‘Paget Prize Plate Co., Ltd., Watford’ box. The box contains seven plates. The plates include a view of Ards House (later Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary) near Creeslough in County Donegal, and a group of five unidentified Capuchin friars walking in a garden (one of the friars has a hand over his face). The other five plates appear to be ‘holiday scenes’ including one of the Frederiksholms Kanal in Copenhagen, Denmark, and a promenade scene onboard a ship.
A clipping of a photograph of Holden Stodart, a member of the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, who was killed in Dublin on 26 April 1916. The image was published in the ‘Weekly Dispatch’ (30 April 1916).
An image of HMS 'Vanguard', a British Navy battleship at Cape Town Harbour in South Africa. The ship was used as a royal yacht to transport King George VI and his family to South Africa, the first visit to the country by a reigning British monarch. HMS 'Vanguard' arrived in Cape Town on 17 February, escorted by the South African frigates 'Good Hope', 'Transvaal' and 'Natal' on the last leg of her voyage. The warship departed Cape Town on 22 April 1947.
James McKenna (d. 1846) played a key role in the founding of the Cork Total Abstinence Society (CTAS) in 1838. He also acted as Fr. Mathew’s principal travelling secretary during the early years of his campaign. McKenna made extensive efforts to publicise the movement through newspaper advertising, the printing of posters, pamphlets and handbills but the most comprehensive expression of his temperance philosophy is preserved in his manuscript history of the movement. McKenna kept his voluminous records of the CTAS’s progress in his 'History of the Temperance Reformation in Ireland, England and Scotland by James McKenna, Chief Travelling and Confidential Secretary to the Very Reverend Theobald Mathew'. This eclectic, meticulously hand-written collection of hundreds of outsized pages of transcribed material was woven together in McKenna’s own strident presentation. The text recorded very many of the activities connected Fr. Mathew’s temperance campaign from 1838 to 1846. McKenna intended to publish his account, as the definitive, triumphal and popular history of what seemed like a permanent social revolution. McKenna’s sudden death (in Cork in 1846), and the temperance crusade’s rapid retreat, likely combined to prevent the manuscript’s publication. Although of dubious literary merit, McKenna’s manuscript represents an extremely important source for Fr. Mathew’s temperance crusade. The text is preserved in the Irish Capuchin Archives.
‘History of the Temperance Reformation by James McKenna, chief travelling secretary to the Very Rev. Theobald Mathew’. The volume commences with a piece titled ‘National effects produced by temperance in Ireland; general decrease of crime taken from the assizes; returns, statements and testimony of judges; returns from the police officers; general decrease of disease and sick in hospitals and infirmaries …’. Returns from assizes and police officials are given from various parts of the country from 1839-41. The volume includes a large number of testimonials and addresses from various members of the aristocracy, landed gentry, politicians (including Daniel O’Connell), the clergy and other public figures referring to the beneficial effects of Fr. Mathew’s temperance crusade. With copy testimonials and letters from Lord Morpeth, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Lord Bishop of Norwich and other prominent individuals. The volume also includes articles and reflections on the history and progress of the temperance movement, pledge-taking statistics, and descriptions of Fr. Mathew’s meetings and rallies in cities, towns and villages all over Ireland. ‘A history of the temperance movement and progress in England’ by James McKenna is extant from pp 563-895. Copy testimonials, letters and addresses from England, Scotland, the United States and Canada are transcribed from pp 961-88. A comprehensive index to the volume is included from pp 987-1,005 pp.
History of the South Friary, Blackamoor Lane, Cork, by Fr. Francis Hayes OFM Cap. (1866-1946). The manuscript additions and corrections to the text are by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. The history concludes by noting that the end of the Blackamoor Friary was noted in an ‘Old Account Book of the South Friary: “October 6th 1850. On this Sunday the South Friary was finally closed and the new Church of the Most Holy Trinity was opened on the 10th October being the birthday of the Very Rev. Mr. Theobald Mathew’. With copy photographic print of the old friary building on Blackamoor Lane. The print has been endorsed on the reverse by Fr. Carthage Ruth OFM Cap. It reads ‘Blackamoor Lane off Sullivan’s Quay, Cork city – behind Tax Office, built about 1771 by Friar Arthur O’Leary – used until 1850 when Fr. Mathew Memorial Church of the Holy Trinity was opened for divine worship’.
