Showing 186 results

The 'Irish Bulletin' was the official daily gazette of the government of the Irish Republic. The first edition of the 'Bulletin' appeared on 11 Nov. 1919 shortly after the suppression of the entire republican press. The purpose of the 'Bulletin' was succinctly stated in the edition of 11 Nov. 1920 (Vol. 6 No. 17). ‘When it became certain that the majority party in Ireland was not to be proclaimed “illegal” the "Bulletin" had of necessity to be published secretly. It was designed to circulate principally not in Ireland but among the publicists in England and on the Continent. At its inception less than fifty copies were printed. To-day it reaches almost every country in the world and is reprinted in four European languages. It is received by the press, public men, and the leading political and other organisations of many nations’. The 'Bulletin' was published daily but weekly editions containing summaries of ‘acts of aggression committed in Ireland by the military and police of the usurping English government’ were also routinely circulated. These weekly summaries were not assigned volume or issue numbers. Daily issues consisted mainly of sometimes detailed lists of raids by British security forces and the arrests of republican suspects. Extracts from foreign publications and sometimes sympathetic English sources were also published in the 'Bulletin'. Accounts of the activities of Dáil Courts were likewise included. It was produced by the republican publicity department during the War of Independence, and its offices were located at 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin. On 26 Mar. 1921, after sixteen months of publication, the offices of the 'Bulletin' were raided. Later, forged issues of the journal were produced with printing machinery and paper captured in the offices. These fabricated issues were sent to all the usual addresses on the list of recipients, a copy of which had also been seized. Issues of these forged 'Bulletins' were subsequently circulated for over a month. The paper’s first editor was Desmond Fitzgerald, until his arrest and replacement by Robert Erskine Childers. The collection includes a chronological record of peace overtures which would eventually lead to the Treaty negotiations. The issue of 7 Dec. 1921 (Vol. 6, No. 35) carried an ‘advance copy’ of the articles of agreement between Great Britain and Ireland, more commonly known as ‘The Treaty’. Many of the issues of the 'Irish Bulletin' are stamped ‘Official Copy’.

The subseries contains files relating to the commemoration of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC at the 1902 International Exhibition held in Fitzgerald Park in Cork city.

A collection of letters sent to Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. by republican internees and prisoners including Seán T. O’Kelly and W.T. Cosgrave.

The sub-series consists of records relating to Fr. Dominic O’Connor’s service as a military chaplain during the First World War.

This sub-series comprises correspondence with the widows of two executed leaders of the 1916 Rising, Lillie Connolly and Muriel MacDonagh

The sub-series comprises papers relating to the ministries performed by Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. to republicans detained after the 1916 Rising. The section includes authorisations from British armed forces allowing Fr. Albert to visit detainees and extracts from various prison letters.

On the evening of 2 September 1913 two overcrowded tenement buildings at 66 and 67 Church Street collapsed. The two buildings were situated opposite the Capuchin Friary on the street. Of those trapped in the buildings, seven died (including three children) and many others were left seriously injured. Over 100 people were left homeless and destitute. The tragedy, occurring at a time of heightened political and labour unrest, highlighted the dreadful conditions of many of the buildings in Dublin, both in terms of the physical fabric of the dwellings and the endemic overcrowding in inner city tenements. A report on the disaster was presented to the British Parliament in February 1914, but with the outbreak of war in the summer of that year housing conditions in Irish capital ceased to be a political priority.

The subseries comprises a small collection of papers relating to Fr. Michael P. O’Hickey (An tAthair Micheál P. Ó hIceadha), an Irish priest, academic, and Irish language campaigner.

O’Hickey was born in Carrickbeg near Carrick-on-Suir in County Waterford on 12 March 1861. Both his parents knew Irish as did most of the adult population of Carrickbeg, but by the time of his birth Irish was receding rapidly in his locality. However, the young O’Hickey did manage to acquire a certain knowledge of the language. He studied for the priesthood in St. John’s College in Waterford and was ordained in 1884. He ministered on the Scottish mission until 1893. On his return to Ireland, he became an active member and vice president of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League) and studied under the well-known Irish scholar Seán Pléimeann (1814-1897). O’Hickey also became a member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1896 he was appointed Professor of Irish in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth. O’Hickey was convinced that it was possible to revive the use of Irish as a widely spoken language. However, after several clashes with the Catholic hierarchy and the Maynooth College authorities, he was dismissed in 1909 from his position as Professor of Irish, for his conduct in a controversy about making Irish compulsory for matriculation in the newly founded National University of Ireland (NUI). He publicly and repeatedly implied that episcopal members of the senate of the NUI who opposed making Irish compulsory for matriculation were traitors to Ireland and personally corrupt. He received support from several prominent Irish nationalists (including Eoin MacNeill and Patrick Pearse), Irish language activists, and some of his colleagues including Maynooth’s Theology Professor, Fr. Walter McDonald. He appealed his dismissal to the Vatican, but his case was ultimately rejected. O’Hickey subsequently returned to Waterford, and he died in Portlaw on 19 November 1916. He was buried in a family plot in Carrickbeg.

The material listed here was assembled by Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap., the editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’, and includes a bound volume containing several of O’Hickey’s pamphlets on Irish education published by the Gaelic League. A subscription list for a testimonial established by O’Hickey’s friends and supporters following his dismissal from his position in Maynooth is also extant.

The sub-series contains large-format schedules for missions and retreats given by the Capuchin friars.