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.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Provincials of the Society of Jesus in Ireland 1912–53
• List of abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter One Early Family Life And Education, 1876-1901
  • The Devane family
  • The Christian Brothers, Limerick
  • The Sacred Heart College, Limerick
  • Mungret College
  • St Munchin’s College
  • Maynooth Seminary College, Kildare
• Chapter Two the Curate in Middlesbrough and Limerick City, 1901-18
  • Devane’s first parish
  • Back in Limerick
  • St Joseph’s Church
  • The military chaplain
  • Intemperance in Limerick city
  • St Ita’s House for young Catholic girls
  • Ridding the city of ‘evil’ literature
  • Troubling brewing in Limerick
  • Ireland, Nationalism and the war in Europe
  • Trade unions and social action
  • The conscription crisis in 1918
• Chapter Three the First Decade as a Jesuit, 1918-29
  • A novice at Tullabeg
  • The closed retreat system in the 1920s
  • Temperance at the closed retreats
  • The role women were expected to play in the new Ireland
  • The closure of the Monto
  • Irish Catholic nurses
  • The campaign against ‘evil’ literature in the Irish Free State
• Chapter Four Turmoil in Ireland, 1930-40
  • ‘The Soldier’s Song’
  • Devane and Catholic Action
  • The closed retreat system in the 1930s
  • The Prima Primaria of the Sodality of Our Lady
  • The threat of Communism in Ireland
  • ‘Street corner hooligans’
  • The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935
  • Devane and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland
  • Taking a dip: Devane and Irish bathing
  • Dance halls – the ‘hideous shacks’ of rural Ireland
  • Devane’s rural idyll
  • Projecting Ireland on the big screen
• Chapter Five to Finish his Life’s Work, 1940-51 135
  • The Second World War begins
  • Summer time comes early
  • The next generation of Irish youth
  • Devane and the Commission on Youth Unemployment
  • The breakdown of individualism in 1945
  • The problem with Irish middle-class youth
  • An Irish Film Institute at last
  • Immoral literature: Devane’s last campaign
  • Myles na gCopaleen
  • Sunday newspapers – the preserve of the working classes
  • The National Protest Committee
  • Establishing an Irish Union of Journalists
  • Archbishop McQuaid, Devane and immoral literature
  • Devane’s death
• Conclusion Richard Devane’S Legacy