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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’.

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’.

A letter from Dermot MacIntyre to Fr. David Kelleher OFM Cap. referring to the history of the former Stewart-Bam residence in Ards. An extract from the letter reads:
'In regard to Ards and Ards House, I have just found an old notebook of my father’s. He used to jot down bits and pieces on anything to hand and in this old notebook he has an entry dated, Friday, December 30, 1910. He writes: "Was at a dance in Ards House last night given by Sir Pieter Bam. Charlie Coll and I played for them. Bam came in about 9 o’clock. I did not like it all but would rather be in the poorest thatch house in Doe, with the Gaelic sounding round me, than in the midst of it all. Bam does his best to unbend, but it is plainly an effort and he seems to know himself that it won’t be successful. His wife is outrageously proud. She sat all the time like an incarnate goddess and noticed no one. Such pride is a sin against Heaven. You would think the ordinary people were less than dogs to her. Her sister is not one whit better"'.
Further extracts from his father’s journal refer to the landlord’s relationships with the workers and tenants on the Ards estate, to the histories of various local churches, to a Feis at Doe Castle in 1910, and to the building of the Lough Swilly railway in Donegal.

Photographic print of a large group of lay persons outside the main entrance to Ard Mhuire Friary. The group may have been assembled for a religious ceremony. The group includes some members of An Garda Síochána.

Photographic prints of a hand-drawn portrait of the Irish nationalist politician, Hugh A. Law (1872-1943) and his residence at Marble Hill House, Dunfanaghy, County Donegal. The portrait is dated 12 Sept. 1928.

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.

Headed note paper titled: ‘Ards, Cashelmore, County Donegal, Ireland’. A manuscript annotation reads: ‘Note paper of Ards House ere it became a Friary’.

An image of Capuchin friars and other individuals harvesting at Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal.

Photographic print of a group of Capuchin friars in front of a Raidió Éireann van at Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal. Fr. David Kelleher OFM Cap. is in the front row (first on the left).