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• Copy letters from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to Cornelius Maxwell, Chairman of the United Total Abstinence Societies of Kilkenny, re his attendance at a temperance banquet in Kilkenny. 2 Dec. 1842-10 Dec. 1842. Typescript and manuscript, 7 pp.
• Copy letter of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to the editor of the 'Dublin Monitor' regarding his attitude to William Smith O’Brien. 27 Aug. 1844. Typescript, 1 p.
• Note re a charity sermon preached by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC in Tipperary town on 23 Feb. 1845. Manuscript, 1 p.
• Copy letter from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC dated at Cork, 7 Aug. 1846. Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. notes that the letter was published in the 'Irish Independent' under the title of ‘The Black Famine of 1847 / A Father Mathew Letter’. It reads ‘… I passed from Cork to Dublin, and with an occasional exception, this doomed plant appeared most luxuriant. Returning on 3rd inst. I beheld with sorrow one vast scene of rottenness. In many places the wretched people were seated in the fences of their decaying gardens, wailing bitterly the destruction that has left them foodless’. Manuscript, 2 pp.

• Flier titled 'Father Mathew’s Advice! / Keep away from the Public House'. Includes various exhortations to ‘Keep away from the Public House’ and ‘Judge Hale on Whiskey Drinking’. The flier concludes with a warning from Fr. Mathew to ‘his beloved Teetotallers not to be duped by persons who sell poisons falsely called “Temperance Cordials” – Whiskey is the principal ingredients in all these Cordials’. [c.1840]. Printed, 1 p.
• 'Rules of the Committee Rooms of the Total Abstinence Society, Cork'. The rules are dated at Cork, 24 Aug. 1839. Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC is named as the President of the Association. Printed, 1 p.
• Copy appeal on behalf of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The appeal was made at a meeting of the ‘friends of temperance’ held in the Lord Mayor’s Office, Paradise Place, Cork, on 18 July 1848. It reads ‘it is essential that he [Fr. Mathew] should be relieved from the pressure of the pecuniary difficulties necessarily incurred in the operations of his great mission, and that therefore exertion should be made to realise the subscriptions hitherto promised …’. The appeal is signed by William Lyons, Lord Mayor of Cork, and Francis A. Walsh, barrister. Printed, 1 p.

• Notes by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. re letters written by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to the Rev. Dr. Paul Cullen and the Rev. Dr. Tobias Kirby, Pontifical Irish College, Rome, from 1840-7. See the Correspondence of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC (Irish Capuchin Archives, CA FM-COR). Manuscript, 2 pp.
• A physical description of Fr. Mathew by the Very Rev. M.B. O’Shea, Archdeacon and Pastor of St. Patrick’s Church, Cork, in 1826 taken from John Francis Maguire’s biography of the Apostle of Temperance. Typescript, 1p.
• Copy cutting of an article from the 'Cork Examiner', 11 Oct. 1850, relating to the opening of Holy Trinity (Father Mathew Memorial) Church, Charlotte Quay, Cork. Copy cutting, 3 pp.
• Extracts from Asenath Nicholson, 'Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger: Or An Excursion Through Ireland, in 1844 & 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the Poor' (1847). The extracts were compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. and refer to Fr. Mathew’s role in famine relief. Manuscript and typescript, 5 pp.
• Extracts from Rev. Wallace Clare, 'A Young Irishman’s Diary, 1836-1847, Being Extracts from the Early Journal of John Keegan of Moate. Edited with Preface and Notes' (1928). Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. notes that Rev. Wallace Clare was a grandson of the diarist (John Keegan). The extracts refer to the life and temperance campaign of Fr. Mathew. Typescript, 4 pp.
• Extracts from D. Owen-Madden, 'Revelations of Ireland in the Past Generation' (Dublin: James McGlashan, 21 D’Olier Street, 1848). The extracts were compiled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. and refer to Fr. Mathew. Manuscript, 1 p.
• Extract from John J. O’Shea, 'The Two Kendrick’s' (Philadelphia, 1904). The extract (p. 255) refers to the arrival of Fr. Mathew in Philadelphia on 28 Nov. 1849. Typescript, 1 p.
• Photocopy of an extract titled ‘Apostle of Temperance / The Story of a Crusade’ from 'The Valley Near Slievenamon: A Kickham Anthology: the Poems, Memoirs, Diary, Letters, Essays, Addresses of Charles J. Kickham' (1942), pp 130-3. Copy print, 1 p.
• Copy letter of Fr. Theobald Mathew to J. McHugh re the ‘Washington Branch of the great Temperance Tree that now overshadows nearly the whole earth …’. 28 Mar. 1845. With an annotation by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. indicating that the letter was given to him by Fr. Vivan O’Connell OFM Cap. Typescript, 2 pp.
• Copy extract from a newspaper referring the generosity of Fr. Mathew during the famine. The extract reads ‘The money which was intended to finish the church [Holy Trinity, Cork] was doled out by him to the famine stricken’. An annotation reads ‘No name of paper, nor date given. Letter to the Editor, headed “The Father Mathew Memorial Church” in a News Gleanings book in the Archives’. [c.1889]. Typescript, 1 p.

