Correspondence of William Connolly & Son, contractors, 37-39 Upper Dominick Street, Dublin, regarding the repair and decoration of the altar and other furnishings (including confessional boxes) at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street. Correspondents include William Connolly, Ashlin & Coleman, architects, 7 Dawson Street, and Fr. Laurence Dowling OSFC, guardian, Church Street. On 21 Jan. 1908 William Connolly proposed to Ashlin & Coleman that he would ‘execute the works in the manufacture and erection of screens at St. Mary of the Angels … in accordance with your designs … for the sum of £575. The work to be executed in the best, seasoned Austrian oak, wax polished, and in the highest class of workmanship’. Other work included the building of a new stone porch to the south side of the Church. With bill of costs for said works. See also CA CS/2/6/1/1.
A series of eight photographic prints of boys probably initiated into the Catholic Boys’ Brigade on Church Street in Dublin. The prints were found in an annotated envelope: ‘Mr. Peter Tierney’s Photos’. Tierney was an early organiser of the Boys’ Brigade. All the boys are barefoot and are dressed in worn rags and torn clothing. Two of the prints depict a pair of boys, possibly brothers. One of these prints is annotated on the reverse: ‘two recruits’. Two of the prints were produced by W.F. O’Connor, 1 Wellington Quay, corner of Parliament Street, Dublin.
A flier titled 'A plea for the Catholic Boy’s Brigade by E.D. Daly'. The flier refers to the good works performed by Boys’ Brigade members in the Church Street area and seeks subscriptions to aid the organisation. It reads: ‘At present Church Street is not quite up to the mark of its energetic past. The sites of several of its rookeries of wickedness are now covered by Police Courts, and by buildings in which Capuchins carry on their work. …. How long this breeding ground of sin and crime existed in the past must be left to imagination. What is certain is that this worst spot of the worst city in Ireland was selected by the Capuchin Order as a place in which to live, beside the poor, and to help them against temptations to crime and intemperance. To anyone who can feel for the poor, and understand evils around them which they do not realise themselves, the way to Church Street from Sackville Street is still like a descent into Hades, if traversed about 8 p.m. at this time of year’. The file contains three copies of the document.
Annotated photographic prints (black and white, half-length portrait) of William Coffey, ‘treasurer in the active workers’ and Peter Tierney, ‘the first organiser along with Fr. Benvenutus Guy OSFC’.
Reports commissioned by Dublin Corporation regarding the proposed scheme for the clearance of ‘insanitary dwellings’ bounded by Church Street, Stirrup Lane, Beresford Street and Mary’s Lane. The scheme called for the erection thereon of workmen’s dwellings. The scheme was established under the provisions of the Housing of Working Classes Act, 1890, and a similar amended Act of 1908. The reports were submitted by Councillor John Scully and Alderman William Doyle, Chairmen. The reports are numbered No. 5 and No. 99. The former has an appended printed map depicting the committee’s plan for the construction of 246 three-roomed houses (two storeys high) on Beresford Street and on Church Street. Printed by Sealy, Bryers & Walker, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin. See also CA CS/5/3/3.
Photographic prints of two close-up views of the High Altar and pulpit of St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street. A manuscript annotation on the reverse reads ‘The Father Mathew Record’
The file includes: • Reports of the seventh centenary celebrations of the Franciscan Order at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street ('Irish Catholic', 5 Jan. 1927; 'Irish Independent', 31 Jan. 1927). Includes photographic prints of Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. and Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. An image of the High Altar in the Church decorated with a banner (‘Saint Francis / Pray for Us’) is also included. • Report of a talk on ‘Industrial Conciliation Boards’ by Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC in the Rotary Club, Dublin. 'Evening Herald', 6 Nov. 1922. • An article on the Irish Tertiary Pilgrimage to Rome led by Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap., Fr. Columbus Murphy OFM Cap. and Fr. Canice Bourke OFM Cap. of the Church Street Friary. 'Irish Independent', 12 Oct. 1926. • ‘The Franciscan Year / Solemn Opening / Ceremonies at St. Mary of the Angels, Dublin / Eloquent Sermon by the Most Rev. Sylvester Mulligan OSFC, Definitor General, Rome’. 'Irish Catholic', 7 Aug. 1926. • ‘The Capuchins / A Great Franciscan Reform / Foundation of the Irish Province’. c.1925. • ‘Honouring the memory of the men of Easter Week’. A clipping of a print showing a procession organised by Cumann 1916 which left St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, for Glasnevin Cemetery. 'Freeman’s Journal', 25 Apr. 1922.
The file includes: • Photographic print of the shrine of St. Thérèse at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street. 'Irish Independent', 1 Oct. 1947. • Report on a meeting of the Council of St. Joseph’s Boy’s Brigade, Church Street, Dublin. 'Irish Catholic', 28 Oct. 1943. • Clipping of a print of the Christmas Crib at St. Mary of the Angels. 'Irish Independent', 30 Dec. 1940. • Clipping of a print of Fr. Bernardine Harvey OFM Cap. at the Church Street Friary on the occasion of his golden jubilee of his entering the Order (1944). Fr. Brendan O'Callaghan OFM Cap., Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. and Fr. Benedict Phelan OFM Cap. are also present in the image.
The file includes: • ‘Evening Mail Centenary Supplement’, 12 Oct. 1961. A photographic supplement commentary the centenary of the first edition of the newspaper. The edition contains references to the Father Mathew Statue on Sackville Street (later O’Connell Street). • ‘Canal boom helped the Friars’ by D.F. Moore. The article comprises a brief history of the Church Street locality and refers to the historic residences of the Capuchin friars on the street ('Evening Press', 18 Jan. 1962). The article includes a copy of the photographic print of the old Capuchin Chapel on Church Street at CA CS/7/1.
A set of four photographic postcard prints of the exterior (and friary garden) and interior (High Altar and Sanctuary) of St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street. The annotated titles are printed: ‘Sanctuary, St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin’.