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Born in Sheastown in County Kilkenny, Michael Butler entered the Capuchin novitiate on 25 September 1896 taking Casimir as his religious name. He was ordained a priest in September 1903 and was subsequently appointed to the teaching staff of the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork. In 1910 he was among the first Irish friars to undertake missionary work in the United States. His first appointment was in Hermiston in Oregon which was then a desolate railroad settlement. The task awaiting him was daunting as Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. noted: ‘whoever is appointed to Hermiston must be prepared for a lonely, self-sacrificing life’. The Servite Fathers who had arrived in Hermiston in early 1909, left the diocese in January 1910. Casimir began work immediately in Hermiston and completed a small church with a second-floor dwelling reached by an outside ladder. In 1912, with the assistance of Fr. Malachy Hynes OFM Cap., a new location was secured from the Maxwell Land and Irrigation Company. Fr. Brendan O’Callaghan OFM Cap. replaced Fr. Malachy in 1913 and Fr. Seraphin O’Reilly OFM Cap. arrived the following year. Together the friars built a new church which was consecrated on 24 October 1915. Before he left Hermiston, Casimir had built three mission churches including the Church of St. Patrick at Umatilla in Oregon. From Hermiston he went to the Old Mission Santa Inés in California where he and Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. took charge following the death of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. on 14 February 1925. In 1929 Casimir joined the newly established Irish Capuchin mission in Cape Town, South Africa. In January 1932 he was appointed the first Superior Regular of the Irish Capuchin mission in Africa. He also ministered for some years in the pioneering Capuchin mission in Barotseland in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Ill-health forced his return to Ireland from Africa in December 1946. He died in Dublin on 18 January 1958 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Michael Butler
Religious name: Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 12 Oct. 1876
Place of birth: Kilkenny, Diocese of Ossory
Name of father: Tobias Butler
Name of mother: Catherine Butler (née Murphy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 25 Sept. 1896
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1897
Date of solemn profession: 2 Aug. 1902
Date of ordination (as priest): 13 Sept. 1903
Educational attainments: BA (RUI), 1901
Missionary assignments: Travelled to Hermiston, Oregon in 1910; Travelled to South Africa in 1929; Returned to Ireland in December 1946
Leadership positions: Superior Regular Foreign Missions in Africa (1932)
Date of death: 18 Jan. 1958
Place of death: Church Street, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Francis Cantillon was born near the village of Glounthaune in County Cork on 20 June 1880. He attended the local diocesan seminary for several years, but after some discernment entered the Capuchin novitiate in September 1899. Having completed his philosophical and theological studies, he was ordained on 16 March 1907. In 1910 he was appointed guardian (local superior) of the Capuchin friary in Kilkenny. Following the completion of his term as guardian, he engaged in the ministry of preaching missions and retreats throughout Ireland. He was transferred to the United States in 1926 and took up residence in Mendocino County in California. Later that year he assisted Fr. Thomas Dowling OFM Cap. in ministering in Visitation Valley near San Francisco. This assignment was a temporary one as within a few months the Irish friars were given the administration of the new parish of Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame, California. They resided there in a small house on Cortez Avenue. In 1931 Fr. Berchmans was appointed Pastor of Our Lady of Angels parish in Ukiah, a position he filled until 1937 when he took up the position of pastor of the church of St. Francis of Assisi in Bend, Oregon. His health began to decline in subsequent years, and he retired from active ministry in 1940. He moved to Los Angeles and died there on 12 March 1942. He was laid to rest in the Capuchin plot in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Baptismal name: Francis Cantillon
Religious name: Fr. Berchmans Cantillon OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 20 June 1880
Place of birth: Rockfarm, Glounthaune, County Cork
Name of father: Denis Cantillon
Name of mother: Mary Ellen Cantillon (née Mahony)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 8 Sept. 1899
Date of first profession: 8 Sept. 1900
Date of final profession: 25 Sept. 1904
Date of ordination (as priest): 16 Mar. 1907
Educational attainments: BA (RUI)
Missionary assignments: Travelled to Los Angeles, California, in 1926
Date of Death: 12 March 1942
Place of death: Queen of Angels Hospital, Los Angeles, California, United States
Place of burial: Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, United States

James Killian was born in County Longford on 11 January 1872. He entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order and took Camillus as his religious name in 1893. He was ordained by Archbishop William Walsh in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, in February 1902. For several years he was on the teaching staff of Rochestown College in Cork (March 1902-September 1906). He later acted as a missioner in Church Street, Dublin (until 1907), and guardian (local superior) of the Capuchin Friary in Kilkenny (from 1907-1910). He travelled to the United States in late 1911 and was appointed pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Roseburg in Oregon in January 1912. During Fr. Killian’s pastorate a new stucco church was begun which was dedicated by the Most Reverend Alexander Christie (1848-1925), Archbishop of Oregon City, in 1916. Camillus was later transferred to Abbottstown in Pennsylvania where he assisted the friars in giving retreats and novenas. In 1917 he was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Angels parish in Hermiston, Oregon. He returned to Ireland in 1920 and ministered from the Capuchin Friary on Church Street in the capital. He was appointed spiritual director to the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis confraternity and later served as Provincial Definitor (Councillor) from 1931 to 1933. He died in a nursing home on Jervis Street in Dublin on 14 December 1941. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Baptismal name: James Killian
Religious name: Fr. Camillus Killian OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 11 Jan. 1872
Place of birth: Moher, Pollagh, County Longford (Diocese of Elphin)
Name of father: Laurence Killian
Name of mother: Sarah Killian (née Connolly)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Franciscan Order: 23 Mar. 1893
Date of first profession 24 April 1894
Date of final profession: 25 Dec. 1897
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 Feb. 1902
Educational Attainments: B.A. (Royal University of Ireland, Cork), 1901
Overseas Missions: Left Ireland for the Western American Capuchin Mission at Roseburg, Oregon, on 10 Dec. 1911. He arrived in Oregon in early 1912. He returned to Ireland in 1920.
Other appointments: Fr. Killian was Guardian (Superior) in the Capuchin Friary, Kilkenny from 1907-10. He served as Provincial Defintor (Councillor) from 1931-3.
Date of death: 14 Dec. 1941
Place of death: Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

James O’Sullivan was born in Cork on 2 April 1887. He was the only son of James and Mary O’Sullivan of Deane Street and later of Lower George’s Street in the city. His early education was with the Christian Brothers and at the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork. He entered the Capuchin novitiate in August 1902 and took Cyril as his religious name. Following a course in philosophy and theology, he was ordained on 29 May 1910. Shortly after his ordination he undertook a postgraduate course in the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium obtaining a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Philosophical Institute of Leo XIII. Returning to his native city, he completed a Master of Arts and was appointed a lecturer in philosophy (Mental and Moral Science) in University College Cork. He was instrumental in the opening of St. Bonaventure’s Capuchin Hostel in Cork and was appointed its first guardian (local superior) in 1919. An enthusiastic supporter of Gaelic games and a fluent Irish speaker, he was involved in the promotion of hurling in various schools and colleges in Cork. He died (following a brief illness) in Cork on 9 December 1921. He was buried in the cemetery attached to the Capuchin Friary in Rochestown in County Cork.

Baptismal name: James O’Sullivan
Religious name: Fr. Cyril O’Sullivan OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 2 Apr. 1887
Place of birth: 14 Deane Street, Cork
Name of father: James O’Sullivan
Name of mother: Mary O’Sullivan (née O’Brien)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 24 Aug. 1902
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1903
Date of final profession: 31 July 1908
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 May 1910
Educational attainments: BA (RUI), 1909; MA (RUI), 1915; Doctorate in Philosophy (Louvain)
Date of death: 9 Dec. 1921
Place of death: Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, Cork

Edward Bourke was born in Kilkenny city on 27 February 1890. He studied at the Seraphic College in Rochestown, County Cork, and joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in 1906 taking Canice as his religious name. He was ordained to the priesthood in August 1906. He earned a BA degree from University College Cork in 1911. He was appointed guardian (local superior) of Holy Trinity Friary in Cork in 1933. He also served as superior of St. Bonaventure’s Hostel in Cork in 1946 and was instrumental in establishing the Capuchin House of Studies in Raheny in Dublin in the late 1940s. He was elected Provincial Definitor (Councillor) on several occasions. He returned to his native Kilkenny in 1959. Fr. Canice spent much of his ministry giving missions and retreats and was well known for his effective and energetic preaching. For many years, he served as Commissary Provincial of the Third Order of St. Francis confraternity. A fluent Irish speaker, he was also the author of several devotional texts including ‘Mary / A study of the Mother of God’ (1936), ‘Humility / the foundation of spiritual life’ (1951), and ‘Mary’s Rosary / Its devout recital’ (1960). He died in Dublin on 2 October 1969 and was buried on the Feast of St. Francis (4 October) in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Baptismal name: Edward Bourke
Religious name: Fr. Canice Bourke OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 27 Feb. 1890
Place of birth: High Street, Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Name of father: James Walsh (Draper)
Name of mother: Catherine Walsh
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 26 Aug. 1906
Date of first profession: 17 Sept. 1907
Date of final profession: 21 Jan. 1912
Date of ordination (as priest): 5 July 1914
Educational attainments: BA (NUI), 1911
Leadership positions: Provincial Definitor: 1928-31, 1937-41, 1943-6, 1946-9, 1949-51, 1952-5; Custos General: 1940-3, 1955-8.
Date of death: 2 Oct. 1969
Place of death: St. Michael’s Hospital, Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin

Baptismal name: Joseph Jennings
Religious name: Fr. Bernard Jennings OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 21 Feb. 1850
Place of birth: Donoughmore, County Cork
Name of father: Joseph Jennings
Name of mother: Catherine Jennings (née Buckley)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 12 Nov. 1874
Date of first profession: 12 Nov. 1875
Date of final profession: 26 Nov. 1878
Date of ordination (as priest): 13 July 1879
Leadership positions: Fr. Bernard served as Guardian (local superior) of the Church Street community in Dublin from 1883-1886. He served as Provincial Minister (Superior) of the Irish Capuchins from 1895 to 1898.
Date of death: 26 Dec. 1904
Place of death: Private Hospital, 9 Lower Lesson Street, Dublin

Thomas Joyce was born near Urlingford in County Kilkenny on 15 June 1906. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in October 1926 and took Gerard his religious name. He enjoyed a brilliant academic career in Rome (gaining a Licentiate in Canon Law) and in Ireland (a Higher Diploma in Education from University College Cork). He was ordained to the priesthood at Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal in June 1933. In 1937 he travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) and ministered in the region around Sihole for seven years. He died of blackwater fever at the mission outpost of Kalabo on 12 July 1944 at the age of just thirty-five. Fr. Capistran Singleton OFM Cap., a fellow missionary friar, ministered to him in his final hours while Br. Alexius Paolucci OFM Cap. made his coffin with some wooden planks intended for the new church.

Baptismal name: Thomas Joyce
Religious name: Fr. Gerard Joyce OFM Cap.
Place of birth: The Islands, Urlingford, County Kilkenny (Diocese of Ossory)
Date of birth: 15 June 1906
Name of father: Patrick Joyce (Farmer)
Name of mother: Mary Joyce (née Hennessy)
Date of reception into Capuchin Order: 4 Oct. 1926
Date of first profession: 5 Oct. 1927
Date of final profession: 5 Oct. 1930
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1933
Educational attainments: BA (1930); LIC (Rome, 1933-6); returned from Rome in 1936 to prepare for missionary work in Africa
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), in 1937
Date of death: 12 July 1944
Place of death: Kalabo, Northern Rhodesia (died of Blackwater Fever). Fr. Capistran Singleton OFM Cap. was with him.

John Brendan Herlihy was born in the village of Knocknagree in County Cork on 11 March 1911. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in October 1928 and took Agathangelus as his religious name. He studied in Rome and was later ordained to the priesthood in Letterkenny, County Donegal, in June 1935. In the following year he volunteered for missionary work in Africa. He initially worked in the missionary territory in the Prefecture of Victoria Falls in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). In the 1940s he was appointed guardian (local superior) and parish priest of St. Mary of the Angels Friary in Athlone just outside Cape Town in South Africa. On 9 September 1958 he arrived in New Zealand and was appointed the first guardian of the community at 186 Glenmore Street in Northland, a suburb of Wellington. He was also the first Capuchin priest in St. Vincent de Paul Parish (now Otari Parish) in Northland-Kelburn in Wellington. He was diagnosed with cancer and died in Wellington on 5 June 1968. He was buried in Karori Cemetery, Wellington

Baptismal name: John Brendan Herlihy
Religious name: Fr. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 11 Mar. 1911
Place of birth: Knocknagree, Couny Cork (Diocese of Kerry)
Name of father: John Herlihy
Name of mother: Catherine Herlihy (née Sullivan)
Date of reception in the Capuchin Order: 5 Oct. 1928
Date of first profession: 6 Oct. 1929
Date of final profession: 6 Oct. 1932
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 June 1935 (St. Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny)
Educational attainments: 1st class hons., BA, 1931
Missionary activity: Travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), on 31 Oct. 1936; Travelled to Wellington, New Zealand, on 21 June 1958
Leadership positions: Appointed first discreet of the Victoria Falls Mission, Northern Rhodesia, on 28 March 1946; Appointed second discreet of the Livingstone Mission, Northern Rhodesia, on 24 Nov. 1950 (re-appointed on 6 June 1954).
Date of death: 5 June 1968
Place of death: Calvary Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand
Place of burial: Karori Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand

Timothy O’Shea was born near the village of Clondrohid in County Cork on 30 June 1902. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in Kilkenny in September 1920 and took Phelim as his religious name. After taking his usual course of studies in philosophy and theology he was ordained to the priesthood in Holy Trinity Church in Cork on 29 June 1928. He spent the first three years of his priestly life as a member of staff in Rochestown College in County Cork. In September 1931 he left Ireland to become one of the founders of the newly established mission in what was then Barotseland, a protectorate of the British colony of Northern Rhodesia (now the Western Province of Zambia). He was elected as one of the consultors (discreet) to the Regular Superior of the Mission in June 1935 and would hold this position until he was elected Regular Superior in 1946. From 1946 to 1950 he acted as guardian (local superior) and principal of teacher training at the Lukulu mission station in western Zambia. On 24 May 1950 the Holy See appointed him Vicar Apostolic of the Livingstone Vicariate and he was ordained Titular Bishop of Hierocaesarea in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, on 8 September 1950. On 25 April 1959 the Diocese of Livingstone was canonically established, and he became the Ordinary of the new diocese. He was awarded the Medal of Honour for services to the Zambian nation by President Kenneth Kaunda in 1970. To further the interests of the Zambiansation of the Catholic Church in the country, he resigned as Bishop of the Livingstone Diocese on 17 December 1974. Following a long period of illness, he died on 26 May 1979 and was buried in the cemetery attached to Sancta Maria Church in Lukulu, Zambia

Baptismal name: Timothy Peter Paul O’Shea
Religious name: Fr. Timothy Phelim O’Shea OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 30 June 1902
Place of birth: Curra, Clondrohid, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: Timothy
Name of mother: Abina O’Shea (née McSwiney)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 17 Sept. 1920
Date of first profession: 18 Sept. 1921
Date of final profession: 29 Dec. 1925
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1928
Educational attainments: BA, University College Cork (1924); Higher Diploma in Education, University College Cork (1928)
Missionary activities: Travelled to South Africa on 11 Sept. 1931, later to Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
Date of death: 26 May 1979
Place of death: Lukulu, Zambia
Place of burial: Cemetery, Sancta Maria, Lukulu, Zambia

Observations: He was noted for his numerous translations of religious texts primarily into the Lozi language spoken in Barotseland. His publications included: ‘Katekisema ni Litapelo za Bakreste’ translated from Sisuto and printed in Rome in 1937 by the Sodality of St Peter Claver; ‘Litapelo ni Lipina’ compiled with aid of Sisuto texts, printed in 1960 by the Sodality of St Peter Claver; ‘Katekisema’ by Bishop Timothy Phelim O’Shea, printed by Teresianum in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1967; ‘Linyalo’ (1963); ‘Evangeli ya Mulen’a luna Jesu Kriste’ (St. Mark) translated in 1948; ‘Likuta le li Katoliki ili Eklesia ya Niti’ (1963); ‘Nzila ya Sifapano’ (Stations of the Cross); in Siluvale language, ‘Vilombelo na Myaso’ (Prayers and Hymns) 1963; ‘Vihande vya Mazu a Kalunga’ (Bible Stories) 1969.

Baptismal name: Michael Anthony Gough
Religious name: Fr. Jarlath Gough OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 22 Mar. 1904
Place of birth: Rush, County Dublin
Name of father: Thomas Rush (Carpenter)
Name of mother: Alicia Rush (née O’Donohoe)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 18 Sept. 1921
Date of first profession: 15 Oct. 1922
Date of final profession: 29 Dec. 1925
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1929
Educational attainments: BA (1925)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the United States in 1929; Pastor at Our Lady of Angels Parish, Hermiston, Oregon, 1930-3; returned to Ireland in 1936; Travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) in 1936; returned to Ireland in 1957; Parish Priest on the island of St. Helena from 1957-64 while attached to the Cape Town mission in South Africa.
Date of death: 30 Nov. 1983
Place of death: Little Sisters of the Poor Nursing Home, Sybil Hill, Raheny, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin