A nun in South Africa wrote the following letter on this day (July 12) in 1922, alleging a favour through Fr Doyle’s intercession: One of our Community had for some time been seriously ill in a sanatorium. One evening I got a telephone message to say Sister was on the point of death and that the doctor declared there was no hope unless a change took place at once. I …
Fr Doyle links
July 12, 2016
I recorded a radio interview about Fr Doyle for EWTN’s Celtic Connections radio programme last week. The main focus was Fr Doyle’s experiences as a military chaplain and in particular what he saw at the Battle of the Somme. It was broadcast over the weekend, and the file can be found at the link below: Listen Now
July 11, 2016
This website was launched 6 years ago today. At the time, I wasn’t sure how it would develop or whether anyone would be interested or whether I would have personally have the interest, or material, to keep it going. I honestly never thought that I would still be running it 6 years later. I guess I now know the answer to all of these questions! The last 6 years shows …
June 7, 2016
Carole Hope will be in Dublin this coming Saturday to give a talk about Fr Doyle’s experience during the Hulluch gas attack 100 years ago this month. Carole is the author of the superb biography Worshipper and Worshipped, the definitive account of Fr Doyle’s career as military chaplain. The entire day will be devoted to the gas attack, and Carole’s presentation of Fr Doyle’s experiences during those days will start …
April 13, 2016
Brendan Behan Brendan Behan was a famous Irish writer and poet with a well known alcohol problem and a variety of other personal and marital “issues”. He is often held up by certain media types in Ireland as a quintessential rebel against the Catholic culture of his era (he died at the age of 41 in 1964). What I did not until a few hours ago is that Brendan Behan …
March 18, 2016
Servant of God Monsignor Quinn Some time ago I read the Life of Father William Doyle, the Irish Jesuit-Chaplain, who was killed in the late World War. It was made up chiefly from a Diary which he kept, and which, I am sure, he never intended for eyes other than his own. What struck me most in his life was the fact that this good missionary priest had never done …
January 15, 2016
O’Rahilly’s biography of Fr Doyle is a remarkable source of information about Fr Doyle’s life and spirituality. However, there is another book about Fr Doyle entitled Merry in God. This is sometimes credited to O’Rahilly as well. However, it was published anonymously, and was in fact written by Fr Charles Doyle SJ, Fr Willie’s older brother. Below is a link to a scan of a section in the book dealing …
December 25, 2015
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Today is the feast of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, one of the most famous and popular Catholics of recent times. Mother Teresa was Albanian, but she lived in Dublin for a number of years while she was a Loreto sister. In fact, the house she lived in was in Rathfarnham, very close to the Jesuit house there where Fr Doyle had spent some time. The young …
September 5, 2015
Instead of a quote from Fr Doyle, today we present, courtesy of the Irish Messenger, a scanned copy of a booklet published in 1931 entitled “Father Willie”. It seems appropriate to look at this booklet today, the day following his anniversary. And the title of today’s post, suggesting that Fr Doyle is a “wonder worker” is not mine, but rather comes from this Jesuit pamphlet. No author is mentioned for …
August 17, 2015
Fr Doyle’s anniversary is in two days time – August 16. It is an excellent time to tell people about his life and his message. I always find that people are amazed at is life and his heroism when they first encounter him – this, at least, has been my experience and the experience of many people that I know. Perhaps it would be good to take the opportunity of …
August 14, 2015