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Correspondence (including draft copies) regarding a boundary dispute and encroachment claims arising out of new building erected by the Capuchins on Pennyfeather Lane, Kilkenny. The correspondents include Patrick J. Morrissey, Mayor of Kilkenny, Fr. Fidelis Neary OSFC, guardian, Capuchin Friary, Walkin Street, and James Poe & Sons, solicitors.

Letters referring to a serious fire in Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary on 10 Dec. 1944. The file includes a letter from the Most Rev. William McNeely, Bishop of Raphoe, to Fr. Andrew Carew OFM Cap. He wrote:
'After the terrible tragedy at Roddens’ here [in Letterkenny], our minds are very much on that kind of thing. And now Ards is next on the casualty list, followed by the nuns [Sisters of Mercy] of a house-burning at Moville. Everyone is now looking for the local chimney sweep, fearing the effects of turf fires on flews constructed for coal fuel'.
The file also includes letters conveying thanks to An Garda Síochána at Creeslough and to the Derry City Fire Brigade.

Correspondence of Fr. Berchmans McCarthy OFM Cap, guardian, Ard Mhuire Friary, regarding his wishes for improvements in the Post Office delivery service in the Cashelmore district in County Donegal.

File relating to the proposal from Bord Fáilte to build a heritage and exhibition centre celebrating the life and times of St. Colmcille on the site of the Capuchin Retreat House at Ards, Creeslough, County Donegal. The correspondents include Fr. Fidelis O’Connell OFM Cap., Fr. Patrick Flynn OFM Cap., Fr. Eustace McSweeney OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, Fr. F.X. Martin OSA, and Dermot A. Walsh, Chairman, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo Tourism. It was noted that the ‘location of Ards Friary for this project would ensure that the monastic theme would have a real and live meaning and would enhance the existing and well supported facilities’. The project was not ultimately realized.

Correspondence, tender documents, bills of account and minutes of meetings regarding the extensive renovation work on the Church of St. Francis and adjoining Friary in Kilkenny. Principal correspondents included Fr. Dermot Lynch OFM Cap., guardian, C. Harvey Jacob Harvey & Associates, architects, 29 The Mall, Waterford, P.M. Cantwell Ltd., building contractors, 11 Upper Patrick Street, Kilkenny, Liam Tyrrell, painting contractor, 4 Pius XII Terrace, Circular Road, Kilkenny and Donal McDonald, stone, and marble craftsman, Maddoxtown, County Kilkenny. The main building work entailed a re-design of the sanctuary area of the Church to bring it into line with current liturgical practice, the erection of a porch at the back of the Church and the remedying of dampness and mould growth in the main body of the Church building. The work included the installation of a new central heating system and an insulated lining in all walls and roofs, the painting of all exterior walls and the replacing of windows and storm glazing. The total cost of the renovation work was £118,917.

Correspondence regarding demands for rent payable to the Capuchin Friary, Walkin Street, Kilkenny, for a garage property on Pennyfeather Lane. The tenant was Dr Reginald Griffin, 42 Parliament Street, Kilkenny. With rent receipts, demand notices and some copy letters from Fr. Ignatius Collins OFM Cap., guardian, Walkin Street.

Letters, memoranda, and printed matter re Fr. Richard Henebry’s appointment to the chair of Irish at the Catholic University in Washington DC. The file includes letters from Fr. Thomas Joseph Shahan, University Rector, re Henebry’s appointment. Shahan wrote ‘The students of your courses are likely, both for Gaelic and Sanskrit, to be persons of considerable culture, graduates of colleges, or people of leisure from the city, which has a population of about ¼ million, mostly government officials and their families’ (21 May 1895). A letter from Fr. Thomas James Conaty, Rector, refers to Henebry’s ill-health (27 Aug. 1900) while a later letter (5 July 1901) informs him that his contract would not be renewed. The file also includes a typescript copy of a statement from Henebry to the board of trustees of the Catholic University stating his educational attainments and stating his case for reappointment to the Chair of Irish. With three copies of a printed leaflet titled ‘Facts for Brother Hibernians / Save the Gaelic Chair and the Honor of Ireland’ (1902).

