Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. (centre) with Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. (right) and Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (left), probably onboard a ship during their first voyage to Africa in late 1931.
Cutting from the Irish Press reporting on the departure of Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap., Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. and Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. for Northern Rhodesia.
Studio photographic print of (left to right) Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap., Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. and Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. in Ireland before their departure for the African mission.
The first mission station at Loanja, Barotseland. An annotation on the reverse of the print reads ‘cleared and built in virgin bush. Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. in the foreground / Our habit this was'.
Report by Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. sent to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, on the progress of the Irish Capuchin mission in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia. Reference is made to the difficulties encountered by the first missionaries (including Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap., Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap., Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. (1897-1980) and Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.); the establishment of the Loanja mission; negotiations with government authorities and tribal leaders; the work of other missionary orders including the White Fathers and the Jesuits. Fr. Declan concludes ‘as regards the mission outlook in general in Barotseland, I must candidly state it is going to be a very tough problem. The whole territory is fearfully primitive and undeveloped. The only transport help of a convenient or modern touch that we have as an ally is a spasmodic lumber train which carries us from Livingstone to the Barotse border’.
Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. (seated on left) with Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap., (seated on right), Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea (standing on left) and Fr. Christopher Crowley (standing on right) in Livingstone.