The fonds consists of the correspondence and papers of Capuchin priests detailing their involvement with participants in the national struggle. The majority of the material dates from 1916-1925 and includes many records highlighting the role played by Irish Capuchins in ministering to Republican leaders and their relations. Of particular interest is a large collection of ‘prison letters’ including the correspondence of some of the leading figures of the Irish Revolution. The fonds also contains a large collection of Republican publicity material, newspapers and miscellaneous items of ephemera and artefacts mostly relating to the military and political campaign organised by nationalists for Irish independence. A smaller collection relating to the repatriation of the bodies of Fr. Albert Bibby and Fr. Dominic O’Connor from the United States to Ireland in 1958 is also extant.
At the end of 2014 the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) ran a competition to mark the Decade of Centenaries (1912-1922). This period marks a significant time in modern Irish history and provides an important juncture for both national reflection and commemoration. As champions of long-term digital preservation, the Decade of Centenaries Award was established by DRI in order to engage with custodians of valuable digital heritage material. Digital archivists from DRI provided best practice guidance and digital preservation services to the three winners – the National Irish Visual Arts Library, Dublin City Archives and the Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives, and specially selected material from each institution was prepared for ingestion and display in DRI’s repository. The award was funded by the Irish Research Council through their New Foundations Programme.
