He served as a Royal Navy chaplain during the Second World War, in Derry and aboard HMS Anson in the Pacific.
He was a prolific writer on religious subjects, but also adventure stories for boys ( usually as M. Bodkin).
– an account of a secret attempt to establish a ( foreign) military base in Northern Donegal, which is discovered by two visiting schoolchildren.
His most acclaimed work was a biography of John Sullivan, a fellow Jesuit, published as The Port of Tears in 1954.
In later life, his eyesight began to fail, so he turned to retreat work and councilling.