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.
Copy of the Lenten Pastoral Letter (with Lenten Regulations) from the Most Rev. William MacNeely (1888-1963), Bishop of Raphoe, for 1932. The file also includes printed Lenten Regulations for the diocese for 1964 and 1967.
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.
Specifications for a local government land improvement scheme for the Ards estate. Includes sketch maps of the old friary residence and adjoining farmyard with a legend indicating the scrub-land to be removed and the existing drainage system. The specification and map were sent to the guardian of Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary.
Clipping of an article titled ‘Lady Stewart-Bam at Ards House’ published in 'The Gentlewoman' magazine. The article refers to the marriage of Captain Sir Pieter Canzius Van Bloommestein Bam and Ena Dingwall Tasca Stewart of Ards House, County Donegal, on 26 July 1910. The article also provides an account of the Stewart-Bam residence in Ards, County Donegal. With a photographic print of Lady Stewart-Bam and Ards House. The article reads: 'Lady Stewart-Bam, although the heiress to an Irish estate, was not born in Ireland: but here heart is often with her people there, and she loves nothing so much as to find herself surrounded by those who hail from the “distressful Isle”. She told the writer that when she settles down in her own home in London, she intends to have none but her “own people” about her as servants'. The file includes a photostat copy of the article.
File relating to the purchase of Ards House and a portion of the former Stewart-Bam estate by the Irish Land Commission to the Capuchin friars. The purchase (for £5,500) was finalized in April 1930. The file includes valuation reports, receipts (from the Irish Catholic Church Property Insurance Ltd.) and correspondence with the Land Registry Office, solicitors and the National Bank Ltd. Letters from the Forestry Department refer to the proposed acquisition of a portion (33 acres) of the lands adjoining Ards House for £330.
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.
A list of (plenary) indulgences for Marian Year as contained in a decree of the Sacred Penitentiary. The document is stamped with the seal of the Most Rev. William McNeely, Bishop of Raphoe.
