From the last letter of Fr Doyle to his father describing the events of July 30, 1917, 99 years ago today: For the past week we have been moving steadily up to the Front once more to face the hardships and horrors of another big push, which report says is to be the biggest effort since the War began. The blood-stained Ypres battle field is to be the centre of …
WWI
July 30, 2016
On August 12 1917 Fr Doyle sent his last letter home to his father. It was a long account of his involvement in the early stages of the Battle of Passchendaele. 5 days later he was hit by a German shell while rescuing a wounded soldier and was killed instantly. His account of the battle commences on July 30 and we shall follow his account in his own words each …
July 29, 2016
Fr Doyle had a tremendous joy and cheerfulness that easily communicated itself to others. He also retained this sense of fun despite the suffering of the war and his own personal austerity and mortification. All of this is extremely significant – the saints were always serene and joyful despite their sufferings. Fr Doyle was also known as a practical joker. It’s not known what others thought about his jokes, and …
July 20, 2016
Fr Doyle in the pulpit during his last homily, July 1917 Fr Doyle gave his last homily 99 years ago today. Here is Alfred O’Rahilly’s account of this last sermon, complete with valuable first hand testimony from the famous Fr Frank Browne SJ: The 48th Brigade was at rest or rather down for a rifle shooting course near St. Omer. The 2nd and 8th Dublins were in and around the …
July 15, 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
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/
June 27, 2016
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist. The Church only celebrates the birth of Jesus, Mary and St John the Baptist. It is a great testament to the sanctity and importance of St John that he is in this elite group and that he has two feasts – his birthday and his beheading. Fr Doyle does not seem to have written about …
June 24, 2016
Today we continue with Fr Doyle’s narrative on the battle for Messines Ridge with the events that occurred on June 7 1917. It was a day of devastating losses for the German side. In fact, the explosions underneath the German trenches were the most powerful in history at that time. Fr Doyle did not glory in this loss of life. We see him today praying for the many thousands of …
June 7, 2016
Today we have a small excerpt from one of Fr Doyle’s letters which describes his preparations for the Battle of Messines. It was a truly devastating engagement. We shall read Fr Doyle’s description of the events tomorrow, though in preparation you may be interested in reading a description of the attack here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines For today, we will focus on Fr Doyle’s spiritual preparations. Here is Fr Doyle’s description of this night …
June 6, 2016
I have not told them at home, and do not want them to know but we have had a terrible time for the last three weeks, constant and increasing shelling, with many wonderful escapes. We are on the eve of a tremendous battle and the danger will be very great. Sometimes I think God wishes the actual sacrifice of my life — the offering of it was made long ago. …
June 5, 2016