Baptismal name: James Brady
Religious name: Fr. Conor Brady OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 21 Aug. 1923
Place of birth: Crosskeys, County Cavan (Diocese of Kilmore)
Name of father: Eugene Brady
Name of mother: Mary Brady (née Finnegan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1942
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1943
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1946
Date of ordination: 8 June 1950
Educational attainments: BA (1946)
Missionary activities: Travelled to Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), on 26 Dec. 1950
Date of death: 20 Apr. 1993
Place of death: Kaoma, Zambia
Place of burial: Kaoma, Zambia
Baptismal name: Cornelius Francis Reardon
Religious name: Fr. Xavier Reardon OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 2 Feb. 1899
Place of birth: Blackrock Road, Ballintemple, County Cork
Name of father: Cornelius Reardon
Name of mother: Elizabeth Reardon (née Keane)
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 (1926); Higher Diploma in Education (1926)
Missionary activities: Travelled to India in 1937. He returned to Ireland in 1948. Travelled to the United States in 1960. He returned to Ireland in 1967.
Date of death: 26 Dec. 1986
Place of death: Holy Trinity Friary, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork.
From the ‘Necrology of the Western American Province’ (2005):
Cornelius Reardon was born in Cork on 2 February 1916. His early education was with the Christian Brothers’ schools in Cork (Sullivans’ Quay and North Monastery). He completed his studies at the Capuchin Franciscan College in Rochestown, County Cork (1915-6). On 17 September 1916 he was received as a novice in the Capuchin Order, taking Xavier as his religious name. The following year, after making his simple profession, he began philosophy studies in University College Cork. He returned to Rochestown to undertake theological studies. He was ordained to the priesthood at Holy Trinity Church in Cork on 29 June 1925. His first assignment was teaching in Rochestown College (1925-6). He then served in three communities in Ireland (Kilkenny, 1929-30), (Rochestown, 1930-1), (Church Street, Dublin, 1931-7). In 1937 he volunteered for missionary work under Archbishop Sylvester Mulligan OFM Cap. in India. For eleven years he laboured under difficult conditions, returning to Ireland in 1948. In the early 1960s he travelled to the United States and worked at various ministries in St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware. Here he conducted novenas and retreats. He also helped in supply work. In 1963 he transferred to the new novitiate at San Lorenzo in Mission Santa Inés in California. Here he acted as spiritual director to the novices. He returned to Ireland in 1967 and spent the last years of his life in Holy Trinity Friary in Cork. He died on 26 December 1986 and was buried in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Friary in Cork.
Edward Cregan was born in Shanagolden in County Limerick on 19 October 1894. He was received into the Capuchin Order at Rochestown Friary in County Cork in February 1915 and took Colmcille as his religious name. Four years later he made his solemn profession. He was stationed in Rochestown College for two years before moving to Holy Trinity Friary in Cork city where he was resident for three years. His next appointment (1921) was as sacristan in St. Mary of the Angels on Church Street in Dublin. In 1924 he was sent as a missionary friar to California. Following the death of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., Pastor of the Santa Inés Mission, in February 1925, Br. Colmcille was sent there to lend assistance. He worked on various improvement projects at the old Franciscan mission. Aside from helping in the church and sacristy, he also designed and planted the boxwood Celtic cross in the mission garden. He returned to Ireland in the early 1930s and spent most of the remainder of his life (forty years) as sacristan with the Church Street Capuchin community in Dublin. He died on 10 December 1979 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Baptismal name: Edward Cregan
Religious name: Br. Colmcille Cregan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 19 Oct. 1894
Place of birth: Shanagolden, County Limerick
Name of father: Michael Cregan (Farmer)
Name of mother: Marry Cregan (née Sheehan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 5 Feb. 1915
Date of first profession: 6 Feb. 1916
Date of final profession: 12 Apr. 1919
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western United States mission custody in 1924. He returned to Ireland in 1931.
Date of death: 10 Dec. 1979
Place of death: Church Street Friary, 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, an older 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.
Baptismal name: Alphonsus McGarry
Religious name: Fr. Columban McGarry OFM Cap.
Place of birth: Rasharkin, County Antrim (Diocese of Down & Connor)
Date of birth: 20 April 1901
Name of father: Patrick McGarry
Name of mother: M.A. McGarry (née Cleland)
Date of reception into Capuchin Order: 18 September 1921
Date of first profession: 15 October 1922
Date of final profession: 22 December 1925
Date of ordination (Rome): 29 July 1928
Education: BA (1st class honours): 1925; Doctorate in Divinity, 1929 (Rome); Licentiate of Sacred Scripture, 1931 (Rome).
Ministries: Spiritual Director of the Pontifical Ethiopian College at the Vatican from 1966-70; Guardian of St. Fidelis Hospice, Rome, from 1970-5; returned to Ireland in 1975 and was appointed to the Church Street community in Dublin.
Date of death: 24 December 1987
Place of death: Fahan Nursing Home, County Donegal
Place of burial: Cemetery, Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary, County Donegal
George Albert Ratigan was born in County Roscommon on 4 October 1906. He entered the Capuchin novitiate at the age of twenty-four and took Robert as his religious name. He spent the three years of his simple profession at St. Bonaventure’s Hostel in Cork and took his philosophy degree from University College Cork. He was solemnly professed as a Capuchin friar on 4 October 1934. Following four years of theological study at Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal, he was ordained to the priesthood in St. Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny on 19 June 1938. His first assignment was in Kilkenny (1938-41) which was followed by two years with the Church Street community in Dublin. He returned to Kilkenny in 1943 and he remained there until 1952. He volunteered for missionary work in the Irish Capuchin custody in the United States in 1955. He did parish supply work in several parishes on the East Coast of the United States while stationed at St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1964 he spent some time at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame, California. From there he went to St. Joseph’s Parish in Oregon. He also conducted missions and was active in parish work in Ukiah, California, and in Roseburg, Oregon. He returned to Ireland in 1969 and was appointed once again to Kilkenny where he remained until his death on 1 February 1983. He was buried in the Capuchin plot in Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny.
Baptismal name: George Albert Ratigan
Religious name: Fr. Robert Ratigan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 4 Oct. 1906
Place of birth: Rathmore South, Kilbride, County Roscommon (Diocese of Elphin)
Name of father: Michael Ratigan
Name of mother: Catherine Ratigan (née Doyle)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1930
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1931
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1934
Date of ordination (as priest): 19 June 1938
Educational attainments: BA (1934)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States mission in 1955. He returned to Ireland in 1969.
Date of death: 1 Feb. 1983
Place of death: Kilkenny
Place of burial: Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny
From the ‘Necrology of the Western American Province’ (2005):
George Ratigan was born in County Roscommon in October 1906. He took Robert as his religious name upon joining the Capuchin Order. He ministered in Ireland before coming to the United States. He did parish supply work on the east coast while stationed at St. Patrick’s Friary in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1964 he spent some time at Our Lady of the Angels parish in Burlingame. From there he went to St. Joseph’s parish in Roseburg in Oregon. He returned to Ireland in 1969 and he died in Kilkenny in 1983.
Baptismal name: Joseph Andrew O’Connell
Religious name: Fr. Vivian O’Connell OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 2 Mar. 1914
Place of birth: 12 Claude Road, Drumcondra, Dublin
Name of father: Michael O’Connell
Name of mother: Kathleen O’Connell (née Kelly)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1932
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1933
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1936
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 June 1940
Educational attainments: BA (1936)
Missionary activities: Travelled to California, United States, in 1946
Date of death: 21 June 1952
Place of burial: Holy Cross Cemetery, California, United States
From the ‘Necrology of the Western American Province’ (2005):
Joseph O’Connell was born in Dublin on 2 March 1914. On joining the Capuchins, he took the name Vivian in religion. Our information on Fr. Vivian is unfortunately very limited. After his ordination in 1940 he became Vice Master of Novices at Rochestown Friary in County Cork. He was sent to the American mission in 1946 and was assigned to minister at Blessed Sacrament parish in Elk in California. Shortly after arriving, he became ill and was diagnosed with cancer. He was transferred to Our Lady of Angels parish in Burlingame for treatment. He spent some time in hospital and died on 21 June 1952. He was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma in California.
Baptismal name: John O’Mahony
Religious name: Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 21 Jan. 1912
Place of birth: Farrankeal, Rathmore, County Cork (Diocese of Kerry)
Name of father: Michael O’Mahony
Name of mother: Nora O’Mahony (née Cahill)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1932
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1933
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1936
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 June 1940
Educational attainments: BA (1936)
Missionary activities: Travelled to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on 8 Apr. 1942. Regular Superior of the Livingstone Mission from 1950 to 1967. He returned to Ireland on 5 Oct. 1973.
Date of death: 25 Dec. 1988
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork
Baptismal name: Matthew Dowd
Religious name: Fr. Maurice Dowd OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 31 Oct. 1904
Place of birth: Castlegregory, County Kerry
Name of father: Jeremiah Dowd
Name of mother: Catherine Dowd (née Fitzgerald)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Sept. 1923
Date of first profession: 18 Sept. 1924
Date of final profession: 18 Sept. 1927
Date of ordination (as priest): June 1931
Educational attainments: BA (1927)
Missionary activities: Travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, on 22 Sept. 1970.
Date of death: 15 Nov. 1989
Place of death: Cape Town, South Africa
Place of burial: Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, South Africa
Baptismal name: Patrick King
Religious name: Fr. Philip King OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 16 Mar. 1885
Place of birth: Glin, County Limerick
Name of father: Thomas King
Name of mother: Johanna King (née Ahern)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Mar. 1903
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1904
Date of final profession: 31 July 1908
Date of ordination (as priest): 24 Sept. 1921
Educational attainments: BA (RUI)
Date of death: 22 Aug. 1952
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork