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Although the Capuchins arrived in Cork as early as 1637 it was many years before they took up residence on the site now known as Holy Trinity Church and Friary. The first Capuchin friars in Cork initially resided on the southern side of the city, just outside the South Gate. The religious upheavals of the seventeenth century occasioned many hardships for the friars who lived in constant fear of arrest and banishment. By the early eighteenth century the Capuchins appear to have established a permanent apostolate in the South Parish and by 1741 had built a small Friary on Blackamoor Lane situated just behind O’Sullivan’s Quay. In 1771 the community was augmented by the arrival from France of Fr. Arthur O’Leary OSFC (1729-1802). A native of West Cork, he joined the Capuchin Order on the continent and was ordained in St. Malo in 1758. O’Leary was responsible for the building of the small chapel on Blackamoor Lane which subsequently became known as the ‘South Friary’. During the first half of the nineteenth century Cork underwent a rapid expansion in both geographical size and population growth. It soon became apparent that the Friary on Blackamoor Lane was not sufficient to meet the demands of a growing congregation. By the mid-1820s, Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856), Provincial Minister of the Irish Capuchins and guardian (local superior) of the Cork community, decided to build a larger church in a more convenient location. Rejecting a site on O’Sullivan’s Quay, a location on Charlotte Quay (now Father Mathew Quay) below Parliament Bridge was eventually acquired. This area was then a busy a trading and shipping centre with many provisioning merchants, artisans and traders having offices and stores on the quayside. As the city expanded, the emerging Catholic business class sought to assert its power in social and public life. This self-confidence was reflected in the grandiose, perpendicular Gothic design for the new Capuchin church which was submitted by the well-known Cork-based architect George Pain (1793-1838).

Work commenced on the church in October 1832 but almost immediately the project ran into difficulties. The marshy site selected for the building soon became waterlogged and an additional £1,600 was required for the purchase of steam pumps. Afterwards, a lawsuit was filed by George Pain for the payment of an additional £300. In addition, the builder Thomas Anthony, who claimed to have taken the contract at too low a figure, went out of business. The firm of Sir Thomas Deane (1792-1871) & Company completed the church (excepting the steeple) with Thomas Coakley acting as supervising architect following George Pain’s death in 1838. The interior of the church was completed by William Atkins (1811-1887). Theobald Mathew’s preoccupation with the nationwide temperance campaign, the onset of the Great Famine and a lack of financial resources were also contributory factors in delaying the completion of the church. Although the building opened for religious services on 10 October 1850, it remained without a tower and ornamental façade for many years. Money was subsequently collected by the local guardian, Fr. Louis (John) O’Connell OSFC, but the sum was not sufficient to finance the completion of the church. It was not until the centenary celebrations of Theobald Mathew’s birth (1890) that sufficient funds were raised to finish the construction of the building. The church was completed to the design of the local architect Dominick J. Coakley (d. 1914). Although Coakley reduced the size of the spire, the building is largely as George Pain originally designed it. By 1884 the Capuchin friars had also managed to build a Friary adjoining Holy Trinity Church, having previously resided in a house situated at the corner of Queen Street and Charlotte Quay. The Friary building was designed by Robert Walker (c.1835-1910).

In the following years further ornamentation and building work enhanced the church interior. A special bell, replacing one erected sixteen year earlier, was blessed after Mass on 26 April 1896. It was the gift of H. O’Donovan. A memorial to Fr. Bernard Jennings OSFC (1850-1904) in the form of an expansion to the church was undertaken by a special committee formed for that purpose in 1906. This expansion was built upon property which the community had acquired situated to the rear of Holy Trinity Church. Foundation trenches had to be sunk to a depth of twenty feet below street level before construction work could commence. The High Altar, over which a memorial window for Daniel O’Connell had been erected, and two adjoining side altars, were taken down and replaced in the new extension. Shortly after this work was completed the sanctuary was extended, eventually opening in April 1908. A memorial window by Harry Clarke (1889-1931), the renowned stained-glass artist, was erected in 1918 by Cork trade unionists in recognition of the services rendered by Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC (1874-1951) in improving conditions for the city’s workers. In the late 1970s Fr. Eustace McSweeney OFM Cap., guardian, initiated plans to bring the interior of the church more into line with the liturgical requirements set down in the Second Vatican Council. It also became clear that the physical fabric of the building required extensive renovation work. A survey undertaken by Brian Wain & Associates, architects, discovered serious structural defects including dry rot infestation, damage caused by the ingress of water into roofing spaces and extensive corrosive damage to the steeple. As a result, a major project of reconstruction was begun in January 1982. This renovation work was largely completed within a year and the church was reopened for public worship in November 1982.

Collection Content

The collection consists of records relating to the Capuchin community in Cork city and in particular to the foundation known as Holy Trinity Church and Friary situated on Father Mathew Quay (formerly known as Charlotte Quay). The majority of the material dates from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. The fonds includes legal records relating to the acquisition, transfer and disposal of church property (such as deeds of title, mortgages and bills of sale), financial records, and material relating to individual members of the Capuchin community in Cork. The collection includes a large number of administrative and community files, financial statements and books of account relating to building construction and structural alterations, correspondence, plans, publicity material, photographs, and miscellaneous items of ephemera connected with Capuchin ministries and apostolates in Cork. The collection also includes unpublished historical writings and biographical material relating to notable members of the Order who ministered in the city. The collection also includes records and registers relating to the Third Order of St. Francis (now the Secular Franciscan Order) and other sodalities and confraternities attached to Holy Trinity Church.

Volume containing notes on the history and records of the Capuchin community, Holy Trinity Friary, Cork. The front cover is annotated: ‘Cork OFM Cap. Archives, July 1954’. The volume was probably begun by Fr. Michael O’Shea OFM Cap. (1892-1958) in June 1954. The title page reads: ‘Archives of Holy Trinity, Fr. Mathew Quay, Cork. Very Rev. Fr. Mel Farrell, guardian (1952)’. An annotation on the inside front cover indicates that some of the contents of the volume were extracted from archives extant in a safe in the Friary called the ‘Stairchiste’. The volume is divided into a number of sections. The listing below follows the sequence of entries as found in the volume:
• Extracts re from Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap., 'The story of the Irish Capuchins' (1915), p. 1
• List and texts of inscriptions and memorials in Holy Trinity Church, pp 2-3.
• Printed appeal in support of exiled French Capuchins in Cork. c.Nov. 1880. (See CA HT/7/1), p. 4.
• Typescript extract from the 'Irish Penny Magazine' (18 May 1833) concerning the building of Holy Trinity Church, p. 5.
• Transcript of the ‘Inscription on a bell given by the Cork house to Rochestown, Dec. 1923’, p. 6.
• Note re stained glass windows in Holy Trinity Church (see CA HT/2/5/17), p. 7.
• Note on chalices and sacred vessels in Holy Trinity Church, pp 8-11.
• Relics and authentications, pp 13-15.
• List of articles, records and relics relating to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC stored in a ‘wardrobe’. A note attached to the page indicates that some of these items were moved to Dublin (probably to the Provincial Archives in Dublin), pp 15a-17.
• Historical annals covering the period of 1223-1924, pp 22-27.
• Annals, including detailed notices (chapter meetings, obituary notices etc.) of the Holy Trinity community, pp 30-55.
• Fr. Michael O’Shea’s death is recorded in Nov. 1958. A note indicates that ‘nothing was recorded by the local archivist from Nov. 1958 until April 1978’, p. 55.
• Extracts from Fr. J. Walsh, ‘The Capuchins in Cork’ published in 'The Capuchin Annual' (1952), pp 200-1. The entry is titled ‘A Capuchin lay brother’s diary’ and also contains extracts from an original ‘manuscript book of the community of the South Friary’, pp 206-9.
• Entry titled ‘a partial catalogue of the archives and documents found in a safe. 5 July 1954’, p. 210.
• Incomplete list of guardians of Holy Trinity Friary, 1863-1949, p. 211.
• Record of Holy Trinity Community Chapter, 1952, p. 212.
• Partial index to the contents of the volume, pp 230-9.
With numerous church notices, mission fliers and newspaper cuttings inserted into the volume.

Notes by Fr. Xavier Reardon OFM Cap. (1899-1986) on matters relating to the history of Holy Trinity Church or to individuals connected with ministry in Cork. The file includes biographical notes on Fr. Matthew O’Connor OSFC (1859-1930) and Fr. Louis O’Riordan OSFC (d. 1857); a report on the opening of the Fr. Brendan Jennings memorial sanctuary (19 Apr. 1908); a report on the completion of Father Mathew Memorial Church, 'Cork Examiner', 29 Aug. 1891; a note affirming that ‘Fr. J.P. O’Connell was the last Provincial Minister after Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC between 1855 and the reconstitution of the Province in 1855’; copy ordnance map extract showing Holy Trinity Church on Father Mathew Quay and the surrounding area including the location of the Assembly Rooms on South Mall.

The collection comprises over 300 original glass plate negatives and lantern slides. Prior to the invention of cellulose nitrate film in 1903, photographic emulsions were made on glass supports. These glass supports are typically referred to as glass plate negatives. The term ‘glass plate negative’ refers to two separate formats: the collodion wet plate negative and the gelatin dry plate. Both formats consist of a light sensitive emulsion that is fixed to the glass plate base with a binder. This form of photographic process largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the twentieth century, as more convenient and less fragile films were introduced. Despite the impracticalities of the medium, glass negative plates were generally considered superior to cellulose nitrate film for high-quality imaging because they were extremely stable and less likely to bend or distort.

The collection also includes several lantern slides. Lantern slides were constructed from a base piece of glass, with the emulsion (carrying the photo or print) on it, then a matte over that, and then a top piece of cover glass. They were then taped all the way around to keep the pieces together and to keep dust out. Occasionally, colour was added by hand, tinting the images (these lantern slides were created before the invention of colour film). The slides were then projected onto a screen using a bespoke lantern slide projector. Lantern glass slides were used by some public speakers until the mid-twentieth century, when they were eclipsed by more economical and practical 35mm colour slides popularised by Kodachrome. Finally, the collection also includes some original glass stereo plates. Stereo cameras used a single glass plate negative to capture images. Prints from these negatives were intended to be looked at with a special viewer called a stereoscope, which created a rudimentary three-dimensional image.

Provenance and Collection Content

Precise information on the provenance of the collection is lacking. The plates were retrieved from a worn leather suitcase bearing the initials ‘F.A.’ which almost certainly refers to Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. (1875-1953). Although Fr. Angelus never considered himself an academic historian, he researched assiduously and transcribed many original documents relating to the history of the Irish Capuchins. His ‘Pages from the Story of the Irish Capuchins’ was published in 1915 to mark the tercentenary of the arrival of the first Capuchin friar in Ireland. It is highly likely that Fr. Angelus was responsible for assembling this glass plate photographic collection and that many of the lantern slides were created specifically for his use.

The image content of the glass plate collection is eclectic and varied. Only a relatively small number of the images are dated but it can be inferred that most of the photographs date to the first or second decade of the twentieth century. Many of the plates show images of scenes around the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork. The Capuchins established a community in Rochestown, situated about five miles from Cork city, in 1873. The Irish friars had founded a Seraphic School in 1884 with the primary aim of training young religious. This school originally operated along the lines of a novitiate for students who aspired to join the Capuchin Franciscan Order. In 1887, this school was transferred from Kilkenny to Rochestown. The collection includes many images of novice friars and students attached to the Rochestown house. In addition to photographs of the friary itself, local landmarks, buildings, and scenic locations in the environs of Rochestown feature prominently in some of the images. Several photographs showing other Irish Capuchin houses and foundations such as the Church of St. Francis in Kilkenny are also extant in the collection. The collection also includes some rare images of the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to the summit of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo (CA-PH-1-49-55). The 764-metre-high mountain is traditionally climbed by pilgrims on the last Sunday in July. These images were likely assembled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap., who was known as the ‘Guardian of the Reek’ in honour of his long association with the pilgrimage. His association with Croagh Patrick lasted from 1906 to 1949, during which he climbed the mountain forty-two times missing only two years, in 1919 due to a railway strike, and in 1922 due to the Civil War.

A seemingly separate series of lantern slides relating to the life and career of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856), a famed nineteenth century temperance campaigner and Capuchin friar, were also deposited in the collection. It is very probable that these slides were used as illustrative aids by the Capuchins for public talks and auditorium lectures on Fr. Mathew’s campaign against intoxicating liquor. Temperance activity was revived in 1905 when the Irish Catholic hierarchy invited the Capuchins to preach a National Crusade. This revival initially elicited widespread public enthusiasm and by 1912 the Capuchins had administered over a million pledges throughout the country. The lanterns slides were, in all probability, used in this campaign. Finally, the collection also includes images of seventeenth century manuscripts and photographs of other original records pertaining to the lives and ministries of several early Irish Capuchins. These were probably acquired by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. and Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965), another prominent Irish Capuchin historian, for research purposes.

Newspaper clippings assembled by Fr. Angelus Healy OSFC relating primarily to temperance missions given by the Irish Capuchin friars. A manuscript index compiled by Fr. Angelus is inserted into the front of the volume giving the title of the newspaper, the event referred to in the article, and the date. Other clippings refer to anniversary commemorations of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC, lectures, sermons and retreats given by Fr. Angelus and other friars (some refer to the death of Michael Davitt and commemorations of the Manchester Martyrs), ordinations, the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage, the mission to Ireland of the Most Rev. Ignatius Perisco OSFC (1823-1896), the jubilee of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, Dublin, and items of topographical and local history interest.