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Capuchin Papers relating to the Irish Revolution

The fonds consists of the correspondence and papers of Capuchin friars detailing their involvement with participants in the national struggle. The majority of the material dates from 1916-1925 and includes many records highlighting the roles played by Irish Capuchins in ministering to republican leaders and their relations. Of particular interest is a large collection of prison letters including the correspondence of some of the leading figures of the Irish Revolution. The fonds also contains a large collection of republican publicity material, newspapers and miscellaneous items of ephemera and artefacts mostly relating to the military and political campaign organised by nationalists for Irish independence. A smaller collection relating to the repatriation of the bodies of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. from the United States to Ireland in 1958 is also extant.

Irish Capuchin Franciscans

Glass Plate Negative and Lantern Slide Collection

The collection comprises over 300 original glass plate negatives and lantern slides. Prior to the invention of cellulose nitrate film in 1903, photographic emulsions were made on glass supports. These glass supports are typically referred to as glass plate negatives. The term ‘glass plate negative’ refers to two separate formats: the collodion wet plate negative and the gelatin dry plate. Both formats consist of a light sensitive emulsion that is fixed to the glass plate base with a binder. This form of photographic process largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the twentieth century, as more convenient and less fragile films were introduced. Despite the impracticalities of the medium, glass negative plates were generally considered superior to cellulose nitrate film for high-quality imaging because they were extremely stable and less likely to bend or distort.

The collection also includes several lantern slides. Lantern slides were constructed from a base piece of glass, with the emulsion (carrying the photo or print) on it, then a matte over that, and then a top piece of cover glass. They were then taped all the way around to keep the pieces together and to keep dust out. Occasionally, colour was added by hand, tinting the images (these lantern slides were created before the invention of colour film). The slides were then projected onto a screen using a bespoke lantern slide projector. Lantern glass slides were used by some public speakers until the mid-twentieth century, when they were eclipsed by more economical and practical 35mm colour slides popularised by Kodachrome. Finally, the collection also includes some original glass stereo plates. Stereo cameras used a single glass plate negative to capture images. Prints from these negatives were intended to be looked at with a special viewer called a stereoscope, which created a rudimentary three-dimensional image.

Provenance and Collection Content

Precise information on the provenance of the collection is lacking. The plates were retrieved from a worn leather suitcase bearing the initials ‘F.A.’ which almost certainly refers to Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. (1875-1953). Although Fr. Angelus never considered himself an academic historian, he researched assiduously and transcribed many original documents relating to the history of the Irish Capuchins. His ‘Pages from the Story of the Irish Capuchins’ was published in 1915 to mark the tercentenary of the arrival of the first Capuchin friar in Ireland. It is highly likely that Fr. Angelus was responsible for assembling this glass plate photographic collection and that many of the lantern slides were created specifically for his use.

The image content of the glass plate collection is eclectic and varied. Only a relatively small number of the images are dated but it can be inferred that most of the photographs date to the first or second decade of the twentieth century. Many of the plates show images of scenes around the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork. The Capuchins established a community in Rochestown, situated about five miles from Cork city, in 1873. The Irish friars had founded a Seraphic School in 1884 with the primary aim of training young religious. This school originally operated along the lines of a novitiate for students who aspired to join the Capuchin Franciscan Order. In 1887, this school was transferred from Kilkenny to Rochestown. The collection includes many images of novice friars and students attached to the Rochestown house. In addition to photographs of the friary itself, local landmarks, buildings, and scenic locations in the environs of Rochestown feature prominently in some of the images. Several photographs showing other Irish Capuchin houses and foundations such as the Church of St. Francis in Kilkenny are also extant in the collection. The collection also includes some rare images of the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to the summit of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo (CA-PH-1-49-55). The 764-metre-high mountain is traditionally climbed by pilgrims on the last Sunday in July. These images were likely assembled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap., who was known as the ‘Guardian of the Reek’ in honour of his long association with the pilgrimage. His association with Croagh Patrick lasted from 1906 to 1949, during which he climbed the mountain forty-two times missing only two years, in 1919 due to a railway strike, and in 1922 due to the Civil War.

A seemingly separate series of lantern slides relating to the life and career of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856), a famed nineteenth century temperance campaigner and Capuchin friar, were also deposited in the collection. It is very probable that these slides were used as illustrative aids by the Capuchins for public talks and auditorium lectures on Fr. Mathew’s campaign against intoxicating liquor. Temperance activity was revived in 1905 when the Irish Catholic hierarchy invited the Capuchins to preach a National Crusade. This revival initially elicited widespread public enthusiasm and by 1912 the Capuchins had administered over a million pledges throughout the country. The lanterns slides were, in all probability, used in this campaign. Finally, the collection also includes images of seventeenth century manuscripts and photographs of other original records pertaining to the lives and ministries of several early Irish Capuchins. These were probably acquired by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. and Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965), another prominent Irish Capuchin historian, for research purposes.

Healy, Angelus, 1875-1953, Capuchin priest

Mother Mary Martin Letters

Letters to and from Mother Mary Martin. They are from the early days of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, and thus are mostly concerned with matters pertaining to the foundation of the order.

Mother Mary Martin (Auth rec)

Papers of Father Mathew Temperance Halls

Father Mathew Memorial Hall, Dublin

Father Mathew Hall stands at the corner of Church Street and Nicholas Avenue not far from Smithfield in Dublin’s north inner city. The origins of the Hall can be traced to the establishment by Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC (1831-1893) in 1880 of a lay sodality called the ‘Temperance Society of the Sacred Thirst of Our Lord Jesus Christ’. In 1881, meeting rooms were secured for the sodality at 3 Halston Street. The lease for the building was signed on 31 January 1881. The building, although in a dilapidated state, was put into enough order for it to open within a fortnight. The first meeting of the temperance sodality took place in the Halston Street Hall on 14 February 1881. At this time, sodality and religious confraternity membership was increasing all over the country in line with participation in all forms of lay piety such as in rosary, retreat and novena groups. The rapid expansion of membership of the Halston Street Temperance Sodality was emblematic of this period of devotional fervour. Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC (1835-1894) assumed the role of President of the temperance sodality in June 1883. Fr. Columbus undertook the formidable task of resuscitating the entire temperance movement and transforming it once more into a populist working-class crusade. Largely because of his efforts, membership of the Hall rose to over a thousand in both the male and female branches of the sodality. It soon became clear that the Halston Street Hall was inadequate to accommodate the increasing numbers. With the centenary of Fr. Theobald Mathew’s birth approaching in 1890, Fr. Columbus and the sodality committee decided to conduct a search for more suitable premises to meet the growing membership demands and to perpetuate the memory of Father Mathew as the ‘Apostle of Temperance’. Eventually, the committee secured the above-mentioned site on Church Street. The foundation stone of the building was laid by the Most Revered William Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, on 2 February 1890. It was designed by Walter Glynn Doolin (1850-1902). The Hall was formally opened on 25 January 1891. The total cost of the building was £4,000 to which was added another £2,000 in furnishings. The Hall quickly became a focal point for the local community as membership of the temperance sodality increased to almost two thousand members. Complementing the temperance function of the Hall were other social, cultural, and pastoral activities. Lectures, dramatic entertainments, pantomimes and sports events were organised by the sodality membership. Other activities included billiards, badminton, a drama group (the Father Mathew Players), a reading library and a cycling club.

Fr. Nicholas Murphy OSFC (1849-1923), appointed Sodality President in 1895, extended the Hall in 1901 with the addition of a new wing known as St. Brigid’s Hall. In 1905, further impetus was given to the entire temperance movement by the invitation offered by the Irish Bishops to the Capuchin Franciscans to undertake a ‘national crusade’ against the evils of intoxicating liquor. Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC (1870-1957) extended the main auditorium of the Hall, inserted a new stage and erected an elaborate proscenium arch decorated with Celtic Revival motifs. A new library for sodality members was opened in the Hall in April 1908 by Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC (1856-1926), Provincial Minister. The Church Street Hall was regularly frequented by those interested in promoting the Gaelic cultural revival including Pádraig Pearse who urged ‘closer co-operation between the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) and the Temperance movement in the cause that is common to both … the regeneration of Ireland’ ('Father Mathew Record', May 1908, p. 76). Ownership of the Hall was vested in several elected trustees who represented the members of the temperance sodality. A Capuchin friar was always appointed President. The day-to-day management of the Hall was entrusted to a committee which was selected at an annual general meeting. During the 1916 Rising, Father Mathew Hall was used a field hospital by the Irish Volunteers who had occupied the nearby Four Courts. Capuchin friars gave shelter to wounded citizens, military and rebels, who were tended to by members of Cumann na mBan.

An annual Feis Ceoil competition ('Feis an t-Athair Maitiú') was founded by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC in 1909. The initial syllabus included competitions divided between singing, instrumental performances, Irish dancing and artistic creation. Among the first adjudicators at the competition were Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin (1878-1975), later the wife of Éamon de Valera, and the Sinn Féin politician, Brian O’Higgins (1882-1963). The Feis was an immediate success and attracted nearly two thousand entrants. Encouraged by this initial success more competitions were added to the Feis programme in subsequent years with the avowed aim of preserving native language and culture. In addition, various Dublin-based theatre companies used the Hall for their productions and several fund-raising concerts and drama festivals were held. In 1962, weekly bingo sessions were started, initially in the St. Brigid’s annex, and later in the main auditorium. To facilitate improvements to the Hall, the ownership of the building was formally transferred to the Capuchin Order in the late 1960s. Although these renovations succeeded in creating a relatively modern purpose-built theatre, by the early 1970s the membership of the temperance sodality had dwindled. As a result, the activities of the various temperance societies associated with the Hall came to an end. However, the Feis Maitiú continued to act as a focal point for the promotion of Irish culture and music.

In the absence of any state funding or assistance, the Capuchins maintained sole responsibility for staging the annual Feis competition. The only source for financing the Feis remained entrants’ fees and funding obtained from corporate sponsorship. By the mid-1990s, the costs associated with organising the Feis competition had become prohibitive. Further renovation work was also required if the Hall was to be maintained as a public amenity. In 1998 the decision was made to sell Father Mathew Hall and to discontinue the Order’s direct association with the Feis. In 2001 the Hall was sold by tender to Harry Crosbie, a property developer who converted the building into corporate office suites. As a listed building, the Hall’s interior Celtic Revival plaster-work was preserved, and other external architectural features were restored. The property remained vacant for some years before its purchase in 2014. The building is currently (2021) occupied by Newcourt Retirement Fund Managers Limited (NRFM).

Father Mathew Hall, Cork

Like its counterpart in Dublin, Father Mathew Hall in Cork originally functioned as a meeting place for the local Total Abstinence Sodality attached to Holy Trinity (Capuchin) Church. In 1896, it was noted that the sodality had over three hundred male members. On 30 January 1907, a Hall was opened on what was then Queen Street (later renamed Father Mathew Street). The Hall served as an amenity centre for the local community with a billiard room, a card room, a reading room, and a lecture theatre where occasional plays and talks were held. Major refurbishment work was undertaken in the 1940s during the presidency of Fr. Matthew Flynn OFM Cap. with the installation of new theatre seating, a balcony and improved stage facilities. The destruction by fire of the old Cork Opera House in 1955 left Father Mathew Hall as the only regular theatre venue in the city. Companies such as the Southern Theatre Group and Carol Clopet Productions subsequently signed fixed tenancies in the Hall. The reopening of Cork’s Opera House in 1965 prefigured a decline in the Hall’s fortunes but the commencement of bingo sessions offset some of the financial losses. The Everyman Playhouse Group took up a licence on the auditorium in the early 1970s and their renovation of the Hall ensured the continued survival of the building as a functioning theatre.

