Showing 74 results

A guide to Jesuit Archives.

Circular from Fr Paul Pierling SJ. An account of the confiscation of the Gesú by the Italian government.

A file of account sheets of the Irish Province in account with the Generalate in Rome. Includes accompanying letters.

File relating to the admission of Fr Herbert J Dargan SJ to the Society of Jesus and subsequent correspondence mainly related to his time as Tertian instructor at the Jesuit house at Tullabeg, County Offaly (1977-1986).

Biographical information on Fr John J Hannon SJ. Includes catalogue entry (1930), correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials and brief biography by Fr Fergus O'Donoghue SJ.

Biographical information on Fr Peter Kenney SJ, and material related to the early years of the Irish Vice-Province.

Catalogus defunctorum in renata Societate Iesu ab a. 1814 ad a. 1970 p. Rufo Mendizabal, S.I., collegit
Authors:Rufo Mendizábal, Gesuiti Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Gesuiti Curia generalizia

Catalogus Defunctorum in renata Societate lesu ab a.1814 ad a.1970

P.Rufo Mendizábal, S.I. collegit

Primum Supplementum ab a. 1970 ad a. 1975

Romae, Apud Curiam P. Gen.-1976

Catalogus Defunctorum in renata Societate lesu (II)
1970-1985

Collegit et edidit

Nicolás R. Verástegui S.J

Catalogus Defunctorum in renata Societate lesu (III)
1986-2000

Romae - Curia Praepositi Generalis 2001

A file relating to the controversy between Dr Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick and Mungret College concerning the admission of lay boys to the College. The file contains manuscript material written by Fr Thomas Morrissey SJ. In a summary he remarks that the Bishop saw the presence of lay students at Mungret 'as a threat to his seminary' (nd, 1p). Includes correspondence, and prospectus for Mungret College, 1882, Annual reports of the Irish Apostolic School, Mungret, 1889 and 1895.

A file relating to the controversy surrounding the Apostolic and Lay Schools, Mungret College and the separation of the two schools following intervention by the Bishop of Limerick and a Decree of Propaganda. Includes correspondence relating to the valuation of the property and the question of the ownership of the Mungret property. Includes a certificate of valuation (25 June 1921, 7pp) and various financial accounts. Includes a ground floor plan and front elevation of Mungret College. Finally, in 1928 a further session of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith decided the transference of the Lay School should not be insisted on but that the two schools should be administered separately (21 April 1928, 1p). Includes letters from Michael Curly, Archbishop of Baltimore offering his support to Mungret College. Refers also to the 'Mungret Case' (23 August 1928; 22 December 1928 - 4 February 1932, 5 items) and photographs of Cardinal's visit to Mungret, 1928 (2 items)

Copies of Superiors letters (Fr Sean McCarron SJ) of Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin to Rome (in English) and acknowledgment of letters from Rome (in Latin). The letters outline the works going on at Manresa (1949, 1952; 1954-56). Annual letter Manresa House, Dollymount, Dublin (In Latin). 1951-52; 1952-53.

Copy of a letter from Irish Fr Provincial John Fahy SJ, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin to Fr Assistant concerning the financial relations of the two schools, Lay and Apostolic, at Mungret.

File of correspondence between Fr Edward O’Connor SJ and his Irish Provincials. Material relates to his time in Rome during WWII and his time in Zambia

Correspondence concerning Madame Regina Łukasiewicz’s accusations of the theft of her late husband’s papers by Fr Aubrey Gwynn SJ and Prof. E. O'Doherty of U.C.D. (her late husband was Jan Łukasiewicz, Professor of Mathematical Logic at the Royal Irish Academy (a special professorship) ). Madame Łukasiewicz was suffering from ‘paranoid psychosis with delusions of persecution’ and was admitted to St Vincent’s Private Mental Home for a number of weeks until Fr Gwynn helped to arrange her removal to the house of her nephew in England. The papers had in actual fact, been deposited by herself in the R.I.A. Library in 1956. Documents include:

