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James Cahalan was Provincial of the Irish Vincentian Province 1966-1975.

William Byrne was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, on 6 July 1887. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans on 23 May 1908 and took Aidan as his religious name. He made his solemn profession on 12 October 1912. For many years he was associated with the House of Studies at St. Bonaventure’s in Cork. He was later appointed a Brother Questor and collected alms to support the friars for over twenty years. He died in Dublin on 1 June 1963 and was buried in the Capuchin plot in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: William Byrne
Religious name: Br. Aidan Byrne OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 6 July 1887
Place of birth: Duffy’s Gate, Enniscorthy, County Wexford (Diocese of Ferns)
Name of father: Edward Byrne (Painter)
Name of mother: Mary Byrne (née Atkins)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 23 May 1908
Date of first profession: 8 Sept. 1909
Date of final profession: 12 Oct. 1912
Date of death: 1 June 1963
Place of death: Bons Secours Hospital, Glasnevin, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Patrick Butler was born in Sheastown, County Kilkenny, on 6 February 1873. He joined the Capuchins in 1890 (taking John as his religious name) and was ordained a priest in January 1899. For the following three years he worked as a science teacher in the Capuchin College in Rochestown, County Cork. He subsequently joined the missionary staff and was involved in giving missions and retreats throughout Ireland. In 1914, he travelled to Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. He spent nearly two years in the United States assisting Irish Capuchin missionaries in preaching activities. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to Ireland, and in April 1916 was appointed a chaplain in the British Army with the rank of Captain. He served for a short time with the home garrisons in Canterbury and in Blackpool. He was later sent to the Middle East and Palestine as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), an Allied military formation which fought the Ottoman Turks for control of this strategically important region. He was present at the Battle of Gaza (March 1917), and at the capture of Jerusalem (December 1917), and later acted as chaplain in a casualty clearing station in Damascus. Fr. John returned to Ireland in 1919 and spent the following eleven years in the Capuchin Friary on Church Street in Dublin. In 1930 he moved to Cork and was attached to the community at Holy Trinity Friary. He remained in Cork until his death on 3 October 1950.

Baptismal name: John Butler
Religious name: Fr. John Butler OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 6 February 1873
Place of birth: Sheastown, County Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: Tobias Butler
Name of mother: Catherine Butler (née Murphy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 23 June 1890
Date of first profession: 15 Aug. 1891
Date of final profession: 11 Oct. 1896
Date of ordination (as priest): 8 Jan. 1899
Missionary activity: Travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States on 18 May 1914; Returned to Ireland on 25 Mar. 1916.
Educational attainments: BA (RUI)
Date of death: 3 Oct. 1950
Place of death: Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, Cork
Note: Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. (1876-1958) was a younger brother of Fr. John Butler OFM Cap.

Baptismal name: John Butler
Religious name: Br. Colman Butler OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 28 Feb. 1890
Place of birth: Kilgreana, Rosslee, County Mayo
Name of father: Edward Butler (Farmer)
Name of mother: Margaret Butler (née Flannery)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Dec. 1922
Date of first profession: 10 Feb. 1924
Date of final profession: 10 Feb. 1927
Date of death: 1 Dec. 1958
Place of death: Kilkenny County Hospital (now St. Luke’s General Hospital)
Place of burial: Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny

Born in Sheastown in County Kilkenny, Michael Butler entered the Capuchin novitiate on 25 September 1896 taking Casimir as his religious name. He was ordained a priest in September 1903 and was subsequently appointed to the teaching staff of the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork. In 1910 he was among the first Irish friars to undertake missionary work in the United States. His first appointment was in Hermiston in Oregon which was then a desolate railroad settlement. The task awaiting him was daunting as Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. noted: ‘whoever is appointed to Hermiston must be prepared for a lonely, self-sacrificing life’. The Servite Fathers who had arrived in Hermiston in early 1909, left the diocese in January 1910. Casimir began work immediately in Hermiston and completed a small church with a second-floor dwelling reached by an outside ladder. In 1912, with the assistance of Fr. Malachy Hynes OFM Cap., a new location was secured from the Maxwell Land and Irrigation Company. Fr. Brendan O’Callaghan OFM Cap. replaced Fr. Malachy in 1913 and Fr. Seraphin O’Reilly OFM Cap. arrived the following year. Together the friars built a new church which was consecrated on 24 October 1915. Before he left Hermiston, Casimir had built three mission churches including the Church of St. Patrick at Umatilla in Oregon. From Hermiston he went to the Old Mission Santa Inés in California where he and Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. took charge following the death of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. on 14 February 1925. In 1929 Casimir joined the newly established Irish Capuchin mission in Cape Town, South Africa. In January 1932 he was appointed the first Superior Regular of the Irish Capuchin mission in Africa. He also ministered for some years in the pioneering Capuchin mission in Barotseland in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Ill-health forced his return to Ireland from Africa in December 1946. He died in Dublin on 18 January 1958 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Michael Butler
Religious name: Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 12 Oct. 1876
Place of birth: Kilkenny, Diocese of Ossory
Name of father: Tobias Butler
Name of mother: Catherine Butler (née Murphy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 25 Sept. 1896
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1897
Date of solemn profession: 2 Aug. 1902
Date of ordination (as priest): 13 Sept. 1903
Educational attainments: BA (RUI), 1901
Missionary assignments: Travelled to Hermiston, Oregon in 1910; Travelled to South Africa in 1929; Returned to Ireland in December 1946
Leadership positions: Superior Regular Foreign Missions in Africa (1932)
Date of death: 18 Jan. 1958
Place of death: Church Street, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Baptismal name: John Burke
Religious name: Fr. Eustace Burke OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 24 Dec. 1914
Place of birth: Ballyhesty, Whitechurch, County Cork
Name of father: John Burke (Farmer)
Name of mother: Margaret Teresa Burke (née Murphy)
Date of parents’ marriage: 9 Feb. 1909
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1934
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1935
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1938
Date of ordination (as priest): 14 June 1942 (St. Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny, County Donegal)
Educational attainments: BA (1938)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) in November 1942. He was initially stationed in the Sichilli mission in Barotseland, but a serious illness necessitated his transfer to Livingstone where he ministered until August 1947. He was then transferred to South Africa and was appointed pastor of St. Mary of the Angels, Athlone, Cape Town.
Date of death: 2 Oct. 1949
Place of death: St. Joseph’s Sanatorium, Pinelands, Cape Town, South Africa
Place of burial: Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, South Africa

