Letter from the Most Rev. Abraham Brownrigg, Bishop of Ossory, to Fr. Peter Bowe OSFC, Provincial Minister, referring to an anonymous letter published in the 'Kilkenny Journal' appearing to advocate ‘the introduction of a Boys’ Brigade into Kilkenny to be worked by and under the supervision of your fathers in Walkin Street’. Brownrigg expresses his disapproval of such a proposal. With a letter from Fr. Jarlath Hynes OSFC assuring the Bishop that ‘our fathers in Kilkenny have no knowledge whatsoever of the anonymous letter … nor has there ever been any question or thought amongst us … of having anything to do with a Boys’ Brigade in your city’.
The Catholic Boys’ Brigade was founded by Fr. Benvenutus Guy OSFC (1860-1927), a Capuchin friar, in March 1894. Mainly composed of impoverished children from the Church Street area, the organisation was initially called St. Joseph’s Boys’ Brigade. The stated objects of the Brigade were ‘to crush vice and evil habits among boys, to instruct them thoroughly in the Christian doctrine … to give them habits of obedience, discipline, and self-respect and love for ecclesiastical authority and holy religion and to promote their moral, physical and temporal well-being’. The idea of forming a Brigade for the Catholic boys of Dublin sprung from the success achieved by the Protestant Boys’ Brigade. The first meeting hall of the Brigade was in a house in Smithfield which was rented at 5s per week. This meeting was held on 24 April 1894 with nine boys in attendance. The organisation grew rapidly. The Brigade Hall was soon relocated to a property (formerly a smelting foundry) at 156 Church Street which was purchased for the sum of £300. The organizing committee also succeeded in obtaining the use of an old vegetable market at the rear of the Hall which was used as a drill yard in 1895. The newly furnished hall and gallery could hold 1,500 attendees. A uniform was supplied to each enrolled boy consisting of a sash, a cap and a badge. An important aspect of the Brigade’s activities was physical exercise and participants routinely trained in ‘physical drilling, figure marching, squad and company drills’. A band was also established under the supervision of Fr. Sebastian O’Brien OSFC (1867-1931). A night-school for instructing illiterate young boys was founded in October 1899 and soon attracted thirty-five students. Religious instruction was supplied by the Capuchin friars. This was initially performed by Fr. Benvenutus Guy OSFC and later by Fr. Paul Neary OSFC (1857-1939). In 1904 the Church Street Capuchins transferred trusteeship of the properties owned by the Catholic Boys’ Brigade to lay stewardship.
Will of Elizabeth Roche of Ormonde Road, Kilkenny. She bequeathed to the Most Rev. Abraham Brownrigg, Bishop of Ossory ‘all monies in my name in government stock in trust … to pay the guardian of the Order of Franciscans in the City of Kilkenny ten pounds yearly for masses for the repose of my soul and those of the deceased members of my family to be celebrated in public in Ireland …’. The codicil is dated 26 Oct. 1904.
Lease by Thomas Murphy to Fr. Peter (Edward) Bowe OSFC, Fr. Fiacre (Bartholomew) Brophy and Fr. Nicholas (Maurice) Murphy OSFC, Church Street, Dublin, of a parcel of ground situated on the west side of Bow Street. In consideration of £540 and £110 and for the residue of the terms (two hundred years) specified in the original leases dating to 20 April 1842 and 11 May 1843.
Leather-backed notebook containing a list of names and rents paid. The first page refers to payments made in respect of ‘chapel rent’. The properties upon which rent was paid were in Beggars’ Bush, Sandymount, Irishtown, Rathgar, Terenure, Redmond’s Hill and Westland Row, Dublin.
An image showing the arrival of King Edward VII and his wife Queen Alexandra at Phoenix Park Racecourse in Dublin in April 1904. The British sovereign arrived in Ireland on 26 April for an eight-day visit during which he attended several events and ceremonies in Dublin, Kilkenny, and Waterford.
Correspondence (including draft replies) with the Capuchin Procurator General in Rome mainly re indulgences for the temperance campaign. The letters also refer to permissions to establish confraternities and total abstinence sodalities in Cork and in Dublin.
Letters, memoranda, and printed matter re Fr. Richard Henebry’s appointment to the chair of Irish at the Catholic University in Washington DC. The file includes letters from Fr. Thomas Joseph Shahan, University Rector, re Henebry’s appointment. Shahan wrote ‘The students of your courses are likely, both for Gaelic and Sanskrit, to be persons of considerable culture, graduates of colleges, or people of leisure from the city, which has a population of about ¼ million, mostly government officials and their families’ (21 May 1895). A letter from Fr. Thomas James Conaty, Rector, refers to Henebry’s ill-health (27 Aug. 1900) while a later letter (5 July 1901) informs him that his contract would not be renewed. The file also includes a typescript copy of a statement from Henebry to the board of trustees of the Catholic University stating his educational attainments and stating his case for reappointment to the Chair of Irish. With three copies of a printed leaflet titled ‘Facts for Brother Hibernians / Save the Gaelic Chair and the Honor of Ireland’ (1902).
Programme for the literary sessions organised by the Cork Young Men’s Society for November 1903 to April 1904. The speakers included Fr. Richard Henebry on ‘Irish Music’ (1 December 1903) and Fr. John Butler OSFC on ‘The work and homes of the early Irish Franciscans’ (23 February 1904).