'Feis Maitiú Corcaigh' was established in 1927 by Fr. Micheál Ó Sé OFM Cap. (1892-1958) who saw the need for a platform to help and encourage people interested in the performing arts. Cork’s inaugural Feis ran for four days with about 300 competitors taking part. Father Mathew Hall was chosen as the venue for the Feis. The 400-seat auditorium has continued to serve as the festival’s venue ever since. Fr. Micheál served as President of the Feis for twelve years. During Fr. Matthew Flynn’s tenure as President, the first Cork Drama Festival was launched by the then Lord Mayor of Cork, Michael Sheehan. This festival, which has since ceased, was hosted at Father Mathew Hall, and ran for a fortnight under the adjudication of Ria Mooney (1903-1973), the Principal of the Gaiety Theatre School of Acting. By 1985 there were almost 12,000 performers registering with the Feis Maitiú Corcaigh. The festival was subsequently extended to eight weeks with classes in a range of disciplines covering a broad spectrum of the arts. The Feis continues to operate under the patronage of the Capuchin Order but the day-to-day management of the programme is now undertaken by a lay administrator.

Temperance Hall, Rochestown, County Cork

The Temperance Hall at the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork, was built in 1913 as a ‘centre of temperance propaganda’ for the surrounding locality. Fr. Sylvester Mulligan OSFC (1875-1950), backed by enthusiastic local support, organised a raffle which raised such a substantial sum that the Capuchins gave permission for the building of the Hall. When completed, the Hall was capable of seating just over 300 people. It was officially opened for public use on 15 December 1913 by the Lord Mayor of Cork and Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC (1874-1951), Provincial Minister. The new Hall consisted of a concert-platform, an auditorium and spacious committee rooms which could be used as classrooms. Despite the decline of the temperance movement, the Hall continued to function as a venue for drama, music and dancing productions. Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. (1901-1979) later strove to re-organise the management of the building which changed its name to Marian Hall in the early 1950s. Having laid vacant for many years, the former temperance hall at Rochestown was demolished in the 1990s.

Collection Content

The fonds consists of records relating to the Temperance Halls established by the Capuchin Franciscans in Dublin and in Cork. Most of the material dates from circa 1910-1960. The records relate to the establishment of sodalities and confraternities, the opening and operation of temperance halls, and the organisation of missions and retreats connected with the promotion of the Total Abstinence movement. The fonds consists of minute books, administrative files, financial statements, correspondence, plans, publicity material, newspapers, photographs and miscellaneous items of ephemera and artefacts connected with the use of these halls for the promotion of temperance and as locations of recreation for members of various local total abstinence societies. The fonds also includes records relating to the annual Father Mathew Feis ('Feis an t-Athair Maitiú') and to the educational lectures, concerts, sketches, dramatic plays, pantomimes and other social and cultural events held in these Halls to further the cause of temperance. It should be noted that the closure of Father Mathew Hall on Church Street in Dublin in the late 1990s likely resulted in the loss of a significant portion of the archival records of this institution.

Fr. Theobald Mathew: Research and Commemorative Papers

Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856)

Theobald Mathew was born at Thomastown Castle near the village of Golden in County Tipperary on 10 October 1790. The Mathews were an old landed family with both Catholic and Protestant branches. Francis Mathew (1738-1806) was the owner of Thomastown Castle. He was created Viscount Landaff in 1793, and then Earl Landaff in 1797 (the title derived from the place in Wales from which the family had come to Ireland in the seventeenth century. The title was sometimes referred to as the Earldom of Llandaff since that is the more common Welsh spelling but it is Earl Landaff in the Peerage of Ireland. The Mathews of Thomastown held this title from 1797 to 1833). In the 1760s, Francis Mathew had adopted his orphaned cousin, James Mathew, Theobald’s father. On reaching adulthood, James was appointed the agent for the Mathew estate. Unlike many of the Mathews, James remained a Catholic throughout his life. His wife, Anne Whyte, was also a Catholic. They had twelve children, the fourth of whom was Theobald. The young Theobald Mathew had a privileged childhood, enjoying favoured treatment from his Protestant relation, Lady Elizabeth Mathew, the daughter of Francis Mathew. Lady Elizabeth knew and approved of Theobald’s priestly ambitions, and in 1800 she provided the money to pay for his education at St. Canice’s, a Catholic boarding school in Kilkenny. In September 1807, Theobald enrolled at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, for seminary training. However, his plans were upset when in his first year he was forced to leave Maynooth in order to avoid being expelled for holding what appears to have been a drunken party for his fellow students. He was subsequently accepted by the Capuchin Franciscan Order as a novice and he made his way to Church Street in Dublin to be trained. The Capuchins, in common with many of the religious orders in Ireland, were weak at this time and were thus extremely anxious for new recruits.

On 3 April 1813 Mathew was ordained a deacon. A year later he was ordained a priest by the Most Rev. Daniel Murray (1768-1852), later Archbishop of Dublin. After a brief sojourn in Kilkenny, Fr. Mathew moved back to Cork where he came under the influence of Fr. Daniel Donovan OSFC (d. 14 Jan. 1821) who was elected Provincial Minister of the Irish Capuchins in 1816. Fr. Mathew devoted a good deal of his time to practical charitable enterprises, establishing schools for poor and orphaned children. In these schools the children were taught household skills in addition to elementary subjects. In 1821, Fr. Donovan died and Fr. Mathew was elected his successor as Provincial Minister. He would continue to hold this position until 1851. In 1832, he broke ground for an elaborate, Gothic-style Capuchin church in Cork (subsequently called The Church of the Most Holy Trinity), on Charlotte Quay (later renamed Father Mathew Quay). Due to a lack of funds the church would remain unfinished in Fr. Mathew’s lifetime. It was not until 1890 that the spire and façade were added. Nevertheless, Fr. Mathew gained an excellent reputation in the local community for his tireless endeavours in support of the poor of Cork. He was also noted for his exceptional spirit of ecumenism. He was on friendly terms with a number of leading Protestants and Quakers in the city. Fr. Mathew joined the total abstinence movement in Cork in April 1838. The Cork Total Abstinence Society was established with the avowed aim of encouraging people to make one enduring act of will which would keep them sober for life. This act of will was enshrined in the pledge to abstain from the taking of intoxicating liquor.

From the very beginning Fr. Mathew’s endeavours in the cause of temperance gained striking success. Under his leadership, teetotalism drew a large number of adherents in Cork and spread throughout Munster and eventually throughout Ireland. The Society’s ranks quickly grew, and within three months, Fr. Mathew had enrolled 25,000 new members in Cork alone. In five months, the number had increased to 130,000. He travelled across Ireland, convincing thousands more to pledge teetotalism. In August 1842, he began traveling internationally, first to Scotland, then England. At its height, just before the outbreak of the famine in 1845, Fr. Mathew’s temperance movement had enrolled three million people, or more than half of the adult population of Ireland. By the mid-1840s he was frequently travelling to Britain with equally dramatic results. The leading nationalist politician, Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), described the temperance movement as Fr. Mathew’s ‘mighty moral crusade’. In 1847, the priests of the diocese of Cork selected him to be their bishop. However, there was strong opposition from members of the hierarchy. It was held against him that the he had accepted a pension from the Government. One long-standing critic among the bishops described him as ‘the hired tool of a heretical government’. This reflected the long-standing determination of the Catholic Church in Ireland not to accept state funding and the interference that would come in its train. Fr. Mathew’s financial mismanagement (he was known to be bountiful and generous to the point of extravagance), liberal Catholicism and Protestant associations also told against him. The Pope acceded to the almost unanimous advice of the Irish hierarchy that Fr. Mathew should not be appointed to the bishopric. Nevertheless, his standing as a popular figure remained undiminished. In July 1849, he visited the United States where he was greeted with enthusiastic acclaim. In Washington, the Congress unanimously admitted to him to a seat on the floor of the House; he was the first non-American after the Marquis de Lafayette to be so honoured. Rallies and demonstrations were held across the country to honour Ireland’s renowned ‘Apostle of Temperance’.

Despite this personal adulation, it was clear that Fr. Mathew’s movement had reached its zenith. From the late 1840s the movement began to decline almost dramatically as it had risen. His health started to fail (he had suffered a stroke in 1848) and crippling debts began to accumulate, making it increasingly difficult to continue the temperance crusade. The onset of the famine, brought about by the failure of the potato crop in 1845, dealt a grievous blow to the movement; thousands of Fr. Mathew’s followers died or emigrated in those years. Many of those who remained in Ireland had to contend with more pressing concerns than the maintenance of their pledge to abstain from alcohol. In late 1853, despite declining health, Fr. Mathew ventured to Limerick where he administered the pledge in what was his last appearance at a public meeting. In October 1854, on medical advice, he travelled to Madeira but his health continued to deteriorate. In the absence of its charismatic leader the temperance movement continued to weaken. He suffered a severe stroke in late 1856 and died in Queenstown (later Cobh), County Cork, on 8 December 1856. He was 66 years old. He was buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cork, which he had established twenty-six years earlier.

Collection Content

The surviving original correspondence of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC held in the Irish Capuchin Archives has been catalogued and is listed elsewhere (IE CA FM-COR). The majority of the collection listed here is comprised of research material relating to Fr. Mathew’s life and temperance crusade. In the late nineteenth century, Ireland experienced temperance revivals which had the effect of renewing popular interest in the total abstinence campaign led by Fr. Mathew in the 1840s and 1850s. Widespread public interest in his legacy remained undiminished, and his life continued to be the subject of popular admiration. The collection includes published historical works, biographical research and other copy source material relating to the ‘Apostle of Temperance’. The collection comprises compilations of archival sources and research notes compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965), Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. (1875-1953), and Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. (1915-1997), Capuchin friars who undertook extensive research into Fr. Mathew’s life and ministry.

The fonds also contains correspondence, publications, posters, circulars, newspaper cuttings and ephemera relating to various commemorations of Fr. Mathew from the nineteenth century onward. In 1864, John Francis Maguire MP (1815-1872), Fr. Mathew’s friend and first biographer, organised the erection of a statue of him on St. Patrick’s Street in Cork sculpted by John Henry Foley (1818-1874). As part of an exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876 to mark the centenary of American Independence, the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America erected a statue of Fr. Mathew in Fairmont Park. His statue stood alongside three Irish-American Catholics who had played a significant role in the American Revolution, Bishop John Carroll SJ, Charles Carroll and John Barry. In 1890, to mark the centenary of Fr. Mathew’s birth, a committee with a large Protestant membership came together to erect a statue in Dublin. There were generous donations from both England and Ireland and from Irish emigrant communities in North America. The statue, by the Irish-born artist Mary Redmond (1863-1930), was unveiled on Sackville (later O’Connell) Street in February 1893. The statue depicted Fr. Mathew in a Capuchin habit, an attire he never wore in life. In 1938, as part of the celebrations of the centenary of the foundation of the Cork Total Abstinence Society, the Most Rev. David Mathew (1902-1975), the Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, who was a great-grandnephew of Fr. Mathew, had a statute erected near his birthplace of Thomastown Castle. Similar nationwide commemorative events were held in 1956 to mark the centenary of Mathew's death. More low-key commemorations were held in 1988 (150th anniversary of the inauguration of the temperance campaign), 1990 (bi-centenary of Fr. Mathew’s death), and in 2006 (150th anniversary of his death). The collection includes correspondence, newspaper cuttings, publicity material, photographs and memorabilia concerning the organisation and celebration of these commemorative occasions.

