This series contains a highly significant collection of artefacts such as original pledge cards, temperance society medals, prints, posters, photographs, temperance memorabilia, manuals, church plate, ephemera and other items and relics associated with Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC and his temperance movement from the 1830s to the 1850s. Many of 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.
The sub-series contains a collection of original Total Abstinence Society pledge cards. Most of the cards are signed by the pledge-taker and by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The cards were decorated with various temperance symbols and vignettes. An illustration on one side of the cards depicted a scene warning of the dangers of intemperance – a man driven by alcohol to beat his wife. Another illustration showed a scene of temperance – a happy family reading together by the hearth. The cards are listed in chronological order.
Framed National Total Abstinence Society pledge card of Mathew Gorman dated 3 Oct. 1830. The pledge reads ‘I voluntarily agree to abstain from all intoxicating drinks (except by medical direction) and will not give or offer, and to discountenance the cause and practice of intemperance’. A small seal is attached to the card.
This series contains property documents including title deeds, legal correspondence and memoranda relating to the acquisition of properties in Kilkenny by the Capuchin friars. For the most part, the documents relate to the present-day Friary building situated on Friary Street (formerly known as Walkin Street). The modern Friary consists of two portions, one running parallel to Friary Street, built about 1873-4; the other is a wing built in 1897, situated at a right angle and extending to the adjoining Pennyfeather Lane. The series also contains documents relating to the novitiate building constructed on the site of the Capuchin Friary in Kilkenny in 1959-60.
Although the association of the Capuchin friars with the Walkin Street (now Friary Street) area of Kilkenny dates to the late seventeenth century, the documents in this section relate primarily to the present-day Church of St. Francis, built by Fr. Peter Joseph Mulligan OSFC (1793-1853) in 1848. The section also contains documents relating to the subsequent extensions to the Friary, most notably in 1897 when a large three-storey building between Walkin Street and Pennyfeather Lane was constructed to provide, among other things, accommodation for novices. The relatively large number of documents relating to the Walkin Street properties has necessitated the creation of a further three sub-sub-series relating to a particular plot of ground, purchase or sale.
Copy will and probate of Joseph Empson, Kilkenny city. He leaves all his property to his wife Margaret for her use and that of their children. The probate was granted on 29 Sept. 1859.
Assignment from Fr. John Laurence O’Flynn OSFC to Fr. James Edward Tommins OSFC, Fr. Daniel Patrick O’Reilly OSFC, Capuchin Convent, Dublin, Fr. Patrick Joseph Columbus Maher OSFC, Capuchin Convent, Kilkenny, and Fr. Edmund Thomas Dillon OSFC, Capuchin Convent, Cork, of the leasehold interest in premises on Walkin Street in consideration of 5s. The lease recites an earlier lease (dated 31 Aug. 1855) from Frances and Grace Blair to Fr. James Lewis O’Reardon [var. Louis O’Riordan] and Fr. John Laurence O’Flynn of the ‘gateway and yard formerly held by Humphrey Semple and the house at present occupied by Thomas Aylward … and the plot of ground in the possession of the said Rev. John Laurence O’Flynn which said demised premises are situate in Walkin Street in the parish of Saint Mary, City of Kilkenny … forever at the yearly rent of £6’. The file also includes a conveyance (19 Aug. 1897) from Beledia Juliana Maher to Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC and others of the said gateway and premises on Walkin Street to hold in fee farm subject to the rents payable. It is noted that Beledia Juliana Maher was the principal heiress-at-law of the estate of the late Fr. Patrick Joseph Columbus Maher OSFC.
