Brother Kevin Crowley
Br Kevin Crowley is an Irish Capuchin Friar who has spent his life devoted to ensuring that the poor are not forgotten.
In his early years as a Capuchin friar, Br. Kevin, who is originally from Enniskeane, Co. Cork, was stationed in Dublin and worked in a Co-operative Clothing Guild for unemployed persons and families (particularly those with disabilities). The Guild was a Capuchin initiative and operated out of small offices located on the west-side of the Church Street Friary garden fronting onto Bow street.
The Guild gave employment in making mainly rudimentary leather goods. This Guild was founded by the late Fr. Leonard Coughlan OFM Cap. in the 1950s. The Capuchin Clothing Guilds (there was also one set up in Holy Trinity Friary, Cork) ensured that families were helped with clothes, footwear, furniture, toys etc. – anything that made the life of the poor somewhat more endurable. The Clothing Guild on Church Street depended on voluntary workers with a Capuchin friar coordinating their combined effort. The voluntary workers acted as social care givers in assessing and providing for each family’s needs. There was also co-operation with other charitable organisations in Dublin and Cork such as St. Vincent de Paul, the Sick Poor Society and the Rehabilitation Society.
In Church Street, the Co-operative Guild performed some excellent work in providing employment (and thereby money) for disabled individuals who otherwise would have been unable to find work. Br. Kevin realised that among the Guild’s users there were 150 homeless men who were walking the streets of the city from the early morning, sleeping in churches and in other public spaces. Br. Kevin suggested that dayroom facilities for these homeless men was required.
In 1969 Br. Kevin had the small Guild offices fronting onto Bow Street reconstructed for the specific use as a Day Centre for homeless and unemployed men initially providing a very basis service of soup and bread. The founding principle of the centre is “to relieve the hardship endured by homeless people.”
As the demand for the service grew, particularly with growth in unemployment and poor housing conditions from the mid 1970’s and into the 1980’s, the Day Centre began to provide full meals with greater nutritional value by utilising the beef and butter supplied by the Department of Agriculture under the EU scheme. People also began to make donation of food directly to the Day Centre to support Br. Kevin’s work.
In 1983 the much-reduced activities of the Clothing Guild were transferred to Father Mathew Hall and the site on Bow Street was given over exclusively to Br. Kevin and his Day Centre. In 1985, in response to the growing number of women and children presenting for support, the Day Centre was extended to incorporate more of the Church Street Friary garden facing towards the dwelling houses on Bow Street. The Day Centre also began providing not only onsite meals but also food parcels to cater for the nutritional requirements of families who could not survive on welfare payments alone.
By 1995, the Day Centre was providing between 200 and 300 meals per day and Br. Kevin realised that it was no longer possible to cope with the level of demand in the old building. The age profile of those presenting to the Day Centre for support was reducing and there was a visible increase in child poverty. A new building was constructed on the same site opening in 1996 with a dramatic improvement in quality and hygiene standards and levels of service delivery and service have been provided from this facility since then. By 2008 the number of meals being provided at the Day Centre has increased to approximately 600 per day in line with increasing demand, year on year.
In 2018, Br. Kevin and the Irish Capuchin Friars were honoured by a visit from His Holiness Pope Francis to the Capuchin Day Centre. In his address, Pope Francis said that the Capuchins “are especially attuned with people of God, and indeed, with the poor.” Being attuned with the poor has been a hallmark of Br. Kevin and the Irish Capuchin Friars over many years and has allowed the Day Centre to continue to serve those in need even after Br. Kevin’s retirement in August 2022 at the age of 87 years old.
Although Br. Kevin is now retired, the central role of the Capuchin friars in the work of the Day Centre continues unabated with Capuchin priest Fr. Kevin Kiernan now holding the role of Capuchin Director working alongside the executive team in the Centre.
Since its founding by Br. Kevin in 1969, the Centre has continued to develop in response to the needs of the homeless population and now offers not just two hot meals per day, but also food parcels, clothing, showers, as well as a growing range of family services, medical and dental services, and an informal advice and information service. In 2023 the Day Centre was providing over 1,000 meals each day and demand for its services continues to increase.
