Theobald Mathew

Apostle of Temperance, born at Thomastown Castle, near Cashel, 
Tipperary, Ireland, 10 October, 1790; died at Queenstown, Cork, 8 
December, 1856. His father was James Mathew, a gentleman of good 
family; his mother was Anne, daughter of George Whyte of 
Cappaghwhyte. At twelve he was sent to St. Canice's Academy, 
Kilkenny. There he spent nearly seven years, during which time he 
became acquainted with two Capuchin Fathers, who seem to have 
influenced him deeply. In September, 1807, he went to Maynooth 
College, and in the following year joined the Capuchin Order in 
Dublin. Having made his profession and completed his studies, he 
was ordained priest by Archbishop Murray of Dublin on Easter 
Sunday, 1814. His first mission was in Kilkenny, where he spent 
twelve months. He was then transferred to Cork where he spent 
twenty-four years before beginning his great crusade against 
intemperance. During these years he ministered in the "Little 
Friary", and organized schools, industrial classes, and benefit 
societies at a time when there was no recognized system of 
Catholic education in Ireland. He also founded a good library, and 
was foremost in every good work for the welfare of the people. In 
1830 he took a long lease of the Botanic Gardens as a cemetery for 
the poor. Thousands, who died in the terrible cholera of 1832, 
owed their last resting-place as well as relief and consolation in 
their dying hours to Father Mathew. ln 1828 he was appointed 
Provincial of the Capuchin Order in Ireland a position which he 
held for twenty-three years. 

In 1838 came the crisis of his life. Drunkenness had become 
widespread, and was the curse of all classes in Ireland. 
Temperance efforts had failed to cope with the evil, and after 
much anxious thought and prayer, in response to repeated appeals 
from William Martin, a Quaker, Father Mathew decided to inaugurate 
a total abstinence movement. On 10 April, 1838, the first meeting 
of the Cork Total Abstinence Society was held in his own 
schoolhouse. He presided, delivered a modest address, and took the 
pledge himself. Then with the historic words, "Here goes in the 
Name of God", he entered his signature in a large book lying on 
the table. 

About sixty followed his example that night and signed the book. 
Meetings were held twice a week, in the evenings and after Mass on 
Sundays. The crowds soon became so great that the schoolhouse had 
to be abandoned and the Horse Bazaar, a building capable of 
holding 4000, became the future meeting-place. Here, night after 
night, Father Mathew addressed crowded assemblies. In three months 
he had enrolled 25,000 in Cork alone; in five months the number 
had increased to 130,000. The movement now assumed a new phase. 
Father Mathew decided to go forth and preach his crusade 
throughout the land. ln Dec., 1839, he went to Limerick and met 
with an extraordinary triumph. Thousands came in from the 
adjoining counties and from Connaught. In four days he gave the 
pledge to 150,000. In the same month he went to Waterford, where 
in three days he enrolled 80,000. In March, 1840, he enrolled 
70,000 in Dublin. In Maynooth College he reaped a great harvest, 
winning over 8 professors and 250 students, whilst in Maynooth 
itself, and the neighbourhood, he gained 36,000 adherents. In 
January, 1841, he went to Kells, and in two days and a half 
enrolled 100,000. Thus in a few years he travelled through the 
whole of Ireland, and in February, 1843, was able to write to a 
friend in America: "I have now, with the Divine Assistance, 
hoisted the banner of Temperance in almost every parish in 
Ireland". 

He did not confine himself to the preaching of temperance alone. 
He spoke of the other virtues also, denounced crime of every kind, 
and secret societies of every description. Crime diminished as his 
movement spread, and neither crime nor secret societies ever 
flourished where total abstinence had taken root. He was of an 
eminently practical, as well as of a spiritual turn of mind. 
Thackeray, who met him in Cork in 1842 wrote of him thus: 
"Avoiding all political questions, no man seems more eager than he 
for the practical improvement of this country. Leases and rents, 
farming improvements, reading societies, music societies -- he was 
full of these, and of his schemes of temperance above all." Such 
glorious success having attended his efforts at home, he now felt 
himself free to answer the earnest invitations of his fellow-
country-men in Great Britain. On 13 August, 1842, he reached 
Glasgow, where many thousands joined the movement. In July, 1843, 
he arrived in England and opened his memorable campaign in 
Liverpool. From Liverpool he went to Manchester and Salford, and, 
having visited the chief towns of Lancashire, he went on to 
Yorkshire, where he increased his recruits by 200,000. His next 
visit was to London where he enrolled, 74,000. During three months 
in England he gave the pledge to 600,000. 

He then returned to Cork where trials awaited him. In July, l845, 
the first blight destroyed the potato crop, and in the following 
winter there was bitter distress. Father Mathew was one of the 
first to warn the government of the calamity which was impending. 
Famine with all its horrors reigned throughout the country during 
the years 1846-47. During those years, the Apostle of Temperance 
showed himself more than ever the Apostle of Charity. In Cork he 
organized societies for collecting and distributing food supplies. 
He stopped the building of his own church and gave the funds in 
charity. He spent 600 pounds ($3000) a month in relief, and used 
his influence in England and America to obtain food and money. 
Ireland lost 2,000,000 inhabitants during those two years. All 
organization was broken up, and the total abstinence movement 
received a severe blow. In 1847 Father Mathew was placed first on 
the list for the vacant Bishopric of Cork, but Rome did not 
confirm the choice of the clergy. In the early part of 1849, in 
response to earnest invitations, he set sail for America. He 
visited New York, Boston, New Orleans, Washington, Charlestown, 
Mobile, and many other cities, and secured more than 500,000 
disciples. After a stay of two and a half years he returned to 
Ireland in Dec., 1851. Men of all creeds and politics have borne 
important testimony to the wonderful progress and the beneficial 
effects of the movement he inaugurated. It is estimated that he 
gave the total abstinence pledge to 7,000,000 people, and everyone 
admits that in a short time he accomplished a great moral 
revolution. O'Connell characterized it as "a mighty miracle", and 
often declared that he would never have ventured to hold his 
Repeal "monster meetings" were it not that he had the teetotalers 
"for his policemen". 

His remains rest beneath the cross in "Father Mathew's Cemetery" 
at Queenstown. On 10 October, 1864, a fine bronze statue by Foley 
was erected to his memory in Cork, and during his centenary year a 
marble statue was erected in O'Connell Street, Dublin. The 
influence of Father Mathew's movement is still felt in many a 
country and especially in his own. In 1905 the Archbishops and 
Bishops of Ireland assembled at Maynooth unanimously decided to 
request the Capuchin Fathers to preach a Temperance Crusade 
throughout the country. In carrying out this work their efforts 
have been crowned with singular success. The Father Mathew 
Memorial Hall, Dublin, is a centre of social, educative, and 
temperance work, and is modelled on the Temperance Institute, 
founded and maintained by the Apostle of Temperance himself. The 
Father Mathew Hall, Cork, is doing similar work. The Dublin Hall 
publishes a monthly magazine called "The Father Mathew Record", 
which has a wide circulation. A special organization called "The 
Young Irish Crusaders" was founded in Jan., 1909, and its 
membership is already over 100,000. 

FATHER AUGUSTINE 
Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas 

In Memory of Dr. Francis F. McGuire