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Father Mathew Memorial Hall, Dublin

Father Mathew Hall stands at the corner of Church Street and Nicholas Avenue not far from Smithfield in Dublin’s north inner city. The origins of the Hall can be traced to the establishment by Fr. Albert Mitchell OSFC (1831-1893) in 1880 of a lay sodality called the ‘Temperance Society of the Sacred Thirst of Our Lord Jesus Christ’. In 1881, meeting rooms were secured for the sodality at 3 Halston Street. The lease for the building was signed on 31 January 1881. The building, although in a dilapidated state, was put into enough order for it to open within a fortnight. The first meeting of the temperance sodality took place in the Halston Street Hall on 14 February 1881. At this time, sodality and religious confraternity membership was increasing all over the country in line with participation in all forms of lay piety such as in rosary, retreat and novena groups. The rapid expansion of membership of the Halston Street Temperance Sodality was emblematic of this period of devotional fervour. Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC (1835-1894) assumed the role of President of the temperance sodality in June 1883. Fr. Columbus undertook the formidable task of resuscitating the entire temperance movement and transforming it once more into a populist working-class crusade. Largely because of his efforts, membership of the Hall rose to over a thousand in both the male and female branches of the sodality. It soon became clear that the Halston Street Hall was inadequate to accommodate the increasing numbers. With the centenary of Fr. Theobald Mathew’s birth approaching in 1890, Fr. Columbus and the sodality committee decided to conduct a search for more suitable premises to meet the growing membership demands and to perpetuate the memory of Father Mathew as the ‘Apostle of Temperance’. Eventually, the committee secured the above-mentioned site on Church Street. The foundation stone of the building was laid by the Most Revered William Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, on 2 February 1890. It was designed by Walter Glynn Doolin (1850-1902). The Hall was formally opened on 25 January 1891. The total cost of the building was £4,000 to which was added another £2,000 in furnishings. The Hall quickly became a focal point for the local community as membership of the temperance sodality increased to almost two thousand members. Complementing the temperance function of the Hall were other social, cultural, and pastoral activities. Lectures, dramatic entertainments, pantomimes and sports events were organised by the sodality membership. Other activities included billiards, badminton, a drama group (the Father Mathew Players), a reading library and a cycling club.

Fr. Nicholas Murphy OSFC (1849-1923), appointed Sodality President in 1895, extended the Hall in 1901 with the addition of a new wing known as St. Brigid’s Hall. In 1905, further impetus was given to the entire temperance movement by the invitation offered by the Irish Bishops to the Capuchin Franciscans to undertake a ‘national crusade’ against the evils of intoxicating liquor. Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC (1870-1957) extended the main auditorium of the Hall, inserted a new stage and erected an elaborate proscenium arch decorated with Celtic Revival motifs. A new library for sodality members was opened in the Hall in April 1908 by Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC (1856-1926), Provincial Minister. The Church Street Hall was regularly frequented by those interested in promoting the Gaelic cultural revival including Pádraig Pearse who urged ‘closer co-operation between the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) and the Temperance movement in the cause that is common to both … the regeneration of Ireland’ ('Father Mathew Record', May 1908, p. 76). Ownership of the Hall was vested in several elected trustees who represented the members of the temperance sodality. A Capuchin friar was always appointed President. The day-to-day management of the Hall was entrusted to a committee which was selected at an annual general meeting. During the 1916 Rising, Father Mathew Hall was used a field hospital by the Irish Volunteers who had occupied the nearby Four Courts. Capuchin friars gave shelter to wounded citizens, military and rebels, who were tended to by members of Cumann na mBan.

An annual Feis Ceoil competition ('Feis an t-Athair Maitiú') was founded by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC in 1909. The initial syllabus included competitions divided between singing, instrumental performances, Irish dancing and artistic creation. Among the first adjudicators at the competition were Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin (1878-1975), later the wife of Éamon de Valera, and the Sinn Féin politician, Brian O’Higgins (1882-1963). The Feis was an immediate success and attracted nearly two thousand entrants. Encouraged by this initial success more competitions were added to the Feis programme in subsequent years with the avowed aim of preserving native language and culture. In addition, various Dublin-based theatre companies used the Hall for their productions and several fund-raising concerts and drama festivals were held. In 1962, weekly bingo sessions were started, initially in the St. Brigid’s annex, and later in the main auditorium. To facilitate improvements to the Hall, the ownership of the building was formally transferred to the Capuchin Order in the late 1960s. Although these renovations succeeded in creating a relatively modern purpose-built theatre, by the early 1970s the membership of the temperance sodality had dwindled. As a result, the activities of the various temperance societies associated with the Hall came to an end. However, the Feis Maitiú continued to act as a focal point for the promotion of Irish culture and music.

In the absence of any state funding or assistance, the Capuchins maintained sole responsibility for staging the annual Feis competition. The only source for financing the Feis remained entrants’ fees and funding obtained from corporate sponsorship. By the mid-1990s, the costs associated with organising the Feis competition had become prohibitive. Further renovation work was also required if the Hall was to be maintained as a public amenity. In 1998 the decision was made to sell Father Mathew Hall and to discontinue the Order’s direct association with the Feis. In 2001 the Hall was sold by tender to Harry Crosbie, a property developer who converted the building into corporate office suites. As a listed building, the Hall’s interior Celtic Revival plaster-work was preserved, and other external architectural features were restored. The property remained vacant for some years before its purchase in 2014. The building is currently (2021) occupied by Newcourt Retirement Fund Managers Limited (NRFM).

Father Mathew Hall, Cork

Like its counterpart in Dublin, Father Mathew Hall in Cork originally functioned as a meeting place for the local Total Abstinence Sodality attached to Holy Trinity (Capuchin) Church. In 1896, it was noted that the sodality had over three hundred male members. On 30 January 1907, a Hall was opened on what was then Queen Street (later renamed Father Mathew Street). The Hall served as an amenity centre for the local community with a billiard room, a card room, a reading room, and a lecture theatre where occasional plays and talks were held. Major refurbishment work was undertaken in the 1940s during the presidency of Fr. Matthew Flynn OFM Cap. with the installation of new theatre seating, a balcony and improved stage facilities. The destruction by fire of the old Cork Opera House in 1955 left Father Mathew Hall as the only regular theatre venue in the city. Companies such as the Southern Theatre Group and Carol Clopet Productions subsequently signed fixed tenancies in the Hall. The reopening of Cork’s Opera House in 1965 prefigured a decline in the Hall’s fortunes but the commencement of bingo sessions offset some of the financial losses. The Everyman Playhouse Group took up a licence on the auditorium in the early 1970s and their renovation of the Hall ensured the continued survival of the building as a functioning theatre.

'Feis Maitiú Corcaigh' was established in 1927 by Fr. Micheál Ó Sé OFM Cap. (1892-1958) who saw the need for a platform to help and encourage people interested in the performing arts. Cork’s inaugural Feis ran for four days with about 300 competitors taking part. Father Mathew Hall was chosen as the venue for the Feis. The 400-seat auditorium has continued to serve as the festival’s venue ever since. Fr. Micheál served as President of the Feis for twelve years. During Fr. Matthew Flynn’s tenure as President, the first Cork Drama Festival was launched by the then Lord Mayor of Cork, Michael Sheehan. This festival, which has since ceased, was hosted at Father Mathew Hall, and ran for a fortnight under the adjudication of Ria Mooney (1903-1973), the Principal of the Gaiety Theatre School of Acting. By 1985 there were almost 12,000 performers registering with the Feis Maitiú Corcaigh. The festival was subsequently extended to eight weeks with classes in a range of disciplines covering a broad spectrum of the arts. The Feis continues to operate under the patronage of the Capuchin Order but the day-to-day management of the programme is now undertaken by a lay administrator.

Temperance Hall, Rochestown, County Cork

The Temperance Hall at the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown, County Cork, was built in 1913 as a ‘centre of temperance propaganda’ for the surrounding locality. Fr. Sylvester Mulligan OSFC (1875-1950), backed by enthusiastic local support, organised a raffle which raised such a substantial sum that the Capuchins gave permission for the building of the Hall. When completed, the Hall was capable of seating just over 300 people. It 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. The new Hall consisted of a concert-platform, an auditorium and spacious committee rooms which could be used as classrooms. Despite the decline of the temperance movement, the Hall continued to function as a venue for 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 demolished in the 1990s.

Collection Content

The fonds consists of records relating to the Temperance Halls established by the Capuchin Franciscans in Dublin and in Cork. Most of the material dates from circa 1910-1960. The records relate to the establishment of sodalities and confraternities, the opening and operation of temperance halls, and the organisation of missions and retreats connected with the promotion of the Total Abstinence movement. The fonds consists of minute books, administrative files, financial statements, correspondence, plans, publicity material, newspapers, photographs and miscellaneous items of ephemera and artefacts connected with the use of these halls for the promotion of temperance and as locations of recreation for members of various local total abstinence societies. The fonds also includes records relating to the annual Father Mathew Feis ('Feis an t-Athair Maitiú') and to the educational lectures, concerts, sketches, dramatic plays, pantomimes and other social and cultural events held in these Halls to further the cause of temperance. It should be noted that the closure of Father Mathew Hall on Church Street in Dublin in the late 1990s likely resulted in the loss of a significant portion of the archival records of this institution.

Diary of mass celebrants at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, and at St. Michan’s Church, Halston Street. Entries are also made in relation to room engagements in the Friary, mass intentions, weddings and funerals.

This section includes register books recording the names of Capuchin priests celebrating masses at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin.

The archive contains letters, minutes, accounts, secondary sources and photographs regarding the Sheffield presence of the Vincentians.

Church Street, one of the oldest thoroughfares on the north side of Dublin, has long been identified with the Capuchin Franciscans. For many years the friars have been known as the ‘Church Street Fathers’. Yet Church Street was not the location of their first residence in Dublin. The first Capuchin friars arrived in Dublin in 1615. At first, they settled on the south side of the city near Thomas Street, before moving to Bridge Street in about 1632, and later still to a house not far from Saint Audeon’s Arch. Fr. Christopher Kearney OSFC (d. 1656), in remarks on the progress of the Irish Capuchin mission, explained how ‘in the beginning, from the year 1615 to 1624, when they were very few, the friars lived in ones and twos in the houses of other people, not as a regular community; but then as numbers increased they established communities … in buildings either newly erected, or rented, and adapted for religious use and as chapels in which they maintained regular observance until the year 1651’. Fr. Edward Bath OSFC (d. 1634) was appointed the superior of the first Capuchin house in Dublin. Fr. Robert O’Connell OSFC (c.1623-1678) in his 'Historia Missionis Hiberniae Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum' (c.1654) described the first residence of the friars as small and poor, consisting of a few cells, a little garden, and a small chapel. Fr. Christopher Kearney OSFC remarked that ‘some of the Capuchins went among the people, at other times people flocked to the Capuchins at home. They were accustomed to preach in both English and Irish. … In their own churches, and when preaching elsewhere, they were zealous in opposing heretics and in comforting Catholics by the administration of the sacraments’. In 1629 the first residence of the friars in Dublin was confiscated with the house handed over to Trinity College. It was converted into a residential hall and given the name ‘St. Stephen’s Hall’.

The friars were dispersed and for a time they continued their work in the countryside until securing a small rented house in 1632. Fr. Nicholas Archbold OSFC (1589-1650) in his 'Historie of the Irish Capucins' (1643) confirms that by 1642 the Capuchins were resident on Bridge Street in a ‘secular man’s house and mansion: wee had the forpart of it: which stood on the street’. At this time the ‘religious and priests enjoyed peaceably the publick use of their chapells’ and the Capuchins had use of a well-furnished chapel in which they celebrated Mass every day in the religious habit. Soon afterwards, however, the authorities moved to seize churches and religious houses in Dublin, including that of the Capuchins – ‘entering violently in the Chapells they laid hands on all they could find, subverted the Altars, tore and broke and trampled under foot and burnt the sacred pictures and turned ye Chappels into Courts of Guard’. After the destruction of their house and the exile of many priests, the remaining friars ministered in the countryside until they had an opportunity of returning to Dublin. However, the prospects for re-establishing regular community life seemed remote. In June 1653 an edict was passed reviving the Elizabethan statute proscribing the exercise of the Catholic religion and ordering the exile of all priests. As a consequence, for many years, there was no trace of any settled community life for the Capuchins in Dublin.

Individual friars continued to be engaged (albeit furtively) in ministry in Dublin. There are indications in 1667 that a Capuchin chapel existed in the city. Lady Ursula Moore, in her will dated 2 October 1667, bequeathed a silver chalice to her son Thomas Whyte, a Capuchin friar, and arranged that the interest on a sum of money ‘shall pay the rent of the Capucins’ Chappell in Dublin’. In 1671 Fr. Luke Nugent OSFC, Commissary General, reported that the Capuchins had re-established a hospice in Dublin but no indication was given as to the site of their restored residence in the city. With the accession of King James II in 1685 religious liberties were restored to Catholics and churches were repaired and rebuilt. In about 1689 the Capuchins built what must have been a fairly substantial residence near Saint Audeon’s Arch. The friary had a community of twenty-four religious who led a full conventual life as well as engaging in active ministry. The Capuchins resided in this house for only two years before it was suppressed in the wake of the Williamite victory in the 1690s. Up to this period the Capuchins had been living on the south side of the River Liffey. A report written by Fr. Lawrence Dowdall OSFC in 1701 suggests that after the suppression of the friary near Saint Audeon’s Arch, the friars ministered in a ‘rented chapel’. There is evidence to suggest that this chapel was situated on Church Street. Information sworn by a Margaret Meehan on 3 May 1691 against Fr. Innocent Weldon OSFC (d. 1707) for being a Popish priest states ‘we heard him preach in ye Popish Masshouses in Church Street and on Channel Row [later North Brunswick Street]’. In 1697 it was noted that Fr. Lawrence Dowdall OSFC was ‘lodgeing att Matthais Burgesses in Church Street’. It seems certain that the Capuchins settled in Church Street soon after their residence near Saint Audeon’s Arch was suppressed.

'A Report of the Roman Catholic Chapels in Dublin' (1749) noted that the Church Street Chapel ‘was fitted up in the year 1720, for the use of the Capuchin friars (who in the reign of King James II lived at St. Audeon’s Arch) by Father Joseph Evers, Superior of the Order’. It was also claimed that this chapel was located in the house of a Mr. Clements. This reference to a Mr. Clements is of particular importance as it suggests that the chapel that existed in 1720 occupied the same site as the present-day Church of St. Mary of the Angels. In the lease of the site of St. Mary of the Angels made on 4 August 1826 by the Earl of Longford and Viscount de Vesci to Fr. Bonaventure Delaney OSFC (d. 1841), it is mentioned that the property being leased had formerly been in the possession of James Topham and later in the tenancy of Robert Clements ‘on which a Roman Catholic Chapel had been built’. (see CA CS/2/2/1/2). The chapel referred to in the lease is an older building as the present-day St. Mary of the Angels had not been built in 1826. The site of this original Capuchin chapel on Church Street was Roscommon House which stood on the street to the front of the modern-day church. This first chapel was extensively repaired in 1736 by Fr. Alexius Dowdall OSFC (d. 1738). It was described in 1749 ‘as small and neat and the altar decent. The altarpiece is a Crucifixion, though formerly it was a painting of our Saviour taken down from the Cross. … There is a gallery which serves as a choir with a vestry but no confessionals’. This original chapel was taken down in 1796 and a slightly larger one was built on the same site (see CA CS/7/1). In 1831 it was remarked that the ‘Church Street chapel is situated on the west side of the street and not far from St. Michan’s [Anglican] Church … the building itself offers no remarkable features. This structure was for a long period in a state of dilapidation until the manly eloquence of Rev. [Michael Bernard] Keogh [1788-1831], a friar of the Capuchin Order, influenced the wealthy part of his hearers … to contribute largely to the restoration of this edifice’. The fact that this chapel was extensively damaged by the Great Storm of January 1839 (also known as the ‘Night of the Big Wind’) may have given additional impetus to build a new church. At any rate, it was clear that the friars were finding their chapel inadequate and were considering building a larger church as well as a friary for the religious.

The foundation stone of the present-day St. Mary of the Angels was laid by Archbishop Paul Cullen in 1868. (see CA CS/7/2). The church was built in sections, the sanctuary being built first. A significant portion of the church was built by direct labour, without a contractor, but with a clerk of works supervising the tradesmen in carrying out the instructions of the architect, James Joseph McCarthy (1817-1882). A contracting firm was later employed to complete the undertaking. This, together with the lack of funds, probably explains why the construction work took so long. The façade was not completed until 1882. The church was solemnly dedicated by Cardinal Edward McCabe on 4 October 1882. While all this was in progress, more ground space became available which allowed for the building of a new friary at the rear of St. Mary of the Angels. Although plans for the friary were drawn up as early as 1875, the building was not finished until 1883. The Capuchin community subsequently left their residences on North King Street and moved to the purpose-built friary on Church Street where they have remained ever since.

Collection Content

The fonds consists of records relating to the Capuchin community in Dublin and in particular to the foundation known as St. Mary of the Angels situated on Church Street. The fonds includes legal records relating to the acquisition, transfer and disposal of church property (such as deeds of title, mortgages and bills of sale), financial records, and material relating to individual members of Capuchin communities in Dublin. The collection includes a large number of administrative and community files, financial statements and books of account relating to building construction and structural alterations, correspondence, plans, publicity material, photographs, and miscellaneous items of commemorative ephemera connected with Capuchin ministries and apostolates in Dublin. The collection also includes unpublished historical writings and biographical material relating to notable members of the Capuchin Order who ministered in Dublin. The fonds also includes records relating to the lay religious sodality known as the Third Order of St. Francis (now the Secular Franciscan Order) attached to the Capuchin church in the city.

Booking sheets for masses at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, and at St. Michan’s Church, Halston Street, Dublin. The sheets contain the names of individuals and intentions for whom the masses are booked and offered. Annotations refer to whether the individual (for whom the mass is offered) is living or deceased.

This section includes mainly administrative files relating to the ministries undertaken by the Capuchin community in Dublin. The series includes records of masses, internal community records and minute books, correspondence, schedules, and records of appointments and transfers to the Church Street Friary.

Diary of mass celebrants at St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, and at St. Michan’s Church, Halston Street. Entries are also made in relation to room engagements in the Friary, mass intentions, weddings and funerals.