John Hayden was born in Gowran, County Kilkenny, on 7 November 1870. His parents were William Hayden, a railway station master, and Mary Hayden (née Morrissey). On 8 December 1884, he was among the first five pupils to be admitted to the recently opened Seraphic School at Rochestown in County Cork. He took Augustine as his religious name upon entering the Capuchin Order in November 1885. Towards the end of his clerical studies his health deteriorated and he was forced to spend two years in Switzerland. He was ordained a priest in the Augustinian Church on Thomas Street in Dublin in November 1893. On 3 August 1896, Fr. Augustine was appointed rector of Rochestown College, replacing Fr. Francis Hayes OFM Cap. He held this position from 1896 to 1907. He later returned to Dublin and was guardian (local superior) of the Church Street Friary from 1913-6. He cultivated a strong interest in the Gaelic Revival and in particular preserving the Irish language. He was associated with Shán Ó Cuív (1875-1940) in establishing the Irish Language College at Ballingeary, County Cork in 1904, the first college of its kind. He was also a regular correspondent with Fr. Peadar Ua Laoghaire (1839-1920), a noted figure in Conradh na Gaelige, and for many years conducted missions in Gaeltacht areas of Counties Kerry and Donegal. In the immediate aftermath of the 1916 Rising, Fr. Augustine accompanied Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. in visiting Patrick Pearse and James Connolly. He was instrumental in securing the surrender of Thomas MacDonagh at the Jacob’s Factory and was present at Ėamonn Ceannt’s surrender at the South Dublin Union. He also ministered to Ceannt in the hours before his execution. Like the other Capuchin friars of the Dublin community, Fr. Augustine later committed his memories of Easter Week to writing (CA IR-1-4-1). In 1917, he was the celebrant at the wedding of Terence MacSwiney to Muriel Murphy and he was also the celebrant at the marriage of McSwiney’s daughter in Cork in 1940. He authored a number of devotional texts including 'Ireland’s Loyalty to the Mass' (1933) and 'Ireland’s Loyalty to Mary' (1952). Fr. Augustine died on 6 February 1954 in the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, and was laid to rest in the cemetery adjoining the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork.
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A small collection of the personal papers of Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. mainly relating to his involvement with republican combatants in the 1916 Rising.
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Statement by Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap., ‘Franciscan Monastery, Rochestown, County Cork, formerly of the Priory, Church Street, Dublin’, referring to the hostilities during Easter Week, 1916. The record (which is incomplete) is a copy of the statement made by Fr. Augustine to the Bureau of Military History (held in the Irish Military Archives). The statement concludes on Monday, 8 May 1916, before the executions of Michael Mallin, Seán Heuston, Con Colbert and Éamonn Ceannt.
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Newspaper cuttings book compiled and annotated by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. Printed stamp on inside front cover: ‘Franciscan Capuchin Library, Church Street, Dublin’. The pages have been numbered by Fr. Stanislaus. The cuttings includes (at pp 94-5) clippings of photographic prints of relating to the imprisonment of republican prisoners in Mountjoy Jail. One of the prints shows Fr. Augustine reciting the Rosary outside the Jail. 'Irish Independent', 15 Apr. 1920. Another print shows Fr. Augustine announcing the release of republican prisoners. 'Cork Examiner', 17 Apr. 1920.
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Letter from the Bureau of Military History to Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. thanking him for presenting the Bureau with the certain documents. Enclosed are copies of some of the documents which Fr. Augustine provided for the Bureau’s Archives:
Bill for £16 9s 0d from Hely’s Ltd., Dame Street, Dublin, addressed to the ‘Irish Volunteers per The O’Rahilly’, together with receipt attached dated 12/7/1916, made out in the name of Rev. Father Augustine, Church Street’;
Typed letter from Hely’s Ltd, to Father Augustine, Church Street, dated 12 July 1916;
Manuscript note in pencil, undated, bearing the signature ‘Ua Rathghaille, 40 Herbert Park’;
One envelope bearing an annotation in pencil: ‘Last letter of Ua Rathghaille’.
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Newspaper clipping from the 'Evening Echo', 11 May 1966, commemorating the links between the Capuchin College at Rochestown in County Cork and republican leaders. Includes a large portrait photograph of Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap., ‘one of the first five pupils with whom the college began in 1884 – [he] became rector in 1896 and held that position for almost fourteen years. He was fearless and inspiring in his priestly ministry to the fighting men in Dublin, Easter 1916’. Pasted onto black card.
Born in Dublin, Elizabeth O’Farrell (1884-1957) was a midwife at the National Maternity Hospital and a member of Cumann na mBan. She acted as a courier during the 1916 Rising and was one of just three women present in the GPO. She played a key role after the surrender when, accompanied by Fr. Columbus Murphy OFM Cap., she delivered messages to both Irish Volunteer leaders and the British military. Pearse was accompanied by O’Farrell when he surrendered to General Lowe. Though partly obscured by Pearse, she is present in an iconic photograph taken at the moment of the surrender but was removed from subsequent versions. Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. was instrumental in securing the surrender of the Irish Volunteers in Jacob’s Factory and in the South Dublin Union.
Published
A letter from Fr. Augustine Hayden OFM Cap. to Elizabeth O’Farrell recounting the events of the Easter Rising. The letter is dated 7 February 1953 and reads:
‘… I was very pleased to read your very accurate account of when and where you met Father Columbus [Murphy] at that time when I happened to be Guardian (superior) of our Friary at Church Street.
It will interest you to learn that actually I did not hear of the surrender at the GPO, nor at the Four Courts until the following (Sunday) morning at 6.55 when Fr. Columbus returned to the Friary and told me when I was waiting to say the 7 o’clock Mass.
For some reason or other the military concealed both surrenders from me though I had been speaking to them twice that afternoon and evening. I actually spoke to our grand boys from the street where North King Street crosses Church Street above the Father Mathew Hall where I had been all that afternoon. I actually got a truce until the following morning [between] the boys and the military each promising not to fire if the other did not fire. …’.