Photograph of a group of mourners at the grave of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. in Mission Santa Inés in California. The group includes Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap., Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap., and Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.
Photograph of (from left) Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap., Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap., and Fr. Bernard Clery OFM Cap.
Letter from Fr. Joseph Fenelon OFM Cap. to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, discussing the activities of Capuchin friars in California and in Oregon and their interactions with local church leadership. He also refers to the recent visit of the Minister General to the American mission houses. He writes ‘From Ukiah we came to Los Angeles where he stayed the night and next day we proceeded to Roseburg thence to Bend where Fr. Casimir and Vincent came to meet the General. He did not go to Lincoln or Abbottstown, but the Fathers met him on the way. I had to part with him at Bend as I was due for a Retreat here which started at Cathedral Chapel last night. The Father General expressed himself in very happy terms about the condition of our American Houses, but I am sure you will get a detailed account from him later on. He was very amiable and nice in every way, and by my fluency in the Latin tongue helped by the Secretary who speaks English pretty well. I spent a pleasant yet strenuous two weeks with him’. Reference is also made to the possibility of the Capuchins acquiring Santa Inés mission.
Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, addressing various financial remittances, personnel issues, and a specific loan for a school project in Oregon. He highlights the physical toll of the missions in Oregon and Western California, stating they require ‘zealous, strong young men’. Father Murtagh notes that several friars (including Conleth and Urban) have asked to return home to Ireland for holidays. Reference is made to property in Wilmington, Delaware. Fr. Stephen is firm that they should not give up the site and is preparing arguments to keep the school/seminary there.
Financial statement, signed by Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, providing a summary of the funds generated by the Irish Capuchin missions in America and how they were spent between December 1921 and September 1922. A significant portion (£138. 10s.) was spent on ‘Tickets’ for friars traveling between Ireland and the U.S. This included Frs. Sylvester Mulligan OFM Cap., Fr. Joseph Fenelon OFM Cap., and Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.
Photographs of the exterior of St. Thomas’s Church, Redmond, Oregon. Manuscript annotations read ‘St. Thomas’s Church, Redmond, Oregon’. On reverse: ‘Preached my first sermon in this Church, 28 Dec. 1919, Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.’
Photograph of a group of Capuchin friars on a religious retreat in Bend, Oregon. Manuscript annotation on the reverse of the print reads ‘Retreat, Bend Oregon, 1945, Br. Patrick, Frs Valerian, Venantius (retreat master, American Province), Fr. Vincent and Fr. Urban’.
Photograph of the exterior of the Blessed Sacrament Church and the adjoining rectory in Elk in California. This was probably written by Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap.
Photograph of a group of seven Capuchin Friars in Ukiah, California. Manuscript annotation on the reverse reads ‘circa 1925 at Ukiah’. The group includes Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap. and Fr. Raphael Quinn OFM Cap.
Register of masses at the Capuchin Church of St. Mary of the Angels. The title page is annotated by Fr. Virgilus Murtagh OFM Cap., Guardian: ‘A requiem mass is to be said each year on or about Nov. 9th for repose of the soul of Rev. Fr. Benvenutus Guy, RIP’. The book was closed by Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap. on 10 Jan. 1959.