Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- c.June 1947-June 1948 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
92 pp; 23 cm x 18 cm; Bound volume; Manuscript
Name of creator
Biographical history
Baptismal name: John O’Mahony
Religious name: Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 21 Jan. 1912
Place of birth: Farrankeal, Rathmore, County Cork (Diocese of Kerry)
Name of father: Michael O’Mahony
Name of mother: Nora O’Mahony (née Cahill)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1932
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1933
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1936
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 June 1940
Educational attainments: BA (1936)
Missionary activities: Travelled to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on 8 Apr. 1942. Regular Superior of the Livingstone Mission from 1950 to 1967. He returned to Ireland on 5 Oct. 1973.
Date of death: 25 Dec. 1988
Place of burial: Cemetery, Capuchin Friary, Rochestown, County Cork
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Scope and content
Scrapbook of Fr. Alfred O’Mahony OFM Cap. containing notes relating to his work as a missionary primarily in Northern Rhodesia. Fr. Alfred describes journeying to a village in Barotseland: ‘Enter a village – children run out of it to wave to us, the younger and more timid kids who have never seen a white [man] scuttle and bawl like stuck pigs – probably they have been told if they are naughty they will be handed over to “the big bad white man”’. The memoir contains notes re local customs, death and marriage rituals, village life, pastimes, sanitation, race, witchcraft and superstitions. Other headings include ‘meetings and oratory’, ‘progress towards civilisation’, dancing and ‘African Albinos – saw 2 only up to today, 10 June 1947’. Other sections include notes on the Union of South Africa, the Lozi language and the Bantu people of Northern Rhodesia. With a newspaper clipping of a photograph showing Sir John Waddington, Governor of Northern Rhodesia, and Imwiko, Paramount Chief of Barotse, on the occasion of the Governor’s farewell visit to Barotseland in 1947. Printed stamp on front cover reads: ‘Sancta Maria Catholic Mission. Fr. Alfred O’Mahony. 7th June 1947’.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The spine binding is ripped away, and the front cover is partially detached from the text block. Careful manual handling is required.