File relating to cures associated with visits to the grave of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cork. The file was compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. The file includes: • Statements from Hannah Keohane regarding her son who was cured through the intercession of prayers at the grave of Fr. Theobald. (18 Mar. 1943). • Letters to Fr. Stanislaus from Fr. Mel Farrell OFM Cap. and Fr. T.J. Walsh re Annie Nolan, 21 Abbey Street, Cork, who reputedly recovered her sight through the intercession of Fr. Theobald. • Statements and correspondence re Madge Twomey whose throat condition was cured through visits to the grave. • Letters relating to Mrs Kathleen Skillington (née Walsh) whose leg was cured following a visit to Fr. Theobald’s grave. The file includes the testimony of Dr D. F. Hegarty, surgeon. 5 Jan 1938. • Letter from Fr. Paul Neary OFM Cap. to Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. referring to the cause of Fr. Mathew. He wrote ‘It is to be regretted that there is no one of ourselves free and willing to take an interest in the cause – as according to rumours a great many things occur at the grave. The people come from a distance. No one has any knowledge of themselves, the favours they have received or where they come from’. 28 Jan. 1932. Manuscript, 2 pp. • ‘Father Mathew / Leader and Priest / Cures wrought at his tomb’. The text of a speech given by Fr. Aloysius Travers OSFC on the occasion of the 123rd anniversary of the birth of Fr. Mathew. Oct. 1913. Typescript, 8 pp. • Prayer for the beatification of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. It is noted that this prayer was submitted to the Most Rev. Daniel Coholan, Bishop of Cork, for ecclesiastical approval in May 1928. Typescript, 1 p.
File of fliers, programmes, posters and promotional ephemera associated with the Cork Temperance Weekend, Oct. 2006. The event was organised to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Fr. Mathew’s death. Includes a copy of 'Pioneer', Vol. LVII, No. 9 (Oct. 2006) promoting the event. With texts of homilies and speeches by Fr. Dermot Lynch OFM Cap. and Fr. Brendan O’Mahony OFM Cap. at a conference held in Cork on 8 Oct. 2006. The file also includes a flier for a conference titled ‘Fr. Mathew / A balanced lifestyle for contemporary Ireland’ held in Croke Park, Dublin, on 30 Sept. 2006.
Copybooks containing research compiled by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. for his MA thesis on Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The file includes: • Copybook containing notes on Fr. Mathew’s genealogy and his early education. • Copybook containing transcripts of Fr. Mathew’s correspondence relating to famine relief. c.1845-7. • Copybook containing notes compiled by Fr. Nessan relating to Fr. Mathew’s temperance campaign. c.1838-47. • Notes relating to famine relief efforts particularly in Cork. The notes appear to be transcribed from newspapers (Cork Examiner) and reports from the Cork Relief Committee. • Copybook containing government reports (Constabulary reports from the State Paper Office) on Fr. Mathew’s temperance movement. • Photostat copy of a photographic print of Fr. Mathew’s grave. The caption reads: ‘Large cross marks the grave of Father Mathew in Saint Joseph’s Cemetery which he acquired as part of his work for the Catholic people in Cork’. • Extracts from American newspapers covering Fr. Mathew’s visit to the country in 1849. • Extracts from official reports from Dublin Castle on the progress of the temperance campaign in Ireland. • Extracts illustrative of Fr. Mathew’s opinions on housing, wages, landlordism and other social and political issues.
Photocopies of Temperance Reports held in the State Paper Office (now the National Archives of Ireland). The reports are part of the Official Papers Collection (OP/1840/131/10). Police and magistrates in the southern counties of Ireland submitted detailed reports on the progress of the temperance crusade in their districts at the beginning of 1840 in reply to a circular (12 March 1840) from the Chief Inspector of the Constabulary in Dublin. These replies (the Temperance Reports) have survived in the original handwriting of the police officers and magistrates. The counties covered in the reports include Waterford, Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary, Wexford, Cork, Clare and Galway. The file also includes a copy of the ‘Rules of Saint Mary’s Temperance and Mortality Society established July 28th, 1839, in Limerick’. The photocopies were acquired by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. in March 1982. The file also includes notes (compiled by Fr. Nessan) taken from evidence found in the Temperance Reports particularly in respect of the locations visited by Fr. Mathew and the numbers pledged.
Copy print of an engraving showing Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC administering the pledge to Daniel O’Connell. The print is surrounded by various temperance-related vignettes and images including the cruciform version of the pledge. The print has a typescript note by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. attached. It reads: ‘April 1927, "The Father Mathew Record", p. 110. Engravings re temperance crusade. Mr. Charles McCarthy (Cork) presented to Fr. Francis [Hayes] (Rochestown) two very valuable engravings re the temperance campaign. These engravings are the work of Mr John Brown, heraldic artist, Patrick Street, Cork, and were executed by him in the year 1845 as suitable illustrations for the temperance cards then being distributed by Fr. Mathew’.
Photostats of letters from Henry and Richard Doyle to their father on the occasion of Fr. Mathew’s visit to London in 1843. The letters date to August 1843 and have illustrations showing scenes from Fr. Mathew’s visit. The volume was presented to Fr. Aloysius Travers OFM Cap. (1870-1957) to mark the centenary of Fr. Mathew’s death on 6 December 1856.
Contemporary copy confirmation of the election of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC as Provincial Minister for three years at a chapter held in the Church Street Chapel. The confirmation reads: ‘Rev. James L. O’Riordan was elected first definitor having 12 votes Rev. Mr. McCarthy of the Convent of Kilkenny 10 votes Rev. G.J.M. Brennan 10 votes Rev. Mr. MacLeod 7 votes … the election of Provincial was then proceeded with … [and] that the ex-Provincial was re-elected there being for him all the votes except two which were given one for Rev. Mr. McLeod [and] the other for Rev. G. Brennan’.
Copies of the 'Cork Examiner' (11 Oct. 1886) and the 'Cork Daily Herald' (11 Oct. 1886) with articles noting local commemorations of the anniversary of Fr. Mathew’s birthday.
Printed photographic album relating to the commemorations of the centenary in 1938 of the inauguration by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC of his temperance campaign. Includes images of celebrations and services in St. Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin, Holy Trinity Church, Cork, and at Thomastown Castle, County Tipperary. Reprint of a photographic supplement in 'The Capuchin Annual' (1939), pp 177-208. The cover shows a bust of Fr. Mathew by John Hogan ‘Fra. Theobald Mathew, Ord. Cappuccin / J. Hogan fecit, 1834’.
Publisher: Dublin: Catholic Total Abstinence Federation of Ireland, 56 Middle Abbey Street Language: English Full title: 'Catholic Total Abstinence Federation / A call to Ireland / Report of the third triennial congress of the Catholic Total Abstinence Federation/ 1923'
