Edward Boyd-Barrett, ex SJ

    Boyd - Barrett was the Irish Jesuit who left the order in the 1920s. He was the son of one of James McCarthy's neices. (Others in the family still live in Dublin; Connor has met them; the youngest, adopted by David Boyd-Barrett is an anti-war activist; another story!)

     Boyd - Barrett and Nanny saw each other in New York, and then the BCB Seniors visited with them in Dublin. Jack Boyd-Barrett and his brothers were well educated Catholics who were very sympathetic to the cause of Irish Nationalism. Boyd-Barrett, by his own account was in trouble with the Jesuit hierarchy almost from the moment he joined. Studying psychology very rare for the times. Tried to meld psychology and Catholicism. When he left the order, and eventually returned it was very much read about and talked about in Catholic circles.