of ISE's Executive Board from 1987 to 1996.

◆ The Clongownian, 1997

Obituary

Father Philip Harnett SJ

Fr Philip Harnett SJ, whose older brother John was at Clongowes (1954-57) but who himself attended Belvedere, served as a member of the Board of Governors on two separate occasions. The first time was for a year in 1979-80, when he was Parish Priest of Gardiner St. Later, he was ex officio President of the Board during his creative and memorable six-year term as Jesuit Provincial, 1986-92. He was appointed President of the Conference of European Provincials in 1993, with his base in Strasbourg, a task with which he grappled with characteristic energy and commitment. He fell ill at Christmas 1995. Despite a heroic battle to overcome his illness, to the very great grief of his family and his fellow-Jesuits, Philip died on 20 December 1996, aged 53.

Conway, Patrick, 1605-1662, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1095
  • Person
  • 1605-14 May 1662

Born: 1605, Cashel, County Tipperary
Entered: 1625, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: 1635, Alcalá (Alcalá de Henares), Spain
Died: 14 May 1662, Llerena, Badajoz, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)

1625 In Madrid Novitiate - is more than of mediocre talent
1628 Taught at College of Plasencia (TOLE)
1635 On Irish Mission - being at Cashel in 1649, Superior of a Residence for 3 years then returned to Spain in Cromwell’s time
1655 CAT Taught Grammar at Ocanna (TOLE)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1628 At College of Placencia, Spain (in pen)
1635 Came to Irish Mission
1649 In Cashel - “a very worthy man”; Was Superior at Cashel; Taught Humanities;

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
After First Vows he studied Philosophy at Murcia and then Theology at Alcalá, and was Ordained c 1635
1635-1654 Due to ill health he was sent to Ireland, and was appointed to Cashel Residence. It is most likely that he was Ordained before he departed on the journey. He was at Cashel for nineteen years and for a time he was Superior. During the “Commonwealth” period he was deported to Spain and TOLE.
1654 He served as Operarius at Ocaña and later Llerena, where he died 14 May 1662
He was thought to have some ability as a Moral Theologian and to have been a zealous Spiritual Director

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
CONWAY, PATRICK. This worthy Missionary was stationed at Cashell, in 1649. He was then about 44 years of age, and of a feeble constitution

Conway, Dermot, 1723-1758, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1093
  • Person
  • 08 February 1723-13 February 1758

Born: 08 February 1723, Barcelona, Spain
Entered: 04 November 1749, Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Died: 13 February 1758, Murcia, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)

1757 was “Director” and teacher of French in the Royal College of Madrid

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Son of Irish parents Patrick (of Limerick) and Margaret O’Dwyer (of Tipperary)
He had served in the Spanish Navy and took part in the Battle of Toulon
After First Vows he studied at Alcalá and completed these in the short space of 4 years (1652-1656), including making the “Grand “Act”
1756 An accomplished linguist he succeeded James Davin as Professor of French at the Imperial College Madrid, but was forced to retire a year later having contracted consumption
1758 He died at Murcia 13 February 1758
The “carta edificante” drawn up after his death is extant.

Comerford, James, 1626-1712, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/1073
  • Person
  • 1626-06 December 1712

Born: 1626, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 1651, Madrid Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: 1658, Murcia, Spain
Final Vows: 15 August 1666
Died: 06 December 1712, Irish College, Poitiers, France

1699-1712 at Irish College, Poitiers (1708 taught Grammar and of delicate health)

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
Three Entries : Some confused dated between James Comerford 2 and James Comerford 3
1698 In exile at Poitiers
Of remarkable piety and zeal; His loss was deplored in Waterford, even many years after his exile. (cf Letter of father Knoles 1714)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Had already studied Philosophy for two years before Ent 1650 TOLE (Madrid)
After First Vows he was sent to Murcia for studies and was Ordained there 1658
He was later engaged in the following roles : Teaching Humanities; Minister; Teaching Moral Theology and Operarius at various locations : Huesca; Imperial College Madrid; the Residence of Navalcarnero and the Residence of Alcalá all in TOLE
1676 Sent to Ireland and Kilkenny
1694 Consultor of Irish Mission
1698 Arrested and deported to France and sent to Irish College Poitiers, where he was a Consultor up to the time of his death there 06/12/1712
The General of the time highly valued his judgement on maters touching the Irish College Poitiers and the Irish Mission itself.
Such was his contemporaries esteem for him that even in his advanced years he was proposed as Rector at Poitiers
The Superior of the Mission at the time, writing to the General 06 April 1714, recalled his memory : “James Comerford was a man remarkable for holiness whose loss is deplored this day”.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
COMERFORD, JAMES, died in exile, as I find in a letter of the 6th of April, 1714, “insignis pietate”.

Butler, Thomas Bernard, 1640-1705, Jesuit priest

  • IE IJA J/982
  • Person
  • 09 July 1640-06 March 1705

Born: 09 July 1640, Baramount, County Kilkenny
Entered: 12 May 1656, Villarejo & Madrid, Spain - Toletanae Province (TOLE)
Ordained: c 1665, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Final Vows: 15 August 1673
Died: 06 March 1705, Professed House, Madrid, Spain - Baeticae Province (BAE)

Brother of the Lord of Galway
Writer and a man of great energy.
Got a procurator General established for Irish College at Madrid

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronologica” :
1673-1687 Rector Irish College Seville succeeding Ignatius Lombard
Writer; A man of great energy; Got a procurator for Irish Colleges established at Madrid

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Educated at College of Luis Gonzaga at Ocaña before Ent 12 May 1656 Villarejo
After First Vows (had made Noviceship at Villarejo and Madrid) he studied at Huete, Cuenca and Alcalá completing a “Grand Act” and being Ordained c 1665
1665-1673 On completing studies and formation he was sent to the Imperial College at Madrid
1673-1687 Transcribed from TOLE to BAE and appointed Rector of Irish College Seville. His was the last Irish Rectorship, but proved to be the longest and most successful. His popularity with the students was unbounded and the College prospered spiritually and materially under his rule.
He had always hoped to go to Ireland, initially after Ordination. In 1675, Father Stephen Rice, Superior of the Mission, asked the General to send him to Ireland, and in particular to Kilkenny, but at the time it was impossible to replace him at Seville. Two years after he retired from Seville, the General promised he should be sent back to Ireland to meet the wishes of many people, however the uncertain state of the country prevented his return.
1687 until his death he was Prefect of the church at the Professed House, Madrid, where he conducted a Sodality for Noblemen. He died at Madrid 6 March, 1705