• Copy flier for Portraits of Father Mathew painted by Dr. Lees. It is noted that the ‘drawing will take place on the 1st of September 1845, at Lister’s Temperance Hotel, West End, Leeds’. Copy print, 1 p.
• Copy invitation to a festival organised by the Shamrock Temperance Hall, Blarney Lane, Cork. It is noted that Fr. Mathew, the Apostle of Temperance, will attend. Copy print, 1 p.
• Photostat copy of entries in the House Account Book of the Presentation Brothers’ South Monastery, Douglas Street, Cork. The entries refer to payments made to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC from 1843-4. Copy print, 2 pp.
• Extracts from Samuel Carter Hall, 'Retrospect of a Long Life / From 1815 to 1883' (London: R. Bentley, 1883), referring to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. Printed, pp 497-512.
• Photocopy from 'County and City of Cork Post Office General Directory' (1844-5). The entry refers to the Capuchin friars in Blackamoor Lane, Cork. They are: Very Rev. Theobald Mathew (Provincial Minister), Cove Street; Rev. Denis McLeod, Rev. G. Brennan, Rev. James Reardon, and Rev. J. O’Connell (Guardians). Copy print, 1 p.
• Photocopy of a letter from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to Fr. William Keane, Parish Priest, Midelton, County Cork, referring to the history of St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Cork city. The letter reads ‘The insults offered to Catholic priests who were grossly outraged in Protestant Church Yards, the large fees demanded from the very poorest for the internment of their Relatives, induced me to open my present large and beautiful burial grounds. … The Cemetery was blessed by the late Archbishop, the Most Rev. Dr. Laffan, assisted by the late Vicar General, Archdeacon Keeffe at the period of the Month’s Mind of the late admirable Bishop Coppinger …’. The letter is dated 22 May 1847. A compliments’ slip indicates that the original was held by Fr. Bertie Troy (1930-2007), Parish Priest of Holy Rosary Church, Midleton, County Cork. Copy manuscript, 5 pp.
• A timeline relating to Fr. Mathew’s ministry as Provincial Superior of the Irish Capuchins from 1822-1852. Typescript, 1 p.
• Photocopies of letters from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to Mother De Pazzi Leahy, Superior, South Presentation Convent, Douglas Street, Cork, to a Mrs Bernard and to a Mrs Cronin. A covering note on the copies by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. states that two of the letters were written by Fr. Mathew whilst he was in New Orleans, Louisiana, and that the originals are held in the Archives of the South Presentation Convent in Cork. The letters date from 24 July 1846-18 Mar. 1851. Copy manuscript, 8 pp.
• Copy extract from a letter from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to the editor of the 'Cork Constitution' dated 27 Apr. 1843. The letter reads: ‘I do not arrogate to myself the merit of having originated the Temperance Society, on the contrary I have ever given my predecessors in this Sacred Cause the highest degree of approbation …’. Typescript, 4 pp.
• Copy photographic print of a letter from Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC to Richard Foley dated 31 May 1854. The prints measure 7 cm x 4.2 cm. Prints, 3 pp.
• Photocopies of documents from the State Paper Collection relating to female emigration to Australia. The documents are notices issued by a committee (among whose 16 members was Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC) offering free passage on a ship to New South Wales, Australia, in May 1836. Copy print, 4 pp.
• Photocopy of a letter from Fr. Theobald Mathew dated 23 July 1845. Fr. Nessan Shaw notes that the original is the possession or Rev. Con O’Donovan CC, Convent Hill, Mitchelstown, County Cork. The letter refers to an ‘inspired sermon’ which was sent to Fr. Mathew and which he intends to circulate to teetotallers. Copy manuscript, 2 pp.
• Extracts by Fr. Nessan Shaw OFM Cap. taken from 'The Nation' newspaper relating to Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. 6 Mar. 1847-4 Sept. 1847. Manuscript, 8 pp.

The sub-series contains a collection of original Total Abstinence Society pledge cards. Most of the cards are signed by the pledge-taker and by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The cards were decorated with various temperance symbols and vignettes. An illustration on one side of the cards depicted a scene warning of the dangers of intemperance – a man driven by alcohol to beat his wife. Another illustration showed a scene of temperance – a happy family reading together by the hearth. The cards are listed in chronological order.

Face (front): Profile view of the head of Fr. Mathew. Along outer edge: ‘The Very Rev. Theobald Mathew’.
Obverse: Cruciform formula of pledge: ‘I / Promise / by the / Help of / God/ to abstain from all / intoxicating drinks / except used medicinally / and to discountenance the / cause and practice / of / intemperance’. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘The Total Abstinence Society of Ireland’.
One of the medals has fragments of a white ribbon and pin attached.

Face (front): Profile view of the head of Fr. Mathew. Along outer edge: ‘The Father Mathew OSFC Total Abstinence Association’.
Obverse: Cruciform formula of pledge: ‘From the / Great Glory of God/ and the/ Salvation / of souls / in honour of / the sacred thirst and agony of Jesus / and the sorrowful Heart of Mary / I promise / to abstain from all / intoxicating drinks during / my life / and thus / discourage / their use / in others’.
Images in the four corners of the cross, clockwise, beginning with upper left: Heart surmounted by cross, entwined by crown of thorns, with drops of blood, Heart a fire pierced by sword, with drops of blood; harp; 3 shamrocks.
Two of the medals have green ribbon and pin attachments.

Face (front): Centre: Man and woman on pedestal on which two children are seated. The adults carry a shield surmounted by a cross, with an angel above. The upper part of the shield has a lamb bearing a banner. The man bears a banner with the words ‘sobriety’. The woman bears a banner with the words ‘Domestic Comfort’. Outer-edge inscription reads: ‘In hoc signo vinces’.
Obverse: Cruciform text of pledge. Outer edge inscription reads: ‘Total Abstinence Society, The Very Rev. T. Mathew, President’. Variant inscriptions read ‘Cork Total Abstinence Society …’ or ‘Cork Roman Catholic Total Abstinence Society …’. Inner rim inscription reads ‘Founded 10 April 1838’.
All of the medals in this file have been encased in glass. One is in purple-coloured glass and another in orange-coloured glass. One of the temperance medals is attached to a commemorative medal marking the death of Daniel O’Connell. The front shows a portrait of O’Connell with the wording ‘Daniel O’Connell Esq. MP., The Friend of His Country’ and the obverse a gravestone with ‘D. O’Connell, Born, 6 August 1775, Died, 15 May 1847’ above ‘Catholic Emancipation, Repeal’ with a weeping Hibernia, along with a harp.