File 138 - Acts of Professions of the Irish Capuchin Martyrs

Glass Plate Negatives; 18.7 cm x 13 cm; 3 items

A file containing three plates with images of the original acts of professions of two seventeenth century Irish Capuchin martyrs, Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (c.1620-1656) and Fr. John Baptist Dowdall OSFC (c.1626-1710). The plates are labelled a-c. Fiacre Tobin’s profession is dated 2 July 1638. John Baptist Dowdall’s profession (at the Irish Capuchin friary in Charleville, France) is dated 5 October 1652.

Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (c.1620-1656)

Information on the early life of Fr. Fiacre Tobin is extremely scarce. His baptismal name was John Tobin, and it is likely that he was born in Fethard, County Tipperary, in about 1620. In July 1637, Tobin entered the Capuchin novitiate at Charleville (now Charleville-Mézières) in France and was given the religious name of Fiacre. He made his profession on 2 July 1638, and on the completion of his studies he took his vows. He was ordained to the priesthood and was sent to Ireland in 1646. He ministered to plague victims in Kilkenny following its surrender to Cromwellian forces in 1650. He was captured and imprisoned for a time before being banished to France in 1653. He soon returned to Ireland only to be re-arrested and sentenced to penal servitude for life on a plantation on the island of Barbados. He boarded a ship at Waterford but died on 6 March 1656 whilst being transported to the Caribbean.

John Baptist Dowdall (c.1626-1710)

John Baptist Dowdall was born in Glaspistol, County Louth. He was the son of John Dowdall whose lands were forfeited during the Cromwellian plantations. He joined the exiled Irish Capuchins at their friary in Charleville in France in 1651. He later returned to Ireland and ministered there for forty years. Although religious services were generally tolerated as long as they were conducted in private, the Catholic clergy were subject to periodic spells of persecution. In 1704 an act was passed which required the clergy to register with local magistrates. Unregistered priests were required to leave the country. Dowdall was imprisoned many times in Dublin and was subsequently taken to London where he died in 1710.

A comprehensive catalogue for papers relating to Fr. Fiacre Tobin OSFC (c.1620-1656) and Fr. John Baptist Dowdall OSFC (c.1626-1710) is available at http://www.capuchinfranciscans.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/3.-Descriptive-List-Web-Research-Papers-for-Fr.-Fiacre-Tobin-and-Fr.pdf