Draft recollections of deceased Irish Capuchin friars compiled by an unknown author (but certainly by another friar). The texts are titled ‘Some who have gone before’ and ‘Predecessors / A Capuchin Reverie’. The text includes personal recollections of: Fr. Leonard Brophy OFM Cap. (1869-1930) Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. (1877-1925) Fr. Matthew O’Connor OFM Cap. (d. 27 Apr. 1930) Br. Felix Harte OFM Cap. (d. 11 Jan. 1935) Fr. Fidelis Neary OFM Cap. (d. 22 June 1932) Fr. Sebastian O’Brien OFM Cap. (1867-1931) Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap. (d. 20 June 1939) The text also refers to several friars who have been given pseudonyms such as ‘Philemon’, ‘Junius’, and ‘Marcion’. The text includes references to Fr. Albert’s role in the 1916 Rising and in the later revolutionary period. It reads: ‘He felt, as few did, the piercing griefs of the young widows of Easter Week. Often would he visit them of an evening. … He made friends with the wistful little son and daughter who were orphaned by the bullets that took [Thomas] MacDonagh’s life away, and who were made motherless by the cruel waves that closed over the drowning body of the patriot’s bride [Muriel MacDonagh drowned in the sea off Skerries, County Dublin, on 9 July 1917]. For them he had a special corner in his affections. All his heart went out to that wee pair, so tragic, so utterly lonely’. The file also includes an attached clipping referring to the re-interment of the bodies of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. and Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. in Rochestown Capuchin Cemetery on 14 June 1958
Letter of Fr. Hilary McDonagh OFM Cap., Via Boncompagni, 71, Rome, to Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap., informing him that he has located a letter from the late Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap, in the archives of the General Capuchin Curia. Fr. Hilary writes: ‘I am informed that it is not usual nor advisable to allow such documents into any hands outside the Curia, so I fear it will not be possible to allow it to be used by any historian of the sad period about which it centres – at least for the present’. With cover.
Letter from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., St. Francis Hospital, Santa Barbara, California, to Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap., stating that he is ‘perfectly resigned to God’s will and wonderfully happy family’. An annotation on the top of page reads: Fr. Albert’s last letter to me. It was posted after his death. Fr. Paul’
Letter from Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap., Brussels, to Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap., St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, regarding information found in continental archives regarding the early Irish Capuchins particularly in respect of Fr. Francis Nugent OFM Cap. With cover.
Letters from Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. to Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap. reporting on his research on the early Irish Capuchins in continental archives including repositories in Troyes and Charleville, ‘home of the Irish Friars of former days’. Fr. Dominic affirms that ‘further communications would be safer if addressed to c/o Mr. Seán T. O Ceallaigh, Grand Hotel, Place de l’Opera, Paris’ (3 Dec. 1919).
The receipt reads: ‘Received from Fr. Paul [Neary] OSFC – a small sealed parcel – addressed to Mrs McBride – mother of the late Major McBride. Fred J. Allan, City Hall’. With cover
An image of a group of Capuchin Friars in the garden of St. Mary of the Angels, Capuchin Friary, Church Street, Dublin. One of the friars is identifiable. The friar (second on the left) is Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap. (1857-1939). An annotation on the cover gives the location of the photograph.
Photographic print of several friars (including Fr. Paul Neary OSFC) in the garden of the Church Street Friary. The image is also extant in the Glass Plate Negative and Lantern Slide collection (see CA PH/1/7).
Letters from Mrs Poer Shee [var. Power Shee], Kilmacthomas, County Waterford, to Fr. Paul Neary OSFC, Vicar Provincial, regarding negotiations for the handing over of the Archer Chalice to the Capuchins in Kilkenny. The chalice was originally presented by Walter Archer to the Chapel of the Blessed Mary in the Monastery of St. Francis in Kilkenny in 1606. Fr. Angelus Healy OSFC wrote to Fr. Paul explaining that Miss Poer Shee ‘will hand over the chalice to us in Kilkenny to be held until the Franciscans would get a foundation there, when she would wish it to go there (as being more in accordance with its origins) … . She gives the chalice quite freely and generously’. It is unclear from the correspondence if the agreement handing over the chalice to the Capuchins was ever fulfilled. With a sketch of the chalice. The file also includes a letter from [J.S. Gill], St. Mary’s, Lanark, Scotland, to Fr. Angelus regarding an ‘OFM Chalice’ with a Kilkenny connection dating to 1632 (the letter is dated 20 Feb. 1936), and a clipping from 'The Father Mathew Record', Vol. 39, No. 6 (June 1945) of an article titled ‘The Story of a Chalice’ by Colin Johnston Cobb. The said chalice is inscribed ‘CAPVCINORUM LOCI KILKENIAE’. See also CA KK/8/15.
Letters to Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC, Provincial Minister, and Fr. Paul Neary OSFC regarding parish missions and retreats. The letters refer to retreats in County Galway, Glenmore (Waterford), Castlebellingham (Louth) and Ballygawley (Tyrone).
