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A photograph of a group of Capuchin friars outside a house in Whitegate in County Cork. The group includes Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Fr. Ignatius Collins OFM Cap., Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Fr. Chrysostom Sutton OFM Cap., and Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap.

(Seated, first on the left) Fr. Chrysostom Sutton OSFC (1876-1918) with other Capuchin friars (and novices) in the Kilkenny Friary garden.

Newspaper clippings documenting the death, biographical history, and public mourning surrounding Father Chrysostom Sutton OFM Cap., who succumbed to the influenza pandemic at the age of 41 on 11 November 1918. The first clipping records a solemn meeting of the Kilkenny Corporation where the Mayor, Alderman Potter, and Councillor Wall pass a vote of condolence to the priest’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton of Cork, and the Franciscan community. The civic leaders hail Father Chrysostom as a ‘martyr’ who sacrificed his own frail constitution by selflessly visiting and comforting the poor night and day in Walkin Street and adjacent virus-stricken districts.

The second column features an extensive personal obituary detailing his life milestones, including his early education by the Christian Brothers in his native Cork City, his 1898 entry into the Capuchin Novitiate at Rochestown, his higher studies at the University of Louvain in Belgium, and his final roles as Master of Novices and Director of the Third Order in Kilkenny. The record concludes by noting his final interment beneath a simple Celtic Cross in Foulkstown Cemetery, County Kilkenny.

A photograph of Fr. Chrysostom Sutton OFM Cap.

A portrait photograph of Fr. Chrysostom Sutton OSFC (1876-1918). Fr. Chrysostom was a victim (he died on 11 November 1918) of the influenza (‘Spanish Flu’) pandemic.

An image of Fr. Kevin Moynihan OSFC (1896-1959) and (seated) Fr. Chrysostom Sutton OSFC (1876-1918).

Letter from Fr. Luke Sheehan OFM Cap., Bend, Oregon, referring to the influenza pandemic. Father Luke reports ‘through some secular source the news that Fr. Chrysostom Sutton had died (from influenza) in November. He reveals that he personally had a ‘touch’ of the flu at the beginning of October but ‘did not know it at the time’, only remaining in bed for a few days. He expresses gratitude that he and his companions ‘all escaped the flu so far’. He writes ‘I suppose now that the war over on the sea I peace it will be an easy matter to send him some help right after Xmas’.