Letter from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, referring to his weakened condition and his closeness to death. He asks for 'forgiveness and pardon for all my faults, and for all the disedifications I have given, as well for all the violations of [the] Rule, Constitutions and Regulations of which I have been guilty'. Bibby asserts that he wishes 'to die a loyal member of the Irish Province'. He encloses a newspaper cutting from the 'Santa Barbara Daily News' (21 Jan. 1925) containing an article with (photographic prints) of Mission Santa Inés and ‘Padre Albert’. With a cover and copies.
Letters from Brigid E. Whelan, Staplestown Rd., Carlow, to Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., regarding a subscription from local people ‘to have a Mass said in the Cathedral, Carlow, for the repose of the soul of the I[rish] V[olunteers] who died in connection with the 1916 Rising which proposal was refused by the administrator ’. (2 May 1916). She later reprobates the ‘clergy [who] had abandoned the cause of their motherland’. She added ‘Thank God that there are such men as you and your “Beloved Brethren”’. (4 May 1917).
Letters from William Partridge to Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. giving an outline of his career mostly in the labour and union movement under James Larkin. Partridge was among those rebels who surrendered at St Stephen’s Green in 1916. He was subsequently sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude and sent to Dartmoor and afterwards to Lewes Prison. He was released due to ill-health and returned to Ballaghadreen in County Mayo, but died on 26 July 1917. He refers to his physical condition in some of the correspondence. He writes ‘Please excuse scribbling as my sight got bad in prison and I have not yet got glasses’. With his memorial card and a newspaper cutting of his obituary notice. The file also includes a letter (probably from his brother, Felix Partridge) referring to his last days and thanking Fr. Albert for his words of sympathy.
Letters from Constance Markievicz, Holloway Jail, to Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., Church St., Dublin, referring to her conditions of imprisonment and conveying her good wishes to Fr. Albert, Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap., and Sister Brigid. She declares that ‘when we free our country I shall start a movement for the reformation of jails and jailors! I am proud of being selected as a candidate. I wonder whether I should have a better chance of election in or out of jail?’ With 2 covers.
Letters from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. to Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap., referring to journey to the United States, from New York to Santa Barbara, California, his declining health and to the consolation he has found as his death approaches. On 25 Jan. 1925 Fr. Albert wrote: ‘I am gradually getting weaker and am preparing for end. … Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. came here last night and will remain with me to the end. Tis a great comfort and joy to have him. He will do for me what he did for Terry McSweeney in Brixton Jail’. With a newspaper cutting from the Santa Barbara Daily News (21 Jan. 1925) containing an article with (photographic prints) of the Old Mission of Santa Ynez and ‘Padre Albert’.
The file includes letters from various American Associations for the Recognition of the Irish Republic to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, re the Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. Includes: Letter from Mrs John Flanagan, Secretary, Liam Mellows Council of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, Portland, enclosing a resolution protesting against the exiling of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and other Capuchin Priests. With annotated cover: ‘Not Answered, F[ather] P[eter]. Deserves none except mind own business’. 25 Mar. 1925. Letter from Martin Howard, American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, 3 East 42nd Street, New York, enclosing a resolution condemning the ‘victimization’ of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and other Capuchin priests who merely expressed ‘a deep rooted love of their motherland, Ireland … and were therefore looked on as a menace to the so-called Free State Government in Ireland …’. 21 Apr. 1925. Letter from Loretta A. Ryder, Secretary, Kevin Barry Council of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, enclosing a resolution condemning ‘the unchristian conduct of the Superiors of the Capuchin Order of Priests in Ireland in exiling Father Albert and other Priests of their Order because they had the courage to stand up for Ireland’s rightful independence’. 4 May 1925
