Born: 02 September 1893, Alexander Avenue, Belfast, County Antrim
Entered: 07 September 1912, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1926, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 2 February 1929. Clongowes Wood College SJ
Died: 12 June 1972, Galway Regional Hospital, Galway

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death

Father is an Officer in Customs and Excise, and lives at Iona Road, Drumcondra, Dublin.

Only son with one sister.

aka Ciaran Mac an Bhaird; Kyran Ward

Educated at Christian Brothers School Belfast he then went to O’Connell’s Schools for four years. In 1910 he went to Belvedere College SJ

by 1917 at St Aloysius, Jersey Channel Islands (FRA) studying
by 1928 at St Beuno’s, St Asaph, Wales (ANG) making Tertianship

◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 47th Year No 3 1972

St Ignatius College, Galway
News has just come of Father Ward's death, after a very short illness, in the Regional Hospital, on the morning of June 12th. He was on the threshold of celebrating his 60th year in the Society.
The Concelebrated Requiem Mass on 14th June was in Irish. Fr O'Shea (nephew) was the First Concelebrant, assisted by Fr Provincial and Fr Rector, Fourteen priests took part in the Concelebrated Mass, many of them old friends of Fr Ward from other houses. Ar láimh dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Obituary :
Fr Ciarán Mac an Bháird SJ (1893-1972)
Fr Ward died in Galway Regional Hospital after a brief illness on Monday, the 12th June, in his 79th year.
His father, Timothy, was a Galway man, but Fr Ward was born in Belfast, where he attended St. Patrick's Christian Brothers School. He completed his secondary education at Belvedere College, Dublin, and entered the Noviceship in Rahan, Tullamore, just sixty years ago in the 7th September, 1912.
After his studies in Rathfarnham he went to Jersey for Philosophy. Owing to the war and danger of conscription he was transferred to Milltown Park to complete the last year of Philosophy, after which he taught in Clongowes from 1919 to 1923. He then returned to Milltown Park for theology and was ordained in 1926. He finished his studies in St Beuno's College, North Wales, and then returned to Clongowes to teach there for three years.
In 1931 he was transferred to the Sacred Heart College, Limerick. He proved himself a very efficient teacher especially in Irish, French and Latin. In addition to this he was Assistant Prefect of Studies, Master of Ceremonies and Minister. As Master of Ceremonies he had charge of the Mass Servers whom he trained with very special care and attention. Many of the congregation commented on the devotion and reverence of the boys under his care.
He was also keenly interested in Drama and produced operettas each year in Irish for Prize Day. He had a special gift of being able to communicate his own personal talent as an actor to the boys he chose for his plays. In addition to all this work he organised each summer groups of boys to spend Irish-speaking holidays in the Kerry Gaeltacht at Ballyferriter and Baile na nGall. In all these activities Fr E Andrews was his ever faithful associate as later in Galway where they again combined energies.
He came to Galway in September 1941 and for 21 years, in addition to full teaching work, he was Adj Pref Studies and Master of Ceremonies in the Church. In this latter work he maintained the high standard of training of Mass Servers which he had reached in the Crescent.
He also continued his former interest in Musical Drama and produced Operettas in Irish each year for prize day. His Drama Groups won many first places at the Féile Drámaíochta in the Taibhdhearc. Many of those dramas he translated from French into Irish.
He carried on Fr Ó Brolcháin's work of training the boys in Irish dancing and his groups won prizes for their four-hand reels,
He was marked down in the Catalogue as “Doc an. 48” and all these years he was completely dedicated to this work. With his great gifts he was a man of singular reserve and self-effacement.
His special interest in promoting the use of Irish as a spoken language in the College had remarkable results and an Inspector from the Department commented on this as a remarkable achievement.
Fr Ward, despite the reserve alluded to, was a very pleasant companion and excellent Community man; a ripe sense of humour enabled him to enter into the cajolery of recreation and with such company as Fr C Perrott, Fr A O'Reilly, Fr Fitzgibbon and Fr Cashman the time passed regularly in even an hilarious fashion. This same bonhomie entered into his dealings with the boys, pupils and altar-servers. He gained their confidence and would recount on occasions quiz-questions and stories he had picked up in their company. He was devoted to his work and could not suffer it to be scamped but even then he would have a laughable encounter to tell about, something he had wormed out of an uncommunicative culprit who was awed by the mock-severity of his teacher's approach.
During the last few years of his life he suffered much from arthritis, but he bore it all in heroic fashion without complaint. Such was his devotion to his work that he won the admiration of parents and boys, who will remember for many years his unselfish devotion to their interests.
The Mayor and Corporation of Galway sent a letter of sympathy to Fr Rector and Community on his death. Ar dheis Dé go raibh & anam.

◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 1972

Obituary

Father Kyran Ward SJ :

The death occured in Galway in mid-June of Father Kyran Ward, S.J., after a short illness,

Father Ward, who was 78, had been a member of the teaching staff of Coláiste Iognáid since 1941 and had continued to teach there right up to his last illness. He was a talented and devoted teacher of Latin and French. In all, he had been teaching for 48 years, at Clongowes Wood College, Cresent College, Limerick, and Galway,

In Limerick and Galway he produced many school operattas and plays. His drama groups carried off many prizes at the Féile Dramaíochta at the Taibhdhearc in Galway. Several plays had been translated into Irish from the French by himself.

Fr Ward had been in Belfast, where he attended St Patrick's Christian Brother School. The family having moved to Dublin, he came to Belvedere, finishing here in 1912. In September of that year he entered the Jesuits at St Stanislaus' College, Rahan, He studies at Rathfarnham Castle from 1914 till 1916 before travelling to Jersey to study philosophy. On completing his course of philosophy at Milltown Park, he taught at Clongowes from 1919 till 1923. He then returned to Milltown Park for theology and was ordained there in 1926. Fr Ward finished his studies at St Beuno's College, North Wales.

He returned to Clongowes to teach there for three years before being appointed in 1931 to Crescent College, Limerick, where he was Vice-Rector. He remained at the Crescent for ten years before his final appointment to Galway

To his sister, Mrs J B O'Shea; his neice, Mrs Tony Byrne; and his nephew, Fr Maurice O'Shea CC, Artane, Dublin, we offer our sincere sympathy.

Born: 01 August 1917, Hillstreet, Drumsna, County Roscommon
Entered: 14 September 1936, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1952, Belvedere College SJ, Dublin
Died: 25 August 2007, Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death.

Parents were shop keepers. Family lived at Commons Street, North Wall, Dublin.

Second of three boys with six sisters.

