Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- c.1930-1940 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
37 pp; Manuscript and typescript
Name of creator
Biographical history
John Kavanagh was born in Mountmellick in Queen’s County (later County Laois) on 12 June 1876. Having spent some years in the Seraphic College in Rochestown, County Cork, he was received into the Capuchin Order in March 1893. He was ordained a priest in Dublin on 23 February 1902. Soon after his ordination he was stationed in Kilkenny as a Professor of Philosophy, but most of his life as a priest was spent in Dublin and in Cork. An accomplished scholar, Kavanagh spent many years in libraries and archives in England, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, transcribing thousands of documents in a very clear hand, recording everything relating to the Irish Capuchins which could be discovered overseas. His work in transcribing the seventeenth-century Latin text, the ‘Commentarius Rinuccinianus’, published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission in six volumes between 1932 and 1949, is well known. His extremely important corpus of manuscripts, surrogate copies and transcribed materials for early Capuchin history are now extant in the Irish Capuchin Archives. He served as Provincial Archivist for the Capuchin Order in Ireland from 1919 to 1958. In 1918 he was appointed to investigate the cause of two seventeenth century Irish Capuchin martyrs, Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (d. 1656) and Fr. John Baptist Dowdall OSFC (d. 1710). Kavanagh also had a life-long interest in Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856) and amassed a huge quantity of research and documentary material relating to his life and nineteenth-century temperance campaign. In recognition of his contribution to Irish historical scholarship, the National University of Ireland awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Literature (D. Litt.) in 1947. Outside of academia, Kavanagh was a well-known preacher, missionary, and retreat-giver. In 1924 he was asked to travel to the United States where he spent several months assisting Irish Capuchin friars in missionary and preaching work. He was also a long-time incumbent of the position of Secretary of the Irish Capuchin Province (1922-31; 1937-55) and was elected Provincial Deifintor (Councillor) in 1931. His later years were blighted by dementia and he died on 16 May 1965 in the Bon Secours Hospital in Dublin. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Baptismal name: John Kavanagh
Religious name: Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 12 June 1876
Place of birth: Mountmellick, Queen’s County (County Laois), Diocese of Kildare & Leighlin
Name of father: Edward Kavanagh
Name of mother: Joanna Kavanagh (née Costello)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 20 Mar. 1893
Date of first profession: 2 July 1894
Date of final profession: 25 Dec. 1897
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 Feb. 1902
Educational attainments: Doctor of Literature (D. Litt.), 1947
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor, 1931-4; Provincial Secretary, 1922-31, 1937-55; Provincial Archivist, 1919-1958
Date of death: 16 May 1965
Place of death: Bon Secours Hospital, Glasnevin, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Scope and content
• Notes re Fr. Theobald Mathew’s family. It is stated that John Francis Maguire in his 'Father Mathew / A Biography' affirms that Fr. Mathew’s parents had twelve children, 9 boys and 3 girls. The notes were compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Typescript, 1 p.
• Excerpts from ‘The life of Fr. Theobald Mathew’ by Dr. P. Rogers, The Father Mathew Record, 31, no. 4 (Apr. 1938). The notes refer to the genealogy of Fr. Mathew and were compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Manuscript, 3 pp.
• Copy letter of Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. to Rev. M.J. O’Dwyer, The Presbytery, Anacarty, County Tipperary, seeking information re a memorial tombstone for Fr. Mathew’s mother (Anne Whyte, a daughter of George Whyte of Cappawhyte). 5 Nov. 1938. Typescript, 1 p.
• Copy letter of Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. to ‘Cyril’ re Fr. Mathew’s genealogy. He writes: ‘I have no information regarding the date of death of either the father or mother of Father Mathew. There was in the Public Record Office, Four Courts, Dublin, prior to the destruction of the records, a collection of Wills from the Probate Court of the Diocese of Cashel & Emly. Only the catalogue of these Wills now exists, and this catalogue mentions a will of James Mathew of Rathcloheen dated 1810’. 8 July 1953. Typescript, 2 pp.
• Information about Thomastown Castle and Father Mathew given to Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. by William Pike. It is noted that Pike was born in Thomastown in 1846 and he worked there until 1885. The Pike family were intimately connected with the Mathews and his grand-aunt, Hannah McGrath, was Father Mather’s foster mother. The notes refer to the history of the Mathews at Thomastown, to the ultimate fate of estate and house following its sale in 1875, and to local traditions associated with the temperance campaigner. Some of the notes are dated 16 July 1930. Typescript, 19 pp.
• ‘Particulars from the Thomastown Registers’ re the genealogy of the Mathews family. The notes were compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Manuscript, 1 p.
• Extract from John Francis Maguire’s 'Father Mathew / A Biography' re Mathew family genealogy. Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. also makes reference to Fr. David Mathew’s (Fr. Theobald’s grand-nephew) account of family history. Typescript, 1 p.
• Notes by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. on the genealogy of the Mathew family. Manuscript, 3 pp.
• Letter from Willie Doyle, Bank Place, Tipperary, to Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. asking for his impressions of the Father Mathew Statue at Thomastown Cross in County Tipperary. He also encloses notes re Mathew family genealogy and transcripts of monuments for James White (d. 1763), Paul Mathew (d. 1835) and his brother Thomas Mathew (d. 1838) found in the graveyard of Donohill Church, County Tipperary. 10 July 1930. Manuscript, 6 pp.