Born: 1550, Kilkenny City, County Kilkenny
Entered: 25 May 1581, St Andrea, Rome, Italy - Romanae Province (ROM)
Ordained: c. 1577 Louvain, Belgium, - before Entry
Died: 19 February 1620, Irish College, Santiago de Compostela, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Uncle of James Butler - RIP 1639

2 yrs Theology in Rome, concentrating on Moral;
In the Roman College 1584; at Pont-à-Mousson as Minister and student confessor, Campaniae Province (CAMP) 1586-7- moved to Nancy 1587 due to danger of war;
First Rector of Salamanca;
famous Missioner in Ireland during “Tyrone war”;
Bruxelles et Castrensis Mission in 1590;
at Salamanca in 1603;
At Bilbao - Castellanae Province (CAST) - in 1614 - Prefect of Irish Mission;
Irish College Salamanca in 1619 and then died in Santiago 15 February 1620.

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
First Rector of Salamanca ad great promoter of education; A Most celebrated man whose name was very dear to Irishmen, and with whom he possessed unbounded influence.
He was a famous Missioner in Ireland during the War of Tyrone
In 1617 he was in Castellanae Province (CAST).
Succeeded Fr Thomas White as rector of Salamanca 1592-1605
His name also appears incidentally in the State Papers, Public Record Office, London, 1592, 1594.
He is highly eulogised in a report of Irish Affairs addressed by Capt Hugh Mostian to Louis Mansoni, the Papal Nuncio for Ireland, towards the latter end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. (Oliver’s “Collectanea” from Stonyhurst MSS. Oliver also refers to several of Archer’s letters as still extant)
1606 Archer was constituted the first Prefect of the Irish Mission in the National College, Rome (Irish Ecclesiastical Record April 1872, July 1874 and a biography September 1874)

Note from Bl Dominic Collins Entry
After First Vows he was sent to Ireland as a companion to James Archer, who was a Chaplain to the Spanish invading force sent by Philip III of Spain. He was taken prisoner and rejected the overtures to reject his faith he was hanged (at Cork or Youghal).

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
He had studied at Louvain and was Ordained some time before March 1577. Before he entered the Society he was already a Master of Arts. When he returned to Ireland in 1577, he remained for at least he next eighteen months. He was at Kilmallock, 21 August 1578, when he assisted the Franciscan, Father Conrad Rourke, the eve of his death “in odium fidei”
After First Vows, Archer was deputed to revise his studies at the Roman College and Pont-à-Mousson. At the latter place he served also as Minister of the community and the student-boarders. It would seem that his Superiors were grooming him for professorial duties - However...
1590 By May he was serving as a military chaplain at Brussels
1592 He was sent to Spain to take charge of the newly founded Irish College, Salamanaca.
1596 He returned to Ireland to raise funds there for Salamanca College but his contacts with the Irish chieftains won for him the repute of a political intriguer and the hatred of the administration at Dublin. There can be no doubt that his sympathies lay with the Old Irish whose cause he saw was bound up with the survival of the Catholic Church in the country. He seems to have met Hugh O'Neill about the time of the battle of the Yellow Ford and was later at the camp of the Earl of Desmond. The MacCarthy Mor stated that Archer, by letter, solicited him to rise in rebellion.
1600-1602 He left Ireland for Rome, 20 July, but returned with the fleet of Juan Del Aguila, 23 September 1601 and remained until July 1602. Before his return to Spain he reported to the General on the state of Ireland.
1602-1612 Returned to Spain he held various posts in the Irish College, Salamanca, but seems also to have spent much time questing for the support of the Irish students. For a time he was stationed at Bilbao to win the support of new benefactors of the Irish colleges of the Peninsula.
His later years were spent at Santiago where he died, 19 February 1620

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Archer, James
by C. J. Woods

Archer, James (1550–1620), Jesuit priest and administrator, was born at Kilkenny and belonged, it can be deduced, to a patrician family prominent in that city. To prepare for an ecclesiastical career he went (c.1564) to the Spanish Netherlands, to Louvain, a hotbed of the new militant catholic theology and a strong influence on attempts at extending the counter-reformation to England. On his return to Ireland (1577) he was considered by the English authorities there to be a danger to the Elizabethan church settlement. Undoubtedly he had some sympathy with principals of the Desmond rebellion.

In 1581 Archer entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, continuing his studies there before moving (1585) to Pont-à-Mousson in the duchy of Lorraine, where there was a small seminary for Irish and Scottish students. Showing talent mainly as a confessor and administrator, he was sent (1587) to minister to the 1,200 Irish, English, and Scottish soldiers in the so-called Irish regiment, whom their commander, Sir William Stanley (qv), had persuaded to forsake the English service for the Spanish. The activities of Stanley and his entourage were an aggravating circumstance in the Spanish threat to Elizabeth I's England. Archer was said to have been involved in an alleged plot to murder the queen.

At the close of 1592 he went to Spain. After visiting the royal court at Madrid, he settled in Salamanca, the seat of Spain's foremost university, and took over the administration of the Irish college being founded there. In 1596 he returned to Ireland to seek money for the college and to explore the possibility of re-establishing a Jesuit mission. He was obliged to lie low in the countryside and eventually to join Hugh O'Neill (qv), whose rebellion had been raging since 1593. On all sides he acquired a legendary reputation. Summoned to Rome (1600) to give an account of his mission, he acted also as an envoy of O'Neill. In 1601 he was back in Spain, involved in planning the Spanish military expedition to Ireland as well as settling differences among the Irish at Salamanca. Archer was a member of the force numbering 4,432 men that headed for Kinsale in September. For the defeat of the expedition he blamed the commander, Juan del Águila (qv). Archer left Ireland for Spain in July 1602; his views about the failure of the enterprise were heeded at first, but when Águila was exonerated and peace was made with England (1603) his career as a negotiator for Spanish aid for Irish rebels was over. Although his Jesuit superior would not allow him to return to Ireland, rumours abounded there of his presence.

The rest of his life was given, as ‘prefect of the mission’, to the Irish seminaries in the Iberian peninsula. Once again Archer had to deal with differences among the Irish catholics: the Old English were accused by the Old Irish of unfairness towards them, and the Jesuits were accused by other clerics of self-preferment. Archer's work in Spain bore fruit in 1610 when the Spanish authorities built a new college for the Irish in Salamanca, the Colegio de los Nobles Irlandeses, to which the king gave his support. Archer spent his last years at Santiago de Compostela. It was at the Irish college there that he died on 15 February 1620.

Although he was a man of no more than moderate ability and an indifferent scholar, Archer had qualities that served to make him an important figure in the Irish counter-reformation: he was phlegmatic and a good administrator; he had some influence at the Spanish court and, thanks to his experience in Ireland in the 1590s, the confidence of both of the rival groups of Irish Catholics – Old English and Old Irish. Only a few letters of James Archer survive, and there is no known portrait or even a verbal description.

Thomas J. Morrissey, James Archer of Kilkenny, an Elizabethan Jesuit (1979)

Note from Bl Dominic Collins Entry
In February 1601 he made his first religious profession and seven months later was appointed by his superiors to join the Irish mission, as Fr James Archer (qv) had specifically asked for him, perhaps due to his previous military experience and also his Spanish contacts. Archer had been described by Sir George Carew (qv), president of Munster, as ‘a chief stirrer of the coals of war’ (Morrissey, Studies, 318) and was being constantly sought out by government agents. Collins's association with him was to prove dangerous. He sailed with the Spanish expedition to Ireland on 3 September 1601, one of the commanders being Don Juan del Aguila, to whom Collins had surrendered Lapena in 1598. The flotilla with which he travelled arrived late at Castlehaven due to bad weather. After the defeat of the Irish and Spanish forces at Kinsale, Collins finally met Archer in February 1602 at the castle of Gortnacloghy, near Castlehaven

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

JESUITICA: Jumping Jesuits

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

◆ James B Stephenson SJ The Irish Jesuits Vol 1I 1962

FATHER JAMES ARCHER SJ 1550-1625
Few men played a greater part than Father James Archer in the tremendous effort to smash the growing power of England in Ireland that marked the closing years. of the sixteenth century. Arriving in Ireland in 1596, he found the country already in the throes of war. The Tudors. had by this time realised that England could not be safe unless Ireland were subjugated. By the end of the sixteenth century, England had shaken off the last shackles of medieval restraints and had emerged as one or the strongest powers in Europe, The threats of Spain and the Pope had been warded off, and England was looked upon as the leader and head of Protestant Europe. It was at this time that she turned her face in real earnest towards Ireland.

The history of the Reformation in Ireland during the sixteenth century can be told briefly. The reform movements of Henry VIII and Edward, his son, were a complete failure. Neither of these kings had sufficient political control outside the Pale to enforce their authority, and even within the boundaries of the Pale the movement made little progress. During the reign of Mary the Catholic Church again flourished, though the confiscated monasteries were not restored. In 1558 Elizabeth succeeded to the throne of England,. Prior to her succession, she had never shown any remarkable zeal for religion. As queen, what she desired pre-eminently was peace and harmony. For the first years of her reign, her position in England was too insecure to permit her to embark on any intensive persecution of the Catholics, The clergy, however, were subject to a persecution that varied all through her reign; it was intensified or slackened according to the political circumstances of the moment. Up to 1578 religion did not play a vital part in opposing the anglicisation of Ireland. Gradually from that time on, it became more and more important, until finally in the reign of James I the Catholics, both Irish and Anglo-Irish, clung to their faith as the only part of the heritage that had been left. So too it was religion that at the beginning of the next century was to unite the two races, by inciting them both to oppose the alien creed. Later it was on the rock of her Faith, preserved and enlivened at this time, that the nationality of Ireland was founded.

Perhaps before we examine the work of Fr Archer, a word on the state of religion in Ireland during the sixteenth century may not be out of place. It is certain that it was not a very vital force in the lives of many of the people. They were Catholics More by custom than by conviction. Here is one account left by Dr Tanner, who had to leave the Society of Jesus owing to ill-health and who was later appointed Bishop of Cork: “He (Dr Tanner) is assured by grave men that during all this time not a hundred Irishmen in all Ireland have been infected with heresy, though not a few ... attend the profane rites of the heretics, and the demoralisation of the people is such that a pious Catholic is hardly to be found; and no wonder since the clergy are the most depraved or all. Moreover, there is so little instruction to be had in the Christian Faith that few can so much as repeat the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of the Faith, or the commandments, and still fewer understand them. Sermons are so uncommon that there are many that have never so much as heard one. The Sacraments are rarely administered. In fine so gross is the ignorance of the people that there are many who, passing all their lives in the grossest sin, have grown accustomed thereto”.

In general we may conclude that religion was dormant in Ireland at the end of the sixteenth century. The people indeed had the Faith and seemed eager for instructions and there is no evidence of anti clericalism as in England. On the contrary, the priests were generally loved and would always find a safe shelter among the people, who had seen so many of them give up their lives for the Faith. But unfortunately, many of the priests were not active. The morals of the people were often depraved. There was little scope for Catholic education. The monasteries for the most part had been dissolved. The external organisation of the Church was shattered, and the wars had increased the laxity and poverty of the people. But the light of Faith had been kept glowing by the zealous labours of the Friars and the heroic priests and bishops who had endured persecution and death to shield, their flocks. This then was the state of the country, political and religious, when in 1597 Fr James Archer landed in Waterford to inaugurate what was to become the first permanent mission of the Society of Jesus in Ireland.

James Archer was born in Kilkenny in 1550. He attended the school of the famous Dr Peter White or that town, where the young Archer seems to have been a distinguished scholar. Very little is known of his career for the next fifteen years. In 1577 he was at Louvain, but in the following year he was back again in Ireland. On the 25 May 1581 he entered the Society of Jesus in Rome, and the next we hear of him is that in 1592 he was at Pont-à-Mousson with Fathers Richard Fleming, Richard de la Field and Christopher Hollywood, all Irish Jesuits. In the same year he was sent to Spain to collaborate with other Irish Jesuits in the foundation of the famous Irish college at Salamanca, which was instituted for the training of secular priests for the home mission. He remained there until 1596, when he was sent back to Ireland with Fr Henry Fitzsimon to re-open the Jesuit mission there which had lapsed for ten years.

Almost immediately after his arrival in Ireland, Fr Archer went northward to meet Hugh O'Neill, who was already in rebellion against Elizabeth. Archer looked upon the '”Nine Years War” as a crusade against the heretic queen. Therefore, during the few years that he was in Ireland, he strove to the utmost of his powers to unite the Irish under the leadership of Tyrone and to induce the Spaniards to send aid, His influence with the Irish chief's during these years was of paramount importance. He was looked upon by the English as one of their most dangerous enemies, and they laid several traps to ensnare him. If we were to rely on official contemporary documents alone, we should imagine that Archer was a traitorous intriguer and an enemy to all stability and good government. From other sources we can see that he was, first and foremost, a zealous missionary for the Faith.

In his first letter to his General in Rome, written on 10 August 1598, he gives an account of the precarious life he was leading even at this early stage. “The Government”, he says “hates me very much, hunts me very often in frequent raids, and has set a price on my head. This forces me to live in the woods and in hiding-places. I cannot even return to Spain, as merchants are afraid to receive me into their vessels, for they know well that there are spies in every port on the look-out for me”. Then he goes on to describe his missionary work: “I have already heard many thousand confessions, and have instructed an uncultivated and rude people. I brought back some to the Church and reconciled a noble person and his wife, and thus put a stop to dangerous dissentions which existed among members of both families who were leading men in the land, I administered the Sacraments in the camp, and it is marvellous to see the crowds that cone from the surrounding districts to hear Mass and go to Confession”.

In the beginning of the year 1598, the informer William Paule notified Lord Justice Loftus of the activities of Archer. He said that Jesuit lurked sometimes in Munster with Lord Roche and sometimes in Tipperary with Lord Mountgarrett. Paule urged Loftus to induce these Lords to betray Archer. Alternatively he suggested that the Protestant Bishop of Kilkenny should be ordered to capture him when he visited his friends in that town. Warning Loftus that Archer was wary, Paule informed him that the priest knew that his enemies were searching for him. Paule further suggested that he should have no scruple in killing Archer if he resisted arrest. Even at this early date, Fr Archer had attained to a position of outstanding influence with the Irish chieftains. He had already been universally accepted by them and an able adviser and true friend and had won the esteem and affection of the Irish people. He was equally hated and feared by their enemies.

In October 1598, Archer was mentioned in a despatch as “the chief stirrer of these coals (i.e., conspiracies) and promises to many the coming of forces from Spain”. He certainly did not spare himself in his effort to unite the Irish chiefs in their struggle against England, the common foe. In November 1598, he succeeded in inducing the Baron of Cahir to join the rebellion against Elizabeth. He hoped that by Easter 1599 “we, and such as be of our Catholic confederacy, shall be masters of all the cities, towns and forts in Ireland”. His reasons for the war throw a flood of light on his attitude to politics, and afford a convincing refutation of those who doubted his motives. They were first to restore the Catholic Church to its former position in Ireland; second, to repair the injuries done by the English to the Catholic nobility and gentry of Ireland; and finally to place a Catholic Prince on the throne of Ireland. Did Archer hope to set up Hugh O'Neill as High King of all Ireland or did he intend to make Ireland a vassal state of Spain? We do not know. The concepts of nationality, and a national state were only being moulded in the minds of men at this very time. It is even doubtful whether men like James Fitzmaurice or even Hugh O'Neill himself conceived it. Nationality in Ireland takes its origin from the religious persecutions of the seventeenth century; yet undoubtedly there existed in the sixteenth century some tendency towards local patriotism, especially as opposed to English tyranny. It is difficult to state definitely the motives and desires that agitated the mind of Archer during these years. One thing is certain that he considered freedom from English rule as essential to the spiritual welfare of Ireland.

In December 1598, Archer and his constant companion Bishop Creagh were accused of inciting the whole province of Munster to rebel. So great was his influence that his name had already come to the notice of Elizabeth, who charged him with “raising her subjects to rebellion”. Soon afterwards Elizabeth was again informed that the Irish priests, especially Archer “the Pope's Legate”, had assured the lords and chieftains who supported the queen or who remained neutral that after the war they would receive no better treatment from the English than the rebels. In this way they hoped to alienate her subjects from their allegiance. Rewards were offered for the capture of Archer, dead or alive. O'Neill's crushing victory at the Yellow Ford on the 15 August 1598 had shaken the loyalty of many supporters of the English. Archer's influence was more pernicious than ever. He was constantly on the move, visiting now one chieftain, now another. Several attempts were made to capture him, but all miscarried. Soon after his arrival in Ireland he had been arrested. He had managed to escape however and had determined never again to fall into the hands of his enemies. He can easily imagine the precarious position in which he was placed by the constant watch of spies, especially in areas where the Irish chieftains were not openly hostile to the Crown. But, through the goodwill and ever-watchful care of the Irish people, he escaped unscathed - though often at the last moment. His capture was looked upon by the Government as vitally important, his life being deemed of greater value to the Irish than those of the chieftains themselves. In 1600, in a report of Captain Hugh Mostian who had been won over by Archer from the English side, we read that “Archer by his sole authority as a private religious brought more comfort to the Irish than a great force of soldiers could do, and that the voice of the people gave him the title of Legate, At his nod the hearts of men are united and held together not only in the territory of Berehaven and all Munster, but in the greater part of the Kingdom ...”

In 1600 occurred a famous incident - the capture of the Earl of Ormonde by Owny O'More. The circumstances connected with the plot are fully described in the Calendar of Carew MSS. and elsewhere. Fr Archer happened to be staying with O'More when the latter captured Ormonde. There is no evidence to prove the charge that he was the instigator of the act. Naturally enough he was blamed by the English for having contrived the treachery and for refusing to liberate the Earl; although, according to them, some other Jesuits desired his release. He was also described as Ormande's “bed-fellow” and was said to have tried to convert him, which seems to be true. Several years later Ormonde was converted by two Irish Jesuits, Frs O'Kearney and Wale.

Early in 1600 Archer was summoned to Rome to give an account of the Irish Jesuit mission. It is strange that he should have been called away at such a critical juncture in the history of Ireland. Possibly the General in Rome did not fully realise what was at stake at the moment, or perhaps he night have thought that the final victory had already been won by the Irish. In a letter to the General, written by the Superior of the Mission, Fr Richard de la Field, an extremely cautious and conservative man, we read of Archer: “He has been a source of light and help in our work here. He has always lived with these Irish lords who are endeavouring to promote the interests of religion, and in consequence he is the object of an intense hatred of the Queen's officials and of the army. His presence here at the same time is very necessary for the advancement of the Catholic Faith in these calamitous times. It is important for us that he should be sent back as soon as possible. This letter is very valuable as coming from one who, at this time, was himself hesitating as to what side he should support in the conflict. It rightly stresses the spiritual nature of Archer's work, for it was that which predominated in all his other activity.