Early education was at a National School in Roscommon, and then moving to Dublin at age 7 he went to O’Connells School. (1924-1934) In 1934 he went to St Mel’s College, Longford for two years.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 135 : Spring 2008

Obituary

Fr Bernard (Barney) Murray (1917-2007)

14 August 1917: Born in Hillstreet, Co. Roscommon
14th September 1936: Entered the Society at Emo
15th September 1938: First Vows at Emo
1938 - 1941: Rathfarnham -Studied Arts at UCD
1941 - 1944: Tullabeg - Studied Philosophy
1944 - 1946: Mungret College, Limerick - Regency
1946 - 1950: Milltown Park - Studied Theology
31 July 1949: Ordained at Milltown Park, Dublin
1950 - 1951: Tertianship at Rathfarnham
1951 - 1970: Belvedere College - Minister; Teacher (English, Religious Knowledge - Senior School)
2nd February 1952: Final Vows
1955 - 1962: Teacher in Prep. School
1962 - 1970: Assistant to Prefect of Prep School; Teacher (Religion, Maths and English)
1970 - 2007: St. Ignatius, Galway -
1970 - 1978: Teacher (Art); Ministered in Church
1978 - 1990: Parish Curate
1984 - 2004: Director of Nazareth Fund; St. Vincent de Paul and Legion of Mary
1990 - 1992: Chaplain to Scoil Iognáid
1992 - 2004: Asst. in Church; Asst. Chaplain in Univ. Hosp.
2004 - 2005: Asst. in Church; Director Nazareth Fund
2005 - 2007: Cherryfield - Prayed for Church and Society
25th August 2007: Died at Cherryfield Lodge, Dublin

Bruce Bradley writes:
Bernard Murray “Barney” as we often referred to him, but Bernard is the name he wished to be known by - was born on August 1, 1917, in Hillstreet, Co. Roscommon, where he spent his early years. While living in Co. Roscommon he attended Kilbride National School. When the family moved to Dublin he was at school with the Christian Brothers, Richmond St., and, as a boarder, at St Mel's, Longford, where he won an All-Ireland Colleges Football medal, of which he was very proud. In later life, he liked to narrate how the medal was lost in the Milltown fire and, long afterwards, he applied to Liam Mulvihill, general secretary of the GAA, and, to his delight, was given a replica. He entered the Society in Emo in September 1936 and was ordained in Milltown Park thirteen years later in 1949.

All his life he worked in, or was associated with, the schools. His regency was in Mungret, 1944-46, and, after tertianship, he was sent to Belvedere, where he was to spend almost twenty years. He taught in both the senior and junior schools and also functioned as minister and as assistant to Junior School prefect of studies, Eddie Murphy. The role of minister included supervision of the boys' dining room at lunchtime and Bernard kept a sharp eye on what happened there. Boys who were showing themselves less than enthused at the somewhat pedestrian fare, or who misbehaved, were apt to find themselves being brought to the phone for a pep talk with their parents at home. For those who were in Belvedere in those years, the friendship between Bernard and the much-respected Fr. Charlie Byrne, producer of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas and considerably his senior, was noteworthy and they were often seen walking together in the city after school was over.

After such a long stint in Dublin, the move to Galway in 1970 was a big change but he responded by re-inventing himself as an art teacher, and staying there for the rest of his very long life, until ill-health forced him to move to Cherryfield in his closing years. It was obvious that he was happy in Galway, and someone who knew him said that he felt it was there that he really found himself. He took over Liam Greene's art classes in the lively years of transition at the 'Jes' under the headmastership of Seán O'Connor. It was a completely new world for Bernard but he quickly made himself at home and had the capacity to make others around him feel at home too. He took on the challenge of teaching art with enthusiasm and applied himself to it methodically. His colleagues enjoyed his friendship and were glad to work with him.

From the start he also worked in the church and, in 1978, he was appointed curate, a role he continued to exercise until 1992. He was particularly committed to house visitation, where his capacity to make contact and develop friendships stood him in excellent stead. He became a well-known figure in the parish, much-appreciated for always seeming to have time and an interesting word with the people he met. When he retired as curate he continued to work in the church and began to assist the chaplaincy team at University College Hospital. He continued this latter work for thirteen years. He is fondly remembered for this by patients and the team alike.

Gradually the boundaries of his parish widened and he took up supplying in a parish in California. It was there that he took up oil-painting in his spare time, a pastime he brought back to Galway. Liam Greene, who knew his work, has written of how observant he was and how aware of details. “The subject matter of his painting was often the same – the wild Pacific Ocean, with waves crashing on the rocks'. He would sometimes speak to Liam of 'the delicate moments when he tried to capture the light reflected on the breaking wave and the difficulty of doing so'. His love of the sea expressed itself in a different form in his commitment to regular swimming in Galway, even into old age.

He was chaplain to Scoil Iognáid for several years. He was director of the Nazareth Fund, which raised money to alleviate hardship for people who had known better times financially, and continued this work for twenty years. It continues to flourish. In his latest years, he began to come to Clongowes to supply for the 'incumbent of the People's Church, wholly equal to the demands of rising early, celebrating every day and preaching to the local people, many of whom he came to know, on Sundays. Towards the end he was troubled by increasing deafness and, in 2005, he suffered a stroke, which brought his hospital work to an end. Fr. Bernard Murray was very independent. He had been attending a cardiologist for a weakening heart in early 2005 and was transferred from hospital in Galway to Cherryfield Lodge on 4th March 2005. He made a full physical recovery from the stroke, but had dysphasia (could not be understood when trying to talk) which was very frustrating for him, but he remained very pleasant, gentle and mobile until 20th August, when he got weak and was confined to bed from then onwards. He died peacefully on August 25, 2007, full of good works and days.

For an Old Friend and Fellow Jesuit
That soothing phrase for "death" doth close apply
To dear old Barney Murray here today:
Just at 4.40 p.m., with quiet sigh,
He left us. He had simply "passed away”.

We'll miss his glowing cheeks and charming smile,
Though communication oral was his problem,
He, none the less, could most of us beguile
With 'buzz-buzz' noises Words? He'd simply gobble-em!

His life was colourful and his heart was large,
He painted many pictures in his day.
His “Fund” for poverty he made his special charge,
His paintings to his friends he gave away.

May God reward this “good and faithful servant”
In ways beyond the scope or need for speech.
We follow “Barney” with our prayers fervent,
Assured that he is not beyond our reach.

Thomas MacMahon SJ, Cherryfield Lodge, Sat. 25h August, 07, at 10.10 pm

Born: 04 July 1937, St Anthony’s, St Enda’s Road, Shantalla, County Galway
Entered: 11 September 1956, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 25 June 1970, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 22 April 1977, Mukasa Seminary, Choma, Zambia
Died: 09 July 2007, Coláiste Iognáid, Galway - Zambia-Malawi Province (ZAM)

Transcribed HIB to ZAM : 22 April 1977

Father wasa labourer and insurance agent.

Second of five boys.

Educated for seven years at a local National school, he then went to Coláiste Iognáid SJ for six years.

by 1963 at Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain (TOLE) studying
by 1965 at Chivuna, Monze, Zambia - Regency learning language
by 1976 at Colombière Centre, Clarkston MI (DET) making Tertianship

◆ Companions in Mission 1880- Zambia-Malawi (ZAM) Obituaries :
Paddy Joyce was born in Galway, in the west of Ireland, on 4 July 1937. He went to primary school to St Brendan's and to secondary school at the Jesuit school of St Ignatius, both in Galway. He joined the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Park on 11 September 1956. On completion he went to Rathfarnham Castle in Dublin to the university where he studied Latin, French and Irish (1958 to 1961). This was followed by a three year course in philosophy, the first year at Tullabeg and the final two years at Alcalá in Spain, where he added Spanish to the languages he already knew.

In August 1964, he came to Zambia for three years, the first year teaching at Canisius Secondary School, the second year he went to Choma with Frs Flannery and Clive Dillon-Malone to be the founder members of Mukasa Minor Seminary. The third year he spent at Chivuna learning ciTonga, still another language.

He returned to Ireland to study theology at Milltown Park, Dublin where he was ordained priest on 25 June 1970. In 1971 he returned to Zambia, to Mukasa, for a short spell as a priest. From then on he took up the work he was to continue for the rest of his life, namely, pastoral work in the parishes. Apart from a break for tertianship in Clarkson MI, USA, he spent his time in Monze parish (1971 to 1975), in Choma town parish (1976 to 1980), in Nakambala parish (1980 to 1982), in ltezhi-tezhi parish in 1982, in Chikuni parish (1981 to 1987, and 1993 to 1995). He was sent to Nakambala parish again (1988 to 1993). These names and dates give but a faint idea of his parish work, his travels to outstations, baptisms, marriages and visits to the sick. Eventually he became an expert in Marriage Encounter.

In 1996 he took over the position of National Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association which he still held at the time of his death. Fr Paddy moved to Lusaka from this time onward until his death, apart from a renewal year at St Anselm's in England.

He had gone to Ireland for eye treatment in Galway but developed heart trouble and had to go to the Regional Hospital there for open heart surgery on 9 July 2007. He did not recover consciousness but died the next day, 10 July.

The above outline is a factual account of Paddy's 70 years of life and tells us a lot about him. As a boy at school he was a good footballer and always kept up an interest in the game. He knew who was playing against whom, who scored and how. He was quite enthusiastic in recounting the latest game he had seen on the TV. He was also a prize winning runner and an accomplished Irish dancer. This you will recognise when you see Zambian orphan children stepping out to the tune of 'The Walls of Limerick' !

Marriage Encounter and the Pioneers were to the fore in his later apostolic work but, apart from these, Fr Paddy was most faithful in bringing the sacraments to the sick and dying, especially to the AIDS patients in the nearby hospice of St Theresa. Nothing would stop him from this. The poor had a special place in his heart. Any alms he got from Ireland he gave to them and they always knew when Fr Paddy was at home. He was most assiduous in preparing homilies for Mass, supplying outstations on Sundays and never refusing when a call came. He was a pastoral man to his finger tips.

He was also a man of prayer, praying for his own family, for his Jesuit brothers, praying for his friends and the people he came in contact with. At the same time he enjoyed a game of golf, and liked a good joke, giving pleasure to the teller of a joke by his typical reaction. Here in Lusaka where he lived, Fr Paddy could be seen going for a walk in the cool of the evening with his rosary beads dangling from his hand. Fr Paddy has touched so many lives and he will be sorely missed.

Note from Denis Flannery Entry
Bishop Corboy of the newly established diocese of Monze (1962) saw the need for a minor seminary (a secondary school) to nurture young boys who might have a vocation to the priesthood. Fr Denis was asked to work there, so he went to Mukasa at Choma which was being built and opened the first Form 1 with the help of two scholastics, Frs Paddy Joyce and Clive Dillon-Malone.

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 133 : Special Issue September 2007

Obituary
Fr Patrick (Paddy) Joyce (1937-2007) : Zambia-Malawi Province

Jerry O'Connell writes in the Zambia Province News:
Paddy Joyce was born on the 4th July 1937 in the city of Galway, Ireland and always maintained his allegiance to that county especially where Gaelic games were concerned. He completed his secondary education at St. Ignatius College, Galway in 1956 and entered the Jesuit novitiate, Emo Park on the 114 September of that same year. He followed the usual course of training of novitiate, juniorate (BA at University College, Dublin) and philosophy until the end of first year philosophy when a Visitor from Fr. General to the Irish Province closed the philosophate in 1962. Paddy did his second and third years philosophy in Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain. This brought out in him his fascination with foreign languages. But Paddy always retained a deep love of Irish culture. He enjoyed the stories, dances, songs and proverbs of the people. With his compatriots he was quite likely to presume on a continued knowledge of Irish and might similarly rattle off a phrase or proverb in Irish.

In August 1964 he came to then Northern Rhodesia as a Scholastic and witnessed Independence Day on 24 October. He served at Canisius College and studied Chitonga at Chivuna Mission. He was a member of the founding team who opened the doors of Mukasa Minor Seminary to pupils in 1966. From 1967 to 1971 he studied theology at Milltown Park, Dublin and was ordained on 25 June 1970. He returned to Zambia in 1971.

From 1971 to 1980 he served as an assistant pastor in Monze and Choma and completed tertianship in the USA. He took Final Vows in Mukasa on April 22, 1977. From 1980 to 1987 he spent short spells in Nakambala and Itezhi-tezhi and a longer time in Chikuni where he served as parish priest. There was a year's break on sabbatical. This was followed by periods in Mazabuka and Nakambala, and again in Chikuni as parish priest up to 1995. In parish work he had a great love and concern for all those to whom he ministered, especially the poor and disadvantaged and those suffering from AIDS. His family had endowed him with the upbringing and support, which was very apparent in his warm humanity and his love for the extended family.

Over the years Paddy developed a great fluency especially in Chitonga and learnt many proverbs used by the people. In the 1980s he successfully sat for the Grade 12 national exam in Chitonga. He was helped in his mastery of Chitonga by his readiness and desire to help the youth of the parishes, gathering them into clubs especially involving football. He would readily join in the games himself and he is still remembered today for that aspect of his apostolate. Paddy later studied Chinyanja when he moved to Lusaka so that he could continue with pastoral work in parishes. Perhaps it was his being rooted in Irish culture that gave him such openness to other cultures.

In 1995 he was appointed National Director of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, a post he held until his death with one year's absence on sabbatical again, 1999-2000. He firstly moved to the Novitiate in Lusaka, spent a year or two working from Kizito Pastoral Centre, Monze, and in 2002 returned again to the Novitiate. This work suited him admirably because he had been a Pioneer himself from his school days, and he loved the opportunity to be involved in fostering the spirituality of the PTAA, and explaining it to groups. However, he found the annual National Meetings quite a challenge. He wasn't quite at ease about them and one of these may have contributed to his first mild heart attack about ten years ago. But this did not prevent him from doing his work and he was in the process of organising an international gathering of Pioneers in Zambia either next year or the year after it.

While in Lusaka, he offered himself regularly for Sunday supplies and, this past Holy Week, he presided at the ceremonies in Chinyanja in the Nampundwe area. He also presided at the Sunday Mass broadcast by Yatsani Radio. Over many years he was involved in Marriage Encounter and took part in a number of their meetings. As well as this he acted as a priest to his own family members by visiting everybody when at home and being open to all. Paddy valued his priesthood.

I spoke with him about six weeks before he went back to Ireland and he was quite concerned about a pending eye operation. He returned to Ireland for the surgery and while there he suffered a heart attack and underwent by-pass surgery. Unfortunately he did not come through the operation and he died in a Galway hospital on 10th July 2007. Paddy was at home in so many environments that we can be sure that he will feel welcome and at home in the place prepared for him by Jesus who is the way, the Truth and the Life. May his soul rest in peace.

Homily preached by Joe Keaney at Luwisha House, Lusaka:
Years ago, when I was a scholastic in Chikuni, one old Father said of another old Father, “That man is always blowing his own trumpet”. He then told me about yet another old Father who was a lot smarter. This man never blew his own trumpet but, throughout his life, was clever enough to have someone else blow it for him. Fr Paddy Joyce never blew his own trumpet and I think I'd be right to say that few others blew it for him.

I was still a schoolboy when I first met Paddy. He had already been a Jesuit for 10 years before I joined up. I knew his mother and his brothers, all of whom, except for Dominic, have since gone to the Lord. Paddy grew up in an honest, hard working and humble family in the Galway suburb of Shantalla. He attended the same school I did, Coláiste Iognáid, which was the only Irish speaking Jesuit school in Ireland.

Paddy joined the Jesuits in 1956 and brought with him to the novitiate a great love of Ireland and all things Irish. He loved the language, our country's rich folklore, its turbulent history, its sports, its music, its dance, its poetry and prose. Sadly, though, Paddy would have quickly discovered that for the most part these Gaelic interests of his were not shared or highly valued by the majority of his new brothers in the Society of Jesus. His fellow novices from the other Jesuit schools would have been far more interested in rugby and even, God help us, cricket, than in Gaelic football or hurling.

Paddy was blessed by God with average intelligence and, throughout the long years of studies, battled to pass his exams. At the same time, many of his peers would have been earning distinctions, and merits and doctorates, Poor Paddy often felt left out and, I suspect, grew up in the Society with a decided lack of self-confidence and low self esteem. But he stuck it out for 51 years with his learned Jesuit brothers until the Lord called him home this week.

God's call drew Paddy away from his native Galway and eventually away from his beloved Ireland to serve him in the Province of Zambia Malawi. For most of his working life he brought the Word to the Tonga people of the Southern Province before being transferred to Lusaka. They responded enthusiastically to his simplicity and non threatening manner. He was extraordinary successful and really mastered the language of the South.

Paddy Joyce was a simple priest who was never considered for the rank of bishop. He was never a Jesuit provincial, rector or superior. He was never on the news as a spokesman for the Church. He never published learned papers. He was never what we might call the star, never the bride, always the bridesmaid. In the Gospel we heard the invitation of Jesus, “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give your rest”. Throughout his life as a priest, Paddy responded to that invitation. He was devoted to prayer. God constantly consoled him in prayer, breathing his love and joy and cheering up his gentle soul. Without that consolation there would have been many more cloudy days in Paddy's life.

This week the word of God was spoken to Fr Paddy Joyce more loudly than ever before. As he battled for breath and life after his surgery, the Word was inviting him to let go, to return home and to meet again his beloved parents, his brothers, Thomas McDonagh and Padraic Pearse - Paddy's heroes of the 1916 uprising - and maybe even the legendary Finn McCool and Cuchulan. The voice was whispering the promise of his prayer life, “You will find rest for your soul”.

What a surprise there was in store for Paddy as his heavenly Father gathered him in his arms, kissed him tenderly on the cheek and said well done my lovely little boy, faithful son of St Ignatius. You did an absolutely marvellous job for me. I wish you could have known all the time that your life and contribution are just as precious and important to me as that of Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Fr Peter Hans Kolvenbach or Fr Peter Nathaniel Bwanali. I am so grateful for the way you spread my love amongst the Tonga people. I can't count the number of little ones you helped and lifted up on your journey through Monze, Chikuni, all over the Southern Province, in Lusaka and especially in the home of Mother Theresa in Mtendere. You opened the door to my Sacred Heart for thousands of my children in the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. You enriched with my love hundreds and hundreds of married couples in Marriage Encounter. My little Paddy, you were a star, an absolute star.

I stand here before you this evening to blow Paddy's trumpet a bit. In the heel of the hunt this quiet nervous little man was, after all, a star. If we look at Paddy's life and assess it by the standards of the Gospel alone, we see he was, for sure, a star, an absolute star. In Matthew's Gospel Jesus beatifies all those who are gentle, the meek, the humble, the peacemakers, all those who mourn. These people are the salt of the earth, the light of the world.

When the disciples were squabbling one time about who was the greatest Jesus told them that to be great one must become the servant of all. Another time Jesus presented them with a little child, suggesting greatness and childlikeness were not far apart.

Paddy was a wonderful Jesuit and lived his three vows of religious life so well. He responded obediently to the wishes of his superiors and went where he was sent. His living of the vow of poverty should be an example to us all. He was never a snappy dresser and without the input of Una, his sister-in-law, would have been a total disaster. And as far as I know he never had any girlfriends. He was a great companion to us in the Society, especially with those willing to enjoy his charming stories and share his enthusiasm for sport. When I think about Paddy this week I realize we had a little saint in our company, the real salt of the earth. I wish now I had blown his trumpet a bit more loudly and a bit more often down the years.

Paddy died back home in Galway. I don't know if he would have wanted that or if he would have cared one way or the other. But I do know that nowhere on this earth did Paddy Joyce feel more at home and accepted than in the home of Dominic, Una and their children, back in the old home of Shantalla. In that house he was always a star.

We give thanks to God for his life, his simplicity, his humility, his compassion for the little ones, his enthusiasm, his stories and his great sense of fun. After his life of prayer he will have no difficulty recognizing the face of God. This week he has finally and fully found rest for his soul. Farewell for now, brother, and enjoy that rest.

Born: 22 May 1917, Church Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin City, County Dublin
Entered: 07 September 1935, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1949, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1953, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Died: 24 January 1970, Regional Hospital, Galway

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Sea Road, Galway community at the time of death

Father was a salesman and died in 1927. Family resided at Clonturk Park, Drumcondra, Dublin.

Younger of two sons.

Early education at St Patrick’s BNS, Drumcondra (1924-1931) and then went to O’Connell Schools.

Irish Province News 45th Year No 2 1970

St. Ignatius College, Galway
On December 31st came the sad news of Father Cashman's death in Rathfarnham. He passed away quietly in the last hours of the old year. May he rest in peace. He came here from the Tertianship in August 1934 and after 33 years spent in Galway he left for Rathfarnham in September 1967. He was the most popular priest in the city, keeping in constant contact with the people and helping them in every need. He was well known for the helpful advice he gave and was loved by all for his friendliness and good will. He was the originator of the plan for the houses at Loyola Park, and saw the plan carried through. He took a keen interest in the Wheelchair Association and when men could not find employment he was the man to whom they came and the one who found jobs for them. In his early sixties he had a prolonged period of ill health, was in and out of hospital, but on his return from the U.S.A., after a few months spent with his brother, a Parish Priest, he seemed to have been given a new lease of life. At breakfast, on the morning after his return, he was so overwhelmed with the warm céad míle fáilte he got that in his own inimitable way he quoted two apt lines from the “Exile's return” : “I'd almost venture another flight, there's so much joy in returning”. The move to Rathfarnham was a hard blow to him. As he said in a letter to a Galway friend. "I loved the people back in the West". He accepted it quietly and settled down to his life of retirement. Fine tributes appeared in the Connaught Tribune and Cork Examiner, but the greatest tribute of all was the profound feeling of sorrow and of personal loss shown by such a multitude of friends in Gal way. The people of the West loved him, too. A life-long lover of his native language he spoke it fluently, taking his place at table with the school fathers, so as to have a chance of speaking it.

The last week of January brought us new cause for grief. After a month in the Regional Hospital, Father Jack Hutchinson died of a heart-attack on Saturday evening, 24th January. On Monday there was a Concelebrated Requiem Mass, 15 priests taking part, including Fr. Provincial and Father Rector who was the chief Celebrant. His Lordship, the Bishop presided. During the Mass the choir rendered hymns in Irish. Fr. P. Meagher, Socius, read the Gospel and Father P. O'Higgins read the bidding prayers in Irish. The impressive funeral and the large number of “Ours” from all over the Province who followed his remains to the graveside were ample testimony of the esteem in which he was held by all who knew him.
Father Jack was here as a Scholastic, 1943-46, and as a priest from 1963 till his death. He suffered a severe heart attack at Easter 1968, and since then his health was never very good. During the last two years of his teaching career he was also Spiritual Father to the boys, and when he became Operarius in the Church, he continued on as Sp. Father to the boys in a number of classes. He paid frequent visits to the Regional Hospital, and it was while getting ready to visit a patient there on the evening of December 23rd that the heart trouble came, which led to his death, a month later. During that last month, his lovable personality and fund of humour contributed much to the happiness of his fellow patients. He was the life and soul of the ward, and the men grew very fond of him and missed him sorely when he died. He was the last of five from our former community to die within the short period of 18 months, and yet, accustomed as we had grown, in that time to death, we seemed to feel all the more keenly this fifth last good-bye. Ar láimh dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha :
Fr. Hutchinson's Sodality and the boys of the 6th year presented Rev. Fr. Rector with a chalice as their tribute to the memory of a priest whom they loved.

Obituary :

Fr Jack Hutchinson SJ (1917-1970)

The announcement of the death of Fr. Jack Hutchinson was received with great regret not only by the members of his own community who knew him well, but also by the Province at large in which he had many friends and was universally liked.
After completing his secondary education at O'Connell Schools Jack Hutchinson entered the Noviceship at Emo in September 1935. As those were years of large numbers in the novitiate, Jack had the advantage of a large circle of contemporaries as he made his studies through the various houses of formation. All his training was done in Ireland. He was a naturally good student and applied himself seriously and successfully to Arts, Philosophy and Theology. He enjoyed games and played them well, especially soccer, his first love. He was often out in the boats in Tullabeg and took part in dramatics.
After Tertianship in Rathfarnham, Jack was assigned to teaching, which was to be his main work to the end. For eleven years, Gonzaga knew him as a devoted and efficient teacher, one who ever had the best interests of the boys at heart. His aim was to cultivate an easy relationship with his pupils. Nothing was too much trouble and his pupils appreciated the work he did for them. Because of his anxious temperament, teaching took more out of Jack than it did out of others of more relaxed nature.
During the Summer of these years, he gave retreats. He agreed that he found this type of work difficult. He was fond of quoting a friend who maintained that his own retreats must do enormous good, because of the effort they caused him in the giving. This was a view with which Jack concurred. For years he went to Lourdes each summer, to work as a chaplain and there took up the study of French at which he soon became proficient.
In 1962, he was transferred to the teaching staff of Galway, an assignment for which he was very suitable. As a scholastic he had spent two years teaching in Coláiste Iognáid and his ability to teach through Irish made him a most valuable member of the staff. He was equally at home and effective teaching Irish, Latin and French. For a number of years, he produced school plays in Irish at home and at Drama Festivals. In this field he was very successful and was awarded many prizes. He was always a great lover of the Irish language and of all that goes with it. He held very strongly that schools in Ireland should be trying to give an education suit able to Irish boys. Later, Summer months found him providing an outlet for his zeal in doing supply work on Bofin Island and in English parishes.
Jack Hutchinson was a very easy man to live with, the community to which he was appointed meant everything to him. His broad charity and friendliness were at the centre of his dealings with each one. If ever his feelings were ruffled or if he felt that he had spoken a word out of place, it seemed to him the most natural thing in the world to apologise. He had a lively sense of humour and on villa or festive occasions, he was at his best with stories and jokes of a most kindly nature, Twenty years of teaching can make inroads on the health of any man and with a man of Fr. Hutchinson's devotion and concentration, the effect was bound to be serious. Many and many an evening, he just about dragged himself to his room after a heavy day. A serious heart attack came after he had acted as Chairman to a meeting of Jesuits at Milltown Park, His recovery slow and tedious he bore with great patience and it was a wonderful uplift to his morale when he was told that he would be returning to Galway and was to work in the church. His zeal was his undoing. When human need demanded he knew no bounds and so eventually, he had another heart attack. He slept well the day he died and woke 'to find the doctor and nurses about his bed. He thanked them all for their care of him and kindness to him. Those words of thanks, the last he spoke, were characteristic of the man. Fr. Jack Hutchinson was a man of integrity, a fine teacher, and a good priest. He died at the age of 52. His memory will live on with affection in the hearts of many.
Proof of the regard in which the boys held him was not slow in coming. During his time as Spiritual Father to the boys, he had instituted class masses regular days for mass for each class in the Boys' Chapel. These were intimate gatherings and proved very popular with the boys. He re-organised Cuallacht Mhuire on lines of his own and again he was proved right. And so it came about that within a fortnight of his death, quite spontaneously in an intimate ceremony Cuallacht Mhuire presented to the Rector an engraved chalice and Paten, dedicated to his memory.
Go ndéana' Dia Trócaire air.

