History of the Jesuits in Ireland

Posted in Worth Readiing

No sooner was the existence of the Society of Jesus confirmed in 1540 than St. Ignatius, the founder, sent two of his companions, Paschase Broet and Alfonso Salmeron on a fact-finding mission to Ireland - mainly Tyrone and Donegal to report on the state of the Church.

This took place in the Lent of 1542 and was a suitably penitential exercise.

Over the next two centuries, a succession of Jesuit missions were sent to Ireland. The first Jesuit school was established at Kilmallock in Co. Limerick in 1565 and Edmund Daniel not yet a priest, was hanged in Cork in 1572 and so became the first Jesuit martyr in Europe. The first Irish Jesuit to be beatified (in 1992) is Brother Dominic Collins who was hanged in his native Youghal in 1602. Dominic is a truly remarkable man whose life as an army officer in France, as a novice in Spain before returning as a Jesuit to be part of the siege of Dunboy is full of adventure and heroism.

The number of Jesuits in Ireland ebbed and flowed. In 1649 they were 67 including 11 novices. In 1700 they were 6 0r 7. In 1750 they numbered 25.

Nowadays Irish Jesuits are largely seen as Dublin-based but in days gone by there were Jesuit houses in Athlone, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, Clonmel, Kilkenny, Waterford, New Ross, Wexford, Drogheda as well as Limerick and Galway where they still flourish.

In the 17th century the links with Continental Europe were strong and there arose a string of Irish colleges in Europe founded by the Irish Jesuits: 1590 - Lisbon; 1592 - Salamanca; 1612 - Santiago; 1619 - Seville; 1674 - Poitiers.

The Irish Jesuits saw themselves and continue to do so as members of a worldwide Society. In 1768 the Jesuits totaled 22,587 in 39 provinces. For mainly political reasons they were expelled from Spain and five years later the Society of Jesus Ws suppressed by Pope Clement XIV. The suppression had effect everywhere except in White Russia and Sicily and lasted 41 years until the restoration in 1814. In Ireland the priest members of the Society worked in Irish dioceses in the intervening years.

The Irish Jesuits were formally established as an independent province in 1860 and by this time there were houses and colleges in Clongowes near Naas, Co. Kildare, in Rahan near Tullamore, in Gardiner Street and Belvedere College in Dublin and in Limerick and Galway where they opened churches and schools. In 1858 a Jesuit theological faculty was set up in Milltown Park, Dublin. (In 1968 this was to become the Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology).

There was always a missionary thrust among Irish Jesuits. Australia was the mission in 1865, Hong Kong in 1926, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) in the1950's. How many Jesuits are there in the world at present? Some 20,700 of whom 210 are Irish.

Regionally there are 6,800 Jesuits in Europe, 3,900 in India; 3,860 in North America; 3,200 in South and Central America; 1,650 in the Far East and 1,200 in Africa. More and more there is a stress on inter-province cooperation.

Since Vatican II the Society continues to be renewed, first of all under the leadership of Father Pedro Arrupe and since 1983 under Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach who has visited Ireland on three occasions.

The Jesuits seek in their own way to respond to the needs of God's people. In the last thirty years they helped to set up the Irish School of Ecumenics and later established a Centre for Faith and Justice.

Jesuit communities were set up in Portadown , in Ballymun and in Belfast. In the five colleges for which they are responsible there is a new stress on the empowerment of lay staff, the involvement of the parents and the sharing of Ignatian spirituality with staff, parents and families.

The Jesuit Communication centre and Jesuit Publications are a response to a changing world and there is a specific involvement in the filed of young adults and their faith journey.

Saint Ignatius' concern was "to help souls" and this can be translated by Father Arrupe's phrase: To be men for others. This will always inspire Jesuits both here in Ireland and throughout the world.