This section includes registers and appointment books recording the names of Capuchin priests celebrating masses at Holy Trinity Church in Cork. Historical mass books (pre-dating circa 1970) have evidently been lost. However, Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. (1875-1953) took extracts from some of the original (and now lost) mass registers for the purposes of his historical research. Some of this research has survived (see CA HT/7/7 and CA HT/7/8).
This file includes a document relating to St. Joseph’s Catholic Cemetery in Cork. In the late 1820s, Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC expressed his discontent that all the graveyards in the city remained under Protestant supervision. Permission had to be obtained by priests to officiate at Catholic burials. This permission was frequently only grudgingly given and having personally witnessed an attempt by the Protestant Dean of Cork to prevent the Catholic Dean from officiating in St. Finbarr’s Churchyard, Fr. Mathew moved to acquire a burial ground for Catholics. As a result of a well-supported subscription, parts of the Botanic gardens were leased and opened in February 1830 and were designated as St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
An appeal in support of exiled French Capuchins in Cork. The appeal notes that the friars have been exiled as part of 'the policy of persecution adopted by the present French ministry, and which has resulted in breaking up the whole religious system of that country'. This original printed appeal is pasted into the volume at p. 4.
This section contains leases and deeds relating to the acquisition by the Capuchin friars of premises on Father Mathew Quay. The Quay is situated on a reclaimed marsh which was located outside the old city walls. Historically, the area was known by several names, some of which are used in the deeds described below including Island Nagay, Red Abbey Island and Marsh, and Morrison’s Island after a family which was prominent in the civic affairs of Cork in the eighteenth century. From about 1800 it was commonly known as Charlotte Quay before being renamed Father Mathew Quay in honour of the Capuchin friar and ‘Apostle of Temperance’. After the reclamation of the marsh in the eighteenth century, the area became an important merchant, commercial and industrial centre. John Henry Gamble, a notable businessman engaged in the provisioning trade, held leasehold interests in several of the premises on Charlotte Quay which were subsequently acquired by the Capuchins (see CA HT/2/1/1/5, CA HT/2/1/1/7, and CA HT/2/1/1/9). J.H. Gamble & Company was later acquired by the famous food provisioning company, Crosse and Blackwell Limited. Another prominent trader engaged in business on the Quay was Robert Warner, a master cooper and vintner. In 1875 Warner leased a substantial plot of ground on Charlotte Quay to Fr. Cherubini Mazzini OSFC for 750 years. This ground was subsequently used as the site for the present-day Holy Trinity Friary (See CA HT/2/1/2/13). The section also includes many legal documents covering negotiations between the Capuchins and Alicia Louisa Seward, a granddaughter of Robert Warner, for the outright purchase of the freehold of the property. This purchase was realized in 1951. The section also includes the lease made to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC in 1832 of a plot of ground on Morrison’s Island upon which Holy Trinity Church was subsequently built (see CA HT/2/1/2/10).
Copy note re Harry Clarke stained glass windows in Holy Trinity Church in Cork. It is remarked that the 'windows were designed and made in the studios of Clark[e] and Son under the supervision of Harry Clarke RHA (now deceased. 1933) and erected in the Franciscan Capuchin Church, Cork, 1928 / The above is in the handwriting of the late Fr. Martin [Hyland OFM Cap.] and he remark[s] that it is a true copy of that supplied by Mr. Clark[e]'. This typescript copy note is pasted into the volume at p. 7.
Notes on chalices and sacred vessels held in Holy Trinity Church 'in July 1954 in two safes'. In total, nine chalices and vessels are briefly described over pp 8-11 in the volume.
A postcard print of the exterior of Holy Trinity Church and adjoining Capuchin friary viewed from the opposite bank of the South Channel of the River Lee in Cork.
