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Letters from Bishop Hugh Boyle (1897-1986), Vicar Apostolic of Port Elizabeth, to Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. and Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers, requesting that more priests be sent to South Africa to work on local missions in the Vicariate of Port Elizabeth. The file includes correspondence with the Most Rev. Martin Lucas SVD, Apostolic Delegate to South Africa, referring to the urgent need for more missionaries in the district of Peddie, Cape Province.

Letters from Bishop Francis Henneman SAC (1882-1951), Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, Western District, later Vicar Apostolic of Cape Town, to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. and Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers. The letters refer to requests for the Irish Capuchins to take over missionary outstations including those at Matroosfontein and in the Welcome Estate.

Letters from Bishop Bernard Cornelius O’Riley (1868-1956), Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, Western District, and Fr. John Morris, editor of the Southern Cross, to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Fr. Kevin Moynihan OFM Cap., Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers, and Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary, regarding the prospects for establishing Irish Capuchin missionary foundations in the Athlone, Parow and Langa parishes in the Cape Province, South Africa. Fr. John Morris wrote: ‘There are only about thirty priests in the whole vicariate. This number includes three Jesuits, two Redemptorists, and some six Salesians. … Alas, there are no Franciscans in South Africa. You will therefore be real pioneers’ (16 May 1927). The Bishop wrote: ‘There are pagans and heathens in abundance in my Vicariate which covers some 17,000 sq. miles and I can assure there is endless scope in the Vicariate for the missionary efforts of your good Fathers’ (30 Mar. 1928). Later, he affirmed that the ‘poor people of “Athlone” (which is the name of the place of your first mission in South Africa) are nearly all coloured, a good simple lot, who have been working hard for some months past in their spare time to build with their own hands school-rooms’ (6 Dec. 1928). Reference is also made to the provision of a school for coloured children at Claremont (16 Feb. 1931) and to the financial state of the Vicariate (20 July 1932). The file includes a memorandum and agreement for sale from Bishop O’Riley to the Irish Capuchins of sites at Claremont, at Athlone, and at Parow (1 Nov. 1931), and a letter from Fr. John Morris requesting the Irish Capuchins supply a priest for the Philippi mission in the Vicariate (17 Mar. 1950).

Letters from the Most Rev. Owen McCann (1907-1994), Archbishop of Cape Town, to Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Fr. Conrad O’Donovan OFM Cap., Fr. Berard Creed OFM Cap. (1923-2004) , Fr. Eustace McSweeney OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers, and Fr. Jarlath Gough OFM Cap. (1902-1983) reporting on the missionary efforts of the Irish Capuchins in Parow (Parish of the Immaculate Conception); Matroosfontein (Parish of the Holy Trinity); Athlone (St. Mary of the Angels); Welcome Estate (St. Theresa’s); Langa (St. Anthony’s). The Archbishop also requests that an Irish Capuchin priest (Fr. Jarlath Gough OFM Cap.) be sent to St. Helena and Ascension Island – part of the Cape Town Archdiocese. He writes: ‘There are 5,000 persons on [St. Helena] Island but only 3 to 4 Catholics at present … the prospect of conversions is uncertain. The Anglicans are well established. The schools are under the Government, as also the hospital’. Reference is also made to an application of Ronald Hinrichsen, a convert from the Dutch Reformed Church, to join the Capuchin Franciscan Order (24 Sept. 1952); to the death of Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. and the resulting vacancy in Parow parish (16 Aug. 1957); to a draft agreement with the Capuchins re Belgravia parish which has been separated from Parow (1 July 1961); to the need for new priests to meet the growing population in the Cape Flats district (20 June 1966); to Archbishop McCann’s desire to see Fr. Carthage Ruth OFM Cap. return to South Africa (4 Nov. 1968). Later, Archbishop McCann expresses his condolences on hearing of the death of Fr. Christopher Crowley OFM Cap. (22 Mar. 1984).

Letters from the Most Rev. John Colburn Garner (1907-1993), Archbishop of Pretoria, to Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. and Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers, offering missionary work to the Irish Capuchins in the Archdiocese. The Archbishop offers the district of Rustenburg (5 Nov. 1948); Zeerust, near the boundary with Bechuanaland. He encloses a copy of an agreement between the Archdiocese and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptortists) re work in the township of Rustenburg (5 Apr. 1953); the district of Groblersdal (1 Aug. 1955).

Lectures on the history of the Irish Capuchin missions (primarily in Africa) compiled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. The talks were likely prepared for promotional and educational purposes. They include copy documents including a letter from the Most Rev. Bernard O’Riley, Vicar Apostolic of Cape Town, to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, requesting a Capuchin foundation in his diocese (12 May 1927), and copy letters from Archbishop Carlo Salotti, Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, to Fr. Melchor a Benisa OFM Cap., Minister General, re the Irish Capuchin mission in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia (Jan. 1931).

The Church of St. Mary of the Angels, Athlone, Cape Town and the adjacent school of St. Raphael’s. With annotations on the reverse by the depositor, James P. Rigney (a nephew of Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap.), who visited Cape Town and met with Fr. Wilfrid Aherne OFM Cap.

Ledger of loans and monies supplied to the Irish Capuchin missions in Africa compiled by Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary. The ledger includes records of money supplied to Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap. and Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. to build parish churches in Athlone and Parow, Cape Town, in March 1933. £1,700 was given to Monsignor Killian Flynn OFM Cap. to build a friary (14 June 1937), and £1,000 was given to Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. for Livingstone Church in Northern Rhodesia. The accounts also include monies derived from the Seraphic Mass Association (SMA) from Aug. 1931-Jan. 1935. The accounts are signed are by Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. Provincial Minister, 10 Aug. 1937.

Financial statements for the African missions founded by the Irish Capuchin friars. The file includes:
• Note re income derived from masses in the Livingstone (Northern Rhodesia) and in the Cape Town (South Africa) missions from 1931-4.
• Statement of income and expenditure for the Livingstone and Cape Town missions submitted to the Provincial Minister and Defintiory, 17 Jan. 1935.
• Statement of income and expenditure for the Victoria Falls Prefecture compiled by Monsignor Killian Flynn OFM Cap., Prefect Apostolic, and Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. 15 May 1937.
• Financial account for the Victoria Falls Mission from July 1947 to July 1948.