Anglin, Henry, 1910-1977, Capuchin priest

Joseph Anglin, the son of John and Julia Anglin, was born in Aherla, County Cork, on 29 April 1910. Andrew Anglin (b. 11 Feb. 1900), an elder half-brother of Joseph, joined the Capuchin Franciscans in 1918 and took Terence as his religious name. He later became a missionary friar, first in the United States (from 1929), and later in Africa (from 1943). He died on 12 September 1947 in Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), where the Irish Capuchins had established a missionary custody. The Anglin family were devoutly Catholic, and Joseph followed in his elder half-brother’s footsteps by joining the Capuchins in Cork in October 1927, taking Henry as his religious name upon his reception into the Order. He took his final vows and was solemnly professed as a friar in October 1931. By this time, he had obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Cork. Following four additional years of clerical studies at Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal, he was ordained to the priesthood in St. Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny on 23 June 1935. In the years following his ordination, Fr. Henry served as an assistant to Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap., the founding-editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’ periodical. Following the Provincial Chapter of 1955, Fr. Henry was appointed editor of the ‘Annual’ with Fr. Felix Guihen OFM Cap. (1898-1981) taking on the role as manager of the Capuchin Publications Office. The appointment of Fr. Henry as editor of the ‘Annual’ elicited no real change in the ethos of the publication which continued to include an eclectic mix of articles on a wide range of topical, political, historical, artistic, literary, and spiritual subjects. Although the work of collating and editing articles for the yearly publication was strenuous and occasioned frequent bouts of stress-related ill-health, Fr. Henry succeeded in maintaining the scholarly content of the publication. Crippling financial losses brought about the demise of ‘The Capuchin Annual’ in 1977. Fr. Henry died on 30 May 1977 just a few months after completing his work on the final edition of the ‘Annual’. He was buried in the Capuchin plot in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.