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
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
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