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Capuchin Archives, Ireland

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Capuchin Archives, Ireland

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Provincial Archivist Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives

Address:
Capuchin Friary,
Church Street,
Dublin 7. The entire collection is currently being processed.

Telephone: +00353 (0)1 8730599 (ext. 25)

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.capuchinfranciscans.ie/

Enquiries to: Provincial Archivist

Access: 10.00-13.00, 14.00-17.00, Mon.-Fri., by advance appointment only. Major Collections

The archives contain the records of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Ireland from 1615 to circa 1980, with the bulk of the papers relating to individual Capuchin Franciscans, Capuchin administration in the Irish Province, sermon and retreat notes and various sodalities and tertiaries. The collection is divided into two sections – historical (pre-provincial) and contemporary (dating to the post-1885 period and the re-establishment of the Irish Capuchin Province). Principal collections include:

Records relating to Capuchin houses in the dioceses of Dublin, Cork, Ossory and Raphoe and to overseas missions undertaken by Irish Capuchins in New Zealand (Wellington and Auckland), Australia (New South Wales) and the United States (thirteen houses in California and one house in Oregon), and in Africa (fourteen houses in Zambia and one house in South Africa). Correspondence between the Minister General of the Order, congregations of the Roman Curia, the Holy See and the Irish Province
Provincial and General Chapter meetings. Novitiate registers and papers. Material on studies and formation. Records of sodalities including the Third Order of St. Francis; Total Abstinence Association; Guard of Honour of the Blessed Sacrament; Sacred Heart Sodality; Archconfraternity of St. Anthony of Padua; Confraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Personal papers and polemical writings of Fr. Arthur O’Leary, OFM Cap. and Fr. Theobald Mathew, OFM Cap., the ‘Apostle of Temperance’. Correspondence and papers of Fr. Albert Bibby, OFM Cap., Fr. Dominic O’Connor, OFM Cap., and other Capuchins involved in ministering to court-martialed insurgent leaders following the Easter Rising. This collection includes contemporary republican pamphlets, newspapers, handbills, photographs, correspondence and other documents relating to the War of Independence, the Treaty and the Civil War. Rare books (including incunabula) written by Capuchins or of interest to the Order, reference works, books by members of the Irish Province and publications by the Order in Ireland (including full series of The Father Mathew Record and The Capuchin Annual). Works of art (including original works by Richard King). Artefacts (including a large collection of printing blocks, framed historical banners and seventeenth- and eighteenth-century chalices and devotional objects). Maps and plans of properties held by the Capuchin Order in Ireland from the seventeenth century onwards. Photographic collections.

15/10/2026

Political Graffiti in Newport, County Mayo, 1935

A view of the town of Newport in County Mayo taken from a copy of Lynn C. Doyle’s ‘The Spirit of Ireland’ published in 1935. Notably, a wall in the centre of the image features prominent political graffiti reading ‘Vote Fine Gael’.

Established in the early eighteenth century by the locally influential Medlycott family, Newport developed into a major industrial hub when their agent, Captain Pratt, introduced linen manufacturing under the supervision of an immigrant community of Ulster Quakers – an industry that sustained the town until the mid-nineteenth century.

The photograph captures the Seven Arches Bridge, which originally served as a railway viaduct for the Achill branch of the Midland Great Western Railway, alongside St. Patrick’s Church. Commissioned in 1914 and completed in 1918, this Hiberno-Romanesque church was designed by the Dublin architect, academic, and journalist Rudolph Maximillian Butler (1872-1943). Notably, the church houses a Last Judgment stained-glass window, which represents one of the final designs completed by the celebrated Irish artist Harry Clarke (1889-1931) and distinctively incorporates his own self-portrait.

Lynn C. Doyle was a pseudonym used by Leslie Alexander Montgomery (1873-1961), a prominent Ulster author, playwright, and humourist. He published ‘The Spirit of Ireland’ in 1935 as a guidebook containing entertaining anecdotes and personal impressions of different parts of Ireland, including its geography, people, and culture.

The book forms part of a library collection assembled by the editors of ‘The Capuchin Annual’ (Record Identifier: https://catholicarchives.ie/index.php/the-spirit-of-ireland)

14/10/2026

Clondalkin Round Tower, County Dublin

A nineteenth century engraving of Clondalkin Round Tower by the artist W.F. Wakeman. It stands as one of four surviving round towers in County Dublin with the others located in Lusk, Swords, and Rathmichael. Believed to have been constructed around 790 AD using local limestone, historians regard the Clondalkin Tower as the oldest and most slender surviving round tower in Ireland. Measuring roughly 84 feet in height, this well-preserved ‘cloigtheach’ (bell house) showcases several unique structural elements – including a prominent, skirt-like masonry buttress base and an intact, original lower-angled conical cap, a rare survival compared to other contemporary towers across the country.

Historically tied to a religious house founded by Saint Crónán Mochua (c.570-630 AD), the settlement was plundered several times during raids conducted by Danish Vikings in the ninth and tenth centuries. In addition to enduring these ancient military raids, the tower also miraculously emerged unscathed from a cataclysmic 1787 gunpowder mill explosion at neighbouring Moyle Park that levelled many surrounding buildings. Clondalkin Round Tower is now a state-owned National Monument in the care of the Office of Public Works.

The illustration is taken from a bound volume containing clippings of articles and accounts of various Irish castles, abbeys, and topographical features. The volume was later acquired by the editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’. (Identifier: https://catholicarchives.ie/index.php/clondalkin-round-tower-county-dublin)

13/10/2026

Saint Fearghal

This striking, stained-glass style painting by Irish artist Richard King captures Saint Fearghal, an Irish priest and early astronomer. Fearghal, internationally known as Saint Virgilius of Salzburg, was born around 700 AD and is traditionally considered a descendant of the legendary Irish High King, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Although he departed Ireland around 742 with the intention of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he ultimately settled in continental Europe. There, his missionary work and profound learning led to his eventual appointment as the Bishop of Salzburg in Austria, where his legacy as a scholar and spiritual leader remains celebrated to this day.

King’s composition utilizes symbolic shorthand to honour the eight-century Irish monk. At his feet rests a physical sphere, a direct nod to Fearghal’s revolutionary medieval theory regarding a spherical Earth. He also holds aloft a blazing torch, representing the light of both truth and the Gospel he carried across Europe, balanced by his bishop’s crosier. Tucked into the corner, the Latin quote ‘Vir pietate et doctrina clarus’ translates to ‘A man famous for his piety and learning’.

Fearghal died on 27 November 784 and was buried at the Monastery of Saint Peter in Salzburg. When a catastrophic fire destroyed the original Salzburg Cathedral in 1181, his intact grave was discovered, sparking a resurgence in his local veneration and leading to his formal canonisation by Pope Gregory IX in 1233. Today, a monumental marble statue honours his memory outside the city’s historic, seventeenth-century cathedral.

Richard King’s original painting forms part of an artwork collection held in the Irish Capuchin Archives.

12/10/2026

A 1940s Waterfront Record of Dún Laoghaire

An image likely captured on the East Pier at Dún Laoghaire in County Dublin in the 1940s. The photograph is taken from the personal family album of Fr. Raymond Dillane OFM Cap. (1916-1999), a Capuchin priest and missionary friar. The woman pictured in the foreground is identified as Father Raymond’s sister.

In the background, the vessel docked in the harbour is possibly one of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) ‘Irish Mail’ boats, which operated the historically significant, high-volume cross-channel passenger route between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead in Wales.

09/10/2026

Biddy Early and the ‘Irish Witch’ Myth

An interesting nineteenth-century newspaper article titled ‘The Last of the Irish Witches’, detailing the life and practices of Biddy Early, remembered as one of the last of the traditional healers or ‘Bean Feasa’ (wise woman). Biddy Early (born Bridget Connors, c.1798-1874) spent most of her life in Feakle in County Clare practicing traditional herbal medicine, divination, and fortune-telling.

In his article, the writer, R. Burke, tries his best to dismiss Early’s remedies – like mixtures made from ditch water and vinegar – as ‘grotesque’ and ‘farcical’. Yet, he also admits that people from all walks of life, including the wealthy and well-educated, secretly flocked to her cabin in the dead of night. Defying intense opposition from both the church and the medical establishment, Early continued to operate as a clairvoyant and alternative healer for the rural populace. She was indicted on witchcraft charges in 1865, but she avoided conviction at a court in Ennis after many of the witnesses refused to cooperate with the prosecution.

Early lived a long and tumultuous life, outliving several husbands before passing away in poverty in April 1874. On her deathbed, she received the last rites from a local priest. She also requested that her legendary magic bottle be thrown into nearby Kilbarron Lake (now commonly called Biddy’s Lake) so its power could never be misused.

Frances Clarke provides a concise biographical entry on Biddy Early for the Dictionary of Irish Biography which can be read at https://www.dib.ie/biography/early-biddy-a2870

The article here is taken from a newspaper clipping volume acquired by the editors of ‘The Capuchin Annual’ (Identifier: https://catholicarchives.ie/index.php/the-last-of-the-irish-witches)

08/10/2026

Illuminated Address to Father Sylvester Mulligan, 1913

An illuminated address presented to Fr. Sylvester Mulligan upon his departure from the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork in August 1913. Commissioned by members of the local Temperance Hall (which is rendered in an architectural vignette on the left) the document employs a visual language rooted in early medieval Insular art styles, featuring elaborate borders densely woven with Celtic knotwork that seemingly take inspiration from the manuscript traditions of the Book of Kells.

