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The fonds consists of the correspondence and papers of Capuchin friars detailing their involvement with participants in the national struggle. The majority of the material dates from 1916-1925 and includes many records highlighting the roles played by Irish Capuchins in ministering to republican leaders and their relations. Of particular interest is a large collection of prison letters including the correspondence of some of the leading figures of the Irish Revolution. The fonds also contains a large collection of republican publicity material, newspapers and miscellaneous items of ephemera and artefacts mostly relating to the military and political campaign organised by nationalists for Irish independence. A smaller collection relating to the repatriation of the bodies of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. from the United States to Ireland in 1958 is also extant.

A file containing postcards sent to Fr. Richard Henebry. The correspondents include Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Vicar A. Suppiger (Solothurn, Switzerland). Some of the cards seemingly relate to the cause of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Irish martyrs presented to the ecclesiastical authorities in Rome. Most of the images on the postcards depict scenes from the continent (including various sites in Rome). One of the postcards shows the Father Nicholas Sheehy Demonstration in Clogheen, County Tipperary, 1898. The card from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. shows the interior of the Church of St. Francis in Kilkenny (May 1905). The cards are extant in an elaborate leather pouch.

Following the deaths in exile of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. (d. 1925) and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. (d. 1935), there were numerous calls to have their bodies returned to Ireland. Prominent republican supporters in the United States and Old IRA men in Ireland frequently petitioned ecclesiastical authorities to have the bodies of the ‘two patriot priests’ repatriated. These calls were initially rejected, and the outbreak of the Second World War prompted a postponement of the campaign. In 1954, a repatriation committee was set up by Cork No. 1 Brigade of the Old IRA to collect the funds necessary to defray the expenses involved in returning the remains to Ireland. Florence O’Donoghue, head of intelligence for the Cork Brigade during the War of Independence, was appointed Honorary Secretary. Cornelius Neenan was appointed the Committee’s representative in the United States. Aside from the financial difficulties, the Committee also had to contend with a certain reluctance on behalf of the church authorities in having the bodies of two priests moved in such an overtly public manner. The reburial was a departure from the normal rule of the Capuchin Franciscan Order. Also, as they were priests, a high religious content would have to be included in any civil ceremonies connected with the repatriation. Having at length gained the approval of both the state and the church, the repatriation took place in 1958. On 13 June, the priests’ remains arrived at Shannon Airport to be greeted by Seán T. O’Kelly, President, Ėamon de Valera, Taoiseach, Fr. Hilary McDonagh OFM Cap., Capuchin Vicar Provincial, and many representatives of the Old IRA. The funeral cortege then proceeded to Cork for a requiem mass in Holy Trinity Capuchin Church. Fr. Albert and Fr. Dominic were interred in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Capuchin Friary on 14 June 1958. The sub-series consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, printed ephemera and photographs connected with the reparation campaign and ceremony in 1958. The series also includes records relating to the unveiling of a memorial to the two priests on the grounds of the Capuchin Friary in Raheny, Dublin, by veterans of Fianna Éireann in 1959.

A notebook containing extracts from letters received from parish priests and other individuals (mostly religious) referring to retreats and temperance missions given by Capuchin friars from 1913-19. The volume was compiled by Fr. Albert Bibby OSFC, Provincial Secretary. Most of the letters refer to requests for friars to conduct missions and (in some cases) to the need for the priests to converse in Irish. The volume includes:
• A letter from Fr. Innocent Ryan, Parish Priest, Fethard, County Tipperary, affirms that the local men ‘have safely ridden the storm of temptation that blew over the place on the occasion of the “old fair” on Friday last. Bucket fulls of coffey [sic] were consumed; and even Bovril (Friday and all!) was, under false ideas of permission, brought into requisition’. Nov. 1913.
• A letter from Rev. Phelan, Parish Priest, Glenmore, County Waterford, to Fr. Augustine Hayden OSFC, notes that the ‘harvest was threshed without drink and the farmers and labourers were perfectly happy. Only in two cases out of possibly 200 threshings was an attempt made to break through the pledge’. (17 Jan. 1914).
• A letter from Rev. J. Flavin, Parish Priest, Arklow, County Wicklow, to Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, refers to his desire to have Fr. Laurence Dowling OSFC for a mission. He added ‘I did not mind who came with him provided he was not a Sinn Feiner’. (28 Dec. 1917).