Presentation Brothers Archives

Presentation Brothers Archives

• Congregation of Presentation Brothers

• Religious

The majority of the records in the archives were generated by the Presentation Brothers as part of the administrative work of the congregation, or as part of their work in the area of education. Most relate to schools founded or operated by the Brothers in Ireland, including: Cork, Kinsale, Cobh, Killarney, Milltown, Birr, Carrick-on-Shannon, Letterkenny, Boyle, Enniskillen, Dungannon, Glasthule, and Bray. Many of the records stored in the archives in Mount St Joseph, Cork, were generated overseas in countries such as England, Canada, USA, Ghana, Nigeria, Trinidad, Grenada, St Lucia, Barbados, and Slovakia. The arrangement of the archives reflects this provenance.

Some of the oldest material in the archives, which predates the foundation of the congregation in 1802 (such as records created by Cork Charitable Society, and numerous title deeds), was passed onto the Presentation Brothers when they took over the management of certain institutions and acquired various properties.

One significant collection consists of personnel files of Presentation Brothers who died as members of the congregation. The files often include material relating to: their application to join the Presentation Brothers (such as letters of reference from family members, priests and teachers from their homeplace); their postulancy and novitiate (such as their temporary and final vows, and their will and testament); their teacher training (certificates and examination results); correspondence relating to transfers between Presentation Brothers’ communities; requests for leave; and their death (death certificates, newspaper cuttings, and obituaries). The files sometimes also include personal letters, medical records, and photographs.

Many of the collections are of extraordinary value in terms of social history and genealogy, such as the records relating to St Joseph’s Industrial School, Greenmount, Cork. These include detailed admission registers dating back to the school’s foundation in 1871, up to its closure in 1959.

10:00-16:00, Monday-Friday. Access is by prior appointment only.

The Presentation Brothers Archive is a private archive. All requests for access to the archive will be considered, but admission is at the discretion of the archivist.

All visiting researchers are required to agree to and sign the Archive Access Policy prior to accessing any material in the archive. For more information, contact the archivist: archives@presentationbrothers.org.