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Photographic print of the exterior of the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny (taken from a slightly elevated position on Walkin Street). Pasted onto Card. A manuscript annotation on the reverse of one of the copies reads: ‘To Jack’.

Postcard prints of the interior and exterior of the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny. The exterior is taken at the junction of Friary Street with Pennyfeather Lane. Published by 'Kilkenny People' Printing Ltd. There are numerous copies of each print.

Souvenir programme for St. Brigid’s Aonach held in Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, from 31 January to 5 February 1910. The object of the Fete was ‘to liquidate the heavy debt incurred by the recent extension of the Hall’. The debt of the Hall stood at £3,000. The Aonach consisted of various stands promoting goods of Irish manufacture.

Minute book of the Father Mathew Centenary Committee which had the responsibility for financing and erecting the statue of the Apostle of Temperance on Sackville (later O’Connell Street), Dublin. The Centenary Committee was made up of Catholics, Anglicans and other Protestant denominations and notably received the support of the Most Rev. William Plunket, Baron Plunket, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin: ‘Most thoroughly do I sympathize in any movement for honouring the memory of one to whom the cause of temperance in this land is so largely indebted’. (10 Oct. 1889).
Prominent public (non-clerical) figures in the committee included:
George Noble Plunkett (1851-1948) an Irish nationalist and father of Joseph Plunkett, one of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising.
John Redmond MP (1856-1918), an Irish home rule nationalist, later leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
Michael Davitt (1846-1906), a nationalist and agrarian campaigner.
Thomas Sexton MP (1848-1932), Lord Mayor of Dublin.
William Martin Murphy MP (1844-1919), a businessman and politician.
Timothy Charles Harrington MP (1851-1910), a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
The minute book reveals that from the outset committee members were in support of resolutions which would place the statue in a prominent public place in the city. For instance, Thomas Connolly suggested that a ‘statue should be erected similar to the O’Connell [monument], and that it should be placed at the other end of O’Connell Street so that people might be reminded by the two monuments of the two great men who were in a sense the complement of one another …’. (Oct. 1889).
• This intent was formalised in a resolution forwarded by the Committee to Dublin Corporation on 1 May 1890 ‘requesting them to grant a site in Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin, for the erection of the Memorial Statue to Father Theobald Mathew’. (1 May 1889).
• The aim of the Centenary Committee was from the beginning to site the statue in the most prominent space available in the city linking the historically concurrent campaigns undertaken by Fr. Mathew (temperance) and O’Connell (emancipation and repeal). It should also be noted that the Corporation was unanimous in granting the O’Connell Street site. (15 May 1890).
• An application was made to the boundary surveyor to obtain ‘the consent of the Corporation for a 16 feet square space on the site known as the “Retreat” in Upper O’Connell Street which has been already allotted to the Committee for the erection of the Father Mathew Centenary Memorial’. (5 June 1890).
The siting of an Fr. Mathew Statue on the main thoroughfare (St. Patrick’s Street) running through Cork city in 1864 influenced the Dublin Committee: Henry Brown reminded the Committee that the ‘citizens of Cork had already placed Father Mathew’s Statue in their city, where he remembered standing on the platform in Patrick’s Street, while the Mayor of Cork, John Francis Maguire MP was unveiling Foley’s exquisite statue’. (Oct. 1889). By October 1892 a total of £1,114 5s 3d had been collected by the Centenary Committee (13 Oct. 1892). The minute book includes subscription lists, accounts and pasted-in newspaper clippings re meetings of the committee and its efforts to raise funds for the memorial. Funding was sourced from various local temperance societies (both Protestant and Catholic), workingmen’s clubs, national schools and colleges, and public and professional bodies (corporations and the police force). Donations were received from across Ireland and from Irish emigrant communities in America, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.
The resolutions adopted at the official unveiling of the statue on 8 February 1893 reflected the widespread appeal of the Fr. Mathew commemoration and the ‘placing of a statue among the public monuments of the metropolis’:
• ‘That as the Rev. Theobald Mathew loved his countrymen of all creeds and laboured zealously for their moral improvement and temporal prosperity, this great meeting rejoices that this public monument to his memory has been erected to remind our people of what he accomplished in the cause of total abstinence’.
• ‘That the Centenary Statue of the Rev. Theobald Mathew having been erected by subscriptions from men of all parties, and regardless of religious distinctions, it is appropriate that it be now unveiled by the Right Hon. James Shanks as Lord Mayor of the City of Dublin’. (2 Feb. 1893).
Reference is also made in the Centenary Committee minute book to the very novel nature of the award of the commission to a female sculptor. Count Plunkett, a leading member of the Committee, referred to ‘the merit which characterizes the design of Miss Redmond, a young artist who had made her mark, not only in this country but on the continent, in spite of her youth’. (1 May 1890).

