Letter from John Fitzgibbon to Fr Provincial Thomas V. Nolan, circa 1916

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Letter from John Fitzgibbon to Fr Provincial Thomas V. Nolan, circa 1916

1 My dear Fr Nolan, — Only a word
to let you know I am quite well
& as happy as possible. Since my
last letter I have had many and
varied experiences which about which
I shall try & write about later, as
I am exceptionally busy trying
to see all the Catholics of the
division; and to organise some
means by which the chaplains of
the Division will be able to see
their different units at least once
a fortnight; as I am responsible
for the Catholics of the Division,
having being publicly made
senior Chaplain (R.C) by General
Sims at a conference which
he called the week before last.
I do pray & hope that I will be
able to efficiently work the Division
as an s.j. is well watched out here.
I here are about sixty units in
the Division scattered about in
enemy direction some them ten
miles apart as there will be
plenty of minning about. 2 I should have sent you the
cheque for £12 but I was waiting
for my bank book from McGrigor
I am sending it now. Father Farley would have had
my Mass list in before now, had
not our movement & post here
being rather uncertain. I was
fortunate in being able to say
the full 20 for his intentions doing
March. April. Sorry for such a scrappy
letter. I reamin dear Fr Nolan
yours very sincerely in Xt J. Fitzgibbon s.j.
C.F.

Letter from John Fitzgibbon to Fr. Nolan regarding John Fitzgibbon's meeting with the Catholics of the Division. Fr John Fitzgibbon SJ (1882-1918). His adopted name was Jack. His father, John Fitzgibbon, was a successful draper and subsequent Member of Parliament (PM) the time period 1910-1918. His brother, Michael Fitzgibbon, was captain in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and was killed in the Battle of Gallipoli. Jack was ordained a priest on 31st July, 1915. Subsequently, he served in the 6th Division of the British Army, and enlisting shortly after the death of his brother. He was promoted to senior chaplain in 1917, and in the same year he was gassed at Loos on 5th September and was awarded the military cross. Next year, on 18th September, Jack was killed in action by an artillery shell at Attilly and buried at Trefcon, St. Quentin, Picardie. Father Nolan (1867-1941) 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.

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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__4525.html)