Correspondence relating to the disposal of the books from the library of Ard Mhuire Friary. A letter from Fr. Eustace McSweeney OFM Cap. to Fr. Benedict Cullen OFM Cap. affirms that ‘Fr. Raymond Murray took all the books that you suggested for the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Library and Archive in Armagh’. Fr. Eustace confirmed that the books will be stamped as suggested. The file includes a copy letter from the Most Rev. Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, expressing his gratitude to the friars ‘for the wonderful collection of books which you have gifted to the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Library and Archive. I understand that it is a very large collection of valuable books, many of great scholarly interest and value’.

Letter from the Most Rev. Abraham Brownrigg, Bishop of Ossory, to Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, referring to an anonymous letter published in the 'Kilkenny Journal' appearing to advocate ‘the introduction of a Boys’ Brigade into Kilkenny to be worked by and under the supervision of your fathers in Walkin Street’. Brownrigg expresses his disapproval of such a proposal. With a letter from Fr. Jarlath Hynes OSFC assuring the Bishop that ‘our fathers in Kilkenny have no knowledge whatsoever of the anonymous letter … nor has there ever been any question or thought amongst us … of having anything to do with a Boys’ Brigade in your city’.

A file including correspondence and related papers re the publication of Fr. Richard Henebry’s ‘A Handbook of Irish Music’. This work was eventually published posthumously by Henebry’s colleagues in University College Cork in 1928. The book was based on a surviving Henebry manuscript which Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. had acquired. Portions of the text were published by Fr. Senan in ‘The Father Mathew Record’. The 1928 publication was edited by Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (‘Torna’), Henebry’s successor as Professor of Irish in UCC.

The file includes correspondence between Sir Bertram Windle and Carl Gilbert Hardebeck on the value of Henebry’s manuscript (1914-16). Windle later affirmed that he did not publish the book at this time (1916) due to the financial cost of such an undertaking (see Windle’s letter to Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. on 4 July 1924). The correspondence from 1924 onward includes letters between Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap., John English & Co., and several other printing and publishing companies, re the publication of Henebry’s manuscript. The file also includes letters from Seán Ó Currín, Eoin (John) Henebry, William Frederick Paul Stockley, Tomás de Faoite (Clonlisk, County Offaly), Edmund Downey, Fr. Laurence Dowling OFM Cap. (re the publication of extracts of the Henebry manuscript in the ‘The Father Mathew Record’), Fr. Michael Sheehan, Frank Ryan (the file includes several letters from Ryan written in Irish), Mac Giolla Bhríde (William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne), Fr. Maurus Phelan OCSO, William O’Brien (Bellevue, Mallow), Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (‘Torna’), Seán Ó Ciarghusa, Joseph B. Whelehan, Liam de Róiste, Fr. Richard Aylward (President, St. Kiernan’s College, Kilkenny), Patrick F. Rooney (71 West 95th Street, New York City), William Henry Grattan Flood, Maureen MacLysaght (Hazelwood, Mallow, County Cork), Fr. William Carrigan, (Durrow, County Laois), Douglas Hyde, Fr. Patrick MacSwiney, Fr. Patrick Power, Seán Ó Floinn, Patrick J. Merriman, and Fr. Canice Bourke OFM Cap. Includes letters to Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (‘Torna’) forwarding subscriptions for Henebry’s ‘A Handbook of Irish Music’ along with advertisement notices, lists of subscribers, order forms, and newspaper clippings.

A letter in this file from Eoin Henebry to Fr. Senan refers to a manuscript titled ‘The Fair Hosts of the Books of Erin’ written by Fr. Richard Henebry which his brother suggests has already been published. He mentions that all the ‘old stuff has been gone over by Seán Ó Currín, Seán Ó Floinn, and by Phil O’Neill’. (27 Aug. 1924).