Cork native Brother Kevin Crowley, champion of the poor and the homeless, passes away at 90

President Higgins has led tributes to Brother Kevin Crowley, founder of Dublin’s Capuchin Day Centre, has passed away at the age of 90.

A native of Kilcolman, Enniskeane, his work with the homeless and the poor in Dublin made him a nationally respected figure. He founded the Capuchin Day Centre in 1969 and retired to the Holy Trinity Friary in Cork in 2022.

President Higgins said Br Kevin had made an invaluable contribution to the people of Dublin city.

"The Capuchin Day Centre on Church Street, founded by Brother Kevin in 1969, has gone on to provide essential services to the homeless population of the city for nearly 60 years. 

"The hot meals, food parcels, clothing, showers, family services, and medical and dental services have not just extended care of the most vulnerable, but has been exemplary in showing a fundamental respect for the dignity of each person and allowed so many of those who have availed of the services to rebuild their lives," he said.

"It was extremely appropriate that Pope Francis visited Brother Kevin and the Capuchin Day Centre during his visit to Ireland in 2018 and met with those present and volunteers.

"I was deeply honoured to meet with Brother Kevin on many occasions throughout the years and to share in his company. Brother Kevin was a warm, caring, yet fearless man, who dedicated his life to living his Christian faith in dedication to those most in need.

"Brother Kevin leaves a wonderful legacy to all those whose lives to which he made such a difference," President Higgins added.

"Síocháin síoraí do a anam lách uasal.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of a good friend, who had "worked selflessly, and with good humour, for 53 years providing help to vulnerable people.

"Brother Kevin was a tireless and passionate advocate for justice, dedicating his life to helping those in need. He truly lived the Gospel," Mr Martin said.

"His compassion, devotion and non-judgmental approach to helping the marginalised was unwavering.

"He was an inspiring and humble man who I always enjoyed meeting. He was a proud Cork man who never lost touch with the home place that nurtured him in his early years."

The Bishop of Cork and Ross, Fintan Gavin, said he had admired Br Kevin for many years for his tireless work for the poor and underprivileged.

“He didn’t spare himself but saw Christ in everybody. He wasn’t afraid to speak out when he saw any kind of injustice.

Bishop Gavin said he had come to know Br Kevin better since he moved back to Cork, and described him as “a man of deep prayer and closeness to Christ” who had been very proud of his West Cork roots.

“May the poor who are close to Christ welcome him to the table of the Lord in Heaven,” he said.

Martin Long, director of the Catholic Communications Office in Maynooth, recalled a "deeply spiritual man with a great sense of humour". 

"As part of their Transition Year work experience in St Peter’s College, Dunboyne, three of our children worked in the Capuchin Day Centre and benefited greatly by it," he said.

"Br Kevin personified the Good Samaritan and was a national treasure. Lord have mercy on his gentle soul.”

Kevin Crowley was born on February 24, 1935, and worked initially as a signalman with CIÉ.

He felt the vocation to religious life and, prompted by an advert in the Southern Star, he joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in Kilkenny in 1958, finishing his noviciate in Rochestown, and taking final orders in 1963.

In his early years as a Capuchin friar, Br Kevin was stationed in Dublin and worked in a co-operative clothing guild for unemployed people and families, working particularly with people with disabilities.

A Capuchin initiative, the guild manufactured rudimentary leather goods, operating out of offices in the Church Street Friary on Dublin’s Bow St, and in Cork’s Holy Trinity Friary.

It helped poorer families with clothes, footwear, furniture, and toys, with volunteers acting as social caregivers, and co-operating with other charitable organisations, such as St Vincent de Paul, the Sick Poor Society and the Rehabilitation Society.

In 1969, Br Kevin founded the Capuchin Day Centre, reconstructing the Dublin guild offices on Bow St as a hub for homeless and unemployed men, initially providing a basic service of soup and bread.

The founding principle of the centre was “to relieve the hardship endured by homeless people.” 

In the mid-1980s, the centre had to expand its operations to cater for the increasing number of women and children availing of its services, and began distributing food parcels to families unable to make ends meet.

By the mid-1990s, the centre was supplying meals for between 200 and 300 people a day, and dealing with a visible increase in child poverty. A new centre was built on the Bow St site, from where it operates to this day.

By 2008, the centre reported demand for its services had doubled, and it was serving approximately 600 meals a day.

In 2018, Pope Francis visited the Capuchin Day Centre, telling those gathered there that the Capuchins “are especially attuned with people of God, and indeed, with the poor.” Brother Kevin retired to the Holy Trinity Friary in Cork in 2022, at the age of 87.

The Capuchin Day Centre now provides more than 1,000 meals per day, with demand constantly rising.

Br Kevin Crowley’s remains will arrive to St Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin at 5pm on Thursday, reposing there all day Friday with solemn evening prayer at 6pm.

Requiem Mass will be held at 11am on Saturday, with burial afterwards in Dardistown.