The sub-series contains records relating to legal issues arising out of the management of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, Dublin. The records specifically relate to the transfer of ownership of the Hall from elected trustees of the temperance sodality to the Capuchin Franciscan Order. This process was complicated by the legal guarantees required to ‘ensure that the purpose for which the property was acquired, and the Hall originally built would be maintained’. Other issues include negotiations with the representatives of the Merchant Tailors’ School, the original owners of the ground at 131-5 Church Street upon which the Hall was built and with the tenants of cottages on Bow Street and Nicholas Avenue who rented their properties from the Hall trustees.
Letter from Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap., President, Father Mathew Hall, Cork, to Fr. Anthony Boran OFM Cap., enclosing a notice from the Cork Corporation Fire Department regarding the use of the Hall for bingo.
Letter from Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap., President, Father Mathew Hall, Cork, to Fr. Conrad O’Donovan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, outlining the financial position of the Hall. Fr. Nessan affirmed that finances are ‘a matter of real concern because of the rising costs and reduced theatre patronage. At present we are losing money. It costs over £2,000 a year to run the Hall’. Fr. Nessan also refers to the changing nature of the activities in the Hall and to his intention to attract a ‘younger and wider audience’. A statement of financial accounts is enclosed.
Letter from Antoinette Reilly, Bord Fáilte, to Fr. Christopher Twomey OFM Cap. enclosing £200 in payment for permission to reproduce photographs of the plaster-work in Father Mathew Hall. With a copy of 'Ireland of the Welcomes', 49 (Mar.-Apr. 2000), which includes a feature on ‘Father Mathew Hall: A Celtic Revival Treasure’ by Nicola Gordon Bow (pp 14-21).
Letter to Fr. Justin Hyland OFM Cap., President, from the Medical Officer, Dublin Corporation, regarding safety precautions to be taken during performances at Father Mathew Hall.
Letter from Bertie Ahern, TD, Minister for Finance, to Br. Kevin Crowley OFM Cap., enclosing a response from the Arts Council regarding a request for financial assistance with the costs of running the Feis Maitiú. With manuscript notes regarding the aforementioned request.
Letter from John W. Moran, photographer, 14 Lower Gloucester Street, Dublin, to C. Hepworth, Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, asking for the ‘balance due for photo groups on or before the 5th Feb. as I am much pressed for cash at the present time’.
Letter to Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC from Walter Glynn Doolin, architect and civil engineer, 20 Ely Place, Dublin, regarding the design of the proposed Father Mathew Temperance Hall, Church Street. Doolin referred to Fr. Maher’s ‘instructions to provide a Hall capable of seating 1,000 persons exclusive of a permanent stage’ and submits detailed plans for the dimensions and layout of the Hall. Doolin affirmed that ‘there are upwards of 150,000 cubic feet in the building and I do not see how this amount of work can be done for much under £2,000’.
Letter to Fr. Edward Walsh OFM Cap., guardian, Holy Trinity Friary, from Fr. Patrick Sexton, Parish Priest, St. Patrick’s, Cork, conveying his concern that the authorities at Father Mathew Hall ‘held this huge gamble’ for money during the Lent season. Fr. Sexton encloses a newspaper cutting referring to the fund drive for the Hall. With cover.
Letters from Arnold Bax (1883-1953), 155 Fellows Road, London, and Grosvenor Hotel, Chester, to Fr. Michael O’Shea OFM Cap., President, Father Mathew Hall, Cork. In 1929 the Feis Maitiú Corcaigh invited Bax, a well-known composer and poet, to become an adjudicator marking the beginning of a 24-year friendship with the prestigious local music festival. Most of the correspondence relates to arrangements for the Cork Feis and other matters of musical interest. The file includes fifteen original items in Bax’s hand. With contemporary manuscript and later typescript copies of Bax’s letters. The file also includes a typescript appreciation of Arnold Bax possibly written by Fr. O’Shea. It reads ‘The way he [Bax] came to Cork was simple enough. I attribute his coming to the initiative of Frau Fleischmann in the meeting of the Feis Maitiú Committee that was considering adjudicators for the year 1929. I remember at the time that it was mentioned that Bax had rather a Celtic strain in his compositions and the he would like to come’. Also includes a newspaper cutting of a letter from Bax to the 'Daily Telegraph' referring to a performance by a choir at the Catholic Cathedral in Cork. In Irish and English.
