This series consists of pamphlets on topics related to Irish political, social and cultural issues published during the revolutionary era. The collection contains pamphlets and publications relating primarily to the political tensions of this period and includes original pamphlets written by Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, the Most Rev. Edward Thomas O’Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, William O’Brien, George Noble Plunkett, Cumann na mBan, Darrell Figgis, Frank Gallagher and Ėamon de Valera.
A small collection of the personal papers of Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. mainly relating to his involvement with republican combatants in the 1916 Rising.
The first number of 'The Father Mathew Record' was published in January 1908. It was founded and edited by Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. (1870-1957). 1967 marked the last year of the publication under the title of 'The Father Mathew Record'. From 1968 until it ceased publication in 1973, the publication was known as 'Eirigh'. Very little content has survived for the publication for the years prior to the assumption of the editorship of 'Eirigh' by Fr. Donal O’Mahony OFM Cap. (1936-2010) in the late 1960s.
The series includes records relating to general missions, retreats and tridua given by the Capuchin friars to parishes, lay confraternities, sodalities and associations, working men’s clubs, and (particularly) religious congregations and societies. The series contains administrative records including mission lists, schedules and reports. A large assemblage of correspondence is also extant.
The series comprises photographic glass plates with descriptions derived principally from annotations and captions on their original containers, boxes and covers.
James McKenna (d. 1846) played a key role in the founding of the Cork Total Abstinence Society (CTAS) in 1838. He also acted as Fr. Mathew’s principal travelling secretary during the early years of his campaign. McKenna made extensive efforts to publicise the movement through newspaper advertising, the printing of posters, pamphlets and handbills but the most comprehensive expression of his temperance philosophy is preserved in his manuscript history of the movement. McKenna kept his voluminous records of the CTAS’s progress in his 'History of the Temperance Reformation in Ireland, England and Scotland by James McKenna, Chief Travelling and Confidential Secretary to the Very Reverend Theobald Mathew'. This eclectic, meticulously hand-written collection of hundreds of outsized pages of transcribed material was woven together in McKenna’s own strident presentation. The text recorded very many of the activities connected Fr. Mathew’s temperance campaign from 1838 to 1846. McKenna intended to publish his account, as the definitive, triumphal and popular history of what seemed like a permanent social revolution. McKenna’s sudden death (in Cork in 1846), and the temperance crusade’s rapid retreat, likely combined to prevent the manuscript’s publication. Although of dubious literary merit, McKenna’s manuscript represents an extremely important source for Fr. Mathew’s temperance crusade. The text is preserved in the Irish Capuchin Archives.
The series contains correspondence, publications, posters, circulars, newspaper cuttings and ephemera relating to various commemorations of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC from the late nineteenth century onward. The series has been divided into seven sub-series relating to a particular anniversary (centenary or bicentenary) or commemoration of Fr. Mathew and his temperance crusade.
This series includes material relating to the promotion of total abstinence by organisations which emerged in response to the late nineteenth century temperance revival. The files comprise material from both local and national organisations such as the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) founded in 1893. The section also includes minute books, fliers, publications and ephemera created by Capuchin-founded local temperance societies such as the League of the Sacred Thirst (established by Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC in 1880) and the League of the Young Irish Crusaders (initiated by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC in 1909). Much of the publicity and commemorative material generated by these abstinent societies focused on Fr. Mathew’s legacy as a temperance pioneer and leader.
The series contains a collection of prints, drawings and photographs relating to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Most of the prints were produced for commemorative and devotional purposes and to celebrate Fr. Mathew’s temperance campaign.