• copies of letters sent by Madame Łukasiewicz to the Taoiseach and the Commissioner of the Gardai stating her case and seeking help with living expenses and the return of her husband’s manuscripts (15 and 18 July 1957, 2 items, 2pp each);
• letter from the Slavic Assistant in Rome to Irish Fr Provincial Michael O'Grady SJ (8 December 1957, 2pp);
• statement of Fr Gwynn made for the Provincial explaining his ‘connection with the sad history of Madame Regina Łukasiewicz’ (11 December 1957, 4pp);
• statements of Dr Mary Sullivan and Dr John Malone on the mental health Madame Lukasiewicza (13, 16 December 1957, 4pp);
• statement by Dr Farrington, Librarian and Assistant Secretary, R.I.A. (13 December 1957, 1p.);
• copy of statement made by solicitor Arthur Cox ‘acting as Madame Lukasiewicza’s legal advisor’ for the Provincial (16 December 1957, 1p.);
• letter to Fr Gwynn from Fr Stanislaus Wawryn SJ (Polish Provincial) (23 December 1957, 1p.);
• letter to the Provincial from the Society’s Curia in Rome (26 December 1957, 1p.);
• copy of letter of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera to Fr Gwynn on the matter, in which he states ‘I know that since Prof. and Madame Lukasiewicz came here you have been one of their kindest friends…I regret very much that you should be subject to the annoyance which these charges cause you; and I would be glad to assist in any way in making it known, to any one who may be concerned, that I regard these charges as altogether without foundation and, indeed, in the circumstances, as outrageous’ (30 December 1957, 1p.).

A file relating to correspondence of bequests made to Irish Fr Provincial regarding the Hong Kong and China missions.

• Perpetual burse in memory of Fr WM. Doyle SJ in the new seminary in Hong Kong (1936);
• Perpetual burse in memory of Fr Walsh SJ in Hong Kong (1936);
• Memorial burse in memory of Fr Fegan SJ in China (1936);
• List of burse money for the education of Chinese Jesuits (13 September 1940);
• Statement of accounts for quarter the Ricci Mission Unit (1 July - 30 September 1943).

Correspondence relating to Fr Joseph Lentaigne SJ, who was Irish Vice Provincial, 11 February 1858-7 December 1860 and the first Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus, 8 December 1860 - [ ] 1863. No index.

Material on Frederick Gill, who departed the Society of Jesus, as a priest.

Description of a diploma on vellum issued by Fr General Mutio Vitelleschi SJ concerning the setting up of a sodality in Dublin under the name of Our Lady of the Annunciation (27 May 1627).

Document concerning new regulations on the type of apostolate work being carried out in China. The document was circulated at a General Congregation of the Society.

Copy of a document from Rome concerning studies in the Chinese language for Jesuit Missioners.

File of material relating to Fr Thomas Byrne SJ, taken from the Mission Office, 28 Upper Sherrard St (12 July 2011). Includes passport size photograph; passport; and correspondence between Fr Byrne to Fr Thomas J Martin, SJ, Mission Office, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

File of material relating to the admission of Desmond Collins to the Society of Jesus and subsequent professional life including correspondence relating to the Jesuit Seminary Association.

File of material relating to Fr Francis Joy SJ including catalogue record, mortuary card, and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials.

A file relating to Fr James Daly SJ, including biography, genealogical material, letter from Peter Byrne, University College, Dublin (13 November 1897) to Fr Daly SJ, profits from Clongowes Wood College farm 1915-1916, grants paid to Clongowes Wood College and correspondence from the Irish Fr Provincials.

Material relating to Fr Patrick Kenny SJ which includes correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials, personal record and medal from the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Clongowes Wood College SJ.

Correspondence between Thomas Fleming and his Irish Fr Provincials during his professional life in China and in Australia.

Br John Baptist Byrne SJ entry into the Society of Jesus and difficulties he encountered as a novice, ultimately leading to his decision to become a brother in the English Province. Includes detailed correspondence concerning his difficulties and the various attempts to find a suitable position for him in the Society.

Correspondence mostly between two sisters and the Irish Fr Provincial concerning the sisters’ efforts to contest the will of their late cousin, Josephine Keshan, decd., 1910, who left the administration of her entire estate to the Society of Jesus. The matter was settled amicably.

Letter from Br Philip G Sullivan SJ, Borgo S. Spirito, Rome to Irish Fr Provincial Laurence Kieran SJ concerning Mgr. Gee Piu's visit to Rome and Ireland.

Letter from Father General Pedro Arrupe congratulating Fr John McAvoy SJ on his Golden Jubilee.

Letter from Fr Alfred Weld SJ, writing from the Gesù in Rome, to Irish Fr Provincial Nicholas Walsh SJ. Reports on the takeover of the Gesù by the Giunta, and states that the house is to be used as offices for the Artillery, Infantry and Cavalry. Refers to effect these events are having on the Fr General, and reports on the exodus of the residents from the house. Announces that he and Fr. Lambert are going to the English College. Refers also to the Roman College and the South American College. Refers to confusion in relation to the Pope’s rights over the Observatory. Reports that the Fr General gave him a letter from Fr Walsh, in which he refers to ‘the house in Stephen's Green’, and declares himself to be glad that Fr Walsh has accepted it, and hopes that ‘an energetic man devoted to study’ will be appointed as head.

Letter from Fr Daniel O'Connell SJ, Rome, Italy to Irish Fr Provincial Paddy Doyle SJ concerning his trip to Ireland.

Letter from Fr General Peter Beckx SJ to Fr Eugene Browne SJ, Rector, Clongowes Wood College SJ. In his letter he acknowledges correspondence received from Fr Browne and the House Consultors, and expresses satisfaction with all that is happening at Clongowes.

Letter from Fr George Lambert SJ, writing from the Gesù in Rome, to Irish Fr Provincial Nicholas Walsh SJ. Writes to the latter at the request of the Fr General to draw the attention of Fr Walsh ‘to the great importance of avoiding anything which might give the Engl. Government a pretext to quarrel with us’. Adds that the prospects of the Society retaining their houses and churches decrease every day.

Letter from Fr George Lambert SJ, writing from the Gesù in Rome, to Irish Fr Provincial Nicholas Walsh SJ. Reports that the Gesù was taken over by officials of the Giunta. Encloses a protest that was read and handed in by Fr Armellini (included; in Italian), and states that the residents are to vacate the building on 3 November.

Letter from Fr John Ffrench SJ, writing the Gesù, Rome, to Fr Kelly SJ. Refers to a visit made by Cardinal Cullen to Rome, and apologises for not having brought up a matter which Fr Kelly wished him to raise with the Cardinal.

Copy of a letter from Fr John Hannon SJ (English Assistant) to Fr General seeking permission for Fr Patrick Joy SJ (Superior of the mission) to sell property in Hong Kong. The permission was granted.

Letter from Fr John Hannon SJ, Rome written in Italian containing the signatures of all the Fathers in the Curia Generalizia. A note attached (written by Fr John R. MacMahon SJ) remarks that the letter is probably unique.

[Copy of] letter from Fr Nicholas Walsh SJ, Clongowes Wood College, to [Fr Assistant], asking to make his tertianship in Rome to do his third year of studies. (In Italian). Includes confirmation in Latin on reverse of letter of decision to allow him to go to Rome.

Copy of a letter from Irish Fr Provincial Michael A. O'Grady SJ, 85 Eglinton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin to Fr General J B Janssens SJ, 5 Borgo Santo Spirito, Rome outlining the reasons why he feels the novitiate for candidates of the Society of Jesus in the far East should be transferred from Formosa to Hong Kong.

Letter of congratulation from the Jesuit Curia in Rome on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Fr Aubrey Gwynn’s entrance into the Society.

Letter to Fr William A Sutton SJ from Fr Herman Walmesley SJ congratulating him on behalf of Fr General, on the Golden Jubilee of his entrance into the Society.

A file of letters realting to Fr Thomas Byrne SJ. Includes a letter from Fr John L Swain SJ, Borgo S. Spirito, Rome to Irish Fr Provivnial Charles O'Conor SJ concerning an emergencvy operatiopn performed on Fr Byrne in Rome (22 December 1963, 1p); letter from Fr Bernard Lonergan SJ, Regis College, 3425 Bayview Avenue, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada to Fr Thomas Byrne SJ, thanking him for suggesting that Fr General be asked to allow Fr Lonergan more free time to write (21 Decmeber 1967, 1p).

A file of letters concerning the attendance of Religious Superiors at Diocesan Synods. Includes letters to Fr Thomas Kelly, SJ, Rector, Crescent College, Limerick concerning the issue. Two of the letters are from Irish Fr Provincial Edmund J O'Reilly SJ.

A file of letters from Fr John Ffrench SJ (all except one dated 2 September 1870 are written from Gesú, Rome) to Irish Fr Provincial Nicholas Walsh SJ (term 20 April 1870 - 17 March 1877). Fr Ffrench's letters were written in his capacity as English Assistant to Fr General. As a result all of the letters have an official slant. Fr Ffrench, SJ died in Rome on 31 May 1873. Includes an index/précis to the letters by Fr James Rabbitte SJ.

A file of letters from Fr John Ffrench SJ, Gesú, Rome, Italy to Irish Fr Provincial Edmund J O'Reilly SJ (term as Fr Provincial 1863 - 19 April 1870). Fr Ffrench's letters were written in his capacity as English Assistant to Fr General. As a result all of the letters have an official slant. Includes an index/précis to the letters by Fr James Rabbitte SJ.

