Person DS/UK/558 O'Hea; Leo (1881-1976); Jesuit Priest O'Hea Leo 1881-1976 Jesuit Priest Male Born 14 July 1881 Dorking (Surrey). Entered the English Province of the Society of Jesus 7 September 1900. Ordained as a Roman Catholic priest 19 September 1915. Final Vows in the Society of Jesus 2 February 1918. Died 16 May 1976 St Beuno's.

Leo O’Hea was born 14 July 1881 in Dorking, Surrey. He was the eldest of ten children, five boys and five girls. One of his brothers, Jerome, also became a Jesuit. His school life began c1890 at the Oratory Middle School in Chelsea. From there he moved with his brother to Wimbledon College in 1893, where he was among its first group of 22 pupils on Worple Road. When the family moved from London, he was sent to Stonyhurst (1895-1900). From there, O’Hea joined the Society 7 September 1900 and after a year’s Philosophy at St Mary’s Hall, he went up to Oxford (Pope’s Hall, later to become Campion Hall), 1903 – 1907. Between 1909 and 1912 he taught Maths and Physics at Stonyhurst. O’Hea did his Theology at St Beuno’s 1912 to 1916 and was ordained 15 September 1915. During an Easter vacation the Rector, Fr Alexnder Keogh, sent him to Merseyside dockland to learn about conditions first-hand. His tertianship was at Tullamore, Ireland, 1916 to 1917. He was then sent to teach Maths and Physics at St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow, where he was aware of the groundswell of popular and political radicalism in Scotland known as Red Clydeside. He left Glasgow to teach at Stonyhurst again, between 1919 and 1921, and took his Final Vows 2 February 1918. On 1 November 1909, the Catholic Social Guild was set up, with Charles Plater SJ as one of the founding group. In 1919 Plater, then Master of Campion Hall, set up the Guild’s headquarters in Oxford. His death in January 1921 hastened the efforts to establish a Workers’ College in Oxford. Fr O’Hea was selected to be Principal. He was just 40 years old when he began what was to be his life’s work – the Catholic Workers’ College – of which he was Principal for the next 32 years. In the beginning, he took up lodgings with three scholars (a mill worker, a sheet-metal worker, and an engine driver) who were provided for by the Catholic Social Guild, at 223 Iffley Road, Oxford. The College moved the next year to 1 Walton Well Road, its home until 1955 In 1923 O’Hea became Honorary Secretary of the Catholic Workers’ Guild and combined that with his duties as Principal until 1946. Throughout the Second World War the Catholic Social Guild managed to hold its annual summer schools and AGMs, but the College had to close. Its premises became a home for mothers and babies evacuated from London. Fr O’Hea resided at Campion Hall and acted as Master during Fr D’Arcy’s absence abroad. While the Guild had kept alive and active throughout the war, the College had fully closed for six years. The break in continuity meant a completely fresh start. He realised that the College would take all his time and energy to re-establish so in 1946 Fr Andrew Gordon became Honorary Secretary of the Guild, assisted by Fr Paul Crane, while Fr O’Hea built up the College again. Fr O’Hea had begun the College in 1909 with three students, in 1945 with four students, and by 1950 the rollcall was 20. The breadth of intake increased, with students from German trade unions, Belgium, Ghana, China, Malta, India and Guyana. The walks, bird watching, and swimming resumed. In 1952, after 32 years as Principal of the College he had founded, he was succeeded by Fr Charles Pridgeon. He joined the staff at Corby Hall, giving retreats and moved among the people of Tyneside, many of whom had been his students. In 1954 he was sent as Rector to St Beuno’s and remained a member of the community when he was sent to Fishguard as chaplain to St Teresa’s convent (1963 to 1972), and returned for his last four years. He died 16 May 1976. His funeral took place 21 May with Fr Provincial as celebrant along with 18 other priests, Jesuit and diocesan, representing Stonyhurst, Wimbledon, St Helens and the local deanery. Fr Waterhouse, third Principal of the College preached the panegyric, and representatives of the College and past students were there. Further Masses were celebrated in Glasgow, Oxford, and at Plater College, so that his many friends and students could pay their tribute and offer their prayers. Member of the English Province of the Society of Jesus Catalogus Defunctorum 1970-1985 (Society of Jesus); Letters and Notices vol. 81, pp. 414-433 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes Archives 05/09/2014 CURIA\mallen 05/05/2021 b4bc13f5-0958-4730-81ee-e4a168c6be14