Scrapbook of Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap. containing notes relating to his work as a missionary primarily in Northern Rhodesia. Fr. Alfred describes journeying to a village in Barotseland: ‘Enter a village – children run out of it to wave to us, the younger and more timid kids who have never seen a white [man] scuttle and bawl like stuck pigs – probably they have been told if they are naughty they will be handed over to “the big bad white man”’. The memoir contains notes re local customs, death and marriage rituals, village life, pastimes, sanitation, race, witchcraft and superstitions. Other headings include ‘meetings and oratory’, ‘progress towards civilisation’, dancing and ‘African Albinos – saw 2 only up to today, 10 June 1947’. Other sections include notes on the Union of South Africa, the Lozi language and the Bantu people of Northern Rhodesia. With a newspaper clipping of a photograph showing Sir John Waddington, Governor of Northern Rhodesia, and Imwiko, Paramount Chief of Barotse, on the occasion of the Governor’s farewell visit to Barotseland in 1947. Printed stamp on front cover reads: ‘Sancta Maria Catholic Mission. Fr. Alfred O’Mahony. 7th June 1947’.
Reports on school inspections in the Northern Rhodesian mission compiled by Fr. Luke Browne OFM Cap. The reports are chronological and give information on the physical condition of the schools, the numbers of pupils and teachers, attendance, and the catechism and subjects taught in the schools. Reference is made to schools in Lusense, Schuckmannsburg (now Luhonono in the Caprivi Strip), Sichili, Kasika and Twambo.
Report on the Livingstone Mission by Fr. Theophilus Murphy OFM Cap. (1928-2006) for the Irish Capuchin Provincial Chapter. The report is divided into the following sections:
A collection of black and white and colour photographic prints associated with the work of religious sisters mainly in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). Most of the prints are not captioned. The file includes prints collected for publication in 'The Capuchin Annual' and 'The Father Mathew Record'. The captioned photographs include: • Sisters in a garden with African children, Basutoland (later Lesotho). • A sister and an African worker draining a marshy area. • ‘The sisters wear white habits when nursing’. (The Father Mathew Record). • Nurses’ accommodation – ‘Sister and nurses sitting on a Basutoland blanket with students’. (Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape, South Africa). • Two religious sisters and a crippled man at St. Francis Hospital, Aliwal, South Africa. • Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood at Mangango leprosarium. • African Sisters’ Convent at Kalabo, Northern Rhodesia. • Two first-year African students at Kaoma Secondary School. • ‘A petrified Sr. Lelia going to visit one of Sr. Elizabeth’s gardens – her first trip in a canoe’. • ‘Sister Josephine FMDM, the sister in charge of leprosarium in Mangango. She comes from Leitrim’.
Photographic prints of religious sisters at the Sichili Mission Station in Northern Rhodesia. The images show the sisters providing food and medical care to local villagers.
Notebook containing a record of the baptisms at the Loanja mission, Bartoseland, Northern Rhodesia. The record (which includes entries of adult baptisms and references to 'articulo mortis' or 'at the moment of death') was compiled by Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (1897-1980). The entries are listed under local (birth) name, tribe, village, Christian name, date of baptism, minister officiating, date, and in some instances date of death and place of burial. The end pages of the volume also contain miscellaneous notes re baptisms at the mission. With manuscript annotations (in Irish) by Fr. Padraig Ó Cuill OFM Cap. re Fr. Seraphin.
A collection of black and white photographic prints mostly relating to Monsignor Killian Flynn OFM Cap., Prefect Apostolic of Victoria Falls from 1936-50. Most of the prints have been captioned by his nephew, Fr. Edwin Flynn OFM Cap. and some were published in Mgr. Killian Flynn as seen from his letters (Ndola, 2003). The file includes prints of Fr. Killian: • As a novitiate and student. • With his parents. • With Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. and Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (1897-1980) probably on a ship during their first voyage to Africa in 1931. • With African porters during a long trek into the bush, 1931-2. • With Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. (1876-1958) celebrating the opening of the first mission church on 30 Oct. 1932. • The exterior of the ‘Stone Police Camp’ at Livingstone, the site of the first mission chapel, 1932. • With Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap., Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap., Fr. Jerome MacQuillan OFM Cap. and Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., 1935. • With Paramount Chief Yeta III of Barotseland. • With Cardinal Laurean Rugambwa, Nairobi Cathedral in 1967. • At the first all-African Bishops’ Conference in Kampala, Uganda, in 1969. • At the Zambian Episcopal Conference. • Receiving an MBE in Livingstone. • Greeting Pope Paul VI in Kampala, Uganda. The Pope visited Uganda from 31 July to 2 Aug. 1969 • With Capuchin friars from East and Southern Africa in 1972.
Lists of Capuchin friars in Zambia from 1931-99. The list was compiled for research purposes by Fr. Bruno McKnight OFM Cap. (d. 21 Dec. 2012). The list gives the years in which each of the 101 named friars served in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). The file also includes personnel lists for the friars attached to the Vice-Province of St. Francis, Zambia. The information is given under the headings of name, address and contact details.
Copy of Br. Andrew O’Shea’s oral account of his missionary work in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). With a copy cover letter (and reply) from Fr. Edwin Flynn OFM Cap. to Fr. Theophilus Murphy OFM Cap, describing what they affirm is Br. Andrew’s 'Fioretti'. Br. Andrew served as a missionary in Africa from 1943-86. The script is given the following headings: • Father Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap. and Brother Xavier Cox OFM Cap. going on a journey. • As a farmer sees it and as a city lad sees it. • Somili and the Mubishopo – that is Monsignor Killian Flynn OFM Cap. • Monsignor and the Maramba Girls Lapa (compound). • Monsignor and the Sisters’ washing. • Father Raymond Dillane’s Silver Jubilee. • Father Raymond Dillane OFM Cap. • Father Albeus McQuillan OFM Cap. and Linda Friary. • The visit of the Fatima Statue of Our Lady to Mongu. • The Holy Ghost and the oil stocks. • My friend Kadom (by Father Christopher Crowley OFM Cap.). • Tripe or fishtails. • Kadom and the radio. • The grand finale of Kadom. • Snippets from mission life. • Father Albert O’Mahony OFM Cap. • Father James O’Mahony OFM Cap. • Father Aquinas Carroll OFM Cap. • African Holy Cross Sisters. • Sister Rudolf. • Fr. Capistran Singleton OFM Cap. • Brother Xavier Cox OFM Cap. • Sister Martin. • Father Albert O’Mahony OFM Cap. on his first walking tour. • Archbishop Matthews. • Cardinal Spellman. • A man from the agriculture department visits Lukulu. • Father Ronan Herlihy OFM Cap. and Brother Andrew go fishing. • Father Luke Browne’s attempt to cross the Zambezi in a jeep. • Mission Buildings. • Father Flannan Buckley OFM Cap. and the jam pots. • Fr. Theophilus Murphy OFM Cap. • Monsignor’s typewriter and the donkeys. • Father Macanise, the donkeys and their scotch cart. • Father Brian Browne OFM Cap. and his method of winter heating. • Fr. Jerome MacQuillan OFM Cap. and the Divine Office. • Spenser flies his plane. • Father Albeus McQuillan OFM Cap. • Father Livinus Keane OFM Cap. • Brother Andrew O’Shea OFM Cap. • Another cook called Peter, and the marmalade. • Brother Gabriel McGillicuddy OFM Cap. and the bricks. • Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. and cars. • The Thames trucks.
Two copybooks containing notes by Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap. on the history of Barotseland and the Lozi, the cultural group of peoples inhabiting the western province of Zambia. The notes refer to the impact of European colonization, to the work of religious missionaries in the area, and to the Zambian independence movement.
