Limerick & The Jesuits

jesuit church Originally uploaded by bgilmor.

Last Sunday, I checked out Sacred Heart, a Jesuit church here in Limerick. Here's the history behind it, according to what I gleaned from a plaque in the church. As early as 1540, the same year that St. Ignatius founded the Society, two Jesuits were dispatched to Ireland to explore the state of affairs, making Ireland the first mission of St. Ignatius outside of the mainland of Europe. Through the influence of Ignatius Loyola, his personal friend Fr. David Woulfe S.J. was sent to Ireland in 1561 to make the first permanent Jesuit foundations in the country. In the very city of Limerick, Fr. Woulfe set up the first Jesuit secondary school in Ireland. "Limerick was the cradle of the Society of Jesus in Ireland," one historian says. Among other Limerick-born Jesuits, Edmund O'Donnell, S.J. held perhaps the greatest distinction. He became the first Jesuit to be martyred for the faith in what was then known as Great Britain and Ireland. In 1572, he was hung, drawn, and quartered in Cork. In 1642, the Jesuit Fathers built their first church in Limerick City at Castle Lane, a short walk from where I live right now. A stone from the Castle Lane establishment, dated 1643, is inset and can be seen, a symbol of the continuity of the Jesuit Traditions in Limerick. In 1773, Fr. Joseph Maroney S.J. was forced to close the school and oratory at Castle Lane because of the worldwide suppression (other than in White Russia) of the Society of Jesus. It wasn't until 7 August 1814 that a bull of Pope Pius VII restored the Society throughout the world. In 1859, at the invitation of Bishop Ryan, the Jesuits returned to Limerick and took up residence across town, opening a school and a public oratory. In 1862, the Jesuit Fathers acquired the Crescent House property where the present Church and community residence exists. 1864, the building of the Church of Sacred Heart was begun, completed in 1868. On 27 January 1869, on the Feast of the Holy Name, the Church was dedicated, becoming the first church in Ireland to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1876, the three altars were consecrated, with the Lady altar becoming the first in Ireland to be dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. The 20 years from 1919-1939 saw modifications of the nave, organ, marble sanctuary floor and walls, confessionals, and mosaics until the Church is as it is today. In 1959, the Jesuits celebrated the first centenary of their second coming to Limerick (1858-1959).