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The volume is titled in print on the fly leaf: ‘Archives of the Franciscan Capuchin Monastery, Kilkenny’. The volume was manufactured by Dollard Printing House, Dublin, and appears to have been used as an official archival record book for the Capuchin Friary in Kilkenny. It includes manuscript and typescript copies of documents pertaining to the administration of the Irish Province. Many of the documents are copy circular letters from Capuchin Ministers General or from Irish Capuchin Provincial Ministers. Other documents include letters to the guardian of Kilkenny Friary, letters of obedience (with particular reference to the Kilkenny community), notices of jubilees and deaths, and other official documents from the Provincial Minister and Definitory (Council). The volume includes:
pp 14-15. Circular letter from Fr. Bernard Christen of Andermatt OSFC, Minister General, Peckham, 29 Oct. 1890. Refers to the recent pastoral visitation of the Irish Capuchin Province: ‘It rejoices us much to say that, on the whole, we have found things in a good and satisfactory condition’. With a transcribed copy in volume.
pp 15-23. Copy circular letter from Fr. Bernard Christen of Andermatt OSFC, Minister General of the Capuchin Order, Dublin. 21 Oct. 1890. Outlines the regulations set down following the general visitation to the Irish Province. The regulations mainly refer to matters of discipline, studies and formation, the exercise of prayer and devotion and the celebration of religious feast days. Article 20 affirms that ‘each of our places shall have its own conventual archives, in which shall be kept under lock and key all official and circular letters issued by the general or provincial, and the papers concerning the House’. With a transcribed copy in volume.
p. 23. Circular letter from Fr. Seraphin Van Damme OSFC, Provincial Minister, regarding the observance of a solemn triduum in the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny, to mark the canonisation of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi. 29 Nov. 1882. In Latin.
p. 25. Circular letter from Fr. Seraphin Van Damme OSFC, Provincial Minister, regarding dispensations from fasts: ‘... We grant to all the Religious of Our Province during the approaching Lent of All Saints, the dispensation to use flesh meat once in the day at the principal meal …’. With similar dispensations in respect of ‘eggs, milk, butter, cheese and things prepared from them’. Convent of the Most Holy Trinity, Cork, 14 Oct. 1885.
p.27. Authentication for the relic of the True Cross ‘and for the relics in large case’ including those of John the Baptist. With blind seal stamp of Fr. Antonius Ligi-Bussi Urbinas, Titular Archbishop of Iconium, and Domestic Prelate to the Pope, signed by him and dated 19 April [1859]. In Latin. Endorsed in pencil on verso: Rev. M.A. Muldoon OSFC.
p. 27. Ordination certificate for Fr. Alphonous Lombard of Ballyhooly OSFC (d. 29 Apr. 1900). Signed, with wax seal of the Most Rev. Marc Michael Hudrisier OFM Cap. Bishop of Port Victoria, Seychelles, Cork, 1 Jan. 1897. Also signed by Fr. Benvenutus Guy OSFC, secretary. In Latin.
p. 129. Circular letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Provincial Minister, and definitors, conveying the ‘decisions of our superiors general with regard to the administration of this Province for the coming three years …’. Fr. Paul adds that these decisions have ‘come upon us with surprise, regret and disappointment …’. Kilkenny, 21 May 1890. With a copy letter from Fr. Bernard Christen of Andermatt OSFC, Minister General, referring to the ‘peculiar circumstances of our dear Province of Ireland with regard to the actual number of priests composing it, and its recent erection into a self-governing Province …’. Rome, 26 Mar. 1890. With a copy decree from Fr. Bernard. In Latin.
p. 130. Circular letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Provincial Minister, to the guardian and religious of the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny, referring to the impending visit of the General Minister of the Capuchin Order to mark the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Holy Trinity Friary, Cork, 26 Aug. 1890.
p. 130. Circular letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Provincial Minister, convening the Provincial Chapter. Cork, 17 Dec. 1892.
p. 133. Encyclical letter of Fr. Matthew O’Connor OSFC (1859-1930), Provincial Minister, following the Provincial Chapter held in Cork, 31 Jan. 1893.
p. 133. Circular letter of Fr. Matthew O’Connor OSFC, Provincial Minister, convoking the Provincial Chapter. 21 Oct. 1895.
p. 133. Circular letter of Fr. Bernard Jennings OSFC, Provincial Minister, regarding the impending General Chapter of the Order. He also refers to the General Minister’s instructions with regard to the exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Cork, 24 Apr. 1896.
p. 135. Circular letter of Fr. Bernard Jennings OSFC, Provincial Minister, referring to the upcoming Provincial Chapter. He refers to the great ‘influx into our Seraphic College’, the increase of students, and to the fact that ‘the number of our Priests shall be increased by five towards the end of the year’. Reference is also made to a ‘kind benefactress’ who by a donation of £1,000 helped to put Rochestown Monastery on its legs …’. Fr. Bernard also refers to the good work which has been done in other houses. He affirmed that a ‘magnificent monastery’ now stands upon the ‘almost plague-stricken ruin at Kilkenny and the £4,000 which at least have been expended thereon is a gift of another kind benefactor. Not only has the back-bone of the hitherto gigantic debt on the Dublin House [Church Street] been broken but by an effort as laudable as it was ingenious the Fathers have contrived a plan by which the whole debt can be wiped out during the next administration’. On the expanding reach of Capuchin preaching and missions, Fr. Bernard wrote: ‘so great was the success achieved that we were even invited there again [to Belfast] in the hotbed of orangeism’. Cork, 20 June 1898.
p. 135. Circular letter of Fr. Bernard Jennings OSFC, Provincial Minister, yielding the government of the Province to the second definitor, Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, for the duration of his absence on Order business in Rome. Cork, 10 June 1898.
p. 137. Circular letter of Fr. Matthew O’Connor OSFC, Provincial Minster, on the silver jubilee of Br. Joseph O’Mahony OSFC. Cork, 1 Dec. 1898.
p. 137. Circular letter of Fr. Matthew O’Connor OSFC, Provincial Minster, convoking the Provincial Chapter. Reference is made to the improvements in the previous three years in terms of personnel, ministry, education, retreats, missions and the economic condition of the Irish Province. Cork, 18 July 1901.
p. 137. Circular letter of Fr. Matthew O’Connor, Provincial Minster, referring to the silver jubilee celebrations of Fr. Nicholas Murphy OSFC and Fr. Bernard Jennings OSFC. Cork, 17 Nov. 1899.
p. 137. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, on the silver jubilee of Br. Elzear Kelly OSFC. Dublin, 20 Dec. 1908.
p. 137. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, reflecting on the commemorations in the Province of the seventh centenary of the foundation of the Franciscan Order. 5 Nov. 1909.
p. 137. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, yielding the government of the Province to the first definitor, Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OSFC, during his absence ‘on some importance business in the Province of America’. Dublin, 20 Apr. 1910.
p. 139. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, referring to the death of Pope Leo XIII, to the missionary labours of the Order’s members in Ireland and to progress of the Total Abstinence Association. St. Mary of the Angels, Dublin, 7 Mar. 1904.
p. 139. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, convoking the Provincial Chapter of 1904. Reference is made to progress over the previous three years in terms of personnel, ministry, education, retreats, missions and the economic condition of the Irish Province. Cork, 18 July 1904.
p. 139. Letter from Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, to Fr. Camillus Killian OSFC, guardian, Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny, regarding the ‘Ceremonial and book of the customs of the Irish Province’. Dublin, 25 Apr. 1908.
p. 139. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, appointing Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OSFC Vice-Provincial Minister during his absence in Rome at the General Chapter of the Order. Dublin, 28 Apr. 1908.
