John Fahy was born in Galway 4 February, 1874. He was
educated at St Ignatius’ College, Galway and entered the Society of Jesus 7
September, 1891. Fahy studied in Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium and was ordained
a priest in 1908. He spent a year in tertianship at Linz in Austria.
In
1910, Fr Fahy was appointed Prefect of Studies at Belvedere College. At that
point he had been a teacher for eight years and also took on the role of House
Consultor at Belvedere. He continued in these roles until 1913 when he appointed
Rector of the school, 30 July.
He
remained as Rector until 27 July, 1919. His responsibilities only increased
over his rectorship—by 1919 he was also Censor of the Books and Prefect of
Reading at Table. Fahy’s time at Belvedere coincided with a period of
tumultuous politics and a change in popular opinion in relation to the
nationalist movement. This is visible through a careful examination of The Belvederian yearbooks. As F. X.
Martin wrote:
Undoubtedly a political revolution had taken place in
the country which affected the outlook of the pupils at Belvedere College, but
there was no violent change in their social outlook.
The
profile of the school remained much the same, as did the shape of school life.
During
Easter week, 1916, Belvedere College on Denmark Street Great was in a secondary
conflict zone of the rising. Barricades and check points were established in
the surrounding streets—North Great George’s Street, Dorset Street, North
Fredrick Street. At one point, a company of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, led by
an Old Belvederian, Second-Lieutenant Eugene Sheehy (also profiled below),
passed by Belvedere on its way to O’Connell Street.
Throughout
the rising, Fr Fahy put his life at risk in the service of the local
population, the wounded and the dead of the vicinity of Belvedere. The Sisters
of St. Joseph at Temple Street Hospital, who considered Fr Fahy ‘a true
friend,’ said that he was ‘untiring in his efforts’. Fr Fahy and his fellow
Jesuits of Belvedere heard confessions of the wounded and administered the last
rites to the dying. This was ‘a great blessing,’ wrote the sisters, ‘as
otherwise some would have died without the Sacraments’.
Fahy
was often in danger during the rising. The sisters recorded the following:
One night, Fr Fahy was hearing confessions. It was
late when he was finished. Every time he opened the door to go home, he was
fired at. Finally, through the influence of an army doctor whom he knew and who
sent an ambulance to convey him to Belvedere, he made his way home.
On Friday, 28 April, 1916, Charles Kavanagh, aged fifteen, was admitted
to Temple Street Hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Charles died
after unsuccessful surgery. A temporary mortuary was created at the hospital,
but it was an extreme hygiene issue. The Dublin Jesuits assisted by travelling
around to the hospitals of the city and collecting bodies. When a man driving a
collection horse and cart was shot dead, Fr Fahy courageously took his place at
the reins to continue the job
A
letter written from John Dillon, nationalist Member of Parliament from Dublin,
to his mother-in-law, Lady Elizabeth Mathew, provides details about Fr Fahy's
activities during Easter week. Dillon spent the duration of the rebellion in
his house at 2 North Great George's Street, just across the street from
Belvedere College. Dillon wrote that Fr Fahy 'had been a good deal around the
City and was the first man from whom I got definite news.' He informed Lady Elizabeth
that Fr Fahy had been working at a dressing station on nearby Dorset Street and
was concerned about providing bread for the poor of the city. In a small
glimpse at how Fr Fahy felt about the actions of the rebels, he told Dillon
that when he met a cheery Irish Volunteer, Fahy told him that he regarded their
conduct as murder.
General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell,
military governor of the British armed forces in Dublin, Easter 1916,
specifically praised Fr Fahy for keeping priests and pupils off the streets
during the fighting. Brenda Niall wrote that Belvedere ‘was close enough to the
General Post Office to make a useful rallying point or refuge, but the Dublin
Jesuits and the military did not confront one another’.
Belvedere was already closed for Easter, but the
school remained closed for a further week following the conclusion of the Easter
rising.
BELVEDERE COLLEGE.
DUBLIN.
Classes will be Resumed on
MONDAY, MAY 8th.
The above notice appeared in The Irish Times, Wednesday, 3 May, 1916. In the ministries Journal
of Belvedere, Fr Martin Corbett SJ wrote of the rebellion. His comment of
‘Providential escape of community’ tells of the fear of those living in such
close proximity to the action. However, school life had to go on and soon Fr
Fahy was placing another ad in The Irish
Times:
Belvedere College, Dublin.
——
CLASSES WILL RE-OPEN ON
SEPTEMBER 1st.
INTERVIEWS DAILY, 10 TO 1.
For Prospectus, apply to REV.
J. FAHY, S.J.
Tuition fees for the school year of 1916-1917
were 10 guineas for boys under twelve years old and twelve guineas for those
over twelve years old.
Fr Fahy left Belvedere in 1919. He left fond
friends at the school who appreciated his ‘remarkable administrative capacity,
his unerring judgement and a vast knowledge, gathered not merely from the pages
of books, but also from the field of a wide experience. He spent some time from
1920 as Rector of Mungret College in Limerick. In February, 1922, he was
appointed Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Ireland. During his time in
this office, Fr Fahy returned to Dublin, living on Gardiner Street—very close to
his previous school of Belvedere College. During his time as Irish Provincial,
he built Rathfarnham Retreat House and juniorate and the Irish mission to Hong
Kong was launched.
From 19 March, 1931, Fr Fahy occupied the newly
created post of vice-provincial of Australia. In The Belvederian of 1931, the following appeared:
It is with genuine regret that
we chronicle the departure from Ireland of one of our truest friends, Father John
Fahy.
During the years 1941-1947 he was master of
novices and instructor of tertians. He was held in high esteem and attended
four general congregations of the Society of Jesus in Rome, his last being in
1957. His final post was as curate in the Norwood parish, Adelaide, which he
held until his death, 25 January, 1958, at the age of eighty-three. Fr Fahy was an efficient administrator with strong
vision. He was a shy man with a solid spirituality.
