This sub-series comprises correspondence with the widows of two executed leaders of the 1916 Rising, Lillie Connolly and Muriel MacDonagh
The sub-series contains a collection of mostly personal papers relating to the life and ministry of Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. The section includes some papers relating to his interest in the history of the Capuchins in Ireland and some newspaper clippings published after his death.
Some Irish Capuchins displayed a noticeable sympathy with the republican interest during the Civil War. The Church Street community maintained close ties with various republicans including Frank Gallagher who carried out propaganda work on various Anti-Treaty bulletins, newsletters and publications. Gallagher worked alongside Erskine Childers (who was also on good terms with some Capuchin friars) on the republican publicity staff. Both men sided with Éamon de Valera in the Treaty debates. Gallagher and Robert Brennan were significant contributors to the 'Daily Bulletin' which was produced at this time (See CA IR/1/8/3/8). As a consequence, most of the tracts and publicity material obtained by the Capuchins reflected a rigidity to the Sinn Féin version of the conflict and demonstrated an implacable hostility to the Treaty and its supporters.
The extensive and often lavish use of photographs in 'The Capuchin Annual' set the publication apart from many other periodicals of the time. Photography in the 'Annual' served a very clear purpose – it projected an idealised image of Ireland to its wide readership in a way that was arguably more effective than any prose. In the early years, scenic views such as ‘Evening in Dublin’ or ‘Killiney Bay’ would appear randomly, but in later years photographic features became far more extensive. The 'Annual’s' photographic archive is particularly rich and constitutes a valuable pictorial record of life in Ireland in the twentieth century.
The sub-series comprises prose drafts submitted for potential publication in 'The Capuchin Annual'.
The sub-series includes the correspondence files of the editors of 'The Capuchin Annual'.
The section includes a small collection of records relating to the Association of Patrons of 'The Capuchin Annual' (APCA). The Association was founded in 1944 with the goal of raising money to support the continued production of the publication. Both Irish and international subscribers to the APCA were provided with copies of the 'Annual' and 'The Father Mathew Record' in return for their financial support. Lists of APCA subscribers were printed in various editions of the 'Annual'. By 1967 it was noted that the APCA had become the ‘mainstay of the "Annual’s" sales organization’.
This subseries includes a large collection of the correspondence of Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. The subseries includes letters from many prominent Irish political, literary, artistic, and religious figures. Notable correspondents include Maud Gonne MacBride, Jack B. Yeats, Georgie Yeats, Seán O’Sullivan, Michael Healy, and the sculptors Clare Sheridan and Seamus Murphy. Prominent Irish writers represented in the correspondence include Pearse Hutchison, Benedict Kiely, Seamus MacManus, Francis MacManus, Francis McCullagh, Kathleen M. Murphy, William Frederick Paul Stockley, Germaine Stockley, Ernie O'Malley, Daniel Corkery, Máirín Cregan, D.L. Kelleher, Helena Concannon, Alice Curtayne, and Denis Gywnn. Other notable correspondents include Aodh de Blacam, Frank Duff, Aloys Georg Fleishmann, Michael A. Bowles (the founder of the National Symphony Orchestra), Frank Ryan, Thomas MacGreevey, Sophie Raffalovich O’Brien, Robert Monteith, T.J. Kiernan, Margaret Mary Pearse, Joseph Patrick Walshe (Irish Ambassador to the Holy See), Victor Waddington, and Charles E. Kelly. The collection also includes letters from significant political figures such as Seán T. O’Kelly, Gerald Boland, James Ryan, Richard Mulcahy, and Seán MacBride.
Letters from several Irish language authors and cultural revivalist figures such as Monsignor Pádraig De Brún, Tomás Ó Con Cheanainn, Seán Ó Súilleabháin, Seán Ó Cuirrín, Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (‘Torna’), Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (‘An Seabhac’), Tomás Ó Muircheartaigh, Seán Ó Ciarghusa, Gearóid Mac Spealáin, Aindrias Ó Muimhneacháin and Críostóir Ó Floinn are also present in the collection. There are also many letters from prominent religious and church figures such as Archbishop John D’Alton, Archbishop Joseph Walsh, Bishop William MacNeely, Fr. Thomas O’Donnell CM (Rector of All Hallows College, Dublin), Archbishop Redmond Prendiville, Archbishop Thomas O’Donnell, Fr. Paschal Robinson OFM, Archbishop Gerald O’Hara, Bishop John Dignan, Archbishop Anselm Edward John Kenealy OFM Cap., Archbishop Sylvester Mulligan OFM Cap., Canon Patrick Rogers, Fr. Terence L. Connolly SJ (Librarian, Boston College, Massachusetts), and Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. Fr. Senan’s most prolific correspondent (in terms of quantity of letters) was Joseph O’Connor (Seosamh Ó Conchubhair), a writer from Fossa near Killarney in County Kerry. O’Connor seemingly exerted an early literary influence on Fr. Senan who consistently addressed him as ‘teacher’. The writer invariably signed his letters to Fr. Senan by using the pen name ‘Jocundus’. The files also include letters from Capuchin friars, advertisers, sales representatives, printers, and other individuals involved in the production of the ‘The Capuchin Annual’.
The subseries comprises a small collection of papers relating to the Irish Catholic priest and novelist Canon Patrick Sheehan.
Sheehan was born in Mallow in County Cork on 17 March 1852. He was educated at St. Colman’s College in Fermoy. He studied for the priesthood in St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, County Kildare (1869-75). Sheehan was ordained on 18 April 1875 for the Cloyne diocese and sent on mission to England, where he served in Plymouth and Exeter. He returned to Ireland in 1877 to take up a curacy in his native Mallow. He was appointed parish priest of Doneraile in County Cork in July 1895. In 1903 he was appointed to the Cloyne diocesan chapter; hence he is most frequently referred to as ‘Canon Sheehan of Doneraile’. He was a prolific and successful author, writing a series of articles and essays on a variety of topics, and several novels, including ‘Geoffrey Austin, student’ (1895) and ‘The triumph of failure’ (1898). His most popular work was ‘My new curate’, published in 1900. Much of his writing centred on the issues faced by priests engaged in parochial work in rural Ireland. Sheehan took a keen interest in promoting modern agricultural methods, especially in tillage and dairy farming. He held weekly meetings with his parishioners in Doneraile and advised them in negotiations with their landlords following the passage of Land Purchase Act (Wyndham Act) in 1903. Sheehan also maintained a life-long friendship with the agrarian agitator William O’Brien (1852-1928). Canon Sheehan was diagnosed as suffering from cancer in 1910. Following a lengthy residence at the South Infirmary in Cork, he died on 5 October 1913. He was buried at the entrance to his church in Doneraile. A bronze statue of Canon Sheehan by Francis William Doyle Jones (1873-1938) was unveiled not far from his grave in October 1925.
Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap., the editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’, was interested in Canon Sheehan’s literary career. Much of the material listed here was compiled for a special supplement marking the centenary of Canon Sheehan’s birth published in ‘The Capuchin Annual’ in 1952. A good portion of the original material was seemingly acquired by Fr. Senan from Presentation Sisters who resided in Doneraile and who were acquainted with Canon Sheehan during his lifetime.