Born: 03 January 1880, Sunday's Well, Cork City
Entered: 07 September 1897, St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly
Ordained: 31 July 1915, Milltown Park, Sandford Road, Dublin
Final Vows: 02 February 1921, Belvedere College SJ, Great Denmark Street, Dublin
Died: 07 July 1960, St John of God’s Hospital, Stillorgan, Dublin
Part of the Milltown Park, Sandford Road, Dublin community at the time of death
Father RIP 1898 - a Miller. Mother died eight days after his birth in 1880. Youngest of three brothers (1 deceased) and 3 sisters.
Education was at a Convent School in Athlone and then at Belvedere College SJ,then CBC Cork., and Castleknock College
1897-1899: St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly, Novitiate
1899-1901: St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly, Rhetoric at Royal University
1901-1904: Casa San Antonio, Chieri, Torino, Italy (TAUR), Philosophy
1904-1906: Clongowes Wood College SJ, Naas, County Kildare, Regency
1906-1912: Belvedere College SJ, Great Denmark Street, Dublin, Regency; Editor of Belvederian
1912-1916: Milltown Park, Sandford Road, Dublin, Theology
1916-1919: Military Chaplain : 1st Battalion Irish Guards, BEF France
1919-1920: St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly, Tertianship
1920-1922: Belvedere College SJ, Great Denmark Street, Dublin, Teaching
1922-1928: St Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Superior from 27 July 1922 to 29 July1928
1928-1932: St Stanislaus College Tullabeg, County Offaly, Missioner, Spiritual Exercises
1932-1957: St Mary’s, Emo, County Laois, Missioner, Spiritual Exercises
1957-1960: Milltown Park, Sandford Road, Dublin, Missioner, Spiritual Exercises
◆ Royal Irish Academy : Dictionary of Irish Biography, Cambridge University Press online :
Browne, Francis Patrick Mary
by James Quinn
Browne, Francis Patrick Mary (1880–1960), photographer and Jesuit priest, was born 3 January 1880 in Sunday's Well, Cork, youngest of eight children of James Browne, flour merchant and JP, and Brigid Browne (née Hegarty; 1840–80), who died of puerperal fever eight days after Francis's birth. The family was well-off and owned a large house at Buxton Hill; Brigid's father, James Hegarty, was a wealthy tanner and a JP, and served as lord mayor of Cork. Francis attended the Bower convent, Athlone (1885–92), the Christian Brothers' college, St Patrick's Place, Cork (1892), the Jesuit college at Belvedere, Dublin (1893), and the Vicentian college at Castleknock (1893–7). He excelled in the classics and modern languages, enjoyed sports, and played on the Castleknock first rugby XV. On leaving Castleknock he made a tour of Europe with his brother William (1876–1938) (also a priest and photographer), and took many photographs, which even at this stage showed considerable talent. On his return in September 1897 he joined the Jesuits, and served his noviceship at Tullabeg, King's Co. (Offaly). After his father drowned while swimming at Crosshaven (2 September 1898), his education was overseen by his uncle, Robert Browne (qv), president of Maynooth College and bishop of Cloyne (1894–1935). Francis took his first vows 8 September 1899, and studied classics at the Royal University at St Stephen's Green, Dublin, graduating with an honours BA (1902). At university he was a contemporary of James Joyce (qv), and ‘Mr Browne, the Jesuit’ makes an appearance in Finnegans wake. He studied philosophy (1902–5) at Chieri, near Turin, travelling throughout Italy during the summer holidays and studying Italian painting. Returning to Ireland in 1905, he taught at Belvedere (1905–11), where he founded a cycling club, a camera club, and the college annual, The Belvederian, which featured many of his photographs.
In April 1912 he sailed on the first leg of the Titantic's maiden voyage (10–11 April) from Southampton to Queenstown (Cobh) via Cherbourg. Friends offered to pay for him to complete the trip to New York, but the Jesuit provincial in Dublin refused him permission. He took about eighty photographs on the voyage, including the last one of the Titanic's captain, Edward Smith, and the only one ever taken in the ship's Marconi room. The Titantic's sinking catapulted his work to international attention, his photographs appearing on the front pages of newspapers around the world. His name forever became associated with the Titanic and he assiduously collected material relating to the disaster, which he used to give public lectures.
He studied theology (1911–15) at Milltown Park, Dublin, and was ordained 31 July 1915. Early in 1916 he became a military chaplain in the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, with the rank of captain. Present at the Somme and Ypres (including Passchendaele), he showed great courage under fire, tending the wounded in no man's land and guiding stretcher parties to wounded men. He himself was wounded five times and gassed once, and won the MC and bar and the Croix de Guerre. His commanding officer, the future Earl Alexander, who became a lifelong friend, described him as ‘the bravest man I ever met’ (O'Donnell, Life, 46). During the war he took many photographs, now held in the Irish Guards headquarters in London. He returned to Ireland late in 1919, completed his tertianship (July 1920), and was again assigned to Belvedere. On 31 October 1920 he cycled to the viceregal lodge to make a personal appeal for the life of Kevin Barry (qv), an Old Belvederean.
He took his final vows (2 February 1921) and was appointed supervisor of St Francis Xavier's church, Gardiner St. (1921–8). Because of the damage done to his lungs by gassing during the war, he spent the years 1924–5 in Australia, making a 3,000-mile trip through the outback, where he took many memorable photographs. By now he and his camera were inseparable and he used it widely on his return trip through Ceylon, Yemen, Egypt, and Italy. Returning to Dublin in late 1925 he resumed his position at Gardiner St. and began regularly to photograph inner-city Dublin life, taking about 5,000 photographs of Dublin over thirty years. In 1926 he took flying lessons and took many aerial photographs of Dublin. He became an important member of the Photographic Society of Ireland and the Dublin Camera Club and was vice-president and a key organiser of a highly successful international exhibition of photography (the First Irish Salon of Photography) during Dublin's ‘civic week’ in 1927; further exhibitions were held biennially until 1939. Appointed to the Jesuits' mission and retreat staff, he was based at Clongowes Wood, Co. Kildare (1928–30), and Emo Court, Co. Laois (1930–57).