Of Archer's visit to Rome we know nothing. He was back again in Ireland in a few months, as his spies obligingly informed us. It was falsely reported to Cecil that Archer was returning from Rome armed with a Bull of Excommunication against all those who supported Elizabeth in the war. A few months later Cecil was again informed that Archer had landed in Ireland and was inciting the people to revolt. On his return he was again almost captured; but, as often before, he managed to escape his pursuers, Sir George Carew reported that Archer's arrival foreshadowed the advent of a Spanish fleet and the renewal of the war in Ireland. From an account given by his confrère, Brother Dominic Collins SJ, we learn that Archer actually did return to Ireland with Spanish help. His influence with the Irish soldiers was again evinced when, on the 29 May 1602, Carew informed Cecil that but for Archer many of them would have returned to their homes after the defeat at Kinsale or would have gone over to the side of the English. “Every day”', says Carew, “he devises letters and intelligences out of Spain, assuring them of succour, and once a week confirms new leagues and seals them with the Sacrament”. In another letter written by Carew we find the following amusing passage: “If Archer have the art of conjuring, I think he hath not been idle; but ere long I hope to conjure him. The country of Beare is full of witches; between them and Archer I do believe the devil hath been raised to serve their turn”. Even in defeat the English feared him. They seemed to have believed that he possessed superhuman powers, that he could walk on the sea and fly through the air. His name should have been not Archer but “Archdevil!” One can readily imagine the fate that awaited Archer, had he been captured. Shortly before this time he “was very near taken by a draught laid by the Lord Lieutenant, but happily escaped”.

In a report of Robert Atkinson, an informer and pervert, we got another account of Archer's activities. He says that he met Archer in Ireland when the latter was “chief commander of the Irish troops, horse and foot”. He also states that Archer commanded for his own guard as many men as he pleased, especially for “any bloody actions to be done upon the English Nation”. There is no evidence to show that Archer ever took part with the Irish soldiers in the actual fighting. Atkinson further states that Archer was commonly called the Pope's Legate and was Archprelate over all the clergy of the provinces of Munster, Leinster and the territory of the O'Neills. By others, he says, he was called Tyrone's Confessor, just as formerly he had been Confessor to the Archduke of Austria. For the rest we shall let Atkinson speak for himself: “Of all the priests that ever were, he is held for the most bloody and treacherous traitor, sure unto none in friendship that will not put his decrees in action by warrant of his Apostolic authority, as he calleth it, from time to time renewed by Bulls from Rome. He is grown to be so absolute that he holds the greatest Lords in such awe that none dare gainsay him”.

Even at the eleventh hour Archer's hopes did not give way. On the 14 June 1602 he was again supplicating for Spanish aid. For the next few weeks he remained with the Irish soldiers at Dunboy. Finally, on July 6th he left Ireland to induce the Spanish King to send another fleet to help a broken cause. He was more fortunate than his companion, Br Dominic Collins SJ, who was captured by the English and hanged in Cork on the 31 October 1602, being the third Jesuit to die for the faith in Ireland.

Fr Archer never again returned to Ireland. His life on the Continent we shall only review briefly. On the 6 May 1504 the General of the Jesuits appointed him Prefect of the Irish Mission in Spain. This appointment is clear proof that his Superiors held him in the highest esteem. They paid little attention to the lying reports that had been spread over England and Ireland in an effort, to blacken the reputation of one who was both a zealous priest and a great Irishman. In 1608, six years after his departure from Ireland, his name was still feared by the English. At this time he was accused of making preparations for another rebellion in Ireland. Chichester issued an order that spies be placed in various parts of the country to inform him of the arrival of Archer.

During all this time, Fr Archer was actively engaged in Spain as Prefect of the Irish Colleges. These Colleges were founded by Irish Jesuits. at Salamanca, Lisbon, Santiago and Seville for the training of Irish secular priests. In 1617 he was the oldest Irish Jesuit alive, being seventy-two years of age. He was still Superior of the Mission in Spain. The date of his death is uncertain, but it occurred before 1626. Thus ended the career of one of the most remarkable Jesuits who laboured on the Irish Mission during these years.

If we are to assess the value of Archer's work in Ireland or the magnitude of the task he set before himself, we must not leave out of account the circumstances in which he lived. Although Archer's aim was first and foremost spiritual, he saw clearly that political independence of England was utterly essential to the religious welfare of Ireland. The idea of toleration was not yet born in Europe.
Neither Catholic nor Protestant was ready to brook the existence of the other. Even in Ireland the word “Counter-Reformation” connoted not only a spiritual movement within and without the Catholic Church, but also an effort to compel the return of erring souls by force of arms. Moreover the political and religious state of Ireland itself must also be taken into account. For almost a century the country has been a prey to disunion and internal strife. Religion too was not a vital force in the lives of the people, Had the persecution been as severe as it had been in England, or in other words, had political circumstances been favourable, Ireland might have succumbed to the new doctrines, All these facts were well known to Fr Archer when he arrived in Ireland in 1596. Thus we can understand why he strove to unite the country under O'Neill and to procure aid from Spain and the Pope.

Before concluding this article, it might not be out of place to discuss briefly how far Fr Archer influenced the wars of O'Neill, and, especially, the extent to which he influenced the Great Earl himself. One thing is certain, that Fr Archer was regarded by the English authorities as O'Neill's ambassador and representative not only at all the courts of the local Irish chieftains but in Spain and Rome. It is equally certain that he acted as intermediary between the Irish and Spanish several times, and even for years after the Irish collapse at Kinsale the English feared that he would again organise another Spanish expedition. Several years after that fatal day, the authorities had spies placed in all the Irish ports on the watch for Archer's return. Indeed many false alarms were given, and at one time the English actually believed that he had landed in Ireland. These precautions would not have been taken if the Government had not already experienced the powerful, stay that Fr Archer had over the people. How far were their fears justified? It is very probable that Hugh O'Neill did not realise what was at stake when he first launched his rebellion. In fact it seems that he would never have revolted and there been any alternative, What was he fighting for? An Irish Ireland, or a Catholic Ireland, or local independence? The problem has not yet been solved. But I think it is true to say that, whatever may have been his motive in starting the war, he never fully realised all that that war involved. Probably even he did not foresee that the struggle would take on a national aspect before its close; and it is far less likely that he realised that it would become part of a European campaign and would be looked upon by many nations on the Continent as just another element of the Catholic Counter Reformation. Moreover, if Hugh O'Neill did not realize all this, he would not have been able to combine all these forces in a vast movement against the common enemy. The problem could almost be stated thus: Was O'Neill the unconscious leader of a movement that was indeed begun by him, but whose consequences and ramifications he had not foreseen and perhaps did not even realise up to the last?

This question is difficult to answer. But I think some light is thrown on it by glancing at the part played by Fr Archer in these crucial years. Immediately after his arrival in Ireland, Fr Archer went direct to O'Neill, as we have seen. Coming from Spain, where he was well-known, he was suspected, probably rightly, of bringing a message from the Spanish Court. Soon after this he visited all the Irish chieftains, including O'Donnell, O'Sullivan Beare, Owny O'More, the Earl of Desmond, Florence MacCarthy, James Fitzthomas (who claimed to be the Earl of Desmond), Lords Barry, Roche and Mountgarrett, as well as the Mayors of the southern towns - including Cork, Waterford and Kinsale. The mention of these three towns is significant. They are on the coast nearest Spain. Why did Archer visit these chieftains? The answer is obvious. From the outset, he regarded the struggle as a Catholic crusade against England. Therefore his policy was to unite all the Irish under O’Neill and, if possible, secure help from Spain and Rome. His aim and purpose, as well as the means to achieve the end, were clear and decisive - unlike those of Hugh O'Neill. And it is well to remember here that O'Neill's environment, even if we allow for a period spent in England, was mainly the local life and tradition of a petty chieftain of Ireland with all the narrowness that it entailed. While Archer's background was not only Irish tradition modified by Anglo-Norman ancestry, but also an international education the best that Europe could offer, an almost first-hand realisation of what the Reformation meant to Europe, a partiality for things Spanish with a natural bias against England, and finally a full comprehension of the danger to the Catholic religion in Ireland in an English domination there. Unfortunately we have little reliable evidence to guide us. But from the information we have I think we can safely affirm that Fr Archer was responsible, at least partially, for the change of outlook that is so marked a feature in the development of O'Neill's character as the years went by. It is interesting to note that, in a report sent by the Bishops of Dublin and Meath to the King in June 1603, much of what I have said is corroborated. Having stated that O'Neill had revolted to defend his rights and privileges, they go on to assert that the Jesuits and other priests afterwards induced him to fight for the sake of the Catholic religion and to secure the aid of the Pope and King of Spain. In many other places in the official documents the Jesuits are blamed for spreading the revolt. We know now that, of the Jesuits of the time, only Fr Archer exerted any direct political influence on a wide scale. To him, therefore, we largely attribute the change that took place. Thus, as the English realised only too well, “to have Archer taken were a great service to both the realms (England and Ireland), he being a capital instrument for Spain and the poison of Ireland”.

Hated by the English, Fr Archer won the hearts of the Irish, both rich and poor. In all the references to him there is not one which in any way tarnishes his memory, except those that come from the hands of his political enemies. Had the Irish been victorious at Kinsale, James Archer would probably have been one of the most influential men in the country. But after the defeat of 1601, his position in Ireland was even more invidious than that of O'Neill's himself. The Great Earl could adapt himself to the new conditions and try to begin life all over again, but for Archer there were no alternatives but death or exile. He had been looked upon by the English as the symbol of the rebellion in Ireland, and in his person he crystallised the hopes and aspirations of the majority of the Irish people. He stands forth as one of the foremost champions of his time of the Catholic religion in Ireland. By the English he was believed to be the source of all the discontent in the country. He was the emissary of the King of Spain, the Pope's ambassador and a member of the Society of Jesus. For him there could be no forgiveness.

James Corboy SJ

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father James Archer SJ 1550-1626
Fr James Archer was known to the English as the Archdevil. So active was he o behalf of the Irish, and so adept at evading capture, that magical powers were attributed to him. He is the only Jesuit of those days of whom we have a personal description, due to the interest of his enemies in him. We read in the report of the spy that “Archer, the traitor, was small of stature and black of complexion, that his hair was spotted grey, that he had a white doublet, and that the rest of his apparels was of some colour suitable for disguise”. Indeed, we may say that we have a photograph of him for an engraving of him may be found in “The History of British Costume” : “He had black mantle, and the high-crowned hat of the times. He appeard in straight trouse”.

Born of one of the leading families of Kilkenny in 1550, Fr Archer was one of the most remarkable Jesuits who laboured on the Irish Mission. What Henry Fitzsimon was to the Pale, James Archer was to the native Irish. By his clear grasp of the political and religious situation, his tireless efforts to unite the country against the sworn enemy of her faith and culture and to enlist in her cause the support of Spain, Fr Archer deserves to be ranked with Hugh O’Neill and Red Hugh o’Donnell as one if the leading champions of national independence and of the Catholic religion in the Ireland of his day.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
ARCHER, JAMES. In p. 301, History of British Costume (Library of Entertaining knowledge), is a delineation of O’More, an Irish Chieftain, and Archer, a Jesuit retained by him, both copied from a map of the taking of the Earl of Ormond in 1600. The Rev. Father is dressed in a black mantle, and wears the high crowned hat of the time. I read in a Report or Memorial of Irish Aflairs, addressed by Captain Hugh Mostian to Lewis Mansoni, the Papal Nuncio for Ireland, towards the latter end of Q Elizabeth s reign, “Unus Pater Archerus major fuit illis (Hibernis) consolatio, quam potuit esse magnet militum copia. Testis sum illius praesentiam tantum profuisse, ut vix aliud tantum : ad ipsius enim Nutum uniuntur et tenentur, corda hominum non solum in teritorio Beerhaven et Provincifc Australis : sed et in majori parte totius Regni.” “Father Archer alone was a greater comfort to his Irish countrymen than even a considerable reinforcement of troops. I am a witness, that his presence was almost more serviceable to the cause than anything else : for at his nod the hearts of men were united and bound together, not only in the district of Beerhaven and Munster, but in the greater part of the whole kingdom”
A few of F. Archer s letters have been fortunately preserved. The first is dated from the Camp, 10th of August, 1598. He states the difficulty of all Epistolary communication the intense anxiety and diligence of the Government to apprehend him; insomuch, that he was obliged to live generally in the woods and secret places, “ita ut in sylvis et latebris ut plurimum degam”. Still he never ceased from exercising the functions of his ministry - he had received two thousand general Confessions - he had instructed and confirmed many in the Faith, and reconciled several to the Catholic Church - that there was every prospect of an abundant harvest of souls, if he had some fellow-labourers; and that the gentry in the North and South parts of the island were most desirous of a supply. It seems that he had been ordered to Ireland to procure assistance for the Irish Seminary at Salamanca, “in subsidium Seminarii Hybernorum”, and that he had succeeded in sending over several youths with funds for their education. In conclusion he says that he was intending to proceed by the first opportunity to Spain from the North of Ireland. Iter in Hispaniam cogito prima occasione ex Septentrionali parte. NB : I find by a letter of F. Richard Field, dated Dublin, 20th of July, 1600, that he as Superior of the Irish Mission, had made F. J. Archer the actual bearer of that very letter to Rome. He recommends to him Mr. Robert Lalour, qui se socium itineris adjunxit Patri Jacobo (Archer.)
The second letter is dated, Compostella, 26th of February, 1606. It proves his active industry in procuring donations for the purpose of educating his countrymen, as also his zeal for the conversion of souls. He had just reconciled to God and his Church three English merchants.
The third letter to F. George Duras, the Assistant for Germany, is dated Madrid, 4th of August, 1607. He was then living at Court, “Ego in aula versor”, and had been successful in collecting Subscriptions.
The fourth letter is to F. Duras, from Madrid, 29th September, 1607. and is only subscribed by F. Archer, who, from illness, “prae dolore pectoris”, was obliged to employ a Secretary. He recommends the erection of an Irish Novitiate in Belgium. After treating of the business of the Irish Mission, he mentions “the conversion of three Scotchmen at Madrid : one was so desperate a Puritan, as often to declare that not all the Doctors of the World should ever withdraw him from his sect and opinion. Truth, however, had conquered : from a lion he became a lamb, and has chosen the life of a Capuchin Friars. I have others in hand in the suit of the English Ambassador, whom I will endeavour to reform”. Further particulars of this Rev. Father I have not been able to collect.

Born: 12 April 1564, Drumcondra Castle, Dublin
Entered: 14 October 1595, Tournai, Belgium - Belgicae Province (BELG)
Ordained: c 1602, Padua, Italy
Final Vows: 02 December 1612
Died: 17 June 1614, Madrid, Spain - Castellanae Province (CAST)

Uncle of Thomas Bathe - RIP 1611

Mother was Eleanor Preston
Studied Humanities in Ireland, Philosophy at Oxford and Theology at Louvain
Was heir to Drumcondra Castle. Writer, Musician and Spiritual Director
Died as he was about to give a retreat to the court of Philip II of Spain
“Janua Linguarum” edited 20 times and in 8 languages

◆ Fr Edmund Hogan SJ “Catalogica Chronolgica” :
Son of John, a Judge and Eleanora née Preston
Heir to Drumcondra Castle
Writer; Musician; Spiritual Director; Very holy man
Studied Humanities in Ireland and Philosophy partly at Oxford and partly with his Theology at Louvain.
Admitted to the Society at Courtray (Kortrijk) by BELG Provincial Robert Duras, and Entered at Tournai
(Interesting mention is made of him in Irish Ecclesiastical Record March 1873 and August 1874.)
After completing his studies he was made Rector at Irish College Salamanca
He died at Madrid aged 50 just as he was about to give a retreat at Court of Philip II
His “Janua Linguarum” was edited about twenty times and once in eight languages.
(cf de Backer “Biblioth. des Écrivains SJ” who enumerates his writings)

◆ Fr Francis Finegan SJ :
Elder son of John, of Drumcondra and Eleanor, née Preston, daughter of the third Viscount Gormanston.
He entered on his higher studies at Oxford but was prevented from graduating by the Oath of Supremacy. During his time at Oxford when he was still only twenty, he published ‘A Brief Introduction to the true Art of Musicke’. A Brief Introduction to the skill of Song' appeared a few years later. To these publications as well as his family's intimacy with Perrott, Lord Deputy of Ireland, William owed his reception at the court of Elizabeth 1. Eventually he renounced his inheritance in favour of his brother and determined to become a priest.
Studied for three years at Louvain before Ent 1595 Tournai
After First Vows he was sent to complete his studies at St. Omer and Padua and was Ordained priest c. Summer 1602.
1602 He was now named secretary to Mansoni, Papal Envoy to Ireland but the Irish defeats at Kinsale and Dunboy rendered Mansoni's Embassy superfluous. By early Spring 1603 he was in Spain. There were many requests for him to return to Irish Mission, but he remained in Spain until his death in at Madrid 17 June 1614.
He was the valued spiritual director of the Irish College, Salamanca and it was there he wrote in collaboration with Stephen White and others his “Janua Linguarum” which appeared in 1611. This book went into many editions in various European languages including English. The English version, which in turn went into many editions, was shamelessly pirated without reference to Bathe's authorship.

◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Bathe, William
by Seán P. Ó Mathúna

Bathe, William (1564–1614), diplomat, author, and Jesuit, was born in Drumcondra castle on Easter Sunday 1564, son of John Bathe (d. 1586), Irish solicitor general, chancellor of the exchequer, and grandson of James Bathe (qv), chief baron, and Eleanor Bathe (daughter of Jenico Preston, 3rd Viscount Gormanston, and Catherine Fitzgerald, sister of Thomas Fitzgerald (qv), ‘Silken Thomas’). He was educated privately in Dublin and at St John's College, Oxford; he left before graduation, probably on grounds of conscience. In 1589 he registered in Gray's Inn, one of the four inns of court in which candidates for the Irish bar were required to study. He attended the courts of Elizabeth and Philip II before commencing the study of theology in Louvain (1592), and entered the Jesuit order in Courtrai (1595). He acted as intermediary for O'Neill (qv) during the early stages of the nine years war. After ordination he was appointed adviser to Ludovico Mansoni, legate, later to Ireland. They reached Valladolid in December 1601 but did not proceed further after the fall of Kinsale.

Bathe never returned to Ireland. Two long letters written in June 1602, in Irish Jesuit archives, indicated keen support for fresh forces massing in northern Spain to free Ireland a jugo haereticorum (‘from the yoke of the heretics’). He maintained periodic contact with the court of Philip III. A brother, Sir John Bathe (qv), deeply respected in Old English circles, assumed the role of religious spokesman for his class for more than a quarter of a century; he too visited the Spanish court. A younger brother, Fr Luke Bathe, headed the Capuchin mission in Ireland in the 1620s and was a renowned preacher. William Bathe was spiritual director to expatriate students in the Irish College, Salamanca. He founded a sodality, ‘Congregación de pobres’, for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the poor of that city, and gained a wide reputation for conducting retreats and days of recollection in monasteries and seminaries. He died suddenly in June 1614 while holding a mission for government personnel in Madrid.

His Brief introduction to the true art of music, published in 1584 while he was a student in Oxford (reproduced by Colorado College of Music Press, 1979), and A brief introduction to the skill of song (1596; new ed. by Boethius Press, 1982), were among the earliest printed texts in English on the theory of music and song, and highlighted the ambiguities in mutation from one hexachord to another in a melody with a range of more than six notes. Aparejos para administrar el sacramento de penitencia (1614) reflected his pastoral work. His main claim to fame, however, was Ianua linguarum (1611) with its long preface on linguistic theory. At least thirty editions of this work were published. The most elaborate, A messe of tongues (London, 1617), Ianua linguarum silinguis (Strasbourg, 1629), and Mercurius quadrilinguis (Basel and Padua, 1637), included English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, and German versions. He used short pithy sentences in parallel columns to enable mature students to learn several languages simultaneously. He allowed no repetition of the 5,300 different items of lexis. His multilingual presentation was adopted by Ian Amos Komensky for his Janua linguarum reserata series. Bathe's first cousin, Christopher Nugent (qv), 14th Baron Delvin, used a small number of colloquial phrases in parallel Latin, Irish, and English columns in his Primer of the Irish language for presentation to Queen Elizabeth (1562). The primer followed a system used by English-born wives in the Kildare household to learn Irish from the early fifteenth century. As such the method predated the Aldine Press and the Adagia of Erasmus.

E. Hogan, Distinguished Irishmen of the sixteenth century (1894); S. P. Ó Mathúna, An tAthair William Bathe, C.I, 1564–1614: Ceannródaí sa Teangeolaíocht (1980); id., ‘The preface to William Bathe's Ianua Linguarum (1611)’, Historiographia Linguistica, viii, no. 1 (1981); id., William Bathe, S.J., 1564–1614: a pioneer in linguistics (1986); id., ‘William Bathe, S.J., recusant scholar: “weary of the heresy” ’, Recusant History, xix, no. 1 (1988), 47–61

◆ Jesuits in Ireland : https://www.jesuit.ie/news/jesuitica-5/

JESUITICA: First musical textbook
The first musical textbook in the English language, A brief introduction to the true art of musicke (1584), was the work of William Bathe, born in County Dublin, who became a Jesuit
in 1596. A genuine polymath, he had by that stage already taught mnemonics to Queen Elizabeth I, presented her with a harp designed by himself, and studied at Oxford, Gray’s Inn and Louvain. He invented a simple form of musical notation (presently being researched in Trinity by Sean Doherty), and as a Jesuit wrote a seminal book on linguistics, and was an important pioneer in popularising the Spiritual Exercises.

◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973

Father William Bathe 1564-1614
William Bathe was born on April 2nd 1564 in Drumcondra Castle, the grounds of which is the present day asylum for the male blind, now in the charge of the Brothers of Charity.

He was a fairly close relation of Elizabeth I of England. As a young man he was sent as a personal messenger to the Queen by the Viceroy of Ireland. He became a great favourite of hers and used amuse her greatly by his skill in playing all kinds of musical instruments. He also entertained her by teaching her mnemonics.

His skill in music was both practical and theoretic. He invented a “harp of new device”, which he presented to the Queen. He also wroteb a treatise called “A Brief Introduction to the True Art of Music”. His name was also renowned for his famous book “Janus Linguarum”, a method of learning Latin or any foreign language, which ran into hundreds of editions iun most European languages, and held its place as a teaching method for centuries.

But his greatest claim to fame, and his merit in the sight of God was, that having spent some years at Oxford with no little distinction, being such a favoutite of Elizabeth, with a glorious career in front of him in the world, he returned to Ireland, surrendered his rights to his father’s extensive estates and entered religion. He became a Jesuit at Tournai in 1596.

He spent 19 years of most usefiul work in the Society, working in the Irish Colleges on the continent. Inspite of repeated requests, and his own desire, he was not released to work on the Mission in Ireland.

He died with a great reputation for sanctity in Madrid on June 17th 1614, at the early age of 50 years.

◆ George Oliver Towards Illustrating the Biography of the Scotch, English and Irish Members SJ
BATH, WILLIAM, a native of Dublin. After studying at Oxford he grew weary of heresy, and retiring to the Continent entered the Novitiate at Tournay, in 1596. When he had finished his studies at Padua, he was ordered to Spain, and appointed Rector of the College of his Countrymen at Salamanca. To the regret of all who knew his merits, he was prematurely taken off by illness at Madrid, on the 17th of June, 1614, aet. 48. He has left :

1. “An introduction to the Arte of Music”. 4to. London, 1584.
2. “Janua Linguarum”, 4to. Salaman ca, 1611.
3. “A Spanish Treatise on the Sacrament of Penance”. N.B. This was edited at Milan by F. Jos. Cresswell, in 1614. 4. “Instructions on the Mysteries of Faith, in English and Spanish”. F. More in p. 112 of his Hist. Prov. Angl. has inserted a letter of F. W. Bath, in praise of F. Person’s “Christian Directory”.

Born: 01 November 1878, Kinsale, County Cork
Entered: 07 September 1893, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Died: 1974

Left Society of Jesus: 1908

Educated at Carmelite College, Kinsale and Mungret College SJ

by 1902 at Valkenburg Netherlands (GER) studying
Came to Xavier College, Melbourne, Australia for Regency 1903

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1974

Obituary

John Bithrey

John Bithrey, when he died at the age of ninety-six, must have been easily the senior member of the past pupils of Mungret. His family history is interesting. His grandfather, a merchant of Kinsale, ruined by the famine, emigrated to Australia, and built up a pros perous business. His daughter, deciding to return to Ireland, met on the ship the first officer, an Englishman of French descent, who later became her husband and settled in Kinsale. John, the only son of the family, came to Mungret in 1889. All his life he had the happiest memories of his schooldays. A few years ago, a letter appeared in The Irish Times criticising the religious teachers. John replied with a very moving tribute to his former masters in Mungret.

In 1893 he entered the Society of Jesus and did a brilliant course of studies, taking his MA in Classics in the Royal University. He studied philosophy with the German Jesuits in Holland, and in 1903 went to Australia, where he taught for five years at Xavier College, Melbourne. On his return to Ireland in 1908, he was found to be in delicate health, and was advised not to continue in the religious life. Almost immediately he obtained a teaching position at Mount St Benedict's, Gorey, and, after a few years, was appointed inspector of secondary schools, one of the commissioners who interviewed him being the redoubtable Dr Mahaffy.

John Bithrey was never a conventional inspector, and the originality of his views and methods not infrequently caused a . flutter in the staid dovecotes of the Department of Education. But in the schools all over Ireland his attractive personality made him a welcome visitor, and his love of learn ing for its own sake was a constant source of inspiration.

He was a man of rare culture, a classical scholar of the first rank, well read in English and French literature, an excellent pianist and a good mathematician, Every year he used procure the Honours Leaving Certificate examination papers in mathematics, and work through them for his own satisfaction. In his retirement, his favourite occupation was the reading of the Latin and Greek authors with which he was so familiar. Many instances could be given of his intellectual powers, but one must suffice. When he was over ninety, the writer had a discussion with him as to the value of the writing of Latin and Greek verse, which was formerly part of the curriculum. A few days later, John produced a really beautiful version of “She is far from the Land” in Latin elegiacs. It is well that we have the memory of men like John Bithrey to reinind us of a culture which is fast becoming rare in our hurrying world.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1902

A Modern Pilgrimage

John Bithery SJ

Happening to be in the neighbourhood of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) during Gat the month of July, 1902, and hearing much of the pilgrimage then being made to that city, I determined to enrol myself among the pilgrims. What I saw and heard I shall describe as briefly as I can, hoping it may be of interest to readers of the “Annual”.

Leaving the pretty little Dutch village where I had been staying, I caught the 5 am, train, and, after an hour's journey, arrived in Aachen, The city was a veritable flutter of flags and banners as for a royal pageant, but I had no wish to pause and admire the decorations, as I was anxious to bear Mass. The Masses in the Dom (also called the Cathedral or Münster) were all over, so I had to make my way to the hurch of St. Tames, which was a good distance ts but where I was able to satisfy my devotion.

This duty being performed, I had still a few hours on hands before the ceremony of showing the relics would begin, and I determined to employ them by a visit to the Rathhaus. This splendid pile, erected in 1376 on the site of Charlemagne's palace, is, after the Dom, perhaps the most interesting feature in a city where interesting features abound. Making my way with difficulty through the streets and squares, they were already crowded with pilgrims, I ascended the steps to this fine building. I had a delay of some minutes in a spacious hall of waiting, and from the many texts with which the walls were blazoned, all teaching the secret of imperial mastery, I picked out the following as one of the best :

“Die drei den meister machen sollen, os Können Wissen und Wollen”.
as a translation of which I, with fear and trembling, submit :
“Would'st thou the rod of empire wield? To Strength, to Force of Will, and Knowledge all things yield”.

Then, my tribute of 25 pfennige (2jd:) to the genius loci being magnanimously accepted, I was permitted to ascend the grand staircase. I at length emerged on to a gorgeous landing with the glories of the Coronation Hall opening out in front, and above me, on either side, two paintings, of one of which I shall speak again. The hall is so called because it was the scene of the coronation festivities of thirty-seven kings or emperors, the last to be crowned there being Kaiser Ferdinand I, in 1531. It is a massive room, yet the proportions are so perfect that one has quite a false idea of its size, till one walks across, first to the pillars in the centre, and then to the windows on the far side. In performing this journey one traverses quite an ocean of: pavement. The room is hung with eight paintings, about some of which permit me, gentle reader, to say a few words." The first represents the opening, in 1000 A.D, by Otto III of Charlemagne's tomb in Aachen. According to the legend the great kaiser was found sitting on a marble throne, sceptre in hand, gospel-book on knee, and clad in his robes of state, and in the painting he is so represented. Very striking is the contrast between the gloom of the grave, the pale light of the torches and the bright band of sunlight streaming down through the opening above. The third picture represents the victory . of Charlemagne over the Saracens at Cordova. Being a battle scene, it is full of movement, yet it is monotonous in its grey colouring, and there is a curious rigidity in its lines. The central figure is that of Charles seated on his charger and swinging his sword in a splendid up-cut at the barbarian chief. The latter is throned on a lofty chariot drawn by teams of oxen, and would be inaccessible but for the giant stature and reach of his opponent. The seventh picture treats a subject which is full of interest for the pilgrim, namely the building, in Charlemagne's lifetime (he died in 814) of the Octagon, or Chapel Royal, which still stands and forms the central portion of the great Münster.

The first four fresco-paintings were done by the Aachener, Alfred Rethel; the second four by Joseph Kehren. That all eight are not the work of one liand, is clear even to the uninitiated : the colouring of the last four is rich and luscious, that of the others a ghostly grey, the last four are marked by gracious and harmonious curving, the others are stiff and rigid, and leave an impression of perpendicular lines; there is, indeed, impetuous movement in the battle scene, yet it is due-to the subject treated and not to the artist. One word about the painting on the right as one stands on the landing looking towards the hall. The back-ground is a thick tangled wood, along the front rushes a white foaming torrent, bounding fiercely over the boulders in its path; emerging from the wood are Ronan soldiers, stalwart warriors in full panoply. On the far bank of the stream stands a young Roman officer in gorgeous uniforin, with the proud bearing of his class. On the near bank kneels a page, holding a silver goblet to the water, while away to the left, behind a rock, crouches the most frightful-looking bag with, by the most captivating of contrasts, the dearest fair-haired little girl imaginable by her side. The contrasts in the painting are of extraordinary power. The dark hag, the fair-haired girl; the black wood, the bright opening where the sky peers in; the gloomy boulders, the white stream with its wrath of silver foam, and finally, the big almost brutal soldiers worn with war, and the well-knit form of their general, full of athletic grace and beauty.
(Neither from guide nor guide-book could I get a satisfactory explanation of this painting, nor even the remotest hint of an explanation. I am myself convinced that the young officer is Drusus, step-son of Augustus, who met his death in 9 B.C., in his fourth canipaign against the Germans. He had penetrated as far as the Elbe, and being about to cross it with his troops was confronted by a woman of superbuman size, who bade him return Disregarding the warning, the attempt to cross the river, according to the legend, failed utterly; a panic seized the superstitious soldiers, and in the reckless retreat which followed, a retreat which resembled a rout rather than a rear-movenient, the young general was thrown from his horse, and received injuries which shortly after resulted in death.
That the painting is not a literal representation of this legend, is clear; the stream is too small for the Elbe, the hag is not of superhuman size, and how does the little girl come into the scene? Yet I believe we have the key to the picture in the legend.)

It was on the stroke of 10am, and however unwilling, there was nothing for it but to leave this scene of beauty. The crowds in the streets were now of immense proportions, and it was only by shoving here and shouldering there, and taking good-humouredly in turn a fair share of the same treatment, that I could make progress. Not merely the squares and streets, but every roof-top was thronged with men and women, canvas awnings having been erected to keep off the rays of a burning sun. It was a sight calculated to warm the heart of the Catholic, especially the Irishman, rich with memories of his own island home beyond the sea. At this time there was a great movement in the assembled masses; hither and thither swayed the crowd, restless with expectancy, and tortured by the sun's heat, yet there was no disorder, only the surge to and fro, and the low, deep, murmurous sound, like the roar of waves on a distant strand. I had now met some friends who bad an invitation to the roof of the city library, but we were not to be satisfied with the first available position, and were determined to reconoitre, and see if something better was not to be had on the squares and streets. But no ! there was hardly standing room, and the sun's blaze was maddening on these open spaces ; pushing, therefore, eagerly a-head, we made our way up through the library out on to the roof... Here most of the roof-tops were beneath us, and gaily they shone in their array of canvas awnings, coloured parasols, and bright dresses; only above us and beyond us, in the glory of its architecture, there standing out in the clear sunlight of the forenoon, the Dom with its flutter of banners, Behind it lay the Rathhaus with its stately towers, and behind that again, the blue sky. Just as we reached the roof, the procession filed into the verandah of the belfry tower, from which the exposition was to take place; first a cross-bearer accompanied by two acolytes in white surplices, bright red caps, and purple soutanes; then four halberdiers in ancient costume, their halberds sloping on their shoulders; and lastly four clerics bearing on their shoulders the sacred casket which contained the relics. Around the verandah they passed, with measured step and reverent mien, and then were lost to our view. I would ask the reader to follow carefully the following remarks about the position of the verandah, as it will make the account less confused. The verandah was in shape a square, two sides of which, and two only, the south and west, were Visible to us; the relics were to be exposed three times on each side, three places being prepared for the purpose. Thus of each relic there were to be twelve expositions, six of which were visible to us. When the procession had disappeared, a choir of forty or fifty members with some reed instruments, took up their position on the west side. Then a priest, of giant stature, appeared at the south side, and in a voice that sent every syllable rolling distinctly towards us, announced the first relic, the robe our Lady wore at the time of our Lord's birth. The announcement made, two halberdiers advanced and flung a red cloth across the place already prepared, and over this again a priest laid the sacred object. It was held in position-just then the wind came in ugly gusts.-—by the wands of two other priests. The robe, a broad, well-preserved, yellowish garment, was thus held for several minutes in each of the prepared places, the choir meanwhile singing several simple touching hymns. When the relic had been thus three times exhibited on the south side, the choir moved on out of sight, and the priest, with the voice like thunder, made the same announcement from the centre of the west side. Here the same ceremony was gone through, and so on for the north and east side. In this morning exposition the most interesting relic was Our Lady's robe. The other three, viz., the swaddling clothes in which Christ was wrapped at his birth, the cloth on which the head of St. John the Baptist was laid after his decapitation, and the cloth which covered our Divine Lord on the cross; were not really exposed; we saw merely the cloth casing in which they were enclosed. For each relic the ceremony was the same, except that for the fourth and most important: one, the announcement was longer, prayers were recited for various intentions and answered by the thousands beneath, and the blessing was given with the relic each time it was exhibited. The time during which all this took place seemed short, yet when everything was over, and the roar of the multitude; till then hushed in prayerful silence, arose once more, the belfry clock was ringing out the liour of noon-two hours had flown.

Leaving the roof quietly and silently—a kind of spell had fallen on us all-we climbed down through the many storied library out into the street. The most interesting part of the day was still before us, as we were now to be allowed into the Dom, to see close at hand the sacred relics, and the costiy shrines and caskets in which they were kept, Forming ourselves into close order, it was hopeless for an individual to try and stem the stream of people in the street, we made our way to the Cathedral. The dark, massive, iron-bound, almost repulsive-looking door opened as by magic on our arrival, and passing in we entered on a dark, stony corridor, which led to the Octagon. Here we paused to gaze on this work of the ninth century, its many-cornered beauty, its arched and pillared stateliness ; then glancing at the gorgeous chandelier which dates from the twelfth century, we turned into a chamber on the right, where caskets, almost without number, of relics the inost sacred were exposed to view. The collection was a very shimmer of gold, silver, and precious stones, gleaming darkly in the sombre light of the Cathedral chamber. Turning away from the treasure, all was dark, cold, clammy; turning towards them the eye was dazzled by a dance of light, which flashed from pearl and gem, in goid and silver setting. Here was the triumph of the goldsmith's craft. Here were objects whose historical interest was only surpassed by their artistic value, which was again outshone by the worth of the spiritual treasure they enshrined. Here was the hunting horn of Charlemagne-he is.venerated, with Papal sanction, as a saint in the archdiocese of Köln-here the solid crucifix he always wore at his breast, whether in the fever of the chase or the fiery heat of the battle; here, too, the sceptre of imperial rule, wielded by him and by the thirty-nine kings or kaisers crowned in the city of his love. Here, above all, were relics beyond number of our Lord, of His holy Mother, and of Saints from every time, all enclosed in the most costly caskets. It would be impossible to describe them all, impossible to describe any one adequately, as it was impossible for us, in that hurried half hour, to appreciate adequately any single reliquary of the many before us. Suffice it to quote the testimony of of experts who pronounce all to be of great artistic value, work in most cases of the sixteenth, in some of the eleventh century, and to say that the two largest and most admired are the Marienschrein and the Karlschrein; the former of which holds the four chief relics (exposed in the morning), and the latter the remains of Charlemagne. Of the most important reliquaries I secured a few photographs, but they are not worth reproducing, as they give a miserably inadequate notion of the reality.

Leaving the chamber of treasures we passed once more under the Octagon up to the sanctuary, a passing from the land of vision to that of faith. Here we saw close at hand the swaddling clothes of the Child Jesus; the cloth of John Baptist, with its large, vivid, almost horrible blood-stains; the cloth that covered our Lord on the cross, also blood-stained; and finally the plain, unadorned robe of our dear Lady. There was a priest sitting close by and each of us had a beads or a crucifix touched to the sacred relic. There were other points of interest also. It was here that, in 1146, the saintly abbot of Clairvaux preached the crusade against the Saracens, these very walls rang with his voice; there, under the Octagon, was the sepulchral stone of Charlemagne, with its simple inscription <Carolo Magno;" there, in the chancel, is the resting-place of Kaiser Otto III, who died in Italy, but whose dying wish it was that he should be buried here in the cathedral of the city that crowned him; the pulpit yonder with its exquisite carving was the gift of Kaiser Henry II. It was a strange bridging over of the centuries, the scene in which we stood; a spanning of the first, the ninth, the eleventh, the sixteenth, and the twentieth ; a theme to dream on. I, for one, could not resist the spirit of reverie, and passing out I hardly heeded the stream of pilgrims, the long cold corridor; I only thought of all we saw, the relics of Jesus and Mary, the chapel of Charlemagne, and the shrines of wondrous beauty. I had travelled a good distance before I woke, and it was the feverish rush of an electric car with its clangourous bell that first roused me. :. ! But how did all these relics come to Aachen? When Charlemagne had built his Chapel Royal he was anxious to adorn it with a collection of relics; to objects connected with Christ and His Saints he had the same devotion as the Knights of the Round Table or the Crusaders. If he preceded both of these in time, he was yet animated with all their spirit. His fame was world-wide, and his power as far-reaching. He collected from Jerusalem, Rome and Constan tinople a collection of relics not to be rivalled even in the Eternal City itself. That he should have got sacred objects from Terusalem or Rome does not surprise, us, but how were such things to be found in Constantinople? The answer is easy. This was the city of Constantine and of his saintly mother Helena. It is well known that the latter frequently visited the Holy Land and built there churcbes without number; she found innumerable relics, the most important being the Cross on which our Saviour was crucified, and brought the great majority to the city of her son, whence Charlemagne sécured them for Aachen.

But the pilgrimage? how did it spring up? Its history need not keep us long. The first took place in the lifetime of Charlemagne, on the 13th June, 8og. Invitations to come and see his chapel and his treasures were sent out to all parts of his great empire, and eagerly accepted. Streams of devout pilgrims flowed to Aachen, from the lands of the Danube to those of the Ebro, from the peoples of Italy to those of the Northern Seas. The chronicles of the time fairly ring with praise of the hospitality of Aachen, and of the personal solicitude, which Charlemagne showed to each of the travellers. The first experience being such a pleasant one, people were naturally anxious to repeat it, and so year by year, on to the beginning of the eleventh century, the pilgrimage was renewed. It was then however resolved, from motives which are not very clear, to limit the occurrence to every seventh year, with the stipulation that the solemnity was in future to last fourteen days, instead of the shorter period till then in-vogue. With this change the pilgrimages were continued through the middle ages, and we have many an interesting contemporary account as to how things went on those occasions. An eye-witness, for example, of the pilgrmage of 1510, by name Philip von Vigneulles, describes his entry into the city by night, after a long march; there were 20 5 a.m. trains at that time; the blaze of lights around the Dom was visible, he says, for miles round, and looked like a huge fire. As to the crowds in the city, his experience was the same as mine, namely, that individuals were at a discount, and only organised parties could make headway. Putting their strongest at the front the remainder clung on behind, and woe to the individual that lost hold, it meant, says the eye-witness with delightful nužveté, losing for at least a week not merely one's party but also oneself. Again he tells us that the man who dropped a gold piece had to he content to let it lie, it being a physical impossibility in the throng to stoop and pick it up. We read that in the year 1496 the number of pilgrims was one hundred and forty-two thousand, the largest contingent being the Viennese, under which title were included not only Austrians but also Hungarians : and we learn that the favourite bill of fare of the gallant Hungarian was bread, beer, beans, and bacon-quite a monotony of b's. It very soon became known what the strangers liked in the way of food, as the hospitality of the citizens was unbounded; and what does the traveller appreciate more in a strange land than the food he is accustomed to at home? Nopp, the historian of Aachan, tells us it was a point of honour in the city that each burgher should have a guest to entertain and house at his own expense. “The man who had no guest," continues the historian, "went about
like a suspect, or a dog without a tajl!" Things .. were not, no doubt, always so prosperous; there came the dark days of war, of persecution, and of famine; there came above all the sad days that beheld the fall of whole nations from the Faith, yet though the number of strangers diminished, never was the solemnity omitted, and if the lands of the Ebro and the Danube no longer paid their tribute of devout pilgrims, the Catholics of the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Maas valleys made up for much by their intense piety. Yet even this numerical diminution was but temporary; in the middle of the century we buried not long ago, the pilgrimage received a new impetus; and the septennial gathering now bids fair to equal, if not surpass, anything of the past; in the year 1860, for example, on one day alone were numbered sixty-five thousand pilgrims. Wonders, too, are worked. Even so recently as this year a miraculous cure was effected by the touch of one of the holy relics. But even when the sick and the diseased return to their homes unhealed, their confidence is no whit diminished; no! their tedious pain is rather sweetened, and their sorrow brightened, by the memory of our dear Lady's robe, the hem of which they touched in Charlemagne's Pfalzkapelle, in Aachen's storied city.

◆ The Mungret Annual, 1966

Memories of Mungret

John Bithery

Mr John Bithrey, MA, was an Inspector of Secondary Schools 1913-43. A distinguished Classical Scholar, he has been interested chiefly in Latin, Greck, French and English literature; and his editions of texts are still in use in Secondary schools. He is author of “Our Secondary Schools and Other Essays”.

Mr Bithrey, who was a boy at Mungret 1889-93, is now one of our oldest Past Students. He is still active and does a considerable amount of writing, We are greatly indebted to him for the most interesting memoirs below which he so kindly consented to write for the “Mungret Annual”.

“Remembrance wakes with all her busy frain Swells at my breast and turns the past to pain”.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-'74) If any names are found printed on my heart when I die, the name of Philip Brady, priest of the Society of Jesus, will take a leading place.

He taught me Greek - (Parry's Greek Grammar), Latin (Allen's Latin Grammar); he saw to it that I kept up my piano practice and that I wrote regularly to my mother in Kinsale; I had four sisters, but I was her only son and she missed me. No one ever had a truer or better friend than I had in Philip Brady. Nothing can describe the interest he took in me (I was not quite ten when I entered Mungret) or the affection he lavished on me. It is impossible for me to exaggerate his goodness to me, nor have I ever been able to repay it.

One First Prefect in my time was Father Matt Maguire, once a gentlemnan farmer in the North of Ireland and (I fancy), a late vocation. He had a pony and trap, which he drove with great elegance, and his special friends were Joe Tyrrell, (whose brother was a prominent furrier in Dublin)

Joe was a boy of great charm; Billy Sampsen, whose father was a doctor in Scarriff, Co Clare (a big lovable, generous fellow was Billy) and my tiny self, Jack Bithrey from Kinsale whom Father McCormack (a Cork man and a fine cricketer) used to mimic repeating the words in my Cork accent, then very marked, with its ups and downs of musical pitch, but lost long ago. These drives with Father Maguire were most enjoyable.

There were two Rectors in my time, the first was Father Head, a small, squat, grim-looking man, who walked along the corridors with eyes fixed sideways on the skirting of the passage. The second was Vincent Byrne (wbose sermon on Aloysius Gonzaga was regarded as a masterpiece of oratory and a thing of great literary beauty and who took an active part in the kind of “gravel football” played by the Seniors in those days.

The Choir master was a Jesuit Scholastic, Thomas Taaffe, a delightful singer, a brilliant teacher, a most charming man, tall, well-spoken, well groomed. His singing of the Kerry Dances was something never to be forgotten. His choir music was delightful. He had been trained in Belgium and he had the most lovely Ave Verums, Tantum Ergos and other pieces of Church music. I was in his choir. I was supposed to have a sweet voice. Also in the choir was Johnny Martin of Wigan, Lancashire, who had a splendid voice and who used to sing with such fervour and energy that I could see the veins stand out on his neck. He was a splendid fellow and he became a splendid Jesuit of the Irish Province in later years. Much of the music was too high in pitch for me, but Mr Taaffe had a wonderful harmonium on which he was able to lower or raise the key of any piece, so as to fit the voice. I have never anywhere else met such a wonderful device for raising or lowering the pitch of a song. My eldest sister, Mary, was a good musician - so was my mother - and had won a scholarship in the Cork School of Music. She went to it twice a week and never came home without a sultana scone for me, her brother, God rest her soul! She was a famous organist and accompanist in Kinsale and she had the wonderful gift of being able to transpose any accompaniment at sight. No wonder she was so sought after as an accompanist.

Once a year Mr Taaffe got a free day for his choir, and took us for a picnic. In the evening we had a special supper and a sing-song. These sing-songs I shall never forget for three reasons :
“The Kerry Dances” sung by Mr Taaffe, “The White Squall” sung by Michael Garahy and “O Native Music” - that most lovely song in which ex quisite words are married to most exquisite music - music and words by Samuel Lover- sung by Brother Carter. Brother Carter had charge of the Priests' Refectory. He had an exquisite tenor voice, and his singing of this lovely song was something quite unforgettable. My Own contribution was Wallace's “In Happy Moments”, from that gifted Waterford man's opera Maritana. Yes, the Mungret choir in my time made the most lovely music, Mr Taaffe also taught me French and Roman History, and it was a privilege to be taught by him. His lessons were most carefully prepared and were delightful to listen to.

There were two saints in Mungret in my time. Father Michael Browne, Prefect of Studies, Head of Our Lady's Sodality, fine preacher, fine scholar, a man delightful to meet, tho' extremely austere in life and Brother McEvoy who had charge of the kitchen and who was reputed to spend his summer evenings praying amongst the tombs in the cemetery near the front gates of the College Grounds.

Mr Taaffe was a scholastic, not a priest. An other Scholastic was Harry Potter, a splendid athlete and a brilliant acrobat whose performance on the parallel bars and the horizontal bar were the admiration of all. Like Mr Taaffe he was handsome, very well groomed, of sanguine temperament and very pleasant to meet. Another scholastic I remember was named J F K O'Brien, son of a famous member of Parliament, I think; a cricketer, but somewhat delicate in health.

Amongst the lay boys of my time were Michael Garahy, George Byrne, Pat Connolly and John Martin (already mentioned) all of whom became distinguished SJs, Michael Garrahy (of Offaly) a preacher, Geo Byrne, a Chinese Missionary, Pat Connolly, founder and first editor of Studies, and John Martin, late Rector of Xavier College, now a very famous school teacher in Melbourne, Australia. Bat Coghlan also became a Jesuit and was well known in Galway as a Confessor and a speaker of Gaelic. I remember also Jack Devine, gifted pianist and pencil artist. Oliver St John Gogarty of Dublin and William Sullivan of Bantry were both with me at school. Willie, no doubt, was one of the famous Bantry family. The O'Mahony's of Bantry, Florence and his two brot hers, were also there; two Egans from Tullamore, Pat and Harry; two Stephensons from Waterford, Raymond and his brother. I remember too, Jim Carbery of Dublin, a splendid looking fellow, lithe, tall and supple, a trained boxer. He quarrelled with a big country fellow and they fought it out beyond the ambulacrum, with referee, seconds and scouts to give warning of danger. It was a famous fight, a contest between skill and training (Carbery) and brute strength and courage, and the verdict was a draw. The big country man had a black eye. Jim Carbery, who sat next to me in the study hall (tho' years older), confessed that his ribs were black and blue and sore from the hefty body blows received. Jim was a pretty fearless and rebellious spirit.

