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Thomas Fitzgibbon was born in 1874 to a large Irish-speaking family in Ballynona near Castlemartyr in County Cork. He was educated at the Capuchin College in Rochestown, County Cork, and joined the Order in March 1893 taking Edwin as his religious name. He was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar in December 1897 and continued his studies in the University of Louvain where he obtained a PhD. He was ordained in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, by Archbishop William Walsh in February 1902. In 1906 Fr. Edwin was appointed Rector of the Capuchin College in Rochestown and he became an enthusiastic supporter of the school’s Gaelic sports’ teams. In December 1908, Queen’s College, Cork, became one of the constituent colleges of the new National University of Ireland (NUI). Fitzgibbon was one of the first appointees to the new college becoming Professor of Philosophy in 1909. In 1912 he was elected president of the university’s hurling club. Almost immediately, he donated his annual salary (reckoned to be about £80) for the purchase of a trophy to be contested by the hurling teams of various colleges within the NUI. The Fitzgibbon Cup was the last national Gaelic trophy to be named after a living person, and the donor remained a regular fixture at the presentation ceremonies for the next twenty-five years. Fr. Edwin was elected Provincial Minister of the Irish Capuchins on four occasions, holding this office from 1919-22, 1926-9, 1931-4 and 1934-7. He undertook several visitations to the newly established Irish Capuchin mission custody in the Western United States while Provincial Minister. Ill-health forced his resignation from the Chair of Philosophy in UCC in 1937. He died at the Bon Secours Home in Cork on 24 June 1938 and was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork.

Baptismal name: Thomas Fitzgibbon
Religious name: Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 26 Jan. 1874
Place of birth: Castlemartyr, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: John Fitzgibbon
Name of mother: Elizabeth Fitzgibbon (née Desmond)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 23 Mar. 1893
Date of first profession: 24 April 1894
Date of final profession: 25 Dec. 1897
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 Feb. 1902
Leadership positions: Provincial Minister: 1919-22; 1926-9; 1931-4; 1934-7; Provincial Definitor: 1907-10; 1910-3; 1916-9.
Date of death: 24 June 1938
Place of death: Bon Secours Home, Cork
Place of burial, Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork

Thomas Hayes was born in Cork on 24 April 1866. He was the son of Patrick Hayes and Anna Hayes (née Treacy) of Chapel Street in the city. He was received into the Capuchin Order on 30 July 1882. He took Francis as his religious name upon joining the Capuchins. He was ordained a priest in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, on 30 July 1882. Soon after his ordination, he was called upon to assist in the administration of the Irish Capuchin Province. He was appointed guardian (local superior) of the Capuchin Friary on Church Street in Dublin and was twice elected Provincial Definitor (1893-6, 1904-7). He was appointed Provincial Archivist on 20 August 1907. He later became Rector of Rochestown Capuchin College, and for many years taught both philosophy and theology to novice-students of the Province. In 1919 he was chosen as a witness in the cause of the beatification of two seventeenth-century Irish Capuchin martyrs, Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (d. 1656) and Fr. John Baptist Dowdall OSFC (d. 1710). Throughout his life he retained an interest in uncovering and transcribing documentary records relating to the history of the early Irish Capuchin. He died in Rochestown Friary, County Cork, on 19 November 1946 and was buried in the adjoining cemetery.

Baptismal name: Thomas Hayes
Religious name: Fr. Francis Hayes OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 24 Apr. 1866
Place of birth: 22 Chapel Street, Cork
Name of father: Patrick Hayes
Name of mother: Anna Hayes (née Treacy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 30 July 1882
Date of first profession: 5 Aug. 1883
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1887
Date of ordination (as priest): 1 May 1889
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor: 1893-6, 1904-7
Date of death: 19 Nov. 1946
Place of death: Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork

Patrick J. Maher was born on North Brunswick Street, opposite, what was then, the Richmond Hospital in Dublin on 9 June 1835. His family’s property extended to North King Street and possibly included the site (No. 49) on which a former Capuchin House stood. He was baptized and made his first communion (8 September 1848) in the old Church Street chapel where he served Mass for Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC from whom he took the total abstinence pledge. In 1851 he entered the Capuchin novitiate, taking the name Columbus, at Frascati near Rome, and made his solemn profession the following year. He then studied philosophy at Florence and theology at Sienna after which he was granted patents for preaching in 1855. The following year he received subdiaconate in Rome. Too young to be ordained, he spent some months with the Capuchin community in Pantasaph, Wales, until he returned briefly to Ireland to receive a diaconate from Cardinal Paul Cullen at Maynooth on 5 June 1857. The following year, at the age of twenty-three, he was ordained a priest in Liverpool with a dispensation of thirteen months from the Holy See. At the time it was noted that he was the first Capuchin priest to be ordained in England since the Reformation. At the Provincial Chapter in 1859 he was appointed guardian in Kilkenny where he served two terms and was in demand as a confessor and preacher until he was sent to Rome as a novice master. While there he was asked to go to Ancona to minister to about 800 men of the Irish Brigade who were on their way to defend Pope Pius IX.

Having returned to Ireland, he spent some time in Cork and again in Kilkenny until he moved to Dublin. Here, in 1880, he identified himself with the Temperance League and from then on, his whole life and energy were devoted to a crusade against the abuses of intoxicating drink. He became Vice-President of the Father Mathew Total Abstinence Society of the Sacred Thirst founded by his fellow Capuchin Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC (1831-1893). When Fr. Albert left for missionary work in Australia in 1883, Fr. Columbus became President and undertook the herculean task of resuscitating the total abstinence movement, which had been declining ever since Fr. Mathew’s death. Gradually, as a result of his untiring efforts, Fr. Columbus made total abstinence popular, honoured and respected in Dublin. He succeeded in constantly enlisting individuals rather than enrolling large numbers at a time. Eventually, the old Temperance Hall at 3 Halston Street proved inadequate to meet the demands upon its space. With the centenary of the birth of Fr. Mathew approaching (1890), Fr. Columbus decided to perpetuate his hero’s memory by building a Memorial Hall on Church Street and by erecting a statue in Dublin. All classes and creeds contributed to collections made throughout the city, the country, and abroad. A committee presided over by the Lord Mayor met regularly in the Oak Room of the Mansion House, Fr. Columbus being one of its most attentive members. A competition for a suitable design for a statue was won by Mary Redmond (1863-1930). It would be eight feet tall, sculptured in light grey Sicilian marble and standing on a pedestal of limestone fourteen feet high.

On 30 October 1890, a procession of 50,000 made its way from St. Stephen's Green to O’Connell Street for the laying of the top stone of the pedestal. All the city trades turned out with bands and banners; and the various temperance societies and sodalities, the League of the Cross and other bodies were fully represented. On the platform there was a representative group of clergy, merchants, and other citizens of all denominations. Among them were sixty-five total abstainers who had taken the pledge from Fr. Mathew himself in 1840. It was a proud moment for Fr. Columbus when he was given the silver trowel, now preserved in the Irish Capuchin Archives, used by the Lord Mayor to lay the top stone of the pedestal. Three years later the statue itself was put in place.

Although the Memorial Hall’s foundation stone was blessed and laid in the centenary year, it took twelve months to build. Then on 25 January 1891 it was opened by Archbishop William Walsh who had been a supporter of Fr. Columbus from the outset. Before extensions were added (1904) the main auditorium was 73 feet in length and 39 feet wide and there was a gallery on three sides. Altogether there was accommodation for between 800 and 900 people. In addition to the main hall there was a coffee bar, a billiard room and reading rooms. Among the large representative group attending the opening were the Lord Mayor, the Sheriff, William Conyngham Plunket, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and the Irish nationalist politician John Redmond who regretted that Dublin was the worst city for drunkenness that he had ever visited. The Temperance League now moved from Halston Street to their new Memorial Hall on Church Street. A monthly meeting was also held in the nearby Church of St. Mary of the Angels, but after only two years it was necessary to hold two meetings – one for men and another for women. Indefatigably, Fr. Columbus presided over the thousands striving for sobriety.

Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC died suddenly of a suspected heart attack on the morning of 10 September 1894 in the Capuchin Friary on Church Street, Dublin. He was 59 years old. At his funeral Mass Fr. Matthew O’Connor OSFC, Provincial Minister, stated that the Capuchin community had been deprived of an exemplary member, Church Street of a devoted confessor and preacher, the Temperance League of its protector and the City of Dublin of a public benefactor. The universal esteem in which he had been held was clear from the long file of mourning carriages and the estimated 6,000 people who attended his funeral in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Peter Quinn, the son of Thomas and Teresa Quinn, was born in Rhode, King’s County (Offaly), on 3 December 1888. He joined the Capuchin Order in the novitiate at Rochestown, County Cork, in August 1906, taking Raphael as his religious name. His degrees were taken at the National University of Ireland, and he also spent some time studying in the Gregorian University in Rome. Following the completion of his ecclesiastical studies in Rochestown, he was ordained to the priesthood in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, on 5 July 1914. After working for some years in Kilkenny, he travelled to the United States in 1919. He was appointed Pastor in Ukiah, California, in 1922. Here his energy was devoted to the building of St. Mary’s Church and supervising improvements to the adjoining presbytery. The church was opened and blessed by the Most Rev. Edward J. Hanna, Archbishop of San Francisco, on 25 March 1924. Fr. Quinn was also responsible for the building of St. Anthony’s Parish Church in Willits (just north of Ukiah) in Mendocino County, California. Aside from his parochial duties, he was also well known for his ministry to Native Americans (most notably the Pomo Indians of California). In 1925 he was elected Pastor and Superior of Sacred Heart Parish in Lincoln, Nebraska. He remained in Lincoln for nine years, building a new parish church and school. He was also responsible for bringing the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary from Dubuque (Iowa) to teach in the local parochial school and served as chaplain in the state penitentiary. In 1932 a fire (caused by a faulty radio) engulfed the Lincoln parish rectory building. Adam Sassenberger, the parish caretaker who was staying at the house at the time, perished in the blaze. Raphael Quinn suffered serious injuries in the incident from which he never fully recovered. He returned to Ukiah in 1934 and remained there until his death (following a long illness) on 6 February 1940. He was buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Ukiah.

Baptismal name: Peter Quinn
Religious name: Fr. Raphael Quinn OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 3 Dec. 1888
Place of birth: Rhode, County Offaly (Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin)
Name of father: Thomas Quinn
Name of mother: Teresa Quinn (née Dunne)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 26 Aug. 1906
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1907
Date of final profession: 21 Jan. 1912
Date of ordination (as priest): 5 July 1914
Educational attainments: BA, 1911
Missionary assignments: Travelled to the United States in Nov. 1919
Date of death: 6 Feb. 1940
Place of death: Ukiah, 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

Francis Kennedy was born on Fingal Street in Dublin on 15 June 1904. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in September 1935 and took James as his religious name. He spent the greater part of his apostolate working the land on the farm attached to the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork. After several years in Rochestown, Brother James took up residence with the community of friars in Holy Trinity in Cork city. He was transferred to the Kilkenny Friary in July 1960 in which year he celebrated his silver jubilee. He died in Kilkenny on 6 June 1967 and was buried in Foulkstown Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Francis Kennedy
Religious name: Br. James Kennedy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 15 June 1904
Place of birth: Dublin
Name of father: John Kennedy (Builders’ Labourer)
Name of mother: Ellen (Dora) Kennedy (née Purcell)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 18 Sept. 1935
Date of first profession: 19 Sept. 1936
Date of final profession: 19 Sept. 1939
Date of death: 6 June 1967
Place of death: Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny
Place of burial: Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny

Louis Riordan was born in Leeds in England on 15 September 1891. He joined the Irish Province of the Capuchin Franciscans in September 1911 and took Urban as his religious name. Soon after his ordination he was sent to the mission custody established by the Irish Capuchins on the west coast of the United States. He was assigned to St. Mary’s parish in Ukiah, Mendocino County, California. During his time in Ukiah, he wrote a short account on the ministry of the Irish friars in the United States. In 1929 he was transferred to the Blessed Sacrament mission in Elk, California, where he ministered until 1936. From 1941 to 1945 he was an associate pastor at Our Lady of Angels parish in Hermiston in Oregon. He returned to Ireland in 1951 and was appointed to communities in Church Street, Dublin, Holy Trinity, Cork, and the Church of St. Francis in Kilkenny. His final years were spent in the Capuchin house in Raheny in Dublin. He died on 1 November 1973 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

Baptismal name: Louis Riordan
Religious name: Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 15 Sept. 1891
Place of birth: Leeds, England
Name of father: William Riordan
Name of mother: Johanna Riordan (née Ryan)
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): 3 May 1918
Missionary assignments: Travelled to the United States in November 1919; Returned to Ireland in 1951.
Date of death: 1 Nov. 1973
Place of death: Church Street, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, 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

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 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