Many of these were of the great cathedrals of England, which had a particular fascination for him. With war looming, in 1937–8 he was commissioned by the Church of England to photograph the churches of East Anglia to enable their accurate restoration should they suffer bomb damage. In 1939 his offer to serve as chaplain to the Irish Guards was accepted, but he was refused permission from the Irish Jesuit provincial.
Travelling throughout Britain and Ireland, he continued to photograph and assiduously to practise the technical aspects of photography and build up an impressive array of photographic equipment, including his own developing laboratory at Emo. Most experts believe that his talent matured fully in the 1930s. Given a Kodak 16mm cine-camera by his uncle Robert, he shot a film of the eucharistic congress in Dublin in 1932, and made several subsequent films for state and educational bodies. In 1933 he visited the Kodak works at Harrow, north-west of London, and afterwards received a supply of free film for life and regularly contributed articles and photographs to the Kodak Magazine.
In the 1940s and ‘50s he photographed almost every aspect of Irish life – pilgrimages, ruined monasteries, great houses, and leading religious, political, and literary figures – and his photographs featured regularly in Irish publications. Much of his work dealt with new industries and technology, especially his fascination with transport: aircraft, shipping, and trains. A booklet issued by the Department of Health on the ‘mother and child’ scheme in 1951 was illustrated with his photographs. All his earnings from photography (c.£1,000, 1937–54) were forwarded to the Jesuit provincial treasurer and used for the education of Jesuit students.
As his health faded, he resided at Milltown Park from 1957, and many of his photographs from the late 1950s recorded the themes of old age and death. He died in Dublin 7 July 1960, and was buried in the Jesuit plot in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin.
He took an estimated 42,000 photographs throughout his life, but his fame as a photographer was largely posthumous: most of his work lay unnoticed in a trunk in the Jesuit archives until 1986. His photographs were neatly captioned and dated but were mostly on deteriorating nitrate film, and a major restoration effort was required to transfer them to safe film. Photographic experts were astounded at the quality of the work, generally considering it the outstanding photographic collection of twentieth-century Ireland. Fr Browne had all the attributes of a great photographer: a natural eye for line and balance in composition (a talent developed by his study of Italian art) and an ability to anticipate the decisive moment. In photographing people his lens was never intrusive or exploitative, and his sympathy with his subject is always evident. Scenes involving children, in particular, are captured with a natural ease and dignity. He has been described as ‘one of the great photographic talents’ (O'Donnell, Life, 123) of the twentieth century, and compared favourably with the great French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. Since 1986 his work has been regularly exhibited, published in various collections compiled by E. E. O'Donnell, SJ, and featured in television documentaries.
Rudyard Kipling, The Irish Guards in the great war (2 vols, 1923), i, 136, 141, 145–6, 170, 182; ii, 173; Ir. Times, 18 Nov. 1989; E. E. O'Donnell, SJ, ‘Photographer extraordinary: the life and work of Father Browne’, Studies, lxxix (1990), 298–306; id., Father Browne's Dublin (1993); id., Father Browne: a life in pictures (1994); id., Father Browne's Titanic album (1997)
◆ Jesuits in Ireland :
https://www.jesuit.ie/who-are-the-jesuits/inspirational-jesuits/francis-browne/
Francis Browne
Few can claim to have seen as much in their life as Francis Browne, sailing on the Titanic, serving in World War I, travelling the world. Not only did he live it but, as an amateur photographer, he also recorded his life and experiences, allowing us today immeasurable insight into that period in our history.
Born in Cork in 1880, Francis Browne was the youngest of eight children. His mother died of puerperal fever not long after his birth and his father died in a swimming accident when he was nine, so Browne was taken care of by his uncle, Robert Browne. After finishing school in Dublin in 1897, Browne went on a grand tour of Europe, seeing France and Italy. For his travels, his uncle bought him his first camera as a present, and this began Browne’s lifelong interest in photography.
Upon returning to Ireland, Browne entered the Jesuit noviciate in Tullabeg. He studied at the Royal University of Ireland in Dublin, where he was classmates with James Joyce. In 1911 he began studying theology in Milltown. The following year, his uncle gave him a ticket aboard the newly built ship Titanic, to sail from Southampton to Queenstown, now Cobh. Browne brought his camera, as was his hobby, and took many pictures. When he arrived in Queenstown he would have continued on the crossing to America, but was told in no uncertain terms by his superior to return to Dublin. When word arrived days later of the sinking of the Titanic, Browne realised how valuable his photographs were and sold them to various newspapers leading to the publication all over the world.
Browne was ordained in 1915, and the following year was sent to Europe where he served as chaplain to the Irish Guards. During his time in the service, Browne was at the Battle of the Somme, at Flanders, Ypres, and many other places at the frontline of the war. He was wounded on five occasions, and was awarded a military cross and bar for valour in combat. During this time too he took photographs, recording life at the frontline.
Returning to Dublin in 1920, Browne experienced recurring ill health from his time in the war, and was sent to Australia in 1924. Never parting from his camera, he took countless photos of the places he saw on his way over, as well as in Australia. After returning, he was appointed to the Retreats and Mission staff, and travelled all across Ireland. By the time of his death in 1960, Browne had taken photographs in nearly every parish in Ireland. When his negatives were discovered, twenty five years later, there were in the order of 42,000 of them. Twenty three volumes of his work have now been published and the importance of his work has been recognised internationally.
