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This collection contains material relating to the Vincentian community in the Parish of Our Lady’s Queen of the Universe, Hereford, United Kingdom. Items include: correspondence, Visitation Reports, House Council Minutes, Architects Reports, newspaper cuttings, printed articles, photographs.

Various histories of the Order both nationally and internationally.

Letters to and from Mother Mary Martin. They are from the early days of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, and thus are mostly concerned with matters pertaining to the foundation of the order.

The Capuchin Franciscans have worked in Ireland since the seventeenth century. From the middle of the nineteenth century the Irish Capuchins manifested a missionary zeal which took them from home to the furthest corners of the globe. Irish friars have undertaken overseas missions in the United States, Africa, New Zealand, and South Korea. Well over one hundred Irish Capuchins have ministered in Africa since the first friar arrived in South Africa in 1929, and in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) in 1931.

South Africa

In 1927 the Vicar Apostolic of Cape Province in South Africa, the Most Rev. Bernard O’Riley (1868-1956), invited the Irish Capuchins to open a mission. The friars responded positively to this request and in 1929 Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. (1876-1958), Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap. (1902-1957) and Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. (1901-1979) began missionary work in the Cape Flats on the outskirts of Cape Town. From the outset, the friars ministered among the marginalized black and ‘coloured’ (or mixed-race) populations of the area. Two foundational parishes were initially assigned to the Capuchins at Athlone (St. Mary of the Angels) and at Parow (Immaculate Conception). Parow is located eleven miles from the centre of Cape Town. The parish included the townships of Elsies River and Vasco located in the greater Cape Town municipality. The racial composition of Parow was mixed with both white and ‘coloured’ inhabitants. Athlone is located six miles from Parow and about twelve miles from Cape Town and has a predominately mixed-race population. In 1935 the Athlone foundation expanded to incorporate ministries at other locations including Langa and the Welcome Estate. Additional ministries were commenced in Matroosfontein (1933), Tiger Valley (1951), Belgravia (1954), Bridgetown (1967) and Elsies River (1979). All these parishes are situated in the Archdiocese of Cape Town. Within five years of arriving in South Africa, the Capuchins had built churches at Athlone and at Parow. Presbyteries, schools, and training colleges followed.

Of necessity, the Capuchins in Cape Town worked chiefly as parish priests offering public masses, attending sick calls, and promoting the cause of temperance. Other duties included evangelisation, organising lay religious sodalities, ministry to coverts, pre-nuptial courses, retreats, prison ministry, and promoting vocations and formation work for new friars. Despite the violent political unrest provoked by the system of racial discrimination known as apartheid, the Irish friars continued to labour among the poorest and most segregated in South African society. The work of the Capuchins with the ‘coloured’ population of Cape Flats and in the townships continued despite the frequent and fierce repression of the white minority government. In the seven parishes served by the Capuchins in South Africa in the 1980s, five were in the so-called ‘coloured’ areas, one in the African area, and one which straddled a racially mixed district. Education was a key element of missionary work within the Capuchin parishes and schools were established with the assistance of the Holy Cross Sisters, the Christian Brothers, and other religious congregations. The Capuchin Custody of South Africa remains under the jurisdiction of the Irish Capuchin Province and Irish friars continue to work in a variety of religious and social ministries in the country alongside missionary friars from Tanzania and India.

Zambia

In 1930 another field of missionary activity was offered to the Irish Capuchins. They were invited into vast area of 168,000 km2, comprising the Livingstone district and Barotseland, the western province of what was then called Northern Rhodesia (now the Republic of Zambia). Before 1931 there was no resident priest in the whole area from Livingstone to the Angolan border in the north. Prior to the arrival of the Irish Capuchins in 1931, the Barotseland mission was nominally under the control of the Prefect Apostolic of Broken Hill (now Kabwe), a town nearly four hundred miles north of Livingstone. The territory was effectively virgin-soil for Catholic missionary work. The only previous attempt at evangelization in Barotseland was unsuccessful. In 1881, the Jesuits had entered the territory and received permission from the local Paramount Chief but the presence of the Protestant missionary association, the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society ('Société des missions évangéliques de Paris'), disrupted their work in the district.

