Richard Devane SJ: Social Advocate and Free State Campaigner 1876-1951

by Martin Walsh

Overview

A controversial figure in his time, and perhaps even more so today, Richard Devane SJ (1876–1951) was a thorn in the side of the governments of W T Cosgrave and Eamon de Valera. He is remembered equally as a defender of the conscience of the new Irish republic and as a sometimes over-zealous gatekeeper of Irish culture and morals. In Richard Devane SJ: Social Commentator and Advocate Martin Walsh takes on the task of placing Devane in context: not only the context of his time, that of the birth of the Irish Republic, but of our time – a time of widespread change in Irish culture that can make the Ireland of Devane’s day look like another island. For better or worse, Walsh argues, Devane’s fierce commitment to nurturing a new Ireland made him a major force in creating the country we know today. If we want to understand the Ireland that passed referenda on gay marriage and abortion in 2015 and 2018 respectively, we need to understand – and not forget or dismiss – the world the Irish people were responding to: Devane’s world and Devane’s Ireland. An advocate of censorship, a committed anti-communist, founder of the Irish Film Institute and sparring partner of Brian O’Nolan (Flann O’Brien, Myles na gCopaleen) in Richard Devane SJ: Social Commentator and Advocate, Martin Walsh brings this controversial figure to life ensuring he will be the subject of discussion in Irish circles for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788120296
Publisher:	Messenger Publications
Publication date:	02/18/2019
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Martin Walsh recently completed his PhD at the University of Limerick. His research interests include nation building and national and cultural identity, the censorship of working-class leisure activities especially cinema and immorality and the sexes in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Ireland and England.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

List of Provincials of the Society of Jesus in Ireland 1912-53 9

List of abbreviations 10

Introduction 11

Chapter 1 Early Family Life and Education, 1876-1901 15

The Devane family 15

The Christian Brothers, Limerick 22

The Sacred Heart College, Limerick 23

Mungret College 24

St Munchin's College 25

Maynooth Seminary College, Kildare 25

Chapter 2 The Curate in Middlesbrough and Limerick City, 1901-18 31

Devane's first parish 31

Back in Limerick 38

St Joseph's Church 39

The military chaplain 41

Intemperance in Limerick city 41

St Ita's House for young Catholic girls 44

Ridding the city of 'evil' literature 45

Troubling brewing in Limerick 49

Ireland, Nationalism and the war in Europe 51

Trade unions and social action 53

The conscription crisis in 1918 57

Chapter 3 The First Decade as a Jesuit, 1918-29 62

A novice at Tullabeg 62

The closed retreat system in the 1920s 64

Temperance at the closed retreats 68

The role women were expected to play in the new Ireland 69

The closure of the Monto 70

Irish Catholic nurses 80

The campaign against 'evil' literature in the Irish Free State 81

Chapter 4 Turmoil in Ireland, 1930-40 93

'The Soldier's Song' 93

Devane and Catholic Action 94

The closed retreat system in the 1930s 98

The Prima Primaria of the Sodality of Our Lady 99

The threat of Communism in Ireland 100

'Street corner hooligans' 106

The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935 110

Devane and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland 114

Taking a dip: Devane and Irish bathing 115

Dance halls - the 'hideous shacks' of rural Ireland 117

Devane's rural idyll 122

Projecting Ireland on the big screen 125

Chapter 5 To Finish his Life's Work, 1940-51 135

The Second World War begins 135

Summer time comes early 135

The next generation of Irish youth 140

Devane and the Commission on Youth Unemployment 144

The breakdown of individualism in 1945 147

The problem with Irish middle-class youth 149

An Irish Film Institute at last 149

Immoral literature: Devane's last campaign 159

Myles na gCopaleen 162

Sunday newspapers - the preserve of the working classes 162

The National Protest Committee 163

Establishing an Irish Union of Journalists 166

Archbishop McQuaid, Devane and immoral literature 166

Devane's death 167

Conclusion: Richard Devane's Legacy 172