Photographs associated with the visitation of Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. to the United States. Fr. James visited the United States for several months in 1936. Many of the photographs show Father James with missionaries at the newly-constructed novitiate building (St. Patrick’s) in Wilmington in Delaware. The file includes photographs of Fr. Adrian Sharkett OFM Cap. (1879-1965), Fr. Joseph Fenelon OFM Cap. (1875-1963), Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. (1894-1980), Fr. Cyprian O’Leary OFM Cap. (1905-1977), Fr. Fergus Lawless OFM Cap. (1904-1991), Fr. Conleth Killian OFM Cap. (1895-1950), Fr. Berchmans Cantillon OFM Cap. (1880-1942), Fr. Fintan Roche OFM Cap. (1898-1953), Fr. Brendan O’Callaghan OFM Cap. (1880-1952), Fr. Finbarr O’Callaghan OFM Cap. (1879-1963), and Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. (1874-1951). A manuscript annotation on the cover reads ‘Found these in attic in Bonies [St. Bonaventure’s Hostel, Cork], Pat’.
A clipping of an article reporting on the departure from Cobh of Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. (and Fr. Berchmans Cantillon OFM Cap.) for the United States. The clipping was probably taken from the ‘Cork Examiner’ (2 February 1925).
A copy of ‘The Connacht Champion’, Vol. 5, New Series 10 (21 March 1908). The edition includes an article on a mission conducted by Fr. Benedict Phelan OFM Cap. and Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. in Galway.
The file includes various fliers, pastoral letters, mission cards and ephemera relating primarily to various temperance associations, and missions and retreats including the Father Mathew Temperance Sodality and the Young Irish Crusaders attached to the Capuchin Friary, Church Street, Dublin. The file includes:
• Pastoral letters on temperance composed by various Irish Bishops in 1900 including Patrick Joseph O’Donnell, Bishop of Raphoe, Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne, Richard Alphonsus Sheehan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, and John Keys O’Doherty, Bishop of Derry.
• Souvenir of the National Temperance Crusade preached by the Franciscan Capuchin Fathers (c.1906).
• Midwinter greeting to the Priests’ Total Abstinence League of America (31 Jan. 1908).
• Flier for Grand Abstinence Demonstration, Armagh (27 June 1909).
• Flier for St. Michael’s Temperance Society, Lower Cecil Street, Limerick (1909).
• Circular from the Most Rev. Thomas O’Dea (1858-1923), Bishop of Galway, to the clergy of the diocese re the Capuchin Temperance Mission. 8 Aug. 1909.
• Indulgences granted to temperance sodalities established by the Franciscan Capuchin Fathers.
• Souvenir of retreat for the Children of Mary attached to the Convent of St. Camillus, St. Patrick’s Kilkenny (8 Dec. 1915).
• The Catholic Bishops on Intemperance.
• Souvenir of the Temperance Crusade held at Kilmacow, County Kilkenny / 6th to 13th July 1913.
• Father Mathew Temperance Association in honour of the Sacred Thirst / Object, Means and Constitution of the Association (Nov. 1913).
• Souvenir of the General Mission for Men and Women held in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin (25 Jan. 1914).
• Enrolment card for the National Catholic Total Abstinence Congress, Dublin (June 1914). The card also gives details of the proceedings of the congress which closed with an address by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC, Provincial Minister.
• Ceremonial and instructions for Capuchin Fathers conducting Missions and Retreats. (24 Jan. 1912).
• Flier for Devotions at St. Augustine’s Church Galway on the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel (26 April 1915).
• Annual retreat of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis (6 Oct. 1918).
• A week-long mission at the Church of Our Immaculate Lady of Refuge, Rathmines, Dublin.
• Temperance Rallying Songs published The Father Mathew Record Office, Church Street, Dublin. Words by Brian O’Higgins and music by Arthur Darley.
• Rules of St. Patrick Total Abstinence Society, Dundalk (May 1909).
• The Amethyst / a temperance lecture by Fr. Matthew Russell SJ. A manuscript note on the final page reads: ‘Recited in the Father Mathew OSFC Centenary Memorial Hall, Church Street, May 21st, 1894 by the Rev. Author before it was printed. Fr. Columbus Maher’.
• The Anti-Saloon League and its work / what position should our Catholic Total Abstinence Societies assume towards it? Speech given by John. T. Shea. Published by the CTU of America, Massachusetts. Aug. 1908.
• Flier for a Lenten mission given by Capuchin Fathers from Cork at the Corpus Christi Votive Basilica, (Corpus Christi Priory), Manchester. Feb. 1921.