In 1931 three Irish Capuchins arrived in Livingstone with the intention of opening a new mission. Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. set about constructing a friary in Livingstone. Fr. Declan McFadden OFM Cap. and Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. (1905-1972) arrived in October 1931, with Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. (1902-1979) and Fr. Seraphin Nesdale OFM Cap. coming in February 1932. Soon afterwards, the Capuchins began exploring the interior of Barotseland establishing a centre at Loanja, about one hundred and fifty kilometres north of Livingstone. The missionaries encountered many difficulties. There were no roads, and the friars travelled on foot or in canoes and on barges on the Zambezi River. Lions, leopards, and crocodiles posed some threat but more harmful to health were the smaller creatures such as tsetse flies and mosquitoes which carried a significant risk of malaria and other diseases. The friars also had to acquire knowledge of the local language of Lozi. Within two months of arriving at Loanja in 1932, the friars had built houses for themselves and their workers as well as a church and a school. These were simple structures with the walls supported by poles set into the ground interwoven with wattles and plastered with mud. The roofs were thatched. However, Loanja proved to be less than an ideal location as it was situated in a desert area and with a widely dispersed and small population. In 1936 the friars moved to Sichili. In the meantime, the friars worked diligently on acquiring an understanding of the local language and customs. The catechism was translated and printed in 1933 and this was followed by a translation of the New Testament. The influence of the Protestant missionary groups in the area continued to be a serious impediment as they laid to claim to vast swathes of the territory as their ‘sphere of influence’ to the definite exclusion of Catholic missionaries. Despite these difficulties, the Irish friars succeeded in opening a new mission station at Lukulu in December 1935.

In May 1936 Fr. Killian Flynn OFM Cap. was appointed the first Prefect Apostolic of Victoria Falls. Under his guidance, the provision of education and medical services became spearheads of mission development as new stations were opened at Mankoya (1938), Sihole (1943) and Katima Mulilo (1944) located in the Caprivi Strip in what was then South West Africa (now Namibia), and later at Malengwa (1947). A total of twenty-one Capuchin missions were established throughout Barotseland. Each friary, besides being a residence for the missionaries, acted as a base for outreach for evangelization and development in the surrounding districts. In March 1950 the Prefecture was raised to be the Vicariate Apostolic of Livingstone with Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. consecrated as Vicar Apostolic in September 1950. In August 1959 the mission territory of the Vicariate of Livingstone was erected into the Diocese of Livingstone and the Most Rev. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap. was installed as Bishop. He remained Bishop of Livingstone until the nomination of Monsignor Adrian Mung’andu (c.1920-2007) in 1974.

Additional mission stations were opened throughout the 1960s. Churches were built in each Boma or administrative centre, in Nalionwa (1960), Senanga (1966), Mongu (1966), Sesheke (1967) and at St. Conrad’s Friary in the capital, Lusaka. At this time the decolonization of Africa was continuing apace, and Zambia achieved independence from British rule in October 1964. Support for the Irish missionaries came in 1965 with the arrival of American friars from the New Jersey Capuchin Province. They were allocated the northern section of the Livingstone Diocese and they opened a new mission station at Kambompo (1966). This built upon the work of other religious congregations primarily in the fields of education and health care. The Holy Cross Sisters had worked in the country since 1936. This congregation was founded by a Swiss Capuchin priest, and the sisters devoted themselves to teaching and to the care of the sick (especially leprosy victims). An orphanage was opened in Sichili and later the sisters established secondary schools in Lukulu and in Malengwa. An emphasis was placed on the education of women and a female teacher-training college was also opened by the Holy Cross Sisters. The Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood arrived in 1946 and established a hospital in Kasaba. From the late 1940s, they worked alongside the Irish friars in running hospitals in Mangango, Sesheke and Chinyingi. In 1967 the Irish Christian Brothers took over the running of secondary schools in Katongo and in Livingstone. Many lay people (from Ireland and elsewhere) came to Zambia to work as teachers, nurses, doctors and development workers at the Capuchin mission stations.

The rapid progress in the building of schools, hospitals and health-care centres in these years was remarkable, since the colonial government had made little or no provision for such services. These developments were largely due to the generous financial support offered by the Capuchins in Europe and in North America and through public fund-raising efforts of Capuchin mission offices and lay associations. In 1974, a total of two hundred and twenty primary schools were handed over by the Diocese of Livingstone to the government, which hereafter had responsibility for their administration. The provision of assistance to Angolan refugees became a major focus of the work of the Irish Capuchins in Zambia in the 1980s. Fr. Benignus Buckley OFM Cap. was the principal co-ordinator at the Sioma mission dealing with the huge numbers of refugees fleeing the civil war in Angola who were accommodated in various camps in Namibia and in Zambia. While there was an emphasis on education and health care services in the Zambian mission, the friars also strove to promote their own Capuchin way-of-life. A major weakness was identified in the lack of local vocations. Ad-hoc efforts were made to promote vocations and develop a novitiate programme before the establishment in 1983 of the Franciscan House of Studies just outside Lusaka to provide training for men aspiring to become friars. In 1992 the Franciscan House of Studies became St. Bonaventure’s College, a formation centre for the Franciscan Orders. In July 2007 a dedicated Capuchin novitiate was opened at Camerino near Lusaka.

Over one hundred Irish friars and nearly twenty American Capuchins have ministered in Zambia since the start of missionary work in the country. The numbers peaked in the late 1960s when there were sixty-two missionary friars in the country. Today, in the territory originally assigned to the Irish Capuchins, eighteen different religious congregations have a presence. There are approximately thirty-one parishes with various apostolic groups responding to the many spiritual and social needs of the local populace. Working alongside members of other religious congregations and lay professionals, the friars have had an immeasurable impact on the lives of many impoverished Zambians. The Capuchin Custody of Zambia remains under the jurisdiction of the Irish Capuchin Province. Irish friars are still working and ministering in Zambian continuing an unbroken ninety-year record of service on the continent.

Collection Content

The African mission collection in the Irish Capuchin Archives includes correspondence, visitation records, financial reports, diaries and journals, oral histories, publications, newspaper clippings and photographs (in albums, loose files and born-digital format) relating to the many years of Irish Capuchin missionary activity on the African continent. The collection comprises material sent back to the Irish Province and to the Capuchin Foreign Mission Office by Irish Capuchins in Africa from the 1930s onward. The papers chronicle the life and work of the Irish Capuchins since their arrival in South Africa in 1929 and in what was then known as Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) in 1931. The files of correspondence between the missionary friars and their Provincial Ministers in Ireland illustrate the areas or spheres in which they laboured: parish work, education, health-care, social development and evangelization. Geographically, this work took place primarily in Cape Town, South Africa, and in Barotseland, later the western province of Zambia. The records reflect the impact of the Irish Capuchin missionary presence particularly in the building and management of parishes, and in the fields of education, health-care provision, and socio-economic development.

The fonds consists of the correspondence and papers of Capuchin friars detailing their involvement with participants in the national struggle. The majority of the material dates from 1916-1925 and includes many records highlighting the roles played by Irish Capuchins in ministering to republican leaders and their relations. Of particular interest is a large collection of prison letters including the correspondence of some of the leading figures of the Irish Revolution. The fonds also contains a large collection of republican publicity material, newspapers and miscellaneous items of ephemera and artefacts mostly relating to the military and political campaign organised by nationalists for Irish independence. A smaller collection relating to the repatriation of the bodies of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. from the United States to Ireland in 1958 is also extant.

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.

The collection comprises over 300 original glass plate negatives and lantern slides. Prior to the invention of cellulose nitrate film in 1903, photographic emulsions were made on glass supports. These glass supports are typically referred to as glass plate negatives. The term ‘glass plate negative’ refers to two separate formats: the collodion wet plate negative and the gelatin dry plate. Both formats consist of a light sensitive emulsion that is fixed to the glass plate base with a binder. This form of photographic process largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the twentieth century, as more convenient and less fragile films were introduced. Despite the impracticalities of the medium, glass negative plates were generally considered superior to cellulose nitrate film for high-quality imaging because they were extremely stable and less likely to bend or distort.

The collection also includes several lantern slides. Lantern slides were constructed from a base piece of glass, with the emulsion (carrying the photo or print) on it, then a matte over that, and then a top piece of cover glass. They were then taped all the way around to keep the pieces together and to keep dust out. Occasionally, colour was added by hand, tinting the images (these lantern slides were created before the invention of colour film). The slides were then projected onto a screen using a bespoke lantern slide projector. Lantern glass slides were used by some public speakers until the mid-twentieth century, when they were eclipsed by more economical and practical 35mm colour slides popularised by Kodachrome. Finally, the collection also includes some original glass stereo plates. Stereo cameras used a single glass plate negative to capture images. Prints from these negatives were intended to be looked at with a special viewer called a stereoscope, which created a rudimentary three-dimensional image.

Provenance and Collection Content

Precise information on the provenance of the collection is lacking. The plates were retrieved from a worn leather suitcase bearing the initials ‘F.A.’ which almost certainly refers to Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. (1875-1953). Although Fr. Angelus never considered himself an academic historian, he researched assiduously and transcribed many original documents relating to the history of the Irish Capuchins. His ‘Pages from the Story of the Irish Capuchins’ was published in 1915 to mark the tercentenary of the arrival of the first Capuchin friar in Ireland. It is highly likely that Fr. Angelus was responsible for assembling this glass plate photographic collection and that many of the lantern slides were created specifically for his use.

The image content of the glass plate collection is eclectic and varied. Only a relatively small number of the images are dated but it can be inferred that most of the photographs date to the first or second decade of the twentieth century. Many of the plates show images of scenes around the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork. The Capuchins established a community in Rochestown, situated about five miles from Cork city, in 1873. The Irish friars had founded a Seraphic School in 1884 with the primary aim of training young religious. This school originally operated along the lines of a novitiate for students who aspired to join the Capuchin Franciscan Order. In 1887, this school was transferred from Kilkenny to Rochestown. The collection includes many images of novice friars and students attached to the Rochestown house. In addition to photographs of the friary itself, local landmarks, buildings, and scenic locations in the environs of Rochestown feature prominently in some of the images. Several photographs showing other Irish Capuchin houses and foundations such as the Church of St. Francis in Kilkenny are also extant in the collection. The collection also includes some rare images of the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to the summit of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo (CA-PH-1-49-55). The 764-metre-high mountain is traditionally climbed by pilgrims on the last Sunday in July. These images were likely assembled by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap., who was known as the ‘Guardian of the Reek’ in honour of his long association with the pilgrimage. His association with Croagh Patrick lasted from 1906 to 1949, during which he climbed the mountain forty-two times missing only two years, in 1919 due to a railway strike, and in 1922 due to the Civil War.

A seemingly separate series of lantern slides relating to the life and career of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (1790-1856), a famed nineteenth century temperance campaigner and Capuchin friar, were also deposited in the collection. It is very probable that these slides were used as illustrative aids by the Capuchins for public talks and auditorium lectures on Fr. Mathew’s campaign against intoxicating liquor. Temperance activity was revived in 1905 when the Irish Catholic hierarchy invited the Capuchins to preach a National Crusade. This revival initially elicited widespread public enthusiasm and by 1912 the Capuchins had administered over a million pledges throughout the country. The lanterns slides were, in all probability, used in this campaign. Finally, the collection also includes images of seventeenth century manuscripts and photographs of other original records pertaining to the lives and ministries of several early Irish Capuchins. These were probably acquired by Fr. Angelus Healy OFM Cap. and Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965), another prominent Irish Capuchin historian, for research purposes.

This collection contains material relating to the Vincentian community in the Parish of St Mary’s, Lanark, Scotland. Items include: Correspondence (1855-2006), Photographs (1950-1978), Copy Deeds (1870), Lanark Teinds (1883-1907), Visitation Reports (1976 & 1980), Annual Return of Income & Expenditure (1963, 1993 & 1998), Minutes (1888, 1963 & 1980), Inventory of Property (1961), Architects Drawings (1977), Publications (1910, 1959 & 1990), Statements of Accounts (1925-1990), Receipts & Vouchers (1868-1954) Ordnance Survey Map (1947). Also includes material relating to St Mary’s Hospital, Lanark and St Mary’s Orphanage at Smyllum.