This series includes newspaper clippings mostly referring to significant religious events, commemorations and centenaries held at St. Mary of the Angels on Church Street in Dublin.
A small collection of records relating to the Temperance Hall built on the grounds of the Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork. The Hall was officially opened for public use on 15 December 1913 by the Lord Mayor of Cork and Fr. Thomas Dowling OSFC (1874-1951), Provincial Minister. It consisted of a concert-platform, an auditorium, and spacious committee rooms which could also be used as classrooms. Despite the decline of the temperance movement, the Hall continued to function as a venue for local drama, music and dancing productions. Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. (1901-1979) later strove to re-organise the management of the building which changed its name to Marian Hall in the early 1950s. Having laid vacant for many years, the former Temperance Hall at Rochestown was finally demolished in the 1990s.
This series includes records relating to Irish Capuchin missionary work in Zambia (previously Northern Rhodesia) which commenced in 1931. The series contains correspondence, visitation reports, minutes, newsletters and missionary magazines, travelogues, linguistic material, regional histories, and personal mission journals. The collection also includes a very large collection of photographic albums and prints. The papers are a rich source for church and mission history. As the work of the missionaries in Zambia embraced not just evangelism, but also, for example, education, medical work, language study and translations, and the development of local agriculture and industry, these records are a valuable source for study across a wide range of research interests.
This section includes files relating to the Capuchin community resident in Ard Mhuire Friary. The series includes records relating to various aspects of their religious life, to their ministries and their interactions with the clergy of the diocese of Raphoe and with various lay fraternities and associations.
This series includes records relating to Irish Capuchin missionary activity in South Africa which commenced with the arrival of the first friars in 1929. The series comprises material such as correspondence, financial reports, minutes, journals, newsletters, maps, publications and a collection of photographic albums and prints.
This series contains unpublished material compiled mainly by Capuchin friars (particularly by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap.) relating to the history of the Capuchins in Cork or to noteworthy Cork-born members of the Order.
This series comprises historical catalogues and schedules of records held in the archives of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork. Some of the material noted in these catalogues is now extant in the Irish Capuchin Archives. However, other archival material referenced in these descriptive lists has now evidently been lost.
This series includes various books and journals of account (for example, ledgers of accounts payable, accounts received and cash receipts). The records detail annual audits and routine household and community expenditure. The series also includes records relating to tax returns and bills (property and municipal rates), and insurance policies covering fire, engineering, and public liabilities. Accounts of monies derived from street collections and annual quests are also included in this section.
This series comprises a collection of local newspapers (mostly published in Kilkenny). Many of the items include articles covering events and ceremonies connected with the Capuchin friars in the city.
Although the Irish Capuchins had a long tradition of involvement with the temperance movement, their connection with this apostolate was reinvigorated in 1905 when the Catholic hierarchy invited the Order to preach a ‘national crusade’ on the merits of total abstinence. The Capuchins’ commitment to sobriety as a moral and social ideal was promoted through the founding of lay sodalities and temperance halls where the pledge to abstain from alcohol was taken. The Father Mathew Memorial Hall on Church Street was opened in 1891. Funded by voluntary subscriptions, this temperance hall was built by Joseph Kelly & Sons of Thomas Street, Dublin. The total cost was about £4,000. It was designed by Walter Glynn Doolin and was initially plainly decorated. Before the addition of extensions in 1904 the main auditorium was 73 feet in length and 39 feet wide. In total, there was accommodation for about 900 people. There was also a coffee bar, a billiard room, and a reading room. The interior of the auditorium was greatly embellished in 1909 when an elaborate proscenium arch, stage and gallery were added. The plasterwork was executed by the firm of John Ryan of Upper Abbey Street to the designs of Anthony Scott of O’Connell Street, Dublin. This series comprises records relating to the Hall’s primary function to promote sobriety ‘by providing instruction and healthful amusement’. It should be noted that the Hall’s drama group, band, debating society and athletics’ club were initially only open to total abstainers. The records also reflect the varied social functions of the Hall.