The text itself warmly conveys the local community’s gratitude for Father Sylvester’s presence, stating that his ‘advice and wise counsel were never found wanting’. The priest’s departure was prompted by his appointment as the director of the Total Abstinence sodality and President of Father Mathew Hall in Dublin.

Concluding with a historical roster of local signatures, including John Hartnett, Hon. Secretary of the Rochestown Temperance Society, the address offers a nice archival window into the early career of a priest who would later serve as Provincial Superior of the Irish Capuchins and, ultimately, as a missionary friar, the Archbishop of Delhi and Simla in India.

The address was later framed and hung in Rochestown Capuchin Friary prior to its transfer to the Irish Capuchin Archives, where it now resides as part of an ephemera collection.

07/10/2026

Off to Schull, County Cork, 1939

This photograph, simply captioned on the reverse ‘Off to Schull, 1939’, captures a company of the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI) assembled for a summer excursion on the eve of the Second World War. Clad in traditional wide-brimmed campaign hats and holding canvas kit bags, the scouts are pictured en route to Schull, a scenic harbor village on West Cork’s Mizen Peninsula.

Founded in 1927 by brothers Fr. Tom and Fr. Ernest Farrell, the CBSI (Gasóga Caitliceacha na hÉireann) was established during the early years of the Irish Free State to provide a youth program rooted in a strong religious ethos and outdoor skill-building.

The CBSI grew rapidly to become Ireland’s largest scouting organization, eventually admitting girls and evolving over the decades until its 2004 merger with the multi-denominational Scout Association of Ireland to form the modern-day Scouting Ireland organisation. The photograph is taken from an image collection associated with the Capuchin Friary at Rochestown in County Cork.

06/10/2026

Picturing Pilgrimage: Croagh Patrick, County Mayo, 1950

This colour postcard, dating to approximately 1950, is titled ‘The Pilgrims Way to the Clouds, Croagh Patrick, Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland’. Overlooking Clew Bay in County Mayo, the 764-meter (2,507 feet) mountain is traditionally climbed by pilgrims on the last Sunday in July.

The name ‘Croagh Patrick’ derives from the Irish ‘Cruach Phádraig’ meaning the stack or peak of Pádraig. It has had a long association with Saint Patrick who has said to have spent forty days fasting on the summit. The mountain is locally known as the ‘the Reek’. The postcard forms part of an image collection assembled by the editors of ‘The Capuchin Annual’.

05/10/2026

Dublin Horse Show, August 1952

This stylish postcard features a reproduction of the 1952 Dublin Horse Show poster by the American-born equestrian illustrator Olive Whitmore, who designed iconic promotional art for the event across three decades. Established in 1864, the historic Royal Dublin Horse Show introduced pioneering ‘horse-leaping’ competitions in 1868 and moved to its permanent Ballsbridge home in 1881. It achieved global status in 1926 with the launch of international team showjumping for the coveted Aga Khan Challenge trophy.

Though details about the artist remain scarce, Olive Whitmore began designing minimalist equestrian artwork for the Dublin Horse Show as early as 1928, continuing her work until at least 1956. To refresh her designs for different years, she frequently repurposed a single illustration simply by altering its colour scheme. In fact, this exact global-themed image served as the face of the show across multiple years during the mid-twentieth century.

The postcard forms part of an ephemera collection assembled by the editors of ‘The Capuchin Annual’.

03/10/2026

A 1926 Irish Saint Francis Banner and the Eighth Centenary of the Transitus

Today (3 October) marks the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi who passed away on this day in 1226. While his official liturgical feast day is celebrated tomorrow on 4 October, Franciscan communities globally commemorate his passing tonight with a service known as the Transitus (Latin for ‘passage’ or ‘crossing’). It is appropriate, therefore, to share this image of a processional banner commissioned by the Irish Capuchin Franciscans exactly one century ago to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Saint Francis’s passing.

Carried to Italy on an official national pilgrimage led by the Irish Capuchin friars, the banner blends Franciscan theology with the aesthetics of the Gaelic Revival. At its centre stands Saint Francis clad in a traditional brown habit, displaying the stigmata and holding a Latin scroll inscribed with the blessing, ‘PAX HVIC DOMVI’ (Peace be to this house). The script framing the Saint’s head uses the abbreviated Latin ‘FR FRANCISCV’ (Friar Francis) while the Irish language text reads (above) ‘A NAOMH PRÓINSIAS’ (O Saint Francis) and (below) ‘GUIDH ORAINN AGUS AR ÉIRINN’ (Pray for us and for Ireland).

The banner is now preserved as part of an ephemera collection held in the Irish Capuchin Archives. Tonight at 7:30 pm, the Conventual Franciscan friars will celebrate the Transitus of St. Francis at the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fairview, Dublin.

Address

Church Street, Smithfield
Dublin

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+35318730599

Website

https://churcharchives.ie/capuchin/

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