This section contains leases and deeds relating to the acquisition by the Capuchin friars of premises on Father Mathew Quay. The Quay is situated on a reclaimed marsh which was located outside the old city walls. Historically, the area was known by several names, some of which are used in the deeds described below including Island Nagay, Red Abbey Island and Marsh, and Morrison’s Island after a family which was prominent in the civic affairs of Cork in the eighteenth century. From about 1800 it was commonly known as Charlotte Quay before being renamed Father Mathew Quay in honour of the Capuchin friar and ‘Apostle of Temperance’. After the reclamation of the marsh in the eighteenth century, the area became an important merchant, commercial and industrial centre. John Henry Gamble, a notable businessman engaged in the provisioning trade, held leasehold interests in several of the premises on Charlotte Quay which were subsequently acquired by the Capuchins (see CA HT/2/1/1/5, CA HT/2/1/1/7, and CA HT/2/1/1/9). J.H. Gamble & Company was later acquired by the famous food provisioning company, Crosse and Blackwell Limited. Another prominent trader engaged in business on the Quay was Robert Warner, a master cooper and vintner. In 1875 Warner leased a substantial plot of ground on Charlotte Quay to Fr. Cherubini Mazzini OSFC for 750 years. This ground was subsequently used as the site for the present-day Holy Trinity Friary (See CA HT/2/1/2/13). The section also includes many legal documents covering negotiations between the Capuchins and Alicia Louisa Seward, a granddaughter of Robert Warner, for the outright purchase of the freehold of the property. This purchase was realized in 1951. The section also includes the lease made to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC in 1832 of a plot of ground on Morrison’s Island upon which Holy Trinity Church was subsequently built (see CA HT/2/1/2/10).