p. 139. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, on the golden jubilee of Fr. Salvator Corrigan OSFC. 10 Apr. 1909.
p. 139. Circular letter of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, convoking the Provincial Chapter of 1910. Reference is made to various aspects of the ministry in the Irish Province (and in Western America) in the previous three years. 7 July 1910.
p. 141. Letter from Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, to Fr. Jarlath Hynes OSFC (d. 25 Mar. 1918), guardian, Kilkenny Friary, asking for a statement ‘that what I laid down at the visitation has been put in practice’. Rochestown, County Cork, 27 Aug. 1905.
p. 141. Circular of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, referring to the progress of the national temperance crusade. Church Street, Dublin, 28 Feb. 1906.
p. 143. Letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Provincial Minister, to Fr. Jarlath Hynes OSFC, guardian, Kilkenny Friary, referring to celebrations of the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the novitiate for the Irish Province. Reference is also made to the ‘new work of the “Temperance Crusade” …’. Church Street, Dublin, 23 Oct. 1905.
p. 143. Circular letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, first definitor, on the silver jubilees of Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, and Br. Felix Harte OSFC. Rochestown, County Cork, 22 Mar. 1902.
p. 143. Letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Provincial Minister, to Fr. Jarlath Hynes OSFC, guardian, Kilkenny Friary, enclosing a copy of a report on the progress of the temperance crusade in 1906 which was sent to the Minister General and published in the 'Analecta'. Church Street, Dublin, 21 May 1907.
p. 151. Circular letter from Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Provincial Minster, forwarding an ‘authentic copy of … the decision lately arrived at by Superior General in Rome regarding this Province’. Kilkenny, 15 Feb. 1887. In English and Latin.
p. 153. Circular letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC, Provincial Minister, reporting on the progress of missions in the Diocese of Baker City, Oregon and in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fr. Thomas wrote: ‘Father Luke [Sheehan] took charge of those foundations [in Baker City] and was appointed Superior of the Missions at the Capitular Definitorial Meeting. Father Casimir [Butler] was selected to join Father Luke and together with him has laboured zealously there for more than twelve months’. Church Street, 21 Dec. 1911.
p. 153. Circular letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC, Provincial Minister, on the silver jubilee of Fr. Jarlath Hynes OSFC. Church Street, Dublin, 1 Dec. 1911.
p. 153. Circular letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC, Provincial Minister, on the silver jubilee of Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC. Church Street, 27 Mar. 1912.
p. 155. Letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC, Provincial Minister, to Fr. Berchmans Cantillon OSFC, guardian, Kilkenny, re the declining health of Br. Stanislaus Walsh OSFC. Rochestown, County Cork, 22 Aug. 1910.
p. 155. Letter from Fr. Benedict Phelan OSFC to Fr. Berchmans Cantillon OSFC, guardian, enclosing a circular letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC, Provincial Minister, regarding the death on 31 August of Br. Stanislaus Walsh OSFC. Church Street, Dublin, 31 Aug. 1910.
p. 155. Circular letter from Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC, Provincial Minister, regarding the regulations governing the conduct of temperance missions and retreats. Church Street, Dublin [c.1910].
p. 155. Letter from Fr. Benedict Phelan OSFC to Fr. Berchmans Cantillon OSFC, guardian, Kilkenny, requesting that the house book and ledger of the Kilkenny community be sent to Dublin for Fr. Anselm’s signature. Church Street, Dublin, 21 Aug. [c.1910].
p. 169. Copy circular letter from Fr. Bernard Christen of Andermatt OSFC, Minister General, regarding the forms of regular observance within the Order. Certified copy by Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister. 25 Mar. 1903.
pp 311-337. Letters of obedience, c.1874-1910. Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. compiled a list of these obediences under the headings of date, ‘from’ [usually coming from the Provincial Minister], to [the name of the friar] and ‘import’ [place of transfer]’. The list is extant at CA KK/1/2/5.
p. 367. Examination results for Fathers Brendan, Edward, Berchmans, Pius, Bonaventure, Martin and Malachy. The candidates are noted to have acquired a placet or vote of assent (probably from the governing body of a university). [n.d.].

