Showing 244 results

Pietro Gasparri, GCTE (5 May 1852 – 18 November 1934) was a Roman Catholic cardinal, diplomat and politician in the Roman Curia and the signatory of the Lateran Pacts. He served also as Cardinal Secretary of State under Popes Benedict XV and Pope Pius XI. - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Gasparri

John Edward Dowling, the son of Michael Dowling and Catherine Dowling (née Byrne), was born in Kilkenny on 12 September 1872. He was educated in the Christian Brothers’ Schools and regularly attended the Capuchin Friary Church in Kilkenny as an altar server. He subsequently enrolled in the Capuchin Seraphic School in Rochestown, County Cork. On completing his preliminary studies, he was received into the Capuchin Order in February 1888 taking Laurence as his religious name. He took his final vows and was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar in September 1889. Having completed a course in philosophy and theology he was ordained a priest on 7 July 1895. Following his ordination, he ministered in Dublin, Cork, and Rochestown, and was appointed guardian (local superior) of these communities. He was also Master of Novices for several years, and President of Father Mathew Temperance Hall on Church Street in Dublin. He was also an active member of the committee of the Catholic Truth Society, for which he wrote several pamphlets primarily on social issues. Dowling was a well-known preacher of retreats and missions and was engaged in this ministry for many years. When his health began to fail in 1931, he travelled to Los Angeles in California, hoping that the better climate would improve his condition. His younger brother, Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. (1874-1951), was a missionary friar working in California and undoubtedly the presence of his sibling in the United States influenced his decision to leave Ireland. Fr. Laurence served at St. Lawrence of Brindisi Catholic Church in South Los Angeles until his death on 1 June 1939. He was sixty-six years old. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Baptismal name: John Edward Dowling
Religious name: Fr. Laurence Dowling OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 12 Sept. 1872
Place of birth: Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: Michael Dowling
Name of mother: Catherine Dowling (née Byrne)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 5 Feb. 1888
Date of first profession: 3 Mar. 1889
Date of final profession: 8 Sept. 1889
Date of ordination (as priest): 7 July 1895
Missionary activity: Travelled to California, United States, in 1931
Date of death: 1 June 1939
Place of death: Los Angeles, California, United States
Place of burial: Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles, United States
Note: Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. (1874-1951) was a younger brother of Fr. Laurence Dowling OFM Cap.

Hugh Murtagh was born in Abbeylara in County Longford on 6 November 1896. James Murtagh, an elder brother, joined the Capuchin Franciscans in 1910 and took Stephen as his religious name. Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. was transferred to the Irish Capuchin mission custody in the Western United States in 1920 and spent his entire life in ministry in America. Hugh Murtagh followed in his older brother’s footsteps and joined the Order in September 1915. Taking Virgilius as his religious name, he was ordained to the priesthood in June 1924. Following his ordination, he spent some time in Rochestown Friary in County Cork where he had charge of the local Temperance Hall. He devoted most of his religious life to the education of novice friars, first as vice-master, and from 1934 as master of lay novices in Kilkenny. He was appointed President of Father Mathew Temperance Hall adjoining the Church Street Friary in Dublin in 1940 and held this position for three years. He also served as secretary of the Foreign Missions Office and was later appointed guardian (local superior) of the communities in Dublin, Kilkenny and in Ard Mhuire in County Donegal. He was appointed manager of the Capuchin Publications Office (which had charge of ‘The Capuchin Annual’ periodical) in 1955. He was also several times elected to the office of Provincial Definitor (1952-70). He died in the Church Street Friary on 3 September 1972 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Hugh Murtagh
Religious name: Fr. Virgilius Murtagh OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 6 Nov. 1896
Place of birth: Ballyboy, Abbeylara, County Longford (Diocese of Ardagh)
Name of father: James Murtagh (Farmer)
Name of mother: Mary Murtagh (née Crawford)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 8 Sept. 1915
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1916
Date of final profession: 12 Oct. 1919
Date of ordination (as priest): 14 June 1924
Educational attainments: BA (1920)
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor (Councillor): 1952-5, 1955-8, 1961-4, 1964-7, 1967-70; Custos General: 1949-52.
Date of death: 3 Sept. 1972
Place of death: Church Street Friary, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Baptismal name: Thomas Nesdale
Religious name: Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 21 Sept. 1897
Date of baptism: 26 Sept. 1897
Place of birth: Adrigole, County Cork
Name of father: Thomas Nesdale
Name of mother: Margaret Nesdale (née Regan)
Occupation of parents: National School Teachers
Primary school education: Trafrask National School, Adrigole, County Cork
Secondary school education: Seraphic (Capuchin) College, Rochestown, County Cork
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 8 Sept. 1915
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1916
Date of final profession: 12 Oct. 1919
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1925
Education attainments: BA (1921)
Missionary activity: United States Mission (1925); African Mission (Sept. 1931). He returned to Ireland in Mar. 1946.
Date of death: 14 Dec. 1980
Place of death: Kilkenny
Place of burial: Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny

Baptismal name: Daniel Cryan
Religious name: Fr. Basil Cryan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 9 Nov. 1898
Place of birth: Ballyfinnegan, Ballintubber, County Roscommon (Diocese of Elphin)
Name of father: James Cryan (Tenant Farmer)
Name of mother: Catherine Cryan (née Murray)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Sept. 1916
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1917
Date of final profession: 14 July 1921
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1925
Educational attainments: BA (1921); Higher Diploma in Education (1926)
Leadership positions: Capuchin Mission Office Secretary, 1932-7
Date of death: 27 Nov. 1968
Place of death: St. Joseph’s Nursing Home, Raheny, County Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Baptismal name: Bartholomew Brophy
Religious name: Fr. Fiacre Brophy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 16 Oct. 1871
Place of birth: Castlecomer, County Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: John Brophy (Farmer)
Name of mother: Ellen Brophy (née Curran)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 5 Feb. 1888
Date of first profession: 3 Mar. 1889
Date of final profession: 8 Sept. 1892
Date of ordination (as priest): 18 Oct. 1894
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor: 1919-21, 1922-5; Custos General: 1907-10; Guardian (local superior), Church Street Friary, Dublin, 1916-9.
Date of death: 5 Oct. 1926
Place of death: Belfast

Nicholas Brophy was born in Sandymount in Dublin on 13 October 1895. He entered the Capuchin novitiate in Kilkenny in 1917 and took Charles as his religious name. He later attended the Capuchin College in Rochestown in County Cork and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Cork in 1921. He was ordained to the priesthood in June 1925. The entirety of his priestly ministry was spent in Dublin. He was President of Father Mathew Temperance Hall in the capital from 1928 to 1934 and was guardian (local superior) of the Church Street Capuchin community from 1934 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1949. He also served as Provincial Definitor from 1937-40 and from 1946-9. He founded the Retreat House in Raheny in Dublin and became its first director in 1957. He was well-known for his enclosed retreats in Raheny and for his missionary and preaching work particularly in his native Dublin which continued until his health deteriorated in his later years. He died in Jervis Street Hospital on 13 May 1976 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Baptismal name: Nicholas Brophy
Religious name: Fr. Charles Brophy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 13 Oct. 1895
Place of birth: Sandymount, Dublin
Name of father: Peter Brophy
Name of mother: Catherine Byrne (née Byrne)
Date of parents’ marriage: 15 Nov. 1894
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Sept. 1917
Date of first profession: 29 Sept. 1918
Date of final profession: 29 Sept. 1921
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1925
Educational attainments: BA, 1921
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor (Councillor), 1937-40, 1946-9; Custos General, 1940-3, 1943-6
Date of death: 13 May 1976
Place of death: Jervis Street Hospital, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Baptismal name: William Cullen
Religious name: Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 7 Nov. 1898
Place of birth: Dublin
Name of father: James Cullen
Name of mother: Mary Ann ‘Margaret’ Cullen (née Ryan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 12 Nov. 1917
Date of first profession: 17 Nov. 1918
Date of final profession: 17 Nov. 1921
Date of Ordination (as priest): 29 June 1925
Missionary activities:
1925-29 California, United States
1929-38 South Africa
1938-47 California, United States (returned to Ireland on 14 Oct. 1948)
Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap. was Pastor of Hermiston Parish, Oregon from 1939-43.
Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap. ministered in St. Anthony’s Parish, Willits, California from c.1943-7.
1948-52 South Africa (travelled to South Africa on 12 July 1948)
1956-70 California, United States
Date of death: 29 Apr. 1970
Place of death: Burlingame, California

Francis Bernard Sheehan was born in Cork on 31 March 1873. His early studies were in Saints Peter and Paul school, the Christian Brothers’ school, the Presentations Brothers’ school, and finally at the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork. He was received into the Capuchin Order on 2 February 1889. After the usual philosophical and theological studies, he was ordained in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, in July 1896. Shortly afterwards, he was transferred to the Kilkenny Friary where acted as a lector in philosophy. In November 1902 Fr. Luke volunteered for missionary work as a chaplain in Arabia where the Capuchin friars had established a Vicariate. He was soon appointed Pro-vicar Apostolic. He was charged with chaplaincy duties at British military and naval stations in Aden and did much visitation work in the interior of the country. While stationed in Aden he was taken ill with fever and was forced to return to Ireland to recuperate. Before he had fully recovered the priest who replaced him succumbed to the harsh climatic conditions prevailing in that part of the world. Fr. Luke immediately offered to return to Arabia, and he remained there until 1908. As Aden was then governed as part of British India, Fr. Luke also frequently visited India to conduct missions for troops, chiefly around Bombay (now Mumbai). He returned to Ireland in 1908. In 1910 he accompanied Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. on a journey to eastern Oregon to establish a new Capuchin mission in this territory. Fr. Dowling was appointed a Provincial Definitor (councillor) later in 1910 leaving Fr. Luke to work alone in Oregon until the arrival of Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. He worked diligently in establishing parish communities in Hermiston and later in Bend on the Deschutes River in Oregon. The first church Bend was an old schoolhouse purchased in 1912 for $75. Fr. Luke later invited a group of nuns of the Order of St. Joseph to establish a hospital in the locality. With a growing population, a larger church was needed in Bend, and the foundation stone for the present-day St. Francis of Assisi Church was laid on 25 January 1920. It was built by E. P. Brosterhous at the cost of $55,000 and was officially opened and dedicated in the same year. St. Francis Catholic School in Bend (with an initial enrolment of 140) was opened in 1936. Fr. Luke served as a priest in Bend for twenty-seven years. He died in Hood River, Oregon, on 11 February 1937. His obituary in the ‘Bend Bulletin’ noted that ‘women cried and men who had known Father Sheehan since he came here in the early days were unable to control their sobs as the requiem mass was celebrated. Every available bit of space in the huge church, erected years ago through the efforts of Father Sheehan, was occupied as parishioners, churchmen and close friends of other faiths came to pay their respects to the priest who played such an important part in the religious and civic life of Bend. Occupying a pew in the crowded church were six members of the Protestant clergy of Bend’. Father Luke was buried beneath a Celtic Cross gravestone in Bend’s Pilot Butte Cemetery. For images of his memorial in Pilot Pilot Butte Cemetery in Bend, Oregon, see https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12540403/luke-sheehan

Baptismal name: Francis Bernard Sheehan
Religious name: Fr. Luke Sheehan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 31 Mar. 1873
Place of birth: Cork
Name of father: John Sheehan
Name of mother: Catherine Sheehan (née Sullivan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 2 Feb. 1889
Date of first profession: 4 Feb. 1890
Date of final profession: 18 Oct. 1894
Date of ordination (as priest): 2 July 1896
Missionary assignments: Ministered in Aden from 1902-08; Travelled to Oregan, United States, in 1910
Leadership positions: Custos, 1913-6; 1919-22
Date of death: 11 Feb. 1937
Place of death: Hood River, Oregon (while on supply from Bend, Oregon)
Place of burial: Bend, Oregon

Patrick Hyland was born in County Longford on 2 March 1901. He joined the Capuchin Order in September 1918 and took Edmund as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood on 29 June 1927. Two years later he was transferred to the mission custody in the United States. His first assignment was as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Oregon. He ministered there until 1947 when he moved to St. Joseph’s Parish in Roseburg, Oregon. During his term as pastor, he was instrumental in acquiring some new property on the edge of the town. He built a parish hall on the new site which served as a temporary church until funds could be raised to build a new place of worship. A school and rectory were also built and plans for a new church were also drawn up. In 1959 he was appointed pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Fort Bragg in California. He remained here until 1961 when he was appointed guardian (local superior) at St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington in Delaware. He assisted in the transfer of this house to the New Jersey Capuchin Province. His health began to fail in the years afterwards and he was assigned to the community residing at San Lorenzo Friary, Santa Inés, California. He died in San Lorenzo on 9 August 1969 and was buried in the adjoining cemetery.

Baptismal name: Patrick Hyland
Religious name: Fr. Edmund Hyland OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 2 Mar. 1901
Place of birth: Agharanagh, Rathcline, County Longford (Diocese of Ardagh)
Name of father: Michael Hyland
Name of mother: Mary Hyland (née Gavigan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 29 Sept. 1918
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1919
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1922
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1927
Educational attainments: BA (1923)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission custody in 1929
Date of death: 9 Aug. 1960
Place of death: Los Angeles, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California