Page 19 - The Gonzaga Record 1985
P. 19
Financial A farms
The debt was to prove too much for Milltown Park. They could bear the
financial burden of Sandford Grove (which now became St Joseph's), but not of
the total estate. So desperate remedies were sought. St Francis Xavier's Church in
Gardiner Street had been putting aside money over the years for certain
renovations of the Church. Until they were ready they had obliged Clongowes
Wood College with a loan of their funds. With a judicious amount of arm twisting
from the Provincial, St Francis Xavier's were persuaded to lend £10,000 to
Gonzaga College at the very modest interest of 2 per cent! Fr John MacSheahan,
SJ was Bursar at St Francis Xavier's. Here is his delightful letter to Fr Charles
O'Conor, SJ the first Rector of Gonzaga College.
St. Francis Xavier's,
Upper Gardiner Street,
Dublin.
lOth October 1950.
Dear Fr. Rector,
I have much pleasure (and not a little pain) in sending you herewith a cheque
for £10,000: as you may say well and truly, ten thousand pounds sterling. Say it
with flowers, as we say it with tears: our little nest-egg, just redeemed from
Clongowes Wood College, now going off again to repose indefinitely in another
cuckoo's nest. But, seeing that it must needs be so, there is no other resting pl ace
_that we should choose for it in preference to Gonzaga College. May it, under
your careful handling, develop into a tough chicken, and incidentally continue to
produce for us interest at the rate of 2% payable half-yearly for the support of
our dwindling exchequer.
With every good wis h,
Yours sincerel y in Xt. ,
John J. MacSheahan, SJ
(Bursar)
Did you ever see such financial musical chairs, and robbing Peter to pay Paul ?
So much for the rich Jesuits.
Alas, the nest-egg was not destined to grow up into a tough chicken. Within a
year, St Francis Xavier's were themselves in trouble, and were asking most of their
money back!
Fr Timothy Mulcahy was Rector of St Francis X a vier's and was a kind-hearted
man in everybody's estimation. But within a year he was writing to Fr. Charles
O'Conor.
St. Francis Xavier's,
Gardiner Street,
Dublin.
30th October 19 5 1.
Dear Charles,
Father Dargan [The Bursar for the whole Provincel will probabl y have
prepared you for the contents of this letter which amount to a notice of motion
for the recall of some of our loan in six months' time, say 1st May. And the
amount we should like -to recall? Hold your breath . . . £5 ,000.
11
The debt was to prove too much for Milltown Park. They could bear the
financial burden of Sandford Grove (which now became St Joseph's), but not of
the total estate. So desperate remedies were sought. St Francis Xavier's Church in
Gardiner Street had been putting aside money over the years for certain
renovations of the Church. Until they were ready they had obliged Clongowes
Wood College with a loan of their funds. With a judicious amount of arm twisting
from the Provincial, St Francis Xavier's were persuaded to lend £10,000 to
Gonzaga College at the very modest interest of 2 per cent! Fr John MacSheahan,
SJ was Bursar at St Francis Xavier's. Here is his delightful letter to Fr Charles
O'Conor, SJ the first Rector of Gonzaga College.
St. Francis Xavier's,
Upper Gardiner Street,
Dublin.
lOth October 1950.
Dear Fr. Rector,
I have much pleasure (and not a little pain) in sending you herewith a cheque
for £10,000: as you may say well and truly, ten thousand pounds sterling. Say it
with flowers, as we say it with tears: our little nest-egg, just redeemed from
Clongowes Wood College, now going off again to repose indefinitely in another
cuckoo's nest. But, seeing that it must needs be so, there is no other resting pl ace
_that we should choose for it in preference to Gonzaga College. May it, under
your careful handling, develop into a tough chicken, and incidentally continue to
produce for us interest at the rate of 2% payable half-yearly for the support of
our dwindling exchequer.
With every good wis h,
Yours sincerel y in Xt. ,
John J. MacSheahan, SJ
(Bursar)
Did you ever see such financial musical chairs, and robbing Peter to pay Paul ?
So much for the rich Jesuits.
Alas, the nest-egg was not destined to grow up into a tough chicken. Within a
year, St Francis Xavier's were themselves in trouble, and were asking most of their
money back!
Fr Timothy Mulcahy was Rector of St Francis X a vier's and was a kind-hearted
man in everybody's estimation. But within a year he was writing to Fr. Charles
O'Conor.
St. Francis Xavier's,
Gardiner Street,
Dublin.
30th October 19 5 1.
Dear Charles,
Father Dargan [The Bursar for the whole Provincel will probabl y have
prepared you for the contents of this letter which amount to a notice of motion
for the recall of some of our loan in six months' time, say 1st May. And the
amount we should like -to recall? Hold your breath . . . £5 ,000.
11
