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Following the deaths in exile of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. (d. 1925) and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. (d. 1935), there were numerous calls to have their bodies returned to Ireland. Prominent republican supporters in the United States and Old IRA men in Ireland frequently petitioned ecclesiastical authorities to have the bodies of the ‘two patriot priests’ repatriated. These calls were initially rejected, and the outbreak of the Second World War prompted a postponement of the campaign. In 1954, a repatriation committee was set up by Cork No. 1 Brigade of the Old IRA to collect the funds necessary to defray the expenses involved in returning the remains to Ireland. Florence O’Donoghue, head of intelligence for the Cork Brigade during the War of Independence, was appointed Honorary Secretary. Cornelius Neenan was appointed the Committee’s representative in the United States. Aside from the financial difficulties, the Committee also had to contend with a certain reluctance on behalf of the church authorities in having the bodies of two priests moved in such an overtly public manner. The reburial was a departure from the normal rule of the Capuchin Franciscan Order. Also, as they were priests, a high religious content would have to be included in any civil ceremonies connected with the repatriation. Having at length gained the approval of both the state and the church, the repatriation took place in 1958. On 13 June, the priests’ remains arrived at Shannon Airport to be greeted by Seán T. O’Kelly, President, Ėamon de Valera, Taoiseach, Fr. Hilary McDonagh OFM Cap., Capuchin Vicar Provincial, and many representatives of the Old IRA. The funeral cortege then proceeded to Cork for a requiem mass in Holy Trinity Capuchin Church. Fr. Albert and Fr. Dominic were interred in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Capuchin Friary on 14 June 1958. The sub-series consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, printed ephemera and photographs connected with the reparation campaign and ceremony in 1958. The series also includes records relating to the unveiling of a memorial to the two priests on the grounds of the Capuchin Friary in Raheny, Dublin, by veterans of Fianna Éireann in 1959.

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’.

Expenditure and receipt book for Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. An annotation on the front cover reads ‘Day book’. The entries are recorded under date, details and totals of expenses and receipts. Most of the expenditure relates to services and utilities such as rent, electricity, salaries and repairs. The receipts record monies mostly accruing from the showing of films, the sales of tickets and badges, and the use of the Hall for cards and billiards games.

Programme for St. Mary’s Boys Concert Party, ‘controlled by the Catholic Seaman’s’ Institute’, to be held in Father Mathew Hall, under the direction of Aloysius J. Johnson. With a list of invitations to the said concert.

Correspondence of Kathleen Murray, Honorary Secretary, Father Mathew Feis, mainly regarding requests from teachers and schools for Feis syllabuses, queries from adjudicators and letters of thanks to various sponsors. Includes a five-page typescript of a talk by Maurice Jacobson titled ‘The adjudicator and the music festival’. Other correspondents include the President of Father Mathew Hall.

Attendance register of the brothers of the Third Order of St. Francis attached to the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny. The entries in the volume are listed under name with his record of attendance at the weekly meetings. Some of the entry pages are titled ‘novices’. Notes and endorsements relating to subscriptions and receptions are extant on the final pages of the volume.