Born: 13 May 1919, Shantalla Road, Galway City, County Galway
Entered: 04 October 1937, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 31 July 1951, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1954, Gonzaga College SJ, Dublin
Died: 22 February 2000, University Hospital, Galway

part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death

Father was a building contractor.

Elder of two brothers with three sisters.

Early education was at tje Patrician Brothers in Galway, and then at Coláiste Iognáid SJ, Galway

by 1979 at Manhattan Beach CA, USA (CAL) working
by 1986 at Santa Barbara CA, USA (CAL) working
by 1989 at Long Beach CA, USA (CA) working

◆ Interfuse

Interfuse No 105 : Special Edition 2000

Obituary

Fr Peter (Peadar) Feeney (1919-2000)

1919, May 13th Born in Galway
Early education, Patrician Brothers and St. Ignatius College, Galway
1937, Oct 4: Entered the Society at Emo
1939, Oct 5: First vows at Emo
1939 - 1942: Rathfarnham, Arts at UCD
1942 - 1945: Tullabeg, studying philosophy
1945 - 1948: Clongowes, teacher, Cert. in Education
1948 - 1952: Milltown Park, studying theology
1951, July 31: Ordained priest at Milltown Park
1952 - 1953: Tertianship at Rathfarnham Castle
1953 - 1954: Gonzaga College, teaching
1954 - 1958: Clongowes, teaching, Dir. Dramatic Society
1958 - 1965: St. Ignatius, Galway, teaching, Rowing club
1965 - 1970: Clongowes, teaching, Dir. Dramatic Society
1970 - 1976: St, Ignatius, Galway, teaching, Games Master, Rowing Club
1976 - 1978: Belvedere, teaching
1978 - 1995: California, parish work
1955 - 2000: St. Ignatius, Galway, ministering in the community

Peadar was admitted to the University College Hospital, Galway, on 21st January. After surgery on 10th February his health continued to deteriorate. He died peacefully on 22nd February 2000, Feast of the See of Peter, aged 80.

Bob McGoran writes ...

Peadar Feeney and I entered the Society on the same day, October 4th 1937. We were pert of a group of six, who for various reasons arrived later than the usual September novices. I soon learnt that Peadar was a Galway city man, living only a stone's throw away from the Jesuit house. over the next few years I got to know his family well - father, mother, one brother and three sisters. My friendship with them continued over many years.

Peadar had many talents and abilities. Physically strong and hardy, he was an excellent oarsman, swimmer and diver. A fine Gaelic footballer, he had been selected for the Galway minor team. He was also a talented actor and had won various awards in Feiseanna and festivals at a national level. He had a fine tenor voice and he later became a fluent French and Spanish speaker. All of these stood him in good stead in his later work in the Colleges.

He spent almost thirty years of his life teaching in various colleges, especially Colaiste Iognáid and Clongowes. He was a strict teacher - possibly over strict. Not many of his pupils came up to the standard he expected of them. There was no doubt about his ability and knowledge of the subjects he taught : his more talented pupils invariably did well. But the poor progress of others often led to tension in the class-room.

Peadar was a happier person on the playing field or on the river. Here again, he expected a high level of dedication and application, He coached the rowing crews in Galway for a number of years with great success. An indication of this is given by one of the teachers whom I quote later on in this account.

Peadar's other great love was acting and the stage. His productions in both Clongowes and Galway were highly successful. In Clongowes, he was director in the Dramatic Society for the pupils for the two periods he was teaching there. In Galway a great deal of his leisure time was devoted to drama. He founded the highly successful Dominican and Ignatian Dramatic Society (the D&I) among adults, producing mostly Shakespearean and well-known plays such as “Macbeth”, “As you like it”, “The Barrets of Wimpole St.”, “Pride and Prejudice”, “Rebecca” and many others. He had a flair for discovering and developing talent in quite ordinary people and he insisted on high standards not only in the acting but in the staging, costumes and attention to detail. “Even a whisper” was one of his sayings “must be heard at the back of the hall”. Peadar was almost sixty years old when he felt the need to take a break from college life and seek a wider experience. Over the years, he had spent many Summer holidays helping in parishes in America. Now he felt the desire to go into full-time parish work there. He had become friendly with a Pastor in Manhattan beach in California who was glad to have him on a full-time basis. Peadar was very happy in this situation. However, when the Pastor was changed things were not working out so well. He got a change to Santa Barbara parish and a final assignment to Long Beach, a parish which was largely for Spanish-speaking people. Altogether he spent seventeen years in this Apostolate.

Peadar was a man of strong convictions and definite standards. In religious and spiritual matters he was an upholder of traditional values and practices. The liturgy was to be treated reverently, without undue haste. In church, his congregation - many of them daily Mass-goers - did not quite see eye to eye with him, but Peadar could not be budged from his principles, The Mass and the Breviary were sources of great strength to him and he was unfailingly faithful to them up to the time of his death.

At Peadar's funeral Mass, new ground was broken in the oration being delivered not by the usual S.J. but by one of the lay staff in the college, Mr Bernard O'Connell. Bernard had known Peadar for many years and grew particularly close to him in the period before his death. He spoke very eloquently of Peadar in both Irish and English. I finish this account with some short quotations from the sermon.

It was designed to be a five minute visit. Saturday afternoon afforded its usual tempting possibilities but having been sufficiently discommoded to visit a doctor about my back, I wasn't too inclined for temptation. It's a very strange sensation to talk to a dying man and hear him give you eminently sensible advice about your back and your health. But after the advice was proffered and duly accepted, discourse ensued. Five minutes became ninety. A conversation which concentrated on topics such as education, sport, music, the Coláiste, Galway and the call to the Society of Jesus was both rich and provocative

From his entrance into the Society of Jesus on October 4th 1937, Peadar set the highest standards both for himself and others. Meeting him on the Prom on vacation from the States he would despair at the state of the bay. He'd ask you directly what were you going to do about it? Not much, as it happened. But I did admire that righteous indignation of his. About Peadar's prowess as a rowing coach I admired the man that brought a Jes senior crew with just one sixth year aboard to within half a canvas of the Maiden Championship of Ireland in 1974. The winning Garda crew later beat its own senior crew that season. Subsequently, the Guards won the Petite Final at the Olympics and were timed fourth fastest in the world. And Peadar's fifth year lads nearly beat them.

