Letters to Fr. Hilary McDonagh OFM Cap. responding to invitations to attend the blessing and opening of the Capuchin House of Studies and the new Ard Mhuire Friary on 13 Nov. 1966. The attendees included many local parish priests, Capuchin friars, members of other religious congregations and various lay people involved in the construction of the buildings. The file also includes a copy of the official declaration of the blessing of the foundation (in Latin) signed by Fr. Conrad O’Donovan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, a list of donations to the building fund, an invitation card to the solemn blessing and opening and a menu card for the celebratory dinner.
Letters from the Most Rev. William MacNeely, Bishop of Raphoe (1888-1963), to Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. re arrangements for the purchase of Ards House by the Capuchins. A letter of 1 Mar. 1930 expresses his pleasure on hearing that ‘negotiations with the Land Commission have been successful. About the time of taking over the property, really it does not matter; just make arrangements as you consider convenient’. A letter on 18 Mar. 1930 affirms that the friars ‘may fix up an Oratory at once … as soon as things are in order’.
Correspondence of Ronan Daly & Hayes, 12 South Mall, Cork, solicitors, with Fr. Nicholas O’Brien OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary, re an application for an order from the Charitable Commissioners vesting the Ard Mhuire Friary and adjoining lands (consisting of 167 acres 3 roods and 15 perches in the townland of Ards and 38 acres 2 roods in the townland of Rinnsligo, County Donegal) in new trustees (appointed by the FMC trust). Reference (19 Mar. 1976) is made by Fr. Nicholas to the difficulties in locating documents in relation to the purchase of the Ards property from the Irish Land Commission in 1930: 'A search made in the Provincial Archives revealed ecclesiastical documents only (sanction by the Holy See, the local Bishop etc.) I had enquiries made both here in Dublin and in Letterkenny of solicitors whose firms might have been involved in the sale negotiations, but the results were negative. It is possible that the deal was made directly with the representatives of the Land Commission'.
Draft lease from Fr. Patrick Flynn OFM Cap., Guardian, Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary, County Donegal, to Brendan McFadden, Greenhill, Dunfanaghy, County Donegal, of a portion of lands for five years at an annual rent of £1,550. With draft instructions for the ‘letting of land and farm buildings at Ards’.
File of documents (mainly from the County Donegal Committee of Agriculture) re a scheme to encourage landholders to plant trees on their lands in the county. The file includes information sheets and blank application forms relating to the proposal to plant conifers for a ‘shelter belt scheme in arable fields which cannot be cultivated in the usual way, on steep banks or hillsides, rocky or broken ground practically bare of vegetation, … and in swamps and bogs which cannot be reclaimed for agricultural purposes’. The file also includes a letter from A.M.S. Hanan re an article for the Royal Forestry Society on ‘southern hemisphere conifers in Ireland’ (12 Feb. 1970).
Photographic prints of the demolition of the old Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal. Some of the images also show the shell of the former Ards House and construction work on the new friary building and oratory. Several of the prints show the two buildings during the transition phase of construction of the new House of Studies and Ards Friary. A small number of the prints have annotations on the reverse: • ‘Ceiling of choir, in old house, Ards, a few days before it was demolished’. • ‘Demolition of old Ards House in progress’. • ‘Ards, Autumn 1964’.
Photographic prints of the interior (and High Altar) of the Oratory in Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal. The prints have annotations on the reverse: ‘Fr. Augustine [Donal] O’Mahony OFM Cap.’ and ‘A. O’Shea, Art Studios, Letterkenny’. The prints were probably for publication in 'Eirigh', an Irish Capuchin periodical.
Photographic prints of exterior views of Ard Mhuire Friary and the Retreat Centre, Sheephaven Bay, County Donegal. Some of the images show the surrounding gardens and grounds (including a few images of snow-covered buildings). Some of the images are in the form of printed prayer cards.
Photographic prints of Fr. David Kelleher OFM Cap. (1912-1995) and Fr. Ephrem O’Sullivan OFM Cap. (1904-1958) blessing a Holy Year Cross atop Muckish Mountain (Derryveagh Mountain Range, County Donegal) on the Feast of the Assumption (15 August) in 1951. The file includes a note written by Fr. David giving information on some of the people in one of the photographic prints. See also CA DL/6/10.