A file of letters from Fr John Ffrench SJ, Gesú, Rome, Italy to Fr Joseph Lentaigne SJ (Vice Provincial: 11 February 1858-1860; First Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus: 8 December 1860 - [ ] 1863). At this time Fr Ffrench SJ was the substitute English Assistant to Fr General. As a result many of the letters have an official slant. Includes an index/précis to the letters by Fr James Rabbitte SJ.

Letters relating to Fr Daniel O'Connell's diamond jubilee.

A file relating to visitors to the Chinese/Hong Kong mission. The letters relate to the administration of the mission and the Jesuits working in the mission. Includes a copy of a letter from the Superior of the mission Fr Thomas F Ryan SJ to Fr Visitor, Fr Burkhardt SJ concerning the mission in light of the communist occupation of the neighbouring provinces of China. Describes the effects of this occupation on the work of the mission (15 January 1950, 11pp).

Circulars and letters to Irish Fr Provincial Michael O'Grady SJ and Vice-Provincial Fr John Coyne SJ from Fr General John Baptist Janssens SJ, Fr Joseph Bolland SJ, English Assistant, Fr Friedrich Schwendimann SJ and others. Includes letters concerning the appointment of Iacobus Martegani as Italian Assistant (14 January 1955); the use of contraceptive devices by married couples (19 May 1955); the fourth centenary of the death of Ignatius Loyola (31 July 1955); the situation of the Society of Jesus in Poland (28 January 1957).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial from Fr John MacErlean SJ on various matters including:
– Fr MacErlean’s censure on a Society Appeal for Funds;
– the progress of his historical research, news from Rome and news about the Society in Australia;
– the establishment of the Society in Ireland including a ‘list of whatever documents exist to my knowledge regarding the establishment of the Society in Ireland…What exactly the establishment of the Society in Ireland means I do not know. It may be a question for a canonist to solve. The canonical succession of the New Society to the Old is disputed, and Rome has never decided the point’;
– the proposed purchase of a volume consisting of ‘the indexes of the first eleven volumes of the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum down to the 3rd volume of April’ and the binding which is ‘much older than the contents…the binding of a Missal that was presented to Father (Nicholas) Leynach in 1613 - 14 by Francis Bray, at a time when Fr Leynach was trying to establish a chapel or oratory of the Society in Clonmel’;
– the Irish College in Rome;
– lists of books the Province could present to ‘the library to be established for the use of the Coll(egium) Scriptorum and a ‘list of those members of our Province who might now or hereafter be fit to cooperate with the Collegium Scriptorum in the production of works’ and a
– ‘Brief Sketch of the Work of the Irish Jesuits from the foundation to the Suppression of the Society 1540 – 1773’ (11pp).

Letters to the Irish Fr Provincial relating to pictures of St Ignatius Loyola in a book by Mary Purcell.

Typed list containing the numbers of people who left the Society of Jesus. A breakdown of numbers for each Province is also provided.

‘Praepositi Generales Societatis Jesu’. [Circular from the Generalate]. List of Jesuit Superiors General from 1541 to 1853.

List of Jesuits at Vatican I: bishops, theologians etc.

Material concerning the reason(s) behind Fr David Woulfe’s leaving of the Society of Jesus. Includes typescript by Fr Francis Finegan SJ entitled ‘Why did David Wolf Leave the Society?’ an appendix to his privately published pamphlet on the earliest period of the Society in Ireland (n.d., 7pp);

• nineteenth century transcript of a Latin document ‘formerly’ in the archives of the Society at Gesu, supposedly the evidence of Fr William Good SJ, accusing Fr Woulfe of a ‘moral delinquency’ (n.d., 15pp) and
• transcript of the same made by Fr Fergal McGrath SJ (Irish Province Archivist to 1986), with explanatory note attached (n.d., 30pp).

File of material relating to the admission of Michael J Connolly to the Society of Jesus and his subsequent Jesuit life including his time as rector of the Jesuit house at Tullabeg, County Offaly and as Tertian instructor at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, catalogue entries, memorial card and obituary.