Bob McGoran SJ

◆ The Clongownian, 2000

Obituary
Father Peadar Feeney SJ

Fr Peadar Feeney was three times a member of the Clongowes community and staff. He taught here as a scholastic between 1945 and 1948. He returned after ordination in 1954 for four years as teacher and director of drama and he repeated this dual role for a further spell from 1965 until 1970. He had been in California engaged in parish work from 1978 until five years before his death, when he came back to the St Ignatius community in his native Galway, where he died peacefully in University College Hospital on 22 February 2000, at the age of 80.

Born: 27 November 1915, Waterford City, County Waterford
Entered: 07 September 1933, St Mary's, Emo, County Laois
Ordained: 30 July 1947, Milltown Park, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1950, Loyola, Tai Lam Chung, Hong Kong
Died: 21 April 1999, Galway University Hospital, Galway City, County Galway

Part of the Coláiste Iognáid, Galway community at the time of death.

Family lived at Royal Hotel, Waterford City supported by businessy.

Youngest of five boys with two sisters.

Early education at Waterpark College for twelve years.

◆ Interfuse
Interfuse No 101 : Special Edition 1999

Obituary

Fr Richard (Dickie) Butler (1915-1999)

27th Nov. 1915: Born in Waterford
Educated at Waterpark College, Waterford
7th Sept. 1933: Entered the Society at Emo
8th Sept. 1935: First vows at Emo
1935 - 1938: Rathfarnham, study Arts at UCD
1938 - 1941; Tullabeg, study Philosophy
1941 - 1942: Mungret College, teaching
1942 - 1944: St. Ignatius College, Galway, teaching
1944 - 1948: Milltown Park, study theology
30th July 1947; Ordained priest at Milltown Park
1948 - 1949; Rathfarnham, tertianship
1949 - 1951: Hong Kong, at language school
1951 - 1952: Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, teaching
1952 - 1954: Wah Yan College, Kowloon, teaching
1954 - 1999 St. Ignatius College, Galway:
1954 - 1956: Teaching
1956 - 1961: Prefect of Studies
1961 - 1990: Teaching

When he retired from teaching in 1990, Richard continued in College administration, and as health prefect. He was admitted to University Hospital, Galway, almost two weeks before Easter. He was operated on for a perforated ulcer. Though initially he appeared to make good progress, he subsequently suffered a stroke, rallied somewhat again, but then suffered kidney failure. He died very peacefully at 6.45 a.m. on Wednesday 21st April 1999.

I first met Father Dickie Butler, as we affectionately knew him, on the doorsteps of Coláiste lognáid in Galway, 31 years ago, when I arrived there to begin my regency. I had spent the whole summer in the Gaeltacht building up my Irish but I knew about the place I was going to teach, and was somewhat fearful. I was greeted at the front door of the residence by a tall, mandarin-like figure with small round glasses and winged gown. On learning that I had just arrived to embark upon my teaching life, he informed me that he was the acting-minister and that before I went any further I was to put down my case and follow him. He ushered me into the kitchen and within five minutes produced a full glass of red wine, and giving it to me said “Drink that boy, you'll need it”.

Dickie Butler was a man who always made people feel welcome. He had a great eye for the details of life. I could say that Christianity is all about caring, - caring for one another, “whatever you do to one of these”, - because Christ first cares about us. Dickie was a man who always cared and made room for others. I'm sure that he has now found the room in his Father's house prepared for him from the beginning. (Though I should say “the mansion” in his Father's house, for Dickie did not update biblical translations lightly).

Richard Butler was born in Waterford in 1915 and entered the society at Emo. He studied at UCD, Tullabeg and Milltown Park and spent his regency teaching at Mungret and Coláiste lognáid in Galway. He was ordained priest at Milltown Park and after his Tertianship at Rathfarnham, went to teach at Wah Yan College in Hong Kong, with a view to moving further inland on the mission. He used to say that Celtic Scholars were particularly marked out by the Provincials for work on the missions, especially in China, presumably because somebody thought that if you could make headway in the Irish language you could certainly master Chinese. Whether it is true or not, what is definitely true is that Dickie Butler was a brilliant Irish scholar, a wonderful speaker of Irish and an excellent teacher of the language to generations of schoolboys (and latterly, girls).

He became the great Irish teacher he was because his health broke down in China in 1954 and he was sent to the school down in Galway where he taught for 45 years. Dickie was a man of great discipline, a man with an incisive mind. He served as a headmaster in the school before he returned to the classroom to teach for 37 years, at a time of rapid change in Ireland and in education. I lived in his community for 12 of those years and met with him regularly afterwards. Dickie was an engaging and imaginative conversationalist; he had a marvelous command of both the English and Irish language, and he used both daily in his daily all his adult life. Sitting at a table with him in the refectory was informative and entertaining as well as refreshing. Much of his colourful imagery will remain with those of us fortunate enough to have been in his community. Whether he was sharing his insights into information in the Province or on some aspect of contemporary Irish culture, he was always well worth listening to.

Dickie was a theologian and theology was never far from his thoughts. He was an avid reader, especially of the latest publications in theology. Often in the refectory we would watch with interest as visiting theologians, in Galway for a few days rest, sat down at table with Dickie and how he would ask them some seemingly innocent question about theology which would lead to a whole conversation that would keep them on their toes, so to speak, defending whatever their side of the argument was through the whole meal, answering the questions he put so casually. His favourite phrase throughout these encounters was “de vera religione”. I think Dickie would have made many a theological board proud with his questioning. I always felt he would have made a fine professor of theology but he only wanted to do what was asked of him, whether it was going on mission to China at the beginning of his priestly life, or working in College administration towards the end. He had what we used to call in the Province 'a fine mind' but he was a humble man too and one who never put himself forward. He was both modest and devout.

Dickie Butler was a very personal man, who always gave you the impression that he was speaking directly to you. He was interested in everybody in the community and the work they were at. Some might have seen him as old-fashioned but that might be because he had very definite ideas on things and would let you have the benefit of them whether you wanted them or not. Everyone I knew who met with him acknowledged that he was a wise man, and that brings me again to this mandarin-like figure. In his later years Dickie rode a motorbike and dressed in his special biker's gear, with the wire glasses and the all-seeing eyes, he cut a dashing figure as he rode up Sea Road, off into the dust.

