Franciscans who served as chaplains to Republicans 1916-1922 were banished from Ireland.
Letter to Joseph Barrett from Remains Repatriation Committee, Cork. No. 1 Brigade.
This letter came from the home of Frank Butler, Station Road, Ennis. Frank was a rates and rent collector with Ennis UDC for forty years, and was retired only one yea...r before his sudden death in 1968. In his younger years he was active in the War of Independence and the Civil War when he served as Company Captain in the Mid-Clare Brigade of the Old IRA.
This is a copy of a letter originally sent to Joseph Barrett of Kilrush from F. O’Donoghue, Hon. Secretary of the Remains Repatriation Committee, Cork No. 1 Brigade. Dated 20 June 1958, the letter conveyed thanks from the committee to Joseph Barrett and others in the Mid-Clare Brigade , for co-operating with them in receiving the remains of Fr. Dominic O.F.M., Cap., and Fr. Albert O.F.M., Cap. at Shannon Airport.
Capuchin priests, Fr. Albert Bibby and Fr. Dominic O’Connor ministered to the 1916 leaders and later to various leaders in the struggle for freedom. Both were present in the Four Courts garrison in June 1922 when it was attacked by the Free State government under the order of Michael Collins.
Both Fr. Dominic and Fr. Albert were posted to the United States by the Capuchin Order in the early 1920s, presumably for the role they played on the Anti-Treaty side of the Civil War. Neither ever returned to Ireland.
A letter sent to the then president of Sinn Fein, Éamonn De Valera, in 1925, by Fr. Dominic describes how on a vacation to visit his old friend and colleague, he found Fr. Albert on his death-bed. He described his loneliness in exile, but his conviction in his previous association with the struggle for Irish freedom is apparent when he stated that it is “better to die in agony for freedom than live in luxurious slavery”.
Fr. Albert died in 1925 and was buried in Santa Inez, California. Fr. Dominic died ten years later in 1935 and was buried in Oregon. The remains of both men were brought back to Ireland in 1958 through the efforts of the Remains Repatriation Committee of the Cork No. 1 Brigade, Old I.R.A.
Their bodies were received at Shannon Airport where a crowd of thousands turned out to pay their respects to the two patriot priests. Among those present were the then Taoiseach, Eamonn de Valera, and Minister for Justice, Oscar Traynor, as well as representatives of the clergy, the Capuchin Order, the Irish Army, and Brigade units from throughout the country. A guard of honour was formed by Officers of the Mid-Clare Brigade of the Old I.R.A., under Commdt. Joseph Barrett, Kilrush.
Letter to Joseph Barrett from Remains Repatriation Committee, Cork. No. 1 Brigade.
This letter came from the home of Frank Butler, Station Road, Ennis. Frank was a rates and rent collector with Ennis UDC for forty years, and was retired only one yea...r before his sudden death in 1968. In his younger years he was active in the War of Independence and the Civil War when he served as Company Captain in the Mid-Clare Brigade of the Old IRA.
This is a copy of a letter originally sent to Joseph Barrett of Kilrush from F. O’Donoghue, Hon. Secretary of the Remains Repatriation Committee, Cork No. 1 Brigade. Dated 20 June 1958, the letter conveyed thanks from the committee to Joseph Barrett and others in the Mid-Clare Brigade , for co-operating with them in receiving the remains of Fr. Dominic O.F.M., Cap., and Fr. Albert O.F.M., Cap. at Shannon Airport.
Capuchin priests, Fr. Albert Bibby and Fr. Dominic O’Connor ministered to the 1916 leaders and later to various leaders in the struggle for freedom. Both were present in the Four Courts garrison in June 1922 when it was attacked by the Free State government under the order of Michael Collins.
Both Fr. Dominic and Fr. Albert were posted to the United States by the Capuchin Order in the early 1920s, presumably for the role they played on the Anti-Treaty side of the Civil War. Neither ever returned to Ireland.
A letter sent to the then president of Sinn Fein, Éamonn De Valera, in 1925, by Fr. Dominic describes how on a vacation to visit his old friend and colleague, he found Fr. Albert on his death-bed. He described his loneliness in exile, but his conviction in his previous association with the struggle for Irish freedom is apparent when he stated that it is “better to die in agony for freedom than live in luxurious slavery”.
Fr. Albert died in 1925 and was buried in Santa Inez, California. Fr. Dominic died ten years later in 1935 and was buried in Oregon. The remains of both men were brought back to Ireland in 1958 through the efforts of the Remains Repatriation Committee of the Cork No. 1 Brigade, Old I.R.A.
Their bodies were received at Shannon Airport where a crowd of thousands turned out to pay their respects to the two patriot priests. Among those present were the then Taoiseach, Eamonn de Valera, and Minister for Justice, Oscar Traynor, as well as representatives of the clergy, the Capuchin Order, the Irish Army, and Brigade units from throughout the country. A guard of honour was formed by Officers of the Mid-Clare Brigade of the Old I.R.A., under Commdt. Joseph Barrett, Kilrush.
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