What Apostolic students do I remember? First comes Joe Wright of Templemore, a fine cricketer. Joe had money and often went to Limerick City. He never came back without a bag of good sweets for me, bought at Kidds, then a famous confectionery in the city. Joe, like all the apostolics, got his BA (Mental and Moral Science) at the Royal University of Ireland, an examining body like London University, was ordained in Rome and served in the USA. He is, I suppose, dead long ago, God rest his soul! Jim Coyle, already mentioned, became a strict pastor somewhere in the USA. In later years he rescued a woman from an unscrupulous man and was assassinated by the man for his pains. I remember Andy Killian, later a Bishop in Australia; I remember apostolics named Galvin and Stenson; splendid men all the apostolics were, giving a wonderful example of industry and of religious devotion.

One other memory I have, of the skating on Lough Mor during a winter - I forget the year of hard and continued frost. I also rernember Mr Taaffe bring picked members of the choir to visit the Limerick Chapels of Repose on Holy Thursdays. We walked in and back, and I remember his brushing the dust off his shoes using a handkerchief - before entering the city. He liked to be well dressed and well groomed. Indeed there was something quite aristocratic about him and about the others members of the Jesuit community, and it often struck me that in manners, speech and bearing, they resembled what I imagined to be the officers of a crack English Cavalry regiment.

I would like to add that the only examinations the lay boys did were the London Art and Science Examinations. I remember we had two hours each day for Latin, We did Allen's Grammar and Bradley's famous book thoroughly. But the chief thing about the Mungret College training of those days was that when a boy left, he had formed a habit of study, a habit of working to a time-table; he had learned to say his prayers regularly and very especially to have a devotion to Our Lady, the Mother of God -no mean equipinent with which to face the world.

Who were the distinguished Past Pupils of Mungret? Leaving out of account the ecclesias tics, I would say Joe Walsh of Killenaule, Foun der of the Irish Foreign Affairs Department, its First Secretary, and later Ambassador to the Vatican. He was a man of great ability. He was much after my time, but I had the privilege of knowing him and I knew him to be a most loyal and fervent supporter of the Past Pupils' Mungret Union.

Next I would select Frank Fahy, a famous Ceana Comhairle in his time and not unworthy of his great predecessor, Michael Hayes.

Hugo Flinn was Trade Minister in one of President de Valera's governments and was a dis tinguished Minister. Hugo was in Mungret with me. I knew his family in Kinsale. They came every summer for the fishing season. The father, a wealthy mer charyt in Liverpool, bought all the fish he could get in Kinsale, brought it to Liverpool in his own ships and sold it there, making a very great pro fit. Hugo's two brothers went to Clongowes. Joe became a famous Jesuit and organised the Pioneer Movement. Tom became a Chartered Accountant and practised in Dublin.

Jim Veale, an Apostolic, was Prefect of Juniors, a splendid type of man of fine physique. I rernember him for two reasons. Once on the free day, we walked to Patrick's Well to get the train to the Earl of Dunraven's place. We were late starting, and we had to run the last half mile. I was then tired, and seemed likely to be left behind; so Jim Veale took me under his arm, like a rugby football, and brought me to the train in time. The other reason was this, the calves in the fields were creatures full of curiosity. Jim, who had a great spirit of fun, used to crawl towards them on all fours, and it was most amusing to see the calves gather round him. Then he would suddenly rise, and they turned and galloped, panic stricken away.

There was, in my time, a student: named Jim Roberts, and when the annual sports fell due, I remember the severity of his training for the mile. He always won the race. He took the opening laps at a slendy race, but he did the final lap with what might be called a sprinter's speed and outdistanced 21] (nponents. What his later career was I nevet heard.

The gentlemen of Limerick - O'Donnells, Spillanes and others - played a cricket match with us once a year. They were much too good for us. having learned their cricket at Stonyhurst or Downside. But Father Whitaker SJ, who was then on the staff of the Crescent College, always pime and plaved for us. He was a good bowler. He was a superb batsman and he was always sure to make 60 or 70 runs for us. He had learned his cricket at Tullabeg: a very famous Jesuit school, outside Tullamore.

I remember a Michael Danaher of Limerick, a lay boy in my age - he died quite recently, I believe, at the fine age of 92 or 93.

I remember the Cuffes of Dublin, Charlie, a charming boy, who later became a Jesuit, Tom, a big fellow, and Willie. The father was a famous cattle dealer, I think.

I remember often looking over at the Cratloe Hills and wondering what lay beyond them, I remember the Apostolics of the 1st Arts writing on a blackboard “Nil sine magno vita labore dedit Primis Certibus”. They were reading Horace. I remember their speaking of the “Magnetic Dip”, something they had learned from Science lectures of the Abbe l'Heritier, who came from Lord Emly's home (whose chaplain he was) to teach Science to the University students. I did not know what the phrase meant, but it was jocosely applied to the slope of the head of one of the leading apostolics, a stately giant of a man who carried himself like an archbishop or a cardinal, and whose name, alas. I do not remember.

About the Choir I wish to add something. It consisted of tenors, baritones, trebles and altos, There was little unison singing. Mr Taaffe was a strict choirmaster. He insisted on accurate timing, “Do not drag”, he used to say at the rehearsals; “do not drag”; yet he could achieve excellent ac celerandos and effective rallentandos.

I have mentioned his lovely Ave Verums but his most enchanting hymn was “Jesu dulcis memoria” in which the lovely words were matched by even lovelier music. Another was the Advent hymn “Alma Redemptoris Mater” a lovely tune which he himself used to sing as a solo, the choir coming in for the refrains.

He had certain soloists, of which I was one. I had a very limited range, but within the range, I was considered to have a very moving voice and to sing with great expression and feeling. With his harmonium, of course, he was able to lower the pitch to suit me.

I have already referred to the two hours a day we had for Latin. I myself, and the class to which I belonged, was taught by Father Brady at first, and his translation of Virgil's “Aeneid” into English was well worth remembering. About line 50, where Juno, extremely angry, enters the land of the stern winds, to make trouble for the hated Aeneas who is at sea, we have the words “Nim horum in patria, loca feta furentibus castris”. I have never forgotten Father Brady's rendering of the last four words : “a country big with blustering blasts”. It was a fine, sonorous phrase and it gave us all, I think, a good sense of what was meant by felicity and eloquence of expression.

Once, I remember, we, each of us, had to sign a form, giving inter alia the position of the male parent. I was then sitting near George Byrne, later famous as a Chinese Missionary. He wrote, I well remember, “Gentleman”. All the other boys near me wrote “Farmer”. I remember writing “Captain in the Mercantile Marine” since my father commanded one of the passenger sailing ships which is these days plied between Plymouth and Sydney, New South Wales. It was a three months voyage each way, so he was away six months at a time and we saw very little of him.

I remember George Byrne for another reason. He was clever with Indian clubs, which he was able to swing with great skill. He was, we thought, a little vain of his skill, so we played a nasty trick on him. In the room there was a bracket overhead containing two oil lamps made of glass. We got him to stand under the lamps and asked him to give us an exhibition. Each club struck a lamp, smashed it to smithereens and the oil came pouring over him, I am sorry to say we screamed with laughter; but I must add, he took it very good humouredly and did not retaliate in any way, either by word or by action.

One final memory of Jim Carbery, he was a man of splendid physique. There was something sinewy and yet sometiring snake-like, colubrine, sinuous about hin, he was a very picture of sup pleness and elasticity, an immense imposing figure he had, This ease and swiftness of movement gave him 2 great advantage in his fight against the burly giant of Offaly. He was able to slip aside and evade the blows; able to weave in and out of the combat area and to avoid the six inch punches which can be so deadly in the in-fighting. What happened to him in later life, I never heard.

Let one end with one more memory. Near me in the study hall during my first year was Larry Devereux of Wexford. He was always well supplied with tiny chocolates which, I fancy, his mother used to send to him, One evening I noticed him turning over and over the leaves of his English-Latin dictionary. His search seemed to be fruitless, so I whispered “What are you looking for, Larry?” "The Latin word for the definite article “The” he replied and I was able to tell him there was no such Latin word. It did not exist in the Latin language, Larry fought in the South African War, 1900-1901 and that is all I knew of him.

At a later stage my Latin class was taught by Father Guinee, who was, I think, a Cork man. He used to write the solution of the compositions (Bradley's Aids) on the blackboard, Sometimes there was a slip in gender, or in case, or in mood, and we were not slow to point it out to him. But he had always a very clever reply. It was: “I, just wanted, boys, to see if you would notice it, I - am glad you did notice it”.

Father Guinee was sent to Australia and many years later was buried in Melbourne, I think.

The following tribute by Mr. Bithrey is from the Preface to his Edition of Vergil Aeneid Book I. (Dublin: Browne and Nolan Ltd., 1948):

“I wish, in conclusion, to mention the name of Father Philip Brady, of the Society of Jesus, at whose feet I first read Aeneid I nearly fifty-five years ago in Mungret College, Limerick, and who, from the time of our first meeting until his death, honoured me with a friendship that never faltered, a most unselfish and wonderful friendship. May his place in Heaven be high amongst those qui sui memores aliquos fecere merendo”.

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

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

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

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

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

Born: 03 March 1844, Kinsale, County Cork
Entered: 30 July 1860, Frederick, MD, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)
Died: 19 December 1863, Baltimore, MD, USA - Marylandiae Province (MAR)

Part of the Frederick MD, USA community at the time of death