Dickie was a man of routine who did not move much out of Galway. But in the early 1980's he decided, and we helped him, to go to America for a summer supply. He had not been out of the country for nearly 30 years when he boarded the plane for California. Despite his initial trepidation, he loved California once he became accustomed to it. But even in this he was different because Dickie took a supply in an island parish at the edge of a hot desert. And he continued this supply until he retired from teaching, and then he moved into school administration in Coláiste lognáid where his genius at Irish was much appreciated and must have caused many an envious eye in the Department of Education when school reports were processed. When Dickie was taken to hospital just before Easter this year he was very concerned to let the school authorities know that his work for the school right to the end of the summer term was all prepared and sitting on his desk.

He was a man of great discipline. The last time I spoke with him, he was sitting in his room with the door open, seemingly doing nothing. We had a few words and I asked him if he was waiting for something. He replied in his lovely Irish, “When you get to my age, you'll know what I'm waiting for”.

We say good-bye to an excellent teacher held in high esteem by his colleagues, a marvelous companion in community, a scholar and a storyteller, but most of all, a good Jesuit and a holy man. An tAthair Risteard de Buitléar will be missed by many.

In lothlainn Dé go gcastar sinn.

Liam Greene

-oOo-

Funeral Mass of Fr. Richard Butler, SJ
A Jesuits room reveals a great deal about its occupant. The most striking feature about Fr. Dickie's room was how spartan it was. All that was superfluous had been removed by Dickie in the last few years. It was as if he had folded up his tent some time ago and had already moved most of his belongings to a more everlasting home. But not everything was superfluous - some things had to be kept - just in case!

What remained tells you a great deal about this kind and gentle man. Only seven books are to be found on his bookshelf. These books are the New Testament; The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma; The Code of Canon Law; The Catechism of the Catholic Church; The Concise Oxford Dictionary; Dineen's Irish-English Dictionary and The Oxford Book of Irish Verse. Fr. Dickie was a man who thirsted for God, for Truth, for Certitude, for Precision and if the mysteries of faith were sometimes shrouded in darkness, Dickie would struggle for light. If the intricacies of Irish grammar left other mere mortals somewhat disillusioned, Dickie would delight in shedding much needed light.

St. Ignatius warns anyone who might want to be a Jesuit, “Let any such person take care, as long as he lives, first of all to keep before his eyes God and then the nature of this Institute which is, so to speak, a pathway to God; and then let him strive with all his effort to achieve this end set before him by God.” Dickie always strove to remain faithful to his vocation as a Jesuit priest. His personal, unobtrusive fidelity to prayer and the daily celebration of the Eucharist in what became affectionately known in the house as “Dickie's Chapel”, spoke more loudly than long lectures in theology.

Not that Dickie was adverse to theological discussion and argument. He was never too certain about all this new-fangled theology since Vatican II. Sometimes he would put the younger Jesuits through their paces just to check out their theological orthodoxy. I remember one Easter Sunday evening being the victim of one of Dickie's theological inquisitions. In his estimation I probably came out with today's equivalent of a “D3” on the Foundation level paper!

The Ardmháistir of Scoil Iognáid, Niall Ó Murchadha, said to me only last Tuesday, “Bhí an t-Athair de Buitléar go hiontach ag múineadh Teagasc Chríostaí". One of Dickie's past students, now a Jesuit priest himself, remarked how Dickie would insist with the boys (for there were only boys in Coláiste Iognáid then) that they must always remain faithful to the basic truths of Christianity and to the teaching of the Church. However, Dickie confessed to the same class of boys, “Boys, when I was in Honk Kong in the early Fifties, if those Communists had invaded from China brandishing red hot pokers, I'd have said anything they wanted me to - I'd even have sworn that there were twelve persons in the Blessed Trinity!” Here indeed was a good man who though he struggled for Truth, acknowledge his own limitations and kept a gentle sense of humour.

Obviously I chose today's readings with this good man in mind. The first reading spoke of the necessity always to pursue and to respect Wisdom. It said, “Is le hintinn ghlan a d'fhoghlaim me agus tugaim uaim gan doicheall; ni choinnim a saibhreas i bhfolach”, or translated, “What I learned without self interest, I pass on without reserve, I do not intend to hide her riches”. Over the past few days, many of Dickie's past students have spoken to me of their fondness for him as a teacher. They spoke of how organised he was, how every class was planned, how clear he was in explaining the subject matter. But more than that, they spoke of how gentle he was, as the Beatitudes would have us be. A card arrived for Dickie a few days ago, it reads:

“I heard that you were poorly. I am sorry to hear this and so I just wanted to say hello. I'm not sure if you remember me; I finished the Jez in 1981 and you taught me Gaeilge for about five years. If you recall, I was a bit of a chatterbox and, to dissuade me from talking, you used to place me right in front of you. I didn't mind it and it did me no harm. Thank you. I have very fond memories of you teaching us.”

Fr. Dan Dargan, a former parish priest of St. Ignatius' here and a contemporary of Fr. Dickie's in the order said to me the other morning that there was always a “a certain giddy quality” about Dickie, a sense of fun, that twinkle in the eye. Past students of Dickies from the fifties and sixties speak of how he used to delight the young first years by shouting at them (gently, of course) in Cantonese. He objected strongly to the use of bad language in English and so taught his classes how to curse really and truly “as Gaeilge” much to their delight and to the advancement of the Irish language. Even in the last year when Dickie was much more confined to the house, he would often watch the students “ag pleidhcíocht” in the yard and would give a guffaw of laughter. Little did the students know that they were being watched in more ways than one for it was Dickie who right up to the end almost wrote out the term reports for each student in Coláiste Iognáid. He loved to help Joan with this seemingly tedious work, but this was important for Dickie because it meant that this former headmaster was still part of the school administration and Jesuits, as you know, never retire!

My lasting memory of Dickie will be that he was forever whistling Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago. I sometimes wondered did he know any other song. Even in the last months, Dickie would walk along the corridor whistling, and so I found it particularly poignant one day when he stopped me and said in Irish for he always spoke to me in Irish, “Ta a fhios agat, a Bhreandáin, go mbímse i gcónaí ag feadail - níl ansin ach cur i gcêill - taimse ag fulaingt go mór”. Before he went into hospital, this essentially discrete and private man, spoke very movingly of his own physical weakness and sense of anxiety, I thought at that time of the first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” in other words, blessed are those who know their own fragility and their need of God. The same beatitude continues with consoling words “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

Dickie, guímid uile ar maidin nach bhfuil tuileadh de dhíth ort, go bhfuil tú i gcomhlúadar Dé agus naomh uile - bain sult as an bhfírinne go síoraí, a chara shéimh, uasail.

Brendan Comerford