Letter from Father Willie Doyle S.J. to Fr Provincial Thomas V. Nolan, 25 January 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Father Willie Doyle S.J. to Fr Provincial Thomas V. Nolan, 25 January 1916

1 CHPI/14(3) Bordon Camp
Hampshire 25 /1/'16 My dear Fr Provincial,
P.C. I understand
that my friend Mr
Jack Carter has written
asking to be admitted
into the Society. From
what I know of him
I think he would 2
suit in every way
He is smart, clever
young man of 30,
in business at present
with a firm of
chartered accountants
in London, and has
given this proposed
step a good deal of
serious thought. I have
been able to see him
several times and we
have talked the whole 3
matter over. Should
your Reverance be in
London he would be
glad to see you as
he will not be able
to go to Ireland till
Easter. We were to have left
for the Front on the
31st but sickness has
broken out in camp &
we may have to wait
some time
Believe me, dear Fr Provincial
Your obediently in Xto
W. Doyle. C.F. 4 P.S. Fr Vaughan very kindly
came down at my request &
gave the officers & men a lecture
last Sunday.

Letter from Irish Jesuit Chaplain, Fr Willie Doyle SJ (1873-1917) to Father Provincial Thomas V. Nolan SJ (1867-1941) regarding Jack Colter's application to join the Jesuit order. After recommending Colter to Nolan Doyle informs him that they have not yet been dispatched to the front and that it could be a while before they depart. Fr Willie Doyle served as a military chaplain with the 8th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, 16th Irish Division. In April 1916 he was recommended for the Military Cross (MC) for helping to dig wounded men out of a collapsed shelter under fire. He moved to the 8th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers around Christmas, 1916. He was killed during the third battle of Ypres while going to the aid of a wounded man near Frezenberg and his body was never recovered. His name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot memorial, Zonnebeke, Belgium. Fr. Thomas V Nolan was the Provincial of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus (1912-1922) and was a member of the Distribution Committee which looked after the welfare and distribution of the the Belgian refugees who arrived in Ireland as a consequence of the First World War. During the Rising Nolan was based at St Francis Xavier’s, Upper Gardiner Street and, alongside Rector Fr John Fahy SJ, risked his life in aiding the wounded and supplying local areas with food and milk.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__3872.html)