Newspaper cutting reporting on a local tradition regarding the Alms’ House attached to the Capuchin Church founded in Kilkenny in the seventeenth century.
Although the Irish Capuchins had a long tradition of involvement with the temperance movement, their connection with this apostolate was reinvigorated in 1905 when the Catholic hierarchy invited the Order to preach a ‘national crusade’ on the merits of total abstinence. The Capuchins’ commitment to sobriety as a moral and social ideal was promoted through the founding of lay sodalities and temperance halls where the pledge to abstain from alcohol was taken. The Father Mathew Memorial Hall on Church Street was opened in 1891. Funded by voluntary subscriptions, this temperance hall was built by Joseph Kelly & Sons of Thomas Street, Dublin. The total cost was about £4,000. It was designed by Walter Glynn Doolin and was initially plainly decorated. Before the addition of extensions in 1904 the main auditorium was 73 feet in length and 39 feet wide. In total, there was accommodation for about 900 people. There was also a coffee bar, a billiard room, and a reading room. The interior of the auditorium was greatly embellished in 1909 when an elaborate proscenium arch, stage and gallery were added. The plasterwork was executed by the firm of John Ryan of Upper Abbey Street to the designs of Anthony Scott of O’Connell Street, Dublin. This series comprises records relating to the Hall’s primary function to promote sobriety ‘by providing instruction and healthful amusement’. It should be noted that the Hall’s drama group, band, debating society and athletics’ club were initially only open to total abstainers. The records also reflect the varied social functions of the Hall.
Minute book of the Committee of the Total Abstinence Sodality, Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The volume includes various newspaper clippings reporting the laying of the foundation stone (2 Feb. 1890) and the opening of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street (25 Jan. 1891). The volume includes clippings from the 'Catholic Times', the 'Freeman’s Journal' and the 'Daily Sketch'. The volume also includes manuscript and newspaper clipping reports of weekly public meetings of the sodality in the Hall. The minutes report resolutions in respect of financial accounts, general administration and the ministering of the pledge to members. The meetings were ordinarily chaired by Fr. Columbus Maher OSFC, President of the Sacred Thirst Abstinence League. The final pages of the volume contain newspaper clippings reporting on the death of Fr. Columbus on 10 Sept. 1894. The clippings also cover his funeral and the various tributes paid to him for his work in promoting temperance.
Flier from the Halston Street Total Abstinence Society seeking subscriptions to fund the building of a new Hall on a site ‘secured at the junction of Church Street and Bedford Street’. The flier notes that ‘until now the work [of the Sodality] has been done in a wretchedly small hall which is no longer available for the perpetuation and increase of this great social reform’. The flier also provides a list of subscriptions for the fund.
Calendar for 1921 issued by the Father Mathew Total Abstinence Sodality, Church Street. The calendar provides information on subscribing to Father Mathew Hall (a temperance sodality for men) and to St. Brigid’s Hall (a temperance sodality for women).
Rules of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The rules note that the annual subscription is 6s. It is also stated that ‘members are expected to promote the general comfort of their fellow members and to cultivate all the social virtues in their relations with one another. Members ought not to have their hats on when using the rooms’.
Bound volume containing a register of members of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The listing is divided into male and female. The list includes entries relating to dues for subscription payments and membership fees. Later entries also supply addresses of registered members.
Blank contract form for the hiring of Father Mathew Hall, Church Street. The contract specifies the conditions under which the Hall Committee will permit the use of the Hall for performances. One of the conditions specifies that ‘under no circumstances whatsoever … [shall] any person be allowed to remain in the Hall who in the opinion of the committee … is under the influence of drink or in any way disorderly’.
