Letters of Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. (1876-1958). The correspondents include: Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap.; Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Vicar. Most of the correspondence relates to the establishment of missions in South Africa and later in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia. The subjects include: Fr. Casimir’s first impressions of Cape Province (23 Oct. 1929); the journey to Barotseland (30 May 1930); requesting permission to retain Parow parish (26 Feb. 1931); discussions with Monsignor Bruno Wolnik SJ (1882-1960) to establish a local mission a few miles from Livingstone (16 June 1931); the necessity of wearing a white habit. Fr. Casimir wrote: ‘It is almost impossible to wear brown during the hot weather. The Conventual Fathers at Ndola wear white. The Jesuits wear any old things. I suggest a light cream-coloured habit’ (27 Nov. 1931); the need to speak the language in Barotseland ‘before we can hope to gain the hearts of the natives’. (30 Nov. 1931); on the study of the Lozi language (26 Jan. 1932); suggesting that a foundation be established in Barotseland ‘to which Catholics can look to with pride – a large church and school, sufficient for a fifty-mile area’. (3 May 1932); affirming that ‘mission work in Barotseland is going to be a slow business, the obstacles look insurmountable’. Fr. Casimir added: ‘it is a great consolation to know that it can never become a white man’s country’ (23 May 1932); confirming that the new church at Livingstone will cost £3,500 (6 Sept. 1932); referring to the work of Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. and his father (30 Oct. 1932); arrangements for the impending visitation by Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. (3 Dec. 1934); the activities of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. (18 Dec. 1934); Fr. Casimir’s arrangements to travel to Ireland via Marseilles on-board the Italian ship, SS 'Giulio Cesare' (5 May 1938). References are also made to the following Capuchin friars: Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap.; Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap.; Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap.; Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap.; Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. The file includes a letter from Fr. C. C. Martindale SJ to Fr. Cuthbert McCann OFM Cap. offering to collect £100 for Fr. Casimir’s missionary work in Barotseland (16 June 1931).
Letters of Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. (1905-1972). Correspondents include Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary; Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister; Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister; Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Provincial Minister. Most of the correspondence relates to developments in the Irish Capuchin mission in Northern Rhodesia and to a lesser extent in the Cape Province, South Africa. The subjects include: the arrival of Fr. Jerome MacQuillian OFM Cap. and Fr. Marcellus Carroll OFM Cap. in Northern Rhodesia. (18 Aug. 1935); the establishment of the Lukulu Station in Barotseland. (1 Sept. 1935); Fr. Casimir Butler’s desire for chaplaincy work in Parow Parish, South Africa. (10 Dec. 1935); co-operation with the Holy Cross Sisters. (20 Dec. 1935); work on the Sancta Maria (Lukulu) training school and the need for each Rhodesian Mission Station to have spiritual books for ‘retreats and ordinary reading’; arrangements for the arrival of Fr. Jarlath Gough OFM Cap. and Br. Alexius Paolucci OFM Cap. (5 May 1936); the establishment of a Prefecture for the Barotseland Mission (13 July 1936); enclosing a copy of the annual report on the Irish Capuchin Mission in Northern Rhodesia. (28 July 1936); the appointment of Fr. Killian as Prefect Apostolic of Victoria Falls. (11 Aug. 1936); Fr. Killian’s investiture as Prefect Apostolic (25 Nov. 1936); negotiations with the Paris Missionaries regarding the limits of the Sancta Maria Mission at Lukulu. (1 Jan. 1937); enclosing a copy of the 1937-8 report for the Victoria Falls Prefecture. (14 Sept. 1938); the boundaries of the Parow and Athlone parishes, Cape Town, South Africa. (6 Nov. 1939); the health of Fr. Livinus Keane OFM Cap. (9 Nov. 1939); an outbreak of the bubonic plague at Sancta Maria Mission and the dangers of transferring priests from Europe to South Africa due to the U-Boat threat (18 Mar. 1940); the proposed new status for the Irish Capuchin houses in the Cape Province, South Africa. (13 Oct. 1940); the position of interned ‘alien priests’ in Northern Rhodesia (25 Apr. 1941); the arrival of Polish refugees in Livingstone. (12 Aug. 1941); the ill-health of Fr. Damascene McKenna OFM Cap. in Northern Rhodesia (5 June 1942); the provision of doctors in Catholic Mission Centres. (23 June 1944); the Katima Muliho mission station. (11 Dec. 1944); copy report on the state of the Northern Rhodesia mission sent to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. (28 Jan. 1945); a proposal to circulate a local mission magazine. (19 May 1945); the jubilee letters of Fr. Phelim O’Shea and Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon (24 June 1945); extending an invitation to the Irish Sisters of Charity to establish a ‘foundation for coloured work in this Prefecture’ (31 Dec. 1948); the pressing need for more priests to be sent to the Northern Rhodesian Mission (28 Aug. 1949); the arrival of Fr. Colga O’Riordan OFM Cap. and Fr. Carthage Ruth OFM Cap. (22 Nov. 1949); on the need for priests to take ‘sociological courses’ before departing for Africa. Fr. Killian wrote ‘I am becoming more and more convinced that not by Baptisms alone is Africa going to be converted and that priests must be thoroughly versed in sociological principles. How can anyone keep the Commandments in a modern African compound hut?’ (11 Feb. 1952).
Letters of Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. (1902-1957). The correspondents include Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister; Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary; Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister; Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap.; Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Provincial Minister. Most of the correspondence relates to missionary activity in the parish of St. Monica’s, Parow, Cape Province, South Africa. The subjects include: arrangements for Fr. Oliver’s journey to South Africa on board the SS Adolf Woermann. (5 Mar.-22 May 1930); a request from Fr. Oliver to ensure that Parow parish is kept in addition to Athlone parish as it ‘contains the biggest coloured school in the vicariate’. (26 Feb. 1931); requests for mass stipends. (15 Jan. 1932); James Carlton Clarkein who wishes to join the Capuchin Order as a lay brother. (3 Mar. 1932); the resignation of Bishop Bernard Cornelius O’Riley, Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope. Fr. Oliver wrote: ‘It is the best thing he could have done. He had not the necessary qualities to be a bishop of such vicariate as this’. (22 July 1932); requesting that Matroosfontein parish come under Capuchin ministry. (3 May 1934); the opening of a church in Matroosfontein. (17 Sept. 1935); the future of the Capuchin mission in the Cape Province. (28 May 1940); the difficulties of sending priests to the mission during wartime conditions. (15 Oct. 1940); the opportunity of establishing a mission in the Port Elizabeth Vicariate. (2 Aug. 1949). The file includes a rough sketch map of the Irish Capuchin Mission in the Cape Province. The map also indicates the distances between the various mission stations. With two photographic prints including one of Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. The other may show his residence at Parow. References are also made to the following Capuchin friars: Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap.; Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.; Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap.; Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap.; Fr. Livinus Keane Cap.; Fr. Fintan Roche OFM Cap.; Fr. Timothy Connery OFM Cap.; Fr. Marcellus Carroll OFM Cap.
Lists of Irish Capuchin friars at various mission stations in Northern Rhodesia. The list is arranged under the following locations: St. Mary’s, Livingstone (Rt. Rev. Bishop O’Shea OFM Cap., Vicar Apostolic) St. Theresa’s Pro-Cathedral, Livingstone Christ the King Mission, Maramba St. Fidelis Mission, Sichili Holy Family Mission, Katima Mulilo St. Joseph’s Mission, Mankoya St. Francis Mission, Mongu St. Patrick’s Mission, Kalabo Sancta Maria Mission
Silozi Litaba za Bibele (with illustrations) published by the Teresian Press in Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia. With the Imprimatur of the Most Rev. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap., Bishop of Livingstone.
The exterior of Malengwa Friary. The original caption reads: ‘The first friars were Fr. Macnaise, Fr. Timothy Phelim and Br. Fergus. The building was thatched at first’.
Report on the Conference of Ordinaries of Northern Rhodesia held in Lusaka in April 1945. The attendees included Monsignor Killian Flynn OFM Cap., Prefect Apostolic of Victoria Falls, and Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. For the most part, the conference dealt with issues related to the provision of Catholic education in the country.
35 mm colour slides of photographs taken by Br. Joseph Murphy OFM Cap. (1929-2009). The majority are images of missionary work in Zambia. Br. Joseph ministered in Zambia from 1958-79. Many of the slides relate to the visitation of the mission undertaken by Fr. Berard Creed OFM Cap. (1923-2004), Provincial Minister, in 1968. The file includes: • Local leprosy patients • Fr. Berard inspecting construction work on mission buildings • Capuchin friars with Irish religious sisters working in Zambia • Fr. Berard Creed OFM Cap. and Fr. Anthony Boran OFM Cap. greeting Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. • Mission churches and residences in Zambia • Friars performing baptisms and celebrating other religious ceremonies with the local populace • Victoria Falls. • Patients undergoing procedures in mission hospitals. • Fr. John Grace OFM Cap. • Sioma Falls • Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. with Capuchin friars at Dublin Airport awaiting his return journey to Zambia. Several general views of the airport are also extant. The file also includes several non-mission photographs including images of a Pontifical Mass celebrated by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s in Rome in September 1970, St. Bonaventure's Hostel in Cork, and several images of family and other relations of Br. Joseph.
Photographic prints assembled by Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap. (1912-1988) relating to missionary work in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). Fr. Alfred ministered in Africa from 1942-73. The file also includes some prints of missionary friars in South Africa. Most of the prints have not been annotated. The file includes images of: Fr. Maurice Dowd OFM Cap. Fr. Anthansius (Noel) Winston OFM Cap. St. Matthew’s Church, Bonteheuwel, South Africa. The wedding of two teachers at Sancta Maria Mission School in Lukulu. Fr. Seán Cahill OFM Cap. in Cape Town on the occasion of his silver jubilee in Nov. 1982. Fr. Raymond Dillane OFM Cap. Friars in Northern Rhodesia on the occasion of Fr. Alfred’s silver jubilee. Religious sisters with local children and parishioners. Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. with local religious sisters and parishoners. Victoria Falls. Local weddings. Mission churches and buildings. Fr. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap. Dr John Roche in Sichili in Sept. 1964. Scenes along the Zambezi River.
Photographic prints assembled by Fr. Brian Browne OFM Cap. relating to missionary work in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). Some of the prints have been annotated: African religious sisters. The prints are titled ‘Malawian Mass’ and ‘Magnificat Dance’. Fr. Brian with religious sisters. Aerial view of Santa Maria Mission at Lukulu. Fr. Brian and Fr. Elzear Barry OFM Cap. in Mufulira, Zambia, in Jan. 1959. Storm damage caused to the roof of the friars’ residence in Senanga on 8 Dec. 1978. The grave of Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. at Lukulu. Group of friars assembled for the visitation by Fr. Brendan O’Mahony OFM Cap., Provincial Minister in 1979.
