The sub-series contains a large collection of letters written to the Capuchin friars requesting parish missions, tridua, retreats, public sermons and lectures. The letters are mostly from local clerics and parish priests, religious congregations (both male and female), and lay religious sodalities and temperance associations. Some of the letters provide detail on religious practices and observance. Other letters give information on local temperance activities.
The sub-series contains files relating to the commemoration in 1988 of the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of the temperance campaign by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC.
The sub-series contains research notes, document transcriptions, correspondence and publications on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. (1915-1997). The Waterford-born Capuchin friar, Brother (later Father) Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. completed a thesis titled ‘The Life and Times of Fr. Theobald Mathew’ for an MA degree in University College Cork in 1939. He retained a life-long interest in the subject and accumulated a large number of documentary sources, publications and notes pertaining to Fr. Mathew and his campaign against intemperance.
This subseries contains research into the ancestry and family history of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Fr. Mathew was born in Thomastown Castle near Golden in County Tipperary in October 1790. His father James Mathew was steward on the Thomastown estate which belonged to his relative, Francis Mathew (1738-1806), who was created Earl Landaff in 1797. There is some uncertainty about the parentage of James Mathew. One account, repeated by Fr. Mathew himself, affirmed that he was the child of an undocumented second marriage of Lord Landaff’s great uncle, James Mathew of Borris. Another account, which enjoyed some currency at the time, suggested that he was the natural son of Earl Landaff’s father Thomas Mathew. The files include research notes, genealogical tables and other information relating to Mathew family history.
The subseries includes research on St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. In February 1830 Fr. Mathew secured a lease of the Botanic Gardens which became the city’s first Catholic cemetery. A portion of the ground was also set aside for the free burial of the poor, whose bodies had previously been left outside their dwellings until sufficient money was collected for their internment.
The subseries contains material assembled with a view to undertaking a beatification process for Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The files include evidence and investigations into cures attributed to the intercession of prayers at Fr. Mathew’s grave in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cork.
The sub-series contains a select collection of publications formerly held by the editors of 'The Capuchin Annual' in the Publications Office. It is probable that many books, periodicals and journals were transferred to the Provincial Library in the Capuchin Friary on Church Street. Many others may have been discarded.