◆ https://www.jesuit.ie/blog/damien-burke/the-last-parting-jesuits-and-armistice/
The last parting: Jesuits and Armistice
At the end of the First World War, Irish Jesuits serving as chaplains had to deal with two main issues: their demobilisation and influenza. Some chaplains asked immediately to be demobbed back to Ireland; others wanted to continue as chaplains. Of the thirty-two Jesuits chaplains in the war, five had died, while sixteen were still serving.
Writing on 13 November 1918, Fr Frank Browne SJ describes the day of the Armistice:
Isn’t it grand to think that the end has come & come so well for our side: please God it will come for us at home soon, & equally well. Here all is excitement and rejoicing. I happened to be in Dieppe at the fateful 11 o’clock Monday last. I was at the Ordnance store outside which is a great railway siding... Eleven o’ clock was signaled by every engine furiously blowing its whistle. Then nearly all of them proceeded to career up & down the hacks – still whistling. On several of them men sat astride the boilers waving flats & ringing bells. This lasted for 20 mins. On the other side of the quarry Co. of Engineers burst a charge displacing several tons of rock, & then fired Verey lights & flares. But all this was nothing compared with the French outburst in the town. As I drove into the town our car was pelted with confetti by girls, all of whom were gay with tricolor ribbons. The Belgian emigres organised a march through the town with their military band and all the soldiers & Officers present. The bugles were blowing as they entered the main street, which was crowded with rejoicing people. Suddenly, the bugles stopped, & the Band struck up the Marseillaise. For a moment there was a kind of silence, then with a roar, the whole crowd of people took it up. Woman appeared at every window waving flags, & singing: assistants rushed to the doors of shops & joined in the great chorus: children shouted & sang & wriggled through the crowd. It was one of the most inspiring spontaneous demonstrations it has ever been my fortune to witness.
◆ Irish Province News
Irish Province News 7th Year No 4 1932
China :
The Seminary Aberdeen :
The Seminary is now in full working order. We have all the ordinary exercises of our houses of studies circles, tones, etc. The students take kindly to the tones and are frank in their criticisms. A variant of the ordinary tones is a sermonette on the Life of Our Lord, We are using the Epidioscope and the beautiful slides which Father Frank Browne so kindly sent us. Thus a more vivid picture of the Gospel scenes is impressed on their minds. They have also given lectures to the village-folk with a Synoscope which Father Bourke brought out.
◆ Irish Province News 35th Year No 4 1960
Obituary :
Fr Francis M Browne (1880-1960)
The song has it that “old soldiers never die, they only fade away”. Fr. Frank Browne was an old soldier who never said die. He just faded away for a few months until the King whom he served so long and so faithfully called him to the eternal colours on 7th July, 1960, in the 81st year of his life.
Francis Mary Hegarty Browne was born in Cork on 3rd January, 1880. He claimed two Alma Maters - Belvedere and Castleknock - and never lost his affection for both. There must have been militarism in his blood, and the instinct for noble deeds and daring exploits. He went the Ignatian way, entering the noviceship at Tullabeg in 1897. At the completion of his noviceship he was one of a group of brilliant scholastics studying for the Royal - Edmund Power, Patrick Gannon, Austin Hartigan and others. In after years he sometimes mentioned his ability to equal and even surpass in classical lore some of these literary geniuses. After three years philosophy in Chieri, Northern Italy, he spent seven years teaching in Belvedere and Clongowes - mostly in Belvedere. During this period Mr. Browne was the life and soul of Belvedere. The college was small in those days, numbering about 250 boys. There he endeared himself to many who in later years reached the top of their professions. It was there, too, that he became wedded to his camera. While doing full teaching he had cycling club, camera club and every kind of outdoor activity except games.
At the conclusion of this long period of colleges came theology at Milltown Park and Ordination in July 1915 at the hands of his uncle, Most Rev. Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne. During his theologate he rarely missed opportunities of long treks over the mountains. It was all a preparation for his duties as military chaplain. World War I broke out in 1914 and in 1916 Fr. Browne became chaplain to the Irish Guards in France and Flanders. He was wounded several times, returning home to hospital with severe shrapnel injuries to his jaw, On his return again to the front he served in the same Irish Division as Fr. Willie Doyle, and was close to Fr. Doyle until the latter was killed in August 1917. From then onwards until the war ended in 1918 Fr. Browne was with the Irish Guards and received several distinctions. As well as frequently being mentioned in despatches he was awarded the Military Cross and the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
Tertianship was in Tullabeg, 1919-1920, and then Belvedere College for two years. A visitation of the Irish Province took place just then and two appointments made by the Fr. Visitor - Fr. W. Power, U.S.A. were Fr. John Fahy as Provincial and Fr. Browne as Superior of St. Francis Xavier's, Gardiner Street. Both were, in a sense, as a bolt from the blue. The advent of a young priest as Superior of Gardiner Street - especially one so dynamic as Fr. Browne-was quite unusual. He was the youngest member of the community. The quiet hum of church work became a loud buzz during his six years as Superior. He was a great churchman. As well as a very eloquent preacher, he was devoted to the confessional, Moreover he was a man of great taste and made many improvements in administration. But he worked himself to a standstill and had to go on a long rest. The long rest was a trip to Australia. It provided Fr. Frank with plenty of shots for his camera and matter for many illustrated lectures in which he was a specialist.
From 1928 until a few years before his death Fr, Browne was on the Mission Staff of the Irish Province. He was stationed in St. Mary's, Emo from the time it opened in 1931. This life gave him ample scope for his unbounded energy. He loved his rest periods in Emo and his camera provided a helpful and lucrative relaxation. His photographs of places of historic interest in every part of Ireland were eagerly sought after by papers like the Irish Tatler and Sketch. In his scholastic days he had made a reputation for himself as Editor of The Belvederian. Anyone who scans the volumes of that magazine will find some wonderful photographs. It was while there he accepted the invitation to go on the first leg of the maiden voyage of the famous Titanic, later sunk by an iceberg in the Atlantic. Fr. Frank's photos of the inside of this luxury liner were about the only ones extant.
