This series contains a highly significant collection of artefacts such as original pledge cards, temperance society medals, prints, posters, photographs, temperance memorabilia, manuals, church plate, ephemera and other items and relics associated with Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC and his temperance movement from the 1830s to the 1850s. Many of these items were collected by various Capuchin friars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with a view to exhibiting them for devotional and historical purposes.
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.
A small collection of records relating to Father Mathew Hall, Cork, which was opened in 1907. The series is divided into two sub-series. The first includes general organisational records and the second contains material relating to the Feis Maitiú Corcaigh.
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 section includes mainly administrative files relating to the ministries undertaken by the Capuchin community at Holy Trinity Church and Friary in Cork. The series includes records of masses, internal community records and minute books, correspondence, schedules and records of elections (mainly for the guardianship of the Cork house).
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 contains property documents including title deeds, legal correspondence, and memoranda relating to the acquisition of properties in Cork by the Capuchin Franciscan friars. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Cork experienced a dramatic physical growth. George’s Quay had been built during the second half of the century, making the River Lee navigable for shipping and in 1806 Parliament Bridge had replaced an earlier structure connecting both sides of the city for the flow of commercial traffic. A location below this bridge, near the mercantile and commercial centre of the city, was chosen by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC as the site for a new church. The foundation stone of what was to become Holy Trinity Church was laid on 10 October 1832. However, the building was not opened for public worship until 1850. The gothic portico and spire were not constructed until 1889-90. Prior to the opening of the new church, the Cork Capuchins had lived in a friary situated on Blackamoor Lane in the South Parish. Following the construction of Holy Trinity Church, the community obtained a lease of 8 George’s Quay in 1855. Later, they moved across the river to a house built by Fr. Cherubim Mazzini OSFC (1831-1906) situated at the corner of Queen Street and Charlotte Quay. Fr. Cherubim Mazzini OSFC, (sometimes referred to as Cherubini in contemporary newspapers and other documents) was a Capuchin friar from Bologna in Italy. The Cork Gas Company later took possession of this site on the quay. It is now occupied by Radió Teilifís Éireann. In the summer of 1884 the Capuchin community took up residence in the present-day friary. The building of this friary was started by a French Capuchin, Fr. Simeon Gaudillot OSFC (1836-1910), and completed by Fr. Seraphin Van Damme OSFC (1820-1887) who became the first Provincial Minister of the newly reconstituted Irish Capuchin Province in 1885.
This section includes various books and journals of account (for example, ledgers of accounts paid, day books, 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 (mainly property and municipal taxes), and insurance policies covering fire, engineering and public liabilities.
This series comprises records relating to the Third Order of St. Francis and other lay sodalities and confraternities associated with Holy Trinity Church and Friary in Cork.
