Baptismal name: Henry Carroll
Religious name: Fr. Eugene Carroll OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 21 Oct. 1889
Place of birth: 84 Rathmore Buildings, Cork
Name of father: Eugene Carroll (Cooper)
Name of mother: Mary Carroll (née Buckley)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 23 Oct. 1907
Date of first profession: 8 Dec. 1908
Date of final profession: 19 Dec. 1912
Date of ordination (as priest): 16 May 1916
Educational attainments: MA (1934)
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor (Councillor): 1934-7, 1937-40, 1940-3, 1943-6, 1946-9; Master of Novices; Rector of Seraphic College, Rochestown, County Cork, 1934-55
Date of death: 29 Oct. 1967
Place of death: South Infirmary, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork
Joseph Rice was born in County Laois on 28 May 1881. He joined the Capuchin Order on 1 May 1913 and took Fidelis as his religious name. The greater part of his religious life was spent in Rochestown Friary in County Cork where he worked as a cook. However, he also spent time in the Kilkenny community where he was entrusted with the training of lay brother candidates and novices as Brother Master. He also spent shorter periods in St. Bonaventure’s Hostel in Cork and in Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal in the early years of these foundations. His later years were spent in St. Mary of the Angels on Church Street in Dublin. Afflicted by long periods of ill-health, he died on 9 August 1963. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork.
Baptismal name: Joseph Rice
Religious name: Br. Fidelis Rice OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 28 May 1881
Place of birth: Ardateggle, County Laois (Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin)
Name of father: Martin Rice (Farmer)
Name of mother: Mary Rice (née Heffernan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 1 May 1913
Date of first profession: 1 May 1914
Date of final profession: 8 Sept. 1918
Date of death: 9 Aug. 1963
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork
Edward Kennedy was born in County Tipperary on 9 January 1897. He joined the Capuchin Order in January 1915 and took Isidore as his religious name. He was transferred to the Irish Capuchin mission in the United States shortly after his ordination to the priesthood in 1924. From 1926 to 1928 he was assigned to the staff of St. Anthony’s College in Mendocino City in California where the friars had established a small foundation to train those aspiring to join the Order. In 1933 he was briefly transferred to Our Lady of Angels Parish in Burlingame. He spent a good portion of the 1930s in Arizona for health reasons after advice from doctors to seek a drier climate. Returning to the Pacific Coast, he spent some time at St. Benedict’s Parish in McKenzie Ridge in Oregon. He remained here until 17 June 1954 when he was appointed Pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Willits in California. In 1957 he was transferred to St. Mary’s Parish in Ukiah, California. In the 1960s he was a member of the Capuchin community at San Lorenzo Seminary at the Old Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California. During this time, he worked as a chaplain to the Brothers of St John of God Rest Home in Ojai Valley. He spent his final years in a retirement home in Santa Barbara and died on 1 October 1973. He was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Old Mission Santa Inés.
Baptismal name: Edward Kennedy
Religious name: Fr. Isidore Kennedy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 9 Jan. 1897
Place of birth: Drombane, County Tipperary
Name of father: Thomas Kennedy
Name of mother: Margaret Kennedy (née McCarthy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 16 Jan. 1915
Date of first profession: 16 Jan. 1916
Date of final profession: 12 Apr. 1919
Date of ordination (as priest): 15 Mar. 1924
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western American Mission in 1924.
Date of death: 1 Oct. 1973
Place of death: Santa Barbara, California, United States
Place of burial: Old Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California, United States
Timothy Heffernan was born on St. Patrick’s Day (17 March) in 1932 in Turner’s Cross in Cork. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in October 1949 and took Enda as his religious name. He was ordained a priest in St. Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny, County Donegal, on 30 May 1957. Soon after his ordination he travelled to the Western United States Mission. He was initially a parish priest in St. Mary’s Church in Ukiah, California. For many years, he was later a teacher and Dean at St. Francis High School in La Canada, California. In April 1979 he became the first Minister Provincial of the newly established Province of Our Lady of Angels in the Western United States. Following the completion of his term as Provincial Minister in 1985, he served as Novice Master in San Lorenzo Seminary in California. Later, he moved to San Bonaventura Friary in San Francisco where he took up the ministry of retreat director. He subsequently moved to St. Francis Friary in Burlingame. He suffered from ill-health in his final years, and he died on 24 April 2001. He was buried in the cemetery attached to San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California.
Baptismal name: Timothy Heffernan
Religious name: Fr. Enda Heffernan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 17 Mar. 1932
Place of birth: Cork
Name of father: John Heffernan
Name of mother: Margaret Heffernan (née Morey)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1949
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1950
Date of final profession: 5 Oct. 1953
Date of ordination (as priest): 30 May 1957
Educational attainments: BA (1953)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States Mission in 1958
Leadership positions: Appointed Vice Provincial, Western United States Mission on 28 Mar. 1977; Appointed Minister Provincial of the newly created Western United States Province on 18 Apr. 1979.
Date of death: 25 Apr. 2001
Place of death: San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California
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
George Albert Ratigan was born in County Roscommon on 4 October 1906. He entered the Capuchin novitiate at the age of twenty-four and took Robert as his religious name. He spent the three years of his simple profession at St. Bonaventure’s Hostel in Cork and took his philosophy degree from University College Cork. He was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar on 4 October 1934. Following four years of theological study at Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal, he was ordained to the priesthood in St. Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny on 19 June 1938. His first assignment was in Kilkenny (1938-41) which was followed by two years with the Church Street community in Dublin. He returned to Kilkenny in 1943 and he remained there until 1952. He volunteered for missionary work in the Irish Capuchin custody in the United States in 1955. He did parish supply work in several parishes on the East Coast of the United States while stationed at St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1964 he spent some time at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame, California. From there he went to St. Joseph’s Parish in Oregon. He also conducted missions and was active in parish work in Ukiah, California, and in Roseburg, Oregon. He returned to Ireland in 1969 and was appointed once again to Kilkenny where he remained until his death on 1 February 1983. He was buried in the Capuchin plot in Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny.
Baptismal name: George Albert Ratigan
Religious name: Fr. Robert Ratigan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 4 Oct. 1906
Place of birth: Rathmore South, Kilbride, County Roscommon (Diocese of Elphin)
Name of father: Michael Ratigan
Name of mother: Catherine Ratigan (née Doyle)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1930
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1931
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1934
Date of ordination (as priest): 19 June 1938
Educational attainments: BA (1934)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission in 1955. He returned to Ireland in 1969.
Date of death: 1 Feb. 1983
Place of death: Kilkenny
Place of burial: Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny
From the ‘Necrology of the Western American Province’ (2005):
George Ratigan was born in County Roscommon in October 1906. He took Robert as his religious name upon joining the Capuchin Order. He ministered in Ireland before coming to the United States. He did parish supply work on the east coast while stationed at St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1964 he spent some time at Our Lady of the Angels parish in Burlingame. From there he went to St. Joseph’s parish in Roseburg in Oregon. He returned to Ireland in 1969 and he died in Kilkenny in 1983.
William Leahy was born in Blackrock, Cork, on 9 February 1939. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in January 1957 and took Angelus as his religious name. He completed his postulancy and novitiate in Kilkenny. His first assignment was in the Theology House at Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal. After nearly three years in Donegal, he returned to Cork and worked as a cook in Rochestown College. He was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar on 7 April 1961. Aside from a short stint questing for the Church Street Friary in Dublin, Br. Angelus spent most of the next eighteen years working as a cook in communities in Rochestown, Ard Mhuire and Raheny. In 1980 he volunteered to travel to New Zealand where the Irish Capuchins had established a mission custody. His initial assignment was at the friary in Henderson, a suburb in Auckland. Ill-health forced his return to Ireland in 1992 and he died in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork on 16 September 1992. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork.
Baptismal name: William Leahy
Religious name: Br. Angelus Leahy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 9 February 1939
Place of birth: Blackrock, Cork
Name of father: Michael Leahy
Name of mother: Margaret Leahy (née Deasy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 6 Jan. 1957
Date of first profession: 7 Jan. 1958
Date of final profession: 7 Apr. 1961
Missionary activities: Travelled to the New Zealand mission custody in 1980. He returned to Ireland in 1992.
Date of death: 16 Sept. 1992
Place of death: Bon Secours Hospital, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork
James Doyle was born in Sillagh House, Naas, County Kildare, on 10 November 1922. He entered the postulancy program for the Capuchin Franciscans on 28 June 1954 and was received as a novice in the class of 1955-6 at the Kilkenny Friary. He was given Irenaeus as his religious name upon joining the Order. He made his solemn (final) profession on 2 January 1959. His first assignment was as a farm worker at Rochestown Friary in County Cork. On 12 January 1962 he travelled to the United States and was assigned to the novitiate house in Wilmington in Delaware. He worked as a farmer, groundskeeper, and cook and in 1963 was part of the first community established at San Lorenzo Seminary in Santa Inés in California. He was assigned to San Lorenzo for three terms: 1963-71; 1976-88; and 2007-11. From 1971 to 1976 he worked at St Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, California, doing general maintenance for the school and some cooking for the friars. In 1988 he joined the first provincial mission in Yécora, Sonora, Mexico and in 1999 he was at the novitiate San Fidel in Tres Ojitos, Chihuahua. He worked in Mexico for nineteen years before returning to San Lorenzo Seminary. In 2011 he retired from active religious ministry and lived at the Mercy Retirement and Care Center in Oakland, California. He died at the Care Centre on 4 October 2014. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining San Lorenzo Seminary in California.
Baptismal: James Lawrence Doyle
Religious name: Br. Irenaeus Doyle OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 8 Nov. 1922
Place of birth: Sillagh, Naas, County Kildare
Name of father: Joseph Doyle
Name of mother: Mary Doyle (née Stapleton)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 1 Jan. 1955
Date of first profession: 2 Jan. 1956
Date of final profession: 2 Jan. 1959
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western United States mission custody in Jan. 1962
Date of death: 4 Oct. 2014
Place of death: Mercy Retirement and Care Center, Oakland, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California
Thomas Killian was born in County Longford on 26 February 1896. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans at Rochestown Friary in County Cork in August 1914. He took Conleth as his religious name upon joining the Order. After the completion of his theological studies, he was ordained to the priesthood on 29 June 1923. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to the Irish Capuchin mission in the United States. In 1926 he was appointed Vice-Principal of St. Anthony’s College in Mendocino City in California. At the time there were forty students, four priests and three brothers in residence. In 1928 he was assigned to be an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he stayed until 1934. He worked at other assignments in California and Oregon until his death in October 1950. He is buried in Ukiah, California.
Baptismal name: Thomas Killian
Religious name: Fr. Conleth Killian OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 26 Feb. 1896
Place of birth: Inchenagh, County Longford (Diocese of Ardagh)
Name of father: Luke Killian (Farmer)
Name of mother: Teresa Killian (née Chapman)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 27 Aug. 1914
Date of first profession: 8 Sept. 1915
Date of final profession: 8 Sept. 1918
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1923
Educational attainments: BA (1919)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western United States mission on 14 Oct. 1923
Date of death: 5 Oct. 1950
Place of death: Roseburg, Oregon, United States
Place of burial: Ukiah, California, United States
John Joseph Gleeson was born in Cork on 28 October 1910. He received his initial education with the Christian Brothers and later at the Capuchin College in Rochestown in County Cork. He joined the Order in November 1929 and took Richard as his religious name. After completing his novitiate, he graduated with a BA degree in philosophy and advanced to his theological studies. He was ordained to the priesthood at Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal on 27 June 1937. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to the American mission custody. He was initially assigned to St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware, where he gave numerous missions, retreats, and novenas. He was also frequently chosen as the homilist at Requiem Masses for deceased friars. He worked as associate pastor, as vice novice master and teacher, and as guardian and pastor. Later in his life, he ministered in Capuchin foundations in California (Fort Bragg, Burlingame, and La Cañada Flintridge) and in Oregon (Roseburg and Bend). His health began to decline in the late 1950s and he was transferred to Our Lady of Angels Parish in Burlingame. He died on 18 June 1976 and was buried in the cemetery attached to San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California.
Baptismal name: John Joseph Gleeson
Religious name: Fr. Richard Gleeson OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 28 Oct. 1910
Place of birth: 50 Evergreen Street, Cork
Name of father: Joseph Gleeson
Name of mother: Nora Gleeson (née O’Leary)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 1 Nov. 1929
Date of first profession: 2 Nov. 1930
Date of final profession: 2 Nov. 1933
Educational attainments: BA, 2nd class hons. (1933)
Date of ordination (as priest): 27 June 1937 (Ard Mhuire Friary, County Donegal)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission in 1937
Date of death: 18 June 1976
Place of death: Burlingame, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California