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Edward O’Mahony was born in Mitchelstown in County Cork on 4 April 1897. He attended the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork and joined the Capuchin Order in October 1913 taking James as his religious name. He graduated with a first-class honours BA from University College Cork and was awarded the Pierce Malone scholarship in 1918. He later obtained an MA and was awarded a travelling scholarship in 1920. He attended the Catholic University of Louvain (Leuven) in Belgium and was awarded a highly acclaimed Licentiate in Philosophy in 1925 and a Doctorate in the following year. In 1928 he was awarded the title of Professor Agrégé from Louvain, the first Irishman to achieve such a distinction. On his return to Ireland, he was appointed superior of St. Bonaventure’s Hostel in Cork and was reappointed on several occasions thereafter. In 1931 the National University of Ireland conferred on him a Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt.) for his thesis ‘The Desire of God in the Philosophy of St. Thomas’. In the same year he was appointed a lecturer in religion in UCC. In 1933 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Philosophy, eventually succeeding Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. as Professor and head of the university’s philosophy department in 1937. He was first elected Provincial Definitor (Councillor) in 1934 and was elected Provincial Minister of the Irish Capuchins in at the Chapter held in 1943. He was re-elected for a further three years from 1946 to 1949 and held the position again from 1955 to 1961. He was appointed a member of the senate of the National University of Ireland in 1946 and was briefly Acting-President of UCC in 1954. An accomplished lecturer, preacher, and writer, he published over twenty books and contributed numerous articles to various journals on a variety of philosophical and religious subjects. His published works included ‘The Franciscans’ (1930), ‘Where dwellest thou? / An essay on the inner life’ (1936), ‘The Person of Jesus’ (1942), and ‘The Music of Life’ (1944). He died in Cork on 31 July 1962 and was buried in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Capuchin Friary.

Baptismal name: Edward O’Mahony
Religious name: Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 6 Apr. 1897
Place of birth: Mitchelstown, County Cork
Name of father: James O’Mahony
Name of mother: Ellen O’Mahony (née O’Callaghan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 23 Oct. 1913
Date of first profession: 29 Oct. 1914
Date of final profession: 22 Dec. 1917
Date of ordination (as priest): 15 Mar. 1924 (at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, Rome)
Education attainments: BA (1918); MA (1919); Studentship (1920); PhD (Louvain) 1926; D. Litt (NUI) 1931; Agrégé en Philosophie de l’Universite Catholique de Louvain (1928); Appointed Professor of Philosophy in UCC (1937).
Leadership roles: Provincial Definitor: 1934-7; 1937-40; 1940-3; 1952-5; Provincial Minister (Superior): 1943-6; 1946-9; 1955-8; 1958-61.
Date of death: 31 July 1962
Place of death: Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork

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

Michael Brophy was born near the village of Castlecomer in County Kilkenny on 28 September 1869. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in September 1889 and was ordained to the priesthood in February 1892. He resided in the Church Street Friary in Dublin for several years and was later appointed guardian (local superior) of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork. In 1910 he was assigned to work in the new mission custody established in the United States and was appointed associate pastor of Our Lady of Angels Parish in Hermiston in Oregon. In August 1911 Fr. Leonard was appointed to the Church of the Immaculate Heart in Abbotstown, Pennsylvania. He returned to Ireland in the late 1920s and joined the community of friars residing in Holy Trinity Friary on Father Mathew Quay in Cork. In the public sphere, he held the position of civic chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Cork. He died on 8 December 1930 and was buried in the cemetery attached to the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork.

Baptismal name: Michael Brophy
Religious name: Fr. Leonard Brophy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 28 Sept. 1869
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: 2 Oct. 1885
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1886
Date of final (solemn) profession: 8 Dec. 1890
Date of ordination as a priest: 25 Feb. 1892
Missionary activities: Travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States in 1910-11; Returned to Ireland in the 1920s.
Date of death: 8 Dec. 1930
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork

Baptismal name: James Rice
Religious name: Fr. Canice Rice OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 26 May 1870
Place of birth: James Street, Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: William Rice (Police Constable)
Name of mother: Jane Rice (née Kennedy)
Date of death: 23 Feb. 1896
Place of death: Church Street, Dublin

Michael Walsh was born in County Kilkenny on 29 July 1881. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in September 1898 and took Edward as his religious name. Following the completion of his philosophy and theological studies, he was ordained a priest in March 1907. He was assigned to the new Capuchin mission in the Western United States in late 1911. His initial appointment was assistant pastor to St. Joseph’s Parish in Roseburg in Oregon. He served as assistant pastor from January 1912 to February 1913 and was thereafter pastor in the same location until 1919. During this time the friars actively sought an additional foundation which came to the fruition when they were assigned the Sacred Heart Parish in the Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska. Fr. Edward served as pastor (with Fr. Ferdinand Glenny OFM Cap. acting as his assistant) in Lincoln from 1919 to 1923. He remained active in parish ministry and missionary work until he returned to the Irish Capuchin Province in 1923. In 1928 he was elected Provincial Definitor (Councillor) and served as Custos General from 1934 to 1937. He served as guardian (local superior) of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork and served two terms in the same position in the Church Street Capuchin Friary in Dublin. He died in Dublin on 23 May 1961 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Michael Walsh
Religious name: Fr. Edward Walsh OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 29 July 1881
Place of birth: Garryduff, Tullaroan, County Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: Edward Walsh (Farmer)
Name of mother: Mary Walsh (née Grace)
Date of parents’ marriage: 3 Aug. 1870
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Sept. 1898
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1899
Date of final profession: 25 Sept. 1904
Date of ordination (as priest): 16 Mar. 1907
Educational attainments: BA (RUI) 1904
Missionary activity: Travelled to the Western American Capuchin Mission (Roseburg, Oregon) on 10 Nov. 1911; Returned to Ireland in 1923.
Provincial Leadership Positions: Definitor (Councillor): 1928-31; Custos General: 1934-7.
Date of death: 23 May 1961
Place of death: Bon Secours Hospital, Glasnevin, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Patrick Healy was born on 26 February 1875 in Graiguenamanagh, a small town on the border between Counties Carlow and Kilkenny. He entered the Capuchin novitiate at Rochestown in County Cork on 7 July 1894 and took the religious name of Angelus. He took his solemn vows in December 1897 and was ordained a priest in February 1902. Fr. Angelus cultivated a life-long interest in the history of the Irish Capuchins. In 1904, he worked alongside Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965) in transcribing autograph copies of two seventeenth century histories of the Irish friars by Nicholas Archbold ‘The historie of the Irish Capucins’ (1643) and Robert O’Connell ‘Historia Missionis Hiberniae Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum’ (c.1654). The original texts had been brought from France to the National Library of Ireland in Dublin for copying. Fr. Angelus was considered an authority on the history of the Irish Capuchin Province, and in 1919 he was chosen as a witness in the beatification cause of two seventeenth-century Capuchin martyrs, Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (c.1620-1656) and Fr. John Baptist Dowdall OSFC (c.1626-1710). He also held several important administrative positions in the Irish Province. Three times he was elected as definitor (or counsellor), from 1910-3 and from 1922-5. He also held the position of Vicar-Provincial and was elected Custos General in 1913 which enabled him to attend the General Chapter of the Order in Rome. He was appointed Guardian of the Church Street Friary and was, at various times, Master of Novices, editor of ‘The Father Mathew Record’ periodical, and director-general of the Total Abstinence Association. Fr. Angelus never considered himself an academic historian but throughout his life he worked assiduously to assemble a vast corpus of documentary records on the history of the friars in Ireland. His ‘Pages from the Story of the Irish Capuchins’, published in 1915 to mark the tercentenary of the arrival of the first friar in Ireland, offered a concise introduction to the subject. ‘The execution of a more scholarly work’, he claimed, demanded ‘more patient research than he could ever command’. Known as an able missionary and preacher, he was also acclaimed as the ‘Guardian of the Reek’ in honour of his long association with the annual Croagh Patrick pilgrimage in County Mayo. His association with Croagh Patrick (also called ‘St. Patrick’s Reek’) lasted from 1906 to 1949, during which he climbed the mountain forty-two times missing only two years, in 1919 due to a railway strike, and in 1922 due to the Civil War. He died at the Presbytery in Westport Parish at the foot of Croagh Patrick on 20 August 1953. He was buried in the Capuchin plot in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Nicholas Phelan was born in Graiguenamanagh, a small town on the border between Counties Carlow and Kilkenny, on 16 June 1874. He joined the Capuchins at the age of sixteen, took Benedict as his religious name, and was professed in 1891. He was ordained a priest in Holy Trinity church in Cork in January 1899. Following his ordination, he was appointed Master of Novices and spent five years ministering in Cork. In 1904 he was transferred to the Capuchin Friary on Church Street in Dublin. He worked in the capital for the next forty years and was the principal organiser of the choir in St. Mary of the Angels on Church Street for most of this time. He served as Provincial Secretary from 1910 to 1913. He was appointed vicar in 1919 and was guardian (local superior) of the Capuchin community on Church Street from 1922 to 1925. He acted as spiritual director of the Sacred Heart Sodality for many years and was also director of the local Third Order of St. Francis confraternity. He was well-known as a mission and retreat giver throughout Ireland but particularly in almost all the parishes in County Dublin. At the time of his death (on 19 July 1947) he was a member of the Capuchin community in Kilkenny. He died in a nursing home at 7 Mount Street Crescent in Dublin following a long period of illness and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery in the city.

Baptismal name: Nicholas Phelan
Name in religion: Benedict
Date of birth: 16 June 1874
Place of birth: Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny (Diocese of Kildare of Leighlin)
Name of father: John Phelan
Name of mother: Mary Phelan
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: 8 Jan. 1899
Date of death: 19 July 1947
Place of death: Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

William Corrigan was born in Dublin on 25 April 1835. He was received into the Capuchin Order in Italy in 1854 as at this time there existed no novitiate for the training of friars in Ireland. He took Salvator Maria as his religious name upon joining the Order. He was ordained a priest in Bologna on 23 April 1859. He returned to Ireland soon afterwards and ministered in Dublin and Cork until 1867. His time in Dublin was marked by a vigorous campaign to secure funds for the construction of St. Mary of the Angels on Church Street. He became a well-known figure in Smithfield Market, appealing to local traders and sellers for funds to aid the completion of the new Gothic-style church. He also travelled to England and Scotland in search of contributions. In 1868 he was sent to the United States to collect money to defray the enormous debt incurred in building the church. He spent approximately seven years traversing America raising funds. He returned to Dublin in 1875 and resumed his ministry in the Church Street Friary. He was present in Dublin when Fr. Gil de Cortona OSFC, General Minister of the Capuchin Order, came to Ireland on visitation in 1876. Having some knowledge of Italian, Corrigan accompanied the Minister General as an interpreter as he travelled around Ireland to visit the various Capuchin houses. In 1884 Corrigan volunteered for missionary work in the diocese of Allahabad in India. Seemingly a popular cleric, musicians from St. James’s Brass Band played before a large crowd from St. Michan’s Parish who had gathered at North Wall as he left for the Indian subcontinent. Failing health and the harsh climate forced him to return to Ireland just two years later. He remained a member of the Church Street community in Dublin until his death on 6 October 1919. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Baptismal name: William Corrigan
Religious name: Fr. Salvator Maria Corrigan
Date of birth: 25 Oct. 1835
Place of birth: Dublin
Name of father: John Joseph Corrigan
Name of mother: Teresa Corrigan (née Byrne)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 27 Nov. 1854
Date of first profession: 29 Nov. 1855
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 Apr. 1859
Date of death: 6 Oct. 1919
Place of death: Capuchin Friary, Church Street, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

John Francis O’Connor was born on 13 Feb. 1883 in County Cork. He was born into a devoutly Catholic family. His father, John O’Connor, a teacher, and his mother, Mary Ann Sheehan, were both tertiaries of the Third Order of St. Francis attached to Holy Trinity Capuchin Church, Cork. A brother of Many Ann Sheehan had already joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order. Fr. Luke Sheehan OFM Cap. was one of the first Catholic missionaries to minister in the American state of Oregon. A good number of John’s siblings also entered religious life. John entered Rochestown College, Cork, in the Autumn of 1897. Having successfully completed his secondary education, he entered the Capuchin novitiate on 1 Oct. 1899 and received the religious name of Dominic. A year later he took his simple vows and in the Autumn of the same year began studying for a philosophy degree in the Royal University, Cork. He was ordained a priest on 17 Mar. 1906 in the Capuchin Friary in Kilkenny. He later enrolled in the Catholic University in Louvain where he obtained a Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Sacred Theology). In response to a call from Cardinal Michael Logue, Archbishop of Armagh, Fr. Dominic volunteered for chaplaincy work with the British armed forces during the First World War. After spending two months with a Scottish brigade in England, he transferred to a hospital unit bound for Salonika, Greece. After approximately two years of service, Fr. Dominic resigned his post in 1917, returned to Ireland and was appointed to the Capuchin community in Holy Trinity Friary, Cork. Fr. Dominic soon attained notoriety in nationalist circles and was appointed chaplain to the Cork Brigade of IRA Volunteers by Tomas MacCurtain. As chaplain, Fr. Dominic was the first to appear at the MacCurtain home in Blackpool, Cork, on the morning the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor was killed by British forces (20 Mar. 1920). He also served as chaplain to MacCurtain’s successor as Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney, who was arrested on 12 Aug. 1920. Fr. Dominic ministered to MacSwiney throughout his hunger strike in Brixton Prison and was present for his death on 25 Oct. 1920. Soon after his return to Ireland, Fr. Dominic was arrested at the Capuchin Friary on Church Street, Dublin. He was taken to Dublin Castle and in January 1921 was court martialled and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. During his confinement, he became acquainted with two notable republican detainees, Ernie O’Malley and Pádraig Ó Caoimh. Fr. Dominic served about a year of his imprisonment in Parkhurst Prison. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, there was a general amnesty for prisoners and Fr. Dominic was released in January 1922. On 25 February 1922, he was granted the freedom of Cork ‘as a mark of respect for his valuable services rendered to the first two Republican Lord Mayors of Cork’. With the onset of the Civil War the Capuchins in Church Street were once more involved in ministering to besieged republicans. In June 1922 the Four Courts, located only a couple of hundred meters from the Church Street Friary, was attacked by Free State forces. Fr. Dominic (assisted by Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap.) provided spiritual comfort, assisted in the evacuation of the wounded, and later facilitated the surrender of the defeated garrison. Soon afterwards, Fr. Dominic returned to Holy Trinity Friary, Cork. On 26 Nov. 1922 a decision was made by the Provincial Definitory of the Irish Capuchins to have Fr. Dominic transferred to the Province’s Mission in Bend, Oregon, United States. This was the location of Fr. Luke Sheehan’s (Fr. Dominic’s uncle) pioneering missionary work some years before. For the remainder of his life Fr. Dominic performed routine duties associated with the missionary apostolate of a Capuchin friar. He was appointed temporary rector of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral and published the first of a two-volume history of the Diocese of Baker in 1930. In August 1935 he sustained serious injuries in a car accident from which he never fully recovered. He died on 17 Oct. 1935 and was buried in Bend, Oregon. His remains (along with those of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap.) were later repatriated to Ireland and he was buried in the cemetery of Rochestown Capuchin Friary, Cork, on 14 June 1958

Thomas Bibby was born on 24 October 1877 in Bagenalstown, County Carlow. He was baptised on 28 October 1877. His family were proprietors of a woollen mill at Greensbridge and operated two drapery establishments in Kilkenny City, one in Parliament Street and another on High Street. He entered the Capuchin novitiate at Rochestown on 7 July 1894 and took the religious name of Albert. He was solemnly professed on 8 May 1900 and was ordained a priest at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, on 23 February 1902. A gifted scholar, Fr. Albert was among the first batch of Capuchin students to receive a BA degree from the Royal University. He later became a professor of philosophy and theology and taught these subjects to Capuchin students for some years after his ordination. One of his first students was Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. Fr. Albert was active in the Gaelic revival movement and became a fluent speaker of Irish. He was also engaged in temperance advocacy and gave missions sometimes solely in Irish in Gaeltacht areas. He was also involved in the Columcille branch of Conradh na Gaelige in its early years. Briefly a part of the community of friars in Kilkenny, he moved to Church Street, Dublin, in the early 1900s. In the aftermath of the Easter Rising, Fr. Albert ministered to a number of rebel prisoners in Kilmainham Jail and in other locations. He was present at the execution of Seán Heuston on 8 May 1916 and wrote an account of his final hours. He was later a regular correspondent with prominent republicans and their relations. On 16 December 1920 both Fr. Albert and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. were arrested by British forces during a raid on the friary on Church Street. Fr. Albert was detained for some hours in Dublin Castle but was afterwards released whilst Fr. Dominic was sentence to five years’ penal servitude. When the Four Courts was attacked on 27 June 1922 in the opening engagement of the Civil War, Fr. Albert was present in the building alongside Fr. Dominic. Both priests remained with the Anti-Treaty irregulars until the Four Courts was evacuated. They then proceeded to administer to Cathal Brugha and other IRA men occupying the Hamman Hotel on O’Connell Street. In June 1924, Fr. Albert was sent to the United States and was eventually appointed Pastor of the Capuchin Mission at Santa Inez in California. He immediately set about restoring both the parish and the structures of the old Franciscan Mission. Modern plumbing and electricity systems were installed at Santa Inez and Fr. Albert was joined by Friars Reginald O’Hanlon and Colmcille Cregan. However, Albert’s health deteriorated and he was soon admitted to St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara County. He died on 14 February 1925, a mere three months after his arrival in Santa Inez. He was buried just outside the mission’s chapel. His remains (along with those of his former pupil Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap.) were later repatriated to Ireland and he was buried in the cemetery of Rochestown Capuchin Friary, Cork, on 14 June 1958.