Twelfth annual report of the Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, in 1891. The report notes that ‘in a few days prior to our last annual meeting, this whole building was formally opened by His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin for the advancement of the Total Abstinence cause, and of our Holy Religion in this district of the city’. The report refers to the various fundraising efforts undertaken in support of the local temperance movement. The file also includes a supplemental report (1892). The supplemental report states that an annual meeting ‘should have been held on the third Sunday in January but … His Eminence Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, had gone to reap in a better world the reward of a saintly life in this’. The reports include references to attendances at weekly temperance meetings and to the staging of various lectures, exhibitions and performances in the Hall.
Rule book of the Sacred Thirst Sodality attached to the Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The introduction notes that the mission of Father Mathew ‘demands a nobler monument than a “storied urn or animated bust” and to the wide dissemination of his principles, which this Hall, was founded to foster and perpetuate’. The rule book states that the sodality ‘strengthened by united prayer, frequentation of the Sacraments, holds monthly meets in the Church and weekly meetings in the Father Mathew OSFC Memorial Hall, Church Street, Dublin’. An annotation on page 11 affirms that the constitution vesting the Hall and all other property in six trustees was amended in 1926. ‘See Committee Minutes of the Hall’. The rule book was probably prepared by Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC, President. The front cover has an ink drawing of the Hall fronting onto Church Street.
Rule book of the female branch of the Father Mathew ‘Sacred Thirst’ Temperance Society attached to St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, under the presidency of Fr. Nicholas Murphy OSFC. The rules note that members are requested to attend the weekly meetings of the Society at the Father Mathew Memorial Hall. It also specifies that ‘in the Hall, during the other evenings of the week, papers, games, and from time to time, concerts, dramatic, and other entertainments are provided for members’ amusement and recreation …’. Various temperance hymns are included in the text. The end cover has a sketch-drawing of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street.
Newspaper cuttings referring to Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The cuttings are mainly from 'The Irish Catholic' and include references to the opening of 'Aonach na Bealtaine', temperance work, membership of the Hall, notices of annual meetings, details of excursions and lectures, and statements of accounts of the Hall Committee. One of the cuttings refers to the work of Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC in founding the temperance sodality. It reads ‘in 1881 the association was installed in modest apartments in Halston Street … in 1891, the centenary year of Father Mathew, the new fine hall now standing on Church Street was opened during the presidency of Father Columbus Maher OSFC’. Includes two sketches of Fathers Mitchell and Maher. The report of the 23rd annual meeting of Father Mathew Hall contained a short excerpt of a speech by Pádraig Pearse in which he stated that the ‘Irish Ireland movement would be successful only so far and so long as it went hand in hand with temperance and its off-shoot of total abstinence’.
This section contains records relating to the sale by the Capuchin Franciscan Order of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street, and the Bow Street Friary building. The principal agents for the sale of the two properties (sold as lots) were Hamilton Osborne King (HOK). The old Friary consisted of a four storey L-shaped building of circa 2,675 m2. The original portion of the building was built towards the end of the nineteenth century, with a northern wing added in the early twentieth century. Access to this portion of the Friary was from Bow Street. The sub-series contains solicitors’ and auctioneers’ correspondence relating to arrangements for the sale. The collection includes legal material connected with the tender for sale and representations made to the Capuchins from various individuals for the preservation of Father Mathew Hall as a cultural and community amenity. This section also includes correspondence from Dublin Corporation regarding provisions for the protection of certain architectural features of the Hall’s interior.
Copy architectural, ordnance survey and sketch maps for an apartment and office development at the Bow Street Friary site. Includes copy plans by James Ahern, architects, 29 Belgrove Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3. (Scale: 1:500). The Bow Street Friary site comprised 1,544 square meters. Some of the plans relate to the proposal for the new Capuchin Friary on Church Street.
Letters referring to the campaign to preserve Father Mathew Hall as a community or heritage resource. The file includes letters from Senator Dermot Fitzpatrick and An Taisce which expressed concern that the Hall ‘should be restricted to use as a public amenity for the north side of Dublin and for the city generally’.
Newspaper clippings referring to the sale of Father Mathew Hall and the Bow Street Friary. The file includes articles relating to the history of the Hall, its current condition and the need for conservation of the elaborate arch decorated with Celtic Revival emblems within the Hall. The clippings are from the 'Irish Times' and 'Sunday Business Post'.
Particulars and conditions of sale (with tender form) of Father Mathew Hall. The spiral-bound booklet establishes the conditions of the tender for the sale of the Hall and specifies that the closing date for the submission of tenders is 21 September 2001. It also notes that the property ‘comprises of the entirety of the area contained in Lease dated the 28th of January 1890 made between Samuel Worthington of the one part and George Noble Plunkett and others on the other part’. The particulars note the some of the original leases referred to have been lost and only copy memorials will be supplied to prospective buyers. Includes tender form and copy ordnance survey map highlighting (in red ink) the Hall property.
Report by Gráinne Mallon & Associates, 6 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, in association with Shane Redmond, auctioneer, on the properties held by the Capuchin Order on Church Street. The report delineates the existing properties held by the Capuchin Order (ecclesiastical premises, the Friary, Father Mathew Hall and the Day Centre) and makes recommendations in respect of rationalising the use of the properties in the context of urban renewal and development schemes proposed for the area. With a cover letter from Shane Redmond. The file also includes copy maps and plans. The cover is endorsed: ‘Carried out by Fr. Dan Joe O’Mahony OFM Cap. with a view to selling Father Mathew Hall’. With a letter from Shane Redmond (28 Oct. 1997) recommending that the ‘Order examine the many options the property can generate and that a decision may be taken about the future of its most influential friary in the capital city, based on the level of services the Capuchins will be able to provide there in the new millennium’.