Maurice Buckley was born in Kilnamartyra, County Cork, on 25 January 1920. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in January 1940. He was a postulant and novice in Kilkenny and took his solemn vows on 8 April 1944. He was part of the community in Rochestown Friary in County Cork until 1952. He then spent three years in Raheny in Dublin and a further eighteen months in Holy Trinity Friary in Cork. In 1956 he volunteered for missionary work in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He spent twenty years in Africa as a missionary. He laboured in construction work in many of the mission stations established by the Irish Capuchins in Zambia including Kalabo, Sichili, Mongu and Lukulu. He returned to Ireland in 1978 and was initially stationed in Kilkenny before moving to Rochestown in County Cork. He died on 24 November 2003 and was buried in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Friary.

Baptismal name: Maurice Buckley
Religious name: Br. Maruice Buckley OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 25 January 1920
Place of birth: Kilnamartyra, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Patrick Buckley
Name of mother: Mary Buckley (née Healy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 25 January 1940
Date of first profession: 16 Jan. 1941
Date of final profession: 8 Apr. 1944
Missionary activities: Travelled to Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) on 19 Apr. 1956. He returned to Ireland on 10 Aug. 1978.
Date of death: 24 Nov. 2003
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

Baptismal name: Jeremiah Buckley
Religious name: Br. Fergus Buckley OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 4 Feb. 1916
Place of birth: Kilnamartyra, Macroom, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Patrick Buckley
Name of mother: Mary Buckley (née Healy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 25 May 1936
Date of first profession: 21 May 1937
Date of final profession: 21 May 1940
Missionary activities: Travelled to Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), on 12 Nov. 1943. He returned to Ireland on 21 July 1983.
Leadership positions: Councillor, Livingstone Mission, Zambia, 1973-6, 1976-9
Date of death: 16 Oct. 1992
Place of death: Raheny, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Charles Buckley was born in Cork on 17 July 1902. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in October 1922 and took Eunan as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood in Cork on 29 June 1930. His initial ministry was in Holy Trinity Church in Cork, but he was transferred to the United States mission in 1931. In September 1936, St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware, was officially designated as a novitiate and Eunan was appointed the first Novice Master. He held this position until early September 1938 when he returned to Ireland. During the Second World War he served as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force. Following the conclusion of hostilities, he returned to the United States. From 1956 to 1959 he was Pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Fort Bragg in California. In 1959 he was transferred as Pastor to St. Joseph’s Parish in Roseburg, Oregon. He returned to Fort Bragg as Associate Pastor in Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in 1964. After several years of ministry here, he was appointed to Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame. He suffered a severe stroke in 1970 which ended his years in active ministry. He died in Burlingame, California, on 15 October 1974.

Baptismal name: Charles Buckley
Religious name: Fr. Eunan Buckley OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 17 July 1902
Place of birth: Muskerry Terrace, Blarney, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Cornelius Buckley
Name of mother: Catherine Buckley
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 15 Oct. 1922 (Kilkenny)
Date of first profession: 19 Oct. 1923
Date of final profession: 19 Oct. 1926
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1930
Educational attainments: BA, 1st class hons., NUI (1926)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission custody in 1931. He returned to Ireland in 1938. He returned to the United States in 1948.
Date of death: 15 Oct. 1974
Place of death: Burlingame, California, United States
Place of burial: San Francisco, United States

Joseph Francis Brunton was born in Kilkenny on 19 March 1894. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in September 1911 and took Ambrose as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood on 15 March 1919 in Cork. Following his ordination, he volunteered for missionary work in the United States in 1920. His initial ministry was in Roseburg in Oregon. In 1923 he became the first Irish Capuchin pastor of St. Anthony’s parish in Willits, Mendocino County, in California. In 1929 he spent a short period of time with Fr. Joseph Fenlon OFM Cap. at St. Francis parish in Los Angeles. From there he went to the Blessed Sacrament Parish in Elk, Mendocino County, in California, where he served as pastor. Illness forced him to temporarily retire from ministry and to recuperate with the community at Mission Santa Inés near Solvang in California. In 1954, he was assigned to St. Mary’s parish in Ukiah, California. A year later he was transferred to St. Lawrence of Brindisi parish in Watts, Los Angeles. He remained in Los Angeles until his death on 8 March 1974. The renowned Irish tenor Brenda O’Dowda (1925-2002), a nephew of Fr. Ambrose, sang at his Funeral Mass which took place in St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church. He was buried in Los Angeles.

Baptismal name: Joseph Francis Brunton
Religious name: Fr. Ambrose Brunton OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 19 Mar. 1894
Place of birth: James Street, Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: Patrick Brunton
Name of mother: Christina Brunton (née Byrne)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Sept. 1911
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1912
Date of final profession: 8 July 1916
Date of ordination (as priest): 15 Mar. 1919
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission in May 1920
Date of death: 8 Mar. 1974
Place of death: Los Angeles, California