Printed photographic album relating to the commemorations of the centenary in 1938 of the inauguration by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC of his temperance campaign. Includes images of celebrations and services in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, Holy Trinity Church, Cork, and at Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary. Reprint of a photographic supplement in 'The Capuchin Annual' (1939), pp 177-208. The cover shows a bust of Fr. Mathew by John Hogan ‘Fra. Theobald Mathew, Ord. Cappuccin / J. Hogan fecit, 1834’.

Letters to Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. from grand-nephews of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The file includes letters from Fr. David Mathew, Theobald Mathew KC, and Fr. Gervase Mathew OP. The letters refer to the genealogy and family history of Fr. Theobald, to temperance souvenirs and mementos of his held in Holy Trinity Church, Cork, to draft letters composed by Fr. Theobald, to a portrait photograph of Fr. Theobald taken in c.1850, and invitations to various Father Mathew Centenary celebrations in Dublin. A letter of David Mathew (22 Jan. 1929) refers to the donation of Fr. Theobald’s chalice, paten and cruets to Holy Trinity Church. They were donated by Theobald Mathew Esq., KC, Recorder of Margate. In another letter (24 Feb. 1929), Fr. Stanislaus wrote ‘We have no letters written by any relative of Father Mathew to him or about him. We have in our Archives five letters written by him to members of the Order; nine that he wrote to his brother Charles, and his will of Nov. 21, 1849. We have several letters besides signed “Theobald Mathew”, but they were written by his secretary in his name, and are not in his handwriting’. A letter from Theobald Mathew refers to vestments belonging to the Apostle of Temperance in his possession (5 July 1936). The file also includes newspaper cuttings with a photographic print of the aforementioned chalice and paten belonging to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC which were donated to Holy Trinity Church. 'Cork Examiner', 16 Oct. 1928; 'The Father Mathew Record', Dec. 1928.

Hall-marked silver and bronze Father Mathew Feis medals of uniform Celtic Cross design. Some of the medals have an orange ribbon fastener. The medals are engraved on the reverse with:
• ‘1st prize Drawing & Designing (Class B). 1924’.
• ‘Club Swinging Seniors. 1929’.
• ‘Physical Culture – 1928-29-30. Maggie Hamilton’ (digital image above).
• ‘Swedish Drill. Maggie Hamilton. 1930’.
• ‘2nd Prize / Domestic Science / Crochet / 1925’.
• ‘2nd Prize / Domestic Science/ Overall / 1925’.
• ‘2nd Prize / Sewing / Class D / 1926’.
• ‘Senior Club Swinging / 1930’.
• ‘Senior Club Swinging / 1931’.
• ‘Physical Culture / 1931’.
• ‘Senior English Elocution / 1931 / Second’.
Three of the Celtic Cross Feis Maitiú medals have no engraving on the reverse. The file also includes the metal die used to strike the Feis medal.

A collection of mostly un-captioned and undated photographs of performances and audiences in Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, Dublin. Many of the photographs are press photographs (mainly from the 'Irish Independent', 'Evening Press' and the 'Irish Press'). They include photographs of pantomimes ('Aladdin', 1956-7) and the ‘Mai MacCartney’ troupe of dancers. The file also includes press photographs of Feis competition winners. Only a few of the prints are annotated: ‘Maria Bennett, Paddy Corr, Phyllis Bennett. Taken by the 'Herald' photographer for “Patience”, May 1956’. There is one annotated colourised print in the file showing two girls called ‘The Dominoes’, Christmas Pantomime, 1952.

The file contains the following editions of this newspaper published in Kilkenny:
6 Aug. 1814 (No. 94)
13 Aug. 1814 (No. 97)

Assignment of Michael Murphy, 24 Bow Street, to John Cunningham, 44 Bow Street, of no. 24 Bow Street in consideration ‘of he putting said premises in repair, and he allowing me two shillings and 6d per week during my life’. With a conveyance (24 May 1887) from John Cunningham to Fr. Nicholas Murphy OSFC and other Capuchin friars, Church Street, of the said premises in consideration of the sum of £50. This deed has a small sketch map of the property. With receipts for the aforementioned payments and notices for payments in respect of municipal rates on the said premises. (See CA CS/2/2/7/10).