A file relating to an article written by Fr Patrick Gannon SJ in the 'Irish Ecclesiastical Record' supporting a fellow Jesuit's interpretation of a passage in St. Mark. This article sparked a controversy as Fr Gannon's views were disagreed with by Cardinal MacRory (and other eminent scripture scholars). Includes a letter from Fr John R MacMahon SJ (Fr Provincial), St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin to Fr Byrne SJ concerning the controversy. Remarks 'In reply to a letter from Fr Gannon, I wrote to him to say that I could not allow him to pursue the discussion about St. Mark III, 20 - 21 any further…that I would not approve of his seeking an interview with the Cardinal; that he might write to the Cardinal, but that I would have to see a draft of the letter beforehand.' Remarks that he received a reply from Fr Gannon and includes a passage from the letter describing it thus 'He is taking a most extravagant view of the situation.' (15 April 1945, 1p). Includes a copy of a letter from Fr Provincial (Fr MacMahon SJ) concerning a letter Fr Gannon wishes to write to Cardinal MacRory regarding the difference of opinion between the two men. Remarks 'Let me assure you (and I wish I could convince you) that you are taking far too tragic a view of the whole business. If you could put it out of your mind for a month, you would, I am confident, take a more tranquil view of things.' (26 January 1945, 1p). It would appear from the file that Fr Gannon was not able to put the matter out of his mind and that it was only as a result of his death in 1953 that the matter was laid to rest. It would also appear that Fr Gannon's view was gaining some support amongst scripture scholars when he died.

Material relating to Fr Bernard P Collins SJ entry to the Society of Jesus, biographical information and correspondence with Irish Fr Provincials.

File of mission material relating to Fr Patrick O'Brien SJ. Includes passport photograph; announcement of death; obituaries; death certificate; personal record; Zambian stamps from 1980 - 81; newspaper cuttings from the trial of Laurence Sullivan, Lusaka, Zambia in which Fr O'Brien refused to be called as a witness (1952) and correspondence between Fr O'Brien and Frs. Thomas Martin, Vincent Murphy and Thomas O'Brien, Jesuit Missions, 20 Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin.

Monumenta Anglia III: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Documents (1541-1562).
Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Rome, 2000.

Notes and letters by Fr John Ffrench SJ, including reports on 12 boys at St Stanisalus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly and what he has taught to them (18 October 1834), letters while acting as Substitute English Assistant to Fr General and English Assistant to Fr General, Rome to Fr O'Reilly SJ and Fr Browne SJ (21 December 1865 & 16 February 1867) and note on the wood used for Tullabeg. Includes letters from Fr George Lambert SJ, Fr General Peter Beckx SJ, Curia Generalizia Compagnia di Gesù, Rome, Italy on the death of Fr John Ffrench SJ (1873).

Obituary of Fr Daniel Joseph O'Connell SJ by the Vatican Observatory (4pp)and copy of a letter from Fr John P Leonard SJ, Rome, Italy to Fr Fergal McGrath SJ, 35 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin describing Fr O'Connell'a death (15 October 1982, 1p).

A file relating to permission granted by Fr General Wlodimir Ledóchowski SJ and the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Matthew Cullen, for the establishment of a Jesuit house at Emo, County Laois.

Photographic album (thirty photographs) belonging to Fr Joseph O'Connor SJ relating to his time as a scholastic in Mungret College c.1926, Rector of Mungret College (1936-1941) and later in Galway (1941-1972). Insert postcard from Irish Jesuit in Rome, Italy (1931).

Photographs of Hong Kong missionaries. Most of the individuals are identified. Inlcudes a letter from Br E Connolly, Secretaritus Missionum, Borgo S. Spirito, Roma, Italy to Fr John Coyne SJ, St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin enclosing a list of photograph in their archives of missionaries on the Hong Kong mision.

Includes photograph of visit of Fr General Pedro Arrupe SJ to Wah Yan College

Photographs of the 29th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. Including photograph of representatives of the English and Irish Province, and Australian Vice-Province.

Back: Helsham, Joseph Canavan (Irish Province)
Front: John Fahy (Australian Vice-Province), John R MacMahon (Irish Province), John Hannon (Irish Province), Martin D'Arcy (English Province),

Proposal, written in Latin [and submitted to Fr General in Rome] concerning the establishment of 'Studies'.

Documents relating to a report on poverty in the Province sent to Rome in October 1926 in response to a letter sent in March 1926 by Fr General to the Irish Fr Provincial. Includes copy of Fr General’s letter, questionnaire and the responses which comprise the report.

A file containing miscellaneous notes, MSS material and articles by Fr Roland Burke Savage SJ relating to his research on Fr Peter Kenney SJ. Includes letters to Fr Burke Savage concerning this research (2 May 1977 - 10 June 1986, 12 items). The file was used by Fr Morrissey for his research on Fr Peter Kenney SJ.

File containing Robert Thompson's admissionpapers and correspondence with irish Fr provincials covering his time in Zambia, at Rathfarnham Castle and Tullabeg and his parish work at Clane, County Kildare and Moycullen, County Galway.

Synopsis historiae Societatis Jesu: pro nostris tantum. Typis Friderici Pustet, Ratisbonae, 1914.
Edited by Ludwig Schmitt, based on an earlier work edited by Franz Xavier Wernz