The sub-series contains a large collection of letters written to the Capuchin friars requesting parish missions, tridua, retreats, public sermons and lectures. The letters are mostly from local clerics and parish priests, religious congregations (both male and female), and lay religious sodalities and temperance associations. Some of the letters provide detail on religious practices and observance. Other letters give information on local temperance activities.
The sub-series contains research notes, document transcriptions, correspondence and publications on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. (1915-1997). The Waterford-born Capuchin friar, Brother (later Father) Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. completed a thesis titled ‘The Life and Times of Fr. Theobald Mathew’ for an MA degree in University College Cork in 1939. He retained a life-long interest in the subject and accumulated a large number of documentary sources, publications and notes pertaining to Fr. Mathew and his campaign against intemperance.
This sub-series includes records relating to the construction and repair history of buildings owned by the Capuchin community in Kilkenny City. The sub-series includes specifications for buildings, correspondence, bills of cost for construction, property upkeep and improvement, and contracts for repair and servicing of machinery
The sub-series contains a collection of printed books, church plate, relics and ephemera associated with Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Some of these objects were used for exhibition purposes by the Capuchin friars at commemorative events marking anniversaries associated with the temperance campaign.
The subseries comprises a small collection of papers relating to the Irish scholar and writer An tAthair Peadar Ó Laoghaire (Peter O’Leary). Ó Laoghaire was a prominent Irish language activist and member of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League). He published numerous books and articles on a range of topics, including an autobiography (‘Mo Sgéal Féin’), the first drama in Irish (‘Tadhg saor’), original prose, Irish translations of the Gospels, and translations of medieval Irish texts. The collection includes his letters to Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. and Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., two Capuchin friars who shared Ó Laoghaire’s enthusiasm for the promotion of the Irish language. This collection also includes some material relating to Ó Laoghaire’s published work, particularly clippings of his transcriptions and translations of Irish texts, and a manuscript draft of ‘An Craos-Deamhan’. Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. was interested in Ó Laoghaire’s career and sought to promote his contribution to the Irish language. He seemingly acquired most of this material for personal research. The Ó Laoghaire collection was later preserved among Moynihan’s personal papers.
