12 - Letters from Fr. Bonaventure Murphy

12

Letters from Fr. Bonaventure Murphy

2 items; manuscript

Letters from Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap. to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, regarding college finances, maintenance, students, and institutional governance at Rochestown. The longer letter (from 6 November 1924) details a stock sale managed by a broker (Mr. Blake) and discusses the strategic reinvestment of funds, contrasting a British War Loan against an Irish Free State loan, with Father Bonaventure explicitly noting his personal preference for investing in the new Free State. The correspondence also highlights local community and student matters, including a student (‘Mr. Gowan’) failing to return after being robbed in Mullingar, a two-week domestic disruption caused by plumbers working on the house, financial tallies from a postponed ‘Stop-watch competition’ fundraiser, and a formal request to expose the ciborium during a newly introduced ‘Holy Hour’ devotion to increase student piety. A separate, shorter letter from 27 October 1924 addresses monastic personnel placement, suggesting background inquiries be made at St. Mary’s in Dundalk regarding an assistant named Rafferty.

ISAD(G) 2nd edition