The total abstinence movement in the Catholic Church in England was revived by Cardinal Henry Manning (1804-1892) who in 1872 founded the League of the Cross. In the same year the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America was established. In 1887, one of its leaders, Bishop John Ireland of Saint Paul, Minnesota (1838-1918), who, as a young man in his native Kilkenny had taken the pledge from Fr. Mathew, obtained approval from Pope Leo XIII for the organisation of a total abstinence movement. In Ireland, some Capuchin friars sought to renew the campaign against intemperance. In 1880, Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC (1831-1893) established a sodality in Dublin under the title of the ‘Temperance Society of the Sacred Thirst of Our Lord Jesus Christ’. A meeting place for the sodality was secured with the opening of Father Mathew Centennial Memorial Hall on Church Street in January 1891. A hall for a similar temperance sodality and religious confraternity was opened by the Capuchins in Cork in 1907. Temperance activity received a major boost in 1905 when the Irish hierarchy invited the Capuchins to preach a National Crusade. The crusade initially garnered widespread public enthusiasm and by 1912 the Capuchins had administered over a million pledges throughout the country.

By this point the Capuchins were not alone in tackling the scourge of intemperance in Ireland. Fr. James Cullen SJ (1841-1921) founded the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) in Dublin in December 1898. Although the PTAA looked to Fr. Mathew’s earlier temperance campaign for inspiration, Fr. Cullen’s movement displayed some marked differences. In his speeches, Fr. Cullen asserted that temperance among the Irish would pave the way for independence from Britain. The PTAA was not primarily directed at excessive drinkers but at devout Catholics, who were to make what was described as a heroic sacrifice to atone for the sins of intemperance. This movement was essentially devotional and firmly rooted within the Catholic Church. An essential component of the Association was devotion to the Sacred Heart with a focus on the spiritual element in the work of the PTAA. Many of the twentieth-century commemorations of Fr. Mathew were organised by the PTAA as part of the promotion of their cause. Fr. Cullen’s pioneers remained a vital force in Ireland until the 1980s, when they found themselves unable to adapt to the dramatic political, cultural, and religious changes taking hold in an increasingly secular Ireland. The collection comprises much material relating to the promotion of temperance issues by organisations such as the PTAA including newsletters, publications, publicity and commemorative material (much of which focused on Fr. Mathew’s legacy), and memorabilia. Finally, the subfonds includes a highly significant collection of artefacts such as original temperance society medals, pledge cards, prints, posters, photographs, temperance memorabilia, manuals, church plate, ephemera and other items and relics associated with Fr. Mathew and his temperance movement from the 1830s to the 1850s. These items were collected by various Capuchin friars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with a view to exhibiting them for devotional and historical purposes.

Papers of St. Mary of the Angels, Capuchin Friary, Church Street, Dublin

Church Street, one of the oldest thoroughfares on the north side of Dublin, has long been identified with the Capuchin Franciscans. For many years the friars have been known as the ‘Church Street Fathers’. Yet Church Street was not the location of their first residence in Dublin. The first Capuchin friars arrived in Dublin in 1615. At first, they settled on the south side of the city near Thomas Street, before moving to Bridge Street in about 1632, and later still to a house not far from Saint Audeon’s Arch. Fr. Christopher Kearney OSFC (d. 1656), in remarks on the progress of the Irish Capuchin mission, explained how ‘in the beginning, from the year 1615 to 1624, when they were very few, the friars lived in ones and twos in the houses of other people, not as a regular community; but then as numbers increased they established communities … in buildings either newly erected, or rented, and adapted for religious use and as chapels in which they maintained regular observance until the year 1651’. Fr. Edward Bath OSFC (d. 1634) was appointed the superior of the first Capuchin house in Dublin. Fr. Robert O’Connell OSFC (c.1623-1678) in his 'Historia Missionis Hiberniae Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum' (c.1654) described the first residence of the friars as small and poor, consisting of a few cells, a little garden, and a small chapel. Fr. Christopher Kearney OSFC remarked that ‘some of the Capuchins went among the people, at other times people flocked to the Capuchins at home. They were accustomed to preach in both English and Irish. … In their own churches, and when preaching elsewhere, they were zealous in opposing heretics and in comforting Catholics by the administration of the sacraments’. In 1629 the first residence of the friars in Dublin was confiscated with the house handed over to Trinity College. It was converted into a residential hall and given the name ‘St. Stephen’s Hall’.

The friars were dispersed and for a time they continued their work in the countryside until securing a small rented house in 1632. Fr. Nicholas Archbold OSFC (1589-1650) in his 'Historie of the Irish Capucins' (1643) confirms that by 1642 the Capuchins were resident on Bridge Street in a ‘secular man’s house and mansion: wee had the forpart of it: which stood on the street’. At this time the ‘religious and priests enjoyed peaceably the publick use of their chapells’ and the Capuchins had use of a well-furnished chapel in which they celebrated Mass every day in the religious habit. Soon afterwards, however, the authorities moved to seize churches and religious houses in Dublin, including that of the Capuchins – ‘entering violently in the Chapells they laid hands on all they could find, subverted the Altars, tore and broke and trampled under foot and burnt the sacred pictures and turned ye Chappels into Courts of Guard’. After the destruction of their house and the exile of many priests, the remaining friars ministered in the countryside until they had an opportunity of returning to Dublin. However, the prospects for re-establishing regular community life seemed remote. In June 1653 an edict was passed reviving the Elizabethan statute proscribing the exercise of the Catholic religion and ordering the exile of all priests. As a consequence, for many years, there was no trace of any settled community life for the Capuchins in Dublin.

Individual friars continued to be engaged (albeit furtively) in ministry in Dublin. There are indications in 1667 that a Capuchin chapel existed in the city. Lady Ursula Moore, in her will dated 2 October 1667, bequeathed a silver chalice to her son Thomas Whyte, a Capuchin friar, and arranged that the interest on a sum of money ‘shall pay the rent of the Capucins’ Chappell in Dublin’. In 1671 Fr. Luke Nugent OSFC, Commissary General, reported that the Capuchins had re-established a hospice in Dublin but no indication was given as to the site of their restored residence in the city. With the accession of King James II in 1685 religious liberties were restored to Catholics and churches were repaired and rebuilt. In about 1689 the Capuchins built what must have been a fairly substantial residence near Saint Audeon’s Arch. The friary had a community of twenty-four religious who led a full conventual life as well as engaging in active ministry. The Capuchins resided in this house for only two years before it was suppressed in the wake of the Williamite victory in the 1690s. Up to this period the Capuchins had been living on the south side of the River Liffey. A report written by Fr. Lawrence Dowdall OSFC in 1701 suggests that after the suppression of the friary near Saint Audeon’s Arch, the friars ministered in a ‘rented chapel’. There is evidence to suggest that this chapel was situated on Church Street. Information sworn by a Margaret Meehan on 3 May 1691 against Fr. Innocent Weldon OSFC (d. 1707) for being a Popish priest states ‘we heard him preach in ye Popish Masshouses in Church Street and on Channel Row [later North Brunswick Street]’. In 1697 it was noted that Fr. Lawrence Dowdall OSFC was ‘lodgeing att Matthais Burgesses in Church Street’. It seems certain that the Capuchins settled in Church Street soon after their residence near Saint Audeon’s Arch was suppressed.

'A Report of the Roman Catholic Chapels in Dublin' (1749) noted that the Church Street Chapel ‘was fitted up in the year 1720, for the use of the Capuchin friars (who in the reign of King James II lived at St. Audeon’s Arch) by Father Joseph Evers, Superior of the Order’. It was also claimed that this chapel was located in the house of a Mr. Clements. This reference to a Mr. Clements is of particular importance as it suggests that the chapel that existed in 1720 occupied the same site as the present-day Church of St. Mary of the Angels. In the lease of the site of St. Mary of the Angels made on 4 August 1826 by the Earl of Longford and Viscount de Vesci to Fr. Bonaventure Delaney OSFC (d. 1841), it is mentioned that the property being leased had formerly been in the possession of James Topham and later in the tenancy of Robert Clements ‘on which a Roman Catholic Chapel had been built’. (see CA CS/2/2/1/2). The chapel referred to in the lease is an older building as the present-day St. Mary of the Angels had not been built in 1826. The site of this original Capuchin chapel on Church Street was Roscommon House which stood on the street to the front of the modern-day church. This first chapel was extensively repaired in 1736 by Fr. Alexius Dowdall OSFC (d. 1738). It was described in 1749 ‘as small and neat and the altar decent. The altarpiece is a Crucifixion, though formerly it was a painting of our Saviour taken down from the Cross. … There is a gallery which serves as a choir with a vestry but no confessionals’. This original chapel was taken down in 1796 and a slightly larger one was built on the same site (see CA CS/7/1). In 1831 it was remarked that the ‘Church Street chapel is situated on the west side of the street and not far from St. Michan’s [Anglican] Church … the building itself offers no remarkable features. This structure was for a long period in a state of dilapidation until the manly eloquence of Rev. [Michael Bernard] Keogh [1788-1831], a friar of the Capuchin Order, influenced the wealthy part of his hearers … to contribute largely to the restoration of this edifice’. The fact that this chapel was extensively damaged by the Great Storm of January 1839 (also known as the ‘Night of the Big Wind’) may have given additional impetus to build a new church. At any rate, it was clear that the friars were finding their chapel inadequate and were considering building a larger church as well as a friary for the religious.

The foundation stone of the present-day St. Mary of the Angels was laid by Archbishop Paul Cullen in 1868. (see CA CS/7/2). The church was built in sections, the sanctuary being built first. A significant portion of the church was built by direct labour, without a contractor, but with a clerk of works supervising the tradesmen in carrying out the instructions of the architect, James Joseph McCarthy (1817-1882). A contracting firm was later employed to complete the undertaking. This, together with the lack of funds, probably explains why the construction work took so long. The façade was not completed until 1882. The church was solemnly dedicated by Cardinal Edward McCabe on 4 October 1882. While all this was in progress, more ground space became available which allowed for the building of a new friary at the rear of St. Mary of the Angels. Although plans for the friary were drawn up as early as 1875, the building was not finished until 1883. The Capuchin community subsequently left their residences on North King Street and moved to the purpose-built friary on Church Street where they have remained ever since.

Collection Content

The fonds consists of records relating to the Capuchin community in Dublin and in particular to the foundation known as St. Mary of the Angels situated on Church Street. The fonds includes legal records relating to the acquisition, transfer and disposal of church property (such as deeds of title, mortgages and bills of sale), financial records, and material relating to individual members of Capuchin communities in Dublin. The collection includes a large number of administrative and community files, financial statements and books of account relating to building construction and structural alterations, correspondence, plans, publicity material, photographs, and miscellaneous items of commemorative ephemera connected with Capuchin ministries and apostolates in Dublin. The collection also includes unpublished historical writings and biographical material relating to notable members of the Capuchin Order who ministered in Dublin. The fonds also includes records relating to the lay religious sodality known as the Third Order of St. Francis (now the Secular Franciscan Order) attached to the Capuchin church in the city.

Papers relating to the Church of St. Francis, Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny

The Capuchin presence in Kilkenny can be traced to 1643 when two friars, Fathers Peter Nugent OSFC and Thomas Tuite OSFC, came to the town after their residence in Mullingar was destroyed by fire. Following their arrival in Kilkenny they stayed in a rented house near St. Canice’s Cathedral. The Bishop of Ossory, the Most Rev. David Rothe (1573-1650), was favourably disposed to the friars and he subsequently gave them charge of one of the chapels in the cathedral. On 8 March 1648 Bishop Rothe granted the Capuchins a canonical foundation with official rights and privileges to minister in the diocese. Though the Capuchins have had a long association with Walkin Street (later Friary Street) in Kilkenny, it is clear that this was not the location of their original foundation. There are references to at least three other locations where they had previously ministered. It is known that Fr. Sebastian Butler OSFC (d. July 1647) secured a residence and a chapel but its exact location has not been established. In about 1650, the Capuchin community consisted of Fr. Barnaby Barnewall OSFC (d. 1663), Fr. Anthony Nugent OSFC, Fr. Christopher Kearney OSFC (d. 1656), Fr. Gregory Mulchonry OSFC, Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (d. 1656) and Br. John Verdon OSFC. Following the upheavals of the Cromwellian conquest, the Capuchins secured a plot of ground on St. Michael’s Lane, adjoining St. John’s Abbey (a former Augustinian Priory), where they established a hospice and an oratory in which ‘they preached the office of missionaries’.

In 1678 the Capuchins had a community of three in the city. Their friary and chapel continued to be situated near St. John’s Abbey. Fr. Nicholas Cornan OSFC was among the regular clergy of Kilkenny mentioned in the will of Bishop James Phelan in 1693. The Capuchin house adjoining St. John’s Abbey was suppressed in 1697 after the passage of the Act of Banishment which aimed to expel ‘all Regulars of the Popish Clergy out of this Kingdom’. Some of the dispersed friars from St. Michael’s Lane later moved to an alms house on Walkin Street. This alms house or ‘Poor House Chapel’ as it came to be known, was founded by Fr. James Tobin OSFC who was a native of Leyrath (or Lyrath) in County Kilkenny. At the rear of the alms house, a small chapel was built which the Capuchins served. The site of ‘Father Tobin’s Poor House’ is covered by the right wing of the present-day Friary, which runs at right angles to Friary (formerly Walkin) Street, near Pennyfeather Lane. Later, Fathers Thomas Murphy OSFC (c.1744-1817) and William Berry OSFC (c.1742-1822) obtained a small plot of ground beside the alms house on which they built a small church and community residence. When the Capuchins obtained this site the endowment of the alms house was transferred to the houses on the opposite side of Walkin Street. This residence was used by the Capuchins until 1848 when Fr. Peter Joseph Mulligan OSFC (1793-1853) built the present-day Friary Church of St. Francis. Fr. Mulligan, who was the guardian or local superior of the Capuchin community, also obtained a lease of a small plot of ground which enabled him to build an entrance to the church directly onto Walkin Street.

The new church was built over the existing alms house chapel ensuring that there was no interruption to day-to-day religious services. The alms house chapel occupied a portion of the area inside the main arches of the present-day Church of St. Francis. The architects for the new church were Messrs Wright and O’Toole. Additional adornment for the new building was secured in the form of a belfry with two bells (still in use), one of which Fr. Mulligan styled ‘Shiel’, and the other ‘O’Connell’, in honour of two of the great champions of Catholic Emancipation in the first half of the nineteenth century. A large cross (the first to be erected over a Catholic place of worship in Kilkenny since the Reformation) was also installed. Fr. Mulligan died in 1853, leaving Fr. Laurence O’Flynn OSFC (1807-1863) as the only Capuchin friar in Kilkenny until 1855 when Fr. Edward Tommins OSFC (1812-1889) arrived. Fr. Tommins secured pillars, pediments and altar cornices from the old cathedral of St. Mary’s and installed them in the Church of St. Francis when the new Cathedral was being built in the 1850s. On 23 September 1868 a new altar piece was erected, executed by Guardiocini, a celebrated Italian painter. In October 1873 a statue of the Sacred Heart by J. O’Reilly of Cork was installed in the sanctuary. An extension of the friary building was completed towards the end of the nineteenth century. On 15 December 1873 the foundation stone was laid for a new friary residence running parallel to Walkin Street. A novitiate for the Capuchin Order in Ireland was also opened in Kilkenny in 1875. A few years later, in 1884, a Seraphic School was established. In 1889 a lease was obtained for a small garden adjoining the friary and in July 1896 the site of the old alms house was obtained from the Most Rev. Abraham Brownrigg (1836-1928), Bishop of Ossory (see CA KK/2/1/1/1/15). This allowed for the building of an additional wing to the friary in 1897. This new wing was located at right angles to Walkin Street and extended to Pennyfeather Lane, completely covering the site of the earlier Poor House (constructed by Fr. James Tobin) and Fr. Mulligan’s later building. Side chapels were added to the church in 1938. The designs for these chapels were completed by John Joseph Robinson & Richard Cyril Keeffe, architects, and the builders were Messrs W.K. Cleere & Son of Kilkenny. The tercentenary of the arrival of the Capuchins in Kilkenny was marked in 1948 with elaborate religious and civic ceremonies. A Friary Hall (St. Francis Hall) was opened in April 1956 and a new novitiate building, designed by Sylvester Bourke (1928-2009), a local architect, was constructed in the early 1960s.

Collection Content

The fonds consists of records relating to the Capuchin community in Kilkenny City and in particular to the foundation known as the Church of St. Francis situated on Friary Street (formerly Walkin Street). The fonds includes legal records relating to the acquisition, transfer and disposal of church property (such as deeds of title, mortgages and bills of sale), financial records, and material relating to individual members of the Capuchin community in Kilkenny. The collection includes a large number of administrative and community files, financial statements and books of account relating to building construction and structural alterations, correspondence, plans, publicity material, photographs, library books and miscellaneous items of commemorative ephemera connected with Capuchin ministries and apostolates in Kilkenny. The collection also includes unpublished historical writings and biographical material relating to notable members of the Capuchin Order who ministered in Kilkenny. The fonds also includes records relating to the lay religious sodality known as the Third Order of St. Francis (now the Secular Franciscan Order) attached to the Capuchin Church in the city.

Mission and Retreat Papers

The Mission and Retreat Apostolate

Since the foundation of the Order in the early sixteenth century preaching by the Capuchin Franciscan friars has played an important role in the life of the Catholic Church. It was also one of the foremost apostolates and evangelistic activities undertaken by the Irish Capuchins. The practice of preaching week-long special missions became widespread in Ireland after Catholic Emancipation (1829). The upsurge in devotional practices and the dramatic increase in Mass attendance in the late nineteenth century created a widespread demand for parish missions and retreats. Secular (diocesan) priests were not always plentiful so there was a general dependence upon religious orders for preaching and for parish mission work. The geographical extent of these missions ranged throughout the entire country. The content of the sermons preached during these missions centred on traditional themes such as vices and virtue and punishment and glory, embodying the Franciscan charism of self-denial, the performance of penance, and peace and goodwill to all. The form of the mission followed traditional patterns with sermons preached by the friars focusing on devotion and prayer. This was frequently adapted to local circumstances. The increasing demand for parish missions and retreats from both the laity and from religious congregations placed a severe demand on the Capuchins. It was difficult to maintain regular religious observance, staff churches and run lay sodalities when many friars and preachers were away on mission work. Despite these difficulties, the number of missions conducted by the Irish friars increased in the first decades of the twentieth century. In the years from 1910 to 1913 the Capuchins undertook 405 weeks of missions throughout Ireland. Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. (1897-1962), Provincial Minister, referred to the importance of mission preaching in a circular letter to the friars dated 31 August 1943:

'A mission or retreat is a very serious and sacred thing in the eyes of the secular clergy and the people who … who expect us to be distinctive and other, bringing with us that Franciscan atmosphere … We, therefore, exhort the priest to compose their lives, when on missions and retreats, that they will give a true picture of Franciscan spirituality. Let them avoid everything that might shock the spiritual susceptibilities of the clergy and the people; let them observe such external properties as are demanded by the Gospel; and God will bless and reward them as true heirs to the apostolate of St. Francis of Assisi'.

The Temperance Crusade in the twentieth century

Mission work increased dramatically when the Capuchins accepted an invitation from the Irish Catholic hierarchy to preach a national temperance crusade in 1905. Inspired by the life of the famed temperance campaigner and Capuchin priest, Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856), the Irish bishops entrusted the campaign to promote teetotalism throughout Ireland to the friars. The Capuchins dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the task. Twelve priests were selected to undertake the work and they preached dozens of temperance missions every year. The characteristics of the temperance crusade built upon the existing missionary work of the friars. Travelling from parish to parish, the priests would preach on temperance, give the pledge to refrain from alcohol for at least twelve months, and encourage the congregation to go to confession and receive communion. In order to perpetuate the fruits of their work, efforts were also made to establish temperance sodalities which would meet once a month in the local church. The crusade, which began in earnest in January 1906, was solidly supported by the bishops and clergy who facilitated the efforts of the Capuchin preachers. In 1906, 117 parishes in 23 of the 28 dioceses in the country were visited and a total of about 200,000 pledges were given. In 1912, Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC (1874-1951), Provincial Minister, informed the General Minister of the Order that since 1905 the pledge had been given to 1,141,191 persons. 'The Father Mathew Record', a monthly magazine founded by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC (1870-1957) in 1908 to advance the cause of temperance, published glowing accounts of temperance demonstrations, missions and processions throughout the country. Fr. Aloysius was also responsible for founding the League of Young Irish Crusaders in 1909. Membership of this organisation was confined to persons under twenty years of age. It aimed to promote total abstinence and loyalty to the church and encourage the study of the Irish language and culture. In the first year of its existence, the League succeeded in enrolling almost 100,000 members.

The missionary zeal of the friars ensured that their temperance work extended to almost every part of the country. From Falcarragh in north Donegal to Bantry in west Cork, and from Achill Island off the western seaboard to the urban centres of Dublin and Belfast, the Capuchins worked tirelessly on the temperance mission. Despite the encouraging signs, it quickly became evident that the friars’ labours were not all that effective. At the end of a short mission, they would give the pledge to all comers and then move on to another parish the following week. Without any organizational support to follow-up, many of those who took the pledge soon fell away. It was clear that enthusiasm for temperance cooled when there was no permanent structure in place to continue the work. On returning to parishes that had previously been visited, the friars found only disappointing evidence of their missionary labours with no central register recording renewals of the pledge. It also appeared that many had rapidly discarded their temperance badges. Fr. Aloysius admitted in 1914 ‘that despite wonderful success attending our missionary zeal in every part of Ireland … the result in so far as it remains a permanent memorial of our work is not what it should be’. For a time, temperance societies and pledge-giving did flourish in locations where the Capuchins maintained a permanent foundation or residence. Many friars continued to work enthusiastically for the cause and priests on missions rarely neglected a sermon on the dangers of intemperance but there was to be no revival of a nationwide Capuchin-led total abstinence movement. By the early 1960s dramatic cultural and economic changes in Irish society resulted in a marked decline in popular enthusiasm for the temperance cause. Membership of total abstinence societies (such as the Sacred Thirst Sodalities, the League of Young Irish Crusaders and the Pioneers) collapsed. The steady decline in vocations also ensured that the Capuchins (in common with other religious orders) no longer had the personnel or resources to conduct the kind of extensive parish missions and retreats which were once a defining feature of their ministry in Ireland.

Collection Content

The collection includes records relating to parish missions and retreats preached by the Irish Capuchin Franciscan friars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The collection also includes material relating to temperance missions given by the friars in response to a call from the Irish Catholic hierarchy to undertake a nationwide total abstinence campaign in 1905. Record series include lists of missions or retreats given by the Capuchins, local mission accounts and commentaries, temperance and pledge-taking records, correspondence, publicity material, printed ephemera and newspaper reports on missions preached by the friars.

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