Letters of Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. (1876-1958). The correspondents include: Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap.; Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Vicar. Most of the correspondence relates to the establishment of missions in South Africa and later in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia. The subjects include: Fr. Casimir’s first impressions of Cape Province (23 Oct. 1929); the journey to Barotseland (30 May 1930); requesting permission to retain Parow parish (26 Feb. 1931); discussions with Monsignor Bruno Wolnik SJ (1882-1960) to establish a local mission a few miles from Livingstone (16 June 1931); the necessity of wearing a white habit. Fr. Casimir wrote: ‘It is almost impossible to wear brown during the hot weather. The Conventual Fathers at Ndola wear white. The Jesuits wear any old things. I suggest a light cream-coloured habit’ (27 Nov. 1931); the need to speak the language in Barotseland ‘before we can hope to gain the hearts of the natives’. (30 Nov. 1931); on the study of the Lozi language (26 Jan. 1932); suggesting that a foundation be established in Barotseland ‘to which Catholics can look to with pride – a large church and school, sufficient for a fifty-mile area’. (3 May 1932); affirming that ‘mission work in Barotseland is going to be a slow business, the obstacles look insurmountable’. Fr. Casimir added: ‘it is a great consolation to know that it can never become a white man’s country’ (23 May 1932); confirming that the new church at Livingstone will cost £3,500 (6 Sept. 1932); referring to the work of Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. and his father (30 Oct. 1932); arrangements for the impending visitation by Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. (3 Dec. 1934); the activities of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. (18 Dec. 1934); Fr. Casimir’s arrangements to travel to Ireland via Marseilles on-board the Italian ship, SS 'Giulio Cesare' (5 May 1938). References are also made to the following Capuchin friars: Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap.; Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap.; Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap.; Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap.; Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. The file includes a letter from Fr. C. C. Martindale SJ to Fr. Cuthbert McCann OFM Cap. offering to collect £100 for Fr. Casimir’s missionary work in Barotseland (16 June 1931).

Letter to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. from Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. (21 Oct. 1936) re the financial situation of 'The Capuchin Annual' and 'The Father Mathew Record'. Fr. Senan insists that the publications office is ‘solvent’. He adds ‘I am about half-ways through with the 1937 'Annual'. 21,000 copies will be printed. The gross revenue from this edition will be £4,125. … The total cost of the production will be £2,500. The gross profit £1,625; from £800 to £1,000 net profit’. Several account statements are attached including 'The Father Mathew Record' expenses, Sept. 1931-Aug. 1932; distribution accounts for the St. Anthony of Padua publication; Receipt and expenses for 'The Capuchin Annual', 1930-2; Outstanding advertising accounts for 'The Father Mathew Record' and 'The Capuchin Annual', Aug. 1932.

Correspondence of Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., and Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., with Robert F. Mahony, President, American Association for Recognition of the Irish Republic; Fr. Brendan O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Central Council of Irish County Associations; Eugene Twomey, Secretary, Fianna Fail, Inc., Irish Republican Party of America; Charles F. Tiernan; Joseph O’Byrne of the Fathers’ Albert & Dominic Committee; and the Irish American National Alliance. The letters refer to appeals from various Irish-American republican organizations calling for the repatriation to Ireland of the mortal remains of Fathers Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap.

Letters from Bishop Bernard Cornelius O’Riley (1868-1956), Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, Western District, and Fr. John Morris, editor of the Southern Cross, to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Fr. Kevin Moynihan OFM Cap., Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers, and Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary, regarding the prospects for establishing Irish Capuchin missionary foundations in the Athlone, Parow and Langa parishes in the Cape Province, South Africa. Fr. John Morris wrote: ‘There are only about thirty priests in the whole vicariate. This number includes three Jesuits, two Redemptorists, and some six Salesians. … Alas, there are no Franciscans in South Africa. You will therefore be real pioneers’ (16 May 1927). The Bishop wrote: ‘There are pagans and heathens in abundance in my Vicariate which covers some 17,000 sq. miles and I can assure there is endless scope in the Vicariate for the missionary efforts of your good Fathers’ (30 Mar. 1928). Later, he affirmed that the ‘poor people of “Athlone” (which is the name of the place of your first mission in South Africa) are nearly all coloured, a good simple lot, who have been working hard for some months past in their spare time to build with their own hands school-rooms’ (6 Dec. 1928). Reference is also made to the provision of a school for coloured children at Claremont (16 Feb. 1931) and to the financial state of the Vicariate (20 July 1932). The file includes a memorandum and agreement for sale from Bishop O’Riley to the Irish Capuchins of sites at Claremont, at Athlone, and at Parow (1 Nov. 1931), and a letter from Fr. John Morris requesting the Irish Capuchins supply a priest for the Philippi mission in the Vicariate (17 Mar. 1950).

Scrapbook of Fr. Albeus McQuillan OFM Cap. (1912-1989) re the history and personnel of the Irish Capuchin mission in Africa. Fr. Albeus arrived in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1942. The scrapbook includes cuttings from missionary periodicals including 'The Father Mathew Record', hand-drawn maps of mission stations and churches, and personal recollections and memoranda by Fr. Albeus re the Capuchin mission in Africa. The volume contains the following sections:
• Photographic prints of the early Irish Capuchins missionaries: Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.; Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap.; Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap.; Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap.; Fr. Alban Cullen Cap.; Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap.; Fr. Fintan Roche OFM Cap.; Fr. Livinus Keane OFM Cap.; Fr. Jerome McQuillan OFM Cap.; Fr. Christopher Crowley OFM Cap.; Fr. Marcellus Carroll OFM Cap.; Fr. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap.; Fr. Timothy Connery OFM Cap.; Fr. Jarlath Gough OFM Cap.
• List of African missions of the Capuchin Franciscan Order (with the names of mother provinces).
• Calendar of priests in the Irish Capuchin mission to Africa arranged under year, number and total. The calendar runs from 1929-39.
• Personal and mission record (with photographic prints) for Irish Capuchin friars in Africa. Details are given of where the friars were stationed and the duration. Information is given in respect of:
Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. First Superior of African Missions.
Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap.
Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. (with postcard print of the Church at Parow, South Africa, dedicated on 8 Dec. 1935).
Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. (with circular letter from Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. re the appointment of Fr. Killian as Prefect Apostolic of Victoria Falls).
Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap.
Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (1897-1980)
Fr. Jerome McQuillan OFM Cap.
Fr. Fintan Roche OFM Cap.
Fr. Livinus Keane OFM Cap.
Fr. Christopher Crowley OFM Cap.
Fr. Jarlath Gough OFM Cap. (1902-1983)
Br. Alexius Paolucci OFM Cap. (1898-1983)
Fr. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap.
Fr. Gerard Joyce OFM Cap. (died in Northern Rhodesia in 1944)
• Calendar of Irish Capuchin missionaries in Northern Rhodesia and South Africa from 1929-38 giving details of where stationed and the time spent at each mission station. (pp 42-3).
• ‘The religion of the Blacks’. Manuscript. Sub-title reads: ‘Paper read for the Bonaventure’s Philosophical and Historical Society, Tuesday, January 17th 1937’. (insert at p. 47). The article was possibly compiled by Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap.
Maps include:
• Districts of Northern Rhodesia showing density of population. (p. 9)
• Detailed manuscript map showing locations of various Christian missionary stations in Northern Rhodesia. (p. 11).
• Map of Northern Rhodesia showing areas of Tsetse-Fly and Sleeping Sickness infestation (p. 15).
