Showing 186 results

The subseries comprises a small collection of material relating to Roger Casement, a humanitarian, diplomat, and revolutionary. Born in Dublin on 1 September 1864, Casement was famous for his reports and activities highlighting human rights abuses in the Congo and Peru. He worked in Africa for commercial interests and later in the British diplomatic service. He was knighted in 1911 for his investigations into colonial atrocities. His consular investigation into crimes in the Congo eventually led him to adopt an Irish republican and radical separatist political outlook. After the outbreak of the First World War, he sought to obtain German military aid for a rebellion in Ireland against British rule. Casement believed that an Irish insurrection would be defeated unless it received substantial assistance from Germany, and when it became clear that adequate military help would not be forthcoming, he decided to travel to Ireland and try to prevent the planned rebellion from taking place. Shortly before the Easter Rising, he landed at Banna Strand in County Kerry. He was quickly arrested by the authorities. Stripped of his knighthood and other honours, he was subsequently convicted and hanged for treason in Pentonville Prison in London on 3 August 1916.

The subseries also includes some material relating to Robert Monteith (1879-1956), a former British army soldier and Irish nationalist. In late 1915 Monteith travelled to Berlin to assist Casement in recruiting an Irish brigade from among Irish prisoners-of-war held in Germany. He accompanied Casement to Ireland in April 1916. Monteith avoided capture and spent six months on the run including a period when he was hidden by Capuchin friars in Rochestown in County Cork. He subsequently escaped to the United States working in disguise as a sailor on a merchant vessel. Montieth returned to Ireland in May 1947. However, his residence in Ireland proved to be a short one. Monteith returned to the United States in 1953 and he died there on 18 February 1956. Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap., the editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’, was a close acquaintance of Monteith, and the friar seemingly compiled this material for several articles on Casement’s life and career which he published in the periodical.

The subseries comprises a small collection of papers relating to the Pearse family, most notably Patrick Pearse (1879-1916), a writer, educationalist, and revolutionary. The collection also includes material relating to Patrick’s father, James Pearse (1839-1900), an English stonemason and sculptor who came to Ireland in about 1860. Following the death of his first wife in 1876, James Pearse married Margaret Brady (1857-1932), a Dublin-born shop assistant. The couple had four children, Margaret Mary Pearse (born 1878), Patrick Pearse (born 1879), William Pearse (born 1881), and Mary Brigid Pearse (born 1884). The collection includes some papers compiled by Margaret Pearse (née Brady), later a prominent nationalist figure and Dáil deputy, and her eldest daughter Margaret Mary Pearse (1878-1968), a teacher and Fianna Fáil politician. There are also a small number of papers associated with William Pearse (1881-1916), the younger son in the Pearse family. Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap., the editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’, was a close acquaintance of Margaret Mary Pearse and corresponded with her frequently. Moynihan was seemingly gifted this small archive of family records by Margaret Mary Pearse, and the collection was later preserved among his personal papers.

....

Papers of Dom Bede Lebbe as Prior

Papers of Dom Idesbald Ryelandt as Prior

Files of Prior Gerard Francois

A collection of pamphlets and reports covering the national movement principally from c.1915-1921. The sub-series comprises printed ephemera such as fliers, handbills, and other publications.

The material relates to Fr. Richard Henebry’s career as a prominent Irish language academic and to the activities of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League) and general Irish language activism especially in Henebry’s native Waterford. His correspondence includes letters from leading contemporary Irish language scholars, linguists and celticists such as Whitley Stokes, Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (‘An Seabhac’), John Strachan, Heinrich Zimmer, Kuno Meyer, Eleanor Hull, and Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (‘Torna’). The collection also includes letters to Henebry from Roger Casement and Douglas Hyde. The collection also includes material relating to the posthumous publication of Henebry’s ‘A Handbook of Irish Music’, edited by Tadhg Ó Donnchadha, and published by University College Cork in 1928. Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. was interested in Henebry’s career and was involved in the posthumous promotion of his contribution to Irish language scholarship and traditional Irish music. The files include letters from several leading academic, cultural and political figures including Sir Bertram Windle, Carl Gilbert Hardebeck, Fr. Michael Sheehan, William Frederick Paul Stockley, Mac Giolla Bhríde (William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne), and Frank Ryan. Fr. Senan seemingly acquired most of this material for several articles on Henebry published in ‘The Father Mathew Record’. The material was later preserved among Moynihan’s personal collection of papers.

Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. served as chaplain to Terence MacSwiney and the Cork Brigade of the IRA. He ministered to the Lord Mayor of Cork during his imprisonment in Brixton Prison. The sub-series includes some correspondence associated with MacSwiney’s political career which may have been acquired by Fr. Dominic during the performance of his duties. Of particular interest is a collection of correspondence from notable figures in the republican administration including Richard Mulcahy, Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith and Seán T. O’Kelly.