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James Doogan was born in Dublin in 1841. He was received into the Capuchin Order in their novitiate in Bologna in 1860 and remained in Italy following his ordination. He arrived in India in about 1867 and was appointed principal of St. George’s School in Mussoorie in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The school had been founded by the Capuchin fathers in 1853. Doogan remained principal until 1873 when the school was entrusted to the care of the Society of the Brothers of St. Patrick (the Irish Patrician Brothers). Afterwards, he was appointed a military chaplain with British forces stationed in India. He served in Nusseerabad (also known as Nasirabad) where he contracted cholera but recovered. He served with distinction during the Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80) and returned to India at the conclusion of the hostilities. He was a life-long temperance campaigner and wrote several pamphlets on the dangers of intoxicating liquor. He contracted influenza in May 1899 which led him to be hospitalised in the Military Station Hospital in Chakrata in Uttarakhand. He died there on 29 July 1899. He was given a ceremonial military funeral by the British Army.

Denis Field was born in Kilcrea in County Cork on 16 November 1883. He was the son of a farmer and was educated at Kilbonane National School and later at the Capuchin College in Rochestown, County Cork. He was received into the Capuchin Order at Rochestown (taking Thaddeus as his religious name) in October 1905. He studied philosophy at Rochestown College and received a BA degree from the Royal University, Cork, in 1911. He was ordained to the priesthood in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, on 5 July 1914. Shortly after his ordination, Fr. Thaddeus was appointed to the teaching staff at the Seraphic College in Rochestown. Most of his religious life was spent in Rochestown and for many years he served as Vice-Rector of the College. Fr. Thaddeus also held other offices in the Irish Capuchin Province. At various times he was Guardian (local superior) of the Rochestown community, Vicar and Vice-Master of Novices in the Kilkenny foundation, and President of Father Mathew Temperance Hall in Cork city. His later years in Rochestown were affected by recurring bouts of ill health. He died in Cork on 9 December 1962 and was buried in the cemetery adjoining Rochestown Friary.

Baptismal name: Denis Field
Religious name: Fr. Thaddeus Field OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 16 Nov. 1888
Place of birth: Kilcrea, County Cork
Name of father: Denis Field (Farmer)
Name of mother: Ellen Field (née Murphy)
Date of reception in the Capuchin Order: 1 Oct. 1905
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1906
Date of final profession: 21 Jan. 1912
Date of ordination (as priest): 5 July 1914
Educational attainments: BA, (RUI) 1911
Date of death: 9 Dec. 1962
Place of death: Lindville Hospital, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

Daniel Roche was born in Newcastle West in County Limerick on 30 July 1898. He was educated in the local primary school in Newcastle West and later at the Capuchin College in Rochestown, County Cork. He entered the Capuchin Order in August 1914 and took Fintan as his religious name. He made his solemn profession as a friar in 1920. He graduated with a philosophy degree from University College Cork and studied theology at Rochestown. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Daniel Cohalan in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, on 29 June 1923. Shortly after his ordination, in October 1923, he travelled to the United States as a missionary friar. Ten years later, he became one of the pioneering missionaries in the newly established Capuchin mission territory in Barotseland in Northern Rhodesia. While in Africa, he contributed regularly to ‘The Father Mathew Record’, a popular monthly publication of the Irish Capuchins which promoted the Order’s overseas’ missions (particularly in Africa). He returned to Ireland in 1940 to engage in fundraising activities to support the Order’s missionary endeavours. A decision was made to send Fr. Fintan back to the United States in January 1944. However, he suffered a serious accident during his transatlantic passage when the ship he was travelling on encountered a severe storm. He continued to suffer from ill-health in the years following his return to America. He spent some years as Pastor in McKenzie Bridge, a picturesque if isolated region located about halfway between Roseburg and Bend in Oregon on the American Pacific coast. In 1950, he described his life in McKenzie Bridge as ‘nothing strange, weeding and Mass every day and peace’. However, his health continued to decline and following several heart attacks he left his remote rural abode in Oregon to reside in California. He died in the Capuchin Friary in Flintridge, north of Los Angeles in California on 9 May 1953.

Baptismal name: Daniel Roche
Religious name: Fr. Fintan Roche OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 30 July 1898
Place of birth: Newcastle West, County Limerick
Name of father: James Roche (Shopkeeper)
Name of mother: Anne Roche (née Downey)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 27 Aug. 1914
Date of first profession: 8 Sept. 1915
Date of final profession: 21 Mar. 1920
Date of ordination: 29 June 1923
Educational attainments: BA, 1919
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States on 14 Oct. 1923; Travelled to Africa in 1933; Returned to Ireland in 1940; Travelled to the United States in January 1944
Date of death: 9 May 1953
Place of death: Flintridge, California

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

Michael Joseph Dowling, the son of Michael and Catherine Dowling (née Byrne), was born in Kilkenny on 13 March 1874. John Dowling, a younger brother, joined the Capuchins in 1888 and took Laurence as his religious name. Michael followed in his brother’s footsteps and joined the Order in Kilkenny a year later in September 1889. He took Thomas as his religious name and he was solemnly professed as a friar in October 1894. He was ordained a priest in Kilkenny on 21 December 1896. Fr. Thomas was a professor at Rochestown Capuchin College in Cork, and later served as guardian (local superior) of the Capuchin Friary in Dublin. He visited Oregon in the United States in 1910 to select a suitable mission parish for the Irish Capuchins in Baker City. In this period, he held several senior administrative positions in the Order and served as definitor (councillor) from 1907-10 and was Provincial Minister of the Irish Capuchins from 1910-3. He was also guardian of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork in 1920.

He emerged as a prominent public figure in Cork because of his high-profile campaigning on social and political issues. He was active in the Anti-Conscription campaign in the city in 1918 and was elected Honorary President of the Cork and District Trades and Labour Council. During the First World War, there was widespread economic distress in Cork as wages failed to keep pace with rising prices. The result was numerous strikes and general worker unrest. Dowling had studied social reform and he threw himself wholeheartedly into the task of industrial dispute mediation. His interventions were accepted by employers and trades unions alike. He presided over negotiations between tramway workers and their employers in a crucial wage dispute and was instrumental in securing a settlement between the two sides in 1919. He was awarded the freedom of Cork in 1920 in recognition of his invaluable services in preserving the peace of the city and for his role in successfully resolving industrial disputes. He also received an honorary degree (an LL.D. or a Doctor of Laws) from Professor P.J. Merriman (1877-1943), President of University College Cork. The award was given on account of his ‘invaluable services’ in ensuring peaceful and harmonious social relations in the city. The Cork Trades’ Council later donated a stained-glass window to Holy Trinity Church to mark his contribution in securing workers’ rights.

His ministries as a Capuchin friar centred on preaching missions and retreats and he was also an enthusiastic promoter of the temperance cause (he was instrumental in organising the Father Theobald Mathew Pavilion at the Cork International Exhibition in 1902). In 1926 Fr. Thomas offered to travel to the United States to work as a missionary friar. The Irish Capuchins had established a mission custody on the American Pacific Coast in 1910. His first appointment was in Our Lady of the Angels Church and Capuchin Friary in Burlingame near San Francisco. He was appointed Pastor of St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church situated in Watts in South Los Angeles in 1937. In the following years he succeeded in paying off the considerable debt on both the church and the adjoining school. He served as Custos (Superior) of the Western American Capuchin Mission from 1940-6. He died on 7 January 1951 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

John Fenlon was born in the village of Ballinakill, Queen’s County (Laois), on 31 May 1875. He joined the Capuchin Order in February 1892 and took Joseph as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood in Dublin on 21 September 1901. Soon after his ordination he begun his ministry in Cork and was made guardian (local superior) of Holy Trinity Church and Friary in 1907. During his term as guardian the extension of the Church as a memorial to the late Fr. Bernard Jennings OFM Cap. was completed and formally opened. In 1913 he was made President of Father Mathew Hall in Cork, and at the subsequent Provincial Chapter in 1916 he was elected guardian of the Capuchin Friary in Kilkenny. In 1919 he moved to Dublin and was appointed President of Father Mathew Hall on Church Street. In 1922 he was appointed superior of the Irish Capuchin mission in the United States. Soon after his arrival he took charge of the parish of the Most Holy Redeemer in Watts, Los Angeles. One of his first acts was to have the name of the church changed to St. Lawrence of Brindisi (a Capuchin Franciscan saint). Fenlon constructed a parochial school and began to conduct novenas and parish missions in Watts and further afield (including in Bakersfield and in Sacramento). On 15 November 1924 he preached at the installation of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. as the first Capuchin pastor of Santa Inés Mission in Santa Barbara County, north of Los Angeles. In 1930 Fenlon was appointed the first Capuchin pastor of St. Francis parish in Los Angeles. Five years later he moved to the Irish Capuchin foundation at Wilmington in Delaware and as vicar supervised the building of the first novitiate of the Irish Capuchins in the United States. The novitiate wing at St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington became a centre for the education and training of friars until the foundation was transferred to the care of New Jersey Capuchins in 1963. Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. replaced Fenlon as superior of the Irish Capuchin mission in 1937. Fenlon returned to Ireland in 1948 and took up residence in Holy Trinity Friary in Cork. He remained active in ministry and mission work until his death on 20 April 1963. He was laid to rest in the cemetery adjoining the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork.

Baptismal name: John Fenlon
Religious name: Fr. Joseph Fenlon OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 31 May 1875
Place of birth: Ballinakill, County Laois (Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin)
Name of father: Thomas Fenlon (Farmer)
Name of mother: Johanna Fenlon (née Redmond)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 7 Feb. 1892
Date of first profession: 20 Mar. 1893
Date of final profession: 25 Dec. 1897
Date of ordination (as priest): 21 Sept. 1901
Missionary assignments: Travelled to California in Nov. 1922; Returned to Ireland in July 1948;
Date of death: 20 Apr. 1963
Place of death: Bon Secours Hospital, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

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

Joseph McCann was born in Belfast on 2 February 1910. After a period of schooling in his native city he entered the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork to prepare for his entry into the Capuchin Order. He was preceded by his elder brother, Robert McCann, who had joined the Capuchins in 1925. His brother took Cuthbert as his religious name and was later a missionary in Africa before returning to Ireland in 1946. Having completed a course in humanities, Joseph McCann entered the Capuchin novitiate in Kilkenny in 1929. He took Gerald as his religious name upon joining the Order. For the following three years he was a member of the community at St. Bonaventure’s Hostel and studied philosophy in University College Cork. In 1933 he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently studied theology in Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal and was ordained a priest by the Most Reverend William McNeely, Bishop of Raphoe, in Letterkenny on 27 June 1937. Soon after his ordination he was transferred to Dublin and was appointed assistant editor in the Irish Capuchin publications office. Here he found scope for his considerable literary and artistic talents. His greatly admired and often amusing illustrations of Franciscan life were a noteworthy feature of ‘The Capuchin Annual’. He also contributed many literary and scholarly articles to both the ‘Annual’ and its sister publication ‘The Father Mathew Record’. Afflicted by ill-health from an early age, he was subsequently forced to relinquish his work in Dublin and was transferred to Rochestown Friary in County Cork. In August 1958 he travelled to Dublin to preach a novena, but he took ill and was admitted to the Bon Secours Hospital in Glasnevin. He died in the hospital on 16 August 1958 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Baptismal name: Joseph McCann
Religious name: Fr. Gerald McCann OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 2 February 1910
Place of birth: North Queen Street, Belfast, County Antrim (Diocese of Down and Connor)
Name of father: John McCann (Cabinet Maker)
Name of mother: Mary Jane McCann (née Riddel)
Date of parents’ marriage: 10 July 1899
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1929
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1930
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1933
Date of ordination (as priest): 27 June 1937
Educational attainments: BA (1933)
Date of death: 16 Aug. 1958
Place of death: Bon Secours Hospital, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

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.

John O’Dea was born to Kieran and Mary O’Dea (née Doyle) of William Street in Kilkenny in 1851. He joined the Capuchin Order in England in 1868 and took Laurence as his religious name. He was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Southwark on 3 May 1874 at the Capuchin Friary in Pantasaph, Flintshire, in North Wales. He joined the Irish Capuchins shortly afterwards and from 1874 to 1881 was Novice Master in Le Mans, France, where the Irish friars studied. He travelled to India in 1881 and was later appointed a chaplain to the British forces stationed there. He assumed responsibility for the construction of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Joseph in Shimla in 1885. O’Dea returned to Britain in 1891. Having re-joined the British Capuchin Province, he served as guardian (local superior) in several English Capuchin Houses including Olton (Oxford), Erith (London) and Crawley (Sussex). Although advancing in age (he was at this point nearly sixty), he volunteered for further missionary work in Arabia from 1907 to 1909. At the outbreak of the First World War, he again put forward his name for military chaplaincy. His offer was accepted, and he was made chaplain to a large convalescent camp established at Eastbourne on the English Coast for wounded and shell-shocked soldiers of the conflict. At its peak, the main camp had room for 3,500 injured soldiers. Overburdened by the pressures of his work, O’Dea died in the Military Hospital at Palace Green in London on 4 November 1917. He was buried in the cemetery of the Friary Church of St Francis in Crawley, Sussex.