Edward Cahill

Who was Edward Cahill?

Rev. Fr Edward J. Cahill, S.J. was an Irish Jesuit priest and academic, born in Ballyvocogue, County Limerick. He was educated in Theology at Maynooth, and ordained a priest in 1897. In 1924, he joined the staff of the Jesuit Milltown Park Institute in Dublin as Professor of Church History, Lecturer in Sociology, and later, Spiritual Father.

In October 1926, on the occasion of the first celebration of the Feast of Christ the King, he founded "An Ríoghacht", the League of the Kingship of Christ. The object of this society was to ensure the use of Catholic Social Teaching in the Irish Free State. "An Ríoghacht", under Fr. Cahill's guidance, organised public meetings three or four times a year, published pamphlets on current topics and even attempted to produce a weekly paper to further its ideals. This organisation would go on to form the basis of Fr. Denis Fahey's Maria Duce.

He was a regular contributor the Irish Ecclesiastical Record and the Irish Monthly. His works often stressed the link between Catholicism and nationalism.

He died on 16 July 1941, aged 73, after a long illness.