Fr Doyle featured in a programme on Irish television this evening. The section dealing with his life is about 6 minutes long, and features some comments from me and some footage from his family home in Dalkey, including an interview with the current owner. We also get to see an old toy soldier that was found under the floorboards of the nursery a few years ago. Fr Doyle and his brother Charlie loved playing with toy soldiers. Perhaps this was one of them? Perhaps the young Willie Doyle cried when the soldier got lost? We won’t ever know for sure.

A toy soldier found under the floorboards in Melrose. Perhaps this is one of the soldiers young Willie played with?

The most interesting part of the programme was footage taken in the Jesuit archives. We get to see some artefacts or “relics” associated with Fr Doyle’s time in the trenches – altar linen he used for saying Mass,  a cushion he kneeled on, a bar of soap… We also get to see some of his private instruments of mortification, including his cilice, his discipline and the counting beads he used to count his daily sacrifices and penances.

The programme is available online for the next 21 days only. The relevant section commences at about 11 minutes into the programme and lasts for about 6 minutes. You will have to watch a few minutes of advertisements before the programme appears. I assume that viewers outside Ireland will also have access to this programme, but I have no way of testing that right now…

The link to the programme is here: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10350147/