Showing 277 results

Baptismal name: Patrick Creed
Religious name: Fr. Berard Creed OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 17 Aug. 1923
Place of birth: Kilmurry, County Cork
Name of father: John Creed
Name of mother: Mary Creed (née Anglin)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1942
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1943
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1946
Date of ordination (as priest): 24 May 1951
Educational attainments: BA, 1st class hons. (1946); MA, 1st class hons. (1947); Higher Diploma in Education (1956)
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor (Councillor), 1961-4, 1964-7; Provincial Minister, 1967-73; Director of Postulants, 1973-5; Vicar Provincial, 1976-9; Provincial Definitor and Novice Master, 1979-82.
Missionary activities: Travelled to Auckland, New Zealand, on 30 June 1975. He returned to Ireland on 30 July 1976; Travelled to South Korea in 1990 and returned to Ireland in 1994.
Date of death: 1 Feb. 2004
Place of death: Kilkenny
Place of burial: Foulkestown Cemetery, County Kilkenny

William Hyland was born in the village of Lanesborough in County Longford on 11 February 1894. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in November 1912 and took Justin as his religious name upon entering the novitiate. He was ordained to the priesthood on 21 May 1921. In 1929 he was transferred to the American mission custody. He was assigned to the community at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Abbottstown in Pennsylvania. Just two years later he was recalled to Ireland and was appointed novice master. For the greater part of his life in ministry, Fr. Justin was involved in the formation and training of student friars. He was a lector of theology and director of students in both St. Bonaventure’s Hostel and in Rochestown Friary in County Cork and was master of cleric novices for twelve years. He also served as master of lay brother novices. In addition, he was guardian (local superior) of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork for seven years and was President of Father Mathew Memorial Hall on Church Street in Dublin from 1943 to 1945. He spent the later years of his life residing with the Raheny community in Dublin. He died on 24 May 1977. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Baptismal name: William Hyland
Religious name: Fr. Justin Hyland OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 11 February 1894
Place of birth: Lanesborough, County Longford (Diocese of Ardagh)
Name of father: Patrick Hyland (Farmer)
Name of mother: Brigid Hyland (née Brennan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 22 Nov. 1912
Date of first profession: 25 Mar. 1914
Date of final profession: 22 Dec. 1917
Date of ordination (as priest): 21 May 1921
Educational attainments: BA (1917); MA (1924)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States in 1929. He returned to Ireland in 1931.
Date of death: 24 May 1977
Place of death: Church Street, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

John Hyland was born near the village of Lanesborough in County Longford on 7 December 1881. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in October 1900 and took Martin as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood by Abraham Brownrigg, Bishop of Ossory, at St. Kieran’s College in Kilkenny on 16 March 1907. He held a variety of offices within the Order mainly in the communities at Holy Trinity Friary and at Rochestown College in County Cork. For several years he was Professor of Canon Law in Rochestown and was later appointed guardian (local superior) of the community. He was later transferred to Holy Trinity in Cork city and served two terms as guardian of this foundation. He took a keen interest in the Third Order of St. Francis lay confraternity attached to Holy Trinity Church. He also acted as spiritual director to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He died while attempting to recuperate from a bout of influenza in Glengariff in County Cork. He was buried in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Friary.

Baptismal name: John Hyland
Religious name: Fr. Martin Hyland OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 7 Dec. 1881
Place of birth: Lanesborough, County Longford
Name of father: Patrick Hyland (Farmer)
Name of mother: Brigid Hyland (née Brennan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 28 Oct. 1900
Date of first profession: 1 Nov. 1901
Date of final profession: 24 June 1905
Date of ordination (as priest): 16 Mar. 1907
Educational attainments: BCL degree, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium
Date of death: 2 Apr. 1933
Place of death: Roche’s Hotel, Glengariff, County Cork (He was guardian of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork at the time of his death).
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

Mortimer O’Shea was born in Glengarriff in County Cork on New Year’s Day in 1897. His early studies were in the local national school. In 1908 he enrolled in the Seraphic College in Rochestown, County Cork. He entered the Capuchin novitiate in August 1914 and took Cassian as his religious name. He was awarded a degree in Irish studies from University College Cork in 1919. Following the completion of his theological studies, he was ordained in Holy Trinity Church in Cork on 29 June 1923. Soon after his ordination, he went to Rome for further studies. He received a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1926. On his return to Ireland, he spent seventeen years teaching Canon Law to theological students at Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal. He served as guardian (local superior) of Ard Mhuire from 1937 to 1943. A gifted Irish scholar, he published several works in the language. Following the completion of his term as guardian at Ard Mhuire, he was transferred to the Kilkenny Friary and served as Vicar and Master of Lay Novices. In 1947 he volunteered for the American Mission. His initial assignment was in St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington in Delaware where he served as guardian for six years. He moved to the West Coast in 1958 and spent one year as assistant pastor in St. Mary’s Parish in Ukiah, California. From there he moved to Our Lady of Angels Friary in Burlingame. Other assignments included associate pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Los Angeles and chaplain at St. Charles Hospital in Bend, Oregon. He died in Los Angeles on 16 February 1981 and was buried in the cemetery attached to San Lorenzo Seminary at the Santa Inez Mission in California.

Baptismal name: Mortimer O’Shea
Religious name: Fr. Cassian O’Shea OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 1 Jan. 1897
Place of birth: Glengarriff, County Cork
Name of father: Patrick O’Shea
Name of mother: Elizabeth O’Shea (née O’Sullivan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 27 Aug. 1914
Date of first profession: 8 Sept. 1915
Date of final profession: 29 June 1923
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1923 (Holy Trinity Church, Cork)
Educational attainments: BA, 1919; Doctorate in Canon Law (Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome), 1926
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States on 29 July 1947
Date of death: 16 February 1981
Place of death: Los Angeles, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inez Mission, California

Baptismal name: Michael Halvey
Religious name: Br. Bonaventure Halvey OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 22 Sept. 1869
Place of birth: Castle Bellew, Moylough, County Galway
Name of father: Michael Halvey (Wood Ranger)
Name of mother: Julia Halvey (née Fahy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 1887
Date of death: 11 Mar. 1892
Place of death: Franciscan Monastery, Mountbellew, County Galway (*Died of tuberculosis)

Daniel O’Reilly was born in Castlepollard, a small village in north County Westmeath on 22 November 1831. He was born into a reasonably affluent farming family, and he was sent to St. Patrick’s College in Carlow for his education where he excelled in classical studies. Having decided to join the Capuchin Franciscans, he was sent to Belgium for his novitiate studies in about 1850. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1855 and soon afterwards returned to Ireland. Most of his life in ministry was spent in Church Street in Dublin where he devoted his energies to financing the construction of St. Mary of the Angels (built between 1868 and 1881) on the site of an earlier Capuchin chapel. He served as guardian (local superior) of the Church Street community from 1864 to 1866. In 1873 he was appointed Custos (superior) of the Capuchin foundations in Dublin and in Kilkenny which remained subject to the supervision of the Provincial Minister of the Capuchins in Paris. Fr. O’Reilly preached at the opening of the Irish Capuchin novitiate in Kilkenny in October 1875. The original pulpit in St. Mary of the Angels (unveiled on 25 December 1883) was presented to him as a token of esteem by several wealthy benefactors. His work in rebuilding the Irish Capuchins was recognised when was he was afforded the title of Provincial Minister several years before the Irish Province was canonically restored in 1885. He died (of dropsy or edema) on 3 September 1894 in the Church Street Friary and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Daniel O’Reilly
Religious name: Fr. Daniel Patrick O’Reilly OSFC
Date of birth: 22 Nov. 1831
Place of birth: Castlepollard, County Westmeath
Date of ordination (as priest): 1855
Date of death: 3 Sept. 1894
Place of death: Church Street, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Baptismal name: William Keogh
Religious name: Fr. Denis Keogh OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 1 June 1908
Place of birth: Dublin
Name of father: Edward Keogh
Name of mother: Elizabeth Keogh (née Kavanagh)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 4 Oct. 1925
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1926
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1929
Date of ordination (as priest): 30 June 1933
Educational attainments: BA (1st class honours); £100 bursary for translation studies, MA (1930); Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus (Licentiate of Sacred Theology), Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome (1934).
Leadership positions: Vice-Secretary for the English-Speaking Jurisdictions of the Capuchin Order (1952-1974) at the General Curia in Rome
Date of death: 10 Apr. 1974
Place of death: Rome
Place of burial: Cemetery, Papal Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, Rome

James Tommins was born in Dublin on 29 March 1812. Often, when recounting the difficult conditions in pre-emancipation Ireland, he would tell his younger fellow-friars: ‘You were born free. I was born a slave’. As a youth he was apprenticed to a haberdasher, or, more specifically, a button-manufacturer. He frequently attended religious services at the Capuchin chapel on Church Street. In his late thirties, Tommins expressed a desire to become a Capuchin friar. He went to night school to gain the necessary knowledge of the classics, and, by assiduous study, he soon reached the standard required for the novitiate. Then, in 1849, at the age of 42, he was sent to Bruges, in Belgium, for his novitiate and studies. Having taken Edward as his religious name, he was noted for his strict obedience and generous self-sacrifice, which, together with his profound humility, won him the esteem of the Capuchin community in Belgium, and secured his admission to profession. With the successful completion of his studies and having been ordained priest in 1856 by Jean-Baptiste Malou (1809-1864), Bishop of Bruges, he returned to Ireland. The following year Fr. Theobald Matthew OSFC, then Commissary-General, assigned him to Kilkenny. Except for a short period during which he was guardian (local superior) in Cork in 1861, Fr. Tommins spent his entire priestly life in Kilkenny, most of the time as guardian of a small fraternity of two or three friars. He prepared the way for the establishment of a Capuchin novitiate in Ireland; and, at a later period was appointed Commissary-General. On 23 January 1861, Fr. Edward called a meeting of the people of Kilkenny to arrange for the furnishing of the friary church. The meeting was presided over by the Mayor, Thomas Power, and it was agreed to engage Mr. McCarthy, architect, to oversee the improvements to the church, including the installation of the high altar. Once the church was completed, Fr. Tommins was also responsible for the purchase of the garden as far as Pennyfeather Lane. He also gave occasional missions and retreats notably in Castlecomer, Clough and Urlingford. With a shortage of Capuchin priests in the Irish Province, he sometimes said one Mass in Dublin on a Sunday morning; and then took the train to Kilkenny to say a second Mass there. He was also responsible for the inauguration of the Third Order of St. Francis lay confraternity in Cork in about 1866. Of the first six men he recruited as tertiaries, two joined the Capuchins: Br. Joseph O Mahony OSFC (d. 1902) and Br. Felix Harte OSFC (d. 1935). Fr. Tommins was also one of the first to take the pledge when Bishop (later Cardinal) Francis Moran, founded the Total Abstinence Sodality in Kilkenny. He died at the Capuchin Friary on Walkin Street in Kilkenny on 29 July 1889 and was afforded an elaborate public funeral. He was laid to rest in a tomb adjoining the northern aisle of St. Francis Capuchin Church in Kilkenny.

Baptismal name: James Tommins
Religious name: Fr. James Edward Tommins OSFC
Date of birth: c.29 Mar. 1812
Place of birth: Dublin
Name of father: Nicholas Tommins
Name of mother: Mary Tommins (née Casey)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: c.1830
Date of ordination (as priest): 1856
Date of death: 29 July 1889
Place of death: Capuchin Friary, Walkin Street, Kilkenny

Baptismal name: Michael Neary
Religious name: Fr. Fidelis Neary OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 28 Oct. 1855
Place of birth: Freshford, County Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: John Neary
Name of mother: Brigid Neary (née Dowling)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 28 Oct. 1875
Date of first profession: 1 Nov. 1876
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1880
Date of ordination (as priest): 21 Sept. 1881
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor (Councillor): 1893-5, 1898-1901; Custos General: 1895-8; Guardian, Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny, 1893-5; Guardian, Holy Trinity Friary, Cork, 1895-8; Guardian, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, 1901-4; Master of Novices, 1898-1901
Date of death: 22 June 1932
Place of death: Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork