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Capuchin Archives, Ireland

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Capuchin Archives, Ireland

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.

01/09/2026

Manhattan Skyline, 1933

An evocative image of Lower Manhattan taken from a ferry or incoming ship in Upper New York Bay. The photograph dates to 1933. The image captures a panoramic maritime view of the New York City skyline, showcasing the height of the early 1930s Art Deco architectural boom. The newly completed Empire State Building (1931) alongside the sunburst spire of the Chrysler Building (1930) can be seen near the centre left.

Faintly visible on the horizon on the far right is one of the East River suspension crossings – most likely the Brooklyn Bridge or Manhattan Bridge – connecting Manhattan to the outer boroughs. The long, flat island in the centre-right is Governors Island. The low-lying structures stretching across the island are the historic military barracks and administrative facilities belonging to the United States Army base (Fort Jay) that occupied the island during the 1930s.

The photograph is taken from a collection of images assembled by Irish Capuchin missionary friars in the United States. (Identifier: https://catholicarchives.ie/index.php/new-york-city-skyline)

31/08/2026

The Promenade, Tramore, County Waterford

A vibrant postcard view of The Promenade (known locally as ‘The Prom’) in Tramore in County Waterford. The postcard dates to about 1955. Tramore derives its name from the Irish ‘Trá Mhór’ meaning ‘big beach’. Tramore was originally just a small fishing village until the opening of the Waterford and Tramore Railway line in 1853. This quickly transformed the quiet village into a popular Victorian holiday destination as thousands of visitors flocked to the coast.

To welcome the booming crowds of holidaymakers, Tramore’s coastline and streets underwent a radical structural makeover. The concrete Promenade seen in this image was erected in 1914, creating a structured public walkway that quickly filled up with grand hotels, public baths, and live entertainment. To this day, Tramore ranks as a premier resort destination in Ireland’s southeast region.

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

28/08/2026

Tinnahinch Castle, County Carlow, 1910

After publishing an image of Graiguenamanagh last week, several followers requested more vintage views of the locality. In response, we are sharing this rare 1910 photograph capturing an image of Tinnahinch Castle. This photograph was likely shot on the same 1910 day as two of our recent features: last week’s view of Graiguenamanagh Quay in County Kilkenny, and yesterday’s photograph of the Riordan family on the River Barrow towpath.

An annotation on the reverse of this particualar print reads ‘Castle Graig’. While the River Barrow separates County Kilkenny from County Carlow, the ruined castle stands on the Carlow side very near the bridge at Graiguenamanagh (or ‘Graig’). Locals seemimngly referred to this ruined fortification as the ‘Castle at Graig’ or ‘Graig Castle’.

Constructed around 1615 by James Butler, a relative of the Duke of Ormonde, Tinnahinch Castle was a three-storey fortified tower house strategically engineered to defend a vital crossing point and ford over the River Barrow. Its defensive architecture features a prominent projecting stair tower on its southwest corner and a nicely crafted overhanging bartizan turret to guard its gates against hostiles. Following James Butler’s alignment with the Irish Confederate forces during the wars of 1641, the family lost their claim to the estate and the castle changed hands. The fortress was completely gutted by a catastrophic fire around the year 1700. It was abandoned immediately afterward and has remained a ruin ever since.

The photograph forms part of the personal papers of Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap., an Irish Capuchin friar who had relations residing in County Kilkenny.

27/08/2026

A Riverwalk at Tinnahinch and Graiguenamanagh, 1910

A photograph showing members of the Riordan family enjoying a stroll along the banks of the River Barrow between Tinnahinch and Graiguenamanagh in 1910. The image was likely taken at Tinnahinch Lock on the River Barrow. Captured on the same day in 1910 as our previous feature of County Kilkenny's Graiguenamanagh Quay, this photograph revisits the same locality.

Taken along the River Barrow towpath, the photograph offers a nice glimpse into formal Edwardian attire. The women are seen in wide-brimmed picture hats and holding parasols to shield the sun, while the gentlemen sport classic period headwear – a woven straw boater hat on the left, and a traditional dark bowler hat on the right.

26/08/2026

RMS ‘Lapland’ Passenger List, 1919

Some pages from an official record of the transatlantic voyage of the White Star Line’s RMS ‘Lapland’ in November 1919. Among the travellers recorded in this booklet is Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap., an Irish Capuchin friar who used this specific crossing to begin his missionary service in California.

Originally built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast and launched in 1908 as the flagship for the Belgian Red Star Line, the ‘Lapland’ possessed a distinguished maritime history. Notably, in April 1912, the vessel was chartered by the White Star Line to repatriate the surviving crew members of the RMS ‘Titanic’ back to England. Following its service as a requisitioned troopship during the Great War, the ‘Lapland’ was leased back to the White Star Line to support post-war commercial routes.

Aside from the passenger rosters, the document also includes a promotional feature on the RMS ‘Olympic’, a near identical sistership to the ‘Titanic’, and (below) a postcard print of the ‘Lapland’ itself.

25/08/2026

A Snowy Morning in Smithfield, Dublin, 1991

This snowy snapshot of Smithfield from February 1991 encapsulates the radical transformation of Dublin’s streetscape over the ensuing decades. In the years since this photograph was taken a sweeping urban revival has completely altered Smithfield, elevating it from a largely derelict industrial quarter into a pedestrian-centred public square. Under a regeneration project initiated in the late 1990s, the open cobblestone street seen here was formally levelled, re-laid with granite paving blocks, and flanked by towering 26-meter gas-brazier lighting masts.

The historic 60-metre (175-foot) Jameson Distillery malthouse chimney on the right, originally built in 1895, was restored and topped with a glass-enclosed 360-degree viewing platform. On either side of the square, the low-rise warehouses, open yards, and older storefronts were cleared or heavily adapted to make way for contemporary mixed-use developments containing modern apartment blocks, shops, restaurants, along with cultural assets like the Light House Cinema.

The 1991 photograph is part of an album featuring contemporary views of Dublin, formerly held in the Capuchin Mission Office collection.

24/08/2026

St. Aloysius’ College Football Team, Glasgow, 1910

As the new soccer seasons kick off across both Scotland and England, it seems apt to share this image of the St. Aloysius’ College football team in Glasgow. The photograph dates to March 1910. Founded by the Jesuits in 1859 to educate the city’s expanding population of Irish Catholic immigrants, the school relocated to its permanent Garnethill campus in 1866. Its landmark main building was subsequently completed in 1883.

By the time this photograph was taken in March 1910 (inscribed as '5/3/10’), the school was rapidly expanding its enrolment and establishing a rigorous athletic tradition alongside its classical curriculum. While association football (soccer) was the dominant winter game among the boys during this Edwardian era, the school would later transition its primary sporting focus to rugby union.

The photograph shows the team in their dark, lace-up jerseys emblazoned with the school crest. The crest of St. Aloysius’ College features the Gonzaga Eagle and the Latin motto ‘Ad majora natus sum’ (‘I am born for greater things’), honouring the heritage and spiritual devotion of the Jesuit Saint Aloysius Gonzaga.

21/08/2026

Crossing the Atlantic at the Brink of War, September 1939

A significant collection of documents relating to the voyage of the T.S.S. ‘Vandyck’, a passenger liner operated by the Lamport & Holt Line, dated Friday, 1 September 1939 – the exact day the Second World War began with the German invasion of Poland. The collection includes a list of cabin passengers traveling from Liverpool to New York, a postcard image of the ship, an ominous ‘Important Notice’ enforcing strict blackout conditions to protect against German submarines, and (left) a formal letter of gratitude from the passengers to the captain and crew.

This gratitude letter, typed on ship stationery, thanks the ‘Vandyck’s’ crew for their vigilance while steering the ‘blacked-out’ ship safely through the night, noting that the threat became frighteningly real after they learned of the sinking of the nearby passenger liner S.S. ‘Athenia’ just days into their voyage. On 3 September 1939 (just hours after Britain declared war on Germany) the unarmed British passenger liner SS ‘Athenia’ was torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the Irish coast. 117 passengers and crew members perished as the first Allied maritime casualties of the Second World War. To show their appreciation, the passengers of the ‘Vandyck’ organized a collection fund to reward the crew members.

Following this tense transatlantic crossing, the ‘Vandyke’ transitioned entirely to military service when the British Admiralty requisitioned the ship as an Armed Vessel (HMS Vandyck). Her wartime service was tragically short-lived; on 10 June 1940, while operating during the Allied evacuation of Norway, she was heavily bombed by the German Airforce, caught fire, and sank. While seven crew members were killed, the surviving crew made it ashore only to spend the remainder of the war as prisoners of war.

These documents were preserved by Fr. Urban Riordan, an Irish Capuchin missionary who was a passenger on the ‘Vandyck’ during its perilous transatlantic crossing in the first week of September 1939. After arriving safely in New York on 11 September, he kept the collection as a vivid reminder of the immediate dangers faced by civilian travellers at the dawn of a global conflict.

20/08/2026

Graiguenamanagh Quay, County Kilkenny, 1910

An image of the quay at Graiguenamanagh in County Kilkenny in 1910. On the left stands a row of multi-story, stone-built houses and storefronts lining Quay Street. The architecture features classic nineteenth-century roughcast walls and distinct sash windows. On the right side of the dirt road sits a steam-powered traction engine. During this era, these heavy industrial vehicles were commonly used for road transport, hauling heavy timber, or powering threshing machines in agricultural communities.

The River Barrow flows immediately along the right edge of the photograph. During the early 1900s, Graiguenamanagh was as a highly active inland commercial hub. The quay served as a vital trading point where horse-drawn, timber-built ‘Barrow boats’ and steam-powered barges unloaded goods. The photograph was taken from the bridge over the River Barrow, connecting Graiguenamanagh on the County Kilkenny side with the village of Tinnahinch in County Carlow.

The photograph forms part of the personal papers of Fr. Urban Riordan OFM Cap., an Irish Capuchin friar who had relations residing in County Kilkenny.

19/08/2026

From Dartry to Nelson’s Pillar, Dublin Tram Ticket

An image of 1d (one penny) paper tram ticket issued by the Dublin United Tramways Company (DUTC) for its historical Dartry Line. The ticket likely dates to the 1920s. The DUTC dominated Dublin’s public transport infrastructure from its formation in 1881 until its integration into Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) in 1945. The text tracks specific geographic fare stages through South Dublin. It names historical landmarks and intersections such as Dartry Road, Portobello Bridge, Cowper Road, Hatch Street, Church Avenue, St. Stephen’s Green (at the corner of Dawson Street), and finally Nelson’s Pillar which served as the absolute central terminus for nearly all DUTC operations.

Dublin’s original electric tram network officially shut down on 9 July 1949 to make way for a modern fleet of double-decker buses, though the historic Dartry line had already made its final run a year earlier on 31 October 1948.

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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