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The series includes mainly administrative files relating to the ministries undertaken by the Capuchin community in Kilkenny City. The series includes records of masses, internal community records and minute books, correspondence, schedules, and records of appointments and transfers to the Kilkenny house.

Following the deaths in exile of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. (d. 1925) and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. (d. 1935), there were numerous calls to have their bodies returned to Ireland. Prominent republican supporters in the United States and Old IRA men in Ireland frequently petitioned ecclesiastical authorities to have the bodies of the ‘two patriot priests’ repatriated. These calls were initially rejected, and the outbreak of the Second World War prompted a postponement of the campaign. In 1954, a repatriation committee was set up by Cork No. 1 Brigade of the Old IRA to collect the funds necessary to defray the expenses involved in returning the remains to Ireland. Florence O’Donoghue, head of intelligence for the Cork Brigade during the War of Independence, was appointed Honorary Secretary. Cornelius Neenan was appointed the Committee’s representative in the United States. Aside from the financial difficulties, the Committee also had to contend with a certain reluctance on behalf of the church authorities in having the bodies of two priests moved in such an overtly public manner. The reburial was a departure from the normal rule of the Capuchin Franciscan Order. Also, as they were priests, a high religious content would have to be included in any civil ceremonies connected with the repatriation. Having at length gained the approval of both the state and the church, the repatriation took place in 1958. On 13 June, the priests’ remains arrived at Shannon Airport to be greeted by Seán T. O’Kelly, President, Ėamon de Valera, Taoiseach, Fr. Hilary McDonagh OFM Cap., Capuchin Vicar Provincial, and many representatives of the Old IRA. The funeral cortege then proceeded to Cork for a requiem mass in Holy Trinity Capuchin Church. Fr. Albert and Fr. Dominic were interred in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Capuchin Friary on 14 June 1958. The sub-series consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, printed ephemera and photographs connected with the reparation campaign and ceremony in 1958. The series also includes records relating to the unveiling of a memorial to the two priests on the grounds of the Capuchin Friary in Raheny, Dublin, by veterans of Fianna Éireann in 1959.

A large collection of newspapers, broadsheets and daily bulletins relating to the independence struggle. The republican newspapers, publicity material and political ephemera collected by the Irish Capuchins are particularly important as they cover a broad spectrum of nationalist political debate. A good number of the Irish Capuchins were privately sympathetic to the republican side and maintained close contacts with many prominent Anti-Treaty figures. Many of the republican newspapers and bulletins accumulated by the friars covered the day-to-day conduct of the Civil War and contain information not found elsewhere in the contemporary press since the daily newspaper titles published little or nothing originating from the Anti-Treaty side.

This series consists of pamphlets on topics related to Irish political, social and cultural issues published during the revolutionary era. The collection contains pamphlets and publications relating primarily to the political tensions of this period and includes original pamphlets written by Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, the Most Rev. Edward Thomas O’Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, William O’Brien, George Noble Plunkett, Cumann na mBan, Darrell Figgis, Frank Gallagher and Ėamon de Valera.

A collection of personal papers of Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. primarily relating to his involvement with the political and military struggle for Irish independence.

A small collection of the personal papers of Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. mainly relating to his involvement with republican combatants in the 1916 Rising.

The series comprises material relating to the involvement of Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. in the national movement during the revolutionary period.

A collection of personal papers of Fr. Columbus Murphy OFM Cap. relating to his involvement with republican combatants and other individuals during the 1916 Rising.

A collection of the personal papers of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. relating to his involvement with participants in the national struggle primarily from 1916-22.