Letters and related records relating to the lease of Father Mathew Hall, Cork, by the Everyman Group Theatre Company. The agreement with the Company specified a lease for five seasons (October-April) commencing in November 1972 with a ‘view to increasing the occupancy of the Hall’. The Everyman Playhouse Ltd. agreed to have exclusive use and management of the Hall except during the period when the Feis Maitiú would be held. The file includes letters from Fr. Senan Dooley OFM Cap., Edmund Hayes, solicitor, draft and copy agreements re the lease and reports of the meetings of the representatives appointed by the Capuchin Provincial Definitory to negotiate with the Everyman Company. With a newspaper cutting from the 'Evening Echo' (6 Oct. 1972) titled ‘The Realisation of a Theatre “Dream”’ referring to the co-operative spirit of the Capuchin friars who agreed to a lease of the Hall ‘that covers the auditorium, offices and dressing rooms, but not the recreational rooms on the top floor’. The file also includes a copy page from 'The Father Mathew Record', 49, no. 12 (Dec. 1956), p. 7, giving a history of the Hall in Cork.
Letters to Fr. Maurice O’Dowd OFM Cap., President, Father Mathew Hall, Cork, from Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap., Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia, asking him to convey his thanks to the Father Mathew Players in Cork for putting on a pantomime in aid of the Capuchin missions in Africa. Fr. Killian writes: ‘You have helped supply us with the funds that put up stations, churches and schools and their furnishing. So your loyal assistance in the missions of Barotseland by solid buildings which will yet be the centres of a Catholic country’.
Silver and bronze medals awarded at the Cork Feis Maitiú. The medal design incorporates a design showing a bust of Father Theobald Mathew. The legend reads ‘Feis Maitiú Corcaigh’.
The cutting refers to the performance of the juvenile pantomime in the Hall attended by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Cork and by Fr. Pius Duggan OSFC, guardian, Rochestown Capuchin Friary.
Fliers for concerts, recitals and Father Mathew celebrations at the Temperance Hall, Rochestown, County Cork. The coloured fliers were printed by Hickey & Byrne, Cork.
Register of masses at St. Mary of the Angels. The title page includes various annotations including a reference to Fr. Daniel Patrick O’Reilly OSFC (1831-1894). The inside front cover is annotated: ‘For Altar Use’. The Mass entries are periodically signed by the Provincial Minister at visitations.
An image of the performers in a production of ‘Aladdin’ in Father Mathew Hall in Cork for the 1923-4 pantomime season. The Capuchin friar (second row, first on the right) is Fr. Columbus Murphy OFM Cap. (1881-1962).
Letter from Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap., President, Father Mathew Hall, Cork, to Fr. Conrad O’Donovan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, outlining the financial position of the Hall. Fr. Nessan affirmed that finances are ‘a matter of real concern because of the rising costs and reduced theatre patronage. At present we are losing money. It costs over £2,000 a year to run the Hall’. Fr. Nessan also refers to the changing nature of the activities in the Hall and to his intention to attract a ‘younger and wider audience’. A statement of financial accounts is enclosed.