• The Father Mathew Man, no. 19 (Nov. 1924). Published in Chicago.
• A Solemn Novena in honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Church of Saint Simon Stock / 182nd Street, Bronx, New York / Saturday, July 10th to Sunday, July 18th 1926. The sermons were given by Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap.
• A remembrance of the mission preached by the Capuchin Fathers in the Pro-Cathedral, Dublin. 2-30 Mar. 1941.
• Young Irish Crusaders Prayer Book (St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, 1954).
Account book with details of receipts from the sale of temperance medals, manuals, certificates and crosses by the Irish Capuchin friars. Reference is made to certificates sold by Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC (1874-1951) and Fr. Luke Sheehan OSFC (1873-1937). It is noted that Fr. Luke was a missionary at Steamer Point in Aden in 1903. The latter portion of the volume was subsequently used by Fr. Denis Corkery OFM Cap. (1914-1997) as a notebook for transcribing material (mostly in Irish and French). The dates of these entries are c.1970.
A clipping from article highlighting the impact of the Irish Capuchin friars on the spiritual life of Burlingame, California, focusing heavily on the character of their new pastor, Father Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. It lauds Father Dowling as a ‘seasoned intellectual’ and a distinguished leader whose profound practical interest in people balances his vast learning and supernatural zeal. The text acknowledges the deep debt the Archdiocese of San Francisco owes to the Irish Capuchin Province, noting that sending a former provincial of Father Dowling’s national fame was like giving the region ‘one of its stars’. The clipping is taken from ‘The Monitor’ (20 December 1930).
Report on the Capuchin Temperance Mission in Ireland compiled by Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC (1874-1951) , Provincial Minister, in response to a request from the General Minister of the Order in Rome. The report refers to the progress of the temperance crusade in Ireland and includes information on the number of missions preached and total abstinence pledges taken. The report notes that the Capuchins have ‘administered the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion to 1,200 on each Mission. … We have given the pledge to an average of 800 in each Parish and have a record of having administered the Pledge since the beginning of this Crusade to 1,141,191’. (p. 10). It also includes favourable testimonials from the Irish Catholic hierarchy and other prominent figures. The principal headings in the report are as follows:
The Origins and Progress of the Father Mathew Total Abstinence Association
The Pledge
Pastorals on Temperance from the Bishops of Ireland
Testimony of His Eminence Cardinal Logue / Primate of All Ireland
Bishops’ Opinions
Testimony of the Clergy
Leading articles from the 'Freeman’s Journal' / the principal paper in Ireland
Press References
Testimonies from Judges, Public Officials and Lord Mayors
A summary report detailing the history, development, and extensive missionary work of the Our Lady of Angels parish in Burlingame, California, following its separation from St. Catherine’s Parish in November 1926. It chronicles the early challenges faced by Father Thomas Dowling and his assistants, who began with a small, repurposed Episcopalian church and a makeshift school before successfully constructing a large, modern school and auditorium utilizing a $150,000 bank loan. A detailed financial breakdown updated after 15 July 1933, shows the parish successfully reduced its debt to roughly $50,666, while the second page highlights the friars’ widespread spiritual impact, listing numerous retreats and missions conducted across California, Montana, and Idaho.
Ledger and account book for the Capuchin community at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street. The ledger provides a daily record of income received and expenses incurred by the community. Notes are made of income derived from mass stipends, street collections, sodalities, Third Order payments and temperance publications. Reference is also made to monies received from donations, alms, bequests, and cheques. Expenses include travel tickets, staff wages, groceries, building repairs and other sundries. The entries are periodically signed by the Friary Guardian and by the Provincial Minister at Visitations
The front cover is endorsed in typescript with a list of Friary Guardians:
Fr. Bernard Jennings 1883-1886
Fr. Nicholas Murphy 1886-1893
Fr. Francis Hayes 1893-1895
Fr. Anthony Travers 1895-1898
Fr. Peter Bowe 1898-1901
Fr. Fiacre Brophy 1901-1904
Fr. Thomas Dowling 1904-1907
Fr. Laurence Dowling 1907-1910
It is also noted that Fr. Laurence began a ‘new ledger in Sept. 1907’. See CA CS/3/1/6.
A photograph of a group of Capuchin friars at a Provincial Chapter in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street Friary, Dublin. The group includes Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap., Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap., Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap., Fr. Joseph Fenelon OFM Cap., Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap., Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., and Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Fr. Malachy Hynes OFM Cap., Fr. Canice Bourke OFM Cap., Fr. Charles Brophy OFM Cap., and Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap.