BBC 1 Northern Ireland will air a programme entitled Voices 16 – Somme this coming Wednesday at 9pm. I don’t know if it is available in other BBC regions, but it will presumably be available on the BBC iPlayer afterwards. Sadly, however, BBC is very strict in not allowing viewers in other parts of the world to watch iPlayer. Details of the programme here: http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/06/24/news/letters-from-irish-jesuit-priest-who-served-in-battle-of-the-somme-found-after-100-years-577514/
Life
June 27, 2016
You would throw up your hands in horror were you to see my room at the present moment. It is a scene of chaos and disorder that would discourage and frighten even that patient and persevering arranger of confusion and disorder, the Little Mother (Fr Doyle’s nickname for his mother). For the past week examinations have been in full swing. Now it is a comparatively easy task to sit down …
May 14, 2016
St Damien of Molokai O eternal Lord . . . provided it be for Thy greater service and praise . . . and if Thy most Holy Majesty be pleased to choose and receive me for such a life and state, I offer myself to Thee for the Congo Mission. Thy will be done. Amen. COMMENT: Fr Doyle had long felt a call become a missionary in the Congo. He …
May 10, 2016
As you know I am very anxious to see these retreats started in Ireland, for I believe they would do a world of good and be the means of checking the dreadful irreligious spirit which is beginning to creep in even here in holy Ireland, especially among our uneducated men. … I am very grateful to you all for your good prayers; you must ask St. Joseph to find …
May 1, 2016
I do not know if I have told you of a scheme which I have in my mind to help poor boys who are anxious to be priests. Before the war I came in contact with a number of very respectable lads and young men, whose one desire was to work for God and the salvation of souls, but who, for want of means, were not able to pursue …
April 17, 2016
104 years ago today, the Titanic sank with the loss of 1,514 lives. A lot of the media coverage of the anniversary, in Ireland at least, tends to mention Fr Francis Browne S.J., and rightly so. For those who do not know, Fr Browne (or Br Browne, as he then was) was a passenger on board the Titanic as it sailed from Southampton to Cobh. He was due to …
April 15, 2016
Fr Doyle wrote the following words in his diary on this day in 1914. It records his experience in prayer that day and needs no other elaboration. I begin to-day my twenty-fourth year in the Society, with a heart full to overflowing with gratitude for my vocation. I write this before my Jesus in the Tabernacle and I have asked Him to make me note down what He wants from …
April 1, 2016
Fr Doyle recorded the following incident relating to this day 100 years ago. It was his first night sleeping in a dug out. I had rather an amusing experience the first night I spent in the trenches. On arriving here I found two officers in the dug-out, which was intended for me, but as they were leaving the next day, I did not care to evict them. After some search …
March 31, 2016
You will be glad to know, as I was, that the ninth edition (90,000 copies) of my little book Vocations is rapidly being exhausted. After my ordination, when I began to be consulted on this important subject, I was struck by the fact that there was nothing one could put into the hands of boys and girls to help them to a decision, except ponderous volumes, which they would scarcely …
March 29, 2016
Melrose in Dalkey, Dublin. Fr Doyle was born here 143 years ago today. Today is Fr Doyle’s birthday – he was born on this day in 1873. For today we shall reproduce the first few pages of O’Rahilly’s biography which tell us something about Fr Doyle’s early life. William Joseph Gabriel Doyle was born at Melrose, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, on 3rd March, 1873. His father is Mr. Hugh Doyle, an …
March 3, 2016