Jesuits

Ulysses contains many references to the "jesuits," a large order of Catholic priests and brothers known formally as the Society of Jesus, or S.J. The order was founded in the 16th century by Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola (1491-1566), a Spanish knight from a noble Basque family called by the Latin name Ignatius Loyola. Stephen Dedalus, like Joyce, has received a good education from the Jesuits during most of his years from age 6 onward, and an official in two of the schools he attended, "John Conmee S.J.," appears under his own name in Wandering Rocks. In the opening sentences of Telemachus Buck Mulligan insultingly calls Stephen a jesuit despite his apostasy. Joyce did not disagree.

John Hunt 2015

Oil portrait of Loyola by Peter Paul Rubens showing him writing under the motto AMDG (Ad maioram Dei gloriam, "To the greater glory of God"), the initials that begin Stephen's school themes in A Portrait. Source: cardinalsblog.adw.org.

Statue of Loyola in the reception area of Clongowes Wood College today, photographed in 2013 by Leftofcentresayshi. Source: Wikimedia Commons.