It is hardly to be expected that younger members of any religious order could have a correct view of older members, seen and known only in their decline. It is for that reason possibly that these obituary notices appear. It is only fair that a man's life should be seen in its entirety, God does not look at the last decade of a man's life, or indeed at any one decade. God views the whole span, and so should we. Else we miss much that we ought to know for our encouragement. The Society has its menologies, and wants the lives of Jesuits to be known by succeeding generations. For this purpose the menology is read every day. In this rapid and complex world our dead are too soon forgotten. The Irish Province has had many devoted sons to whose favours we of today owe much.
What were the outstanding qualities of Fr. Frank Browne? They are here outlined in order of priority as the writer sees them after forty, if not more nearly fifty, years of acquaintance.
He was a most priestly man. To see Fr. Frank at the altar was most impressive. There was no sign of slovenliness, speed, distraction. From his ordination till his death he put the Mass first. This had one rather amusing aspect. The pair of shoes in which he was ordained he preserved to the end, and only wore them at the altar. They were known to his colleagues as “The Melchisedeck Shoes”. This, in itself, shows his anxiety to preserve the fervour of his early priesthood. There was always a dignity about Fr. Browne whenever he functioned in the church, A man of fine physique and carriage, he looked magnificent in priestly vestments. But there was no shadow of affectation, no over-exaggeration. It was simple, honest and devout.
This priestliness he carried into the pulpit. He was never cheap, witty, frivolous. His preaching was always impressive, his words well chosen, his examples apt. He had a very friendly and sympathetic approach to his congregation. His confessional was always crowded and never hurried. There was the kindly word for everyone. With the secular clergy he was extremely popular, yet always reserved and dignified. It is the truth that he never forgot he was a priest and a Jesuit. He might at times be demanding, but always in a pleasant way,
He was a brave man-brave in every sense of the word. As chaplain he was rewarded for his courage under fire. The soldiers admired him and the officers revered him because of his calmness under fire. An Irish Guardsman, still alive, wrote of Fr, Browne :
“We were in a church somewhere in Belgium and Fr. Browne was in the pulpit. Shells began to fall all around. We began to look around and up at the roof already with many holes in it. Fr. Browne thundered out : ‘What's wrong? Why don't you listen? Which are you more afraid of - God or the Germans?”
In the home front, when he was in Belvedere College, 1920-1922, many a time when the crash of a bomb, thrown at British lorries passing down North Frederick Street, was heard, Fr. Browne was down to the scene at once to minister to any injured. People scattered in all directions, but he remained firm. In October 1920, because he considered it his duty, he made a personal appeal to the military authorities on behalf of Kevin Barry.
He feared no man and feared no man's views. He never gave in an inch on a matter of principle even to the point of being irascible. One can imagine the influence he excited on non-Catholics in the British Army, A high-ranking officer, later a Field Marshal and a Viscount, had the greatest veneration for Fr. Browne and always wore a medal of Our Lady that Fr. Frank gave him.
◆ James B Stephenson SJ Menologies 1973
Father Francis (Frank) Browne 1880-1960
Fr Francis Browne was a colourful character, full of life and go. He was famous as a Chaplain in the First World War, being decorated many times for gallantry under fire. A soldier wrote of him “We were in Church somewhere in Belgium, and Fr Browne was in the pulpit. Shells began to fall all around. We began to look around and up at the roof which already had many holes in it. R Browne thundered out “What’s wrong? Why don't you listen to me? Which are you more afraid of, God or the Germans?”
Through the good offices of his uncle the Bishop of Cloyne, Fr Frank travelled in the Titanic, on her voyage from Belfast to Cork, where luckily he disembarked. Being an excellent photographer, he had taken snaps of the interior of that famous ship, which are the onl;y ones extant to this day.
As a chaplain he was equally popular with Catholic and Protestant, and counted among his friends the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VII and later again Duke of Windsor. A high ranking Officer, a Field-Marshall and later a Viscount had the greatest veneration for him, and always carried a medal of Our Lady round his neck, which he had received from Fr Frank.
His outstanding devotion was to the Holy Mass. The pair of boots in which he was ordained he kept apart to the end, and in no others did he ever celebrate Mass.
During his period as Superior of Gardiner Street he was responsible for many improvements in the Church, mainly the fine porch and new system of lighting.
The latter part of his life he spent as a most zealous and successful missioner
He died on July 7th 1960.
◆ The Belvederian, Dublin, 2002
Farewell Companions : Dermot S Harte
Fr Francis Patrick Mary Browne SJ
If Fr J M O'Connor SJ had a rival for the “Mr. Belvedere” title, it might probably be Fr Frank Browne SJ - another distinguished Alumnus.
Frank was a good friend of mine. I cannot honestly remember where I first met him for he was the sort of person who seemed to have been around forever. He was so unique that everyone who met him felt that they had always known him. From his adventures aboard the “Titanic” and from his days in the hell of the trenches of World War I, when he was a Chaplain in the Irish Guards, he probably became Ireland's most prolific photographer. He was likely to turn up absolutely anytime, anywhere and very often in the strangest of places! I once encountered him on the footplate of a newly acquired locomotive (”The Maeve”) on the Dublin-Cork run covered from head to toe in coal-dust and sundry grime, having made the total journey in company with the driver and fireman and, no doubt, the inevitable camera!