• Map re population and infant mortality in Northern Rhodesia (p. 17).
• Printed map of Cape Town, South Africa (p. 22).
• Manuscript map of the Cape Province, South Africa, showing principal towns and the locations of Capuchin churches at the Welcome Estate, Matroosfontein, Parow, Langa and Athlone. Scale: 2 miles to 1 inch. The key also provides the distances between the aforementioned mission churches. (Insert at p. 27).
• Population map of Barotseland (arranged by district). With information re the number of Protestant schools in the region. (p. 45).
Photographic prints include:
• Fr. Fintan Roche OFM Cap. crossing the River Kafue, Northern Rhodesia, with a truck on a barge. Aug. 1937. (p. 27).
• Fr. Marcellus Carroll OFM Cap. with altar boys. (p. 27).
• St. Louis Mission School at Langa; Fr. Jerome McQuillan OFM Cap. (priest at Langa in 1935); groups of children at Langa, with Sister Romana and Sister M. Vianney. (p. 29).
• Missionary scenes at Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia (p. 33).
• The Friary at Livingstone and Fr. Christopher Crowley OFM Cap. (p. 34).
• Missionary scenes at Loanja, Northern Rhodesia. With Fr. Livinus Keane OFM Cap. and Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (p. 37).
• Prints from 'The Father Mathew Record' of the ‘first Christians at Loanja, Easter, 1936’; ‘adult Christians at Loanja and a group at St. Francis’s School, Livingstone’. (p. 39).
• Br. Dominick O’Callaghan OFM Cap. (p. 44).
• The three Capuchin churches in Africa: Parow, Livingstone, and Athlone (p. 48).
• Fr. Jerome McQuillan OFM Cap. (full length portrait); Sr. M. Vianney at Langa in 1936; First communion group at Langa, 1936. (p. 49).
• Fr. Albeus McQuillan OFM Cap. (half-length portrait). (p. 50).
• Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap. (half-length portrait). (p. 51).
The volume also contains newspaper cuttings re a Capuchin-organised pilgrimage to Knock, County Mayo, organised by Fr. Virgilius Murtagh OFM Cap. and Fr. Maurice Dowd OFM Cap. (p. 66).

Lectures on the history of the Irish Capuchin missions (primarily in Africa) compiled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. The talks were likely prepared for promotional and educational purposes. They include copy documents including a letter from the Most Rev. Bernard O’Riley, Vicar Apostolic of Cape Town, to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, requesting a Capuchin foundation in his diocese (12 May 1927), and copy letters from Archbishop Carlo Salotti, Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, to Fr. Melchor a Benisa OFM Cap., Minister General, re the Irish Capuchin mission in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia (Jan. 1931).

Report by Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. sent to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, on the progress of the Irish Capuchin mission in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia. Reference is made to the difficulties encountered by the first missionaries (including Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap., Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap., Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (1897-1980) and Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.); the establishment of the Loanja mission; negotiations with government authorities and tribal leaders; the work of other missionary orders including the White Fathers and the Jesuits. Fr. Declan concludes ‘as regards the mission outlook in general in Barotseland, I must candidly state it is going to be a very tough problem. The whole territory is fearfully primitive and undeveloped. The only transport help of a convenient or modern touch that we have as an ally is a spasmodic lumber train which carries us from Livingstone to the Barotse border’.

Letter from Fr. Kevin OSF to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, seeking support for the building of the first local Franciscan Sisters’ convent at the Nsambya Mission in Kampala, Uganda. The appeal reads: ‘There is a great field of work to be done there, and we need the help of these native Sisters at all the missions so badly’.

Letters of Fr. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap. (1911-1968) referring to his early experiences as a missionary in Northern Rhodesia and later to developments in South Africa (particularly in the Capuchin Vicariate established in Cape Town in 1949). Correspondents include Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister; Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister; Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary.