Although the association of the Capuchin friars with the Walkin Street (now Friary Street) area of Kilkenny dates to the late seventeenth century, the documents in this section relate primarily to the present-day Church of St. Francis, built by Fr. Peter Joseph Mulligan OSFC (1793-1853) in 1848. The section also contains documents relating to the subsequent extensions to the Friary, most notably in 1897 when a large three-storey building between Walkin Street and Pennyfeather Lane was constructed to provide, among other things, accommodation for novices. The relatively large number of documents relating to the Walkin Street properties has necessitated the creation of a further three sub-sub-series relating to a particular plot of ground, purchase or sale.
Value duty form from the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for the conveyance by Rev. Andrew Craig Robinson to Rev. Edward (Peter) Bowe OSFC and others of premises on Walkin Street, Kilkenny. The completed form includes information in respect of the occupiers of the premises and the poor rate valuation for each separate hereditament. With draft copies.
Valuation report by Ganly Walters Boyd, 5 William Street, Kilkenny, for garden premises on Pennyfeather Lane. The property comprises a portion of the garden attached to the Capuchin Friary. It comprises approximately 18,000 square feet in area, and at the time of inspection was laid out in level lawns and with, at one end, a handball alley and a small stand for spectators. The property is bounded to the north by the remainder of the Friary garden, to the east by a car belonging to Allied Irish Banks, to the south by an extensive development site owned by the proposed purchaser and to the west by the same development site. The property is held by the Capuchin friars under an unencumbered freehold title. With attached copy ordnance survey map.
Trace map of premises to be conveyed by Rev. Andrew Craig Robinson to Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC and others. The property is divided into sixteen individual lots and is demarcated on the map by a red line. An annotation reads: ‘The red lines indicate the boundaries of the property of Rev. A.C. Robinson and W. R. Robinson’. The premises are bounded to the west by the Friary garden and yard and by the alms house.
This section contains mainly legal documents including various types of deeds of title including leases, mortgages, wills, property abstracts, searches, and financial documents. The section also includes correspondence from solicitors engaged in legal work connected with the conveyance of property. The material is divided into two sub-series relating to the location of the plots of ground to which the document refers: Walkin Street (later Friary Street) and Pennyfeather Lane.
This section relates to two houses on Walkin Street which were formerly known as the Munster Arms. A Kilkenny newspaper, 'Finn’s Leinster Journal' (18 July 1770), included an article which referred to an old Inn known as 'The Munster Arms' on Walkin Street. The plot of ground on which this building stood was situated opposite the existing Capuchin Friary on Walkin Street. The buildings were purchased by the Capuchins in 1896 and part of the Munster Arms’ site was given over to Bishop Abraham Brownrigg in lieu of an alms house or charitable institution which was located on the opposite, Friary side of Walkin Street and which was subsequently demolished and incorporated into the existing Friary building (see CA KK/2/1/1/1/15). One of the above-mentioned houses on the Munster Arms site was retained and let to a tenant in order to meet the annual rent of £13 7s 8d on the property (see CA KK/2/1/1/2/5). The section includes deeds with numerous references to the historic owners of the Munster Arms and Alms House sites on Walkin Street including the Colles and Empson families. It is likely that part of Munster Arms site is currently occupied by a property now known as 17 Friary Street which was subsequently sold by the Capuchins (see section 2.1.1.2. below).
Tenders from Kennan & Sons Ltd., engineers, Fishamble Street, Dublin, and Smith & Pearson, North Strand, Dublin, for the construction and installation of sheet iron gates at the Capuchin Friary, Walkin Street, Kilkenny. Enclosures include two blueprint drawings from Smith & Pearson of the proposed gates. Scale: ¾ inch to 1 foot; File No. 2277F/R; 44 cm x 36.4 cm; 35.4 cm x 31 cm.
Scale: ¼ inch to 1 foot Technical plan for choir room accommodation and ventilation at the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny by Sylvester Bourke, architect, 79 High Street, Kilkenny. The drawing was supplied to the guardian of the Kilkenny Friary. Sheet number: LO.14 (A). Includes sections and elevations of choir ceiling, installations (kneelers) and second floor plan. It is noted that ‘the treatment of the arms of the Capuchin Order as incorporated in the extract grid is to special detail and template and will be supplied as necessary’.
Specifications and estimates for the installation of electric lighting in the Capuchin Friary and Church, Kilkenny, by Keatinge & Gaule, electrical engineers and contractors, 126 The Quay, Waterford, and Louis J. Lawless, consulting engineers, 19 Percy Place, Dublin.
Specification of works for the erection and completion of the Capuchin novitiate extension on Pennyfeather Lane by Sylvester Bourke, architect, 79 High Street, Kilkenny. With a similar specification by the architect for work on internal alterations to the Friary to accommodate the novitiate building. With Bourke’s statement of account of professional fees associated with the project (£355 15s 11d). The total cost of the work is stated as £3,637 7s 6d.
