A pastoral report on Parow Parish, Cape Province, South Africa, compiled by Fr. Didacus McGrath OFM Cap. (1929-2018). The report refers to the three areas within the parish: Tiervlei (Tyger Valley), Parow and Elsies River. The report notes that ‘in the parish, taken as a whole, the proportion of Coloured to White is 2 to 1. It can scarcely be classed a “White” Parish. We use the term “White” and “Coloured” with no intention of approving a situation. The Churches in Parow and Tiervlei are almost certainly the only Churches with mixed attendance in the area’.
Report on the prospects of the South African mission by Fr. Edward Walsh OFM Cap. and Fr. Canice Bourke OFM Cap., St. Mary’s, Cape Town for Fr. Kevin Moynihan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister. The report refers to a meeting with Bishop Bernard Cornelius O’Riley, Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, to discuss the areas (Athlone and Parow) which have been offered to the Irish Capuchins. A description of both districts and their populations is given. The financing of the proposed mission is also referred to. The report notes that ‘there is a well-disposed Catholic in Athlone, a Mr. Murphy, who came to the Cape during the Boer War, and settled here’. The report also affirms that ‘the people seem to want us badly in Athlone – there certainly is a hunger for a priest there’.
Report by Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap., Regular Superior, on missionary work in the Cape Province, South Africa. The report asses the work of the Irish Capuchin friars in Parow parish (Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. and Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.); Matroosfontein (Fr. Marcellus O’Carroll OFM Cap.); Athlone (Fr. Terence Anglin OFM Cap. 1900-1947); the Welcome Estate (Fr. Damascene McKenna OFM Cap., 1913-1967); Langa (Fr. Christopher Crowley OFM Cap.).
Report and minutes of meeting between Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, and Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap., Regular Superior. The meeting was held at the Sancta Maria mission station, Lukulu, Northern Rhodesia. The minutes refer to various decrees, appointments and recommendations made in relation to missionary work in Barotseland, and in South Africa.
A report titled ‘housing in Dublin’ by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. referring to the corporation-sponsored Church Street and Beresford Street Improvement Schemes. Fr. Angelus refers to the history of Capuchin involvement in the campaign for housing improvement in the areas around Church Street. He wrote: ‘The Capuchins were directly responsible for the improvements that began in 1890, when Father Columbus [Maher] erected the Father Mathew Hall. Later on Father Nicholas [Murphy] obtained possession of the area extending from the Hall down to the Church. This was a very insanitary area, with a number of courts and alleys of ill-repute. It is now occupied by an extension of the Hall and by the garden attached to the Capuchin Friary. Reference is also made in the report into the Church Street Tenement Disaster of September 1913. This article was published in 'The Father Mathew Record', Vol. 27, No. 8 (Aug. 1934), pp 407-16.
Report of the financial committee of the Diocese of Livingstone, Zambia. It is noted that the committee was formed in February 1965 ‘as a result of the discussion on diocesan finance at the Conference of the Superiors of Mission Stations. All realised that our commitments were much beyond our resources …’. Reference is made to funds for educational and medical services at various missions. With a covering letter from Fr. Salvator Quinn OFM Cap.
Report by Gráinne Mallon & Associates, 6 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, in association with Shane Redmond, auctioneer, on the properties held by the Capuchin Order on Church Street. The report delineates the existing properties held by the Capuchin Order (ecclesiastical premises, the Friary, Father Mathew Hall and the Day Centre) and makes recommendations in respect of rationalising the use of the properties in the context of urban renewal and development schemes proposed for the area. With a cover letter from Shane Redmond. The file also includes copy maps and plans. The cover is endorsed: ‘Carried out by Fr. Dan Joe O’Mahony OFM Cap. with a view to selling Father Mathew Hall’. With a letter from Shane Redmond (28 Oct. 1997) recommending that the ‘Order examine the many options the property can generate and that a decision may be taken about the future of its most influential friary in the capital city, based on the level of services the Capuchins will be able to provide there in the new millennium’.
Typed report by the Rector of All Hallows College, Tom Lane CM. regarding the current status of the College, and in what ways it might develop in the future.
