File relating to cures associated with visits to the grave of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cork. The file was compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. The file includes: • Statements from Hannah Keohane regarding her son who was cured through the intercession of prayers at the grave of Fr. Theobald. (18 Mar. 1943). • Letters to Fr. Stanislaus from Fr. Mel Farrell OFM Cap. and Fr. T.J. Walsh re Annie Nolan, 21 Abbey Street, Cork, who reputedly recovered her sight through the intercession of Fr. Theobald. • Statements and correspondence re Madge Twomey whose throat condition was cured through visits to the grave. • Letters relating to Mrs Kathleen Skillington (née Walsh) whose leg was cured following a visit to Fr. Theobald’s grave. The file includes the testimony of Dr D. F. Hegarty, surgeon. 5 Jan 1938. • Letter from Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap. to Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. referring to the cause of Fr. Mathew. He wrote ‘It is to be regretted that there is no one of ourselves free and willing to take an interest in the cause – as according to rumours a great many things occur at the grave. The people come from a distance. No one has any knowledge of themselves, the favours they have received or where they come from’. 28 Jan. 1932. Manuscript, 2 pp. • ‘Father Mathew / Leader and Priest / Cures wrought at his tomb’. The text of a speech given by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC on the occasion of the 123rd anniversary of the birth of Fr. Mathew. Oct. 1913. Typescript, 8 pp. • Prayer for the beatification of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. It is noted that this prayer was submitted to the Most Rev. Daniel Coholan, Bishop of Cork, for ecclesiastical approval in May 1928. Typescript, 1 p.
Copy letters of Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. to John J. Sharkey, Catholic Total Abstinence Union, Boston, referring to the cause of Fr. Mathew. Fr. Stanislaus wrote ‘No efforts either privately or publicly have been made by any member of our Order to direct further interest in the intercession of Fr. Mathew, and yet the devotion to him is as abiding in the hearts of the people – especially in Cork – as it was the in the years that followed his death’.
• Notes compiled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC from 1841-5. The notes include transcribed copies of letters from Daniel O’Connell to Fr. Mathew (26 Oct. 1844) and from Fr. Mathew to Mr. Buckingham (20 Oct. 1844). The principal source was probably James McKenna’s ‘History of the temperance reformation in Ireland, England and Scotland’. Manuscript, 16 pp. • Extract from McKenna’s ‘History of the temperance reformation in Ireland, England and Scotland’ re Fr. Mathew’s temperance campaign in Liverpool and his attitude towards distillers. ‘I have no personal hostility to distillers or brewers or vendors of strong drink’. Typescript, 2 pp. • Extracts from John Francis Maguire’s 'Father Mathew / A Biography' and ‘History of the Temperance Reformation by James McKenna, chief travelling secretary to the Very Rev. Theobald Mathew’ confirming that Fr. Mathew first arrived in Cork in about 1814. The extracts are by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Typescript, 1 p.
Manuscript Memoranda re books held in the Kilkenny Friary Library. The notes were probably compiled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. and Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Particular reference is made to annotations, marginalia and inscriptions found on the frontispieces of the volumes. Some of the memoranda are very fragmentary and incomplete. Many of the books referred to in the memoranda are now extant in the Provincial Archives. See CA KK/10 for a listing of some these texts from the Kilkenny Friary Library.
Note by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. re the existence of an apartment in the Ards House called ‘the Friar’s Room’. It reads: 'The morning after the building and property were taken over from the Land Commission Holy Mass was celebrated in the portion of the building assigned an oratory. In the course of the day one of the fathers remarked to the steward “I expect this is the first time Mass was said here”. The steward was doubtful and mentioned a tradition prevalent … [that] one of the apartments is called “The Friar’s Room”. The explanation given is that about 100 or 150 years ago a friar was accustomed to visit the family and inhabited that room. The steward presumed that when he came, he said Mass in the building'.
Memorandum by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary, referring to the discovery in the Church Street Archives in 1922 of a collection of papers labelled ‘Correspondence between Dr. Cullen and the Fathers relative to the New Church in North King Street’. Fr. Stanislaus refers to a loose folio sheet titled ‘Notabilia’ relating to the Baron Hale bequest which was the ‘only authentic expression of an obligation for Masses to be found … in the Archives’. (See CA CS/2/3/2). The memorandum affirms that the ‘Notabilia’ document was submitted by Fr. Stanislaus to a definitory meeting in November 1922 which ordered him to investigate the whereabouts of the investment and interest money referred to in the bequest. The memorandum reports Fr. Stanislaus’s findings in relation to the Hale bequest. It notes that in 1893 the legacy, which had been converted to stocks worth £181 11s 5d, was transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction of National Debt and was subsequently paid to Jane E. Pratt, lawful sister and next of kin of Fr. Daniel Patrick O’Reilly OSFC, one of the priests in whose name the legacy was invested. Fr. Stanislaus concludes by affirming that ‘interest on the investment was drawn up in 1883 which warrants the assumption that the masses were likewise said up to that time’. With copies of the memorandum and transcription of the ‘Notabilia’ document made by Fr. Stanislaus on 10 Nov. 1921. One of the copies is endorsed by Fr. Stanislaus: ‘submitted to the General Definition, Rome, Decree of Condonation from the Sacred Congregation, dated, Feb. 22, 1927 [and signed by Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap.], appended’. The file also includes a typescript note suggesting that ‘Baron Hale’ may refer to Sir Matthew Hales, Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. Some of the notes by Fr. Stanislaus also refer to the correspondence of Fr. Lawrence Gallerani, Irish Capuchin Commissary General, with Archbishop Paul Cullen, regarding the construction of St. Mary of the Angels.
Notes on the history of Holy Trinity Church, Cork, by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. from the laying of the foundation stone in October 1832 to circa 1856. Reference is made to the construction, financing and decoration of the Church. Some of the notes were copied from ‘an account book of the Cork community preserved in the Archives in Dublin’ (See CA HT/3/1/1). Also, a typescript copy of an article on the Church from 'Battersby’s Catholic Registry' (1851), p. 221.
Newspaper cuttings book compiled and annotated by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Printed stamp on inside front cover: ‘Franciscan Capuchin Library, Church Street, Dublin’. The pages have been numbered by Fr. Stanislaus. The book includes: 96; 101-112: Reports relating to the death of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. in Feb. 1925. With some reports on the death of his mother, Julia Bibby in July 1935. With a number of cuttings of photographic prints of Fr. Albert including one with the children of Thomas MacDonagh. 113: Article titled ‘Irish Nationality – Its Safeguard’, 'Kilkenny Journal', 15 Feb. 1913; Report of Irish lectures at a Gaelic League meeting attended by Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. 114: Article titled ‘Awakening of the Nation’ referring to the presentation of Home Rule Club Shield to the Freshford Boys’ National School and to the propagation of the ‘Gaelic Gospel’. The event was attended by Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and the article reports his address. 'Kilkenny Journal', 1 Mar. [1912] 115-116: Report of meeting of the Gaelic League which was addressed by Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. 'An Claidheamh Soluis', 13 Nov. 1915; An article praising Fr. Albert's role in the 1916 Rising. 'Sinn Féin', 21 Feb. 1922; Tributes to the late Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., 'Irish World', 28 Feb. 1925; 'Kilkenny People', 21 Feb. 1925. 117-118: Tributes to the late Fr. Albert. Includes cuttings of photographic prints. 'Irish World', 4 Apr. 1925
Newspaper cuttings book compiled and annotated by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Printed stamp on inside front cover: ‘Franciscan Capuchin Library, Church Street, Dublin’. The pages have been numbered by Fr. Stanislaus. The cuttings book includes: 53-54: Reports on the raid by British forces on the Capuchin Friary, Church Street, and the subsequent detention of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. 'Dublin Evening Mail', 18 Dec. 1920; 'Evening Telegraph', 17 Dec. 1920. Includes some cuttings of photographic prints of Fr. Dominic. 55-66: Reports on the court martial and conviction of Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. Jan.-Mar. 1921. 67: Reports in the 'Cork Examiner' referring to the ministries of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap.,and other Capuchin priests to republicans. 7-9 Nov. 1923. 119-120: Articles referring to the trial and sentencing of Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. 'Evening Herald', 10 Jan. 1921; 'Irish Catholic', 5 Feb. 1921.
Newspaper cuttings book compiled and annotated by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Printed stamp on inside front cover reads: ‘Franciscan Capuchin Library, Church Street, Dublin’. The pages have been numbered by Fr. Stanislaus. The cuttings book includes: Report of temperance bazaar and fete at Father Mathew Hall. 'Freeman’s Journal', 29 May 1907. Photographic print of performers in the pantomime Cinderella at the Father Mathew Hall, Cork. 'Cork Weekly Examiner', 7 Mar. 1914. Report on the Grand Temperance Fete and Exhibition of Irish Industries held in Father Mathew Hall. 'Freeman’s Journal', 30 May 1907.
