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William John Forrest was born in Youghal in County Cork on 8 February 1911. He was initially educated in the Christian Brothers’ School in Youghal and later in the Cistercian College at Mount Melleray. He completed his secondary schooling with the Christian Brothers on Sullivan’s Quay in Cork and at the Capuchin College in Rochestown. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in October 1929 and took Cormac as his religious name. He studied philosophy in University College Cork and received a BA degree in 1933. He was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar in October 1933 and was ordained to the priesthood in Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal on 27 June 1937. He served as Dean of Rochestown College in Cork from 1938 to 1946. Afterwards, he was appointed Master of Novices and Vicar in Kilkenny Friary. From 1949 to 1952 he was guardian (local superior) in Kilkenny and from 1952 to 1955 he was guardian of the Rochestown community. He was subsequently transferred to Holy Trinity Friary in Cork serving as Vicar for twelve years. A well-known preacher, retreat-giver, and confessor in his native Cork, he died in Holy Trinity Friary on 19 February 1991. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining Rochestown Capuchin Friary.

Baptismal name: William John Forrest
Religious name: Fr. Cormac Forrest OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 8 Feb. 1911
Place of birth: Youghal, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Simon Forrest
Name of mother: Christina Forrest (née O’Connor)
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: 19 Feb. 1991
Place of death: Holy Trinity Capuchin Friary, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochetown Capuchin Friary, Cork

Baptismal name: Timothy Cooney
Religious name: Br. Eolan Cooney OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 14 Sept. 1913
Place of birth: Rylane, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Timothy Cooney (Labourer)
Name of mother: Julia Cooney (née Rourke)
Date of parents’ marriage: 21 Sept. 1905
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 12 Nov. 1934
Date of first profession: 13 Nov. 1935
Date of final profession: 12 Nov. 1938
Date of death: 29 July 1999
Place of death: Nursing home, Mount Desert, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork

Thomas Joseph Prendiville was born in Ballymacelligott in County Kerry on 27 November 1924. His early education was in the local national school and later at the Capuchin College in Rochestown, County Cork. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in October 1944 and took Bartholomew as his religious name. He obtained a BA degree in philosophy from University College Cork in 1948. He completed his theological studies in Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal and was ordained to the priesthood on 12 June 1952. He returned to St. Bonaventure’s Friary in Cork and obtained a Higher Diploma in Education (UCC) before travelling to Norther Rhodesia (now Zambia) for missionary work in 1953. He spent eighteen years in Zambia. In 1971 he was transferred to the Cape Town mission in South Africa. His years in Zambia mainly involved work in the education sector, first as a manager of schools at several mission stations, and later as education secretary in Livingstone. In South Africa, he served as parish priest in several churches in various Cape Town suburbs including Langa, Belgravia and Parow. He served as consultor to the Regular Superior of the Cape Town mission on two occasions (1971-4; 1974-7). He was elected Regular Superior in 1977 and held this position until 1983. He died in Parow, Cape Town, on 7 July 2004 and was buried in Maitland Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Thomas Joseph Prendiville
Religious name: Fr. Bartholomew Prendiville OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 27 Nov. 1924
Place of birth: Ballymacelligott, County Kerry
Name of father: Michael Prendiville
Name of mother: Hanora Prendiville (née Scanlon)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1944
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1945
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1948
Date of ordination (as priest): 12 June 1952
Educational attainments: BA (1948); Higher Diploma in Education (1953)
Missionary activities: Travelled to Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) on 26 Aug. 1953. He was transferred to Cape Town, South Africa, on 12 May 1971.
Leadership positions: Regular Superior, Cape Town Mission, South Africa, 1977-83
Date of death: 7 July 2004
Place of death: Parrow, Cape Town, South Africa
Place of burial: Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, South Africa

John Francis Kelly was on 15 September 1921 in Clara, County Offaly, the son of William Kelly and Elizabeth Kelly (formerly Deegan). He received the name Evangelist when he joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in October 1940. Following his ordination on 16 June1949, Fr. Evangelist came to the United States as a teacher at St. Francis High School in La Cañada, California. In 1962, after serving in various places, Fr. Evangelist was appointed Pastor of Old Mission Santa Inés in Solvang, California. There he continued the work of restoration, promoting tours of the historic mission building, expanding parish organizations, and working on spiritual programs for parishioners. He served as superior of the Western United States mission custody from 1968 to 1974. He then moved on to serve at parishes in Burlingame, California, and in Roseburg and Bend in Oregon. In 1999, he returned to Santa Inés and to the San Lorenzo Prayer and Retreat Center, serving as spiritual director and bible study leader. He died on 26 March 2010 at San Lorenzo Seminary in California. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining the seminary.

Baptismal name: John Francis Kelly
Religious name: Fr. Evangelist Kelly OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 15 Sept. 1921
Place of birth: Clara, County Offaly (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: William Kelly
Name of mother: Elizabeth Kelly (née Deegan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct.1940
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1941
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1944
Date of ordination (as priest): 16 June 1949
Educational attainments: BA, 1st class hons. (1944); MA, 1st class hons. (1945)
Leadership positions: Superior, Western United States mission custody, 1968-74
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western United States mission on 5 Aug. 1949
Date of death: 26 Mar. 2010
Place of death: San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California

Patrick Finbar Welstead was born in Cork on 3 September 1939, the son of John and Eileen Welstead (formerly Kidney). He was received into the Capuchin Franciscan Order on 3 October 1959 at Rochestown Friary in County Cork, where he took Flavian as his religious name. A year later (4 October 1960), he made his first profession. He studied philosophy at St. Bonaventure’s Friary and in University College Cork and took his theology courses at Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal. On 21 May 1967 he was ordained at Ard Mhuire Friary Church. After his ordination, he was assigned to the Irish Capuchin Mission in Zambia, for the next four years. He served at several mission stations in this short period of time: Sioma, then Manganga and finally at St. Theresa’s Cathedral in Livingstone. In 1973 he was assigned to serve in the Irish Capuchin Vice-Province on the West Coast of the United States. He served in Hermiston, Oregan, for one year and was then assigned to St. Francis High School in La Cañada, Califonria, as a teacher, for one year. He would return to the high school again in the 1980s and 1990s as a teacher and Director of Development. Also, in this period, he served for three years at St. Joseph Parish in Roseburg, Oregon, and at St. Francis Parish in Bend, Oregon. He also served as an associate pastor at Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Burlingame, California, from 1986 to 1989. From 1991 to 2000 he was assigned to the provincial leadership house in Burlingame, California, where he served as the Development Director for the Western American Province. After a short sabbatical in the second half of 2002, he returned to Burlingame as associate pastor of Our Lady of the Angels Parish where he remained until his death at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame on 4 December 2017. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California.

Baptismal name: Patrick Finbar Welstead
Religious name: Fr. Flavian Welstead OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 24 Sept. 1939
Place of birth: Douglas, Cork
Name of father: John Welstead
Name of mother: Ellen Welstead (née Kidney)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1959
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1960
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1963
Date of ordination (as priest): 21 May 1967
Missionary activities: Travelled to Livingstone, Zambia, in Nov. 1967. He returned to Ireland on 7 Apr. 1973. He travelled to the Western United States mission in 1973.
Date of death: 4 Dec. 2017
Place of death: Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, Burlingame, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California

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

Edward Patrick Holmes was born in Kirkwall, the largest town on Orkney, on 1 November 1886. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in September 1906 and took Anthony as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood on 5 July 1914. A year later, he was transferred to the United States mission. In July 1920 he was ministering in Fort Bragg in California. He spent most of his time in ministry on the American Pacific Coast, working in churches around his vast parish of the Blessed Sacrament in Elk, California. Elk (originally known as Greenwood) was a lumber town situated on the coastal region of Mendocino County, north of San Francisco. The Blessed Sacrament Parish had been served by English Capuchin missionaries since 1903 and included churches built on various Indian reservations in the region. Fr. Anthony died (suddenly) in Elk on 12 June 1947.

Baptismal name: Edward Patrick Holmes
Religious name: Fr. Anthony Holmes OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 1 Nov. 1886
Place of birth: Kirkwall, Orkney Islands (Diocese of Aberdeen)
Name of father: Michael Holmes
Name of mother: Catherine Holmes (née Hennebery)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 8 Sept. 1906
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1907
Date of final profession: 21 Jan. 1912
Date of ordination (as priest): 5 July 1914
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission in Sept. 1915
Date of death: 11 June 1947
Place of death: Elk, California

James MacRory was born in Belfast on 26 May 1925, the son of John MacRory and Anne Margaret MacRory. He was received as a Capuchin Franciscan novice in Rochestown Friary in County Cork in October 1943. He took Camillius as his religious name upon joining the Order. He made his solemn profession in 1947 in Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal where he was also ordained to the priesthood on 25 May 1951. Following his ordination, Fr. Camillus was assigned to teach at Rochestown College, from August 1951 to October 1952. He was then sent to California where he worked as an Associate Pastor at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame from 1952 to 1960. For the next eighteen years Camillus ministered as an Associate Pastor at St. Joseph’s Parish (Roseburg, Oregon), as Pastor at St. Aloysius (Point Arena, California), and Old Mission Santa Inés (Solvang, California), and at St. Francis of Assisi (Los Angeles, California). After his return from Oxford in England where he participated in special studies from 1978-80, he once again served as an Associate Pastor at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame. After that last assignment he became Director of On-going Education for the Western America Capuchin Province, a member of the Peace, Justice and Ecology Committee, and the National Spiritual Assistant for the Secular Franciscan Organisation (SFO). He was also spiritual assistant to the Secular Franciscans at Our Lady of Angels Parish in Burlingame, California. He also served as a priest at Mater Dolorosa Parish in San Francisco. He died on 25 December 2011 at Mercy Care and Retirement Centre in Oakland, California, after suffering from respiratory complications. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining San Lorenzo Friary, Santa Inés, California.

Baptismal name: James MacRory
Religious name: Fr. Camillus MacRory OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 26 May 1925
Place of birth: Belfast, County Antrim (Diocese of Down & Connor)
Name of father: John MacRory
Name of mother: Anne Margaret MacRory (née Farnan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 26 Oct. 1943
Date of first profession: 29 Oct. 1944
Date of final profession: 29 Oct. 1947
Date of ordination (as priest): 24 May 1951
Educational attainments: BSc (1947)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western United States mission custody in 1952
Date of death: 25 Dec. 2011
Place of death: Mercy Care and Retirement Centre, 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

Peter Anthony Farrell was born in Newtowncashel in County Longford on 9 May 1914. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order on 28 October 1933 and took Mel as his religious name. He was ordained a priest on 12 June 1941. Following his ordination, he resided at Rochestown Friary for about a year. The remainder of his priestly ministry (nearly twenty years) was spent in Holy Trinity Friary in Cork. While there he organised and directed the work of the Capuchin Foreign Missions in the city. He was guardian (local superior) of the Holy Trinity community from 1952 to 1958. He died in Holy Trinity Friary on 7 November 1963 and was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork.

Baptismal Name: Peter Anthony Farrell
Religious name: Fr. Mel Farrell OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 9 May 1914
Place of birth: Newtowncashel, County Longford (Diocese of Ardagh)
Name of father: Peter Farrell (Farmer)
Name of mother: Mary Farrell (née Brennan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 28 Oct. 1933
Date of first profession: 29 Oct. 1933
Date of final profession: 29 Oct. 1937
Date of ordination (as priest): 12 June 1941
Educational attainments: BA (1937)
Date of death: 7 Nov. 1963
Place of death: Holy Trinity Friary, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork