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- 1940-1943 (Creation)
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14 items; typescript
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Biographical history
Thomas Griffin was born in the town of Doneraile in County Cork on 16 January 1886. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in February 1903 and took Colman as his religious name. Having took his solemn vows in July 1908, he was ordained to the priesthood in May 1910. He subsequently pursued further theological studies at the International Capuchin College in Rome and received a Doctorate in Divinity (DD) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in the Italian capital. On his return to Ireland in 1914, he taught as a professor in theology in the Seraphic College in Rochestown, County Cork. He spent the greater part of his life teaching friars dogmatic theology both as a professor and as a director of students and master of novices. He held many senior leadership positions in the Order in Ireland and was several times guardian and vicar of various Capuchin communities. He was chosen as the first guardian (local superior) of the new Ard Mhuire foundation which was established in County Donegal in 1930. He was appointed superior of the newly established Raheny Hostel in Dublin in 1946. Fr. Colman was elected five times as a Provincial Definitor (Councillor) and served four terms as Provincial Minister (1937-40, 1940-3, 1949-51, 1952-5). He died in Raheny on 24 August 1971 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
Baptismal name: Thomas Griffin
Religious name: Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 16 Jan. 1886
Place of birth: Doneraile, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Humphrey Griffin (Farmer)
Name of mother: Anne Griffin (née Carmody)
Date of reception into Capuchin Order: 19 Feb. 1903
Date of first profession: 19 Mar. 1904
Date of final profession: 31 July 1908
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 May 1910
Education attainments: BA (Royal University of Ireland, Cork, 1908); Doctorate in Divinity (Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1914)
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor (Councillor): 1925-8, 1928-31, 1931-4, 1934-7, 1946-9; Provincial Minister: 1937-40, 1940-3, 1949-51, 1952-5; Custos General: 1943-6, 1955-8.
Date of death: 24 Aug. 1971
Place of death: Raheny, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
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A file of copy letters from Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, to Fr. Cornelius Hyland OFM Cap. mainly re administrative, financial and personnel matters in the California mission. A letter (19 January 1942) reprints a tribute article to Fr. Camillus Killian OFM Cap., an Irish Capuchin missionary in the United States, and to the late Br. Anthony McDonnell OFM Cap.
The letter reads:
'The following appreciation from the pen of the editor, Mr. Frank Geary, appeared in the Irish Independent of December 15th :-
"There are many heavy hearts amongst the members of the congregation of Church Street to-day, for a beloved Capuchin has gone to his eternal reward. Father Camillus was a true son of St. Francis, a great priest, and a fine type of Irishman. His passing will evoke regret, not only in Dublin where he was so well known, but throughout the greater part of the country, where he is still remembered as a leading missioner.
"Three score and ten winters had snowed his hair; the hardships of more than a decade of years as a pioneer in the mission fields of the wilds of Oregon had taken the buoyancy from his step and enfeebled his limbs, but they were powerless to leave even a dent on his great, big, kindly heart. He suffered much, but he suffered without murmur. He did his priestly work and smiled at his suffering.
"He had that wonderful gift of making friends and keeping them—keeping them with bands of steel encased in fine gold. The poor and the lowly, the sick and the sorrowful will miss him most. They sought him and found him to halve their griefs and to share their joys. The public wards of the city hospitals knew well his halting steps, and they will miss his kindly smile, his gentle words of consolation. In the back streets and the tenements, at all hours of the day and night, and in all weathers, he was a familiar figure; in the limelight—never.
"He loved His Maker; he loved the Brown Habit of St. Francis; he loved his fellow-man. May the good God rest his gentle soul."