The story of Frank Browne and the 'Titanic' is legendary. He travelled Southampton-Cherbourg-Queenstown (now Cobh) on the vessel during which time he and his camera did noble work! Not too surprisingly, he was prevailed upon to remain on board for the trip to New York. After all the unsinkable! Titanic was the newest and finest ship ever to sail the seven seas! Who wouldn't give their eye teeth for such a once-in-a-lifetime trip? He radioed his Provincial for permission and hoped for the best! The Provincial's return telegram contained five words: “Get off that ship! Provincial”. So an unhappy Frank remained on land whereas the “Titanic” never reached its destination but instead sank off Newfoundland taking with it some 1500 souls.
But there is another side to the saga of Fr Browne and the Titanic! My grandparents' home was in Sandymount directly across the road from the Star of the Sea Church. Early in the twentieth century the then PP prevailed upon my grandmother to accommodate the “Missioners” who arrived twice each year to conduct the Women's and the Men's Retreats. This was to be on a “one-off” basis but like so many “one-offs” the arrangement became permanent and scores of missioners were accommodated over the next 50 or so years. My grandparents died in the 1920's and early 30's and a number of my unmarried aunts and uncles remained. In particular, I refer to my Aunt Moya!
Eventually there arrived on the scene none other than Fr Frank Browne SJ. The main bathroom was immediately commandeered by Frank where all sorts of apparatus were set up by him to ensure that his photographic pursuits remained unhindered. 1 stayed in the old homestead in order to serve his Mass each morning.
One fine morning he and I set off for his Mass as two of my uncles were having breakfast in the nether regions to which they had been banished when a strange spreading “something” was observed oozing under the breakfast room door. The basement was flooding! Loud crashes were heard as ceilings fell down and chaos ensued! The dreaded Frank had put the plug in the bath on the third floor, connected the water to his Developing Tank - and taken off for the Church! So the unhindered water flowed down with fearsome results. How the priests were not banished for ever more - together with my Aunt Moya - must be the greatest miracle since Moses struck the rock! It did nothing to pacify my uncles and their wrath fell on the shoulders of my unfortunate aunt.
But it didn't all end there, for Moya composed a little ditty that started “Father Browne, he didn't go down”. After the retreats, and overcome by remorse for her disrespect to a man of God, she decided that she must be in a state of mortal sin and took herself off to confession. She told me that in confessing this dreadful sin she said to the priest, “Father, I had bad thoughts about a Missioner!” I'll bet that made her confessor sit up and take notice as he was a particularly close family friend! The poor man was convulsed with laughter when he discovered the nature of her “sin” and she was sadly disappointed at receiving a penance of only one “Glory Be”! But she immediately gave up smoking to atone for her temporary lapse from grace - as she saw it!
The last time I saw Fr Browne was on the platform at Limerick Junction station as he returned from one of his many adventures having immortalised on film whatever caught his attention at the time. Whenever I pass through this station, in my mind's eye his Great Spirit still stands there as it did a lifetime ago. I never forget to remember, and to offer a prayer of gratitude for his friendship. Fr Browne was called to his Heavenly Home on 7 July 1960 where no doubt he is still taking photographs, this time, I would imagine, in glorious Technicolour!
After his death over forty-two thousand of his negatives were discovered in Loyola House by Fr Eddie O'Donnell SJ. So the Great Frank who didn't go down, didn't go away either! With the aid of sponsorship from Allied Irish Bank all were restored and three of AlB/Ark Life calendars, including this year's, featured his photographs. I was amazed to see a photograph of myself in one of the earlier calendars taken, I believe, sometime during the '40's.
Seventeen volumes of his photographs have been published and exhibitions in the Guinness Hop-Store, throughout the country, and in the Pompidou Centre in Paris have featured his Dublin Photographs. His 'Titanic' photographs have been exhibited in places as far apart as Hiroshima, Seattle, Chicago, Lisbon, Bruges and Budapest.
I have a feeling that, somehow, he will still be around on the Last Day. What marvellous opportunities for really spectacular photography will then present themselves! I'll bet he is ready and waiting for the off - and is already champing at the bit!
◆ The Clongownian, 1918
Clongowes Chaplains
We should have liked to be able to give a series of letters from Army. Chaplains, Past Clongownians, and former members of the Clon gowes Community, describing their professional experiences. We made considerable efforts and received promises not a few. But in the end, all found that their life was too busy and too irregular to make formal composition of that kind possible, and they one and all shrank from the task. Very often, too, no doubt, there was the fear of the Censor in the background. But notwithstanding this we thought it would be of interest to many readers of the “Clongownian” if we pieced together from these letters the scattered fragments of news coll tained in them. And this is what we have done. We begin with Father Corr, who for several years most worthily filled the position of Editor to this Magazine, and to whom is due the magnificent Centenary Number, 1914
Father F M Browne SJ
Father Browne, who was a master here some years ago, but not a Past Clongownian is with the anc Battalion Irish Guards. He has certainly had considerable variety during his time at the front. He was within the salient of Bourloi Wood when it had its neck cut and barely managed to escape On this occasion he got the bar to the MC. Of this experienc he writes : never went
through any thing like it and I wish there had bee another Lady Butler to pair another Roll Call of th 2nd I G after Bourlon Wood It was one of the saddest sights have ever see Imagine a fair dark night, deep sunken road lined with tiny excavations, some of them covered with oil sheets, etc, and in the middle the wreck of our Battalion. I cannot tell you how many we were when we started nor how many when we ended, for it would be a crime against interfering DORA”. Of his bar to the MC he writes:-“The only thing by which I can account for it was my very narrow escape from walking into the German lines during or rather just before Bourlon”.
During his wanderings Father Browne has not been unmindful of the wanderings of St Brendan, the story of which he has told in his illustiated guide to Lough Corrib. He tells us that he came by accident on an early French poem on this subject, with a commentary, in a Flemish farmer's cottage. This, no doubt, will be an interesting and, we hope, valuable addition to his booklet on this subject.
One little tit-bit of information which he gives us shows how great a change the presence of Irish soldiers must make to a French parish from the religious point of view. “We had a great ceremony on Sunday last - 2,500 Irish, soldiers gathered for Mass in the Cathe dral of --- to honour the new Bishop who presided at the Mass. I said Mass, Father W Doyle preached. Several Generals and big people - all impressed with very great solemnity. We had a guard of honour for the Elevation and trumpeters to play the General's Salute from the organ gallery. Father Doyle preached a very eloquent sermon though he was strictly limited to 15 minutes”. What a sight for the poor French Catholics - the old ones amongst them, no doubt, were brought back in memory to the ages of Faith in the fair land of France!
◆ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Browne#:~:text=Francis%20Patrick%20Mary%20Browne%2C%20SJ,during%20the%20First%20World%20War.
Francis Browne
Francis Patrick Mary Browne, SJ, MC & Bar (3 January 1880 – 7 July 1960) was a distinguished Irish Jesuit and a prolific photographer. His best known photographs are those of the RMS Titanic and its passengers and crew taken before its sinking in 1912. He was decorated as a military chaplain during the First World War.
Early life
Francis Browne was born to a wealthy family in 1880 at Buxton House, Cork, Ireland, the youngest of the eight children of James and Brigid (née Hegarty) Browne.[2] His mother was the niece of William Hegarty, Lord Mayor of Cork, and a cousin of Sir Daniel Hegarty, the first Lord Mayor of Cork. She died of puerperal fever eight days after Francis's birth. After the death of his father in a swimming accident at Crosshaven on 2 September 1889, Browne was raised and supported by his uncle, Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne, who bought him his first camera shortly before the younger man embarked on a tour of Europe in 1897.
Education
He spent his formative years at Bower Convent, Athlone (1888–91), Belvedere College (1891–92), Christian Brothers College, Cork (1892–1893), St. Vincent's Castleknock College (1893–97), graduating in 1897. He went on the aforementioned tour of Europe, where he began taking photographs.[3]
Upon his return to Ireland, he joined the Jesuits and spent two years in the novitiate at St Stanislaus College, Tullabeg, County Offaly. He attended the Royal University, Dublin, where he was a classmate of James Joyce, who featured him as Mr Browne the Jesuit in Finnegans Wake. In 1909, he visited Rome with his uncle and brother (a bishop and priest respectively), during which they had a private audience with Pope Pius X: the Pope allowed Browne to take his photograph.[4] He studied theology at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Dublin from 1911 to 1916.[3]
Aboard the Titanic
Browne's photograph of Douglas Spedden playing on the deck of RMS Titanic
Browne's photograph of the Titanic's first class dining saloon. For a later newspaper publication, the black splotch in the middle would be removed and a figure would be added to the table on the right.[5]
In April 1912 he received a present from his uncle: a ticket for the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic from Southampton, England, to Queenstown, Ireland, via Cherbourg, France. He travelled to Southampton via Liverpool and London, boarding the Titanic on the afternoon of 10 April 1912. He was booked in cabin no. A-37 on the Promenade Deck. Browne took dozens of photographs of life aboard Titanic on that day and the next morning; he shot pictures of the gymnasium, the Marconi room, the first-class dining saloon, his own cabin, and of passengers enjoying walks on the Promenade and Boat decks. He captured the last known images of many crew and passengers, including captain Edward J. Smith, gymnasium manager T. W. McCawley, engineer William Parr, Major Archibald Butt, writer Jacques Futrelle and numerous third-class passengers whose names are unknown.[6]
During his voyage on the Titanic, Browne was befriended by an American millionaire couple who were seated at his table in the liner's first-class dining saloon. They offered to pay his way to New York and back in return for Browne spending the voyage to New York in their company. Browne telegraphed his superior, requesting permission, but the reply was an unambiguous "GET OFF THAT SHIP – PROVINCIAL".[7]
Browne left the Titanic when she docked in Queenstown and returned to Dublin to continue his theological studies. When the news of the ship's sinking reached him, he realised that his photos would be of great interest, and he negotiated their sale to various newspapers and news cartels. They appeared in publications around the world. The Eastman Kodak company subsequently gave him free film for life and Browne often contributed to The Kodak Magazine.[8] It’s unknown what type of camera Browne used to shoot the famous photos aboard Titanic,[9] nor is it clear where the negatives are of the photographs Browne took on the ship.[10]
Later life
First World War
Francis Browne's war decorations, on display at Cobh Heritage Centre
After his ordination on 31 July 1915, he completed his theological studies. In 1916, the 36-year-old Browne was sent to Europe to join the Irish Guards as a chaplain. He served with the Guards until the spring of 1920, including service at the Battle of the Somme and at Locre, Wytschaete, Messines Ridge, Paschendaele, Ypres, Amiens and Arras in Flanders.[11]
Browne was wounded five times during the war, once severely in a gas attack. He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) on 4 June 1917 "for distinguished service in the field".[12] He was awarded a bar to his MC (a second award) on 18 February 1918:[13] his citation read "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He was untiring in his efforts to succour the wounded during an attack. His courage and determination under heavy shell-fire were a magnificent example to all."[14] He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre by France.[15]
Browne took many photographs during his time in Europe; one, which he called "Watch on the Rhine", is considered a classic image of World War I. He assembled a collection of his war photographs in an album named after his most famous photograph and distributed copies to his colleagues in the Guards.[11]
Post-War
After the war, he returned to Dublin, where, in 1922, he was appointed superior of Gardiner Street Church in Dublin. Ill health dogged him, however, and in 1924 it was thought that he would recover more quickly in warmer climes. He was sent on an extended visit to Australia.[16] He took his camera along, photographing life aboard ship and in Cape Town, South Africa, where he broke his voyage. His photographs from Australia covered a cross-section of life in the continent; he took pictures of farms, cattle stations, industries, new immigrants, and members of Irish religious orders who lived in that country.[16]
On his way back to Ireland, he visited Ceylon, Aden, Suez, Saloniki, Naples, Toulon, Gibraltar, Algeciras, and Lisbon, taking photographs of local life and events at every stop. It is estimated that Browne took more than 42,000 photographs during his life.[17]
Browne resumed office as the Superior of Saint Francis Xavier Church, Dublin, upon his return. In 1929 he was appointed to the Retreats and Mission staff of the Irish Jesuits. His work entailed preaching at missions and religious retreats all over Ireland; as most of this work was necessarily performed on evenings and Sundays, he had considerable time to indulge in his hobby during the daytime. He took photographs of many parishes and towns in Ireland, and also photographed in London and East Anglia during his ecclesiastical travels to England.[18]
Archivist David Davison summarised Browne's life work in 2014: "His first pictures in Cobh showed schooners sailing in the port, and by the end of his life, he was photographing Transatlantic aeroplanes at Shannon Airport. He was riveted by all of that".[19]
Publication of the photographs
Jesuit plot at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, where Father Browne was buried
Francis Browne died in Dublin in 1960 and was buried in the Jesuit plot in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. His negatives lay forgotten for 25 years after his death; they were found by chance in 1985 when Father Edward E. O'Donnell, SJ, discovered them in a large metal trunk, once belonging to Browne, in the Irish Jesuit archives. "When the trunk was opened in 1985, people compared him to the greats like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Doisneau, but his work predated theirs by decades", archivist David Davison later recalled.[19]
O'Donnell brought the negatives to the attention of several publishers. The Titanic photographs were published in 1997 as Father Browne’s Titanic Album with text by E. E. O'Donnell (Fr. Eddie O’Donnell).[20] In all, at least 25 volumes of Browne's photographs have now been published. The features editor of The Sunday Times of London called this "the photographic equivalent to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls". Many of these books have become best-sellers, the latest being the Centenary Edition of Father Browne's Titanic Album in 2012 by Messenger Publications, Dublin.[6]
The Irish province of the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus), the owner of the negatives pursuant to Browne's will, engaged photographic restoration specialists David and Edwin Davison to preserve and catalogue the fragile and unstable negatives. The Davisons made copies of every negative and are in the process of transferring every usable image to a digital format for future generations. The Davisons later acquired the rights to the photographs and still own the rights as Davison & Associates.[21][19]
Browne became better-known with his appearance (April 2012) on the commonest Irish postage stamp (55 cents) to mark the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic.
The twenty-fifth book of his photographs, Father Browne's Laois, was produced in Dublin by Messenger Publications in October 2013. The same publisher issued an updated biography, The Life and Lens of Father Browne in 2014. An hour-long documentary film on Browne's next book, detailing his experiences as an army chaplain during the Great War, appeared on RTÉ (Ireland's national broadcaster). Father Browne's First World War was then issued by Messenger Publications.[22]
Yale University Press published a volume of Fr Browne's best photographs, entitled Frank Browne: A Life through the Lens, by Colin Ford, E. E. O'Donnell SJ, David Davison (Editor) and Edwin Davison (Editor),[citation needed] in early 2015. An exhibition of these pictures was opened by the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) of Ireland, Joan Burton, at the Farmleigh Gallery in Dublin, running to Christmas 2014.[19]
During 2015 Browne's Dublin photographs were re-published as was a new selection of his pictures of County Donegal. By April 2016 there were no fewer than five Father Browne Exhibitions circulating in two continents.[23]
In 2016, Messenger Publications published 100 of Browne's photographs of Irish aviation from the early 20th century in Flying with Father Browne, by Eddie O'Donnell SJ.[24]
References
"Birth record of Francis Browne" (PDF). Retrieved 15 April 2018.
"Francis M. Browne : Titanic Passenger". Encyclopedia Titanica. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
Biodata, fatherbrowne.com; accessed 13 August 2014.
O'Donnell, E. E. (1990). "Photographer Extraordinary: The Life and Work of Father Browne". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 79 (315): 298–306. JSTOR 30091977.
titanicphotographs.com https://titanicphotographs.com/Browne/indexfatherbrowne.html. Retrieved 29 March 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
O'Donnell, E. E. (1997). Father Browne's Titanic Album: A Passenger's Photographs and Personal Memoir. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. ISBN 978-0-86327-598-2. Centenary Edition of this book was published by Messenger (Dublin, 2011).
Roche, Jennifer (17 April 2012). "How Holy Obedience Saved a Priest's Life on Titanic". National Catholic Register. EWTN News, Inc. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
Turning the camera on Father Browne The Irish Times 10 June 2015
White, Jack Leslie (1 February 2013). "Father Browne's Camera". The Titanic Commutator. 37 (200). Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Molony, Senan (19 January 2004). "Father Browne: The Missing Photographs". Encyclopedia Titanica. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
World War 1 through a lens Archived 6 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine by EE O'Donnell SJ, The Irish Catholic, 7 August 2014.
"No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1917. pp. 5468–5477.
"No. 30530". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 February 1918. pp. 2155–2157.
"No. 30801". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 July 1918. pp. 8444–8445.
"No. 31827". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 March 1920. pp. 3401–3402.
O'Donnell, E.E. (1996). Father Browne's Australia. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. ISBN 978-0-86327-443-5.
O'Donnell, E.E. (1994). Father Browne: a life in pictures. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. ISBN 978-0-86327-436-7.
This biography, with corrections and an updating chapter, was published under the title The Life and Lens of Father Browne, Messenger Publications, Dublin, May 2014. ISBN 978-1-910248-00-3.
Turning the camera on Father Browne Irish Times 10 June 2015
"Frank Browne: the Father of photojournalism". The Daily Telegraph. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
'Fr. Browne’s Titanic Album' released to mark centenary 9 January 2012 Derry Journal
"The Father Browne SJ Photographi".
E. E., O'Donnell (2015). Father Browne's First World War. Dublin: Messenger Publications. ISBN 978-1-910248-02-7.
Yale University Press, New Haven & London, ISBN 978-0-300-20815-3.
['Flying with Father Browne' Jesuits Ireland https://www.jesuit.ie/news/flying-father-browne/ 26 October 2016]
Sources
Eaton, John P.; Hass, Charles A. (1995). Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy (2nd ed.). New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-03697-8.
O'Donnell, E.E. (2000). Father Browne's Ships & Shipping. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. ISBN 978-0-86327-758-0.
Father Browne's Trains and Railways, currach.ie; accessed 13 August 2014.
The Reverend Father
Francis Browne
SJ MC & Bar
Fr Browne in 1939
Church Roman Catholic
Province Society of Jesus
Orders
Ordination 31 July 1915
by Robert Browne
Personal details
Born Francis Patrick Mary Browne
3 January 1880
Cork, Ireland[1]
Died 8 July 1960 (aged 80)
Dublin, Ireland
Buried Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland
Nationality Irish
Denomination Roman Catholic
Parents Brigid Hegarty and James Browne
Occupation Priest; photographer of the RMS Titanic
Relatives Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne
◆ https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/francis-browne.html
Francis M. Browne
Francis M. Browne was born on 3 January 1880 in Cork, Ireland. He was the eighth child of Brigid and James Browne and was baptized on 8 January at the Cathedral Church of SS. Mary and Anne, Shandon. His mother died the following day of puerperal fever.
Francis' mother Brigid Browne was the eldest daughter of James Hegarty, Lord Mayor of Cork, a wealthy merchant. James Browne was also a merchant; he died tragically when Francis was in his teens: drowned while ocean swimming at Crosshaven, County Cork. Francis' uncle Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne, living in Queenstown, took care of the young man.
Browne attended the Bower Convent in Athlone, Christian Brothers College in Cork, Belvedere College in Dublin and Castlenock College in Co. Dublin. In 1897 he graduated and then toured through Europe: France, Italy and Switzerland. His brother came with him and Francis brought a special gift from his uncle Robert - a camera.
Back in Ireland Francis entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tullabey in September 1897. Thereafter he went to the Royal University in Dublin (James Joyce was a contemporary). In 1902 Browne passed his examinations and travelled to Chieri near Turin, Italy to study philosophy. This lasted till 1906 and he returned to Dublin to teach at Belvedere College.
In 1911 he began his theological studies at Milltown Park, Dublin. The year after, his uncle Robert bought him a ticket for a trip on the Titanic: from Southampton to Queenstown. On 4 April he received his first-class ticket1 as a cross-channel passenger from White Star Agent James Scott & Co., Queenstown. To reach Southampton he travelled via Holyhead to London on 8 April. He probably spent the night on the train and the following one at his brother's, Dr. James Browne, an eye specialist, in London. On 10 April he left London at 9.45 am (according to other passengers at 8.0 am) on the "Titanic Special" to Southampton from Waterloo station. This train arrived at 11.30 am at Southampton. A friend, Tom Brownrigg, awaited him at the railway station. Both boarded the Titanic and inspected the stateroom A-37, which Browne would occupy. Brownrigg had to leave before the Titanic was scheduled to depart Southampton, at 12 o'clock. The next day Father Browne disembarked at Queenstown after a stop at Cherbourg the previous evening.
Browne was ordained to the priesthood on 31 July 1915 and went immediately to the front in Flanders as chaplain of the Irish Guards. He was injured five times, one time severely (gas attack). He was decorated by the MC and Bar, the Croix de Guerre and by a personal decoration by the Belgian King. In Spring 1920 he was demobilized, and he returned to Dublin.
Not long afterwards he was appointed Superior of St. Xavier's Church in Dublin. However, his physical constitution was still damaged by gassing in world war one. His doctor sent him to warmer climates, so Father Browne went to Australia. On his way to that country "down under" he stopped at Cape Town. On his way back he visited Ceylon, Aden, Suez, Saloniki, Naples, Toulon, Gibraltar, Algeciras and Lisbon. Everywhere he went he took photographs. By the end of his life he had collected nearly 42,000 of them.
From 1925 to 1929 he was back in Dublin at his post. Afterwards, he became a member of the Retreats and Mission staff of the Irish Jesuits. He preached all over Ireland. This he continued till the end of his life in 1960.
His obituary, writtten by Lord Nugent, mentioned: "A great Christian, a brave and loveable man, we who knew him so well will always be grateful for his friendship and for the example that he set."
Father Browne was buried in Glasnerin Cemetery, Dublin.
Father Browne and his camera left a treasure to us all: photographs of the maiden voyage of the Titanic from Southampton to Queenstown. He captured the near accident with the New York, he photographed Robert D. Spedden, T.W. Mc Cawley, Jacques Futrelle, Harold Bride and the last picture ever taken of Captain E.J. Smith
His photographs are now in the archives of the Irish Jesuits in Dublin.
Notes
The ticket number is often given as #84, at a cost of £4, but the source is unclear. No 84 is the May/Odell party's ticket. Herbert Odell is believed to have received a £4 refund on his part of the ticket as he did not sail. It is possible the number was allocated to Browne?
References and Sources
E. E. O'Donnell The Last Days of the Titanic / Father Browne: A Life in Pictures
Research Articles
Senan Molony Titanica! (2004) Father Browne: The Missing Photographs
Defamation, anonymity and some missing photographs?
Images
Harold Bride in the wireless room
Documents and Certificates
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912, National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279]).
Movies
Titanic Stories Titanic Stories (2011) A Lucky Escape from the Titanic -- The Titanic Photographs by Father Browne
Hear the story of the man who captured unique photos of Titanic before she sank. He was luckily summoned back to his duties instead of going on the maiden voyage.
