Letters from the Most Rev. Anthony McFeely, Bishop of Raphoe (1909-1986), to Fr. Nicholas O’Brien OFM Cap. and Fr. Berard Creed OFM Cap. thanking the Capuchin friars for placing Ard Mhuire at the disposal of diocesan priests for their annual retreats. Bishop McFeely also refers to the plans for the Friary. He writes: ‘We understand, of course, that the future of Ards presents you with a difficult problem; we only hope that the Fathers can remain’.
Report of Fr. Paul Murphy OFM Cap., chaplain to Letterkenny Regional Technical College in County Donegal (10 May 1983). The file also includes a prospectus and student union’s handbook for the college (1982-3).
An anonymous letter to Fr. Pacificus Jennings OFM Cap., guardian, complaining about the presence of the Derry Peace Women group at Ard Mhuire Friary. The letter reads: ‘It would fit them better to remain at home and do some house-work … and make peace with some of their relations and neighbours’.
Letter from Dr. Harry C. Trimble to Fr. David Kelleher OFM Cap. requesting information on the Stewart family, the former owners of the Ards Estate. He writes: 'Several of my ancestors came to the United States from County Donegal more than a century ago. The maiden name of our great-grandmother was Jane Elizabeth Stewart. She was born about 1790 and was marked to William Wilkinson in County Donegal. … It has been suggested that our great-grandmother was related to the Stewarts of Ards'.
Letter from Earley & Co., stained glass manufactures, 4 Upper Camden Street, Dublin, to Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. re measurements for the ‘eleven lower panels of windows’ in the oratory of Ard Mhurie Capuchin Friary.
Letter from Fr. J. Carr, parish priest, Convoy, County Donegal, expressing his gratitude to the Capuchin community for their hospitality during a recent retreat at Ard Mhuire.
Letter from Fr. Patrick Deegan, parish priest, Frosses, Lifford, County Donegal, to Fr. Berchmans McCarthy OFM Cap, guardian, Ard Mhuire Friary, re a quest to fund the repair of two churches in his parish.
Letter from Colette Gallagher to Fr. Eustace McSweeney OFM Cap., guardian, Ard Mhuire Friary, conveying a local tradition re the existence of a ‘half-way house between Ards Friary and Rossnowlagh’.
Letter from Hugh A. Law (1872-1943), Marble Hill, County Donegal, to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., guardian, Ard Mhuire Friary, seeking permission to place trout fry in a lake located on the friary estate.
Letter from Louis J. Walsh (1880-1942) to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., guardian, Ard Mhuire Friary, welcoming the arrival of the Capuchins in County Donegal. He writes: 'I hope … above all that the Holy Mass is being offered up every morning in the halls where alien lords revelled and plotted against our religion and our race. … Your monastery will add wonderful richness to the spiritual life of Tír Chonaill and of Ulster and bring down countless blessings on us all'. He also suggests that Ard Mhuire Friary would serve as an excellent location ‘in which lay men could make retreats’.
