Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1990 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
40 pp; Newspaper clipping, printed and typescript
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henry Shaw was born in Dungarvan in County Waterford on 18 May 1915. He joined the Capuchin Order in November 1933 and took Nessan as his religious name. He was ordained a priest on 29 June 1943. As a postgraduate student in University College Cork, he completed a thesis titled ‘The Life and Times of Fr. Theobald Mathew’ for an MA degree in 1939. He retained a life-long interest in the subject and accumulated many documentary sources, publications and notes pertaining to Fr. Mathew and his nineteenth-century campaign against intemperance. Most of his priestly ministry was spent in County Cork and he was a teacher for many years in the Seraphic College in Rochestown. For a brief period in the 1940s he worked as a missionary in Aden which was, as part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, under the care of the Capuchin friars. On his return to Ireland, Fr. Nessan resumed his priestly duties in Cork. As an avid supporter of Gaelic games, he held several senior administrative positions with various clubs associated with ‘Cumann Lúthchleas Gael’ in Cork. Fr. Nessan edited a collection of essays on the history of the Irish Capuchins in the twentieth century (titled ‘The Irish Capuchins / Record of a Century’) which was published in 1985. The last sixteen years of his life were spent as parish priest in Gurranabraher, a residential suburb on the north-western side of Cork city. He died on 13 July 1997 and was buried in the cemetery attached to Rochestown Capuchin Friary in County Cork.
Baptismal name: Henry Shaw
Religious name: Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 18 May 1915
Place of birth: Dungarvan, County Waterford
Name of father: Herbert Shaw (Baker)
Name of mother: Mary Anne Shaw (née Curran)
Date of parents’ marriage: 16 Oct. 1913
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 7 Nov. 1933
Date of first profession: 8 Nov. 1934
Date of solemn profession: 8 Nov. 1937
Date of ordination (as priest): 29 June 1943
Educational attainments: BA, 1937; MA, 2nd class hons., 1939; Higher Diploma in Education
Date of death: 13 July 1997
Place of death: Bons Secours Hospital, Cork
Place of burial: Cemetery, Rochestown Capuchin Friary, County Cork
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Scope and content
A scrapbook compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. containing fliers, newspaper cuttings and ephemera associated with the commemorations of the bi-centenary of the birth Fr. Mathew. The file includes correspondence and fliers for student competitions, symposiums and publications for the bicentenary. The volume includes:
Letter from Fr. Angelus O’Neill OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, re the work of the Capuchin commission set to co-ordinate events for the bicentenary. 12 Jan. 1990.
Newspaper cutting referring to the cleaning of the Father Mathew Statue on St. Patrick’s Street, Cork, in anticipation of the commemorations.
Fliers re events to combat under-age drinking in Cork.
Cuttings re the sale of the Father Mathew Tower, Glanmire, County Cork. Nov. 1990.
Cuttings referring to the launch of a video on Fr. Mathew titled ‘Here goes, in the name of God’ commissioned by the Capuchin friars. The video was scripted and produced by Fr. Liam O’Driscoll on behalf of Icon Communications Ltd.
A typescript copy of ‘Oblivion’ by Ultan McDonnell, the winning entry in the temperance schools’ song competition held in Father Mathew Hall, Cork.